"I stopped filming movies... and suspended the salons. I wanted to devote my time... the rest of his time... to us as a couple, together. I eventually lost him to his illness. I felt so empty for a long time... And then one day, I remembered the salon. I wasn't trying to channel his spirit in a séance or anything. But... I realized... I missed the people. I missed the camaraderie, the smiles, and those conversations. Like the ones I used to have with my husband. He loved the Kisaragi Salon so much, and I wanted to bring it back. I had forgotten... other people loved it, too. You and your mother... It makes me happy that it was so beloved..." — Hitomi Kisaragi to Rieko Amamiya, Chapter 118.
| Chapter 118 | |
|---|---|
|
| |
| Information | |
| Release Date |
|
| Kanji Title |
クイーンのお招きにより 後編 |
| Romaji Title |
Kuiin no omaneki ni yori Kouhen |
| Chapter |
118 |
| Volume | |
| Pages |
40 |
| Story Arc |
By Invitation of the Queen |
| Chapter Guide | |
| Previous Chapter 117 |
Next Chapter 119 |
| List of Chapters | |
Chapter 118, titled By Invitation of the Queen, Part 3 (第百十八話 クイーンのお招きにより 後編, Daihyakujuuhachiwa Kuiin no omaneki ni yori Kouhen) is the hundred eighteenth chapter of the Natsume's Book of Friends manga series. It is the second and last part of the three-parter arc, "By Invitation of the Queen."
In Japan, it was first published in Hakusensha's shojo manga magazine LaLa in July 23, 2022 (LaLa September 2022 issue #575, No. 9), and was then collected and released into Volume 29 in January 4, 2023. In North America, it was released in February 6, 2024 by Viz Media.
Summary[]
Takashi Natsume, Nyanko-sensei and Kaname Tanuma found themselves accidentally participating in an occult salon hosted by former actress Hitomi Kisaragi. They conduct a ritual with five other women to summon a yokai into a box, Lord Hachinari; however the ritual is cut short by a power outage, and now it seems the yokai might be running around the manor. After hearing a scream and finding one of the women, Rieko Amamiya, Natsume and Tanuma learns more about the mysterious Lady Hitomi and her occult salon. At getting ready to leave the salon, Tanuma tells Natsume about the mysterious man who had given him a ride, whom the former recognizes as the shady exorcist Ban, which leaves him feeling concerned but does not tell Tanuma.
Plot[]
Someone is talking, wondering why they're drawn to fairies and monsters and things whose existence they cannot prove. They say they just imagine they're out there, and it's exciting. However, now they've finally found something — but their words are cut off as it pan over a cup of tea.
Tanuma saying they should go check the hallway where the scream came from.
Rieko Amamiya after screaming.
Natsume and Tanuma making a promise.
In the present, "Misa Kuromine" gets worried about the scream they've just heard, and Kaname Tanuma says it came from the hall so they should go check it out. Takashi Natsume agrees, and as they arrives in the hall, they see Rieko Amamiya sitting on the ground as if she just fell off. She apologizes for screaming, but she says she saw a shadow "running off, waving its arms around." Natsume wonders if the ritual really did succeed despite the lightning strike and if the yokai, Lord Hachinari, is actually somewhere in the manor, then he tells Tanuma he should check it out. Tanuma interrupts him and says he'll go with him and let him know if he feels any danger. Natsume asks him to promise it, and Tanuma agrees. Nyanko-sensei complains that if there's trouble they should just leave, but Tanuma calm him down with a smile while Natsume asks Amamiya which way did the shadow she saw went. Amamiya leads them to a room full of furniture and old tools, from balances to vessels. She recognizes one of those as a sand table, used for divination, and another one as a vase known as "The Fairy's skiff." She explains Hitomi is a collector of items used for contacting spirits, and gushes about how beautiful they are. Natsume repeats the term "collector," likely relating it to the "collectors" from the exorcist industry, while Tanuma remarks Amamiya knows a lot.
Amamiya talking about her mother going to the Kisaragi Salon.
