Chapter 1

The sun was slowly rising when Natsume had started heading towards his school, but the truth was that the blonde boy hadn't gotten any sleep at all. Just like some other nights, when the Youkai were keeping him too busy to let him close his eyelids, for one more time Natsume had black circles under his eyes, wondering why in the world the Youkai were so bad at reading road signs and why he was forced to lead them to wherever they wanted to be heading... not to mention of the unfinished jobs that his grandmother had left behind.

"Oh man, I'm so sleepy..."

Natsume uttered while yawning, hardly dragging his feet to his school, making his sensei grin at that sight.

"Why don't you just die already so that I can have the Book of Friends?"

The cat shouted with a devious smile, being extremely energetic, unlike the other.

"Ah, just give it a rest..."

The blonde didn't have much of a strength to go along with his protector's teasing (or at least that's what he had figured it out to be) but before he was able to entirely finish his sentence, an unexpected sight drew his attention, forcing his eyes, even for just a few milliseconds, to become wider while staring at it.

As he was passing through a certain road in order to reach his destination, a peculiar black haired man, who appeared to be extremely baffled and confused, was staring around him with great wonder (although Natsume thought, he looked more mistrustful, than enthusiastic, as if the small houses that decorated each square of the small village were meant to harm him in some way or they were wrongly standing upside down). Natsume instantly wondered if that person was a Youkai (well, he wasn't that strange, but his eyes had seen more than enough to make him quite confused at times) but eventually moved on ahead, without staring at him for another second, reckoning that whether he was a Youkai or a vicious person, it'd be best if the blonde stayed away from him.

"Excuse me."

The black haired man voiced before the other disappeared from his viewpoint, forcing the latter to emit a mental sigh and turn around to face him with caution.

"Can you tell me where the train station is?"

Natsume had just opened his mouth to respond to his initial words but the unknown man had already asked his question before the boy greeted him properly.

'Train?'

The blonde thought surprised as the train station was too far away to reach it merely by walking.

"A-ah, you'll need to use the bus with the number ..."

He accurately explained the needed information and watched as the man's expression was changing from that of a smiling carefree person (that Natsume had realized was forced) to that of an extremely puzzled and lost human being, who was slowly realizing that he was far away from home...

'He's too suspicious, but I don't think he's a Youkai.'

He thought and discreetly turned around to glance at his teacher for confirmation but the second was nowhere to be found.

'Aah, he's gone whenever he's needed...'

He tried to restrain the veins that were formed on his temples and as he quietly faced the raven haired man again, an unexpected and overwhelming shiver was sent down his spine...

The man was now looking sideways, his eyes showing nothing but emptiness, yet Natsume could sense an incredible amount of hate and pain in that individual's void orbs. They were both standing there for a while before the man finally realized that he had lost track of time because of his thoughts and eventually the pushed smile rapidly reappeared on his lips, uttering a rushed "thank you very much" and stepping rather quickly away from the blonde.

"What was that..."

Natsume voiced, as if in a daze and after a few silent seconds with him standing there and trying -unsuccessfully- to figure what had just happened, he continued walking towards his school, both his body and mind being too tired to properly process the information he had just received.

Strangely enough, Natsume's day at school went quite... smoothly, compared to other times. As if the Youkai had decided to let him enjoy at least one day as a normal teenager, he wasn't greeted by any weird creatures while answering the teacher's question (therefore he didn't confuse his words like last time) and for some reason his cat-senpai didn't show up at all in the building (Natsume thought he was enjoying it too much, transforming himself into a teenage girl and taking advantage of his poor classmates) with result the young boy feeling a bit empty while walking back home.

"Ah, thank you very much."

The blonde heard a strange but at the same time familiar voice when he passed through the road, and to his surprise, the black haired man had for one more time appeared a few feet next to him, thanking an elder man who, Natsume thought, had probably given him some more directions for the trip he wanted to make... But weren't his explanations good enough?

The man quickly passed by him, an agitating sense of hurry and anxiety in his footsteps and by almost performing a sprint, he quickly vanished from Natsume's eyes, taking a left turn to the house that lied near him and hopelessly trying to get away from that place. The blonde stayed there for a split second but before he was able to ask himself the million questions as to why that person felt so eerie, the old man who stood behind him, suddenly addressed him.

"Young boy?"

Natsume turned around in order to face the other and responded to his calling.

"Do you know that man? I'm quite certain he passed through this point at least five times now... He seems to be constantly losing his way but the directions are really simple to where he wants to go."

The old man voiced his concern with great perplexity and Natsume couldn't help but smile at that.

"I'm sorry sir, I don't know him."

He uttered apologetically and then continued his walk towards home, his previous assumption of the raven haired man not being a Youkai, being intensely re-examined in his brain.

