okay, i cannot believe i am doing this. but i skimmed through the volume again, and it just so happens that a lot of stuff takes place. sooo..as a sort of warning:: this may just turn out to be full translations...-_-;;;;

Rei [looking surprised]: Why would the doctor...?
**flashback**
Small Rei & Sei: Auntie, Auntie, why did Mother die?
Aunt: Your mother died from acute leukemia.
**end flashback**
Rei [thinking]: Mom died of illness. Then, that hospital room...which hospital was it at? Why would the doctor from the psychological ward be there? What kind of treatment did Mom receive? What was she like before she died? [images of the hallway, the stairway and banister]
Rei [holding the banister; a picture of his mother's profile is shown, hair covering her face]: Before that--what kind of person was Mom?
[Rei stands at the top of the stairs, looking down. He seems to see a small child holding a book, running down the stairs. A little boy, Sei, chases the other boy down.]
Sei: Give that back! That's my precious book!
[A little Rei watches from the top of the stairs, leaning between the bars of the railing, as Sei tries to get the book back.]
Sei: That's the picture book my grandfather bought me before he died!
Boy: What does it matter? I'm just borrowing it, nothing will happen! [shoves Sei]
[Sei falls back against the stairs and begins to cry. Little Rei continues to watch from the top of the stairs. Some wispy fabric brushes by Rei and he turns to see a woman--his mother--walking down the stairs clad in a long slip and flimsy dressing gown. The little boy watches, wide-eyed, as Sei cries. Rei and Sei's mother slaps him. As Rei and Sei both stop and stare, their mother holds the little kid's arm in the air and leans down to threaten him, her other hand on her hip.]
Mother: Next time you bully my son, I'll rip your arm off, you hear me?
[She glares at the little boy, who begins to wail. Rei watches, astounded, from between the bars. His mother looks up, sees him, and the harsh look on her face disappears. She smiles gently at him. Little Rei watching from between the rails turns into the present-day Rei, still clutching the rail with a surprised look on his face. His father turns up in dressing gown behind him.]
Father: What are you doing over there? It's so late, you haven't gone to bed yet?
Rei [surprised]: Ah...It's nothing....I just saw Mom's old room, and that brought up a lot of memories..and then I had trouble falling asleep...
Father: I don't blame you, so many things happened these past few years.....if you're willing, why don't you find some time during these next few days to pay your respects to your mother's grave.
Rei [suddenly looking intent]: Dad, how did Mom die?
[Rei sits down on a ledge, his face in his hands. His father stands next to him.]
Father: Shouko died of leukemia, didn't I tell you this before?
Rei [face in hands]: That's right...that's why we went to the hospital to visit her every week...But that hospital, what hospital was it?
Father: (ok, i'm just putting in the Chinese name here)Guo(2) Li(4) Yan(2) Zhong(4) Zhuong(1) Xin(1). (Eh, I don't think my pingying is very accurate. Oh well. It's basically just like...maybe an internal medical center? Not quite sure how to explain...I'm really bad at translating medical terms...)
Rei [questioning]: Really?
Father [looking stunned]: Why do you ask?
Rei [hand behind his head, a little embarrassed]: Ah...no particular reason...I just remembered that I used to run around the hospital a lot, and must have caused a lot of trouble for those doctors and nurses. [looks up at his father] So I thought maybe I could stop by the hospital to say hello after visiting Mom's grave. Could I?
Father [watches Rei, then looks down]: This...well, it's been so long that the doctors and nurses that were there are probably not there anymore, so even if you went...
Rei [same actions as his father]: Yeah, you're right...[gets up, smiling] Well, it doesn't matter. I just suddenly thought of it, that's all. I'm going to bed now, good night!
Father [watching Rei]: ........
[Turning away, Rei suddenly has a very sober look on his face. He goes back to his room, where Kira is already sound asleep in bed. He sits down on the side of the bed, and the movement wakes Kira up.]
Rei: I'm sorry, did I wake you up?
Kira [rubbing her eyes]: I don't know why, but I was having trouble falling asleep...but when I came back to the room you weren't here, so...
Rei: Sorry, sorry! I just went to Mom's room. [The look on his face is sober and dark.] I was thinking of going to the [psych] hospital tomorrow.
Kira [awake]: Why? Is there something wrong?
Rei: No, I just wanted to go say hi to the doctor who used to take care of me.
Kira [pause, then with a somewhat sad expression]: Kirishima is there, isn't he?
Rei: !
[Picture of Kirishima in darkness]
Rei: Kirishima, eh...[Both of them are lying in bed now.] You went to see him with the officer, didn't you?
Kira: Yeah..
Rei: So...?
Kira: [pause; the expression on Rei's face is calm] There doesn't seem to be much of a change.
Rei: [lying back] Well, it's not so simple to change....people's hearts.
[Kira, watching Rei, reaches and clasps his hand. He looks over at her, and his expression softens into a smile. He turns to face her.]
Rei: Don't worry, nothing's wrong...Tomorrow when I see the doctor, I'm planning to have a good talk with him...[He kisses Kira on the forehead] To tell him that I don't need his help anymore.
Kira/ Rei...

[Later that night, I assume. Kira looks over at the sleeping Rei. She recalls the letter she found in Sei's canvas. She seems to see in her mind's eye someone's hands placing the envelope in the center of the canvas and spreading paint over it.]
Narration/Sei's letter: Our outer appearance looks the same...but we're actually very different. If I were only as strong as you. Hoping you... come to my side soon.
[Kira's eyes widen and her heart beats loudly. She looks at Rei's sleeping face.]
Kira/ No, I can't tell anyone about the suicide letter. I can only hide it in my heart. I can never let Rei know about it...

