End of Summer Rain Loss
This one's no good, either.
This is hopeless.
The North Wing is entirely uninhabitable.
Reki's room is here...
and Hikari and Nemu are in the east wing, I think.
Kuu!
Morning!
What are you doing over there?
I might ask the same of you. It's so early.
Good.
It's a perfect size for you.
Are you sure you want to give this to me?
Yes, it's too big for me, and winter is coming soon.
Winter?
But it's been so warm untiljust a few days ago.
Winter here comes all of a sudden.
So everybody gets a cold in their first year.
So you be careful.
OK, thanks.
The air will tell you.
Take a deep breath, and if you feel a sting in your nose...
that's the beginning of winter.
Oh. You're so full of knowledge, Kuu.
What's this?
What?
I thought it might be time for me to find a new room.
What?
This is a room for everybody.
It's so comfortable here that I might grow lazy, if I stay.
Such discipline!
You're full-fledged Haibane now, aren't you?
Thanks to a good senior.
Found a good room yet?
No, they're all full of dust, I can't tell if they're good or not.
I gotta go now!
What?
But it's almost time for breakfast.
Yeah, but I have a lot to do today.
Kuu?
She did?
Oh, come on, I made pancakes just because she said she wanted some.
She said she had something to do.
Should I wait to make them for her, then?
Let'sjust make them now.
She'll be back when she smells them.
Guess you're right.
Hey you guys! I did it!
Incredible.
She really did fix it.
Now someone can wake up in time.
We should celebrate!
All right!
Hey!
Come over here!
They say they'll praise your achievement!
Hey hey! The triumphant hero returns!
Huh?
Come on, why all of the long faces? Aren't you excited and thrilled?
Well, we were kind of wondering how long it was going to keep ringing.
Oh, it'll stop if I kill the breaker, but then the clock will die as well.
That defeats the entire purpose.
You idiot! Go kill it now!
What?!
You just told me to come, and now you're telling me to go?
What's with that?
It'll do a greatjob waking you up, ringing so loud and long, right?
We won't sleep to begin with!
Oh, alright, already!
Man, it's only a test!
I was still gonna do more work on it.
Shejust had to do this on a Sunday morning.
I'm tired now.
I'll go help her.
Wait a sec.
It stopped.
Oh, well.
Sorry.
For what?
It would've been a failure if the bell hadn't rung...
but it rang more than necessary, so I call it a great success.
Thanks for coming, but there's nothing I need help with.
And I don't want your clothes to get dirty.
It's Kuu's, isn't it?
Oh, yes.
She gave it to you, so she finally gave up, I guess.
What are you talking about?
Well, that's the first piece of clothing she bought after coming here.
She hated being treated like a kid and insisted on buying clothes...
that were the same size as ours, but she never could wear them.
I don't know if she really meant for me to keep this.
I think she no longer has to pretend to be what she isn't anymore.
She used to want to copy us in everything.
She did?
She tried to ride Reki's scooter and ended up crashing into a utility pole.
She got dizzy wearing Hikari's glasses and fell down the stairs.
She's just a little kid getting into trouble all the time, you know...
but maybe she's grown up in her own way.
I have to do my best, too!
Two, three!
Kuu's recommendation
This is where I am.
And it's over here.
Well, I think this is it.
For some reason...
this room feels familiar.
That's because...
this is where you were born.
Where I was born?
The cocoon room.
We found a gigantic cocoon right where you're standing.
Yes, I seem to remember a little.
Just a tiny bit.
I remembered mine a bit also.
So I made that into my room.
How's this one? Do you like it?
Yes.
Oh, but where have you been?
Reki was mad because she made pancakes at your request...
but you weren't there.
I asked her to pack them for me.
And for you, too. Here.
Oh, thank you.
That's right, I missed breakfast as well.
Reki was mad.
There is a drinking cup in my mind.
A pretty, clear cup.
And tiny drops keep falling into it...
drip... drip... drip.
Slowly but steadily, every day.
And today, I felt that it became completely full.
Kuu...
Rakka, you gave me some of the drops.
So, thank you.
It's getting dark.
Seems we'll have some rain.
Too bad it had to be on Sunday.
Yes.
Say, are you moving into a new room?
Kuu told me.
Kuu...
Did she say anything else?
Not really.
Oh, but was it you who cleaned up the kitchen for me?
No.
No? Who was it, then?
Kuu.
Kuu?
But there were no broken plates.
Have a seat. I'll make some tea.
Reki!
What is it?
Well, nothing.
Everybody feels depressed when the weather's like this.
Or they become obsessed with the idea that something bad is going to happen.
I don't know.
