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#natsuyuu#natsume yuujinchou#natsume's book of friends#my art#natsume reiko#reiko natsume#souko#morinaga souko
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Fandom: Natsume's Book of Friends Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationship: Morinaga Souko/Natsume Reiko Summary: So many colors suited the forest girl that Souko couldn't assign a single one to her. Words: 7,123 Link: AO3 | Fanfiction.net
Notes: Believe it or not, I actually started writing this in 2018, and for some reason was never able to complete it lol. But I got so excited with the announcement of season 7 that I decided it was a good time to finish this, before we get to see those chapters get adapted.
Find out Reiko and Soukoâs story still makes me cry even 5 years later, and I canât wait to bawl about them once theyâre animated!
* * *
People were always surprised when Souko told them she didnât like the color blue.
It wasnât like she hated it, but she just wasnât very fond of it.
She liked green, yellow, purple, red â vivacious pigments that felt alive, cheery; hues that a child would love to use to paint one of his drawings.
Blue was just sad.
The watery tint of the deep sea, the cold tint of winter.
Souko loved assigning colors to people. She saw her father as a vibrant red, and her mother â from the little she remembered of her â as a soft purple. Her uncle was golden, her aunt orange, her grandmother green.
So although she didnât hate it, a part of her always felt disappointed âblueâ was the color people associated with her the most â simply because it was what sheâd been named after.
Sometimes, Souko thought it was a funny twist of fate, for her to bear the name of a color she only connected to sadness; a warped prediction of what her life would look like after she fell ill.
No one who met her after she got sick would believe it, but she actually used to be a very energetic child. Back then, she could spend the entire day running around and climbing to trees and playing all sorts of games outside with other kids, giving her father a hundred of panic attacks.
All of that crumbled away when her heart started to malfunction two years ago, and suddenly her whole body began to fall apart without her control.
It had been gradual. Slow and excruciating.
She barely noticed the first signs; the shaking in her hands, her frequent headaches, her legs incapable of walking or running for very long. One day on her way to school, she passed out â and just like that, she spent the following year practically unable to get out of bed.
Her life then withered away.
She couldnât do any of the things she liked anymore, couldnât go to school anymore, couldnât see anyone but her family.
She stopped running and playing outside, and she stopped gardening, and she stopped cooking.
She didnât really had any friends, as the shy girl sheâd always been, but sheâd still managed to have some decent relationships with some kids at school, at least.
Now she didnât even had that anymore.
She withered, drowning away in a bottomless cerulean sea, and for a long, long time, nothing seemed to really matter anymore.
During those endless days, there was only two things she could do: read, which she took the habit of doing since then, and stare at her window. Her bedroom was in front of their garden, so she had a direct sight on the many colorful flowers her mother had planted there long ago, and that Souko had continued to take care of since then. But most of the times, it wasnât the rainbow of flowers she would stare at, but the blue of the sky â getting lost in its infinity, her heart heavy with anguish and anger at her own life.
Dad had told her, once, that the reason why they named her âSoukoâ was because sheâd been born during a day with a completely clear blue sky. No clouds, no shade of gray, no sun; only blue and blue and blue, as far as the eye could see.
But as Souko kept staring at that same sky, the only thing she could think about was how profoundly empty that blue looked.
* * *
With the help of medications and reeducation, she slowly started to get better â but the doctors were unequivocal on the fact that she would never be able to move like she used to.
She had to limit her gestures, her outings, her breathing; she couldnât run anymore, or barely so. She was getting better, but she still felt like she was imprisoned within her own body; a bird unable to get out of a cage of its own making.
But the worst wasnât really any of this. It all weighted heavily on her, of course; but she could bear that. She didnât really have a choice. The burden her illness had taken on her family, however, was another thing entirely.
The Morinaga household was constituted of only Souko and her father since her motherâs death when she was little, but her uncle and aunt lived nearby and were practically part of their home since as long as she could remember. Dad was very close to his brother, and so her uncle was almost like a third parent to Souko, always having been deeply involved in her life.
Thus her illness had repercussions not only on her father, but on her uncle, her aunt and the whole family. Everyone was always so tense whenever they came to see her, obvious tight smiles and stiff shoulders as they looked at her; and through the months sheâd heard hundreds of arguments between her father and grandmother, between the two brothers, between most of her relatives, all about the same topics. What to do with her condition, with her treatmentâs cost, with everything else.
Even Dad stopped looking at her like he used to, and instead a pained expression spread across his face every time his eyes met hers. She felt more like a poor little wounded animal he pitied than like his daughter.
That was the hardest part. The idea that not only her body was getting torn apart, but her family did as well â and that it was all her fault.
She couldnât stand it. It made her want to run away.
Find a place far away; cut from all of her problems, where she wouldnât have to worry about anything, and where she wouldnât worry anyone.
A place to be all alone.
And then one night after dinner, Dad approached her with an awkward smile and addressed her in a gentle, careful voice:
"The other day the doctor made me an offer... I thought about it and it could be a good opportunity. He said that⌠to help with your convalescence, we could move to the countryside.â
At first, Souko wasnât sure what to think of it.
