Nanako awakes in Fukiko's house and thinks that Rei might sleep through part of the day, as she had done on the day before. Instead, Rei is full of energy and somehow brings Nanako back to her own house. She is nervous about introducing Rei to her parents, who are as worried as her friend Tomoko, who have not heard from her, not liking the lack of communication. Later on, Tomoko walks to a nearby park with Nanako and Rei, trying to determine whether they are really dating (as she suspects), and they travel to a nearby restaurant where they see Lady Vampanella and Takashi smoking near one another. Rei even teases the former about not having a girlfriend, invoking her ire, and all of them, once inside, are surprised to learn that Lady Vampanella smokes. Their day goes on from here, even talking about recent films they've seen, with the mushroom mentioned to Tomoko, who remains inquisitive...
Like the previous day, Nanako was awoken by the sunlight pouring through the windows. She thought that Rei might sleep through part of another day, like she had on Saturday. That was not to be. She wanted to get up and enjoy everything. She felt a new lease on life. It was a beautiful, majestic Sunday, in her book. She firmly grabbed Nanako's hand and ran out of the house. She moved so quickly that Nanako barely had any time to compose herself. Before they knew it, they had run up the block. They happened to on the same street as her house. Could she really bring over Rei to... meet her parents? She wasn't sure, but it was worth a try.
As she used her key to open the door of where she lived, she didn't think anyone else was there. That is until she and Rei walked into the living room, after taking their shoes off. Tomoko was there, talking to Nanako's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Misonoo. One was a university professor and the other had once worked as a waitress at a pub, where they both met. Currently, she was just a housewife, like many Japanese women in this era.
"Nanako, we were so worried," her mother began. Her father chimed in as well. He had been equally concerned. "We just wondered where you were. Arikura-san told us..." It was then that Tomoko jumped in. She hadn't heard anything in a day or so, and was getting antsy as well. She didn't like this lack of communication.
Nanako tried to assuage their concerns. "It's okay. I was just staying with Rei-sama...she's been going through a lot, recently...so I was helping her." If Nanako hadn't used the pronouns she and her, her parents would have thought that Rei was a man. She sometimes gave off that aura about her. So, it wasn't a mistake, but it did show that their perceptions of men and women were a bit traditionalist, to say the least, even though they were a mixed family.
Tomoko hugged Nanako. She thought something bad had happened to her. In some ways, she wasn't wrong. The thought that Nanako had been physically injured was incorrect. Even so, there was a tremendous amount of mental strain that Nanako was under, with everything she had experienced, especially after hearing about the magic mushrooms, if they could be called that.
They continued to chat through the morning, although Rei never mentioned about the blue angels, nor did Nanako. It would be their secret. For Nanako, she didn't want to mention it front of her parents. From what she knew, they were pretty traditionalist. Sure, smoking was socially acceptable, but taking some weird drugs or pills... no it wasn't. They were seen as the bad drugs. Smoking was "good" and meant to make you feel better. What this meant was that people could get drunk out of their minds and crash their cars, but smoking a little ganja would get you thrown inside the slammer for a long time. Was this really a just way to run a society?
As the day wore on, Tomoko decided to walk to the nearby park with Nanako. Rei joined them. When Tomoko wasn't looking, Nanako stashed the mushrooms into Rei's left pocket. They couldn't tell her. She was a nice, proper girl. Even participating in the petition drive to abolish the sorority had been out of her comfort zone. What would she think about some mysterious magic fungi? Nanako wasn't sure she wanted to find out.
Tomoko could see how well Nanako and Rei were getting along. She knew full well that Nanako really, really liked Rei. She had told her so multiple times and made it clear when she had told her about meeting Rei at the train station. She was very accepting and didn't mind whether someone liked a boy, girl, or whatever. It was fine with her. This time, it seemed like they had gone further... or something had happened to them.
"So, Nanako, how was your date?" she asked innocently. This question surprised her, as she didn't expect it, especially when the woman she loved was right there next to her. She struggled to answer, at least a little, until she felt Rei's hand clasp her own. She now had the strength to answer her friend with all honesty.
"It was wonderful," she began. She continued on, singing her date's praises. "The place we went was majestic...we had such a fun time together...oh I wish I could be with Rei-sama forever," she said, still gushing. Tomoko was a bit jealous. She didn't have anyone special like that in her life. Some qualities of men attracted her, but she also felt something for Prince Kaoru and had a very close friendship with Mariko. She didn't know what that meant. No word like "bisexual" existed at the time. She didn't feel that terms like rezubin applied to her, although baisekushuaru seemed a little closer. None of those labels really mattered to her, though. She just wanted to live her life on her own terms.
After they had walked together for a while, they walked to a nearby restaurant, a local MOS Burger. It was Japan's answer to McDonalds, you could say, although there were other similar restaurants, then, like Lotteria. Outside were two people they were all familiar with, but would have never expected to be together: Lady Vampanella and Takashi. She stepped closer. He pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit her cigarette, which she placed between her index and forefinger. With her brown hair fluttering in the breeze and her lips puckered, she blew the smoke toward them, causing Nanako and Tomoko to cough. They hated that smell. Takashi at least had the tact to smoke away from them. He could see that neither of them liked it. As Rei prepared to join them, Nanako urged her to not do so.
