Please Save My Earth #2: Meeting

Episode 2: "Meeting"

Alice's Dream
"Meeting" begins with a scene on the moon, as Mokulen addresses Shion. "Shion, I had a dream," she says. "A dream about Earth, in which I was a girl in Japan." At this point, Alice wakes up, confused by her dream of the moon and captivated by Shion. In fact, for a moment she isn't sure which is the dream: her life on the Moon or on Earth. "In my dream, I called him Shion. And Shion-san called me Mokulen." she thinks. "But that can't be..."

During breakfast, her mother tells her the good news: after Alice went to sleep, Mrs. Kobayashi from next door had come over to talk. Rin's Mother had decided it was okay for Alice to promise to marry Rin, since she was obviously doing it to be nice to a young child, and wasn't serious.

Later, at school, her dream still haunts her, and Alice finds herself drawing images of Mokulen and Shion. During lunchtime, she shows these to Jinpachi and Issei, who marvel over them. They are remarkably accurate, especially since none of the seven Moon base scientists were ever described to Alice. She also relates her dream to the two of them, who immediately jump to the conclusion that she is Shion. When Alice hastily denies it, they get even more excited. "W-Well, then, are you Mokulen!?"

Jinpachi is fired up by this revelation. He tells the other two that he is now determined to find the rest of the seven, while Alice thinks to herself, "If we find the others, we might find Shion-san, too..."

Tamura Kazuto
Meanwhile, Tamura Kazuto is having a word with Matsudaira Raozou about his son, Takashi. Tamura explains that Takashi has been acting strange recently and pleads with Matsudaira to speak with his son. Mr. Matsudaira finds Takashi cowering in his room with the lights out. When asked what's wrong, Takashi responds with: "Dad, you always give me what I want, right? So please!" he begs, "You're in charge of rebuilding Tokyo Tower. So give me Tokyo Tower!" At his Father's outrage, Takashi adds, "Or else I'll be killed!" He breaks into more pitiful begging. Outside the door, Tamura listens, disturbed and concerned.

Haruhiko's Dream
Haruhiko dreams

In yet another location, someone is also dreaming of the Moon. It is impossible to tell who this person is, as he approaches Mokulen and chats with her about the plants. Then the dream dissolves, broken by a repated "Haruhiko, Haruhiko." Kasama Haruhiko wakes up to his Mother calling him. Still sleepy, he explains that he thought it was Mokulen calling him.

"Did you have that strange dream again? The really long one?" she asks him. "Yes, and Mokulen was just as pretty as always," he tells her. Then a bit of dialogue between the two establishes that Haruhiko's Father will be home late again, as his job as head supervisor of the Tokyo Tower rebuilding keeps his busy. Haruhiko then ends the conversation with: "Don't you think the Tokyo Tower looks like a lone dinosaur standing there against the Moon?"

Tamura and "S"
Back at the Matsudaira mansion, a voice-over tells Tamura that "young master" Takashi hasn't been eating his meals. As a result, Tamura brings dinner to Takashi and waits for him to eat it. Once he does, Tamura excuses himself. Takashi springs up, "Didn't you come to talk to me!?" But Tamura only wanted to make sure Takashi was eating. He tells Takashi that he doesn't have to talk about his problems right now. Tamura's sure that Takashi will talk to him when the time is right.

Tamura heads out to the Funky Z, a bar that Takashi frequents, to find out more. There, one of the patrons shushes his girlfriend when she loudly exclaims, "That's Takashi's MOM!?" He quiets her and says, "No, I mean he acts like the guy's mom." Upon inquiring, Tamura is told that Takashi began acting oddly a few days ago, when he received a mysterious note. The note had been made from cut-out letters from magazines and newspapers, and addressed Takashi in a familiar fashion. It had upset Takashi greatly, and all the bar-goers know is that it was sent by someone called "S-kun." Tamura leaves the bar to find a note attached to his car: "To Takashi's really nice mom, Tamura-san. Help Takashi-kun, okay? From his friend, S." Now Tamura's interest is really piqued, as is his resolve to help Takashi.

After Tamura leaves, the bartender gets a call from someone he's obviously familiar with. "Huh? What!? Go kick some ass!?" He nods, then asks for the names of the intended victims. At Tsuwabuki High... Ogura Jinpachi and Nishikiori Issei. Both freshmen..."

