Original subtitles

ORIGINAL WORK BY YUKI MIDORIKAWA

I'm home.

Oh, that makes me delighted.

Both Shigeru and I love them too.

Love what?

Perfect timing.

He's just in the door now.

You like loquats too, right, Takashi?

Loquats? Yes, I do.

There's someone on the phone for you.

-It's one of your friends. -Oh.

Hello, this is Takashi.

Hey Natsume. Are you well?

-Is that…? -Could it be…?

Isn't that the actor Shuichi Natori?

Why is he at a place like this?

It's always so hard to approach him.

He's gotten even more popular than before.

Oh, Natsume!

Over here, over here.

So sorry to have made you wait. We better get going, quickly.

You are always so impatient, Natsume.

You don't have a car?

I really like trains.

After taking the train,

Natori took us to a strange area

that had a lot of big houses

despite being deep in the mountains.

Yorishima's old estate was one of those big houses.

Loquats, loquats!

Since the incident, I've kept in touch with him.

He gave me his key and asked me to pick up some books for him.

In return, he said I could have as many loquats as I want.

He is really taking you for granted.

Yorishima was the retired exorcist

who helped us during the scarecrow incident.

Why doesn't he just come himself?

This place has a long history with exorcists.

Those who don't want anything to do with yokai,

probably wouldn't want to come here.

To be honest, I didn't want to invite you either, Natsume.

Oh?

I rang your house just to see how things were going with you,

but then Toko answered.

She kept asking me about this and that. I didn't know how to answer

so I started talking about the loquats.

Then she asked me to bring you along too.

-I'm sorry about that. -Hmph!

I'm actually happy

that we can go to different places together.

Wow, they are really big.

There are so many!

This is the Yorishima's old estate.

Do you like loquats, Natori?

I'm not sure.

The first time I ate them, they weren't sweet.

So I don't really have an opinion.

These ones look super sweet.

I hope they taste good.

Yeah.

I'll go grab the books,

so you take care of the loquats.

Got it.

Yippee!

I don't remember you liking loquats that much.

Are you a dummy? They are a luxury delicacy!

I will take the ones that I can reach.

Can you get the ones on the top?

Leave it to me. I'll get the incredibly sweet ones!

Oh, wow!

-Don't get too excited and break a branch. -This one's nice!

-Loquats! Loquats! -Okay, I need to get to it.

It's quite high up here.

While Yorishima may be gone,

the garden lives on.

Is that a flag?

It seems to be in the next house over.

-Natsume, sorry to keep you waiting. -Whoa!

Oh no!

-Ow… -Sorry…

No, no. Are you okay?

What are you guys playing at?

This cloth flew over here

from the next house over.

A cloth?

Is this the house?

Yes, I'm pretty sure it came from this house. But…

I don't get the sense that anyone lives here.

There's no nameplate either. Perhaps it’s vacant?

Why don't we head in. Someone might answer.

Hello!

Is anyone home?

It's a really big house.

This house feels very unusual.

I get a creepy feeling from this place.

It feels kind of hollow.

Hollow?

I will head to the entrance.

You should head to the place where you think you saw someone.

Got it.

Hello!

Is anyone here?

I guess it is a vacant property.

These are new footprints.

Could it be burglars?

Excuse me, I live in the locality.

We-l-co-me.

I think this is what I saw from over there.

Did you really see someone?

Yes, I saw them somewhere around here.

Oh…

Is that you, Natsume?

Natsume, this is bad!

There is some sorcery in this place.

Oh my. Natori is here too.

Matoba…

What are you doing here?

I could ask you the same thing.

This house belongs to the Miharus.

The Miharus?

The Miharus are one of the 11 houses of the Matoba clan.

The Miharus are a clan that went into decline long ago

and ultimately collapsed.

There's a deeply bothersome tradition in this house known as the three pillars.

Once every few decades, one of the three guardian ayakashi

of this house comes to visit.

So we must come to greet them.

So they're like guardian spirits that take turns to guard the home.

That's right.

I don't wish to meddle in the affairs of others as a Matoba,

but I want to prevent any undue trouble ending up at our door.

That is why we have taken it on ourselves to greet the ayakashi.

Why does the ayakashi visit?

You said that the clan is no longer around.