Truthfully, she didnât want to move.
She knew nothing at all about the small town where her dad wanted to go, and going there would mean losing all of the landmarks sheâd known her whole life. It meant leaving their house where she grew up. Uncle and Auntie. Momâs grave from a few meters away in the cemetery. Her school.
Souko might not have had any friends here, she still didnât want to lose the relationships she had with the people of her hometown â and she didnât want to have to make the effort to form new bonds with strangers.
The very idea made her stomach twist with anxiety. But she couldnât turn Dad down; not when she knew he also probably didnât want to move either, and that he only proposed that for her sake.
So against all of her better instincts, Souko agreed.
* * *
She couldnât manage to assign any color to the forest girl.
No matter how hard she tried to, none of the choices â none of the different tints and shades and hues â seemed to fit her.
Or, rather, all of them fitted her.
The girl â her match companion, the teenager sheâd met hidden within the deepest parts of the woods, like a rare, delicate diamond â was the most beautiful and fascinating person Souko had ever seen; ephemeral like a ghost, flippant like a cat and fluttering like a butterfly.
Her long silver hair seemed to change color with the sunlight; turning white or golden or purple contingent on the skyâs whims.
Souko blurted that out, once, without thinking much about it beforehand; and then regretted it right away, because of how childish it sounded.
The girl just laughed.
âPurple?â She repeated, and Souko felt herself blush. âReally?â
âB-Because, look⌠Your hair is so light, so it take on the duskâs color. And when dusk turns orange, or pink, then your hair alsoâŚâ
âIs that so.â
The girl looked over at the horizon, which was indeed starting to take on a mauve tint. For a moment, her companion seemed contemplative; then finally, she turned towards her again and grinned.
âWell, what do you think? Is purple my color?â
Souko felt the scarlet of her cheeks deepens even more, but she was able to muster the courage to actually reply truthfully: âI think every color is your color. You look pretty in everything.â
And that was true, too.
Souko could imagine her in red, pink, purple, orange, black and white â and that girl, her mysterious nameless acquaintance of the forest, would be just as wonderful and breathtaking as ever.
She would look beautiful and full of life even in blue.
Souko had never seen a person like that before, so radiant and mesmerizing that her eyes couldnât stop staring at her, that her mind couldnât help but think of her almost all the time.
For a very brief moment, the girl looked slightly taken aback; but she quickly seemed to get over it and simply smiled back at her.
The girl was always smiling.
It was a little disconcerting, sometimes â and it wasnât that Souko didnât like seeing her smile, but she just wished that smile looked actually genuine.
Once Iâll win, she swore to herself.
Once Iâll win, Iâll make her give me her name. Iâll make her become my friend â and then Iâll be able to make her smile for real.
* * *
âOh, the candyâs blue.â
âIsnât it pretty?â
âYeah. Like the blue of Souko.â
Her voice resounded in her mind even long after the two of them parted way.
She couldnât stop thinking about the manner sheâd said her name. Softly, fleetingly, lost in the wind, like no one but the girl herself had been supposed to hear it.
The blue of Souko.
Souko had never been fond of her name. Sheâd never really liked the color blue.
And now, after all sheâd been through, the only thing it managed to evoke to her was the emptiness of the sky as she looked through her roomâs window stuck in her bed.
That was all the blue of Souko was to her.
But when the girl spoke it⌠When she said her name so softly, so longingly, Souko couldnât help but love it.
The girl was a little like a fairy, Souko thought; an otherworldly being who seemed to be able to transform every bad aspects of her life into something magical.
Her name sounded beautiful when she said it. That town in the countryside seemed so fun now that she started spending time with her. Her new home, her tense family, her unfamiliar school and classmates â everything seemed bearable now that she had that girl by her side.
Even the color blue would surely feel warm and vivacious, if her secret companion started wearing some of it.
Before meeting the forest girl, Souko had simply not been able to feel at home anywhere in that town.
It wasnât like people here werenât welcoming â at the contrary, everyone was quite nice to her, but Souko still hadnât been able to shake off the feeling that she simply didnât belong. Sheâd always been a timid girl, but suddenly moving here while cutting all ties to her old life, added to the months sheâd spent completely isolated from the world because of her illness, made her feel like sheâd lost all of her social skills. She could barely handle normal conversations with the other kids, or with the townsfolk â always feeling like people were staring at her, judging her, monitoring her every moves. And even when she was alone, she couldnât stand to be at her house either, in that unfamiliar place.
That was why coming in the middle of that forest, away from any form of life, away from her family and other people, was the only time that had finally made her feel a little comfortable â and that despite the fact this place had a strange ominous aura and sometimes gave her headaches.
And then she met the girl. The time she spent by her side, chatting idly and having silly matches and laughing together about nothing made her the happiest and most free sheâd felt in months. Not since she fell ill.
