Summary: Iwasaki Daiki is just trying to get away from the youkai that's chasing him when he accidentally stumbles into the lives, and hearts, of the Natsume Clan. Future fic. No pairings. Natsume-becomes-an-exorcist-au. Parental Natsume.
Beautiful.
It's the first word that comes to his mind when he stumbles through the gates, and lays eyes on the sprawling traditional mansion, the gardens set ablaze with the vibrant reds and oranges of autumn.
He sits there for a second, mouth open, drinking in the view as his ragged breathing slowly returns to normal, and forgetting momentarily the reason for his panic, and his presence here.
But then, there's a dull thud, as that of a body crashing into a wall, and he turns with fright to see the youkai that had been chasing him clawing desperately at the thin air of the gateway, unable to reach him.
With a small "eep!" of startlement, he scuttles away from the gateway as fast as he can, still watching the creature warily. It looks deceptively benign, a tall gangly form in a ratty brown kimono, its face hidden behind a simple paper mask. But there's something deeply unsettling about it, something malicious, something inhuman. It's there in the way the creature's long tangles of hair fall to its shoulders, slick and black like oil, or the way it wails forlornly at him even now, still clawing at the invisible barrier that's keeping it away from its meal.
He sits there for what seems like an eternity, his heart hammering against his ribcage, and wondering how long it'll be before the creature finally gives up and he's free to return home. But before that can happen, there's the rattle of a door opening, a quiet noise of surprise, and he slowly, reluctantly turns his head away from the creature.
There, standing in the doorway behind him, is a kindly older woman. Everything about her is soft and welcoming, from the faded pink apron she wears over her dress, to the long silver hair falling in gentle waves around her shoulders, to the expression of mild concern in her warm brown eyes.
"Oh my!" she gasps, hurrying toward him with all the grace and energy of a woman half her age. "Are you alright, young man?" she asks as she kneels beside him, hands fretting worriedly around him as if she has no idea what to do with them. She reaches out to brush shaggy black locks out of his face, turning his chin this way and that as if checking for bruises.
"I-I'm fine!" he finally manages to stutter, and he can't help but dart a quick glance at the youkai still hovering in the gateway – it's gone strangely silent, it's arms still raised as if it had frozen in the act of clawing at the air, looking for a way in. He turns back to the woman, and sees her staring where he had been just moments ago, her eyes glancing over the youkai as if it weren't even there. "I-I'm sorry for coming in without permission, Natsume-san…"
The woman next to him startles, her eyes immediately flying back to him, and he hopes desperately that he had remembered the name properly. He's passed this mansion on his way to and from his junior high every day for the past two months since he'd moved in with his aunt and uncle, but he's never really paid much heed to it, or to the nameplate that hangs on the wall near the gate.
But she doesn't look offended as she smiles softly up at him and gets back to her feet.
"There's no need to apologize, my dear," she says, reaching out to pat him gently on the head. Then, with a delighted laugh, "You look like you've been wrestling in mud all day!"
Looking down, he notices for the first time the mud stains all over his pant legs and on his t-shirt, and his face immediately flushes with shame.
"Oh, no, dear, don't be embarrassed!" the woman hurries to assure him, and her smile turns fond as she continues that, "My son used to be just the same, even in high school! Always coming home with his uniform all dirty or tattered! Why don't you come inside for a nice hot cup of tea, hm? That should fix you right up! And you can call your parents to let them know you'll be home a bit late!"
He hesitates a moment, not wanting to impose, but the woman is looking at him so earnestly, so genuinely kind, and he finds he doesn't want to turn her down.
He nods quietly, and follows her into the mansion, not giving the youkai at the gate another glance.
"I'm sorry to intrude," he says quietly, voice just barely above a whisper, as he takes his shoes off in the foyer and dons a pair of comically large slippers.
He follows the woman down the brightly lit hallway, trying not to be too nosy but unable to help peering into all the open doorways they pass. The inside of the mansion looks nothing like he'd expected it to – from the soft, welcoming appearance of the woman that had welcomed him inside, he'd expected it to be more homey, more comfortable.
But there's an air of disuse about the place – the halls are too neat, too impersonal.
