01x05 - Nearby

[bunniefuu]

It's because we're

from the same detention camp.

Detention camp?

It's like in the sci-fi movies.

We were used as guinea pigs

for the special rights tests.

Guinea pigs?

What are you saying?

Special rights are not of this world.

They are the manifestation

of human desires.

And we are the failures of that desire.

STORY BY TAIGA MIYAKAWA

Failures?

We were forced to obtain

special rights by various means.

Is that easier to understand?

Forced?

Come to think of it,

Omi lost the hearing in his right ear,

and the professor lost his right eye.

I see!

The reason they gave up a body part

that would cause so much inconvenience

was because they were forced to.

The ones who had special rights

prior to the Majority Vote

are those from the detention camp.

We are the failures

who didn't produce

the results that they wanted.

The Emperor was the only success.

Success? Failure?

Detention camp?

Why were Omi and Iruga

in a place like that?

It looks like you have

a ton of questions you want to ask.

So let's make a trade.

I'll give you some intel

if you hand over Omi.

No way!

Sane, just do it.

If we hand over Omi,

we can get information, right?

Hand him over.

What are you saying, Ryuta?!

Don't worry about me.

Okay then.

We have a deal.

Is there a way to defeat the Emperor?

Yes. And it'll be easier if you have Omi.

But that's all

I'm going to tell you for now.

Why not find someone

with the Command Right?

It's the most powerful one, isn't it?

The one who had it died.

Omi is the most powerful

of the remaining survivors.

He died?

Do you know the Emperor's location?

I'll find it eventually.

That's about all I can tell you for now.

You're lucky that you ran into me

and not Mido.

Is he that dangerous?

Let's just say

our ultimate goals are different.

Ultimate goals?

Mido's ultimate goal is

to annihilate all of humanity,

excluding himself.

And my ultimate goal is to annihilate

all of humanity, including myself.

Zero and one are infinitely close

but also tremendously far apart.

Huh?

Including yourself?

Bingo.

What's the point of living?

It's meaningless.

Everything in this world is meaningless.

What do you guys plan to do

if you survive?

Survive, reproduce, die,

and then what?

Develop a culture and civilization?

Pursue art?

Produce offspring?

Preserve the species?

What is the meaning of all of that?

"Love lasts forever."

"Make great memories."

"The soul never dies."

Why should we put our hopes

in intangible things

that have no guarantee?

When humans perish, the Earth perishes,

and the sun swallows us up,

and the universe runs out of life,

what'll happen?

Whether you live or die,

it's all meaningless!

This guy

Some people say, "Just enjoy the moment."

Nothing can arise from meaningless things.

Even m*rder is meaningless.

But the world is full of idiots

who don't realize

that some things are meaningless,

and they try to find value in it.

Humans are the most troublesome

because of their useless wisdom,

so they all need to be eliminated.

Everything is meaningless to him.

That's why he doesn't hesitate to k*ll.

You're gonna k*ll the Emperor too, right?

It's more convenient

if you k*ll him before I do,

so I'll let you live for now.

All right. I told you everything.

Now hand over Omi.

Sane.

Let me give you some advice.

In these kinds of situations,

just say "Yes" and pretend

like you don't know anything.

Play dumb.

-What?

-Huh?

Leave it to me and just get out of here.

I've always wanted to say that!

I'll leave it up to you

how we'll meet up, okay?

Okay.

I'll protect Omi,

so promise me you'll meet us there.

Let's go then.

Sorry!

Later!

If you get a tummy ache,

tell an adult, okay?

You're not my mom!

I was trying my best to make

this situation tense and nervous.

Don't you dare say

in front of Sane that life is meaningless

regardless of whether you live or die.

I won't let you get to them.

I will protect them.

Promise me that you won't come after us,

that you won't harm us,

that you won't get involved with us

in any way in the future.

If you can't promise that, I'll have

to k*ll you right here, right now.

I have an idea what his special right is.

My sword broke in a split second.

So it's likely

a Transformation-type Privilege,

Cutting Rights.

Let's see if I'm right.

Just as I thought.

As long as I don't touch him

You've got pretty good coordination.

Do you play sports?

Generate springs.

Fuse.

Then separate.

There!

Let's just place this over here

for now.

No way

Is this guy a monster?

It's not a Cutting Right?

What is it then?

Do you understand your position

a little better now?

If I were a small fry,

there's no way Mido

would have joined forces with me.

Mido is the brain,

and I'm the one who makes things happen,

which means I'm strong. Get it?

Shall I tell you my Privilege

as a gift to take to the underworld?

It's a Transformation-type Privilege,

the Division Right.

Division?

It involves physical division,

concept division,

and property division.

I can control

these three types of divisions.

To sever your sword,

I used physical division.