[In the darkness, little pajama-clad legs walk. Someone calls.]
Voice: Rei...Rei, hurry up and get up! Mother is so strange! Rei, hurry and get up!
[Rei wakes, and sees a little Sei at his bedside. He sits up and gets out of bed.] Sei [leading the way]: Just hurry and come with me, to Mother's room--
[He points. The two of them are standing in an open doorway, little Sei pointing and holding onto big Rei's hand.]
Sei: Look! Isn't that strange?
[Rei suddenly wakes up. It's morning, and he'd been dreaming.]

[He goes to the hospital and meets the doctor. The two of them go outside to talk.]
Doctor: Rei! Look at you, you've grown to look so mature! So you're going to be 18 in a month. Time passes by so quickly!
Rei [serious]: Yes, time really is cruel. After going through slow, long years, memories become blurry...Lately I've been dreaming of my mother. Even though I only have some fragments of memories from before I was five, they appear very clearly in front of my eyes. [He eyes the doctor, who looks at him in surprise.] Am I....a lot like my mother?
Rei [looking down]: If so, then that's a problem...it seems that my mother was quite different from the normal person...You must know about this more clearly than I do.
Doctor: Rei?
Rei: My mother...my mother was actually your patient, wasn't she? The one who often took me out to play in the courtyard...was you, wasn't it?
Doctor: [stunned] ............[looks down, resigned, and nods]
Rei: I want to know about my mother. That is, I want to know the truth. [Faces the doctor] Why did my mother have to be hospitalized? My father says that she died of leukemia. What is the truth about all this? I'm begging you, tell me the truth.
[The doctor looks down, remembering.]
Doctor: It was thirteen years ago...That day, your father came to talk to me. At the time, your father was very worried about whether or not to have your mother hospitalized. In the end, for your and Sei's safety and protection, she had to be hospitalized.
Rei: To protect me and Sei?
[The doctor looks sad, sitting on a bench.]
Doctor: Because your mother wanted to kill you.
[Rei's eyes widen, and he remembers his mother's hands reaching out.]
Doctor [eyes closed]: That your mother would do something like that has its reasons. To clear your mother's name, I have to state this first. It was not because your mother hated you that she did this. She just--[looks up at Rei] loved you and Sei too much. She loved you more than anyone. [Smiles grimly] Your mother had a very strong/violent (not necessarily physically violent, just fiery) personality. [Picture of Rei's mother] But behind the strong exterior there was a weak portion of her personality as well. Your mother was a very sensitive person.
Rei [eyes wide]: My mother--how did she die? She didn't--
Doctor [still looking down]: Your mother ended her own life. [pause] To conclude that she was fine, that her condition was stable and to let her go home, was my mistake. [Rei's in shock] Your mother--because her condition had a relapse--ended her own life in her own room.
[Rei remembers the darkness of his last dream, of the door to his mother's room.]
Narration/Little Sei: Rei, hurry and get up--Mother's so strange-- Mother's floating in the air.
[Little Rei and Little Sei stand together, holding hands. Little Sei points up. Both of them stare at a pair of feet and the edge of a gown, dangling in the air above them.]
Rei [realizing]: That's right.....that night, it seems we saw....[the doctor looks startled] Mom hanging from the ceiling....
[Little Rei and little Sei look at their mother, who is hanging by a rope from the ceiling. As they stand and stare at the strange sight, a housekeeper/maid person passes the open door. She catches sight of what's happened, and starts screaming for Rei/Sei's father. Rei's father comes in, calling for Shouko, and takes in Rei/Sei standing, and the kicked-away chair at his wife's dangling feet.]
Father (in memory): Shouko! How did things end up like this?? Someone call an ambulance!
[He gets his wife down from the rope. Her face is a mass of tears. As he sits holding her limp body on the ground, he notices Sei and Rei staring at him.]
Father (in memory): Shouko! Shouko! [notices the kids] Someone hurry and take the children out! Someone get the children away from here! Hurry!
[Present-day Rei is looking down, a glum expression on his face. He and the doctor are sitting on a bench.]
Rei: At the time, Sei and I weren't very clear on what "death" is. We just thought Mom floating in the air was a really weird sight...Now that I think about it, that was the last time I saw my mother...
[A short-haired woman kneels by little Rei and Sei. (I think it's their aunt.) All of them are dressed in black.]
Rei: When I finally came to my senses, I found myself dressed in mourning, and the boring funeral ceremony had begun. It was then that I finally knew that Mom had died.
[Rei's eyes are hidden by his hair. His profile is cast in shadow as he's silent for a moment, lost in thought.]
Rei: Why did Mom have to die? Why did she want to kill us? Was it because she regretted having us?
Doctor: ...Rei...?
Rei: Actually we're not our father's real sons, are we? The reason my mother committed suicide, and the reason she had to be hospitalized, was because of us, wasn't it?
