Here's your bed, your bathtub, and your light.
That should be everything you wanted.
Is there anything you're missing?
What... is that...?
Inugami and two others who said they were your friends.
It looked as though they were here to come get you,
but I can't very well let you go outside.
So I froze them and brought them in.
Akira?
Why... would you...?
Do you not feel well? I'll go see if there's any mint growing in the woods.
Akira, Yui's life signs have gone away.
Is it all right if I speak at normal volume?
They're dead...
They're all... dead...
After I finally managed to meet up with him, why would Yui-niisan...?
This can't be happening!
Correct. Everyone is still alive.
Huh?
They're alive? Ah!
That's right! Kabane-kun doesn't die!
Oh, I'm such a dummy!
"Episode 11: Memories"
Oh, I'm such a dummy!
"Episode 11: Memories"
Huh? But what about Inugami-san and Shiki?
"Episode 11: Memories"
I do not know how it was done,
but they have been preserved with their body temperatures intact.
So that's it! It's probably one of Inugami-san's transformations.
I'm not sure what's going on,
but I wonder if Shiki is still alive because of it, too. They're all amazing!
But they're going to die at some point if they remain frozen, right?
Nii-san! Is there any way to melt this ice quickly?!
Yes there is.
Several years after we promised we'd live together...
...I became the snowy village's chief.
Why...
...was I chosen to be chief, instead of Akira?
I can pretty well guess what they were thinking.
You're late getting back. Were your chiefly duties hard to carry out?
What were they? I'd like to help out, too.
Both of us working together would be quicker.
It'd be too much for you, Akira.
You'd have to read lots of documents, and use your head.
Not your strong suit, right?
Well, I...
Can you tell me I'm wrong?
No.
Okay then, Brother...
...you can have this.
You know what? I found a tree today that had blossoms on it.
Isn't that unusual? They say it's called a sasanqua.
Congratulations on being made chief.
You say that, when really, you want to keep the flower, don't you?
No I don't!
Once I became the chief, I learned all sorts of things.
Deep inside the village, the nullstone, a stone with great power, was enshrined...
...and the snowstorm that surrounded the village was caused by it.
It was a strangely relaxing place.
The hunting was carried out by the women.
There may be only 200 of them, but all grouped together,
distinctions between who is more talented and who is stronger arise.
And, if the stronger ones make a show of their strength,
then so do upset feelings.
Yui!
Have you ever looked under Hisame's facecloth?
Which one of us is more beautiful, her or me?
I don't know who decided to start the practice,
but the yuki-onna's facecloths, which seem like the very definition of inconvenient,
were meant to prevent a mental hierarchy based on one's looks.
--Ugly... Ugly... Ugly... --Every day, I was pelted by curses that came one after another.
--Polluted... Polluted... Polluted... --Envy... jealousy... contempt... derision...
Each time, I felt the sensation that my body was being corrupted.
Time and again, I was swallowed up by hatred and animosity. However...
Oh, welcome back.
Sorry, did I wake you?
Mm-mm, I'm up.
I only ever get to talk to you before you go to sleep anymore.
Oh, those are...
Yeah.
Thanks.
Each time, he pulled me back. Akira was my only salvation.
Salt?
Yes! When I put it in the bathtub, it makes my skin feel slippery.
I sure would like some.
So then, salt and water, right? Very well.
Thank you!
Good. Brother is acting weird, but he'll do anything I say.
I hate to do it, but right now, I have to take advantage of that.
Are you feeling better now?
Huh?
Oh, um, mm-hmm.
I'm fine now.
You are? Okay then.
Brother, why...?
You smashed my smartphone, locked me up in this castle, and froze the others.
You're acting strange. And yet, I've been incredibly naive.
There's lots that I don't understand about this,
but I'm probably the only one who can stop you.
I have to save the others.
Me.
Wow...
Seeing it up close, it's even better.
There isn't even any water. So this is the power of the nullstone.
Astonishing, isn't it?
Utterly unlike the power of a yuki-onna or yuki-onoko to freeze water.
What the nullstone feeds off of is life.
Indeed, there isn't a single blade of grass left growing around the castle.
Now then, where could that fool of a tanuki be?
What do I do?
I can't bear to do nothing but wait until Yui-niisan comes back.
