2
-
Something that made me happy and something that made me sad – Sakamoto Hana, Class 1-2
Something that made me happy is that a little fox came to my house. When I woke up, he was in Shiro’s doghouse. Shiro is the dog I had before. My big brother said that the fox is somebody’s pet. I hope that’s not true. Dad said he’d ask the neighbours. After asking, nobody knew, so now we’re keeping him.
* * *
Mother, this is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.
I’ve been caught by humans. It looks like the place I chose to sleep was the house of the dog this family used to keep. But that dog died a long time ago, so only this little house was left behind.
The two children who owned the dog are a brother and sister. I think the older brother is called Kenichi and the little sister is called Hana. It looks like they plan on keeping me instead of their dead dog.
‘Here, milk. Drink up.’
My tummy’s grumbling… Just one mouthful… Lick… Ooh, it’s yummy!
'Here, eat this too. It’s just leftovers from yesterday though.’
OK, I can’t fight with an empty stomach. Munch munch…
'Look, Brother! It looks like he likes it!’
'He must have been starving.’
The food from the humans was delicious.
'We need to name him.’
'I’ll name him! Hm, he’s still a little guy, so… Chibita!’
– I don’t want a name like that!
'Hm, let’s go with that then.’
– Eehhh!?
'Hey, Dad, can we keep Chibita inside?’
'It’s OK, right, Dad? He’s still small, so I’d feel bad if we left him outside.’
'That’s true. He seems quiet anyway. Do you need a licence to keep a fox? I’ll check with a vet I know later. Now, Kenichi, Hana, first you should take the fox to the bath and give him a good wash.’
'Dad, don’t call him “fox”. He’s Chibita.’
'Oh, he’s named Chibita? Then clean Chibita up so that we don’t catch any bad germs or bugs.’
'Okaaaay!’
W-wha, ah, what are they… Ah, the warm water feels nice… Wha!? What’s with these bubbles!? Stop it!
'Come on, Chibita, keep still!’
Ah, what terrible children. Eh? For some reason, my body feels refreshed.
-
Inside the house, they take off my collar and let me walk around freely, but the house’s doors and windows are locked so I can’t get out.
The children in this house go to 'school’ every day and dad goes to somewhere called 'com-pa-ny’. When the three of them leave, there’s no more human presence in this house. It seems that those three are the only people who live in this house.
Mother, it seems that this house doesn’t have a mother. The mother died a long time ago from an illness, leaving the two children behind. I heard a neighbour say that the father raised the two of them as a 'single dad’.
In the living room, they have something called a pho-to-graph. It shows their mother back when she was still alive.
-
Ah… so humans can do something like this…
-
The mother in the photograph is holding a baby Hana and has a hand on the shoulder of a young Kenichi, and she has a gentle smile… If I had a photograph of Mother, I… No, I can remember Mother’s face just from closing my eyes, so I don’t need a photograph. But, I… just a little, I… I felt jealous of humans… of Kenichi and Hana.
-
That day, when Kenichi and Hana came back from school, they put a collar on me and took me outside so that they could show me to their friends.
After we got to a place called a chil-drens-play-ground, four or five kids came and each patted me on the head.
'Ah, he really is a fox. Awesome.’
'He’s so cute! His eyes are so round.’
I was the topic of conversation for a while, but then Kenichi tied me to a steel pole in the corner of the park and started playing something called 'tag’ by themselves. I watched them vacantly.
It was a strange game. They choose one person to be it, and everyone runs away from them. If they’re touched by the kid who’s it, that child becomes it.
When the kid who’s it comes running after someone, they run really fast, but everyone’s smiling like they’re having fun.
– I wonder if Natsume played tag when he was a kid.
I suddenly wondered about that. When I first met Natsume, even when he smiled with other humans, he didn’t smile like this.
'Hey, you wanna play too, Chibita?’
Hana asked me that in the middle of their game.
'Brother, Chibita wants to play tag too.’
'Ahaha, of course he can’t.’
'I wish you could play with us too, Chibita.’
Hana pet my head gently and then ran away again, because the kid who’s it was coming.
* * *
Those passerby youkai said he met the kamaitachi named Sakurou in the town he were in before Yatsuhara. Maybe they got along because they were both wanderers, as Sakurou had talked freely about interesting things that had happened to him on his journeys. His stories about Natsume were especially funny because Sakurou used big gestures, according to the passing youkai. From what he said, Sakurou didn’t seem like a dangerous youkai. After hearing his location, I decided to meet Sakurou the coming Sunday.
