Mizuha's mother, Izumi.
Her body is being controlled by none other than...
The Nokkers.
The Nokkers loom.
Fushi resumes his activities to put an end to their threat.
I just want to believe this world really is peaceful.
We're going to live in this world and die in it.
Proof of Peace
All right, next!
I don't like this feeling.
The others aren't immortal.
I knew that.
I'd finally made a peaceful world.
We can finally be together.
But they're all going to die first.
Stop thinking about that.
Everyone's going to be gone someday, and that's exactly why
I need to make sure they can be at peace.
I'll prove it to you!
That this world is the paradise you've been hoping for!
I know what I said, but how do I prove that it's peaceful?
I don't think you should get involved with her.
That's it!
Hayase's descendants have been using the Nokkers' power for generations.
I just need to prove that they're safe and harmless now.
First off, I need to undo Tonari's misunderstanding about Mizuha.
May I have a word with you, Fushi-kun?
But how do I do that?
About your lack of discipline...
You came in late this morning, too.
You need to behave like a proper student.
I understand that you're from abroad,
but I need you to adapt to Yanome culture.
Would you mind being quiet? I'm thinking right now.
And that long hair!
It's against school regulations! I'll have you shorten it!
Hair? Of course!
Hey! Are you listening?!
Hey, Mizuha, could you make me a hair accessory with this?
Huh?
I want a matching one for Tonari.
Sounds good.
This is a sign that we're best friends, though.
I want Tonari to be part of that.
No?
Well, if that'll make you happy, Fushi...
Thanks!
Did you wash this?
Er, I forgot.
Tonari-san!
I thought I'd join this club.
Really? Great!
Welcome to the Occult Club!
The Handicrafts Club.
Tonari-san!
Do you have a minute?
I'd like you to have this. I just made it earlier.
Fushi insisted.
Right?
Yeah.
No thanks.
Did I do something to make you hate me?
Sorry, it's not your fault.
I just like to be honest to my own feelings.
I have no intention of getting along with you.
Why not?
Mizuha made that just for you.
It's because I'm Hayase's descendant.
So you do get it.
Tonari! You can't choose who you're born as.
You know that better than anyone.
I sure do.
I have the blood of a murderer in me.
I don't care if you call me a hypocrite. I want to protect you.
Fushi, this dinky thing isn't going to convince me it's peaceful.
Nice catch!
It's so windy today.
Yuki.
I thought you'd already gone home.
When did you get here?
Just now.
Bon-san's looking for you, Fushi.
Bon is?
I found one.
Another one like Izumi-san who's had her body taken over by something.
That girl?
We can't be certain it's the Nokkers,
but there's an impostor controlling her body as we speak.
Can I try?
Okay.
Her name's Mimori, ten years old.
She lives with her remarried parents and her brother-in-law.
Her family hasn't noticed her change.
And she's attending school like normal.
You know a lot.
I asked her directly.
Her fye is here?
Izumi-san brought her here for me.
To think we'd actually find one...
I wish I'd never learned this truth.
But now that we've found this girl, we can assume there are more...
Fushi! What are you—
Hey there.
Do you have a moment?
Is my brother calling for me?
Should I just wait here?
I think so.
What are you doing?
Don't tell me...
Bon, I'm going to do it.
Yeah.
You don't want to believe there are any more Nokkers.
And if she's a Nokker, your only option is to defeat it.
Who is that man?
Aren't you going to stop me?
Do you want to be stopped?
What if it's all a mistake?
Are you okay?
She just looks like...
Mimori!
Fushi, the girl's asking you to kill it.
Forgive me.
I can't do it.
Isn't there another way?
Bon?
Uh-oh. You've done it now.
Mimori!
Get away from my Mimori, you bastard!
Onii-chan!
You're safe now!
Let's run!
Hey, wait!
Look out!
Forget what happened today, Fushi.
Wait, I could have sworn there was someone...
You! Did I hit you at all?
