"Oh, are you all right? Where are your parents?"

Natsume paused and looked back. "My parents?" He repeated, curious. He glanced around. "Dad's right here, though?"

The lady that had asked immediately stiffened. "Ah…what?" She asked. "Your… father?" Her eyes darted around, ghosting right over Natsume's dad, and then darting back to stare in bewilderment at Natsume. "Where exactly do you mean, little boy?"

"Enough, Takashi," his father said gently, grasping his hand. "Hurry, humans do stir up a fuss when they think a child is in danger. It's one of their good points," his father added with a gentle grin, leading Natsume back into the forest.

"Okay," Natsume chirped. "Um, bye bye! I have to go home!" He waved at the lady before taking off with his father at his side, the wind blowing along with him, and leaving the human to stare after the strange boy who swiftly vanished into the night.

Later that night, when the moon was full and round in the sky, Natsume yawned. "How come she can see me but couldn't see you?" He asked, settling down into the hollow of the old tree. "It's always like that. Is there something wrong with me?"

"What? No! No, no, no, of course not." His father pulled him into his lap, gently tying a white mask around Natsume's head. "You're an ayakashi just like me. Always remember that."

The two stared out into the forest, and a few droplets of rain started to hit the leaves above them. A few bright blue flowers, growing along a vine, swayed when they were hit.

"Your mother was the same as you, you know." Nastume's father looked at him then, his own white mask gently blowing in response to the incoming storm's wind. "She could be seen because of the human blood in her family. In your family."

"Human blood?" Natsume sat up. "What do you mean by human blood, Dad?"

"Your grandmother was human. She was well known in a town not far from here, and went by the name of Natsume Reiko. You look just like her, actually, which is why we gave you her last name, Takashi." His father shifted. "She was incredibly gifted, and able to see all youkai and interact with them in a way that most humans can't. One day she met an ayakashi, and they had your mother together."

"Oh." Natsume solemnly stared back at his father, then looked at the flowers again. "Why is that a bad thing?"

His father jerked, arms tightening around Natsume. "What makes you say it is a bad thing?"

"Because, you know… you look so scared, Dad."

His father stiffened, the wind brushing the white paper mask from his face so Natsume could see his wearied eyes. He stared back at Natsume for a moment, then turned and stared at the brilliant blue flowers for a long minute. "Having human blood is incredibly rare, Takeshi." He finally said. "Listen closely, all right? You'll always smell like a human, just enough that others might try and hurt you. You'll be stronger because of this blessing, but also weaker. In cold weather your body gets weaker faster. You need food and sleep, and dying because of wounds or even a fever is more likely than most ayakashi. You need to be careful. Never forget this."

Natsume swallowed, throat dry. Worry fluttered in his stomach, and he licked his lips nervously. "Is that… how mom…?"
His father gently rubbed his head, and the two ayakashi stared back out as the rain started to fall all around them, the two beings safe and warm underneath the leaves of the tree.

"Yes," his father had finally said, and that had been the end of that conversation.

Three months later Natsume's father was gone, exorcised and destroyed in a flash of light, and the human child that had been reported as being potentially kidnapped by ayakashi was sent off to live in an orphanage.

A human orphanage.

And none but Natsume Takashi was the wiser.

The only things that Natsume had on him when he entered the human's world was his dirty, ripped blue kimono and the old notebook his father had kept hidden away in their home. Natsume wasn't sure what was inside it because he couldn't read yet, but he felt that the strangely shaped book filled with scribbles must be important. Sometimes he would stare at it when he was certain he was alone, but other than that he always made sure to keep it safe, nearby, and hidden.

At first, Natsume was timid but quiet. He was judged to be about five years old, and didn't quite grasp the dangers of his situation until the ayakashi started following him around, drawn by the temptation of a defenseless human with strong spiritual powers. Natsume tried to tell them it was different, that he wasn't a human, but it did him no good. The longer he stayed among the humans, the stronger and more prominent his own human stench seemed to get.

