We see Tsukasa's room, which is barren, holding a pot or two. A futon is laid out in the middle of the room. A calm, melancholy... somewhat longing track plays. It's been three days since his life at the temple started. He's constantly guarded, only allowed outside to attend to physical necessities. He opens the window - snow has piled up high in the direction of the forest (I'm not sure if we were actually told there was a forest around the place before. In general, things tend to get a bit confusing at times as to exactly who does something, where they are, and stuff. Might be a Japanese thing.).
Tsukasa considers his probability of death if he attempts to escape to be 100%, what with the broken leg and all. Nevertheless, he's keeping his reply on hold - they do urge him, but they do not seem to want to force him. Sensory deprivation will get to him in the end, I guess. Well, he hears quite a few noises from outside his room - Aroe constantly making a fuss, prayers and such. He tells Hoshino-san about how to treat Aroe, whom he knows surprisingly well. Was that whom correct? Oh well.
He can still see Kawase's crying face in front of him - and wonders if Yuka's worried about him.
Hoshino asks Tsukasa about his reply, yet again - he says he probably won't reply - and Hoshino then gives him two painkillers, apparently not an unusual event.
"What would you do if these were poison?"
There are people in the temple who do not consider the teachings as sacred as Ryugeju-sama - and they resent Tsukasa for the elevated position he's been put in.
Tsukasa's refusing, nevertheless - he does understand, though.
Hoshino gets more threatening - Maybe she's the one who switched the painkillers - what would Tsukasa do in that case? Well, it doesn't really matter to him - after all, he will simply die. He takes a pill and washes it down with lukewarm tea. It's not enough to sate his dry throat, though - he asks for more.
Hoshino says nothing, staring at him with a strange expression.
"No, water's better. I'm not good at swallowing pills... What's wrong?"
She nervously replies that she'll get some right away. Fade to black.
Well, looks like Tsuka hasn't kicked the bucket quite yet - he's allowed to take a bath that night. He refuses help with taking off his clothes, getting into the water and that sort of thing. He kind of regrets it later, wondering how the hell he's supposed to get into the bath from his wheelchair.
He hears sounds from outside the bathroom. He calls out that he doesn't need help, but the door is opened anyway... By Nogi Taeko, oops that should be Ryugeju-san. Yup, -san.
Picture change, to a full CG of our heroine. She is pretty cute here, looking a bit nervous, flustered... Though the text says she's got a serious expression. It would seem she's coming for a raid - her white sleeves and red skirt are tucked up, displaying some leg and her bare arms, of course. She's carrying a pink print bath bucket and a towel with a rabbit print, though. Tsukasa considers this rather unfitting for her.
She says she will wash his back. Tsukasa refuses, but he can't exactly stop her, now can he? She enters, and Tsuka realizes he'll just have to give up on the whole thing. CG switch! New picture, of her doing the aforementioned washing. She seems rather unused to it, apparently. More importantly, though, the CG sports some fairly impressive beefcake according to my straight male knowledge - Tsuka has a nicely muscled chest and stomach, and it's all lovingly exposed (though the collarbones look very, very wrong - I don't really think this is due to weight loss, looks more like the artist fucking up). Ryugeju remains fairly cute as she washes his back awkwardly - it's probably her first time, and even then she's pretty clumsy. She had an unapproachable atmosphere when she entered, but it's gone now. She's concentrating very, very hard on the job.
Tsuka asks her if he can't just wash his own back, but no - Ryu... -chan? Fuck it, I will now call her Ryu-chan for silly reasons, probably mangling all sorts of rules. Umm where was I... right, she excuses herself, saying she has to do it. Tsukasa is rather amazed at how specific the buddha's orders are - she doesn't reply when asked, though. She's getting both of their clothes wet, for some reason. Tsukasa remarks that this might not be a good idea... And the dance that may or may not lead to copulation continues - now Ryu-chan is asking if she can improve her back-washing somehow in a variety of ways. Tsuka eventually attempts to change the subject - he hears there's been another fight with the school this afternoon. He's gotten this info from listening to what's going on around this room. People died, and some were captured, he hears. Is that true? Indeed, five died and three were captured. Only three people from the school died, so I guess the Daichis lost this one.
Ever self-effacing, Tsukasa asks if Ryu-chan's (no, he doesn't call her Ryu-chan) willing to try for peace if he lets her have what she wants. Indeed, she says they can make a request for a truce. They cannot make more compromises than the letter they sent before, though. What letter was that, again? Hmm. She says she cannot make any more compromises, since the situation has changed... It seems there are other factors. She doesn't really know about them though - her mother runs the place; Ryu-chan just provides occasional visions. Tsuka's surprised by her honest answer, it seems.
A thought: She must not be good at conversations. Just like me. Hmmm.
