…

So lonely.

So sad.

The monster has been in this house for a long time.

She was once someone's shikigami, and the demon hunter she served died. Unlike some demon hunters who had to take the demons with them, the demon hunter she was assigned was like an alien in the family, and he freed all the demons before he died.

The other party had no children during his lifetime, and the monsters who came to the exorcist had no one to rely on.

The monster will stay in the house where the other person once lived, accompanied by loneliness.

Human life is too short, and the interactions with humans allow monsters to feel fleeting happiness like the flowers in the mirror and the moon in the water. If they invest too much emotion, it will take too long to gradually let the sadness go away.

Soon new people moved into the mansion.

They were a newlywed couple who had just had a daughter.

The little girl was very cute, and reminded the monster of the young demon exorcist.

She was captured by the other family and turned into a shikigami. The seal has many restrictions that are unfavorable to monsters, and she cannot even have the slightest disrespectful thought.

But at this moment she no longer had the resentment that she should have.

It was because her exorcist was so happy when he was assigned to her, as if he had obtained some treasure. His eyes were shining brightly, and there was nothing in them except pure joy.

The ability of the exorcist is not strong, but he treasures the shikigami very much.

I have never used any unpleasant techniques.

This continues until the exorcist reaches old age and dies of natural causes.

Human babies are so cute, and the monster suddenly has a new pastime. She watches the little girl, who is only three or four years old, day and night, even though the girl can't see her.

Since her parents were busy, the girl was able to play happily with the toys by herself.

The monster would sometimes pretend to be wind and use its magic power to push the toys to make the little girl laugh.

Children are always sensitive. Although it cannot be seen, sometimes when a little girl is held in her parents' arms and a monster approaches, she will go to a place where no one else can see her and ask for a hug.

The mansion was large, and the couple held a party inside.

When the monster saw the human exorcist, it deliberately moved away and lowered its presence by the villa wall.

But soon, she heard a cry for help.

It is the voice of a little girl who has grown up over time and is now about six or seven years old.

There was a pool in the villa. The girl always hated water, but this time she somehow fell into the water. When the monster arrived, no one paid attention to her cries for help. She was losing strength to run towards the water.

Go down.

The monster rescued the girl and was also discovered by humans at the same time.

She was restrained by a man who displeased her from head to toe. That man was like most of the demon exorcists she had hated... no, he was even worse than those humans, with an evil aura all over his body.

"Don't worry, the monster has been caught, and you will not suffer any more disasters in the future."

The girl was in her mother's arms, and she was fuzzy. She kept staring at the monster's location, as if she could suddenly see it and wanted to reach out and go over there. However, her mother held her and took her back to the house without hesitation. In the end, even though the girl didn't know why she wanted to go over there, she felt very uncomfortable after she didn't do it.

Youkai are used to experiment with evil techniques.

She clearly promised that the family would no longer suffer from disasters, but she repeatedly destroyed the monster's sanity, making it crazy and releasing her into the family's home.

"I'm so sorry, it seems that you are being targeted by the monster for revenge. It's very difficult to deal with. Her power is getting stronger and stronger. Even I have to pay a heavy price. If you still want to exorcise the monster," the sorcerer rubbed two fingers together and made a public gesture, "you need to add a little price."

Damn, damn, human beings.

The monster had no strength left in her body. She panted silently and suddenly remembered the time when she was caught by the exorcists. It seemed no different from the present moment.

It's just that she was assigned to a good exorcist.

It's just that she likes humans.

That is why she is not infected with resentment, and that is why she is peaceful and beautiful.

However, her resentment seemed to be growing stronger and stronger. As long as she was around, bad luck would come to her. The sorcerer also had bad luck several times in succession, and finally developed a new business.

Taking advantage of her hatred and her uncontrollable demonic power, she was trapped in people's bodies, bringing misfortune to those people.

At first the sorcerer thought that his punishment was not cruel enough, but he finally gave up when he realized that the monster had completely lost its self.

dark.

chaos.

The monster didn't know how much time had passed, nor did he know what he had done.

She just vented her emotions vigorously.

The pain, sorrow, despair, and resentment are poured out without leaving any room. It seems that there is no end to it, and it goes on and on endlessly.

