I.

Fire – everything was on fire from his burning lungs to his aching legs but he couldn't stop – Natsume Takashi couldn't stop.

Not unless he wanted to die.

"Where is she…? Where did she go…?! That wretched woman!" From somewhere behind him, Natsume could hear the deep, throaty rasp of… whatever youkai was chasing him echo throughout the brightly-lit forest he was currently being chased in.

… It was funny, really; how the world seemed to be so airy and cheerful while here he was, running for his life, utterly terrified.

"Give it back to me…! I want it back!"

"-it'd have to be at a beach house!"

"Yeah? I'd bet you'd meet some cute girls there!"

"You think so-"

Bursting out of the nearby foliage, Natsume felt his foot snag on the exposed root of a nearby tree and he was sent sprawling forward, landing before two happily chattering teens with a loud gasp of pain.

"-Woah!"

"What the- Natsume? What are you doing?"

Breath coming out in heaving pants, Natsume looked up at the two teens he had stumbled in front of and said, "Wh-What am I doing…?" His eyes suddenly widened as he whipped his head back towards the trees and bushes that he had tumbled out from.

After a few moments of looking around, the dusty-blond haired teen stood with a shaky smile. "N-Nothing… it's nothing."

The other two teens shared a look with one another.

"Nothing?" The shorter teen parroted with a disbelieving expression. "But, you're covered in dirt and stuff and it looks like you just ran a marathon… Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Natsume replied as he tried to brush off the dirt and leaves that had accumulated on his clothing. "… Say, I know this is a bit sudden but, do either of you know if there's a shrine around here?"

"Huh? 'A shrine'…?"

The taller teen nodded his head and pointed further down the path. "I think there's an old one at the bottom of this hill, but it's abandoned and no one goes there anymore..."

"That's fine!" Natsume quickly reassured. "I'm… interested in places like that so…," he trailed off when a – unfortunately – familiar ghostly wail sounded just beyond the nearby foliage, though, thankfully, only he was able to hear the scream. "I-I'll see you guys later, okay?! Bye!"

"Huh? H-Hey, Natsume! Where are you going?!"

But Natsume had already fled down the dirt path.

"…Who the heck was that, Kitamoto?"

"Ah… I forgot you weren't at school when he transferred, Nishimura," Kitamoto replied with a shrug. "His name's Natsume Takashi and he just transferred here not too long ago although he doesn't talk to others that much…"

"Maybe's he's just nervous about transferring to a new school in the middle of year."

"Maybe," Kitamoto acquiesced, "but his twin brother's in my class and that guy's a lot more talkative than Natsume."

"Really? What's his name?"

"Natsume Hinata."

.

.

.

II.

'What am I doing, huh…?' Natsume thought to himself as he ignored the stinging pain of running through branches and bushes adorned with thorns. 'If only they could see what was chasing me…'

A hurried glance over his shoulder and the blond saw a towering, one-eyed youkai with long, stringy white hair and purple-gray skin emerge above the tops of the surrounding trees.

"Stop!" The youkai screamed out in its' raspy voice – the thought of whether or not this particular youkai was male or female briefly flitted through Natsume's brain and he simultaneously applauded and bemoaned himself for his ablility to seemingly being able to worry about inconsequential things like gender when he was ninety-nine percent sure that this One-Eyed youkai was trying to kill him.

Whipping his head back around, Natsume desperately tried not to think about what the One-Eyed youkai would do it him if it managed to catch up.

'There…!' Amber-colored eyes alighted at the sight of the shrine's entrance and the teen felt a sliver of hope begin to bubble up within his chest. 'If I can just make it pass the threshold of the shrine then the youkai won't be able to follow me and I'd finally be safe and-'

That bubble was promptly popped when Natsume was suddenly – and painfully – pinned to the trunk of a nearby tree far too quickly for any human to have been able to react to.

"I caught you… I finally caught you!" The youkai stared unblinkingly at Natsume with its single eye. "Give back what you took from me, Natsume Reiko!"

Confusion – along with pain and a distinct lack of oxygen – crashed into the pinned human when the strange youkai spoke that name.

'Natsume R-Reiko…? Isn't that…?'

"Hurry up, Reiko!" The One-Eyed youkai urged, pressing Natsume harder against the tree. "Return it now! Right now! NOW!"

"Hold a moment," a new voice said as Natsume blearily realized that there was a second youkai – this one with long dark hair and large ears – standing off to the side. "We can't have her saying your name so carelessly… it'd be best if we rip out her tongue that way she can't say it."

A bolt of fear and adrenaline raced up the blonds' spine as he realized that the larger of the two youkai apparently did not have an issue with doing something like that as it lifted him towards its face with a sickening grin.