The debris stopped on my head

because I divided the existence of space.

It couldn't touch me

because the space was divided.

There's an effective range for that,

but I'm not gonna tell you.

How can I crush this guy?

This is what happens

when you don't pay attention.

I'm not gonna survive this!

Yo! I've been dying to meet you.

I've come to avenge Ishiki!

Hey, aren't you the girl

from Ms. Ishiki's place?

It's Rika Suzuki.

Don't forget my name,

you head-slicing psychopath.

That's funny I thought I

crushed you with debris from the building

when I found you back at Ishiki's place,

just like I did now.

Hate to break it to you

but you cannot k*ll me.

I have the Privilege

to completely avoid physical damage,

the Right to Evade.

As you can see,

the cause of the damage was "evaded".

As long as he's with me,

no damage can be done to him either.

I see

So whatever I do, I can't k*ll you then.

What are you doing here?

I went to the ward office,

but then I was directed here.

I did as the display said.

The display?

Someone must've used their Display Right.

Gobo probably directed her here.

I lost my right leg

in exchange for gaining a Privilege.

It's true that I resented Ishiki for that.

But thanks to her, I am alive right now.

Above all,

she had a good heart.

I won't forgive you for k*lling her!

It's a little too late for that.

Well, congratulations for now.

What?

You made it out alive.

Farewell.

I'm counting on you guys

to k*ll the Emperor before I do.

Why don't you hand over

some more intel then,

Iruga?

-Yagi-chan.

-I had him throw me

over to where you were.

What? Thrown over?

I would especially like information

on how to locate the Emperor,

how to defeat him,

and the strategies

relating to the Majority Vote.

I want information on these three things.

All right then

To be honest, it's all a bit of a puzzle.

I think the Emperor is in Tokyo.

Well, that's obvious since there are

survivors only in the 23 wards.

Am I right?

You knew the answer,

but you still asked, huh?

I'm not sure how to defeat him,

but it's probably better

if you k*ll him in an instant

when his guard is down.

Also, regarding the strategy

for the Majority Vote,

I guess one way is

to not let him take a Majority Vote.

In the second stage,

if you don't put in a question,

there's no Majority Vote.

Also, you can try holding onto the laptop

by entering the password daily

and preventing it from being collected.

That way, the Majority Vote

can be avoided.

In any case,

you first need to get your hands

on a laptop.

Why does he seem so confident?

I get it now.

The increased freedom

will result in more fights and killings.

And you're waiting for the moment

when the player who finds the laptop

gets it taken from him,

the moment when he loses ownership of it.

Mido's special right is

the Right of Inheritance, isn't it?

Oh, you figured it out?

You're right.

That is exactly how I'll get

the laptop and hold onto it,

but I'm not going to put in any questions,

since that's what

the Emperor wants us to do.

What do you mean?

To begin with, if you write

the location and time

where the majority of people are at,

a winner will automatically be born.

What is the point of a Majority Vote

that has so many flaws?

From here on out,

figure it out for yourselves.

You can also control the population

by having everyone

compete for the laptops.

Annihilating all of humanity

is your goal, right?

Why go through all of this?

Don't underestimate the Emperor.

If you don't choose your moves carefully,

you'll be in a jam

before you know it.

I'll tell my people that the kid

with the Right to Veto is dead.

I gave you a hint.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out

once you think it over.

Why don't you ask someone to help you?

I suggest you should ask someone

who is clever.

I was right to be on the lookout.

Why are there others in Nerima Ward

even though it's not today's area?

And why is Sudo one of them?

On top of that, I got separated from Soma.

Congrats, you are the chosen ones!

It's a pleasure to meet you.

I am the Emperor.

What did he say?!

This is nonsense.

The fact that he didn't go

to the designated area

means that he's either given up

or has a different motive.

But what he just said was to taunt us.

He's an enemy, and a troublesome one.

I will k*ll anyone who gets in my way.

I will k*ll you first then.

You're strong.

I may not look it,

but I'm a black belt in karate.

Shall I call you Professor Shinozaki?

Why are you here in Nerima Ward?

Yesterday afternoon,

when I was pursuing Jin,

I received an order from the Emperor

telling me to stop pursuing Jin

and to go to Nerima Ward,

or else, I would be ex*cuted.

The Emperor gave such an order?

That's impossible.

I was looking for a safe place

where I could hide,

and that's when I saw

this school building.

You felt fear, sought comfort,

and found this place, huh?

You are a teacher after all.

I thought you were scum,

but I take that back.

Actually, you're a coward.

You genuinely wanted to survive,

but as a result, you made a mistake.

Calm down and think it over.

You and Narita are both alive,

but he has his friends by his side.

You are all alone.

I have a companion too.

