The thing is, she still doesn't have a lot of friends. Definitely not ones that are around. Sayuri is... yeah. But she's not local. And Nanami is... a lot. And also not human. Which is fine, but also means she has her own thing going on a lot of the time.
So one evening before dinner, it's just Tsubaki and Nyanko-sensei strolling down the riverside.
Which is when she hears some tiny youkai muttering something about an odd human, from the approximate direction of 'her feet.'
They fairly quickly stumble on a cleared bit of grass, with a circle with strange symbols drawn in it in the dirt.
...Hrm, possibly spiritually significant? Nyanko isn't exactly classically educated.
Tsubaki will take some notes for the next time she meets with Sayuri.
Any tracks or disturbances in the vicinity?
It doesn't take too long for them to come across a girl about Natsume's age, using a long stick to draw details in a circle in the dirt. She's vaguely familiar.
She startles. "Natsume - ?" And then her eyes go wide and she clasps her hand over her mouth - "I'm sorry!"
And she turns to run off.
"Don't I- know you from school? Why are you drawing these circles?"
"Um. What kind of trouble are you in? I... know some people?"
"I know some people. Like that." Oh, talking is terrible. Why does she do it.
"...These circles let me see ayakushi. But one day, almost a year ago, an evil spirit wandered into my circle. It cursed me, said that if I could catch it within the next year, it would spare my life. If not, it would kill me and the last thirteen people whose names I'd called."
"...Big and dark. It had two white eyes like glowing holes in a shadowy outline."
"I don't recognize the description... But that's a harsh wager. Ayakashi with that much malevolence are rare, and others might have fallen afoul of it..."
"She does that. Um. Would you prefer not to know her name, considering?"