'Oi, Natsume, are you really going to meet that Sakurou guy? You don’t even know if he’s still in that town – you really go on your whims.’
'It would trouble me if there are strange rumours about “Natsume with the Book of Friends”, and that Sakurou ayakashi might have his name in the Book of Friends still, right?’
'So you’re planning on meeting him to give him his name back on purpose? What a nice guy.’
'To be honest, I want to hear stories about Reiko-san from that ayakashi too.’
While talking in the empty train, we headed for that town.
The town was near the forest where I met that little fox, but it wasn’t connected by bus or train and was a bit far for a walk.
'What should I do? I want to see him, since it’s been a while.’
'Don’t be stupid. We don’t have the time for that.’
'Yeah. There’s no helping it. If I don’t return for dinner, I’ll make Touko-san and Shigeru-san worry again.’
'Let’s find that kamaitachi Sakurou right away and then go home. I need to eat those leftover manjuu from Nanatsujiya.’
-
When we reached the town, we were able to meet the ayakashi right away. Just as the passing youkai told us, he was staying at the parking lot for the town hall. He wore a weasel mask on his face and had two sharp sickles hanging on his back. He looked exactly like a kamaitachi. It is said that when a kamaitachi brandishes their sickles, it creates a wind, and he let me see that. He sliced through the air, and the wind cut through the poster on the town hall’s bulletin board, surprising some people who were passing by.
'Ah, so you’re that Natsume’s grandchild… That Natsume is no longer here then.’
Sakurou let out a sad-sounding sigh.
'Sakurou, why do you call Reiko Natsume? Most of us call her Reiko.’
'Ah? Could you be Madara?’ said Sakurou when he heard Nyanko-sensei’s voice.
'Hm? Have we met? I don’t remember you.’
'No, I’ve only ever seen you from afar, so you probably don’t know me. But this is an amazing appearance. That Madara now looks like such an ugly pig cat. Ahahahahaha.’
'Natsume, can I eat this guy now?’
'Stop it, sensei.’
'I call Natsume Reiko by the name Natsume because that’s what the people around her called her,’ continued Sakurou, paying no attention to my conversation with Nyanko-sensei.
'Humans go to a place called school, right? I heard a girls of about the same age talking about how Natsume-san was scary and how it’d be better to keep away from Natsume-san.’
Sakurou, who have wandered to the town where Reiko-san lived, had seen her surrounded by some students who seemed like hooligans. It seems like they had made some unreasonable accusations.
When Sakurou saw that, he brandished his sickles and cut the clothes of the students around Reiko-san. He had just meant it as a little warning, but the students, in shock, had looked at Reiko. Then, Reiko-san had turned towards Sakurou and said just one thing.
'I won’t forgive you…’ she had murmured.
Under that pressure, Sakurou had run away, shaking. However, Reiko-san chased Sakurou for days after that, just as she had said she would, and beat him senseless once she caught him and made him her servant by getting him to write his name.
However, after Reiko-san made Sakurou her servant, she seemed to lost all interest in him. Sakurou, whose name wasn’t called, instead watched Reiko-san from a distance as she made youkai into her servants. The stories he told about 'Natsume’s evil deeds’ were those that he had witnessed then.
'It was interesting when idiot humans got involved, like when she was competing with a powerful ayakashi that humans call a “man-eating inn”. I think he was a male student from the same school Natsume was at. Madara, you took that boy all the way to the “demon’s bed”, didn’t you?’
Nyanko-sensei just gave a curt 'Ah’ in reply. He looked a bit displeased. It seemed he didn’t like that somebody had been secretly watching Reiko-san and him together.
-
Sakurou’s stories about Reiko-san continued after that. For stories like how she had a swimming competition after pushing a youkai who couldn’t swim into a river or how she had tidied up a forgotten god’s shrine in exchange for working that god hard, it made me wonder how much could be true, but each one sounded possible, since it was Reiko-san.
It was almost time to return, so I suggested at the end that I return his name.
'Ah… Since you’ve come all this way, maybe I’ll have you return it,’ Sakurou said, sounding a bit lonely.