[The doctor, stunned at first at these words, closes his eyes and shakes his head emphatically.]
Doctor: No, that's wrong. Your mother did not regret having you. To the contrary; if it hadn't been for the two of you, she would not have been able to continue living. To put it bluntly, your mother's actions and care towards the two of you weren't normal. The whole reason your father came to see me about this in the beginning was because of the violent nature of your mother's care for you. Loving too much can sometimes result in tragedy, be it for the person who loves, or those who are loved....
[Another flashback.]
Voice: Oh no, oh no! Please, sir, come quickly! The mistress has...
[An animal lies on the ground, only its back half showing. Its leg twitches. Its abdomen is covered in blood. Rei's mother stands, also covered in blood, holding a knife. Little Rei and Sei are huddled together, holding onto each other, looking at their mother in shock. She drops the bloody knife and reaches out a hand to the twins, smiling gently.]
Mother: Sei, good boy, it's all right! Mother's already killed it!
[Sei turns and buries his face in Rei's chest, and begins to cry loudly. His mother is surprised and just stands there staring. Rei's father comes running from the house.]
Father: Shouko!
[She turns and stares, still with that surprised look on her face.]
[Later that day, she sits at a vanity, brushing her hair. Rei's father is there as well.]
Father: Doing such a thing in front of the children! What were you thinking??
Mother [haughtily]: It was your dog that was attacking them. As a mother, I have to protect my children!
Father [angry]: It wasn't attacking them! The maid told me that the little dog just wanted to play with them. Why did you have to kill it? [Picture of Rei and Sei asleep in bed.] Didn't you see how much you frightened the children? Didn't you see the scared look on Sei's face? You've never done anything right. The children are already four years old and you won't let them take even one step out of the house. You've cut them off from the outside world. If things continue as they are, who knows what their future will be like? Have you thought about what you're doing?
[Rei's mother stops and turns to her husband.]
Mother: The two of them were borne by me. I don't want to hear your preaching.
[Rei's father has a grim look on his face.]
Father: No matter what, you're not fit to be with the children anymore. I want you to go to my friend's [psych] hospital.
[She turns to stare at him.]
Father: It won't be forever, as long as your condition improves you can be with the children again. Shouko, listen to me, and go get some treatment.
Mother: You want to lock me up, don't you? You could never stand up to your father, but now that he's dead you can do whatever you want, is that it?
Father: !
Mother [angry]: If you think you can have revenge by taking the children away from me, I won't let you have your way! I'm going to take Sei and Rei away from here!
Father: That's impossible. In your present state, you're not fit to be a mother.
Mother [yelling]: How can you say that? Do you think you're fit to be their father? Those two children are...
[She looks him straight in the eye]
Mother: Those two are Akihiko's children.
[Rei's father looks so shocked.]
Mother: They're your dead brother Akihiko's children!
Father [really furious]: All right! If you want to leave, then go ahead and leave! But I won't let you take the children with you!
Mother [shocked at first, then flushed and almost crying]: ! Are you joking? I'm their mother! It was I who brought them into this world!
Father: It doesn't matter what you say. You aren't able to bring these children up. Shouko, you're already sick.
[She freezes. The two of them stand in silence.]
[In Rei and Sei's room. The door creaks open. Rei's mother goes towards Rei and Sei, who are sleeping peacefully. Her hands reach out. Rei's eyes slowly open, then widen in shock as he sees his mother bending over him, her hands at his throat. He tries to speak but can only make choked sounds.]
Mother [cold expression on her face]: Be good, there's nothing wrong! Don't be afraid...Mother will join you shortly.
[Rei's flushed and choking. He grasps Sei's pajama sleeve with his hand, and Sei wakes up to see the scene in shock.]
[Their father is in his study, and hears the sound of crying. He goes to the children's room to find his wife kneeling on the bed, her hands at Rei's neck.]
Father: Rei? Sei? [Pulls his wife off the bed] Shouko! Stop it!
[He throws her back and then bends over Rei, who's crying loudly.]
Father: Rei? Are you all right?? [He stops as he takes in the finger marks on Rei's neck. He turns to stare in shock at his wife. Then he gets angry and slaps her, yelling.] Get out of this house immediately!
[Rei's still choking a bit, crying, and Sei's wailing too.]
Sei: Dad! Rei's going to die!
Father: No, it's all right, Rei is fine.
[Rei's mother holds her bruised cheek and looks at her husband and her children. She grabs a teddy bear and throws it at her husband. It hits him in the back. She looks a bit expressionless.]
Mother: Why'd you hit me.
[/End flashback]

