Original subtitles

ORIGINAL WORK BY YUKI MIDORIKAWA

Sorry to ask, Nishimura, but could you put all that in the shed out back?

Roger.

What are you doing, Natsume?

Hey, Natsume!

What's this?

Is this…

a finger?

Maybe it's a doll's finger?

It's really creepy. But…

maybe it has something to do with Natsume?

Hey, Nishimura!

Sensei Oki wants to talk to you.

Huh?

Oh no! I forgot the print-outs.

I'm home.

Why do I always get landed with the boring menial jobs?

I'm so tired.

Oh, I totally forgot about this.

It is quite creepy.

But if Natsume dropped it, I can't just throw it away.

Should I give him a call?

Natsume?

What the heck are you doing?

This is the second floor. It's dangerous.

What are you doing here so late?

Oh, I wanted to ask you.

Did you drop this? I found it behind the gym.

I wondered if it was yours. Is it something important?

Yeah.

Oh, okay. Then here you are.

Hey.

Sorry to ask this of you, but could you hold onto it for me for a while?

Also, could you keep it a secret from everyone too?

Why?

Fine. Then it's just our secret.

Natsume!

Natsume was always a bit odd.

But seeing him at night,

it made him even harder to read.

What's up, Nishimura?

Well, something interesting happened last night.

Something interesting?

Never mind… Forget I said anything.

-Sharing a secret is a little fun. -The mid-terms already?

I know.

What do you think will come up?

I heard that this stuff will be on it.

Which bits?

This isn't good at all.

I really need to start studying.

-How about this stuff? -Natsume seems just like always.

So it's just me who's all nervous and fidgety.

-You're right. -Natsume is great at hiding things.

Oh, Natsume!

What's wrong?

I just came to check on things. How is it?

I put it in this tin.

Show it to me.

Do you want to take it with you?

No, not yet. I'll see you again.

You're going to come again?

Hey!

Natsume isquite a strange guy.

It's hard to get a read on him.

Is it okay? Show it to me.

If you are so worried about it, you should take it with you. Here.

Not yet.

Also if you're going to come every night, come to the front door. It's dangerous.

Or I could show you this privately at school.

You really are strange.

What the heck is this anyway?

What do you think it is?

Well… I guess it's a finger from a doll.

Okay.

It has a nail.

Looking at it closely,

I guess it's cold and there is a bit of weight to it.

Maybe it's old?

But it's not dirty at all,

so I'm sure that someone was taking good care of it.

I'm sure it is important if it matters so much to you, Natsume.

Maybe so.

-I'll be off. -What?

You're leaving already? Why don't you stay for a bit?

I knew you'd be coming so I prepared some snacks.

Things continued like this for a number of days.

Natsume would visit every evening.

That lunch looks so delicious.

Why don't you swap me your rolled egg?

-You have this octopus sausage. -He'd act fine at school.

-If I can get two sausages, it's a deal. -Yes!

But as the days progressed,

I began to wonder if those nights Natsume came to my window

were actually real?

Or was it all one big continuous dream?

That's how mysterious Natsume seemed in some way.

SHORT TEST 20 MINUTES

Nishimura…

Right!

He's still not here.

There he is!

Is it okay? Show me it.

Okay, okay.

The red eyed scorpion

The eagle with its wings spread so wide

A blue-eyed puppy

And the large snake bathed in li--

That's unusual.

I didn't know you sang, Natsume.

They used to always sing for me.

Who did? Toko?

I forgot.

And they'd always pat me on the head.

But I have forgotten them already.

I'm sure they have forgotten about me too.

That's why they're not coming for me.

Natsume?

-What is your name? -What?

No, it doesn't matter. I will be back again.

Hey, Natsume!

It's quite strange. We'd been friends for so long,

but it felt like we were becoming friends again.

He's asleep again.

Of late, it seems like he isn't sleeping so well at night.

I wonder if he is exhausted from cram school.

I just hope he isn't damaging his health.

I'll ask him.

-Okay, see you. -Yeah.

Nishimura. Nishimura?

Oh, Natsume.

Are you okay? Has something happened?

What time is it?

Oh, it's the afternoon. That means I've to keep it a secret.

What?

Huh? It feels like I'm looking at Natsume

for the first time in a long time.

What's wrong? Why the serious look?

I told you that you can leave it to me.

I promise it'll be fine, Natsume.

I'm sorry, Nishimura. I will take care of this.

Natsume stared into my eyes for a little while,

as if he was looking for something.

I remembered the first time I ever met Natsume,

when he had glassy eyes.

