Drama CD - Dramatic Precious 1st Stage

[onlygirlshavewings]

Dramatic Precious 1st Stage - Sleepless Night
Dramatic Precious 1st Stage ~Sleepless Night~
Version 1.1
trans. by Jey Kama

[Aya's dream]
[Pouring rain]

Shion: [echoing] Ran, I bequeath you this. But remember, do not draw it. If you must draw it, then draw it only to let
people live...

[Again and again, the screech of steel cutting into flesh]

Kikyou: Ran-kun... with that blade you received from Shion, you just killed another man. So how many is it so far?
Twenty people? Thirty?... heheh, can not you stop the count? I'm so happy, Ran-kun. Gradually, you will become like
unto me... a maddened killer, and to me in Hell you shall fall...

Aya: Leave me alone, Kikyou!

[And another]

Kikyou: Ha ha ha! Wonderful, Ran-kun. Cut them all... kill them! Ha ha ha ha ha!

[Kikyou's laughter fades away with the rain]

------

[flowershop trailer : command room]

Birman: Everyone's here? It's been a while, but here's your mission.

[Kurasuma's voice speaks from the computer speakers]

Kurasuma: The Ooboshi mobster gang and their local police conspirators have reached the limits of outrage with
their atrocities. Your targets are the gang leader Hanzou Kakogawa and police chief Yasujirou Oribe. Only these two
men.

[the message ends]

Omi: "Only these two men"? This commander's pretty blunt.
Youji: [stretch] Well, Persia had more of the flair for the dramatic.
Ken: It doesn't matter as long as he's got missions. I want the gang leader, though!
Aya: You seem excited.
Ken: I've gotten rusty. With only two targets, there ain't enough to go around!
Birman: Police chief Oribe will be at Kakogawa's home tonight. There will
probably be many other clients on scene, but, per orders, you may only
bring down these two indicated.

[the gangster's house]
[a short strain of violin music]

Gang Leader: Huh? What was that music?

[running footsteps]

Client A: Sir! We're being attacked!
Gang Leader: WHAT?!
Police Chief: You... Who the hell're you?!
Mysterious Leader: Weiß...
Gang Leader: Weiß?
Rindou: Mr. Kakogawa, the tarot cards shall foretell your fate.

[cutting the deck, he pulls out a single card]

Rindou: Hmph, this is your friend the skeleton.
Gang Leader: Wha~~t?
Rindou: In other words, your fate is... this!

[he hurls the card, which slices through the man's throat]

Gang Leader: Guaah!! [he collapses]

Various Clients: You!! You killed him!! Let's get'em!!

[they run to attack]

Azami: Let us hear this requiem, the Prayer of the Dead, to accompany you to the next world!

[The violin strings utter a single note, then launches bolts as a bow!]

Various Clients: Uwaa! Gu~h... Gh....

Police Chief: Bastards! You got the balls to do that in front of the chief of police! Everyone, kill the intruders!

[several shots from handguns, but the mysterious man makes a dash]

Mysterious Leader: Haah!

[drawing his sword...]

Mysterious Leader: Your life is mine!

[... and cuts him down]

Police Chief: Uwaaaa!!!
Woman A & B: Aaahh!!
Woman B: No, please don't hurt us! We've got nothing to do with them! We just came over to have some fun!!
Ayame: Hehh... well then, shall we have some fun? Why don't we discover which is the faster... my boomerang, or
your legs?
Woman A: Wait...
Ayame: Run!
Woman A & B: Yaaaaah!!!

[the two woman start to run away]

Ayame: Hmph... whores...

[the boomerang flies, lopping off their heads. after their bodies fall, it returns to his hand]

Ayame: [cackles] ... what beautiful flying heads...

------

[the four's quiet footsteps come to a halt]

Aya: [quiet] Wait...
Ken: What're you holdin' back for, Aya? Let's just go and get'm!
Omi: No... I smell blood.
Youji: [jerks back] Aaah!
Ken: Don't shout!
Youji: L... look, it's a woman's head!
Aya: Omi, turn on the lights.
Omi: Right...

[click]

Omi: What the...?! [gulping]
Youji: Cripes, dead bodies every which way!
Ken: The targets? Where are our targets?
Omi: Kakogawa's over here... there's a tarot card buried into his neck.
Youji: And this and that... probably used to be the police chief.
Omi: What is this?!
Youji: Cut literally in half, from crown to crotch... just like a cross-section from a science lab.
Aya: Whatever it is, this is the work of professionals.
Youji: You're thinking there're other groups like us Weiß?
Ken: Fuck it!!

[his steel claws snap from their sheaths, beating into a corpse]

Omi: [apprehensively] Ken-kun! Why're you doing that?
Ken: Dammit... I don't know who they are, but they stole our job!

[again and again]

Aya: Ken...

------

[opening theme : Sweet Nothing (Seki version)]

------

[Tokyo : Kitten in the House]

[the front door chimes quietly]

Aya-chan: Thank you! Please come again! [hums cheerfully]
Sakura: Aya-chan! You look like you're having fun.
Aya-chan: Heehee, those last customers're on the Ebisudai skiing team. They invited you and me to go to their next
party.
Sakura: Huh? Aya-chan, we can't!
Aya-chan: Of course we can! They said OK.
Sakura: But... I... just can't!
Aya-chan: But why? I already'd said we'd go, so we're going!
Sakura: But... I... it's all right if you go by yourself, though. I...
Aya-chan: No way! They're all after you, anyways. It's fine! And I'm sure there're be some great guys there.
Sakura: No... I'm kinda...

