Wow...
It looks really delicious.
Hi, Miuna!
I'm going to go take a bath now!
It's no use...
furitsumoru konayuki ga mau
Little snowflakes dance in the air
akiramekaketa yume ga mata namiutsu
I'd almost given up on my dream, but it washes in again,
ano hi no mama de
like it did so long ago
kawaranai egao mitsumeta
I watched your frozen smile,
somaru hoho ni fureta kaze ga
and the wind turning my cheeks red
sora takaku nuketa
disappeared high into the sky
I was always looking at you, never far away,
and yet you seemed out of my reach.
doushite
Why?
to toikaketa koe mo yureru
Even your voice is rough as it asks me
yurayura minamo ni ukanda
The moon's reflection quivered on the waters,
tsuki wa nanimo kataranai
and it told us nothing about the future
tada no boukansha
The moon merely watched us
onaji ne nigiru te ga itai
We hold hands even though it hurts
Episode Twenty-Two
Something Lost
Lord Uroko!
Lord Uroko, where are you?
Are you sure he's here on the surface?
Well, Tsumugu hasn't been in the sea at all,
and yet he somehow got cursed with that fish.
In other words, Lord Uroko's gotta be somewhere in Oshiooshi.
But where would he be?
How should I know?
Lord Uroko!
Hey!
Come on now, it's not like he's a lost dog or cat or something.
Ew, this is so gross!
You don't have to look at it!
Is this really gonna work?
Sayu?
Manaka?
You sure we can catch him with this?
Yeah, I think so.
What are you two doing?!
We found this porn mag on the shore, so we're laying a trap.
Lord Uroko likes perverted things.
I also brought this.
You made that for Lord Uroko?
Yup.
It has bamboo shoots, carrots, and chicken.
I prepared them all separately and everything!
I want a taste!
Wow! It's so good!
My grandma's is still much better, though.
Just one more bite.
I'm really happy it turned out well.
I hope it gets Lord Uroko to come out.
Yeah, I'm sure it will!
You all keep treating him like he's a lost pet...
Well, he does eat stuff even after it falls on the floor.
What? That's disgusting!
Man, what if he even has super-hairy knuckles and is a total lech?!
He doesn't have hairy knuckles, but he has scales on his chest and his arms.
Really? Well, I guess they don't call him a "scale" for nothing.
You said you had something to tell me after the Boatdrift Ceremony.
Tell me now.
What was it you were gonna say?
Was it about Tsumugu?
Huh?
It's about Tsumugu, isn't it?!
What are you talking about?
What are you staring off into space for?
No reason.
It's snowing.
Lately, more and more saltflake snow has been falling,
and according to the news,
it's even falling in towns and cities far from the sea now.
I wonder where Lord Uroko could be.
I guess we can't just search aimlessly.
Is there somewhere on the surface that's connected to the sea god?
Huh?
Um...
I'm not sure.
Can you think of a place like that, Miuna?
What is it?
Well, I think there's an old shrine somewhere...
Aren't you going back to campus soon?
Do you know where it is?
You sure you have time to help out like this?
It's just south of the beach,
but it's sort of run-down.
Finding Lord Uroko is also part of our research.
Wait, you sure that place is related to the sea god, though?
It sounds just like a fart!
Yours did too, remember?
When you got one on your knee, you totally hated it.
Yeah, that's true.
It's probably hungry.
I'm gonna go feed it.
Feed it? It eats?
Yep. Wanna come watch?
Sounds gross...
Yeah!
Sayu?
Why don't we all take a break?
I'll go make us some tea.
I'll come help you.
Wow! It's snowing again!
I hope Lord Uroko ate some of the stew I made.
Um, so you were once cursed with a fish too, Manaka?
Yup! I was totally surprised, too!
And when it disappeared, you lied and said it was still there.
Huh?
It was so funny!
Whoa! It ate it!
So gross!
It eats kinda like a frog! Look!
A patient gave me those bean pastries.
This is so cool!
Really? Was it a guy?
Come on, what are you saying?
You're so popular.
Don't be silly. It was an old man.
I'm still a bit jealous.
Maybe I should try asking you out again.
Kidding.
Before long,
Mihashi had to head back to campus unexpectedly.
With all the snow, his research here was delayed,
and since the weather was getting dangerous, he was called back to his lab.
Sorry about leaving suddenly like this.
Here. This is from Chisaki.
