Random Curiosity

Summary:

Yorito sees Matsuri lying on the ground bleeding after he stabbed her, but the next thing he knows, it’s daytime and he’s sitting in class. Yorito wonders if it was all a dream and when talking with Mana later, he experiences a brief flash of seeing Matsuri at the convenience store, but his memory is completely fogged up. He is still able to recall parts of his date with Aono, but when he gets to the part where Aono got wet and he went to buy her a towel, he gets another flash of Matsuri’s face and collapses soon afterwards. Mana brings a weak Yorito back home to Aono, and when Mana leaves the room to get a towel, Aono gets some time alone to speak with Yorito. He asks her about what they had for dinner last night and then comments on how he feels like he is unable to wake up. When Yorito suddenly asks Aono if they met someone on the way back home and reveals that he thinks he’s forgetting something important, Aono suggests that he get some rest. By the time Mana comes back with a towel and a plastic basin, Aono is in the process of taking Yorito upstairs. Mana tries to help her, but Aono turns it down and insists that Mana go home. After being put in bed, Yorito tells his sister that they should go out on a clear day next time. Aono responds by saying that she hates clear weather, but Yorito feels that they can see different scenery and colors on a clear day. As she exits the room, he bids her good night and she says the same to him.

That night, Mana’s friend and classmate Sae spots Matsuri and Mayuko together and manages to take a picture of them with her cell phone. It seems that Matsuri is trying to get as far away as possible even though she is in pain from the wound Yorito inflicted on her. To allow Matsuri some rest, Mayuko brings her to the nearby streetcar depot. The two of them are together now after Matsuri found Mayuko burning in the sunlight, and Matsuri is more concerned about how Mayuko is recovering rather than about her own injuries. When Mayuko figures out that Matsuri is a Yaka and questions why Matsuri’s wound hasn’t healed, Matsuri answers that it’s because she broke a promise, so of course she’d get stabbed. The next morning, Koyori and Mana show up at the Morimiya house, but no one initially answers the doorbell. Aono eventually does open the door and claims that Yorito will be taking the day off because of a cold. After the sisters leave, Aono goes back upstairs where Yorito informs her that Matsuri appeared in his dream and he stabbed her. Aono tells him that he’s seeing these dreams because he hasn’t forgotten Matsuri, and if he doesn’t forget her quickly, he’ll suffer forever. Aono then leaves his room and starts crying.

At school, Sae shows Mana the picture she took of Matsuri and Mayuko together. Since this proves Matsuri is still around, Mana has Sae send her the picture and rushes back to the Morimiya house. Aono answers the door again, but when Mana asks to see Yorito, Aono wants Mana to tell her what’s so urgent. Mana reveals Matsuri still being around, but Aono angrily tells her to go home and tries to close the door. Refusing to be shut out, Mana insists on telling Yorito about this because it involves someone important to him. Aono responds to this by pushing Mana out and accidentally getting burned in the process. With Mana confused about what just happened, Aono closes the door and doesn’t answer Mana’s cries and banging on the door. Yorito meanwhile continues to see the nightmare where he stabs Matsuri and she turns to stone before crumbling right in front of his eyes. These visions cause him to scream her name and eventually tumble out of bed even as Aono tries to restrain him. In their struggle, Yorito rips the curtains and lets the evening sun into the room. Aono has to drag herself out of the burning light and desperately tells Yorito that Matsuri isn’t here anymore, which seems to calm him down.

Aono then hugs Yorito and apologizes for dirtying his hands and causing him pain. 　She had thought that they had finally been able to become happy, and she had only wanted to live with him. Aono remembers that it had been the two of them living happily together making origami the past, but one rainy day she found the house collapsed, and that led to her suicide. She just needs Yorito and decides now that she has to go do something. Before she leaves, she tells Yorito that when it’s over, they can live together again peacefully. Aono is gone by the time Mana sneaks into the house and finds Yorito laying in bed with his eyes open, repeatedly saying to himself that Matsuri isn’t here anymore. Mana finally snaps Yorito out of it by slapping him and then showing him the cell phone photo of Matsuri with Mayuko. Recognizing the radio tower in the picture, a revitalized Yorito heads out in that direction on a bicycle with Mana. Matsuri meanwhile comes out of the streetcar where Mayuko is sleeping and finds herself under attack by flying pieces of paper. From atop the nearby building, Aono says that Matsuri is no more, and the two girls face off under the full moon.

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This episode answered a lot of questions for me, from how Matsuri and Mayuko ended up together to how Aono lost Yorito all those years ago. They all but confirm that Aono was responsible for wiping Yorito’s memory, and that scene with Yorito screaming got rather intense. I really thought that Aono would kiss Yorito around this point, but that never happened, so I’m starting to think that maybe Aono really does have an unnatural need just to be with Yorito, regardless of what kind of relationship they have.
Now that Aono has now taken it upon herself to get rid of Matsuri so that Yorito can forget Matsuri and won’t suffer any more (even though his suffering appears to be all Aono’s fault), we’ve got a Matsuri versus Aono fight on our hands with plenty of deadly origami. That doesn’t sound as cool as I thought it would, but nevertheless, I find this impressive because this is the kind of showdown that I wouldn’t expect for a couple more episodes when we’re a lot closer to the end of the series (for the record, there are five more episodes to go, not including the DVD exclusive pair). I guess this means there’s still plenty of story left to be told, including probably much more with Takeshi.