Ogata Yuriko is the character introduced in Episode 44 (or Episode 5 of Natsume Yuujinchou Shi), as well as Manga Chapter 36.5, where she reminisces about meeting Natsume the year before. I was really happy that Natsume had at least one friend in middle school, and I adored the way Yuriko stood up for him. Hence, I wanted to continue that story. Natsume and his friends are in college in this fanfiction.

Feedback greatly appreciated because that helps me become a better writer, and encourages me to keep going. Thanks!

Natsume Yuujinchou belongs to Yuki Midorikawa.

Ogata Yuriko sat in the back of the lecture hall, doodling with purpose in the back of her notebook. It was a character design that had been eluding her lately. Sudden inspiration had struck in the form of her dull but eccentric-looking World History professor, who lulled her to sleep with his lectures, but was actually being useful today…by being the basis for her design.

Her design incidentally had nothing to do with her class, or schoolwork in general. But Yuriko had never prided herself on being the best student. Her justification was that, hey, at least she was going to college, and not falling asleep in class to boot. However, this was her first week at Fukuoka University as a college freshman, so she certainly wasn't setting the best track record for herself.

What Yuriko really wanted to do with her life was become a mangaka. That had been her dream since elementary school. Of course, her mom would never let her pursue that straight out of high school, with no certainty of her future. Hence, she had entered college as a means of appeasing her. Truth be told, she often had doubts herself about whether she would ever be able to make it as a manga artist, so this was more of a safety net than anything else. Then, there was the third reason, which was that she wanted some distance from her mom…

College entrance exams had been a pain, and she was honestly surprised when she got accepted into the university of her choice. Going to the shrine every day for almost a month before her exams had paid off apparently. But now that she was here, keeping up her grades was secondary to furthering her dream of becoming an artist.

As she looked up again from her drawing to observe her professor, a guy in the second row caught her eye. She could only see the back of his head and part of his face, but with that dusty-blond hair and profile, he reminded her awfully of Natsume…

The uncanny resemblance could very well be a coincidence, but for the rest of class, Yuriko was too distracted to complete her drawing. She could only stare at the back of the boy's head, hoping he would turn around, at least slightly, so she could see him better.

When class ended she immediately stood up to approach him, but there were over a dozen people in front of her blocking the way. She caught a glimpse of him talking to a dark-haired guy, but by the time she reached the corridor, he was nowhere in sight.

Surely she had been reading too much into the resemblance anyway? What were the odds that her middle school friend would end up in the same university as her? While she had never expected to see Natsume again after he was forced to transfer, which was over three years ago now, she had always wanted to know how he was doing. It would be bad to get her hopes up now, only for it to be dashed later, but she desperately wished that the blonde-haired boy was Natsume. She had been lucky to have some great friends in her childhood, especially her best friend, Junko, but her connection with Natsume was different. It was special to her.

It was a day later, as she was returning to her dorm, that she saw him again in the grassy area beside the Law Building, holding his bag in front of him as if pushing an invisible enemy. Then, something even stranger happened. Yuriko couldn't tell very clearly in the fading light, but a white and orange blob that resembled a lucky cat jumped in front of the boy and seemed to disappear. There was a sharp gust of wind that made Yuriko blink. When she opened her eyes again, the boy was on the ground, coughing, and the cat had reappeared on his stomach. What on earth had just happened?

She heard a familiar voice say, "Thank you, sensei." Her heart thumping, she went forward.

"Natsume-kun. It's Natsume-kun isn't it?"

He sat up startled, and looked at her blankly. "Uh…yes, who are you?"

This oddly reminded her of their first meeting. "Don't tell me you forgot the girl who you once kicked in the face! It's Ogata. Ogata Yuriko. We were in the same class in Year Three of middle school."

Natsume had gotten up to face her and was smiling now. "Ogata! Yes of course, I remember you. I couldn't recognize you. You wear glasses now, and your hair is shorter."

Yuriko self-consciously pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "Thank God, I don't know what I would have said next if you didn't remember." She laughed sheepishly. "You look the same, except a lot taller. What are the chances that we would end up in the same university, huh? I was so surprised!"

The cat abruptly jumped off from Natsume's arms, and trotted off. "Ahhh, Nyanko-sensei, where are you going?"

Yuriko chuckled. "Nyanko-sensei? That's a great name for your pet, it suits him somehow! He's very interesting looking too, just like a maneki neko!"

She could have sworn the cat stopped to look back at her malevolently. "U-uh, I-mean, that is, he is super cute!" She sneaked a glance back at Natsume who looked amused. "Natsume-kun, I think Nyanko-sensei is on to me."

Natsume laughed. "Yeah, he is one heck of a moody cat. Don't worry, some insult to his pride is good for him."

He has such a beautiful laugh, Yuriko thought. He looks much happier now than in middle school. I'm glad. How do I tell him how happy I am for him?

She wanted to ask him many things. There was so much to say, but she didn't know how to start. She had had difficulty talking to him in middle school too, and it had taken a long time for them to actually have proper conversations. It was a pity that he had been forced to transfer right after they had gotten comfortable with each other.

He was staring intently at a spot on her arm. There was nothing there though. "Natsume-kun. Is there something wrong with my arm?"

Natsume shook his head violently. "No-no, not at all. Sorry, I was just spaced out." Yuriko noticed that he kept glancing back at the same spot, and that he looked stricken when she pinched the spot in her arm. She wanted to know what the problem was, but refrained from asking anything else. She would rather have his company for longer.

She thought about a safe topic to talk about. Finding none, she ventured cautiously, "Toyamatsu-kun told us he came across you and your guardian one day. It sounded like you found a good family."

"Toyamatsu-kun?"

