Yukimi, working at his computer, takes a panicky phone call from his sister, giving him the update on the events at the hospital and the disappearance of Y&M.
I should be the one getting a headache, not you, he grumbles. On top of having to find Engetsu-rin and my deadlines...those guys really know how to give me trouble... He's just advised her to calm down and go look for them
when she says "--what? they're back?" and hangs up on him.
Sure enough, our lost lambs have returned to the hospital, shivering but on their own feet. Kazuho is about to round up dry clothes for them when she's called away to see Gau.
Gau describes the dream he had in his coma: how he tried to return to his mother's house but couldn't find it, and realized his hands have become so bloodstained that he's no better than the man who killed her.
To his surprise, he heard a voice, telling him to return, and Yoite's hand seemed to reach in to him...that's how I was drawn back, he says. Raikou gazes at him sadly, certain Gau is about to say he's leaving the world of Nabari. But instead Gau turns and smiles at him,
saying he wants to stay at Raikou's side.
Yoite--you--? asks Miharu. Yoite explains that Kira controls the victim's circulation; it can block the circulation and kill him, but it can also stimulate it, and increase his chances of survival. He leaves the room, Miharu trotting at his heels.
In Hattori's limousine, Ichiki takes a call from Kazuho and relays the latest news. Our Christmas has become quite lively, smiles Hattori. I guess humans don't necessarily die so easily, she says, and he replies that soon the world won't contain such unhappy children any more.
Like the day that child pleaded with me... So, Ichiki says, re-opening her phone, shall we go ahead and call in the Tattegami? He nods, and says they also need to remind Rokujou-kun of the original plan. Time is running out, she agrees.
Next day: Gau and Raikou arrive at Yukimi's apartment, where Gau has a neat-freak fit over the messy condition of the place. Just out of the hospital and already back to your annoying self, retorts Yukimi. We're just guys getting together for a discussion, who'd bother to clean up?
But this is a very important matter!--insists Gau, and they squabble until Raikou breaks them up.
Pizza, coffee and a big vanilla cake trimmed with strawberries have been provided for the meeting, and Gau welcomes Miharu to the Kairoushuu, saying he's sure Miharu was moved and inspired by their leader's ideas. Miharu plays the eager recruit to the max =) ==they discuss what little they know about Thobari;
could he have taken refuge in a teaching job in the outside world? or, as he's Irish, could he have fled back to his home city? is his amaxophobia just a hoax? --They ask Miharu's opinions, but --as he did with Yoite--he says he doesn't know anything.
We see Yukimi and Kazuho at the clinic, where she's given him the sad news about the little time Yoite has left. He's shocked, and asks if Yoite knows; I'm afraid so, she says. That's probably part of the reason for all this, though I can't guess what Yoite was thinking when he used Kira on Gau.
--Yukimi rests his head in his hands. I've been saying something like this would happen, he says. His sister asks if he thinks Yoite actually intended to save Gau's life, and he says the only one who knows is that little devil [he really does say ko-akuma =)] --You mean Miharu-kun? she asks, and he says yes; the atmosphere between those two has definitely changed.
She agrees that yesterday Miharu was unusually focused. As I suspected, she says, he must be thinking of somehow using the shinrabanshou to save Yoite.
Raikou and Gau walk along as Gau speaks: when the Kira energy was flowing inside me, I felt as if Yoite's life touched my heart..and it felt so lonely, though I don't know why...Raikou-san, please save Yoite, he asks. How could we do that? the samurai asks, and Gau says he doesn't know--but he wants to.
Yukimi comes home from the clinic and nearly trips over Yoite curled up in a heap of blankets on the floor, shivering. Yukimi touches his forehead, growls that when he's running a fever he shouldn't just suffer in silence, and throws him another blanket. Does he want something hot to drink? Yukimi knows he doesn't like coffee; how about hot chocolate? --Yoite asks for lemonade. =)
We see Yukimi at his computer, typing in the dark room by the screen's light, as Miharu and Yoite sleep. He's not even struggling, he thinks, just... gazing into the face of death. Something on those shores...those eyes that gaze at things that give people chills..is that who you were?
He finds an old journal, dusts it off, thinking. We know the things he went through after he was adopted by our leader, he thinks, but there's no information about Yoite before that. His name, his age, where he was born or schooled...all unknown.
Yukimi wonders whatever did happen to that cat...he took it in and named it, but he can't remember when it disappeared...he leans back in his desk chair. Yoite, who are you, he wonders and falls asleep.
He gets a rude awakening hours later when he leans too far back and tips the wheeled chair over. Getting to his feet, he sees the heaps of blankets empty and the kids gone, Yoite's striped mug still standing on the floor.
At the clinic: Yoite holds Kazuho at fingerpoint while Miharu asks the questions. You've been keeping things from us for quite awhile, he says coldly. Certain research information...like when I asked you if there were ways of using the shinrabanshou besides finding Engetsu-rin. He remembers that she closed her browser screen when he asked that, and they both look at her laptop. She shields it with her hand,
saying indignantly that this is confidential Kairoushuu information, open only to those okayed by Hattori--Yoite points, and a black blast scar appears in the file cabinet beside her head. I won't miss next time, he says. Yoite-kun, she protests, you mustn't keep using Kira; but he says in a cold level voice that he's out of time and can't be choosy about methods. Miharu asks her directly:
what do I have to do to use the shinrabanshou?
