Natsume Yuujinchou Vol 1 Chapter 3

3

'Natori-san! What are you here?’

After seeing somebody I was very connected to, I called out to him.

'That’s my line, Natsume.’

'Look, Natsume, something unpleasant came out.’

Sparks flew between Natori-san and Sensei.

'I, um, just had something to do at this shop.’

'Oh, that’s fascinating. Would you allow me to ask you about that in detail after my work?’

'When you say work, then.’

Come to think of it, I remembered Taki saying that the shop would be exorcised before it closed.

'You’re going to exorcise this shop, Natori-san!?’

'One thing led to another, yes.’

'What on earth does this mean…’

'This position isn’t ideal, so shall we talk inside? You’ll be able to see something interesting.’

'Ah, no, I…’

Natori-san opened the door and invited me and Nyanko-sensei into Lamp Hall.

It was dim inside the shop. Immediately after entering, there was a bay window to the right, but it was half-covered by piles of wooden boxes and old books. The light that shone through illuminated the dirt and the dust. That was reflected further, dyeing the antiques standing quietly in the dim shop faint rainbow colours.

– Ah, this looks exactly like the place I saw in my dream.

After coming here, I realised for the first time that the true shape of the rainbow was the arrangement of the many lampshades lined along the ceiling. Perhaps they were the origin for Lamp Hall’s name.

'What do you think? It’s interesting, isn’t it?’

There was the deep emotion I felt from coming to a place I saw in a dream, but the thing that piqued Natori-san’s interest wasn’t reflected in my eyes.
'Hm?’

Natori-san looked dubious at my lack of response.

Then, there was suddenly clattering from an empty part of the shop. I looked there, surprised. There were only broken wall clocks and piled up sutras and old documents.

Then, there was clattering from the opposite direction. I turned around, but I couldn’t see anything strange.

'Natsume?’

Natsume tilted his head.

Then, the shop started rattling loudly.

'Uwah!’

I shouted without thinking. I see. A rattling house – also called a poltergeist. Since I could see ayakashi, it was a rare experience for me to only hear the strange noises. I could understand a little of the fear normal people felt.

When the house stopped rattling, I could suddenly hear voices.

'People have come again.’

'There’s one extra.’

'A friend of the exorcist?’

'Whaat? Something that frail can’t be a threat. Anyway, another ayakashi that looks like a round meat lump came too, but what is that?’

'Human or ayakashi, I won’t hold back if they’re the exorcist’s allies.’

Multiple voices were making a commotion. It wasn’t just two or three. Ten, twenty? No, there might’ve been more. Suddenly hearing voices from all directions was scarier than I could have imagined.

'What’s wrong, Natsume? You look strange.’

'The truth is, right now, I…’

'Natsume can’t see ayakashi right now.’

'What did you say!?’

'There was a bit of an incident, so now I can only hear their voices.’

Is that so… Even though you could’ve seen something that you can rarely see here.’

Natori-san looked like he was thinking something over.

'Please tell me, Natori-san – what on earth is in this shop?’

'Oh, there are just a hundred or so small fry.’

Sensei replied instead of Natori-san.

'A hundred!?’

Even I had to be surprised.

It seemed that every single antique ayakashi had gathered in this shop. Items that had been thrown away and become ayakashi after months and years of taking in the spirit of the land, old furniture that beings with spiritual power rested in, creatures like the mojibake that used antiques as their nests – it seemed like a variety of youkai with different stories of how they became youkai and different reasons for coming had gathered in this small space. At any rate, one hundred youkai in this narrow shop must have made for a spectacle.

'Master.’

Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice near me.

'Is that voice Hiiragi?’

'Natsume came as well? What’s wrong? I’m here.’

When I looked, I saw a small pot floating by itself.

'Uwah.’

'We are here too, Natsume.’

'I won’t forgive you if you came to get in Master’s way.’

Those were Sasago’s and Urahime’s voices.

'The exorcist’s shiki are back!’

'There’s a new face too. They brought an ally.’

'Look! They’re holding something in their hand!’

'It’s a pot. It’s a pot for sealing.’

'Do they plan on sealing us in there?’

'Damned exorcist and his dogs!’

The ayakashi around us were noisy. I understood that there were a variety of them from their voices – men and women, elderly and children.