She seems to notice him staring, and laughs lightly.
"This particular house hasn't seen much use yet, so I'm afraid it's a bit bare," she says, voice apologetic. "There's a cleaning staff that comes in every day, and some of our clan members stay here whenever they're in town or just passing through but that only happens maybe once or twice a month."
"You don't live here, Natsume-san?" he asks, tilting his head curiously to the side, and again, the woman seems strangely startled at the sound of her own name.
"I don't," she answers after a short moment. "I arrived here just yesterday. My son, Takashi, hopes to move his work headquarters to this town, and he needed someone to come and assess the state of the house beforehand. Since he and the rest of the clan are so busy getting ready for the move back home, I offered to do it for him."
They arrive at the kitchen then, and it's warm and bright, and entirely different from the rest of the large, lonely mansion. The woman bids him to sit at the table, and immediately starts bustling around the kitchen, putting the kettle on the stove and searching through the cupboards for snacks.
It's after a few moments of comfortable silence that she finally speaks again.
"Natsume is my son's name," she tells him, smiling at him over her shoulder as she finally finds what she must have been looking for. "My name is Fujiwara Touko."
"Oh!" he gasps, feeling suddenly embarrassed. "I'm sorry for assuming, Fujiwara-san!"
"It's quite alright!" she says lightly, waving his apologies aside. "No harm done! Although…I don't believe you've introduced yourself yet, young man."
Feeling his embarrassment increase, he jumps immediately out of his chair to bow politely to her.
"My name is Iwasaki Daiki! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
After that first meeting, Daiki goes back to have tea with Fujiwara-san three more times in the week before she returns to her hometown, and not only because it seems like youkai are unable to pass the gates of the strange old mansion.
Fujiwara-san is cheerful and welcoming, such a stark difference to the stony silence he receives at his aunt and uncle's home.
(And sometimes, when he's sitting in class and his mind is wandering from whatever his teacher is droning on about, he finds himself wondering idly what it would be like to be a part of her family, with the son she's so proud of, and the stoic but gentle husband, and the funny, ugly little cat. It would be warmer, and there'd be more laughter and hugs, he's sure about that. And because this is his imagination and he can think whatever he wants, he imagines that they would even believe him about seeing youkai, that they would still love him and would help protect him.)
They sit together in the garden, drinking tea and viewing the beautiful autumn foliage.
She talks about her husband and her son, and about the rest of her clan as well, and Daiki can tell that she misses them.
He tells her about himself too, mostly stories of what precious little he remembers of his parents before they'd passed away. He doesn't talk much about his aunt and uncle, because Fujiwara-san is kind, and he doesn't want her to worry about him.
(She still does. She looks at him with sad eyes when she thinks he can't see, and though he doesn't know it, she recognizes something in him. She recognizes his body language, the way he seems to curl in on himself as if to take up as little room as possible, the way he finds it difficult to hold eye contact, the way he flinches from touch. And she thinks back to her son, to the little lost spirit that had stolen her heart all those years ago and never gave it back. And she hurts. She hurts for Takashi, and she hurts for Daiki. And she wonders how anyone could be so cruel.)
After she leaves, Daiki still stops by the old mansion sometimes.
The cleaning staff, who all recognize him by now, don't turn him away. They're friendly and welcoming, inviting him inside and serving him tea. Daiki secretly suspects that Fujiwara-san had told them to look after him while she was away. He kind of absolutely loves her for it, and thinks that if he had had a grandmother, he'd hope she'd be like Fujiwara-san.
And as the days pass, and the time slowly approaches for Fujiwara-san and her family to move in, he finds his anticipation slowly growing.
He wonders if Takashi-san will be as kind as his mother.
He wonders if there will be any kids his age to befriend.
He wonders if he'll be allowed to keep visiting the mansion once they all move in.
He wonders a lot of things, and in the end, none of it turns out how he'd been expecting.
SkyGem: And that's it for the prologue! I know it's a bit of a slow start, but I really do hope you guys like it! Please leave a review and let me know what you thought!
P.S. In case anyone was wondering, the title is from Billy Talent's The Dead Can't Testify.
"So to those who don't fit society's mold, learn to swim or your will drown."