"What are you thinking Natsumeeee? Do you think the old man can see the Youkai as well?"

"Ah, nyanko senpai!"

Natsume exclaimed surprised and grabbed his teacher by his nape.

"Why did you disappear like that earlier?"

The young boy completely disregarded the cat's words -and the fact that he was able to read him so clearly- and sniffed the too-dizzy-to-react Youkai.

"You stink of booze... And it's still the middle of the day!"

The blonde placed the cat on the ground again, being unable to cope with that smell.

"Do not return home until you're completely sober. I don't want Touko-san and Shigeru-san to worry about your uncontrolled drink problem."

"Eeeh? What are you saying Natsumeee, I'm not drunk. Look, look, I can even dance without falling!"

The cat performed a rather tragic dance motion and then fell on the ground exhausted.

"Ah, I see, I see..."

Natsume sighed bothered but picked up the cat and placed him in his embrace, his consciousness running too deep to let his teacher lie defenseless in the middle of the street.

"You're nothing but trouble."

He whispered fake words to the half-asleep cat and continued walking towards home.

...

"Ex... cuse me..."

It hadn't been more than five minutes when Natsume had finally reached his current residence and a worn out, panting voice was suddenly heard coming from some close distance.

'Is it him again?'

The blonde thought automatically and curious as he was he exited the house in order to take a look around.

Touko Fujiwara was currently hanging out the laundry and a chaste smile was spread across her face when she saw the teenager exiting the door. Natsume smiled back at her delighted (he was truly fortunate for having these people in his life) but before any of them managed to utter any words, a black haired man, who looked like he was about to sprint away from the neighborhood, mechanically supported his weight on their house's fence and suddenly fell on the ground unconscious.

Thankfully, for both of them, Touko's husband was just around the corner when this incident happened, and as he rushed towards them, he assisted Natsume to bring this stranger into their house and to help him come back to his senses.

"Oh my... He's not from around here, is he?"

Miss Touko asked worried as the man wouldn't wake up and Natsume took the initiative to report what had happened earlier.

"He must be lost... I saw him two times earlier and, both times he was asking for directions in order to get to the train station. He looked shocked when I had explained to him how far away the train station was."

"Maybe he has amnesia, and somehow ended up here... It would be best if we let him rest for now."

Shigeru Fuhiwara uttered decisively and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Ah, but we don't have enough room t- ..."

"It's okay Touko-san. He can rest in my room."

"Ah, really? You're so kind Takashi-kun..."

Touko smiled happily, but the truth was that if it wasn't for her worrying about the lack of space, Natsume wouldn't have suggested to use his room. Ever since he had obtained the Book of Friends, he had been rather cautious as to who entered his room; much more sleep in it. However, he'd do anything to not worry this gracious family that was providing a roof under his head for so long, so a pure smile was drawn on his lips as well, in response to Touko's relief.

It took them a while to settle the stranger in Natsume's room but eventually the raven haired man was lying on the young boy's futon. Touko whisperingly and with the utmost kindness advised the blonde to not make too much noise and disturb the stranger's rest and finally, the two of them were left in Natsume's room; the latter actually being too cautious to do his homework with the other present.

"Nyan, Natsum- !"

"Shush senpai...!"

Madara who had just jumped into Natsume's room from the window, had his mouth suddenly sealed by Natsume's hands, who had thankfully reacted in time before the cat awoke the stranger.

"Hm? Who's that?"

The powerful Youkai asked as soon as he was released by Natsume's grip (and after heaving a sigh for he felt like he was going to be struggled to death) and cunningly stared at the lying man while walking in circles around him.

'Who is it indeed...'

The blonde thought kind of desperately.

"He's a guest in this house, so you aren't allowed to cause him any trouble, do you understand?"

Natsume uttered in a gentler tone than usually (and that was because he had to keep his voice down) but his teacher didn't seem to be feared by his words.

"Hmmm~ is that so? And what will happen if I do thi- !"

The naughty cat who was about to step on the man's face was violently pulled upwards by the blonde and in a matter of seconds they both started arguing and trying to leave a punishment in each other's face (sure, Madara had claws, but Natsume had fists) with result their unforeseen (or more like, expected) and loud commotion to wake up the raven haired man.

"Where... "

"Ah, he woke up."

The cat instantly said when the man talked, forcing a quite unnatural sight to unfold in front of them.

"A contractor?"

The previously weak man uttered surprised and immediately raised his body and tried to remove something from his pockets but he turned out empty-handed. The bewildered look on his face forced even more anxiety to the other two and before anyone of them managed to react, the door of Natsume's room was suddenly opened and a surprised Touko looked at them worriedly.

