Hey, Nanako...
After swim class, let's get something to eat at the Road House, and then go see "Love Awakening!"
Hmm...
Come on! It's been so long since we've just gone out and done something.
Hmm...
I'll consider it, OK?
Seriously, give it some thought.
My dear brother....
It has been over two weeks now since Saint-Juste-sama passed away.
Additionally, the Sorority members learned of what Miya-sama said; now that whole tradition has come to an end.
And now, finally, summer vacation has arrived at Seiran Academy.
I am doing well, dear brother.
I hope to be able to write you a letter any day now...
36. Light of the Fireflies, Ablaze with Passion...
Have a seat here.
Orihara-san, the doctor would like to take a look at how the affected area is progressing.
Please undress.
Yes, ma'am.
Orihara-san, please remove everything.
Oh, right....
Hmm... I suppose you'll be pretty busy during the summer break, with your club activities?
No, not really....
So you can come in every other week then, right?
You only got out of the hospital a year ago, and it would be best to run some more detailed tests.
So then... I'm not going to make it, am I?
Oh, now, I didn't say anything like that!
Just give it to me straight! I want to know!
You have nothing to worry about.
If I thought it might be serious, I'd have you back in the hospital until we knew for certain.
Believe me!
Excuse me!
Hey! Orihara-kun!
Yeah, that Larry Duncan is pretty good!
How about we hop over to the Roxy for a quick drink?
The flowers....
Huh?
I don't want the flowers to dry out....
Nanako! Where are you going?
Nanako...
Hey, Nanako! There's somebody there!
Eh?
Up there! See?
What...?
Where?
Up on the overpass.
There!
They've been just sitting there for a while now.
My dear brother, Kaoru-no-Kimi was....
Dear brother... Kaoru-no-Kimi was crying....
It was as though all her deepest sorrows were finally risen to the surface....
As if she were forced against her will by her own despair....
Indeed, my brother...
...I saw then that there was another apart from myself who could not come to terms with Saint-Juste-sama's death....
One for whom the pain of sorrow runs deeper than I could ever know....
One whose grief is so strong... it is tearing her apart....
Kaoru-no-Kimi...
Kaoru-no-Kimi, whom I had always thought to be so strong, so unshakable...
That Kaoru-no-Kimi is crying now...
Rei....
Rei!
Rei....
Why are people born into this world?
And why do they even bother to go on living?
They're all going to die someday, anyway!
Hello, Joutou University, Department of Humanities and Cultural Studies....
Yes, come in.
There was a call for you while you were out earlier, Professor.
The caller was a Mr. Henmi Takehiko, from the University.
Henmi Takehiko?
Yes, sir. He indicated that he wishes to speak with you about studying abroad.
Studying abroad? Henmi-kun?
Is he an aquaintance of yours, sir?
Oh.... Yes, I know him well.
So, then... about his appointment...?
How 'bout a beer?
Nah, I'm fine.
What a surprise! You, turning down a beer?
Even I have times when I just don't feel like drinking.
It was so sudden, wasn't it.... About Rei-san....
She was an amazing person.
Come on. I think I'll have one after all.
OK.
Father... Fukiko... the whole family.... Everyone is obsessed over it.
Absolutely obsessed.
You know why?
Hmm?
Because we never did a thing for that girl in her life!
And now the regret over that is coming back to haunt us!
Call it acknowledgement of our sins, if you like.
She was our own child, even if she was born into an unfortunate life; yet we never lifted a finger to help her!
Ichinomiya!
Now that she has been taken away from us so early...
...we realize just how many things there were that we should have done for her, but didn't!
As her brother... as her family...!
Damn it....
Ichinomiya....
And you...!
What...?
Don't you ever leave something undone that you'll regret later!
Leave no regrets....
Like Nanako?
You idiot!
Don't play dumb with me! You know who I'm talking about!
If she were to go, too, no words of yours could ever make me forgive you!
I know.
Do you really?
Then why?! What's with this "study abroad" business?!
I'm giving that serious thought as well....
Nanako-san, telephone!
Someone from the Seiran basketball club.
Basketball club...?
Yes?
Misonoo speaking....
What? Kaoru-no-Kimi...?
Yes, and we're in a pinch here.
We have a match starting at six, and she hasn't shown up yet.
No one at her home knows anything, either.
They say she hasn't come home since yesterday!
My dear brother... Kaoru-no-Kimi...!
I'm tired, Rei. So tired....
What's wrong?
What are you doing in a place like this?
Ichinomiya-san!
What's happened?
I was stopping by to visit Saint-Juste-sama's room....
I must seem like an idiot, I know....
It's not Saint-Juste-sama's room any more....
I should have known that someone else would be living there now, but....
Saint-Juste-sama would know...
I thought that if something had happened to Kaoru-no-Kimi, Saint-Juste-sama would know.
The elevator had already reached the fifth floor; I was just about to ring the bell...
...and then it finally occured to me that she wasn't there any more...
Nanako-san, what's happened?
What's this about Orihara-kun?
