The Dying Bird...
A type of supernatural cuckoo.
The cuckoo from the poem:
"I see green leaves and hear the mountain cuckoo's cry,
as I eat the first tuna of the year."
They lied when they said it was a phoenix.
This bird habitually plants its eggs in other birds' nests.
It waits for the mother bird of another species to leave,
and then pushes those eggs out of the nest, onto the ground.
Then it lays its own eggs,
for the mother bird to warm and hatch.
The supernatural cuckoo,
the Dying Bird, exhibits the same behavior.
It does the same thing.
It plants its egg in a human nest.
Inside the womb of a pregnant mother,
it reincarnates itself like a phoenix, the immortal bird.
The common legend of the phoenix
describes the bird, at its life's end,
throwing itself into the flames,
so it can be reborn.
In this case, the flame is a human mother.
To be precise, the Dying Bird's victim
is not your sister,
but is, instead, your mother.
Over ten years ago,
your mother carried a monster in her womb.
Body
Womb
And a year later, Araragi Tsukihi was born.
The Dying Bird was reborn.
In the larger scheme, it's a harmless creature.
It never hurts anyone.
But it is a fake.
And it is immortal.
Any wound heals instantly.
Any illness vanishes.
It lives out its lifespan.
And then it dies, and is reborn.
It has repeated this cycle up to the modern era.
Just like a cuckoo...
Episode 11: Tsukihi Phoenix, Part 4
Nii-chan, what is this?!
What happened?
An artillery strike?
Have syndicate pursuit teams fired a cannon at us?
Honestly, well...
I don't know.
I went to Mister Donuts, to take a study break,
and when I returned, it was like this.
Maybe a dump truck hit the house, before driving off.
So you've been standing guard...
Thanks!
But you haven't gotten to study at all today, have you?
I guess not.
Okay, Nii-chan, I'll take over!
Now it's my turn.
Until Mom and Dad get home,
I shall be Cerberus, Guardian of Hell.
So get back to your room and study.
By the way, where's Tsukihi-chan?
I think she was on the second floor when it happened.
She watched the front until I returned.
But since she was here when it happened,
it was a big shock.
She's out cold on the second floor.
Yeah...
She actually gets rattled pretty easily...
I'm sure you have things you'd like to ask her,
but she really is fast asleep.
Let her rest for a while.
Aye aye!
Karen-chan?
What is it, Nii-chan?
Would you be able to die for me?
Sure.
Why?
Then, could you die for Tsukihi-chan?
I could.
With a smile on my face.
She's my little sister.
Of course I could.
Yeah, of course.
And I'd die for you, too.
Again and again,
like some immortal Dracula.
Red Scene
I'd die every day until I was dead.
Immortal, huh?
Not a vampire,
but a phoenix, huh?
It's all so sudden...
I can't keep up with everything.
Hey.
Hey
Black Scene
What are you doing?!
I can't believe it...
This can't be happening!
My first kiss...
I was going to give it to Rosokuzawa!
What's so funny?!
Nothing...
I was just thinking that I felt nothing when I kissed you.
It wasn't exciting, and I didn't enjoy it.
You really are my sister.
Tsukihi-chan, did you know
that there was a time when I wasn't your brother?
What are you talking about?
There was a time when I wasn't Karen-chan's brother, either.
For the first three years of my life, I was an only child.
And the year after that, I only had one sister.
It was four years before I finally became your brother.
Well, yeah...
But, Tsukihi-chan...
Araragi Tsukihi has always been my little sister.
My little sister, as well as Karen-chan's little sister.
That has never been untrue.
Don't count my kiss...
That's how family works.
For example, when we were little,
how many times did we say we were gonna get married?
I couldn't tell you.
Of course, I would've married you both.
Stupid.
You think you can fool me by bringing up the past?
White Scene
I'm platinum mad...
Hey, Karen-chan.
I'm going out for a bit.
Okay, bye.
While I'm gone, keep an eye out.
No one gets in.
Leave it to me.
Karen-chan does whatever her brother says.
You're going, my master?
Yes, I am.
Where? To do what?
To them. To fight.
Why?
For my sister.
What will that gain you?
Nothing at all.
I'll only waste some time.
I see...
Tsukihi, was it?
Your miniscule sister.
Yeah...
What? You learned her name?
It's rare for you to learn a human's name.
After hearing you scream it so many times...
And it's a good name.
A good name?
Is it?
