STOOOOOPPPPP! STOP! STOP RIGHT THERE!

If you've clicked on this chapter immediately, make sure you read the one before. I updated this time with two chapters! Yes, that's right two! (Ok really, it's just one long one that I split up into two, but whatever. Two sounds and looks better.)

(Also, author has included, unfortunately, a mini essay at the end, but one that has apologies, thank-yous, and explanations/ future hints, so please read?)

Ok, NOW, you may enjoy! ^^

Up ahead at the bridge, Natsume saw Nishimura and Kitamoto already standing there. They spotted him and waved him over. Nishimura had a wide grin on his face. He yelled, "Hey, Natsume! What took you so long? We almost left you, you know."

Kitamoto nudged Nishimura, but had on an equally playful grin. "Don't be so hard on Natsume. I'm sure he has a busy schedule."

Natsume had a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry. Actually, I overslept."

At that, Kitamoto laughed and Nishimura, with a mock look of disapproval, said, "Tsk, tsk. Natsume. I see how it is."

Kitamoto laughingly shook his head as Nishimura began dramatically lamenting on Natsume's obvious neglect of his best friends. Kitamoto clasped Natsume' shoulder and joked, "Let's go ahead Natsume. We can leave this emotionally distraught idiot behind instead."

With a slight grin, Natsume played along and pretended to get back on his bike along with Kitamoto. Predictably, with an offended pout, Nishimura directed his next string of complaints towards Kitamoto. "Whaa? You're leaving me behind? You're so cruel, Kitamoto. Did all those years of friendship mean nothing to you? Huh? Nothing?"

With a wink, Kitamoto gestured for Natsume to start pedaling after him. At that, Nishimura yelled out, "Oi! Oi! You're really leaving me? How mean. No, but seriously, wait up!"

Natsume and Kitamoto both laughed as they heard Nishimura pedaling behind them, still hollering.

The three continued to trade jokes as they rode their bicycles.

"Hey, Nishimura! Don't spread the tablecloth over there! There's an ant hill over there." Kitamoto shook his head a little exasperatedly.

Nishimura only gave him a mock salute, and said, "Yes, sir!"

While Nishimura and Kitamoto were trying to set up an area to eat on the grassy hill, Natsume was unpacking the containers of food that Touko-san prepared for him in his backpack. He smiled as he remembered her panicked expression when he told her that his friends were planning to have a picnic after the bike ride.

Although Natsume tried to reassure her that he could just pick up some snacks, Touko-san refused and proceeded to cook what quite honestly looked like a five course meal. He sighed as he saw Nyanko-sensei practically salivating at the sight of food. Natsume placed his hands over the containers a little protectively. He admonished, "Sensei, these are not all for you. Ok? You have to share."

Nyanko-sensei humphed at Natsume's comment. "Hey, I'll have you know that I do have table manners. Besides, I'm just looking. I haven't even done anything yet!"

Natsume only shook his head and said, "Uh-huh."

Nyanko-sensei scowled, "Oi, Natsume! I'm sensing a distinct lack of trust here."

Natsume shrugged his shoulders. At that, Nyanko-sensei leaped up at Natsume, fully intending to hit him on the head. The two then proceeded to quarrel with each other, much to Nishimura's and Kitamoto's amusement.

Nishimura laughed, "Having a hard time with your cat there, Natsume?"

Natsume immediately stopped as Nyanko-sensei proceeded to waddle off, leaving Natsume alone to explain the situation. After shooting a quick glare at Nyanko-sensei's passing form, Natsume turned to face his friends, cheeks blushing a little in embarrassment. "Ah, he's hungry, so he was being a little difficult. Did you guys set everything up yet?"

Kitamoto grinned at the explanation. He then nodded, and jabbed his thumb towards Nishimura. "No thanks to him."

Nishimura retorted back, "Hey, I was doing all the work here! You're the one who kept telling me to move it."

"Because you kept putting it on the patches of dirt instead of the grass. Honestly! Why did you even bring a white tablecloth, out of all things?"

"Hey, it's my tablecloth! So why are you the one concerned?"

Natsume laughed, which effectively ended the two's argument. He commented, "You guys really are close friends. You guys even argue like a married couple."

Nishimura widened his eyes comically. "Natsume! Were you even listening to how this guy mistreated me?"

Kitamoto snorted and walked forward to Natsume, ignoring Nishimura. "Here, let me help you bring out the dishes. Wow, Touko-san cooked a lot. You carried all of that in your backpack?"

