A/N: Yo! Happy New Year's, my non-Asian readers! (...What's that? New Year's has already passed, you say? Ahah, ahahaha, that's a good one...)
We're finally getting to the Matoba. This chapter is basically all Matoba. I'm deliriously happy. The bliss and wonderfulness of this, I can't even.
GUYS, I HAVE AN ACTUAL ANNOUNCEMENT-ISH THING: So I was reviewing my massive master timeline for the next few in-story days (because shit starts getting real here, folks), and I realized I had something that would fit better on a weekend happening on a weekday. So I could either leave it, shove it back and add a few filler days (which I didn't want to do for the sake of realism and holding true to canon—because honestly, Seiji's already missing more than a week of school, and the stuff that goes on with exorcists in canon never seems to take more than a few days at a time, ergo this fic's pacing is already ridiculously drawn-out), or I could squish a few spaced-out events into the same day. So I experimented, and now I've got something of a cohesive timeline where basically a lot of things happen every single day (and the Rakuto's must not get home until well after dark because otherwise they'd have to notice Natsume is never home and homework will just not be a Thing at all), and it all just barely manages to slot all the major events (though I might have to rework some scenes out) into about a week, in-story time. And it's sitting on my desktop and I'm just staring at it in abject horror, because I've gone and put actual work into it and now my brain is telling me all the ways this timeline matches canon and real life better but Alex keeps telling me that it's nowhere near realistic and way too much stuff happens to be feasible in a day and guys I don't know what to do with this. Right now I'm going with Alex, but...
So, with all that out of the way, how are you guys liking the pacing of this fic? ^_^lll I should make it faster? Let their relationship-building drag along at the current pace before they hit the angst? (Yes, angst is a thing, later. There's practically a whole arc dedicated to it.)
Once they reach the town proper, Natsume eventually figures that, wherever they're going, Matoba-san is in no particular hurry to get there. It's an easy conclusion to reach, since the older boy seems intent on taking the scenic route through town, ambling along the streets of the market area purposefully, but slowly.
Natsume's perfectly fine with that, and with the small talk the older boy seems so keen on keeping up (while at the same time pretending very hard not to be), but it does make it a little hard to guess where they're going. He doesn't ask, though, just tries to follow Matoba's lead and keep the conversation light. It's surprisingly easy, despite both of them avoiding serious topics and having little in common. Natsume is nine, Matoba is sixteen (even though he acts a lot older). Natsume doesn't really have any hobbies, and Matoba enjoys archery and certain games—though Matoba doesn't ask 'why not' so Natsume doesn't ask 'what kind'. He also doesn't ask why Matoba is apparently skipping classes to romp (or maybe skulk; Matoba-san seems more like the skulking type) about in the woods, because Matoba leaves it at that when Natsume tells him that he's freeloading at his uncle's place. Neither of them mention how unconcerned the other seems to get home or really anything about family at all, though Natsume admits to living in one of the apartments near the sole train station in Hawamachi and Matoba-san mentions that he's just visiting the area.
By the time Matoba-san has had enough of walking in vague circles and starts them towards a slightly different part of town, Natsume has figured out that he's being tested somehow. He's also come to the realization that neither of them are particularly social in a way that small talk comes to naturally—Natsume a bit too quiet, too isolated, and Matoba a bit too serious for frivolous things, he thinks, though Matoba-san's good enough to steer the conversation in a way that keeps it from getting awkward. He needs to figure out how to do that, and to stop questioning everything that makes Matoba-san look like a youkai trying to trick him (even if the older boy seemingly spends all day doing whatever he wants and has taken an interest in Natsume for no apparent reason beyond that he can see ayakashi and Matoba-san doesn't live in the town –maybe not even in a house– and Natsume needs to stop thinking like this because his suspicions are completely unfounded and unfair on the other boy).
Eventually, they come to a halt before the upscale, fancy-looking tourist-trap of a tea house in the middle of the more populated , and Natsume balks slightly because this is not the kind of place people have ever taken him –or take any child, for that matter– to. Matoba-san, though, waltzes right in confidently; maybe he goes to places like this often? The thought is a bit daunting, but Natsume shakes it off and hastens to catch up.
