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necle · 2 years ago

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title: Where Camellias Fall and Grow characters: Natsume Takashi, Tanuma Kaname, Taki Tooru, Nyanko-sensei wordcount: 6.3K ao3 link: Here summary: Natsume, Tanuma, and Taki travel to field deep within a forest to pick some wild camellia flowers. They then encounter a camellia spirit while there.

A bit late but Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, @nin-deer ! I’m your secret santa in the @natsume-ss gift exchange. The prompts were platonic friendship and found family, which I hope I was able to convey in this fic. Hope you enjoy.

It was a cold, winter day. The three of them were all bundled up in coats and boots as they stood in the middle of a clearing. There were many bushes scattered throughout the field, each with bright red flowers in bloom that were caked in snow. The three of them each had a straw basket beside them that had a small layer of leaves and flowers from what they had plucked from the bushes.

“Thank you for helping me out.” Natsume thanked the two of them as he placed the flower in his basket. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, but the money I had saved up for Christmas had to be used for emergency funds. And I couldn’t bring anyone else with me here.”

“Not to worry.” Tanuma assured him, “You had given me an excuse to leave the house. It is so tempting to stay in and snooze the season away. I wouldn’t normally be able to see a pretty sight such as this in the middle of winter.”

“Same. I would have been cramped up inside reading too many books. It’s so beautiful to see so many camellias blooming in the snow.” Taki agreed, “How did you even find this place? I don’t think I’ve seen so many of them together other than the public gardens, let alone wild ones.”

“A youkai friend told me about this spot. She said they’ve been blooming here for centuries in the winter almost undisturbed.” Natsume explained to her, “Because of that, sometimes it can be a breeding ground for old spirits, so it is best for this area to be pruned from time to time. Though she says it is too much of a hassle and nobody cares about it to do it often enough…”

“The field needs to be pruned because of old spirits? Does this mean this place is not safe?” Tanuma asked Natsume.

“It should be, or so she had said.” Natsume answered, though his voice lacked confidence as he now realized the potential danger this situation could bring. He should check with Natori later if this place is within radar for exorcists. “In any case, we won’t stick to this place for long. And I’ll make sure Nyanko-sensei does his job if we run into trouble.”

“What? My job is to only protect your wimpy butt. Don’t go bringing along other people into this deal.” Nyanko-sensei abruptly got up from his napping spot.

“Come on, Sensei. Don’t be lazy.” Natsume chided him. “You have fur and you’re napping. Tanuma and Taki don’t and they’re helping out.”

“Pff. Not my problem.” Nyanko-sensei blew off Natsume before he plopped right back down, curling into his napping spot without a care.

“You lazy cat.”

“It’s alright, Natsume-kun. Sensei helps out when it counts.” Taki said in defense of the cat, “And I don’t think we’ll run into trouble.” Tanuma nodded in agreement.

“Let me know if you guys don’t feel safe or are feeling unwell. Especially you, Tanuma.”

“Sure, I’ll let you know.” Tanuma assured him, “Still. I’m not surprised this place is so undisturbed. It’s so high up in the mountains. Even if you hiked here, you would really have to know your way unless you had someone like Ponta to fly them over.” Tanuma observed.

“It was incredible. I’ve been on an airplane once, but it was nowhere nearly as cool as riding on Nyanko-sensei. Not to mention soft or fluffy.” Taki blissfully reminced. “You hadn’t told me you had rode on him before, Tanuma-kun. You are so lucky!”

“That…” Tanuma remembered the incident at the Omibashira mansion, “I was too exhausted to enjoy the ride at the time…”

“That is a shame. Please take me flying once in a while.” Taki requested, looking at the cat expectantly.

“If it means I can get you off my back, I’ll gladly do it.” Nyanko-sensei replied.

“I think you need to let her ride on your back for her to do that.” Tanuma pointed out, smiling wryly.

“A couple rides on my back will save me the future times of her clutching my back and my entire body.”

“Aww. I don’t want to stop that either.” she confessed before she scooped up the cat.

“This isn’t the time, you fool. Let me go!” Nyanko complained as he struggled to get out of the girl’s grasp.

Natsume and Tanuma chuckled at the cat’s predicament.

