Natori Shuuichi is one of my favourite characters in NY. Since this is my favourite chapter, I can tell that you can guess why… hahaha… on to the chapter! Happy reading! ^_^

Chapter 7

Hiiragi sat quietly on a high branch with one leg dangled below her. The breeze was nice and it blew her kimono lightly in a gentle comfort. She was diligently eyeing her surrounding when suddenly she gasped in surprised. What had just happened? Did she just yawn? But, she had just yawned three times in 4 minutes ago. And that had made it 4 now, a yawn in a minute. In truth, she was horrified with that fact.

It is not like anyone would see that she was yawning under that mask. She could just yawn, or smirk or stick out her tongue in front of her master and still get away with it. But, yawning meant she was falling asleep on duty and that she could not accept.

It was not her fault though. Her master was the one who assigned her that task and she had diligently carried out the duty for almost four weeks now. But, why that task? Urihime and Sasago were instructed to eye the target's move while she was to stay at least three miles away from them and to bring any message received from them straight to his master. The target hadn't made any move however, and there's scarcely any message at all from those two.

Thinking about that saddened her a little. Why hadn't her master given her a more difficult task like Urihime and Sasago? Why did he instruct her to do some boring activities like wait and deliver messages? Finding the egg two weeks before really did break the routine for awhile, but why did her master had not asked her to follow him around? It's true that he could just call her once and she would be by his side in a whim, but the fact that he hadn't, troubled her a lot. Had he no trust in her? Does he not need her anymore?

Hiiragi violently shook her head to shake off both her thoughts and sleep. She was a mountain guardian once, and a youkai who was later chosen to serve the respectful house of Natori. It would be disgraceful to be troubled by those weak thoughts. And, the most important thing, even sleep would not defeat her.

She leapt away from the branch and landed on another two trees away. From afar, about two miles away, she could see a school of crows soaring away in fear. She stood up with thick amount of curiosity. And while she stood eyeing and frowning at the abnormal incident, a swift movement leapt towards her. She easily caught it with her hand and the object started to burn into a white thin paper doll. A hasty scribble was written on it in red ink.

"This is…?"

.

The young man who stood by the lake was clad gallantly in Shinsengumi outfit. His long strawberry blond hair was tied behind him like a pony tail. A white piece of cloth was also tied around his head like a head band, and both his hair and the white ribbon fluttered in the wind behind him.

His eyes were steered straight right off over the calm waters, and far in the distance, not acknowledging the small person who stood behind him. It was a girl in a sweet pink kimono who was there looking rather expectantly at him. She had with her a richly embroidered silk haori on top of her shoulders which further emphasized her status. Far away, the cries of the bird were heard, the only sound available between both of them. In that maddening silence, a tear began to fall from her beautiful eyes.

"So, you are leaving," she said, half-bitting her lips in efforts of not letting any suspicious noise to spew forth.

"Tomorrow, before dawn," he said not looking back.

"And I won't be seeing you again afterwards," she continued rather wistfully.

"And, even on the day after." She knew what was it that he tried to imply. Being a woman, that alone made her shrewd. He, at that very moment, was saying his goodbye to her. Tears endlessly slobbered down her rosy cheeks to the thoughts. No, she shouldn't be crying! What would he be thinking? But, he wasn't looking, was he? And this feeling that flooded her heart was too much for her to bear. That was why, she thought that it was alright, to cry just a little. "Until the dispute between them is over, until the war ends, if this body is still breathing, only then will I return." With that he turned around catching the girl off guard.

"O-himesama?" the young officer gasped withholding the beauty's tears. His beguiling eyes widened in surprise as if crying was a taboo for a noble like her.

"No, don't apologize. It was my fault that the tears come out." She quickly swept all the tears away with her sleeves.

"But…"

"Please… say nothing more. Stay where you are, how you are, with that same warm smiles of yours, it would suffice me… It would have sufficed me." She thought that the tears would be gone the moment he discovered it. She thought that while looking into his eyes, she would no longer feel like crying. But, the time when she uttered the last words, she felt like everything had crumbled down, that her voice really faltered with sobs, that even she repeated it twice, things will remained just the same.

