Please Save My Earth #5: E.S.P.

Episode #5: "E.S.P."

The Meeting
Haruhiko is pensive, looking out his window and appreciating that it's the first time he'll meet the others from the Moon. It is also the first step of his new start. He has written a letter to Tamura.

Alice is seeing Rin off to the meeting. She hands him a bag of cookies she baked for everyone. He doesn't care about that. Instead, he wants to make sure she remembers the time for her own meeting. "And don't be late!" he calls back. She waves him goodbye, in an oddly cheerful mood.

Flash Forward
In a flash forward, Haruhiko breaks the ocean surface just enough for a breath, and is pulled back down again. Rin floats above, pondering, "So you tried to suicide?"

Flash Back
Earlier at the meeting, Haruhiko had walked in to a couple of shocked faces: Sakura's and Issei's. Rin is very interested in this, having had no idea the three knew each other. They sit down to talk, and Haruhiko tries to apologize and thank them at the same time. He mentions he wasn't trying to kill himself, but has a problem with sleepwalking. He finishes with, "But because of that, my memories have reawakened."

Alice and Haruhiko

At the oceanside, Rin continues to question Haruhiko. He wants to know what the connection is between him and Tamura, and Haruhiko hastily assures him he didn't tell anyone. Rin finds it hard to believe, and decides to change his plans a little. He cancels the other's meeting with Alice and promises that if Haruhiko does mention anything, he would make sure Tamura goes away.

That night, Rin hands a bouquet of carnations to Alice, telling her it's from Shion. He apologizes for Shion, who suddenly had business to attend to.

The Letter/Kyoto
In Kyoto, someone in the Yakashimaru household is telling the person on the phone that Tamura isn't back yet. Fretting, Haruhiko hangs up his end. He knows if Tamura reads his letter, Shion would do something. Although Kyoto is very far away, he decides to try going there.

Shion In Kyoto, Takashi returns home and spots Haruhiko on the front steps, exhausted. Haruhiko asks him to check for the letter for Tamura, but it isn't in the day's mail. Takashi dismisses the other and tells him to leave. He is extremely surprised when Haruhiko clutches his hand and begs him to tear up the letter if it should arrive. Not sure what to make of it, Takashi later notices the letter in Tamura's pile after all. He picks it up and is about to rip it when a hand reaches out and takes it from him. "I believe that's addressed to me," Tamura tells him. Takashi tells him the sender himself asked for it to be destroyed, adding he saw Haruhiko earlier, and that he looked ill. Feeling that it's important, Tamura reads the letter.

In it, Haruhiko tells him everything. He includes the fact that as Shukaido, he had been angered that he would die prematurely, so had gotten even with the man he hated, Shion, by ensuring that he only survived.

The Carnations' Secret
Alice looks at the bouquet from Shion and brings it up with Rin. She knows that he bought the flowers, she tells him and thanks him. The flowers had told her. He hurriedly explains that the money came from Shion. Alice tries to engage him again over why he and the others think she's Mokulen, but he bows out, pretending to run off for dinner. Rin's mother is gladdened to hear him asking about dinner the way any eight-year old boy would. Then he tells her, "I've decided. I'm calling off the engagement with Alice."

Hajime is ecstatic, but Alice isn't so happy. The doorbell rings. It turns out to be Rin.

Shion searching

Rin's Doubts
In the playground outside, Alice asks him why he did it. He counters by accusing her of being unfair; she asks other people questions, but won't ask herself. He tells her that she denies it so much that she won't even consider the possibility she is Mokulen. Then it had occured to him that perhaps their engagment was the real reason, so he called it off. In return for her freedom, he asks her to at least consider the fact that she might be Mokulen. Suddenly passionate, he pleads with her, "Shion is waiting for you to awaken!" He tells her that if she denies her self, Shion would be forced to search for her forever. His mood changes to fright, and he clutches her, asking, "If this is the paradise I've dreamed of, then why am I so nervous around you?" He details his dream for her, of waking up and finding no one, of looking forever. He fears that that is the reality and his time with her is a cruel dream from which he must awaken. Then Rin realizes what he is saying and tries to dismiss it. He does ask her if she'll still spend time with him, and she promises, "All the time you want!"

Reflecting on what Rin said, Alice has to admit to herself that it might be true. What she can't understand is, if she has such a crush on Shion, why does she think about Rin so much more?