"L-L… Let go of me!" Natsume managed to yell through gritted teeth as he swung a leg out and – somehow – managed to kick the larger youkai in the eye.

The youkai yowled in pain and let go of the teen in order to grasp at its injury. "OW! THAT HURT!"

"Y-You Idiot!" The second youkai yelled as it lunged forward in an attempt to re-capture Natsume. "You let the human escape!"

Natsume would later deny feeling any sort of regret and guilt at attacking the One-Eyed youkai like that; it – after all – was the one that started attacking him.

"It was self-defense," as his brother would say.

.

.

.

III.

Any relief and elation Natsume felt at finally making it onto the shrine's grounds evaporated when he carelessly tripped over a binding-rope and subsequently released whatever youkai had been sealed away.

Even in his short lifetime, Natsume knew that the youkai that were sealed away were almost always more dangerous and blood-thirsty than the ones freely roaming Japan. That's why they were sealed away in the first place!

"Finally." A deep, rumbling voice spoke, emanating from within the miniature, wooden shrine. "After all these years… the barrier has been broken!"

Cold sweat beaded on Natsume's hairline as he futilely attempted to re-tie the broken rope in a naïve bid to somehow re-seal whatever youkai was going to appear. And – going by how the very Earth itself was shaking as a wave a sheer power exploded from the shrine – whatever youkai was going to appear was going to be very powerful and very dangerous and very big and-

The doors to the wooden shrine slammed open revealing the source of the tremendous power and it was… a statue of a lucky cat.

Natsume blinked once.

Twice.

Was he mistaken or…?

The large black eyes of the lucky cat statue stared back at him and the teen couldn't help but let out a laugh at the disappointing – and wow, was he really so used to everything that such a lack-luster appearance actually disappointed him? – appearance of the youkai he had accidentally released.

A sudden second explosion of power later – which not only destroyed the shrine but also sent Natsume tumbling backwards – saw the teen laying flat on his back with the lucky cat… statue(?) peering down imperiously at him.

"How dare you not tremble in fear at the mere sight of me, Human!" Instead of the deep and powerful voice from moments ago, the lucky cat… statue had a completely different voice – one that sounded suspiciously like the crotchety old man that used to live a few house down from his house when he was younger…

Seconds turned to minutes as human and youkai simply stared at each other.

"… Speak," the lucky cat… youkai(?) commanded with narrowed eyes.

Natsume started at the order and haltingly said, "…I'm… I'm used to it."

The… youkai turned its head with a huff. "Insolent child… wait a moment," the youkai took a few steps closer towards Natsume, "aren't you… Reiko? What happened to you, Reiko? It seems you got a lot weaker since we've been apart. And you cut your hair. What? Get tired of all those weak humans and youkai grabbing hold of it?"

"Ah…," Natsume blinked, absentmindedly bringing up a hand to brush his hair at the youkai's comment. "I'm sorry to say that I'm not Natsume Reiko. Natsume Reiko was my grandmother."

"Oh? So you're her grandchild then? I see… well, upon closer inspection, I suppose that you do look like a boy…"

"You don't have to look twice at me to notice that…"

"Hmph… unlike you humans, we youkai don't concern ourselves with trivial matters like gender."

"Really now…," an image of the One-Eyed youkai flashed in Natsume's mind before he shook his head. "Anyway… you mentioned my grandmother? Did you know her?"

"Unfortunately, yes," the youkai said with a sigh. "She lived nearby and even from a young age she was quite beautiful and strong – physically and spiritually. And, like you, she could see spirits and youkai although the humans around her could not. There was not a soul in this area that could understand her or what she went through… She lived alone and she probably died alone as well."

Natsume turned his attention towards the sky at the seemingly solemn tone that the youkai's voice took.

'Alone…'

"… Just like you will, Human."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, Youkai."

A shadow fell over the cat-like youkai.

The whistle of wind as a bat was swung down and-

A blast of wind later, the youkai was nowhere to be seen.

"… Tch… it got away, huh…?"

"Hinata…" Natsume turned his head and spotted the form of his younger, fraternal twin brother.

Hair the color of silver fell messily around a thin face with lightly tanned skin and eyes the color of moonlight regarded Natsume from behind a pair of stylish, black glasses with worry and concern as lips marred with a single, vertical scar settled into a frown.

Resting a baseball bat covered in sutras and charms on one shoulder, Hinata leaned forward and extended a hand. "Takashi! Are you okay?!"

Smiling gently at his worried younger brother, Natsume took the offered hand and pulled himself up and off the grass. "I'm fine, Hinata, just some scrapes and bruises, that's all."