"O-himesama..." It was really at that moment Hiiragi hopped in and knelt very close at Natori's side. He remained standing in front of the crying girl like nothing happened. There, before the three of them, the cameras were still rolling and all the crew who was with lights and everything were very much holding their breath till the scene was over. It was not like they would see Hiiragi, anyway, nor would the camera caught her in the film.

"Master, it seemed like they had made their move," she said as the other girl uttered her script. The actress' words were no more like a heedless whisper to him as compared to what his shiki had to say. After all, he had all the dialogues memorized in his head. "And, it is reported that they had the entire cage of shikis heading this way." Hearing the news, Natori's breath was caught in his lung. But, being a talented and a skilled actor, the shock was not even shown. He continued to look sadly at his co-star in front of him, as if all that she had said was all received and stuck in his heart. Despite of the bad situation they were in, nothing betrayed his expression.

He advanced towards the crying actress in a slow pace, ignoring Hiiragi, who was still kneeling on the ground. Once he stood towering above her, he bent down at the princess's level, and touched her chin with his fingers. In spite of the tears, a dark tint of red started to spread across her cheeks like wildfire.

"Princess, I say to you that you are beautiful, in the valley of our hills there are flowers fair and bright, and women fairer still, but neither flower nor woman have I seen till now so lovely and as beautiful as you. Nay, princess, you are not nothingness, but you are the queen of the stars who surpasses every glittering gem on earth and in deep oceans. Your light would simply guide me everywhere, either in a starless night or in the dark paths of death. That is why, my only smile should not have sufficed the celestial existence such as you. My princess, I'm here offering you my loyalty, my love, my hope and my soul." After that much was said, he kissed her on the lips. Since, they were filming a T-rated story, it was just an innocent peck and nothing more and as he pulled away, a shy look hovered across his co-star's face. Then, Natori began to smile.

"Kimura-san, I guess I had missed a few lines just now," he said looking over at the flabbergasted director.

"Wh..What? Where?"

"Right before he's supposed to kiss her. I should say something like, you are just beautiful beyond any word could tell."

"Well, you should just ignore it, if need to. The scene was awesome just now and you ruin it!" It's true, he had spoken straight to the director before the epic CUT scream was said. He laughed innocently as the director began to pull out his hair on the folded chair far away. Hmph, even the writer of this story could guess that Natori purposely did that!

"Well, Kimura-san. I guess I had something important to attend to right now. Would you let me leave early?" he finally said after all the ruckus was over.

"Wh..Whu..What?" But, Natori was already running across the field, away from the entire crew, with Hiiragi behind him.

"Have you received other reports from the others?" he asked her while running.

"That was the last one I get."

"Is that so?" Natori did not seem all too surprised but Hiiragi noticed the grave look on her master's face.

"Then, what are we to do now, Master."

"Proceed with our main goal." The grave look did not cease, in fact it hardened with determination. Hiiragi, in truth, felt a little uneasy with it. "What is it, Hiiragi?" he asked noticing the other's sudden silence "Anything more that bothers you?" Hiiragi seemed reluctant to convey to his master what was there in her mind. But, Hiiragi, being Hiiragi she said it to him anyway.

"I was wondering. You could have stopped acting immediately back then, at the set, but you continued until you kiss the girl."

"Why? Did you sound jealous, Hiiragi?" Natori made a naughty glimpse her way and a smirk almost dangled at his lips.

"Master, you know that I am not." came the usual emotionless reply. And the scary-looking mask she wore, being a mask, it remained the same. Natori could not help but smile.

"Maybe I just couldn't resist it, the pretty lines before that scene," he said almost laughing. Indeed, and he couldn't resist it all too well laughing quietly at Hiiragi then. Despite the unchangeable tone she used, if he removed that mask, would he see her red face?

