Summary: When one day Natsume wakes up, he finds that he can't see ayakashi anymore. Is this cause to celebrate or grieve? Will Natsume be happy or sad?
SkyGem: Hey guys! Well, this idea just popped into my head and I don't think anyone else has done it, so I decided to do it. Please keep in mind that this is my first Natsume Yuujinchou fanfic so it might not be the best.
Disclaimer: Only in my wildest dreams do I own Natsume Yuujinchou.
"Takashi-kun! Time for breakfast!" called a woman's voice from the kitchen downstairs.
"Coming, Touko-san!" I called as I finished brushing my teeth and went downstairs to eat.
As soon as I had eaten, I was on my way out the door. On the way to school I met up with Tanuma and we walked together. We went to our morning classes, had lunch together outside, went to afternoon classes, and then went home. All in all, it was a pretty normal day. That is, it would have been for anyone else, but not for me.
"Hey, Natsume? Is there something wrong?" asked Tanuma.
"Hm? Oh, it's just that, today was so...quiet," I told him.
"Quiet?"
"Yeah, you know how I usually get 'visited' by at least one ayakashi a day?" I asked him.
"Yes?" he said.
"Well, today, there was none."
"Hmm, that is odd. Well, you might as well enjoy the quiet while it lasts, right?"
"I guess," I said, not feeling completely reassured. We walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence then said our goodbyes.
"I'm home!" I called.
"Welcome home," said Touko-san from the kitchen.
I went upstairs and put my bag down, for some reason feeling exhausted. Suddenly, I felt a pain on the back of my head.
"Ow! What the hell was that for, sensei?" I asked the cat as I truned to face him.
"That was for ignoring these two idiots! They came to me crying that 'Natsume-sama is mad at us!' and 'Why is Natsuma-sama ignoring us?'" said Nyanko-sensei, pointing to thin air.
"What the hell are you talking about sensei? There's no one there!" I yelled, frustrated.
At this, sensei cringed, as if from an extremely loud outburst, turned to the empty place he had just pointed to, and shouted, "I don't know why he's ignoring you, just shut up!" Then he turned to me and said, "Okay, Natsume, what the hell is wrong, why are you so mad at them?"
I was starting to get scared, "Mad at who? Sensei! I honestly have no idea what you're talking about!"
At this, sensei grew really quiet. "No way......" he said really quietly.
"No way, what?" I asked.
"Natsume, now listen I'm going to transform into my natural form and you tell me whether or not you can see me, okay?"
"That's just silly of course I can..." I trailed off as, suddenly, sensei completely disappeared. "Sensei? Sensei! Where are you?" I called, looking around frantically.
Suddenly, I felt something on my face, something like that of the tongue of a cat. "Just as I thought," said a ghostly voice from nowhere, the voice of Madara the ayakashi. "Natsume....you've gone blind."
"Blind?" I asked, confused. "What are you talking about sensei? I can still....." I trailed off again as I understood what he meant. "N-no! T-that's not possible! Please tell me you're joking, sensei!" I shouted.
I turned around, looking for him. It was true, even though I could just barely feel the tickle of his fur on my skin, I couldn't see him at all. Suddenly, the feeling was gone and, there, in front of me, stood Nyanko-sensei in his lucky cat body.
"I'm sorry, Natsume," he said. "But, it seems that you have lost your ability to see ayakashi..."
When he said his, I felt tears trickle down my face. "No, please. Sensei, do something!" I said in a loud whisper.
He shook his head and said again, "I'm sorry......."
I fell to my knees, unable to stay standing. It had finally happened. What I had wished be for ever since I was little, that I would no longer be bothered by youkai. But, now that it had actually happened, I felt an unbearable sadness. I would never be able to help ayakashi again, I would never be able to see the ayakashi I had befriended in the past, but most important of all, I would not be able to finish my mission of returning all the names in the book of friends to their rightful owners.
Never had I imagined that I would feel so lonely once I had given up my burden. Suddenly, a thought popped into my head. I whipped around to look at Nyanko-sensei.
"Sensei, now that I can't see ayakashi anymore, w-will you leave?"
He looked disgusted at just the thought of it. "Of course not, you idiot! We have a deal, and I'm going to stick to it!"
I almost smiled, thinking that this was at least one good thing. Then, I remembered all the great times I'd had with the ayakashi in this area and my grief returned, quickly wiping the smile off my face. Not knowing what else to do, I told Touko-san and Shigeru-san that I would not be coming to dinner and went to sleep.
Over the next few days, I was really upset, and, no matter how hard I tried not to show it, people would ask me whether I was alright or not, I would blow up, and then they would start avoiding me. Finally, after three days of this, Tanuma came up to me and asked, "Okay, Natsume what's wrong?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on! You're always gloomy, you don't talk to anyone, and when someone does try to talk to you, you practically bite their head off!" he said. "Now, tell me what's going on!"
I looked at him for a while, then said, "I'm blind."
At this he looked angry, "Be serious!"
"I am! I'm blind! I can't see ayakashi anymore!"
"W-what? Y-you can't see them anymore? But why?"
"I don't know!" I nearly shouted at him.
"I-I'm sorry, Natsume."
Suddenly, I felt too tired to argue anymore, "It's okay," I said and walked away.
SkyGem: So, what did you think? I'm thinking of making this a two-shot but, if no one likes it, why even bother? Please, comment/review and tell me what you think.