First of all, thanks for all your kind reviews! I love reading them!
Please enjoy the second chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Natsume Yuujinchou.
"Hey! Come on out!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I had been searching the forest the whole day, without result. "I'll play your game, so show yourself!"
If that youkai was playing Demon Tag I knew it was hopeless to call out for him. But, it was better than not trying at all. Between my own footsteps I suddenly heard a noise that didn't belong to the forest. I stood still, listening intently, it was a voice and it seemed to approach me. "…that old lady earlier, she was on her way to the shrine."
"Really? Let's go check the shrine, maybe she left those delicious apples again!" A second voice answered.
I didn't move as the owners of the voice came in sight, youkai. They didn't seem like a bad bunch.
"Hey," I approached them. "I'm looking for a youkai, that looks like a shadow wearing a fox mask. Have you seen him around?"
"Yeah, those apples were really good. We should think of a way to thank that old lady, maybe a good luck spell?"
I was nailed to the ground, the youkai had ignored me. They passed me, missing my arm by a whisker.
"Hey!" I said again, my voice wavering. The youkai didn't turn around. Feelings of fear that I had been trying to suppress got the upper hand as I stood there, unmoving. Even youkai couldn't see me. I was invisible to both, humans and youkai. I realized that until now, even if I got stuck in a hopeless situation, I always had been able to dependent on youkai for help. But, this time I was completely on my own. That youkai from this morning had completely erased my existence with just one touch!
It was like a sinkhole had opened up beneath my feet. Under normal circumstances finding a certain youkai was almost impossible, even if you took the help of other youkai into account. This time I couldn't even ask for help. I couldn't rely on Nyanko-sensei, my friends or youkai. And as if the situation wasn't bad enough already, this youkai was hiding from me! Playing his stupid game of Demon Tag.
I sat down, wrapping my arms around my knees. I was exhausted from running around, it was time to start using my brain. Think, I told myself. Think of a plan! But my mind was clouded with these miserable feelings. I had never felt this alone in my whole life. Until now there had always been someone I could talk to, be it meaningless exchanges of words with people or youkai.
I didn't know how many hours had passed when I finally lifted my head from my knees. It was almost dark and I was sitting in the middle of a forest with no plan. I had to get out of this forest before I couldn't see where I was heading. Maybe Nyanko-sensei was already waiting for me in my room. Maybe, just maybe, he was powerful enough to see through this cloak of invisibility. As I wanted to get up I heard that sound again. The sound that had made me lift my head in the first place. A sound that didn't belong to the sounds of the forest. Not even daring to breathe I listened for it.
A voice! I quickly got to my feet, uncertainly taking a few steps towards the sound.
"Hey!" It took me a few more steps to realize I was walking in the right direction, the voice was getting louder.
"Natsume!"
I felt tears welling up inside me, filling my eyes with water. I had clearly heard my name. Someone was looking for me! Someone was worried about me. Someone was missing me! I felt terrible for making people worry, but at the same time I felt incredibly happy. As a kid I had often felt invisible, thinking no one would worry if I had gone missing. Right now I was invisible, but I was being missed. It felt like proof that I wasn't alone anymore.
"I'm here!" I yelled while running towards the voice. I knew no one could hear me, but it felt better than not answering at all.
"Natsume! Where are you!" The voice sounded really close now. I came to an halt as I almost bumped into the boy who was looking for me. Even in the fading sunlight I recognized that tall figure with dark hair.
"Tanuma?" We were standing in a meadow, for a few seconds I thought Tanuma could see me. He looked me straight in the eye before he turning his back on me, instantly crushing all my hopes that the spell might have been lifted. Tanuma had probably sensed my presence.
"Natsume!" Tanuma yelled again.
I had to let him know he had already found me, but how? Frantically I looked around for something useful. I picked up twig, testing the ground with my shoe. The sand seemed loose, which meant that I could write in it with the twig.
"I'm here," I wrote, my handwriting looking very messy.
"Please notice! Turn around! Please!" I prayed out loud as Tanuma once again yelled my name in the opposite direction. Tanuma took a step in the opposite direction. Alarmed by this I reached out my hand, without thinking I grabbed Tanuma at his shoulder. I noticed my hand was trembling, afraid that Tanuma would leave. To my astonishment Tanuma defensively shrugged my hand off.
"Who's there!" Tanuma took a few steps back, but he had turned around.
Startled I almost took on a defensive attitude too. I hadn't expected to be able to touch humans. I had figured out pretty soon that I was able to touch objects, it had been obvious during class this morning, but I had assumed I couldn't touch humans. Recovering from my astonishment I took hold of Tanuma's arm, trying to drag him towards my writing. Being able to touch objects and humans, at least I had been given one useful tool for this game.
"What do you want!" Naturally Tanuma put up a fight as I used everything I had to pull him in my direction.
"Over here! Look at the ground!" I grunted, but Tanuma was refusing to move. I gave up, this wasn't working. I picked up the stick again.
"It's me, Natsume" I wrote beneath my other message.
I felt relieved as Tanuma's eyes widened at the message. "Natsume? Is that really you?"
"Yes!" I answered, before realizing Tanuma couldn't hear me. "This is such a pain!" I complained as I erased the first message with my foot, writing down the answer.
"Why can't I see you?" Tanuma asked a bit wary, confusion written all over his face. "Why can't you talk to me?"
"Youkai," I wrote down, hoping it was a sufficient explanation. Writing down the whole story would be too troublesome and take too much time.
