Natoir's mind was spinning with the revelation that not only was Natsume part youkai (this explained his immense power for a human), but also the fact that Matoba had known and willing caused the end of Natsume's grandfather. Should he tell Natsume? If so, how?

He was distracted while he was driving, nearly causing his car to careen off of the road. Hiiragi finally told him to pull off in the next town and take a walk to cool his head. Natori did just that. He parked in front of a familiar store before setting off in a random direction.

The streets weren't strange, but Natori didn't stop to truly observe his surroundings. After walking for a while, he started to feel calmer. He should-

"Natori-san? What are you doing here?"

At the greeting, Natori's head shot up. Natsume was standing right in front of him. Natori then glanced around. Sure enough, he was standing not far from Natsume's school. His feet must have taken him here out of habit. Natori turned back to Natsume.

"Are you ok?" Natsume asked cautiously.

Natori attempted to wave off the teen's question.

"I'm fine," he assured.

Apparently he wasn't that convincing because neither Natsume nor his own shiki looked like they believed him.

"You don't look ok," Natsume frowned.

Curse Natusme and his intuition. The kid was far too perceptive sometimes.

"I was seeing Matoba earlier today," Natori admitted with a sigh.

Natsume's face twisted.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, bowing his head.

"Why are you apologizing?" Natori frowned.

"Was it something I did?" Natsume's voice was full of dread.

Natori held back a sigh. He hoped that one of these days he would be able to break Natsume from his habit of assuming that he was always the one at fault.

"No. You did nothing," Natori told the teen in a firm tone.

"Then what were you doing there? I know you don't like Matoba-san," Natsume fidgeted.

"I was asking him a few questions," Natori huffed.

Natsume nodded. He didn't even try to pry more answers out of Natori even though it was clear that the teen wanted more information. Natori gave the teen a critical eye. Ah. Well. Might as well get this over with. It would be better for Natsume to know about this sooner rather than later.

"I was asking him a few questions about you," Natori admitted.

Natsume froze.

"I'm sorry," Natsume murmured as though he were at fault.

Natori couldn't help himself. He cuffed Natsume over the head. The teen gave him a confused look.

"I was trying to find out information about you grandfather," Natori elaborated.

Natsume blinked.

"Why?" he sounded genuinely confused.

Natori scratched the back of his head. How did he phrase this so that he didn't sound like a stalker?

"He desired to know the history of your blood lineage," Sasago helpfully supplied.

Natori closed his eyes. He would not have put it so bluntly, but that explanation worked.

"Yes. That."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Natsume once again apologized, "My family isn't very interesting."

Natori looped an arm around Natsume's slender shoulders.

"This will be easier to tell you if you're seated. How about the cafe?" Natori suggested

Natsume offered no protest as usual as Natori lead the way to the small cafe that they frequented whenever Natori came to town. They sat and ordered something for themselves. Or, well, Natori ordered a coffee and, then when Natsume insisted that he didn'tneedanything, Natori also ordered something for his teenage companion (a parfait). Once their order arrived, Natori felt like he could approach the topic again.

"I asked Matoba about your family history. His grandfather knew your grandmother," Natori paused, contemplating his next words, "He also knew who your grandfather was."

"I don't know anything about the man, but since you're using past tense, it's not a stretch to guess that my grandfather is dead, isn't he?" Natsume asked quietly.

"He is. I'm sorry," Natori confirmed.

Natori hated the way that Natsume deflated slightly. Even though he didn't know this relative, it was clear he had been hoping that the man was alive somewhere.

"That being said," Natori continued, "I did find out some very interesting information."

Natsume's head perked up a bit.

"Your grandfather was a youkai." There was no way for Natori to soften the news.

Natsume stared at him like he head grown a second head.

"That's not a very funny joke," the teen grumbled.

"It's not a joke," Natori shook his head, "Your grandmother married a youkai. That makes you part youkai."

Natsume blinked several times before examining his own hand.

"That can't be true," Natsume's tone was flat, "I'm too normal for that to be true."

Natori gave a short bark of laughter.

"Natsume-kun, you are far from normal," he shook his head.

Nastume looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Your grandparents gifted you with some of the strongest spiritual energy that I've ever seen; in either youkai or humans. You are not normal," Natori said.

He didn't get the reaction he was 's face fell.

"So I'm a freak. The kids in school were always right," Natsume murmured dejectedly.

No. That wasn't what Natori had meant to imply. He didn't like that was even something that Natsume would automatically assume. He felt the sudden urge to track down those kids and teach them a lesson in bullying the vulnerable. Natori chose to bit his anger and focus on Natsume instead.

"That's not the word I would use," Natori took a sip of his coffee, "When I say you are not normal, I mean that you are special. You are incredibly powerful."

Natsume opened his mouth, no doubt to protest. Natori held up a hand and cut him off.

"You may not believe me, but it is the truth. Natsume, you are one of a kind in the best way," Natori continued.

Natsume fiddled with his silverware, appetite lost by now.

"You don't like youkai. Do you hate me now?" His voice was small.

"No, I do not hate you," Natori shook his head.

Natsume sat there quietly for a very, very long time, clearly lost in his own world.

"How did he die?" Natsume finally mumbled.

"What?" Natori blinked.

"My grandfather. You said he was dead. How did he die?" Natsume asked.

"I wish you hadn't asked, kid," Natori sighed.

"He was exorcized?" Natsume guessed.

"No," Natori corrected with a heavy heart, "He was captured by Matoba. Matoba used him as the base to make his own shiki."

A flurry of emotions passed over Natsume's face. Natori couldn't figure out what was going through the teen's head.

"If we captured one, could we bring my grandfather back?" Natsume asked.

Natori had no idea if that was possible, but he was willing to try.

"Anything for you," he ruffled Natsume's hair.