His pause means he's missed what Matoba tells the waitress, but they are led upstairs to a spacious, private room with two settings laid out and left alone for a moment. Matoba-san invites him to sit, so he sets aside his bag and does so uncertainly. Then, face-to-face with each other, Natsume watches as, with a tilt of lips pretending to be a smile, the idle curiosity in the older boy's eyes shifts, until Natsume is looking at something sharp and assessing and entirely business.
Seiji observes the boy as they order their tea. Short, waifish, with clothes that don't quite fit as well as they could. An odd aura, almost like that of a youkai itself. Pale too; Seiji had attributed that to fear when he'd first seen it (which would have been understandable, considering) but evidently that is not the case; perhaps the child was coming down with something. He asks if the boy wants anything and gets a hasty but polite negative.
Well then. Nonchalantly, he adds a plate of dango to their order (little children liked sweet things, right?), and ignores the uncertain look he gets from his companion.
When their tea (and snack) arrives, he pushes the plate across the table, watching in amusement as his little tagalong stumbles over himself trying to return it without causing offense.
"It's rude to turn it down without even tasting it, Natsume-kun. I've already ordered it; you might as well eat," he comments, and takes a sip of tea to avoid the temptation to smirk unkindly at the way the other boy flushes. (It's not something he'd normally bother to hide, but he supposes that in this instance the kiddy-gloves are in order.)
The child obediently starts eating, though with such a look of consternation that Seiji lightly adds, "It's nothing I can't afford. And I'm not fond of sweets anyways." The boy looks... not happy, but less conflicted, so Seiji counts it a success. He asks if it's good and gets a meek affirmation. Pleasantries done, he arranges his limbs into something more casual and gives the boy a moment to relax (though that's really just so he can take advantage of a lowered guard). Then he smiles, politeness edged with intent.
"You must have questions." Natsume nods, a little shyly, and mutters a soft hai. Seiji makes an indulgent gesture. "Ask away, then."
This clearly throws the child off; the boy is obviously not used to having the ball in his court. Seiji waits. Natsume takes a sip of his tea as he considers, recovering with surprising swiftness. "So... you can see them too, Matoba-san?"
It's not really a question, spoken more like someone confirming a fact aloud, but it's as good a starting point as any. "Yes, I can see them. And do quite a bit more, too," he adds, because he is going somewhere with this.
come
An ayakashi of his melts through the wall behind him, and Natsume jerks back violently. The boy scrambles to save his tea from spilling, and clutches the cup with white-knuckled fingers as he stares up at it.
"Heh." Seiji doesn't bother to wipe the amusement from his voice, though after a moment he arranges his expression into a smile less entertained. "My apologies if they scared you. But you're rather jumpy, aren't you." Natsume switches his wide-eyed stare from the shiki to Seiji. Seiji studies him calmly in return, contemplative (because the boy is. Extremely twitchy...at least, around ayakashi. Hmm. Perhaps...).
"Oh. Sorry…" Natsume looks down first, fingers slowly relaxing around the teacup. He takes a sip—stalling. "I just... Are we... do you think we're... weird, for being able to see them?" The boy works out tentatively, peeking at him through long bangs of silver.
Seiji tips his head to one side slightly, a soft "Hmm?" escaping him as he ponders the muted (but still fervent) light of hope in the child's eyes. That...wasn't quite where he'd expected this conversation to go.
It dawns on him, slowly, that he might actually be the first person this little boy's met who could also see..anything. ...How odd. Most of the people Seiji bothers to acquaint himself with are at least aware of the spirit world and exorcists, if not one themselves.
Not for the first time, Seiji considers what it must be like, to be born outside of any sort of clan at all. How must the world seem, to someone so completely isolated? To live with only the ayakashi and regular people—people who couldn't do anything to protect themselves even if they had wanted to—and who would want to? Who, among the ignorant masses, would have wanted to believe in the threat of such scary things, things that they can't even see?
Seiji doesn't really deal with that sort of ignorance these days, except in his classmates. But Natsume Takashi, it seems, has never known anything else.
Until now.
...He can use this. He smiles, tucking away the predatory edges and brushing aside the brief flash of pity (though this, at least, explains the desperation that he sometimes sees in the glances the boy keeps sneaking at him, as if he'll somehow disappear or turn out to be an illusion), as he quickly rethinks his approach. This is apparently not going to be the conversation he'd planned for, where he'd have to essentially cow a curious child sufficiently enough to discourage further meddling and leave his work undisturbed.