It seems that the three ayakashi would take turns to guard the house nine times.

Or it may be that although they are powerful

they are unable to understand how to use their power.

One should not enter lightly into contracts with…

beings from the other world.

I felt like Natori

had stopped himself from saying,

"With such terrifying beings from the other world."

Did he stop himself for my sake because I told him about the Book of Friends?

Or maybe it was for Matoba's sake?

So the key left in the lock and the paper doll

are all part of your ritual?

Yes, although because you opened the door,

we will have to recast the incantation.

Sincere apologies.

If there is anything I can help you with, please tell me.

But he is--

I'm the one who picked up the cloth

and made you come here.

But…

If Natsume can help us too,

that would be a big help.

This is what we call the "pillar room."

The last time we greeted a guardian was 40 years ago.

We were unsure how things would go after the Miharu clan dissipated.

First, the White Nailed Apparition, the most placid of the spirits showed up,

so our efforts to act as a proxy for the Miharu was a success.

She left this place yesterday

having finished her 40-year stint.

The problem is this time, the eight transition.

We don't know who will come.

If it's the 30-year protector, the Iron Hooded Spirit,

I believe that we can safely greet him

as long as we don't make a mistake in the ritual.

But the Split Redwood, the eight-year protector is the most rambunctious

and the most difficult to greet.

If we make an error, we are highly likely to be cursed.

Depending on the ayakashi that will visit, we may be in trouble.

So we are preparing for an exorcism, just in case.

Of course, they would not be easy to vanquish.

Sounds like a pain.

So, why did you guys try to trespass?

We came to bring back this cloth which flew from this house.

It flew from this house?

Oh, so you were visiting the Yorishima's old place?

I heard you have been teaming up with him lately.

Have you been up to anything interesting?

It is nothing for you to be concerned about, Matoba.

Well, in any case…

Natori, you head to the entrance where the paper doll is.

Natsume, you come with me.

Wait! Natsume will--

Master, leave Natsume to me.

The cat and I will look after him.

Hiiragi!

Don't be a burden on us.

That's my line, tubby tom cat.

That's Master to you!

Natsume, did you bring that item of yours.

No.

That's good to hear.

It's better that Matoba doesn't know about it.

Right.

Although if you had, I would've been able to get you to leave here

without you complaining.

-Don't do anything stupid, okay? -Yes.

Ah…

The secret that I have been carrying

feels a lot lighter now.

I wish I could help him in some way too.

So what should I be doing?

-Nothing for the moment. -What?

I just want you to observe.

And then if we do need to vanquish the ayakashi,

I would like you to lend me a hand.

While there are people from the Matoba clan here too,

not many of them are particularly helpful.

Then, just avoid vanquishing them.

You are very powerful, right, Matoba?

If you think I am powerful, I'm sure that you can do it.

I won't help you to vanquish an ayakashi, but I'll help you to prevent it.

Is that so?

Hey Natsume, are you giving me extra work again?

There's also been something else on my mind.

What is it?

That cloth was a flag for the greeting ritual, right?

I saw something.

I saw someone's hand cut the rope of the flag

using scissors.

Was it a person? Or was it a yokai?

All I saw was a hand.

Understood.

Regardless, there is someone or something who has infiltrated us

and is trying to disrupt our ritual.

But why?

What's wrong, Natsume?

I thought I sensed something, but they are just masks.

These masks serve as peep-holes.

It seems like someone was on the other side.

Check the room next door.

Natsume, can I go too?

I sensed something a while ago and I want to investigate.

But because this house is full of sorcery,

it's hard to get a read on a particular energy.

Sure, take care of it Hiiragi.

Natori was happy that you came with him after he invited you.

I know he got you wrapped up in a mess again,

but please don't be put off and avoid him.

Of course.

When we are done here, let's pick the loquats.

Tubby tom cat, take care of Natsume.

-Call me Master! -See you later.

Hey, come back here!

So you were in Yorishima's old place.

The loquats from there look delicious.

We best get going. They'll be here soon.

This is a mask for the ritual.

Apparently, it is rude for a human to breathe on them.

The yokai of the Three Pillars will enter from the entrance hall.

When it does, it will be the size of a person.

It won't have a face.

When it enters the pillar room,

that's when we will know who of the three it is.

So we won't know which it is until then.