They eventually resumed plucking the leaves and flowers from the bushes. The plan was to pluck evenly across the bushes. They had collected quite a lot, though the bushes still remained relatively full.

After some time, they heard a voice call out. “Hey, look at this.”

Tanuma and Natsume looked around and noticed Taki was no longer nearby. They then refocused their attention from where the sound came from within the forest.

“Over here.” Taki called out again, as if to confirm their thoughts.

They both headed towards the source of the sound and the trail of footsteps in the snow. They quickly caught sight of Taki and headed towards where she stood. There was a wide, tall tree that was full of striking red camellias in bloom. The tree was more than ten feet tall and stood out amongst the evergreen trees that carried no flowers of its own.

Natsume checked on the other two and noticed the still gaze Tanuma had towards the tree. “Tanuma?”

“Oh?” Tanuma snapped out of his stupor, realizing Natsume had called out to him.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah, I’m alright. I was just taken aback from how large this tree is. I never knew it could grow as a tree that is this tall. It feels like a presence looming over me.”

“...Yeah, that is true. I mostly see camellias in bushes or much smaller trees.” Natsume agreed, “What led you here, Taki?”

“I no longer saw Nyanko-sensei around so I decided to look for him.” Taki explained to them, “Though I saw this beautiful tree and got distracted.”

“Yeah. I don’t blame you.” said Tanuma.

“Maybe we could grab a couple of these flowers and leaves from here?” Taki suggested.

“Sure.”

The trunk and branches didn’t look strong enough to support their weight, and no one wanted to risk trying to climb it and damage the tree. Instead, they decided to grab a few flowers and leaves from the lower branches.

After their arms were full, they walked back to the place they came from.

“That was a good spot you found.” Natsume complimented her, adjusting his hold to secure his collection of loose leaves.

“Thanks. Though should we be leaving Nyanko-sensei behind?” Taki wondered.

“Ehh. He’ll be fine. Probably napping on a branch somewhere.”

“He might be trying to hide from you, Taki-san.” Tanuma teased lightly.

“Aww. That’s not fair.” Taki pouted, sulking a little. “You wanted to get the camellias for the Fujiwaras, right?”

“Yes. Touko-san mentioned how she enjoyed it as a mochi filling and the tea you can make from it. And that she had not made it in a long time. And Shigeru-san said he liked to eat the petals fried with sugar.” explained Natsume.

“Wow. That sounds like it would be an interesting flavor. I’ve never tried it before,” said Tanuma.

“Me either.” Taki seconded, “Tell me how it tastes and if she could share the recipe.”

“Sure. She will probably tell me to invite you guys over to try some.”

“I look forward to it.”

They soon reached the clearing, baskets still in their same place as they left them. However, as they approached their original haul, it had looked a bit different.

“Hey, does something look a little off here?” Taki noticed.

“Yeah. I swear, we had a bit more than this.” Tanuma agreed.

“I think so too. But the baskets don’t look like they were knocked over and I don’t see anything has spilled out.” Natsume observed, noting the undisturbed surroundings. “Maybe we thought we had more than we did? Or maybe an animal took some?”

“Do animals eat camellias?” wondered Taki.

Natsume looked unsure and Tanuma shrugged.

“I guess we should go collect some more.” Tanuma suggested.

The three of them dumped their newly acquired collection into their baskets before they resumed plucking the leaves and flowers from the nearby shrubs.

As they refilled more of their baskets, Taki spoke up. “Nyanko-sensei has been gone for a while now, hasn’t he.”

“We made back the progress we lost now, at least. We could probably look for him.” Tanuma suggested.

“You guys stay here. I’ll go get him.” Natsume volunteered as he got up, “Could you keep a watch of my stuff?”

“Sure.” Taki assured him before she and Tanuma resumed plucking the flowers and leaves.

Natsume entered back into the forest, calling out to his feline companion.

“Nyanko-sensei! Where are you?”

Natsume was met with no response in return. Rustlings of the wind filled in the silence.

The tail end of his scarf fluttered in the passing breeze. Natsume readjusted it so it blocked the fresh cold air from his face. He was lucky that it wasn’t snowing or else that cat would have blended seamlessly in with the snow. As he circled around the clearing within the forest, he found himself back in front of the large, camellia tree.

