31st - Gala Concert
I thought if I came to the music room, you'd be here...
But I have no way of contacting you.
I don't know your phone number or your email address.
I...
...don't know anything about you, do I?
Kousei!
It's Kao-chan...
She collapsed, and she's in the hospital.
Totsuhara University Hospital
Hey there! How'd it go yesterday?
I was going to contact you,
but I wasn't quite up to it,
and so I thought if you could withdraw...
Sorry I couldn't make it.
Hey, what did you get?
Some cake from Yoshitomo. Girls like that stuff, right?
Her family runs a cake shop, you know!
Well, it's the thought that counts.
Here we are!
Welcome!
We brought you something!
Thanks!
Well? How do you feel?
Never better! I'm just in here for tests.
Did you miss not seeing me?
Sure I missed you!
Twice in such a short time.
But you were in here for tests the other day, weren't you?
That time, it was for new tests, just for the heck of it.
It is my head.
This time, it's also so I can rest up, and take more time to heal.
You just leered at me with a dirty look in your eyes!
Lusting after me no matter where you are!
An invalid! Is it because I'm an invalid?
I didn't! I didn't lust after you!
Well, I sure did.
But hey, that was a shock.
You don't show up, and next thing we hear, you're in the hospital.
It was a shock for me, too.
I mean, I stumbled and hit my head, and then...
Blood came gushing out! In spurts, you know! In spurts!
I was so stunned!
My parents totally lost it and sent me right to the hospital.
And now we're all caught up. Oh, the fig tart for me!
I've always tired easily, but lately I've had to expend a lot of energy,
so I guess I pushed myself too hard.
Yum!
She's expending energy as she eats.
I brought you some books, too! You've got nothing to do in here, right?
Are these books from the library? Did you bring them without permission?
There are some about music, too.
What's she gonna do with a ton of books?
What's the problem?
Well, Kao-chan, you'll be coming back to school by the second semester, right?
Yes, of course I will.
I must be imagining things. That answer just now...
To think that it seemed rehearsed...
All right, Kaori-chan. Let's hook up in our dreams, okay?
Oh, shut up. Bye!
Bye!
I don't have time to read all these...
Kousei Arima
Kaori-chan?
Yes?
Have your friends gone home?
Yes.
Then can we...?
Yes.
Please resume the IV drip.
Saito-senpai
Ah!
What do you mean, "Ah"?
Senpai just texted me. He says, "Let's go to the festival today."
Senpai? You mean Saito-senpai? You haven't broken up yet?
Of course not!
But why?
What do you mean? It's not like I don't like him anymore...
Then do you like him?
Well, of course...
I've always had a crush on him...
Then...
What about Arima-kun?
Tsubaki?
Tsubaki!
What...
Why the heck are you bringing up Kousei now?
Th-Th-Th-That's so ridiculous!
Kousei is...
Ever since we were little, we've always done everything together,
and rather than someone of the opposite sex,
I see him as a kid brother.
Kid brother again?
Are you trying to jinx yourself by chanting that "kid brother, kid brother" curse?
You're too scared not to.
Because the comfortable relationship you have right now would be destroyed.
Hey!
I was saving that omelette for last!
I told you, it's not like that!
I chose the wrong method of attack.
What the heck!
Arima-kun was afraid, but he still took the plunge.
Someday, there'll be no turning back, you know.
Hey, a yukata!
It looks good on you! You look really cute!
Hey, you don't have to be nice. Clothes make the man, as they say.
What did I tell you, Kashiwagi? Kousei would never say that to me.
Because he only sees me...
...as a nagging big sister or something.
I'm sure...
Anyway...
Today's the day of the festival, huh?
Yeah.
Don't stand there. Have a seat.
Uh, okay.
No, on second thought, I'll stand.
You sure are fidgety. Suspicious, much?
I don't like hospitals.
You're gonna be okay, right?
You're not lying about being tested, right?
You're not gonna tell me you're never coming back to school, right?
You're gonna start cussing me out again, right?
We can talk in the music room again, right?
You...
Watari-kun was just here.
This is what he brought me.
Watari.
I had no idea. I hear you played alone at the gala concert?
Watari-kun told me about it.
Uh, yeah...
The accompanist playing a solo? That's unheard of!
What kind of a show-off are you?
It was a gala concert for violinists, so it doesn't make any sense!
Don't make me laugh! Are you an idiot? My sides are splitting!
Whose fault was it?
What do you mean? Anyone would've expected you to withdraw.
At first... It was because someone insulted you.
But then midway through, the sound disappeared...
My mom's words, her gestures, her smell...
My memories of my mother turned into notes, and flew away into the sky.
I see...
You're an artist no matter what, aren't you? Kousei Arima...
Yeah... Just as I thought...
That song... She chose that song for me.
Love's Sorrow. This song reminds me of my mother.
The scent of fabric softener. The sound of the piano as I looked up drowsily.
A quiet lullaby.
The smell of antiseptic.
Footsteps ringing.
A linoleum floor, cloudy and white.
All overlapping with you.
Welcome.
I wish I could've heard it, your piano.
You're okay, right?
I wish I could've played with you again.
You're gonna be fine, right?
You're not lying about the tests, right?
You're not gonna tell me you're never coming back to school, right?
I can see you again, right?
That's the second time.
What?
That you called me by my name.
You...
You won't leave me...
...like my mother did, will you?
The Sumiya Baseball Youth Sports Club special boot camp for sluggers will now begin!
Huh?
I wanna go swimming!
I wanna play video games!
Shut up! Ten sets of ten sprints down the beach! Begin!
But I don't play baseball. So how come?
Even people who play the piano need to build up their legs! I think!