Aya-chan: [seriously] Sakura... don't take this the wrong way, but... Sakura, I really like you. You're a big help in the
shop, and I have a lot to thank you for, but... I think... you should forget about my brother.
Sakura: [shocked] But...!?
Aya-chan: I have a feeling that ... no matter how long you wait for him, he's not going to come back here...
Sakura: No... no, that's not true! He'll come back... [choked] He has to!

[the door chimes as she runs out the shop]

Aya-chan: Sakura! [sighs] Oniichan... she thinks about you so much... [sadly] Oniichan...

[Kyoto : Arashiyama in the morning]

Schoolgirls: Kyaaaa!!!
Schoolgirl A: It's Aya!!
Schoolgirl B: Please come here!!!
Schoolgirl C: Can we all get a picture together on top the Togetsu bridge, please?!

Aya: I refuse. This is a flowershop, not a photo point.

Schoolgirls: Eeeeh?
Schoolgirl A: You're so mean! We came to Arashiyama all the way from Osaka for this!
Schoolgirl B: I don't feel like buying flowers anymore!
Schoolgirl C: Let's go home!

[they leave]

Omi: Aya-kun, couldn't you be a bit more agreeable? This trailer might be tiny for a flowershop, but we're still in
business.

Female Announcer: ... And now we turn to local Kyoto news. Yet again, another headless body was found of a female
with a full-body tattoo. Early this morning, tourists discovered the body, a woman probably in her teens or early
twenties, floating in the Kujou Lake of the Kyoto Imperial Gardens. In Shinsen Garden last month, another body was
found in the same way... [gradually, the newscast fades] ... The Kyoto prefecture police believe this to be a serial
killing, and will continue the investigation in full force...

Ken: Did you just hear that?
Omi: Eh?
Ken: The radio.
Youji: About the women with the full-body tattoos?
Omi: Terrible things just keep on happening...
Ken: Why don't we take on that mission?
Omi: Eh?
Ken: Killers're the worst villains. We oughta...
Omi: But... we don't have orders...
Ken: Orders? We're not kids, y'know. Takatori, SS, we beat'm all. Do we really need t'wait for orders from above?
Aya: [sharply] Ken!
Ken: We see those black beasts, then we hunt'm!
Aya: Ken, this is the storefront.
Ken: Let's go do'em, Aya!
Aya: Come with me! [he grabs Ken's arm]
Ken: Huh? What's it?
Aya: Doesn't matter, just come!

[the two walk off]

Omi: I wonder what's with Ken-kun... He's been weird lately...
Youji: He's been weird for longer than that. See ya.

[he starts walking away]

Omi: Hh...Hey, Youji-kun, where're you going?
Youji: I've a date with Maiko to see to.
Omi: [incredulous] Maiko?
Youji: I've no intention of sleeping in that trailer with three other guys.

[quickly, he leaves]

Omi: What...?! You're so selfish!

------

[Bamboo thicket]
[The two walk for a whiles, and then stop]

Ken: What's the big idea, draggin' me through all this bamboo? You wanna fight or something?
Aya: Ken... There's been something strange about you recently. Why do you want missions so much?
Ken: Heheh... Missions... I want missions? You can call'em 'missions', I guess, but what you're really tryin' to ask is,
'why do y'want to kill people so much?'
Aya: Ken!
Ken: Aya... you ever thought I was afraid of taking missions?
Aya: Yes... Almost every time.
Ken: Right, every time. In the beginnin', my hands're quaking in fear. I'd thought it was 'cause I'd just killed someone
with'em, but recently... they've been shaking from anticipation. Do y'get me? I've no choice but to do missions. I mull
about it every freakin' day! This flowershop stuff's so hard on me!
Aya: Ken... calm down.
Ken: Calm down? Hmph, you wouldn't understand. Since you joined Wei , you get your revenge and saw your sister
alive and well 'gain. People who've gotten happiness wouldn't be able to care about other people's problems.
Aya: I...
Ken: I've lost everything since I joined Wei ! Lovers, friends... no, above all else, I've lost myself...
Aya: Ken...
Ken: 'M sorry, Aya... I don't know what to do. Just... leave me alone... please.

[he slowly walks off on his own]

Aya: Ken...

------

[on a hill in Kano]
[amidst the sounds of chirping birds and the brook, Ken trods on the fallen leaves]

Reiko: [from far off] Kyaa!
Ken: Nn? What's that?
Reiko: [from far off] Please, stop!!
Ken: Hn!! [he runs towards the voices]

Hoodlum A: Shuddap, woman! [he slaps her]
Reiko: Aa! [she falls]
Hoodlum B: If ya keep screaming, we'll do that fucking hole of yours, too!

