Kuu.
Rakka.
Rakka, if you keep crying like that, Kuu can't go with peace of mind.
I know.
But...
Rakka, we'll see her again. Let's believe that.
Kuu just went a little before us, that's all.
Come on.
I wonder if Kuu can hear the bells, too.
I'm sure she can.
May the bell be a guidepost for her as well.
Scar Illness Arrival of Winter
I have to find a bed.
Winter is here, Kuu.
I must not cry.
Good morning, Kuu.
It's already been a month since that day.
Winter has finally come to the town of Glie.
But thanks to your advice, I didn't catch a cold.
How are you doing, Kuu?
What is it like where you are now?
I hope people there are as nice as those in the town of Glie.
Everybody at Old Home is doing fine.
And I'm...
Sorry, but I can't congratulate you like everyone else.
I wanted to be with you much longer.
I wanted to go shopping with you...
eat with you, and talk about a lot of things with you.
There were a lot more things I wanted you to teach me about.
REKI
HIKARI
NEMU
KANA
RAKKA & KUU
Wait for me!
Pea soup, please.
Oh, I see a lot of you these days.
That's all you want?
Oh, you know.
I haven't seen that boy around these days.
You know him?
The perky boy a little shorter than you.
Kuu.
Oh yeah, that's his name. Oh, it's "her", isn't it?
I feel bad. I keep calling her "boy."
Tell her I said sorry, won't you?
Kuu has left us.
What?
She's disappeared, then?
Oh, well. But that's how you Haibane are, right?
I see.
This is for take-out, isn't it?
Oh, don't worry, it's on me.
Keep that for when you come to have a big full-course dinner here.
But...
Here you are.
Enjoy your coffee.
For the people of this town, Kuu's disappearance is not a big deal.
Soon, they'll probably forget that she was even here.
Kuu.
You don't mind that?
Hey.
You live in that run-down house in the south district, don't you?
Old Home.
Oh, sorry.
But you guys call our place "Waste Factory", so it's only fair.
You know, I'm from the east district.
You're Hiyoko.
It's Hyohko. HYOHKO! As in "ice lake!"
But how did you know?
Well anyway, listen.
Did you know that a light came out of the Western Woods...
about a month ago, during the storm?
My buddy says something like that happens...
when a Haibane goes beyond the walls.
But everybody's still around at our factory...
so we thought maybe it was someone from your run-down...
I mean Old Home.
Was it Reki?
OK, then.
Good.
Oh, um, don't tell anyone I asked...
What do you mean "good"?
We lost a friend.
Hey!
Hey, Kana!
Overcooked!
It's fine.
No it's not.
Where's Rakka?
I went to get her, but she wasn't there.
She doesn't eat with us much any more, does she?
Maybe she's on a diet.
Kana.
It was ajoke.
I hear she often goes into town to eat these days.
By herself?
Maybe she wants to be alone.
She was the most depressed among us all when Kuu left.
Did you know?
Rakka's been cleaning Kuu's room all this time.
Oh, it was Rakka?
You went to Kuu's room, too?
Just once.
I know that Kuu's no longer with us.
I wonder if Rakka can't accept that.
I thought we should leave her alone until she's ready to let it go.
Yeah.
But she has to find closure sometime.
I wish we could help somehow.
Oh, I know!
Listen.
What am I going to do?
It's spreading.
I didn't have these this morning.
Good morning! Rise and shine!
Are you up?
Yes.
Good.
It's been a while since everyone got together to eat, so...
OK, but I...
I'Iljoin you when I'm dressed.
You go ahead.
We'll be waiting for you, then.
Looks like serious work.
Come on, help us.
Help you sew?
Me?
We all have to!
The kids need them, too.
But Kana can't sew.
When she starts out making a glove and ends up with a sock.
I don't like meticulous work like that.
Your Clock Master would be in tears if he heard you.
I don't mind machines, 'cause they're solid.
But cloth...
Good morning.
Good morning, Rakka.
What happened to your dress?
Oh, it got dirty. I'm washing it.
Here, look at this.
What is it?
Wing covers.
It'll get cold soon...
so I thought we'll make everyone's with the same design.
Are you a good sewer?
Me?
Well, I haven't had much experience.
Great! You're my best friend!
Kana! Really...
It's OK. I'll teach you.