"A-ah, you woke up! I heard sudden noises and I was worried... Are you feeling better now? You're not from around here, right?"

There was such warmth in Touko's face and honest words, that it was truly hard for the black haired man to act hostile towards her. The man bowed thankful to her, instantaneously thinking that maybe the woman wasn't aware of her son's power- in the end, it wouldn't be the first time that such a situation occurred...

"Ah, you don't need to be so formal. My name is Touko Fukiwara and this boy that helped you earlier with directions is Natsume Takashi. What's your name?"

'He's not her son...?'

"My name is Li Shunsheng. I'm an exchange student, and I'm truly sorry for the trouble I put you into."

Li bowed once more and Touko couldn't help but giggle at all this formality.

"Ah, no need, you didn't put us in any trouble."

She smiled relieved that the man was conscious (and seemed healthy) and Li was also smiling back at her, that oh-so-carefree mask he was constantly wearing when taking on the identity of the exchange student.

"Well then, I'll leave you two alone for now. Dinner is almost ready and I'm quite sure that you must be hungry."

"A-ah, there's no need to-"

"I insist! You were lost out there, weren't you? You can continue your trip later, so don't worry about it. I'll call both of you when dinner's ready."

"Thank you very much."

Touko departed with a giggle caused by Li's final bow and as soon as the door was closed, the raven haired man glared with clear monstrosity towards the blonde.

"Where did you put my weapons?"

"Eh? Weapons?"

A forceful sensation of intimidation was added to Natsume's perplexity.

"Sensei, is he a Youk-"

"No, he's not a Youkai, but he's definitely something... He doesn't smell like other humans do."

Madara hissed annoyed by this unknown feeling but Li didn't seem to even listen to what they were uttering.

"From what syndicate are you?"

"S-syndicate?"

Natsume stuttered, being more confused than ever, and for a slight moment, the raven haired man had to actually question himself whether he was making a mistake.

"Are you able to listen to Nyanko sensei? Can you see other Youkai as well?"

One question after another followed by an unexplainable (according to the stranger) glee in the blonde's eyes, which forced Li to stand silent for a few seconds, contemplating on the circumstances under which he had ended up in that place he was unable to escape from.

"Do you know what a contractor is?"

After a bit more thought in utter silence, the raven haired man finally asked determined.

"Eh? N-no- ..."

"Don't answer to him Natsume! For all we know he could be a high ranking Youkai -even higher than me- and he's probably trying to mess with your reasoning. What do you want? The Book of Friends is mine so back off!"

"Sensei!"

"...The Book of Friends?"

Li was staring at Madara in a daze, being entirely unaware of what the cat was talking about.

"If you don't know what a contractor is, then how do you explain your cat talking?"

The man had had enough with the blonde's overwhelmingly abashed face and finally asked a rather foolish, as he thought, question.

"Nyanko sensei is a Youkai! If you can hear him talking then y-"

"Shush Natsume!"

"A Youkai...?"

Li's words were spelled in undertones, as if he actually directed the question at himself, instead of the others in front of him.

"You... Is this the first time you see a Youkai?"

Natsume asked surprised, yet Li had realized that this profound happiness in the young boy's eyes was getting warmer and more intense by each second.

'Could it be that this contractor is messing with this child? What kind of fairy tales has he been feeding him? Is the woman who's staying here into this trick as well? Why would this kid be so important? Or is he just an experiment...?"

Too many assumptions rapidly passed through his mind before he answered to the other, yet the moment he opened his mouth to utter a response, Touko's voice covered his, asking for them to come downstairs since dinner had already been served.

"We're coming Touko-san!"

Natsume responded to her calling and then turned his attention towards the stranger for one last time.

"You can stay here tonight if you want! Don't worry if it's your first time seeing them... Not all Youkai are as mean and stupid as Nyanko sensei."

The blonde smiled truly warmheartedly to Li and the cat started shouting at Natsume's insults.

"Ah, but please, don't mention the Youkai to Touko-san...! Touko-san is..."

He trailed off unintentionally but continued shortly.

"Well, Touko-san and Shigeru-san are two really good people... I don't want them to disappear from my life yet."

Natsume's warm smile suddenly turned into the most melancholic expression and as he pushed another smile to his face, he signed for Li to follow him downstairs.

"We can continue after we finish dinner!"

The blonde cheerfully said and the black haired man nodded silently, quietly reckoning whether that child could be rescued, or if he was the one who actually needed rescuing; Madara's piercing glare sending shivers down his spine...

A/N: Hah, well here's something new. :] I love crossovers, so hopefully I'll manage to pull this through. A preview of the next chapter can be found on my twinss-r . tumblr . com