She said to eat it on your way back.
She's so thoughtful!
Thanks.
You know, I tried to tell them...
This weather is exactly why I should stay here. They wouldn't listen, though.
Is the saltflake snow everywhere really that bad?
Well, don't you remember hearing it on the news?
They're getting heavy snow even further inland now,
and it's been causing power outages and problems with traffic.
Aren't you going back with him, Tsumugu?
Nah. I'm staying here a little longer.
I see.
All right, well... there's still some daylight to burn,
so I'm gonna go look for that Uroko bastard.
Oh, I wanna come!
Sayu, let's go help too.
Okay.
Are you staying longer because of Chisaki?
Yeah.
And here I was sure you'd say you're staying because of your research.
What's the point in that?
I want an answer too.
U
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B
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B
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Yeah...
Don't Hikari and Manaka
seem a little off to you?
Sayu?
Oh, hi, Shiodome. What are you up to?
Hey. Not much.
I see.
They say it's going to snow again tonight.
It's probably safer for you to go home soon.
Yeah... Thank you.
Later.
Hey, Miuna,
Minegishi asked you out, didn't he?
Huh?
Wh-Why are you bringing that up now?
He asked you out, huh...
Wow!
Hii, Hii! Look! The food and the porn magazine are both gone!
It must have been Lord Uroko!
We don't know that for sure.
It coulda been some random old perv, you know.
Nope, it was definitely Lord Uroko!
He really is on the surface!
Let's find him.
Lord Uroko! Where are you?
I guess he's not here either, huh?
When Tsumugu and I raced...
Huh?
I screwed up and got myself hurt.
Ready?
Ow!
Hii!
That day, you were the first one to dive in after me, remember?
You don't remember that either, do you?
What else don't you remember?
Do you even remember the fish curse on your knee—
Oh, I actually do remember that one!
Really.
But...
What is it?
I don't remember lying about it still being there.
I-I'm sorry!
I didn't say anything because I didn't want anyone to worry.
What do you mean, you don't remember?
Oh, but you know, I remember making the Wooden Maiden with everyone!
It's okay, really.
I think it's just because I'm still a little sleepy.
The day...
The day they told us we couldn't go to the surface anymore...
The day I...
The day I couldn't help but hold you close to me...
when we went to Namiji Middle High before everyone fell asleep and I...
I said I loved you...
I don't understand any of that!
You're saying...
you don't remember any of that?
Hii?
What the hell, you octopus!
How can you just knock over a lady and leave her there?!
Hikari!
Where are you going, Miuna?
Miuna?!
Where are you going, Hikari?
Hikari, wait!
Go away!
What?
I said, get the hell away from me!
Hikari!
Ouch...
Man, what the heck are you doing?
Sorry...
Th-Thank you.
Huh?
What is it?
Fish
I didn't know there was a small shrine like this around here.
Fish
The heck is this?
Oh, S-Sayu said that was for Lord Uroko.
For goodness' sake,
I can't believe you thought you'd catch me with that.
Seems you don't think much of me.
Lord Uroko!
Tell Mukaido's granddaughter—Manaka, was it?
Tell her that she's got nothing on that old bat.
The heck are you doing up here on the surface?
It's my duty to watch over the people of the sea.
However, as nearly everyone's asleep right now, I got rather bored.
So you've been keeping an eye on us ever since we woke up?
Why didn't you come out sooner, then?!
I am a scale of the sea god.
I can't manifest as freely on the surface as in the sea.
Hm?
What a wonderful scent.
Smells like you're ovulating.
Wha—
The hell are you saying?!
I can't believe I didn't notice it the other day.
Oh, and your Ena has developed quite nicely, too.
I-It has?
Cut it out, you scaly pervert!
So, what did you want?
Weren't you looking for me all this time because you had something to ask me?
I nearly forgot.
Lord Uroko, what's happening to the surface?
Is it gonna keep getting worse up here?
And what about everyone in Shishio?
Just when are they gonna wake up?
You sure there's nothing else you want to ask?
What...
What happened to Manaka?
Can she never go back to the sea now?
And to top it off, she's forgotten so much from before she fell asleep.
What?
Just what the hell is happening to her?!
Manaka had become the Wooden Maiden.
The Wooden Maiden?!
The maiden sacrificed to the sea god who later bore his child...
She left someone she loved on the surface.