I took the Book of Friends in my head and brought up an image of Sakurou in my mind.
'One who protects me, show your name!’ I prayed.
The Book of Friends flipped open, pages awhirl, and the page with the name written on it stood up. I took that in my mouth and shut my eyes.
– That moment, the memories of Reiko-san without Sakurou flowed into me like a torrent.
“What’s up with that Natsume? She won’t call my name even though she made me into her servant. I’m a wanderer that goes from journey to journey. If she won’t call me, I’m going to go.”
“Does Natsume have no place in this world? The same as me…”
“Then I’ll find a place for her. I’m not doing it because I’m her servant. This is something I’m doing on my own.”
Sakurou left that town, with the intention of returning immediately if he was called. In order to find a pleasant place for Reiko-san, he walked to a variety of places. Looking for a world where humans wouldn’t resent or exclude other humans, a world where humans and youkai could live together without hurting each other, for years and years…
“If I find a place for Natsume, I’ll stop my journeys too and stay there… That’s what I thought as I continued my journey, but… This place isn’t right… This town is no good either… Maybe there isn’t a human town where that Natsume can live happily…”
“How many years have I been searching… How many years have I been waiting for her to call my name… What on earth have I been doing… Where is my own place in this world…”
Sakurou’s pain came through to me, constricting my heart.
'Thank you, Sakurou, for thinking of Reiko-san…’
I clapped my hands together firmly and breathed out.
'I’ll return your name… Accept it, Sakurou.’
The letters left the paper and fluttered over to Sakurou’s forehead, which absorbed them.
Returning names always exhausts me. Since I was out of energy, Nyanko-sensei asked in my stead.
'What are you going to do now, Sakurou?’
'I no longer need to look for a place for Natsume, but… I’ll think about staying in this town a little longer. And when I feel like it, I’ll probably leave on a journey again.’
Then, like he had just remembered:
'Ah, that’s right, from now on, I’ll also…’
'Hm?’
'When I talk about her, I’ll call her Reiko instead of Natsume.’
After saying that, Sakurou sliced the air to cause a whirlwind, and he left along with the wind. Sensei and I put the town behind us and returned home, where Touko-san and Shigeru-san were waiting. On the train home, I realised that I had a place of my own now, and just managed to keep in the tears that welled up unconsciously.
* * *
Ah, how many days has it been?
What on earth am I doing?
-
Mother, since the humans bring food every day, I don’t need to hunt any more. But…
It’s boring being in this house with nobody in it.
At some point, I started looking forward to when Kenichi and Hana return from school. When I hear their footsteps from far away, I feel excited. Ah, won’t they take me to the park again? Won’t they let me see them playing tag with Kazuki and Sakiko and Tsubasa again?
The wind is pretty strong today… Ah, I wonder if the branches of the pine trees in the forest are rustling. I wonder if the water in the pond at the bottom of the mountain is sparkling, with ripples on the surface.
Ah, the window made a loud sound… Ahh! The window broke!?
-
'Hm… Ah, you really were here, little fox.’
Eh?
The window had a line across it, like it had been cut by something round and sharp. Just as I thought the window had cracked, a strange shape came in from the small hole!
'Are you the little fox that was searching for me?’
eh? Who is this? He has a weasel mask on his face with two sickles in his hands…
’… Er, could you be the kamaitachi named Sakurou!?’
'I am. The familiar at the Inari shrine told me that a little fox came to this town searching for me. When I told him I hadn’t seen you, he was pretty worried, y'know?’
'That familiar was?’
'So now you’re being kept by humans. How nice.’
’T-that’s not it. I’m just staying here for them!’
'Hm… Well, that’s fine too. Whether you’re an ayakashi or a beast, you have to return the favour for a night’s lodging and meal.’
'A night’s lod-ging and meal?’
'They let you stay here and feed you, right? That’s a night’s lodging and meal. I’m a wanderer, but if somebody does me a favour, I always return it before heading to the next town. Well, it looks like you’ve had many nights of lodgings and meals, but… It’s just an example. Don’t worry about the number.’
Though I’m not a traveller, I think what Sakurou said makes sense. Mother also told me that if somebody helps me, I have to thank them somehow. Just like how I thanked Natsume with mushrooms and fish when he saved me, I need to do something to thank the people at this house somehow…
-
– But what on earth should I do?
-
Ah, more importantly, there’s something I have to tell Sakurou!
