I'm going to miss my train!
Tomoko is late!
Oh no! Tomoko was early today, because of her club meeting...
That's right.
She told me yesterday that she'd be going early today.
I have not been myself lately.
Brother, Dear Brother...
It's true.
Since that basketball practice game,
...I've had no peace of mind at all.
Saint-Juste-sama...!
With life overflowing...
So radiant... Saint-Juste-sama...
She was utterly sublime!
And then there is Shinobu Mariko-san...
...openly displaying her fiery love for Kaoru-no-Kimi...!
...her love...!
18. Into the Dream...
Next stop is Seiran School.
I want to see her.
Saint-Juste-sama!
Saint-Juste-sama...
Prepare for departure.
Let me off!
Perhaps one should just "let it go its own way" ...as they say...
What are your morning classes?
Um... biology, French, ...and P.E.!
I'll take care of your French...
So come along with me.
Come along?!
These are the two sugars,
As shown on the board, depending on which sugar is present,
...DNA - deoxyribonucleic acid - and RNA - Ribonucleic Acid, are separated out.
The bag...
So where are we going?
To take a nap.
You... you're really skipping class?
You don't have to come...
Oh! I'm coming. I'm coming!
Imagine it, Dear Brother. I'm skipping class!
Putting my bag in the coin locker, and playing hooky...
To think I'm really doing this...!
...I can hardly believe it.
C'etait un jeune homme et une jeune femme dans la mise se recherche, nous paru tres propre...
It seems like everyone's watching me.
Despite that...
...here I am, walking with Saint-Juste-sama!
I can bear it.
I'll get sandwiches... and a couple of boiled eggs.
Wait here, OK?
OK!
Be back in a moment...
Mom... I'm sorry. It's just for today.
I promise.
One moment, please.
How old are you?
Uh... umm... well...
A truant officer!
Why aren't you in school? You're a student, right?
Yes.
Which school? Is it near here?
Let me see your school I.D. please.
What should I do? What should I do?
You can't show it to me? In that case...
My Brother!
Nevermind your school's name, then. Just name and address.
That's all I'll need.
She do something wrong...?
Saint-Juste-sama!
Who are you?
She's with me today. Today is Founder's Day at the schools.
She wants to see the Big City.
"The Big City"!
She's a country girl. From where all the wild pigs live.
That's why I brought her here.
Come on...
Uh... OK!
So that's it, then. All right.
Enjoy yourselves. But be careful, OK?
OK.
Having a man with you, though, it should be all right. Bye.
Thanks for your trouble.
It can be really convenient, everyone mistaking me for an adult...
...but she thought I was a man, too!
Hey, now...
I was soared to death! Really! I was!
I'm sorry.
I guess Nanako took today off after all...
What's up?
You look like a butterfly who's lost one of her wings!
Why don't you come to our basketball practice today?
REALLY??! I'll be there! For sure!
I'm inviting Rei, too...
Do you come here often?
I suppose.
To skip your classes?
No, don't say that... call it a "self-proclaimed" vacation instead...
"Self-proclaimed"? Yes, that's it!
But that wasn't very nice, what you said...
...calling me a country girl, from the land of wild pigs...!
Just be grateful it was "pigs" instead of "bears and wolves"!
Well now, look at this! They managed to get here after all.
Here comes my punishment!
My punishment!
What bad timing!
...to run into my Brother now!
And he's with that same guy...!
Hi.
How have you been?
Well, well!
We only meet by odd coincidences, I guess!
Yes, I guess so! Really!
Hey, I mailed you the program for our school's fair this year...
...I'd like it if you could come.
Gakuin University?
Yes! I'd love to!
By the way... what's happening today? Is school out today?
Well, you know... umm...
It was Rei! Rei took her out of school!
Live however you want.
But don't get HER involved!
What's this? What's happening?
All right... Brother.
"Brother"??
Excuse us. Let's go!
Rei!
"Brother"? Saint-Juste-sama's brother?
Is that it? Him?
Saint-Juste-sama, wait!
Who was that?
Why did you call him "brother"?
You didn't know?
What? Know what?
That... was Ichinomiya Takashi.
Ichinomiya Takashi?
