01x11 - Indo's Sin

[bunniefuu]

It's been years
since I talked to him like this.

Dad.

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

EPISODE ELEVEN: INDO'S SIN

Yoshiki, wanna read this together?

THE FARMER'S HEAD

What's that?

A Kubitachi folktale.

I heard this story a lot when I was a boy.

Nah.

Ultron Man's cool, ain't he? Strong too.

Well, I like the monster guys better.

They're so cool-lookin'.
But how come they always get defeated?

The humans and monsters
should all sign a peace treaty.

That's a wide vocabulary ya got there.

I'm gonna be a monster expert
and do tons of research on 'em.

Here, don't win.

All right.

- I mean it.
- I know ya do.

How's school treatin' ya these days?

Fine, I guess.

That's good.

Somethin' on your mind?

Well,

I wanna know about Hikaru's daddy.

What about him?

Way back when,
what exactly did the Indo family do?

What was their "sin"?

Who told ya 'bout that?

I did some research.

'Cause I gotta know right now.

What for?

Kohei and I

always said we never wanted our sons
to carry that burden.

I'm tellin' ya!
I wanna hurry up and marry Yuki!

This is about Yuki again, huh?

Eleven times she rejected ya.
Now you're just bein' a creep.

SHIITAKE MANJU

I'm an Indo.

In my family, we're pressured to hurry up
and marry our special someone.

I gotta bring Yuki into the family
and protect her.

Why's that?

Well, ages ago,
there was a young Indo family head

whose wife died of some disease
and became an Okubi-sama.

That's when it all started.

I see...

The family head trekked up the mountain
to offer his wife's head.

Wanna guess what he asked for?

"Bring my wife back to life!"

"I'll bring ya anybody else's head,
long as they ain't from the Indo family."

And just like that, she came back to life.

What? No way...

But...

That very same day, a third of the village
died somehow or other.

Some hanged 'emselves.

Some beheaded their families
and committed suicide.

Some got their heads stomped by horses.

And some people's heads
just randomly disappeared.

Dang, they all lost their heads...

Yep.

Of course, nobody in the Indo family died.

But the wife who came back to life
was nothin' but a living head.

She suffered and died again that night.

And then, the mysterious deaths stopped,
along with the bad harvests and diseases.

But man, my ancestors sure got unlucky.

Till that day, no matter
how many heads they offered up,

nothin' ever really happened.

How much of that is true?

Who knows?

But we still got the wife's head, ya know.

What?

Her name's Hichi Indo.

She's still in our temple to this day.

You're always so nonchalant...

You think nothing of it?

Course I do.

It's a burden I gotta carry

and somethin'
we gotta tell our kids someday.

That's why the men of the Indo family

take Hichi-san to that mountain
'bout every five years.

They apologize and beg the god
to stay up there.

That's the Indos' sin
and the backstory of their ritual.

Before Kohei died,

he fought with the elders

in hopes of ending that ritual
with his generation.

He argued that Unuki-sama
wasn't what they thought it was,

that the ritual was meaningless.

Soon after, an accident k*lled him.

Was it really an accident, though?

So, Dad...

how'd ya feel when Hikaru's daddy died?

Felt like everythin' good in the village
disappeared along with him.

I hate how alike we are.

Yoshiki.

You're nothin' like me. Ya know that?

Because you got
your mom's strength and kindness.

You'll become a better person than I am.

Tell that to Mom yourself.

Why won't ya talk to her anymore?

I'm scared. Just 'cause she's so strong.

I'm afraid that one day,
I won't belong in this house anymore.

Pathetic.

Is belonging really all that important?

Folks tend to crave
what they don't have enough of.

Folks who don't have enough to eat
crave food.

Folks starvin' for affection
are gonna obsess over love.

And folks desperate to belong
probably never had a home to begin with.

I should make more of an effort
to talk to your mom, huh?

Yeah.

By the way, Dad,
ya got a lotta books, huh?

I do.

You can read 'em if ya want.

Thanks.

Hey, Mom.
Big Bro and Dad are actually talking...

He's quick to put on a good face
around you kids.

Sounds like tons o' people
offered up their lives to me.

But it kinda makes sense.

Apparently, that's just what I am.

Hikaru?

Busy there?

Nah. Is dinner ready?

We're havin' mapo tofu tonight.
You like that, don't ya?

Yeah...

So that's the Indo family's sin.

Killin' off the villagers
to bring a woman back to life.

Now they're forced to take responsibility
and go apologize for it.

INDO TRIGGERS MASS DEATH

But still, somethin's odd.

This area's been plagued by disease
since long, long ago.

They even have official records of it.

The fact that it stopped
after the mass deaths

means that all those impurities
causin' the diseases went away.

But shouldn't Hikaru...

Wouldn't Nonuki-sama prevent bad stuff
from happenin' round the village?

Ain't he a lightning rod
drawin' impurities to the mountain?

Make it make sense.

What was Nonuki-sama doin'
before the mass deaths, then?

Before that Hichi-san fiasco,
it never granted any requests.

PEACE AFTER MASS DEATH

Is that... a request?

A god who grants requests?

UNUKI-SAN → NONUKI-SAMA/HIKARU
GRANTS REQUEST IN EXCHANGE FOR HEAD

I don't get it.

Was Hichi-san special or somethin'?

Why are there so many impurities here
in the first place?

If I don't figure this out...

See ya, Yoshiki.
I'm headin' back to the mountain.

I ain't gonna let that happen.

Not on my watch.

RAFANELLI ART BOOK

These are nice paintings.

What's this? A Sketch of Gehenna...

The year 1519?

As y'all know,
Takada went and started a fight,

so he's been suspended for three weeks.

