** indicate lines not spoken
// indicate lines not spoken in the vernacular
[] indicate lines in handwriting
{} indicate translator notes
() indicate descriptions
{As Hoshi no Sabaku is not a well-known title, and
so much of it's story is conveyed by the characters'
actions and expressions, I have attempted to
describe the scenes to give the reader a better feel
for what's happening in this story. It is, of course,
my interpretation, and furthermore, I find I am poor
at conveying the richness of the expressions of
Funato's characters. She can put so much meaning into
a single panel, a single face, that it's hard to
look at other comics after her work. Hopefully, I
can at least motivate readers to purchase this book
so they can really appreciate its good qualities. I
have found Hoshi no Sabaku to be completely worth the
expense.
{There are things in this story that make it unusually
difficult to follow as a script. First is the heavy
reliance on imagery rather than text to tell the
story as mentioned above, and also, as the story
progesses, the readings of words start to differ from
Chinese characters used to represent them. I've tried
to mark these occasions, but for one they occur so
frequently they distrupt the flow of the dialogue, and
for another I'm not always diligent about it, so I'm
sorry. Otherwise, the low number of cultural concerns
in Hoshi no Sabaku are make it quite accessable.)
Inside Front Cover:
Funato Akari Profile
Funato Akari. Real name likewise.
From Nagoya in Aichi prefecture.
Representitive previous works are 'Lunar' (published by Kadokawa Shoten)
and the Sega Saturn game 'Chaos Seed'.
Yuuya Aoi Profile
Yuuya Aoi.
Born November 17. Blood type A, Scorpio.
From Fukushima in Fukushima prefecture.
Received 2nd Sneaker Best New Author Award
for 'Hana no Ishibumi' (The Flower Monument).
P.3
Desert of Stars - Talshas Night
by Funato Akari, original work by Yuuya Aoi
P.4
(A girl dressed in a school uniform stands on the
far end of a pier overlooking the ocean just after
sunset. She is outside of the guardrails. A man in
his twenties approaches behind her, with a mild
smile and a blanket folded over his arm.)
Hitoshi: If you fell, you'd die.
P.5
Hitoshi: The ocean is cold in spring, [flap] and drowning in your school uniform on the very day of the school entrance ceremony is kind of dull.
Mana: (Ducking under the rail) What wouldn't be dull?
Hitoshi: Freezing to death counting the stars. [I suppose.]
(The girl and the man lay on the outstretched blanket
together. The girl has the man's coat draped over her.
The man smokes a cigarette.)
Hitoshi: Do you know Orion? That bright one on its left side is Procyon. And above that are Castor and Pollux, part of Gemini constellation, also called the third zodiac-
Mana: (Suddenly sitting up) Kenji.
Hitoshi: ?!
P.6
Hitoshi: What?
Mana: It's my little brother. Goodbye.
Hitoshi: Where? There's no one...
(A bike rushes up to the pier, handbrakes squeaking,
as it's rider cancels his momentum with a kick to one
of the rail posts. The bike's occupant is a somewhat
annoyed-looking boy.)
[squeak] [thud]
Kenji: Manaa!!
Hitoshi: Amazing. How did you know?
Mana: Because we're twins.
P.7
Hitoshi: I'm Sawatari Hitoshi. Good night, Mana-chan.
Mana: (Over her shoulder) Goodbye.
Hitoshi: Twins, hm...? !!
(Hitoshi lays back, taking a drag from his cigarette,
when he suddenly reaches for his head with an
intensely pained expression.)
(There is a ring of lights in the night sky.)
P.8
Kenji: Who were you talking to back there?
Mana: A stranger.
(The scenery flies past Kenji and Mana on the
bike, when he suddenly does the same performance
of handbrake and kick, though this time his
victim is a tree. Mana hardly reacts to this at
all.)
[squeak] [thump]
Mana: Kenji, have some sympathy for the tree.
[Kenji: ...]
Kenji: (Honestly upset) If he was a psycho, you would've gotten raped!!
Mana: (Deadpan) It doesn't really matter.
Kenji: You never think about these things, Mana...!!
Kenji: ......
Kenji: ...I have to rely on you here, you know... So where did you go today?
Mana: The ocean.
Kenji: Since morning? All day?!
Mana: Mm-hm.
P.9
Kenji: Mana, don't go to the ocean anymore.
Mana: Why? ...because I'll fall in again?
[Mailbox: Kizaki Fumiko, Manami, Kenji]
(At the Kizaki family's old-fashioned, slightly
ill-kept looking house, Mana and Kenji's mother waits
at the shoe well. Mana hardly acknowledges her
presence.)
Mother {Fumiko}: Your mother was so ashamed. What were you thinking, skipping the school entrance ceremony?!
Mother: (Grabbing Mana's arm) Manami!
P.10
(Kenji steps up from the entrance - loudly.)
[Thump]
Kenji: She had an anemia attack and was asleep. So, what's for dinner?
(Later, their mother has finished sewing Kenji's
name card onto his uniform.)
Mother: There you go.
Kenji: Ah, thanks! What about Mana's name card?
Mother: She's a girl. She can do it herself.
(Upstairs, Mana pokes herself with the needle in the
process of attaching her card.)
[Poke]
P.11
Mana: ......
(Leaving her uniform jacket draped on her bed,
Mana, laying on her side, reaches under her bed
for a glass jar, and pours its contents, marbles,
out over her. One of them seems to glow. At the
bottom is an old family photo, which includes Mana
and Kenji's father.)
P.12
(At school the next day, Kenji crosses the finish
line in a sprint trial.)
Kawai: So fast! [Wow...]
Classmate: Kenji! Just now, you got third place in the grade.
Kenji: Awww, not first?!
Kawai: Did you overeat!?
[Nuggie nuggie nuggie]
[Kenji: Wahahaha [ouch]]
(Mana begins her trial.)
Kawai: Kizaki-san is fast too, isn't she?
Girls: Kizaki-san is good at everything, isn't she. It makes me feel so small. [You know?]
P.13
Kenji(?): Why's that?
Girls: We're not smart or pretty like she is.
Girls: She's on such a different level, we can't even talk to her...
(Kenji and his buddy overhear some older students
talking about Mana.)
Kenji: ......
Upperclassmen: Good lookin' freshmen this year. Like that long-haired one.
Upperclassmen: Nice legs! I want a touch...
Upperclassmen: Looks tight, like she's never been used...
Upperclassmen: Moron, when you go out and say it, they end up being second-hand!
Friend: ...Kenji?
P.14
Kawai: !! Kenji! Stop!! Don't you know they're seniors?!
Upperclassmen: Then, how about we get it on...
(Kenji raps on one of the older boys' backs.)
[Tap tap]
Kenji: (Dead serious) If you're going to try any shit with her, you have to get through me.
Upperclassmen: What's with this little punk?!
Kenji: Ch...
[Funato-sensei: 163 cm]
Upperclassmen: Interesting. Why don't you tell us what you're gonna do?
P.15
(...And Kenji does just that, in the form of a
blisteringly forceful and sudden punch.)
Kenji: ...!!
Upperclassmen: ... Damn you...!!
[Kenji: Hmph.]
[Mana: ?]
Teacher(?): Hey! You over there, what are you doing?!
P.16
[shut]
(After school, Mana shuts her locker, and faces
Kenji and a pack of classmates.)
Kenji: Mana! I have to go finish getting lectured in the faculty office, so wait a min...
Mana: I can go home alone.
(And in the process of doing so, she walks into
an old-fashioned looking glass shop, staffed by
the man she encountered by the ocean the previous
night.)
Shopkeeper {Hitoshi}: Welcome.
P.17
Hitoshi: Oh? You're...
Mana: (startled) !
[Ringg Ri-]
(At home, Kenji is sprawled out on the floor with
a shoe half on, one hand keeping the phone on its
table, with the phone sandwiched between his
shoulder and ear.)
Kenji: Hello, Kizaki residence!!
Kenji: (Suddenly serious) ...okay. I'm on my way!!
Kenji: (Looking in Mana's empty room) Mana!! Are you here?!
Mother: Kenji, are you going out?
Kenji: I don't need dinner-! ...I mean, I'm going over to the Kawai's house.
P.18
Mother: (Fondly) It's as if he's a cannonball.
[Ringgg R-]
Mother: Kizaki Residence.
Phone: This is Kawai. Is Kenji-kun...
(Their mother's eyes widen with fear.)
(At the glass shop...)
Hitoshi: Is that so? You're Kizaki Asayuki's daughter...?
[Box: Asayuki]
Mana: Is my father famous?
Hitoshi: Well... I'm only part-time, so I don't know all the details, but, I can see the appeal of the glassware Mr. Kizaki makes.
Mana: (Picking up a lidded dish) This... it's my father's...
Hitoshi: (Writing on a tag) It's a new piece that came in this morning. Do you like glass?
P.19
(Mana holds the dish up to the light.)
Mana: ...it looks like a star.
Hitoshi: (Slightly surprised) A star?
(Mana seems embarrassed, and Hitoshi takes the dish
from her hands and slips a tag on the lid. Mana
looks stricken.)
Tag: Sold
P.20
Tag (On the bottom, identifying the purchaser): Kizaki Mana-sama
Mana: (Shocked) !
(Hitoshi slips a marble into a little bag and
hands it to Mana.)
Hitoshi: You can pay for it whenever it's most convenient. You should get home before the sun sets.
[Clatter clatter]
Hitoshi: (Back at work) Thank you very much.
P.21
Mana: (On her way out) ...Thank you.
Hitoshi: Good night, Mana-chan.
Mana: Good night.
(Hitoshi looks vaguely pensive and sad, when he
is struck with another headache.)
Hitoshi: ... {The kanji here means pain, but the reading used doesn't have any English equivalent. It signifies a sharp intake of breath.}
P.22
(Mana comes home, and walks upstairs without a
word of acknowledgement to the rest of her
family.)
[Thud thud thud thud]
Mother: Manami? Have you come home?
Mother: That's...?
(Their mother catches Mana dropping the new
marble into her glass jar, which she beholds
with an numb, heartbroken expression. Mana hides
the jar behind her back, and her mother grows
angry.)
Mother: If you feel guilty, you shouldn't have done it, should you? Sneaking around, hiding from your mother...
P.23
(Her mother grabs her by the wrist as she tries to
pull away.)
Mother: You've always been like this! What are you thinking?! What makes you so unhappy with me?!
(Mana's mother lifts the jar high...)
Kenji: (Trying to stop her) Mom!!
(...and it dashes against the floor. Both it and
it's contents shatter.)
P.24
(Mana sits before the bits of broken glass. In
the hall, their mother's expression is drawn,
and tears roll down her face.)
Mother: ...I'm going to bed... I have work early tomorrow...
Kenji: Mom...
Kenji: Mom, I'm going to apologize. Mom!
Kenji: (Picking up the glass) Mana, I'm sorry... Mom's in a bad mood.
Mana: ...why are you apologizing?
Kenji: Just now, mom found out that I went to see dad without telling her.
P.25
Mana: (Intensely) You saw father? When?!
Kenji: Tonight. Mana, you weren't here, right? I looked for you.
Kenji: (Afraid her feelings are hurt) ...Mana, you can see him next time.
Mana: When is next time?
