hashiridase mae muite
Face forward and run.
kajikamu te de sora ni egaita
I painted the lights in the sky
kimi no mirai ni shukufuku no akari tomosu
with these numb hands to brighten your future.
kirihirake sono te de
Cut through it with your hands.
kikoeterukai kono koe ga
Can you hear my voice?
sunao ni waraeru koto dakishimete hashiridase
Embrace the fact that you can laugh honestly and run.
sukoshi dake otona no iro ni somaru yubisaki
Your fingertips were painted in an adult's color.
terakusa sou ni sotto kakushite
Embarrassed, you hid them.
hoozuetsuita kimi mitsumeteru shisen no saki ni
And as I gazed at you resting your chin on your hand,
chiisana tsubomi ga yura yura
beyond you was a flower bud, swaying side to side.
nee bokura nante ima mo mayoi bakari de
Hey, even now we're always lost,
ano hi okutta kotoba imasara omoidasu
and I remember the words I said that day:
kimi iro ni mirai somete
"I'd paint the future with the color of you."
hashiridase mae muite
Face forward and run.
kajikamu te de sora egaita
I painted the lights in the sky
kimi no mirai ni shukufuku no akari tomosu
with these numb hands to brighten your future.
kirihirake sono te de
Cut through it with your hands.
kikoeterukai kono koe ga
Can you hear my voice?
sunao ni waraeru koto dakishimete hashiridase
Embrace the fact that you can laugh honestly and run.
Hey you, won't you have a duel with me?
If I win, you'll become my follower.
You can eat me if I lose.
Why?
That's obvious.
To kill time.
I've found you.
I've found you!
A dream?
I was able to sense an Ayakashi for a moment though.
Sorry, Nyanko-sensei!
My hand slipped.
Look at these wild oranges.
Look at how many I got.
Be careful, you idiot!
Fruits can be blunt weapons, you know!
Just look at monkeys!
Sorry, sorry.
What's wrong, Natsume?
It feels as if someone is watching me.
An axe?!
W-What the heck?
Did it grow out from the roots?
No, I saw it.
Someone threw it from over there.
It was a Youkai.
What?
It was aiming for us.
Borrowed House
Natsume, let's go home.
Okay.
And then Tanaka screamed!
In front of his girlfriend?
Don't know.
His fear of dogs is abnormal.
That was the first time they've targeted me like that.
They must really want the Book of Friends, or...
Takashi.
Just came back?
Yes.
Sorry. I'll see you tomorrow.
Natsume?
Fujiwara-san had work today, but he's back pretty early.
I thought I could go home with you once in a while.
Was I interrupting?
No.
Not at all.
Oh, right.
Those oranges you brought home yesterday were good.
Thanks.
What are these?
A Youkai?
It has an extra toe.
What's that?
Grafitti?
Maybe a kid from the neighborhood did it.
He can see the graffiti.
What about the footprints then?
I've seen this picture before.
The footprints and graffiti must've been the work of a Youkai.
Why in front of the house though?
I have to prevent any trouble from coming into this house because of me.
I'm back!
Sensei, you just got back?
Oh yeah, there was some weird graffiti at the gate, right?
Was there?
It's gone.
Most pictures that Ayakashi draw are meaningless.
Some of them are symbols though.
Symbols?
A note to tell its friends, for example.
Like, "I'm here!"
"I'm here"...
Touko-san!
What's wrong?
I'm sorry for screaming.
It's okay.
I wondered if a wild dog wandered in.
This is terrible.
They're all trampled.
Was it you?
They're cat footprints.
You idiot! I evaded the plants elegantly!
There's another footprint, you know!
That's the footprint.
So something did come to this house.
The axe thrower may have followed us.
Ayakashi that leave traces which even humans can see are powerful.
It'll get troublesome if these pranks escalate.
Damn that Youkai.
If it wanted something from me, it should've just talked directly to me.
I found you.
I found you!
Wait!
I have to chase it out quickly, or Touko-san and the others...
Shigeru-san.
Takashi, what's wrong?
Was it you who was running around the second floor?
Ah, no.
Um...
No, the footsteps were lighter.
I see, it was Nyangoro.
Ah, that's right!
I'm sorry that Nyanko-sensei made so much noise.
The cat, huh?
I see.
Maybe it was only a cat that wandered in that time too.
That time?
Something similar happened in this house before.
I even thought that a ghost had haunted it.
It calmed down one day though.
It calmed down?
No... that's right.
It did ever since that person came.
A strange but beautiful girl lived in the neighborhood back then.
I'm sure that it stopped immediately when she came to this house.
It's a childhood story of mine when I believed in ghosts.
A strange girl from the neighborhood?
Takashi, what is it?
No, it's nothing.
I see.
Good night.
What do you think, sensei?
About what?
About the girl Shigeru-san talked about.
Reiko-san used to live in this area, right?
Could it be...
Excuse me, Shigeru-san.
About the girl you talked about last night...
What kind of a person was she?
What was her name?
It was a long time ago, so I don't really remember her name or face.
I see.
This is pretty unusual.
I didn't think you'd be interested in this.
You never ask anything about us after all.
Just being conservative?
You think you shouldn't intrude because you're a guest here?
That's not true.
It's okay to intrude.
This is your home now.
It's an old, uninteresting story, but do you want to hear it?
Yes.
The first time I saw her was when I was in the lower grades in elementary school.
She didn't have any parents.
For some reason, she didn't get along with others and was said to be strange.
Damn it! I can't reach it!
Give it back!
D-Don't laugh!
Who are you?
I didn't ask you to get it for me!
You're right.
But you were so loud.
What?
Sorry.
Bye.
Hey, wait!
Thanks.
Look, fox eye is here.
