Mr. Natsume's special mantra

Tick.

Natsume Reiko raised her head, slightly protruding one hand, palm facing up.

The icy rain fell on it.

It is going to rain.

"Go back," she said.

Yi Dao froze for a moment, then nodded: "That's right."

The scattered raindrops gradually turned into a drizzle, and then turned into a downpour.

Natsume Reiko who returned home listened to the sound of the rain beating the leaves outside the window, and closed her eyes.

On the third day, Natsume Reiko, who was sitting on the tree, saw the familiar figure of the man again.

He was thinking about a bag of something he didn't know what it was, and when he saw the girl on the tree, he walked straight over.

After a while, he stood under the tree, raised his head, and frowned: "Do you often sit on such a high tree?"

Natsume Reiko tilted her head slightly to look at him, her long brown hair fell to one side, "Ah—what's wrong?"

"It's dangerous, don't do that." Yi Dao said disapprovingly, "If you accidentally fall, you will be easily injured."

Natsume Reiko who was sitting on the tree was stunned for a moment, the breeze in the woods was blowing her long brown hair, she clenched her fists to cover the corners of her slightly raised lips, and asked, "Are you always treating strangers like this?"

Yi Island: "..."

Not willing to admit that he has a slight affection for Natsume Reiko, Yijima turned his face away, put the bag in his hand with reddish ears, avoided Natsume Reiko's question and said, "I brought you this as a thank you gift from that day."

Natsume Reiko didn't continue to ask, she jumped down from the tree, and when she took the bag from Yijima's hand, she felt a little unnatural when she saw the young man's frowning.

weirdo.

This is her judgment on the youth.

She looked at the words on the bag and muttered: "It's from Nanatsujiya?"

"Yeah." Yidao nodded without saying anything.

……

After eating the buns, Natsume Reiko leaned back against the tree trunk, looked at Yijima in front of her, and wondered in her eyes: "Are you human?"

"?" Yijima couldn't quite understand what Natsume Reiko was talking about.

He is not human, can he still be a monster?

When they met for the first time, didn't she already see that he was an exorcist?

"...It's weird." Natsume Reiko murmured.

It seems to be talking to Yijima, but it doesn't seem to be talking to him.

Yijima simply didn't want to.

He looked at Natsume Reiko, who had met alone three times, and didn't tell her not to come here alone.

But Yidao was still a little worried, not only because the girl always liked to stay on tall tree trunks, but also because there were not very few monsters in this forest.

Although so far, he has not felt a particularly powerful monster here, he can also analyze that Natsume Reiko is not as weak as he imagined through the original description of the girl by the little monsters.

But all of the above can not dispel Yijima's worries.

He looked at Natsume Reiko who was sitting next to him, and thought a little bit in his heart.

Natsume Reiko finished eating the steamed stuffed bun in her hand, and smiled at Yijima: "The steamed stuffed bun is delicious, thank you!"

"...You're welcome, go back quickly." Yi Dao urged, pointing to the dark sky.

As he spoke, he asked again: "Don't stay outside for too long."

Natsume Reiko looked at him for a while, and finally said: "You are really... very strange."

……

Natsume Takashi came back to his senses from Yijima's memory.

He looked at Yidao, who was probably his grandfather, who was obviously also caught in the memory, and his eyes were half closed.

Mr. Yijima didn't understand why Grandma Reiko asked him if he was human, but Takashi Natsume knew.

The grandmother who was excluded by humans looked at Mr. Yijima's grandmother suspiciously, and didn't understand...nor believe...why Mr. Yijima, who is also a human being, would be so kind to her.

After all, he used to be like that.

Yi Dao, who was walking beside him, stopped, looked at the familiar and taller tree in front of him, and fell into deep thought.

The boy holding the three-colored cat followed Yidao's gaze, and the familiar figure in uniform sat quietly on the branch of the tree trunk with bare feet, looking at the sky in the distance.

Natsume Takashi froze for a moment, rubbing his eyes with one free hand.

Are you dazzled...

He thought so.

However, when he put down the hand that was rubbing his eyes, Natsume Reiko who was sitting on the tree suddenly turned her head and smiled at him.

The moment they looked at each other, Natsume Takashi frowned.

Natsume Reiko who was sitting on the tree jumped down without causing any fluctuations.

Mr. Yoshima who stood in front of Takashi Natsume seemed to be unable to see the girl, and was still immersed in his thoughts.

The cat teacher who was hugged by Natsume Takashi noticed that something was wrong with Natsume Takashi, but when the cat teacher followed Natsume Takashi's eyes, he didn't find anything wrong.

"Natsume?" He called Natsume Takashi's name.

The boy bowed his head: "Mr. Cat?"