Natsume stopped and looked back up. It really was a huge tree. Like the field, he was surprised the flowers didn’t look at all dampened by the snow. It was enchanting to see such an ornamented tree in an otherwise ordinary area. As he absorbed the sight before him, Natsume found himself slowly reaching for a flower.

“Excuse me.”

Natsume jolted in surprise, pulling his hands back. He turned to see a woman standing nearby the tree. She had long, jet black hair, and was wearing a black and red kimono with a large flower pattern near the ends of it.

How did I miss her before? With such a conspicuous outfit, Natsume was surprised he didn’t notice her standing there before. “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there.” Natsume apologized, still stunned to find another person here.

“No. It is alright.” she said. “May I ask what are you doing here?”

“I-” Natsume was caught off guard by the sudden question, before he responded. “I’m just visiting here to see the camellia flowers.”

“Really? You came all this way here to see the flowers? This area isn’t easy to reach.” she pointed out.

“Yes, it was not.” Natsume responded.

“Did you come here by yourself?”

Natsume thought his words carefully. There was something definitely off here. She could be someone living up here in the mountains. But even with her traditional clothes, the material of her kimono looked very light on a cold day like this. And neither him nor Nyanko-sensei saw any houses or cabins nearby on their arrival to this place.

Speaking of, Nyanko-sensei was nowhere to be seen. He didn’t want to take any risks with Tanuma and Taki around.

“Yes, it’s just me.” Natsume answered curtly before he turned away, “I should head back.” He started to walk away.

“You’re here to pick the camellias, are you not?”

Natsume stopped in his place before he turned back towards her. The woman stayed still in her spot, an eerie smile on her face.

“I don’t mean to stop you. I had seen you come by earlier.” the woman explained as Natsume stayed silent, “You should collect some of the flowers and leaves from this tree too. They’re beautiful, but they are going to go to waste before the season ends. So if you are plucking them, you should help yourself to the ones on this tree too.”

Natsume considered his options. “Did you… see a cat by chance?”

The lady stood there with a confused look before she slightly tilted her head to the side, “I did see an orange and white cat. He appears to be sleeping on one of the upper branches of this tree.

“Sleeping?” Natsume questioned. It’s not that he couldn’t see that being the case, but Nyanko-sensei should have heard him by now. Then again, Sensei can be a heavy sleeper when he wants to be. Natsume looked up at the tree. The branches looked sturdy enough to support a cat, even one like Nyanko-sensei. But with the leaves and snow obstructing his view, he could not tell from this distance if he was there.

“You won’t be able to see from there.” the woman spoke up, as if reading his thoughts, “Why don’t you step closer?”

Natsume looked back at the woman again. Natsume would have not been surprised if the lady was an ayakashi, given her odd mannerisms. Still, Natsume sensed no ill presence from her. If Nyanko-sensei were to be napping, he would likely be there in this tree.

Hesitatingly, Natsume stepped closer to the tree. He squinted, searching through the branches for any sign of his cat.

Natsume could hear a faint buzzing by his ear.

“What?” Natsume yelped and jumped back. The bee hovered in place, buzzing loudly, before landing on Natsume’s hand. He then felt a sharp pain in his finger as the bug stung his hand.

“Ouch!” Natsume winced before he flicked his wrist, sending the bee tumbling. Natsume nursed his sore finger, noticing there was no needle attached to him. The bee reoriented itself back upright and facing Natsume once more. It then darted straight towards him.

Natsume bolted immediately, running as fast as he could from the bee. Despite the distance traveled, the bee pursued, ignoring the lady entirely.

Natsume soon found himself back at the clearing, with Taki and Tanuma still plucking away.

“Natsume, did you find where-Natsume?”

“Taki! Tanuma! I’m being chased by a bee.”

“A bee?” Taki asked as both she and Tanuma got up.

Natsume decided to run around the edge of the clearing, staying away from his friends so they wouldn’t get chased too. Natsume could only hope he could outrun or out-tire it, but that didn’t look to happen any time soon.

“Watch out, Natsume!”

With a glimpse of reflected glass, Natsume stopped and ducked. He heard something sweep over him before some muffled buzzing. After he felt no new pain from the bee despite his stationary position, Natsume looked up to see Tanuma holding a jar with the bee inside.