"Are you sure, Takashi? Let me know now if you've got, like, a sprained ankle or a broken bone! I'll totally carry you back if I need to!"

Smile widening in response, Natsume reached up and placed a hand on his brother's head, ruffling the silver locks. "I'm fine, Hinata. I promise."

Hinata stared into his brother's amber-colored eyes, his own silver-colored ones looking for any signs of discomfort or good-natured deceit – because Natsume was someone who would never want to impose on others, no matter if that other person was own twin brother – and nodded. "Okay… if you say so, Takashi…"

Tilting his head back to peer upwards, Natsume said, "We should hurry back before Touko-san starts to wonder where we are."

.

.

.

IV.

"Welcome back, Takashi-kun! Hinata-kun!" Fujiwara Touko smiled warmly from where she was taking down the laundry at the two brothers once they had made it back to the Fujiwara household.

"We're back," Natsume replied, returning Touko's smile with one of his own.

"Y-Yeah…" Hinata mumbled from his spot besides his twin, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

The older woman let out a gasp as her eyes settled on the dirt and grass-stained covered form of Natsume. "Oh my! Look at your clothes, Takashi-kun! They're filthy! Did something happen? Are you alright? Don't tell me you're being bullied or the like…!"

"A-Ah… actually-"

"-Yeah, some people from out of town were picking on him but I chased them away!"

"H-Hinata!"

Touko let out another gasp and moved towards the twins in order to fret over the blond. "Oh my goodness! Are you hurt anywhere, Takashi?! Maybe I need to take you to the hospital…! Or the police! Should I call the police and let them know you were attacked?"

"N-No!" Natsume yelled, cheeks reddening from the onslaught of worry and love that Touko seemed to exude whenever it came to either of the brothers. "I-It's alright, Touko-san! I was just exploring the nearby forest and accidentally fell down a hill! Hinata was just joking about me being attacked, weren't you Hinata?!" Here, Natsume shot a sharp, reprimanding look at his younger brother.

"... But…," the silver-haired teen began, "… doesn't it just sound cooler when you tell everyone you got those scrapes and bruises from defending yourself against someone? Hahaha!"

"Oh! Please don't make me worry like that, Hinata-kun!"

"Sorry, Fujiwara Touko-san!" Hinata said with a sheepish grin, resting his baseball bat against a shoulder.

Touko let out a good-natured sigh before ushering both teens towards the house. "There's nothing wrong with making a little mischief, but don't take it too far, Hinata-kun!"

"Yes, Fujiwara Touko-san!"

"Mou… and how many times do I have to tell you, call me 'Touko-san', Hinata-kun!"

"My bad, Fujiwara Touko-san!"

"Geez… well, you can make it up to me by going upstairs and changing out of those dirty clothes! Then you both can enjoy the yokan that I made!"

"Thank you very much, Touko-san." Natsume said with a smile. "Hinata and I will do just that."

.

.

.

V.

"Hinata! You can't just tell Touko-san that I was being 'attacked' so suddenly like that!" Natsume began to lecture once he and Hinata had made it up the flight of steps to the second story of the Fujiwara home.

"Why not?" Hinata asked with a shrug. "She wanted to know how you got so dirty and I told her what happened."

"I don't want to make her worry about me like that!"

With an eye-roll, Hinata retorted, "She would have worried about you regardless of whether I or not I said anything. Do you want her to be continuously worried about you and your so-called 'clumsiness' or do you want her to worry about a one-time incident of you being 'attacked' by some strangers?"

"I don't want to worry her at all, Hinata!"

"Well, with your track record of attracting youkai like flies to honey, she's gonna be worried about you every day, you know."

"I… that's…"

"And I know how much you don't like causing unnecessary pain but if you don't fight back more, you're just gonna keep on getting hurt you know."

While the Hinata didn't explicitly say or worse, the implication still hung in the air and caused Natsume to rub his arm nervously.

"I…"

Hinata regarded his older brother for a moment before sighing loudly. "… Fine," he said, running a hand through his silver hair. "We'll go with your usual excuse of you being clumsy and your inability to walk two feet without tripping over something."

"H-Hinata!" Natsume cried, cheeks tinged a slight pink.

The bespectacled teen threw his head back with a laugh and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Kidding, kidding! I'm just teasing you, Takashi! But seriously…, I can tell that you want to stay here as long as possible, don't you?"

Natsume looked away. "The Fujiwaras have been nothing but kind to us, Hinata," he murmured. "And this is the longest that we've ever stayed together in the same house."

"That's true, it's just… don't get your hopes up, Takashi… Eventually, the Fujiwaras will get tired of having an 'accident-prone' teen like you and a 'delinquent' teen like me living here and then we'll get shipped off to another relatives' home and the cycle will begin anew for us…"

"Hinata… I… have a feeling that this place will become special to us."

