OuO... I sure update quickly these days...

Phantasmagoria

Natsume Yuujinchou

Chapter 10

Music, Is An Art, To the Dead, and To the Living

Natsume twirled his pencil around as he stared at the blackboard as the teacher was explaining stuff, bored. Sooner or later his thoughts had directed to Suzuya. To be honest, Suzuya might be the most peculiar youkai he had ever met, other than Nyanko-sensei. He's a powerful, high-class tengu, but nobody knows about him. And he knows nobody. It's almost as if he was always a lingering shadow, properly living in this world but nonexistent to others. And that reclusive youkai spontaneously decided to hang out with a human, but just to pass time…? Natsume didn't think so. He had a high suspicion that the tengu had a huge ego not to express what he really felt, but saying so just complicates things. He guessed that the simplest way of elucidating him would be 'not completely honest to himself'.

And there was this little issue of not letting him help Homura change, too. The day before when they'd encountered the youkai possessing him, Suzuya had carried the unconscious teen for most of the way, only handing him to Natsume when they were in the vicinity of the Fujiwara house. Then he'd flown up to Natsume's window, waiting patiently as Touko fussed around, and when she'd gotten out to prepare dinner and clean up a little and Natsume was going to change Homura's clothes, he had barged in and told Natsume to get out, making an excuse that he had to check on him once again.

He had a hunch those two aren't telling him something. But he guessed that they would tell him when the time comes. He himself hadn't been telling everything to everybody. Plus, he still didn't know if he should keep the Yuujinchou's existence a secret. After all, Homura can fully see youkai like he does, shouldn't he know? Natsume shook his head. No, he'd tell him sooner or later, but not now. He didn't want him to get any more worried than he already is. Homura still had to keep his feelings in check, and his inner thoughts, too, as Suzuya had advised. He said it was probable that the youkai might invade and try to take over.

But for now, Natsume thought as he glanced sideways at Homura, who was currently doodling in his notebook again, and also saw Nishimura already dozing off from the corner of his eye, he seems okay. However like Suzuya said, we can't just assume…

"So, what do you want to know about me so much? Isn't it better to just have minimum necessary knowledge of each other? And what did you mean by 'Yuujinchou', earlier?" Suzuya asked as he leaned against a tree, facing the cat.

Suddenly, there was a poof of smoke, and Suzuya covered his eyes, but when he was just about to ask what had happened and open his eyes again, he was pushed by this immense power and lay dazed on the ground for a second.

So… The cat is not to be underestimated like I thought… Suzuya stared up at the beast above him without any hint of being intimidated. However, he would like to voice out that the paw pressing him against the ground was disturbing his breathing abilities a little.

"Tell me. What is your real motive?" Madara growled.

"What do you mean? All I want to do right now is hang around Homura. I have no interest in your human."

"You have something you're hiding, don't you?"

"If I do have something to hide, what does that have got to do with you, you filthy beast?" Suzuya hissed. He has never liked beasts. But now this one irritated him to no end, acting all superior while in actuality it was just a little piggy kitty. "Now get off of me!"

It only made Madara press down on him harder. "I'll only say this once: don't do anything to Natsume. He's my emergency ration. And don't ever think about stealing the Yuujinchou too, I've been promised it once the human dies."

Suzuya gritted his teeth. "Like I said, what is this Yuujinchou? !"

Madara glared and growled at him for a moment longer before transforming back into a cat. It licked its paw as he glanced at the tengu, who was sitting up. "Do you know about Natsume Reiko?"

"Who?" Is this piggy kitty messing with—

"Natsume Reiko. He's Natsume's deceased grandmother, the one who made the Yuujinchou. It contains all the names of the youkai she had defeated, tied to her as a contract. Natsume's been returning the names recently." The cat shook its head. "I'm surprised you haven't heard of her, or the Yuujinchou, or Natsume. You really have been sheltered quite rurally, aren't you?"

Suzuya shrugged. "Why would I care for something I don't have any relation to? Besides, I have no interest for those names, even if it meant I'd be ruling over all the youkai previously tied to that Natsume Reiko. Oh yeah. Little piggy kitty, do you know of any youkai that might have any information on our current case?"

Nyanko-sensei cringed at the awful nickname the preposterous tengu had called him. "Ignorant little prick with feathers. Follow me!"