The Search
Alice, Jinpachi, and Issei are discussing how to locate the others, after a brief incident with Jinpachi yelling about looking for them in class. Of course, despite his enthusiasm, Jinpachi hasn't actually considered how they'll go about doing it. But Issei comes to the rescue, showing them an issue of a magazine called "Boo". It is a magazine where people write in with their strange experiences, and it has nation-wide circulation, allowing them to contact anyone in the country.

Jinpachi
Once they agree on writing a number of letters to the magazine, they get ready to go home. A cluster of people in front of the school attracts their attention. Alice is worried, but Jinpachi dismisses them, "They're probably just waiting for someone." As they approach, one of them calls out, "Are you guys Ogura Jinpachi and Nishikiori Issei? We're here to settle a score with you." Both men urge Alice to get to safety, then Jinpachi turns to the gang and asks what their grudge is with them. This prompts the gang to huddle for a time, trying to figure out a good answer to the question.

"Gimme a break! How can you settle a score if you don't even know what it is?" Jinpachi challenges. "Shut up!" one of the gang responds, and they begin fighting. Jinpachi and Issei are actually holding their own when Alice tries to stop one of the gang from hitting them from behind. She is pushed roughly to one side. When Jinpachi sees this, he loses control, and suddenly, just by pointing his finger at the gang member, he causes the man to fly through the air and land in the school fountain. This bizarre occurrence brings the fight to a halt, and when teachers begin showing up, the gang splits.

Being Watched
After the fight, both Issei and Jinpachi try to determine if Alice is okay. She is dazed, but then shakes it off. She can't shake the feeling that they are being watched, but has nothing to back up that feeling. However, it turns out she is right. The secret watcher thinks to himself, "If he really is Gyokulan, then he can use his power." The identity of the watchers is revealed when Rin's mother calls to him to stop watching the TV and come to dinner.

Interlude
Alice and Rin are on the train, looking out the window. Alice reflects that it has been a week since Issei's name was printed in the magazine. It is now the second day of spring vacation, and a new school year is about to begin. She feels that a lot has happened in a very short time.

Tamura and Haru-chan
Tamura is carefully cooking what appears to be a magnificent meal when he is interrupted by one of his "cronies" who wants to know how much sesame soy sauce and vinegar to use for his food. A string of such interruptions eventually causes Tamura to explode at the next person who hails him. The man cowers back from the knife Tamura is waving in his face and tells him, "I-It's just a phone call! Geez, what a temper!"

The call is from Kasama Haruhiko. Tamura knows him from a time a few years ago when he saved Haruhiko in the city. Though the circumstances aren't mentioned, it may have to do with Haruhiko's sleepwalking problem. The two chat for a while, then Haru-chan, as Tamura calls him, asks Tamura to join him at the mall. Tamura regretfully declines, as he still has chores to do.

Alice and Rin
Alice is taking Rin shopping, but they decide to get something to eat. Rin spots a sale at a store on school bags and tells Alice that he wants one. Apparently, the backpack he already has is considered "lame" now that he's in second grade, so he insists on getting a school bag. Alice hurriedly follows him into the store.

Inside the store, Haruhiko is being fitted for a new school uniform. When the saleswoman mentions that it might be too small to keep wearing for four years, Mrs. Kasama explains that Haruhiko only has one more year of middle school, as he has a heart condition that delayed his entrance to high school. At that moment, Rin runs into the store, straight into Haruhiko, and is bowled over. He sits up and begins yelling at Haruhiko, but stops in mid-sentence, shocked. Haruhiko misinterprets Rin's silence and asks if he has been hurt. Alice finally catches up to Rin and apologizes. She takes one look at Haruhiko and suddenly thinks, "He looks like Shion-san."

Haruhiko and his mother leave. Rin, seeing the look on Alice's face, asks her, "You like that kind of guy?" She tells him no, not really, and invents an excuse: "It's just that, he looks like a foreigner." Rin tells her he doesn't really care, so she should just tell him the truth. She admits that she does like Haruhiko, maybe just a bit. Then, embarrassed, begins to lead Rin to the school bags, but Rin doesn't budge. "What's wrong?" she asks, concerned.

"I wish I was the same age as you, Alice," he begins to cry. "I hate being a little kid. I HATE IT!" Alice has no idea what to do, and can only keep apologizing to Rin while everyone in the store stares.

Meeting
Issei phones Jinpachi excitedly and tells him that he's received an answer to the letter in the magazine. They've found Hiragi and Shusulan! Hiragi's name is Dobashi Daisuke, and Shusulan's name is Kokushou Sakura. They arrange to meet in the Kawasaki train station, but when they and Alice arrive, no one is there yet. Alice excuses herself to go to the restroom. While she is gone, someone approaches the two men and introduces himself as Hiragi. Jinpachi, excitable as usual, yells "That's so cool!" loudly enough to attract everyone's attention.