At hearing that, Nishimura's eyes lighted up in anticipation. He reached his hands out towards them. "Ooh, let me help too!"

The three then proceeded to set out the dishes. Natsume turned and called out, "Sensei! We're eating now!"

Those apparently were the magical words. Nyanko-sensei suddenly shot out of nowhere and barreled into Natsume's arms, catching him off-balance. The two tottered backwards and fell onto the spread tablecloth, earning hearty guffaws and shrieks of laughter from Nishimura and Kitamoto.

After that little tumble, a lecturing Natsume, and a deeply unapologetic Nyanko-sensei, the four began eating. Nishimura and Kitamoto continued bickering while Natsume was content to just listen and interject with his own comments. Currently, Nishimura and Kitamoto were fighting about some music idol while Natsume was fending off Nyanko-sensei from the food.

Natsume whispered-yelled, "Sensei! Stop it! I already gave you a lot!"

Nyanko-sensei hissed back, "What do you mean 'a lot'? Your definition of a lot is my definition of very little. No wonder you're so skinn-" He stopped midsentence and swiveled to his left, eyes narrowing.

Confused, Natsume asked, "Sensei? What's wrong?"

Nyanko-sensei kept his eyes trained on a particular spot and sniffed the air. "I smell youkai."

Natsume immediately tensed his body. After quickly checking to confirm that Nishimura and Kitamoto were still distracted, he continued to whisper, "Sensei? Where?"

As Nyanko-sensei waved a paw towards the wheat fields below the hill, Natsume could begin to make out patches of flowered fabric and black and white robes. As the wind brushed away the tall stalks, thereby revealing the individuals who stood there, Natsume's eyes widened in recognition. "It's Hiiragi and Hinoe," Natsume noted with some surprise.

As if they heard, Hiiragi and Hinoe both raised their heads and stared up at the hill, making eye contact with Natsume. Natsume then made a move to get up. He stopped midway through when he saw Hinoe gesturing for him to sit back down. At the same time, Hiiragi, who was standing next to her, was making a sign for 'pig'.

Ah, I get it. Natsume nudged Nyanko-sensei. He whispered, "Sensei, they want you. Go and see them."

Nyanko-sensei curled his lip in distaste. "Don't wanna."

"Sensei."

Nyanko-sensei rolled his eyes and mimicked back, "Natsume."

Natsume sighed. "I'll give you a chicken leg if you go."

Nyanko-sensei immediately brightened and responded, "Make it two and you got a deal."

With another exasperated sigh, Natsume held out two chicken legs, which Nyanko-sensei instantly snatched away. Natsume watched him as Nyanko-sensei trotted towards Hiiragi and Hinoe. He wondered. What did the two want with Nyanko-sensei? It was also a little unusual for Hiiragi to be there. Ah, but that also meant that Natori-san was around too. Natsume hoped that it was not an indication of trouble.

"Natsume? What are you staring at so intently over there?" Kitamoto asked curiously.

Startled, Natsume whipped his head around to face his friends again. As he desperately searched for an excuse, Natsume stammered, "I-I was just looking at the fields. They, um, look really pretty from here."

Thankfully, Kitamoto believed him and even eagerly agreed, "Aren't they? This is a great place to look at the sunset too."

Nishimura interjected with, "You know what would make this scene more beautiful?"

Natsume, relieved that the conversation had changed, asked, "What?"

Nishimura spread open his arms and exclaimed, "If there were some girls here too!"

Kitamoto groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Seriously, Nishimura?"

In response, Nishimura stood up and plopped down next to Natsume. Slinging an arm around Natsume's shoulders, Nishimura asked in a beseeching tone, "Natsume~! Why didn't you ask Taki to come? Huh, whyyyy?"

Natsume laughed and shrugged his shoulders apologetically. "She said she was busy. Maybe next time, Nishimura."

Nishimura moaned and laid splayed out on the table cloth. "Man, watching the sunset with two other guys is so lame."

Kitamoto rolled his eyes and snorted. "Hey Natsume, can you give me another paper plate? I think they're behind you."

Natsume nodded. "Sure." Still sitting, he half-turned to the side, eyes sweeping the white tablecloth for the plates before a spot of bright red caught in his peripheral vision.

The snow. The blood. Red. Red.

