Juji unhappily reports to Fuuma Kotarou that the Kairoushuu have acquired the Daya scroll. Banten's not taking this seriously enough! he rants.
[Like he's got any right to talk...in the manga he has this chat with a Fuuma girl who was his spy at the school; she remarks on the strange qualities she observed in Aizawa Kouichi, and
he says that he's one of the "magnificent existences" he calls hakutaku, "white marsh", fabulous beasts of Chinese lore usually called bai-ze. So Fuuma-dono, big surprise, knows that
Kouichi and Shijima/Shiratama are birds of the same feather...] She explains how the scroll was given to Miharu, who's been deceived and joined the Ash Wolves.
He takes off his glasses, sighs melodramatically and asks to be left alone. Katou arrives as Juji is leaving; what will we do now, Leader? he asks.
Daya, Izunashingan, Tenpenka...and Kira, he says thoughtfully. Aren't you worried at all? They now have four scrolls...
asks Katou. Fuuma-dono chuckles and says that Banten's scroll will be the hardest to get--the very existence of Engetsu-rin has always been a mystery,
not one person knows what kind of kinjutsu it is. As he checks his instant messages he says that they need to obtain them all before Hattori can see them.
[At this point in the manga Kazuho and Yukimi have basically the same conversation about Yoite's worsening condition that Kazuho has with Miharu in episode 18; the disoriented conversation that Yoite and Miharu have in the snow in ep. 18
takes place in the hospital here.]
We find Thobari, Kouichi and Raimei at a picnic table, a scenic spot overlooking the sea. Raimei closes her cell phone and says that Miharu lied to his grandmother and left the house, and can't be found.
So he definitely is with the Kairoushuu, says Thobari gloomily, and Kouichi says it's possible he may not return to Banten at all. --Thobari can't forget the awful moment of Kouichi's shooting.
Aizawa, I--he begins uncomfortably, and Kouichi says, you want to know? about me? They both look up. We really know very little about one another, the boy says.
I couldn't die, even if I wanted to. He opens his jacket and shirt, showing the mark Kannuki's bullet left. You saw what happened, he says. What do you mean, can't die? demands Raimei,
and sensei says, is it the shinrabanshou?
Don't you believe me?-- Aizawa explains that during the Edo period, the owner of the hijutsu was a gifted doctor, who used it to experiment on various
organisms in hopes of finding cures for disease. Immortality, artificial human life, and the transfer of the mind to another body...He looks at them. One of the results of his experiments was me, he says simply.
They gasp. Only a few of us survived; we traveled everywhere, following any rumors of the shinrabanshou's revival. (We see him in period garb, walking with a white cat who looks exactly like Miharu's
Shiratama...Shijima again, presumably.) Our only wish, he tells them, is to be freed from our accursed immortality. --He looks out to sea. And then of course, ten years ago...he says. Sensei gulps, and Raimei asks if he knew the owner of the hijutsu then,
but he says --as we know--that the shinrabanshou erased everyone's memories of that time. (Thobari looks slightly relieved.) So, I'm the foster child of Banten's Aizawa clan, a fourteen-year-old boy named Aizawa Kouichi.
I'll be waiting for the revival of the hijutsu until the day I die.--He smiles gently; a soft-spoken teenager who's at least a century old and could be four times that.
And for that to occur, I'm thinking of taking away the Engetsu-rin and giving it to Miharu-kun.
In Hattori's posh office, Miharu, Yukimi and Raikou present the Daya volume. He says they've done well, and Ichiki asks if a week will be enough time for them to secure the Banten scroll. Yukimi sighs. I drove all the way from the Academy, he says,
and I have an article due; I was hoping to get some rest. Please, take this time to rest and prepare for the next mission, says Hattori. Miharu speaks up unexpectedly, asking how the kinjutsu research is coming along; everyone looks at him in surprise.
Once I'm able to use the shinrabanshou, he says, I'm hoping to restore Yoite's health. (We see the assassin lying on a sofa with an intravenous needle in his arm, Kazuho in a white lab coat attending to him; he's so pale, with deep shadows under his eyes.)
I've told you before, replies Hattori a bit impatiently, that the shinrabanshou will be used for all mankind. Yoite knows that as well. --I understand your concern, adds Ichiki smoothly, but I doubt he has much time left.