Madara looked at him and asked in a low and serious voice, "What did you see?"

"Can't the teacher see it?" Natsume Takashi asked, pointing his hand slightly to where Natsume Reiko was standing: "Grandma is standing there."

There were still traces of being frightened in the boy's voice.

Madara looked at the boy's fingers, and the soft hair froze in shock.

In his field of vision, there were no traces.

"..."

Natsume Takashi and Madara looked at each other, and when he turned his head, he found that figure walking towards him.

Natsume Takashi pursed his lips, trying to stop Natsume Reiko, but suddenly found that the person Natsume Reiko was looking at was not him.

Her eyes should have fallen on someone taller than him.

Therefore, this is not the soul of Natsume Reiko he thought at first.

But a phantom that exists here.

He looked at the girl standing there, as if he heard something interesting, he tilted his head and showed a familiar smile.

Just like Reiko in Mr. Yijima's memory.

Natsume Takashi suddenly realized something, his eyes moved back and forth between Natsume Reiko's phantom and Yijima standing there.

What Mr. Yijima recalled was the girl who always sat alone on the branch of a tree.

And Grandma Reiko's phantom is a record of Yijima who always comes to her.

Finally, Yijima who was standing there moved.

He turned around and said to Natsume, "It's getting late, let's go back early."

Natsume Takashi didn't reply right away, he silently watched the phantom belonging to Reiko with its hands behind its back and disappeared from his sight with a smile.

Suddenly there was a feeling of soreness and soreness in his heart.

"Natsume?" Yijima looked at him suspiciously,

"Ah—?" Natsume Takashi came back to his senses, as if he had just reacted, he echoed in a daze: "I really want to go back."

Hearing the boy's reply, Yi Dao's indifferent face showed a slight smile that was barely noticeable: "I'll trouble you to come with me today."

Natsume Takashi thoughtfully shook his head: "I am very happy when I am with Mr. Yijima."

"...Is that so?" Yidao took advantage of the invitation and said, "Next time, can I continue to invite you out?"

His character, defined by Natsume Reiko as awkward, cannot be said that he also likes it very much.

But Natsume Takashi, who heard Yijima's reply, immediately took out a piece of paper and wrote down his contact information, and handed it to Yijima.

"That's it, I see." Yijima put away the paper and nodded to Natsume Takashi.

Teacher Cat patted Natsume Takashi's arm and said, "Natsume, hurry up! Otherwise, we will miss dinner!"

Hearing this, Natsume Takashi looked at Mr. Yijima apologetically and said, "Then I'll go first, Mr. Yijima."

After finishing speaking, the boy hugged the cat in his arms and ran towards the direction he came from.

Yi Dao stared at the boy's back and remained silent for a long time.

after dinner.

Natsume Takashi sat by the window.

Even if the window is closed, the cold air at night can still pass through the edge to the person sitting by the window.

This is what the Sanhuamao, who was full of food and drinks, came in and saw.

The young man sat quietly by the window, exuding a feeling of confusion all over his body.

Teacher Cat walked up to the boy, squatted down, and asked, "Are you still thinking about it?"

"Yeah." Takashi Natsume said softly, "We've all been to that place more than once, but only when Mr. Yijima went, I saw the phantom of grandma."

"She is repeating her previous experience."

Sanhuamao, who was not smelling of alcohol, said, "Even if it's something weirder than this, it's not uncommon for that guy Reiko to happen." "Natsume." The young man explained: "Although Reiko is pretty bad, the power she possesses is rare even among monsters."

"That phantom is nothing more than a trace of remnants restrained by a powerful force."

"Is that so..." Natsume Takashi opened the window, cool air hit his face, and his hair fluttered slightly under the wind.

He stared at the stars and moon in the distant night sky, and his thoughts were racing.

Grandma, you must really like Yijima-san...

The cat teacher sitting next to him yawned and said, "However, since only you can see it, it must be Reiko who did something superfluous."

"Is grandma's technique very powerful?"

"I don't know. When she asked me to compete, I never agreed." Teacher Cat was tormented by sleepiness, her eyes blurred: "However, there are many vicious guys in the friend account, and they cannot be deterred without real skills. "

"I see."

Natsume Takashi replied.

He closed the windows and made the bed.

He knew that now that he had become a god, he only needed to tell the world consciousness to get everything he wanted to know, but he didn't want to do that.

Some things are better left to themselves.

For example...

After becoming a god, he still maintains the life of an ordinary person.

Natsume Takashi lying on the bed looked at the ceiling in front of him, and after a long time, he closed his eyes.

But, what kind of existence is grandma to Mr. Yijima?

Judging by Mr. Yijima's appearance, he doesn't know that his grandmother gave birth to his mother at all...