The girl wasnât always nice; she could be quite prickly and cold, and it wasnât like Souko didnât think that girl was... strange. Truthfully, she could be a little unsettling, or even scary sometimes. Occasionnally, she would just say weird things out of nowhere, or stared past Soukoâs shoulder as if she was seeing someone behind her, or dragged her away from a place as if she was trying to run from something.
Something Souko couldnât see.
(And, sometimes, Souko almost had the impression there really was something else with them, and that it wasnât just the two of them in the middle of these woods.)
But even so, despite all of this, Souko still didnât think she could, or wanted to, stop seeing the girl.
At least, she treated Souko like a normal person. She never walked on eggshells around her, even after sheâd learned she was sick. And even with all her prickliness, Souko could tell that she had a kind heart, buried behind her sharp gaze and barbed comments. She wouldnât have let Souko stay by her side otherwise.
The girl and those meetings were so odd, so detached from everything in her life â that sometimes Souko almost felt like she was hallucinating them. Like she was doing some forbidden rituals with a witch, and not just playing childish games.
There was only ever the two of them in that forest, after all â no one else here to confirm the real from the surreal.
Her rendez-vous with the forest girl was the most exciting part of her day, and she spent the whole time thinking about what new games they would play next.
Wishing that today would finally be the day she win â would be the day she finally earn her name.
Earn the right to be her friend.
âAre you going out again?â
Her father stopped her just as she was about to leave the house, and Souko startled. âAh, yesâŚâ
A worried look crossed his face. âSouko⌠Iâm glad you seem to be so happy, lately â really, but⌠You need to be more careful. Your body is stillâŚâ
âI know,â Souko said, maybe a little more forcefully than she intended. Of course she knew her body was still frail. It was her body, after all â she understood the consequences of its weakened state better than anyone. âIâm careful, Dad, I promise. You donât need to worry.â
But of course, that was probably a meaningless thing to say. Her father would always worry regardless of what she said.
ââŚIs that a friend that you see like that every day?â He asked. âI know you said youâve been getting along better with your classmates latelyâŚâ
Souko opened her mouth, then hesitated a little.
She still hadnât said anything to her father about the forest girl. She hadnât said anything about her to anyone, period.
She wasnât really sure why.
Sheâd told Dad about the classmates sheâd started to talk to â they werenât really friends yet, but they were nice, and Souko would like to become closer.
That, too, was thanks to the forest girl, in a way. It wasnât like she had encouraged to talk to others or anything, but being able to have normal conversations with someone her age after having been isolated for so long had managed to cheer Souko up and make her feel braver.
The girl always looked so strong and confident, after all; solid as a rock, standing tall among the trees. Souko always felt like nothing could ever hurt or reach her.
So sheâd thought that if she wanted to be worthy of befriending the forest girl, then she should try to befriend the more approachable kids at her school first.
But her classmates were different from the girl, and so Souko felt that she couldnât simply tell Dad about her like she would with a normal classmate. Maybe she wanted to become friends with her for real before telling him â or maybe⌠maybe she just wanted to keep her as a secret. For now.
Something only Souko knew about.
Her father had still noticed the changes, though, and he looked simultaneously happy and worried about them. Heâd already been very concerned from the start, when Souko went back to school, and then about the fact he could tell his daughter had clearly struggled to fit in at their new place. And now he clearly wasnât happy about her escapades after school; didnât like her going outside to play around in the forest. Souko sympathized with his feelings, knew that he was only worried for her; but it had been the best sheâd felt in such a long time, and she wasnât about to let that go.
Dad said nothing for a moment, then narrowed his eyes at Souko â and only when she noticed his suspicious look did she realizes that she was blushing.
ââŚIs that person youâre seeing a boy?â
âWha��� N-No! I-Itâs not like that⌠weâre justâŚâ
Her father laughed a little, and waved his hand. âSorry, thatâs none of my business. But you donât need to be embarrassed about it, you know. Itâs normal, at your age.â
âI-Itâs really not like thatâŚâ
And itâs not a boy.
But Dad didnât seem he would believe her no matter what she could say, so Souko felt it would be pointless to argue further. Instead, she went to her rendez-vous spot with the forest girl, and as usual they played together, Souko lost, and then they talked for a while. At some point, the girl took her hand and dragged her somewhere else. Her hand was rugged, and her skin sturdy â but it felt warm.
Souko wished she could keep holding her hand forever.
Maybe Dad isnât entirely wrong, she thought then, looking at the girlâs pretty long hair flowing in the wind, her heart skipping a beat at the sight.
If she were a boy, maybe I would fall in love with her.
It would be so easy to fall for her. She was so beautiful and strong and fun. Souko was certain most boys at her school must be crushing on her.
(Sheâd inadvertently said this, one day, and to her utter surprise the girl bursts out laughing ; so hard she had to hold her stomach, and Souko had never seen her laugh so loudly and for so long before.
âNo way!â Sheâd exclaimed after calming down. âBoys donât like me, at all.â
âH-Huh?â Souko let out. She didnât think she would lie about this, but she heavily doubted that was true. Maybe no one ever confessed to her, but there was just no way not a single person had at least some feelings for someone as charming as her.