==Miharu tries to protest, and the boss says firmly that the Kairoushuu mission is to collect all the scrolls,
obtain the hijutsu, and guide mankind to a new world. [--You can almost hear Miharu thinking, 'sure, right, fine, but Yoite.'].
We see Miharu in the hall outside the office; Raikou steps out, and Miharu says that Hattori doesn't care what happens to Yoite. Raikou tells him that Yoite was rescued by the leader when he was a child, and that if not for Hattori he would have died.
Miharu gasps, having had no idea of this. ==he knocks on the door of the suite where Kazuho is looking after Yoite, takes a seat by the sofa. She tells him Yoite's condition is stable. Shouldn't he go to a hospital?--Miharu asks, but she says he'd have to decide that himself,
and even in a hospital, no one knows how to stop the degeneration of a Kira user. The only thing they could do there would be to give him painkillers and medicine for his heart. (Miharu's eyes do not waver from his face.) There's something strange, though, she adds thoughtfully;
his wound is much smaller now than when you brought him in. Is it possible that the shinrabanshou could heal even a Kira user? That was just luck, I'm not in control of it, says Miharu, thinking of their moment of contact during the hijutsu's manifestation at the academy.
We see Raikou sitting by Gau's bedside in the hospital; we come back to Miharu and Yoite, just as Yoite coughs and stirs.
Miharu calls his name and his eyes open. Does it hurt? your wound's healed, Miharu tells him. They talk about the Banten scroll and Hattori's plans for the shinrabanshou. If Hattori-san gets the Engetsu-rin,
says Miharu, it will be used to erase your existence. I need to do something before that happens...
At the same time, Hattori in his office is telling Yukimi and Ichiki that they must obtain Engetsu-rin before Miharu learns to control the hijutsu. He admits that, though Banten's offensive force is pathetic, they have done a good job of hiding the scroll.
He asks Yukimi his opinion of Kumohira; he begins "well, he's impulsive and kind of annoying..." and the leader cuts in sharply, is it true that he intends to seal the shinrabanshou?--Yukimi is taken aback, realizing that the leader considers this a serious threat.
There is only one scroll left; whoever controls Engetsu-rin will control the future, says Hattori grimly, and Yukimi says he'll be responsible for obtaining it; please, don't involve anyone else, he asks urgently.
Team Banten on a ferry boat, Kumohira looking horribly motion-sick as usual. Raimei leaves to fetch tea and Thobari says that though Kouichi has been revived his own sins still remain. He apologizes, and Kouichi says with a smile "then don't commit them again".==I've always had the feeling, he goes on, that you were hiding something
about the revival of the hijutsu, ten years ago. (Thobari, of course, is silent.) You know the hijutsu had revived in Miharu-kun's body, didn't you? You knew of the revival before anyone else. The way you made that promise to Miharu, I think you knew it all along.--Kouichi looks over at Thobari, who sits with closed eyes.
Although you're unwilling to say anything about it, he says steadily, I know everything I've said is true.
What is it you're after?--asks Kumohira sharply. To be released from my immortality, says Aizawa. Are you all right with that wish going unfilfilled? because I-- --won't let anyone use the shinrabanshou, Kouichi finishes his sentence with a little smile. You know my intent, so why?--says Kumohira.
Kouichi looks off into the sky. I want to use it for my benefit, but I'd also like to see it sealed, he says. I don't want another monster like me to appear the next time it's reborn. So..he smiles...what happens depends on you. (We see Raimei by the tea machine, again closing her cell phone, looking dismayed.)
Miharu returns to his seat on a train; Yoite is there, eating. [And he's wearing his hat, which someone must have retrieved from the academy, though I didn't see anyone do so.] Miharu says that he's asked his friends from Banten to help with Engetsu-rin, but it won't be easy; Kumohira-sensei is too stubborn, he won't give it up even if he dies.
What do you think would make him give it up? asks Yoite, and Miharu has an idea. We could ask her, he says. Who?--asks Yoite, and Miharu strokes the folds of the white scarf. Hanabusa-san, he says. Yoite notes that "she's a person of the real world" and Miharu
acknowledges that, but says "we have no one else to ask". Understood, says the assassin, polishing off his bento and can of tea. Kairoushuu is probably planning something; we should hurry. (Miharu looks kind-of adorably happy just to see him eat, honestly. =)
Yukimi is very much not happy to learn that the DKA has vanished. The leader said it was your fault, worries Kazuho. He chomps down his hot dog, sighing that that means he can't come back until he has Engetsu-rin. I'll be fine, he reassures his sister, and vrooms out of the parking lot, griping about the cost of gas.
