Chapter 1 – Dream
Tears dropped down steadily like rain. Big drops, small drops. They dripped onto the hard ground below, wetting it and turning it into a darker shade. When the sun shone at the right angle, sunlight pierced through the teardrops, making them look like pure water droplets. A sad yet beautiful sight.
Those beautiful tears came from a boy. He had a mop of sandy-coloured hair and pale skin. The thing about him that was off were the bruises. There were black and blue marks all over his arms and legs. His knees and elbows were scraped. His hair was messy and had mud and sticks in it. One cannot help but wonder what has this child gotten himself into.
Was he bullied? Was he running away from home? Was he lost? Were he and his family attacked? Was he pounced on by a wild animal?
The possibilities were many, almost too many.
The boy was still crying, crying with no end. Anyone who set eyes on this poor creature would have pitied it. And anyone who pitied it will most likely do just that, show a look of pity and walk away. No one would want to get involved in a child's mess.
That was the truth.
Reality.
Yet, in every good story, there is a hero. And that hero appeared in front of the crying boy, holding out his hand.
"Ne, why are you crying?"
Opening his eyes to a crack, the boy could see the bleary shadow of a figure loom over him, a small smile playing on the shadow's lips.
The figure held out a hand. "Don't cry anymore."
The boy shook his head. He was told that he shouldn't trust strangers. And he couldn't tell if the one standing before him was a human or one of those weird things that only he seemed to see.
The figure before him was not discouraged. "Come on." The voice was soft and encouraging. "I promise I won't hurt you."
Looking up to the figure with tear-stained cheeks and bleary eyes, the boy could see the stranger's face soften. Trailing his eyes down to the stranger's hand, the young boy took it eagerly, glad that he was not alone.
~.~.~.~
Golden eyes opened slowly and groggily. Sunlight flooded in through a crack in the aqua curtains, rousing the teen from his sleep.
Natsume rolled on his side and came to face Nyanko-sensei's fluffy tail. Still sleepy, he pushed the maneki neko aside, determined to get the cat's butt away from his face. After what seemed like an eternity, he managed to get the maneki neko away from him, freeing his nostrils from the smell of cat fur.
However, the cat was not to be underestimated. Nyanko-sensei kicked with his pudgy feet, aiming for Natsume's face. The fat paws made impact with Natsume's cheek. They pushed and kicked, pushed and kicked.
Growing more aware of all the kicks, Natsume once again rolled over, coming into contact with the bright sunlight. He winced and opened his eyes very slowly, giving them time to adjust to the piercing light.
"Come on."
It was that voice. The one he heard in his dream.
"Come on."
Natsume pushed himself up on his elbows, facing the curtains with half-lidded eyes. He turned away to avoid the light and found his trusty guardian sleeping with an empty bottle of sake. Smiling to himself, Natsume shook his head.
He got up completely and stretched, waking up his body. Pulling the curtains back, the sunlight flooded in, bathing everything in the soft morning glow.
"Come on."
Lately, he has been dreaming about that particular incident a lot. An incident he had experienced while he was very young, about five years old. He can no longer remember most of the details of that incident, can only remember that he had been crying after encountering a scary ayakashi and someone had reached a hand out to help him.
Someone or something.
"I promise I won't hurt you."
The figure had kept that promise. After all, Natsume was still alive and kicking.
Yet, something was bugging him, nagging at him from the back of his mind.
Natsume opened the windows and leaned onto the window sill, making his sandy bangs fall forward.
Who are you?
Arigatou for reading!
Please favourite and / review if you like this story. If you don't, you can always check out some of my other stories as well.
Afterthought: How fat is Nyanko-sensei?
