A/N: So I confess that I adore Matoba as a character (who doesn't?). This does not mean I like him as a person. I have no intention of making him woobie, because Matoba is a great foil for Natsume, and to do otherwise would be to do his character a disservice. Matoba is dangerously ruthless, at times insensitive (especially where spirits are concerned), yet there is somehow something oddly noble about him and his motivations. In this chapter, Matoba finally appears... kinda. For a character that I really adore (I love every arc where he appears in canon), I have a really hard time getting him to appear. Matoba, when are you coming? Don't keep me waiting so!


Traps and Mazes (Matoba Arc: Part 4/6)

Just as spirits are different from humans, it could be said, perhaps, that the exorcists themselves are yet another breed apart. Not human like the rest, but not spirits either. In ancient times, they were regarded with fear and anger by spirits and humans alike. Perhaps this is why they hate spirits so. Only when spirits are fully eradicated will they be able to fade back into the rest of humanity. No longer different—no longer feared.


Within the first twenty minutes, Natsume feels hopelessly, helplessly lost.

"Where do we go now?" he asks.

"We are heading for the central building. It is where Matoba is most likely to keep powerful spirits," Fujii-san says. He moves quickly, and Natsume works to keep up. A task that is easy in his spirit form is taxing in his human one. With the available power halved, the work involved in maintaining his human form and keeping up with a taller man is for once draining.

It has been a long time since Natsume has felt tired.

Natsume can sense Matoba-san's power even in the miasma of shields and powerful seals, none of which are designed to comfort spirits. To any spirit, the Matoba residence is a cold, cruel place. Looking at the tension in the men surrounding him, Natsume wonders if it is the same for humans too.

"He's up ahead," Natsume says quietly.

Immediately the other three stop.

"You can sense him?" Fujii-san whispers, but it is not truly a question.

"Not in the immediate rooms in front of us," Natsume says. "But close."

"Then we'll circle him and move on," Nakamura-san says. "Shall we take the Chrysanthemum route?"

"We will have to."

To the left of them, Nakamura-san opens the sliding doors to an empty hallway, lined with closed sliding screens.

Again they move quickly, but Matoba-san's presence does not stray from the spot, and the group, despite their attempt to avoid Matoba-san, moves inexorably closer.

Finally, they can go no further.

"It would be in your best interests to cooperate."

"Nothing that would compromise my god could possibly be in my best interests, human."

"Hino—"

Fujii-san's hand clamps over Natsume's right shoulder, silencing him. The other two gather closer. Natsume looks up, into Fujii-san's mask. He cannot see the man's expression, but he can feel the various threads of worry whirling chaotically in Fujii-san's psyche. Worries about the mission, worries about Onizuka Kiyoshi and how failure may affect him, worries about Natsume.

Worries about controlling Natsume.

It is not as ominous as it sounds. Natsume knows and understands Fujii-san's worry. Spirits are not known for being reasonable. Their reactions are considered unpredictable, oftentimes explosive. And Natsume is a god, with supposedly more explosive power than any ordinary spirit.

But Natsume is a god who had once been human. He can, he will control the fury that he senses bubbling inside him.

"I grow impatient, spirit. I am not a patient man. You would do well not to anger me."

"Hahaha, you've gone into the wrong field, human, if patience is what you lack."

Matoba-san says something, a mutter of a word that Natsume does not understand, but the words fill him with dread.

Hinoe screams.

Natsume wants to cry, to scream with her. He wants to rush through the sliding doors and stop Matoba from continuing the spell. But that is the side of him that is human.

The other side of him grows in burning fury. A human, a mere, puling, miserable human, has taken his follower, is hurting his servant, has stolen her from him. It needs to be punished, the human. Destroyed completely, until all humans know and understand that to cross a god, to cross him, is futile.

If Natsume had been one or the other, he would have given in. Instead he is both, and so he commits to neither impulse. He waits, waits while Matoba-san tortures Hinoe.

Because he is both god and human, he understands that it is the only way to save her.

Finally, the screams fade, and there is only silence.

