Episode 20 - Ha det bra
Frenda and Saten, chatting cheerfully about plans for dinner, are caught off guard when a bullet tears through Frenda's shoulder out of nowhere. Reacting quickly, Frenda grabs Saten and ducks around a corner; she pulls out her phone to call ITEM for help, but another bullet shatters it. Unable to tell where the shots are coming from, the two girls flee into a nearby department store. Rakko Yumiya, using her observation skills and uncanny sense of smell, follows them inside and soon tracks them to one of the upper levels.
Hoping to lose their attacker in the crowd of shoppers, Frenda is dismayed when another bullet grazes her arm. She realizes the mysterious sniper is able to track them wherever they go, and has no compunctions about shooting into a crowd. Continuing to flee with Saten in tow, she tries laying several traps and diversions, but to no avail. Yumiya, blending herself in with the crowd, is able to shoot at them unnoticed using silent gas-powered rifles hidden in her sleeves.
As Frenda accumulates more injuries and both girls are run ragged, Yumiya decides to finish toying with them. As she's about to move in for the kill, she suddenly sees two of her classmates approaching. She freezes up, flustered, but they walk right past without noticing her. By the time she recovers her wits, her targets have disappeared out of sight.
Frenda, who is nearing the end of her rope, wonders if she should use Saten as a decoy to make her escape. Before she can do more than contemplate the idea, Saten makes the same suggestion, pointing out that she's the real target. Frenda angrily tells Saten she wouldn't stand a chance alone, and that whoever's after her would certainly kill her once they've got what they want. Saten points out that it doesn't look as if she'll escape this anyway, and at least Frenda might get away. Frenda thinks for a moment, then grins humourlessly and asks Saten if she really wants to be a decoy.
A short while later, Yumiya is surprised to see Saten, alone, heading back in her direction. Wondering if Frenda has abandoned her, she then notices that Saten is carrying several of Frenda's exploding dolls — with timers attached. As she hesitates, Saten drops several of the dolls, prompting Yumiya to flinch and jump out of the way. Nothing happens, and Yumiya realizes she's been tricked into giving herself away. Moments later, Frenda charges out of the crowd and attacks her.
Yumiya starts shooting at Frenda indiscriminately, causing the crowd of shoppers to start fleeing the building. Saten, on Frenda's orders, reluctantly goes with them. Before they parted, Frenda told her they live in very different worlds... but Saten nonetheless invited Frenda to come over for dinner again.
Frenda slowly leads Yumiya over to the windows and hurls some miniature grenades at her. Yumiya dodges them without difficulty, although one of the window panes is shattered. Next, Frenda sets off a smokescreen and releases an oxygen-destroying gas. Yumiya moves next to the broken window to breathe in fresh air... but Frenda is there waiting for her. Appearing out of the smoke, she shoves several of her micro-grenades into Yumiya's open mouth, then kicks her through the window with a cheerful "ha det bra!" — throwing several doll bombs after her for good measure. Plummeting towards the ground, Yumiya claws frantically at her mouth until she disappears in a midair explosion.
That evening, Anti-Skill arranges to put Saten into a safe house for a few days until they're sure it's safe. She's relieved to hear that no bodies were found at the scene. That night, Saten receives an IM from Frenda, saying she'll come over for dinner "if she feels like it" one week from now.
Meanwhile, Yobou informs the rest of his dark side organization, SCHOOL, that they've obtained enough information to track down the Tweezers. Yumiya is present, alive but with much of her face covered; she demands to know when she can go after Frenda again. SCHOOL's leader, the Level 5 Teitoku Kakine, tells her to calm down and do as she's told, but Yumiya insists that she and Frenda have unfinished business. After a brief argument, Yumiya storms out; Kakine just shrugs and says he has a replacement sniper ready...
One week later, Saten is sitting alone in her dorm room, dinner for two on the table, watching the clock move into late evening. Her phone's screen shows several unanswered messages she's sent to Frenda. When the doorbell rings, she rushes to answer it, but it turns out to be Uiharu, one arm in a cast. She's come to give Saten a security update; Saten hesitates for a moment, then invites her inside to share dinner.
Tropes
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Frenda suffers several gunshot wounds, including getting part of one ear blown off. She bleeds a bit, but we don't see any permanent visible damage; even the ear is hidden by her hair. Averted by Yumiya, who appears at the end wearing an eyepatch, a mask covering her lower face with scars visible underneath, and apparently needing mechanical assistance to even talk. Kakine does, however, note that Academy City's advanced medical science will be able to repair the damage.
- Bittersweet Ending: Yumiya is defeated and Saten is safe from SCHOOL. However, the friend who saved her has disappeared, and she'll likely never know why... but Frenda won't ever be coming back.
- Continuity Nod:
- Frenda treats her wounds with the same type of liquid bandage that Kuroko used after her fight with Awaki Musujime.
- Kakine arranges to bring in another sniper to replace Yumiya, deeming the latter too unreliable to be useful anymore. This would be Chimitsu Sunazara, who will be working with SCHOOL during the imminent Battle Royale incident.
- During the epilogue, which takes place after the aforementioned incident, Uiharu has her arm in a cast. This is a reference to her shoulder being dislocated by Kakine during those events.
- And, of course, Frenda's failure to show up for dinner is an indirect one: those familiar with concurrent events in Index will know the reason for her absence...
- Destination Defenestration: Frenda dispatches Yumiya by throwing her out an upper-story window (along with several explosives).
- Ear Ache: One of Yumiya's shots blows off a piece of Frenda's ear. We don't see the result, however, as her hair covers it.
- Fluorescent Footprints: As before, Yumiya's tracking sense is depicted this way.
- Insane Troll Logic: By the end of the episode, Yumiya seems to have decided that, in nearly killing her, Frenda was actually making a gesture of friendship.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: It's unclear whether or not Yumiya's uncanny scent-based tracking ability is the result of an esper power. On the one hand, it's never described as such, and she isn't ever said to have an ability note . On the other hand, it seems far more accurate than any normal skill could possibly be, and has some odd rule-based limitations (such as not working if her target stops moving away from her) that suggest it might be supernatural.
- No One Could Survive That!: Yumiya is thrown out of a high window along with several bombs, and disappears into an explosion. However, it turns out Yobou (somehow) managed to save her at the last moment, although she's seriously injured.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Frenda recognizes Yumiya's cat-and-mouse tactics as those of a like-minded hunter. Judging by her remarks at the end, Yumiya seems to have realized it as well.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Frenda's eyes briefly flash red right before giving a Dynamic Entry to Yumiya.
- The Cameo: Komoe Tsukuyoumi and Aisa Himegami briefly appear in the mall, shopping together.
- The Nondescript: Yumiya's classmates, who invited her shopping only a few hours earlier, walk right past her in the mall without noticing her. Yumiya lampshades the trope, apparently unsure whether to be relieved or hurt.
- Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Yumiya could have easily killed Frenda and captured Saten in the first couple of minutes, but her sadistic love of the hunt leads her to unnecessarily drag out their suffering in a game of cat and mouse. Unsurprisingly, this gives the duo a chance to evade her and ultimately turn the tables.