Hinata glanced at his older brother for a moment before stepping away. "… If you say so, Takashi…" He quickly turned on his heel and began walking down the hall. "Well, I'm gonna go get changed now that way I can try some of Fujiwara Touko-san's yokan."

"… Make sure to save me some too, Hinata," Natsume called after his retreating twin.

"No promises, Takashi~"

.

.

.

VI.

'Well, one good thing about living with the Fujiwaras is that they actually give us food unlike some relatives…'

Hinata let out a cheerful hum as he unwrapped a plate piled high with the jellied yokan sweets that the female half of the Fujiwaras had prepared. She had even left out a small dish of honey knowing fully-well that the younger of the Natsume twins had an undeniable sweet tooth.

He popped the smallest piece of yokan into his mouth and let out a sigh of bliss. "Mmm~… Fujiwara Touko-san is by far the best person we've ever stayed with in terms of sheer cooking prowess!"

'I should bring the rest of these with me to help me study… too bad, Takashi~ When it comes to sugary sweets, its first-come-first-serve in my eyes~'

Chuckling softly, the silver-haired teen was just about to leave the kitchen – plate of yokan in one hand and the dish of honey in the other – when a terrified shout followed by a loud (and painfully-sounding) THUD resonated from the second floor of the house.

A scant few minutes after leaving his brother, and ignoring the subsequent crash of the two plates hitting the ground as he dropped them in order to slam the sliding door that sequestered the kitchen from the rest of the house open, Hinata was racing back upstairs – taking the stairs two at a time – and bursting into Natsume's second-floor bedroom with a cry of, "TAKASHI?! WHAT HAPPENED?! ARE YOU OKAY?!"

Natsume tilted his head at the sudden appearance of his younger twin. "A-Ah… sorry for shouting, Hinata. The Lucky Cat youkai from earlier surprised me that's all."

"WHAT?!" Hinata roared, surging into the room and looking around with hurried movements. "Where is it?! I swear if it hurt you, Takashi, I'll-"

"It's fine, Hinata," Natsume said, placing a hand on his twin's shoulder. "That youkai is currently… stuck and won't be moving anytime soon."

Hinata looked at Natsume with confusion coloring his features. "Hah? What do you mean by that?"

Raising an arm, the blond merely pointed at his closet door in response.

The silver-haired teen followed his brother's arm towards the closet… and promptly burst out laughing at the rather comical sight of the round and chubby youkai stuck half-way through the paper screen door that led into Natsume's closet.

"Pfft… AHAHAHAHA!"

"R-Release me this instant, Human!" The youkai cried – its voice muffled by the rest of the door, as it futilely attempted to dislodge itself by waving its stumpy legs around. "Wait! Give me the Book of Friends! No, no, no, no, first I command you to get me out of here-"

"-HAHAHAHAHAHA-"

"-then give me the Book of Friends! Let me out! Let me out! A-And cease that incessant laughter, Human!"

"-AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

.

.

.

VII.

"Here, eat this and get out," Natsume said tersely as he placed a plate with a few slices of watermelon before the Lucky Cat youkai.

"H-How dare you treat the Great and Powerful me as nothing more than a stray cat!"

"Well," Hinata began from his spot where he was sitting cross-legged and fixing the large hole that the youkai had created, "you should be grateful that Takashi's feeding you anything at all, Youkai. If it were up to me, I'd have kicked you out of here without a second thought."

"Ha! I'd like to see a weak human like you try to do that to me!"

"Is that a challenge, Youkai?"

"It's only a challenge if someone like you was even remotely close to the level of power and might that I possess!"

"Alright, that's it you little-!"

"Hinata, calm down." Natsume's quiet reprimand froze the rising-from-his-spot teen and Hinata sat back down with a huff.

"… You're lucky my brother doesn't like conflict, Youkai…," the silver-haired teen grumbled.

"Hinata," Natsume said – his voice full of warning.

"Alright, alright. I'll let this drop for now."

Natsume turned and shot a displeased look at the Lucky Cat youkai and said, "And you, hurry up and eat that and leave. I don't want youkai hanging around here, Nyanko."

"Wh-Who are you calling, 'Nyanko', Human?!" The youkai spluttered, pointing an indignant paw at the blond.

Hinata shook his head with a bark of laughter. "Ha! A name like that suits an unimpressive youkai like you, Nyanko! Or would you rather be called Pig-Cat?!"

"You two Humans better start treating me with the respect I deserve or else I'll be forced to show you my true form!"

"Is it a bigger and fatter form of you now, Nyanko?"

