Natsume Yuujinchou
Takashi-kun!
Would you mind opening the door?
Touko-san?
Okay!
Sorry, I lost my key.
You're back early from shopping.
Huh?
The door isn't locked.
Nobody's here?
No!
I think a youkai just tried to come in!
It's in here!
Is it after the Book of Friends?
Sensei!
Nyanko-sensei!
You're Natsume Takashi, right?
Where's the Book of friends?
So you're the one who faked Touko-san's voice?
Now give me the Book of Friends.
If you don't, I'll snap your arms.
Oww!
No.
I won't give you the Book of Friends!
Give it to me!
I said that hurt!
Rose Jam
Hey, Natsume, open this jam for me.
Sensei!
Who's this filthy guy?
Poke. Poke, poke.
I'm humiliated to lose to such a child.
But, if I can't win by force...
I thought this might happen,
so I prepared a bribe!
Please hear me out.
Stand-In
I told you, you can't have the Book of Friends.
Then, can you loan it to me?
No.
Loan it?
What are you going to do with it?
You know of a youkai called Karikami, right?
I've never met it, but supposedly
its name is written in the Book of Friends.
I want you to summon it.
You've never met it?
What will you do with it when you summon it?
This.
Paper?
It looks very old.
It's all crinkled.
That's correct.
It looks like it'd fall apart if you touched it, right?
And?
Paradise Feeling
Can't you tell, fool?
Fine, I'll tell you!
It'll take a long time, so prepare yourself!
Sake!
I'm very skilled at imitating voices.
My name is Yobiko, the Calling Child,
because I can make humans hear my voices.
I used to live in an old tree just off the path in Kariyama.
One day, a human girl started to walk by my tree.
She came almost every day.
I wasn't interested in humans.
It was just a whim.
I was a little worried since it was dangerous for a human to be so deep in the mountains.
So I followed her.
There was an old shrine,
where she met a man with gentle eyes.
She looked so happy...
So happy when she talked to him.
It seemed the two of them were having a tryst there.
Of course, all they did was meet and talk casually.
But it was every single day...
So were you watching them, huh?
No!
I was watching to make sure they didn't damage the shrine!
Sensei.
I'm sorry.
Would you continue?
They seemed deeply in love,
but the man was busy.
He would talk for a little while and then leave.
The woman would stare in the direction he had gone for a long time,
and then, when the sun set, she would finally head back down.
I decided I didn't want her to be attacked
by a beast or a snake,
so I kept them away.
Don't laugh!
It was every day!
Think about the extra work I had to do!
Sorry.
I thought it was kind of you.
No, not at all.
Enough!
Call Karikami already!
Sorry, but I can't.
What?
Liar!
I've heard that any youkai with their names in the Book of Friends
cannot resist its owner's orders!
Only if you know their face and name.
My grandmother was the one who gathered the names.
They're all youkai I've never met.
WHAT?!
I can't believe it won't help me.
You drank my sake, too...
I didn't drink any.
I'm going to stay here tonight.
I need to decide what to do.
Hey!
He's asleep already.
I don't want him sleeping in my room.
Some youkai have to spend a lot of
their strength just to come into human lands.
What a mess.
Whenever I meet a youkai like this, who seems free,
but is carrying some deep feeling in their heart...
As I thought, I had a dream that night.
Takahiko-san!
The voice that called out was so sad,
Takahiko-san!
that I'm sure the youkai who heard it...
Takashi-kun!
It's time for breakfast!
Go on and eat.
So, what did you decide to do?
I've no choice.
I will find Karikami myself.
I still haven't heard.
Why do you want to meet this Karikami?
It's Natsume!
He looks delicious!
Natsume of the Book of Friends!
You've got guts, wimp!
Thank you, Yobiko.
You saved me.
I see.
Natsume?
What are you doing?!
Where are you going?!
I don't know what Karikami looks like,
but I know where it's supposed to live.
If Natsume of the Book of Friends comes,
it may appear to demand its name back!
You're going to use me as bait?
I've heard that Karikami is a gentle youkai.
I promise I'll protect you and return you to your home.
So please help me, Natsume-dono!
Then...
tell me why.
Karikami is a youkai with the power to restore old paper.
Maybe it can help me open this paper,
which has been sealed shut by the rain.
Natsume Yuujinchou
Remember the tryst I spoke of yesterday?
One day the man stopped coming,
but the woman still came every day and waited for him.
It bothered me, so I went to the man's house.
From what the two of them had said,
I knew that the man was the eldest son
of an influential family in town.
The bride and groom look wonderful.
Yes, and she's from a very wealthy family.
Now the family's declining fortunes will be saved.
As the center of the family, we need him to do this.
I knew that humans and youkai could not be together,
but I never thought that two humans, who loved each other so much,
could not be together.
Takahiko-san?
But the woman kept waiting every day, knowing nothing.
Takahiko-san?
Every single day, she would call his name.
Takahiko-san...
Yes?
Takahiko-san?
Are you there?
