#urihime

[Id. Four Gintama x Natsume Yuujinchou panel comic. Gintoki arrives to a movie set with a delivery. He says, "I have an iced coffee for a Natori S.", to an assistant. On the back, Sasago, Hiiragi and Urihime inspect his moped. Hiiragi takes his helmet in her hands and Gintoki, looking back annoyed, says, "HEY!! Don't touch that!" The assistant, confused, asks him, "Who are you talking to?" Gintoki, very nervous, sweating, is surrounded by the shikis. Hiiragi tells him, "I don't think they can see us, Yorozuya." end id]

Sometimes I wonder why, exactly, did natori return to urihime, even though (1) she's a youkai, (2) it's confirmed early on during his first meetings with natsume (supposedly ~5 years after "a hand extended" took place in canon) that he still hated youkai at that point, and (3) he has no obligation to, especially after his arm was no longer cursed. Like, was there another factor contributing to it, aside from the kindness that natori actually inherently have (but had sadly not realized yet in his teenage years), and also him weighing on getting his own shiki?

These 4 panels might be the answer to that. Yes, urihime is born as the very same being that ruined natori's life, but she is also possibly the only one in his life back then who fully understood the weight of being hated so much for their presence and forsaken by everyone else because of it, to the point that one began to question why they were still alive after all that.