Amamiya replies that she's a huge fan of Hitomi. She used to think this was all phony. However, something happened that made her change her mind: when she was a student, her mother struggled with depression. She was worried because nothing could make her smile, but then one day, for a change of pace, her mother applied to the Kisaragi Salon, back when it was still popular. As Amamiya has a flashback of her mother calling her "Rieko" and telling her how wonderful the salon was, she explains that she came back all smiles. She told her all about the lovely mansion, the beautiful queen who greeted them, the way they gathered around the antique table and how it was all so mysterious and gorgeous, like a dream. Amamiya says that as she watched her mother's face light up, she became a fan of Hitomi as well.
Clara panicking after seeing a "white face" in the window.
Suddenly, another scream interrupts them, startling Sensei, and as they run to the source of it they see Clara, sprawled in a corridor. Although she hates to admit it, Clara says she was once again caught by surprised: she was staring into a mirror, and then saw a white face floating in the window behind her. Shinobu then arrives, worried and once again almost calling her "Arisa," asking what's wrong. As Clara tells her what happened, Shinobu asks her if she's sure about what she saw and calls her a scaredy-cat, before proposing to hold her hand. Clara complains about Shinobu not believing her, as Natsume looks at the window and Tanuma seems thoughtful. Shinobu then notices Clara's candle broke and says she'll get another one, but Natsume protests that she shouldn't go on her own. Shinobu asks him sarcastically if he also thinks "Lord Hachinari" is visiting, and Natsume says he doesn't, but as they were trying to summon something it makes sense to take reasonable precautions. Shinobu seems thoughtful at his re-flexion, but ultimately agrees it "would be pathetic if they were caught with their britches down." Amamiya tells the boys to stay with Clara then as she'll go with Shinobu, meanwhile Natsume asks Sensei once again if he's sure he can't sense anything and Sensei tells him to stop asking. Natsume then wonder if it's possible one of the five people here is a yokai instead, and Sensei says he sometimes feel something unpleasant, but that it could just be "something lingering, like a post-party smell."
Shinobu upon hearing Clara's story.
Clara explaining her views on fortune telling.
Tanuma then suddenly asks Clara what she's doing given she's sitting on the ground with her cards spread in front of her, but as the boys get closer she threw herself on top of the cards to hide them, telling them not to look. She says she's trying to find out "things that are concerning," like who Natsume and Tanuma really are, or about Shinobu, or Amamiya or Misa Kuromine. Natsume asks if the Tarot cards can really tells her all that, and Clara replies maybe, though there are things she doesn't even need the cards for, things she can "just sense." She says, for instance, that she knows although Shinobu tries to act fun and laidback, she can tell she's been through a lot in life; that Amamiya looks aloof, but is actually a passionate person, or that Hitomi keeps a pleasant smile on her face, but inside she's not. She says it's not like she knows anything for sure, things she can't see are scary but handling these cards helps her calm down. She says a positive reading makes her feel relieved, while she can just dismiss a bad one. When it come to what she can't see, she can "make it any color she wants." Natsume stares at her without saying anything, when suddenly Clara screams again after seeing something in the window once more. She says something's still outside and wonders if it's Lord Hachinari, when Shinobu comes back with a candle, asking if they're okay. Natsume looks at the window and thinks there's no branches and that they're on the top floor, while Shinobu says that if Clara is that scared they should do the ritual to send Hachinari back, but Clara protests, saying she's just "jumpy." Natsume asks if they can actually send back Hachinari, and Shinobu says she doesn't know but that Hitomi is apparently getting ready for it. She tells them she'll stay with Clara until she clams down, so they can go ahead.
In the drawing room, Hitomi, Amamiya and "Misa" are together, as Hitomi explains that the building is old which is why the power take so much time to come back, and she apologizes that this turned out to be such a scary experience. Amamiya tells her to not worry about them, and then decides to take the tea service back to the kitchen, commenting on how beautiful the cups are. This makes Hitomi chuckles, before thanking her and saying she hopes they enjoy their time here.
Amamiya putting wet handprints on the walls.