That was fine. Seiji could improvise.
"No," he says firmly, "we're not. It's a talent, Natsume-kun, and a responsibility. But that's what power always is. And you seem to have at least some of it, maybe more." He watches the child keenly. The boy seems to be hanging onto his every word, so he elaborates, "Did you know? There are people that can hurt ayakashi, but can't actually see them, and there are people that see them, but can't do anything to protect themselves. People who can do both, like you might be able to, are very valuable," and he was losing the boy, he could see it. Natsume was definitely thinking about his words, but they weren't quite resonating; acting on a hunch, he switches tacks slightly. "Because people like us are the best ones to deal with ayakashi. There's a whole community of others with one foot in the spirit world, all dealing with the same things you are. People who can See have to look out for each other, after all."
Ah, there we go. Rapport building instead of flattery and power plays—not what usually works, but he supposes children have different priorities. He should probably just stick to the emotive routes, then; they'd worked well enough on Natsume before. It's not something he usually bothers with, but... well, he supposes a little show of sympathy won't cost him anything he wasn't already prepared to give. Seiji smiles.
Natsume shifts, looking both incredibly happy and slightly uneasy. "Matoba-san, earlier you said... are you... are you an exorcist?"
He smile drops a notch, the only sign of surprise he allows himself. "You've had contact with us?" That could prove... problematic, if there was another reason for Natsume to be poking at his spells. Seiji had gone off the assumption that the boy had simply been an ultimately harmless coincidence—if there was a third party interfering...
"Ah, no. I heard about you. ...From a youkai," Natsume says, and ah, that explains why the boy seems so uncomfortable. Seiji tries (though not very hard, granted) not to let either his amusement or mild distaste show.
"A youkai?" He drawls out, dragging the syllables a bit to see the child squirm. "Well. I suppose you've probably heard some inaccurate information, then. Allow me to... correct that." Seiji takes a slow sip of his tea, deliberating. "Tell me, what have you heard, Natsume-kun?"
"It didn't-didn't seem to like you," Natsume mumbles, clearly uncomfortable.
Him? In particular? "I'm afraid you're going to have to be more specific than that, Natsume-kun." He tips his head slightly, adding just a touch of force to the name and smiling with his eyes closed. Natsume shifts uneasily.
"It... It said that you all hurt and take from youkai. And are nuisances. That things would be better, without exorcists." He snaps his mouth shut and cringes, as if expecting Seiji to blame him for repeating an ayakashi's words.
"Hmm." Well. That could be repeated by any spirit off the street, spouting nonsense. He lets nothing show on his face, and deliberately asks, "and what do you think we do?"
The boy looks up and blinks once at him, surprised. "Um... Well, you exorcise spirits that are bothering people, right?"
"In a sense. We deal with the dangerous and the troublemakers, mostly by either purifying them or sealing them away, but we also set up barriers to keep them out of places they shouldn't be—homes, for example. And we stop them from troubling us." And hunt down useful ones, so we can make them do our bidding. Take out competition within the exorcist community. Meddle with the spirit world whenever it suits us.
But Seiji's talking to a child, so he censors himself and simplifies his thoughts a bit. "Exorcists protect people, in short. But to do that, we need power—the weak can't do anything, after all." The boy looks to be mostly in agreement, though still a bit uncertain—but then, Seiji supposes that Natsume wouldn't have heard any of this before. It would never have occurred to the boy if he hadn't known of other people who could See, and Seiji admits to himself that he... doesn't usually need to justify the basic ideology behind his family's work. "Haven't you ever been threatened by an ayakashi, or had them threaten the people around you? Or ever wished that they would just... leave you alone?"
Seiji eyes Natsume's stony expression. His own features are just as blank, though he makes an effort to gentle his voice. In this, it isn't even all that hard. "...I see that you have."
"...Hai," Natsume says with a nod, eyes downcast and voice so, so quiet. Seiji gives him a moment of respectful silence, before continuing.
