I'd never lose it
It will always gnaw at my heart
Is there anything that you can offer me
in return for my admiration years ago?
A twisted light brings us back together
and suddenly my loneliness is lit up
On the waterside I see the summer haze
One day it will be gone like the flowers
I'm afflicted by incurable sadness
I made up an excuse to keep others at bay
I'd like to plant a faint kiss of goodbye on that
and be someone who turns around to face you in the crowd
Before everything grows faint and dim,
I want to find use for my pain
Suruga Devil Episode One
Font used in the video: HGP Mincho B
Scene no. 128
The way I put it made it sound like the two of them had died or something,
A package?
Yes. A package.
Scene no. 4
Gaen gave me this You don't have to pay me Use it if you want Chuck it if you want
Episode Strange
Suruga Devil Episode Five
Font used in the video: HGP Mincho B
Scene no. 15
I didn't go to school that day.
Scene no. 16
The next day too,
and the day after that.
Scene no. 16
20th of April
Didn't think we'd meet again, Kanbaru.
This is just like that feeling right before you drift off to sleep when you suddenly remember something you forgot.
I figured you'd be here, Numachi.
I'm sure you already know about this from Kaiki.
That scoundrel.
So he had it after all.
And the head is the most important of all, too.
Unbelievable.
He may prefer to tell people only half of the truth, but this is just pure deception.
Perhaps he was going to steal the other parts from me after I had them all assembled.
Or maybe he'd have forced me to buy it.
I'm inclined to say the answer is the latter.
Right when the goods would command the highest price—
Actually, selling the complete set to a scholar would have raked in the most.
Kanbaru...
Will you give me that mummy part—
that demon's head?
I won't.
I don't want to be cold to my former arch-enemy after you've come all the way here to meet me,
but I can't give this to you.
Why?
I wonder.
If I had to give a reason,
I suppose it would be a lingering concern that, upon having collected all parts, you yourself would become the devil.
Scene no. 40
Play with the devil and you will be turned into him?
I'm not like you or others.
I'm not that weak.
Really, now?
This is the head.
It still contains the brain.
I guess you're probably right.
You can do it.
You're strong.
You won't ask something of the devil.
You will work towards any wishes you have yourself.
So if you really want a reason,
it's because I can't stand looking at you.
Can't stand looking at me?
Then look away.
You're visible to me.
Scene no. 51
Precisely because you're visible to me,
I cannot stand looking at you.
If you look at the essence of it, all acts in this world are like that.
Being unable to stand the view of something, unable to leave something alone—that stance begets all else.
We can stand looking at neither good nor evil.
You see what you never wanted to, and you can't stand the sight of it.
Let's have a game, Numachi.
A game. In this gym, in this court. One-on-one.
If you win, you can have this wonderful cultural artifact.
And if I win, you will stop collecting misfortune and parts of the devil forevermore.
Now that's just ridiculous.
Is there any reason why I should accept those terms?
Yes.
You can make sure that I won't smash this mummy part with a hammer.
Smash it?
Are you serious?
You bet!
The collector should find this unrefusable.
In fact, how can you walk away from this as a basketball player?
Just so you know:
if that mummy part is on the line, I won't play around like we did the other day.
I will be serious.
Really?
I thought that was all you have.
If I'd been serious, I would have used the devil's leg and arm.
Kanbaru, do you think a human can win against me?
I wouldn't challenge you if I didn't think so.
If Araragi stood here in my place,
Scene no. 79
he'd think of some even bigger ruse.
What do you say?
Let's do it.
This is a no-brainer.
I'd like to ask something first.
I agree that it is beneficial for me to have this game.
But what about you?
Kanbaru, why is it beneficial for you to have it?
I told you.
If I win, you'll stop collecting devil parts and the misfortune of others.
The matter of unhappiness aside...
Scene no. 83
I'll make sure the parts you've already collected will be disposed of.
That is certainly harmful to me, but how is it beneficial for you?