Natsume sighed in relief. “Thank you, Tanuma.”

“Glad I got it on the first try. Thank Taki for the spare jar.”

“It was the jar that we had the konpeito from before. Glad we have another use for it too.”

The three of them watched the bug buzzing against the glass. It was ramming itself into the wall repeatedly, though the bee’s behavior is not what made this situation peculiar.

“Does this bee look a little odd to you?”

“Yeah, it does. Its body isn’t black and yellow. It almost looks orange and white in this lighting.”

The bug stopped ramming its head into the glass, then landed on the bottom of the jar on top of a remaining candy piece.

“I’m glad you finally figured it out.” a raspy, high pitch voice sounded in a familiar tone.

“What? It can talk.” Taki exclaimed.

“Don’t tell me… Sensei, is that you?”

“Sensei?!”

“Yes, you fool. Of course it’s me. Who else could be?”

“Ponta got turned into a bee?”

“Well, if you spoke up earlier and didn’t sting and chase me the entire time, maybe I would have noticed sooner.”

“You weren’t paying attention and almost walked into that lady’s trap. I had to stop you somehow.”

“Lady? Trap?”

“So she was an ayakashi.” Natsume concluded.

“Natsume-kun, what’s going on?”

Natsume sighed, realizing all that was being told was pieces of the story. “Let me start from the beginning. I was searching for Nyanko-sensei and eventually found myself back to that camellia tree we saw before. A lady was there in her red and black kimono that I am now sure she is as an ayakashi. She said she knew where Nyanko-sensei was and to look up the tree. Next thing I knew, Nyanko-sensei bit me while he was like this and chased me back to here.”

“Serves you right. You weren’t listening to a word I was saying! It’s like how you punch me sometimes to knock some sense into me.” Nyanko-sensei justified himself.

“That is not comparable.”

“Anyways, Sensei. How did you end up like this?” Tanuma interjected, hoping to stop their little squabble.

“Well, I was looking for a prime spot to nap in the trees and thought that tree would provide good sunlight. I saw the same lady you saw too, though unlike this dummy here, I knew instantly she was an ayakashi. She then mentioned the tree had some good fermented sake inside, so I went closer to take a peak and then turned into this.”

“Really? You fell for that so easily because of alcohol? You’re hopeless.” Natsume sighed, exasperated.

“Shut up. You aren’t paying me for this job so I had to find a way to wile away the time.” Nyanko-sensei argued back.

“Sensei. I want to let you know. I still love you, even if you are a bee.” Taki cheered him supportingly.

“Huh? I don’t know what nonsense you are blabbering about.” said Nyanko-sensei, befuddled by the girl’s statement, “Though I will say your tastes are impeccable as always, young lady.”

“Guess the camelia sake around here after all.” Tanuma gave a light-hearted jab.

“C’mon, Tanuma-kun. Just look at bee Nyanko-sensei. He is so small. Isn’t he adorable?”

The three of them looked back to the bee, who sat on the konpeito candy like a rocking chair. He intermittently licked the candy like a lollipop.

“Regardless,” Natsume spoke up, not wanting to entertain this tangent further, “Do you remember anything else about the youkai? Like the type she is?”

“Not a clue.” Nyanko-sensei replied nonchalantly, too busy licking his feast.

“I vaguely remember reading some legends about a lady with long black hair being seen by the camellia trees. A man had turned into a bee after he had been beckoned to come closer. Which I guess fits what happened to Nyanko-sensei.” explained Taki.

“Well, that seems to check out. In more than one way.” Natsume noted before checking back to the said victim. Nyanko-sensei bristled back at him. “Do you remember anything else?”

Taki shook her head. “Sorry, I do not.”

“That’s ok. At least we know for sure we are dealing with some kind of known ayakashi.” said Tanuma in support.

“What should we do, Sensei? It’s not safe here and I would rather send at least Tanuma and Taki home. But it will be difficult to go back with you like this.”

“Yeah, I don’t think we would be able to trek down the mountain safely, even if we wanted to.” Tanuma agreed.