Maybe I can try rubbing them with a towel.
I do not believe that you can melt this degree of freezing by yourself.
Aw, this is so frustrating!
Take it easy, Akira.
Huh? What's that?
K-Kabane-kun?
I can move at last.
Just a second, Kabane-kun! Pants! Pants!
Th-The nullstone? What's that?
Inugami-san mentioned it. It's supposed to be something from the snowy village.
Now that you mention it, the snowy village has a snowstorm barrier
to keep humans from getting in,
and I heard it was from the something-or-other-stone's power.
I see. That might be it.
I think they said other stuff about it, too. What was it...?
Try to remember. If I can't do something about the nullstone,
I won't be able to beat that man.
Beat him?!
Kabane-kun, are you planning to fight Brother?
Then that man really is your brother.
We came here to get you. That's when he froze us.
I have to convince him, even if it means fighting.
Wh-What is this? He absolutely can't do that!
If they get frozen again, they'll all be killed for sure.
Plus, I'm not even sure I can persuade Brother the way he is now.
I'm sorry about this morning, Akira.
I wasn't aware that "being of any use" didn't apply to just being able to work.
Without you around, we don't talk as much, and I make Shiki angry.
Akira,
come back. I...
...like the office better with you in it.
I want you to come back. I think Shiki probably feels the same way.
You never change, do you, Kabane-kun?
Akira?
You don't even know who I am. What are you, dumb?
I'm the one who asked Yui-niisan to deal with all of you.
Akira...
And I don't need this plushie anymore, either!
I never asked you to come and get me.
And here I thought I could finally live a quiet life with Yui-niisan.
You aren't welcome.
Akira, why are you lying?
You wouldn't say those things. Do you have some reason why you have to lie?
No, I don't. I never said anything, but actually, I've always felt this way.
That's not true.
And as for all of you...
Akira!
I hate you!
What's with that face? Did you think that I was crying here?
Does it look to you like I'm lying?
N-No, it doesn't, really...
Brother!
Wait! Don't!
Get away from him, Akira. You can't tell what's pure from what's polluted.
That's not why!
I don't care what happens to these people!
Forget about them, I've grown tired of this castle. Let's move! Right now!
Okay. Then we'll do that first.
This time, I'd like a place with a view of the ocean.
Oh, I don't need that salt anymore. You can drop that here.
"Salt"
Akira!
A--
Thank goodness I'm a yuki-onoko.
Tears are made of water, after all.
Bye-bye, Kabane-kun.
What's wrong, Akira?
Huh? Oh, mm-mm, it's nothing. My mind was elsewhere.
Don't get too far away from me.
It's dangerous.
Okay!
Everything's okay, I hope. The rest is up to you,
Nii-san.
Mister...
Mister, I need a favor.
Please allow me to finish Akira's uncompleted tasks.
Now, please stuff me someplace where I will be held tight.
I am four percent mechanical, so I can contribute some degree of heat.
I get it. Thanks.
My, my, Kabane-kun, you seem down.
Are you all right?
Inari-san?
Long time no see!
When did you get here?
You don't have to be so wary of me.
It isn't your lifestone that I'm here for this time.
I'm here to retrieve the nullstone. You'll help me, won't you?
Huh?
No, I'm sorry, I...
Akira-kun doesn't have anything to do with this.
I'm suggesting this for your own sake.
The nullstone is more than a little connected to your parents.
That interests you, doesn't it?
It's been a long time since the two of us have had a stroll like this, huh?
Yeah.
You know what?
Lately, they don't get mad at me as much when I go outside the snowstorm.
But without you around, it's a little scary.
You don't say.
Tell me, Brother...
Are the chief's duties hard?
Why?
Well, you always look so gloomy, and seem distressed!
Please let me do something to help!
I can't bear for you to be so troubled all alone!
I mean, we're twins!
Even twins have different things they're good at.
I am strong. You are weak.
I'm much better at handling pain and hardship than you are.
You don't have to do a thing.
But...
You have something that you're much better at, don't you?
Huh? Do I? I'm not so sure--
Smiling.
Akira, you have a beautiful smile. That's because you're so pure of heart.
That's what saves me.
Don't you become tainted.
I will keep you safe.
What's wrong?
I'm sorry. I'm actually not that clean.