What a wicked creature.

I will increase the number of people on the lookout,

but I'm not sure that things will go as well as you are hoping.

Why would the person or thing who cut that flag

wish to interrupt the ritual?

We have a lot of enemies.

They probably just want to see us fail, bring disaster upon us

and weaken our influence.

Matoba, have you ever thought

about quitting being an exorcist?

Never. Not even once.

Really?

For some reason, his answer made me feel relieved.

I wonder if Natori has ever wanted to quit?

He's a kind, gentle soul, constantly unsure of himself.

If you find someone suspicious, take care of them.

I will go check on the entrance door.

If something appears, I'll let you know.

But what should I be looking for?

Everyone here looks suspicious.

And yet, despite the number of people here,

this place feels so sad and lonely.

I mean of course it is.

No one has lived here for years.

Matoba, I fixed the paper doll.

Where is Natsume?

Someone is out to sabotage us. I'm having him look for them.

Could you please stop using him as your slave?

Aren't you the one who keeps dragging him around despite being an exorcist?

And he made the choice to do it himself.

But…

The ritual is about to start.

What is that noise?

It's from that room over there.

I thought I closed the doors to all the rooms we aren't using.

This isn't good. We've been locked in.

They're here. Hurry!

What's going on? Everyone's worked up all of a sudden.

I guess it's because it's time to greet the ayakashi.

We need to hurry and find the saboteur.

Can you not sense anything?

You are naive, Natsume.

You can't assume I will be useful in a house full of exorcists.

Take this ball.

Children should play outside.

So don't get in the way of my getting in the way.

It's no use.

Now we can be sure that there really is a saboteur.

What should we do?

We have to get out, even if it means kicking down the door.

Is that what you'll do?

The door is old.

If we break the hinges--

Don't do something crazy!

The window won't break.

This is strange.

The window that was slightly open before is closed now.

To figure this out,

we should investigate the room.

There's a mask?

Oh.

There really are a lot of strange things in this house.

Is this a peep-hole too?

Get back!

A sword?

Is must have been the saboteur

who set up such a dangerous armed booby trap.

No, I think this was something that already existed in the Miharu household.

When we got locked in this room by the saboteur,

this cursed trap for intruders

was likely activated.

A cursed trap?

So that's probably why the window won't break.

It seems we've no way of calling my servants. This is bad.

Are you sure?

We should just break the curse.

Do you still have the same three servants?

Shouldn't you be making agreements with more useful yokai.

You'll never make it anywhere

using yokai you randomly picked up off the streets.

You may be right, but I like things this way.

I am doing things my way

and trying to be the kind of person I want to be.

Even if it involves fumbling in the dark,

it's how I want to be.

The house of Miharu was well renowned long ago

for their unique methods.

However, their naivety led to their downfall.

In their later years, they set up horrid traps like the one in this room.

Then they started calling yokai whose true nature they didn't know,

called them the Three Pillars and worshipped them.

But since they couldn't effectively utilize their power,

they left behind them this twisted house and yokai.

They even went as far as joining that notorious Matoba clan.

To be honest,

I wonder why the Matoba of the time

couldn't protect the Miharu, one of their own.

Matoba are you…

Natori?

No need to worry.

I'm sorry, maybe it's just my imagination,

but I am finding it hard to breath.

Damn it.

They really have us in a bind.

It's here.

We don't know where the boss is. What should we do?

Where did he go?

Do you think he snuck off to buy some snacks?

This is no laughing matter.

I guess we have no choice.

We will have to read the words of greeting then.

Yes ma'am.

Natsume!

Are you the one who cut down the flag

and is interfering with the ritual?

Yes.

Are you an exorcist?

No.

-Go home child. -Wait!

-It's so narrow. How creepy. -Wait!

Why are you interfering with the ritual?

Wait up!

Wah!

That was close.

Thank you.

So I guess it's not an evil spirit?

Why are you interfering with the ritual?

I want to see an end to the Miharus.

NEXT TIME ON NATSUME'S BOOK OF FRIENDS

Those exorcists haven't been good for anything.

Natsume, now that we've come face-to-face,

let's complete this.

If you enter the circle to ward off evil spirits,

you can't escape unharmed!

Why don't I clear up everything for you?

Subtitle translation by: Shane Forde