[There's a picture of the hospital.]
Doctor: I heard that it's at that time that your father decided that no matter what, your mother must be treated/healed. Unfortunately, your mother refused to cooperate.
Rei [face in shadow]: And father is such a cold, scary person...
[The doctor is startled at his words.]
Rei: My mother must have repeated that over a hundred times to us. After a while it was like a curse/hypnosis, and Sei and I believed it completely.
Dcotor: When you think of your mother's situation at the time, though, her actions were understandable. [Picture of Rei's mother hugging Rei and Sei....aaah! cuuute :)] Your real father died, and besides herself you could lean on nobody. She tried very hard to take this on. She was like a mother cat who, rather than leave her children to predators, would eat them herself. She'd been pushed to her limit.
[Rei seems to be contemplating everything deeply.]
Rei: Why was Mom pushed to that point? Now that I think about it carefully, our father never did anything to bully us, nor was his personality of the type that would do something like that. So why did Mom have such a strong sense of panic/foreboding?
Doctor: Actually, this has something to do with your grandfather. Before your mother was hospitalized, we did some tests on your father as well.
Rei: !
Doctor: That's how we found out that, like your mother, your father had some inner darkness.....

[Kira's at home, looking through one of Sei's sketchbooks.]
Narration: Humans are only piles of flesh. They're not beautiful at all. [Picture of a sketch Sei had done of Rei (?)]
Kira: If Sei were still alive now, Rei would........what would the two of them be like.....[Picture of two identical Reis standing, facing each other.]
[She shuts her eyes, sighing.]
Kira: How horrible of me...I'm actually glad that Sei has already died...
[Picture of the canvas, the envelope.]
Narration: Right now all I have in my mind is Rei. All those things around him that make him uneasy--I want to sweep them all away--
[The door opens, startling Kira.]
Kira:!
[It's Rei's father. She stands.]
Kira: Uncle. (You know, like how asian kids call all their friends' parents uncle/aunt)
Father: How come you're here alone? Where's Rei?
Kira: Ah...[remembers that Rei'd told her not to tell his father that he'd gone to the (psych) hospital, as that would worry him]...Ah, he said he wanted to go to a friend from high school's house...
Father: Oh.
Kira: Any particular reason you were looking for him?
Father: Eh? Oh, nothing big. I just thought that if he had some spare time, I could go with him to burn some incense for his mother.
[He notices the sketchbook Kira's holding.]
Father: Isn't that Sei's sketchbook?
Kira: ! Oh, I'm sorry! I just took it out without asking your permission...
Father [laughing]: It's all right. [He smiles] If Sei were still alive, he might be a really good person to have a conversation with!
[Picture of Sei sitting at his desk writing.]
Narration: Whether we're father's real sons isn't something that matters.
Father: In this respect, Sei probably took after his mother. Shouko used to draw a lot of interesting (rough trans) pictures.
Kira: Rei's more like his father, isn't he?
[Both Kira and Rei's father are startled at her words.]
Kira: Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't purposely...
[Rei's father smiles]
Father: Rei is a lot like his father. As the days go by, he's becoming more and more like Akihiko. Akihiko had a kind of mysterious attractiveness. Maybe he was born like that. Wherever he went, the mood would become very harmonious (literal trans, sorry it sounds weird). Even my father, who was very strict in everything, would let him have his way. [Cute picture of a little boy.] Maybe compared to someone as expressionless as me, even the worst child would look cute! But Akihiko was really very special. Whether it was our parents, or other people.. everyone loved him. [Rei's father is smiling] That was something that I could never obtain, no matter how hard I tried. Rei's mother Shouko thought that I hated Akihiko, and even right before she died she thought I would do something bad to Rei and Sei...
Kira: ........... [wide-eyed and listening] ....But all that wasn't true, was it? She was just imagining things, wasn't she?
[Rei's father smiles.]
Father: When we were small...about when Akihiko was 3 or 4, I suppose...We went to this vacation home to play, and Akihiko fell into a pond there... at the time, even though I was at the scene, I couldn't go down and save him...[Picture of a small boy struggling in the water. Then a picture of ripples.] No, I didn't go to save him. [Picture of Rei's father at the time] I just stood there and watched him slowly sink beneath.
[Kira's eyes widen.]
Kira/ Uncle...?
Father: Luckily there were other people at the scene who saved Akihiko's life. And from beginning to end, all I did was stand there like an idiot and watch. I didn't do anything. [Picture of a man pointing and yelling at Rei's father.] When my father found out about this incident, he harshly yelled at me. He said I was a monster of a brother, who could just stand there and watch my brother drown without blinking an eye. Actually I didn't have the intention of watching him die without helping...at the time, why I just stood there without moving, even to this day, is something that I can't explain to myself.
Kira: ........
Narration: Do I really not hate my own brother? Am I really capable of raising my dead brother's children as my own?

Doctor: Between Takayuki and Akihiko there really had been some conflicts that arose from their father. All the discontent directed towards a father who only loved the younger brother, and all the jealousy directed towards the younger brother,.....was sensed by Shouko. Because of this, she could not believe that your father would be kind to Akihiko's children. Despite all this, though, she still gave birth to the children, because at the time your grandfather who had spoiled Akihiko was still alive.
Rei: But after that, my grandfather died, and without this strong support, my mother became extremely anxious, and because of fear, her nerves became weak....and in the end, she committed suicide. Is that how it was? [looks at the doctor]
Doctor: We started with trying to destroy your mother's uneasiness, and at the same time tried to fix up the relationship between your father and his brother. We believed that if Shouko could recognize the affection between the two brothers, she would become better...(rough, rough trans)
Rei: Did father really not hate Akihiko?
Doctor: Actually, we're not very sure of his true feelings towards Akihiko, because Akihiko had already died. But.....we knew for certain that your father's love for the two of you (Rei and Sei) was genuine.
Rei: Was it genuine enough for my mother to believe?
Doctor: .............[pause] You know why your father cares about you so much? Because you're his only relative. Your father is a man unable to leave descendants....no matter how much he wanted to become a father, he could never be able to do so.
[Rei looks so shocked...]
[Picture of Rei's mother, again in shadow in profile, holding flowers]
Doctor: Once Shouko realized this, she started being able to understand the wounds in your father's heart. I heard that a few weeks before her death, her expression was very peaceful.
Rei: But she still chose death. Why? Was it because she wanted to follow Akihiko? [Picture of Akihiko] Ditching us, ditching our father, to go chase after someone who's already died...Isn't that stupid?
Doctor: Rei......
[Rei's closed his eyes, and clasped his hands in front of his mouth]
Rei: So actually, our father and us....were all ditched by someone else.
[The scene zooms out so you can see Rei and the doctor sitting on the bench around the planter. Someone is watching them from the hospital hall. A nurse turns to look at the person.]
Nurse: What are you doing? Come over here, Kirishima.
[Closer picture of Rei's profile, a thoughtful, sad expression on his face. A close shot of Kirishima's expressionless face.]

