DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NATSUME YUUJINCHOU.

"Natsume-sama, look out!" a feminine voice called out.

The boy immediately side steps avoiding the thing that came flying towards him.

"What was that?" Natsume asked holding his breath for a moment.

"Aww… what a bad landing." The voice moaned.

He turned to see the thing sprawled on the ground. He raised a brow as he picked it up.

"Are you the one talking?" he asked curiously.

Somehow, he felt the ball flinched in his hands as it realized that he was holding it. He gently smiled at it to reassure that he wasn't going to hurt it.

"Sorry for picking you up suddenly." He apologized.

"Uhh- no, don't be sorry. It's only natural to pick up a ball when you see one." The ball said.

"So," Natsume paused, scanning the area. "Where did you come from? Been thrown away?"

"Obviously, yes. A small boy found me on the bench, thought of playing with me, until a bunch of other kids came by and decided to play baseball. And here I am with you." The ball explained.

"Oh, I see." He nodded. "Uh- just curious, are you really a ball or a-"

"I'm a Bake-danuki." The ball cut him.

"Bake-danuki? Oh! But- why a ball though?" he asked, a small liquid forming on his side temple.

"Well, I felt rolling around so I turned myself into a ball." The ball said.

Natsume only smiled at this. "Oh, right. How did you know me?"

"Peesh. How can I not know you? You're famous. Everyone knows you."

Right. He thought. How can he forget that? Everyone knows, The Natsume, who owns the Book of friends.

"What's your name?" he asked, changing the topic. He wonders if this little one's name is on the list.

"The name's Ino." The ball answered.

"Oooooi! Natsume!"

Natsume turned around and saw his fat fat fat pi- I mean cat swaying as he walks towards him. His face was red and drowsy.

"Sensei, you've been drinking again." He stated.

"Obviously! Hic!" the cat retorted.

"How many times did I tell you not to drink until morning? Seriously." Natsume sighed.

"What are you holding, Natsume?" Nyanko-sensei asked, finally noticing the ball in his hands.

"Oh, this? Her name is Ino." He replied.

"What an ugly and dirty thing." Nyanko said slapping the ball from Natsume's hands as fast and forceful as he could.

'Wh- Sensei! Why did you do that!?" Natsume cried.

"Seriously, Natsume? When will you ever learn? That thing might eat you if you let your guard down and might as well stole the book of friends." Nyanko said.

"I won't do that. I'm not interested in this book of whatnot." Came Ino's voice.

Natsume and Nyanko exchange glances and then looked around to find the source of the voice.

"I'm right here." Ino said.

Their eyes landed on the rolling can near their feet.

"You're a can now?" Natsume clarified.

"Yes." Ino replied.

Acting on instinct, Nyanko instantly hold the can captive and rolled it as much as he could enjoy.

"Sensei! Stop it! Nyanko-sensei!" Natsume exclaimed, pulling the cat away from the can.

After so much pulling, running, kicking and throwing, Nyanko-sensei finally calmed down and slumped on the ground, snoring loudly. Natsume, exhausted from keeping Nyanko torturing Ino, decided that he should go home. He carried his sensei on both arms and turned to the can on the ground.

"I'm sorry about earlier. I hope you're not hurt." He said.

"I'm fine. Thought it kind of hurts but I'm okay." Ino assured him.

"That's great. Well, I better take sensei home. It was nice meeting you. See you." He smiled then walked away.

"See you." Ino mumbled.

When Natsume was out of sight, Ino immediately turned into the tanuki she was. Her color was of that reddish brown. Three-fourths of her tail was darker than her original color and a light brown around her eyes.

The next day, it was dusk when Natsume passed by the park before his house. After spending some time with his friends, he, if there's no trouble befall him, would directly go home. As he walked passed it, he noticed a bunch of kids playing with a ball. He wonders if it's Ino but he shook his head and instead scanned the area.

"Natsume-sama," called a voice.

He looked around but saw no one. He had a feeling that Ino's turned into something again aside from the ball.

"Ino? Where are you?" he called out.

"I'm right beside you." She answered.

He turned to his side and jumped backwards when he saw a funny looking statue right beside him. He heard her giggle.

"Did I scare you?" she giggled.

"Uh huh…" he nodded with a strained smile. "Why are you like that?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's to scare you." She honestly replied.

"I-I see. And you did a great job at it."

She giggled again. "Are you going home now?"

Natsume nodded with a 'mn'.

"Are you always in this park?" he asked.

"Yeah… kind of…" she mumbled.

Natsume wondered why she suddenly fell silent but he didn't pried on any further.

"Well, I better get going." He said waving his hand.

"Mn. Bye. Take care Natsume-sama."

"Sensei, where did you go?" He asked the cat right after Nyanko entered the room.

