Natsume Yuujin-chou Shi 12: A trip down memory lane

Takashi takes a trip to his parents' old house with Nyanko-sensei, who stows away in his bag. While there, Takashi meets up with the family who took care of him after his father died. He remembers the house is inhabited by a weird youkai. Sure enough, the youkai still lives there but for some reason is bigger than Takashi remembers. The youkai pursues Takashi, asking him to draw him a mouth so it can eat all the people who mistreat him. Nyanko-sensei, who has been asked to stay outside the whole time, senses danger and scratches Takashi across his cheek to snap him out of his daze. Nyanko-sensei explains that the youkai is a bug-eater, which sucks out the strength of bugs that enter the house. However, having grown that big, the youkai is no longer satisfied with just eating bugs. After getting the key to his parents' house, Takashi takes his leave, but not before being confronted by the family's daughter. The daughter had not been especially welcoming of Takashi while he was staying there and the reason might be because she is jealous of her parents' concern for the strange boy. A grown-up Takashi now assures her that he won't take her family from her. With that, Takashi decides to lure the youkai out of the house. Nyanko-sensei then takes his Madara form to scare it away. Thinking everything is safe, Takashi continues on his journey to look for his parents' house, only to be sneak-attacked later by the same youkai. Nyanko-sensei realizes too late that something is wrong and by then, Takashi is lying on the ground, unresponsive to his calls. Although he can hear Nyanko-sensei, he can't really move or say something back, his heart only occupied by the desire to go home.

COMMENTS:Technically, this is still part of the previous arc but it feels like the beginning of another. While lacking in the emotional punch of the previous episode, this is a little scary.

more screencaps from episode 12: