"Ah, Shigeru-san, welcome back." Natsume greeted the man as he saw him sitting on the dining table. It was early evening but the boy just got out of bed so he wasn't able to greet him when he got back. Another trouble with the ayakashi caused him to be out sick for the whole day.

Touko-san was there too. She was sitting next to her husband and it seemed like they were in the middle of a serious discussion when Natsume interrupted them. "A-ah, Takashi-kun, how's your fever?" She asked as the sullen expression from before was quickly replaced by a worried one. She stood up next to him and checked his temperature.

"I'm fine now, Touko-san. I'm sorry for worrying you." The boy replied with a smile. "Well, um, I think I'd take Nyanko-sensei for a quick walk before dinner." If the Fujiwaras needed to talk then the boy thought that it was inappropriate of him to stick his nose into it so he decided to give them some privacy.

"Eh? Would you be alright walking around?"

"I'm fine. I think I need a little exercise after sleeping for the whole day." He smiled at her again and dove down on the ground to grab his cat which was conveniently standing by his feet. He was about to step out of the door when a spoke.

"Takashi."

The boy, who was stopped by that commanding voice, walked back towards the dining room and before the man who called out his name. "Shigeru-san?"

"Let's talk for a while." There was no trace of a smile on Shigeru-san's face. He only looked tired and beaten. If the man was his usual self, he'd allow Natsume to go on his walk, calm his wife down, tell her that he was already a big boy who can take care of himself, and that she didn't need to worry so much. However, it didn't look like he'd let the boy go this time.

"Shigeru-san..." His wife took a small step forward and looked at him as if she was pleading with him.

The man spared her a glance and held out his hand as a gesture for her to stop. He then looked back at the boy and nodded his head at the empty chair in front of him. "Have a seat, Takashi."

Natsume silently did as he was told. He was still carrying Nyanko-sensei when he sat so he had no choice but to just let him lie on his lap. He didn't mind though since whatever it was that Shigeru-san was going to say, he knew it wouldn't be good news and the presence of his sensei was helping him calm his nerves.

Touko-san didn't sit with them. Instead, she busied herself on the counter, preparing drinks for the three of them. She set down the tea cups but she still hasn't seated herself. She just stood at the side while hugging the tray she was just using.

The two males nodded their heads at her in silent thanks and it was then that the silence was broken. "Takashi, how long have you been here?" Shigeru-san asked.

"Um, about a year and a half."

"A year and a half, huh? I see." He took a sip from his tea and sunk back into silence.

Natsume fidgeted on his seat. What was going on? Why were the two of them talking to him so seriously? Why did it seem like they want to tell me something but can't? It was like all those times his relatives brought up that he was moving to a new family. The boy almost stopped breathing at the thought.

"You see, Takashi, we just want what is best for you-"

Natsume looked up at him disbelievingly but immediately dropped his head down. It wasn't that he didn't believe that the couple wanted what was best for him. What he couldn't believe was the fact that they were finally fed up with him and was sending him away. However, he quickly realized that that couldn't have been helped. No one would want a stranger like him into their family.

"We have always known that you were different from other kids but-"

He froze. Was it the ayakashi? Did they discover his secret? Was it because of them that he was being kicked out again? Did they think he was just asking for attention? His mind was filled with questions but only one word kept repeating itself in his head: "Liar".

"Are your friends also in this-?"

Friends? Ah, it seems like the boy would have to be separated from them too. He could still visit Hinoe and the others at the forest or they could visit him. Hopefully, where he'd be moving to wouldn't be too far away. The problem was with his human friends. Despite everything that was happening, the boy didn't want his friends to think badly about the Fujiwaras. They did take good care of him after all.

"You're still young and although it may be partly my fault for always doing the same act in front of an underage boy, I think you should've known better than to let your curiosity get the better of you." Shigeru-san continued.

"Eh?" Natsume's head shot up at those words.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting this from you." He then got up and retrieved a bottle of sake from a cupboard. "Do you recognize this, Takashi?"

"Eh?!"

At that point in time, Nyanko-sensei jumped off of Natsume's lap and scampered of somewhere out of sight.

"Oi, Sensei!" The boy stood up to run after the one responsible for all this mess. He clenched his fist, ready to punch the living daylights out of the pig cat. If he got a hold of him now, there was no telling what he would do.

"Takashi-kun, where do you think you're going?!" Touko-san grabbed him by the arm and looked into his eyes with an expression that says he was not getting out of this one without a proper explanation.

It was then that Natsume Takashi learned that Fujiwara Touko was a lot scarier than her husband and that Fujiwara Shigeru knew just that so he tried to spare Natsume by taking the role of the one who would talk to him. However, in the end, the boy was still made to sit and listen to Touko-san's lecture about underage drinking and its effects to the youth of today for 2 hours.

It took a lot of explanation and phone calls to Natsume's friends in order to convince her that Natsume was, in fact, not drinking. The boy would have to thank Tanuma later for going along with his lie of having Natsume keep the bottle so he could surprise his father with it later.

Also, Nyanko-sensei gets no food for a week and a huge bump on his head for this incident.

Author's Notes: First of all, I'm so sorry for not updating my other story. Ever since school started, I've been swamped with essays, journals, and reaction papers that I don't want to spend even my free time writing. Honestly, I'm kind of sick of it now. This story just won't leave my head and it was making it difficult to make any progress on my work. x.x

Anyway, thank you for reading! I had a huge smile on my face while writing this so I hope you enjoy it. Did you think the secret was about the ayakashi? lololol