![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elidelio posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vocab_drabblesTitle: A Spring Outing
Fandom: Natsume’s Book of Friends
Author:elidelio
Rating: G
Word Count: 1,800
Summary: On a pleasant spring afternoon, a yokai comes to Takashi, asking him to return its friend's name.
Takashi and his friends walked home from school on a balmy Friday afternoon as the cool spring breeze ruffled their clothes and hair. The boys joked about their weekend plans, Kitamoto and Nishimura suggested they go out camping since the weather had been so nice, but Takashi and Kaname quickly put a stop to that by reminding them of their piles of pending homework.
"Then what about a study weekend get-together?” Kitamoto proposed.
"No way," Kaname laughed, "I'm already done with all my work, I'm gonna help my dad at the temple."
"And you?" He turned a hopeful gaze to Takashi.
"I finished too." He smiled.
"...Looks like you're stuck with me." Kitamoto turned to Nishimura and hooked an arm around his shoulders.
"Who said I want to spend my weekend doing homework with you?!"
"Well, are you gonna do it alone?"
"No! I mean..."
While this was going on, Takashi was pulled away from his friends' conversation by a small voice coming from a nearby treetop.
"...Reiko? Natsume Reiko, is that really you?"
Takashi froze and looked up at the trees, trying to find the source of the sound.
"Everything alright?" Kaname asked in a low voice when he noticed the shift in his attention.
"Yeah, just—" Takashi was about to wave his concern away, but caught himself in time, "—Actually, I think... someone is looking for me."
"Someone...? Oh!" It only took Kaname a split second of confusion to realise what he meant, "Want help?"
"I'd appreciate it." He nodded.
A few moments later, Kaname patted his pockets in an exaggerated motion, "Oh, I forgot something back at school! Takashi, can you come back with me real quick?"
Takashi almost laughed out loud, but still nodded, "Sure."
"Want us to come too?" Nishimura offered.
"Don't worry about it," Kaname waved them away, "You two should be getting back to that study weekend of yours."
"That's right!" Kitamoto piped up, "Let's go, Nishimura. See you two on Monday!"
Takashi and Kaname waited until Kitamoto had dragged Nishimura a sufficient distance away, then turned around and went back to the area where Takashi heard the voice.
"Sorry about that," He spoke towards the trees, "Were you looking for Natsume Reiko?"
There was a faint rustling from the treetops as a small, black, bird-like creature hopped down and came to stand in front of them with a salute, "Indeed."
"I'm her grandson, Reiko's long gone. But if this is about your name, I can return it." He explained.
The yokai's face twisted in what seemed to be an apologetic frown, "I'm sorry to hear that, Reiko's grandson. I was not aware so much time had already passed." It then took a tentative step forward and clasped its wings together, "I did come to ask that you return a name, but not mine."
"Not yours?" Takashi repeated.
"My friend's." The yokai clarified.
"Sure, I'd just need to see your friend."
"Wonderful! However..." The yokai wrung its wings in a nervous gesture, "My friend can't currently come. Could I... trouble you to go to him?"
Seeing Takashi’s thoughtful frown, Kaname asked, “What’s going on?”
“A yokai wants me to return their friend’s name,” He caught the other boy up, “But I would have to go there.”
“Oh,” Now it was Kaname’s turn to frown, “Where is he?”
“He currently resides in a forest not far from here,” Though Kaname couldn’t sense the yokai, the yokai could hear him just fine, so it took the initiative to answer, “It should be around half a day’s travel if we peregrinate the human way.”
“The human way?” Takashi smiled, slightly amused, “You mean, on foot?”
“Precisely.” The yokai nodded.
“Half a day’s travel doesn’t seem too long…” Takashi thought out loud so Kaname would hear.
“Sounds like we might go on that camping trip after all.” Kaname joked.
For a moment, Takashi was slightly stunned by the response, “You want to come? Didn’t you have to help your dad?”
“He’ll understand,” He shrugged, “I want to go, but only if you'll let me.”
“Of course.” Takashi reassured him, then turned back to the yokai, “Can we set off tomorrow? It’s getting kind of late.”
“Certainly!” The yokai answered with renewed eagerness, “I will be waiting for you right here.”
With that, the two boys bid the yokai farewell and parted, promising to return the next day, and went home to make arrangements for their impromptu weekend trip.
The weather that Saturday morning was just as pleasant as the day before, neither too hot nor too cold, perfect for spending the day outside. As Kaname and Takashi once again made their way to the meeting spot, Kaname let out a small laugh.
“What is it?” Takashi could tell there was something on his mind.
"The weather’s so nice…” Kaname smiled a little impishly, “Nishimura and Kitamoto are gonna be mad when they hear we went hiking without them.”
Takashi snorted, not having expected that, “Well, it’s their fault for always leaving homework ‘till the last minute.”
