子狐のぼうし | Kogitsune no Boushi | Manga Special 1 & 5
Natsume goes on a trip with a study group and is pleased that Shigeru has asked him to pick up some rice bowls he commisioned while he is there as he feels closer to being family to his adoptive parents after being asked such a favor. While he is there Natsume saves a young orphaned kitsune from some oni trying to make it leave the forest and it grows attached to him.
Tropes associated with the episode:
- Asian Fox Spirit: Kogitsune is a young one without much power yet and lacking trickster behavior.
- Cute Monster Girl: A rare male example though to be fair, it's not hard to mistake him for a girl.
- Heartwarming Orphan: Kogitsune, who is introduced finding an abandoned hat which he thinks is pretty and wants to show his mother, and brings it back to a pile of stone where he tells himself not to cry since "men don't cry".
- Improvised Umbrella: Kogitsune uses a leaf and gives one to Natsume in a rain storm.
- Oni: Natsume beats up two large oni which have a habit of picking on the young kitsune, twice.
- Ryokan Inn: Natsume's study group is staying at an inn at a hot spring.