Just when her self was about to disappear, a ray of light, just a pinpoint, shone strongly into her painful heart.

"What is causing you so much pain?"

The monster then realized that before the boy said this to her, he had made Wen

And the peaceful song echoed around her.

The young man hummed softly.

"I heard the sound of a festival in the distance. I thought it had nothing to do with it, and there was no dividing line that I wanted to see."

The song expresses the satisfaction of just having a brief encounter, and the attachment without any pain.

…

"Even though I will eventually leave, the warmth in my memory will always be there, I can never forget it—"

The boy hummed the song until the end.

He sat on the edge of the balcony fence outside the bedroom, immersed in the ending of the song, closed his eyes and faced the wind, letting it carry the unfinished song far away.

The setting sun gently cast a layer of golden veil over him.

The black mist-like monster separated from the man, and she moved closer to the boy, but stopped three meters away.

It hurts so much, it hurts so much, it feels so warm, I really want to get closer.

But...it would hurt him.

The faint sanity returned, and tears silently fell in front of the monster under the black mist, which no one could see.

As if she was hurt by a gentle flame, she felt unbearable even hiding in the dark mist. The monster retreated and she wanted to hide where no one could see her.

"...Where do you want to go?"

The boy turned around and seemed to be able to see her... No, the monster clearly saw his own reflection in the boy's eyes.

The human child could indeed see her.

After the song ended, those negative emotions once again flooded her heart, immersing her in fear, despair and resentment. Her remaining rationality made her feel that she could not get along with others, and she was about to leave without paying attention to the boy's words.

But she saw the boy reaching out his hand to her.

"You have nowhere to go back to, right?" the gentle boy invited her, "Would you like to come onto me?"

Why?

No way.

You will be like those people... by me...

“I’m alone now.”

The little white bird flew from the eaves to the boy's shoulder, rubbing its fur against his neck. The boy kept his hands outstretched.

He slowed down his tone and focused his eyes. Everyone could feel his anticipation and seriousness.

"Will you come and keep me company?"

The monster under the black mist fell silent.

“…”

It had been such a long time that she almost couldn't speak, but she still spoke with difficulty, dragging her somewhat hoarse voice and speaking intermittently.

"As long as... I'm here, you'll feel pain. Even so, are you sure..." Do you want me to accompany you?

She hadn't finished her words yet, and hesitated at the end.

But the boy smiled, and his smile was as tolerant as the beautiful sky behind him.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew away a few dead leaves that were swaying on the tree next to us and were about to fall.

"It won't be painful."

I will not feel pain.

"I promise you."

So there is no need to worry at all.

After several struggles, the monster finally stretched out its hand to the boy eagerly.

The man and the monster hold each other, and the scene disappears in white light.

Natsume Takashi suddenly opened his eyes.

It was quiet all around. It was already dawn outside the window. A thin glow appeared in the sky at the end of the tunnel, but even the birds were still silent.

He stared at the ceiling for two seconds, then looked to his side.

Munechika was sleeping on his side, and the two of them were placed very close together in their blankets, so they could see everything clearly.

The eyebrows and eyes that were similar to his were peaceful, the long eyelashes cast shadows in the dim light, the brown hair softly adhered to the face, and the body rose and fell with her breathing.

The monster wrapped in black mist seemed to be the same as the one seen in the dream, but the difference was that the mist on her body had mostly dissipated, and she could vaguely see the figure of a woman with long hair.

She knelt down beside Munechika without saying a word. When she saw what Natsume Takashi was doing, she bowed slightly to the young man.

Then he moved closer to Munechika and returned to the boy.

It was because of the lying posture that Natsume Takashi discovered that after the monster disappeared, a black circular mark appeared between Munechika's left collarbone.

——That is the trace of the curse.

In fact, he didn't remember the content of the dream very clearly, but he just felt very sad, very sad.

What Natsume Takashi remembers most clearly is the final encounter between the monster and the human.

It's as beautiful as a dream.

The fat cat rolled over from Munechika's pillow to Natsume Takashi's face, only a fist's distance away from collision. Its little paws were stretched toward the sky, making a tiny chirping sound.