The two chatted until they neared the spot, at which point their conversation was interrupted by the flap of black feathered wings.
“It’s here.” Takashi commented.
“Greetings.” The yokai landed with a salute, “Thank you for coming.”
“No problem, lead the way.”
And so, the three of them made their way into the forest, with the yokai taking to the air to lead the way and the two humans following on foot.
The forest was beautiful this time of spring, everything was luscious and green, the wildflowers bloomed beautifully, and Takashi could practically feel the weight of the school week falling off his shoulders as he trekked under the mottled shade of the trees.
“Do you know when we’ll get there?” It had been around half a day by that point, and Kaname, who had simply been following Takashi all this time, was starting to feel tired from their hours of walking, “I brought some food for a picnic, so I was wondering if we should take a break.”
Takashi’s ears perked at the mention of food, and he realised that he was also starting to get rather hungry, “I’ll ask. Excuse me! How much longer until we reach your friend?”
Hearing the question, the yokai swooped down and landed on a nearby tree, “We’re almost there, in fact!” Then, it hopped down the branches until it was level with Takashi’s line of sight, “There is, however, a minor caveat that I would like to mention beforehand.”
“What… is it?” Takashi asked cautiously, wondering too late if he should have insisted that Madara came along.
“Nothing you should be alarmed about!” The yokai sensed his apprehension, “It’s simply a request that you… eschew telling my friend Reiko is no longer in this world.”
“Why?”
“He has become rather temperamental in his old age, and I believe the reason he hasn’t left that spot is because he’s been waiting for her to come back— they did meet on a spring like this several decades ago, after all.” The yokai shook its head, “Anyway, I think it would be best if he were to believe Reiko was the one to return his name, if anything, at least then he would accept it without issue.”
“He’s been waiting for my grandmother?” Those were somewhat surprising news, though he'd come to expect the unexpected from both Reiko and the yokai she had dealings with, “Why?”
“Who knows? That stubborn old fool.” The yokai ruffled its feathers, clearly peeved, “He lost a bet to her that cost him his name, I think she left him with a riddle and told him that, if he could answer it, she'd give it back. It took him a few weeks to think of the answer, but she never returned.”
“I see.” Takashi frowned slightly, not really knowing how to feel about that.
“Everything alright?” Sensing the change in his mood, Kaname walked closer and asked.
“Hmm,” He didn’t know, so he just hummed noncommittally, “We’re almost there.”
A few minutes later, the yokai signalled for them to stop.
“He's on a clearing beyond those trees.” It pointed.
“Okay.” Takashi put his backpack down, pulled the Book of Friends out, and turned towards Kaname, “Wait for me here, we’ll have that picnic when I get back.”
“Sure.” Kaname smiled and waved him off.
Takashi only had to walk a few metres past the trees before he saw it. Right in the middle of the small clearing, a massive tree stump lay surrounded by dark green bushes, and a small creature sat right in the centre of the gnarled wood.
He approached cautiously, not wanting to startle the yokai, but making enough noise so that he would notice his presence.
“Reiko?”
The yokai was a bird-like creature much like his friend, but whereas his friend’s feathers were smooth and black as ink, his were patchy and grey, more broken than whole. He sat tiredly on the stump as if his small body weighed several tonnes, and it was clear by the way he turned his head and tried to locate Takashi that his eyesight wasn’t the best anymore.
“I’ve come to give your name back.” Takashi tried to avoid the question.
“Hm, yes, the riddle.” The yokai’s voice was paper-thin, Takashi could barely hear him over the rustling of the wind. “I have an answer.”
“Okay, what is it?”
The yokai cleared his throat, “I believe the word—”
In that moment, the wind picked up, and a strong gust sent the leaves of the bushes rattling loudly, so that the yokai’s already quiet words were completely drowned out.
“—I right?” He finished, the tail-end of his sentence barely rising above the wind.
Takashi smiled, “Yeah. Now it’s my turn to return your name.” He didn’t catch the yokai’s answer, he didn’t even know what the riddle might have been, but it didn’t matter. It never did.
“Very well.” The yokai closed his eyes, pleased.
Takashi picked his name out of the book, clasped his hands together and, with his breath, returned the words to their rightful owner.
“Thank you.” The yokai bid him farewell.
“Goodbye.” He left the clearing, feeling a little sorry that he didn’t at least get to hear the answer the yokai had worked so hard on.
“How was it?” Kaname greeted as soon as he made it back through the trees.
Takashi smiled, “Fine. Apparently, he lost his name in a bet.”
Kaname let out a sound of surprise. Just then, the yokai who led them there interjected, “Thank you again, Reiko’s grandson. Shall I lead you back out of the forest?”
“Not yet…” Takashi looked at his friend, then at the backpack slung over his shoulders, “We’re going to have a picnic first, want to join?”
