Natsume Yujin-cho Roku
It happened about the time we first started high school.
Guys, there's a transfer student coming!
What?
Is it a girl?
It's a girl, right?
That day, we were really excited.
I'm from Higasaki City.
Natsume Takashi
My name is Natsume Takashi.
Nice to meet you all.
And in just a few minutes we were all as gloomy as a twilight sea.
He's kinda cool, huh?
He looks plain, doesn't he? He's really pale.
Nice to meet you.
My first impression was that he was weirdly calm.
He was reserved, quiet, and he'd just grin back, no matter what we said.
Higasaki, huh? That place is a bigger city, huh?
Why'd you come all the way out to the country here?
He wasn't that interesting.
Nishimura
and
Kitamoto
Are you eating melon bread again, Nishimura?
Yeah, my brother's got his practice exam and everything's tense at home.
She didn't look like she wanted to make me lunch, so I told her I didn't need it.
You probably said it in the wrong way again, didn't you?
You always fight with people over things that don't matter.
Shut up.
I'm so jealous.
I wish I had a little sister to make me lunch.
I keep telling Mana to knock it off with the hearts and stars.
I want her to just fill the box with stuff.
You're terrible.
Swap me for my bread.
That transfer student?
I wondered where he was.
He's eating lunch down there?
Somebody should've asked him to eat with them.
How? Whenever you look for him, he's either not there or asleep.
That's true.
Oh, maybe that's it.
Maybe he doesn't want people to talk to him?
He's grinning all the time,
but maybe he doesn't want to make friends with a bunch of hicks.
Oh, crap.
I forgot my pencil box.
The transfer student?
He's asleep again...
Found it.
Hey, transfer student.
Wake up.
Murder? Is it a murder?
Hey!
Stay away from me!
Oh, sorry.
I was passed out.
Did I say something weird?
Passed out?
No...
I've never heard somebody speak so clearly in their sleep.
Sorry!
Sorry, I wasn't making fun of you.
No.
Thank you.
Of course.
Freshmen?
Go home already.
B-Bye!
He was always grinning, but I think that was first time I saw him really smile.
But that also meant his normal smiles were fake.
I'm back.
Shh!
Your brother's concentrating right now.
What's her problem?
I just started high school, too, you know?
Oh, Nishimura.
Kitamoto has to talk to the teachers, so he said to go home without him.
I was planning on killing time with Kitamoto.
A shoe?
Natsume!
What happened?
Hey, wake up!
N-Nishimura...
It's just a bit of anemia.
I'm fine.
You're fine?
Where's your house?
I'll walk you home.
I guess mine's closer.
I-I'm fine...
I'll rest here.
What are you talking about?
Now's not the time for that!
Here!
I'm back.
Good, looks like nobody's back yet.
Come in, Natsume.
My room's on the second floor.
No, Nishimura. I'll just sit here.
Thanks.
You look awful, though!
Just come in.
Is there something outside?
No...
I was just thinking it's a nice yard.
Your room's on the second floor, right?
My room's on the second floor, too.
That's the first time he's talked about himself.
It's a just a room I used to share with my brother.
I forced them to split it in two.
We used to get along great...
You've got an older brother, huh?
I'm jealous.
It's normalー
Hey!
What are you doing standing in the entryway, Satoru?
You're really loud.
So he was here...
Are you bringing a friend over to shove it in my face since I don't have any time?
What do you care? It's my house, too.
It's here.
I think I really am going to go home.
Thanks, Nishimura.
What are you talking about?
You're as white as a ghost!
I'm fine.
Thanks, really.
Bye!
Natsume!
What's with him?
Satoru, you forced him to come here, didn't you?
He looked sick, so I was just letting him rest.
Why's he acting like that, then?
He probably hates you.
People don't like it when you're nosy.
The next day, Natsume didn't come to school.
His anemia must've been really bad,
but I didn't know how to face him,
so I felt relieved.
If he was that sick, he should've rested at my place after all.
What's up, Nishimura?
You seem upset.
Maybe he feels awkward staying at a stranger's house, and is just getting tired.
A stranger's house?
You'll probably hear the rumors eventually,
but Natsume-kun doesn't have any parents.
He goes from one school and one set of relatives to another.