[Back at home, Kira and Rei's father are still talking.]
Father: If I said I didn't hate my own brother, that would be deception. Actually, I did think several times in the past, if only Akihiko didn't exist, things would be better.....
Kira [remembering the hostess at the restaurant]/ Hostess: You wouldn't have thought such a happy Akihiko would die in that way--
Kira: Please....how did Akihiko die?
[Rei's father turns to look at her.]
Kira: Ah! Sorry...I'm not suggesting anything...
Father [smiling]: Such as, Akihiko's death having something to do with me?
Kira: ! I, I didn't mean that!
Father [still smiling]: Come with me.
[They end up in this lounge/library/study place.]
Father: This is my study, take a seat.
[He pulls out a photo album and flips through it as Kira just sits and stares.]
Father [holding out album]: Take a look at this.
Kira/ A photo album?
Father: This is Rei's father.
[Kira's eyes widen. The picture is of a man (Akihiko) dressed in racing gear, holding a helmet, and leaning against a racecar.]
Kira/ WHAT......!? Racing gear?
Father: My deceased father really loved Akihiko. No matter what Akihiko wanted to do, my father would let him do it. Akihiko wanted to race cars, so my father let him get a license.....when he wanted a car, my father bought him a racecar.....no matter when or for what, Akihiko always was able to do as he wished.....[image of racecars on a track]
[Kira, holding the album, listens attentively]
Father: No one ever thought that letting him do as he wanted would lead to death. [Image of a crashed car burning up in a huge cloud of smoke] Akihiko's car...because of an accident...blew up and burned.
**flashback**
Man (Rei's grandfather): Akihiko! Akihiko....! How did things end up this way........ [he's huddled over a form covered by a sheet, his face covered by his hand. Takayuki watches, standing behind his father.]
Voice: Mrs.! Please don't! It would be better if women didn't go in....!
[Shouko appears at the door, a distraught expression on her face]
Takayuki: Shouko...
[He tries to hold Shouko back]
Takayuki: Don't do it, it would be better if you didn't see it....
[She slaps his hand away and pulls up the sheet covering the body. Her eyes widen.]
Shouko [staring]: What.....is..this? Completely black....it's so strange.
[Takayuki watches her with a stunned/scared expression]
Shouko: You guys went too far...saying Akihiko is dead...what a horrible joke.
Takayuki: Shouko?
Shouko: How could this possibly be Akihiko? [She turns to face Takayuki. Her eyes are blank] Where's Akihiko? Tell me, Takayuki!
[He pauses, his face in shadow, inner turmoil visible.]
Takayuki: Shouko, you.....
Shouko [still in denial, eyes still wide]: You know his personality, he's definitely playing a joke on us...doing this on purpose....where is he? Where is he hiding?
Takayuki [flushed, a little, and yelling now]: Shouko! Don't run away from reality!
[Rei's grandfather is standing hunched over, face buried in his hands]
Takayuki: Akihiko crashed into the protective wall while racing, he's already dead....he and his car were both burned!
[She's still got an empty look about her. Rei's grandfather is still bowed, his hand covering his face. He's trembling and crying. As Shouko and Takayuki turn to look at him, he gathers the sheet-covered form on the table into his arms and buries his face on top. As Shouko watches him, it finally seems to hit her full-force. Takayuki watches her, worried.]
Shouko: No........[Rei's grandfather is still holding the form. Shouko pulls at her hair.] NO NO NO-----------.....
[She's bent over on the floor, her head to the ground and her hands clutching at her hair. Takayuki kneels next to her.]
**end flashback**

[Kira's watching Rei's father speak, with widened eyes]
Father: It wasn't until after that....that I found out Shouko was pregnant. No doubt about it, it had to be Akihiko's child. [Picture of little Rei and Sei, dressed in funeral clothing and sitting on folding chairs] Could I really take care of my dead brother's children? If he was still alive....or... if I hadn't seen Shouko's violent reaction to Akihiko's death....I think I would have hated those children. And then, like me, the two children were ditched by someone they trusted deeply. Shouko did not die of illness. She commited suicide in order to chase after Akihiko. I think Rei might even have realized it...how his mother died....
[Under Kira's eyes we see in shadows a memory of Rei licking her wound]
Narration (memory): When my finger was pricked by my mother's sewing needle, she would use her mouth--
That sounds like a good memory....
Is it? Is it really a good memory?
[Rei's father has a grim face]
Father: Their father already died, and their mother didn't fulfill her responsibility...I wanted to try my best to take care of Rei and Sei, who were still small....But...I didn't know how to act as a father to the two of them.....
Narration/Father: I didn't know what to do to be a father.

Doctor: Rei, are you all right?
[Rei and the doctor are still sitting there. Rei's hand is covering his face, but at the doctor's question he moves it away to his chin.]
Rei: I'm fine. [pause] So it was like that......why were we born, and why Dad would try to bring us up as his own sons...
Doctor [sad expression]: It was I who advised your father to send you two to LA. Though from beginning to end, he wanted to bring you two up himself, the death of your mother really dealt him a blow much heavier than that dealt to the two of you....
Rei: !
Doctor: Before he organized his thoughts, I forbade him to live with the two of you. Your father is a very admirable, very strong person... but people are never as strong as they think they are...because he, too, was somebody's son...