'Sakurou, why are you saying bad things about Natsume? Natsume’s a really nice human.’
'Ah? Shorty, you know Natsume? … No, there’s no way.’
'I came to here to stop you saying bad things about him.’
'Wait… Is the Natsume you know the frail-looking boy? If that’s the case, I’m talking about a different Natsume.’
'Eh?’
'I just met the Natsume you know earlier. I was talking with him.’
'Ehh!? You met Natsume!? When? Where?’
'Just earlier, in this town.’
'Is Natsume… Is Natsume still in this town!?’
'Of course not. This was several days ago. He’s already returned to the town he lives in.’
What… Of course. Natsume has many friends in that town…
'Well, don’t look so disappointed. You’ll get to meet him again if fate means for it to happen. There just wasn’t any fate in play with me and my Natsume…’
What does he mean? Why do Sakurou’s eyes look so sad when he says 'Natsume’?
'Rumours are frightening things. Nobody would think I was badmouthing Natsume if they heard me directly.’
'Eh?’
'Relax. I won’t call her Natsume any longer. But you really are an astonishing fellow. You braved all that danger and came to this human town to meet me?’
'Natsume is an important person to me…’
'I see… Come to think of it, it’s like that for me too. So what are you going to do now?’
'What am I going to do?’
'I’ve decided to leave on a journey again. Well, that’s my personality. Are you going to stay here and live with the humans? Or do you want to return to the forest?’
'I…’
What do I want to do? What should I do?
'Well, I think you can just keep here as a pet. You don’t have to worry about food. But if you say you want to leave, I’ll make another hole in the window for you. I’ll leave for the next town after that, so decide before the humans come back. Where is your place in the world?’
My place in the world?
'Bye.’
'Ah, wait…’
He left…
-
'We’re back, Chibita!’
Ah, the two of them are back…
'Ah! Brother, look! There’s a hole in the window!’
'You’re right. Maybe Chibita broke it?’
'Eh? Chibita, are you OK? You’re not injured, right?’
Ah, these kids are really kind. The first thing they do is worry about me. If I leave, they’ll probably be sad. It might be better for me to stay here. But…
2
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Something that made me happy and something that made me sad – Sakamoto Hana, Class 1-2
Something that made me happy is that a little fox came to my house. When I woke up, he was in Shiro’s doghouse. Shiro is the dog I had before. My big brother said that the fox is somebody’s pet. I hope that’s not true. Dad said he’d ask the neighbours. After asking, nobody knew, so now we’re keeping him.
* * *
Mother, this is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made.
I’ve been caught by humans. It looks like the place I chose to sleep was the house of the dog this family used to keep. But that dog died a long time ago, so only this little house was left behind.
The two children who owned the dog are a brother and sister. I think the older brother is called Kenichi and the little sister is called Hana. It looks like they plan on keeping me instead of their dead dog.
‘Here, milk. Drink up.’
My tummy’s grumbling… Just one mouthful… Lick… Ooh, it’s yummy!
'Here, eat this too. It’s just leftovers from yesterday though.’
OK, I can’t fight with an empty stomach. Munch munch…
'Look, Brother! It looks like he likes it!’
'He must have been starving.’
The food from the humans was delicious.
'We need to name him.’
'I’ll name him! Hm, he’s still a little guy, so… Chibita!’
– I don’t want a name like that!
'Hm, let’s go with that then.’
– Eehhh!?
'Hey, Dad, can we keep Chibita inside?’
'It’s OK, right, Dad? He’s still small, so I’d feel bad if we left him outside.’
'That’s true. He seems quiet anyway. Do you need a licence to keep a fox? I’ll check with a vet I know later. Now, Kenichi, Hana, first you should take the fox to the bath and give him a good wash.’
'Dad, don’t call him “fox”. He’s Chibita.’
'Oh, he’s named Chibita? Then clean Chibita up so that we don’t catch any bad germs or bugs.’
'Okaaaay!’
W-wha, ah, what are they… Ah, the warm water feels nice… Wha!? What’s with these bubbles!? Stop it!
'Come on, Chibita, keep still!’
Ah, what terrible children. Eh? For some reason, my body feels refreshed.
-
Inside the house, they take off my collar and let me walk around freely, but the house’s doors and windows are locked so I can’t get out.