Right now, he's living on the second floor of some distant relative's house.
He probably does feel really awkward.
We used to get along great...
I feel like an idiot,
saying something like that to someone who lost his family.
My room's on the second floor, too.
He sounded so happy when he talked.
So I just wanted to say something, too.
A cat?
You're getting a cat, Natsume?
Yeah.
I just ended up getting it.
After that, it got kind of hard to talk to Natsume.
For his part, Natsume was sometimes there and sometimes not.
At some point, he stopped talking to me at all.
You fighting with Natsume?
Go make up with him.
Listen, we weren't close enough to fight, even.
But lately, I've felt really uneasy.
Like there's weight on my shoulders.
Nishimura Satoru
Oh, crap.
I'm gonna need to go get a study guide or something.
Natsume?
Nishimura?
Fancy seeing you here.
What's that?
Fun Origami
Origami?
Yeah. Someone Touko-san knows is in the hospital,
and she wants to send her a thousand paper cranes,
so I thought I'd help her make a few.
Touko-san?
Yeah.
One of the people I'm staying with.
So why an origami book?
Do you not know how to fold cranes?
Yeah.
Listen, almost everybody knows how to fold cranes.
Nishimura, what's—
I know how to do them!
You could've just asked!
Or maybe ask that Touko-san person!
Instead, you're reading a book when nobody's looking?
Do you think the people around you are just that useless?
Huh?
What did I just say?
I...
Nishimura?
Nishimura!
What am I doing?
Why did I say something like that?
What's gotten into me?
My heart feels so heavy.
It's like something huge and black is riding on my shoulders!
Huh?
Where am I?
Where's the exit?
I feel like I hear something else breathing.
No! I can't stay here!
I need to get out!
I need to get back!
Nishimura!
Natsume?
What happened to it?
I drove it off.
Somebody's talking.
Thanks, Sensei.
It's the one that was bothering me before.
It started going after Nishimura, too.
It's Natsume.
Natsume is talking to some kind of fat cat.
Is this a dream?
Nishimura's a really good guy,
but that thing was making him feel really tense.
There's no reason for you to help this brat.
Sensei, Nishimura might not remember it,
but he's special to me.
He was the first person in that classroom to talk to me.
It made me really happy.
I was really happy, Sensei.
Then stop talking to the cat, Natsume, and talk to me more.
Satoru... Satoru?
Satoru!
Why do you make me worry like this?
Huh?
Excuse me.
Natsume!
Hey!
You followed me, didn't you?
Are you hurt?
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
I'm glad... I'm glad you're safe.
Yeah. Thanks, Natsume.
The reason I didn't tell Touko-san was that I wanted to practice in secret,
and if I learned to do it right, then I'd tell her I'd help.
It's childish and embarrassing, but...
I see.
Natsume had looked really grown-up and unemotional,
but once I got to know him I realized he was really kind of a kid.
Nyanko-sensei, origami isn't food.
What kind of cat is this anyway?
Where'd you find it?
It's got a very sexy body, huh?
Nishimura, what do I do next?
Well, you just...
Um, I forget.
Don't laugh!
We're so close...
I know!
Let's ask Kitamoto!
I wondered what you guys were yelling about...
Bro!
Here's a sample.
Look at it carefully and teach him right.
Your brother's nice, huh?
For a moment, Natsume's eyes shined like he was jealous.
Well, I don't know about that...
What did I look like to Natsume in that moment?
Natsume Yujin-cho Roku
It was Nishimura who first became friends with the transfer student.
It was kinda creepy.
Hey!
Huh? He's staring at me?
Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.
Sorry.
It was dark and I couldn't see who was there.
Did you mistake me for someone?
Yeah, something like that.
For an instant, his eyes looked like glass beads.
Like they were fake and impossible to read.
I'm back.
Last year, Dad got really sick.
Sometimes he still leaves work early.
Is there anything I can do at times like this?
I'm back!
Dad's home?
Yay!
You guys? Welcome back.
Mana, you woke up Dad!
Look! There's a new doughnut place that opened!
Which do you want?
I'll get some for you.
Those look good.
We haven't eaten dinner yet.
Mom'll get mad at you.
I'll buy one for her, too, so it's fine.