What?!
As it happens, this morning... I peed the bed!
I got rid of the evidence so the women didn't find out.
But I'm 14 years old!
Oh, is that all?
You really are pure--
B-Brother?
Akira...
...are you sure it was pee?
Akira had become able to serve as chief, too.
If the women learned of this, it isn't hard to imagine
they would fight tooth and nail to try to appease Akira,
competing to bring distinction upon themselves.
Assemble all the women! Make sure Akira doesn't see you!
There were over 200 women.
If even one of them became aware of the change in Akira, it was all over.
Yui,
what do you mean by gathering all of us?
It was then--
that night when I first lied to Akira--
that we who had been twins became two individuals.
If everything came out, and Akira became polluted, as I was,
then maybe the two of us could become one again.
Together, we could survive the things that we couldn't withstand alone.
However, I...
I will do everything in my power to fulfill all of your desires until you are content.
In return, let Akira leave the village!
Unless you accept this condition, I will kill myself!
Hmph, talk about being positively ridiculous. Go ahead and try it.
Once you do, we'll just make Akira the chief in your place.
You're the one being ridiculous.
What?
It's impossible to consider that Akira could take my place.
Do you want to risk the survival of the village to find out?
Yui is right. Akira could never replace Yui.
If Akira becomes expended before the next yuki-onoko is born,
then the snowy village will perish.
Very well.
In consideration of what you're prepared to do,
we will disregard Akira's departure.
Listen to me, Akira.
Tokyo. Kemonoist. Inugami.
Remember those words, and just keep going south.
I'll be right behind you.
We'll meet up in Tokyo.
That would do it. Or at least it should have. But...
I feel sorry for Yui.
He still believes us, right?
Letting a yuki-onoko leave the village is out of the question.
We sent someone after him immediately.
By now, Akira is either a weather-beaten corpse,
or he's been consigned to the earth as boar fodder.
Hisame!
Damn you! How dare you do something like--
Don't let him bite through his tongue. Hold him down.
Right!
As for Akira...
I said we would disregard his departure.
I never said anything about warranting his life.
--Don't let him escape! After him! --Hold it!
It was a small world, shut in by the snowstorm.
One that merely repeated the cycle of birth and death.
Nothing could sprout out of the frozen ground.
Nothing ever changed.
This village was dead.
What's the matter, Brother?
Something's coming.
Huh?
Huh?! What is this? A cage?
Wow, you're terrible.
I was going for Akira-kun. So much for the plan to take him hostage.
Nobimaru-kun!
What do you want? Who are you to Akira?
A stranger.
Wait--no, I guess that's true.
I see.
Then you should leave!
Whoa!
All this, that fast? If he had hit me directly, I'd be done for.
Flames?
Yes. I'm not sure if they will work against the nullstone, though,
but tonight,
I'll be going all-out. The boss is around, and all.
The nullstone is sort of like the lifestone's sibling.
If I can successfully retrieve it,
you may be able to learn a little bit more about your parents.
Do you mean it?
Oh, you don't trust me?
No. Tricking just me would be one thing,
but I can't just leave Inugami-san and Shiki here alone right now.
We're fine, Kabane. You go ahead.
Was that you talking just now, Nii-san?
Yes.
I am delivering a message from Inugami-sama based on his heart tones and brainwaves.
Listen, Kabane. Inari isn't going to take any action against us.
Or... should I say, not right now, she isn't?
It will take a little bit longer for the ice to melt.
I'm counting on you to save Akira.
All right.
I'll be back later.
You seem awfully confident, don't you?
It wasn't yourself that you transformed, but the ice?
One layer of thermal insulation, and a second layer of air--
the same as a thermos, then?
Very perceptive.
Not very efficient.
You've grown weaker, Inugami.
It's because you make too much of those useless children.
I don't particularly want to get stronger. Unlike you.
Oh, you don't? Then let me show you something--
how to make use of children.
I'd like to avoid any direct hits from the ice, at least.
I'll start with...
Disruption!
So many copies of Nobimaru-kun!
Kitsune hocus-pocus!
That's nothing!
Wah! They got skewered!
An unavoidable sacrifice.
It doesn't matter to my ice no matter how many of you there are!
"Next time" "Episode 12: Kemono Incidents"