Mana: (Crying) Why? Why just Kenji?
(Amidst the broken glass, there is one marble,
different from the others, undamaged.)
P.26
(Early the next morning, their mother leaves
Kenji some instructions before leaving for
work.)
Mother: Warm up last night's soup, okay? And turn off the range.
Kenji: (Half-asleep) Huh?
Mother: And could you lock the front door for me too?
Kenji: (Still half-asleep) Yeah...
(Shutting Kenji's door, she puts her and on
the knob of Mana's bedroom door with a worried
expression.)
Mother: ......
(She walks away.)
[Slide]
(Mana slides open the front door and leaves.)
Kenji: !! Mana, breakfast!! ...she's skipping, I guess... [It's not my fault if you pass out.]
P.27
(In her classes, Mana looks ill and distracted.)
Mana: ...?
[Student: You can take a break.]
Teacher: Kizaki-san, if you really don't feel well, you can go to the infirmary.
(But rather than go to the infirmary, Mana sits
on a bench by the schoolyard fence. She fishes
in her pocket, and withdraws the last marble.)
[Birdsong?] [Rustle, rustle]
Mana: This is the only one that wasn't smashed.
Kenji: (Suddenly on the bench) That's the one that we found together, right?
Kenji: What is it?
Mana: (Suddenly overwhelmingly ill) !?
P.28
Kenji: What's wrong?
(Mana staggers, grasping the fence for support.)
Kenji: This's because you skipped breakfast, stupid!! Can you stand by yourself? Mana?
(On the opposite side of the fence, directly in
front of Mana, is man, dressed wholly in black.
His expression is empty of purpose, but menacing.
Mana throws herself back from the fence,
terrified.)
Mana(?): !?
Kenji: Mana!?
P.29
Mana: (Shocked and exhausted)...I'm... going to leave early...
(As Mana starts home, Kenji rests his head on
his desk. He looks feverish.)
Friend: What's wrong, Kenji?
Kenji: I dunno... I just kinda... feel bad...
(Mana's heart is pounding as she walks.)
[Thump thump thump]
(She freezes and looks behind her...)
P.30
(...And sees the man in black from the
schoolyard.)
[Click]
(He turns and approaches her with loud
footsteps. Mana is rooted to the spot.)
[Click click, click click]
(As the black man reaches a hand out above her,
she runs.)
P.31
(The black man simply stands there as Mana
runs, but she doesn't go far before she stops in
fear and confusion. There is another black
man waiting at the corner. She shrinks away
from it's outstretched hands, runs, and pushes
open a door...)
P.32
(...and finds herself in the glass shop again.)
[Thump]
Owner {Ooya}: Welcome! Have you come on an errand?
Mana: (Exhausted) ......
Hitoshi: Miss?
(Mana whirls around to find herself face to
face with Hitoshi.)
Hitoshi: Ah... Welcome.
P.33
Hitoshi: Ooya-san, how about saba miso tonight? And we have the ginger from last night...
(As Hitoshi shows the groceries to his boss,
Mana drops to her knees in the doorway.)
Mana: ...I said I'm fine.
Hitoshi: (Crouching beside her, concerned) What about you looks fine?
Hitoshi: (Draping his coat over her) Put this on. Where's your house?
(And the next thing we know, Hitoshi's walking
Mana home.)
Mana: ...I'm sorry.
P.34
(From a distance, one of the black-clad men
watch the pair, but it's eyes see a different
Hitoshi - with longer hair, and a stoic and
somehow regal bearing. Mana is shaking, and
draws Hitoshi's coat tight around her.)
[Squeeze]
Mana: (Bowing at her front door.) ...Thank you very much.
P.35
(Hitoshi looks up at Mana's house worriedly.)
(Mana starts up the stairs.)
[Clatter] [Thud thud thud]
Mana: Who's there...?
[Click]
(Mana opens her door to find a black man standing in
her room. Some of the drawers under her bed have been
pulled out.)
P.36
(Upset and angry, Mana backs away from the black man.
As she lunges down the stairs, the black man melts,
and tendrils of its substance wrap around her.)
[Whoosh]
P.37
Hitoshi: (entering the stairwell) Mana-chan!
(Hitoshi takes a battle-ready expression, and from
near him comes a sound like electricity. The black
tendrils break.)
[Zz-zz-zz-ztt crack]
P.38
(Outside the house, there is a brilliant flash of
light, and the house bursts into flames. Kenji is
near the outside wall, and looks up in shock and
disbelief. The neighbors are in a panic.)
[Roar]
[Kyaa-!]
Kenji: Mana...!
P.39
(Kenji is confronted with a gout of smoke when he
opens the front door, but checks the shoe well for
signs of occupants.)
[Slide] [Cough cough, cough]
Kenji: Mana's shoes... Who's are these!? 29 centimeters!? ...Dad's...? No way.
[Roar]
Kenji: Manaa--! Answer me if you're here! MANAA!
[Roar]
(Kenji sees a figure appear behind the curtain of
flame and smoke consuming the stairs.)
Kenji: Mana-...!?
P.40
(It is a little boy, walking barefoot on the
burning stairs as if there was nothing dangerous
going on at all.)
[Thud thud] [Roar]
Kenji: ...!
(The boy regards Kenji.)
Kenji: (As if he's seeing a ghost) What ARE you!?
P.41
Boy: (Leaning close, smiling) ...Say, haven't you seen a yellow jewel... about this size?
(The boy frames one eye with his hands to estimate
the size of the object of his search. His eyes are
unusually bright and reflective.)
Kenji: What, you're talking like you're half asleep! Get outta the way!! I don't have time for this!
Boy: (With hands on Kenji's shoulders) But I finally found a reaction. It ought to be here.
Kenji: (Breaking away) I don't know!!
P.42
Boy: (Oddly disappointed) ...Are you lying?
(Suddenly, a liquid substance rips across Kenji's
chest. He doubles over, blood dripping on the floor.)
[Drip drip drip]
Kenji: ...!! Danm you-!
Boy: (Smiling brightly again) Don't try to hide it, bring it out.
P.43
Boy: Give me the Talshas!!
(The boy attacks again, leaving Kenji collapsed in
a pool of blood, covered with wounds.)
P.44
(On a winter day, a roughly 5-year-old Mana brings
a fever-flushed and heavily bundled up Kenji a
little rabbit made of snow. He smiles, and Mana
laughs happily. Then their mother bursts in, upset,
and checks Kenji's temperature. Mana is made to
leave, and crouches outside of Kenji's room crying
as the snow bunny melts. A hand pats sad little Mana
on the head.)
P.45
(A still teary little Mana rides on her father's
back, as he hands her the jar that she once
kept the marbles in.)
(Mana awakes to find herself being carried
piggyback on Hitoshi's back.)
Hitoshi: Mana-chan? Are you alright?
P.46
(Hitoshi carries Mana to a local shop, where he
negotiates from some shoes. Mana notices the
pillar of smoke over the rooftops, and runs
back to the house.)
Hitoshi: Suddenly that black man burst into flames... and had my hands full trying to get you out...
P.47
(Between the dark shapes of the crowd gathered
around the house, Mana spots a body on a stretcher.
Kenji's.)
Hitoshi: (Holding Mana back) Mana-chan. Mana-chan! With a disturbance like this, the police are bound to come.
Hitoshi: How should I explain it to them? Do you think they'll believe us?
(At a phone booth, Hitoshi checks the hospitals
for news of Kenji's admission. Both wear sandals.)
Hitoshi: He's in the Prefectural Hospital, room 338. Mana-chan?
Mana: The picture of my father burned up...
P.48
(At the hospital, Hitoshi sits with his head in
his hand wearing a weary expression.)
[Beep. be-beep. be-]
[Sign: Kizaki Kenji]
Mana: Mother,
Mother: (With her hands over her face) He was collapsed in the middle of the fire... his whole body covered in cuts--
Mana: Moth--
Mother: They said the wounds on his legs are too deep - even if they heal, he may never be able to walk...
Mana: Mother, Kenji looks like he's dead.
[Shut]
P.49
Mother: (Hysterical) Why do you act this way, even at a time like this?!
(Mana crouches outside of the door, head down, with a
credit card in hand. Hitoshi pats her on the head.)
Hitoshi: Will you be staying at a hotel tonight?
Hitoshi: ...Mana-chan, will you be alright by yourself? Are you okay? Aren't you lonely?
Mana: ...Lonely? What are you talking about?
Hitoshi: But you just...?!
Mana: ? I'm just like I always am.
P.50
(Hitoshi takes her by the hand. They go to the glass
shop, and Ooya-san gives her dinner.)
Hitoshi: Is it good?
[Ooya: You can have seconds too.]
(Mana and Hitoshi, with bedclothes draped over his
arm, watch a shooting star pass a window.)
Mana: Ah... I messed up the wish...
Mana: (Studying her father's dish) ...They said Kenji can't run anymore. Is the one who did that to Kenji... that darkened man?
Hitoshi: It was someone else. When the man caught on fire there was no one in the house. Your brother was probably injured after that.
P.51
(Hitoshi is shaking a can of... something. Mana
looks up at him, suddenly intent.)
Mana: Will that black man come again?
Hitoshi: He's gone now. You should forget about it.
Mana: But--
Mana: There were a lot of them, all with the same face and the same clothes. ...Were they human? They couldn't be, could they? You saw them. What were they?
(This startles Hitoshi. His hands clamp down on the
can, trembling, and his eyes are wide with dread.)
Mana: And besides, if something happened to Kenji-- if he died--
Mana: What would I do...? I'd lose half of myself...
(Hitoshi seems to wish there was something he
could say.)
P.52
(Mana is asleep, with the last marble in the glass
dish her father made. She wakes up, alone and
scared.)
Mana: ...... Sawatari-san. Sawatari-san?
(Hitoshi opens the door, and Mana plops on the
floor.)
Hitoshi: (Rather puzzled)...What is it?
Hitoshi: After we have lunch I thought we'd go shopp...
(He sees the marble in the glass dish...)
P.53
(...and turns white as a sheet, his face full of
dread and disbelief.)
Hitoshi: ...Why did you do this?
Mana: Should I have not put it in there?
Hitoshi: It's not that--
Hitoshi: (Leaning over the dish on all fours) ...such a pretty green...
Mana: My brother and I drowned once. Just when everyone had given up, we washed up onto the beach together. When that happened, this was in between our linked hands. Father said it was 'a good luck charm', and to treasure it--
Mana: When father... left the house, he left it to me. I was 5 years old then.
(Again, something about Mana's story startles Hitoshi
terribly.)
P.54
(Hitoshi takes Mana shoe shopping...)
Hitoshi: That happened... 10 years ago?
Mana: How old were you then, Sawatari-san?
Hitoshi: Me? 14.
Mana: What were you doing then?
Hitoshi: My father had died, and it was very hard for me.
(Mana covers her mouth in apology.)
Hitoshi: (Ruffling Mana's hair) But that was 10 years ago, right?
Hitoshi: Mana-chan, you like glass because it looks like stars, right?
[Hitoshi: ....] [Mana: I don't need any meat. And I don't like kuwai.]
Hitoshi: Is it the same for that 'charm'? Is it a star to you?
Hitoshi: What do you want to come true?