I like the "tsuki," from "moon," part.
The sun is my enemy,
but the moon has been quite good to me.
And so,
perhaps I shall repay it.
Okay.
Thanks.
No need for thanks...
No Entry
We apologize for the inconvenience, and request your cooperation.
No Entry
Beware of Falling Objects
Danger
No Entry Watch Your Head
No Entry
Emergency Exit
Uninvited company...
Oshino-kun would say "Oh, you're late.
I've been waiting for you."
But I'm not that friendly.
Oshino...
Oshino was never so violent.
I'm sure that's true!
That's how he was...
That's how it is with him.
So what do we do?
An outright brawl is fine with us.
It's simple.
We're all about violence.
And thankfully, both of our teams include a human and a monster.
You and me.
And the former Heart-under-blade-chan; Yotsugi-chan.
How does that sound?
Not happy?
Then, I can take the former Heart-under-blade,
and you can have Yotsugi.
She's the one who attacked your sister, fake or not.
No,
the first pairing is better.
Excellent.
Then, girl,
come downstairs.
There's a perfect room on the second floor for us to fight in.
We can enjoy ourselves there.
I'll show you the difference that years of experience make.
Sure, that's fine.
Even after powering up, you're still weaker than I am.
Respect for the Elderly Day is still a month from now.
But if you're willing to force
that tired old body to show me the difference of years of experience,
I'll go with you,
Grannie.
I said, with a posed look.
You're a minor Far Eastern youkai,
lacking even existent texts about her.
I'll see to it that you can't ever have a posed look again.
Black Scene
Well, I'm off to take care of the elderly, Onee-chan.
I said, with a posed look.
Black Scene
Kagenui-san, what's your relationship to Oshino?
You know the idiot in the Hawaiian shirt, Oshino Meme?
What? Oshino-kun's still wearing those shirts?
I thought it was just some kind of trademark,
but if he's still doing it, perhaps there's a deeper reason...
Well, it's nothing really.
Just an old friend.
Oshino-kun, Kaiki-kun, and I
were all university classmates.
Oshino, okay...
But Kaiki?
Kaiki?
Did she say Kaiki?
Kaiki...
You mean Kaiki Deishuu?
Shinto Studies
Student Building
Gallery
Social Work Department
Cafeteria
That's right. Kaiki-kun...
We shared a major, and he was in my club.
Campus Map
We used to play four-person shogi with another upperclassman.
Was it the shogi research club?
No, the occult research club.
Actually, it was Kaiki-kun who was kind enough to tell us
about your sister.
Kaiki!
So this was all your fault?
It was all your doing?!
Kagenui-san.
I'm on my sister's side in this.
Your sister is a fake.
She isn't your real sister.
Even if you recognize that the sister you believed to be real is a fake,
can you truly love her, as you always have?
I can.
No, I'll love her even more.
Isn't it hot,
Black Scene
having a sister who isn't your real sister?!
Red Scene
I understand your feelings.
And I suppose I must respect them.
But from the perspective of a good guy like me...
Yellow Scene
Nothing I say will change your mind.
I've given up trying to convince you.
I'm different from Oshino-kun and Kaiki-kun, after all.
I can only speak with my fists.
But... But...
I wonder.
Even if you're all right with it...
Red Scene
Yellow Scene
Red Scene
Even if you're all right with it,
how about the rest of your family?!
You were once immortal.
So perhaps you'd be fine
with a fake sister who's an immortal creature.
But how about the rest of your family?
Those who have nothing to do with the supernatural?
For example, Karen-chan, was it?
If your other sister knew her little sister
is a supernatural creature,
could she answer the same way?
Or your mother?
If she knew that she birthed a monster,
could she say the same thing as you?
What about your father?!
And what about her?
If the fake knew everything,
could she continue living
like she always has?
Everything's all right now, because she doesn't know.
But when she finds out,
won't she be hurt?
An immortal monster cannot adapt to its surroundings...
You should know that better than anyone.
Or will she try to be a hero, with her inhuman body?
The Fire Sisters, wasn't it?
But how proud, how cruel
could an immortal monster be toward humans?
You know that better than anyone, as well!
Black Scene
Red Scene
Our job is to stop it before that happens.
Whatever you value...
What you consider right is up to you.
But don't force it onto other people!
Red Scene
I'm not finished yet.
I'm starting to worry about Yotsugi, also.
Let's go take a look!
What are you doing,
my master?
What?
