Oh? Hello.
You've still got a long way to go.
If that's all you've got, then my little brother is better than you.
Quit kidding around.
Hiro is still in elementary school, isn't he?
Do you think I'd lie?
Fine, I got it...
If it was a landscape, then I'd pull it off somehow, but...
If you want to go into design,
then you'd better be able to draw any genre.
For a plaster figure, the distinction between a figure and a still-life is vague, so it's difficult.
If you're tired of drawing plaster figures, do you want to try a nude sketch instead?
No!
I want to draw plaster figures.
So which is it? Seriously.
Sorry, Nagi.
About what?
In reality, I'm not exactly in a position to ask you to do things like this.
I don't like to be bound by disturbing feelings.
Besides, it's enjoyable to teach you art like this.
Sorry.
If you really feel sorry, then hurry up and improve.
Or else I'm going to make you do nude sketches.
I'm home.
Welcome home, Yu-kun!
Your supper is ready.
This is delicious.
The landlord gave me these eggs.
The landlord?
Apparently, they're from the chickens he raises.
I see.
We ought to thank him.
His twin grandchildren delivered them to us.
Kei-chan and Chihiro-chan.
They look so similar, and they're both so cute!
I want kids like that!
Now's the only time they'll be cute.
Sooner or later, they grow up and start to talk back.
Geez, you're completely tactless.
I can survive without tact.
In this age, if you lack sensitivity, you can't get a job.
My senior at my part-time job said that.
Well, the storekeeper asked me, the insensitive guy, if I wanted to work for them after I graduate.
Oh? Really?
Yeah, but I asked him if I could have some time to think about it.
I see. Because you're aiming for the top, aren't you, Yu-kun?
I gave up on that.
I'm not aiming up anymore. Now, I'm aiming forward.
Forward...
Yuko, are you happy right now?
Why are you asking that out of the blue?
Please tell me.
I'm happy.
I've been freed from inescapable suffering,
and I'm living with the person I've always admired.
I'd be lying if I said that the past isn't painful,
but you've even accepted those wounds.
You saved everything about me.
Yuko...
Thank you, Yu-kun.
I want to protect the present.
The present?
Yeah. I want to continue to protect you and the happiness you feel right now.
That's why...
It's not about looking up or down.
It's not about winning or losing.
I just want to walk forward with you.
Yu-kun...
Let's go together, okay?
Yes!
Is someone there?
A child?
What's wrong, so late at night?
A girl from the orphanage?
What's your name?
My name is Yuko, Amamiya Yuko.
What's yours?
Miki.
Miki?
It's written like "Mirai", and read "Miki".
"Mirai" means "future".
I see.
What's wrong, Miki-chan? Why are you out so late?
I'll call one of the teachers from the orphanage.
Yuko, please look after her.
No!
No! Please... keep them away from me!
This happens to kids who are new to the orphanage.
They're not used to the change in their surroundings yet.
That doesn't seem to be the issue.
I asked the teacher earlier,
and Miki-chan entered the orphanage six months ago.
Is that so?
Miki-chan's parents tried to include her in a family suicide.
After almost being killed by her own parents,
she doesn't trust other people anymore.
Ever since then, she's avoided contact with everyone.
She won't socialize with others,
and apparently she won't eat unless she's alone.
No one has tried to adopt her, and she's been shutting herself away.
I see.
I wonder if there really is no God anywhere.
Because there is no God, many sad and painful things occur.
If there really was a God, then I'd want him to make this world more beautiful.
A world where there's no hardship, where everyone is kind, and no one is left alone.
Yeah.
Yu-kun?
If only...
If only such a convenient world could be created...
the
If only there was something I could do to transform this world like that.
Did something happen, Yu?
Not really. Why?
Your lines are different from usual.
"Different"?
Did they get better? Or did they get worse?
There's no bewilderment in your lines.
You've improved.
Really?
Yeah.
Although you're still below a passing grade.
Oh yeah, Nagi.
What?
Will I get better at nude sketches as I draw more of them?
Not really, but it's something you should do at least once.
I see...
Nagi, would you undress?
No.
Why not?!
It's a bit embarrassing to actually be asked to take off my clothes.
What's with that?
But I'll let you use this, instead.
Why a mirror?
As long as it's a real person, it doesn't have to be a woman.
Perfect.
I was actually thinking about how I wanted to draw you, too.
You go ahead and undress. No one's going to care.
I'll care!
Miki-chan.
Wait!
Miki-chan, I have something to ask you.
Could you help me?
Please.
What is it?
I'm very lonely right now.
I have someone who's precious to me, but he's at work right now.
I can't see him until nighttime, when he comes home,
and because of that, I'm really lonely.
Weakling.
If he's going to come back, then you shouldn't be lonely at all.
I see.
Miki-chan, you're strong, aren't you?
I'm weak, so I'm lonely.
Could you stay with me for a little while?
Thank you, Miki-chan.
Miki-chan, do you have any friends?
No.
Why not?
Because I don't need them!
It's fun to have them, you know.
But I still don't need them.
I see.
How lonely.
Why?
Because I thought you could be my friend.
Is that impossible?
No, it's fine.
Really?
Yeah.
Well, in that case, will you shake my hand?
Okay?
Please, help me!
Thank you.
Then, you're not lonely anymore?
Yeah! I'm not lonely anymore.
Yuko.
I thought you'd be here.
She fell asleep while we were talking.
She's going to catch a cold.
I'd feel bad if I woke her up.
This way, it's like you covered Miki-chan up.
I'm not that good of a person, you know.
You're really stubborn, aren't you?
Miki-chan?
I'm scared...
My dream... was scary.
It's all right. I'm here.
Good night.
Strength
Yu-kun, are you still awake?
Yeah.
Can I come over to your side?
Yeah.
