With the note containing the hospital address in hand, Shigeru and Touko set off to visit Natsume. It was a good four hour drive from their rural home. When they arrived at the hospital, they were directed to a small room in the pediatric ward. It was disheartening to see that no one was sitting at the teen's bedside, even though he was asleep.

Natsume looked worse for the wear in the hospital bed. He seemed far more fragile than Shigeru remembered. The sum total of Natsume's injuries were extensive, but not horrific; concussion, bruised ribs, fractured ankle, sprained wrist. They all seemed light in face of the fact that Natsume had plummeted off of a cliff to what should have been his death.

Natsume seemed surprised to find that the people who were offering to take him in had come to visit him. He broke down in tears. Shigeru and Touko soon learned that this was unusual.

After his initial breakdown upon seeing them, Natsume's demeanor faded to something distant, something far more reminiscent of the sad child from the funeral. No matter how much Touko and Shigeru talked, he kept his responses to a minimum. It was soon clear that getting Natsume to trust them was going to take a very long time.

Touko used her time to talk idly while Natsume sat and listened. She had always been keen on the town gossip and now it proved a good time filler.

For his part, Shigeru was content just to sit by his new foster son's bedside when he wasn't at work. It grieved Shigeru to see just how skittish Natsume was around him. The teen was slightly more relaxed if Touko was there as well, but alone with Shigeru he was tense and quiet. Shigeru couldn't help but wonder as to why. He briefly wondered if Natsume had been subject to domestic abuse of a physical kind as well as a verbal kind. All signs seemed to point to it.

It was almost a week later before the Fujiwaras could bring Natsume home. Despite clearing Natsume to leave, the doctor suggested bedrest and only a few severely limited activities while Natsume continued to heal. Shigeru wondered if it would be easy to keep Natsume in bed. He hoped so. He didn't want to be harsh and scare the kid any more than he already was.

The drive back home was uneventful. Touko happily narrated everything they passed by, hoping to give Natsume a sense of the layout of the area around his new home. Shigeru continually glanced in the rear view mirror to keep an eye on Natsume.

The teen was still recovering and obviously exhausted. Still, he made a brave effort to pay attention to everything that Touko told him. Shigeru didn't miss the way Natsume's hands anxiously twisted the seatbelt.

Finally the house was in sight.

"You're not used to using crutches yet and it would be bad to walk too much on your injured leg. Stay put and we'll help you inside," Shigeru told Natsume as he parked the car.

The teen seemed startled by this. He did stay put while Shigeru came around the car to his door, but he was tense, almost as if he expected Shigeru to go back on his word. With Touko hovering anxiously on the side, Shigeru helped Natsume out of the car.

Shigeru looped one of Natsume's arms over his shoulder to take the teen's weight off of the cast and his fractured ankle. Now that they were touching, Shigeru could feel that Natsume was trembling, though he wasn't sure if it was from exhaustion or from something else.

It was surprisingly easy to get Natsume inside the house. The teen was light and more than once Shigeru nearly picked him to carry him (he decided against it as he feared it might make Natsume self-conscious). The flight of stairs to Natsume's room was a little more difficult, but it was still manageable.

Touko scurried on ahead to open the door to Natsume's new room. Once they were there, Shigeru eased Natsume down onto the waiting futon.

"This room is yours," Shigeru told him.

The announcement seemed to surprise Natsume.

"This is a guest room. You don't have to put me in here. I can sleep somewhere smaller," the teen bit his lip in clear worry.

"What do you mean?" Touko frowned slightly, "We cleaned this room out especially for you. We always thought it would be used by our children, but we never had any. We are glad to have you here and using it."

Natsume blinked a few times before responding.

"I am grateful," Natsume was a little too formal as he ducked his head obediently.

"I'm going to start dinner, is there anything that you want?" Touko asked.

Shigeru sensed that the question she normally asked him was aimed at Natsume this time. The couple looked expectantly at their new ward.

"I…ah…" Natsume swallowed, "Whatever you want."

Touko frowned for the briefest of moments.

"Is there something you like? I'll see if I can make it?" Touko prompted.

"Whatever you want," Natsume answered again.

Touko glanced sadly at Shigeru before leaving the room.

"Next time, give her an answer. She likes to cook for other people," Shigeru snorted gently.

That was the very wrong thing to say.