[ed. Reiko's about 22, FYI]

[they restrain her arms]

Hoodlum C: Hehhehhhe.... There're no tourists around here, anyway. Screaming won't do nothing.
Reiko: No!!
Hoodlum A: Stupid bitch! I'll shut you up! [he squeezes her neck]
Reiko: Uu...
Hoodlum B: Yeah, just choke her t'death! Killing after rape's the same as rapin' after killin'.
Hoodlum A: Hehhehhh!

Ken: Die, scum.

[one of them goes flying]

Hoodlum A: Wha... What the?!
Hoodlum B: Who're you?!

[not bothering to say anything, he just keeps on punching]

Hoodlums: Augh!!
Hoodlum A: H...help!
Hoodlums: Guh...
Ken: Die!!
Reiko: Stop it!

[she grabs onto him]

Ken: Let go!
Reiko: It's enough! Stop!
Ken: Shaddup!!

[he lets out a final few punches]

Hoodlum B: Aaah!
Reiko: [desperate] Stop it! They're going to die if you don't!
Ken: These guys... these.... .... ... dammit! [he storms off]
Reiko: Wait!

[she chases after him a short distance]
[Ken continues walking. Reiko chases, and he suddenly stops]

Ken: [angrily] What do you want?!
Reiko: [scared] Thanks for... saving...
Ken: I wasn't trying to save you.

[he starts walking again, and Reiko follows after]

Ken: I only did it 'cause I felt like whaling their asses. Just felt like punching someone's lights out, no... felt like killin'
someone. If you hadn't stopped me, I woulda.
Reiko: Why...
Ken: I don' care anymore. I'm a villain, so you'll just get int'danger if you stay with me.

[she stops]

Reiko: [thoughtful sigh] I wouldn't have minded... if you'd killed me, too.
Ken: Eh...? [he also stops]

------

[a Japanese-cuisine restaurant, a private booth]

Reiko: Well, eat up!
Ken: This's a pretty high-class joint...
Reiko: This is one of the best restaurants in Kyoto... Don't worry, I've plenty of money to cover you.
Ken: Hrn? A rich girl?
Reiko: Heheh... here, hold up your glass.
Ken: Sake? I'm... not too good with that.
Reiko: Oh, didn't you just tell me you were a villain? What kind of villain can't hold their booze?
Ken: [sucks it down] aa...
Reiko: Hehheh... [she pours more]

------

[the sake bottle is put on the ground]
Reiko: [a little drunk] Say, Ken... um... is it all right to call you that?
Ken: [languidly] Yeah...
Reiko: I'm Reiko. Do you remember that?
Ken: Yeah...
Reiko: Well... Ken, have you... ever wanted to die?
Ken: Yeah... sure. Once in a while, I'd thought... be better off dead.
Reiko: I'm always... Before, when those guys were choking me, I thought... hey, I'm dying a death befitting of me...
Ken: Eh?
Reiko: Just getting what I deserve. I could easily be at ease, but for some reason, I can't. I'm broken to pieces... but
there's still something resisting. I keep thinking, it would be better to be dead, but still, I can't make myself die...
Ken: Why... do you think you wanna die?
Reiko: Because... there's no reason to live.
Ken: No reason...
Reiko: You see, I'm also a villain. Criminal. Bitch. Even though I've no reason to live, I can't help but keep on living.
Ken: Somehow, I just can't see you in that way...
Reiko: Really? You see me as just a girl?
Ken: Something like...
Reiko: Ken...

[rustling of clothes]

Ken: uh...
Reiko: Mm...

[she kisses him]

Reiko: ... Ken, no one will interrupt us here...

[he suddenly stands up]

Ken: I'm leavin'.
Reiko: Wait!

[she stands]

Reiko: Please... just stay here a little while longer... even if we do nothing... I'm... I'm afraid!
Ken: Reiko...

------

[a perfectly tuned Super Seven]

Maiko: Kyaa!!! This's great, Youji! Drive faster!
Youji: You got it!

[hitting the accelerator, the car races along the road]

------

[the engine idles]

Maiko: Look! This's the best view on the mountain.
Youji: Yep!
Maiko: You can see all of Kyoto at night from here. You know... I've always wanted to do a Tokyo man here...
Youji: Eeh?
Maiko: No? [she starts stripping]
Youji: Hey, but what happens if tourists come peeping?
Maiko: That's OK, we can cuddle in the seat!
Youji: Heh... if that's what you wish, I just can't refuse.

[he flops down]

Maiko: [giggle]

[the car continues to idle]

Maiko: Yeah... more like that...
Youji: [panting] haa... haa....
Maiko: Aah...
Youji: Asuka.... Asuka.....
Maiko: ... Huh?
Youji: Asuka... why?... Asuka!
Maiko: W...Wait a minute, I'm from Arashima, not Asuka!
[ed.: Asuka also happens to be a prefecture near Kyoto]
Youji: Asuka! [he grabs her throat]
Maiko: Uuuh!!

[he squeezes...]

Youji: Asuka! Why!? Why did you do it, Asuka?!
Maiko: S...stop... it hurts!
Youji: Geh.... nrh!!
Maiko: Ah... stop it ... stop!!

[she punches him desperately]

Youji: Huh?
Maiko: [gasping for air]
Youji: I....?
Maiko: Fucker! [she slaps him good]
Youji: Waah?
Maiko: Choking a girl's the worst! Sick bastard!