P.55
Mana: (Startled) I've... never... thought about that...
(Suddenly Mana's expression grows firmer, and she
jumps from her chair.)
[Clatter]
Mana: I have to go.
Hitoshi: Where?
Mana: The hospital...! I feel like Kenji is searching for me.
Hitoshi: (With hands on her shoulders) Mana-chan!
P.56
(Kenji is walking down the street, looking like
nothing ever happened. Mana can't comprehend it,
and Hitoshi is just floored.)
Mana: Kenji!! Kenji, your legs?! What happened to your legs?
Kenji: (Suspicious) Mana, who is this guy?
Kenji: (Still suspicious) Mana. Who is he.
Mana: Kenji!
Kenji: ...They healed.
Mana: No way! But...
Kenji: At any rate, I woke up this morning and tried taking off the bandages 'cause I itched so much all over I couldn't stand it.
P.57
Kenji: (Jumping as proof) And see? Nothing.
Mana: But yesterday... mother was crying... Why...? How?
Kenji: How should I know? I got better. Mom talked them into letting me out of the hospital. [Look.]
Kenji: (Grinning broadly) They must not've been very bad cuts after all, huh? Maybe you all dreamed it up.
Kenji: So, who is he, Mana?
[Sign: Glass Shop]
(Kenji examines the shop's sign, and a piece of glasswork
marked 'Asayuki', and looks wonderingly to Mana, who
is looking elsewhere.)
P.58
(The group heads to the residence part of the glass
shop.)
Kenji: (Sitting in the shoe well) You work here?
Hitoshi: Since last week. I room here and work part-time. Well, come in.
Kenji: (Noticing Hitoshi's shoes) ! 29 centimeters!
Kenji: So, what are you to Mana? Since when have you been together?
Hitoshi: (With a friendly smile) I am Sawatari Hitoshi. Hello.
Kenji: Did you come to our house yesterday?
Hitoshi: (Serving tea) ...Yes.
Mana: Yesterday he saved me from frightening people. I was... so afraid, and when I went home, they were in our house.
Kenji: A little blond kid?
Mana: Dyed black men. ...Kenji, who hurt you?
(Kenji drinks his tea, pensive and confused.)
Kenji: ...... A little blond foreigner. He acted like he was looking for something. I think-- yeah, it was a yellow jewel...
P.59
Kenji: Talshas, he said.
Kenji: Hey, why did our house burn down? Explain it to me.
Mana: I don't know.
Kenji: Mana!
Mana: I didn't see it myself. When I regained consciousness, it was already... ...Sawatari-san?
Kenji: (Looking at Hitoshi suspiciously) You know something, don't you?
Hitoshi: No one will believe a story like this. It's better if you forgot about this quickly.
Kenji: (Slamming his palm on the table) Don't shit me!
Kenji: Mana is scared, I was seriously injured, and our house burned down! We have a right to know!
Hitoshi: ...The Talshas is here.
P.60
Hitoshi: In the dish...
Mana: ...that's only a glass ball, isn't it?
Kenji: What're you talking about? This is green.
Hitoshi: (A bit lost in reverie) ...That's right.
Hitoshi: My deceased father was always telling me-- in the language of a distant world, Talshas is written 'stone of wind and gods'. He said it is a crystal that falls in love with a single life once every several years.
Mana: A distant world? Love?
Kenji: If you think you're dealing with kids and playing a trick on us...
Hitoshi: My father...
P.61
Hitoshi: Was born on another planet.
Hitoshi: It's a story of someone who's dead now. There's no proof, either to believe or disbelieve by...
(Hitoshi's hand on his tea cup is shaking badly.)
[Shake shake shake]
Hitoshi: I guess I should stop after all. No one would...
Kenji: Keep going. I'm listening.
Hitoshi: ...On my father's home planet, the Talshas's lover is called the Taliya, and can become a god-like being. Which is why it was stolen by agents from a colony world.
P.62
Hitoshi: My father was able to recover it somehow, but he fell to Earth. Since then, the Talshas's whereabouts has been unknown.
Hitoshi: The group that attacked you two yesterday are exactly like the pseudo-life forms created from Saitia {the kanji reads - variable material} in my father's story. If you believe this, there is probably a connection.
Kenji: ...So, me and Mana weren't being threatened personally. Is that right?
Hitoshi: (Looking rather sad) I'm sorry I kept quiet about it.
Mana: (Concerned for Hitoshi) You don't have to... After all, you saved me.
Hitoshi: I thought it would be in your best interest to go on without knowing this, if I could manage it.
P.63
Kenji: ......
(Kenji sees the boy's eyes in his mind. He looks
with concern to Mana, and imagines their mother,
distraught in the hospital. He abruptly stands up, and
pulls Mana up by the arm.)
Kenji: If that marble is a memento of your dad's, you can have it. So don't involve us.
P.64
(Kenji looks distrustfully at Hitoshi, who seems to
be a little startled, amused and impressed all at
once.)
Hitoshi: ......
Kenji: We're going home, Mana.
Mana: To where...!?
Kenji: The apartment! We moved in today.
Mana: (Looking back at Hitoshi) I still haven't thanked you...
Hitoshi: I don't need any. Forget about it.
Kenji: Thanks for helping Mana. But we're not interested in any more attention from you. We'll leave your story at that. It has nothing to do with us.
Kenji: 'Bye!
Hitoshi: Goodbye.
Mana: Good night.
(Hitoshi briefly appears lost for how to respond.)
P.65
Hitoshi: (Smiling) Goodbye.
(Their mother opens a door in a cramped apartment
building that's in need of maintenance.)
Mother: Kenji! Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your body?
Kenji: I said it's fine. If there was anything, I'd be sure to say so, and go to the hospital.
Mother: Is that so? Then... that's fine, but--
(Mana peers into the shoe well, nonplussed and out
of her element.)
P.66
Mother: (Smiling warmly to Kenji) Dinner tonight is delivery. Let's eat something good, at any rate.
Kenji: Eh, really? I get ya, mom. [I'll get the best!]
Mother: (To Mana) ...What are you doing? Hurry and come in.
Mana: ...uh, mm-hm. Um, Mothe--
Mother: Kenji? I called in to school today...
(Back at the glass shop, Hitoshi is sitting wearily
(reflectively?), cigarette in hand.)
Hitoshi: ...10 years...
(And grimaces at the onset of another of his headaches.)
P.67
(Lunchtime at school the next day...)
Ootani: (Holding out a boxed lunch) Ken--ji-kun! I made an extra bento. Well? Are you grateful?
Kenji: Ah...! WOW!
Takahashi: Hey, where's _Kizaki-san_?
Kenji: If you mean Mana, she went to the store to buy bread.
(Ootani pulls the lunch away from Kenji.)
[Kenji: Ah...!]
Ootani: ...Who do you think I made it for?! [You're twins, aren't you!?]
[Takahashi: You're our excuse.]
Kenji: EH?!
Mana: .........
(Mana stands stuck behind a crush of students. She is
about to turn around, when a hand drops on her
shoulder, surprising her.)
[Squeeze] [Shock]
P.68
(The hand belongs to a cheery and generous girl, who
is smiling brightly.)
Satou: Vegetable sandwiches, sugar bread, and two milks! Here you go!
Satou: (Eating with Mana) Can I call you Mana?! Say! Your house burned down, didn't it? Where are you staying now?
Mana: An apartment in Sakashita....
[Tag: Satou]
Satou: I know that place! It's on my way home. Why don't we walk home together?!! Okay?!
(Kenji sees Mana and Satou-san together, and smiles
approvingly.)
P.69
(Mana does indeed walk home with Satou-san, and on
the way they encounter the crude upperclassmen from
the previous day.)
Upperclassmen: ...Hey.
Upperclassmen: Ki--zaki-san! Just hanging with girls must be lonely. Let us play too. [Buhaha]
(Mana looks upset and guarded, while Satou-san leans
protectively on her shoulder and regards them with an
unimpressed, oddly imperious expression.)
Satou: What idiots! Let's go.
Satou: Hey, Mana! Let's be friends! I know we'll get along! It's true, I can tell! It's intuition!
Satou: See you tomorrow!!
(Satou-san waves very energetically on her way off,
leaving Mana at the entrance to her building.)
P.70
(Mana stands at the foot of the stairs to her landing
and imagines an unwelcoming expression on her
mother's face. She goes to the glass shop, only to
find no sign of Hitoshi.)
Mana: ...Hello.
Mana: ......... Um...
Ooya: Ahh... Welcome... From what I heard from Sawatari-kun, you were free to go up. Well, not that I ever minded at all.
(Mana walks up the stairs and slides open the door
to Hitoshi's room.)
[Thud thud thud] [Slide]
P.71
(And finds it empty, save the dish containing the
marble, and an envelope. Mana reads the note.)
Mana: "As long as the Talshas's light is within the glass, none can perceive it. Under no circumstances open the lid"?
Mana: ......
(She remembers walking into an empty room as a
little girl...)
P.72
Ooya: (Hearing Mana run past) The station, he went to the station...
(Mana finds Hitoshi in the process of buying a
ticket. Though tired and disheveled from running,
she addresses him as if everything was normal.
Hitoshi's face shows that Mana was the last person he
expected to run into.)
Mana: ...Today, someone said, let's be friends to me. Her name is Satou-san.
Hitoshi: (Smiling warmly) ...I see. That's good. I hope you get along.
(Mana suddenly pulls Hitoshi's bag from his arm and
runs from the station. Hitoshi finds her on the top
of a hill.)
Mana: (Hugging Hitoshi's bag) Where will you go? ...What will I do if the scary people come again?
P.73
Hitoshi: Kenji-kun will protect you. He won't...
Mana: What?
Hitoshi: Go home. The sun is going down.
Mana: (Upset) Where should I go home to, when my house has burned down?!
Mana: (On the verge of tears) Don't leave me alone. Don't leave me empty.
P.74
(The strange boy who attacked Kenji speaks with an
Boy: /The problem is that there is someone on this planet who can disassemble Saitia, you see./
Figure: /Do you wish for reinforcements?/
Boy: /I don't need those incompetents!/
P.75
Figure: /......... Who was it that was defeated by the first priest 30 years ago?/
Figure: /The theft of the Talshas failed, Jui nearly destroyed.../
(An image of two figures that resemble the strange boy
Boy: /That man was the descendant of a Taliya. There was not a word about that in the data!/
Figure: /To be defeated by a mere descendant.../
Boy: (Vehemently) /Next time I will win. I swear I'll kill him!/
P.76
Figure: /If a Taliya {kanji = god} is born, we of E'dua {= colony world} will be eternally unable to achieve independence./
(The inhuman figure starts to break up. The boy
Figure: /We are the only ones who can repair Jui's systems. Simply execute our orders: "Kill Taliya {= god} candidates."/
Figure & boy: /"Steal the Talshas."/
P.77
Kenji: After dinner, I'll go pick Mana up.
Mother: Kenji...
Kenji: I said, you don't have to worry about me.
Mother: Will you... go to you father's place with Manami?
Mother: I haven't treated you to anything in a while, and then the house...
Kenji: [Sip] I don't know dad's contact address.
Mother: ...What?!
Kenji: Do you, mom?
Mother: I wouldn't know that... It was in the house... Ah...