The images of his nightmare replayed in his mind. Before Natsume realized it, he yelped and his body reflexively recoiled from the sight. A burst of adrenaline sent his heartrate racing. By the time Natsume had acknowledged his reaction, he also realized that the red that he saw was the pile of red paper napkins that Nishimura had brought. He had reacted so irrationally.

Nishimura, at hearing Natsume's yell, sat straight up and turned towards Natsume, hands already on his shoulders and asking him repeatedly, "Natsume. Natsume. You ok, man? What happened?"

Kitamoto, on the other hand, had stood up and walked towards them. He stretched his neck to peer behind Natsume and saw nothing behind him but the napkins and the plates. He asked, "What scared you, Natsume?"

Natsume, still breathing hard, said without thinking, "The napkins. Their color."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Natsume widened his eyes in panic and turned to Kitamoto. Kitamoto, from the corner of his eyes, could tell that Natsume probably blurted out something he did not want to say. He and Nishimura knew that Natsume was prone to some odd outbursts or incidents here and there, and they suspected that it had given Natsume a lot of grief in the past. But they didn't care about that. Everyone was different. And Natsume was fine the way he was. Although, Kitamoto inwardly wished that Natsume could open up a bit more with them, but he supposed that it would probably take some time.

So Kitamoto made sure that his expression was devoid of any reaction or expression that could be seen as ridicule and that his body was relaxed as he struggled to think of a way to calm down Natsume, who, quite frankly, looked too troubled for his liking.

To Natsume, all he saw was Kitamoto still standing there, looking at the napkins with his head tilted to the side. Before Natsume could speak up and explain his words, Kitamoto said, "Oh, I get it. You thought it was blood." After saying that, Kitamoto secretly sent a pointed look at Nishimura.

Natsume stilled, speechless. Wha-? Did he hear right? How did he kno-?

Nishimura inwardly shrugged, years of friendship allowing him to understand the cue for what it was. Truthfully, he did not really care what scared Natsume as to how to stop him from looking so scared. Playing along, he fixed on a skeptical expression and commented, "Hey, Kitamoto. That's…a little morbid of you."

Kitamoto glared. "What? Natsume must have watched the same TV special I saw last night. You know the horror one? Man, there was this one scene." He shuddered. "Blood everywhere." He poked the pile of napkins with his toe and continued, "Plus, those napkins really are red. And the white tablecloth does not help."

Nishimura rolled his eyes. "Stop dissing my tablecloth! How was I supposed to know the both of you watched some horror show last night?" He turned to Natsume, a look of concern returning to his eyes, "Hey, Natsume. Maybe you should stop watching those if they scare you so easily." He paused, staring at Kitamoto. "Actually, on second thought, maybe the two of you should stop. Right, Natsume?"

Natsume, relieved and a little confused that his friends had somehow figured out an explanation on their own, gave a weak smile. He clutched at his chest, willing his heart rate to slow down.

Kitamoto narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. "Hey, Natsume, you sure you're ok?"

Nishimura turned back towards Natsume and gave an assessing glance. He stuck out a hand and felt Natsume's forehead, ignoring Natsume's protests of "I'm fine!"

"Hmm, you don't have a fever. So you're not sick." Ignoring Natsume's harried and exasperated look, he continued, "But you look pale. Well, paler than usual, anyways."

Kitamoto elbowed Nishimura in the side for that unnecessary comment. He reached out across the tablecloth and grabbed a water bottle. Pushing it into Natsume's hands, Kitamoto said, "Here, drink some water first. You look a little tired."

At Kitamoto's insistence, Natsume nodded and took a few sips of water.

To be honest, Natsume was starting to feel a little bad that his overreaction had his friends clearly worried. His expression must have proved revealing, because the next thing Natsume knew, Kitamoto reached out and gripped Natsume's shoulder. "Natsume, if you can't make the bike ride down, it's fine, ok? Nishimura can give you a ride on his bike and I'll just bring yours down."

Nishimura nodded in agreement. "Yea, I'll just give you a ride dow-Hey! Kitamoto, don't just volunteer me out like that!"

Kitamoto raised an eyebrow and made a Why-are-you-being-an-idiot? expression. "What? You're not going to? Oh? And to think, you gave the whole rant earlier on the duties of a best friend. Look who's being the horrible friend now, huh? If it bothers you that much, I'll do it."

Natsume laughed a little, recognizing that Kitamoto was deliberately provoking Nishimura. Nishimura, though, took the bait and pivoted to face Kitamoto. "Hey! I didn't mean that I'm not going to. I just meant that I'd prefer it if Natsume asked me himself than you ordering me to! Actually, you know what? You didn't even have to order me. I would have done it anyways!"