Don't open it, Youko-san.
I, well, I'm a little sick.
I can't be near you right now.
Sick?
Are you all right?
What kind of illness is it?
Well...
I-I'm almost better.
Really?
Yes.
I didn't want you to catch it, so...
I see... I see.
I'm so glad.
Yobiko?
What I should've done then
was say "goodbye" in his place.
But she sounded so happy when she laughed...
Thank you, Takahiko-san,
for coming to see me,
but I don't want you getting sick again,
so go home.
No, I'm fine.
But...
In exchange...
Tomorrow.
Come here tomorrow.
And tomorrow became
the day after, and then another day...
I went to see her again and again.
Takahiko-san, you must be tired.
Not at all.
It looks like it's going to rain.
Please, go home first.
No, you go home first.
No, you first.
No, you go first.
You're so stubborn.
What? No, you're stubborn!
Oh my!
The weather is beautiful today.
Yes, you're right.
The leaves have almost finished turning.
Yes, you're right.
Aren't you cold?
No, I'm fine.
I had a dream last night.
It was a good dream.
I was looking out at the sea from a tiny window.
The sea was calm and shining.
Where was this?
Well you see,
I don't remember ever being there,
but for some reason,
it felt so much like home, that I almost cried.
It was like I'd come home...
A peaceful, wonderful feeling.
I want to go.
It was a dream.
Even if it was a dream.
You're sound like a child.
That's not the Takahiko-san I know.
What?
T-That's not true at all!
Now you're getting mad.
That's even sillier.
Is it silly?
Yes.
Very.
The more I met with her,
the more she laughed,
the more guilt I felt.
It's strange.
Since I stopped being able to see your face,
since I've been hearing only your voice,
I feel like we've become closer.
But even just a little...
I want to see your face.
I want to see you!
I'm sorry, Youko-san.
For the sake of his family, he stopped being able to come here.
I am an impostor who pretended to be him.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry!
What I did was horrible.
I couldn't stand to see her hurt.
That was the end.
I was terrified of the sin I'd committed, and of her,
and I never went back to the old tree or the shrine.
I left on a journey.
When, what humans would call a "long time" had passed,
I went back to the shrine.
There I found a letter,
with a rock placed on it to keep the wind from blowing it away.
It might have nothing to do with me,
but it might be something that Youko-san left for me.
If it is...
It might be for Takahiko,
or for me.
And that's...
If the words are those of rage and hate,
I must accept them.
I've run for so long...
but I can never forget.
If I can, I'd like to read this letter.
I see.
After hearing all that,
I want to know what it says, too.
Jeez...
Where'd that weird-beard youkai go?
Hey, Karikami!
Hey!
Is Karikami here?
I've come to return your name!
That idiot!
He's doing it again!
Hey, Karikami!
I've got something important to return to you!
Please come out!
Who's there?
Hey, Natsume!
Nyanko-sensei?
Jeez!
Do you want to be eaten by a youkai, wandering off like that?
Is it true that you'll return my name?
You have a slightly different aura than Reiko.
Natsume Reiko is my grandmother.
I inherited the Book of Friends from her.
I'm sorry to have kept you bound for so long.
I'll return your name.
Also, I have a request.
A request?
If you have the Book of Friends, you could simply order me.
It is my request.
I want you to restore this letter.
Please.
You seem odd, but in a different way than Reiko.
Very well.
I shall grant your wish in exchange for returning my name.
That which shields me, reveal thy name.
I return this to you, Karikami.
Please accept it.
I am defeated.
I can't believe I lost to a human.
Call me whenever you like.
If that paper ever gets old, I shall restore it.
This?
I have received my name.
Now it is my turn.
The paper is restored. The paper is restored.
Take good care of this.
Thank you, Karikami-dono.
Thank you, Natsume-dono.
Hey weird-beard!
If you wanna thank us, thank us with sake!
Thank you.
You've been of great help.
It's a women's writing.
But this feeling...
The one who wrote it is no longer in this world.
Yes.
That's right.
The color of that paper...
The voice, the smile that still remains in his heart...
All of it was a long time ago.
Humans live such short lives.
Reiko, too,
is gone, isn't she?
This?
Nah.
I'd be an old woman by then!
Natsume!
Sensei?
You're spacing out.
Don't blame me if you almost get eaten again.
Are you going to return to your journey?
No, I'm going back to my old tree.
The shrine's still there.
I want to watch over and protect it.
I see.
Was the letter for you?
Can I ask what it said?
Well, I'm embarrassed to say this,
but I can't read human letters.
Would you read it for me, Natsume-dono?
What does it say, Natsume-dono?
That she's sad?
That she'll never forgive me?
No.
Thank you, for telling me the truth.
To You, From Bygone Days
Natsume Yuujinchou
What was he looking at?
Natsume?
You've got something weird on you.
I've met this youkai before.
I said "goodbye" before I could ask.
There was this weird kid there.
I wonder if he's happy right now.
Watch us next time!
Hey, Natsume, open this jam for me.