[she pulls herself out of the car]

Youji: Please wait!
Maiko: Let me go! Murderer!

[she runs off]

Youji: I...

[Gion. Dead of the night]
[snowstorm, the bustle of the commercial district can be heard distantly]

Youji: (M) Asuka.... Asuka... In all the women I pass, in all I can see Asuka. What... should I do with myself...

[violin music whispers quietly]

Youji: (M) What's this song...? Despairingly... hopelessly... sad...

[the song fades into the snow]

[Also in Gion, Bar Ayame]
[the door opens with a creak]

Azami: Welcome, sir.
Youji: [dimly] Thanks...
Azami: Please, sit down, though there's only the counter. It's much too cold outside. Supposedly, it's the spring, but
snow's still flying around...
Youji: Yeah...

[a clunk as he places a glass on the counter]

Azami: Try drinking this. On the house.
Youji: [he downs it in one gulp] [and coughs marvelously]
Azami: Heh...
Youji: Where... am I?
Azami: Gion. Ayame's Gion Bar.
Youji: Gion? When did I... Gion, huh. I heard a violin on the way here... I wonder if I was imagining it.

[Azami picks up the instrument and plays a note]

Azami: You mean this?
Youji: It was you?!
Azami: It's a hobby I picked up.
Youji: So, you're a violinist?
Azami: Nope, just a bartender, but I've always dreamed of being a musician...

[Ayame approaches the counter]

Ayame: Oh? Azami, a customer?
Azami: [stealthy] He's my master.
Ayame: Greetings, my name is Ayame.
Youji: Um... hi...

[the door opens suddenly]

Drunk Guy A: Ooh, let's have another drink here!
Drunk Guy B: Hey! Two hot sake please!
Azami: I am sorry, this is a members-only establishment.
Drunk Guy A: Members-only! It's Members- only!... uh, what's members-only?
Drunk Guy B: Wha'? This shitty little bar's gonna refuse new customers? Don't be stupid!
Azami: Please, remove yourselves.
Drunk Guy B: WHaT?! ... [suddenly sheepish] er... yessir.
Drunk Guy A: Wha'?
Drunk Guy B: Lez' just go! This... bar guy's got scary eyes...

[the two leave, and the door closes]

Ayame: I apologize for that.
Youji: It's nothing. ... this is a Members-only bar?
Ayame: Sure. Anyone who sits with Azami is a member. What may we do for you?
Youji: I... wanted to listen to the violin.
Ayame: Oh really? Azami's playing isn't all that great, though. People have died listening to it.
Azami: Heh...

[Azami continues playing]

Youji: (M) ... I'm searching ... and I'm starting to hate everything about
myself. So this is what is meant by plucked heartstrings...

----

[Aya's dream]
[raging fire]

Aya: Takatori~~i!!!

[he cuts through mercilessly]

Aya: [gasping] haa... haa...I cut him down ... I cut down Reiji Takatori!

[clapping]

Kikyou: Congratulations, Ran-kun. You finally got your revenge.
Aya: Kikyou...
Kikyou: So now you too, can cleanse yourself forever more of murder. Wonderful... That's just so wonderful.
Aya: I...
Kikyou: Oh? What's wrong, Ran-kun? You couldn't possibly... want to cut down more people? Hehheh... ah, I thought
so. I'm overflowing with joy, Ran-kun. I knew we were alike.
Aya: I'm different from you!
Kikyou: Oh? How are we different?
Aya: You're just a killer. I...
Kikyou: "I..."?
Aya: I...
[the blaze crackles louder]

------

Aya: Kikyou!

[he awakens from bed with a gasp]

Aya: [deep breath] (M) Again, I had a dream. When I awoke however, I couldn't remember a thing, except for the
dread and painful fear... that lingered in its wake...

[Kyoto. Rokkakudou]
[amidst the bustle of the city, the voice of the busguide]

Busguide: This is the "navel" of Kyoto, the hexagonal Rokkakudou building. Rokkokudou was built by Shoutokutaishi...

Male Tourist: Hey look, he's making an Ikebana arrangement [ed. Ikebana = traditional Japanese flower
arrangements]
Female Tourist: That's bo~ring. Hey, let's look at that traditional pastries store!
Male Tourist: Hey, wait up!

[the tourists run off. Aya pauses]

Aya: Ikebana...?

[he walks towards the quiet plaza]

[Ikebou Building : Ikebana Plaza]
[quiet music. Aya approaches, but stops suddenly]

Aya: This...?!

[the sharp sound while inspecting the arrangement]

Aya: (M) A single plum branch, with a single blossom. A slender bundle of rice stalks standing alone. Just that. But
this nervousness... why do I feel tense?

Rindou: Eichinkukai.