Did you know? You'll get cursed if you get close to her.
Scary!
Go away!
If you want to play, then I can play with you.
Damn, let's go.
Here, and thanks.
W-Why are you laughing?
You should be angry!
It's okay.
Damn it, I'll...!
I guess there are some pretty fun kids around here too.
Like you're not human yet.
W-What'd you say?
You're a kid too!
Don't laugh!
Ever since then, I would sometimes see that capricious girl.
She would look up at tall trees and talk to herself.
She would gleefully swing around a broom as if she were fighting with something.
And the leaves would flutter about unnaturally.
And just like the rumors, I thought it was a bit scary.
She was alone every time I saw her.
She was always alone.
So when I saw her, I would call out to her.
Hey!
Your friends will ignore you if you talk to me.
Whatever!
I've got a lot of friends, so that won't happen.
What?
Children are really inconsiderate.
Don't laugh!
And one day...
Strange things started happening at home.
Weird graffiti was drawn in front of the gate.
Something would damage the garden, break the glass windows,
and there would be sounds of someone running around.
My mother became ill, and my father got hurt.
Bad things continued to occur.
Almost like we were cursed.
Cursed?
I see, that's why you aren't energetic.
Everyone says it, but it's all lies!
It's just a series of coincidences!
Well, it probably isn't a curse.
Right! It can't be a curse!
Hey, can I come to your house and play some time soon?
Sure.
The adults didn't want to see her,
so I invited her when my parents weren't around.
You've got a nice house.
Really?
It's a warm and tender house.
I'm sure I'd be happy if I lived here.
I'll bring you some barley tea now.
Having this house devastated would be...
...unpleasant.
Here you go!
Where'd she go?
Upstairs?
Here?
Hey! Don't wander around other people's homes!
What?
What's...
I'm sorry, the room is a bit damaged...
They'll probably get angry thinking it was me.
Thank you, it was fun.
When I woke up, I was lying on the futon, and she had left.
It's still a mystery why she did it.
And of course, my parents scolded me.
But thinking about it, all the strange things stopped happening after that day.
So, what happened to that person?
I rarely saw her anymore.
When I did see her, I would laugh and run away.
Anyway, she was strange.
But I feel that she was kind.
Reiko-san exorcised the Youkai for Shigeru-san.
Reiko was a capricious girl.
I thought she was getting along with Shigeru, but then she suddenly ignored him.
She wanted to be friends with him, but there are times when you can't.
Humans are so troublesome.
Like you, and Reiko.
I see. So Reiko came to this house before.
What are you up to?
Didn't he get bigger?
If the Ayakashi that Reiko exorcised is back,
the disasters will continue.
Touko will become ill, and Shigeru will get hurt.
Hold it!
Natsume!
Don't go too deep into the house!
The best way to exorcise it is...
It's eating him!
Now, leave.
I will not let you devastate this house.
This is...
...my favorite little kid's home.
Natsume!
That Ayakashi is called Karime.
It brings disaster to the house it takes a liking to, drives the residents out,
and then lives in it.
However, it was exorcised by Reiko, but then it happened to see you.
So it probably thought you were Reiko and came to have its revenge.
He absorbed your power and got bigger.
We have to exorcise it quickly or things will get bad.
Sensei, I saw its memory for an instant.
I saw what Reiko-san did too.
This time I'll protect this house.
If you mess up, you'll be eaten for sure this time.
I'll do it.
What's wrong?
Shigeru-san.
I'm sorry.
My head just hurts.
I want this house!
Where? Where is that woman?
Where is the woman that drove me out?
Here.
In this room!
Reiko-san has passed away.
I can't let you have this house.
If you're going to make the people in this house suffer...
...then you'll have to leave!
I'm falling! Falling! Falling!
Get down, Natsume!
I did it?
I protected this house.
Protected Touko-san and Shigeru-san.
I'm sure I'd be happy if I lived here.
Yes, Reiko-san.
This is terrible.
This is bad!
I need to fix the doors!
I wonder if I have enough money...
I can't believe Reiko ran away from this disaster.
She really is a terrible woman!
No, she said this was her favorite little kid's home.
But, Reiko-san, you would normally say your "friend's home."
Takashi!
What's wrong? I just heard something loud.
What happened here?
I-It's nothing!
This is just like that time.
I-I played around too much.
I'm sorry.
I'll pay you back.
I'm sorry.
Am I going to lie to these people?
Did Reiko stop seeing him because she didn't want to?
And became alone again?
Takashi.
You don't need to pay us back.
I told you this was your home.
Will I be able to return it?
How do I return this joy?
To these important people.
ne mou sukoshi dake mou sukoshi dake kiiteite hoshii
Hey, just a little longer. I just want you to listen a little longer.
ne mou sukoshi dake mou sukoshi dake wagamama ii desuka
Hey, just a little longer. I just want to be selfish a little longer.
te ni ireta totan ni kieteshimai sou
The moment it was in my hand, it seemed like it would disappear.
kotoba wo kuremasenka?
So could you say something?
anata ga iru sore dake demo
With just you here,
sekai ga kawatteshimau
my world changed.
monotone no keshiki ga hora
Just look at the monotonous scenery,
azayaka ni utsuru
it looks so vivid.
itsunomanika hanareteita
We were walking with our hands held,
te wo tsunaide aruiteku
and before we knew it, we had to separate.
umaku wa aeseteiru ka na
"Do you think we're a good match?"
ano sora ni kiite miru no
Was what I asked the sky.
Meeting of Magicians
I was invited to a meeting of magicians by Natori-san.
Will I be able to meet people like me if I go there?
Maybe I'll be able to find something I can do among them.
Well, that's impossible.
Don't say that!