The girl grinned, her green eyes boring straight into Soukoâs. âI scare them. Well, to be honest, I donât really like boys either.â
Souko didnât know why, but at these words her cheeks flushed and she felt a small warmth of hope bloom in her chest.)
Late in the evening, when Souko came home, the first thing she did was going out in the garden, just as twilight was starting to set.
The place was still barren. Back at their old home, they used to have a garden with a lot of colorful flowers â hibiscus, daisies, orchids, tulips, marigolds⌠Her motherâs flowers, that Souko loved to take care of; the first thing she would see upon waking up, a rainbow of delicate, shiny petals. In their new house, a lot of things were different, but Dad had made a point to get her a bedroom where she could see the garden too, just because he knew how much Souko had liked it before.
She finally wanted to start feeling at home here, too. So maybe she could start by planting some flowers. Dad would probably like that as well â heâd loved their flowers too.
One day â after sheâll finally be able to learn the forest girlâs name and become her friend, Souko will invite her to her home and introduce her father to her.
Show her her flower garden.
But in the meantime, the forest girl would stay her little secret â something that was hers and hers only.
* * *
One of Soukoâs new favorite things was when she was able to surprise the girl.
She always thought a lot about the types of games she could propose to her â even asked her uncle and dad to give her some new ideas. And every day, it felt like the girl was surprised to still find her here in the forest with a new challenge. Almost like she expected her to suddenly stop coming any time now.
How silly, Souko thought. Thereâs no way Iâll ever stop coming to see you, even if I wanted to.
But even so, sheâd never seen the girl as shocked as when she decided to show up one day with lunch boxes in her hands.
âWhatâs this?â She asked in a bewildered tone, her pale green eyes pinned on Souko like a catâs.
âLunch.â
âI can see that,â the girl snapped back sharply, but by now Souko was used to her curtness. She could be a little mean sometimes in her way of speaking, but Souko had come to learn it wasnât necessarily because she was annoyed. âI was asking why you brought this hereâ and why you brought two of these.â
Souko flushed a little, but still didnât let go of the girlâs eyes.
âWell, I⌠I was just thinking, that you often seems hungry when we meet, and also, how youâre very thin, and soâ I just thought that maybe you should just eat a little more. Thereâs meat in there, andâŚâ
The girl narrowed her eyes at her. âWho do you think you are? My mom?â
Souko blushed even further, and looked away. That did seems a little silly and pretentious to bring that girl a lunch out of the blue, when she put it into words like that. But she couldnât help it, andâ truthfully, Souko had started to get quite worried about her.
It was often that the girlâs belly would suddenly start gurgling in the middle of one their matches, and Souko had noticed how she seemed much lighter than a girl her age should be (absolutely not because Souko was staring her at a little too much, of course; that had nothing to do with this). Sheâd once asked her if she was eating enough â and then the girl had snorted, rolling her eyes. But she hadnât replied. So Souko thought, that she couldâŚ
But maybe it had been rude of her to do. Just as she was about to apologize though, the girl suddenly grabbed her lunch box and chopsticks, and Souko barely had the time to turns her head towards her that she saw her open the box and starts digging in.
âWhat?â The girl shot back, catching her staring. âYou did say it was for me, right?â
Souko smiled, and nodded enthusiastically. âY-Yes, of course!â
And so she quietly watched her eat away the whole meal with a smile she couldnât quite manage to hide. She didnât even left a single crumb â which on the one hand, Souko was happy about, but on the other it definitely had her more concerned, because that seemed to confirm the fact she truly didnât get enough to eat at her house.
Souko could never brings herself to ask, but she has the distinct feeling that things were⌠not great at home, for the girl.
To start with, it was strange for a teenager to hang out in a forest so far away like this. The girl always seemed to be all alone, too; and she was spending so much time here⌠it didnât seem like she had any other friends. Much like Souko. But much more worrisome was the fact that she was often hurt. Souko frequently caught glimpse of scratches, bandages, and bruises covering her body. Some of them might be because of her playing around in the woods â and Souko had absolutely seen her doing a lot of reckless things that would get her injured â butâŚ
Others must have been made by someone, Souko was pretty sure.
She tried to ask her a couple of times about her family, but the girl always brushed her asides and changed the topic when she did. Even Souko talked to her sometimes about her father and her uncle and her family, but the girl would never say anything back about herself. She clearly didnât want to talk about her life at home. So Souko respected that â even if she didnât like it.
She didnât want to jump to conclusion about things she couldnât possibly know either, but⌠she still worried.
âH-How was it?â Souko decided to ask, trying to stop thinking about such morose things.