Yes. Ichinomiya Takashi.
Ichinomiya? Is that right? From the Ichinomiya family?
And he's a friend of Henmi Takehiko-san?
Yes, Ichinomiya.
He's Ichinomiya Fukiko's brother.
He is the oldest son of the Ichinomiya family,
...and also... he is my brother.
He's Saint-Juste-sama's brother? Is that it?
So, Ichinomiya Takashi... is Saint-Juste-sama's brother!
I saw him last at Saint-Juste-sama's apartment building...
He must have been visiting her. But...
Do you live here?
Uh, no... my friend is here.
Why didn't he just tell me then?
Ichinomiya Takashi... Ichinomiya Fukiko...
...but Saint-Juste-sama's name is Asaka Rei.
Maybe they aren't the usual sisters and brothers.
Maybe Saint-Juste-sama has a different mother...?
So, why are you looking so serious?
Stop that. Eat your sandwich.
OK.
Did you eat the potato salad sandwich?
Yes.
It's gone bad! It's turned sour!
Are you OK? How's your stomach? What can we do!!?
It's no big deal.
What?
The value of a human life is no more than of an ant...
...and it matters little if an ant dies...
Hi, hi!
Shinobu-san, are you alone? Where's Nanako?
You don't know, Tomoko?
She's absent today.
What!! Why?
She's not on the absent list. Maybe she has a cold.
Who knows. Anyway let's go sit down and eat.
Uh... I'm eating with Kaoru-no-Kimi...
Oh yes, indeed you are, I see...
So she's out today? I'll stop by her place after school.
What about you?
My uncle introduced me to...
Oh look, it's Orihara-san!
That game was close!
Is your injury OK now?
Good luck next game!
Where's Rei?
She's out today.
Someone saw her on the bus. But she didn't show up here.
She's been set free!
She probably just didn't feel like coming today.
My Brother...
This morning, she and I spent hours together, alone.
Long, quiet, peaceful hours... walking around the pond,
...surrounded by flowers, listening to the birds singing.
Saint-Juste-sama was in her own world.
Standing by her, I found myself gazing into her world.
Though it was a world I couldn't enter myself,
...I could see in. I alone, and no one else.
During a moment in time which lasted forever,
...I looked in with nothing to block my view. I was so happy.
"Ma cherie La Poupee"
"My dear sweet doll"...
She said that, repeatedly, while looking at me...
A doll to be loved on a whim, then forgotten on a whim...?
I am not a doll...!
But what does that make me, then?
What am I to Saint-Juste-sama?
No. Those answers are ones I must find within myself.
But for now, I will just enjoy living this moment in time.
One minute, one second, bathed in this radiant light,
...hearing the breezes like music in my ears.
Please, let me never awaken from this dream.
What a beautiful case!
Yes.
Is it an ashtray case?
Yes...
It's a present. From a freshman.
For some reason, she wants my cigarette butts.
She'll smoke them later, she said. Bad girl...
I did the same thing!
Please, give me that cigarette!
Give it to me please!
What are you going to do with it?
I... I'll smoke it. I can smoke too!
Give it to me!
Stop pretending. You can't smoke.
I can! Yes, I can smoke, too!
No way.
Yes I can!
Are you sure?
OK then. I'll show you how to smoke. The REAL way!
Saint-Juste-sama! What's...
Do it! Inhale!
Stop...
Inhale deeply! Do it!!
Saint-Juste-sama...
Saint-Juste-sama!
Saint-Juste-sama...
Are you all right?
Her smiling lips, her hair like threads of silk...
Is she an angel ...or the devil!??
Now you understand.
Don't smoke. It doesn't suit you.
I want you staying just as you are... until the end of time.
Brother!!
My heart trusts in her...!
...this woman of tenderness and gentle words.
My Brother...
I haven't the will to think this is just a devil's sweet talk.
I...
Mmm?
I...
I love you!
Preview
Nanako can only guess what Saint-Juste feels for her.
Sensing Nanako's anxiety, Kaoru confides in her.
Then, Nanako discovers Kaoru-no-Kimi's secret past....
Next episode:
The Utakata Game
Brother, Dear Brother...
There is no end to my tears...