Natsume and Tanuma are walking down the corridor, and Natsume thinks about this big manor where Hitomi uses to held her salons and the "post-party" comment that Sensei made. He then think about how she now live in this huge mansion by herself, before remembering that someone said Hitomi quit acting when she got married. He notices then that Tanuma is really quiet and asks him if there's anything wrong, but Tanuma tells him there's actually something he's kept to himself until now: during the ritual, when it got dark after the lightning struck, he saw someone smiling. Natsume asks him who it was.
Tanuma confronting Amamiya.
Amamiya confessing.
Somewhere else, someone wet their hands and climbed on a chair, doing something to the walls, when suddenly the boys calls out to her: it's Amamiya. While keeping her back to them, she explains she "saw a big mess of cobwebs, so she wanted to clear them away." As she says they can go back to Hitomi now, Tanuma stops her, saying they need to talk about what he saw. When the lightning struck everyone was stunned, and at first Amamiya was confused as well and hit her hand against Hachinari's box. When she noticed it had opened, she smiled. But when the candles were lit, she acted scared of the box. He said he kept quiet to see what would happen, then when she screamed in the hallway she smiled again when she saw them running towards her.
Amamiya asks him if he's sure he saw anything in that dark hallway, and Tanuma replies his night visions is very good, as he grew up in a temple and they'd walk the grounds at night, so his eyes get used to the darkness quickly; though he adds it's not always a good thing to report on what he saw. Amamiya finally turns around towards them with an embarassed expression, and apologizes, saying they're right. Natsume asks her why she did this, and adds that "Misa Kuromine" was also suspicious — Tanuma replies to him he thinks "Misa" is the housekeeper, as she did things like running to the light switch when the candles were out, knew where the other candles were, knew the mansion well and also because of the way she acted towards Hitomi. Amamiya agrees, and Natsume asks her what's the truth then. Amamiya explains she really did apply to the Kisaragi Salon when she heard it was resuming, because of the stories her mother told her. She was early, and Hitomi welcomed her, but as they waited for others, nobody came. She then overheard Hitomi and "Misa" talking: multiple people declined the invitation. Hitomi wasn't surprised as it was out of the blue, and that invites from a former actress out of the limelight won't get as much attention. "Misa" got upset, and exclaimed she's going to get the seven people they need by going out and soliciting others. Hitomi tells her to not bother and that they'll just apologize if there aren't enough people, but "Misa" is determined she'll make it work. Amamiya says she just wanted to do something for Hitomi in return, and thought that if she could make "something" happen, the salon would get popular again.
Hitomi's housekeeper deciding to go outside to solicit people.
Hitomi suddenly shows up, having overheard Amamiya's confession. Amamiya apologizes saying she ruined the Salon, but Hitomi seems calm, realizing this is what it was all about. Natsume guesses just now Amamiya was trying to put an hand print at an impossible place up high, and Amamiya apologizes again. She explains to Hitomi what she said earlier to the boys: her mother was depressed, but the salon managed to make her happy. She said that day her mother came back smiling remained a shining memory for her, and her mother started to get better, more like herself again, and she have no idea how happy it then made her. She remembers her mother telling her how much fun they had; even though they never did summon anything, her mother was happy a beautiful actress poured tea just for her, and that she didn't need anything else. So Amamiya wanted the salon to be popular again — and then Shinobu, Clara and the boys showed up, and it seemed more like a party again and they could do the ritual. She was sad that not as many people were interested in the salon anymore, but got excited when they all sat down and thought everyone else was missing out on the fun. Then she bumped into the box by accident, and had the idea that if the word got out they'd actually managed to summon a real yokai, they salon would get attention again — and that's why she pretended the way she did, before she apologizes again for causing troubles.
Hitomi and her husband.
