This one's a little long, but I like it. Couldn't decide on the ending and I might change it, but for now, here is the next chapter and hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 4: Confrontation

The youkai in the area were trying to get inside the house. They crashed into barrier after barrier. Matoba pictured the blood smeared on the floor.

Is your blood really so powerful, Takashi-kun? He asked himself. The youkai are throwing themselves at you just for a taste…

"Clean up the mess on the floor," he told a nearby servant. "And hurry. I would like to enter."

"Hai," replied the servant of the Matoba clan.

"Seiji," came a woman's voice from behind him. Matoba turned around to face her. "Are you sure we need the boy for this?" asked Nanase.

"Yes, and believe me, our work will become much easier once he joins us," he replied, staring at the door, behind which lay Natsume.

"How can you be so sure?" Her eyes almost blank, yet something sparked in them. Curiosity perhaps.

"He will. I just need a little more time with him." he shot a smile back at Nanase.

"You know your status can only protect you so much," her voice became grave. "If you don't have a plan for the law, I'm afraid the clan will not be able to help you."

Matoba smirked. "I have a plan."

"And what is that exactly?" Her proud eyes stared at him.

"Matoba-sama," said the servant exiting the room, "It is ready for you sir."

"I'm afraid we'll have to finish our conversation at a later time, Nanase." He smiled and slipped through the door.

"Hmph," she breathed.

"Takashi-kun."

Natsume opened his eyes, though he did not want to. The thought of sleep was comforting, but the thought of sleep while being watched was another feeling entirely. There he was, his dark figure hovering over him.

"Have you come to your senses yet?"

Natsume's head began to clear and he could see better. But he didn't answer.

"You see, normally I wouldn't like to rush you, but there is something very important that must be handled sooner rather than later. Something I need your help with." Matoba stared eagerly for his answer.

Natsume hung his head low. "Matoba," he said quietly. There was something different in his voice, something new. Matoba looked at the boy to find that he was now staring him in the eye without wavering. Natsume resumed speaking with Matoba's full attention. "You are a cruel man. One who sees things that he wants, and digs his claws into them. You are trying to dig your claws into me, and maybe a year ago I would have let you. But my skin is stronger now, and my heart is wiser. I can see those who have claws and those who are like me. At one point I tried to shut everyone out, claws or not. And then I tried letting everything in, but that didn't work either. I think I have found the balance now, of letting the good in and keeping the bad out. And I find the strength to do this through the ones I love, and the ones who love me in return. You said you were my only friend, Matoba, but that was a lie, and you knew it. It seems that you are the one without friends. You are the one who must kidnap and hurt in order to keep people close to you. I have the strength of many people, people who stand behind me and are crying for my absence. You barely have the strength of half."

Matoba's lip twitched. Never had he felt so unsettled in his life, so speechless, so out of control. His hands clenched, his teeth clenched, lips shut tightly as he tried to open them to speak, to say something clever that would contradict the boy, that would make that light in his eyes disappear. But his mouth wouldn't open. His heart began beating faster, Natsume just sat there without even the slightest hint of fear. He sat there with his hands above his head, blood surely drained from them, arms surely numb, but still looked at him with strength, with pity even. Matoba had never felt this way in his life, and he realized that he also felt embarrassed. Like his pride had been threatened. He couldn't just stand there like an idiot. Trying to make up his mind, he flew forward and slapped Natsume's cheek. He gave a small yelp as the palm stung his face, but turned back to Matoba with the same look.

Matoba wasn't satisfied; the small cry hadn't been enough. He slapped the boy again, harder. This time he merely grunted quietly, and this only succeeded in angering Matoba further. He grabbed Natsume's bloody collar and pulled him up, causing his arms to bend behind him backwards and the boy let out another cry. His face now twisted in pain. The anger wasn't fading, and Matoba pulled him up higher, and this time he cried out louder, his cry turning into moans that seemed to feed him but not satisfy, and he pulled once more, eliciting a cracking sound.

Natsume shrieked this time, yelling at the pain of his at least dislocated shoulders. And Matoba still wasn't happy. Why wasn't it working? He looked down at the boy's contorted body, chest pushed out to relieve the stress on his arms which were pulled almost straight back by the rope. Matoba let go and Natsume fell to the floor, landing harshly. The boy breathed heavily with his mouth open wide, struggling to take in enough air. His eyes stared out past the floor in shock of the burning in his shoulders.

Matoba shook, but words finally found him. "This is real life, boy. This is what it feels like. Those without 'claws', perish, and those without wants gain nothing. You yourself have these 'claws', but are so irritatingly adverse to using them. I will teach you. Your ideas of strength are weak-minded, and they are what allowed me to catch you in the first place. Relying on that drunken cat of yours to save you, and here you are. I was not lying. You have no friends, Natsume. Do you know why?"

Natsume looked up painfully at him, still breathing deeply.

"Because I have sent a youkai to your home. It has probably finished it's job by now."

Natsume's eyes grew. "Wha... what... did you do?" His voice steadily getting louder. "Wh-what job?"

Matoba was finally able to smile again. "I didn't kill them. I didn't do anything to them in fact. It was that youkai."

"What did you do!" he shouted, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

"I told you. I did nothing. That youkai, though. It likes to eat humans' hearts."

Natsume face heated into a deep anger, intensified by his overwhelming distress. "To... Touko-san..." he whispered, "Shi..."

Matoba leaned forward. "Where are your friends now, Takashi-kun?"

Natsume's head snapped up. and he pulled out towards him, another loud crack as his shoulders were pulled. He shouted and fell back, struggling pitifully, brows sagging further, and he began to wail. He gasped sharply, moaning, and then gasped sharply again.

Matoba stared at him with a small grin, nothing in his eyes as they had been before. As they should be. He turned. "You will learn," he whispered half-heartedly, thinking that if he spoke it out loud, his confidence might convince him he was correct. And he left. He closed the door to Natsume's sobs. Standing in the hall he began to feel unsteady again. Matoba would never kill a human, not directly by his orders at least. But the boy had believed him. He believed his surrogate parents were dead. He felt unsure of himself for the first time. No, he wasn't wrong, not about this, not about anything. He walked away from the screams that might have been pleasing to him, had he not felt such an disturbed feeling in the pit of his stomach.