But he only heard 'hmm' coming from his sensei. He observed the cat walking towards the table and ate the dessert that Touko made for him.

"I met Ino today at the park." He informed Nyanko.

"That dog? So?" Nyanko asked between munching his food.

"Sensei…" A strained smile as he watched him stuffing the food into his mouth before he could gulped the first one. "We didn't talk that much though…" he continued.

"You're being too nice again. Next thing you know, you're being tied and roasted."

His lips formed into a thin line, restraining himself to argue with Nyanko because the cat had a point and is talking out of experience. Actually, he's also hesitating about Ino but he couldn't sense any danger from her at all.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the park, sitting alone under the pale moonlight was Ino on her tanuki form. She was staring at the bright starry sky but her thoughts weren't there. It was on a certain young man with golden eyes, sandy blonde hair, and a gentle face with a gentle smile. Yes, she was thinking about Natsume himself.

"Natsume-sama…" she whispers to the air.

Her eyes filled with admiration and longing. It was sparking under the moon's light. She missed him so much, although they already met earlier. She remembered him asking if she's always at the park, she wanted to answer yes but somehow she's afraid of doing so because he might think that she was some kind of a stalker. But Natsume didn't know why she was always there so he won't think she's a stalker at all and as far as she knows, Natsume doesn't think that way. The truth is, she's always at the park because it's near Natsume's place and he always passed by before and after school. Now she sounds more like a stalker.

It was all because of Natsume why she's there. She knew the boy long before they met yesterday. The boy may not know her but she knew him all along. It was a couple of months ago when they really first met. It was still clear on her mind that day when he saved her from being ran by a truck. She had turned herself back then into a long ribbon and since she was so light the wind carried her to the road. Fortunately, Natsume was there and before a truck hit her, he had pulled her out the way. She thought that maybe he saved her because she was screaming so loud that she got his attention. After that incident, curious as she was, she stalked him to get more information until she found herself admiring him.

She also discovered that a lot of yokais actually liked him in all sorts of way and that he's very popular. One thing she liked about him is his kindness to everyone. Maybe it was also the reason why she admired him. There were also several occasion that she had helped him secretly when he was in trouble with other yokais. Of course, he didn't know that. She was working on the shadows after all.

Sometimes, she would turn herself into something that fit the environment. Like, in Natsume's room. She had sneaked in many times into his room to visit without him realizing. Or sometimes, she would turn into a keychain and hanged herself on his bag. It was the closest way she could do to be with him all the time. It may sound absurd but it was fun for her. Sometimes, she thought of showing herself to him, in her tanuki form or in a human form, whichever is comfortable for her, but she couldn't do it. She wasn't ready yet to show herself. What will happen if he found out that she's been following him around and watching him without his consent? Would he be disgusted with her? She didn't harm him in any way but she's still afraid to find out. Moreover, she was contented at what she has right now. To be able to speak with him and teased him.

Another thing that kept her away from the boy sometimes was his pig cat. She knew that the cat notices her whenever she's nearby and they had a secret battle before. Of course, no one actually knew about that. Nyanko would always be around, guarding the boy. She doesn't intend to harm the person she admires but she does towards a certain cat. She frowned at the memory of the pig cat toying with her yesterday and it annoyed her.

"Damn you, Madara!" she shouted to the moon. "Die, Madara!"

Suddenly, white smoke covered her and there was a 'poof' sound. When the smoke was gone, she had already turned herself into a human girl wearing a sailor uniform. She had reddish brown hair that lengthens down her neck and yellowish brown eyes.

"Hmm… not bad. It's been so long since I turned myself into a human." She said, examining her body.

She was busy praising herself that she didn't notice the large ball of white and orange coming towards her and slammed right into her face. She fell on the ground and turned back once again into a tanuki.

"What the hell was that?" she asked, lying flat on the ground and eyes swirling.

"What an idiot." A mocking voice said.

Immediately, she stood up and came face-to-face with no other than, the maneki-neko.

"Why the hell did you do that!?" she snarled.

"I just felt hitting you." He smirked.

"Why you-"

"Sense! Nyanko-sensei!" came a voice that made Ino startled and instantly turned into a bottle of alcohol. "Ah! There you are sensei. Geez, don't ran away like that."

Nyanko turned to see him. He noticed the bottle in front of the cat.

"So that's why..." he said.

"What do you mean that's why?" Nyanko exclaimed hitting Natsume on the head. "Even if it's alcohol, but a bottle like that, I will never ever dare touch or drink it! Hmph!"

"But it's still alcohol though…" Natsume said.

For a moment, Nyanko became silent and glanced at the bottle-who-is-actually-Ino. He gulped and restrained himself from touching it but his hand says otherwise.

"Alright, let's go home. We've done enough walking for tonight and no drinking, Sensei." Natsume said, pulling Nyanko into his arms.

