Hi guys! Oh my gosh I was not expecting such a reaction, thank you so much! Five reviews, five favorites, and ten follows for just the first installment? Not bad at all!

SkyHana and amerine905: Thank you so much; since it looks like people like the chapter preview I will definitely continue to do it!

Zundial: Thank you! I also really love the relationship between Natsume and the Fujiwaras, any time the manga has a chapter about it I die a little from the feels.

A sincere thank you to Sincerely the Sign Painter and milkachocolate for leaving such sweet reviews!

So anyway, on to chapter 2!

I don't own Natsume Yuujinchou.

Chapter 2: A Bother

Natsume thought it was just a cold, so he didn't bother the Fujiwaras with it. It wasn't just a cold.

A little over a month and a half into living with Touko and Shigeru-san, Natsume realized he was feeling a bit under the weather. He couldn't exactly pinpoint when he actually started feeling ill, but he knew that the headaches and chills had been persistent for at least a week. But it was still winter, and it wasn't unusual for him to have a sinus headache around the beginning of spring.

He was now reasonably sure that he had a cold. He could pass off the runny, stuffy nose off as allergies, and even the sore throat could be attributed to the cold, dry weather. But the fatigue was different from the usual tired feeling that nearly always plagued him. It left him with a bone-deep exhaustion and an inability to stay alert that—with everything else—left him feeling fairly miserable.

And at the moment he really wasn't feeling up to being chased through Yatsuhara by an angry ayakashi. This one was large (but weren't they always?) and hairy with a paper mask over its face, growling nonsensically about some book and "Natsume Reiko". How this monster knew his grandmother or what he wanted with her book, he didn't know and at the moment didn't care.

He needed to get away before he fell down.

He trampled through the undergrowth, gasping for breath and hoping against hope to find a shrine or something. Anything.

For once luck was on his side and he collapsed within the grounds of the shrine, earning old looks from a group of teenagers from a different school. They were probably there to pray before an exam.

He'd found a popular shrine. Joy.

There was probably a god around somewhere in that case. He'd leave as soon as he knew it was safe.

By the time he'd made it back to the Fujiwaras' home, it was nearly dark. Shigeru-san's car was parked in the drive. Touko-san was probably worried.

"I'm home!" he called, toeing of his shoes in the entranceway and moving to pop his head into the kitchen where Touko-san usually was. The door to the living room slid open behind him and he turned, coming face to face with Touko-san's worried face.

"Takashi-kun! Welcome home. Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry Touko-san. I tried to take a shortcut home and ended up getting lost. I didn't mean to worry you." He answered contritely.

"Oh . . . well perhaps we should get you a phone. So you can call if you'll be home late."

Natsume shook his head quickly, eyes widening. "That's really not necessary. I'll make sure to be home on time." It still surprised him how easily the Fujiwaras spent money on him. They'd insisted on buying him new clothes when he'd moved in with them, seeing he didn't have anything nearly warm enough for the time of year. At least not clothing that still fit him. They'd taken that opportunity to buy him an entirely new wardrobe.

"Well you'll need these things in a few months anyway," Touko had said as she held up a green short-sleeved tee shirt with buttons at the collar.

She'd seemed to be having fun picking things out for him, so he'd kept quiet. From the amused look on Shigeru-san's face, Touko-san did this often.

They'd also apparently purchased all of the furniture in his room new, saying that the room had been mostly empty and what had been in there wasn't fit for decent living.

His other relatives, while never purposely cruel, had never made an effort to be kind either.

"Takashi-kun, are you feeling alright?" Touko-san's voice was concerned again.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"You just look a bit flushed. It's the weather I suppose. I'll run you a bath so you can warm up, I don't want you getting sick. Its flu season you know!"

The Fujiwaras were very kind, and Natsume would not let himself be any more of a burden to them than he already was.

"Thank you Touko-san." He called as she bustled past him up the stairs to run the bath.

Despite Touko-san's best efforts, he woke the next morning feeling terrible.

He assured Touko-san that he was fine, but from the way she flicked concerned eyes over his pale frame he knew she didn't really believe him. Shigeru-san suggested that he stay home after taking a single look at him.

They allowed him to go against their better judgment, with the excuse that he simply hadn't gotten enough sleep the previous night.

He felt even guiltier as Touko-san picked him up in the school infirmary half-way through the day. He fallen asleep at his desk and they'd had a hard time waking him. He'd felt dizzy and short of breath for the entire day, and he'd regretted not just taking Shigeru-san up on his offer to stay home.

The school nurse had taken his temperature. He had a 39.7 degree fever.

Touko-san had taken a taxi to get to the school, not wanting to make her sick child walk. The drive was silent and Natsume was having trouble staying awake. He was freezing and yet his face felt hot.

He didn't even realize he'd been tucked against Touko-san's side until he was being pulled away from her and laid on something soft.

He slept and slept and when he woke again he was bundled up in a hospital bed on the emergency ward.

"—bad guardian, Shigeru-san! . . . let his fever get so high . . ." That was Touko-san's voice, low so that she wouldn't wake him.

"You're not Touko. Takashi-kun is used to dealing with these things on his own. I am a bit worried that he let it get this bad though." That was Shigeru, speaking only a hairs-width louder.

"I'm sorry. I worried you." His voice was weak and heavy with sleep.

"Takashi-kun! Don't worry about that now, how are you feeling?"

Touko sat beside him on the bed and smoothed his hair gently.

"You aren't angry?"

"Oh, we are." Shigeru-san grumbled. "But we were more worried."

"I'm really sorry. You've done so much for me; I didn't want to bother you with this. But I've just made things worse."

"Takashi," Shigeru's voice was serious. ". . . be a bother."

"What Shigeru-san is trying to say—" Touko-san spoke up.

"I'm saying that we're going to worry about you. But that doesn't mean you should give us a legitimate reason too. If you're feeling unwell, tell us." The rebuke was gruff, but Natsume knew what Shigeru really meant.

You aren't a bother.

You aren't a burden.

Not to us.

So that's it for chapter two. I don't like it as much as chapter one, I thought it was a bit choppy. But tell me what you thought!

I hope all of the characters are in character, I find Shigeru harder to write than Natsume or Touko because he isn't focused on as much in the anime or manga.

Also, Natsume did not intentionally let himself get that sick. He just didn't want to bother the Fujiwaras, and he started feeling a lot worse at school. He had the flu, as you probably gathered, and by the time they reached the hospital his fever was up to around a 103 degree fever in Fahrenheit. Not quite dangerously high, but if it had gone up anymore it would have been.

From this point on I will be taking requests! So if you have something you'd like to see, tell me! Just a heads-up, I won't write romance because I'd like to keep it canon-compliant. Plus Natsume doesn't seem very interested in a relationship in the anime or the manga.

I have a few ideas for the next chapter, so I thought I'd leave it up to you guys.

The Fujiwaras plan a family vacation, and it takes Natsume an embarrassingly long time to realize that he is included in that "Family".

Natsume knew he shouldn't have trusted Natori-san when he said he just wanted to "hang out".

The little Kitsune called him "nii-san" only once, and looked mortified afterwards, but Natsume doesn't think he really minds.

Madara did not snuggle. But the stupid brat looked like he was going to freeze to death.

So vote for one!

Until next time!