[Rakka]

Where am I...?
It feels like I'm...falling from the sky.
It's strange... Why am I not feeling scared now?
Are you worried about me?
Where am I? What is this?
Everything here feels so soft and warm, but I'm anxious inside.
I'm not afraid, but my heart feels cold.
I know you can't, but thank you anyway.

[Reki]

Um? This is... Oh my. This is big!

[Hikari]

Almost there. A little more.
Wow! Everybody 's here already.

[Kana]

This is way too far from town. Not to mention Reki's scooter is a single-seater.
Isn't that gonna just provoke them even more?

[Kids]

Come on, Reki. Please.

[Reki]

Come on, you saw the sign to stay out, why can't you listen?

[Kids]

We wanna see!

[Reki]

I already said no.

[Kids]

Why not?
Why not? Let us see?

[Kana]

Ha... I knew it would happen. Hey, If you brats don't get out here, I'm giving you a beating!
See you Reki? You are too easy on those kids.

[Reki]

So, think you can take some time off from work?

[Hikari]

Of course! This is a big event for all of us Haibane.We can't miss it.

[Kana]

I can probably get time off, too. But three days are at the most starting tomorrow.
So, tell me, where's the big star of this moment of ocassion, Huh?

[Kuu]

Wow! It's huge!

[Kana]

Wow... Now that is something really big.

[Nemu]

You're late.

[Kana]

Oh, come on! I didn't get the word in time. And do you know how hard it is for me to leave work early?

[Hikari]

It's started out about as big as a dandelion puff, right?
I wish I could've seen it grow. From now on, we should all make the rounds more often.
If Reki had never accidentally found it, it would've hatched without any of us even knowing.

[Kana]

Come on!
There's no way the five of us can cover this ridiculously huge building.
Anyway, it would be hard to miss something this big.

[Hikari]

I guess.

[Nemu]

The surface color is turning charcoal gray.
It might be hatching very soon.

[Reki]

At any rate, why don't we at least try to clean up the room.
Anybody who was born in a room full of junk like this... I'd feel sorry for.

[Kuu]

Is there really someone inside of the cocoon, Reki?

[Reki]

That's right.
All the Haibane are born in this manner.
Just like you and I were, Kuu.

[Kids]

Wow! It's a huge monster egg!
A monster!

[Reki]

What?
You're still here?

[Kids]

Monster!

[Reki]

This room is absolutely off limits!
You hear?
What's is it with those curious brats?

[Nemu]

She is the one who's been acting up over this the most.

[Hikari]

She's just happy about it.
I'm excited too, about having a new feather!

[Kuu]

I'm excited too.
I hope it'll be like getting a little sister.

[Kana]

Wow, this cocoon is way bigger than yours was, Kuu.

[Kuu]

What?!

[Kana]

Come on, time to clean the room.

[Kuu]

You're mean!

[Rakka]

Is this... a dream?
I can breathe, but how?
I think I'm still in a dream.
Huh?
I can hear some voices.

[Kana]

Oh, let's quit.
This is clean enough.

[Hikari]

When do you think it's gonna hatch?

[Kana]

I won't help there already...

[Rkka]

There must be people outside.

[Kuu]

It's all clean now.

[Kana]

I'm so tired.

[Hikari]

There.

[Reki]

Okay then, we'll draw straws to see who takes the first watch.

[Kuu]

Yeah! Whoo-hoo!

[Kana]

Uh, what a drag.
So, why don't we just crack it open with a hammer.
I'm sure there's one lying around here.

[Hikari]

How can you say that?!

[Reki]

We can't do that. It's against tradition.
If you can't crack the shell by yourself, then you won't grow strong.

[Kana]

Huh, so now you think we're baby chicks?

[Nemu]

Well, why don't you just sleep during your watch.

[Reki]

That defeats the purpose of having a watch!

[Kuu]

Hey, I just heard it make a "blub" sound.

[Reki],[Nemu]

Huh?

[Kuu]

See?

[Reki],[Nemu]

Huh?

[Kana],[Hikari]

Huh?

[Everyone]

Huh? Oh... Ah? Argh!

[Rakka]

More clouds?
I must be still in that strange dream.
What?
Where am I?
It feels rough.
But, everything felt so soft in the dream.
And it smells like nuts.
Ow!

[Reki]

Oh, so you're awake.
Sorry, we had to do some quick shopping.

[Kuu]

You've been asleep for the whole day.
It was amazing!

[Hikari]

See, I should've stayed here, just like I said.

[Kana]

But you wanted to be the ring person.

[Rakka]

Well, uh, um...

[Hikari]

How do you feel?

[Kuu]

Are you hungry?

[Reki]

Hey, everybody, try to talk one at a time.
You're all going to confuse her.

[Kuu]

Okay.

[Reki]

I'm sorry for all the commotion.
My name is Reki.
You're in my room but it doubles as a guestroom, so don't worry about it.
You can use it freely.

[Nemu]

You turned this guestroom into your room, to be more precise.

[Reki]

That's why I'm moving my stuff out.
Well then, let me try to explain everything to you from the beginning.
Is it okay if I smoke?

[Rakka]

Ah, sure.

[Reki]

First of all, can you tell us about your dream?

[Rakka]

My dream?

[Reki]

Yes, you had one, didn't you?
During the time that you were sleeping in the cocoon.

[Rakka]

Well, uh...

[Reki]

Oh, sorry.
Did you have a scary dream?

[Rakka]

No, don't worry. It's OK.
Let's see, umm, I had a dream that I was falling down from somewhere very high up in the sky.