Why are you facing the other way?
It'll be warmer if our backs are touching.
You're right. It's warm.
When I was little, I'd do this with Akane during the winter.
My house was pretty cold, too.
Is that so?
Yu-kun, did you know?
In Australia, Christmas comes in the summer, so I've heard it's hot then.
Because Australia's in the southern hemisphere.
Conversely, it's winter in July.
A Christmas in the summer...
I wonder what it's like? I'd like to see it.
Simply setting up a Christmas tree during Tanabata would do.
Tanabata: A Japanese star festival that celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair).
I wonder if a miracle would happen and Christmas would occur in the summer?
Miracles don't exist in this world.
The only things that exist are coincidences and inevitabilities, and the actions people take.
You're really not a dreamer, are you?
If you want to dream, hurry up and go to sleep already.
Geez...
Night.
Good night.
Hello, Miki-chan.
Yuko!
the
I see. A dream?
I always have it.
Although I didn't have it the day I met you.
Is that so?
Yeah.
I see. Maybe that's because we held hands?
Hands?
Would you like to try?
How is it?
Warm.
You'll be fine now.
What about tomorrow?
Huh?
Will you hold hands with me tomorrow, too?
Sure!
ikiru yuuki to
With the courage to live
idaku mirai to
and a future to embrace...
What is that?
It's a song that a friend of mine played for me a long time ago.
I was in a lot of pain, and I hated this world,
and this song was so beautiful that when I heard it,
it made me think, "Perhaps there are things in this world that I could come to love".
And my heart wavered.
It was painful at the time, but now I've been saved.
I can listen to this song with open feelings now.
Yuko...
I made up these lyrics, you know.
Although the song's incomplete.
Could you sing it one more time?
It's not complete yet!
That's fine.
Really?
ikiru yuuki to
With the courage to live
ikiru yuuki to
With the courage to live
idaku mirai to
and a future to embrace...
idaku mirai to
and a future to embrace...
minna ga kureta tsuyosa
and the strength that everyone gave you
minna ga kureta tsuyosa
and the strength that everyone gave you
ai wo shinjite
put your trust in love.
ai wo shinjite
put your trust in love.
When white snow falls
It enwraps and hides the color of sorrow
You're with that girl again?
I'm not "that girl". I'm Miki.
Well then, please hold out your hand too, Yu-kun.
Here!
Isn't this great?
With this much hand-holding, you should be fine.
Yeah!
You won't cry anymore?
I don't know.
Girls should always smile, you know.
How come?
If you make a sad face just because you're sad, then sad things will truly happen.
But if you smile,
someday the smile will become real, and the sadness will disappear.
Really?
Yeah.
So let's smile all the time.
Okay! I won't cry anymore.
I want to make a beautiful city.
I don't want to just decorate and patch the surface of a ruin,
but make a truly beautiful city.
A city where everyone is kind, and no one will be alone.
A bright city that's connected to the future.
Yu-kun...
Yeah.
I'm sure you can do it, Yu-kun.
Thank goodness. Miki-chan is more cheerful now.
It's from Kuze from Germany.
What did Kuze-san say?
He says, "German girls are the best".
Oh my.
Also, he's coming back to Japan for Christmas.
For Christmas?
But he said that he might not have time to see us, because he's already promised to meet a girl.
Yu-kun, what are you doing for Christmas?
If it's all right, let's—
I have to work on Christmas morning.
I'm leaving home earlier than usual, to help stock the store.
Is that so?
But in exchange, I've asked to be let off earlier in the afternoon.
Shall we go somewhere?
Yes!
Let's meet at our usual church.
I'll be there as soon as my work is done.
Okay, I'll go on ahead and wait for you.
Please don't be late, okay?
I see.
You're spending Christmas alone with Yuko-chan tonight?
Nagi.
But a bouquet of flowers?
It's an item that absolutely doesn't fit Himura Yu.
None of your business.
But it fits Yuko-chan.
Ah, really?
Yeah. Yuko-chan and flowers go well together.
we
What is it, young lady?
That song just now...
Did you like it?
Yeah.
I see.
Here.
You look cuter this way.
Really?!
Yup.
Thank you!
Times
Maybe I came a little too early.
Geez...
Just how long are you going to follow me around?
I'm interested in what you're going to say to her when you give her that bouquet.
Seriously...
I'm joking.
I don't intend to interrupt your date.
Geez.
Huh?
Well, if it isn't Miki.
What's up?
That!
It's an Angel's Staircase.
Angel's Staircase?
Yeah. They say angels go up and down in that light.
There are still... many things I want to talk to you about.
I want... you... to know more about me.
The courage to live...
and a future... to embrace...
and... the strength... that everyone... gave me...
Putting...
our... trust...
I want to meet Yu-kun once more.
Love, I've got to feel it
If you put your trust in me
I know what my life would be
Oh, you are all I ever need
I try to hear what you say
So I pray
But you're fading away
Don't go and break my fragile heart
We won't fall apart
'Cause you're my only star
I wonder why my tears come at night
Calling you, so like a little child
All the things you have in mind
I wish I could see your insides
My love, you've got to feel it
And if we put our trust in you and me
You know what our lives would be
Oh, you are the one, I believe
Somehow, it feels that our reunion happened in the distant past.
You're right.
It'll probably become even more distant soon, won't it?
No way.
I'm going to entrust this to you, Yu-kun.
To me?
This was a place where I could be alone.
A place where I could cry, knowing that no one would see.
But I'm not alone anymore, and I won't cry anymore either.
Yuko...
That's why I want to give it away.
So that I won't look back on my past anymore.
Please give it to someone who needs it.
I got it.
I'll hold on to it.
Please, let my wishes reach him.
ef - a tale of melodies.
Reread.
Can you hear it? The melody of truth.