"Matoba-san, w-what was that just now?" Natsume asked shakily. Everything happened so fast that Natsume had no idea what was what any longer. The ayakashi who hurt Touko-san was running away from something and got wounded and it seemed to know who I am. Was it targeting the Yuujinchou from the start? What was it doing here?
"I just exorcised an ayakashi, Natsume-kun. If that were the target for your assignment, then you would have surely failed." Matoba replied with the usual expression of calmness and a slight smirk on his face.
"So it wasn't the target, Matoba-sama?" The instructor came out of the bushes and looked almost embarrassed of himself.
Before Matoba could answer, two more men came running from behind him. They were both wearing traditional clothing and are both accompanied by a shiki so even if Natsume haven't seen either of them before, he could already conclude that they're part of the Matoba clan. They must have ran here as soon as they heard the scream, but at the sight of the ashes scattered on the ground, they visibly relaxed.
Matoba paid the newcomers no mind and continued, "Although it shared some characteristics with the target, this one is more troublesome than the other."
"That's true. It even managed to escape from us earlier." One of the newly-arrived exorcists stated.
"Escape?" Natsume, who had been listening at the side the entire time, asked. So Matoba-san knew that ayakashi after all.
"Hmph." Nyanko-sensei jumped on the boy's shoulder and narrowed his eyes at the clan's head. "Explain yourself, exorcist!"
All the exorcists except for Matoba were taken aback at the ayakashi's harsh words, but did nothing when their head spoke before any of them could retaliate.
"I do not understand the reason for your hostility. I merely did my job as an exorcist and exorcised an evil ayakashi. It did hurt your foster parent after all, right, Natsume-kun?" Matoba smiled at Natsume as if killing the ayakashi was the most natural thing for him to do. Well, since it was the head of an exorcist clan, perhaps it is the most natural thing for him. "Are you not angry at it?"
The ayakashi did hurt Touko-san and Natsume couldn't deny that. It is the reason he was separated from his loved ones and the reason why he was here under Matoba-san's care. He was angry. "I am angry, Matoba-san."
"Then-"
"I am angry at my own powerlessness." He shifted his gaze on the ground and absent-mindedly petted the cat on his shoulder. The cat in turn, responded to the touch and seemingly forgot his own anger at the exorcists. "Not all ayakashis are bad, Matoba-san."
"Ayakashi are different from humans, Natsume-kun."
"Even so, I want to listen to their side of the story." The boy gazed into Matoba's eyes with conviction. "If that is how I will meet my end then so be it. I still refuse to close my eyes and ears to ayakashi."
All was silent after Natsume's declaration. For the Matoba clan who only viewed ayakashis as evil existences and may have had traumatizing experiences involving them, it was hard to comprehend why the boy would take their side.
Author's Notes: I got a bit lost on how Natsume should respond to Matoba in this chapter so I re-watched the whole series in an attempt to get his character down. I hope his responses are not out of character. Matoba too.
And as always, thank you for reading!
1/13/16