Mother: (Looking very tired) ...We really have lost everything, haven't we....
Kenji: But me and Mana are here. Isn't that enough?
P.78
Hitoshi: Pitch dark.
Hitoshi: Do you like the ocean?
Mana: (Walking barefoot in the shallows) Do you, Sawatari-san?
Hitoshi: I can't stand it.
(Mana looks at him skeptically.)
P.79
Hitoshi: (Laughing) It's all an illusion. There's actually not any such determination to anything.
(They make drawings in the sand, and eventually Mana
Hitoshi: Even if you feel filled, underneath it there is a vast desert.
(Kenji walks up to them.)
P.80
Kenji: Well, we're twins.
Kenji: I hate the ocean. We drowned when we were little kids.
Kenji: After that, I kept getting sick. Mom was tired from nursing me, and would always fight with dad. One morning when I woke up, dad's room was empty...
(Kenji recalls seeing Mana crying in the empty room.)
Kenji: Only bad things happen when you go to the ocean.
Kenji: I said can't stand you, so why is Mana sleeping like that?
Hitoshi: ...I apologize. [I really wonder why]
Kenji: I don't believe this. Pisses me off...
P.81
Kenji: So you quit the glass shop?
Hitoshi: I'd been thinking I'd go to my parents' house, but...
Kenji: _Still_ worrying over memento of your dad's?
Hitoshi: ...Ten years from now, when you're the same age as I am, you mustn't be the same as me.
Hitoshi: So don't... !!
Kenji: ? Hey...
(Hitoshi grimaces as another headache strikes. Kenji
P.82
(While Kenji is still baffled by the images, Mana
Mana: ...Sawatari-san? What's wrong, do you have a headache?
Hitoshi: ...It's nothing. I'm fine.
P.83
Mother: ...You should at least call when you're going to be late.
Mana: .........
Mother: Manami!
Kenji: Mom, I'm hungry.
Mother: You just ate, didn't you...?
(And Mana and Kenji are back at the glass shop,
Kenji: ...Pisses me off that she's at your place once I think you're finally gone! Didn't you say you would quit?
Hitoshi: But there was no one else to take her. I was just taking responsibility to escort her home.
Kenji: I'm more worried about leaving her alone with you.
Hitoshi: ...I'm not interested in minors, though...
Kenji: Shuddup, you self-styled alien.
P.84
Satou: (Cheery, as usual) Mana, will you come to my house today?
Mana: .........
Satou: What a shame! But you promise next time, right?
[Sign: Glass Shop]
Hitoshi: (Wrapping fast asleep Mana in a blanket) ...Mana-chan sleeps for most of the time she's here.
Kenji: Hey, question 2.
Hitoshi: a. a. b. c. a. I wonder why?
Kenji: I dunno.
Kenji: Maybe because the apartment's too small.
(There is an image of Mana in her futon, right next
(And at school again...)
Satou: Where's Mana?
Kenji: (Puzzled) ? I thought she was with you the whole time......
P.85
Kenji: Sorry! I'm going ahead!
(Kenji rushes for the door, and turning a corner in
Kenji: !! This's bad... MANA!
[Kenji: ch-]
(The older boys notice Kenji, and he tenses up. A
P.86
Upperclassman: !
[Hitoshi: ?]
[190 cm vs 181cm]
Upperclassman: ......
[Kenji: What the hell...?]
(The upperclassmen turn and walk away.)
Kenji: ...... [I don't get it.]
Hitoshi: What?
Kenji: Nothing...
Hitoshi: Come to the shop. I'll lend you towels and an umbrella.
Kenji: (Sore) Crap, it's just 'cause you're big. {Or according to the kanji, tall.}
Hitoshi: What?
(At she shop, Mana daydreams while looking at the
Kenji: Sawatari? Another one?
P.87
Hitoshi: ...It's nothing serious. Really, it's nothing...
(Mana and Kenji enter the shop on a clear day to
[Rattle rattle]
Mana: (Leaning against Hitoshi, making a cat's cradle) When we went to the ocean, I had a dream. I only heard a voice. "I give you freedom", and "There is a condition", it said.
(Hitoshi's eye's, trained on a book, go wide.)
Mana: ...What do you think it was about?
Hitoshi: (Patting Mana's head) It was nothing but a dream. It should forget about it.
P.88
Satou: (Rather astonished) Your bento are always amazing, huh, Mana. [Do you make them yourself?]
[Ootani: Wow...]
Mana: ......... [Sawatari-san...]
(After school, Hitoshi fixes Mana and Hitoshi a meal
[Sizzle]
Mana: Tomorrow, I'm going to Satou-san's house... She said it's in Sakaue.
Hitoshi: Sakaue's by the mountain, isn't it?
Kenji: (Looking annoyed) ......Mana.
[Clink]
Kenji: Why do you only babble on like this in front of Hitoshi?
Hitoshi: (Shocked) ......This is babbling on?!
[Mana: Chew chew]
[Kenji: Pisses me off somehow.]
Kenji: It's like you're forcing yourself on him.
Hitoshi: (Shocked some more) ?!
Hitoshi: (Doing the dishes) ......? [Why am I always doing this?]
Hitoshi: Ah, It's 9 o'clock. You should be going...
P.89
Hitoshi: ...like this. {I don't get this line. Gomen.}
(Kenji talks with Hitoshi as he carries Mana through
Kenji: Maybe it was a delusion after all?
Hitoshi: Hm?
Kenji: Your dad was psycho.
Hitoshi: ...and the fire and the black men?
Kenji: ...they may have really been a dream.
P.90
Kenji: Hitoshi. This time you're going to the hospital.
Hitoshi: (Setting a sleepy-eyed Mana down) Why?
Kenji: (Pointing to his head) The headaches.
Hitoshi: Oh... I haven't had any lately. I wonder why?
Kenji: Just go.
Hitoshi: .........
Hitoshi: (With his warmest smile) ...Alright.
Kenji: I hope he gets it... !
(Kenji digs through his pocket, and pulls out a
Kenji: What's this... Did Hitoshi do this?
[Paper: Kizaki Asayuki Kujira Glass Studio 0864 - 22 - 0]
P.91
Mother: Oh, are you home?
Kenji: We had dinner... over at the Dachi's house.
Mother: Is that so? Today was payday, you know. I went out an bought some cake.
Mother: Come on, hurry in and have some.
Kenji: (At the lockers after school) Mana, you're going over to Satou's house today, right? If you run late, give me a call. I'll be coming to pick you up.
P.92
Kenji: "This is Kizaki Kenji. May I speak with Kizaki Asayuki?" "Kizaki speaking." "Dad, our house is gone." Kind of abrupt...
Kenji: Oh well...!
(Somewhere in town, Satou-san is smiling to Mana as
Satou: My house is so big, and there's no one in it. I'm so happy you're coming, Mana!
(Mana looks a bit overwhelmed but neutral as usual,
P.93
Satou: ...What's wrong? Mana?
(Elsewhere, Kenji and Hitoshi sense that something is
Satou: ?! Ew, What is it?!
(The black man's face is melting. Mana move to shield
Satou: What is that, Mana?!
Kenji: (His satchel strikes the black man) Mana-!!
P.94
[Whap]
(Kenji's bottle smashes against the black man. Mana
(...Until she is headed off by a gang of crude
Upperclassmen: Well, if it isn't Kizaki-san.
P.95
Kenji: !!
Kenji: Wh... at is this thing-- How you beat...
(There is a burst of electricity...)
[Zzzt]
P.96
Hitoshi: Kenji... Kenji!
[Kenji: Cough cough]
Hitoshi: Kenji! Where is Mana-chan?!
Kenji: !!
(Mana, Satou-san and the older boys are in an
[Crunch]
P.97
Upperclassman: (Gesturing to the bandage) You see this? It's the work of that Kizaki Kenji.
Upperclassman: That was pretty cruel, don't you think?
Upperclassman: It hurts, right here.
Upperclassman: And throbs every night.
Upperclassman: (Leaning close to Mana) And that we were against a kid makes it worse. The main part is a matter of feelings, right? So if his little sister did a little...
Mana: I'm the elder sister.
Upperclassman: (Annoyed) What?
Upperclassman: Who cares what you are? We're telling you to give us an apology. Starting with your attitude!
Satou: NO!
Mana: !!
(One of the boys grabs, Satou-san's wrist, and Mana
Mana: ......You are weak.
Upperclassman: Huh?
P.98
(The boy slaps Mana, then kicks her in the stomach.)
[Whap] [Thud]
(Mana is thrown to the ground by the force of the
Upperclassman: ...You BITCH!!
(Satou-san stands forgotten, and looks rather lost.
P.99
[Whack]
(Satou-san looks serene as her braids dissolve and
Satou: (Imperiously) Worthless humans should live inconspicuously, like vermin.
[Slice slice]
(Mana looks on in blank horror.)
[Upperclassmen: ...ee... Uwa--!]
P.100
(The little blond boy from the house fire stands
Boy: (Jeering) ...You're slow, Kenji.
Kenji: !! You... You're the one from...
Mana: (Shaking like a leaf) Blond... You--
Mana: You did those horrible things to Kenji...?! You burnt down our house?!
Boy: (Petulant) It was because he lied. I'll ask one more time; after this I'll kill you. Where is the Talshas?
P.101
Hitoshi(?): Kenji!
Kenji: All that was at the house was a green marble!
Boy: Green...?! ...I see, green...
Boy: ! Who... Arc? No, not him... I see now.
Boy: (Eyes bright with understanding) So it was you.
Hitoshi: Mana-chan, come here!
(Mana runs in Hitoshi's direction...)
P.102
(The ground in the clearing turns to liquid, and a
Mana: !!
(The black substance swirls around the boy's calm
Kenji: Manaa!
(The boy appears to have aged, and is now dressed
Juou: (Smiling; to Hitoshi) My name is Juou of E'dyua! I'm pleased to meet you... the poor "bound one" of Valuna.
P.103
Hitoshi: (Watching Juou) .........
Juou: What's wrong? Why don't you tell them about your chosen land?
Hitoshi: (Subdued) ...... If you are caught by E'dyua, they will use you as a soldier until you die.
Juou: (Very amused) If you go with Sawatari, you'll be a doll for the amusement of the elders in the name of god. You can live forever as a symbol!
Mana: What are you talking about...
Juou: You really don't know? Then look.
(The black material beneath Kenji becomes a number of
Hitoshi: Kenji!!
P.104
(Hitoshi pulls Kenji free of the black goo, and before
[Crash]
Juou: Is that what an ordinary Earthling looks like? That's being unfair, Mana. Why do you side with him?
P.105
Mana: ?!
Hitoshi: (Desperately) Don't say it--!
Juou: Even though he is a Valuna agent for the retrieval of the Talshas?
P.106
Kenji: (Gabbing Hitoshi's collar) Say something... Deny it! Hitoshi--!
Mana: Sawatari-san!
Hitoshi: (Holding out his hands) Mana-chan, come here.
P.107
Kenji: Mana!
Juou: (With an arm around Mana's neck) I'll take this girl in place of the Talshas.
P.108
Kenji: MANAAAA---!
(Kenji looks up at where it had been with loss
Hitoshi: .........