"I-I'll have you know that this lucky cat body is not my true form!" The Lucky Cat youkai said with a toss of its head. "My true form is strong and powerful and exceedingly elegant!"

"Heh~ So you're saying you're not a cat?"

"Don't make me repeat myself unnecessarily, Human!"

In response, Hinata stuck his head into his brother's closet, rummaged around for a few moments, and popped back out with a piece of string. He then began dangling it a few inches above the youkai who began pawing and chasing after with abandon.

"… And you say you're not a cat, Nyanko."

The youkai froze and immediately turned away from the smirking bespectacled teen. "N-N-No! M-My body is simply accustomed to this form th-that's all!"

Before Hinata could open his mouth and begin to tease the Lucky Cat Youkai once more, Natsume interjected with, "That's enough, Hinata. Here," the amber-eyed teen pushed that plate of watermelon towards the sulking youkai. "Just eat this and get out of here. We don't want any more trouble."

"No, I refuse," was the youkai's immediate – and vehement – response.

Natsume blinked at the finality coloring the youkai's voice while Hinata let out an exasperated sigh and placed his arm behind his body, shifting his weight so that he was leaning slightly.

"See, this is why I don't like youkai! You do them a favor or two and treat them nicely and they still are ungrateful, stubborn little things that won't leave you alone no matter what!"

"Hmph! Don't group me together with common, weak-willed youkai! The reason why I refuse to leave is because my honor and pride won't let me do so without properly repaying the Golden Human."

"… 'Golden Human'…?" Natsume repeated, sharing a look with his twin.

"Of course," the youkai justified, pointing a paw at Natsume. "Since I obviously don't know your names, I've decided that you are now the Golden Human while the other human is now Idiot Human!"

"Hey! I'm no 'idiot'! And the name's Natsume Hinata! " Hinata protested.

"You could have fooled me."

"Why you little-!"

"Okay, enough. Please." Natsume spoke with a pleading expression. Once his twin and the Lucky Cat Youkai had settled back down, he continued with, "Sorry for not introducing myself earlier, my name is Natsume Takashi and you said you that you wanted to 'repay' me? For what exactly?"

"You successfully removed the barrier that was sealing me away for so long," the youkai began, "I've spent years trying to gather enough power to do so myself yet you were able to break the seal so easily."

"I-It was nothing…"

"I must repay you for releasing me from my seal and must protect you since you have the Book of Friends. From today onwards, you may call me Sensei."

"Book of Friends?" Natsume parroted.

"Protect him?! Why would he need a youkai's protection?!" Hinata exclaimed.

Letting out a sigh, the Lucky Cat Youkai jumped into an open wicker-weaved box sitting in the corner of Natsume's room. "Before I revealed myself to the Golden Human, I watched you go through the contents of this box."

Natsume nodded. "Yeah, I felt like going through the things that our parents and grandparents left Hinata and me."

"And in doing so, you uncovered a certain book, correct?"

"You mean this one?" Natsume held up a hand, revealing a book with a weathered, green cover.

"Yes, that one."

Hinata crawled towards his older twin, swiped the book from Natsume's hand, and began leafing through it. "Huh? There's nothing but scribbles and lines in here! Why would Takashi need you to protect him and a book full of nothing?"

"You wouldn't understand, Idiot Human, seeing as how your spiritual power is nowhere near as powerful as your brothers' or Natsume Reiko."

"… That's… our grandmother's name. How on Earth does a youkai like you know her name?"

"Apparently, this particular youkai knew our grandmother, Hinata." Natsume said, taking the book back from his twin.

The youkai nodded its head. "That's right. I became acquainted with your grandmother when she lived in this area. Like the two of you, she could see youkai like myself and was shunned by the people that used to live here. When she grew bored, which was quite often, she would travel and challenge various youkai to a variety of tasks. If she won – which she did most of the time – she would have then transcribe their true name into that book which then bound that particular youkai to her as her servant. That book is a collection of all the youkai that Reiko has ever defeated in her lifetime."

"Really?" Natsume peered down at the book with slight skepticism. "But there must be hundreds of names in here…"

Hinata grinned. "Grandmother sounds like my kind of person! What better way to cure boredom than a good battle!"

"It is said," the youkai continued, "that if a youkai's name is called from that book, that it is impossible for them disobey the person or youkai that summoned them meaning that the owner of that book can control everything that a youkai does."

The twins shared another look at the severity of the youkai's words.

"… That," Hinata crossed his arms with a pensive expression, "that sounds like nothing more than slavery to me, not being able to live your life free of chains and restrictions…"

"It's quite a heavy and dangerous burden for a mere human to bear."

Natsume peered down at the book once more. "I see… so that's why you want the book, Nyanko-sensei."