"Then, shall I pass any message to the others, Master?"

"No. You don't need to. They were already dead."

.

Everyone's neck was snapped towards the door as it burst opened revealing a person in black kimono and grey hakama. The light blue eye-catchy haori covered his shoulders to his knees while the sleeves were flashily trimmed with white mountain stripes. A sword set was visible at his sash. What in the world?

"What's this? A samurai? No, a shinsengumi?" Natsume's classmates murmured. Natsume almost did not recognize the man who stood there if it weren't for the voice and the eyes that glance at him the moment he appeared. Indeed, he had seen him two weeks ago, but he came back to him this time, a changed man. Well, come on, he was wearing a wig, even Sasada who was less naive than Natsume couldn't tell for sure.

"Forgive me, Sensei, for bothering your important lesson like this." He moved towards Koyomi-Sensei with all his dazzling smiles on his face. His enticing pair of tasuki at his chest and the long beautiful blonde curls behind him danced along with his enchanting gait. "I'm Natori Shuichi and I'm here to meet an important friend," he declared and the entire class was in huge commotion as the girls were all screaming and cheering with happiness. Natsume made an annoyed expression at his seat, he endlessly wondered why the man was there.

"Well, may I see my friend, Sensei?"

"Of course you may, osamurai-sama!" the teacher said with a red admiring face. It was clear that even Koyomi-sensei was bewitched by his charm. "Who is it that you want to meet?" Natsume was horrified. He believed that he would simply kill himself if Natori uttered his name right then, in front of the class. Sasada and the others would haunt him forever for this!

"Natsume Takashi." The shinsengumi turned towards Natsume and made his way towards the boy's place. Natsume was unable to move, he stayed rooted at his seat, gripping the handle of his school bag in one hand.

"I'm sorry, Natsume-kun, but we really have to go," the actor said as casual as he always did, a smile beaming on his lips. Before Natsume could respond, Natori quickly grabbed Natsume's small form leaving the boy dangling in one arm, opened the classroom window and jumped out. For the people in the classroom, it took a while to register what had just happened. Only Tanuma alone could see some swift blurs passing across the room.

.

They landed safely on the ground after a huge paper doll caught them as they fell. Natori wasted not a single second after the impact and continued running with Natsume still dangling in his arm like a sack.

"Natori-san, what are you doing?" Natsume asked still in shock.

"Taking you away," came the simple reply.

"But, we just jumped from the third floor. How am I supposed to explain that to them?"

"We will think about that later. Right now, they will be thinking that a popular actor had just eloped with a local school boy." Eloped? But, isn't this more like being kidnapped? Natsume turned as he heard some commotion behind. What he saw was three big youkai flying and hopping their way.

"Uwah!" Natsume screamed. Of course, for the life of him, he would.

"Are they closed?" Natori asked between short breaths. Natsume was unable to speak with overwhelming fear, he nodded nonetheless. "Okay, just hang on."

Natori jumped up and Natsume gasped with the sudden jolt. The exorcist elegantly reached the top of the fence and immediately threw Natsume down. Natsume fell and landed comfortably right onto the passenger seat of a silver convertible BMW M3. The engine was already running. Natori-san, he dared leaving a cool car like this by the street near the school fence with the engine running? Up on the fence, Natori was still standing facing the incoming youkai. His hands were clasped together as if he was in a shrine praying, and secretly whispered a spell. He shot the three flying youkais a smirk before jumping down into the open-air vehicle below.

"Fasten the seat belt, Natsume-kun," he said as he got into the first gear. The three youkai screamed and dived down like an eagle making for a kill. Yet, before they could reach over the fence, three huge paper dolls shot upwards catching the youkais and instantly crumpling themselves into a ball. The eerie shriek of the youkais was the last thing Natsume heard before they sped away.

"Natsume-kun, are you okay back there?" Natori began to speak again after they had made it through some distance away from the school.