"Exorcists learn how to hurt ayakashi to accomplish these things, and we do it for people who can't do it themselves. I suppose that, from a youkai's perspective, we would seem like nuisances. But it doesn't matter if they like us, and you can't be an exorcist if you concern yourself over things like that." He pauses to take a sip of his now-cool tea, and when he next speaks he can almost hear an echo of the voice of his father, telling him the story of the founding of the eleven-family alliance. "A long time ago, my family raised their bows against the ayakashi that came to attack the villagers. We drove them away. That was the beginning of the family business. Well," he dismisses as he turns his attention to Natsume, who sits listening intently. With a smile, he brushes off the shadow of nostalgia. "There's a bit more to the story than that. Perhaps I'll tell you the rest another time. But these days, we do it for our comrades, and for the people who request it of us. The Matoba Clan is rather prominent in certain circles." Seiji considers for a moment, then decides why not. Sympathy. His voice deliberately soft, he continues without missing a beat, "I suppose I'm lucky in that respect, being born into an exorcist clan. There were always people who understood." He sends Natsume a small smile, as understanding as he can force it to be.
"You've been all alone for a long time, haven't you? You don't have to be, anymore."
And that's clearly the right thing to say, because Natsume looks somewhere between tearing up and... smiling? Asking for a hug, maybe? Well, he's not sure, but it all looks extremely emotional from Seiji's perspective. Thankfully, that delightfully awkward moment (and Seiji considers never using this method on anyone again, because he's obviously out of practice; but he knows he'll do his best to try it anyways, because he's obviously out of practice—though, where else is he going to find someone both potentially worthwhile and who would fall for this sort of thing?) meets a swift end at the timely interruption of one of his spells going off—something rather more disruptive than if he'd been, say, at the branch house, as the town was much closer to them. Absently, he notes the location and nearly frowns, because that was something that had been happening with almost alarming frequency today; something was activating them almost faster than he could reset them.
The majority of his attention, however, is focused on the way Natsume had also jumped to attention. Well, that did explain a few things. "So you can sense them too, hmm? I should have expected that, really." His eyes narrow slightly; he did have an initial goal in this conversation, after all. "I suppose that explains where we first met."
"Hai. ...Um, Matoba-san, are you the one who..." Natsume wave his hands uncertainly. Seiji supposes he wouldn't know how to describe a spell either, if he didn't already know what it was.
"Yes, those are my work." Seiji narrows his eyes at the expression on the child's face. "Why do you ask?"
"How... What are they? Why are you making them?"
Seiji can see that it's not really the question the boy wants to ask, but he humors him, for now. "Well, I guess you could say it's a warning. 'Something dangerous has come,' or something like that. It's usually a spell meant for home security, but I've tweaked it a little. Now it simply helps me keep track of particularly powerful and dangerous ayakashi—and nosy little children, apparently," Seiji ruthlessly adds on, falsely casual. He pretends not to notice Natsume flinch as he motions to the open window, where the edges of the forest are just visible through the buildings downhill. "There's a pretty strong one out there now, so I'm staying until the situation is resolved." One way or another. "But that's not what you really want to know, is it?"
Natsume flushes under the force of Seiji's smile. The boy's an open book. Seiji lifts his hand, palm up, and shows Natsume the drawing on it.
"There are a lot of useful spells out there. This one, for example," he concentrates, and the lines of ink peel off his hand and float perpendicular to his palm, leaving his skin mark-free. Natsume leans a little closer, entranced; Seiji's smile gains an edge halfway between wry and smug. "This one reveals most ayakashi for what they are. All it takes is a touch. But, I don't need this anymore," he adds, and clenches his fingers around the floating design. It's crushed in his fist, collapsing into itself, and when Seiji opens his fingers the ink wisps away, leaving behind nothing.
"Whoa..." Natsume's awestruck eyes never leave his hand; his eyes never leave Natsume. Thus, Seiji sees the exact moment Natsume snaps back to full attention and realization dawns. "Wait, that's..." Natsume swallows, leaning back slightly. Seiji waits patiently for the boy to find his voice, lips quirked slightly upwards. "That's the hand you put on my shoulder. Before."
Seiji's smile widens a notch. "Very good, Natsume-kun. Yes, it was. I wanted to make sure, you see, and that was the easiest way." And doing a proper background search would've been difficult, away from the Main House and on such short notice. "I wasn't sure you were human either, you see."
