After the Last Name
Natsume Takashi let out a long sigh, regaining his breath. As he tried not to fall due to the sudden weakness in his body, he gazed at the now happy youkai in front of him. He was so relieved that it didn't bother him one bit that not a single memory was being shoved into his head. The Youkai smiled up at the human.
"Thank you so much, Natsume!"
"You...You're welcome."
As Natsume struggled to stay sitting up, Nyanko-sensei came to his side in support. The Youkai in front of them disappeared within a few seconds, and in the snowy back yard of Natsume's home, all was quite.
"Hah. It only took you 25 years to get rid of the last name." Sensei purred with a grin. "Come to think of it, you've changed quite a lot over the years."
"You're making me feel old." Natsume chuckled.
"Human years are so short. It's only felt like a few months in my opinion and you already have some gray hairs."
Sensei jumped onto Natsume's shoulder, poking at Natsume's hair and playing around with the strands in order to find the one of the few white hairs on the human's head. Natsume sighed and pushed the cat off, standing up and pulling the kimono that he wore closer to his skin, shivering in the cold. He turned to pick up the last of the Book of Friends off the snowy ground. All that was left was the green cover. Not a single piece of paper was inside.
"Now what am I going to do with this? I don't believe any youkai want it now." Natsume asked.
"You could throw it away." Sensei said blindly.
Natsume paused. "I'd rather not. It means to much to me anyway."
Suddenly a small child ran out from the doors of the house the two were walking towards. It ran over to Natsume, hiding behind the taller human. Natsume was worried for a second, but when he heard the child's giggling, he calmed down.
"What's going on?" Natsume smiled.
"Papa! Shhh! I'm on a mission!" The child said.
"A mission?" Natsume asked his son.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Hiiragi appeared behind the child and lightly grabbed the boy's shoulders. The boy squeaked and ran back towards the house.
"Oh noes! I've been cursed!"
As the boy ran into the house, he bumped into someone who stood in the doorway. He almost fell if it wasn't that the person had caught him and place him back on his feet. The boy looked up and realized who it was, then hid behind him.
"Uncle Natori! The evil Youkai cursed me! Save me!"
Naroti smiled and chuckled.
"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked Natori.
"Sorry about intruding. I came to see how you were doing. I just happened to run into little Rei. He wanted to play a game so I decided to send him on a little mission to fight the evil miss Hiiragi!" Natori explained, grinning.
"Oui! Get out! Out!"
Natsume looked up at the second story of the house to see his daughter, 13 year old Tashi, pushing a small youkai out of the window. The Youkai, a small bird like thing, struggled to flutter it's small wings to get away from the loud human.
"If you keep making messes that I get in trouble for, i'll stick ya' in a shrine for five-hundred years!"
The small youkai made a small screeching sound and flew away. It probably won't come back for awhile. But who knows, maybe it will be back tomorrow. Natsume chuckled and Tashi heard it, looking down at the people outside. Tashi blushed and shoved the window shut, yelling from inside her room.
"You saw nothing!"
"What a strange girl." Sensei purred. "Reminds me so much of Reiko. Not in looks, but in the way she acts."
As young Rei got distracted by a butterfly, Natori walked into the yard, towards Natsume, Sensei, and Hiiragi. He shoved his hands into his coat pockets. When he spoke, his breath could be seen in the cold air.
"So, what are you going to do with the last of that book?" Natori asked, pointing at the last of the Book of Friends.
"Hm..." Natsume thought for a second.
"I think i'll fix it up and put some more paper in it. Give it to Yuki as a sketchbook."
"HEY WAIT!" Sensei jumped. "You're giving it to the kid who CAN'T see youkai!?"
Natsume shot a glare at the cat. "That is not a bad thing."
"I think you should give it to Tashi! She's going to an art school, right? She can draw all the youkai she's seen in it! She'd put it to good use!" The cat hissed.
"I think Natsume is right. Yuki is different from his siblings, but that does not mean he is better or worse." Natori said.
Natsume sighed. He was lucky actually fall in love and have somebody who loved him back. He was lucky to have kids, whom were loved and adored and had not only Touko and Shigeru as grandparents, but all of Natsume's friends (whom they liked to refer to as their uncles and aunts). It was a big surprise when two of the three kids were able to see youkai, just like him and his own grandmother. However, the middle child, Yuki, could not. Yuki looked almost like a clone of a younger Natsume, ignoring the fact that he has an extremely light blonde hair color.
"Still!" Sensei huffed.
"You know, something smells good." Natori sniffed the air. "What's for dinner?"
Natsume shot the older man a look. "Wouldn't you like to know. Nobody invited you for dinner."
"Aww, Natsume. Short tempered as ever."
"I was joking!"
"PAPA! PAPA! MAMA SAYS DINNER IS READY!"
Natsume smiled as he saw Yuki in the doorway, waving and calling out.
"Coming!" Natsume replied.
"Mama maid extras and said Uncle Natori can stay if he'd like!" Yuki giggled.
"Don't mind if I do~" Natori smiled.
"Hey wait! Where's my share!? What are we having!?" Sensei called out, running after the two humans as they walked towards the house.
Notes: Rei is named after Reiko. Tashi is named after Takashi. Yuki's name resembles the word Youkai. This story was written just for fun, and to show an idea i came up with. Cute, wasn't it?