Original subtitles

ORIGINAL WORK BY YUKI MIDORIKAWA

It's been a while since I've been to your house, Kitamoto.

I can't keep heading to your place without returning the favor.

Nishimura said he'd join us after cram school.

Cram school? I guess he's more put together than I thought.

What's wrong?

This old bookstore was closed for a long time but it's open today.

I had no idea there was a store here.

When I was young it was open from time to time.

I vaguely remember visiting it with my dad once.

It was closed for years so I thought it had closed down.

Why don't we give it a look?

Sure, sounds good.

Hello.

Welcome to the store. Please take a look around.

Please excuse us.

Wow, this really takes me back.

It's massive.

Yeah, it doesn't look so big from the outside.

I bet we can find some hidden treasures here.

It's quite exciting, isn't it?

Let's take a look around.

Sure.

It's even bigger than I thought.

It's so big that you would forget that you are inside a store.

I felt something just now.

I just need to understand whether or not it's malevolent.

I need to keep my guard up.

This is incredible. It hasn't changed a bit.

CLOUDY SKIES IN PARIS

Oh, I can reach it now.

I used to annoy my dad, pestering him for this book and that.

Oh, what's this?

-Hey, Kitamoto. -Huh?

If it's okay with you, could we get going soon?

Yeah, sure.

Sorry for the intrusion.

What? An old bookstore?

It's on the way to Kitamoto's house.

Do you know anything about it, Master?

You haven't gotten caught up in something strange again, have you?

Hey, stop that Master!

I sensed something strange so I left quickly.

You should stay away from anything suspicious.

Ugh, look at this mess. But you're probably right.

To be honest, I wanted to investigate it a bit more.

That old bookstore.

It's open again today.

OPEN

Pardon the intrus--

Oh, there it is again.

What is this anyway?

Hey!

Natsume.

Natsume!

Nishimura, how did you do on the test?

Don't ask me that! I'm going to do better next time.

I wanted to ask about something else.

Don't you think Kitamoto has been acting weird of late?

What do you mean by weird?

Maybe I'm just imagining things,

but for the past two or three days it seems like

he's here but not here at the same time.

What are you doing here, Master?

I could say the same to you. Why are you sneaking around?

Nishimura said something I was concerned about,

so I'm checking up on Kitamoto.

Kitamoto.

Natsume?

What's wrong? You look pale. Feeling anemic again?

Never mind that. Why are you here?

I mean, I like books

and also I remembered something after I came here.

When I was young, my younger sister Mana was a handful

and I would sulk because I was ignored.

My father noticed how I was feeling

and said that us two men should go out exploring together.

So we went on walks, just the two of us.

It was a lot of fun.

On one of those walks, we came here

and I remembered that there was a book my dad looked like he wanted.

So I thought about looking for it while reminiscing.

Is that so?

But I just remembered something odd.

On the day I came here with you,

there was a piece of paper in the middle of a book I randomly picked up.

There was strange writing on it that looked like graffiti.

I thought that the previous owner had stuck it inside the book.

But the following day,

I saw another book with the same thing inside.

I thought it was strange so I opened a number of other books,

and found the same thing in five or six of them.

-That many? -Yeah.

With that many, I thought that someone must be doing it on purpose.

Who is doing it and for what purpose?

Graffiti-like writing?

I don't really want to think too much about it,

but I thought it might be someone pranking the store.

I can't really explain it

but when I saw that paper, it really creeped me out.

What did that strange piece of paper look like?

Erm, where was it again?

THE BOTTOM OF THE FLASK

What is this?

You found it. That's it.

These are the writings of an ayakashi.

I can read it.

TONGUE

Tongue?

Oh, that's your cat.

I told you to wait outside.

So there must be a very strong yokai here.

Kitamoto, let's go home.

Wait, Natsume.

Hey!

Are you back again?

Why are you so mad?

I mean you're a store. Of course people will come if you're open.

Who is that?

She works here.

But for some reason, she keeps telling me to go home.

This store is dangerous.