[Rei and the doctor are shaking hands and smiling]
Doctor: Take care of yourself. Hopefully you'll never have to come back here. [Smiles] From seeing you this time, I predict you won't have any problems anymore!
Rei [smiling, then sobering up]: Oh yeah, is there a person named Kirishima staying here?
Doctor: Kirishima? Oh, you're talking about him. What about him? Do you two know each other?
Rei: Yeah, I guess.
Doctor: I'm not responsible for him, so I don't know the details of his condition, but right now he should be getting [name of psych treatment that is beyond my comprehension]. Do you want to go visit him before you leave?
Rei: No, that's okay. I'm not that close to him anyway...[waves] Bye.
Doctor: Rei, our human lives are actually very limited, but our inner hearts are extraordinarily wide. It might sound dumb coming from a (psych) doctor like myself, but a person going to connect with another person's inner heart...that's probably a really stupid thing to do. [he's smiling a little sadly] It seems I don't have what it takes to be a doctor...
Narration: Humans' inner hearts are extraordinarily wide. A person going to connect with another person's heart is a stupid thing to do.

[At the bus stop, Rei's just getting off the bus when he notices that Kira's there waiting for him and waving.]
Kira: Rei!
Rei: Weird, how come you're here?
Kira [grinning]: Because I heard your message on my cell, that you were almost home, so I came to meet you!
[Rei smiles slightly. The two of them hold hands as they walk along.]
Kira: So how was it at the hospital?
Rei: I talked to the doctor about a lot of things of the past, and now everything's explained/better. (Oh, my translations are getting less and less accurate. -_-;;;; forgive me, forgive me)
Kira: Oh....your father showed me a lot of old photos! [She's smiling softly] There were a lot of pictures of your real father.
Rei: What....? I've only seen that one picture of him!
Kira: What?? Really?
Rei [haughtily]: Whatever, I don't have anything to complain about...I mean, he already died in a car accident 19 years ago.
[Kira's watching him seriously. She remembers what Rei's father told her.]
Father (memory): I just told Rei that Akihiko died in a car accident. He doesn't know that his own father was just like him, with a love of racing.
[Kira's looking down, and remembers the scene of burning racecar, and of Rei's father's picture, posing in racing gear. She closes her eyes, still clasping Rei's hand.]
Kira/Narration: If possible, I want for the two of us, like this, to walk on forever hand-in-hand...

Voice: All right, then today we'll go over some more of your past memories...
[Hands holding a clipboard, papers, and a pencil, flipping through the papers]
Voice: When you were small, you were brought up under the love of your two parents....[It's a woman with glasses talking] Can you tell me... some happy memories of when you were with your parents?
Kirishima: Happy memories?
Woman (doctor): For example, your five-year birthday, your parents invited lots of people over and had a big party to celebrate it, right?
Kirishima: The ones who thought that was happy were my parents, not me.
Doctor: You weren't happy?
Kirishima: Not at all.
Doctor: Why?
Kirishima: I don't know. I guess because those kinds of things don't have any worth to me.
Doctor: ...........Hm...let me change a question...okay, so in the past, what would you consider to be a painful memory? When you were small, you were bullied by other people, right? How did you feel about that?
Kirishima: Feel......well, this wasn't anything that could be said to be painful or not, really....
Doctor: Then, was it sorrowful?
Kirishima: Eh........what's sorrowful?
Doctor: Throughout your entire life, have you never felt sorrowful?
Kirishima: Eh...have I?
Doctor: So right now, what if your parents suddenly died?
[Kirishima's profile in shadow. The doctor is looking at him. There's a picture of Aoki.]
Doctor: Okay, then, what about that deceased friend of yours, Aoki?
[Kirishima's nose and chin are shown in shadow. Suddenly the doctor starts, because she sees that Kirishima is crying.]
[The doctor is talking to the other doctor that Rei came to see. Let's call them R Doctor for Rei's doctor and K Doctor for Kirishima's...]
RD: Kirishima cried?
KD: Yes. When I asked him about that friend of his, Aoki, who he killed, he immediately began to...
RD: ...... Have you seen him when he's had his lying complex?
KD: No, I haven't seen anything like that in my questioning of him...It's just that, before this, he'd never had any reaction to anything...it must mean something, his crying this time...
RD: ................
[Kirishima's lying in bed, hands clasped behind his head]
Kirishima: Tears are a nervous reaction to emotion or stimulation, something created from your tear ducts......using theory to explain it, it's even more of something that makes people feel stupid. [He smiles, then turns over in bed and hugs his pillow, still smiling] But the simpler (more stupid) things are, the more easily people are taken in.

Teacher: You really scared me, what with not coming back to school after summer break, and then saying stuff about how you weren't going to take the exams....
Kira: Sorry for making you worry.
[They're in the art room]
Teacher: Anyway, it's a relief that you won't be held back a year, but now your problem is the exams. However, I don't think you'll have a problem. [pause] Then again...you and Rei really shocked everyone! You're really engaged...!
[Kira blushes, smiling]
Teacher: You're already living with him now, right?
Kira: Yeah. I've already explained to the school, and gotten a special permit from the school...quite frankly, this is all possible because of Rei's father's help (persuading the school to let this take place)...
Teacher: That's right, it seems Kashino is really a famous...
[The teacher is sweatdropping, giving Kira this a skeptical look while Kira has her head bowed embarrassedly]
Teacher: I heard that he's really working hard to get into college. Is he serious?
Kira: Eh....I think so....Rei and his father have an agreement, Rei's going to graduate from college and then inherit his father's business. He's starting with the college entrance exams, and has asked Kida (Tatsuya) to help him with his homework. He's pretty serious/hardworking.
Teacher [looking so shocked! ^_^;;]: .................[pause] Well, whether this is good, or not good, I really can't say--! Being wild does have its good points.
Kira [sweatdropping]: Teacher, you make Rei sound like an animal.
Teacher: Anyway! Both you and Kashino had better study hard, there're only a few months between now and the exams!