Right, Dad?
That's right.
I'm sorry about what happened.
You mean staring at me?
Yeah.
When I'm someplace new, I make mistakes like that a lot.
For a moment, I'm not sure who is who
Does he mean bullies and people who aren't bullies?
Sorry for being weird.
No.
Oh hey, Natsume, are you okay?
If Nishimura's bugging you, you don't need to force yourself to hang out with him.
It's fine.
You're a nice guy, Kitamoto.
Nice guys make nice friends.
Normally you'd be too embarrassed to say something like that.
Had Natsume spent so little time talking to other people
that he didn't understand that?
No, no, no.
After that, it was so much fun watching Natsume react to things he'd never seen before,
that Nishimura and I ended up taking him everywhere.
Hey, did you turn in your post-graduation plans handout?
Not yet.
I did!
Of course, I'm going to university!
I'm getting the heck out of this countryside.
How the heck am I supposed to find a girlfriend in this environment?
I figured that was it.
What about you, Kitamoto?
Not yet.
I see.
Make sure you tell the Fujiwaras what you want to do.
You probably want to go to college, right?
Yeah.
I could see the light disappear from Natsume's eyes.
I'm back.
When I look at him, I get a little scared.
I realize it's possible to lose your family like that.
To lose your home.
A public servant?
Why? You said you wanted to go to college when you first entered.
I'm kind of interested in it...
Have you told your parents?
No.
Kitamoto, stay after school.
Um...
Class 1-2
I'm so tired...
I see.
But what you really want to do is what's important.
Think about it again.
Dad's getting better, I think.
But sometimes I get really worried.
Is it okay for me not to do anything to protect my family?
If I lost them like Natsume...
What am I thinking?
Oh, no! The sun's setting.
I can't.
I don't even know where you dropped it.
Just let me leave.
Find it yourself.
I'm not even...
Natsume?
I don't know anything about your bell.
Let me go!
Enough!
What's wrong, Natsume?
Kitamoto!
Huh?
Was someone just threatening you?
Kitamoto, it's fine.
Someone I just met dropped something.
They were going to make me look for it with them,
but they got surprised when you yelled and they ran off,
so it's okay now.
Really?
Then let's go home together, Natsume.
Yeah.
Huh? It's locked.
Kitamoto, wait here.
I'll go find a teacher to open it for us.
Hey, Natsume!
What is he thinking?
It'd be faster if we both looked!
Sensei!
Is anybody here?
It's so weird that nobody's here.
Huh? Where's Natsume?
I've been running up and down the whole school, but I haven't seen him once!
Natsume!
Where'd he go?
A bell?
Wasn't he just talking about a bell?
If I remember right, this is...
The sound of the wind?
I said fine.
Let him leave.
Please.
Huh? I can't hear.
Natsume!
What is this wind?
Natsume!
Kitamoto, the bell!
That was a really bad whirlwind, huh?
It just went out the window I think.
Yeah, that was crazy.
You okay?
Yeah.
Thanks, Kitamoto...
for coming to save me.
I can't really explain why,
but it was a strange sight.
The next thing I knew, the front doors were open and the teachers were back.
It was like we'd been tricked by a fox.
Natsume looked so calm then.
He felt like someone far away,
like he lived in a different world.
Hey, Kitamoto.
Did you write your post-graduation plans out yet?
Not yet.
I'm not sure, really, about a lot of things.
Neither am I.
To tell you the truth,
I want to stay here forever.
I'm sure that's impossible,
but... I don't want to go anywhere.
I love this place.
I want to stay here forever.
I see.
I'm glad.
That's great, Natsume.
That was probably how Natsume really felt,
and it was more important than anything.
Hey!
Are you guys seriously just leaving now?
Yeah.
There was some stuff going on.
What kind of stuff?
Maybe I can be a little more honest about what I'm thinking, too.
I'm sure I won't find an answer, but...
Actually, I'm not sure what to do myself.
Will you guys listen to me for a sec?
Next time Natsume Yujin-cho Roku
Gomochi's Benefactor
Reiko, I heard you're strong too.
If I lose, you can eat me.
He says he'll make the better one his bride.
I'm doing this because I want to.
You're really a hopeless woman, aren't you?