You shouldn't come here.

What the heck do you mean by "dangerous"?

Are the shelves unsafe or something?

It has nothing to do with you.

You're acting crazy.

I told you before that if you're in trouble I would help you out.

Or is it a problem for you if we're here?

I wouldn't say it's a problem for me…

Look, let's just head home.

But…

Sorry for the intrusion.

She is a bit strange, isn't she?

Yeah, she is.

I haven't really spoken to her,

but she does seem to be working hard for the sake of the store.

I would've liked to have asked her about the pieces of paper.

But the way she was acting, she'd just have suspected me of wrongdoing.

If that paper has something to do with ayakashi,

it may be better that people don't know about it.

Oh no,

I just remembered that I agreed to help my mom with something.

Sorry about getting you wrapped up in this weird stuff.

-See you. -Okay.

Watching Kitamoto leave, his heart seemed all of a flutter

at the thought of surprising his father and the mysterious old bookstore.

This store is dangerous. You shouldn't come here.

I wonder if that girl knows something.

Of course she does.

She's an ayakashi.

Huh, but Kitamoto could see her?

That store must be connected to the ayakashi world.

So that may be why they can show themselves to humans too.

So the old woman at the register is an ayakashi too?

No, she is an ordinary human.

The location could be a factor or it could be the collection

of old objects that allow the borders between worlds to blur.

Most normal people don't understand

that they are in such space even if they feel slightly lost.

So has Kitamoto been in contact with an ayakashi?

Master, do you think that assistant is a dangerous ayakashi?

I've no idea about that.

But that piece of paper seemed dangerous.

I think it is probably cursed.

I want it. I want it.

-I want your tongue. -Wah!

Tongue…

I need to look into the meaning of that piece of paper.

Excuse me.

I thought I told you not to come here.

I'm not here because I want to be.

Are you an ayakashi?

How did you know?

Just as I suspected.

That's not all.

Is that a raccoon dog?

Who are you two?

I'm Master Kitty Cat!

Were you the one who put those shady strips of paper inside the books?

Where are those pieces of paper?

I protect this store.

I need to seal away whoever

is using those curses again, and I must do it right away.

This is it.

This definitely feels like him.

Who?

Long ago, there was a book in this store

in which an evil spirit called Dei was sealed.

That seal was broken

when the store re-opened,

and the spirit was released into the store.

My name is Kaeda.

I inhabit an old book and while my owner sleeps,

I act in her stead

with my duty being to protect the household.

Dei may do something bad,

so when a customer comes I advise them to go home quickly.

Advise?

I sensed that he was up to no good.

It looks like this paper curses the first person that sees it.

It takes away the power of the body part written here.

This one says, "tongue"

but others say, "right ear," "nails" and "entrails" on them.

I want it. I want it.

This is bad.

Kitamoto saw a number of them, that must mean he is cursed!

He did?

Well, we still have time.

Because it was sealed away once before, Dei's powers are still weak.

I'm sure that it can't leave the store.

So just like a leech, it sucks

the power from human body parts bit by bit.

Even still, we can't rest on our laurels.

If he does manage to make it outside,

then the cursed body parts will be removed for real.

I wonder what was written on the paper Kitamoto found.

If we find that evil spirit and seal him back into a book,

the curses should be lifted at the same time.

I can sense something scurrying around,

but I'm not sure of the exact location.

I can sense the general location of the books with curses in them.

I can help you to gather them,

so please focus on sealing that evil spirit quickly.

I'll give it everything I have. So please help me out.

Right.

And so we began to search for the evil spirit.

Kaeda could only work while the store owner was asleep,

and I wasn't as successful at finding the curses

as I thought I would be.

Takashi, that's too much soy sauce.

Sorry.

We struggled to find the spirit.

Sorry. If I was better at knowing what to do,

I would have spoken to the owner about closing the store.

No, no. If we can get rid of the spirit,

we can protect the store.

And protect you and that Kitamoto guy.

Kitamoto is a good guy, isn't he?

I'd call him nosy if anything.