Kenji: (Through gritted teeth) Hitoshi--! Bastard, how dare you... How dare you hurt Mana?!
P.109
Kenji: !!
(Kenji goes rigid as Hitoshi electrocutes him with an
Hitoshi: ...Good night, Kenji.
(There is a ring of lights in the sky above Hitoshi's
P.110
Hitoshi: Mother, I have to go.
Hitoshi's Mother: Hitoshi?!
Hitoshi: Someone is calling me.
(Hitoshi, dressed in his school uniform looks towards
Arc: Hitoshi, your father was born on another world.
(And then, he finds himself faced with the reality of
(A hand forces his head to the floor, and a foot
P.111
[Creak]
(A kindly, female-looking alien explains something to
(Hitoshi lays unconscious. His hand is stained with
{I suspect this line is female doctor, but it's too obscured to translate. It does seem to suggest concern for Hitoshi's welfare, however.}
Elder(?): /Half-breed though he may be, he remains the descendant of a Taliya. The child must repair the sins of the father./
(Blood courses down Hitoshi's face, and electricity
Arc: (In Hitoshi's memory) I fought to return the stolen Talshas to the mother world,
Guard: /He took the Talshas and ran, without delivering the final blow to Juou./
Arc: (In Hitoshi's memory) ...and fell to earth.
Hitoshi(?): /You ran away!/
P.112
Guard: /It's time. Go to the practice floor./
Guard: /Even the child of Arc has become this docile./
Guard: /Given a year./
Guard: /He must've finally come to realize his place: the son of the traitor---/
(Hitoshi's expressionless eyes flash with electricity
(Hitoshi strikes, and the second guard's blood
[Splatter]
P.113
Elder: /Do you want to return to Earth? Very well, we give you freedom, child of Arc.
(The elder touches the orb again, and Hitoshi doubles
Elder: /However, there is a condition./
Elder: /Search out the Talshas, still lost by your father's theft, and present it to us. In that event, we shall consider removing the 'spike' from your brain./
P.114
Juou: /--You can't even keep your promises...!!/
Figure: /Jui will awaken any time now./
Juou: /You people tell nothing but lies! I hate you!!/
Figure: /Juou, your orders--/
Juou: /I already have what I wanted. I'm not going to listen to you anymore!/
(Juou holds a broken peice of the device
Juou: /I hate them.../
(The black substance swirls about Juou as he turns to
Mana: (Pulling away fearfully) !
P.115
Juou: (Calmly leaning against a wall) No one's going to come to rescue you, Mana. Kenji doesn't have the means, and if Sawatari just gets his hands on the Talshas, he has no more use for you!
(Mana looks pained by his words, and covers her ears.
Mana: !! Where... is this?!
P.116
Alien: /He has not yet left Earth's atmosphere. It seems he has only moved to another continent./
Hitoshi: /Please check it against the surface data from one hour before. The foreign substance of the ship.../
Intercom: /Child of Arc! The Elder summons you./
(The female doctor from Hitoshi's memories waits for
Doctor: ...That smoke is not good for your body.
Hitoshi: (Smoking, unsurprisingly) /Quit the wife act./
Doctor: I wonder why the general populace is given an addictive poison on Earth?
Hitoshi: /Quiet, alien./
Doctor: /......The child of Arc, entering with physician./
P.117
Kenji: LEMME OUTTA HERE! DAMMIT!
Council member: /...this vulgar, inferior creature is the Taliya {= god}...?/
Doctor: /The genetic alterations and special abilities characteristic of the Taliya {= god} are yet to be confirmed./
Hitoshi: (Taking a drag on his cigarette) /...You desire proof?/
(Hitoshi disarms an unsuspecting council member of a
P.118
Kenji: Ah... Ugh!
(The gash spontaneously closes.)
Council member: /...Even if this boy is the Taliya {= god}, there should still be some time until the change is complete./
(Kenji stares at his healed arm in feverish disbelief.)
Council member: /I cannot believe an Earthling was chosen as the Taliya {= god}.../
Elder: /Very well. After implanting the 'spike', complete his education within 48 hours./
Doctor: (Upset) /It took a year for even the child of Arc. I have a fear that it will destroy his personality!/
P.119
Hitoshi: /Elder. The Talshas is in the possession of the Taliya's sister, who was abducted by Juou./
Council member: /Juou? The gold child, you mean?/
Hitoshi: /Please permit me to eliminate Juou and retrieve the Talshas./
Council member: (Looking suspiciously at Hitoshi) /And? What guarantee is there that you won't betray us, as Arc {= your father} did?/
Hitoshi: (Smiling caustically) /If you're that concerned, why don't you go? It is, of course, a matter of whether you have the confidence to face Juou or not./
Council member: (Insulted, grabbing Hitoshi's collar) /You...!!/
Elder: /That's enough!/
P.120
Hitoshi: (deadpan, reaching for a cigarette) /......... Why are you in such a hurry?/
Doctor: (Scowling) /The temple is in a bad way. The anti-establishment.../
Councilmember: (Abruptly) /You needn't ask any more questions./
Councilmember: /And the physician should hold her tongue. All you need do is care for the underlings and insert 'spikes'./
Kenji: !
(The staffs of two guards' weapons streak past
Kenji: ...What's going to happen to me?
Hitoshi: Ordinarily, a 'spike' chip will be buried in your brain. It relays your current position or fact of your death, and additionally causes artificial headaches.
Kenji: ...Traitor.
Hitoshi: (Smiling mirthlessly) Such a dull line.
P.121
Juou: ...Mana, you should hate Sawatari. He's trying to deceive you and he told you lies the whole time.
Mana: You pretended to be 'Satou-san'.
Juou: (Sitting down next to Mana) But I wanted to try going to school, and I wanted to be your friend.
Juou: (Turning his hand into a claw) They said I was created only to kill Valunan Taliyas {= gods}!
(Juou turns to Mana as if expecting sympathy. She
Juou: And yet, I've never met a Taliya {= god} before. All this time I've been empty! Can you believe that?!
Juou: (Musing, with closed eyes) I've thought about the Taliya {= god} a lot the past few hundred years. I've been waiting so long, I got tired of waiting. But...
P.122
Juou: (Lifting Mana up into the air (16?)) Valuna {= the mother world} or E'dyua {= the colony world} or the war don't matter anymore! For the first time since I was born, I've met someone who is my equal!
Juou: (Smiling joyously at Mana) That's right, Mana! I've been anxiously waiting for the Taliya {= lover}, just like the Talshas {= treasure}-- so I can tell! You are the Taliya {= lover}! I've wanted to meet you for so long!
Mana: (Confused) ...It's not me...
Juou: (Not listening) What do you like, Mana? My ship is made of Saitia, so I can change it's appearance at will.
P.123
Mana: I'm not the Taliya! Juou!
Juou: (Taking Mana's hand) Come, your highness! I hear the nights are very cold.
Mana: .........
(Juou pulls a very uncertain looking Mana into a
Juou: (Watching the sunset with Mana) Deserts are always lands of beginning. Where the lion of flame awakes, and where there star prince sleeps...
Mana: ......? The smell of the ocean...
P.124
Juou: You can use any room you like, there's nobody here.
Mana: But, the black people...
Juou: The 'black' isn't a person. It doesn't have a brain.
(Mana starts as part of the wall next starts to change
Juou: It's just a collection of figures, same as a desk or a chair.
Juou: (Gesturing to his head) The only ones with real human minds are Jui and me. That's why I'm made from 'gold' Saitia of the highest purity.
Juou: (Changing into 'Satou-san') I don't have any fixed form, so I take whatever shape is most comfortable. So even 'Satou-san' isn't a lie!
P.125
(Juou takes Mana's hand and pulls her off to some
Juou: This is Jui. In person, he's handsome, with silver hair... My little brother, who should have been repaired in exchange for the Talshas.
Mana: (Shocked) !!
Juou: (With a happy smile) It's alright. I'm not alone anymore. I have you now, Mana.
P.126
Doctor: (In Japanese) You're watching this again?
Hitoshi: /When he fought my father, Juou wasn't wearing black./
Doctor: (Looking sore) /No matter how much you investigate the battle recordings, no gold child other than Juou will appear. And black and silver as well./ [And here I was finally speaking in Japanese...]
Hitoshi: /Why don't they mass produce the gold child, if that is all they can use it for?/
Doctor: /What about the cost? That military state probably values its money./
Hitoshi: /What if it was a accidental variant?/
Hitoshi: /The accidental product, gold Saitia, can't be be made again. It's unlikely that they can replenish the parts of Juou's body that my father disassembled./
Doctor: (Worried) /Hitoshi, you should go chose someone as a guard./
P.127
Doctor: / No, Hitoshi, the fact is.../
Hitoshi: But what about the reality?
Hitoshi: Having lost the trump card they call the Talshas, Valuna {= mother world} has lost the balance of power with E'dyua {= colony world} and is on the verge of collapse. This is probably the outcome my father intended!
Doctor: You have served us well! Why do you attack yourself?!
Hitoshi: (Smiling bitterly) At this point, all that I have done wouldn't change the name on my back.
(In a stark cell elsewhere in the ship, a haggard
Kenji: ...Mana.
P.128
Mana: ...... Sa...
Mana: (Looking ashamed, with a hand over her mouth) !!
(Mana flings a pillow across the room, and, looking
P.129
Mana: !
Mana: (Worried and puzzled) ...... If you fell, you'd die...
Juou: (Smiling) Are you worried about me? You're so kind, Mana.
Mana: The glass...
Juou: Glass is the only thing that can't be made from Saitia. If it's not the real thing, it won't glitter like a star.
P.130
Mana: I...
Juou: (13?, and looking into Mana's eyes) Let's always be together... Always...
Mana: ...If I were here, would you be happy?
Mana: ...alright.
(On the Valuna ship...)
Alien: /Juou's ship, located! Five minutes to arrival./
Alien: /Very well. Where is the child of Arc?/
P.131
Assistant: /It's general anesthetic. He won't wake for twenty hours./
Doctor: /Is twenty hours for a normal person three for a Taliya?/
Doctor: /Let's complete this procedure efficiently. Is the sterilized room ready----/
(Kenji springs up and kicks one of the assistants.)
[Wham]
P.132
Doctor: /Kya!/
(Hitoshi leans against a wall, smoking and watching
Intercom: /The Taliya is presently escaping from the medical block./
Guard: /The hostage is.../
Intercom: /All blocks security units are.../
(Kenji runs, pulling the doctor along behind him. He
Kenji: !
(Hitoshi, brandishing a Valunan scythe, is in the
P.133
(Kenji turns to find a guard closing in behind him,
[Woosh]
(Hitoshi swings, and Kenji flinches. The attack
Kenji: !!
P.134
Doctor: (Astonished and afraid for Hitoshi) /Hitoshi... What about the reparations for your father...?! These past ten years.../
(Elsewhere is the ship, a shutter door slams down
Doctor: /Where is the value in throwing them away?!/
Guard: (Kicking at the door) /The Elder's granddaughter, of all people--/
Guard: /The Taliya {= god} is also with them./
Guard: /So father and son both are traitors!/
Kenji: (Looking at Hitoshi wearily) ...Why did you save me?
[Click]
Hitoshi: (Busily tapping at console) You couldn't make it through this ship's... !!
