Chapter 4 – Hiking and running

"Are we there yet?" whined Nyanko-sensei. The fat cat was resting on Natsume's head, arms and legs sprawled out, belly facing the sky.

Natsume panted with effort. The hike up Barayama was a long and steep one. The mountain was high with lush greenery everywhere. One could get lost if one did not know the place well. They had been hiking up the mountain for well over an hour now and Natsume felt that he was going to collapse if they did not reach their destination soon.

The little ayakashi however, seemed unaffected by the difficult hike. Unperturbed even. "Just some ways more, Natsume-sama!" The ayakashi skipped over a fallen tree.

All Natsume could do was nod at the little ayakashi's words.

~.~.~.~

He could not believe what he saw. Yes, the ayakashi had told him that a certain exorcist clan was destroying their homes, but he never imagined the scene to look this bad.

It was almost a barren land. Trees were fallen, the once green grass had turned yellow, the flowers that used to litter the path up the mountain were gone, live animals were nowhere to be found. He found some bones of rabbits and birds though.

All these things, this destruction, was caused by one man.

Matoba Seiji.

Natsume could feel the anger boil in the pit of his stomach, his heart pitied the animals and ayakashi who lived here. The boy clenched his fists and seethed silently in anger.

He was going to make Matoba realize his mistakes. He was going to make Matoba acknowledge what a terrible thing he has done. He was going to make Matoba understand what it feels like to be left without a home.

"Oi! Natsume!" Nyanko-sensei's voice rang in his ear, pulling him out of his thoughts. "Get a hold of yourself, Natsume!" The cat was hitting Natsume on the head, trying to wake the boy up.

"Ow! Ow!" Natsume tried to shield himself from the rain of blows coming down upon him. A rain of pudgy cat paws. "I get it! I get it!" He pried the cat away from his shoulder and set it on the ground. Nyanko-sensei sure could hit hard.

"Natsume-sama" called a voice. The little ayakashi was pointing at something. "Bara-sama is right there."

Natsume felt nervous, honestly. He had met with so many ayakashi before, fought them, befriended them, returned their names, helped them, even partied with them. But he would always get this feeling in his stomach whenever he was about to meet with some really important ayakashi.

The three moved towards the direction where the little ayakashi pointed a while ago. As they got closer, Natsume could faintly make out the shape of a shrine.

He was right. The shrine was moderate, about as tall as a full grown man and as wide as a broomstick. Offerings had been placed under a stone which had the words 'Bara' on it. The boy noticed that most of the offerings were covered in a thin layer of dust, a tell-tale sign that no one came by recently. The ceiling of the shrine was also full of cobwebs, each having its own spider.

The little ayakashi knelt in front of the stone. "Bara-sama! I have brought you Natsume-sama and his guardian!"

A gust of wind whooshed past them, scattering the yellow leaves around them. Natsume was quite fascinated. Standing before him was what he assumed was Bara-sama. The deity was beautiful. Dressed in a light kimono with patterns of roses and a simple hakama to go along with it, Natsume could tell that this deity was no minor. He carried himself in a way which made others listen to him. Bara-sama had flowing white hair with golden strands and a pale face which framed kind, startling blue eyes.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Natsume-sama." Bara-sama bowed lowly.

Natsume could not help but blush slightly. "I-I..It's a pleasure to meet you too, Bara-sama!" Natsume returned the deity's bow.

Said deity got up and smiled warmly at Natsume. Everything about Bara-sama screamed elegance. The way he talked, the way he moved. Everything. "I believe you have heard of our unfortunate situation?"

"Yes." answered Natsume firmly. Yes, he wanted to stop it.

Bara-sama cast his eyes downward. "I see. I thank you very much for helping us. But Natsume-sama,..."

"Yes?" It was strange for someone like Bara-sama to hesitate.

"Will you not regret your decision?" He lifted his bright blue eyes to face Natsume's brown-yellowish ones. "It is extremely dangerous."

So that was it. Natsume gave the deity a warm smile of his own. "Thank you for your concern, Bara-sama. But we shall be fine."

This seemed to settle well with the deity. "Very well then. I wish you luck in your journey, Natsume-sama." And with a last smile, Bara-sama vanished into thin air.

~.~.~.~

"I'm sorry, Natsume-sama. Bara-sama has been feeling unwell lately, so he cannot maintain an audience with you." said the little ayakashi apologetically.

"No worries. I understand."

"But for a deity like him to be so powerless..." grumbled Nyanko-sensei. "Even gods have to face their time."

The ayakashi said nothing and nodded.

"Well, let's go hunt some exorcists!" exclaimed the cat. "We can go buy some ika and sake later!~"

Natsume sighed at his cat's antics.

~.~.~.~

His breathing was ragged. He panted and panted, sweat dripping down his back, face, arms and legs. His whole body felt wet and sticky as his school uniform clung on to him tightly, his white shirt stuck on his back and the leggings of his pants were making it harder to escape.

Why does this always happen to me?

Natsume willed his legs to run faster away from the ayakashi that was chasing after him. With three heads and long tentacles, it was another weird type of ayakashi who wanted to eat him up. What was weirder was he got separated from his fluffy cat guardian and little ayakashi somewhere along the way.

He spotted a huge log not far away from where he was. There!

As he ran towards the fallen tree, a slimy tentacle grabbed him from behind, making him airborne.

"I caught it! I caught it! Food for me!"

Natsume shouted and tried to get out of the slimy hold, but the ayakashi's grip was too strong for him. He could see himself get closer and closer to wards the ayakashi's mouth. "Let go!" he shouted in a last attempt.

The ayakashi paid him no heed. After all, Natsume was just food to him and his hungry gut.

Natsume could feel and smell the creature's putrid breath now. His heart was pounding from the adrenaline and fear. No! I can't die now! Not now!

He was so close...

Help! Someone, please help me!

Just as he was going to be the ayakashi's lunch, a bright blue light shot through its chest. Before the ayakashi could register what happened, it turned into nothing more but a pile of ashes. And Natsume was suddenly falling.

The boy wanted to grab hold of something, anything, to keep himself from hitting the hard ground but all his efforts were in vain. He kept his eyes shut, braced for impact and some broken bones.

But they never came.

Instead, he found himself land in someone's arms. They were strong and held on to Natsume tightly, not letting him go lest he fall to the ground for real.

"Hmph. Useless creatures."

Natsume froze. He knew that voice. He knew that voice all too well. Opening his eyes, Natsume came face to face with the person he did not want to see the most.

"Matoba..."

The dark-haired man smirked at him wickedly. "We meet again, Natsume."

The boy broke out in a cold sweat. Matoba was here, as they expected. Here, right now. Holding him in his arms. Natsume could feel his throat dry up like a desert.

The last thing he saw before he passed out completely, was Matoba's shocked face.


Minna-san, thank you for still reading!
I know that I am very late in updating and for that I apologize profusely! I had tests these past few weeks, so I had not any time to write. I am so sorry!

But here it is! The start of some MatobaXNatsume for everyone!