The children in this house go to 'school’ every day and dad goes to somewhere called 'com-pa-ny’. When the three of them leave, there’s no more human presence in this house. It seems that those three are the only people who live in this house.
Mother, it seems that this house doesn’t have a mother. The mother died a long time ago from an illness, leaving the two children behind. I heard a neighbour say that the father raised the two of them as a 'single dad’.
In the living room, they have something called a pho-to-graph. It shows their mother back when she was still alive.
-
Ah… so humans can do something like this…
-
The mother in the photograph is holding a baby Hana and has a hand on the shoulder of a young Kenichi, and she has a gentle smile… If I had a photograph of Mother, I… No, I can remember Mother’s face just from closing my eyes, so I don’t need a photograph. But, I… just a little, I… I felt jealous of humans… of Kenichi and Hana.
-
That day, when Kenichi and Hana came back from school, they put a collar on me and took me outside so that they could show me to their friends.
After we got to a place called a chil-drens-play-ground, four or five kids came and each patted me on the head.
'Ah, he really is a fox. Awesome.’
'He’s so cute! His eyes are so round.’
I was the topic of conversation for a while, but then Kenichi tied me to a steel pole in the corner of the park and started playing something called 'tag’ by themselves. I watched them vacantly.
It was a strange game. They choose one person to be it, and everyone runs away from them. If they’re touched by the kid who’s it, that child becomes it.
When the kid who’s it comes running after someone, they run really fast, but everyone’s smiling like they’re having fun.
– I wonder if Natsume played tag when he was a kid.
I suddenly wondered about that. When I first met Natsume, even when he smiled with other humans, he didn’t smile like this.
'Hey, you wanna play too, Chibita?’
Hana asked me that in the middle of their game.
'Brother, Chibita wants to play tag too.’
'Ahaha, of course he can’t.’
'I wish you could play with us too, Chibita.’
Hana pet my head gently and then ran away again, because the kid who’s it was coming.
* * *
Those passerby youkai said he met the kamaitachi named Sakurou in the town he were in before Yatsuhara. Maybe they got along because they were both wanderers, as Sakurou had talked freely about interesting things that had happened to him on his journeys. His stories about Natsume were especially funny because Sakurou used big gestures, according to the passing youkai. From what he said, Sakurou didn’t seem like a dangerous youkai. After hearing his location, I decided to meet Sakurou the coming Sunday.
'Oi, Natsume, are you really going to meet that Sakurou guy? You don’t even know if he’s still in that town – you really go on your whims.’
'It would trouble me if there are strange rumours about “Natsume with the Book of Friends”, and that Sakurou ayakashi might have his name in the Book of Friends still, right?’
'So you’re planning on meeting him to give him his name back on purpose? What a nice guy.’
'To be honest, I want to hear stories about Reiko-san from that ayakashi too.’
While talking in the empty train, we headed for that town.
The town was near the forest where I met that little fox, but it wasn’t connected by bus or train and was a bit far for a walk.
'What should I do? I want to see him, since it’s been a while.’
'Don’t be stupid. We don’t have the time for that.’
'Yeah. There’s no helping it. If I don’t return for dinner, I’ll make Touko-san and Shigeru-san worry again.’
'Let’s find that kamaitachi Sakurou right away and then go home. I need to eat those leftover manjuu from Nanatsujiya.’
-
When we reached the town, we were able to meet the ayakashi right away. Just as the passing youkai told us, he was staying at the parking lot for the town hall. He wore a weasel mask on his face and had two sharp sickles hanging on his back. He looked exactly like a kamaitachi. It is said that when a kamaitachi brandishes their sickles, it creates a wind, and he let me see that. He sliced through the air, and the wind cut through the poster on the town hall’s bulletin board, surprising some people who were passing by.
'Ah, so you’re that Natsume’s grandchild… That Natsume is no longer here then.’
Sakurou let out a sad-sounding sigh.
'Sakurou, why do you call Reiko Natsume? Most of us call her Reiko.’
'Ah? Could you be Madara?’ said Sakurou when he heard Nyanko-sensei’s voice.
'Hm? Have we met? I don’t remember you.’
'No, I’ve only ever seen you from afar, so you probably don’t know me. But this is an amazing appearance. That Madara now looks like such an ugly pig cat. Ahahahahaha.’
'Natsume, can I eat this guy now?’