After hearing that, Hitomi says that when she decided to resume the salon, it wasn't to get the old glory back but only because she wanted to. She said people always told her she wasn't very relatable, even before she became an actress. But her horror movies became big hits, which led to the salon. There, she talked to many people who shared her interests in the occult, and she realized she was having fun. And it was here too that she met her husband. In a flashback, a young man with glasses asks Hitomi when she first got interested in the occult, and she replies that although she's the salon's host, it was only recently. The young man explains he got interested in it because there was a rundown shack in his neighborhood when he was a child, and there was a rumor that an old witch lived in the closet. He suddenly apologizes, saying it's a rude thing to call someone, and Hitomi giggles. He continues, explaining he was sick a lot as a child so he had few friends, but he found a kindred spirit with a boy named Mitsu, who was the leader of a pack of kids, and the two of them went to look for the witch. Hitomi asks if they found the witch, but the young man laughs and says they didn't, they were just found by the adults and got into trouble. He says Mitsu and him are still friends, and it became like a secret, heroic adventure between them — before adding that he's always wanted to find out if things that may or may not exist were real since then. Hitomi explains the man became a regular at the salon after that, and they had many conversations. One day, he gave teacups to Hitomi as a gift, to replaces ones he broke when he jumped at the sound of the wind. Hitomi comments he gets scared so easily, but that he actually likes it. He then says the words spoken at the beginning — he wonders why they're drawn to fairies and monsters and things whose existence they cannot prove, but just imagining they're out there makes him excited. However, he finishes, now he's finally "found one" — something that he couldn't be sure existed. As Hitomi asks him what, he says in an embarrassed tone that it is "someone to spend his life with" before asking Hitomi to marry him.
Hitomi explaining why she brought back Kisaragi Salon.
The two of them got married — however, Hitomi's husband was sick, and the prognosis from his illness wasn't good, which was why he debated whether he should propose at all in the first place. So she decided to stop filming movies and suspended the salons, because she wanted to devote her time — the rest of his time — to them as a couple, together. Her husband eventually passed away from his illness, and Hitomi says she felt empty for a long time, but then she remembered the salons. She didn't want to summon his spirit in a séance or something like that — she only realized that she missed the people there. The camaraderie, the smiles and conversations, like the ones she had with her husband. He loved the Kisaragi Salon so much, so she wanted to bring it back — but she'd forgotten other people loved it too, like Amamiya and her mother, and it makes her happy that it was so beloved.
Kishibe apologizing and explaining what she did.
After that, the seven of them gathered once more to "escort Lord Hachinari out" as a formality, and the Kisaragi Salon drew to a close. Hitomi didn't want anyone to know what Amamiya had done, and although Shinobu and Clara seemed to have an idea they chose not to say anything. The power finally came back, and then the housekeeper, whose real name is Kishibe, apologized to Natsume and Tanuma for dragging them into this. She says that she went out to solicit people, but they all declined — and she wanted to get someone to come with her to the mansion no matter what. And because Kishibe didn't want the guests to think it wasn't popular, she impersonated one of the no shows.
Tanuma thanking Natsume.
Now that everything's over, Clara asks Shinobu if she needs a ride, but her friend replies that she already has someone to pick her up and that she wants to have a chat with Hitomi until then. Clara cuts her off and then asks Amamiya, who says she actually drove here herself. After that she turns towards the boys and say she'll give them a ride as thanks for staying then, before she go get changed. Natsume asks if Tanuma's okay, and his friend replies they just "spun their wheels today." Natsume says he don't know about that, as Tanuma was the one who figured out what was going on — Natsume usually just assume everything is related to yokai, but Tanuma realized what was happening not just because he have a good night vision, but because he's also a good observer of people. Natsume then ask him if he could tell the box didn't have any power as well, and Tanuma says he couldn't say for sure because it was just an impression. He adds though that even if it was fake, because his family runs a temple and of his disposition, it always felt inapproriate to play with ouija boards and things like that. But he's actually always wanted to take part just once in a gathering like this and experience that feeling of forbidden excitement; so, he thanks Natsume for indulging him, and Natsume thinks that he did, too.
Natsume realizing the person who drove Tanuma here was Ban.