'Well done. Now I can do my work.’

Natori-san took the floating pot. It was small enough to rest in the palm of his hand and had a cover.

'The pot has a charm for sealing ayakashi. I had it retrieved from my clan’s cellar. Do you know the term kochuuten?’

'Kochuuten?’

'It refers to the other world that exists inside the pot. You can just think of it as a different dimension or parallel world inside the pot. There are pots in this world with spiritual power that hold worlds like that. This is one of them.’

'Do you plan on sealing all the ayakashi here inside that?’

'I won’t let you hinder me, Natsume. This is my work.’

'Go home, exorcist!’ said a male voice.

'We can’t be sealed by something like that!’ said a senior.

'Humans are conceited,’ said a woman.

'We’ll eat you up instead! Grrr.’ This was probably a monster.

'But why? Have they harmed people?’

'Even if they don’t want to, they can cause people harm. It’s the job of an exorcist to exorcise them, Natsume.’

'Hmph, as if such a large number of ayakashi can be easily sealed,’ said the male ayakashi.

'We won’t just be sealed! Grrr,’ said the monster.

'Go home if you don’t want to get hurt!’ said the woman.

'He’s all talk. There aren’t many exorcists now with that level of power,’ said the senior.

Gradually, I could tell that which antiques were speaking from the direction of the voices.

'Shall I show you if I can or not?’

Natori-san said that with a nonchalant manner, and then took out several paper dolls from his pocket.

'Please wait, Natori-san!’

I immediately tried to stop him. I didn’t think stopping him would be effective. Natori-san’s point might be more correct. Even if I thought that, I couldn’t stop myself from stepping in.

'Oh? Is that youngster an ally?’ said the man’s voice from the large Kakiemon platter.

'That’s unlikely. I’ll eat him,’ said the monster’s voice from the lion-dog ornament.

'Even if he’s an ally, he doesn’t look like he’ll be much use from how frail he is,’ said the daruma on the wall scroll.

'Stop, Natsume. You’ll gain nothing from saving these small fry,’ said Sensei.

'Just as he says, there’s no point in stopping me. I’m interested in why you came here, Natsume, but I feel that things will become troublesome if I ask you. Since I don’t want any obstacles to my work, I’ll finish this first.’

After saying that, Natori-san scattered paper dolls in every direction. The paper dolls stuck to the door, the window, the ceiling vent and the sliding door in the back of the shop to form a barrier.

'Sasago, Urahime, Hiiragi! Protect the barrier.’

'Understood.’

I felt Natori-san’s shiki disperse.

'Stoooop! I won’t go in that pooooot!’ shouted the Kakiemon.

'Well, it’s unexpectedly comfortable. Though I haven’t gone in myself.’

With a smile, Natori-san put the small pot in the middle of the earthen floor. Then, he started to recite the words for the spell.

'Ayakashi that bring calamity to mankind, obey the providence of all creation and return to darkness!’

Around me, I could hear screams. I couldn’t see what was happening, but I knew that the hundred various youkai, small and large, were resisting being sucked into the pot. All the antiques were rattling violently.

It looked like it would all be finished in a moment, but that was prevented by the incident that my body had undergone. My two eyes, which had been possessed by the mojibake, suddenly started hurting.

'Agh, that hurts!’

I unconsciously pressed my hands against my eyes and crouched there.

'Natsume?’

I caught Natori-san’s attention in a moment.

'What’s wrong, Natsume!’

'Ugh, my eyes.’

My eyes hurt so much it felt like they would come out. As I was squatting, I met the eyes of the lion-dog ornament.

'Oh, this is interesting. This youngster is keeping mojibake in his eyes.’

'What, mojibake? I have never heard of mojibake possessing people,’ said the wall scroll.

'He’s not keeping them because he wants to. That clumsy idiot carelessly let them get into his eyes,’ said Sensei, as if it had nothing to do with him.

'Sensei, don’t say it like you’re not responsible… Uwah, that hurts.’

It seemed like the mojibake had been called out by Natori-san’s incantation while still stuck to my eyes.

'Natsume, are you all right!’

Natori-san stopped the incantation and rushed over to me.

'Now – the enemy’s down!’