That's irrelevant.
What harms you is part of what benefits me.
Oh, I see.
It's because you hate me.
Precisely.
Did you seriously think your personality wouldn't aggravate others?
You might've realized this already,
but I could simply use the devil's power to take the head from you by force, bypassing our game.
Are you not afraid of that?
No, I don't think I am.
Numachi.
I think you're able to steal from others, but I don't think you can rob them.
At least that's what I'd like to think.
I think that's typical of you.
How trustworthy I seem to be.
You left the box on the floor and strip down in front of me.
I'm a bit of an exhibitionist.
Then this year that you spent hiding your arm must have been utter hell.
It was.
Right. Let's get started.
Let the game begin.
Getting the remaining parts once I have the head should be a trivial matter.
It is, after all, the abode of the soul.
Head
Scene no. 108
Brain
Scene no. 108
Let's not go back to that endless tossing we did the other day.
You would never be able to win a war of attrition.
I wouldn't be able to call that winning.
Do you dislike being utterly dominant?
No, I don't.
I just don't want to listen to your complaints later.
All right.
Let's do it like this, then.
A single possession, each of us doing what we do best.
A single possession?
I'm offense.
You're defense.
One-on-one. One possession.
If I score fair and square, I win.
If you stop me fair and square, you win.
Where I come from, running, this would be the 50m sprint,
Scene no. 125
and where you come from, soccer, this would be a penalty shootout.
That gives me an unacceptable advantage.
It doesn't.
I wouldn't suggest these terms if I didn't think I'd win.
Very well.
If we both think that we have this in the bag,
then I will accept your terms.
Let's get this over with then.
I'm loath to keep active players from practicing here forever.
Say, Numachi.
What?
Don't you feel like ascending or something?
What are you talking about?
Are you trying to be metaphorical with my half-devil state?
If so, the metaphor doesn't quite work.
Devils find redemption, don't they?
Asking about my ascendance makes it sound like I'm a ghost.
Anyway, Kanbaru.
Can you spare a shoe for me?
I don't need basketball shoes; gym shoes are enough.
Thinking about it, I don't think I can win against you bare-footed.
Okay.
Someone should have his spare shoes salted away in the locker room.
Just grab those.
Got it.
The locker room is over there, right?
This is horrible.
Scene no. 157
This is not what I expected.
Scene no. 157
Numachi Rouka does not realize that she is dead.
She does not understand that she is a ghost.
She's not aware that she herself is an oddity collecting unhappiness.
She has forgotten that she killed herself.
Is that possible?
It's possible.
Scene no. 159
Nobody wants to acknowledge their own death.
Nobody wants to die to begin with.
Numachi is so aloof, likes speaking in an enlightened way, and generally seems like a very strong character,
Scene no. 161
but that in no way means that she would have to be able to accept her own death.
Scene no. 161
She wasn't lying.
She truly believes she's traveling through the country and collecting the misfortune of others.
With that in mind she adjusts her perception of the world around her to fit that story.
Obviously she won't ever ascend at this rate.
She collects misfortune and the devil's parts, ignorant of the truth.
I see.
I understand.
Now I understand what I'm doing here.
This is harder than hard.
Scene no. 169
I'm about to tell my former arch-enemy that she is already dead.
That's so cruel.
Scene no. 172
It's too late to stop—
Scene no. 172
I've decided I would do this.
She is who I may have been under different circumstances.
I can't stand looking at her.
That's why I will exorcise her.
I want to perform her last rites.
I just really
Scene no. 178
—fair and square—want to win against Numachi.
I want
to confirm that she is not I.
Scene no. 178
I want to be sure.
Scene no. 178
Sorry about that.
Let's get started.
Isn't it strange?
We treated each other as arch-enemies back in middle school, Kanbaru.
But I believe this is the first time we'll truly square off, isn't it?
Is it?
Didn't we meet on the court plenty of times?
We had friendlies and some training sessions together, but no official games.
Fate is strange, isn't it?