Fandom: Natsume’s Book of Friends
Author:
elidelioRating: G
Word Count: 1,800
Summary: On a pleasant spring afternoon, a yokai comes to Takashi, asking him to return its friend's name.
Takashi and his friends walked home from school on a balmy Friday afternoon as the cool spring breeze ruffled their clothes and hair. The boys joked about their weekend plans, Kitamoto and Nishimura suggested they go out camping since the weather had been so nice, but Takashi and Kaname quickly put a stop to that by reminding them of their piles of pending homework.
"Then what about a study weekend get-together?” Kitamoto proposed.
"No way," Kaname laughed, "I'm already done with all my work, I'm gonna help my dad at the temple."
"And you?" He turned a hopeful gaze to Takashi.
"I finished too." He smiled.
"...Looks like you're stuck with me." Kitamoto turned to Nishimura and hooked an arm around his shoulders.
"Who said I want to spend my weekend doing homework with you?!"
"Well, are you gonna do it alone?"
"No! I mean..."
While this was going on, Takashi was pulled away from his friends' conversation by a small voice coming from a nearby treetop.
"...Reiko? Natsume Reiko, is that really you?"
Takashi froze and looked up at the trees, trying to find the source of the sound.
"Everything alright?" Kaname asked in a low voice when he noticed the shift in his attention.
"Yeah, just—" Takashi was about to wave his concern away, but caught himself in time, "—Actually, I think... someone is looking for me."
"Someone...? Oh!" It only took Kaname a split second of confusion to realise what he meant, "Want help?"
"I'd appreciate it." He nodded.
A few moments later, Kaname patted his pockets in an exaggerated motion, "Oh, I forgot something back at school! Takashi, can you come back with me real quick?"
Takashi almost laughed out loud, but still nodded, "Sure."
"Want us to come too?" Nishimura offered.
"Don't worry about it," Kaname waved them away, "You two should be getting back to that study weekend of yours."
"That's right!" Kitamoto piped up, "Let's go, Nishimura. See you two on Monday!"
Takashi and Kaname waited until Kitamoto had dragged Nishimura a sufficient distance away, then turned around and went back to the area where Takashi heard the voice.
"Sorry about that," He spoke towards the trees, "Were you looking for Natsume Reiko?"
There was a faint rustling from the treetops as a small, black, bird-like creature hopped down and came to stand in front of them with a salute, "Indeed."
"I'm her grandson, Reiko's long gone. But if this is about your name, I can return it." He explained.
The yokai's face twisted in what seemed to be an apologetic frown, "I'm sorry to hear that, Reiko's grandson. I was not aware so much time had already passed." It then took a tentative step forward and clasped its wings together, "I did come to ask that you return a name, but not mine."
"Not yours?" Takashi repeated.
"My friend's." The yokai clarified.
"Sure, I'd just need to see your friend."
"Wonderful! However..." The yokai wrung its wings in a nervous gesture, "My friend can't currently come. Could I... trouble you to go to him?"
Seeing Takashi’s thoughtful frown, Kaname asked, “What’s going on?”
“A yokai wants me to return their friend’s name,” He caught the other boy up, “But I would have to go there.”
“Oh,” Now it was Kaname’s turn to frown, “Where is he?”
“He currently resides in a forest not far from here,” Though Kaname couldn’t sense the yokai, the yokai could hear him just fine, so it took the initiative to answer, “It should be around half a day’s travel if we peregrinate the human way.”
“The human way?” Takashi smiled, slightly amused, “You mean, on foot?”
“Precisely.” The yokai nodded.
“Half a day’s travel doesn’t seem too long…” Takashi thought out loud so Kaname would hear.
“Sounds like we might go on that camping trip after all.” Kaname joked.
For a moment, Takashi was slightly stunned by the response, “You want to come? Didn’t you have to help your dad?”
“He’ll understand,” He shrugged, “I want to go, but only if you'll let me.”
“Of course.” Takashi reassured him, then turned back to the yokai, “Can we set off tomorrow? It’s getting kind of late.”
“Certainly!” The yokai answered with renewed eagerness, “I will be waiting for you right here.”
With that, the two boys bid the yokai farewell and parted, promising to return the next day, and went home to make arrangements for their impromptu weekend trip.
The weather that Saturday morning was just as pleasant as the day before, neither too hot nor too cold, perfect for spending the day outside. As Kaname and Takashi once again made their way to the meeting spot, Kaname let out a small laugh.
“What is it?” Takashi could tell there was something on his mind.
"The weather’s so nice…” Kaname smiled a little impishly, “Nishimura and Kitamoto are gonna be mad when they hear we went hiking without them.”
Takashi snorted, not having expected that, “Well, it’s their fault for always leaving homework ‘till the last minute.”
