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"People make scarecrows, ignorant of the risk involved. Someone with power can inadvertently... make an enchanted scarecrow. Their intense feelings of hope and gratitude for the harvest make it even more likely. It basically binds a soul. Someone made a vessel for a new soul. It's not something humans should dabble in. Scarecrows created this way... Once they've fulfilled their purpose to protect the crops from beats and birds... they have nowhere else to go, and hide in the mountains."Yorishima

Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Information
Release Date

September 24, 2015

Kanji Title

とおかんや

Romaji Title

Tookanya

Chapter

80

Volume

20

Anime Episode

Tookanya

Chapter Guide
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Chapter 79
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Chapter 81
List of Chapters

Chapter 80, titled Ten Nights (第八十話 とおかんや, Daihachijuuwa Tokanya) is the eightieth chapter of the Natsume's Book of Friends manga series.

In Japan, it was first published in Hakusensha's shojo manga magazine LaLa in September 24, 2015 (LaLa November 2015 issue #493, No. 11).

Summary[]

The Chukyuu (A and B) lead Takashi Natsume and Nyanko-sensei in a far away town to try out a new manjuu shop, but on their way they come across some scarecrows moving on their own. After having a dream where the scarecrows come into a house with sickles, Natsume gets worried and decides to investigate. There, he meet the exorcist Shuuichi Natori and his shiki Hiiragi, who has coincidentally been hired by the owner of the house where the scarecrows went into. Not knowing anything about those youkai, Natori decide to go ask information to an acquaintance of him who is a retired exorcist living as an hermit in the woods: Yorishima.

Plot[]

The Chuukyuu are leading Takashi Natsume and Nyanko-sensei in a new town, wanting to show him a shop that has a new manjuu flavor. They tell him that they can't tell if the filling is made with chestnuts or sweet potatoes, and needs more people to find out; Natsume looks annoyed at first, but ends up smiling, resigned. As he says he'll have to go back soon or he'll be late, the four of them pass by a bunch of moving scarecrows on the street that Natsume almost mistake for humans. The yuokai comments that they're headed for the hills, since the rice has been harvested and so they must've been dismissed from their duties; but as they eat the manjuu, Natsume feels wary about them, because scarecrows shouldn't be able to move.

At night, he has a dream where he sees the same scarecrows entering a house with sickles; which worries him so much that the next morning he decides to go check if that house exists for real, promising two manjuu to Sensei. The house does exist, and just as he arrives he sees the same scarecrows exiting it while chanting "To-kan-ya" (Ten Nights). Nyanko-sensei calls them creepy and proposes to follow them, but Natsume wants to know if the people of the house — that has a nameplate with the name "Amasawa" — are safe. At this moment, Hiiragi suddenly appears behind Natsume, surprising him, shortly followed by Shuuichi Natori.

Natori greets Natsume and asks him what he's doing here; as the boy starts mentioning the scarecrows, Natori asks him with an angry smile if he's getting involved into something again and Natsume replies "Not yet." Natsume then asks him if he's here on a job, and Natori tells him he's not sure he should disclose anything to an outsider, earning him a glare. As Sasago and Urihime appears behind them, however, he adds that as Natsume seems to know something about the house, they should do a trade.

Ch80 p8

Natsume seeing the scarecrows.

He then proceeds to explain his job to him: the owner of the house, who is from an influential landowner family, hasn't been able to sleep well lately and feel a presence at home, so Natori has been called by some "old friends in the industry" to check on him. Natsume tells him about the scarecrows, which baffles Natori as he's never heard of a youkai like this before, and Natsume adds they were mumbling "To-kan-ya." Natori wonders if they're talking about "Night of the Tenth Day," like "Jugoya" from the Harvest Festival related to the Lunar Calendar; but he then corrects himself and says that it's probably written differently. He then adds that he knows someone "a bit eccentric who sees youkai and is a walking dictionary" who lives nearby and who they could ask for opinion. He asks Natsume if he wants to come with him, to which the boy inquires if he's sure. Natori remarks that he'd be more worried if Natsume went off on his own, and asks him directly if he wants to help him. Natsume smiles and agrees.

Ch80 p10

Natori greeting Natsume.

Ch80 p15

Yorishima interrupting Natori and Natsume.