“That is true. I don’t know what spell the lady put on me, or if it will wear off.” Nyanko-sensei replied, “It can’t be helped. As much as I don’t want to, we will have to go back and get her to reverse it.”

“You think so? Will she undo it just like that?”

The bee nodded. “We have to. I’m still mad she turned me into this and will fully make her turn me back.”

“I know Sensei is strong but I don’t know how a bee will fare well against another full-sized ayakashi.”

“Don’t underestimate my strength, human.” Nyanko-sensei argued proudly, puffing up his chest. “Still, I don’t sense any bad aura coming from her. Moreover, if she saw you picking the camellias earlier, she would have caught you in your lie that you were alone. But she didn’t point it out.”

“I see.” Natsume understood his point, “We’ll go. Taki and Tanuma, you stay here.”

“Wait, Natsume-kun. Let us come with you.”

“Yeah.” Tanuma agreed, “Sensei is like this, so if something happens to you, we wouldn’t know. And maybe we will be able to help somehow.”

“Thank you, I appreciate the thought. Still, I don’t know how dangerous she could be. Especially with Sensei in this state.”

“I said don’t underestimate me! Though they should still come,” said Nyanko-sensei, “Hinoe mentioned those other legends about the camellias here, right? If that camellia lady is here, I don’t see this field being any more safer.”

“I see. Our baskets did get emptied at some point.” Natsume considered.

“Thank you, Nyanko-sensei.” Taki said gratefully.

“Just stay close to me, both of you. And if there is trouble, just run as far as you can.” Natsume instructed. The two of them nodded.

“In any case, get me out of this jar!”

Taki unscrewed the jar lid and they all went back into the forest. Nyanko-sensei fluttered beside Natsume, while Tanuma and Taki trailed behind him. It didn’t take too long for them to arrive back to the spot.

“Is that her…?” Taki pointed to the one ahead of them.

As expected, the lady was still standing there, a smile ever present.

“Yes. It is her.” Natsume confirmed, before he noticed, “Wait, you can see her?”

“So can I.” Tanuma seconded. “Oddly enough, my head feels a lot less heavy than the last time we came here.”

They turned back to her. She may be a more powerful youkai enough to conceal her aura, at least.

“Still, stay behind me. Just in case.” Natsume reminded them.

They all walked to the tree, though the lady did not make any new movements. She simply said, “You have returned.”

“You’re an ayakashi, aren’t you?” Natsume questioned her.

She nodded. Taki and Tanuma looked at each other.

“Were you the one who did this to Nyanko-sensei?” Natsume gestured at the bee.

“I am sorry to have deceived you, child of man.” she said apologetically, “But this was the only way I thought I could talk to you.”

“Who cares what your reason is? Just hurry up and turn me back to normal!” Nyanko interjected, buzzing about.

“She turned you into a bee to get a request out of us. I don’t think she will return you back just because you asked.”

“You have my word. I will return you back to normal. But I would like you to fulfill a request of mine.”

“What is that you want?” Natsume asked.

The spirit sat down by the tree and after a moment of hesitation, everyone else did the same.

“The flower field you were all picking from is very old. People had planted camellia flowers here to mourn for the fallen samurai that had died.” she explained, “But camellias don’t bring pleasant memories for the mourners. Even though the whole flower falls rather than just the petals, it reminds them of a person’s head that had been chopped off. Those fears and ill feelings had lingered in these flowers for a very long time, though most of them have been dispelled at this point. But I have lived for so long. Those are the only memories and meaning I feel for these flowers, despite being one myself. This area is so remote, so no other normal humans visits here after all.”

“Normal humans?” Tanuma asked.

“A couple of exorcists have found this spot.” she elaborated. Natsume remained still.

“Creating objects from wood of certain trees like camellia trees may imbue it with a spirit.” Nyanko-sensei hazarded a guess, “I’m assuming that is what is happening here?”

The spirit nodded. “Indeed. Specifically, if you create a mortar and pestle out of this wood and perform its corresponding incantation, a dark energy forms within me and is then sent to the tool in question. From what I’ve seen, the tool is meant to be given a gift, which then the dark energy manifests into a spirit and attacks the recipient.”

“That is horrible…” Taki commented quietly, a sad expression on her face.