The two chatted until they neared the spot, at which point their conversation was interrupted by the flap of black feathered wings.
“It’s here.” Takashi commented.
“Greetings.” The yokai landed with a salute, “Thank you for coming.”
“No problem, lead the way.”
And so, the three of them made their way into the forest, with the yokai taking to the air to lead the way and the two humans following on foot.
The forest was beautiful this time of spring, everything was luscious and green, the wildflowers bloomed beautifully, and Takashi could practically feel the weight of the school week falling off his shoulders as he trekked under the mottled shade of the trees.
“Do you know when we’ll get there?” It had been around half a day by that point, and Kaname, who had simply been following Takashi all this time, was starting to feel tired from their hours of walking, “I brought some food for a picnic, so I was wondering if we should take a break.”
Takashi’s ears perked at the mention of food, and he realised that he was also starting to get rather hungry, “I’ll ask. Excuse me! How much longer until we reach your friend?”
Hearing the question, the yokai swooped down and landed on a nearby tree, “We’re almost there, in fact!” Then, it hopped down the branches until it was level with Takashi’s line of sight, “There is, however, a minor caveat that I would like to mention beforehand.”
“What… is it?” Takashi asked cautiously, wondering too late if he should have insisted that Madara came along.
“Nothing you should be alarmed about!” The yokai sensed his apprehension, “It’s simply a request that you… eschew telling my friend Reiko is no longer in this world.”
“Why?”
“He has become rather temperamental in his old age, and I believe the reason he hasn’t left that spot is because he’s been waiting for her to come back— they did meet on a spring like this several decades ago, after all.” The yokai shook its head, “Anyway, I think it would be best if he were to believe Reiko was the one to return his name, if anything, at least then he would accept it without issue.”
“He’s been waiting for my grandmother?” Those were somewhat surprising news, though he'd come to expect the unexpected from both Reiko and the yokai she had dealings with, “Why?”
“Who knows? That stubborn old fool.” The yokai ruffled its feathers, clearly peeved, “He lost a bet to her that cost him his name, I think she left him with a riddle and told him that, if he could answer it, she'd give it back. It took him a few weeks to think of the answer, but she never returned.”
“I see.” Takashi frowned slightly, not really knowing how to feel about that.
“Everything alright?” Sensing the change in his mood, Kaname walked closer and asked.
“Hmm,” He didn’t know, so he just hummed noncommittally, “We’re almost there.”
A few minutes later, the yokai signalled for them to stop.
“He's on a clearing beyond those trees.” It pointed.
“Okay.” Takashi put his backpack down, pulled the Book of Friends out, and turned towards Kaname, “Wait for me here, we’ll have that picnic when I get back.”
“Sure.” Kaname smiled and waved him off.
Takashi only had to walk a few metres past the trees before he saw it. Right in the middle of the small clearing, a massive tree stump lay surrounded by dark green bushes, and a small creature sat right in the centre of the gnarled wood.
He approached cautiously, not wanting to startle the yokai, but making enough noise so that he would notice his presence.
“Reiko?”
The yokai was a bird-like creature much like his friend, but whereas his friend’s feathers were smooth and black as ink, his were patchy and grey, more broken than whole. He sat tiredly on the stump as if his small body weighed several tonnes, and it was clear by the way he turned his head and tried to locate Takashi that his eyesight wasn’t the best anymore.
“I’ve come to give your name back.” Takashi tried to avoid the question.
“Hm, yes, the riddle.” The yokai’s voice was paper-thin, Takashi could barely hear him over the rustling of the wind. “I have an answer.”
“Okay, what is it?”
The yokai cleared his throat, “I believe the word—”
In that moment, the wind picked up, and a strong gust sent the leaves of the bushes rattling loudly, so that the yokai’s already quiet words were completely drowned out.
“—I right?” He finished, the tail-end of his sentence barely rising above the wind.
Takashi smiled, “Yeah. Now it’s my turn to return your name.” He didn’t catch the yokai’s answer, he didn’t even know what the riddle might have been, but it didn’t matter. It never did.
“Very well.” The yokai closed his eyes, pleased.
Takashi picked his name out of the book, clasped his hands together and, with his breath, returned the words to their rightful owner.
“Thank you.” The yokai bid him farewell.
“Goodbye.” He left the clearing, feeling a little sorry that he didn’t at least get to hear the answer the yokai had worked so hard on.
“How was it?” Kaname greeted as soon as he made it back through the trees.
Takashi smiled, “Fine. Apparently, he lost his name in a bet.”
Kaname let out a sound of surprise. Just then, the yokai who led them there interjected, “Thank you again, Reiko’s grandson. Shall I lead you back out of the forest?”
“Not yet…” Takashi looked at his friend, then at the backpack slung over his shoulders, “We’re going to have a picnic first, want to join?”