During lunch break, one of the teachers had asked Homura to help him carry exercise equipment to the storeroom, and Natsume had tagged along after they'd finished their food with Nishimura and Kitamoto. They had wanted to come too, but Natsume insisted that they'd only end up fooling around if too much people followed, though in truth he just wanted a moment with Homura and ask him about the youkai possessing him.

When they were passing by the staircase on their way to the teachers' room to get the storeroom key, Tanuma was on his way down, and spotted them. Natsume instantly thought about how to break the news to both of them about their involvement with youkai. And Taki, too.

Tanuma wanted to follow and help them, and the other two agreed.

"Hey, Tanuma?" Natsume started as they were walking towards the field to get the equipment.

"Yeah?"

"You see…" He hesitated a little. "Homura here can see youkai."

Both Homura and Tanuma turned to look at Natsume with bewildered looks, Homura's as if he was asking him why the hell had he told Tanuma, and Tanuma's just showed surprise.

"W-Well, he can fully see them like I can. And Homura, Tanuma knows of them too. And also Taki," he explained quickly.

"Taki too? ! Wow… This is a little hard to take in. Can you see them too, Tanuma?" Homura asked.

"Nope. I can only sense little stuff like shadows and presences and all. But I hate myself for having such a stupid immune system; I almost always get a little sick after encountering one." Tanuma laughed sheepishly.

"And he always gets possessed by them too," Natsume remarked.

"Oh really… What about Taki?"

"I knew Taki the time when she was involved with a curse a youkai put on her, where she had to find it again to dispel it. Her family's associated with Onmyouji, and she found a circle that when drawn on the ground, enabled youkai to be seen by the naked eye."

"Oh… So the only ones that can really see them are you and me?"

Natsume nodded, picking up red cones scattered around the field. They each gathered some of the equipment, trying to make it without having to come back for more, but there were a lot. They still had to return to the field to pick up more stuff.

Walking to the storeroom was pretty much a silent trip, but it was a comfortable one. Homura felt more at ease and also a little happy that he knew other people that acknowledge and have been involved with youkai. It made him feel like he would fit in nicely with these guys.

They'd decided that Homura and Tanuma would be clearing away all the stuff they'd brought over and Natsume would go back for more. Natsume didn't mind, at least he got to stay out in the open with fresh air keeping him alert other than having to clear up in the dusty old storeroom.

But he kind of wished he never left Homura alone after that.

Natsume was going back for the last time, and the other two was putting away equipment. While waiting for their brown-haired friend they lingered outside, relieved to be out of the dusty environment of the who-knows-how-many-years-since-it-had-been-cleaned-last storeroom.

They were talking about something that involved fish, when Homura suddenly felt a little sick. It felt as if something had clamped itself over his body and squeezed him till he was exhausted and out of breath. He had a high suspicion that the youkai was taking over his body, but before he could stop it his eyes had already darkened to that black glassy color.

Tanuma noticed the sudden silence and peeked over at the teen next to him. He was just going to ask what had happened when he was thrown over, with Homura on top of him and his fingers curled around his neck. He had on a wicked grin.

Tanuma scrabbled at the hands choking him, surprised not only at the situation but also how surreal it felt to have someone shorter than him choking him with such force he thought impossible.

"Homura… Stop…" he wheezed, legs thrashing as he tried to kick him away or something, at least he could gain an opening and maybe knock him out. But the hands around his neck didn't hesitate to strangle him any further.

Meanwhile Natsume was on his way back to the storeroom. He thought it strange that Homura and Tanuma weren't at the door waiting for him until he got his answer as he drew near. He dropped all those balls he had collected and rushed to the struggling duo, and shoved Homura out of the way. The youkai must have seized control of his vessel and tried to hurt Tanuma for some reason.

"Tanuma! Are you okay? !" Natsume asked worriedly as he helped his coughing friend to sit up.

Tanuma shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. More importantly…" he trailed off when his eyes focused on Homura, who seemed like he was in a daze. He was clutching his head with one hand and looked utterly confused.

"Homura, is it gone now?" Natsume asked. He thought it had stepped back by then, but apparently not.

Homura—or more accurately, the thing inside Homura—grinned. "That human looks delicious~ How nice, how nice~ There are a lot of tasty food here~" It started giggling like a child.

