Zoku Natsume Yuujinchou #8
Takashi and his two classmates are going on a... what do you call it in English... study trip? training camp? Anyway... They go to this inn and spend the night studying. Touko-san has bought lots of snacks for them ♥
They have to cross a lake before reaching the inn. Takashi sees something swimming but his two fiends doen't see anything. There's also a big pond at the inn. Takashi notices a fish swimming his way, but then... the fish blinks! 0_o; Since when fish can blink?? XD So it's a youkai...?
The boys spend their time studying and playing and basically having fun. I'm glad Takashi can enjoy some relaxing time with his friends. He deserves it every once in a while :)
In the middle of the night when everyone is asleep, Takashi gets attacked by a youkai. It's the mermaid youkai he has seen the other day. She wants to have the yuujinchou, but Takashi manages to handle her with Nyanko-sensei's help.
Youkai: "Give me the yuujinchou!"
Nyanko: *chomps*
Youkai: ... Kyaaa! I'm being eaten by a RACCOON!!
Takashi: "she's weak..."
Anyway... ^^;
The owner of the inn (Chizu-san) comes out and the youkai turns into a fish and jumps into the pond. Takashi and Chizu-san then chat together by the pond. Chizu-san says Takashi looks like someone she's been loking for. She then tells him about the legend of mermaids; if you drink/eat a mermaid's blood/flesh. you would never die. Apparently Chizu-san had seen a mermaid in this pond when she was a child, and she had given the mermaid's blood to someone. Now she has been looking for him.
The next day, the boys go home. After Takashi has parted with his friends, the mermaid youkai attacks him again. But it's nothing a Natsume-Punch can't handle :)
One day Takashi meets Chizu-san at the station. She tells him about her childhood. Her parent's were both working and she was often left home alone. The only person who came for her company was his neighbor, Keiichi-san. But Keichi-san had always been ill. When one day he gotten worse, little Chizu went to find the mermaid and asked her for her blood. She made Keiichi-san drink the blood and after that she went unconcious for 3 days because of fever, meanwhile Keiichi-san got hospitalized somewhere far away and she had never heard of him again since. She's not actually sure whether the mermaid's blood thing actually happened or not, but if it is true, she's worried of Keiichi-san. What if he has to live an eternal life and never dies? What if he's suffering because of it? It would be all her fault.
Takashi decides to look for the mermaid youkai. He finds her and ask if the legend about gaining eternal live from mermaid's blood/flesh is true. And if it is, is there any way to break it? The mermaid youkai just laughs when she finds out that Chizu had given her blood to someone else and is suffering over it now and say she will just eat her to ease her pain.
Meanwhile, Chizu-san sees someone at the station who looks just like young Keiichi-san. Thinking it might be him, she goes after him. But soon she loses sight of him and falls down, exhausted. Mermaid youkai comes to attack her but Takashi comes in time and grab hold of the youkai. Yuujinchou falls over from his bag and starts reacting towards the mermaid youkai. So her name is in it after all! That's why she was after it. Takashi gives her name back: Sasafune. She asks Takashi to tell Chizu that she's sorry for bullying her with the 'eternal life' story. Fortunately Chizu-san is able to hear her last words before she completely disappears.
Takashi meets with Chizu-san again. He has found out about the Keiichi-san look-alike guy; he's actually Keiichi-san's grandson. Keiichi-san died 3 years ago but he had lived a happy life. This brings relief to Chizu-san.
Preview for #9: Takashi-kun buys a painting...
They have to cross a lake before reaching the inn. Takashi sees something swimming but his two fiends doen't see anything. There's also a big pond at the inn. Takashi notices a fish swimming his way, but then... the fish blinks! 0_o; Since when fish can blink?? XD So it's a youkai...?
The boys spend their time studying and playing and basically having fun. I'm glad Takashi can enjoy some relaxing time with his friends. He deserves it every once in a while :)
In the middle of the night when everyone is asleep, Takashi gets attacked by a youkai. It's the mermaid youkai he has seen the other day. She wants to have the yuujinchou, but Takashi manages to handle her with Nyanko-sensei's help.
Youkai: "Give me the yuujinchou!"
Nyanko: *chomps*
Youkai: ... Kyaaa! I'm being eaten by a RACCOON!!
Takashi: "she's weak..."
Anyway... ^^;
The owner of the inn (Chizu-san) comes out and the youkai turns into a fish and jumps into the pond. Takashi and Chizu-san then chat together by the pond. Chizu-san says Takashi looks like someone she's been loking for. She then tells him about the legend of mermaids; if you drink/eat a mermaid's blood/flesh. you would never die. Apparently Chizu-san had seen a mermaid in this pond when she was a child, and she had given the mermaid's blood to someone. Now she has been looking for him.
The next day, the boys go home. After Takashi has parted with his friends, the mermaid youkai attacks him again. But it's nothing a Natsume-Punch can't handle :)
One day Takashi meets Chizu-san at the station. She tells him about her childhood. Her parent's were both working and she was often left home alone. The only person who came for her company was his neighbor, Keiichi-san. But Keichi-san had always been ill. When one day he gotten worse, little Chizu went to find the mermaid and asked her for her blood. She made Keiichi-san drink the blood and after that she went unconcious for 3 days because of fever, meanwhile Keiichi-san got hospitalized somewhere far away and she had never heard of him again since. She's not actually sure whether the mermaid's blood thing actually happened or not, but if it is true, she's worried of Keiichi-san. What if he has to live an eternal life and never dies? What if he's suffering because of it? It would be all her fault.
Takashi decides to look for the mermaid youkai. He finds her and ask if the legend about gaining eternal live from mermaid's blood/flesh is true. And if it is, is there any way to break it? The mermaid youkai just laughs when she finds out that Chizu had given her blood to someone else and is suffering over it now and say she will just eat her to ease her pain.
Meanwhile, Chizu-san sees someone at the station who looks just like young Keiichi-san. Thinking it might be him, she goes after him. But soon she loses sight of him and falls down, exhausted. Mermaid youkai comes to attack her but Takashi comes in time and grab hold of the youkai. Yuujinchou falls over from his bag and starts reacting towards the mermaid youkai. So her name is in it after all! That's why she was after it. Takashi gives her name back: Sasafune. She asks Takashi to tell Chizu that she's sorry for bullying her with the 'eternal life' story. Fortunately Chizu-san is able to hear her last words before she completely disappears.
Takashi meets with Chizu-san again. He has found out about the Keiichi-san look-alike guy; he's actually Keiichi-san's grandson. Keiichi-san died 3 years ago but he had lived a happy life. This brings relief to Chizu-san.
Preview for #9: Takashi-kun buys a painting...