Ryu-chan then mentions something she nearly forgot her mother told her to say - there is to be a sent to letter to the Schoolers tomorroe regarding the followers they captured. Would Amako-sama like to send a letter of his own along with it?
Indeed, he may - but of course, they will check the contents. Well, at least he'll be able to tell them that he and Aroe are safe.
Tsuka's body has cooled down now - he wishes to take a bath, and tells Ryu-chan so - she leaves reluctantly. My shipping mind wonders who exactly set up this whole marriage thing - was Ryu-chan behind it all the time, or was it her mother? The screen fades to black, and our hero enters the water, taking care not to put his broken leg in. I'm not sure why to be honest, it might actually do it some good... I might be wrong about that, though.
Tsukasa spends some time relaxing his body - and then Ryugeju-san opens the door again. She's wearing a coat she didn't have on before... but there's nothing underneath.
"I forgot that I was going to do this from the start. May I?" Her eyes are back to that determined stare.
Tsukasa disagrees, finding this troubling. Ryugeju-sama(no longer cute) says she will wait until he changes his mind - he can go ahead and bathe for as long as he likes. Hmm, now that I listen to the voices she seems a bit nervous.
He says she must be getting cold, given that she splashed water all over herself. She denies this, strongly. Her facepic gets a bit cute again... Tsukasa can't relax in the bath with her getting cold, though. What a gentleman. He can't really get out of the bath either, though - he hasn't really warmed up much, so he might catch a cold if he doesn't sit in there for awhile.
And then comes what she was probably planning for all along - Tsukasa wonders if she might want to join him in the bath. She does. New CG! (We didn't get one of her standing in the doorway). Looks like the bath, which is made of wood, holds for two people. There isn't that much space, though, so the two of them are sitting close together. Oh, and the music just turned sentimental - I think this might have been the music used for an ero scene sometime before.
Ryu-chan (she looks cute again!) is still wearing her clothes in the bath. Oh, and she's shyly looking down, not at him. She's blushing, somewhat embarrassed. Tsuka prods her about whether she was just too embarrassed to take off her clothes the first time. Her answer is a very unconvincing, stuttering no. Tsukasa concludes that he was right, and is happy that he guessed this, and he considers himself rather bad at that sort of thing. Ryu-chan continues to deny it... So Tsuka thinks maybe he wasn't that good at guessing after all... Well, her face is red, but that could be the hot water. It is strange how she's covering all her important bits with her clothes and hands, though.
"U-Um, could I ask you a question as well?" "What is it?" "Why are you so opposed to it?"
She's heard that men don't usually refuse. He says it's because he can't take making babies lightly. Well, it might cause her some pain to be rejected in such a way. Indeed, she's... thinking it's because she's not attractive. He wonders why she can't just read his mind, though. Well, it's not like she can always read the mind of the person in front of her. She just has visions or something, it seems.
Tsuka continues reassuring her his refusal has nothing to do with her and everything to do with his current situation. She seems relieved, and admires his composure, looking at him for the first time since she entered the bath.
Interestingly, she can't actually remember what she said to Tsuka back when the whole "this is our principle" thing was going on - she was feeling something like a white light and absorbed in it. Well, not quite forgetting, but she can't quite understand what she says or why she said it when she's normal.
Tsukasa can understand - apparently this happens when you concentrate very hard (this happens once or twice in Kira Kira, by the way). Tsukasa can feel it when he's playing the piano sometimes. She recognizes his description of the phenomenon, and is very happy about finding someone who understands - and somewhat happy that this isn't that uncommon, as well. Does she feel bad because of her finding her powers or whatever unnatural? Well, this might have helped.
Eventually they realize they've probably been in the bath too long - they're dizzy and stuffs. * Tsuka lets Ryu-chan out first, and she's actually stumbling. Tsukasa manages to fight off his dizzyness and jump out one-legged, finding a fully dressed Ryu-chan standing by his wheelchair with a smile - looking more like a normal girl, her air of unapproachability gone.
She asks one more thing: Would he feel better about the whole thing if he broke up with his lover beforehand? For example, if she gave up on him. He seems a bit tired as he confirms he has no plans to break up with his girlfriend, and he very much doubts that she will initiate such a thing. ZakaTheory: a letter from Yuka will be faked somehow, or coerced.
Tsuka's not saying that specifically is the reason, though... Then again, what is the reason... He doesn't quite know, really. Well, maybe he secretly suspects that he will be killed if he does.
Ryu-chan leaves, saying she'll be waiting - if he ever feels like boning her (well, perhaps just for company, too), he may use her to his liking.
Well, the screen was actually faded to black already, but anyway, it fades into an image. An image telling us that our next installment will be about Tanomura!
