It's been sometime since we last saw Natsume returning a name. It's nice to see it again. I really like the part where Natsume's mind is flooded with the youkai's memories after he returns the name. It's always very touching and heartwarming. SummaryNatsume is going for a study retreat with his friends and his guardian excitedly buys lots of tidbits for him to bring along. The next day, Natsume meets up with Kitamoto and Nishimura. While on their way to the onzen inn, Natsume notices a youkai in the lake. When they reach the inn, Nyanko-sensei's head suddenly pops out of Natsume's bag and he tells Natsume that the place they are at is famous for its mermaid legend. In Natsume's mind, he suspects that the youkai he saw earlier is a mermaid.That night, while Kitamoto and Nishimura are asleep, the mermaid youkai appears and attacks Natsume. She seems to be after the 'Book of Friends'. The inn lady, Chizu Sakanaka, hears the commotion and goes outside to see what's happening. When the mermaid youkai sees her, she immediately jumps into the water. Chizu sees Natsume alone outside with Nyanko-sensei. They then sit down outside the inn and chat. Chizu tells Natsume that he reminds her of a person she's been looking for.The next day, on his way home, Natsume bumps into Chizu at the train station. She tells him she's waiting for that person. That person is actually her childhood friend. When she's young, she used to play with the mermaid in the lake. One day, when her childhood friend fell very sick, she went to the lake and pleaded the mermaid for her blood, that's supposed to heal and give immortality. The mermaid gave her a bottle of blood, which she gave to her friend. After the incident, her friend left the town and was never seen. She feels remorseful towards her friend as she thinks it's wrong of her to give him immortality.Natsume returns home and his mind is still filled with what Chizu said. He decides to help her. He goes back to the lake to look for the mermaid youkai. He manages to grab hold of her and he asks her if she's the mermaid who gave Chizu the blood. The mermaid youkai is shocked by his question and decides to go attack Chizu and end her suffering. Natsume gives chase. When the mermaid youkai is about to reach Chizu, Natsume jumps on her. His 'Book of Friends' falls out of his pouch and it responds to the mermaid youkai. Natsume realizes that her name is in the 'Book of Friends'. When she's about to eat Natsume, Nyanko-sensei transforms into his majestic form and saves Natsume. Natsume manages to grab hold of the 'Book of Friends' and he proceeds to return her name, Sasafune, to her. Memories of Sasafune flood Natsume's mind. Sasafune is indeed the mermaid who gave Chizu the blood. However, the blood was not real blood. It's just grape juice. She did it because she's angry with Chizu for wanting her blood, however, after seeing how Chizu thanked her, she felt angry and sad at what she had done. She hopes that Natsume can help her apologize to Chizu. The moment before Sasafune disappears, Chizu appears and recognizes the mermaid's voice. Sasafune gives her a warm smile before disappearing.After the incident, Natsume continues to help Chizu to look for that person. It turns out that that person is her childhood friend's grandson. Her childhood friend had passed away 3 years ago. Chizu is glad that her childhood friend did not gain immortality and is touched to see his grandson.PicturesHaha.. Nyanko-sensei really loves fish!Mermaid youkai tries to attack Natsume again but fails again!Chizu's pastNatsume returns Sasafune's name..The expression Sasafune can never forget.Final farewell..Chizu's childhood friend's grandson
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