Natori and Natsume, along with Sensei and Hiiragi wanders into the woods, and Sensei remarks he doesn't feel good. Natori says there's a lot of field forces and barriers here, just like at Hakozaki's place. He says his acquaintance is named Yorishima, and that his family was once big enough to compete with the Matoba clan but that he's now retired and has holed himself up into the woods, even if he's still powerful. Suddenly, they're stopped in their tracks as a man with his arm in a sling call out to Natori by saying "Hey, exorcist. Why are you trespassing?" Natori greets him as Natsume ponders about how that man is the famous Yorishima. Meanwhile, Yorishima starts saying he wants nothing to do with an exorcist and that Natori should leave until he spots Natsume, which Natori introduces as "a friend who can sees youkai." The boy tells his name and thinks there's something strange about this man, as Yorishima stares intensely at him quietly. They're interrupted by Sensei calling Yorishima "kid" who demands to be let in and have tea be served at once, which have Yorishima freaks out and asks what creature is this and if Natori is trying to harrass him. Natsume apologizes and says that this is his cat.

Ch80 p16

Yorishima staring at Natsume.

Inside, as the four of them are sat at a table with tea, Natori says with a smile that they seems to have caught Yorishima in a bad mood, to which Yorishima just replies to him to drink his tea and leave. He then stares at Natsume again, and tells him he seems mysterious and that he must be powerful. He asks him if that "round thing" is his shiki, to which Natsume says he's just a freeloader and Nyanko-sensei loudly protests that he's his bodyguard; that Natori justifies by the fact Natsume get himself into situations.

After that, Yorishima explains he does indeed know what "Tokanya" is: a match between humans and youkai, where youkai in search of dwelling pick a house they like, and it begins when the human accepts the challenge. Once a day for ten days, the youkai threaten the family, and if they leave the house the youkai wins; at the contrary, if at least one person remains the humans wins, and the youkai must provide wealth to the household in returns. A match between humans and youkai makes Natsume thinks about his grandmother and the Book of Friends, and then asks if that means the human in this case accepted the challenge. Yorishima says that it's not always the case, as sometimes the challenge could just be accepted with the youkai calling the human's name and the human responding, and Natori comments on it being underhanded. Natsume muses that humans can't know youkai's rules and that accidental contact leads to a connection without one even realizing it. He remarks the scarecrows felt different from the youkai he usually sees, and Yorishima explains that's because they were probably created by a forbidden spell. If someone with power make a scarecrow they could accidentally make one that is enchanted, especially if they have intense feelings of gratitude and hope for the harvest.

Ch80 page 24

Natori asks Yorishima about Reiko Natsume.

Once again, Natsume thinks back about Reiko and wonders if that's what happened with her: it was originally just a game to her in order to pass time, but because of her powers it ended up binding lives. Natori stares at him silently as Yorishima echoes his thoughts by saying that forbidden spells binds a soul and that it's not something humans should dabble in; this leads to scarecrows created this way to have nowhere to go once they've fulfilled their purposes. Natsume looks affected at that comment, and Yorishima noticing this gets angry at Natori for dragging a kid into something like this, saying Natsume's "too emotionally caught up in youkai." Natori says he knows, but then Yorishima adds that he's starting to look more and more like Seiji Matoba. Natsume instantly reacts to this and defends Natori, telling to Yorishima that even though he has issues with him sometimes he's still different from Matoba, that he's trying to help others and that Natsume admires him for that. Natori looks surprised, and Yorishima apologizes and tells him he hadn't meant to speak badly of his friend. Natsume apologizes as well, then run off outside as Yorishima's watching him with a small smile. As Natori's about to go out as well, Yorishima tells him to go away and to never come back. However, right after he adds that Natsume is a mysterious kid; he says he seems "familiar" and that he feels many things from him, "like he's possessed by something... or he possesses something." Natori asks if Yorishima has ever heard of Reiko Natsume, and Yorishima, after hesitating, says no. Natori then inquires to him about the Book of Friends, but Yorishima denies knowing anything about this again. Lastly, Natori demands him to keep quiet about this and to tell him if he hears anything, but Yorishima replies he has no obligation to inform him. As Natori leaves, Yorishima appears thoughtful.

Ch80 page 27

Natori and Natsume meet Amasawa.

Outside, Natsume is with Sensei and Hiiragi, and Sensei complains about how it felt uncomfortable in there. Natori joins them and they all go to meet his client: the owner of the house named Amasawa, who Natsume describes as "a generous man who owned a lot of fields around here." Amasawa tells them he has nightmares of people chasing him around the house whenever he sleeps, and that it's been nine days; in other words, the game should ends tomorrow. Natori proposes to stay the night to set up force fields to chase away the scarecrows. Amasawa agrees and tells them it's an old house but that it's full of memories, so he doesn't want to give it up.