"By the looks of it, he's possessed by something, isn't he?" Tanuma asked, catching on quite quickly, rubbing his sore neck.

Natsume nodded. "Oi, what exactly do you want from Homura? And why'd you kill all those youkai in Yatsuhara?" If the youkai decided to open its mouth now then it would be a good chance to get something out of him.

It said nothing, but just kept on smiling as it continued staring at them.

"Youkai!"

All three turned to side as Suzuya suddenly appeared. Suzuya had the impression that the black-haired boy had experience with youkai too, so he made himself visible. There weren't any other humans loitering about at the time so he didn't feel worried about the possible outcomes.

Tanuma's eyes widened when he saw the lean winged figure, a little bit surprised at how easily he could see it, plus, the image wasn't as blurry as all the other times he'd seen the otherworldly creatures.

"Answer me. What do you want?" Suzuya demanded.

Homura smiled as a different voice answered Natsume's previous question. "I didn't kill those youkai."

"Then?"

"I ate them, of course. Well, I didn't eat the flesh; I just took the blood and left the place."

The two humans winced as they heard that particular sentence.

The tengu's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"Simple. I have to get stronger. Because you see, humans are such foolish creatures. They sealed a powerful youkai with a half-assed spell. But it still cost me time and energy to break away from it. Now that I'm almost free, I just have to collect more power and then I'll leave to take my revenge. No worries, I won't harm this boy. But I guess, when you're possessed by evil spirits for too long—"

"—there's a bigger chance of getting infected by the dark energy," Suzuya finished its sentence.

"Well, I'll leave as soon as I replenish my energy. But of course, we don't know how long that will take, no? I wonder how long this boy will last~"

Natsume uttered a skeptical 'what' as Suzuya marched forward and grabbed the front of Homura's uniform, pulling him close.

"You—"

"If you so much as lay a finger on me, I'll take over the boy's mind by force. You might not know, but his heart is overcome by all the melancholy a dream-eater would just love to feast on."

Suzuya loosened his grip with narrowed eyes. "I understand. Now begone," he commanded.

Homura gave one last smile before he went limp and when he opened his eyes again, he was back to the real Homura.

Suzuya crossed his arms as his eyes darted between Natsume, the black-haired boy and Homura.

"You," he called.

"Me?" Tanuma asked.

Suzuya nodded. "What's your name?"

"Tanuma. Tanuma Kaname, that is."

Suzuya fell into deep silence again.

"Tanuma, you can see Suzuya?" Natsume asked.

"Stop fussing, I made myself visible," the tengu snapped. "Are you okay?" he asked Homura who was still feeling a bit shaky.

"Yeah, and I have a good grip on what's going on. So what do we do now?"

"… Let me think this over for a while. I'll be seeing you soon. And Tanuma."

Said teen looked up at the mention of his name to see the tengu coming towards him, hand outstretched. He blinked when he touched his forehead lightly before withdrawing his arm.

"That's to prevent you from getting side effects of that damned youkai. You have a lot of spiritual energy but your body can't accept it much so you'd better look after yourself. Well then, I'll get going, the little piggy kitty will scratch me if I don't." Suzuya proceeded to spread his wings and in a second, he was already gone.

The three boys went on with cleaning and returned the key to the teacher, then went back to their respective classrooms. Before parting Homura apologized to Tanuma for choking him, glancing guiltily at the faint red marks his fingers made around his neck, and Natsume apologized for deciding not to let him get involved in their current case any further since he was one of the youkai's targets, and promised to keep him updated. Tanuma just shook his head and smiled, thinking about how there were two secretive idiots now.

Homura was now back in his own apartment, with Natsume occasionally checking on him through his cell. It would've been great if Natsume had a cellphone too, at least they could contact or mail each other easily, but being the kind of guy he was, he guessed he didn't want to trouble the Fujiwara couple much. He too would probably do the same if he were in his shoes.

He rested comfortably on his sofa, towel around his neck as water dripped from his not-so-wet hair, staring at his cellphone screen. Natsume had last called him an hour ago, and had reminded him that he'd call every two to three hours or so, except from 9p.m. onwards. He smiled, thinking of the way he fussed over him like he was a child. Touko-san, too.

… Seiji, too. But of course, his fussing irked him to no end, and usually ended with Homura landing a hit on him.