It's easy.
Just spread your wings. I'll take the measurements now.
What happened to your feathers?
Nothing.
They look frayed.
Are you taking care of them properly?
Not really.
See, it shows.
It's not good. You're a girl, you know.
Rakka.
This is...
Um, my sofa is really solid.
So I might have hurt them in my sleep.
Oh, you don't have a bed, do you?
Moving is a hard business.
Why don't you just take this?
You know it won't fit.
Oh, I know.
How about using the bed in Kuu's room?
What?
Oh, that's a good idea.
I'll give you a hand if you want to move it.
But that's...
I think Kuu would be happy for you to have it.
Maybe she would, but...
But...
Rakka!
Rakka?
Oh, no, did I say something wrong?
No, it's not your fault, Hikari.
I'll go talk to her.
I'll come with you!
No, leave it to me.
But...
It's all right.
Rakka.
I'm coming in.
What have you done?
Stay away!
It's all right.
It keeps spreading.
I'm scared.
It's all right.
Am I...
sick?
No, you're not sick.
You have...
You haven't done anything wrong.
It stings.
Because you cut off your feathers.
Rinse them with cold water tomorrow morning.
That should make the black less noticeable.
It's medicine, right?
So I am sick?
This is a dye collected from an elderly tree.
It is said to blind the eyes of evil.
An elderly tree?
A Snow Scale tree, I guess.
They grow only near the walls and are named that because their trunks...
are very much hunched over.
But you stay away from the walls, OK?
It's dangerous.
Reki, why do you have such a special medicine?
How do you know about such things?
This town exists for the Haibane.
The walls are there to protect us.
A good Haibane lives here happily and goes beyond the walls...
when their time comes.
But once in a while, a Haibane who cannot be blessed by the town is born.
A Haibane who cannot remember their dream in the cocoon...
the Day of Flight never comes to him or her.
For such an unblessed Haibane...
the town becomes a cage which offers no escape.
This Haibane is called Sin-Bound.
So I'm...
No, you're not.
I'm the one who found your cocoon, and I'm the one who rinsed the blood...
out of your wings.
Your feathers were beautiful charcoal-gray.
You're a good Charcoal Feather.
Unlike me.
Reki...
But you don't...
The wings that broke out from my back had black, spotted feathers.
I was Sin-Bound from the beginning.
I couldn't remember my dream in the cocoon properly.
Because of the black feathers, everybody was afraid of me.
Even Nemu avoided me in the beginning.
If it wasn't for Kuramori, I would've been all alone to this day.
Kuramori?
She's beautiful.
Yeah.
She was a mother to the kids and a good mentor to Nemu and myself.
Despite her delicate health...
she went to the heart of the woods to collect the medicine for me.
She's the one who prepared the guestroom as it is now...
so she, Nemu, and I could live together.
She wasn't afraid of me.
She was always by my side.
Not out of pity. She was just there for me.
She was a good person.
But Reki, I think you're a good Haibane, too.
I'm a sinner.
Five years ago, Kuramori left us.
Not knowing anything about the Day of Flight...
I felt she abandoned me.
Nemu became concerned for me...
so she did some research at the library...
on the old legend and told me about the Day of Flight.
But I didn't believe it.
I was emotionally blinded.
I hated a lot of things and I think I said many terrible things to Nemu.
I ran away from Old Home and kept repeating the same mistakes...
at the place I escaped to.
In the end, I was caught by the community watch and was punished...
by the Charcoal Feather Federation, as well.
But you, Rakka, haven't done anything to be punished for.
So, this must be some kind of a mistake.
It'll be all gone in no time.
You don't remember your dream in the cocoon?
It's incomplete.
I've been drawing pictures and pictures of it, trying to remember.
Since I came here, I keep having nightmares.
It's a very cold night, and there's a red moon in the sky.
I'm all alone and walking on a stone-laden path.
Then something happens there.
I can't remember what, but something very horrible.
I scream myself awake.
Always the same dream.
I don't understand at all.
Why are there good Haibane and cursed ones?
Why was I born Sin-Bound?
I'm sorry.
Until now, I thought this town was a paradise.
Yet, despite everyone's caring hearts...
and willingness to do their best for each other, sad things still happen.
Some suffer from the curses given to them.
What are the Haibane?