With a huff, he turned to face Natsume again, this time with a more serious look. "Natsume, seriously though, I'm cool with it."

Natsume smiled. "I'm fine though. Honest."

When his friends only sent him a doubtful look in return, Natsume sighed. With a pleading expression, he tried to convince them, "Really, guys. I'm fine."

Nishimura and Kitamoto exchanged a look and after a moment of silent deliberation, they both nodded in mutual agreement over something. Kitamoto turned to Natsume and said, "Ok, then. We'll start cleaning up. You just sit there, ok?"

Nishimura grinned and clapped Natsume on the back, "Yup! Relax!"

Natsume scrunched up his face and made a noise of protest, but at the sight of Nishimura's and Kitamoto's matching grins, he resigned himself to sitting.

Meanwhile, when Natsume had bribed him with the chicken, Nyanko-sensei, while admittedly enjoying the chicken thoroughly, huffed with irritation. He sighed as he got closer to the two of the most annoying youkai he ever had the misfortune of meeting.

Hiiragi, in her usual reserved manner, greeted him with a simple, "Pig-cat." At the same time, Hinoe had an irritating smirk on and said airily, "Oh? Madara, took you long enough to get over here."

Make that the most annoying and disrespectful youkai that he ever had the misfortune of meeting. Nyanko-sensei muttered under his breath. Damn it, one of these days, he really would have to go on a rampage if only to release all the pent-up irritation that these stupid encounters always left him with.

He stopped in front of them and scowled to Hiiragi, "I'm not a pig, you idiot! Can your eyes not perceive the glorious beast that I am?"

Then, jabbing a paw towards Hinoe, he continued, "And you! You should be honored that I even bothered to grace you with my presence."

Turning to his head to the side, he grumbled, "Tcch. What am I? A messenger?" Glaring at the both of them, Nyanko-sensei said crossly, "And? Why are the two of you here, besides dragging me away from my feast?"

Hinoe rolled her eyes and puffed her pipe, before answering, "Please, Madara. You can't really expect compliments in that form." She waved an immaculate hand in a dismissive gesture. "Besides, we probably did Natsume a favor by dragging you away. It's his picnic with his friends, not your feast. You're getting a little too chubby anyways. Missing one meal won't hurt."

Nyanko-sensei immediately yelled, "What did you just say, you old hag? Chubby?! You must be blind if you can't appreciate my magnificent physique."

Hinoe narrowed her eyes and snorted with derision. "Physique? You must be getting old, Madara, if you're mistaking that fat for muscle. And hah? Did you just call me a hag?! You uncultured furball!"

"What?!"

Before the two could start scratching at each other's faces, Hiiragi stepped forward and cleared her throat. "Ahem." The two immediately stopped mid-movement and stared at her, with Nyanko-sensei's paw pushing Hinoe's cheek and Hinoe's fingers pulling on one of Nyanko-sensei's ears. "Actually, Natsume is the reason for our presence."

At that, Nyanko-sensei, still keeping his pose, whispered to Hinoe, "Oi, why is she here again?"

Hiiragi answered instead, in frank tones, "Natori is here on business. I wanted to see how Natsume was doing. I did not see him at the house. So I asked around. I met Hinoe-san." She tilted her head slightly to indicate Hinoe's presence and continued. "She then informed me of what happened yesterday."

Nyanko-sensei leveled a bland stare at Hinoe, "You old gossiping hag."

She swatted him with the pipe, causing to jump backwards. Dusting herself off, Hinoe puffed the pipe. She rolled her eyes, "I merely answered her questions."

Before Nyanko-sensei could retort back, Hiiragi once again interrupted and asked quite bluntly, "Do you two always fight like this? It is a little tiresome." She faced Nyanko-sensei and raised an eyebrow- or at least that's what he imagined she would be doing if he could see through her mask, "So how is Natsume?" Nyanko-sensei could, however, clearly detect concern lacing her normally stoic voice.

Hinoe nodded her head. "Yes, how is he?"

Nyanko-sensei huffed, "You know, if you two are so concerned about Natsume, why not ask him yourselves?"

At that, both Hinoe and Hiiragi gave him an Are-you-kidding-me? Look. (Or at least, Hinoe did. That mask of Hiiragi really was getting annoying.)