The cries for a counterattack became louder. Marbles that had been in an accessory case came flying at Natori-san. They had probably been through by the small youkai.

'Ah!’

'Master!’

I heard Hiiragi and the others’ voices. The marbles fell to the ground before they could hit Natori-san.

'Protect the barrier!’

Quicker than Natori-san’s voice, the paper doll barrier had been broken, and the paper dolls were falling to the floor.

'Damn it!’

There was an overwhelming number of ayakashi. Marbles, shogi pieces and go stones came flying at me and Natori-san.

'Ack, stop, you small fry! What are you doing to somebody as noble as me! Ouch.’

Faced with attacks from every direction, Sensei also seemed to be at a loss.

'Ready, everybody? Our allies the mojibake are in that youngster’s eyes. Send them our spirits!’

I heard the voice of the elderly wall scroll. Then, the next moment, I felt an incomparable pain in my eyes. The mojibake were raging with the power of over a hundred ayakashi.

'Agh!’

I was on the floor in agony, holding myself up with one hand. That instant, it was absolutely not on purpose, but I reached out for help. At the same moment, I ended up knocking over Natori-san’s pot forcefully. Unluckily, it hit an antique chair leg and broke with a crack.

'Ah!’

Natori-san and I exclaimed at the same time.

'There’s nothing to be done. Let’s retreat for now, Natsume.’

Natori-san lifted me in his arms and headed towards the entrance.

'Don’t come again, humans. I can’t guarantee what will happen to that youngster the next time.’

The ceramic Chinese doll threw those last words at us.

Natori-san opened the door and pushed me and Sensei out. Then, he turned around to face the shop.

'Actually, I could have made you all vanish right here instead of sealing you in that pot. The reason I didn’t was because you haven’t harmed humans up until now. If you harm my important friend, I won’t hold back.’

After saying that plainly to the youkai, he shut the door firmly.

'Ah, that was terrible. Oi, Natsume. Wait – I’ll eat them all up right now.’

We had left the shop for a rest, and Sensei was furious.

'Stop, Sensei.’

Natori-san locked the door and sighed as he turned to face me.

'Natsume, are your eyes all right now?’

'Ah, yes… Sorry, the pot…’

'Could you let me see?’

Natori-san drew closer to my face and looked into my eyes.

'Hm, you have some strange things in your eyes.’

'I’m not keeping them because I want to, but there was an accident.’

'This is troubling. If we try to force them out, it’ll end up like that situation earlier. What a dilemma.’

Unusual for Natori-san, he looked serious. He was worried about me.

'Oi, Natsume. I really don’t like this situation. I don’t enjoy eating small fry, but I’ll eat them all for you. That’ll make that brat’s work easier to clean up too. Unlock the door.’

'Like I said, stop.’

'Let me ask you to withdraw too, pig cat-kun. If you rampage in your true form in that narrow shop, it’ll be a mess. Half of those antiques will be disposed of, but the other half are items of value to humans. Even if you don’t worry about that, I’ll clean this up by myself.’

'But that pot…’

'Ah, yes, that is a problem. That was rather valuable in itself. Even though they are all small youkai, there are not many pots that can seal a hundred of them.

'Um… if it’s something I can pay back, I would like to.’

'Haha, you don’t have to concern yourself with that, but it’ll take some time for me to arrange for another pot.’

'Master, then I will.’

That was Hiiragi’s voice.

'Yes, could I have you get another, Hiiragi?’

'Understood.’

'Master, what shall we do?’

'Sasago and Urahime, stay here on guard. We’ll be going for a bit of a walk. Natsume, could you tell me about those eyes and the reason you came to this shop until Hiiragi returns? I wonder if there’s anywhere we could calm down and talk.’

'If that’s what you’re looking for, there’s a perfect place.’

Sensei spoke up cheerfully.

At Nyanko-sensei’s suggestion, we headed for the sweet shop on the other side of the river that we spotted on the way here.

'Um, sir… we do not allow animals in this shop.’

'Ah, sorry!’

In the end, Sensei couldn’t enter the shop and had to wait outside.

'I’ll buy your portion too for takeaway.’

I whispered in Sensei’s ear and he reluctantly agreed. He went back towards the bridge that we crossed.