I suppose that's just the luck of the draw in tournaments.
I'm surprised.
I felt like we'd been fighting each other through all of middle school.
I suppose it wasn't just that our playstyles were polar opposites,
but that we felt something for the other in some way.
You forgot what you felt for me after you graduated from middle school, didn't you?
All you were thinking of was Senjougahara.
Yes, I forgot you.
But I remembered.
I will forget what happened today, too,
and I will remember it again someday.
Hey, Numachi.
Do you think it's better to regret the things you've done or the things you haven't done?
A loser's song.
Regretting the things you haven't done is clearly better.
I agree.
I completely agree.
The only ones who can claim that regretting what you haven't done is worse
are immature outsiders who have never experienced the regret that comes with what you have done.
But, you know,
you know,
the best by far is
not regretting what you've done.
Breaking through her swampy defense is hard.
But that only goes for me alone.
Never forget
that basketball is a game for more than one player.
I don't
Scene no. 255
I don't want to lose!
Scene no. 257
Neither do I!
Scene no. 259
Hey, hey.
Didn't I win the second I had the ball?
You weren't in possession, so it wasn't over yet.
I was in possession!
Oh, really?
Why'd you get right back on defense, then?
To be honest, I was surprised you managed to.
Didn't you say dunking was against the rules?
It was a necessary evil.
My teammates rarely ever passed me the ball.
Getting a pass from my opponent caught me off guard.
It's a nice feeling.
I forgot—
No, I never realized that basketball is a team game.
I quit before I realized that.
Oh wow.
She's really cute.
I should have probably kissed her.
I guess I lost.
I feel like I truly lost at last.
Truly?
I don't really know what I lost to in life.
Man, you should just stop studying for exams.
Go back to playing basketball, Kanbaru.
The high school team isn't the only place where you can show off your talents.
Why are you treading water?
I suppose you are more like an idle bystander.
You can't put a moratorium on life.
You're the last person I want to hear that from.
I guess I can think of it as important advice from the devil.
I'm okay with that.
Want me to say something deep as well?
Hey, Numa—
Tch.
Always easygoing except when you make a break for it.
To tell the truth, I wasn't so confident I'd win.
Maybe you admired team play,
but I was always good at team play,
and I admired you when you held off five opponents at once.
That's right.
I didn't hate Numachi.
I was jealous of her.
Scene no. 309
Black
Unnumbered Scene
That night I dreamt.
The motivation behind good is usually the jealousy of evil.
The motivation behind evil is antipathy towards good.
I believe that is the message which you should take away from this little episode.
No, Mom.
What I should take away from this is that it's fun to run into people you knew a bunch of years ago.
One day I will be grateful to my mother.
Scene no. 317
I will understand her feelings.
Scene no. 317
But that day is not today, and not anytime soon either— first I need to outdo her or at least match her achievements.
Scene no. 317
I don't think I will ever feel the same as she.
If you can't become medicine, then turn into poison.
Otherwise, you'd just be plain old water.
She was neither poison nor medicine.
If she was water, it was swamp water.
And what about you, Suruga?
I don't know.
Can I be hot water instead?
Hot Water
Scene no. 316
That was awful.
Got told.
Scene no. 318
Well, I agree.
I don't—you know, have any interesting aspects to myself.
Well. Talk to you another time, Mom.
Yeah. Another time.
Why are you at my bedside?!
You're not here for—
Hell no.
Apparently, when he turned up, my grandma said "Sure, just go to her room and wake her up,"
Scene no. 319
and waved him straight to my room and bed.
Scene no. 319
Security is direly lacking.
To be honest, seeing you naked doesn't do anything for me by now.
I could sue you for that.
Rather, what turns me on is seeing my sisters naked.
Twice the offense!
I have two little sisters, so thrice?
When exactly do you get to see your sisters naked?
Let's see...
Usually when I strip them naked.
Forget the trial, you deserve execution!
Officer! Listen to me!