In the restroom, a girl drops her handkerchief and complains that it's now dirty. Alice loans hers to the girl. Later, they walk out together, smiling somewhat nervously at each other, not having much to say. When they approach the three men waiting together, they are shocked when Hiragi yells "Shusulan," at the same time that Jinpachi says, "Sakaguchi-san." The two girls turn to each other, realizing now who the other is.

Daisuke's Story
At Daisuke's house later, the five raise glasses and a toast to their "reunion." Sakura expresses her wish that Shion and Shukaido could be there to join them. Then they discuss how each of them came to know Sakura screaming for help

about the moon, and how they met. It turns out that Daisuke has had what he calls "moon dreams" since he was seven. It piqued his interest in astronomy, so he joined the school astronomy club. During one of their field trips to the observatory at Hakone, their bus suffered an accident during a bad thunderstorm. Barely still on the road, the bus was inches away from slipping through the guard rail and falling into space. It was then that Daisuke heard a girl scream out, "I don't want to die! Oh God, help me! Buddha! Sahjareem!" The mention of Sahjareem was what really caught his attention. As Issei puts it (after he finishes laughing at Sakura), "Sahjareem is the deity of the moon, right?"

During their conversation, Jinpachi and Issei finally find out whether their dreams are of the past or the future. A chance comment by Sakura about how creepy it is that their old bodies are still on the moon tells them that the dreams are of the past. It turns out the two men hadn't seen enough in their dreams yet to tell, but Sakura and Daisuke had. According to Daisuke, "The people on the moon fell sick one by one. Gyokulan, you were the first to die, and Shusulan was next. Then me." It was the first time ever that disease had struck the moon base, and the seven scientists had no vaccine. When Jinpachi asks why they couldn't get any from their home planet, Daisuke's answer is sobering: "Their home planet had already been destroyed in an interstellar war by then."

All Alone
Daisuke tells them that the war was an awesome, terrible war. Due to the nature of the weapons used, every planet that was involved was wiped out. The seven on the moon were left all alone, with no one to call for help, and nowhere left to return to. After the shock of finding this out, the seven scientists fell into emotional disarray. They argued and fought and said things to each other that they would later regret. Then, the disease struck, taking them one by one.

Tamura's Resolve
Getting ready to visit a friend, Tamura goes to look for Takashi to make sure he's all right. When he finds the boy, though, Takashi is distraught, and begs him not to go. Fearfully, Takashi explains he just received a call from someone who sounded exactly like one of his gang, Matsuyama, but when he answered the phone, it turned out to be "S." Apparently, "S" wants to meet Takashi in the old building near the harbor. He begs Tamura to go with him, but Tamura refuses. Instead, Tamura plans to go alone, and tells Takashi to stay home. This is the last straw, and now Tamura's getting pissed off at "S."

Ayako Haruhiko is spending a quiet evening with Ayako-san, Tamura's girlfriend. They are waiting for Tamura to join them for dinner when he calls to say he can't make it. Haruhiko is understandably upset, as he has been waiting for quite a while to see Tamura. But Tamura asks to speak to Ayako, and when she picks up the phone, he asks her to treat Haru-chan to a good dinner. She agrees and hangs up. Haru-chan protests, but she only admonishes him to relax and enjoy dinner. When he begins to complain about this "young master guy" (Takashi), she decides to tell him why Tamura is the way he is.

Ayako's Story
"You know, Kazuto-san had a brother," she begins, "But he committed suicide." Years ago, Matsudaira Raozou adopted Tamura and his brother, who were orphans. Tamura was given the job of caring for Matsudaira's son, and he went at it with a will, doing anything and everything he could. But the result was that Tamura's younger brother became lonely and eventually killed himself. Tamura was overcome by remorse, blaming himself for not having noticed any problems. He even went to Matsudaira and tried to resign. He felt that anyone as irresponsible as he was, who let his own brother die, could not take care of Matsudaira's son well. But Matsudaira hit him and told him, "Don't pass judgments you're not qualified to make. If you realize it's your fault, then make up for it." He told Tamura to learn from the experience and learn what it really means to protect someone. If Tamura couldn't do that, then he, Matsudaira, was a fool for trusting him.

And with that, Tamura is seen walking into the old building at the harbor, ready to confront "S."