'Stop it, sensei.’
'I call Natsume Reiko by the name Natsume because that’s what the people around her called her,’ continued Sakurou, paying no attention to my conversation with Nyanko-sensei.
'Humans go to a place called school, right? I heard a girls of about the same age talking about how Natsume-san was scary and how it’d be better to keep away from Natsume-san.’
Sakurou, who have wandered to the town where Reiko-san lived, had seen her surrounded by some students who seemed like hooligans. It seems like they had made some unreasonable accusations.
When Sakurou saw that, he brandished his sickles and cut the clothes of the students around Reiko-san. He had just meant it as a little warning, but the students, in shock, had looked at Reiko. Then, Reiko-san had turned towards Sakurou and said just one thing.
'I won’t forgive you…’ she had murmured.
Under that pressure, Sakurou had run away, shaking. However, Reiko-san chased Sakurou for days after that, just as she had said she would, and beat him senseless once she caught him and made him her servant by getting him to write his name.
However, after Reiko-san made Sakurou her servant, she seemed to lost all interest in him. Sakurou, whose name wasn’t called, instead watched Reiko-san from a distance as she made youkai into her servants. The stories he told about 'Natsume’s evil deeds’ were those that he had witnessed then.
'It was interesting when idiot humans got involved, like when she was competing with a powerful ayakashi that humans call a “man-eating inn”. I think he was a male student from the same school Natsume was at. Madara, you took that boy all the way to the “demon’s bed”, didn’t you?’
Nyanko-sensei just gave a curt 'Ah’ in reply. He looked a bit displeased. It seemed he didn’t like that somebody had been secretly watching Reiko-san and him together.
-
Sakurou’s stories about Reiko-san continued after that. For stories like how she had a swimming competition after pushing a youkai who couldn’t swim into a river or how she had tidied up a forgotten god’s shrine in exchange for working that god hard, it made me wonder how much could be true, but each one sounded possible, since it was Reiko-san.
It was almost time to return, so I suggested at the end that I return his name.
'Ah… Since you’ve come all this way, maybe I’ll have you return it,’ Sakurou said, sounding a bit lonely.
I took the Book of Friends in my head and brought up an image of Sakurou in my mind.
'One who protects me, show your name!’ I prayed.
The Book of Friends flipped open, pages awhirl, and the page with the name written on it stood up. I took that in my mouth and shut my eyes.
– That moment, the memories of Reiko-san without Sakurou flowed into me like a torrent.
“What’s up with that Natsume? She won’t call my name even though she made me into her servant. I’m a wanderer that goes from journey to journey. If she won’t call me, I’m going to go.”
“Does Natsume have no place in this world? The same as me…”
“Then I’ll find a place for her. I’m not doing it because I’m her servant. This is something I’m doing on my own.”
Sakurou left that town, with the intention of returning immediately if he was called. In order to find a pleasant place for Reiko-san, he walked to a variety of places. Looking for a world where humans wouldn’t resent or exclude other humans, a world where humans and youkai could live together without hurting each other, for years and years…
“If I find a place for Natsume, I’ll stop my journeys too and stay there… That’s what I thought as I continued my journey, but… This place isn’t right… This town is no good either… Maybe there isn’t a human town where that Natsume can live happily…”
“How many years have I been searching… How many years have I been waiting for her to call my name… What on earth have I been doing… Where is my own place in this world…”
Sakurou’s pain came through to me, constricting my heart.
'Thank you, Sakurou, for thinking of Reiko-san…’
I clapped my hands together firmly and breathed out.
'I’ll return your name… Accept it, Sakurou.’
The letters left the paper and fluttered over to Sakurou’s forehead, which absorbed them.
Returning names always exhausts me. Since I was out of energy, Nyanko-sensei asked in my stead.
'What are you going to do now, Sakurou?’
'I no longer need to look for a place for Natsume, but… I’ll think about staying in this town a little longer. And when I feel like it, I’ll probably leave on a journey again.’
Then, like he had just remembered:
'Ah, that’s right, from now on, I’ll also…’
'Hm?’
'When I talk about her, I’ll call her Reiko instead of Natsume.’
After saying that, Sakurou sliced the air to cause a whirlwind, and he left along with the wind. Sensei and I put the town behind us and returned home, where Touko-san and Shigeru-san were waiting. On the train home, I realised that I had a place of my own now, and just managed to keep in the tears that welled up unconsciously.