"… Wait, if you want the book so badly… does that mean that your name is in there, Nyanko?"

The youkai turned its head with a laugh. "Ha! Don't be ridiculous! I'd never be defeat by the likes of Natsume Reiko!"

"But you were sealed away when I first met you, Nyanko-sensei," Natsume pointed out causing the Lucky Cat Youkai to deflate.

"Th-That was… there were many complex reason as to why I was seal away like that… b-but! Now's not the time to be talking about that! The Book of Friends can be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands and many of the youkai whose names are in there don't know that Natsume Reiko passed away and will be searching for her – meaning you – in order to get their names back by any means necessary!" The youkai leveled a hard stare on Natsume. "You are in danger."

"He won't be." Hinata interjected strongly, determinedly. "I will protect my brother from all youkai that want to harm him."

Natsume stared at his twin with a touched look in his eye. "Hinata…"

"Your human concern is cute and all, but can you honestly say that you'll be able to protect him every day for the rest of your lives?"

The silver-haired teen held his head high. "Of course! If anything, I'll take that stupid book and keep it with me that way the youkai come after me instead! I'm better at defending myself, after all!'

"… That could work," the youkai acquiesced with a nod.

"See," Hinata said with a victorious grin. "Problem solved!"

"However, in the end, it wouldn't matter."

"Huh? Why not?!"

"If I 'looked' at your brother with my spiritual awareness alone, I'd believe that it was Natsume Reiko sitting before me and not Natsume Takashi."

"So?! Why does something like that matter?!"

"It matters," the youkai began, "because in terms of spiritual power between the two of you, your brother is the only one capable of using the Book of Friends."

"Huh?! A-Are you calling me weak, Youkai?! I'll have you know that I'm capable of defeating any youkai that tries to harm me or my brother!"

"But you require that bat of yours to do so, correct?"

At the youkai's flippant tone, Hinata flinched and averted his gaze. "Th-That's…"

"The baseball bat you had at our first meeting was actually made by Natsume Reiko as a way to help channel the massive amounts of spiritual energy she exuded on a daily basis," the youkai revealed. "If her handmade sutras are still active even after her death so many decades ago, can you imagine how powerful they were when she was still alive? I'll admit that your spiritual awareness is stronger than most humans, however, when compared to your brothers' and others with stronger spiritual powers, you are nothing but a weakling to them."

"Wh-Wha…!? I-I am not weak!"

"When you were looking through the Book of Friends earlier, you saw nothing but 'scribbles' and 'lines', did you not?"

"Y-Yeah…," Hinata admitted. "S-So what?"

"The fact that you aren't able to read the names of even the weakest youkai in the book means that you aren't that strong in the end."

With a soundless snarl and clenched fists, the bespectacled teen stood. "I-I… I don't have to sit here and listen to your lies, Youkai! I know I'm strong enough to protect my brother so you can take your lying, ungrateful ass and leave!"

"I refuse."

"I… wh- Takashi are you-?! ARGH!" Throwing his hands up with a scream, Hinata stormed out of Natsume's room.

"H-Hinata!" Natsume called out, ready to chase after his younger twin.

"Don't." The single word uttered in that familiar deep and powerful voice had the blond teen freezing in place. "Let him come to terms with the truth."

"… Please don't ever call Hinata, 'weak' again, Nyanko-sensei," Natsume murmured quietly. "He is not weak."

"I'm just telling him the hard truth, Natsume. Better for him to realize his own inabilities now rather than later on in life."

.

.

.

VIII.

"UGH! That greedy, selfish, stupid, ungrateful, dumb, definitely not-cute ball-of-fur youkai doesn't know what it's talking about!" Hinata ranted loudly, digging his hands into his hair as he angrily paced up and down the street where the Fujiwara household was located. "I'm strong! I'm plenty strong! Strong enough to keep Takashi out of serious trouble our entire lives and strong enough to hold onto that stupid book that way Takashi can live a 'normal' life!"

He stopped abruptly as the youkai's words from earlier rang in his head, and the bespectacled teen let out a strangled scream of frustration and resumed his hurried pacing.

"ARGH! I'll show that stupid youkai! I can 'protect' that dumb book! It'll see! That no-good, unappreciative, ignorant, brainless, ugly, fat-"

"AHHHH!"

Hinata stilled as a shrill cry pierced the summer air – a cry that was all-too familiar to the silver-haired teen.

'Shitshitshitshitshit! Shit! What was I thinking leaving Takashi alone like that with a youkai of all things?! How could I forget how dangerous youkai are even if they look non-threatening?! If that 'Nyanko' put so much as a scratch on Takashi I'll…! I'll!'

"Takashi!"