Huh? You said "I think!"
Tiny footprints.
They are not! It's just that your feet are huge.
What? Is that any way to talk to a maiden?
Come back here, you!
Kousei, let's go to Ouji Park!
I wish I could, but I've got piano lessons.
Bah!
I was gonna show him a mud ball as shiny as a rainbow!
Great job, if I say so myself. It's a masterpiece!
I know! I'll make one for Kousei, too.
Kousei, let's play catch. I just learned how to throw a sinker.
Kousei-kun's going to be a pianist, so he's busy.
What would he do if he hurt his hands?
Scrub, scrub.
Sorry.
Scrub, scrub.
Scrub, scrub, scrub, scrub.
I hear Arima-kun's skipping school
to practice the piano, because he's got a competition coming up.
No fair!
Three, two...
O Vreneli, where is your home?
My home is in Switzerland
It is by the beautiful lake
Yo ho ho, tra la la la
I hate music!
Are you practicing hard?
You're slacking off because I'm not watching you, aren't you?
You don't have to tell me to practice! Every single day, both Hanon and Czerny!
That's not nearly enough! Practice Chopin, too!
When am I supposed to sleep?
Practice Liszt, too!
I don't know what this is about, but calm down...
Don't talk about stuff we don't understand.
I wonder...
Back off, will you?
I'm turning to you because I can't back off!
I'm not interested in girls who aren't in love with me.
All the more refreshing!
If someone tells her, "You're wrong," you know she's gonna sulk,
and get all stubborn, and then things will get complicated.
Especially when it comes to Kousei.
Agreed. I don't relish the thought...
But I... I want Tsubaki to smile again.
Even if she gets all bruised and battered, Tsubaki's still gonna have to realize it herself.
The fact that the guy by her side isn't her kid brother at all.
Watari-senpai, the scrimmage is about to start!
Right!
Thanks for the juice!
Thanks.
But that kind of thing...
...usually, you don't realize it till it's too late.
Hey, Arima!
Yes?
Have you made up your mind yet? You're the only holdout in my class.
What school you want to go to. High school...
High school...
That's what made me think... That I'd like to become a really weird pianist!
You should give it some thought. But let me know soon.
All right.
High school,
the future...
Who do I want to become?
He dropped it on the beach, and wouldn't stop crying, so I gave him my popsicle.
And then he says he wished it was milk-flavored!
Oh! Hey, sorry. There I go...
It's okay. It's fun to hear about Arima-kun.
There I go again!
Well, you live next door to each other, so of course you have the same memories.
He's like your kid brother, right?
No, he's not! I'm not Kousei's babysitter!
Then... what am I?
We're next-door neighbors.
He's the boy who's smaller than me, who lost his mother at a young age,
who I can't help doting on...
And the one I wished would get back on his feet.
What are you, an idiot?
Use your heart to solve those kinds of problems.
Oh, come on! I can't make sense of what you're saying these days!
The other day, you told me that you "didn't dislike" Saito-senpai, but...
"Like" and "don't dislike" are millions of light-years apart, you know.
Like? Don't dislike? I don't know what you mean.
You need to be honest with yourself and admit it, or someone's going to get hurt.
Do you dislike me?
That's crazy.
You're the senpai I always had a crush on.
Then do you like him?
Who is it that I like?
Like. Don't dislike.
Like.
Don't dislike.
Like.
Don't dislike.
Like.
Don't dislike.
Like.
Don't dislike.
Like.
Don't dislike.
Like.
Kousei?
Are you okay? Are you hurt? Sick? Is it food poisoning?
You shouldn't scavenge for food!
I got a call from Kashiwagi-san. She said you were in trouble!
Huh?
Oh, boy, she got me. Who knew Kashiwagi-san would pull a prank like that?
So she's human, too, after all.
It is strangely compelling, coming from Kashiwagi.
It's not a laughing matter.
I was running around like crazy because I believed her.
I'm dripping with sweat.
I want a popsicle!
Thank you very much!
Milk-flavored again?
It's what I like.
The moon's so pretty.
Well, I'm hearing it ad nauseam from the house next door!
I don't play it that much.
Talking like we always do...
I could hear some really lousy playing.
The banter... joking around...
They're bigger than mine. These are a boy's footsteps.
Kousei, you've changed somehow.
Huh? Really?
So weird...
If our eyes happen to meet, my heart flip-flops.
I'm sure...
Y-You did change. With you, I can tell right away.
It's because summer is coming to an end.
Your eyes sparkle now.
They light up, like the headlights of a car.
Especially...
When you're playing the piano.
It was pouring out of you... this gentleness, and a desire to convey something.
It's like you're shouting to the world, "I'm right here!"
You're the kind of pianist who can convey all that, huh?
You're an artist no matter what, aren't you?
Tsubaki?
Hm?
I'm going to go to a high school with a music course.
Music course? Are there any around here?
No, so...
...I'll be leaving home.
Hiroko-san said I only had to go to class twice a week or so.
Huh?
Of course, I'm not sure that I'll get in...
Huh?
Because I sat out for a while.
Huh?
Huh? Huh?
Again. Here it is again.
Music is taking Kousei far away from me.
Dummy! Kousei, you dummy!
Go wherever you want, dummy Kousei!
We're next-door neighbors.
He's the boy who's smaller than me,
who lost his mother at a young age,
who I can't help doting on...
And the one I wish would get back on his feet.
To go on like this, for all time...
The boy I took for granted would always be by my side.
The boy I want to be by my side forever.
Tsubaki...
I'm such an idiot...
Scrub, scrub, scrub...
I wonder if Kousei will be surprised.
Footsteps
Episode 15 Liar
Watch Again Next Week!