The spirit’s smile turned weary. She gazed at the tree with distant eyes. “I feel it each time it’s invoked. Over these past decades, I’ve become more drained and sick because of it. I’m so exhausted and tired. All I could see is despair and curses with my existence.”

Natsume felt something ache in his heart. The spirit then faced the ones in front of her.

“When you all first came, I had suspected you all as well. You all communicated with that vesselled beast, after all. But when I figured out you were not exorcists and watched you spend time in these fields happily, with such honest expressions, genuinely enjoying this cursed plant, even to use as a real gift and food as nourishment for a loved one, I…”

The lady looked down, her eyes lit with something new. “I was touched.”

She looked back at the four of them. “My plan initially was to have you burn this tree and possibly this field too. But after some reconsideration, I humbly request from you to do something else.” She then bowed.

“What is that?” Natsume asked.

She lifted her head and looked at Nyanko-sensei. “First, I ask your companion to use their purifying light on this tree.”

“Why? Won’t you die from it?” Nyanko-sensei piped up.

“Rest assured. Your light isn’t strong enough to eliminate me. But it will be enough to affect its structural properties where it cannot be used to imbue it my spirit like before.”

“You're an impudent one, aren’t you? Well, this isn’t as troublesome as Natsume’s typical side quests.”

“Is that all you really need?” Natsume asked, ignoring Nyanko-sensei’s comment.

“Yes. That is all.”

Natsume thought over what the camellia spirit had asked. There seemed nothing wrong with her request. In truth, a part of him even felt sorry for her too. But he had to ensure this would be actually safe and that he wasn’t being swayed into a trap. Taki and Tanuma watched Natsume with concerned expressions, though they chose to say nothing.

“Is this truly safe? For both my friends here and you.” Natsume asked.

“Yes. I’m sure you already have had experience with your youkai companion’s powers with your friends. But if you are worried about me, I will not harm you or your friends.”

“And you?” Tanuma asked suddenly, surprising both Natsume and Taki, “You’ll also be fine, right?”

She nodded. “Yes, I will.”

Natsume turned back to the youkai. “We’ll agree. But we have two conditions we need you to meet.”

“What are they?”

“First: you have to keep your word that you won’t harm my two friends, and yourself. And that you will need to stay in this human form and not turn back into a spirit.”

“I can oblige, but may I ask why this request?” she asked him.

Natsume glanced over at the two, and Tanuma and Taki looked back at him curiously.

“My friends here, Tanuma and Taki, cannot see youkai. And Tanuma doesn’t feel well when you are in your spirit form.”

She nodded her head. “Understood.”

“Second: please return Nyanko-sensei back to his original self. He won’t be able to purify you in this form.”

In an instant, the bee turned back into a fortune cat.

“Done.” she said.

“Phew, I’m finally back.” Nyanko-sensei with a sigh of relief. He stretched his body as if getting up from a particularly restful nap before he trotted towards Natsume and complained, “And why am I second on your list of conditions?”

“Taki’s and Tanuma’s safety are important. And it turned out fine in the end. You’re back to normal anyways-”

“Sorry, may we add one more condition to the list?”

Everyone turned towards Taki. “Could we also make sure Natsume stays safe as well?”

Tanuma also nodded in support. “I also asked this as well.”

“Taki…. Tanuma… ”

She chuckled, and the three of them stared anxiously. “The three of you are so silly. Didn’t I promise you already, children of man? I have no intentions of harming anyone. Even your furry companion.”

“Again, why am I secondary here?”

“Thank you. And I was to add one more thing, Camellia Spirit.” Taki added, “It really just isn’t us who are interested in these flowers. I don’t know how it may have been before, but they are very commonly used to decorate homes and buildings now because of how pretty they are. And the leaves are used to make tea too. So while I know what camellias had been considered before, and it is true we can’t bring them into hospitals, please know your flower isn’t only seen as a curse by people in our world.”

“I see. That is wonderful to hear. You are all very sweet. Even though I am the one troubling you all.” said the spirit, looking comforted, “I rarely have any encounters with humans compared to the past as I am bound to this remote place, nor do I have much interest in leaving here. But I’m glad the world is in a much better state than before. Thank you.”

“Bahh. This is all so sappy and troublesome.”