Chance Meeting
At the train station, Jinpachi sees Haruhiko and hails him. They go to a cafe and talk, where Jinpachi mentions his brother works at the zoo. Haruhiko answers that he likes animals, and talks about them until Jinpachi says, "You don't sound like Shion. You sound more like Shukaido." He then gets to the point. He'd heard that Haruhiko was the one who persuaded Rin and Alice to break off the engagement and wanted confirmation. If true, he is tempted to beat up the other teenager. Naturally, Haruhiko doesn't sit still for this. Chasing after him, Jinpachi yells, "And why did you jump in the lake?" The dark-skinned boy slaps him, telling him he wouldn't understand.

"M" Appears
Shukaido had always liked fish, so Haruhiko does as well. He ruminates at the aquarium, oblivious to the twitters and giggles of passersby as they look at his wet clothes. Unnoticed by him, a shape quietly floats down behind him. With a slap, several books fall to the floor. Turning to find Mikuro gathering up the dropped books, he lends a hand. Mikuro thanks him and leaves him one of the books as a gift. Bewildered, Haruhiko stares after the other man but then notices something in the book. It is a note, warning him to take better care of his body, as teleportation is extremely tiring. It is signed "M."

Threats
Haruhiko is surprised at school to hear his little brother is there; he has no little brother. One look and he understands. It is Rin. They go out for fast food and to talk. Haruhiko wants to know what Rin is trying to do and why he broke off the engagement, but Rin only tells him to date Alice and get her password. Then Haruhiko shows him the note from "M," and asks why Rin sent people to pretend to be his friend. Rin looks at it and says, "He's 'M.' I'm 'S'." He thinks and realizes, "You've gone to Kyoto." He expresses his apologies that Haruhiko will lose a good friend.

Haruhiko calls Tamura in Kyoto and tells him to run, adding that he'll be there soon. Tamura tries to tell him not to do it, but it's too late.

Takashi opens his locker and finds a love letter. Embarrassed, he glances around before opening it. Unknown to him, a friend of Mikuro, Koji, is looking on. He reports to Tamura that the letter contained no name and asked Takashi to go to the Renmyoji Temple that night. Tamura, concerned, asks Koji to go home. Koji agrees and hangs up. Stepping out of the phone booth, he almost walks into Rin, waiting to use it. He offers his help, but Rin refuses it politely. Inside, he dials the same number Koji did. When Tamura answers, he hears Koji ask, "Who's this 'M' guy?" From that, Tamura knows it's not Koji. Rin tells him to bring "M" with him to the temple later.

ESPers
That night, Tamura walks onto the temple grounds, calling for "S." He is obviously nervous, but he nevertheless threatens "S" that Haruhiko can take him down. He knows "S" doesn't have all the passwords yet. First, though, he wants to know where Takashi is. Rin answers him by throwing him against the temple wall. Tamura raises his head at the rumbling sound to take in Rin standing on a huge floating boulder. "So," Rin asks conversationally, "How do you want to die?"

First, though, Rin wants to know who "M" is. Suddenly, the boulder he is standing on crumbles. He whips around at Mikuro's voice. Mikuro apologizes to Tamura for being late, but he had spent time taking Takashi to safety first. Rin realizes now that this is "M." Rin drives Mikuro back with bolts of psychic energy. Then the ground beneath Mikuro collapses. Tamura turns at the creaking noise and sees a faucet handle turn, but no water comes out. He looks back and sees a bubble surrounding Mikuro, the water slowly filling up within. Trying to rescue him, Tamura falls into the bubble as well. Rin is enjoying it immensely, and he encourages them with their "double suicide."

Mikuro recovers quickly, however, and having gauged Rin's strength. He slices off the branch on which Rin sits. Rin decides to take the fight onto the roof, where he launches a barrage of tiles at Mikuro. Unused to this type of combat, Mikuro is hard pressed, but stops the tiles. A giant, glowing ball of energy hits him next, followed by an immense weight that crushes him into the ceiling. Rin decides to finish things off while Mikuro is down. He raises his hands and an even larger globe of energy forms. "Time to finish this," he says and throws it at Tamura and Mikuro.

At the last minute, someone runs up and blocks the globe. As it envelopes the three on the ground, the figure screams.