âHm? Oh, good. It was really good.â
Souko beamed. âReally?â
âWhy would I lie about that?â
âHehe, thatâs true. Thank you! Iâm so glad you like it.â
The girl actually stared at her and lifted an eyebrow at her words. ââThank youâ?â
âAh⌠Iâm the one who made that.â
She had woken up earlier this morning specifically to prepare it, following her motherâs old recipe. Dad had been so surprised to see her in the kitchen â it had been the first time she cooked anything since she got sick. Until now, heâd been the one taking care of most of the cooking â or sometimes it was her aunt, when she was home.
Souko had forgotten how much fun cooking actually was.
She used to do it quite frequently back then, but then stopped after she got sick, just like most of her hobbies â and even now that she was recovering, she hadn't gone back to them. Even though now she could easily try them again without endangering her health. Gardening was the same, too. She wondered if sheâd have as much fun gardening, if she did it again now.
Itâd be nice if I could do those things with her, too, she had thought this morning while cutting off vegetables. The only things she did with the girl was playing games and talking, but she was sure theyâd have fun doing other type of activities together as well. I wonder if she loves cooking and gardeningâŚ
The idea made her so happy that she had decided to creates the prettiest lunch box for the girl â as colorful as her old flower garden used to be â putting shades of red and green and pink all over, carving orange carrots in little flowers, putting the yellow egg yolk in the form of a sunflower.
Each color so vivid and lovely, each of them suiting the forest girl.
The memories of this morning made Souko smile, and she was only brought back to the present moment thanks to a strong wind blowing through her short dark hair. She turned her head towards the girl, about to apologize for her absentmindedness, but then stopped.
To her surprise, the girl actually seemed really taken aback, eyes wide and mouth agape. Was she truly that shocked by the fact Souko could cook?
(Or was it because sheâd cooked for her, specifically?)
âO-Oh,â the girl stuttered â and for a bewildering, fascinating moment, Souko saw her cheeks reddens slightly.
Is she⌠blushing?
The moment disappeared as quickly as it appeared, and Souko almost thought sheâd made it up, a conjured illusion of her mind. But the scarlet on her otherwise white cheeks, and her embarrassed expression, was engraved inside Souko's heart, and she couldnât help the wide grin that then spreads on her lips.
Of course, scarlet was just as pretty as any other colors on the girlâs face.
She looked just like a flower herself, in all her silver and green and white and red.
Souko wished she was brave enough to kiss her just then.
Instead, she quietly promised to do everything in her power to see that expression on her face once again.
* * *
She couldnât even remember how she managed to get home, that evening.
Her head wouldnât stop pounding, so much that she was unable to think. Her body was so heavy that every step felt like torture. Her heart seemed like a dead weight inside her chest; a burden pulling her down and down.
She felt just like that day sheâd collapsed for the first time, two years ago; the day that marked the start of the end of her normal life. The only lucid thing she could register was her voice, echoing inside her skull again and again and again.
âReiko. My name is Reiko Natsume.â
âGo away.â
âYou look pale. Itâs starting to rain, so you should go home.â
âYou should go home.â
Souko knew she should never have gone home the moment she turned around. She knew she should have stayed; that she should have kept talking to her â her forest girl, her ghost of an acquaintance; the lovely, strange, colorful person she fell in love with.
But her voice had been so cold, when she told her to go away.
Her eyes were blank and sharp at the same time, so different from the way she usually looked at her, and Souko couldnât stand to see that.
And she just hadnât⌠she had never even expected that she could beâŚ
It made sense, if she really thought about it; what other teenage girl would spend all her time alone in the forest, but the rumored weird delinquent from the neighboring town?
But Souko had never thought of her like that until now; both seemed so unrelated in her mind, and she felt so shocked she hadnât been able to properly process it.
And now her duel partner had already vanished, like a mirage of the woods, like sheâd never existed at all.
Souko had taken her name, and then nothing of the girl was left.
Now she was all alone in the rain, and the blue of the sky had faded away, replaced with nothing but a foggy, looming gray.
Soukoâs steps vacillated, and her head still hammering, she fell on the ground.
Sheâd finally won, after training for so long â she finally knew her name â and yet she still wasnât⌠still couldnât be her friend.
She needed to go back, she needed to apologize, she needed to talk to herâ
But the sound of the rain and the coldness of Reiko Natsumeâs voice were the only thing she could hear before her consciousness slipped away.
* * *
The following days were spent in a blur.
Souko barely even registered her fatherâs voice or her uncleâs hands or the doctorâs visits. She felt like she was in another dimension, far away from this house, this town, this country.
She felt like she was still stuck in that forest, alone with Reiko, the rest of the world non-existent.
In her dreams, Reiko was here, by her side; pretty in all colors of the rainbow, and she smiled, and laughed, and talked. They played games together, they cooked, they gardened.
In her dreams, Souko apologized. She told her she hadnât meant to leave, she told her she didnât care about the rumors about her. She told her that to Souko, she wasnât a violent scary girl, but a fun, and beautiful, and kind person.
She told her she loved her.
In her dreams, Souko was brave enough to finally kiss her.
But then she opened her eyes, and she was all alone in her bed, and there was only the blue of the sky from her bedroomâs window.
One night, she had a different dream, though.
