Natsume halted, letting his arms fall limply to his sides. His eyes stayed on the straight line of light on the floor a few centimeters in front of his socks, coming from the kitchen. Frantic whispering came from the room, but the words were rushed over breaths and sighs and nervous fingertaps, and the boy's ears couldn't discern vowels from consonants.

He could tell that there was something wrong. A fight, perhaps? The Fujiwara couple rarely did have any arguments, and on the unlikely occasion, everything was resolved in mere minutes. Yet this situation had been going on for days. His mind reluctantly trailed, for a second, to a darker thought:

He had experienced it many times: the conversations stopping abruptly once he entered a room, the nervous looks between the adults, the awkward silence at dinner.

Yet he let himself get swallowed by the sweet hope that they wouldn't do it to him this time around. That, this time around, things would be different. That this time around, he had found his real family.

"I'm home!" he announced, deciding to come out of the shadows and join everyone in the kitchen. Immediately, the whispers stopped and he was welcomed by the kind, smiling faces.

"Welcome back, Takashi-kun! We didn't hear you come in…"

Touko stood up from the chair, her hand slowly sliding away from Shigeru's fingers that had been grasping it for a long time, judging by the wrinkles on his palms. The bespectacled man gave a friendly nod in Natsume's direction.

"How was school, Takashi?"

This was his family. He was certain, yes. But, like a pest, uncertainty had nested in a back corner of his mind. He was happy to ignore it for a while. For as long as he could.

He smiled, trying not to think of the pain that acquired one more needle with every smile his foster parents gave him, the pain that polished those needles every day, ready to hurl the collection at him if things turned out the way that he'd always feared. And he wasn't sure if he would be able to take that many stabs.

.

.

.

"Takashi-kun! Dinner's ready!"

He gladly dropped the pencil on his notebook, averting his eyes from the complex math formulas.

"Coming!"

The mouthwatering smell of chicken that had long since permeated his room and teased his nostrils was now finally pleasant for his grumbling stomach. The sandy-haired boy pushed the door of his room to the side and prepared to rush down the stairs when he noticed that something was missing. The fat cat would usually run with the speed of thunder downstairs and get tangled in Natsume's feet, yet the multicolored fluffy blob hadn't moved from his favourite green pillow, still curled up like a shrimp.

"Sensei? Dinner's ready, didn't you hear?"

The cat didn't turn to look at him, but his ears perked up and his tail twitched.

"Make sure to bring me a bowl then when you're done. I'll get some extra sleep in the meantime."

Natsume frowned. Nyanko-sensei never, ever refused to eat right away. To say that he would eat later, that was just…

"Weird," The boy mumbled. "Are you okay, Sensei?"

"I want to sleep right now. Do you know how hard my work as your bodyguard is? I wasted another night yesterday because you kept returning those names… Geez" Nyanko-sensei complained, his tail twitching again.

"Shouldn't I be the one complaining then? I got tired, not you, Sensei."

But the fat cat didn't move. "I'll eat later. Just don't forget to bring me a bowl of food."

Natsume stood still for a good ten seconds, anticipating that the old ayakashi would rise from the pillow. But there was no movement. "…Alright, I guess," he said with some uncertainty, still glaring at the cat over his shoulder as he went down the stairs. Still nothing. He tightened his grip on the rail and faced forward, finally giving up on him.

This time there were no whispers as he entered the kitchen, to his relief. He was greeted by the sight of a smiley, apron-wearing Touko-san setting the hot pot on the table and a cheerful Shigeru-san reaching to grab the plates from the cupboards above the counter.

"I'll get the rest!" Natsume offered and hurried over to the drawers next to Shigeru-san, in search of chopsticks.

"Oh? Where's our little sumo Nyangoro?" The tall man exclaimed, immediately noticing the lack of hungry meowing that usually accompanied Natsume whenever the boy would enter the kitchen.

"Sleeping upstairs. He didn't seem to have an appetite." Natsume explained.

Touko-san's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "He's feeling unwell? Perhaps he should eat cat food for today…"

"You're right… And maybe we should change his diet permanently. He's gotten pretty fat lately." Shigeru-san nodded and set the plates down.

Natsume held his chin in thought. "But if we do that, I bet he's going to raid the fridge overnight…" he mumbled.

"Ha!" Shigeru grinned at that statement. "Maybe he will. Your cat is really clever for a simple animal, Takashi." Shigeru sat down in his seat, and the other two followed suit. "Sometimes, I can tell just by the way he stares at us that he understands what we're saying." The man grabbed his chopsticks, a frown slowly forming on his face.

Natsume couldn't help but feel a pinch in his heart. Why had Shigeru-san's smile faded away so suddenly?

"Does it taste good?" Touko-san asked, her voice pitch a little higher than usual. "I think I put too much salt in."

Natsume hurried to take a few bites. "I think it's perfect," he reassured.

The silence at the table was deafening.

The ache of hunger in his stomach was erased, but he was not sure if it was the food filling it, or something else; an unpleasant dread that he couldn't push back this time. The hand on his lap closed into a fist, his knuckles turned white. Every muscle was straining, as if his whole body was trying to turn into stone, to brace for impact…

Touko-san drawing a sharp breath was what broke the silence. She started timidly, but her gaze was firm. "Takashi-kun… there's… something that we need to talk about."