Miharu and Yoite arrive at Thobari and Hanabusa's house; she's home alone. They knock (Yoite hastily tossing the white scarf around Miharu's neck before she opens the door =). She's delighted to see them (and the scarf) and welcomes them in. [Good thing she doesn't spot the bloodstains.] They ask where Thobari is and she says he should be back soon.
At the ferry dock, the three have just arrived and are waiting for a cab. Kouichi says he'll get Sensei home, so Raimei should go on by herself. As the cab drives away Thobari looks at him narrowly...
Hana serves heaping bowls of oyakodon (chicken with rice and eggs), but Yoite says he's still full from lunch. Miharu tucks into the bowl; Hana goes out to the back step where Yoite is sitting, lifts his chin to look into his face--just like that--and says that he doesn't look well; she'll make him some porridge.
(Rice porridge is a very common food for the sick, expecially kids, in Japan. Hana-san's such a mom. =)
As she leaves, he asks what Miharu plans to do if Kumohira comes back--why are we even here? Miharu doesn't seem concerned...
It's 10 PM by the time they finish their food and tea, and still no Kumohira. She's begun to worry. The DKA look at each other and Miharu takes the plunge: Hanabusa-san, he asks, do you know anything about Engetsu-rin? Has he ever spoken of it? No, she doesn't recognize the name, but they can ask him when he gets here...
He'll never tell me no matter how often I ask, says Miharu. That's why I thought you might know something...Yoite cuts in: you don't know anything, even though you live with him? This is really important! ==His intensity startles her, but she says, it's a rule here that we keep things of that world and this one separate.
But you invited us in, even though we're from that other world, says Yoite. She smiles: to me all guests are important, whether they're from this world or another, she says. Don't you think it'd be too lonely if no one came to visit? Yoite gazes at her impassively...
Yoite hiding in the darkness, eyes wide in horror, covering his mouth--he flinches in fear as we hear the doorbell--
The DKA stand together to face whatever comes as Hana answers the door, calling to Thobari. You're late, she says--
But it's Yukimi, rubbing his cold hands together. Evening, lady, he greets her...
...go on to next episode.
They're both silent. --The truth is, he adds, that I even know where you've hidden it...we see a close-up shot of Thobari's long silver earcuff.
There's deep sadness in Aizawa's eyes. My father and mother, he says...Miharu, Raimei and Kumohira-sensei...I'll have to watch them all die before me. I don't want to. I want to be rid of this curse...it's awful to be so alone. ==He faces Thobari.
I doubt learning this secret has changed your determination to keep the shinrabanshou from being used, he says. Thobari says nothing, and Kouichi leans back over the rail at the top of the cliff, leans all the way back and falls headfirst toward the sea.
They're fast enough to grab him and haul him back, and he laughs. Even if I fell I wouldn't die, he says, and they both scold him. He gives them a rueful, pitying smile, as if thinking they really don't get it...
Kazuho smiles reassuringly. He may look as if he's dying, but he won't die, she says; his body refuses to die, as if he said 'I won't, no matter what happens'. --Miharu remembers him saying that he doesn't truly want to die.
--He must have known that the Kira would take away his
life before he volunteered for it; what could he have wished for?--wonders Kazuho.
She serves dessert. Thobari is so distracted and stubborn, she says, he gets carried away by his feelings all the time. I wonder if he gets in trouble with people in that other world. --Don't you ever quarrel?--asks Miharu, and she says of course, but she has confidence in him, even though he makes her worry. She slices the bean jelly, and the flash of the knife
suddenly gives Yoite a weird flashback: a small boy who might be himself, a dripping knife and a voice that says "it's good you didn't die". He gasps and leaves the table. Miharu smiles at Hana, then draws up the white scarf and buries his nose in it, closing his eyes. We see an image we've seen
before: a small, happy Miharu hugging a slender woman with dark hair. She smiles, he can almost hear her voice...
..go back to Episode Guide mainpage.