“…”

The way the little guy sleeps can easily make people smile, so Natsume Takashi did so, and then he lay on his side and closed his eyes.

...It's still early, I can sleep a little longer.

When he came back yesterday, Munechika met the Fujiwara couple. The two gentle elders adapted well to his arrival and were probably considered to be Natsume Takashi's brothers.

Although she has never heard that Natsume has other brothers, Fujiwara Touko is still very enthusiastic.

After chatting for a while and rejecting each other's proposal to cook, Munechika and Natsume Takashi looked at each other for a few seconds, and then Munechika started to tell a lie that was not too big.

"I'm sorry... I'm a little shy."

There was some heat on Munechika's face, and his fair skin was clearly visible under the indoor light, and Fujiwara Touko understood.

"Oh, Takashi-kun was like this when he just got home... It's okay, you two kids can play upstairs, and you can call me if you have any problems, don't be afraid of trouble." Fujiwara Touko smiled kindly.

"Thank you for your nagging. Please go to bed early tonight." Munechika breathed a sigh of relief.

It's not that he can't deal with kind and enthusiastic people, but he is using the image of Natsume Takashi. Even if he has made his own settings, he doesn't want to create any situation that would make Natsume Takashi uncomfortable.

Even the gentle boy wouldn't mind.

But even if Natsume Takashi didn't notice it, he would still be sad.

It's just human nature.

"If Teacher Cat gives you trouble, just give her a merciless punch on the head."

When the two boys were having breakfast, Munechika deliberately acted a little reserved. When they returned to the room, Natsume Takashi picked up his schoolbag and said to Munechika, who was expected to stay around for a while.

After all, the cat teacher volunteered to be a tour guide for Munechika, and Natsume Takashi always felt that something was wrong.

"Natsume!!" The cat teacher was furious.

How come this kid is still teaching outsiders how to deal with him? But, huh, not everyone can be like Natsume.

"I understand." After Munechika responded to him obediently, the fat bird finished eating the bird food and drinking the water, then flew to Munechika's shoulder and tilted its head to stroke its feathers.

Munechika leaned forward slightly and said, "Mr. Cat, can I hug you?"

"..." Teacher Cat stared at him for a while and turned her head away, "No, you stink."

"Teacher Cat!"

Before going to school, Natsume Takashi demonstrated to Munechika what it meant to punch him in the head without mercy.

"Natsume-kun, and Takashi-kun, be careful on the road."

Fujiwara Touko looked at the two young men outside the door. Natsume Takashi responded, and Munechika, with a bird on his shoulder, also nodded slightly at her.

Natsume Takashi went to school, and Munechika walked in this rural town, taking in the atmosphere. The fat chicks flew in the air, stopping from time to time to rest.

The scenery and air here are quite good, and the pace of life is also very slow. In short, the whole town gives Munechika a comfortable feeling.

Occasionally, you can see traces of monsters, but even monsters are mostly peaceful.

He really likes this place.

Teacher Cat followed behind for a while, but couldn't stand it anymore.

Why does this person keep walking and stopping?

After a while.

He jumped onto the roadside wall and asked, "What are you doing?"

Hearing this, Munechika turned around and smiled, not disguising his evil intentions: "Well... I'm waiting for my tour guide to show me the way."

"Human, you are very brave," Teacher Cat narrowed his eyes, remained silent for half a second, and snorted coldly, "...Come here, let's go to a place."

He jumped off the wall and ran in one direction.

It was a dim sum shop with the Nanatsujiya sign.

The moment Munechika saw it, he understood what was going on. He went to the store and bought some steamed buns. In addition to the loose ones, he also bought two gift boxes.

It's a bit of a long way from here, but this shop seems to be doing well.

Munechika tasted one and saw the cat teacher staring at the bag in his hand without saying anything, as if it was a test. Munechika laughed and didn't keep him in suspense, and directly placed the steamed bun in front of the cat teacher.

The cat teacher spoke with a serious expression, and although he didn't say it out loud, his overall expression meant "you know what's what".

After taking care of this, Munechika made some steamed buns for Fatty to taste and walked towards the Fujiwara family.

The cat teacher, who was watching Natsume Munechika's actions with a calm look in his eyes, jumped off the table and followed.

