Sorry. If we didn't do this, we'd vanish.
So, there really were other ethereal spirits like ourselves.
Let go of Arashi-san!
Be a good boy and don't move.
Or you're dead.
Just a bit more...
I see.
Shades...
Jeez, what the hell are you thinking?
Were you really going to kill him?
Who knows?
I hate that kind of shit.
Our contract is canceled, miss.
I see. So what?
Arashi-san!
You attacked a woman. Guys are such beasts in every era.
Arashi-san! Arashi-san!
Damn it...
That war, too. It was started by selfish men.
And thanks to them, we ended up like this.
I don't even want to remember it. That horrible raid...
The way flares poured from the sky...
Arashi-san!
Investigate us, and I'll kill you.
Tell the police, and I'll kill you.
Got it?
Goodbye, then.
Wai-
Damn it...
Hey, tell me already.
What are they?
Ghosts.
They've kept on living for the past sixty years.
Ghosts, huh?
Hey, Shades.
Take me to that woman.
And what will you do to her?
She's the kind of woman who carries a crossbow in her skirt.
You've gotta tell the cops.
Tell 'em what?
If they found out about her...
Arashi-san relied on a kid like me because she wanted to avoid that!
And yet...
Kid...
I can't protect her even once?
No way!
Fine, fine.
Let's go.
Why are you coming with me?
Who the hell are you, anyway?
The hell you say?
Man, you're a bratty kid!
Trust me.
This is my card.
I'm a private detective.
Murata Hideo...
Your name's Murata Hideo?
Yeah. The name comes from a hero who saved my dad during the bombing.
"Be a hero."
Fits me perfectly, doesn't it?
I see... I see.
Arashi-san wasn't wrong at all.
The people she saved existed before she saved them!
What are you talking about?
History didn't change at all.
No, more accurately, her having saved them made this time what it is.
Nobody's vanished!
Nobody's been sacrificed!
Arashi-san, you were a true hero.
All right! Let's go find her, Shades!
Don't try to take the lead.
Wait for me, Arashi-san.
I'm sorry. I didn't read anything today.
Rest well.
This is life for you.
There.
What's it like inside?
I've only been in there a few times.
But it's always dark, like a haunted house.
I've never seen any parents.
The only ones were that scary bitch, Yamazaki Kanako,
and a girl, about her age, whose name I don't even know.
What kind of girl?
A quiet type, in a wheelchair.
They seemed like good friends.
Probably someone the black woman connected with.
So, what will you do?
You should have a plan.
She uses some weird tricks. She'll be pretty tough.
Inside, we should split up.
You going it alone?
Isn't that dangerous?
You draw the black woman's attention.
I'll find the other and take her hostage.
Hey, isn't that going a bit far?
I don't want to take a girl in a wheelchair hostage.
They did it to Arashi-san!
Well?
How is she?
Is that what you talked about this afternoon? Her existence becoming unstable or whatever?
Probably.
So, what's going on?
What did Hajime say?
Nothing specific.
Jeez, that kid... He should talk to an adult before he does shit.
He doesn't want other people to find out about Arashi-san or Kaya-san.
Am I "other people"?
Well, whatever.
Anyway, want to make something to eat?
What are you talking about, at a time like this?
Hajime's gonna do something to make her better, right?
So when she wakes up, we need to all be happy and energetic, too.
I'll ask his grandfather if we can borrow the kitchen.
Yeah, and some beer!
Man, steamy in here...
Aren't they hot?
You're pretty fucking scary looking.
I'm not scary looking! I'm angry!
Make sure not to lose that.
Let's split up and check different floors.
I'll check the upstairs.
OK. I'll pray you don't run into the scary chick.
Man, ghost-busting?
Huh, nice stuff here.
What kind of life do they live, I wonder?
This is pretty old, too...
No one?
She doesn't even make a sound?
Man, we shouldn't have come at night.
This is the black woman's friend.
Who's there?
Hell yeah!
Someone from WWII has probably never seen this before!
Damn it. This is just bullying.
Come on.
Stand up.
Even somebody from the war knows about these.
I'm tying you up.
Sorry, I can't show you any mercy.
Kanako?
Where's Kanako?
What happened? What happened?
Where's Kanako?
You connected with her, didn't you?
What?
Hey, did she threaten you into making you do what she wants?
Me?
By Kanako?
She did, didn't she?
I'll help you. Let's get out of here!
No!