In a puff of smoke, Nyanko-sensei transformed into his youkai form. Taki and Tanuma felt the sudden breeze, before looking around confused as the feline companion was no longer to be seen. However, Nyanko-sensei wasted no more time waiting, his forehead mark glowing a bright light directed towards the tree.

The sudden flash was blinding, making Natsume, Taki, and Tanuma shield their faces. After the light disappeared, everyone opened their eyes to see the tree was alight with a blue fire, as well as the camelia spirit herself.

“Oh no! They’re all burning!” Taki yelled, and the three of them ran towards them.

“Wait.” the lady said, causing them to stop. Despite her predicament, there was a comforted smile on her face. “These flames are not that of fire. I do not feel like I am being burned, but rather, it feels like a gentle warmth that is almost healing.” She closed her eyes, and the ends of her kimono and body began to disappear while the light moved up. The three looked worried but were unsure what to do. “Thank you, children of man. I am going to take a long slumber, until the snow melts and spring returns. Goodbye.” A few moments passed until her entire body disappeared. Not long after, the flames on the tree died out too.

Everyone stood in stunned silence, taking in on what had happened.

“That was a strange experience.” Nyanko-sensei spoke up before returning back to his fortune cat form, “Ahh. It feels great to be back like this.”

“Way to ruin the moment.” said Natsume with a sigh.

“Still, I’m glad we were able to help in some way. Even if we didn’t realize it.” Taki said with a soft expression, “It’s been a while since I’ve talked to an ayakashi like this.”

“What? You interact with me all the time.” Nyanko-sensei pointed out. “Though that was quite a bit you sent off that camellia spirit with.”

“That is true.” Taki said, “How do I say it…I can sort of understand her in that I had similar feelings about my grandpa’s circle. My family is creeped out by his stuff, but it is my only connection to him. Not that it hadn’t led to a very terrifying experience that had led me to be alone for almost a year. But it also led me to meeting Natsume-kun, Tanuma-kun, Sensei, and everyone else. And later it has led me to help others too, if only a handful of times. So while I cannot use it anymore, it doesn’t change the fact to me it is my treasure.”

“I think I know what Taki is saying,” Tanuma added, “It’s not as in depth as yours. But it was similar to how youkai were something my dad and I feared, and that had left us very isolated for a long time. But when I compare how things are now, I would have not expected to get here and know all of you and everyone else from this same connection that made me so fearful when I was young. It’s strange how a view can change like that.”

Natsume nodded, a familiar feeling in his chest returning. That’s right. It is like that for me too.

“Speaking of you two,” Nyanko-sensei piped up. He looked at Tanuma and Taki, “It was interesting that you both were able to witness so much today. Normally neither of you are able to follow what is going on but this time, you were able to see and hear everything in this situation, to even the tree being on fire.”

“That is true.” said Taki as she realized it too, “I’ve only seen Sensei’s spell one other time. So I was really surprised when I saw the tree and her on fire. It was strange to see her and the tree be completely fine.”

“Yeah. That was very shocking to watch,” Tanuma agreed, “She was a lot less scary than I first thought her to be. Even my headache disappeared when we returned back to the tree.”

“That is rare. Usually, powerful youkai trigger the opposite reaction from you. But her appearing in human form must have made it stop.” Natsume noted.

“That goes to show her how touched she was.” Nyanko-sensei suggested, “Usually malevolent spirits such as her become quite absorbed in their state, until they get exorcized or eaten by another creature. I guess the prolonged drainage of being continually used as an exorcist’s tool must have fizzled out that energy. And in that resulting state, it was easier for her to at least be more receptive for help.”

“Err, I don’t quite exactly follow-” Tanuma admitted before he got startled and looked up, “Do you guys hear that sound?”

Everyone else followed suit and noticed the rustling sounds that came from the tree. The tree progressively shook more and more violently. Then, it suddenly stopped. One by one, the leaves and flowers began to fall.

“Whoa.” Tanuma spoke as he watched the falling foliage, “What’s going on?”

“Is this from your powers, Sensei?” Taki asked him.

“Probably. The tree it sprouted from is no longer there. With that connection severed, those flowers and leaves have now dislodged.”