[Kira's walking down the street when she sees Sonoko getting out of a car.]
Sonoko: Rei's father told me to come get you. So how is everything? School going okay?
Kira: Yes, pretty well. I've already decided which college I'm going to take exams for, so now all I have to think about is working hard. [she blushes] I feel like I'm dreaming, I never thought I'd ever really be able to apply to art college. All this is thanks to Rei's father...
Sonoko [watching Kira]: If you really think so, why don't you go live with him? I heard you two moved back to that crummy old apartment?
Kira: Yeah...we haven't actually gotten married yet, so....
Sonoko [driving]: So....what?
Kira [looking down]: That house is too big...it makes you feel like if you're not careful, you'll get lost...
[Sonoko looks surprised, then laughs]
Sonoko: That's true, that house is a bit too big.
Kira: Ah.....I didn't mean to say that the house is uncomfortable to live in or anything...
Sonoko [still laughing]:: It's ok, you don't have to explain.
Kira [thoughtfully]: Now if only Rei and his father's relationship could get better, then everything would be all right and that house would be more comfortable to live in...
Sonoko [smiling]: That juvenile delinquent seems to have now become a paper doll...he lets everyone have their way with him...
Kira: Paper doll??

[A row of suits hanging in a closet. Rei stands, rubbing his eye, troubled-looking, wearing a suit]
Rei: Don't you think this is too confining? Aren't there any more relaxed ones?
Salesman: Um, all suits are pretty much like this, so......well, I would advise you to wear it often, and then you'll get used to it....[view of shelves of shirts] What with your long figure, I think there are a lot of possibilities that would fit you...
Rei [sweatdropping]: Yeah, no matter what I wear, I'll still look like a pimp.
Salesman [eyes have turned into dots. Looks very puzzled]: Ah?
Rei [smiling goofily]: Nothing, nothing. I'll wear this one.
[The suit is folded, the tie in the breast pocket]
Kira: What? You're going to a classical music concert with your father? [She and Rei are sitting in the apartment at a low table.] I never knew you had this kind of interest....
Rei: Give me a break, this is work, work! Dad has some coworker whose son was in some kind of foreign contest and got in......Dad told me to go with him to that person's concert...
Kira [turning to gaze at the hanging suit]: So you had to prepare formal clothing....compared to you from before, it's like a 180 degree turn.
Rei: That's right, didn't somebody say "the first step to changing yourself is to change your outward appearance"!
Kira [suddenly looks a bit thoughtful/sad]: Is this really all right, Rei?
Rei: What's "is this really all right"?
Kira: Do you really plan to inherit your father's business?
Rei [his turn to be surprised]: Isn't that a pointless question? Why else would I be studying my @#$ off? And buy this confining suit? You're still saying that kind of thing now?
Kira: If you genuinely thought that way, then it would be all right...
Rei [eyes closed, chin propped in hand]: Right now what I'm actually worried about is what'll happen after I enter my father's company. Dad would never let me do worthless busy work....I might get sent out of the country, to one of those middle-of-nowhere places where there are only camels for transportation. When that happens, we'll see what you do! [points at Kira]
Kira [nonplussed]: First I'll draw some camels.....
Rei [annoyed]: ..................
Rei [looking a bit sad, hand behind head]: You're right....first off, I should start looking at things from a different perspective. [view of suit again] Anyway, I'll try it out first. Yeah, this is the hope of the working person.

[An orchestra is playing. Rei's father looks to the side, then pushes up his glasses and clears his throat. The picture pans out and we see that sitting in the seat next to him is Rei, clad in suit and faaast asleep. The conductor is really vigorous and the drums pound, cymbals clash. At the sound of the cymbals, Rei's eyes snap open and he leaps out of his seat.]
Rei: WAAH!
[He's the only one in the audience standing. He seems to notice where he is and is frozen. Then the music ends and the rest of the audience gets up and applauds. Rei stares at the people around him, then claps along with them dryly.]
[Later, Rei's having a huuuge yawn when his father calls him and he snaps it short]
Father: Rei, come here for a second. [He's standing with two men, one old and one young]
Father: Let me introduce you, this is [indicates younger man] Mr. Jiou Bao's son, he got the grand prize in the Tsaichovsky (I hope that's what they're attempting to spell out in the Chinese characters) competition. This is my son Rei.
Rei: Nice to meet you. [Shakes hands with the son] Congratulations on getting the grand prize.
Son: Thank you. Did you enjoy the performance tonight?
Rei [laughing]: To tell you the truth, I fell asleep halfway through, so I don't really know how it went!
[Mr. Jiou Bao and his son are both frozen]
Rei [seems to realize what he's just said]: Ah...So-Sorry!
Mr. Jiou Bao [smiling, doing the polite embarrassed thing]: No, it's all right. This just means that the performance was very peaceful and soothing, so people could fall asleep during it....this is a kind of praise, too! Does Rei study* any special instrument?
Rei: Ah? [confused, he asks his father in a thought bubble] What does 'study*' mean? (*Ok, he's asking because Mr. Jiou Bao used a phrase that Rei doesn't understand, but I don't really have a good English equivalent for this phrase...]
Father [also in thought bubble]: It means to study something because you like it.
Rei: Nonono, I don't really study* instruments.
(Okay, I think you just have to be Japanese to understand whatever was funny that was in this dialogue. I mean the Chinese works that way too, but I bet they changed it from what the Japanese originally said....and it's hard to explain. Let's just say, it's a phrase that Rei didn't know the definition of, and after his father told him, he used the phrase in a sentence really awkwardly and left Mr. Jiou Bao and his son really puzzled]
Rei: ? [looking really confused...hahha..he's got the dot eyes]
Father [sweatdropping]: Please excuse my son, he lived outside of Japan for a long time so his Japanese isn't very good.
Mr. Jiou Bao [smiling]: Haha, I understand. My son too.....he's doing exchange in France.
Son: Where did Rei go?
Rei: Los Angeles.
Son: Oh, the eastern ocean (?) What was in style for you guys to do then?
Rei: Hm...well, I don't know if this counts as "in style"......at the time, I did some small business with the neighborhood kids...
Son: Business? Like internet marketing kind of stuff?
Rei: No. [smiling sheepishly] We used to steal mirrors and license plates off cars parked on the street and sell them. Now that we're speaking of it, it does seem like something bordering on illegal....[small lettering: that's not right, it's already illegal isn't it?]
The whole group: ....................
[Rei watches his father converse and mingle with the fancily-clad people at the gathering. The expression on his face is sad. He stands by himself at the windows, looking down.]