(Hitoshi is struck with a _massive_ headache.)
P.135
Kenji: Hitoshi?!
Hitoshi: Don't touch me!
Doctor: (With syringe in hand) It's only a pain killer. Shut up and take it!!
(She injects Hitoshi, and takes his place at the
Doctor: You're getting this boy out of here, right? Give me 2 minutes to clear the password.
Doctor: (Tossing a knife to Hitoshi's feet) Once the hatch is open, stab me without hitting any vitals. I don't want it known that I aided you.
Doctor: /...I would've preferred to wait a half day, at least./
[Click click click click]
Hitoshi: (Slightly surprised) What...?
P.136
Juou: You'll... come with me?!
Mana: If I were really the Taliya.
Mana: But I don't have... anything...
Juou: (Hugging her tight) Mana!
(Mana thinks of when Hitoshi hugged her, and her eyes
Juou: Mana?
Mana: ...It's not me.
Mana: Sawatari-san was going to go away and leave the Talshas with me, and because of my selfishness, I stopped him. And still...
Mana: (About to cry, covering her mouth with her hands) I've done something terrible. I didn't trust him, and I hurt him... It wouldn't chose someone as... empty as me!
P.137
Mana: I have to apologize... Juou, I can't go with you.
Juou: Why? You said 'alright'. Are you lying?
Mana: I'm not the Taliya! The Taliya is--
Kenji: ...It's not me!
Hitoshi: (Still holding his head) Then what about your injuries? How do you explain that?
Kenji: What if Mana was the Taliya and she wished for my recovery?
(The doctor is still tapping away.)
[Click click click click]
Juou: (13?, disbelieving) But you healed Kenji, didn't you?
Mana: Me...? I don't know anything about that?!
Hitoshi: The Talshas loves a _single_ life.
P.138
Juou: You _are_ the Taliya {= lover}! I've been waiting so long. I know I didn't make a mistake!
Mana: (Looking pained) But it's not me!
Juou: Mana...
(Kenji jumps as cracks form in the door.)
Kenji: !!
Hitoshi: It's coolant. They'll probably break through the wall. ...Kenji.
Hitoshi: (With his hand over his eyes) You get out of here, I'll stay behind.
[Click click click click]
[Click]
P.139
Juou: (8? With his jacket re-forming) ...You'd come with me if you were the Taliya, wouldn't you?
P.140
Mana: Juou--
Juou: I'll prove it to you.
Juou: (Smiling) The Taliya won't die.
Hitoshi: If you're the Taliya, you can jump!!
Kenji: (Crouching next to the opening) Th... That's insane!!
Hitoshi: She's somewhere in this desert. You know where, don't you?!
(Hitoshi pulls out a shining object and presses it
[Squeeze]
P.141
(Juou's hands cradle Mana's face as she looks up at
Mana: Ju...
(The door behind Hitoshi and Kenji shatters. Hitoshi
(Juou pushes Mana out from the ledge.)
P.142
Kenji: Wa... aaAH!
(As Mana's footing begins to fail her, Juou (13?)
P.143
Mana: *Kenji...*
[Roar]
(The desert is in sight below Kenji when he begins
Kenji: (Disbelieving) ...I was flying...
P.144
P.145
P.146
(Juou looks at Mana's body as if he would cry.)
Kenji: (Enraged) JUOU!!
P.147
[Slash]
Juou: .........!!
(It also cleanly slices through Juou's torso and arm.)
P.148
Juou: Ugh...
(He manages to avoid another attack from Kenji still
Juou: (Mirthless) Hah...haha, hahaha! I think I understand the E'dyuans impatience to act while there isn't a Taliya.
P.149
Kenji: Cut the babble... Get up!
(The black Saitia forms around Juou, and he rises from
Juou: (Smiling sadly) ...It would've been better if it was Mana. Even if she killed me, it would've been better if it was her.
Kenji: _I'm_ going to kill you.
(Juou now has great black wings. He smiles with sad
Juou: I don't want to if it's you.
P.150
E'dyuan: /It's a Taliya response!/
Leader: /The Valunans still shouldn't have their hands on the Talshas. There's no way that a Taliya has.../
E'dyuan: /No response on a second communique to Juou's ship!/
(A globe of what appears to Saitia appears on the
Leader: /What is it?/
Figure: /The silver child has awakened./
Leader: /......... Send him down. We can't allow the Taliya to fall into the hands of the Valunans./
(Hitoshi is falling, in the grip of another headache.)
Hitoshi: Gah...!
P.151
Elder: /The situation is not the same as it was nine years ago. Consider yourselves lucky to be alive./
(The screen dissolves into static.)
Council Member: /! Elder?/
Elder: (With no visual) /...Worry not. None can challenge the temple once it possesses a Taliya./
(Hitoshi is falling, clutching his head.)
Elder: /I give you a final chance, child of Arc. Return to us with both the Talshas and the Taliya. Wherever you run, our voices will reach your brain. Do not forget that./
P.152
[Zzt-zzt]
(He remembers Mana shrinking back from him, terrified,
P.153
Hitoshi: He must have a taste for the flashy... ! Kenji... and--
Hitoshi: Mana-cha...
(Hitoshi runs to Mana, and stops just short of the
Hitoshi: (Hands on her shoulders, _very_ afraid) Mana-chan!! Mana...
P.154
(At the apartment in Fukushima, Mana and Kenji's
Mother: !!
(The twins' mother opens the door as fast as she can.
Father: I got a call from Kenji. I don't mind. Hurry and come home... Fumiko?
Mother: ...... Asayuki-sa...
Mother: (Falling to her knees) The children still haven't come home... I... I...!
P.155
Hitoshi: I...... What have I been...
Kenji: Uwaaa!!
(Above, another of Kenji's force attacks cuts a deep
Juou: This is... the power of the Taliya.
Kenji: How dare you hurt Mana!!
(At the apartment, Asayuki offers his sobbing wife a
Mother: If something's happened to the _both_ of them, what am I to do...?!
Mana: *_Both_?*
(An apparition of Mana appears behind them, and her
Mother: ?!
(...but turns to see nothing out of the ordinary.)
Mother: Just now...?
P.156
Mana: ...... ...Sa...
P.157
Mana: Sawatari-san, you're hurting me.
Mana: Say...
Mana: *Say! Mother, I understand now.*
(Mana sees the ocean in her mind's eye, and herself
Mana: *Do you understand? Ah... That's good. That's good.*
Mana: ...I thought that even if something happened to me, no one would be sad.
Hitoshi: That's not true.
Mana: ...But that's what I thought...
P.158
Mana: ! Are you going to kill Juou?!
Mana: (Running after Hitoshi) Stop... don't! Sawatari-san. Sawatari-san! DON'T!!
(Hitoshi is thrown off balance by a force blast that
P.159
Kenji: Mana...?
Hitoshi: (Looking at Mana, unsure) ......... There are two Taliyas...?
(Mana can hardly fathom what she has just done.)
Kenji: Mana!!
[Squeeze]
(Kenji gives Mana another _big_ hug.)
P.160
Hitoshi: That's it...!
Juou: (Looking glad) The Talshas loves a single life. You promised, Mana. Let's go together.
(Kenji steps in front of Mana, and Hitoshi charges his
Kenji: I won't let you have her!!
Mana: (Tugging on Hitoshi's sleeve) Don't...
Mana: Juou, I can't go with you.
Juou: (Angry) Are you lying?!
P.161
(Juou doesn't know what to say. Kenji and Hitoshi are
Kenji: Mana...
Hitoshi: Mana-chan?
(A beam of light comes down from the sky, and within
P.162
Jui: /...Juou./
Juou: (Astonished and happy) _Jui_?!
(Mana seems to be about to follow Juou over to where
Mana: Juou!
Hitoshi: Wait. For Jui {Kanji: the successor} to come to Juou during a mission is...
(Still wearing the same gentle smile, Jui greets his
Jui: /"Death of Juou."/
P.163
(Juou won't take _that_ sitting down, and draws up
Mana: Make them stop!!
Hitoshi: (Leaning towards her, confused) What did Juou do to you? Do you know?
Mana: (Desperate) But... That's his little brother! They're siblings!!
(At this, Kenji moves into action.)
Hitoshi: Kenji?!
Mana: (Tugging at Hitoshi's coat) Please...!
(A shadow of the brothers locked in combat, with one
P.164
Juou: !!
Juou: (Raking several hands through Jui's torso) His mind is gone! Jui's mind isn't here!
P.165
(There is a huge silver claw ready to fall into the
[Whoosh]
(Kenji lets loose a wave of force...)
P.166
Hitoshi: ...How is your composition system?
Juou: (Grimacing, only torso and above) ...I'm alive.
P.167
Juou: (Insulted?) I can still fight!
Hitoshi: With the 'gold' at sixty percent?
Juou: (Flinching) !
[Squeeze]
(Mana takes hold of Juou's arm and pulls him away.
[Zzt]
P.168
Juou: Mana? Do you think even I can live here?
Mana: (Watching Juou anxiously) ...You can. After all, that's something I can do. I know you can! So...
P.169
Mana: (Worried, but unsure why) ...Juou?
Jui: /"Death of the Taliya."/
(Jui swings a large claw at Kenji, who falls back
Hitoshi: Kenji!
Kenji: The Taliya won't die, right...?
P.170
Hitoshi: Saitia is a synthetic substance similar to seawater. Electricity can disassemble it.
Kenji: What?! How am I supposed to...
(With no further explanation, Hitoshi charges his hand,
Kenji: Ow!
Kenji: !!
(Kenji now carries a charge as good (or better) than
(Jui attacks Hitoshi again, still wearing an utterly
P.171
P.172
P.173
Mana: (Horrified) Juou!!
(Hitoshi dissolves the hand holding Juou's core. Juou
P.174
Hitoshi: Is this it?!
[Zzt]
(Jui looks down fearful and surprised, and nails
Kenji: (Through clenched teeth) Hitoshi! You...
(Now Kenji steps up, with electricity 10 times as
P.175
Jui: /"Death of Juou."/
P.176
(The claws crack Juou's core.)
Juou: (With a sinking heart) Mana...
Mana: NOO!
(Tremendous lightening bolt strikes Jui.)
Mana: (Kneeling over the melting Juou) Juou!
Mana: (To Hitoshi) Should I take him to the ship? Will he heal that way?
Hitoshi: Mana-chan.
P.177
Hitoshi: !!
(The sky fills with light, and afterward, the outlines
Hitoshi: ...Seems my luck has run out.
Hitoshi: Kenji. If I die...
Kenji: Shut up, Hitoshi!
P.178
Intercom: /Silver child, destroyed./
Leader: /Impossible... Retrieve him, even if it's only data! He is our only means of opposing Valuna!/
Leader: /What's wrong, hurry!/
(And in the council room of the Valunan ship, the
Elder: /So the Talshas and Taliya still are not returned.../
Doctor: /_Grandfather_./
Doctor: /The ones that started the war are not even in this world any longer. Who do we hate that causes us to continue doing these things?/
(On the home world (I assume,) a number of armed
P.179
(On the E'dyuan ship, the leader is cornered by a
Doctor: /A new age is coming./
(The Elder's throne is vacant and stained with blood.)