Nyanko-sensei sighed. "Right. Kid never would have told you."

He laid down and began licking one of his paws, "Well, he's still a little shaken up by the nightmare. Or at least he was in the morning. But he's still able to go out and about his day. As you can see." Nyanko-sensei then gestured carelessly to where Natsume and his friends were laughing at their picnic.

"I already asked him if there were any suspicious youkai. He said that there weren't any. Well, as far as he recalled, anyways." He snorted. "That kid has a shoddy memory. It was just a bad nightmare. Kid probably stressed himself out, like usual."

Nyanko-sensei, at hearing the lack of response from the two youkai, raised his head up only to see the two looking shocked. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Hiiragi was the first to recover from her speechless daze. She gave a slight bow of her head. "I misjudged you."

Hinoe agreed. "Who knew?"

Nyanko launched to his feet in a burst of outrage. "Oi! Is it so weird for me to take interest in the brat? I am his bodyguard." He muttered under his breath. "Ungrateful fools. The whole lot of you. Completely. Ungrateful."

Hinoe argued defensively, "Hey, you usual-"

Just then, the three all heard Natsume's yell.

Nyanko-sensei instantly perked up his ears and sensed Natsume breathing hard and his heartbeat accelerating. He inwardly cursed at just how troublesome the kid was before running in that direction.

Hiiragi, by reflex, already had her hand on her weapon and exchanged a glance with Hinoe, who looked as equally alert.

The two then followed after Nyanko-sensei. They stopped when they saw Nyanko sitting down beside a tree a couple of feet away from Natsume and his friends.

Hiiragi scanned the area warily while Hinoe nudged Nyanko lightly with her toe. "Hey, what happened?"

Tersely, Nyanko replied, "Kid overreacted." He jabbed a paw in Natsume's direction, where two of Natsume's friends were hovering over Natsume worriedly. "Listen."

Hiiragi and Hinoe both then eavesdropped on the conversation as they listened to the reason for Natsume's panic. After learning about the napkins, Hinoe leaned against the tree and took a slow drag from her pipe. Tilter her head, she exhaled and commented, "That nightmare really did affect Natsume more than I expected."

Hiiragi gave a slight nod in agreement and observed, "Natsume has a rather soft heart…" She trailed off before continuing, "but… are you sure this is unrelated to youkai matters?"

Nyanko only shrugged both his shoulders in response.

Hinoe suddenly smacked her fist against her palm. "Ah, I've got it!"

Both Nyanko and Hiiragi then turned to face Hinoe with expectant looks. Nyanko gestured impatiently, "Well? Out with it. I don't have all day."

Hinoe ignored that comment and declared, "Let's have a stake-out."

Hiiragi asked, a little surprised, "A stake-out?"

Hinoe nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! We'll watch over Natsume tonight. We'll see if he has another nightmare and if there really is something supernatural about this. Plus, we'll have a third opinion with you there too."

At that, Hiiragi nodded but hesitantly asked, "Would Natsume not mind us being there?"

Hinoe expected that question though and answered with lips curving in a sly smile. "We'll just tell him we're there to drink sake with Madara. Drinking parties happen frequently enough for Natsume to not question our motives. What about it, Madara?"

Nyanko-sensei grinned. "You had me at sake."

Hiiragi then bowed and made to leave. "Very well, then. Let me inform my master first. I'll meet you there." With that, she promptly disappeared.

Nyanko-sensei tilted his head back at Hinoe. "Well, the kids are getting their bikes. You coming, you walking flower garden?"

Hinoe twirled her pipe through her fingers and flippantly answered back, "Yes, yes, you cranky cat."

After saying his goodbyes to Nishimura and Kitamoto, who had both insisted on riding with him to the front gate of his house, Natsume turned around and finally addressed the two extra guests with him. One had been following him since the hilltop. The other had almost scared him half to death when he saw her waiting at the gate. Natsume sighed. He had a strong feeling that trouble was coming his way. He turned and greeted them. "Hinoe. Hiiragi. What brings you both here?"

Hinoe laughed and waved her hand. "We thought we would share a drink with Madara here. You know, for old times' sake."

A look of surprise and amusement crossed Natsume's face. "Hiiragi, I didn't know that you got along so well with Nyanko-sensei."

Hiiragi grimaced under her mask and forced out, "Yes…well…things change."

Hinoe surreptitiously nudged Hiiragi. Then, in a loud voice, she hurriedly said, "Well, we'll go get some cups and take out the sake." With that said, Hinoe and Hiiragi walked ahead.