She didn't show up for a basketball match.
They say she hasn't been home since last night.
Is that true?
Yes.
Get in! Get in the car!
What...?
Come on, hurry...
Um...?
We're going to Henmi's place.
I want you to talk to him, OK?
About Orihara-kun. About her condition, in particular.
What? To my brother? About Kaoru-no-Kimi...?
Yes. Anything you know.
Why? Why would Henmi-san want to know about Kaoru-no-Kimi?
So... you never knew, Nanako-san?
Henmi Takehiko is the one person she needs more than anyone right now.
About a year or so ago, those two were a couple.
For certain reasons, they broke up.
But even so, it isn't as though they hate or even dislike one another.
Even now, they share a bond in their hearts.
That's how it seems to me, anyway.
My dear brother...
...I never knew...
Because I love you, I must leave you.
Because I love you, I must forget you.
I must even make myself forget that there was ever anything to forget...
All that, because I love you so!
Rei...
Why did you have to die while I lived on?
I thought that I would go on living...
I thought that I would do my best to go on living with what little time I have left, but...
You never troubled anyone; you always kept to yourself...
You lived your life without regrets. So beautiful... so pure...
Ah, Rei! To think that you would die before me...
Did your courage never falter?
Weren't you ever afraid of dying?
When you felt lonely, so very lonely...
...did you ever find yourself not knowing what to do...?
Everyone has been coping as best they could.
No one realized just how much of a shock Rei's death was to her.
Henmi...
Would you lend me the car keys?
Yes, of course.
My brother, the love between you and Kaoru-no-Kimi...
Takashi-san said that it came to an end over a year ago...
He said that you had parted ways, though you were still bound to one another in your hearts.
He wouldn't tell me the reason why.
But... it must have been a sorrowful romance.
So I thought.
Mightn't Kaoru-no-Kimi have experienced such a love long ago?
I'd had a feeling that that might have been the case.
Welcome back, Nanako.
Oh, did you borrow an umbrella from someone?
What? Oh, yes. From my brother.
But, my dear brother...
My silent, strong, kind brother...
Henmi... Takehiko....
The fact that that's a person's name, a man's name, has suddenly been made a little more real to me.
I figured that you had to be here.
Stay away!
I knew this was where you had to be!
Go away! Don't trouble yourself over me!
I've been waiting this past year, waiting the whole time...
Waiting until you needed me...
I told you before, I'll live my life alone!
That's not true! It's not true!
Let me go!
Let me go, Takehiko-san!
Then why did you come to this place?
Why did you come here, to the place where we parted for the last time?
Ever since then, ever since that time when we parted here...
...my heart has remained here, at this place!
That part of me that said "I love you" has lingered on, here, in this place!
And you, too... Your heart...
It was left behind here, as well!
You're wrong. I have forgotten.
I have forgotten all about those sorts of things.
I love you! I love you!!
So look at me. I want you to see...
Because I want you to forget me, I want you to see...
You see? I could never bring you happiness.
Even if you could love me the way I am...
...the more we felt for one another...
...the bleaker your future would become, because of me.
And so... and so... I must forget you now...
Please, tell me that you need me now!
Kaoru...
All of the wonderful times that we had were precious moments for me.
Thank you...
Kaoru!
KAORU!!!
The rain let up before dawn.
Ah! Sorry to trouble you, but is this the Orihara residence?
Nanako-san, what about breakfast? Won't you be having something?
Ah! Yes, I'll be right back.
Be right back...? Where are you off to so early?
They said that she's returned!
What?
Who has? Where?
The folks at her home told me.
She came back late last night!
What's she talking about?
No idea...
Not only that, but she's headed off to the morning basketball practice, up at the school!
I'm off!
Nanako-san...?!
It wasn't true - there was no early morning practice...
"I wish that Saint-Juste-sama were here..."
Perhaps that's what I was saying to myself...
Yo.
This place...
I guess you remembered that it was Rei's favorite place.
She used to skip class here all the time.
You know... everyone has been worried about you!
The basketball club... Ichinomiya-san...
...and Henmi-san, too!
Oh, yeah... I'd totally forgotten about the game...
Um... I heard from Ichinomiya-san...
...about Henmi-san...
That's all over now, but... would you like to know?
Ah... eh...?!
Back when Rei and I had first become friends...
...Ichinomiya-san came over to Rei's place.
Ichinomiya-san introduced Henmi-san to me.
I fell in love the moment we met.
Those dark brown eyes sparkled so enchantingly...
We went various places...
Yeah... one time the two of us rode the carousel together...
It made for a splendid memory...
But... we broke up.
I wonder whether you should know the reason why...
Eh...?!
The surgery, you see. They had to remove one.
Five years...
When a relapse occurs within five years... there isn't really any hope...
Kaoru...
In the next episode...
Nanako knows that Henmi is her true brother.
Henmi and Misonoo meet again after more than ten years to reaffirm the love of a parent and a child.
So begins their journey forth into a new day... and...
Next time: Merry-Go-Round
My dear brother... there is no end to my tears...