You can keep this room for a while longer...
if you feel nervous about moving into a single room.
No, it's not that.
Listen, why is this town surrounded by walls?
Why?
Well, probably because it is a protected place.
Protected?
From what?
From everything that's not good.
Or from everything we're not supposed to know.
That's...
A power failure?
It struck somewhere near.
Wait here.
There's a flashlight somewhere in this room.
Rakka, where are you going?
Rakka.
The birds in the Western Woods.
Oh, they must've been surprised as well.
It seems like they were trying to tell me something.
Come inside and dry yourself.
You'll catch a cold.
I'll go check on the kids.
Stay in your room.
Boy, some were crying, some were excited.
It was such a mess.
Reki.
Hey, where are Kana and Kuu?
Kana went to check the generator room in the basement. Kuu is...
Not here.
Though she's usually the first one to come here at a time like this.
I thought she might have gone to town, but...
I hope she found shelter from the rain.
She must be miserable if she's on the road.
I'll go look for her.
Look for her where?
What's up with her?
No idea.
She's been acting like today's weather since morning.
I kind of know how she feels.
If you look at today's sky, it makes you feel restless.
It's nasty weather.
But it's always like this when summer turns into winter.
It's only natural to feel ill at ease when seasons change.
Yeah. Maybe so.
I'll go find Rakka.
Tell Kana to stay here when she gets back.
Things could get out of hand if everyone goes off on their own.
OK.
Damn, I just got dry.
Oh you know, we should get the bath ready.
In case Kuu comes home soaking wet.
Rakka!
An umbrella is useless. We have to get raincoats.
I'm relieved.
If you'd gone crazy and went running off in this rain...
we would have two sick people.
Don't worry, she must have found shelter somewhere.
I don't think Kuu went to town.
What?
She asked you to pack her lunch, right?
Oh, yeah.
And she had a water bottle, too.
She was getting ready, in her own way, for ajourney.
A journey?
A journey where?
Probably to the Western Woods.
No way.
The walls are most powerful in the Western Woods.
Kuu knows it's dangerous there, so...
Kuu's gone to the Western Woods?
I wasn't trying to eavesdrop.
The generator's fuse blew...
so I was going to use the one in the clock tower.
Anyway...
Oh, we were just saying maybe. Because she's late in coming back.
But if she really did go, that means...
Kana!
We don't know for sure yet.
What are you talking about?
Rakka, you've never been to the Western Woods.
What made you think she went there?
When the rain started, the birds went crazy in the Western Woods.
As if trying to tell me something.
That was because of the rain.
But then I saw a light there.
Lightning?
No, it was coming out of the forest towards the sky.
You saw it?!
Are you sure?! Positive?!
I think so.
But it was soon hidden by clouds.
That's a lie!!
Kana?
I refuse to believe that!
I just won't!
I didn't want to believe it either, but Kuu might really have left us.
What?
The Haibane go outside the walls when his or her Day of Flight comes.
Reki told us to wait here.
What's wrong, Kana?
Kuu's in the Western Woods.
We might still be able to catch up with her.
What do you mean?
Her Day of Flight has come.
Out of my way!
No.
It's too dangerous after sunset.
All the more reason we can't leave Kuu by herself!
A guiding hand is given to a Haibane whose Day of Flight has come.
You might know things we don't, but it's nothing but a myth to us.
Kana, even if you did go, there's nothing you can do for her.
I know!
But if I could only see her. Just see her face.
You don't care if you can't say good-bye to her?
Reki, is it true about Kuu?
If there's still time, I want to see her, too.
I do, too.
But if you go into that forest without a point of reference...
you'll never come out again.
We only need a point of reference?
Rakka?
Kana! The bell of the clock tower!
What?
Start the bell!
The tower's generator works, right?
Then you can keep the bell ringing, can't you?
That's right!
Rakka.
Please, Reki.
I'll regret it later if I don't do anything now.
So, three more raincoats, or four?
All right.
Let's all go together.
But promise me not to go near the walls, no matter what.
The legend goes that there are ancient ruins in the heart of the wood...
and that a Charcoal Feather is lead there on his or her Day of Flight...
to go beyond the walls.
There is no way of telling when the day will come or to whom.
He or shejust disappears one day without warning.
No one knows why such things happen.
A Charcoal Feather about to take their flight never speaks of it to others.
We haven't had any Days of Flight for the past few years...
because there was a period of several years where no cocoons were born.
None... No Flights for many years
So maybe we had forgotten the fact that there may come a day...
when we have to say goodbye to one of our own, like today.
Kuu!!
You gave me some of the drops, Rakka.
So, thank you.
Kuu!
In the end, everybody leaves me.