Natsume softly put the chopsticks down, the feeling of intensity washing off to give place to a paralyzing sensation of weakness.

He felt… he didn't know, honestly. Just beaten. The beating hadn't even started, but he felt as though the final blow had already been delivered.

"Shigeru-san and I… We've pondered on this matter for quite a while now. We agreed that, if we were to take such a decision, you should be included in the voicing of opinions… since you'd be affected by it. Takashi-kun, you've made us very happy the time that you've spent with us, and-"

Just get it over with. Say it. Say that I'm unwanted.

"Takashi… why are you crying?"

Damn it. He hadn't meant to cry. Natsume quickly wiped the tears off with the back of his hand, but they kept streaming down his cheeks. Damn it, no. He was supposed to be showing gratitude. He really was thankful to the couple for all they had done; for giving him a place he could finally call home. He loved them. So he didn't want them to be bitter afterwards. They were good people, he was sure of it. But all people had limits. It wasn't their fault, it was all his. If he wasn't that way… If only he were normal…

Natsume sprang up, chair screeching at the sudden motion. He couldn't bear to look at the eyes of those people whom he held so dear, for the pain would surely tear him apart from inside.

And admittedly, he felt a little angry. Betrayed. But he drowned that emotion with his sorrow.

He bowed.

"I understand how my presence may have been a burden. I am very grateful for everything you've done for me up to this point," Natsume said, voice steady yet unusually sad, so that it even rang weirdly to his own ears. He would cry silently most of the times, but not today. His body was going to make him feel even weaker and release sobs even as he spoke, it seemed. He felt completely vulnerable.

Shigeru-san placed a heavy hand on Natsume's shoulder. "Takashi, we're not sending you away if that's what you're thinking. Whatever would give you that impression?"

With watery red eyes widened, he turned to look at the bespectacled man.

"You're… You're not?" he repeated, his tears finally coming to a stop.

Shigeru-san raised an eyebrow as if offended. "Of course not."

Before he knew it, Natsume was trapped by something, unable to move. He slowly processed the situation. The smell of food. The arms that were around his back, protectively. The feeling of warmth radiating from the sudden weight that pressed against him. This… this was a hug. A hug, a very rare thing in his life.

"How could we do that to you, Takashi-kun? You're like a son to us. Stupid child, going on about being sent away by his family… As if!" Touko-san sniffled angrily in his shoulder, squeezing him a little tighter.

Not knowing what to do, how to comfort the woman, and feeling very guilty for jumping to conclusions, Natsume tried to ignore the awkwardness and made sure that his arms would lock around her to return the hug.

"This is a different matter entirely. Stupid child." Touko-san said again before releasing him, her dissipating frown an indication that her anger was subduing. "You're part of this family now, so don't feel like you're a burden. You were never a burden. Do you understand?"

He blinked several times, still speechless.

"Do you understand?" Touko-san repeated, almost pleadingly.

Natsume nodded.

She sighed, her anger finally gone. "Good."

"W-What is happening then, Touko-san… Shigeru-san? If it's not me-"

"It's not you." Shigeru-san cut him sternly.

"Takashi-kun…"

Natsume waited patiently for Touko-san to speak. She looked… disoriented, with her eyes closed tightly shut, as if she were trying to hide from the world for a bit. But when she opened them again, there was a spark of determination in them.

"I'm pregnant."

Huh.

Hu…Eh?

What… did that mean?

No, he knew what it meant, but for some reason, his mind couldn't comprehend it at the moment.

"The test's results came out today. It's a girl. A healthy girl," she continued, not taking another breath. Those words carried something about them, something indiscernible yet strong. The Fujiwara couple knew that they would never have children of their own. Talking about a child that was growing in her belly, it was something that the woman had given up on many years ago. "It was really unexpected… After so long… Like a gift from the heavens. But, I'm not young anymore, and there are mixed feelings. And the risk… the risk that it would be ill was like an ax threatening to fall on our shoulders… But this child is not. She is completely healthy."

"Despite the hardships…" Shigeru-san decided to continue for her, his voice sounding overcome by nervousness "…We're thinking of keeping this child. This will change everything, for us, and for you, Takashi. We're adults, yet we're scared because we're no longer as young, and no longer as adaptable and energized as the younger parents. As much as we'd like to keep everything normal for you, it is impossible. A baby is a big responsibility, I'm sure you understand. You'll have to become an older brother…and it may be too much of us to ask, but…" Shigeru-san trailed off.

It was truly… a lot to take in. Natsume couldn't say anything. He could barely think at all. He was still in shock. Somehow, amidst the haze of his thoughts, it clicked in the boy's mind that Nyanko-sensei had known all along and that he had purposely chosen to stay upstairs and avoid being present during the talk.

Then, one single thought formed in his mind.

Natsume's face broke into one of the happiest smiles he had ever had, perhaps the most blissful of them all. He took a shallow breath, and uttered:

"I'm going to have a little sister."

I always thought, what if Natsume ended up having a sibling. And boom, a oneshot was born. I know I said it's a oneshot, but I may write a follow-up because I really like this idea.

Thank you for reading! Any reviews are welcome!