"Of course. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend. It won't happen again," Natsume's fingers knotted in the futon cover under him.

Shigeru wished he knew what to say, but, as with all of his life, his words failed him when he needed them most.

"I'll get your things out of the car," Shigeru nodded.

It wasn't difficult to unload Natsume's things. A simple cardboard box was all he had. Shigeru didn't breach Natsume's privacy by opening it, but if he were to guess, it only contained a few changes of clothing and maybe a few two personal items.

When he got back upstairs, Natsume hadn't moved. He was as frozen as the day that Shigeru remembered first seeing him. Shigeru softly deposited Natsume's things in the corner of the room before going back down stairs.

"How is he?" Touko asked, looking up from her cooking.

"He's like a feral cat. He's scared and he doesn't trust anyone," Shigeru observed.

"He'll feel comfortable eventually. It's just going to take time," Touko nodded.

"I make him uncomfortable," Shigeru rubbed the back of his neck in worry.

Touko sighed. So she had noticed it too.

"It will just take time," she said once more.

It seemed that it would indeed take time. Natsume acted like he was walking on eggshells. Even with the reassurances from both Shigeru and Touko, he lived life in the clear fear of being booted to the curb at a moment's notice.

Six weeks marked an interesting development in the dynamics of the house.

Shigeru had to take time off of work to drive Natsume to the hospital to have the cast removed from his healing ankle. Touko had errands to run and was thus unable to travel with them. Natsume sat ramrod straight the whole drive. It was a position that didn't look at all comfortable, but the blond teen refused to relax. The visit to the hospital went well and Natsume was cleared to have his cast taken off. The drive back was no less comfortable.

It wasn't until they got back into the house that something happened.

Shigeru had just finished taking off his shoes, when Natsume fell to his knees. Shigeru turned in worry, a question about Natsume's health on his lips. Natsume spoke first.

"I'm sorry, Fujiwara-san," Natsume prostrated himself on the floor.

Shigeru sighed before slowly sitting on the floor next to his foster son.

"Sorry for what?" Shigeru didn't have the faintest idea as to what Natsume might be talking about.

"I'm sorry. I know I cause trouble. I never meant to interrupt your life when I came here. You didn't have to take the day off of work. I'm sorry," Natsume's words came out in a rush.

"Perhaps Touko and I wanted our lives to be interrupted?" Shigeru pointed out.

"It's ok. You don't have to be nice to me now that I know I'm causing trouble for you," Natsume choked.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Shigeru assured the teen.

"I…I…." Natsume floundered.

Shigeru waited for Natsume to find the words he was looking for. The teen fidgeted, but didn't continue. Shiger wondered why. In a moment of impulse, he laid a gentle hand on Natsume's head. Natsume flinched at the touch. Shigeru noticed this and withdrew his hand.

"You are never in the way, a bother, or a burden. We want you here," Shigeru stated.

Natsume opened and closed his mouth several times.

"Takashi," Shigeru ventured to use Natsume's given name for the first time since the teen had come to live with them, "You have only been here for a short time, but you are the world to Touko and I."

Natsume looked utterly baffled by this.

"I don't understand," Natsume mumbled, more to himself than to Shigeru.

"Give it time," Shigeru gently smiled back.

Natsume looked down at his hands.

"And if you change your minds…?" Natsume let the question hang in the air.

"We would never change our minds about taking you in," Shigeru said firmly, "Never."

"No. You don't understand," Natsume tried once more, "One wants to keep me around. I….I…I…. make trouble for everyone else."

The stammering at the end left Shigeru wondering if Natsume had almost said something different.

"Touko and I are different than everyone else." The words felt flimsy and shallow in the face of how clearly deep-seated Natsume's trauma ran. Shigeru hoped that Natsume would stay long enough for them to be proven true.

Shigeru never regretted taking in Natsume.

The teen was graduating today. In the three and a half years with them, Natsume hadn't lost his reserved, quiet nature. That being said, he had let the Fujiwaras into his heart, showing that his inside was more compassionate and caring than his outside would suggest.

Natsume proudly presented his high school diploma to Shigeru after the ceremony.

"I'm so proud of you," Shigeru smiled.

"It's mostly thanks to you and Touko. Neither of you ever gave up on me," Natsume ducked his head slightly.

Shigeru ruffled Natusme's hair. Natsume did not flinch away from the touch.