"Hey, what are you doing in Yahara?"

Munechika looked to the side, keeping a gentle expression as if thinking for a while, and then slowly said: "I heard that he was adopted by a family named Fujiwara in Yahara, so I came to see him."

They all knew that this "he" was referring to Takashi Natsume.

The man and the cat walked quietly for a while, and the cat teacher asked: "So what did you see?"

Munechika chuckled. "Well... I can see that he is doing well now. He cherishes this precious and rare happiness. The family that adopted him is very good, and also..."

When he said this, Zongjin tilted his head to look at the cat teacher who was standing by his feet with short legs, unwilling to get on him: "It's good for you to be with him."

As a result, the cat teacher was like someone's tail was stepped on: "Who is good! If it weren't for Natsume's friend..." Realizing that he had said something wrong, the cat turned his head and snorted, then walked with his head facing Munechika.

Um...is this the main point of getting angry?

Perhaps this is what is called tsundere.

Natsume Munechika smiled helplessly.

They had brief conversations from time to time along the way.

"Is your name real?"

"Yes, real name." Natsume Takashi's real name is Natsume Takashi, there is nothing wrong with it.

There was a silence that was not that long. The atmosphere was peaceful and no one was around.

Therefore I feel anxious.

"Do you know the Book of Friends?"

"What is that?" Natsume Munechika had never asked before.

As they were about to return to the Fujiwara family, the cat teacher jumped onto the wall on this road and asked, "Are you really a demon exorcist?"

Munechika had become somewhat tolerant of the questions that always popped up, and replied, "Yeah."

Suddenly, he felt a weight on his shoulder. Munechika was startled. He turned around and saw the fluffy body of the cat teacher lying on his shoulder. He said lazily, "Don't look at me. I'm tired."

"Um."

When I returned to Fujiwara's house, there was no one in the living room, but the door was not locked.

Is Auntie Tazi cleaning the room upstairs?

Knowing that someone was at home, Munechika placed the gift box on the table, left a note saying that he would not be at home for lunch, and asked the cat teacher who jumped on the ground as soon as he got home without turning his head: "Are you going to go shopping again later, Mr. Tour Guide?"

Teacher Cat looked like, “Do you even need to ask this?” and used his hind legs to flick his ears: “Of course!”

In that case, let's go out again.

Following Teacher Cat on the road, the road is flat loess, with green fields on both sides of the road, and from time to time you can see people working in the fields.

This road looks so familiar.

“Water…water…”

With empty hands, Sochin paused in his steps and looked at the ground beside him. Seeing that Mr. Kappa was about to be killed, he fell silent.

"It's you again." Teacher Cat looked dead.

Seeing Munechika pick up the kappa on the ground, the cat teacher was not surprised at all and did what was in line with his identity as a tour guide: taking Munechika to the nearby river.

The road is not far, it’s quite close.

This was just an episode. After Munechika took the monster away, he did not wait for him to recover. He knew that the kappa would get better over time as long as there was water.

They continued walking forward, and Munechika saw a building in the distance. Sure enough, this was near Natsume School.

Munechika bent down and picked up the cat teacher: "Can we not take the main road?"

Teacher Cat looked up: "What's wrong?"

Munechika put it bluntly: "It's not good to be seen."

The cat teacher probably didn't understand, but he didn't refuse the question. He clapped his paws and said, "Then go this way."

Walking in the forest, I have walked for some distance. Although I don’t know where the destination is, walking in nature like this still makes people feel happy both physically and mentally.

Suddenly, a black mist gushed out from behind Munechika, and the cat teacher slipped out of Munechika's arms like liquid. Munechika let go without stopping her, and the cat teacher jumped to the ground one meter away, extremely alert.

.

The black mist of resentment oppressed the young man, but Munechika seemed unaffected and greeted the monster behind him as usual.

"Are you awake? Good afternoon."

The youkai bent its arm and seemingly nudged Munechika with its head in response.

"Want to listen to some music?"

The monster moved, and the cat teacher felt a gaze falling on him. The black mist-like existence seemed to be hesitant.

"I see."

Munechika looked at the distance between himself and the school. This should be the back mountain. In fact, it would be fine to stay here, but he still wanted to find a good place.