P.180
Doctor: (Smiling softly) Hitoshi, the war is over.
E'dyuan: A peace agreement has been extended between Valuna and E'dyua. The only ones who wanted war were the military and the temple.
Doctor: Having lost the Talshas, we were finally able to create a new order with no need of gods. Just as your father wished.
P.181
Hitoshi: ...But what about Juou?
E'dyuan: (Looking coolly down at Juou) For 600 years he served us well. His life has reached it's end.
Mana: (Upset) Don't talk about him like that!
Juou: ...It's alright.
(Kenji takes Juou's hand and drops the Talshas (back
Kenji: Juou, you can have this. So...
Juou: (Holding the Talshas to the light) ...So pretty. It looks like a star.
Juou: Even if I fade away, and only my mind is left, don't look away. I'll be hidden in the sand.
Juou: Mana, I'll become one of those stars.
P.182
Juou: (Becoming transparent) And I'll make your wishes come true.
Mana: Ah...!
(Mana looks down in horror as Juou seeps through her arms.
Juou: (With a glad smile) When you look to the night sky, smile to me...
P.183
Mana: Ju... No, Juou!
(The last of the gold Saitia drips onto the sand, and
Mana: ......... Where is his mind...?
E'dyuan: Can the human mind endure six hundred years of life? Juou's mind died in its eleventh year. What just disappeared was a copy of Juou's mind.
P.184
Mana: We had always searched, Juou and and I... for someone who would listen to us... That was all we wanted!
Mana: I don't need this! I don't need any of it!
(A tear falls on the Talshas. It cracks and shatters.)
P.185
Mana: Give him back...
(Mana cries in Kenji's arms.)
P.186
Father: What is it, you two?
Mother: They said they were going to Kamakura.
Father: When are you coming back?
[Mother: Look, it's time.]
Kenji: (Grinning) When summer break is over.
P.187
Father: (Blushing) Idiot!
Mana: .........
Mana: (Nervously) ......... I'll see you later. {lit. I will go and return.}
Mother: Come back safely. Kenji, take care of Manami.
Kenji: Yeah!
(Mana blushes.)
P.188
Kenji: The one with glasses is Ootani, the short one is Takahashi. That's Kawai. ...Why can't match the names and faces of people in our class?
Mana: ...Mm-hm. I can. {??}
Kenji: Look, Mana! Out of the house and in the country!
(They arrive at a cluster of traditional buildings
[Ringgg]
Hitoshi's mother: Sawatari residence. Ah, Professor Masaki.
P.189
Hitoshi's mother: I think he went to the back yard. I'm sorry.
Kenji: Phone call, phone call...
(The twins find Hitoshi standing amid a field of
Kenji: Hey, Hitoshi!
Boy: I _told_ you to keep me a secret until I get big!
Hitoshi: After five years, I'm going to let them know. Alright?
Boy: No!
Hitoshi: Well, even if you refuse...
Kenji: Wha---?!!
P.190
Boy: Stop it!!
(Kenji puts his hands up in a well-meaning gesture as
Hitoshi: When they _reconstructed_ his memories and genetic data that was left on the spacecrafts, he became a human boy.
(It is a little boy with blond hair, clutching at
P.191
Mana: Juou!
Desert of Stars - END
P.193
Excitement, affection, shock, relief... I love to have my heart shaken by these feelings, whether by a comic, or a novel, or a drama, or a movie.
Attempting to nock at the hearts of others in this way, I started trying to make a story. In the beginning I thought I would write a children's story, but while I was carrying on with, Juou isn't beautiful enough...... or, then I should put in a spaceship here...... at some point, I realized that Talshas Night (novel version original title) was a shoujo manga rather than a children's story. In a rather good mood, I saw in 'The Sneaker Special Issue' I had bought wanting to read the 'Shoujo Manga of Pursuit' feature that they were accepting submissions for novels, and resolutely sent out my work. That, to my good fortune, remains in the final screening for the 'Sneaker Prize', and somehow became a comic which was serialized in 'Fantasy DX'. And to me, finally receiving it in a compiled book a wonderful as this truly feels like my birthday and Christmas and New Years and Valentines Day all came at once.
Funato Akari-san, with her amazingly beautiful art, drew me Mana just as I imagined her. Thank you very, very much. Again, to all those who assisted in making this story into a comic, you have my heartfelt gratitude. Thank you very, very much.
Yuuya Aoi
Back Cover:
The Talshas- a yellow gem which has the meaning 'stone of wind and gods' in the language of a foreign world. The twins Mana and Kenji come to be targeted by envoys from two planets concerning the power that was hidden in this stone...?! An interstellar fantasy describing a single 'meeting', awakened amidst endless years.
(Hitoshi hugs Mana. Elsewhere, the pigtailed figureB
mansion.)
Boy: /...I've lost one of my pawns./
inhuman figure using an unknown language.)
Boy: /Would you keep the Valunans from having enough time to interfere with Earth instead? Those incompetent millitary types should just drop dead./
melting under the force of a dark-haired man's attack.)
Figure: /Who was it that ran back here, missing most of your bodies?/
Figure: /Do not give up the Talshas to the Valunans./ {The kanji for the reading of Talshas here is treasure. Likewise, Valuna = mother world.}
appears pouty and put-out at the re-iteration of his
orders.)
(At the Kizaki's apartment, Kenji eats dinner with
thier mother.)
(Mana and Hitoshi are walking along the beach under
the stars.)
Hitoshi: When you go to the sea, you probably get a feeling of being filled.
falls asleep, leaning against him.)
Hitoshi: (to Kenji) ...You always know.
(Kenji walks home through the darkened city with
Hitoshi, who carries the still sleeping Mana on his
back.)
leans in, concerned, and his hand brushes against
Hitoshi's.)
(At the contact, Kenji imagines a hand forcing his
head to the floor, and a foot holding it there,
before a robed, enthroned figure.)
wakes up.)
(At the apartment, Mana breezes past her mother again.)
where Kenji looks in dismay at Mana, asleep and
content in Hitoshi's room. Hitoshi is apologetic.)
(At school...)
to her mother. She is wide awake)
Kawai: Hey, Kenji!
the rainy afternoon, sees Mana obliviously walking
toward the crude upperclassmen.)
hand drops onto Mana's shoulder.)
(It's Hitoshi, sporting umbrella and cigarette. He
looks at the boy that Kenji punched earlier with
little interest. The older boy, however, looks
intimidated.)
glass dish containing the marble, then notices Kenji
crouching near the door.)
(Hitoshi sits against the other side of the door
with his head in one hand.)
return the umbrella.)
(At school, Mana eats lunch with Satou-san.)
at the glass shop.)
(Hitoshi leaves the kitchen and finds the twins fast
asleep. Mana has Kenji's jacket over her shoulders.)
the dark streets.)
Hitoshi: ...Mm-hm.
folded paper.)
(Their mother appears, and Kenji jumps and quickly
hides the paper.)
(Kenji goes to a phone booth and imagines how the call
he's about to make will go.)
they walk to her house.)
when she suddenly stiffens.)
(There is a black man right behind the oblivious
Satou-san.)
happening. The marble in the dish gleams behind
Hitoshi.)
Satou-san from it.)
Kenji: (Brandishing a bottle) Get out of here, Mana! Don't get Satou involved in this too!!
grabs Satou-san's hand and runs...)
Mana: ......... ...Sawatari-san...
upperclassmen boys.)
(Kenji's bottle is absorbed by the black man,
who's body becomes tendrils which surround Kenji.)
(...And Kenji regains consciousness, draped over
Hitoshi's arm.)
isolated looking wooded area. As the ringleader,
still sporting a bandage thanks to Kenji, approaches,
Satou-san clings to Mana's shoulder in fear. Mana's
eyes are dark and angry.)
steps between them.)
Mana: (Smiling grimly) You lost to the likes of Kenji.
kick, but looks up at the boys defiantly.)
Something in her eyes begins to change...)
(Satou-san's braids stream from her head as sharp as
blades, and dismember one hand from each of the boys.)
her hair color changes from dark to light.)
[Upperclassman: Gyaaaa!]
where Satou-san had been.)
Kenji: I told you, it's not here!!
[Roar]
wave of black springs up in Mana's path.)
and confident form, carrying him high above the
scene. Mana is suddenly born up on a swell of the
stuff, and Kenji looks up at her from several feet
below.)
in a black coat.)
Kenji: What does he mean, bound...? Hitoshi?
the dyed black men, who's distorted arms wrap around
him.)
[Glop] [Zz-zz-zz-zz]
Kenji's amazed eyes his hand begins to glow with
electricity. Hitoshi slams it into the oncoming wall
of black men, and forces it back with a great wave
of electric current.)
Juou: (Pensive) Even though he is the same as me, except that we're from different worlds?
Mana: ...Sawatari-san. That was all a lie, wasn't it...? Wasn't it?
(Mana shrinks away from the edge, afraid and hurt.
Hitoshi is stricken; Juou looks _very_ smug.)
(The black mass grows distant, and vanishes into the
sky.)
written on his face plain as day. Hitoshi looks in
the same general direction, expressionless.)
Hitoshi: (With his usual smile) You mean yourself, don't you?
expression empty of all but weariness. Kenji falls
backwards, unconscious.)
head.)
(10 years ago. Hitoshi is 14. IOW, flashback.)
a rings of lights in the sky, suggesting the form of
a spacecraft. He remembers what his father had told
him.)
his father's words facing a group of not quite human
beings, who regard him with unfriendly sidelong
glances. In the midst of them is a wizened figure who
sits on a throne.)
holds him there.)
(The enthroned elder places a gnarled hand on an orb
of the throne, and pain tears through Hitoshi's head
in response.)
Hitoshi using a cross-section image of the human head.
There is a small black object in the model's gray
matter.)
blood, and there is what appears to be a weapon in
his grasp.)
flashes in his blank eyes. The sound of sparks can be
heard.)
(Hitoshi sits on a stool-like object in an empty cell
staring blankly. Two armed figures enter the cell.)
again.)
splatters. All that remains of the first is a slumped
body and a violent dark stain on the white wall.)
(Carnage - bloodstains on the walls, impaled bodies
on the floor. All Hitoshi's work?)
over, clutching his head.)
(Mana is laying on a bed of pillows, and awakes to
the sound of Juou (looking about 12) arguing with
the projection of the inhuman figure from before.)
that had created the projection, as it crumbles and
leaks fluids.)
face Mana. By the time the motion is complete, he
appears about 6 years older, and wears a black jacket
and a dark expression.)
(Mana runs away down a hallway with elaborately
molded vaulting.)
She halts near some open columns that look outside,
and sees sand stretching as far as the eyes can see.)
(In a spacecraft in Earth's orbit, Hitoshi consults
an alien techie.)
him before the entrance to the council room. She
speaks to him in Japanese.)
(To one side of the council room, Kenji kicks at the
spiral cage in which he is contained. In the center
is an elaborately decorated screen displaying the
enthroned elder, who appears to be a different
person than either one from Hitoshi's memories.)
large knife, pulls Kenji from the cage, and sinks
the blade in Kenji's forearm in one easy motion.)
(Hitoshi holds Kenji's bleeding arm aloft with a
businesslike expression.)
