Sorry to have kept you waiting! The week passed so quickly, I didn't even have time to update this story!
Anyway enjoy the last chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Natsume Yuujinchou.
I sat opposite of Tanuma. The table between us was littered with papers with my handwriting and remains of breakfast. We spent all night coming up with a plan to undo the invisibility spell. In the end we had come to the conclusion that we had to catch that youkai, so we had to change our plan. Making conversation through paper was harder than I had thought as you didn't have the benefit of swift reaction.
"So, let me repeat our plan," Tanuma read some papers while he was talking to me. "I will act as if you are visible while you will act as if everything is back to normal. The youkai will become curious about his invisibility spell, thus we will lure him out of his hiding place."
I nodded, aware that it was a habit. Tanuma crossed his arms as he seemed to think the plan over once again.
"It'll be pretty hard," he concluded.
"Why?" I immediately asked out loud. At the same time I wrote it down on one of the papers too.
"Because we can't hear or see each other. It's going to be difficult to synchronize our responses. We won't be able to make it look like a normal conversation."
I picked up the pen once again, I had to stop tossing that thing on the table. "Don't worry," I wrote. "I'll match my actions and answers with yours. It should work if I rely on my acting skills. Besides we are already pretty much in sync."
"Really? You think so?" Tanuma seemed surprised.
I wrote faster, my handwriting getting messier. "Most of the time you react to my questions or responses before I can even write them down. It's almost as if you can read my mind, but you seem to do it unconsciously though."
"Hmm, I never noticed. Anyway it is almost time to leave for school. We'll just have to see how our plan goes."
Tanuma grabbed his bag, holding the door open for me. A bit too late he closed it, I had long passed through the door.
"Don't worry, we can pull this off," I assured him. I knew Tanuma couldn't hear me, but it was better to get used to talking again. I had surprisingly quick adapted to keeping answers for myself.
"Let's do this!" Tanuma said almost at the same time. I had to hold back a chuckle, this was exactly what I had been talking about, we were on the same level.
As soon as I stepped outside I found myself scanning the street, thinking he should be somewhere near me. I had to remind myself to look disinterested, I had to act like I wasn't looking for him anymore. I had to act normal. But then again, how did I normally act? Would I have scanned the street for youkai? Most probably, I would. After years of being plagued by youkai it had become a habit.
"By the way Natsume, where is Ponta?" Tanuma suddenly asked beside me, successfully distracting me from my thoughts. I wanted to applaud him for making it look like we had continued our conversation from when we had been inside the house. Though I was a bit worried by his posture, he seemed unsure where he should focus his eyes, switching them all over the place.
"You mean Nyanko-sensei? He's probably off drinking again." I answered, deliberately shoving the gravel with my foot, so that Tanuma would know my exact location. It helped, Tanuma focused his eyes someplace above the gravel that had been moved. His focus was not perfect, but it was close enough.
"I see, some bodyguard he is, leaving you unguarded most of the time." Tanuma might have answered a bit too fast.
Tanuma kept his eyes focused on the same level as we took off in the direction of our school. I just had to match my pace with him. A long silence followed as Tanuma thought of the next topic. It would have been easier if we had thought up a script, but after staying awake most of the night, we didn't have enough time make or memorize it. We were both afraid of forgetting our lines and messing up, so we had agreed on Tanuma leading the conversation. At the same time I would try to avoid asking questions when responding to Tanuma. It seemed the safest solution after the script.
"You're good at history, right?" Tanuma broke the awkward silence.
I almost grinned as I remembered this question, Tanuma had asked it just a few days ago. "Yeah, it's one of the few subjects were I can score above 80 points. Why?" Repeating one of our previous conversation was a really smart move. I had to admit that I hadn't thought of it.
"Could you borrow me your notes after school? Our text book is written using very bad story telling. Whenever I'm reading, I can't seem to stay awake, because it's so boring. The notes you write are far more interesting."
"That's because youkai can tell me firsthand what happened, though they are sometimes exaggerating." My eye caught an unusual movement in the otherwise empty street. If my assumption was right it was that youkai, but I hadn't expected our plan would be this effective. Quickly I averted my eyes, I couldn't afford it to scare him away.
"That's nice, I wish I could hear those stories. They must be fascinating." From the corner of my eyes I saw the youkai slowly close in on us. I wondered why I hadn't noticed his strong dangerous presence when I first met him. I was almost sure Tanuma could feel it too, even though he didn't show it.