Ch80 page 29

Natori confides in Natsume.

At night, Natsume and Natori are drawing spell circles to prepare for the scarecrows, and Natori thanks him: he says Yorishima never talks freely like that. Natsume comments that he's a strange person: scary but familiar, kind of like how he feels when he talks to a youkai. Natori replies it's not too far from the truth: Yorishima is in reality much older than he looks because of him being supposedly half-youkai. According to some rumors, a youkai ate his left arm, but it grew back — the youkai possessing and replacing his arm. Natori confides in Natsume that when he's with people who works with youkai, his own worries seems small in comparison; yet some things are still hard for him and he still fell afraid — and the lizard youkai living on his skin pass in front of his face as he says so. Natsume simply replies that he understand that.

Ch80 page 36

Natori and Natsume drives out the scarecrows from the Amasawa household.

Later, Natori and Natsume have laid all the traps; the youkai are considered to be guests while the match is on so the wards won't be very effective, but Natori still wants to put some in the yard. Finally, the scarecrows arrives. Natori tells Natsume to go check on Amasawa where Hiiragi is guarding him; as Natsume reaches them, Amasawa is asleep and Hiiragi says she tried to shake him but he won't wake up, so she'll watch over him and asks the boy to go help Natori. Just as Natsume leaves, he gets attacked by a scarecrow and is saved just in time by Nyanko-sensei in his true form, leaving then nine scarecrows to take care of. As they go in the yard, Natsume hears some crow cawing but then realize this is one of the scarecrows making those sounds; he then leads it away towards a spell circle to trap it there. After that, Natsume, Natori and Nyanko-sensei all works together to get rid of the remaining scarecrows, Natsume ultimately leading the last ones into a circle as Natori recites a spell; leaving only one scarecrow left. They can't find the last one, however — Sensei saying they're made of straw, so they don't smell and he can't find it that way.

Ch80 page 39

Amasawa apologizes to the scarecrows and asks them to leave.

Finally, Amasawa wakes up and opens the door to the yard despite Natsume's protests. Amasawa apologizes to the scarecrows, saying he understand that they have nowhere else to go, but his house means too much to him and he can't hand it over to them. A broom against the door suddenly responds to his words, changes back into its scarecrow form and silently leaves the house, quickly followed by the rest of them.

After that, Nyanko-sensei asks Natori if he's sure he wants to let them go, as they could challenge someone else. Natori replies they lost so they won't be able to challenge anyone until they fulfill their obligation, and they just used a lot of their power for this so they'll have to lay low for a long time. Natsume ponders over how the scarecrows were just an accident created by a forbidden spell, beings that were never meant to be. Amasawa thank them, and explains he recognized the scarecrow because he noticed an unfamiliar broom by the gate. He then wonders why those scarecrows had taken such a liking to his house to start with. His family made their life through those fields, but now his wife passed away and his children have left, so he doesn't need anything more. As such, he says that if the scarecrows are going to bring more wealth to this house, then he'll pay Natori using that wealth so he can free the scarecrows. Natori says he'll do his best.

Ch80 page 45

Natori vows he'll find a way to free Natsume from the Book of Friends

As Natsume, Natori, Hiiragi and Nyanko-sensei leaves through the fields, Natsume asks Natori if he thinks he can actually free the scarecrows. Natori says he doesn't know, as liberation is more difficult than exorcism or cancelling a contract. With a serious look, he then adds that he'll definitely find a way to free Natsume from the Book of Friends, to which Natsume looks surprised at but then only smile. Nyanko-sensei then asks Natsume if he intends to go home empty-handed, and reminds him of the manjuu he promised him.

Characters in Order of Appearance[]

Afterwords[]

"I'm embarassed to admit that this story and "Flowing" were a lot gloomier (in a good way) during the plot-stage when they were only text. When I started to draw the art, it wasn't quite what I had imagined, to my horror. It was exactly the same fundamental wall I used to hit when I first started drawing manga. I usually finish and submit my plot after I've done all the simulations to konw whether I can express my story in the art and convey the core feeling of it, but this time and the previous time I just had the urge to draw these ideas. I still want to create a spine-chilling, familiar but out-of-place feeling of something scary you might see out of a car passing through the countryside someday. It was nice drawing Natori again, but I want to spend more time drawing Hiiragi, Urihime and Sasago."

Yuki Midorikawa.

Trivia[]

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Chapter 78Chapter 79Chapter 80Chapter 81
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