Bursting into his brother's room once more, Hinata's gaze immediately went to the open window. He crossed the length of the room in five strides and saw a flash of long, dark hair disappear into the forest surrounding the Fujiwara house.

"TAKASHI!"

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IX.

"-the Book of Friends, don't you?"

"But of course. With that kind of power at my disposal, I could control this area!"

"Weak youkai like you can only dream about obtaining that kind of power."

"My… don't be like that, Madara. You're just like me, aren't you? You want the power to control all the youkai whose names are in that book!"

"Don't lump me together with scum like you-"

"Oi! Long Hair! Pig-Cat!"

The two youkai turned in unison to see a rumpled, panting, and incensed-looking Hinata standing at the edge of the tree line, with a deep scowl on his face and a sutra-covered baseball bat in hand.

"Where the hell is my brother?! What did you do to him!?"

The Long-Haired youkai lifted his nose with a sneer. "My companion should be dealing with Reiko right about now… A pity though, I really wanted to rip out that rude tongue of hers and-"

With a soundless snarl, the teen lunged forward. Clutching his baseball with both hands, Hinata planted a foot in the grassy clearing and twisted his body, swung his arm up and outwards and drove the end of the bat into the Long-Haired youkai's face – sending the youkai off-balance and to the ground. The teen adjusted his grip and raised the bat above his head before swinging it down and-

"Y-You impertinent Human!" With a shout, the Long-Haired youkai swung its arm out, sending a gale of wind at the bespectacled teen.

Hinata grunted lowly and brought his arms close to his face, his eyes shutting, as the blast of air pushed his body backwards.

"I'm going to kill you, Human!"

The teen felt an ice-cold and clawed hand clamp down on the crown of his head and he was thrown to the ground. Slightly dazed, and with the wind knocked out of him, Hinata blearily watched as the Long-Haired youkai swatted the sutra-covered baseball bat out of the teen's hand before wrapping both freezing hands around Hinata's throat.

Fear, panic, and a distinct lack of oxygen had Hinata snapping out of his stupor and he began clawing at the youkai's hands.

'C-Can't br-breathe!'

The youkai leaned forward with a disturbing smirk on its face, its long, dark hair falling over its shoulders and pooling forward like a curtain. "I'm going to kill you and then I'm going to kill Natsume Reiko and take the Book of Friends from her! Ahahaha!"

Dark spots danced in the corners of Hinata's vision and the teen felt his muscles of his body growing weak from the lack of oxygen.

'H-Have t-to… get… won't l-let T-Takashi…'

"Hmph… this is why you are weak, Natsume Hinata."

Sweet oxygen began flooding Hinata's lungs once more as a giant paw easily knocked the Long-Haired youkai off the bespectacled teen and he watched the one-sided battle take place. Watched at how futile the Long-Haired youkai's attacks were against (Was that really the same Pig-Cat that had gotten stuck in Takashi's closet door?) the powerful white-furred youkai (So, did that mean that the Pig-Cat was supposed to be a giant wolf or something?) who snatched the Long-Haired youkai out of the air with its mouth – its jaw slamming shut with a sickening crunch!

Something raced up Hinata's spine at the casual sight of the Long-Haired youkai's… death? Disembodiment? (A dark mist had leaked out of the space between Nyanko's[?] teeth and had shot off into the forest.)

"Wh-Wha… N-Nyanko…?" Hinata managed to croak out as he stared at the white-beast crouched just feet away.

"I told you that my previous form didn't capture my natural beauty and elegance, Hinata."

With some difficulty, the teen moved his body into a sitting position and he rubbed his raw neck gingerly. "Wh-Where… Where's Takashi?"

.

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X.

I'm lonely…

So lonely…

And hungry… the humans stopped leaving offerings for me so long ago…

What can I do…? I'm so hungry…

"Y-You greedy Human! You ate the sweet bun that was left for me!"

"Eh… you're not missing out on anything. The ones at Nanatsujiya are way better."

"Nanatsujiya?"

"Oh, I know! If you beat me in a duel, I'll buy you one. How does that sound?"

"Wait… you… can see me…?"

"Of course I can! Who else would I be talking to?"

"But… aren't you scared of me?"

"Nope~ Not one bit! I'm strong, you see, so nothing really scares me. Are you ready? Here I come!"

THWACK!

Ow! That hurt…

"Yes! Another win for me! Now, if you could just write your name here!"

"Th-That wasn't fair… I wasn't ready…"

"Too bad~ A win's a win!"

"… Fine… here you go…"

"… 'Hishigaki'…? That's a very pretty name! My name is Natsume Reiko."

"… Natsume… Reiko…"

"Hm? What are you looking at?"