Soma was only cooperating

because he feels a debt of gratitude

to me?

I guess

I am alone.

If you can't make up your mind,

here's a piece of advice.

Work with them,

survive as a team to the end

and if you can't find a way out,

then betray them.

If that happens,

you'll end up fighting amongst yourselves.

Nobody will blame you.

Are you telling me to go back to Narita?

Unless you really are scum.

How can I?

After what I did,

they will never accept me.

A stun grenade!

Cover your eyes and ears!

You have more brains than him,

so you'll die first.

You!

Come at me!

I will use my Visibility Right

to see your next move! Come and get me!

I'm bleeding badly

I don't have much time.

He made me his target

because of my ability to think.

Does he know my purpose

for coming to Nerima Ward?

Then perhaps

his purpose is the same as mine.

Sudo, are you okay?

We need to stop the bleeding.

Fool! Don't let your guard down!

We need to go somewhere safe.

How can you with that injury?

It's a blessing in disguise.

This is my turf.

A mic?

Cover your ears!

Sorry to break it to you

but this is farewell.

-Rats.

-Now!

Now!

Let's go before he gets to us.

Oh well. That injury is going

to k*ll him sooner or later.

What just happened?

I put an old speaker in the school.

It picked up the sound from the mic,

the meter moved, and it detonated.

I used an ignition agent

that magicians use.

Magicians?

A good friend of mine with a bizarre hobby

gave it to me a long time ago.

Never mind that. I've got

something important to tell you.

In the school's library,

I stored multiple documents

-relating to the Majority Vote.

-What?

You can probably locate

the Emperor with those.

Show them to

-everyone.

-Don't say another word.

We need to treat your wound.

Ryohei.

Ryohei, look at the sky.

I heard Mr. Sudo died in an accident.

And his oldest child too.

What a pity.

The sky that is above us now

is the same sky

that your father

and Kohei were looking at.

The sky will never disappear.

As long as that sky exists,

we will always be connected.

The sky that day was

so blue and bright.

It provided me with color and light

that pierced the depths of my heart.

For my dad and my brother,

I wanted to do my best

to make my mother's life more comfortable.

And in order to do that,

I did all that I could.

SUGI SHIN CRAM SCHOOL

I begged my mom to let me

go to cram school.

That's where I met

MOCK EXAM RESULTS

1. TOJURO YAGIHASHI - 500 POINTS

2. RYOHEI SUDO - 495 POINTS

MOCK EXAM RESULTS

1. TOJURO YAGIHASHI - 500 POINTS

2. RYOHEI SUDO - 497 POINTS

Hey, Yagihashi!

What the hell are you doing?

What is this commotion about?

The monthly tuition!

I heard that you paid my monthly tuition.

Did you do it out of pity?

Or do you think that you're helping me?!

The other day,

a fortune teller told me that

if I didn't pay the monthly tuition

on your behalf,

my parents will explode.

Do you think I'm stupid?

I should be saying that to you.

You're not smarter than me,

so how can you tell me that I'm wrong?

I think they are going to explode.

I've got a better brain than you,

and I figured that out.

So that makes me right and you wrong.

A leek?

That Yagihashi!

Trying to make a fool out of me.

Ryohei,

please stop studying.

Mom, why are you saying that?

When was the last time

that I took a good look at my mom's face?

It's all my fault.

I was doing this all for Mom.

That's what I thought, but

Yagihashi, what are you doing here?

Did that leek come in handy?

Huh, leek?

I see! So you knew this

would happen to me, didn't you?

You win, hands down.

Leeks are good for colds.

You can wrap it around your neck

or stick it in your butt.

You have a strange sense of humor.

Did you pay my tuition

so you could get close to me?

You're half-right.

I truly respect your efforts.

I want to see your potential,

as a competitor and as someone I respect.

Actually, my family and I

will be moving to Saitama soon.

That's why I wanted to challenge you

to a game,

a game to see who can get

the highest grades.

Whoever gets the highest score

in the national mock exam

at the start of high school

will be the winner.

So the tuition fee was

your entrance fee to play this game, huh?

I'm in.

It's decided then.

33RD SUGINAMI DAINI HIGH SCHOOL

ENTRANCE CEREMONY

I knew it. So you were the top student.

No wonder I couldn't get

the highest score.

Thanks, Yagihashi.

Thanks to you, I now have what it takes

to make my mom happy.

I promise to make her happy,

for both my dad and my big brother.

I promise.

DO YOU SEE THIS RIGHT NOW?

Congratulations.

You happen to be alive.

Nice to meet you. I am the Emperor.

I wonder why

Even though I'm dying in vain,

why is it that

my heart is filled with light?

Oh, that's why.

This sky

is the same sky as on that day

the sky that I saw by your side.