Aya: [off guard] Hm?
Rindou: That's that work's title. Eichinkukai: Ocean of Endless Despair.
Aya: An ocean of endless despair...
Rindou: You seem fascinated be it. Haven't you been looking at it for a while now?
Aya: This flower... like a katana, it seems to radiate an unassuming but defiant spirit...
Rindou: Oh, so you work with flowers, too?
Aya: No... I just work at a flowershop.
Rindou: A flowershop? Where's the store? In the city?
Aya: [suspicious] And you?
Rindou: Oh, please excuse me. This is I. [he hands over a name card (like a business card)]
Aya: [reads] Reportage Writer Rindou... what is this?
Rindou: Just what it is, a name card. Though it's without an address and phone number.
Aya: [coldly] "Rindou"... a flower makes for an odd pen name.
Rindou: Well, call it a joke, call it nice...
Aya: Would you happen to know who made this arrangement?
Rindou: He's just some mid-age man who likes to fiddle with flowers.
Aya: I see...
Rindou: The Ocean of Endless Despair is his dream of the future.
Aya: A dream of the future?
Rindou: Yes, or, as other call it, the hope of life. It's a Chinese story. Do you know it?
Aya: No...
Rindou: Once upon a time, an old hag at death's door asked an eminant monk, "Although I'm full of sin, can't I go to
heaven?" And in reply, the monk said, "I wish, old hag, that you will drown in endless despair" or to paraphrase,
ol'bitch! Go to hell!
Aya: To hell...?
Rindou: Weird story, huh? But it's said that usually great monks try to save even the worst of villains.
Aya: What does the story have to do with dreams of the future?
Rindou: Well actually, its second-hand gossip. Just something I heard incidentally.
Aya: A desire... to drown in endless despair...

------

[Road of Philosophy. Morning]

Reiko: The virtuous with their virtue hone themselves for welcomed death, but the evil with their deeds...
Ken: Eh?
Reiko: It's written on a poster in that shrine.
Ken: Something like 'the good shall die, but the evil must not'?
Reiko: Hehheh, no, not that. It means that evil people can be redeemed.
Ken: Evil can be redeemed...?
Reiko: Didn't you learn that at school? I think it was one of Shinran's sayings...
Ken: I grew up in a missionary, so...
Reiko: Oh, so you're Christian?
Ken: Yeah, since I was a kid, but as of now, I've neglected it so much, that probably I'm on the devil's side now.
Reiko: Well, I thought you were an angel.
Ken: Eh?
Reiko: From the first time I met you in that field, I thought 'Oh, it's an angel come to rescue me'. I could see those
white wings spreading from your back.
Ken: Hmph, don't be stupid.
Reiko: But it's true.

[some elementary kids kicking around a ball]

Kids: Wa~it!! Pass it to me, pass it! waa~!

Reiko: Hehheh... can you believe it? Someone like me also had an angelic childhood.
Ken: No one is born evil...
Reiko: True...
Ken: Until recently, I just chased after soccerballs without thinkin' anything else. Whether an angel or not, I dunno, but
I was an innocent kid, but then...
Reiko: ... Then someone hurt you?
Ken: Yeah, but in the end, I was the bad one. I was taught not t'hate at church. If I'd followed thei'teachings, I would've
been a better guy. I coulda left my revenge up to God, but... I couldn't. I forgot all that in anger, and when I finally
realized it, I'd already been loaded down with sin...
Reiko: Sin...
Ken: ... Sorry, didn't mean to talk 'bout that. Must be borin', hanging out with someone's depressed as me.
Reiko: No, not at all. I'm... the same way.
Ken: The same?
Reiko: Yeah...

[inside a quiet shrine]
[a bell tolls]

Reiko: A middle-school field trip was the first time I saw Kyoto, and Maiko... I'd kept thinking that I'd like to be someone
like Maiko. After graduating, naturally I ran away from home, watched Maiko, and learned. But it didn't work out,
because I couldn't perservere. [mockingly] If you couldn't talk Kyoto-dialect, you were below notice. I got stuck with the
worst men... I've got a lot of bad stories about them, but after all, there were even worse lurking around. I was
deceived... beaten... addicted... and worst, the way they looked at me...
Ken: Reiko...
Reiko: I was stubborn, even if I couldn't be like Maiko. I didn't care what became of me, but... I thought that... it's better
to deceive than be deceived, better to beat than be beaten...
Ken: I see...
Reiko: When I finally came to, that's just what I'd done. A no-good treacherous lover... I helped him out, and became
steeped in sin.
Ken: But... weren't you the victim?
Reiko: A victim? I supposed I stayed a victim, but I wouldn't stoop to that... Maybe I'm just waiting for some hope to live
for, but... I can't anymore. Even if I dream about the future, nothing turns up.
Ken: The future... hmph, neither can I. All I see is for me's a bottomless black pit.
Reiko: A bottomless pit...

[a light breeze wafts by]

Reiko: Hehheh...
Ken: What?
Reiko: We make a weird pair. There's a lot that's bad about us, yet we boast about it.
Ken: Heh, maybe.
Reiko: But I feel better now that I've said it out. I couldn't tell anyone before, though I've wanted to, really. Not just
because I wanted to figure out what to do about it... just to confess.
Ken: Confessions...

[the bell tolls again]

------

[Gion. Bar Ayame at night]
Azami: I see... so your girlfriend's dead...
Youji: Yeah... but her betrayal was a worse shock to me. She was deceived by this creep... She was a victim... but she
still hates me, though she's long been dead.
Azami: I know what you mean, Youji. Every kind of love has its problems. No matter what you try, inevitably, you're
alone again.
Youji: You've experienced this, too?
Azami: Yes, I have.
Youji: So... what did you do?
Azami: I didn't do anything, just stopped asking her. I wanted her love, but I didn't want her to suffer because of it.
But... I still couldn't destroy my love for her...
Youji: Painful...
Azami: Yes... quite.