Scene no. 331
Come on.
Let's get this cleaned up.
I see.
You had it tough.
It probably wasn't easy on you.
Actually, it wasn't that...
It wasn't easy on you, period.
You're way too hard on yourself, both in a good way and a bad one.
I would have given up halfway.
I actually thought I was emulating you.
Didn't I tell you?
You hold me in too high esteem.
You're a much more amazing person than I am.
Oh, right.
Araragi, I have something to ask of you.
I recovered more mummified devil pieces from Numachi.
I have trouble getting rid of them.
Can you take them for me?
Sure. What do you want me to do with them?
Treat Shinobu to a snack.
Oh, yeah.
That's a pretty failsafe way of getting rid of them.
But isn't that thing a valuable cultural artifact?
Every story must end somewhere.
There's nothing sweeter than schadenfreude, huh?
I don't really understand a view like that.
Just hearing about schadenfreude pisses me off.
Yeah, I figured it would.
There are very few as unfortunate as you.
Nonsense.
I'm the luckiest guy on Earth.
Hear, hear.
So how about this.
If you could wish for anything, what would you wish for?
That's hard.
I have so many wishes, picking one is difficult.
I guess most people are like that.
I guess I could wish for this:
I wish Karen and I weren't blood-rel—
That one is out of the question!
Then again, if she's not my sibling, there's no bling, either.
Sibling
Scene no. 356
Maybe she could be my stepsister?
Actually, it feels like with my stepsister I'd be exploiting a loophole in the law,
so that'd give me a pang of conscience.
No, I want her to be my full, blood-related sister!
So then...
Let's see...
Maybe the law could change for me.
Should I be worried about Karen?
Why should you?
Karen will be fine.
I'll look after her all my life.
Besides, it doesn't matter whether wishes come true or not.
You're the one who makes your wishes come true, so maybe you can't make them come true,
but I believe wishing for something in and of itself already has merit.
Wishing for something in and of itself?
Yeah.
Regardless of whether or not it's possible to make it come true,
I think it's good to understand yourself and what you wish for.
If you don't know what you want to be like and what you'd like to see happen,
your life will be filled with doubt.
I wonder if she gave me the Monkey's Paw for that reason.
She?
You mean your mother?
Maybe...
Actually, I don't know.
I don't think kids will ever understand their parents.
Are you sure about this?
Yeah.
Scythe it off.
What a waste.
I like this hairstyle.
Yeah.
I really like it as well,
but it gets in the way during sports.
Oh man.
You're the third girl whose hair I'm cutting.
You player—
I suppose I'm half-decent at this sort of thing,
but don't you have a hairdresser you frequent?
I do...
But I want you to cut it.
Why?
It's my policy.
Right, Araragi.
Can you give me a lift one of these days?
Sure.
Where to?
I'd like to visit Numachi's grave.
Okay, let's ask Tsukihi to look up where it is.
I'd like to see Numachi's dying wish through and gather the other half of the devil,
but I doubt I'll be able to put that plan into action.
You don't have to.
You don't have to bear the load alone.
Keeping the devil split into many parts is safer to begin with.
Let's do this.
Black
Unnumbered Scene
Kanbaru.
Many people will have lots of different opinions on what you did.
There will be those who will say you did the right thing,
and those who will say you were wrong.
You shouldn't pay attention to them.
Don't worry about what they'll say.
What you did was neither the right nor the wrong thing.
You were just spending your youth.
Flower Story
Devil
Suruga Devil
The End
What is this I have stuck inside my heart?
It grows so large I have to talk about it
In the prison that we call freedom
we live half in the past
I'm prisoner to your love-struck response
Immobile, spell-bound, sucked in
Thinking about all the right and wrong decisions now
I am petrified with hesitation
Now you are gone from this chaotic world
My feelings lie buried deep
I run alone to where my heart
commands me
I cut myself lose from the words that tied me down
Nobody will equal me
in my honesty to myself
when I decide
to find someone else now