For all her big talk, this is as far as she got?
Looks like you're having a tough time, Yotsugi.
I was preparing to stage an elaborate comeback.
Don't worry about me when you don't have to, Onee-chan.
I said, with a posed look.
Right, right.
But allow your sister to have this pleasure.
Former Heart-under-blade,
want to have a final round with me?
No, I won't fight.
And a final round?
Don't be stupid, human.
My master hasn't lost to you yet.
Correct, my master?
That's right.
I haven't lost yet...
I haven't conceded to you yet.
Not to your fists or to your words.
I haven't accepted either!
Didn't you listen to me?
Whatever you value...
What you consider right is up to you.
But don't force those ideals onto other people.
It isn't "other people."
Not "other people."
It's my family.
I'll force my ideals on my family.
And since they're family, I'll lie to them.
I'll deceive them. I'll cause trouble for them.
I'll make them worry.
I'll owe them things...
Things I'll never be able to repay.
However, I think that's okay.
Kagenui-san...
Miss Good Guy.
If you say that being a fake is evil,
then I will shoulder the burden of that evil.
If lying is evil,
then I'm fine with being evil.
I don't need them to like me.
I'm fine with being the worst kind of person.
Onii-chan!
As long as she calls me that,
it's enough for me...
The theory of fundamental evil?
As a high school student, you've learned the theory of fundamental good, right?
It was a concept developed by Chinese philosopher Mencius.
He said that humans are born fundamentally good.
That's the one.
Um...
If the theory of fundamental good is an ideal,
the theory of fundamental evil is simple realism.
Desire lies at the core of human nature.
And humans are ruled by these desires.
That was the less tactful theory of Xun Zi.
He claimed that humans are born evil.
Born
evil?
Yes.
Thus, if a person does good,
that is not their true self, but a lie.
That was his theory.
It would be a lie, a fake,
and due only to hypocrisy...
Hypocrisy.
Artificial. And thus, by definition, deliberate.
He said all good is thereby hypocrisy, and therefore,
it constitutes a deliberate attempt to be good.
It was a game that Kaiki-kun often used to discuss...
Given the real thing, and an indistinguishable fake,
which is worth more?
The real thing and a fake...
Naturally, my response was that
the real thing was worth more.
Oshino-kun asserted that they had equal value, though.
But here is Kaiki-kun's argument:
The fake is of far greater value.
In its deliberate attempt to be real,
it's more real than the real thing.
Kaiki-kun's such a petty villain,
but he does say some neat things.
I suppose you could say
that's the lesson for us here.
It took us ten years to learn, though.
We're leaving.
We lose.
U-Um, Kagenui-san?
Bored.
We're leaving.
I can't fight when I'm feeling strange like this.
Unlimited Rulebook.
You can shoot a bird, but not one that's nesting.
Unlimited Rulebook A rulebook mostly filled with exceptions.
We'll just call your little sister an exception.
In a way, you're her mentor, so keep a close watch over her.
Anyway, you weren't ever
really serious about fighting us, were you?
We weren't serious?
I never sensed a desire to kill.
I don't think you were holding back.
But to be honest, it wasn't much fun for me.
If you didn't think I wanted to kill you,
that's because you treated me like a human being, Kagenui-san.
You said we both had a human and a monster, right?
Since I became this way, only Oshino referred to me as a human being.
So I'm the one who wasn't really into it.
I felt weird, and I didn't want to fight.
It's like when I was facing that old guy in the Hawaiian shirt.
I suppose I've ended up acting like Oshino-kun here.
I kind of regret it...
Pathetic.
So I guess I'll end this
with something Oshino-kun would never say.
Goodbye.
Black Scene
I was worried you were going to kiss me again,
but I guess you weren't.
Good morning. Welcome home.
Where were you?
Actually, I just went out and fought a human like a monster,
and a monster like a human, all for you.
That was kind of you. Thanks.
Don't overdo it.
Just let me. I do it because I want to.
I know, I know.
You love us.
Don't take it like that.
I hate you both.
Once summer break ends,
I'll introduce you to my girlfriend.
What, Onii-chan?
You have a girlfriend?
Yeah, ever since May.
I'm platinum mad!
Don't tell her anything she doesn't need to know.
Black Scene
I got way more involved than usual,
but there was no point in staying there forever.
For now, I'll go back to my room and change.
It's gotten quite late while I was doing all this.
It's time for this monster to bow out.
To Be Continued