She felt like she heard someone crying, and then Reiko was there, blue petals falling over her hair and uniform.
As she woke up, Souko couldnât remember what the dream had been about.
* * *
It took her three whole days before she was able to stand again.
Dad and Uncle were relieved, but Souko couldnât share any of their enthusiasm. She still felt sick, but insisted nevertheless to go back to school. She couldnât really bring herself to talk to anyone there though, even as her classmates fussed about her health; her mind focused on only one single person â and as soon as the day ended, she ran towards the forest, towards their usual rendez-vous spot.
(She knew she shouldnât run, she was still coughing, she still felt so weak â but she couldnât help it.
She had to see Reiko again, as quickly as possible.)
âReiko?â She exclaimed upon arriving, but there was no one else.
There's no one yet, Souko reminded herself, trying to stay positive. Iâm still early. She could come later.
âReiko!â
She repeated her name for a while â and couldnât help but think that if only the circumstances were different, she would feel so proud over it.
To have finally been able to learn her name, to be able to call it out like that.
But that didnât matter much if no one was there to respond to it. To call Souko back.
I donât even know how itâs written, she thought.
She tried to think of all the combinations of characters to write âReikoâ that could fit her the most, but just like with colors, she couldnât decide upon a single one. All of them could suit her.
She would have to ask her about it, next time she saw her.
At least she felt pretty certain on how to spell âNatsume.â
All-seeing eyes of the summer, the season of ghosts and spirits.
Souko sat at their usual place.
She waited.
She kept staring left and right, attentive to every sound; trying to catch the slightest glimpse of a silver thread.
But by the time dusk came, there was still no one.
She was still all alone.
* * *
Souko stopped talking to her classmates.
A few days after her last encounter with Reiko, sheâd asked the girl from her class whoâd first told her about the violent high schooler from next town if she knew anything else â but sheâd ended up getting into an argument with her. Her classmates had always been very nice up until now, but as soon as she started asking about Reiko Natsume, they completely changed tune and started spewing all those terrible things about her â that she was a violent delinquent, that she was crazy, that she hurt people.
Souko couldnât help but defend her. Her classmates had never even met Reiko â what did they know about her? But everyone refused to listen to her. They almost all had a specific creepy or terrible anecdote about Reiko Natsume; she hit my cousin, she talked to trees, she burned down a shop â I tell you, that Natsume girl is bad news! Câmon, Morinaga, why do you even want to associate with someone like that? â and so Souko stopped talking to them.
She didnât mind. She had no intention to keep hanging around such judgmental people who spoke badly of someone purely because of some rumors theyâd heard.
She herself felt so ashamed, to have simply believed those hearsay and repeated them thoughtlessly. She had believed she was doing the right thing by warning Reiko about a potentially dangerous person, because she cared about her and didnât want anything to happen to her â but she couldnât even imagine how Reiko must have felt hearing this. How badly Souko must have hurt her. And then, when sheâd learned her name, Souko had just run awayâŚ
She wouldnât be surprised if Reiko never wanted to see her again.
But even so, she couldnât just leave things like that. She had to apologize, at least â she had to tell her that she⌠she didnât think any of that, about her.
So she tried to ask around about Reiko, tried to find out if anyone knew where she could live, what school she went to â but whenever she did, she only received vague, uncertain answers. Reiko Natsume was a weird orphan who kept being passed around among families like an unwanted stray, so it was hard to keep track of where she was.
Nobody wanted her, and nobody tried to know anything about her.
She's just a poor crazy girl, was the kindest thing one could hear on her behalf.
The more Souko learned about Reiko Natsume, the less it made sense.
This weird, insane, violent girl was nothing at all like the girl sheâd gotten to know. Her Reiko could be a little cold, and a little too blunt, but she was nice, and fun, and amazing. It was like two entirely different people sharing the same name. Souko couldnât even begin to comprehend how anyone would say such awful things about her.
In the end, she wasnât able to find anything more about her, and so she had no other choice but to go back to the forest, and wait. Which she did, day after day, even against her familyâs protests, even when it rained, even when her health kept deteriorating.
She continued waiting alone.
But sometimes, just sometimes, she felt like she could feel another presence.
Like a ghost sitting by her side, waiting with her, sharing in her lost love and her sadness.
Souko thought back to the legends sheâd heard about the forest from her classmates; the strange things Reiko would do sometimes â the stares behind her shoulder, dragging her away forcefully just because a branch had snapped, the way sheâd gotten startled during their last match, as if she had been distracted by somethingâŚ
Maybe Souko wasnât so alone, after all.
Maybe there truly was someone else by her side, someone she couldnât see.
Maybe if Reiko had seemed so radiant and vibrant, that was because she actually was able to see another world: a world full of new colors, invisible to others.
Souko found comfort at the idea; that she truly had a companion to share her feelings â her pain â with, even if only a little.
* * *
It was during a day with a completely clear blue sky when she had that dream again.