[Kuu]

Wow!
It's a dream just like mine.

[Hikari]

What should we do?
It'll overlap.

[Kuu]

My dream is about floating around in the air.
That's why my name is Kuu, because my name is supposed to mean "air."

[Hikari]

Each Haibane is named after the dream she had in the cocoon.
I had a dream being surrounded by a sparkling light.
So I'm Hikari meaning "light."

[Kana]

In the dream I had, I was drifting in a river just like a fish.
So my name is Kana, which stands for "river fish."
This sleepy head here is Nemu, which means "sleep," because she was sleeping even in her dream.

[Nemu]

Do you wanna get hit?

[Reki]

What else?
Did you see anything?

[Rakka]

I think I might have saw something, but I can't remember.

[Reki]

Hmm.
Falling... Falling...
Hm, I believe Rakka is another word for falling.
So, your name will be... Rakka.

[Rakka]

But my name...
Uh, I don't remember my name.
Uh...

[Reki]

There's nobody here who knows who you were before you ever appeared.
Including yourself, of course.
Hikari.

[Hikari]

Feather Rakka, to help guide your future as a fellow Haibane, I give you this halo.

[Rakka]

Ah. Ah... Ah...
A Haibane?

[Hikari]

Oh, be careful it's still hot.

[Rakka]

Hmm... Oh, no! Oh...

[Everyone]

Oh...

[Hikari]

Well It looks good.

[Reki]

Don't worry it'll stick in a few days.

[Kuu]

Oh no, lunch break is over.

[Kana]

Oh man. This is bad.
I've gotta get back to work.

[Hikari]

I guess today is just introductions.
We'll come back tomorrow when your wings have grown, so we can talk a lot more then.

[Nemu]

Reki, you can take it from here.

[Kuu]

Rakka, see you later.

[Kana]

Bye!

[Hikari]

See you tomorrow!

[Kana]

Hurry up!

[Reki]

Peace and quiet, finally, it's hard to explain things smoothly with a lot of people around.
Well let's see, where do you think we should begin?

[Rakka]

Well, uh, can you tell me where I am?
And what's Haibane...?

[Reki]

Hmm, Hmm.

[Rakka]

Are those real?

[Reki]

Your wings will grow soon.
Feeling any back pain?

[Rakka]

A little.
I thought it was just sore from sleeping funny.

[Reki]

Lemme see.
I'll go get some ice.

[Rakka]

Huh?

[Reki]

Stay right here.
I'm just going to get ready for it.
I'm sorry.
The wings seem to be coming in faster than I had expected.
I was hoping to explain everything to you, before the fever broke out.
But, there wasn't any time, does it hurt?

[Rakka]

Not exactly, but it feels like being pulled.
Like I'm going to get a cramp.

[Reki]

I understand.
It will sting a bit when the wingtips break the skin.
And then you'll run a high fever, but I promise you it'll be gone by tomorrow.

[Rakka]

Mirror...

[Reki]

You'd better not.
It'll hurt more if you see it.

[Rakka]

I see...
We're not human, are we?

[Reki]

Nobody knows exactly what we are, if we're human or not.
We call ourselves the Haibane, which means charcoal feathers.

[Rakka]

I wanna go home.

[Reki]

The Haibane are not allowed to go outside of town.
It is our most sacred law.
Besides, even if your family were somewhere in this world, they wouldn't recognize you, if they saw you now.

[Rakka]

Why?

[Reki]

Just as you cannot remember the world that you used to be in, there's nobody in this world who can remember you.
It's the world that we live in.

[Rakka]

But why am I here? Why me?
I'm just an ordinary girl.
I'm sure that I was nothing special.

[Reki]

We're all asking why...
But nobody remembers anything.

[Rakka]

Ah! Ah!

[Reki]

It's started.

[Rakka]

It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!

[Reki]

Bite on this!
So you won't bite your tongue!

[Rakka]

GYAAAAAA!
My limbs are cold and heavy.
The wings on my back twitch every time I feel pain shooting through my shoulders and sides.
For every second, I feel the wings becoming more a part of my body.
I'm afraid that my body is being changed into something else.
Sweat's stinging my eyes. I can't see anything.

Reki, are you there?

[Reki]

Um?

[Rakka]

What are you doing?

[Reki]

I have to brush your wings to make them clean.

[Rakka]

Have you done it... for a while?

[Reki]

It takes time.
They'll get stained unless you get them completely free of blood and grease.

[Rakka]

Is your hand alright?

[Reki]

Oh, this? It's nothing.
You should just be thinking about yourself right now.

[Rakka]

Hm, my head is hot.

[Reki]

You'll feel better by tomorrow.
Just like magic, you'll be fine.

[Rakka]

Hmm.

[Reki]

Pretty wings.
Not white, not black, but beautiful charcoal gray feathers.

[Rakka]

Oh... Oh...
What is this?
What's happening to me?

[Reki]

Hmm, ha, ha.

[Rakka]

Huh? Don't laugh!

[Reki]

Do you attract static?

[Rakka]

I don't know!
I can't remember.
Something's wrong with this ring!
Is this permanent?

[Reki]

It's nothing.

[Rakka]

They are real.
Reki, did you keep cleaning my wings all this time even after I fell asleep?

[Reki]

Huh? Oh, of course.
They're clean now, aren't they?

[Rakka]

Thank you very much.

[Reki]

You're very welcome.
And on behalf of the Haibane, welcome to Old Home.