Nyanko-sensei rolled his eyes. The most terrible acting he had ever seen. A pair of idiots, the two of them were.

Natsume must have had the same thoughts because he asked, "Er, sensei. Is it just me or are they acting a little strange?"

Nyanko-sensei snorted. "Ignore them. Since when have they been anything but strange?"

Natsume shrugged and accepted the answer. He was admittedly feeling a little too exhausted after the day's events to press the issue anyhow. Still, he turned to Nyanko-sensei and warned him, "Sensei, I have school tomorrow."

Nyanko-sensei waved his paw dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I know. We'll keep it down." At Natsume's skeptical glance, he sighed. "We won't be in your room then, if you're so worried. How about that? We'll drink on the roof or something."

Natsume figured that it was the best compromise he was going to get, so he nodded his head in agreement and said, "Have fun then, sensei."

Hinoe lounged on the rooftop, a couple of feet away from Natsume's window. Flinging an arm towards the sky, she exclaimed, "Ah, the stars are beautiful today, too." She smiled and took another drink of the sake.

"Hear, hear!" Nyanko agreed, flopping back side down on the tiles. His paws gripped the sake bottle as he took a healthy swig. "Ah! The sake is great tonight!" He smacked his lips together in an overly satisfied manner.

Hiiragi, on the other hand, still held her untouched cup of sake in her hands. She remarked a little dryly, "…You guys are actually drinking? Are we not on a stake-out?"

Nyanko waved his paw a little haphazardly. "Of course we are! But we told Natsume that we were drinking. So, you know, for authenticity, we gotta drink."

Hinoe made a noise of agreement. "Here, let's make a cheer and hope that nothing bad will happen tonight!"

Hiiragi sighed, exasperated, but held out her cup anyways.

"Cheers."

"Cheers!"

"Cheers, morons!"

Sooo Happy Father's Day! Happy First Day of Summer! And for those of you still in school, whooo! Summer vacation, we missed ya!

In light of the holiday/ happy spirit, and the number of people I've noticed who favorited/followed/reviewed/viewed the story, I said to myself, "Man, I need to update. And I need to update with a preferably longer chapter."

I apologize to all you wonderful people who enjoyed reading this story but had to wait so long for me to update! Freshman year in college and chemistry (O-chem, please die) have been...taxing, to say the least. But I'm free, now! SO now if I don't update in a long time,I really don't have a legitimate excuse but my own laziness. (He he he * cue nervous laughter)

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed these two chapters. I tried my hardest to keep them all in character. Admittedly, I had to watch some of the anime episodes again because one, I've forgotten how the characters interacted with each other, and two, I've forgotten some of their names. (Oh, yeah, totally die-hard fan here. Author shakes head in shame.)

Hopefully, these two chapters have made you laugh...

Because next chapter probably won't be as happy...(Nudge, nudge, wink, wink) ;)

I intend to add in more characters as the story progresses and reveal more of their thoughts and perspectives. (Hint: A certain exorcist may be showing up. Ooh, and definitely, more on Hiiragi's thoughts)

Hopefully, you can tell that the characters actually act quite protectively towards Natsume in their own distinct ways. I tried to show that in Shigeru-san's thoughts on trying to make Natsume feel more comfortable at home, Touko-san's mothering, Nyanko-sensei's tough love (I love, love writing his rants. He's so funny!), and the friendship Natsume has with his two classmates. Basically, the new chapters focused on Natsume, the people in his life who don't know about his ability, and three of the main youkai characters.

As always, please review or comment! I do read all the reviews and am so thankful for all of them. I can't tell you guys how happy I was to find out that you guys loved that last chapter when Madara tried to comfort Natsume. I was squealing myself as I wrote it actually. Oh, and thank you to that one person, who in his/her review, made me realize that I had to explain why the Fujiwaras didn't come running when Natsume screamed. (Ah, filling up the plot holes.)

I was stuck after that third chapter, but after reading just how much you guys wanted the next chapter, I got my inspiration back! In fact, I have the opposite problem now. I have too many ideas, so ha, the author herself will be as surprised as you guys are to see how the plot continues. Game plan: 10-12 chapter story, but eh, we'll see as it goes.

Ok, wow. Looking up, ...thaaat's a lot of word barf. Sorry. Review, comment, criticize, favorite, or follow the story! Let me know how you guys feel! :D