Right now, he's...

HOME ECONOMICS

Hey, remember how Yoshiki and Hikaru
skipped the choir concert a while back?

Why'd they do that?

Uh, I dunno.

They're comin' to school now, though.
Nothin' to worry about, right?

Ya think?

THE LITTLE MERMAID

An Indo family ancestor's selfish act
caused a mass death event.

That's the Indo family's sin.

Hey, Yoshiki,

you asked your daddy about it, didn't ya?

Well, he's the only one I could ask.
Nobody else knew your daddy like he did.

Process of elimination.

"CHICKEN'S TASTIER THAN PEOPLE!"
SAID THE QUEEN.

So, hey,

what kinda person was Hikaru anyway?

It's a little late for you
to be askin' that now.

Well, ya know,
it's my fault Hikaru's body got damaged.

I feel kinda bad.

So, are you weaker now

'cause ya split yourself in half?

That might be why.

Then I'm givin' this back.

With this,
ya won't feel pain anymore, right?

Even if I put it back,
I dunno if I'll go back to normal.

That piece of me
might get lost in there forever.

And ya know what else?

If I put that back inside,
ya might try stabbin' me again.

I ain't gonna stab you.

Hikaru...

was like the main character of a manga.

He could run fast,
but he sucked at schoolwork.

He could talk to anybody,

but upperclassmen didn't like him
since he didn't pay 'em enough respect.

Underclassmen loved him, though.

There were always rumors
about girls havin' crushes on Hikaru.

Every time, he'd work himself up
wonderin' when they'd ask him out.

But they'd always end up
dating someone else.

Before he died,
he had a thing for Saito from Class B

'cause she looks like Rinshan
from Master + Master.

He usually slept through movies

and ate any kinda food
as long as it was edible.

He was always strong,
and never stressed like I did.

He never cried.

I never saw him shed a tear.

I wonder if he actually wanted to cry.

Ya miss him? The real Hikaru.

Of course I do.

Ya do, huh? Makes sense.

THE BEAST PONDERED FOR A BIT.

So ya don't remember
what happened with Hichi-san?

I kinda do, but I kinda don't...

Think a little harder, would ya?

Ya wanna stay here, don'tcha?

I'm tryin'.

But like, I mean...

Hikaru?

Is your neck hurtin'?

No.

Hikaru?

What?

THE SUMMER HIKARU DIED

Yeah, I gotta run away from this.

Why, all of a sudden?

What? Yer kiddin'! Really?

Yeah, really.

I'm scared.

I'm freakin' out, I'm freakin' out!

Don't k*ll--

Wait...

Somehow, this doesn't feel gross at all.

Oh, is it because
of how bad I'm mixed now?

Hikaru...

Huh?

What did I...

Why'd I do that?

I didn't just...

It's okay, Hikaru.

I did it to you again.

I tried to...

I shoulda known, huh?

I'm a monster, after all.

What? That ain't true.

Look, I'm totally fine.

Don't worry about...

Hikaru!

This whole time, he looked human.

He looked like Hikaru.
That's why I accepted him.

Even somethin' like him
should have a place to belong.

He's gotta have a home somewhere.

Right?

Somewhere...

KIBOGAYAMA HIGH SCHOOL

That was close by.

Wha...

Ah-chan, what're ya doin'?
You'll get soaked!

Huh? Oh...

You're right.

Dang, girl.

What're ya doin', starin' into space?
You're gonna catch a cold.

Comin'!

Hikaru?

What I mean by "becomin' mixed" is...

When somethin' from their world
gets inside him,

some of their elements
will get mixed into his soul.

It happened to my son too.

When that happens, the boundary
between our worlds will get fuzzy.

That attracts a whole lotta impurities.

They're within arm's reach,
and that makes 'em wanna get closer.

Will somethin' bad happen
if he gets mixed even more?

I don't wanna think about it.

I gotta be honest.

Even if I can fathom what a soul is,
I don't understand the value of life.

Love, friendship, family, all that stuff.
Humans are complicated, huh?

I can't even comprehend
what all that really means.

But Yoshiki told me somethin'.

He said I didn't have to understand.
That I don't gotta become human.

That's why I don't wanna hurt Yoshiki.

But it's gettin' tough lately.
Sometimes, I can't control myself.

Maybe it's your instincts,
like a weakened animal lashin' out.

So it's 'cause I'm gettin' weak?

Nah, it don't even matter.

Either way, my instincts could take over
and mess up Yoshiki's soul...

This boy's terrifying.

One wrong step,
and he'll wreck everythin'.

Tell me.

Would it solve everything
if I returned to the mountain?

Would that reduce the impurities

and keep everyone safe?

Would everythin' go back to normal?

Well, ya see,

that won't really
get to the heart of the problem...

I'll be okay.

I'm a monster, so...

it's no big deal...

Why...

I don't wanna be alone.

Hikaru...

Why...

With Hikaru in his current state,

even if I can't get rid of it,
I can at least yank it outta his body.

Both of 'em are gonna suffer either way.

I gotta do this...

Let's call it a day.

He's only been in this world
for a year, if that.

It's too unfair.

A little longer...

That softheartedness

will lead to even greater suffering.

I know that.

But I'm sure Hikaru has a family,

waitin' on him to come back home.

IORI KUREBAYASHI 7 YEARS OLD

Upsy-daisy.

Comin'!

You're...

Even if all this research
helps us figure out what I am,

it won't change the fact
that I'm a monster.

Nothin' can change that.

I don't even wanna be human anyhow.

Wanting a place to call home...

That was pure arrogance.

Hikaru?

What're ya doin' out there?

You're gonna get sick.

Welcome home.

Get in here.

Yeah. I'm home.