* * *
Ah, how many days has it been?
What on earth am I doing?
-
Mother, since the humans bring food every day, I don’t need to hunt any more. But…
It’s boring being in this house with nobody in it.
At some point, I started looking forward to when Kenichi and Hana return from school. When I hear their footsteps from far away, I feel excited. Ah, won’t they take me to the park again? Won’t they let me see them playing tag with Kazuki and Sakiko and Tsubasa again?
The wind is pretty strong today… Ah, I wonder if the branches of the pine trees in the forest are rustling. I wonder if the water in the pond at the bottom of the mountain is sparkling, with ripples on the surface.
Ah, the window made a loud sound… Ahh! The window broke!?
-
'Hm… Ah, you really were here, little fox.’
Eh?
The window had a line across it, like it had been cut by something round and sharp. Just as I thought the window had cracked, a strange shape came in from the small hole!
'Are you the little fox that was searching for me?’
eh? Who is this? He has a weasel mask on his face with two sickles in his hands…
’… Er, could you be the kamaitachi named Sakurou!?’
'I am. The familiar at the Inari shrine told me that a little fox came to this town searching for me. When I told him I hadn’t seen you, he was pretty worried, y'know?’
'That familiar was?’
'So now you’re being kept by humans. How nice.’
’T-that’s not it. I’m just staying here for them!’
'Hm… Well, that’s fine too. Whether you’re an ayakashi or a beast, you have to return the favour for a night’s lodging and meal.’
'A night’s lod-ging and meal?’
'They let you stay here and feed you, right? That’s a night’s lodging and meal. I’m a wanderer, but if somebody does me a favour, I always return it before heading to the next town. Well, it looks like you’ve had many nights of lodgings and meals, but… It’s just an example. Don’t worry about the number.’
Though I’m not a traveller, I think what Sakurou said makes sense. Mother also told me that if somebody helps me, I have to thank them somehow. Just like how I thanked Natsume with mushrooms and fish when he saved me, I need to do something to thank the people at this house somehow…
-
– But what on earth should I do?
-
Ah, more importantly, there’s something I have to tell Sakurou!
'Sakurou, why are you saying bad things about Natsume? Natsume’s a really nice human.’
'Ah? Shorty, you know Natsume? … No, there’s no way.’
'I came to here to stop you saying bad things about him.’
'Wait… Is the Natsume you know the frail-looking boy? If that’s the case, I’m talking about a different Natsume.’
'Eh?’
'I just met the Natsume you know earlier. I was talking with him.’
'Ehh!? You met Natsume!? When? Where?’
'Just earlier, in this town.’
'Is Natsume… Is Natsume still in this town!?’
'Of course not. This was several days ago. He’s already returned to the town he lives in.’
What… Of course. Natsume has many friends in that town…
'Well, don’t look so disappointed. You’ll get to meet him again if fate means for it to happen. There just wasn’t any fate in play with me and my Natsume…’
What does he mean? Why do Sakurou’s eyes look so sad when he says 'Natsume’?
'Rumours are frightening things. Nobody would think I was badmouthing Natsume if they heard me directly.’
'Eh?’
'Relax. I won’t call her Natsume any longer. But you really are an astonishing fellow. You braved all that danger and came to this human town to meet me?’
'Natsume is an important person to me…’
'I see… Come to think of it, it’s like that for me too. So what are you going to do now?’
'What am I going to do?’
'I’ve decided to leave on a journey again. Well, that’s my personality. Are you going to stay here and live with the humans? Or do you want to return to the forest?’
'I…’
What do I want to do? What should I do?
'Well, I think you can just keep here as a pet. You don’t have to worry about food. But if you say you want to leave, I’ll make another hole in the window for you. I’ll leave for the next town after that, so decide before the humans come back. Where is your place in the world?’
My place in the world?
'Bye.’
'Ah, wait…’
He left…
-
'We’re back, Chibita!’
Ah, the two of them are back…
'Ah! Brother, look! There’s a hole in the window!’
'You’re right. Maybe Chibita broke it?’
'Eh? Chibita, are you OK? You’re not injured, right?’
Ah, these kids are really kind. The first thing they do is worry about me. If I leave, they’ll probably be sad. It might be better for me to stay here. But…