Elder: (Immovable) /I do not care. All the people want is a 'god'./
Elder: /Right now the only one who carries the blood of the Taliya {= god}, and the only one that possesses the electrolysis technique is the child of Arc. I grant you permission. Be certain to return with it./ {It = Talshas.}
Kenji's face. His arms are bound behind him.)
(Mana is sitting alone in the desert, when Juou
(about 13?) approaches.)
flinches.)
Juou: At last the Talshas {= treasure} has turned green! It has fallen in love with a single life on this world so far removed from Valuna {= it's origin}!
Juou: An ivory tower? A moon ship? Since it's the desert, I guess it should be a castle.
close (and full size) replica of St. Basil's
Cathedral.)
(Mana looks down a corridor lined with doors as Juou
leads her through the castle.)
into the familiar form of the black men.)
Juou: (Enthusiatically) Oh, yes! Mana, do you want to see what Jui looks like? Do you?
new place. Mana looks at him, and imagines herself
with Hitoshi on the beach, with her looking into his
face and gesturing to the water. They arrive at a
library.)
(On the Valuna ship, the female doctor finds Hitoshi
studying a recording of his father's battle with Juou
and Jui.)
Hitoshi: /Who would help the son of the traitor?/
Kenji recalls his last sight of Mana - with Juou's arm
about her neck.)
(Mana is asleep in a decadent bed in an equally
decadent darkened room. She stirs and rubs her eyes.)
like she's about to cry, leaves the room and begins
wandering the halls of Juou's ship.)
(Juou, looking 4 or 5, sits on the edge of part of
the roof. As Mana approaches, she brushes a wine
glass sitting near the edge, and it falls (a long
way) to the sand below.)
Juou: (8? Taking Mana's hands) Mana? Stay with me. Let's be together.
(The female doctor is about to begin the procedure
to insert the chip in Kenji's brain. He lays
unconscious on a table.)
(Kenji grabs a surgical implement and holds it to the
doctor's neck, grim and angry.)
as the guards rush past.)
pulls up suddenly, looking startled.)
corridor ahead of them.)
Guard: /There he is! Over here!/
and by then, Hitoshi is right in front of him.)
connects against the approaching guard, and from
Hitoshi's unmoved expression, this is exactly what he
intended.)
(Kenji and the doctor turn toward the body in
surprise. Hitoshi is already busy using his
electricity to overload some wiring behind a wall
panel.)
right in front of the bulk of the approaching guards.)
Hitoshi: (Crouching in front of the console) ...AH!
console.)
(In the desert...)
widen.)
{The next six pages jump around a lot, and I didn't
want to break up the flow (which is important here) to
tell you who is where. It should be pretty easy to
figure it out, since everyone's been in the same places
for the last 20 pages.}
(Juou changes to a 5-6 year old form, and what had
been his black Saitia jacket swirls around him as
he throws a temper tantrum.)
(Next to the console, a hatch through which the Earth
can be seen opens. Hitoshi takes up the knife and
drives it into the doctor's torso with out hesitation
or emotion. At the other side of the chamber, the
door begins to give way.)
(Mana stands between Juou, now about 18, and the edge
of the roof. He is holding her hands again.)
into Kenji's hand.)
Kenji: ......... The Talshas?!
his uncertainly.)
kicks Kenji out of the hatch.)
(Kenji falls headlong toward the Earth far below.)
turns his jacket into a fencing foil, smiling
unconcernedly.)
(Mana stares in shock as the foil jab shatters the
uniform name card right above her heart, drawing a
dangerous amount of blood. Her hair streams past
her face as she begins her descent.)
to slow down in the grip of some kind of force which
sets him down, upright, on the sand.)
(Kenji notices Mana's figure falling from Juou's ship.
Her body is caught by the same force that slowed
Kenji's fall, and comes to rest gently on the sand.
Her eyes are blank and glassy.)
(Kenji's eyes grow wide with shock as he puts an ear
to Mana's chest. He picks her up, blood streaming
from the stab wound, and slides her eyelids closed.
Juou looks on, stunned, as Kenji hugs her limp body.)
Kenji: (Standing beside Mana, with his jacket off) I won't forgive this... I'll tear you apart. You will pay for this by your death...
(Kenji releases a wave of force, which cleanly slices
through a corner of Juou's ship.)
(Juou's severed arm and leg become a puddle on the
sand as the bulk of his body struggles to re-form.
He grimaces, bearing fangs and claws on his
remaining arm.)
lacking an arm and pools on the ground near Kenji.)
Juou: (Sliding towards a pool of black Saitia) The Taliya is certainly strong...
the sand.)
eyes.)
(On an E'dyuan spacecraft, an alien who bares a strong
resemblance to the one that gave orders to Juou
oversees a number of officers.)
leader's console.)
(On the Valunan ship, the council is losing reception
with the Elder.)
(In a landing capsule, Hitoshi tests his powers.)
and runs a hand through his hair with a tired and
uncertain expression. The capsule comes to rest on the
sand, and he steps out.)
(The wind howls as Hitoshi looks up at Juou's
'castle'. There are two hazes of light above it -
Kenji and Juou locked in an aerial battle.)
pool of blood.)
[Tick tick tick tick tick tick]
mother sits, looking very distraught, as the clock
ticks very prominently. She jumps up at the sight of a
figure on the other side of the front door.)
On the other side is Kizaki Asayuki, startled enough
that his cigarette falls from his mouth.)
(Tear well up in Hitoshi's eyes as he hugs Mana's
body.)
gash in Juou's face.)
handkerchief.)
mother reacts...)
(Mana's bloody body rises from Hitoshi's arms in a
corona of light, and the hole in her uniform, (and
chest, assumably,) close. Hitoshi looks down at her
hopefully, and her eyes open slowly.)
(Mana looks slightly bashful as Hitoshi gives her a
_big_ hug.)
and Kenji washed up on the shore as children. Their
mother holds them tight, with tears streaming down
her face.)
(Hitoshi and Mana turn to a burst of light in the sky
as Juou deals a glancing blow to Kenji. Hitoshi rises
from his place next to Mana, his expression growing
cold.)
sends sand high into the air.)
(Juou and Kenji both look down.)
Kenji: (Holding Mana with tears welling in his eyes) What a relief-- I... thought I'd lost half of myself...
arm with electricity.)
Mana: (With a welcoming smile (!!)) So... Come here. Be with me.
both puzzled by the fact that _Mana_ is _smiling_ to
_Juou_.)
it is a dark figure.)
(The figure looks to Juou with a boyish face and
gentle smile.)
Jui stands, but Hitoshi puts a hand on her shoulder.)
brother with two large claws that shred one of his
hands and threaten to do the same to his head. Juou
hasn't reached the point of comprehension yet.)
Jui: (Looking at Mana) /"Death of the Taliya."/
a hand become a collection of huge blades while
fighting Jui's hand from his face. Juou is in
shock.)
pierced by several blades through head and chest is
cast on the sand.)
(Juou's face is dark with rage as he pushes toward
Jui, who stares at him coolly. Tendrils of displaced
silver Saitia twist around Juou's black blades. Juou's
brows contract suddenly with shock.)
Kenji: (In warning) Juou!
back of Juou's head. Jui watches emotionlessly as 3
of his claws drive through Juou's head and chest.)
[Rip]
(...Which neatly the divides the entangled brothers in
two halves. Jui starts re-forming himself instantly,
while Juou falls head (such as it is) first to the
sand and struggles to right himself.)
Hitoshi: (Standing in front of Mana and Juou) Mana-chan, take him to the ship. We don't need a burden.
Meanwhile, Jui is re-formed, and swings his arms out
like thorny whips. Hitoshi is at the ready.)
(The boys fend off Jui's attacks as Mana drags the
half resolved Juou across the sand. By the time she
reaches the foot of the ship, Juou has switched to a
5-6 year old form.)
(Juou, back in his black jacket and roughly 17 year
old fighting form, only smiles a sad, loving smile at
her.)
holding his chest. The sand is stained dark where he
falls.)
(Jui strikes at Hitoshi, but he dissolves the claw with
electricity. He goes and helps Kenji up.)
which is holding Kenji's shoulder.)
Hitoshi's.)
neutral expression. Hitoshi dodges Jui's claws and
reaches toward Jui's head with a charged hand, which
Jui throws himself backward to avoid.)
(Hitoshi dodges one swing only to find himself
facing another, when something moves behind Jui. Dark
claws sink into Jui's head and shoulder.)
(Juou, wearing a determined expression, rakes large
claws through Jui's body, slicing him into pieces.
Jui finally shows emotion - rage. Fanged and
dark-eyed with rage, Jui buries a near severed arm
deep into Juou's back.)
(A cold-faced Jui drags a clawed hand through Juou's
head, and drags a crescent shaped object out on the
other side. Juou's face goes blank, and he starts to
disolve.)
falls forward, with the required unit assumably
reabsorbed.)
(Hitoshi locates a similar object in Jui by
disassembling part of his back.)
Hitoshi in the head with his elbow.)
potent as Hitoshi's. Jui wheels around looking
overwhelmed...)
(...And Juou holds him from behind as Kenji applies
the current. Jui's Saitia body writhes, and he
thrashes about with a feral expression. Juou barely
manages to avoid having his head pierced as Jui throws
a wickedly clawed hand in his direction, but leaves
his shoulder open in the process. The bladelike claws
pierce his chest, and find his core again.)
Hitoshi: He lost forty percent of his body when he fought my father. Until now he only managed to support himself with 'black', but there is nothing that can replace 'gold'. If his system weakens, there's nothing...
of Valunan and E'dyuan ships can be seen in the sky
above.)
(Elsewhere in space, in the E'dyuan leader's ship...)
female doctor (looking quite healthy) addresses the
Elder's blank screen.)
figures approach the Elder.)
Elder: /What are you doing here... Where are the guards?!/
Doctor: (Looking away sadly) /The temple's achievements are great. It is a wonderful thing to have united a world. But we have grown tired of domination and fear./
number of his cohorts, who have blasters trained on
him.)
(The doctor and an E'dyuan female (likely the recently
deceased leader's descendant) appear side by side in
the desert.)
Doctor: And your 'spike' can be removed!
in marble form) into it.)
Juou: I'll become one of the five hundred million bells. {The nature or origin of this expression is lost on me.}
She catches his outstretched hand.)
(Juou's hand dissolves in Mana's grasp, and she tries
to gather up his head as it seeps into the sand.)
all that remains is the Talshas.)
(Tears fall from Mana's lowered face.)
Mana: (Tearful, shouting) Give Juou back!!
(The sun is high, and Mana's school uniform is drying
on a clothesline. The twins' father comes up with a
melon in tow, and finds Mana and Kenji by the front
door.)
Kenji: There'll a room free, and you're coming and going all the time. It's out of your way, so what if you lived here, dad? I'd kinda like to have a little brother.
(On the train ride, Kenji studies a class photo.)
next to a sloping mountain. As the approach the
entrance, the phone rings inside.)
Hitoshi's mother: Hitoshi? It's the university...
sunflowers, looking down at someone below the tops
of the flowers.)
Kenji: [Bwahahahaha!] What's this little squirt?!!
Hitoshi looks warmly at the child.)
Hitoshi's shirt.)
(Mana smiles sweetly to him.)
From the Original Creator