[Back at the apartment, Rei and Tatsuya are sitting at the low table with their books.]
Tatsuya: To tell the truth, even now I can't fully believe it....
Rei [bent over his work]: I don't believe it either, that I actually would ask you to come and tutor me...
Tatsuya: I didn't mean that, I'm saying that you're the inheritor of Oak company. [He looks up, sort of dreamy] Lucky...now you can have whatever computer or dvds you want....
Rei: What would a person do with so many of them...
Tatsuya: Well, that's true, but....
Rei: Stop sitting there with your 'but, but's...how do you solve this problem?
[Harumi looks at the two of them from where she's standing in the kitchen with Kira]
Harumi: It's incredible, no one would have thought that Rei's some big company president's son. But what's even more incredible..is you, Kira! After you and Rei get married, you'll be the president's wife!
[Harumi's doing the looking-up dreamy expression thing too]
Harumi: That's so cool! Taking a benz to go shopping, wearing brand-name clothing every day, living each day like a dream...
Kira [smiling gently]: That would be wonderful......but I still like those times from before, living here with Rei. Those were like a dream, so happy.
Harumi: What? Living in a crummy apartment like this, you can be happy?
[From the kitchen area you can hear Kira mock-angry at Harumi for continually calling their apartment crummy]
Rei: Weird? How come it seems as if something's wrong...?
Tatsuya: Eh? Is the answer wrong?
Rei: No, um, how do I say this...[view of the problem: it's blurry, there's more than one image of it superimposed] it seems there's something wrong with my eyes....
[Tatsuya takes a close look at Rei, and feels his forehead.]
Tatsuya: ! AH-----you're burning! You've got a fever!
[glass of water, some pills]
Kira: Are you okay?
Rei [flushed, holding a wet rag]: Relax, I don't have a cold, I just worked too hard.
Kira: You're being too hard on yourself, trying to memorize everything at once!
Rei: Relax! Engines need to be warmed up too before you can race them.
Kira: Don't mix up engines and brain matter!
Rei: And I neglected my brain before, so even if I exert it a little bit now nothing will happen...
Kira [little cupids and hearts are in the background]: Even though you have inexhaustible physical energy, when it comes to brainpower, you just can't, is that it?
Rei [glare]: You're being a little too cruel aren't you....[eyes closed, a litte haughtily] however you look at it, I still have Kashino blood in me, if my father can do it, of course I can do it. [Picture of Rei's father] It's only a matter of time before I'll be able to wear a three-piece suit and converse openly with people from all sorts of backgrounds. I'll become a cool old man.
Kira [smiling]: Oh....so it's like that.
Rei: ! What?
Kira [smiling, close to Rei's face]: You think your father's cool too, don't you?
Rei: Y--You've got too much time on your hands! [pause] I was only using words you used to say to describe him, I don't think that way myself...
[Rei's blushing, a little angry-looking. (Methinks he's just embarrassed. ^_-) He turns and runs off.]
Rei: Forget it!
Kira: Where are you going?
Rei: To the riverside to get some breeze and clear my mind.
[Kira watches Rei's retreating figure with a smile]

[It's four-thirty. Kira looks at the clock.]
Kira: How come Rei's not back yet? I wonder how far he's gone...
[She sighs, and gets up. She's walking in a grassy area under the blue (i assume ;)) sky. She goes under some bridges, and sees Rei sitting on the grass, his back to her.]
Kira: Rei! [grinning]
[Rei doesn't respond.]
Voices: Now let's practice going in a straight line.
[There are sounds of an engine. Someone's learning how to ride a motorcycle. A man stands and watches as his pupil starts his motorcycle along a narrow board.]
Man: Slower, slower. You're going too fast, stupid!
[Rei's smiling. Kira has a really stunned look on her face.]
Man: I TOLD YOU YOU'RE GOING TOO FAST! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO REPEAT MYSELF?
Pupil: THE BIKE WOULDN'T LISTEN TO ME AND KEPT GOING ON ITS OWN, I COULDN'T STOP IT!
Man: You're the one who's wrong and you try to blame it on your bike?
Pupil: I didn't!
[Rei laughs]
[There's a big shot of Kira's face, with its surprised expression]
[We pan out and see Rei sitting by himself still, arms propped on his knees, and Kira standing in the foreground watching him from behind]

End Volume 13.

On to Volume 14
Back to Mars