Kizuna

(Natsume Yuujinchou x Tensei Shitara Slime datta ken)

Author's Note: This fanfiction was inspired by harunekoya's "Worthy of A Name" and "The Human Mask" featuring a human-turned-god Natsume, as well as reading Tensei Shitara Slime datta ken manga chapters. Please be warned that this fic will involve slash sometime later in the story so don't read this if you don't like slash stories. But, it will be mostly gen...probably...with hints of romance (or its the other way around?). This is a crack fic after all so no real deep planning was made in this story.

Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: OOCness (it is inevitable), may have failure in writing the game-like parts in this story, future slash pairing

X: Observation

Misuzu, the great yokai spirit who had once been known as the Lord of the Bell-Crying Swamp before accepting the offer of becoming a peculiar human's lifelong contracted demon spirit in another world, found himself amused. It truly had been a moment of impulse, as well as a culmination of hidden desire of sticking together with a human who had the sight and spent time with him and the other spirits with little fear, when that voice had spoken to them just moments after his said master's death.

I have no regrets, he thought to himself in reaffirmation.

And then there was yet another breeze which caused the two small bells piercing his left ear to tinkle softly. It was in that split second he sensed the presence of another ogre child within the vicinity. "Hm?" He hummed, catching the attention of the now-awake reincarnated otherworlder who had been in the midst of drifting off to sleep.

"What is it, Misuzu?" Natsume-dono asked as he sat up to check his surroundings. He looked from side-to-side but found nothing. It was then the silver-haired boy closed his eyes to focus on finding out what was it that the bull-like yokai had sensed.

Misuzu watched the boy eventually open his light green eyes and direct it towards a certain direction.

"Blue Scarf Scout-san, is there something you need?" Natsume-dono asked and seconds later, a blue-haired and one-horned ogre appeared. The other ogre appeared to be around the same age around his master and could be likened to the "ninjas" that had been mentioned back in passing in the other world.

Besides that...

He stared intently at the blue-haired ogre who seemed to be in a momentary daze which happened to be directed at his master. He hummed once he realized that something subtle was happening right in front of him (subtle to some but rather revealing to him in his opinion).

It was not surprising for this reincarnation of Natsume Takashi to be rather beautiful despite the ogre clan's natural appearance to look quite rough and wild instead (although there were some exceptions). Even back then, he had inherited his grandmother's beauty which had not gone unnoticed to other yokai despite the two being merely humans with the sight.

His intense staring eventually prompted the one-horned ogre to recover from his daze and speak out the message.

"Little blacksmith, the chief and the matriarch have required for your immediate presence in their residence."

"Oh," Natsume-dono uttered in surprise before showing a polite smile. "I will do so. Thank you for telling me."

There was another bout of pause (it appeared the messenger was in a daze yet again) but it had been shorter than the one before.

"I shall take my leave then." The boy immediately left.

.

.

.

"..." There appeared to be a slight furrow present in his master's closed eyes; a small frown was also present on his master's face which happened to be slightly covered by his right hand. He looked a bit confused if the bull-like yokai wished to specify it.

"Is something the matter, my lord?" Misuzu asked. He already had a feeling to what it was about but deigned to ask due to his meager curiosity concerning the subject.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing much but I've noticed that Blue Scarf Scout-san tends to be a bit distracted when I converse with him." Natsume-dono answered, confusion still evident in his tone. "...I wonder why though?"

The former Lord of the Bell-Crying Swamp laughed in his usual creepy laugh which spooked the young ogre. It soon morphed into a wide grin as he gazed upon the former human. "Oh my, so it appears you are not as ignorant as I thought, my lord."

"Huh?" Escaped the lips of his master. It had been dumbfoundment at first before eventually evolving to anger and annoyance. "Wait, what did you mean by that? Misuzu!"

Misuzu simply grinned as he started floating down the hill. He heard a sigh of frustration from behind him and then...sounds of running. It did not take long before Natsume-dono caught up to him and was now running alongside him (where his speed had been slowly upping in the background).

ooo

"We're here." Takashi announced in front of the village chief's house.

"Hmm...I suppose this form won't make do with your meeting." He heard his friend mutter. There was a soft breeze coming from his side and the giant shadow that had engulfed a side of the house had become smaller - closer to the size of a tall adult human male. A human male.

Takashi laughed sheepishly upon realizing that Misuzu could actually take the form of a human.

(It was remarkably easy to forget that Misuzu could change into a human as his transformations had been sparse in number and he kept to his original form nearly all the time since Takashi had first met him.)

He had to admit though that his yokai friend was rather attractive. His unusually wide and creepy eyes had dwarfed into something smaller and narrower in size.

(What a beautiful blue, he had secretly thought back then.)

Although his skin was still light than the expected dark skin tone as evidenced by his original form. Compared to the first time he had unknowingly met the bull-like yokai's human form together with Takuma, Misuzu had longer but still wavy pinkish grey hair which reached his back now instead of merely his neck. Unsurprisingly, the yokai was wearing a light purple kimono to match the attire of the other village residents.

The bells...the bells that pierced his left ear had been a part of the set that made him exude a mysterious charm.

(Takashi would later realize that he seemed to have a small crush on Misuzu's human form...but that would be a far future from now...)

"Shall we go in now, my lord?"

He nodded dumbly in awe.

TBC