"Master, the hour is near. We need to return to the meeting hall."

"Understood. Double the seals on this one. At this point it is too weak to escape, but well..."

"Do you anticipate rescue?"

"I anticipate nothing. I only prepare." From beyond the sliding doors, Natsume can hear the faint sound of Matoba-san's chuckles. "Let's say that I have a feeling that today will be interesting. You. Guard."

Natsume senses the power receding. Matoba-san is gone.

"He's left a shiki in there," Natsume says quietly.

"Can you get rid of it?" Ono-san asks. "We can't see them."

"It won't be any trouble," Natsume says, his voice uncharacteristically hard.

Nakamura-san slides open one of the doors. The shiki, a white-masked, human-created doll, rushes forward.

A touch is all it takes.

"Hinoe," Natsume says, walking up to her.

"My lord." Hinoe gives him one pain-filled smile. "Took you long enough."

She is not sealed in the bottle, but roped. The seals that hold her crackle in dark, red energy. They are numerous. And each is powerful. Had Natsume still had access to the energy of the earth, dispelling the seals would have been easy. But with his power halved, he will have to be careful. And no doubt, the moment Hinoe is freed, Matoba-san will know.

"Fujii-san, I need all three of you to turn outwards, and cover me as much as possible." Fujii-san turns to look at him, his mouth opening in protest. "I know," Natsume says. "But if I want to break these seals, I'm going to need to be careful, and since my power has been limited by the seals in this place, I may lose my hold on my human body."

Fujii-san nods.

"Use this," he says, and hands Natsume a small bottle, capped with a simple cork. When Natsume hesitates, Fujii-san adds, "I know it's a bottle seal. But you need a way to carry your servant out. The seal on it is weak, so either you or your servant can break it later when things are safe."

"Ono, let's seal the doors," Nakamura-san says. Ono-san nods, and the two place seals across the other sides of the sliding doors except the doors they had come through, to give them one way out.

Natsume turns back to Hinoe, who is weaker than he had ever seen her. There are no visible signs of injury on her body, but then again, as Natsume knows all too well, Matoba-san is unlikely to permanently injure a potentially useful spirit.

He grits his teeth, and begins to work. The ropes crackle, stinging his hands painfully with malevolent power when he grabs them and pulls, using his power while he does so to free one tiny space within the seals. It does not completely free Hinoe, but that is not Natsume's goal. Fujii-san had provided the hint, and the easiest way.

"I'm sorry, Hinoe."

"It's all right. I could use a year of sleep right about now. Might as well do it in a bottle." Hinoe shrugs, but even that tiny motion seems to cost her. Exhaustion blossoms on her face, and she sags downward.

The opening in the roped seals does not free Hinoe, but it frees Natsume to transfer her from one seal to another. So long as it is a seal, Matoba-san's seals will not stop Natsume.

"Fujii-san, I'm ready."

Fujii-san unfolds a sheet of paper, revealing something similar to what Taki has. A simple spell circle is drawn on it.

"It will burn automatically when we are finished with it."

Natsume nods.

"Get ready, Hinoe."

Natsume places a hand on the paper, the irony of a god using human spells not lost on him. But to use his own would be too risky. And as he concentrates, a part of him marvels at Onizuka-san's ability to plan ahead. In Onizuka-san's position, would he be so meticulous?

A flash of blue, and then Hinoe is gone. Natsume can sense her presence in the bottle, and tucks her into the inside of his robes, safe.

"It's done?" Ono-san says, turning around.

"Yes," Natsume says. "Let's go and j—"

Suddenly the roped seals, which had been lying dormant on the floor before, takes on a life of their own. Like living vines, they reach out and in seconds Natsume finds himself bound too tightly to move, each limb stretched out in a different direction.

In the sudden moment, Natsume does the only thing he knows and instinctively reaches for the power in the earth that is only a few feet beneath his feet.

Instead of power, the ropes glow a bright, incandescent red.

Pain, more pain than Natsume has ever felt before, fills every limb like a rush of white-hot fire.

Natsume screams.