When she fell into depression
because she couldn't let go of those feelings,
the sea god saw that and returned her to the surface.
But he took something in return.
I know that story already.
The sea god took her Ena in return, right?
What's that got to do with anything?
That maiden returned to the surface,
and many years passed.
The sea god lost his life,
and his body dissolved into the sea, becoming one with it.
I am one of the scales that fell off when that happened.
To this day, fragments of the sea god's emotions still drift through the sea.
Fragments of his emotions?
Neither good nor evil.
Rage, sadness, happiness, envy...
All of his raw emotions.
Spirit fire is also a part of him,
but it's a bit more structured.
Hm... I suppose you could call it his consciousness.
The spirit fire wishes to prevent what is about to befall the sea and the surface.
However, the fragments of his emotions that remain in the sea
sense the encroachment of human civilization.
Because of this, they sometimes imbue the dangers of the sea with semi-sentient purpose.
On the day of the Boatdrift Ceremony,
those emotions dragged Manaka to the bottom of the sea and made her the sacrifice.
It seems the yearning the sea god felt for the sacrificial maiden was among those fragments.
In the middle of the graveyard of Wooden Maidens,
Manaka was covered in a sheet of thick Ena, and she became the sacrifice.
Thanks to her, the sea became calmer,
and the impending demise of the surface was halted.
Then, the spirit fire and the fragments of emotions became one,
and an equilibrium was reached.
However,
Manaka could not let go of her feelings and fully accept her fate,
so those feelings tried to free her.
Her feelings began destroying her Ena and sending bits of it toward the surface,
which in turn created a small current.
That was the current that led us to Shioshishio, wasn't it?
The tiny flakes of Manaka's Ena collided in this current and made a distinctive sound.
That was what the girl from the surface heard.
Then, that day...
the sound I heard was Manaka's Ena.
No...
It was Manaka's emotions!
Where are Miuna and Hikari?
Not back yet.
You think something happened to them?
They're not little kids anymore, you know.
I'm sure there's no reason to worry.
When you began your search for Manaka,
the sea god's emotions feared the Wooden Maiden would be taken away,
so they decided to take something else away from Manaka.
Namaka, rawr!
That was the moment Manaka lost the rest of her Ena all at once.
Rawr!
When Manaka became the sacrifice, the sea became calm.
But now that it's lost her, the demise of the surface may arrive sooner than before.
What the hell does that mean?
You mean to tell me that the surface is all messed up
because we rescued Manaka?
Are you saying it would've been better if Manaka had stayed asleep down there forever?!
What the hell?!
What the hell is that supposed to mean?!
Calm down.
I said it may arrive sooner.
It will still be long after you die, and long after your children die.
U-Um...
you said that they took something else and that's when she lost the rest of her Ena.
Does that mean that what they took from Manaka wasn't just her Ena?
Not just her Ena?
What was it, then?!
Hikari, you are in love with Manaka, are you not?
Wha—
The hell does that have to do with anything right now?!
Your feelings for Manaka may never reach her.
In fact, it's possible that no one's ever will.
Go to hell!
Hikari?!
What they took from Manaka...
was...
Rawr! Boom!
It was...
her ability to fall in love.
Oh yeah? Then take this!
I'll show you!
Take that!
Manaka is now unable to fall in love with anyone.
Oh no! You got me!
Oh, welcome home,
Miuna, Hii!
mugon no kotoba de ayatori shite
I play a silent cat's cradle with my words,
jouzu ni dekita to warattemiru
and decide to grin in satisfaction
tokui na no wa dare ni mo kizukarenu you ni
The only thing that I am truly good at
kokoro oshikorosu koto sore hitotsu dake
is stifling my love so others won't find out
demo torimaku kirei na loop wa
It would be nice
yawai chikara de
if the love of those around me
taguriyosetekureru kara
drew me in gently
azayaka ni
Innocently
musunde kono kimochigoto
I tie my feelings into a rope
hanarenai you ni kataku kataku
so that we will never be apart
hitomusubi hito wo musunde
The knots tie us together,
kitai no yamanai saki he asu he yukou
so let us approach the future with hope in our hearts
Are you doubting Manaka's feelings?!
It's selfish to say that it's better to not be able to love someone!
Well, at least she looks like she's having fun.
If you lose the ability to love someone...
I won't lose it!
Episode Twenty-Three
Who Do These Feelings Belong To?
I won't lose it...