He's 12.

With fine silver hair spun from silk and pretty grey eyes clear as little glass beads, and just as cold. His lips are always curved into the vaguest approximation of a smile, but it never seems to reach his eyes.

He doesn't tell the vicious lies his previous caretakers had warned them about, but he doesn't need really to - he's creepy enough as it is. He trips over things that aren't there, will suddenly scream for no reason at all, will drop everything he's doing and run as if his life depends on it.

They've only had him for 2 weeks, and already they can barely stand him. Unfortunately, they can't find anyone to push him off on yet. No one will consider it until they've done their minimum 4 months.

So when a man appears on their doorstep - handsome and tall, dressed in a smart black suit and silky silver hair brushed neatly back - and says he's the boy's maternal grandfather, says that he wants to take the boy off their hands for good, they don't ask questions, don't even hesitate.

They yell for the boy, jot down an address to mail the paperwork to, and wave the two off with way too much enthusiasm.

(It's ten at night and the streets are deserted.

No one sees the man kneel down in front of the boy at the end of the driveway and ask him a single, whispered question.

No one sees the way the child's eyes widen in shock and maybe a little fear, the way he seems to consider for a moment before giving a slow, decisive nod.

No one sees the way the man - handsome and tall, dressed in a smart black suit and silky silver hair brushed neatly back - disappears into thin air.

No one sees the way the boy is lifted slowly, gently into the air by an invisible force, the way he seems to sit, legs spread as if on the back of some giant beast, fingers curled as if threaded through silky white fur.

No one sees the boy disappear into the sticky warmth of the clear summer's night.)

It's exactly one week later that the police knock on their door, asking questions about 12-year-old Natsume Takashi.

"His grandfather took him a few days ago," they respond, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. They'd sent the paperwork off the very next day. Surely the man had filled it out by now?

The police officer's expression grows suddenly cold.

"Natsume Takashi's grandfathers are both dead," he says.

They feel the blood turn to ice in their veins.

The police officers ask them to describe the man that had taken Natsume Takashi away.

"He was in his early forties," they say, and it isn't until the officers' expressions grow tight with disapproval that they see the problem there. Early forties? Much too young to have a 12-year-old grandson. He'd have to be mid fifties at least.

The hurriedly go on to describe his attire. "The very picture of respectable!" they hurry to say, as if explaining away their oversight.

"What name did he give you?" the officers ask.

They think for a moment, trying to remember. They go over the whole interaction in their memories, from start to finish, and feel shame curdle in their stomach, averting their eyes awkwardly from the officers' suspicious gazes.

"A man comes to take your ward away and you don't even ask him for a name!?" the officer demands in outrage. He's a father himself, and the complete disregard for a child's safety angers him to no end.

The officer leaves then, outraged beyond belief and muttering to himself about getting an arrest warrant.

(And hundreds of kilometers away, a twelve-year-old child sleeps soundly on the back of a great white beast.

They're lying in the middle of a sun drenched meadow, the sweet, heady scent of wildflowers hanging heavy in the air.

A woman in an elegant purple kimono sits nearby, smoking and chatting quietly with an enormous, horseheaded beast. Both cast occasional glances at the sleeping child, expressions fond.

Their sweet little flower child.

They can't imagine the things he's seen, the things he's been through.

But he's safe now.

And they will never let anything hurt him ever again.)

SkyGem: A quick little drabble I posted on tumblr a while ago. I wasn't originally planning on posting it here, but then I thought eh, what the heck. Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please leave a comment letting me know what you thought!

You can find me on tumblr at skygemspeaks, where I reblog lots of yuri on ice and natsume yuujinchou (among several other fandoms) and post a lot of my little headcanons and aus!

At the moment, this will be staying as a one-shot, but I might post more about it in the future if I have more ideas! If anyone wants to write anything inspired by this, go right ahead. Just make sure to link it to me so I can read it too!