“What? Does this mean this tree is dead now?” Tanuma asked.

“No. It won’t take too long before the leaves and camellia regrow, even in this winter. Just that the wood with this new tree no longer has its magical properties.” Nyanko-sensei explained, “This works out for you guys, in its own way. She had tampered with your baskets earlier to get you to stay longer, right? Think of this as her way to make up for the flowers and leaves she snuffed out of you guys earlier.”

“Thank goodness. I’m glad the tree is fine” said Taki, relieved.

“Let’s make use of the leaves and flowers she has given us before they all land on the ground.”

Everyone then knelt down and began to collect the falling foliage.

“Watching the leaves and camellias fall like this, it is so mesmerizing to watch. It is such a large flower, but it is strange to see it fall all at once.”

“Yeah. I get what the flower falling is said to represent. But as I watch all these falling now, at least to me, it’s hard to see here unless I really stretch it.”

“Yeah. I guess we’re lucky that we are in safer times now. That all we see from this is a beautiful shower of leaves and flowers.”

Natsume nodded in agreement. I could understand what she meant by seeing things in one way for so long , Natsume began to reminisce as he thought back to his friends’ and the camellia spirit’s words.

Before I had moved to this town, I had also thought that youkai and human connections were painful and not worth having. That hardly any good can result from them, based on how my experiences with them before. But after meeting everyone, the more I interacted with them and the other ayakashi, I feel I was able to see a different scenery. Things could still be painful at times, but they had led to so many wonderful things as well. It was like a pop of color in an otherwise monochrome scenery. And before I knew it, the world had become so vivid. Now, both the eventful, the mundane, and everything in between, they feel like treasures to me.

“Natsume-kun?”

Natsume awoke from his thoughts.

“Natsume-kun?” Taki repeated. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry, I was thinking back about something.”

“What were you thinking about?” Tanuma asked him.

“I was-err, never mind.” Natsume stopped himself. “I’m embarrassed to say it.”

“Aww, that’s no fun. You don’t need to be shy.” encouraged Taki, “Though if you rather not say it, that is ok too.”

“Thank you. Maybe I will share it with you guys another day.” said Natsume.

“We'll be all ears.” Tanuma replied.

“Maybe we should come back here again another time. If the flowers come back, we can invite everyone else to a picnic.” Taki suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea. Though maybe not in the winter, because it is too hard to climb this mountain on our own.” Tanuma pointed out. “I still want to bring some flowers for the temple, but Natsume, let us know how the food tastes.”

“Mmmn hmmn. I will bring some over if I can too.” said Natsume.

Meanings don’t have to stay stagnant. So long as we continue to experience life, there can always be a chance for change.

After they completely filled their baskets until they could carry no more, they continued to watch the shower of leaves and flowers fall onto the snow.

Author's notes:

The camellia spirit is loosely based off of Furutsubaki No Rei. There are different versions of them based off the region, though I couldn't find too much about the one from Natsume's place (Kumamoto prefecture). I mixed some of the interpretations together plus extended it a bit, leaning with a sympathetic interpretation of it. You can read them the more of the original lore here.

Camellias nowadays mostly have positive conations, with differences in meaning depending on its colour. While they are also associated with a "noble death" and a samurai's decapitation during the Edo period, I have no idea if this meaning is still prevalent nowadays. Though its true you aren't suppose to bring them to sick people and in hospitals.

For food, the leaves are used to make tea with certain varieties of camellias. As for the mochi, from what I could find, there are two types: 1) one that has a bean filling inside with camellia leaves holding the mochi itself (the leaves are not edible), 2) and one that makes a mochi filling paste out of the petals. The former (called "tsubaski mochi") is more traditional and common but you can't eat the camellia part from the dish. The later dish seems to be a more recent variation and I only found it in a handful of recipes. As for which one Touko used: let's just say Touko likes to experiment with her food sometimes. Regardless, if you are interested to make any of the dishes listed here, just make sure you do your own research to make it

Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoyed it!

#natsumess2022 #natsume yuujinchou #natsume’s book of friends #natsume takashi #nyanko-sensei #tanuma kaname #taki tooru #necle’s fics #takashi natsume #kaname tanuma #tooru taki #hanakotoba #Merry Christmas

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