Da Capo II SS – 03

Summary:

With the Christmas Party event drawing closer every day, Yoshiyuki is practicing for the puppet show both at school and at home. On this particular day during lunchtime, Otome suggests that they practice later in her room. When she gets called away, Yoshiyuki magically produces a manjuu for her to eat instead. That night, he heads over to the Asakura house and recalls how he had first met Yume there many years ago. At the time, she had insisted that he say >taidaima instead of ojamashimasu when he entered the house, and realizing now that he had used the latter again just moments earlier, Yoshiyuki corrects himself, causing Yume to blush. The elderly Junichi joins them and Otome for dinner, and while they’re eating, they hear a news report on a fire. Otome is once again very concerned, but the others draw her attention back to the meal.

At practice that night, Yoshiyuki observes how well Otome knows the lines and suggests that she could perform, but Otome turns down the idea because she’s too embarrassed. She’s fine with just acting in front of him. He then notices a photo album sitting on her floor, and the two spend some time reminiscing with their childhood photographs. This is interrupted by the noise of a siren outside, and after it passes, Otome asks Yoshiyuki if he remembers the promise with her. She seems disappointed that he’s forgotten about it, but she pretends that she doesn’t mind and doesn’t tell him what the promise was about. The sound of even louder sirens then pierces through the night, and Otome once again gets worried. The following day at school, Koko is feeling sick, so Yoshiyuki gets a break from practice and goes to the rooftop where he falls asleep. Dreaming of his past with Otome, Yoshiyuki recalls how she had been lonely and distant when they were young. Back then, he had talked to Junichi about making Otome smile, so Junichi had taught him how to make sweets with his magic.

Armed with this ability, Yoshiyuki had again tried to get Otome to play with him, but she just wanted to be left alone because she felt that she was different from everyone else and that no one understood her feelings. It was at this point that Yoshiyuki had magically created something sweet for her, and Otome had accepted it and smiled while eating it. She had even magically created him a wagashi in return and had called herself a mage of justice. Otome had wanted to keep their abilities a secret between the two of them and had suggested that sharing such a secret would allow them to become one in body and soul. She explained that this meant helping each other in times of trouble, and the two had pinky-swore on it. Having finally recalled the promise now all these years later, Yoshiyuki invites Otome out that afternoon to that same spot overlooking the ocean so that he can tell her that he remembered. She’s very happy to hear this, but their moment is cut short by the sound of sirens again. Otome finds it strange that all these accidents and fires have been mysteriously happening, and she feels that it’s her duty to resolve this. Because of the promise, Yoshiyuki vows to help her.

Wait, Junichi is still alive? I thought he was dead by now (mainly because we made it through the first season w/o him). Does that mean that Nemu is still around somewhere too? And how come he looks so old yet Sakura still looks like a kid?

All that stuff takes a backseat to the focus on Otome this week though. Given that I’m still not really getting love relationship vibes from between her and Yoshiyuki after this episode (they’re got a close relationship, but not in a really romantic way), I wonder if it’s safe to assume that Otome will be the one whose problems he has to solve while Yume is the romantic interest. That might be too much of a true tears type generalization though – heck, after all the Koko stuff, I’m not even sure Yoshiyuki is fit to pursue any type of romantic relationship. But the fact that the episode makes me wonder about this is a sign that the story is still headed in a good direction. I’m just waiting now to see a little more development on Yume’s side of things.