Natsume then wonders if Tanuma actually has the eye to discern authenticity in items, like the time he saw the shard of Hakka ware. Tanuma replies he doesn't know, but he actually saw something today that was "undoubtedly real." Natsume asks him if it was at the charity bazaar where Tanuma was helping his father before they met, but Tanuma says it wasn't; there was a customer at the bazaar who had "business" over there, and he's the person who gave him a ride when he missed the bus. That person had things in his car: "life-size wooden puppets made of old boards, a whole pile of them." As Natsume gets surprised by the mention of wooden puppets, and Tanuma says the man laughed and told him not to mind them as they were just charms against evil spirits — but Tanuma could tell they were ominous, compared to the Hachinari Box and Hitomi's collection that are only clean, pure antiques. Natsume quickly ask for the man's name and what he looked like, but Tanuma says he didn't ask his name — however, he looked like he was in his mid-twenties or thirties, had long hair, and was very quiet, "almost like a doll himself." Natsume thinks it's Ban, and he tells Tanuma that they met at he Hakka ware village; that he was looking for tools, and work for a woman, a "collector." Natsume thinks about how this female collector isn't like Hitomi, someone who cherishes the connections with people and the precious memories the mementos in her collection recalls. She's something else — or he thinks that the very least, her subordinate, Ban, didn't hesitate to take what he wanted from others by force, with how he chased after Nyanko-Sensei and the other calico clay cats. Sensei suddenly adds that the white face Clara saw in the window might have been one of Ban's puppets, if he said he had business around here. Natsume gets worried Ban was coming after Sensei again, but Sensei reminds him it was a coincidence they were here, so he probably only came to see when he heard that the salon got a hold of a rare box. the news that Ban had reappeared concerns Natsume, who assures Tanuma that "it's fine."
Arisa telling everyone what she knows about Misa Kuromine.
Tanuma then go ask Kishibe if the news that the Kisaragi Salon had the Hachinari Box were widespread, and she replies it wasn't, as the only people who knew were the ones invited. Natsume thinks about the invited guests, and that Ban must have come instead of his boss to check the authenticity of the box — and then think about the mysterious "Misa Kuromine," who didn't make it but deals in paraphernalia. Clara, now dressed in casual clothes with her hair tied in a side ponytail, suddenly come back at this moment and asks why they're talking about Misa Kuromine. Shinobu comments that she looks cute in that too, but this time her friend tells her to call her "Arisa," and Shinobu begs her to "give her a break." Natsume then asks Arisa what Misa Kuromine looks like, as she's met her before — but Arisa only replies that she just got a "glimpse of her" for a moment, as the wind lifted her veil. Shinobu reacts to the word "veil," calling Misa Kuromine "Black Veil Misa," (黒ミサ, Kuromisa) as she only knew her from her alias. Arisa says Kuromine is very pretty, like a doll, and that she popped up in the industry a few years ago. Nobody knows her age or history — and she always covers her face in public. She adds that it's a shame she didn't come, as then they could've met her. Tanuma gets worried about Natsume, but Natsume replies he's fine. He looks over at Hitomi and Amamiya having fun chatting together, then hugs Sensei, and repeats once again he's fine while it still rain outside.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
- Kishibe
- Takashi Natsume
- Madara
- Kaname Tanuma
- Rieko Amamiya
- Rieko Amamiya's Mother (Mentioned/Flashback)
- Clara
- Shinobu Matoba
- Hitomi Kisaragi
- Hitomi Kisaragi's Husband (Mentioned/Flashback)
- Mitsu (Mentioned)
- Misa Kuromine
- Ban (Mentioned/Flashback)
Afterwords[]
""Ghosts in a mansion" is one of my favorite tropes. I feel this chapter made sense because of the usual preexisting flow of the story. I wanted to stuff in more things, like Natsume being intimidated by the room full of women but not getting distracted because Tanuma was by his side. Even in a simple story unrelated to the main plot, having two focus characters meant there were things that only Natsume or Tanuma noticed. It was fun and difficult to work on."
Trivia[]
- This is the 2nd time that Clara and Shinobu Matoba features in a chapter.
- The collector Ban and his mysterious female employer (Seiji Matoba's elder sister) are referenced, and Takashi Natsume thinks it might be the guest who didn't show up to the salon and deals in divination tools, Misa Kuromine.
[]
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