Natsume stares at him, and looks like he wants to say something but can't quite muster up the nerve. He also, Seiji notes with amusement, has something very like stars dancing in his eyes. The silence stretches as Natsume clearly attempts to draw up enough courage to act.
"Yes?" Seiji prods offhandedly, as if he'd only just noticed—as if he hadn't been egging the boy towards this since he'd first realized that Natsume was almost certainly unaffiliated. As if he hadn't been considering Natsume's potential since he'd seen a boy not even in his teenage years, completely untrained, unprepared, and yet was still strong enough to take one of his shiki head-on and win.
"Will you..." Natsume clears his throat nervously. "Will you teach me how? To make something like that, and drive away youkai? Please?"
There was no trace of surprise on his face, Seiji made sure of it. There was no denying that he was surprised, though. That... hadn't quite been what he'd been expecting, though he probably should have anticipated the possibility. He'd expected the boy to want contacts, a way to maintain a connection with exorcists—a way Seiji could have provided and monitored simply enough, as there would be another Matoba-hosted Gathering nearby in less than a month's time. But for Natsume to want direct training...
Seiji had never taught anyone before—had never so much as tutored a younger relative. He'd never had cause. His power level was beyond most of them, and so their skillsets were quite different, and Seiji himself still had more to learn before he could consider himself any sort of master of exorcism.
Still. The offer was tempting, and might be good practice for the long run. "Well, I'd have to see a bit more of what you're capable of; I won't waste my time if you're not worth teaching. And you'd have to swear to keep the things I teach you a secret, even from other exorcists," he pieces out carefully, giving himself a few ways out. "You might have to help me do some things... But in exchange, I suppose I could teach you some things, about being an exorcist."
And the boy's whole face lights up. Seiji hadn't realized quite how sad Natsume's default expression was until now. "Really? You... you don't mind, Matoba-san?"
"I wouldn't offer if I did." He pauses, then adds, "and Seiji is fine. It seems we'll be spending a bit of time together."
And Natsume agrees just like that, with not even the slightest hint of suspicion discernible in his open, trusting gaze. Hook, line, and sinker—done, even if not quite exactly as he'd expected. He smiles —as genuine as his get, really— with closed eyes to hide the triumph. But he was getting ahead of himself.
"Well then, that's that. Let's see what you can do."
Off in the distance, another spell goes off, blast residue hanging in the air for a long moment, before slowly fading away.
A/N: I suspect there will be much frustration in my future, even if how much I enjoy writing this fic has shot up several degrees of magnitude. Because Matoba. Or rather, my Matoba, who is not the same man who shows up in the manga, nor the politely-mocking-you version young!Natori meets (though mine does that too). Because this is an isolated teenager dealing with an isolated child —and it should be said that Matoba has no experience with little kids, basically none— and that's not even accounting for their personalities. I actually have only a vague idea of who this Seiji is, but fleshing him out is half the fun. (The other half, obviously, is throwing popcorn off the characters' heads —and missing sometimes, but that's okay, these things happen— and Alex's running commentary of snark. We make it work.)
All that said, Seiji is pretty much just completely unashamedly using Natsume right now—testing the limits and talents of his new toy, so to speak. He thinks he's got Natsume pegged ("hah" is my first thought, but then, I suppose he's usually right about people). He's just underestimating Natsume 'cause widdle Natsu-kun's such a cute brat, who is obviously on the verge of hero-worshipping the ground Seiji walks on. (It's just such an entirely new experience for him, being the prodigy child of a disreputable clan known for being something between snakes and vultures XP)
Also, I have a Tumblr. No Twist things on there, yet, but I'm considering it, and also that (plus the fact that the guests that came for Christmas didn't get the memo to leave after Christmas, and the new job I kind of really need to focus on) is my excuse for why I might be updating a little slower after this. Eheh. Ehehehehe.
As I understand it, "hai" is something of an affirmation or acknowledgment, used somewhere along the lines of "yes, sir" but closer in tone to an "okay" or "sure". And dango are these little sticky-sweet balls of utter deliciousness and I wish they were easier to find near where I live D:
Next time: Natsume's such a popular battery.