[Ayame comes out]

Ayame: What are you two talking about?
Youji: Talking about women.
Ayame: Well, Youji, this bar tends to attract only men... How about we go somewhere where there are women? It
should be easy for a fine young man like you to find one.
Youji: Hmph... Hate to disappoint, but women don't like me.

------

[flowershop trailer]
[the radio plays some quiet music around the hammering of computer keys]
[loud rustle of the accordian curtain opening]

Aya: Omi... you're still awake...?
Omi: Ah, sorry, was I being too noisy?
Aya: No, nothing... don't worry about it. I just couldn't sleep.
Omi: You too? I couldn't get to sleep, either.
Aya: Are you doing homework?
Omi: Yep! I quit school this term, but I've gotta keep at it if I want to get into college. It's for my own future, too.

[he continues typing away]

Aya: [softly] For the future...

Female Announcer [radio]: ... And now for the local Kyoto news. Yet another dead body was discovered of a woman
with a full-body tattoo suspended upside down from the fifth floor roof of the Yasaka shrine pagoda. As with the past
two murders, she was also similarly headless. She is yet to be identified...

------

[a Japanese-cuisine restaurant, a private booth. The next day]

Reiko: Ken! [she clings to him suddenly]
Ken: Reiko?
Reiko: Ken! I've wanted to see you... Hold me! Tightly! Please, hold me tight!
Ken: Wh'... What happened?
Reiko: Don't ask!
Ken: Ah?!

[they fall to the floor]

Reiko: Ken...

[rustling of clothes as they struggle]

Ken: Wha'...?
Reiko: Please, just...
Ken: Uh...

[the rustling of clothes continues]

Ken: Get off!

[he pushes her off roughly]

Reiko: Aah!
Ken: Wha'was that all the sudden?! Th'hell happened?!
Reiko: Please... don't ask that...
Ken: Reiko!
Reiko: I beg you! Don't ask anything... just... hold me!
Ken: I can't! You came to me... to talk 'bout something, to say somethin', right?
Reiko: [shakily] Yes, but...
Ken: [gently] Then go'head and say it. You can tell me anythin'.
Reiko: But... you'll hate me if you hear it.
Ken: I won't.
Reiko: Really?
Ken: I promise. No matter what you say, I'm still your friend!
Reiko: Friend... friend... I haven't heard that word for so long...
Ken: Reiko...
Reiko: Fine, I'll tell you, Ken. I ... did another terrible thing.
Ken: Terrible...?
Reiko: I watched a girl be killed. I lingered over every detail...
Ken: What?!
Reiko: She wasn't just killed! She was tortured horribly, for many hours... I'm frightened, Ken. Frightened!
Ken: Yeah...
Reiko: No... I'm frightened of myself. I was completely self-composed. No, I'm pretty sure I laughed!
Ken: No...
Reiko: No, I'm sure I laughed! Otherwise, I would have stopped it!
Ken: Reiko... you didn't laugh. No way!
Reiko: Why? How would you know?
Ken: Why? Because you're tremblin' everywhere.
Reiko: That's just because I'm scared!
Ken: Well, you didn't kill her.
Reiko: True, but... it's still the same thing.
Ken: Reiko... I dunno your real name. I dunno where, what you do, or really anythin' else about you, and I'm not about
t'ask. But... if y'know you're doing wrong, why don't you just stop if you're feeling so guilty about it?
Reiko: [bitterly] Heh...heheh...
Ken: Reiko?
Reiko: Don't be so naive. Look at yourself, you said many times you're a villain, probably worse than me. Why don't
you stop, then?
Ken: Well...
Reiko: [sighs] ... I've thought about it, though, many times. Go somewhere far away... some country where no one
would know me, change my name, fix my life.
Ken: Why not?
Reiko: [mockingly] Heh...well...

[standing up suddenly, she slides out of her clothes]

Ken: Hey... waita...
Reiko: Look.
Ken: Ah?!
Reiko: Impressive, isn't it? A masterpiece by the one of the best artists in Kyoto... no, in Japan. On my back, what
looks to be the wings of a butterfly, but in reality, a spider's web. Look here on the front, her long legs are spread out.
[ed. web-spinning spiders are female]
Ken: A tattoo...
Reiko: I didn't get it done because I wanted to. There was no other way... but now, this is my trademark. As long as I
have this tattoo, I couldn't possibly return to a normal woman's life. No... I couldn't, even if I could remove the tattoo...
My body is dyed with the blood and tears of many. I would not erase this stain, even if I could!
Ken: Oh...
Reiko: Heh... so, Ken? Don't you hate me, after this? Can you still call me friend?
Ken: Reiko...