His eyes strayed to the piano a few paces off, and, sighing, made his way there, lightly pressing on a key. In the end the urge to play the instrument overpowered his longing to wolf down the cookies he had bought from the supermarket two days ago, so he sat on the seat and started playing. His slender fingers created a wonderful melody as they ghosted over the keys, that, and the experience he had gained over the year as well as his love for music.

He never needed sheet music that much, because he liked playing tunes from all the anime he watched. Converting something that was composed by someone else, and adding a few splashes of colors to it, without the help of anything other than the original tune proved to be a challenge he always liked to conquer. For that he would have to listen carefully to the song, over and over, but the piece completed at the end filled him with self-satisfaction. To listen, memorize, and press the right keys and make it as wonderful as the original composition is what you call playing by ear.

… Before the incident happened, he and Seiji always got together and when they'd gotten bored of fooling around, they'd play music. He would create piano versions, and the other acoustic versions, as well as electric guitar versions. He had always liked the way Seiji's fingers strummed against the guitar; he had made it seem so easy. And then he'd asked him to teach him how to play too. Being the fast learner he was he got over it quickly, only hesitating from time to time. Seiji had always complained to him how unfair it was when he himself had took several years to get real good, Homura had only taken a few months. But, granted, Homura couldn't play as well as his now-deceased friend. Now he could never play with his best friend anymore. All that's left now are memories. And speaking of memories, Homura didn't know whether it was good practice or not, but he had kept a mental list of all the songs they had played together, and had listened to himself play a number of times when the loneliness settled in. Though he missed the familiar laughter and the intentional out-of-tune strumming of a guitar, he felt warm inside when he thought of how he could at least give himself—and him—some good memories to reminisce.

He sighed when he finished playing his current piece. It was from one of the newest anime he'd watched, one that involved a lot of hotshot professionals. Its character design was by one of his favorite artists, the producing company was a famous one, and the songs included was by a famous band, and the one who composed it was a famous composer. All the good features for such a good series. Plus, it had already gained quite a number of fans even though the third chapter has only just been aired. He had the hunch it would be expensive once it came out on DVD.

It's a beautiful melody, though the meaning of the lyrics is sad. A song about the foolishness of humans, constantly hurting each other just to achieve their goals, how cruel they are, for ignoring all the good resources available when it was still right in front of them.

'Oh my, human boy, if you reveal to me any more of your feelings and memories I might be compelled to find out more.'

"You're the… youkai?" Homura asked aloud, fingers hovering in mid-air, the smooth flow of the melody broken off.

'Yes, of course. You really are an interesting human. You haven't let go of yourself much and yet… all those darkness overflowing out of the wounds of your heart… Hey… You probably have much, much more buried deep inside you, do you not? Why don't you let go of it, open up…'

"Shut up," he snapped. "I'm not getting influenced by you. Just now was just a slip-up. It won't happen again." How dare it…! To peek into his thoughts and memories like that!

'My, my, what a short fuse you have… Though I might as well tell, I did not 'peek' into your thoughts and memories. You were the one who showed them to me. I merely took note of them so I could find a way to blackmail you.'

Homura gritted his teeth. "… How long are you planning to stay in my body like this?"

'Like I said, until I get all my strength back. Then I shall leave and have my revenge to the petty humans.'

"You do know that once you get out, Suzuya would probably thrash you."

'Yes, I am aware of that, but if I take you hostage, your friends wouldn't dare to do such reckless things, will they?'

"Wha—!"

'So now, just close your eyes, dear human.

And let me control you.'

Oooh~ I haven't been able to put this down recently… I get so motivated reading all your wonderful reviews! :3 Oh, and the so-called new anime Homura meant is Guilty Crown, by the way. The art is simply amazing. *p* And I LOVE Euterpe; that's the piece Homura was playing, though of course, you can't really hear it. –v-" However, there really IS a piano version of Euterpe, as well as a music box version, on Youtube. I highly recommend that you go watch it. That and the anime itself. XD And when I wrote about the 'even though the third chapter has only just been aired', it's the truth. D: The third chapter is already out in Japan, and the second chapter is available with subs. I hope the next chapter would come out soon~

Euterpe [piano version] – youtube (dot) com/watch?v=r-W8paeFrm4&feature=related

Euterpe [music box version] - youtube (dot) com/watch?v=SdDDzfmtYE0&feature=related