Natori had known Natsume for a year and half before he was privileged to witness Natsume returning a name from his book.
When today started, he had not expected it to end up going like this. Natori had run into the teen by accident while he was hunting down an errant shiki for a job. Natsume, upon learning of Natori's quest, had predictably offered to help look for the youkai. As Natori wasn't as familiar with the forest in this area as Natsume was, he agreed.
It was a warm summer afternoon and the two of them walked along talking about nothing in particular. Three hours in and their search was proving fruitless. The sun began to set and Natsume regretfully told Natori that he needed to get home for dinner. Natori nodded and told Natsume that he would accompany the teen home. Natsume knew better than to protest. They were making their way down the road that led back to town when a scrawny, winged youkai charged out of the bushes. Before Natori could react, the youkai threw itself at Natsume's feet without so much as a second thought.
"Natsume-dono. I found you. I found you. Please. Give me back my name. I beg you. Please," it sniffled.
Natsume glanced very briefly at Natori before nodding with a small sigh.
"Of course," the teen nodded.
Nyanko-sensei gave a grumble.
"Do you want me to leave?" Natori offered.
He didn't want to put Natsume in an uncomfortable situation. The teen had already trusted him enough to fully tell him about the Book of Friends. That being said, Natori still had plenty more questions. How did the names end up in the Book? How were the names released to their owners? Was Natsume continually put in more danger just by carrying it with him? Natori always held his tongue when it came to these questions as he didn't want to push the teen into revealing more before he was ready.
Natsume seemed surprised by his offer to leave. It was like he hadn't considered that Natori would even offer such a thing.
"No. It's fine," Natsume shrugged.
Natsue then turned back to the small youkai. Natori watched in curiosity as Natsume grabbed out the Book of Friends. The teen mumbled something under his breath. After a moment, the pages of the book fluttered open until one was sticking straight up. Natsume tore it out. After folding it in half, he took the paper between his lips and blew.
Natori felt the tremendous release of energy from his young companion. He relaxed slightly. He had been worried that to return a name required some sort of forbidden ritual (it was bad enough that Natsume possessed something that shouldn't exist), but this was a simple releasing spell.
Upon receiving its name, the youkai straightened and gave a loud screech of 'thank you!' before taking off into the sky with a smile on its face. As Natori watched it go, there was a quiet thump. He looked down next to him. The Book of Friends was laying in the dust on the road. A moment later, its owner followed.
Natori was more than a bit startled when Natsume went down on his knees, gasping for breath like he had just run a marathon. Natsume's forehead was covered in a sheen of sweat. Natori noted with concern that his young friend was shaking uncontrollably.
"Are you alright?" Natori crouched down next to Natsume.
"I'll be fine," Natsume gave a weak smile.
"Are you sure?" Natori frowned.
"This happens every time," Nyanko-sensei grumbled, wiggling his head under Natsume's limp hand in an almost dog-like manner, "Such a weakling."
Natsume had the self-respect to glare at his cat body-gaurd. After a moment, the teen tried to stand up again. Natori was concerned to see that he was swaying like he was having trouble staying upright. Natori caught his arm and had him sit back down.
"You don't look alright," Natori frowned.
"I'm fine. Returning names takes a lot of energy out of me and I've returned three today," Natsume tried to reassure Natori.
It would have been more convincing if the teen wasn't so pale and still trembling.
"Hiiragi, go find something in town that is sweet. Natsume probably needs some sugar in his system," Natori commanded his shiki who was hovering behind them in concern.
Hiiragi gave a sharp nod before she vanished to carry out Natori's bidding.
"You didn't need to do that. I get anemic sometimes, not hypoglycemic," Natsume sulked.
That was concerning news. Anemia, while not as immediately life threatening as hypoglycemia, could still be a crippling health issue if left undressed. Natori made a mental note to verify with the Fujiwaras that Natsume didn't have any major health issues he was hiding. He really didn't want to be out in the middle of nowhere if Natsume had some sort of medical emergency. He wouldn't put it past Natsume to hide something that was wrong.
"Same difference. I don't want you passing out on me. It would scare the Fujiwaras," Natori felt a sting of guilt as he said the last part.
Natsume predictably hunched his shoulders at the mention of his foster parents.
"I really am fine. This happens all the time," Natsume grumbled tiredly.
Natori worked hard not to show any of the mounting concern he was feeling.
"If you're fine, then it shouldn't be an issue to wait for Hiiragi to come back," he snorted.
Natsume didn't argue. Instead, he began slowly listing to the side. Natori adjusted the teen so that he was propped against him.
"Doing just fine?" Natori gently scoffed.
"S'not like I passed out this time," Natsume grumbled, clearly exhausted.
Natori really didn't like how concern continued to exponentially grow with every passing comment that Natsume casually dropped. He was more than half tempted to leave one of his own shiki to keep an eye on Natsume when he left. The teen seemed to get in more trouble than Natori originally thought that he did.
It only took five minutes for Hiiragi to return with a bottle of cola, clearly stolen from some roadside vending machine. She gave her prize to Natori.
"Here. Drink," Natori opened the bottle and pressed it into Natsume's hands.
"I don't need it," Natsume attempted to refuse the drink.
"Humor me," Natori sighed.
"I can't pay right now," Natsume tried again.
"Do you really think that matters to me?" Natori arched an eyebrow.
After hesitating for a moment, Natsume took the soda. He then downed the sugary drink with surprising speed. Whether it was due to the sugar intake or the continued rest, after a few moments, Natsume's color began to look better. He was still pale, but at least he no longer looked on the verge of passing out.
"Come on. Let's get you home," Natori smiled, helping the teen up as he said this.
"I really am fine," Natsume protested one more time.
It was clear that neither Natori, nor Nyanko-sensei, nor Hiiragi believed him.
"If that's what you say. Now, we should get going. Let's not worry the Fujiwaras by getting you home after dark," Natori light-heartedly scolded, taking the opportunity to ruffle the teen's hair.
Natsume sighed, but gave no other protests.