"How can I be sure you're not a youkai, trying to trick me?"
I stared at Tanuma, he was clever as always. How was I supposed to answer?
"What day of the week was it when we first met?" Tanuma continued, asking a more specific question. I suppose I wasn't expected to answer his previous question.
I still remembered that first day we met. We had passed each other in the hallway of school, only exchanging a glance, no words. I had felt uneasy about his presence, which was somehow different than from other people. I was sure it had been a Tuesday, which I wrote down.
Tanuma glanced at the answer, not a sign whether it was correct. "What did you say when you first spoke to me?"
"Can you see them?" I wrote down. I smiled at the words, how could I forget them? Tanuma was the first person in this town to whom I had entrusted my secret.
Tanuma too smiled at the answer. "That's enough prove for me, it really is you. We should meet up with Taki, she's worried sick about you. Let's go, before it gets too dark to see anything."
I nodded in agreement, following Tanuma in the direction that lead out of the forest. After a few meters Tanuma slowed his steps. "Are you coming, Natsume?"
"I'm right behind you," I answered, it sounded stupid to answer out loud when he couldn't hear me.
"It's kind of weird not being able to see or hear you. I'm not even sure if you're still here."
Tanuma was right, I imagined that it must be an extremely strange feeling to know you're not actually alone, yet you can't see anyone near you. I felt myself hesitate before grabbing Tanuma's hand. Holding hands was something for children or couples on a date. We were neither a child or a couple, for us to be holding hands was just odd.
Tanuma seemed to feel the same as he looked a bit embarrassed. "At least this way I know you're beside me." He said grabbing my hand a bit tighter.
We reached the fields just outside of the forest and I immediately recognized the dark silhouette against the sunset standing in the middle of those fields. It was Taki drawing her circles hoping youkai would step inside of them, even though she know the danger it could bring. The figure of Taki looked the same as when I first met her.
"Tanuma?" Taki called upon seeing us approach her. Or rather, upon seeing Tanuma approach her.
"I found Natsume!" Tanuma called back, which caused Taki to race towards us.
"Really! Is he alright? Where is he?" From close up it was clear Taki has spend the whole day in the fields. Her clothes and hands were covered with dirt. She looked exhausted, yet her body seemed to possess a large amount of energy.
"He's alright, but exhausted from being chased by youkai. He's resting at my house, because it was close by." I was surprised Tanuma lied to her with such ease. "You should go home too, you don't want Natsume to worry about you, right?"
"I'll come with you to check on him!" Taki insisted, she wasn't about the be put off by Tanuma.
"He's sleeping. The moment we entered my house he fell asleep almost immediately. I don't think he will wake up soon, so it's best to just go home for now. You can come by tomorrow. Shall I walk you home?"
"Thanks, but no need. You can go back first. I need to erase these circles, before they cause trouble to youkai accidently stepping on them."
I grinned, Tanuma could be such a gentleman, offering a girl to bring her home even though it was still early evening. But truth was, I was glad Taki had turned the offer down. I knew I would feel like I was in the way of those two, even though I was invisible.
"Shall we help erasing them?" Tanuma offered.
I softly hit him in his ribs with my elbow to make him realize his mistake.
"We?" Taki was suspicious of this odd verbal mistake.
"I meant shall I help?" Tanuma corrected, he seemed to resist the urge to hit back.
"No, it's okay. Please look after Natsume, even though he's back I'm still worried about him."
"Okay, be careful. See you tomorrow!"
Taki waved as Tanuma turned around. I felt bad for leaving her alone, but it had been Tanuma's choice to lie to her.
"Why did you lie to her?" I asked as soon as we were out of hearing distance, I could have asked sooner but I kept forgetting people couldn't hear me.
Naturally Tanuma didn't answer. I took hold of his hand, reminding him I was still there.
"Sorry, you saw an ugly side of me." Tanuma almost whispered as soon as he felt my touch. I guessed lying hadn't been that easy for him after all. But I was actually glad to have seen this side of him, I felt like I knew a bit more about Tanuma.
"I didn't want to involve Taki and I assume it is the same for you. I can tell you care about her, probably even more than you realize yourself."
I thought about what he said. It was true. I cared about Taki a lot, but I cared about my other friends too, including Tanuma.
"If that youkai was able to turn you invisible, it is probably a pretty dangerous fellow. So, I didn't want to involve Taki," Tanuma continued. "I just hope she hasn't seen through my lies. I told Toukou practically the same thing while Taki was standing next to me."
I felt a strange sort of panic at the mention of Toukou's name. Toukou and Shigeru were probably worried sick by now, because I hadn't come home from school!
"What did you tell her!" I tugged at his hand rather hard hoping he kept on talking.
"Natsume, it's okay! I told Toukou you were staying over at my house. Taki and I noticed you weren't at school, so we thought you were sick. But when we visited your house Toukou told us you hadn't come home yet. I made up a lie on the spot about some school project that we needed to finish and that you would stay over at my house, but you were too busy to tell her yourself. Toukou even gave us a change of clothes, so everything is fine."
I resisted the urge to hug him. I was glad Tanuma was such a reliable friend, as soon as he learned I had disappeared, he understood the whole situation. Tanuma was one of the few persons that didn't need an explanation, they simply knew what had happened.
Tanuma sqeezed my hand. "Let's go to my house, I'll make you something to eat."
In response I clasped his hand tighter, hoping Tanuma would interpret it as thanks.
I hope to see you next week for the last chapter!