He tried to run away, back to his forest where he had once fallen asleep under his father's kind gaze, where he was always safe and cared for, but the humans caught him. It wasn't just one attempt either, but several, at least enough that Natsume finally accepted that it was an impossible dream. He was scolded each time, and when the other kids started to bully him for startling at shadows and flinching whenever they spoke to him, it was decided that Natsume Takashi was a problem child.

He was shipped off to the first foster family not long after that.

Natsume was scared, scared of humans and scared of the ayakashi that no longer seemed so friendly as they had when he had played under the shade of the forest's trees. He started to hide from everything and everyone, but quickly learned that if he ignored one or the other he would get hurt. It seemed it was possible for an ayakashi to bruise, he noted at the age of six, hiding his arms in long sleeves when the humans that took care of him started to drink and take out financial issues on him. Natsume thought they were nice- surely they were, they took him away from the orphanage- but still, it must be his fault that they were having trouble. It must be because he was an ayakashi that this happened. It must be because he attracted ayakashi…

Soon the seasons changed, and Natsume was shoved onto a new family not long after. This home was even farther away from his forest, another city altogether, and Natsume no longer dreamed of blue flowers and the smell of the forest after it rained or the view of the night sky. Instead, nightmares chased after him relentlessly, and he tried to numb himself to the silent treatment of the other children at his new school.

Maybe it was better that they didn't talk to him.

The ayakashi grew more persistent, more dangerous, and Natsume stopped trying to deny his humanity. His memories started to slip away, and Natsume let them go, choosing to forget his past life and his kind father. It only hurt, to remember such things, as they were starting to sound more and more ridiculous even to Natsume's own ears.

Maybe it's better this way, Natsume started to think, covering his ears as the arguing of his foster parents creeped underneath his door. The ayakashi hiding in the patterns of the ceiling grinned, slithering down the wall to peer into Natsume's eyes. "Human childddd," it rasped. "You can see me, can't you?" Maybe it's the ayakashi that are more dangerous…

It was a conviction that just got stronger and stronger. If Natsume pretended that all, not just some, of his blood was human and smiled and if he didn't jump at what other humans saw as shadows, he was treated kindly. All humans seemed so kind and nice, because it was Natsume imposing on them so… so it was always his fault if anything went wrong. But ayakashi, no matter what, they tried to hurt him. He was stalked and constantly scared by one youkai that hung out in a tree on Natsume's way to school for a few months in a city, and after that it seemed that each family he moved on to there was always something watching him. The scariest one was the white woman with the one eye that watched him and whispered kind things, entreating him to leave with her and vanish into the forest. Perhaps ten years ago Natsume would have accepted the offer in a heartbeat, but when she threatened to eat his family… when suddenly, someone appeared that sounded like they might want the strange boy who did nothing but cause trouble… Natsume sealed her and never looked back.

That was his first time getting actual blood tests in a hospital in a long while, and Natsume remembering relief swelling through him when the doctors didn't notice anything strange that year as well. His secret was safe. No, better than safe: even if Natsume wanted to, no one would believe him that he was an ayakashi, human or otherwise.

And he was okay with that now. It was better that way.

And it was like this that Natsume arrived at the Fujiwara household, and that was really the start of it all.

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Hey guys! I hope you enjoy this story. Although at first, the plot is very similar to the original story, there will be lots of changes later on. Also, although I will always use English when possible, some words like "youkai," "ayakashi," and name endings (-san, -sama, etc.) are unavoidable to correctly convey some things.

Not sure when I'll update or how frequently... tbh I just wrote this chapter in one quick go and liked it too much not to post it. I'll probably get inspired when I have free time or when season six really gets going, but no promises for now haha. Most chapters might be episodic similar to the show. Some episodes will be skipped entirely or mentioned in passing, as nothing is changed, but some that have more impact will be covered in more depth.