What are you talking about?
You're completely wrong!
Kanako wouldn't do that.
I know she's important to you,
but it doesn't matter.
She came after us first.
You're coming with me.
You're turning Arashi-san back to normal.
You're Arashiyama-san's...
You know her, too?
What?
What are you?
Don't touch me!
What's going on?
I...
We went to the same school as her.
What?
My name is Fushimi Yayoi.
Hey, did you hear it, Fushimi-san?
Arashi's rendition of "A Song of Early Spring" was wonderful!
Yeah.
It was totally different from our "If I Go Away to the Sea."
I like when she sings Lorelei with Kaya-san!
Yeah, Kaya's good, too.
How about you, Fushimi-san?
I...
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning.
Wow... When Arashi and Kaya are together, it's like a movie.
Yeah. I can't wait for the next recital.
Oh right, Fushimi-san!
I heard they asked you to do their accompaniment?
Oh, yeah.
You're good at piano.
I'm so jealous!
I don't know if I can do it.
But I'll do my best!
I can't wait!
You girls there!
How long will you stand around talking?
I'm sorry.
Don't do crappy work because you're daydreaming
over a bunch of girls who can't even tie their hair, and then expect us to pick up your slack.
Jeez, what was that?
She's just jealous!
She's mad because she has to work in the factories.
Who cares if they're from money?
Who cares if they're university students?
They're totally useless!
You're...
Let me help you.
How wonderful it would be if I practiced a lot and Arashi praised me!
Fushimi-san?
Ah, umm...
Yamazaki.
Yamazaki-san...
You're pretty full of yourself.
I'd expect no less from a university student.
You quit work early, and you have time to play the piano?
What? No...
I don't like you.
You think if you act like a good girl, people will treat you well?
That sound hurts my ears.
Tear that piano apart and donate the wire to the war effort!
Um...
If you'd like, would you come to the concert on the next scheduled power outage?
I think it will be a lot of fun!
We can all go back to being girls, kind of...
Are you making fun of me?
No.
I won't even consider going!
But Kanako came.
She listened to my song.
Why would a bitch like that suddenly decide to go?
What happened?
I don't know.
But she's really a kind girl.
She doesn't look it.
It's true.
After the concert, we got to talking, and we got along surprisingly well.
And she opened up to my other friends.
And ever since then, we've supported one another.
During those dark, horrible days when we were conscripted...
And even now.
What are you doing here?
Kanako!
It's OK, Kanako.
He didn't do anything to me.
You...
Kanako, please?
Stop this already!
It's fate that we're disappearing.
No, I think it's actually better this way.
Everybody else, they all died that day...
I can't accept such an unfair way to die.
Live, Yayoi.
The two of us must survive, no matter what!
Even to the point of sacrificing Arashi-san?
She has things she has to do!
She's going back in time to save lots of people from the air raids,
not even thinking of the danger to herself!
Wonderful. Oh, what a wonderful person she is, in every era.
Kanako...
If that's true, then she would've been happy to sacrifice herself for us.
I won't let that happen!
She wants to save people, doesn't she?
That may be what she feels is right,
but I don't think so!
I think what's right is for me to help Arashi-san go back sixty years and protect her!
Did you go to April 29th, 1945?
April... 29th...
No?
That's why you can still say that.
Ever since that day, Yayoi's been so scared, she can't even walk.
I will never... Never let her be scared again.
We will live in peace until the end of eternity!
And anybody who gets in our way will die!
I can't die here!
Ow...
Where... Where did you go?
Yayoi!
Yayo-
Yayoi!
Bored.
Bored...
Anything interesting to talk about?
Um, I read a book a while ago.
What was it called?
Well, I forgot the title.
Tell me what kind of story it was.
Yes.
It was the story of a very peaceful school.
The students are divided into a vast number of teams.
They mature and grow-sometimes fighting, sometimes friends.
And each takes advantage of their unique attributes.
The main character belongs to an especially well-known team,
and all their minds are filled with avant-garde ideas.
Huh, interesting.
This team had a phrase they would always say.
What was it?
Kimen-
Flash!
Right?
Arashi!
Is she OK?
Did I do something wrong?
When you think of summer-
You think of rain, I guess.
It starts suddenly, and if you buy an umbrella at the convenience store, it stops.
Don't you end up with a bunch of umbrellas, then?
No, I keep losing them, so it evens out.
Get up bright and early tomorrow!