"He was the guy in our class who studied all the time and didn't talk to anyone, so I'm not surprised you don't remember him. He joined the cycling club in high school, and said he saw you on a trip."

"I do remember a cyclist when I was shopping with Touko-san one day… He, uh, dropped something that I picked up. I'm pretty sure that's who you're talking about."

"Is Touko-san your guardian?"

"Yes. Fujiwara Shigeru-san and Touko-san took me in." Natsume's face had lit up. "They are really nice people."

His smile was contagious. "I'm glad, Natsume-kun."

There was a period of awkward silence, during which Yuriko racked her brains for what to say and Natsume slung his messenger back across his shoulder. "I guess I'm going to head to my dorm now, Ogata. I'm happy we got to meet again. I'm sure I'll see yo-"

"No!" Natsume's eyes widened as Yuriko grasped his shoulders in a death-grip. "I'm not letting you off that easily. We just met again after three years, we have to catch up. Are you busy right now?"

"Not busy, no," Natsume said hesitantly.

"Awesome! I haven't had dinner yet, and there's this great udon shop around the corner that's super cheap. Let's go. I won't take no for an answer."

There was a small pause during which Yuriko started to fear that he would say no despite her insistence. But Natsume conceded with a small smile. "Well, if you don't take no for an answer, I guess I don't have a choice."

Conversation flowed more easily over udon, mostly due to Yuriko's repeated prodding and questions. Yuriko learned that Natsume was in the Humanities department like her, and that two of his close friends, Tanuma and Kitamoto, were attending college with him. He mentioned some other friends, who were dispersed through different colleges, and briefly talked about life with the Fujiwaras. He was purposely vague about how he found Nyanko-sensei though, which made her form her own ideas.

Speaking of Nyanko-sensei, the cat had conveniently made his way back to Natsume just as they were going to enter the udon shop. Natsume had bought him a bowl, and he was now slurping it happily. Yuriko was pretty sure pets weren't allowed in the shop, but they were being discreet, and the place was too packed for anyone to notice anyway.

It was windy outside with storm clouds brewing overhead, as they made their way back to the dorms. Natsume sighed as his bangs kept being pushed into his eyes. Yuriko looked at him with a neutral expression. Should she keep quiet this time around? She had unintentionally hurt him the last time.

He glanced at her sideways and smiled. "My hair is quite long and needs a cut, is that what you're thinking?"

"I didn't say anything!" She spluttered.

Natsume laughed. "To answer your curiosity, I still cut my hair myself, even though I can get it professionally cut if I want to. It just became a habit. I'm sure it would look better if I got it cut by someone else, but it doesn't matter to me enough to do that." He fingered his bangs thoughfully. "I DO need to cut my hair soon."

Yuriko hesitated for a second, and then spoke up. "I'm not a professional, but I know how to cut hair. If you want, I can cut it for you sometime. It's probably slightly better than cutting yourself."

Natsume looked surprised. "You cut hair?"

Yuriko was embarrassed. "It's not like that exactly. My mom cuts hair, she has a small salon. I picked it up from her a few years ago, just for fun, and helped her out sometimes."

"Is that why you notice people's hair? Because you've grown up around it?"

"You could say that." What Yuriko wouldn't tell him is that it was her fascination for him that had led her to learning how to cut from her mom in the first place. It had been after he left, and it had felt like a connection to him, however small.

"Okay," said Natsume. "Sure."

"Huh? Sure what?"

"Sure, you can cut it." Natsume smiled at her. He smiled a lot, didn't he? He didn't do that in middle school. Was it that he had so much joy now that it always spilled over, or was it to hide something else? "It can't hurt. So why not?"

"Great! How about Thursday then?" She would practice with a wig before then. She was a little rusty now, and she certainly didn't want to mess his hair up. "If you don't like it, it's not my fault, alright?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine."

They had reached the girl's dorm by now. "Thanks for today, Natsume-kun."

"For what?"

"I did pretty much drag you to dinner with me."

There was the omnipresent smile. "It was fun."

"I am going to head back to my room then. Bye, sensei!" She waved at the cat perched on Natsume's shoulder and took off.

"Did you see the red clingbug on her arm, sensei? It was Suneko, the clingbug that clung to me for a week, and then disappeared one day. Remember it jumped on me from a bunch of cyclists?" Natsume mused that one of those cyclists must have been Toyamatsu. Interesting that Suneko had gone back to Ogata's town, where he had first met it, and was now with Ogata. Perhaps it would return to the town again soon.

"It was a weakling anyway." Nyanko-sensei scoffed. He looked up at Natsume speculatively. "To think you had friends in middle school. I always thought those two idiots, Kitamoto and Nishimura, were your first friends."

"She was the only one before them. "

Nyanko-sensei gave a sly smile. "And a haircut, huh? How sweet."

Natsume shrugged. "Let's go say hi to Tanuma before heading to the room?"

"You go visit the twerp. I am going to find me some sake." Nyanko-sensei giggled as he wandered off.

Natsume rolled his eyes. As he was about to enter the boy's dorm building though, he collided with a green goblin. "Natsume-samaaa," the goblin wailed and grabbed his arm. "Please help me find my brother. Some of my youkai friends said you could help."

"I guess Tanuma will have to wait." Natsume sighed and followed the goblin.

Let me know your thoughts! Had a lot of fun writing this. Writing Yuriko was an interesting experience. While she has a lot of potential as a major character, since she has such a small role in canon she's not very well-developed. I took what I could from the source material though. For example, the fact that her dream is to be a mangaka came from the fact that her bookshelf in her room is filled with manga. Her mom owning a salon was random, but she seemed like the type.

This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but I will most likely continue this. Not totally sure!

Feedback greatly _greatly_ appreciated.