He paused before leaving and looked at Mr. Kitty: "Would Mr. Kitty like to come with us?"

He quickly found an empty place and walked towards it while humming the prelude.

Even without any musical instruments, the melody sung with the voice is quite pleasant to the ear.

"As if announcing the end of summer, the flowers on the roadside are still quietly blooming. Even the wind that is not shrouded by the night does not know that it is the lush gentian."

When Feichu heard him singing, he wiped away the sleepiness he had just felt while squatting on top of Zongjin's head, and spread his wings to fly around his head.

“Although I was very afraid of getting hurt, I had to hide my feelings.”

"Who was by my side to give me warmth, and who taught me everything."

The black mist on the monster gradually dissipated with the singing. Although it was very little, so little that it was almost difficult to distinguish, it was definitely dissipating. She was very quiet. It was better to say that except for that time when she spoke, she never said anything on her own initiative.

"This is not a farewell, but an unknown distance ahead."

The climax of the song is like the tilt of emotions, it is warm and gentle, it seems sad but not really sad, one can only hear a hint of bitterness, guiding one to look forward.

Munechika leaned against the tree, the spots of light and shadows cast by the fallen leaves made his expression blurry.

No one can tell what is hidden in those brown eyes.

“Even though I am leaving, I will continue to breathe in my memory.”

…

“Even if I get lost one day, somewhere in my memory, that warmth still lights up the way ahead.”

When the song ended and I came to my senses, I saw a lot of monsters gathered in front of me.

When Munechika raised his eyes, all the low-level monsters that had gathered because of the singing scattered.

The resentment from the monster behind Munechika had dissipated so much that most of her body could be vaguely seen, with only her face still blurred.

She lowered her head again and leaned slightly towards Zong Jin's head, then she slipped into his body and disappeared.

The cat teacher, who had been lying on the side and listening with his eyes closed, then looked at Natsume Munechika who walked over to him and squatted down.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cat," Munechika apologized for his sudden action. After all, he put aside his action without saying a word. "Where did you want to take me before?"

Teacher Cat did not answer the question: "Do you sing to her every day?"

The resentment in the other party seems to have been accumulated for a long time. Since Natsume Munechika's singing can soothe the resentment of the monster, it means that the generation of this resentment not only has nothing to do with him, but can even make the monster who has been hurt by humans and holds resentment towards humans trust him.

Although I don't want to admit it, if the person in front of me is really another Natsume Takashi.

This result is not surprising.

And... judging from the concentration of the resentment, before it was dispelled a little bit, the resentment that even monsters were uncomfortable with must have been so heavy.

Even so, do you dare to carry it on your back?

"Yes, as long as I'm free." Munechika replied.

Hearing this answer, Teacher Cat was not surprised at all, as he could make an inference based on the situation of the monster.

"WuBo, aren't you a demon exorcist? Wouldn't it be better to just destroy a demon that has lost itself?"

What you said makes sense. Other demon hunters don't care whether they have lost themselves or not. As long as it is a monster, they will destroy the weak ones and capture the strong ones. Occasionally, they can also capture the mediocre ones and make them into shikigami.

Munechika stared at the cat teacher, with a faint smile on his lips, as if it was a promise or more like a compliment.

"I protect humans, and I will also protect monsters."

The tone was clearly very calm, but it sounded like a vow.

Teacher Cat's eyes widened as he listened.

"You must be joking..."

He was even speechless for a moment except for this sentence, and could not comment on what Munechika said.

How arrogant do you have to be to think you can protect both sides at the same time? The mutual slaughter between monsters and humans has been going on for who knows how many years.

"It can be done."

"I just focus on what's in front of me," Munechika said. "It's just such a small area. It's not as difficult as I imagined."

The author has something to say: The lyrics are all quotations, no bilingual use after v, and there is no need to avoid repetition in the lyrics (full text).

The song is the OP of the movie version [remember], so I can only... the babies automatically replaced it with Kamiya Natsume's voice in their minds_(:з」∠)_!

Congratulations to Natsume Munechika for achieving:

[Feeding preference]

[Sing remember]

[Holding a cat in arms]

[Exorcist]

Next chapter [part] preview:

[Natori (Can you come out?)]

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