I told him not to come here over and over again.

So what is so dangerous?

I can talk to the owner if you'd like.

Don't do anything I didn't ask you to! You'll just worry her.

I don't get you at all.

So you suspect me of shoplifting?

That's not it at all!

Don't make such a scary face.

My face?

I'm looking for a book.

It's a book I saw here when I was young.

I want to gift it to my father.

That's the only reason I'm here.

Have you seen it?

It had a reddish cover

and it was about foreign countries.

The way you speak is kind of old-fashioned,

so I bet you read a lot of books.

If you know what book I'm talking about, let me know.

I have never read a book before.

I am busy with my duties.

I have no free time to spend on reading.

Is that so…?

It's quite exciting to see so many books.

I like mystery novels.

Mysteries?

Yes, like solving difficult cases.

I find short stories refreshing to read when I'm feeling tired.

Solving difficult cases, huh?

That does sound fun.

Oh no, I've started blabbing.

Go home!

-I'm not interested in anything like that! -What the heck?

When I talk about things like that with him, I feel strange.

Ever since I came here,

the inside of this store has been my entire world.

I don't need to do anything except my duties.

Sorry to ask this of you, but can you tell him not to come here anymore?

I think that you can get through to him.

Hey, why are you here again?

-I've told you so many times-- -Don't worry.

I'll be on my way soon.

I wanted to keep looking for the book,

but I'm going to be busy so I won't be able to come here. So you can relax.

Also I wanted to give you this.

It's a mystery novel but in short story format, so it's easy to read.

Give it a try, if you feel like it.

See you.

Wait…I…

I won't read it.

I don't have the time.

Did you see it Natsume?

Or maybe you can't.

Kitamoto's right wrist and left shoulder looked a bit transparent just now.

We have to hurry.

But this may be good for us.

The stronger the evil spirit gets, the easier it will be for us to find him.

We have to find him.

Kitamoto is sleeping again.

He seems very tired of late.

It must be tough on him since his dad got sick.

-He never really talks about it. -About Kitamoto…

Maybe it's because he is a nice guy

and is considering my feelings,

but he doesn't speak to me about his family.

So I was very happy when he shared that important family memory

with me at the old book store.

There he is!

Cut it out, you pig!

I mean, please refrain from doing that. You'll damage the books.

-Master…? -Damn it!

I just felt something in the gap in this shelf.

Indeed, it does seem like Dei's presence is growing stronger.

He must have sucked up more power.

But something feels different. He's close!

‎There he is!

I caught him!

I want it. I want it.

Natsume!

Good job!

Hurry back to your book!

"The opening leads to an exit."

"Come to it!"

"Now close the door!"

It seems we got him good Natsu--

-Slips of paper flew up from the shelves -Natsume!

and disappeared.

It felt like I was looking at fragments of curses.

The evil spirit was locked away along with the curses.

My tongue and Kitamoto's body

went back to normal.

OPEN

Hey, Kaeda!

Where are you, Kaeda?

What's wrong?

I used up a lot of power to seal the spirit into the book.

I am going to return to my book and rest up for a while.

Oh yeah. I almost forgot.

Sorry to ask,

but could you return this book to your friend?

Did you try to read it?

I told you, didn't I? I'm not interested in it.

There are some ayakashi

who can read human scripts, and others who can't.

I wonder which one Kaeda was.

Oh, so she moved away somewhere?

I wonder if she read it.

Hey, Kitamoto.

Next time you are free,

why don't we go to that old bookstore again?

I want to see that book that you've been looking for.

Sure. Thanks.

I wonder if at some point,

I'll be able to tell him about the ayakashi.

Huh?

What's wrong?

The bookmark I had in here is in a different place.

Is that so?

NEXT TIME ON NATSUME'S BOOK OF FRIENDS

It was white and bright, slowly flying through the sky.

That mustachioed fellow seems out of sorts of late.

What a boring story.

Huh? It's a great plan!

If I could collect those scales…

Subtitle translation by: Shane Forde