"It's interesting, but most of the time I end up discussing with the storyteller about the content of the text book. It seems textbooks are more often wrong than right, which causes youkai to start making fun of humans. I can't stand it when they do that." Casually I hit Tanuma on his shoulder, our warning sign we had agreed on. Hitting Tanuma at his shoulder felt awkward, but best friends do these sort of things, right?
"Maybe I should depend less on those text books," The look in Tanuma's eyes had become anxious. I had just proved what he had already suspected, the youkai was close. From the corner of my eyes I saw the youkai. He was waiting a few metres ahead of us, pointlessly trying to hide his big body behind a street light pole. I felt a strange sort of excitement, our plan had actually lured him out!
"I'll show you my notes later," I said analyzing the situation. I felt like dashing towards him, but I still remembered that gust of wind this youkai had left in his tracks. This youkai was fast. If I made one mistake it could cause him to run and I wouldn't be able to catch up. Most probably I wouldn't get a second chance at catching him either.
"So, will you lend me your notes?" Tanuma asked at almost the same time I told him he could use my notes. I cursed, we had spoken at the same time!
The youkai moved, he had seen through our scheme and was preparing to run again. I had no choice, I sprinted as if my life was at stake, which it technically was. I still don't know how I did it, but I managed to grab a small piece of the youkai's cloth. I felt a warm sort of heat spreading from my hand through my whole body, apparently it was enough to lift the spell! Somewhere behind me I could hear Tanuma gasp, I knew I was visible again.
"I caught you," I breathed.
I was surprised the youkai didn't attempt to run. "You win," he said, turning to face me. "Faking that conversation was really clever, you fooled me."
"Thanks," I answered, taking the compliment. "In return for wining this game, will you promise me something?"
The youkai considered it. "Alright," he said after a short silence.
"Will you promise to stop playing this game in the future? You're causing humans a lot of problems."
The youkai nodded, for some reason he seemed incredibly lonely.
"Instead I will play with you," I couldn't help myself. "I will ask my friends to join too, but please stop turning people or youkai invisible. It will be difficult to play if the participants cannot be seen, right?"
"Will you really play with me?" I could imagine a big smiling face behind that dangerous looking mask.
"Yes, just come and ask me anytime!" I smiled as I let go of the youkai's cloth.
"I will!" A gust of wind blew through the street. The youkai made a jump and his body was sort of swept away by the wind. His body drifted out of sight, riding on the wind. So that was how he could be so fast. Youkai kept amazing me.
"Bye! See you around!" I yelled as I waved after the wind. I hoped the wind was willing to carry my voice as well, so that my message would reach the youkai. I turned to face Tanuma. "Thanks for helping."
"Your kindness keeps baffling me, Natsume." Tanuma looked relieved to see that I was unhurt.
"What do you mean?" Without Tanuma I wouldn't have managed to undo the spell, wasn't a proper thank you was to be expected?
"That youkai. He made you invisible, yet you invite him for another game."
"He was just lonely, he didn't mean to harm me." I defended myself.
"I know, most youkai are just looking for attention," Tanuma grinned. "Anyway, let's go to school. If we run we might still make it in time. By the way, seriously let me copy your history notes." Tanuma called as he dashed past me.
"Okay, come to my house to pick it up!" I called back, easily catching up with him. Years of running from youkai had its advantages. Right before my feet something suddenly dropped down from the wall beside the path. Beside me Tanuma managed to dodge the round thing, but I couldn't avoid it. I stumbled, but immediately started laughing. I would never fail to recognize that round thing.
"That hurt Natsume!" The familiar drunk voice of Nyanko-sensei was yelling in my ear, but I kept laughing like a maniac.
"Natsume? Are you alright?" The worried voice of Tanuma asked from somewhere above. I bet he was worried I had hit my head or something. But I couldn't stop laughing, the fact that I was visible again felt much better than I could describe.
I took a deep breath to stop my laughing as I turned on my back. "I'm okay," I said as I stared up at the sky. I vowed I would never wish for invisibility, no matter how embarrassing the situation.
I know, I have kept you guys waiting for two weeks only to end it in such an easy way. My endings usually suck, so I'm sorry!
Oh well, thank you for reading and if I didn't scare you away, please review! =)