Kazuho hangs her head in defeat and tosses him a ring binder from her desk. Togakushi's izunashingan--you must remember--gives the power to read minds. If we use that to confront it directly, we may be able to awaken the shinrabanshou within Miharu. --they look at each other, take the binder and head for the door. It's only a partial theory! she cries after them.
If it's done incorrectly you could both be swallowed up!--but they're gone, and she drops into her chair. Big brother, she thinks desolately, I couldn't stop them...
The kids buy train tickets and a bento box. Yoite says his fever is better since he's had some sleep, but when Miharu comments that the bento smells good, Yoite realizes that he can't smell it...another sense gone. [I feel pretty sure he'd still be blind if Miharu hadn't been with him that moment two nights ago.]--He eats it anyway. They hope Oda Yae is well; they'll need her help.
And we see a team of ninja we've never seen before, making sure a man's death looks accidental before meeting Ichiki in an art museum. She smiles. Long time no see, she greets them, Kairoushuu's secret unit--the Tattegami.
...go on to next episode [though that may not arrive anytime soon... =( ]
...go back to Episode Guide mainpage.
Miharu and Yoite arrive; Yoite hesitates at the door as if not sure he's still welcome here. They both remember their battle on the roof of Banten School. Yukimi begins awkwardly,
"Um, how do I say this..that was..." and Gau bustles past him and hauls Yoite over the threshold, asking why he's spacing out that way. Ah, well.
Gau, meanwhile, offers huddled Yoite a big wedge of cake, saying that even
if he's lost his sense of taste he should still be able to smell it. He smiles and says he made this cake himself, and shyly thanks Yoite for saving him--whether or not he intended to. Raikou seconds the thanks, saying he owes Yoite a favor. Yoite seems quietly pleased to have used Kira for a good purpose. He inhales the fragrance of the cake, saying it's very sweet,
and then amazes Gau by eating the whole slice in one bite. Miharu thinks it's too sweet, so Yoite eats his slice too. =) Yukimi watches them both...
Yukimi sips his coffee. Only one month left, he says quietly...what can people like us, who don't have the power of the shinrabanshou, do for him? --Kazuho looks anxious. Big brother, she says, don't talk like that...even though Yoite-kun is so pitiable, the way he and Miharu have become is dangerous to everyone around them. Please don't ever do anything that would make you defect from the Kairoushuu! She looks at him pleadingly.
We've both finally found a place we can stay... --He sets down the coffee and sighs. I understand, he says.
Yukimi brings it over and even spoonfeeds him some before Yoite claims the mug. We see that Miharu is asleep on the couch behind him; they must have stayed after the meeting (and also cleaned up the floor).
Yoite quietly says that he's sorry, and Yukimi doesn't have to forgive him. What are you and Miharu planning? Yukimi
asks. What on earth are you trying to get from the shinrabanshou? Is it to save yourself from the jaws of death?
--Yoite sits cloaked in his blanket, holding the mug in both hands, drawn into himself.--
If that's so--the older ninja's beginning to lose his temper, as he does when he feels helpless--why did you ever learn Kira in the first place? You knew it would come to this eventually, yet you--Yoite-- he pulls back the blanket to see Yoite's face, and draws back almost afraid at the serene, unearthly calm of the boy's features. Miharu's eyes open; he lies gazing watchfully at them, but makes no sound.
He finds a page in the journal. February 10th, 8 PM, it says: the leader, Hattori, gave me a boy who uses Kira to look after. We see a few-years-younger Yukimi and a kid looking maybe 5-7 years old, staring blankly in clothes too big for him. Yukimi asks the kid his name, he says nothing.
The next night, when Yukimi arrives home from work, he finds a strange scene;
the side effect of learning Kira is a metabolism kicked into high gear, and the child is growing into a teenager --painfully--before his eyes. Three days and nights pass; Kazuho helps him feed their nameless guest, whose appetite is ravenous, and on the 14th the process grinds to a stop. The ninja siblings look down at the exhausted bundle asleep on the sofa, long arms and legs outstretching the clothes that were too big only days ago,
hair so long (<3) that Yukimi sits him up and cuts it. [we're certainly lucky it stopped there; the series dynamic would get pretty uneasy if Yoite looked 50 or so.] He still hasn't spoken, beyond some cries of pain, since he arrived. -- Yukimi decides that whether their guest really has no name or just doesn't want to tell it, it's inconvenient to deal with someone who has none, and sets about trying to name him. He reels off some names, doesn't like those, gazes out the window into the windy twilight sky.
Yoi-kaze (yoi means "early evening"), he muses...yoi-te...the boy reacts to that one, and Yukimi says that name's too weird, a cat's name. But the blue-eyed stranger likes it. "Yoite," he says softly, and thus is named.