"B-bu-bu-bu-bu-"

"No but, Sensei. Now let's go." Natsume cut him off and before they left, Natsume glanced at the still bottle on the ground.

He felt a familiar presence towards it. He closed his eyes and smiled. "Good night, Ino." He whispered but enough to hear and then he left carrying Nyanko.

After the two was gone, Ino transformed herself back to her human form. There was evident surprise on her face and slowly it turned red.

Every day, before Natsume would go home he would stop by the park and bond with Ino, whom he never saw except for that first and second time they met. He only hears her soothing voice and doesn't know what kind of a thing she is right now. She's like all over the place but actually near him. There was also a time that she let him guess what kind of thing she is today but he failed at attempting to guess it right, then they would do it all over again. He also wondered why she wouldn't let him see her. But he didn't asked about it since she has her reasons. They would talk all sorts of things they could think of. And sometimes, just sit on the bench and watched the kids play. There were also times, Nyanko would accompany them and make fun of Ino and it always turned into a verbal fight in the end.

One late afternoon, Natsume never came by the park. Ino wondered where he went. Maybe his with his friends? As no one to accompany her, she silently watched the kids play. This was one of her pastime before her and Natsume talked to each other.

The next day, still, no Natsume or a fat cat around. And then the next and the next. She bagan to worry. What if something bad happen to him? Just when finally they could talk and became friends.

She waited and waited until the next day came, but no sign of them. She decided to check up on him so she transformed into the human girl before and headed towards the Fujiwara house. She rang the doorbell and waited until someone opened. It was Touko, if she remembered correctly the name, who opened the door.

"How may I help you?" Touko asked with a smile.

"Uh- umm- I-" she stuttered, her cheeks tinted with pink.

"Yes?"

"I- I was wondering if… Natsume-sa- Natsume's home?" she corrected herself.

"Oh? Are you Takashi's friend? Well, he's not home today. He's in another town. But I think he'll be back this Sunday." Touko explained.

"I see." She sighed in relief. Thank goodness, he's not in trouble again.

After that, she went back to the park's bench where she usually is and she stayed as a human girl for a while. She entertained herself by playing with the kids. The same goes the next day until the day Natsume's back in town.

Natsume arrived later that evening carrying his bag and some stuffs from the trip. He also gave the things he bought for the Fujiwara couples. He was exhausted from the trip, especially when Nyanko's with him, so he resigned to his room after eating dinner.

"Nyanko-sensei, where are you going? We just got back." He asked when he noticed that Nyanko climbed the window.

"I'll be drinking with Hinoe and the others. Wanna come?" Nyanko's whole face was smiling.

"You know I don't drink." He said.

"Then I'll go now." Nyanko jumped off the window, into the roof and into the ground.

He watched his cat ran out of the house and when he's gone, he looked up to the sky. The sky was clear and there were lots of stars tonight. Then, a certain talking things came to his mind.

"Maybe I'll visit her tomorrow." He smiled and walked away from the window.

Morning came and Natsume was already awake. He had school today and it was still early but he didn't mind because he had to go somewhere first. After eating breakfast, he bid goodbye to Touko and Shigeru then left. When he arrived at the usual place, no one was there so he called out her name.

"Ino!"

Silence.

"Ino!" He called out again.

For the second time, he met with silence. He scratched his head. "Maybe she went somewhere?"

He walked towards the bench and sat. He waited for her to call out to him, if by any chance she arrives. But he didn't hear anything. After waiting for an hour, he decided to come back after school so he left.

After wearing his indoor shoes, he headed towards the stairs up to the second floor. He turned right and walked down the hallway towards their classroom. He was about to enter the room when he felt a familiar presence behind him.

"Ah! Natsume-sama, you're back." She said with that soothing voice she always had.

"Yeah." He nodded, a smile crept up on his face but soon fade when he noticed that the shadow reflected on the door was that of a human. He wanted to turn around but didn't. Something stops him from doing so.

"You're really mean for not telling me that you'll be out of town." He could imagine her pouting.

"I'm sorry." He said.

"Well that's fine as long as you're sorry."

He chuckled but fell silent afterwards.

"Hey,"

"Hm?"

"How about you quit messing with me and let me see you?"

He heard her giggle. "You'll never find me."

He immediately turned around but saw no one standing behind him. He looked around and saw other students passed by. He wasn't sure if she's one of them. After all, he didn't know whom to look for. He sighed in defeat and entered the classroom.

Unbeknownst to him, Ino, in her human form, was just standing one window away from the classroom he entered. Her back away from the window and her elbow on the windowpane.

"Sorry, Natsume-sama. That's payback for disappearing without my knowledge." She whispered. "And also… just not yet… I can't let you show you myself." She looked up to the clear blue sky with the same position. She smiled at the beautiful weather today. "But I won't stop messing with you. I'm a tanuki after all."