'Now, what sort of circumstances got those mojibake into your eyes?’

I summed up the situation for Natori-san, who looked like he was enjoying his anmitsu. There was a letter from the granddaughter of the owner of Lamp Hall to my friend’s grandfather. When I opened that letter, the ayakashi flew into my eyes. The mysterious dream I saw afterwards.

'I thought that the mojibake wanted to return to that store. I thought that maybe if I returned, they would leave my eyes.’

'I see.’

Natori-san sighed and said this.

'I really shouldn’t have asked. Like I said, things have become troublesome.’

'Sorry…’

'The ayakashi seem to think that the mojibake in your eyes are their trump card for preventing being sealed. Even if the mojibake try to leave your eyes, the ayakashi will send their spirits again to obstruct them.’

I sighed too.

'However, how do you yourself feel?’

'Eh?’

'Is this a troubling situation for you?’

'That’s…’

'It’d be better if you couldn’t see those sorts of things. Haven’t you even wished for that?’

I was surprised. Natori-san had also lived with the same troubles as me and overcome them.

'I thought that before, but now.’

'Now?’

'I already know that they exist. I know that I can bond with them too. So…’

'See, it is troublesome.’

'Eh?’

'Normally, I would just have you go home and reseal those youkai myself and finish the job. Then, that shop would be destroyed and the mojibake would live in your eyes forever.’

’…’

'There was actually a possibility that that would happen. If the timing had been just a little bit different, if you were one day – no, even one late, that would have occurred.’

It was exactly as he said. Natori-san would have sealed all the ayakashi, and the mojibake would not have left my eyes even if I went to that shop that no longer would have had the presence of ayakashi.

'If that is fate, then there’s nothing I can do but accept it. Like my lizard birthmark. If you were to change your mind and think it OK to continue like this, that would make my work easier. If you would just like to continue living without being able to see youkai forever.’

I said nothing for a while.

I had thought about that countless times before coming here. For example, even if I had arrived at Lamp Hall earlier than Natori-san, there was no guarantee that the mojibake would have left my eyes. I might stay like this forever. Would I be able to accept that reality?

'Anyway.’

Natori-san, after looking at me staying silent, said this to change the mood.

'That also assumes that the mojibake won’t cause any further harm to you in the future. There’s no guarantee for that though. There’s no helping it. I’ll have to change my strategy.’

'Change your strategy?’

'Yes. I’m going to talk with them.’

With a smile, Natori-san ate up the last spoonful of anmitsu.

I exited the sweet shop after buying sweets for Nyanko-sensei, but he was nowhere to be found. Natori-san and I crossed the bridge and returned to Lamp Hall. Nyanko-sensei was there. However, he wasn’t alone – there was a woman next to him. That woman was patting Sensei’s chin, and he didn’t look that dissatisfied as he purred.

'Ah…’

The woman noticed that Natori-san and I had arrived and stood up to look at us.

'Eh? Why?’

Natori-san also had an unusual expression on his face.

I was also surprised to see this person. With worn-out jeans, a ponytail, and a paper bag in her hand, she was the woman I had asked for directions when I came here.

'You are…’

'My name is Sako Yoshimi.’

'Ah!’

I raised my voice without thinking.

'So you really do know?’

I knew. That was the name of the person who had sent the letter to Taki – the granddaughter of the shop’s owner.

'Could you be…’

This time, the woman looked at my face as she spoke.

'Yes?’

'Taki… You’re Taki Tooru, right?’

'Eh!?’

Natori-san was smirking.

'The envelope you were holding earlier was the letter from my grandmother to your grandfather, right?’

'Ah, yes, that… that’s right.’

'I was sure that you were a girl. You wrote the reply on such cute stationery. But after I thought about it, the name Tooru is for boys, right?’

'No, that’s… I’m…’

Natori-san, who looked amused by how flustered I was, gave some unnecessary help.

'That’s right. He’s my excellent assistant Taki Tooru-kun.’

'Natori-san!!!’

Notes:

Kotodama (言霊) means soul or power of language. The kanji for koto and dama mean language and soul respectively.

Anmitsu (あんみつ) is a type of Japanese dessert made with agar jelly, red bean paste and fruits. It is served in a bowl.

Chapter end