[putting back on her clothes, he embraces her from behind]

Ken: My feelings haven't changed. I'm... livin' in the same hell as you.
Reiko: Ken... [softly]

[inside the trailer : command room]

Birman: Everyone's here?
Aya: Birman, did you find anything about whomever had beat us to the last mission?
Birman: That incident is still under investigation. Well, let's get to your orders.
Karasuma [voice recording]: The group who kidnaps lone women and runaways, tattoos their entire bodies, forces
them to be sex slaves, and sells them overseas, is based in Kyoto. The headless bodies discovered in Shinsen
Garden, the Yasaka pagoda, etc., were women who tried to escape and then killed as an example. The police cannot
intervene, because some of the clients happen to be high-ranking foreign officials. Your targets are this group's boss,
and his subordinates, one man and one woman. In total, three people.

[the message ends]

Omi: [whispering] "White hunters of the darkness, hunt the tomorrow of the black beasts...'
Birman: Hm? What did you say?
Omi: Er, nothing!
Birman: The group's base is near Eigandou...
Ken: Uu...!
Youji: What's wrong, Ken?
Ken: My hands... suddenly!
Omi: What's wrong with your hands?
Ken: N...nothing! I'm going out for a bit!

[he leaves abruptly]

Birman: Ken! What on earth's with him?
Aya: Nothing... please continue with the briefing.

------

[a Japanese-cuisine restaurant, a private booth]
[the sliding door opens loudly]

Ken: Please hold me!
Reiko: Eh?

[they embrace, with a passionate kiss!]

Reiko: u...mm...
Ken: [releasing her lips] Haa...haa....
Reiko: Ken, what happened? Before, you...

[Ken pushes her to the ground]

Reiko: Aah!
Ken: I... I... I didn't come to say anything. But... my hands... suddenly, they started shaking! My hands!
Reiko: Ken... it's all right. Do... what you want.
Ken: Reiko!

[struggling with clothing... pulling off...]

Reiko: Aa~
Ken: Ng...

[and clothes ripping]

Reiko: Aah...!
Ken: Reiko! ... Reiko!

------

[the sake bottle plunks on the floor]

Ken: I'm sorry... Reiko... I'm so selfish... I kept denying it before, but finally, in the end... I forced you to this...
Reiko: It's all right, Ken... I couldn't possibly not be in love with you. It's only natural that...
Ken: That's not what I mean! I'm screwed up, both my heart and body... my hands tremble and I can't stop them, when
I think about the mission...
Reiko: Mission?

[a silence]

Ken: I'm... a murderer....
Reiko: I see...
Ken: You're not surprised?
Reiko: Not at all... I thought so. You and I... both have that same scent...
Ken: Maybe... heh... right. These hands are smeared with blood, cutting right into people's hearts.
Reiko: These hands?
Ken: Yeah... they respond like this! [he mimes his bugnuks] I can feel their heartbeat through my hands... can feel it
stopping. That instant! It's like... an electric shock just shot through my spine... I'd thought it was just apprehension,
but no, now I know it's not that at all. It was joy! Just for that split second, I feel like I'm alive!
Reiko: Ken! ... Pull yourself together... it's just your imagination!
Ken: My imagination?
Reiko: Yes... I don't know why you kill people... I don't want to know, but I do know this, that's you're a good man. I
know you're a very gentle, caring man, or else you wouldn't suffer like this.
Ken: Maybe...
Reiko: Ken...

[she holds him gently]

Reiko: Ken, embrace me. Firmly. Keep holding me... just like this...
Ken: Reiko...
Reiko: Look... see... you're not shaking any more.
Ken: Yeah...
Reiko: [a bit more happily] Ken... I finally have a dream...
Ken: A dream?
Reiko: Maybe not hope for the future... but... you know, I would be happy to die like this, with me in your arms...
Ken: Reiko...

------

[Gion]
[Youji's footsteps pause in the bustle of the commercial district]

Youji: Huh?
Azami: Oh, it's you, Youji? Sorry, but today, we're closed.
Youji: Oh...
Azami: Sorry, and you took the trouble to come here... I'll make amends next time.
Youji: Heh, I'll just ask you to play your violin again.

[inside the bar]
[the door closes]

Ayame: Did Youji come back?
Azami: Yeah.
Rindou: That boy had an odd shadow...
Ayame: Our customers are all our friends. You have no right to say anything you please about them, Rindou.
Rindou: Hmph, friends? Well, as long as they're not enemies. Well, master, please continue the mission explanation.
The targets' base is near Eigandou?
Mysterious Leader: Yes...

------

[an august but decrepit summer villa. dead of night]
[a cold wind blows as the courtyard's brook rustles]

Omi: A circular pond surrounded by a Japanese garden, Western decor on the main building, but purely
Japanese-style wings... for an old building, it's survived pretty well.
Ken: 'Nough with the commentary. Where're the targets?

[the four run through the courtyard and crack open the wooden door]

Omi: We can go underground from here.

[they descend]

Women: [gagged whimpers]
Ken: What're these?
Omi: The kidnapped girls?
Youji: Hunh... so the pretty exterior just hides an underground prison... wait, they're coming.

[the turn of a key, and a few men come running in]

Scum A: Who're you!?
Scum B: How the hell'd you..?!
Omi: Haa!!

[several darts fly at them]

Scum A: Waaa!!
Scum B: Gah!
Aya: Omi, take care of these!

[Aya runs ahead]

Ken: Aya, the target's mine!

