Please Save My Earth #6: Reincarnation, and then...

Episode #6: "Reincarnation, and then..."

Battle
Enraged, Rin grinds out, "Shukaido!" Haruhiko moves to the roof to plead with Rin to leave innocents out of it. If Rin wants to kill him, then he'll accept it. But Rin has been pushed too far. "Nine years," he declares, "My hatred for you gave me nothing but suffering." And now, Rin trembles with an excess of emotion as he faces the reincarnated Shukaido. "Good night, Shu." All Tamura and Mikuro can see from below is energy crackling on the roof. Rin hasn't had enough yet, though Haruhiko is badly Mikuro is also angry now, and tells Rin they'll fight to the death if they have to. Rin is contemptuous of this. He lashes out with a blast, but the Earth ESPer stands firm and returns it. Suddenly, Rin realizes he is no match for Mikuro, just as the blast hits him. Crying out, he disappears in the middle of the blast, which explodes outward to engulf the temple.

Somewhere else now, Rin gasps in pain. He knows that teleporting as he did only aggravated his injuries. If he tries it again, it may kill him. As his consciousness fades, he screams, "I don't want to die!"

Shion's Past
Tracer fire and other projectiles fly into the night, revealing smoking battlefields. A young Shion runs through wild grasses as tall as he is, his only thought being, "I'm going to live!" He finds a cottage of sorts and walks in. In the dark, he sees food and begins staggering toward it. "Who's there?" A soldier, on edge, raises his gun. Another soldier jumps to deflect his aim, shouting, "Wait! It's a kid!" He is too late, and the first man fires. Watching the bullets approach, Shion's fear swel Rin wakes in the hospital screaming. As his mother tries to comfort him, he grabs her, yelling, "I'm scared! I'm scared!" Alice walks in, concerned for him.

Shion falls to his knees in front of the rivulets of blood on the ground. The first time he ever used his powers, and it was to kill people. He was no better than the animals who tried to shoot him, he thinks. Some time later, he is found by a local religious group.

Mrs. Kobayashi
Mrs. Kobayashi confides in Alice that Rin has been acting lonely recently, since just before calling off the engagement. She tells Alice he had been having bad dreams, but would never admit it. If she asked him, he only pretended things were fine and tried to act adult, even with tears in his eyes. Overcome with emotion, she excuses herself, offering to get some watermelon for Alice to share. After Rin's mother leaves, Alice sits and reflects. She's sure Rin would be much happier without his past memo Young Shion is facing one of the liann (v: Orikasa Ai), one of the sisters of the local church. She compliments him on having survived on his own, but Shion is bitterly sarcastic. He questions how good he can be if he killed people. Unable to answer him, the liann eventually sends him to one of the elder women of her order.

Liann and Lazlo
Liann and young Shion

The older liann greets Shion, inviting him to talk with her as an equal. But first, she asks him to sit on one of the pews, so they can face each other on an equal basis. He teleports himself onto his perch. Momentarily startled, the liann recovers her wits and tells him, "You have the blessing of Sahches." She explains that those who are blessed by Sahjareem have special powers, either Sahches like him, or the Keeches-Sahjaliann, those with powers and four red marks on their foreheads. One day, someone new comes to talk to Shion. He introduces himself as Lazlo (v: Arimoto Kinryu). He has been assigned by the government to be Shion's veeda, sort of a foster father. He explains that he sees it as a type of game and lists the types of things they would do together. Shion complains that it sounds no different thatn living at the convent, but Lazlo assures him he'll see the difference if he tries it.

Kyaa...!
Lazlo leads Shion down a path between fields of grain. He points to a house at the end, "There it is." He informs Shion that he, Shion, and Kyaa will live there together. Kyaa is his partner, he adds, as they walk into the house. Looking all around, Shion doesn't notice the looming shadow in front of him. "Let me introduce you," Lazlo offers. "His name is--"

"KYAA!" Shion screams and jumps back at the man-sized, bipedal cat. "Yes," Lazlo laughs, "That's what everyone says when they first meet him."

Kyaa glances at Shion In the following days, Shion gradually settles into life with Lazlo, though not without some bumps. He tries to convince Lazlo to be scared of him. After all, he says, "I've killed people, you know." Lazlo maintains he's not scared with Kyaa around. When asked why not, he fibs, "Because Kyaa feeds on Sahches power." Shion takes a sideways glance at the giant cat, who likewise looks at him.

Shion's Fight
Even at Lazlo's, Shion manages to get in trouble. An irate woman is giving Lazlo a dressing down while holding her son, whose wounds are covered with bandages. She threatens that if anything similar happens again, she will make sure his license as a veeda is revoked.

Later, Lazlo goes to look for Shion but is unable to find him. Finally, he asks Kyaa, who motions for Shion to come out from behind him. Shion is sure Lazlo would be mad, but he isn't. Lazlo carefully explains that they aren't close enough yet to give him that right. He also knows the other boy had picked on Shion for being a war orphan first. To convince Shion, he tells him he will do something he's been wanting to since becoming a foster father. He holds Shion close and kisses the boy on both cheek. Inexplicably, Shion finds himself crying. Lazlo tells him it's probably because this is the first time Shion has realized what he's been missing. He guesses that Shion finally understands how lonely he has been all this time. "It's a very human feeling," he tells Shion, then counsels him never to give in, no matter how cheated he may feel. He wants his foster son to learn to stop feeling miserable, and in return, each time Shion takes a step out of misery, he will be rewarded with a kiss.

78 Days
Unfortunately, Lazlo and Kyaa are killed in an accident soon after. Feeling the uselessness of it all, Shion rails that they only had 78 days together. In the real world, Rin's dreams of the past cause him to weep in his sleep. Alice sees his tears and, after consulting with the flowers, decides to sing to him.

Present and Future
Shion is being led away from the house when he hears something. Ignoring the liann's calls, he runs back. He can hear music as he dashes through the rooms in the house. Opening a door, he looks into the light and spots Lazlo and Kyaa. They mouth something and beckon him to join them. He runs in, trips, and the vision vanishes as he hits the floor. He looks up at the picture of Sahjareem on the wall and, suddenly, another image is superimposed over it. He recognizes the person in it, though he The last of his visions is of himself, holding a dying Mokulen. She tells him she finally understands why he seemed so familiar. She knows now that they will all meet again in the future, when they are reincarnated. Because of his, she asks him to promise not to kill himself.

Summer
As summer approaches, life returns almost to normal. A number of separate scenes impress themselves on the eyes: Jinpachi telling Alice that what's important is the future; Sakura and Issei wondering why they were reincarnated, and where Enju's love has gone; Tamura comforting Haruhiko; Rin's convalescence and encounter with Mori-sensei; Alice seeing Mokulen in a reflection; graduation. Alice fainting, and the suddeny unseasonal blossoming of the cherry blossom trees; Alice's friends finding four red marks on her forehead.

And finally, Rin's second grade report on what he did in the summer: "Let's go to the beach, Alice," he urges. There, they can be together. "It'll be so nostalgic. Now that it's ending," he concludes.