Speaking of which, Natsume would have glassy eyes when he visited me at night.

In any case,I like both versions of him.

Where is it?

Okay, just wait a second.

The red eyed scorpion

The eagle with its wings spread so wide…

What's wrong? You seem in particularly high spirits today, Natsume.

Maybe. Why don't we go for a walk tonight?

Bring the finger too.

What?

Orion sings from far away…

Natsume seemed like he was having so much fun.

So I was happy too.

Dew and frost drops from the sky

The clouds of Andromeda…

Sorry for keeping you waiting!

I told my folks I was going to the convenience store.

Why don't we actually go?

That's not the way to the convenience store.

I guess it doesn't matter.

This feels great.

The night air smells different.

The places you know look different at night.

Doesn't it make you feel like you've gotten lost?

Everyone else is in their homes, but I'm the only one who isn't.

It's kind of a scary feeling.

Scary?

Scary but kind of fun.

Tonight there is a full moon.

The clouds of Andromeda

In the shapes of the mouth of a fish…

Hey.

-Let's head in here. -What?

But it's an abandoned house.

Don't worry. I know it well.

Does it belong to a friend of yours?

Wait, Natsume!

Huh?

Hey, Natsume?

The red eyed scorpion

The eagle with its wings spread so wide

A blue-eyed puppy…

Natsume?

The window's broken. Did a crow fly in?

Look at the left hand. Stick the finger on.

Oh!

So the finger belonged to this doll.

So the job's done, right?

Huh?

Where did he go? Natsu--

Orion sings to us from far away

Dew and frost drops from the sky…

Nishimura?

Nishimura!

-Natsume? -What a relief! Are you hurt?

What happened?

What do you mean? Erm…

You asked to go for a walk.

And then we came inside this house.

Where's the doll? Did you see it?

I reattached it's finger and it started to move.

A finger?

A doll? Sorry, but I don't understand.

You're right. Of course a doll would never move.

Was I just seeing things?

What's more, I fell down the stairs,

but I'm not at all injured.

Is this what Natsume was wearing before?

I'm feeling quite spaced out, like it was all a dream.

I'm sorry, Nishimura. It seems…

I got you involved in something I shouldn't have.

I'm sorry.

Why are you apologizing, Natsume?

It was quite exciting, like a midnight adventure.

Thanks, Nishimura.

It really seemed like the doll moved.

Or maybe it was the curtains blowing in the moonlight breeze.

How embarrassing.

I could never tell anyone that a ghost scared me and I passed out.

Hey, Natsume. What was that song you were humming?

-Song? I was singing something? -Yeah.

I'm not sure.

This Natsume seems different from the Natsume at school

and the Natsume that visits at night.

You are really funny, Natsume.

After turning to me and laughing,

Natsume returned to his old self.

The moment I reattached the doll's finger,

I knew that Natsume would stop visiting me at night.

Even though I knew I'd see him again at school tomorrow,

a part of mefelt sad when we parted.

I thought about this while gazing up at the moon.

What a mess.

It's incredible for a spirit

to emerge every night in search of its finger.

Yes, I think it all started back then.

I felt something very strange from what that crow picked up.

It must have been that finger from the doll.

I didn't pay much attention because the crow flew off somewhere.

I'm sure that when the crow dropped it, Nishimura picked it up.

The doll began looking for the finger stolen by the crow,

and it approached Nishimura.

It took the form of you, as you are his friend.

It's not great sorcery as it only worked at night.

I thought Nishimura was acting strange these past few days,

so I'm glad that we staked out his house at night.

But why did the yokai decide to make him bring the finger

to the house tonight, specifically?

Couldn't he have made him bring it earlier?

It must be because of the full moon.

It may have been a spirit that is strengthened by the full moon.

The yokai lured him to get its finger attached.

And after growing in strength,

it was probably planning on eating him or killing him.

That might have been the original plan.

But when we followed Nishimura into the abandoned house,

I saw something.

Nishimura? Nishimura?

Nishimura!

I thought I saw the hand of a doll holding onto Nishimura

as he was falling from the stairs.

When I got to him, the doll was already gone though.

I presume it travelled somewhere deep into the home

out of fear of having its finger stolen by a meddling crow

or being hurt again.

Master,

I want to tell Nishimura about it someday.

I want him to always have that smile on his face.

I wonder what that song was?

Who knows…?

NEXT TIME ON NATSUME'S BOOK OF FRIENDS

That's my line.

You should be careful of making promises with the occult.

Don't weigh us down.

Natori, do you like loquats?

Loquats! Loquats!

Subtitle translation by: Shane Forde