[Ken runs after]

Boss: WhaaaaT?!
Right-hand Man: Intruders! Boss, you and the lady get away!
Boss: Right, trash them good! Let's go...
Woman (Reiko): Yeah...

[the two of them run away]

Right-hand Man: Fuckers... where the hell'd you come from?!

[the sound of steel sliding]

Youji: We're messengers from 'there'.
Right-hand Man: Whaaaaat?!

[he flings his wires]

Right-hand Man: Uu!

[he fires a shot, but misses. the wires cut into him]

Right-hand Man: Uaaaaa!!! [dies]

Youji: Women aren't for men to hurt... but to love...

------

[cold wind and running water. the courtyard]
[Reiko and the boss flee, but Reiko is slowed by the water]

Reiko: Aa!
Boss: Hurry up!
Reiko: I know... aah! Someone's here!
Boss: What?!
Aya: You have nowhere to run!

[he cuts the man down]

Boss: Gaaaaah!!!
Reiko: [gasps]

[he falls into the running water, and she tries to flee]
[the snap of the bugnuk claws]

Reiko: [frightened] Aah!
Ken: Die!
Reiko: [realizing] Ken!
Ken: Uh..? You... you're...
Reiko: [relieved] Yes...!
Ken: You're ... the group's... manager...?
Reiko: Yes... Ken... you came for me, didn't you!
Ken: I...
Reiko: I've... I've been waiting for you!
Ken: Reiko...
Reiko: [hopeful] Please... Please come, Ken... please, save me!
Ken: Uu... damn... Waaaaaaaaaah!!!

[he slices]

Reiko: Aagh!

[beating of her heart]

Reiko: Ken... I can... feel you...
Ken: I can... feel you, too...
Reiko: I'm so happy... we're... finally one...
Ken: Reiko...

[he pushes his claws deeper]

Reiko: Uuh!

[her heart beats a few times more, then stops]
[slowly, he pulls back his claws, and her body falls into the water]

Ken: Reiko...

[Ken holds her body, gripping her tightly]

Ken: [weakly] Reiko... [sobs]

[just the sound of flowing water]

Omi: Ken-kun... she's...
Aya: Omi, just leave him alone.
Omi: Yeah...

[a short strain of violin music]

Youji: What's that?

[a boomerang flies at them]

Aya: Get down!
Youji: Waah!
Omi: Aah!

[several cards fly at them, cutting deep into the trees]

Aya: K'... these are... tarot cards?!
Youji: Tarot cards? Then these're those same guys?!

[screeches as bolts fly from the violin strings, and a man approaches]

Youji: Ken!

[they strike near Ken]

Ken: Wah?!
Youji: Hmph. Hiding your faces in masks? What're you, a costume troupe?
Ayame: Heheh... [double-take] Huh?
Azami: Hm? ... You're...!!
Youji: You're too cowardly to show your faces!

[he flings his wires!]

Azami: Hmph, here!

[he shoots a bolt]

Youji: Uwaa!

[more fire after that]

Aya: Who are you people!?
Mysterious Leader: Weiß...

[slowly, the man unsheathes his katana]

Aya: What...?
Mysterious Leader: We are... Weiß.

[he slices!]

Aya: Haa!

[the clash of steel meeting steel!]

Aya: Can't be...?!
Youji: Whaddya mean, "Weiß"?!
Omi: We won't permit you to use our name!
Ayame: 'Your' name?
Rindou: Hmph, then these must be Persia's brats.
Omi: Persia? You know about Persia?!

[the boomerang comes flying at them]

Omi: Waaah! [he falls down]

Ayame: What's wrong, little boy? Giving up already?
Ken: Omi!!
Rindou: So Sleeping Beauty's awake. Take this!

[cards fly!]

Ken: Waaah! Geh... !!

Youji: Careful, Ken! These guys're tough!
Azami: Hehheh... and we're just toying with you, too.

[the shrill scream of an arrow]

Youji: Waaah!! [he falls]

[meanwhile, the bitter duel of blades continues]

Aya: Uuh..... kh...
Mysterious Leader: Hmph, you haven't yet understood.
Aya: What?!
Mysterious Leader: Haa!

[he strikes behind the hilt of Aya's sword with the spine of his katana]

Aya: Aaah!!

[Aya's katana flies from his hands]

Omi: Aya-kun!
Ken: That guy outfought Aya?!
Aya: Dammit...
Mysterious Leader: Ran...
Aya: Wha'...?
Mysterious Leader (Shion): I'm so disappointed in you... Ran!
Aya: [sucks in his breath]?! I knew it... it was you!
Rindou: Well then, let's foretell the boys' future.

[he cuts the deck a few times, and pulls out a card]

Rindou: Hmm... Hehheh... The Fool?
Ayame: A good card... suits these boys perfectly. Fools for thinking yourselves worthy of the name Weiß.
Azami: Never interrupt our work again. Next time, we'll spare no mercy.
Shion: We leave now!
Aya: W...wait!!

[Shion's group disappears, quickly as the wind]

Aya: Wait!! Please wait, Shion!! ...Shion!!!
Omi: Aya-kun!
Youji: You know that guy?!
Aya: Shion... you're alive?! You're alive?! Shion!!

[a cold wind blows through]

[Ending theme : Epitaph (Koyasu)]