No. I'm okay.
Are you sure? I'll take you to the hospital.
Let's go!
That child...
Hey, wait!
Fushi!
Later.
Damn, I lost him.
And you're sure that boy you saw yesterday
was using the same kind of power that you have.
Maybe Mister Black knows something about it, then.
I've asked him numerous times, but he hasn't shown up.
That's why I have to look for him myself.
No, no, no, no...
Bah.
I suspect that child is in here.
Shinonome Nursery?
Hey, stop that! You're going to get hurt!
Some kind of care facility?
You're the Black One, aren't you?
What kind of joke is this?
Why that form?
I've detached my body from the surface.
I gave you my reattachment ability. I no longer have it.
I've decided to become a creature of this planet and watch over you.
What?
I've configured this body to become incapable
of remembering what it was when it turns fifteen.
In other words, I'll be a normal human being in four more years.
You've completed your task.
There's nothing left to do.
W-Wait!
What do you mean? Completed what?
You mean I acquired everything?
But there are still things I can't make, like water...
Also, all the living things that I can't see, and the Nokkers...
Did I really defeat all of them?
That kid from yesterday, Mimori... You saw her, didn't you?
Yeah.
It's the Nokkers that are inside of it.
Over hundreds of years, you defeated every perceptible Nokker.
Meanwhile, some Nokkers changed.
They became imperceptibly small.
Aside from the ones you've met,
the Nokkers infesting the world right now haven't even been discovered.
"Infesting"?
The Nokkers already exist in copious numbers.
Does Fushi... Well, you, too...
Is it hard for you to find these Nokkers?
Yeah.
Just as Fushi can't receive stimulation from smaller insects,
the smaller it is, the harder it is to notice...
Correct.
Why didn't you do anything when you realized what was going on?!
Not only that, you're trying to become an ordinary human.
After you enticed me to "enjoy life" and all that...
It's like you're telling me to just watch it happen!
It's been hundreds of years.
The Nokkers could have killed every last human.
But they didn't do it.
Which means?
The Nokkers have chosen coexistence.
And the world became peaceful.
We've already lost.
The Nokkers are no longer a threat.
There's nothing we can nor must do.
In other words, you ran away from the bugs crawling over your skin.
Let me ask you a question, Mister Black...
Is it possible to defeat just the Nokkers that have gotten inside people's bodies?
Don't know.
What are the conditions for someone's body to be taken over?
How do you tell them apart?
You cannot.
So the Nokkers' objective is already complete?
What happens after they take control?
That's beyond my ability to know.
You want us to surrender?!
Tell me it's a bad thing when they take over someone's body!
Tell me their body is important, that it's that person's vessel!
When the vessel changes, the mind changes.
It's only natural. It isn't a bad thing.
It's almost dinner time.
I will be going.
This is complete bullshit!
Damn it!
We lost?!
What's going to happen to Mimori? To Izumi-san?!
Want me to walk you back?
No.
Wanna hold hands?
They all suffered so much all this time.
We finally...
I'll prove it to you!
That this world is the paradise you've been hoping for!
Utter defeat.
I heard what you were saying, Fushi.
Yuki? How long have you been following me?
Since yesterday!
What?
You have me.
I have you?
Do you even know what you're saying?
Mizuha-senpai's mother and this girl Mimori
had their bodies taken over by an evil organization, right?
We're gonna have to save them.
Save them...
I'd like to, but you were listening, weren't you?
There's no way to fight them.
Yup. And it's hard to even find them.
But that's weird, isn't it?
How did that boy learn about Mimori, then?
How did he know there were Nokkers inside her?
That means that boy has a superpower that lets him detect these things,
but he's telling you that you can't defeat them.
Why is that?
If I'm correct, he's trying to tell you that you have to change strategies.
Fushi, we have the power of words.
Even when might can't make things happen, words can change minds.
Let's make them promise to play nice from now on!
We tell the Nokkers to leave their bodies?