Souko had stopped being able to go to school a while ago, and thus at the same time she stopped being able to go to the forest as well â the first one she didnât care about anymore, but the second was more troubling.
She didnât really think Reiko would come back by now â but she still kept coming there, just in case, like a last prayer.
She wondered if her companion she couldnât see would feel lonely now that she wouldnât be there anymore. She wondered if they would miss her.
Where could Reiko be now? Was she still sleeping in a forest, talking to creatures only she could sees?
Was she still all alone?
Souko wished wherever she was, it was far, far away from all those people who spoke and treated her so badly. She wished she was able to find a friend, someone who would love her for the person she truly was and would stand by her side no matter what â even if that person couldnât be Souko.
Her father was in the living room now, sleeping. He had spent the whole night crying, no matter how much Souko had tried to comfort him.
She wished she could find the right words for him â tell him that she was fine, that her life had still been full of wonders and happiness despite all the suffering, that heâd been a wonderful father â but they both knew there was nothing she could do that would soothe his pain. She wished she could apologize to him, for leaving him all alone just like Mom did, but she didnât even have the energy to do so anymore. The rest of the family â her uncle and aunt and grandmother â should arrive tonight, and Souko hoped theyâll be able to do a better job than her at comforting him.
She looked up from her bed, at the window in front of her.
The large sky spread wide before her, and it was so deep and blue, and Souko wondered if this was how it looked the day she was born â the day her parents decided to name her after the saddest of all colors.
Although Souko had stopped finding blue as sad as she used to. Now when she thought of blue, she thought of the way Reiko used to say her name so gently, of the blue candy in her palm, of the blue flowers she saw in a dream that she couldnât remember.
The blue of Souko.
From here, she could also see the barren garden â in the end, she hadnât been able to plant anything there. She closed her eyes, slowly, and tried to picture the colorful flowers she wouldâve liked to put there, the ones she wished she couldâve shown to Reiko.
As her mind drifted away, she heard someone crying.
A gentle voice, from a gentle presence.
Souko smiled, because she knew that presence; it was the same person â the same creature â that had kept her company all this time, while she was waiting for a girl she loved that would never come.
Like with her father, she wished she could comfort them, but nothing came to her mind.
However, as she kept straying farther and farther away from reality, a sight suddenly opened up to her eyes.
Sheâs in a meadow.
A flower field with blue, blue, blue petals everywhere â fluttering, dancing, as far as the eye can see.
And here, in the middle of the blue flowers, all alone, is her forest girl.
Tears wells up in Soukoâs eyes, but she smiles, big and wide â and do the one thing she wishes she couldâve done months ago: she calls out her name.
âReiko.â
The girl she loves turns around, and as her green eyes melt upon recognition, she has the most beautiful and genuine smile Souko has ever seen.
All the colors of the sky, of the forest and of the meadow gets reflected in her long silver hair, and blue has never looked so joyful.
* * *
Note: The first time I read those chapters, I didnât even realize that Soranome implied Souko died at the end until someone pointed it out, and I canât stop thinking about how terribly sad it is. I suppose one could argue maybe Souko just moved at the end and thatâs why she stopped coming, but it doesnât seem likely with the way Soranome phrased it. At least with Reiko, thereâs a chance she was loved and happy for a while with the grandfather and then with her daughter afterwards, even if she still ended up losing them at the end. But Souko never got that chance. I only take comfort with the idea she had a loving family who took care of her. (And yes, if anyoneâs wondering, I decided she was raised by a single father as a parallel to Tanuma.) But itâs also terrible there seems to be some implications that if Reiko had stayed then Souko wouldnât have died, given it seemed to be the youkai of the forest that amplified her illness (much like how Tanuma has gotten healthier since meeting Natsume).
I went back and forth about the idea of Souko cutting ties with her classmates in the aftermath of her losing Reiko, because that also felt a little mean to her, but I honestly think she wouldnât have tolerated anyone speaking badly of Reiko and would feel guilty for listening to the rumors.
I want to try writing something else less sad about them, but truthfully I really love the tragedy of their story haha. Still, maybe Iâll give them a silly little happy ending one day.
#Natsume Yuujinchou#Natsume's Book of Friends#Natsume Reiko#Morinaga Souko#Natsume's Grandmas#Soranome#NatsuYuu#Natsume#Reiko Natsume#Souko Morinaga#ReiSou#ReiSouko#Connan's Fanfics#Fanfiction#Soranome (Natsume's Book of Friends)#Connan's Posts#Soranome NatsuYuu#SouReiko#Soranome Natsume Yuujinchou#NatsuYuu Fanfic#Souko#Reiko#Reiko x Souko#Natsuchou#Souko x Reiko
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dreaming in shades of blue
#natsume yuujinchou#natsuyuu#morinaga souko#natsume reiko#natsumeâs book of friends#every day i remember that reiko dreamed of souko visiting her in the flower field and i start Sobbing#my brain chemistry has been permanently altered i see blue flowers and want to lie face down on the floor#ghost draws
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I wish you could see it, too.