"Your face… human faces aren't supposed to be so many colors… right…?"

Reiko smiled – it was empty. "Ah… some boys were throwing rocks at me while I was walking home… Most humans don't like me, see? Since I can see youkai and they can't, they think I'm a freak and liar…"

"Aren't you lonely?"

"Mmm… not really, no. I've gotten used to it by now… Anyway! Thanks for giving me your name, Hishigaki! Since you're my servant now, you have to come when I call you, alright?"

"A-Alright…!"

"Okay! See you later, Hishigaki!"

.

.

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Reiko.

Spring turned to summer.

Reiko.

Summer turned to autumn.

When will she call me?

Autumn turned to winter.

Reiko.

Winter turned to spring.

Reiko.

It rained.

Why won't you call me?

It snowed.

I… I'm lonely.

So much more lonely than before!

Give it back! Give my name back! I waited for so long, but you've never called it!

Natsume Reiko… return my name to me!

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XI.

Amber eyes snapped open.

"Hishigaki…," Natsume Takashi murmured softly as he watched the One-Eyed youkai – no, as he watched Hishigaki slowly drift away.

"Reiko… is this really okay?

"I'm sorry, Hishigaki… I'm not Reiko. I'm one of her grandsons, Natsume Takashi"

"Oh… Will you be alright by yourself?"

"T-TAKASHI!"

At the worried shout of his younger twin, Natsume felt a smile blossom on his lips. "I'll be alright, Hishigaki. After all, I'm not alone and I'm sure my grandmother wasn't alone. She had you and everyone else in this book of hers."

Hishigaki closed her eye with a pleased smile. "… Good… I'm happy…!"

"Goodbye, Hishigaki. My grandmother's kindhearted friend."

.

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XII.

"Takashi! What the hell was that?!"

"Hinata… I just returned Hishigaki's name to her."

"What?! That's a thing?! Y-You can actually do that?!"

"A-Apparently…" The blond's eyes drooped slightly and he began swaying to the side.

"T-Takashi? Are you- TAKASHI?!" Hinata darted forward and managed to hook his arms underneath his twins' just as Natsume pitched towards the left. "T-TAKASHI?! WHAT'S WRONG?!"

"Don't yell so loudly, Idiot Human. Your screeching is hurting my ears."

"P-Pig-Cat! What's wrong with my brother?! Is he dying?!"

"D-Don't call me 'Pig-Cat', Idiot Human! My name is 'Nyank'- NO! It's 'Madara'!"

"NYANKO!"

"AHH! I said don't yell so loudly, Idiot! My ears are very sensitive…" Nyanko – once again in his Lucky Cat form – sauntered towards the bespectacled teen. "… It's fine," the youkai began once giving the unconscious Natsume a sniff and once-over, "your brother is just spiritually exhausted from returning Hishigaki's name."

"Will he be okay, though?!"

"Don't worry so much, Natsume will be just fine with some rest."

Hinata closed his eyes with a sigh of relief. "Good…"

"… And don't even think about taking the Book of Friends from Natsume and returning names in his stead."

"Wh-What?! H-How did- N-No! I wasn't…!"

"Hmph! You're a hundred years too young to be trying to fool someone as great and powerful as me, Idiot."

Embarrassment colored the features of Hinata, and the teen turned his head with a huff. "B-But if I can return names then Takashi won't-"

"If you return names, you will die, Hinata."

Hinata felt his heartbeat increase and his breath shortened as a wave of power crashed into him – it was only sheer determination that kept the teen from dropping Natsume and collapsing to his knees.

"Wh… Why…?" Hinata gasped.

"… Like I keep on saying, you are weak when compared to your twin, Hinata. The only reason why Natsume is unconscious is because his spiritual power is massive but he doesn't know how to control it. If you were to try and return even one name, the amount of spiritual energy required and the stress it would put on your body would kill you."

Hinata opening his mouth to speak back and-

"Trust me on this, Hinata and think about Natsume. Do you really think he'd want you to die over something like this?"

-he promptly shut his mouth with an audible clink.

For a few minutes, neither conscious human nor youkai said a word.

"I…," Hinata began, breaking the silence, "… I'll get stronger. Strong enough to be able to return names one day and strong enough to be able to keep Takashi away from all this youkai business!"

Nyanko stared unblinkingly at the silver-haired teen. "We shall see."

I actually tried getting into the Natsume Yuujinchou manga back when I was in high school but the art style and premise of the first chapter didn't catch my interest and I never even got half-way through the first chapter.

However, I just recently started watching the anime and I'm surprised that I didn't like the series back then when I absolutely love the series now.

This fanfic will follow the anime over the manga.

As always, tell me what you all thought via PM or Review!