Yeah. We have to make up with them.
That's what matters.
I don't think we can reason with them.
Don't worry. I'm sure it'll work out.
On what basis?
None.
Yeah.
You're right.
All right, Yuki.
Let's try it.
But promise me one thing.
Sure!
Don't tell anyone at home.
Sure! Why?
I brought them here from the past because I assumed this world would be safe.
But I want them to live their lives reveling in the peace,
never to learn of the threat.
Okay. Of course.
Are you sure?
For sure, for sure!
Guys, hear me out!
You okay?
Nothing at all.
Good, good, Horse.
Eat up.
It's another peaceful day in this world.
I'll be a normal human being in four more years.
Why is the Black One trying to become human?
Did he always want to become one?
What even is a human, anyway?
Maybe that's what I need to figure out to tell the Nokkers apart.
What's the difference between humans and the Nokkers?
Love.
The Nokkers probably don't have love.
What makes you so sure?
That's how it goes, right?
So you don't have a reason again.
Tell me what love is, then.
Love is all about hugging and kissing and...
Oh, right, all that stuff Messar does.
Does that mean Gugu and Tonari don't have love?
Also, cooking and doing the laundry and stuff?
I know! Maybe it's about being kind to people.
Are you full, Horse?
Mizuha's mom right now is really kind.
She cooks for her and does the laundry.
Maybe that's not it, then.
Love is a sense of belonging.
A feeling of altruism, of cherishing one another.
That's right, love doesn't come from actions.
It's every phenomenon that comes from the heart!
So, why are you talking about that?
Shoo, shoo!
A grade schooler wouldn't get it. This is grown-up talk.
Onii-chan, you know no one's expecting you to figure it out.
Let's see...
For example, this horse doesn't have a name yet, right?
Your point?
I think, once Fushi-san has love for the horsie, he'll be able to give it a name.
Oh, you precocious kid, you.
Right...
I don't have love.
I still don't understand what it is.
I don't think what I'm doing for everyone is love.
I'm just congratulating myself, thinking I'm doing good.
Maybe I can't attain love, no matter who I become.
No matter what I become.
I don't get it.
I don't know the difference.
Tough shells, sparkly scales...
Those are just appearances.
My soul is always my own.
I don't get it.
The sea never changes.
But there are lots of creatures. A place of rest.
I'll make love mine someday.
My stomach's starting to feel hot.
Hurry...
I feel like I have to dig up the sand.
Wait!
Is this love?
A sea turtle.
Fushi?!
M-Mizu—
I-It's not what you think!
These came out of my body on their own.
You laid those?
Yeah.
That's so cute!
Stop laughing!
Is it so wrong?
I'm rooting for you, Mama.
Why are you here, anyway?
Did you know I'd be here?
It's just a coincidence.
I was taking a walk to clear my mind.
You weren't at school yesterday or the day before. I missed you.
No, it's nothing.
Anyway, why did you become a turtle?
Er... I just wanted to take some time to think.
To think?
I wanted to figure out what love is.
Love?
Don't laugh at me! It's a serious question.
Indeed.
And why are you so keen to learn?
I don't want you to find out.
I see.
I know, though.
Really?
Yeah.
I can teach you about love.
Fushi...
S-Sorry, it's nothing, Fushi.
I didn't mean anything by that.
I just wanted to be of help to you.
Thanks, Mizuha.
You don't have to do that for me.
Sorry, that was creepy.
No, I didn't mean that.
Leave me alone!
S-Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry.
I'm not crying!
You are, though.
I'm so sorry. Really.
What should I do?
I don't know.
I'll do anything if you'll stop crying.
Tell me, then.
Tell me you want me to teach you about love.
I want you to teach me about love.
Gladly.
Preview
A girl, Mimori, her body stolen from her unjustly.
The Nokkers lurking in this world threaten the people's peace.
As Fushi engages in battle, Yuki preaches the power of love.
The Attack