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I couldnât tell Souko that Reiko had waited for her...
Femslash Februaryathon - Souko/Reiko (Natsumeâs Book of Friends) for anon
#natsume reiko#morinaga souko#natsume's book of friends#nyedit#femslash february#femslash february 2021#*
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Last Femslash February 2021 Day 28: Hands
From those prompts!
#Natsume's Book of Friends#Natsume Yuujinchou#Reiko Natsume#Souko Morinaga#Femslash February#Femslash February 2021#Natsume Reiko#Femslash Feb 2021#Natsume's Grandmas#Morinaga Souko#ReiSouko#SouReiko#NatsuYuu#Natsuchou#ĺ¤çŽĺ人帳#Art#Fanart#Natsume#Natsume's Book of Friends Fanart#Souko#Reiko x Souko#Souko x Reiko#Natsume Fanart#NatsumesBookofFriends#ĺ¤çŽăŹă¤ăł#ăŹă¤čź#ĺŽć°¸čźĺ#Natsume Yujincho#Femslash#čźăŹă¤
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if i win, you have to tell me your name.
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26th of Inktober! Prompt: stretch
Itâs time to wake up.. <3
(chapter 88 and 89 made me very happy and then very sad)
#inktober#natsume yuujinchou#natsume reiko#morinaga souko#natsume's grandmas#I accept that ship name#inktober2018#fanart#danikunst#1#I wonder what I should do about being behind on things#things meaning inktober ofc#gonna try to do two today but probably not gonna happen#mainly because I don't know what to do for kakashi - thunder#I'm not in the mood for an action drawing#not good at that stuff anyway#also: i've done it before and so have a lot of other people#Day 26#drawtober
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The flowers are really beautiful, sensei. *Inspired by latest chapter (thanks for the feels midorikawa)
#natsume yuujinchou#nyanko sensei#natsume#blue flowers#flower field#latest chapter had me crying#all chapters of this manga have me sobbing#the feels#morinaga souko#yuki midorikawa
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blue character bracket and miss morinaga souko wins by default!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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pov you mention reiko and souko within a 2 mile radius of me and i immediately start sobbing
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If I win, you have to tell me your name.
#natsume yuujinchou#natsume's book of friends#natsume yĹŤjin-chĹ#Natsume Reiko#morinaga souko#ĺ¤çŽĺ人帳
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[Reiko/Souko] Plea
Word count: 528
Summary: Sheâs here for her, when other people are not.
Note: AO3 link. Written as a treat for Chocolate Box 2019!
One-shot: Plea
She knows it won't last. She was prepared for it, and judging by her distant eyes and sad smile, Reiko knows it, too. They are from different towns. People fear Reiko. There is nothing keeping them together. Souko will eventually move someplace else, like always. She knows it, but she can't stop thinking that this is the right course of action to take, because wrapping her arms around Reiko's shoulders and feeling her heartbeat against hers is everything she ever wanted. There is nothing standing between them; it's just the two of them, alone against the world if it has to be, and Souko will not let go. She wants to squeeze the sadness out of Reiko, kiss every one of her bruises, absorb her loneliness, and share a bit of her warmth, just enough to let Reiko know she's here.
She's here for her, when other people are not.
âYou're going to get into trouble,â Reiko whispers, but the smile on her lips is wide, mischievous.
âI don't really mind,â Souko replies. She intertwines her fingers with Reiko's, gently. âNobody will know about it. And even if they do, I'm not close to anyone for them to care.â
She sees the frown on Reiko's face as soon as the words leave her mouth, so she's quick to dissipate her worries.
âAnd we'll be moving soon, once I'm better, so the gossips here won't follow me.â
âI guess so...â
Reiko ever so slightly leans against her, an unexpected and surprising contact. Souko stays still, but her stance relaxes as she lets herself looking for Reiko's warmth.
âIt's not that hard letting people live their lives,â Reiko mutters. âThey're so annoying.â
âI wish you didn't have to go through this. You don't deserve it.â
Souko's words are like a prayer, soft and kind, and Reiko must have picked up on that because she looks up, her eyes filled with more gratitude than Souko has ever seen in someone. These clear eyes are sharp and seem able to lay bare any emotions she's feeling, but there is also a quality to it that never takes away the fighting spirit it shelters. Souko loves it.
âThat's how it is.â Reiko shrugs. âDon't waste your energy on these fools. I'm fine.â
You're not, she wants to say. You need to get help, she pleads. But none of these sentences come out, because Reiko will not allow herself to appear vulnerable, not in front of Souko, not in front of anyone. She's so strong it makes her weak. It's not fair to herâthe time Souko has known her is far shorter than of those who live in the same town as Reiko, but she can see Reiko is not who she wants people to believe her to be.
Souko's heart aches for her, but she can't do anythingâonly be here, right now, even if time is running away from them. She swallows a sob, and slowly presses a kiss to Reiko's lips as she closes her eyes. She wants to stay here forever, hands linked with the person most precious to her.
Reiko smiles against her lips, and makes her forget.
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