"I…"

"My head hurts!" An annoying voice suddenly appeared cutting Natsume's word. "Oh, so it was your doing, lizard man!"

"Sensei?" Nyanko's head popped up from Natsume's bag.

"So, you are in there cat. No wonder it was very heavy just now. " Natori said glancing at the cat while he drove.

"Hmph, really, what's up with the getup? You look exactly like one of those idiots in the past." That irritates the hell out of him. Really, how old is the cat? Natori thought. Meanwhile, Natsume sat quietly behind, with his eyes gawking on Natori's feet on the gas pedal. He knew that the actor had just flee from the movie set and came right to him not wasting any time to change his clothes. Well, look! He was even wearing straw slippers. Natsume wondered did Natori have the same feeling he had when he saw him in that feminine Houzokimaru outfit.

"Whatever, cat. At least you are here, for the first time I felt a little relief." Natori said with a sigh.

"Always as shady as ever. Hey, lizard man, you have been lurking around too much in this area and had been bumping onto Natsume many times saying it was a coincidence. Now, this! It's about time to tell, what your real intention is." There was a long pause between the two youths and the cat. Then, Natori began to sigh.

"The youkais which were chasing after us just now, were the shikis from the house of Matoba. Looks like he had figure out for sure something about you." Natsume shuddered listening to the man's name. That was the man he met three months ago in a somewhat abandoned-looking mansion in the woods and he admitted to have bad dreams about it ever since. Unlike Natori, the air that the black haired exorcist had around him was just plain creepy. He was also the one who hurt Nyanko-sensei with his arrow and Sensei suffered after that for days.

"Something about me?" Natsume said very softly as if speaking to himself.

"Yes, something about you and the book you are having." The news came down on him like bricks. He hoped that it was something else that came out from Natori's mouth, that his ears had been playing tricks on him, that he was right then dreaming and everything would go back to usual when he woke up. Yet, he knew all of that was just a wishful-thinking.

"He knows about the Book of Friends and he wants it?" Natsume said gripping the handle of his school bag tighter than before. Instantly, the faces of many youkais whose name he had returned flashed across his mind. "I can't let him have it!"

"That's why I'm taking you away, Natsume-kun."

"And, Natori-san, you knew about this too? How did you figure…" Before Natsume could finish what he was saying another huge youkai slammed down onto their car. The car swerved dangerously towards the other lane barely knocking into a truck. The hawk-like youkai raised its claw towards Natsume and before it could lay a hand on him the huge ayakashi was sliced in two. Hiiragi stood high on top of the bleeding youkai with her long sword drawn, the smear of crimson liquid on its blade. She kicked the creature and it fell off from the car.

"Hiiragi, you're late."

"My apologies master."

"What about the situation?"

"All Matoba's shiki were seen in every place related to Natsume, including his home," she reported in her usual emotionless tone.

"There are at Tohko-san's place too?" Natsume was blanched listening to that fact. He was indeed horrified. If something bad happened to them, he… he would…

"As long as Natsume weren't there, The Fujiwara won't get involved. We need to take him to some other place," Natori continued.

"What about master's place."

"No, it will be too obvious. Besides, the association will get involved if he were taken there. Then, there will be too much things to deal with." Hiiragi saw the frown her master made from the mirror. "Ah, think Natori, the time is running out!" Natori said aloud, urging himself.

"Master, what if we take Natsume to the secret meeting place?"

"You mean the training ground?" Natori thought for himself for a second before he began to smile. "Hiiragi, what a brilliant idea, that's the place the least expected and a perfect fortress. Then, would you help us clear the route, Hiiragi?"

"Understood, master." In a blink of an eye, she disappeared.

"Everyone, hang on tight." The car made a sudden sharp turn at a corner and every passenger at the back were screaming their voice out.

A terribly terribly looong chapter but I terribly terribly enjoyed writing it! ^_^ After reading, can you please review, for me? I need to know if there's any improvement I should make. You can ask questions too so that things won't be left uncleared in my next chapter.