"Rei-Sama, you shouldn't do that...you should care more about your health...I don't want..." What she was saying was cut off when Rei placed the cigarette box back into her pocket. Turning to the two smokers, she loudly declared, and held up her hands like she was surrendering. She decided to make a big show of it. "My girlfriend is right, you know...you both should try getting one sometime."
While Takashi dismissed her snide comment easily, Lady Vampanella snarled. How dare Rei say that to her, of all people! She realized that Rei had a point. Sure, she was close to Cattelya, but they'd never actually gone out on dates or anything. You could say Cattelya was her shinyuu. She responded back forcefully, her eyes brown eyes looking fiercely ahead. "Fine, have fun with your kanojo, Rei." After saying that, she then started to walk away. Tomoko didn't know what to say to her. All three of them walked inside the restaurant, while Takashi and the lady stayed outside. They had no reason to go inside a restaurant like that.
Despite the smoking outside, the inside of the restaurant was very nice. There weren't fancy white satin tablecloths or napkins with napkin rings, but it was clean and tidy. It was, you could call it, an upscale fast-food joint.
Tomoko offered to order burgers and fries for them. Nanako and Rei agreed. Tomoko felt she should give them at least a little time to talk to one another. Nanako looked at Rei, who wasn't sure what her sweet Poupee-chan Nanako-chan wanted to ask her. She didn't know Tomoko that well, but she was willing to be with her, for the day, since she knew that she and Nanako had a strong bond.
"So, you've never been to a place like this, Rei-Sama, have you?"
Rei let out a howl of laughter, almost causing the other restaurant patrons to look toward her. Was Nanako really being serious? She wasn't sure.
"You probably think I'm too proper or something. Fu... my sister brought me here when we were younger."
Nanako was not sure why Rei didn't say her sister's own name and just called her "my sister." Was there a deeper significance to it? She continued to continue composing the letter, that she would send to Henmi later that week, in her head. Rei knew full well about these letters, but had never objected to her sending them, unlike Fukiko. However, the latter was due to the fact she had a crush on Henmi and wanted to be with him. She falsely thought that Nanako was getting in the way of her. She had no idea that both of them were actually siblings. Henmi had been born to Nanako's father, when he had been with another woman.
Dear Brother, I never thought that such a majestic person like Rei would ever be in such a plebeian setting like this. Oh the inhumanity of how her sparkle is dulled by the room around her. I wish I could have seen her back then with her sister... I have to put that aside. What matters is that I'm with Rei now. I want to have a fun day with her, even if Tomoko is here too.
As her thoughts on this matter had started to dissipate, Tomoko returned. She carried a tray with her, complete with three burgers and some french fries. She had come here a good deal, after school, with Tomoko, especially since they started going to Seiran. They rarely saw any of their fellow students there.
"Who would have guessed that Lady Vampanella was a smoker?...and hanging out with someone like Takashi? I'm not sure how he puts up with it."
Nanako laughed, in her ever-so-sweet way. It was one of the things that Rei loved about her. She liked every part of her, in one way or another.
"I didn't know either, but...at least Takashi is nice to her...after all, she was high up in the sorority before it was abolished."
They both turned to Rei, who continued to chomp down her burger. She had preferred medium-rare burgers, so she could have the blood from it run down her hands, but with everything that had happened recently, she wasn't sure if she felt the same way anymore. She looked at them, a bit confused, and thinking they wanted to ask her a question.
"What? I don't know her first name. Not even my sister knows. She keeps that a secret...I don't know why...she's a mystery wrapped in an engima."
Not wanting to talk about that anymore, Tomoko had the tact to steer the conversation in another direction. She began blabbing about a film she had just seen the day before. She had wanted to go with Nanako, but she didn't know where Nanako was, so she decided to go by herself instead. She went to her favorite niche theater which displayed foreign films.
"So, have any of you watched some good films recently? I just loved Warren Beatty in The Parallax View...it really made me think of so many things the government could have hidden."
Rei laughed loudly. Why was she talking about some American film? Weren't the Americans killing people in Laos and Cambodia? Why would anyone like them? After all, weren't Japanese films good enough? And who was this Warren Beatty person anyway? She'd never heard of someone with his name. She didn't really keep up with that kind of thing. Not everyone could. And that was okay.
Before she could jump in, Nanako piped up. "Well, I really liked The Conversation and the mystery, and intrigue...I had to look around after coming out of the theater because I thought I was being watched!"
The table fell deathly silent. Neither one of them wanted to contemplate that someone was following them or watching their every move. Rei was a bit different. She chuckled and pulled Nanako closer. She then declared, "those are all nice and good, but why don't we see Young Frankenstein together? It's from that funny man who directed Blazing Saddles...oh I really loved that movie...I'd love to watch it again someday."
They continued chattering about films as they all ate the last of their burgers, having a nice time together. Rei was happy until she started seeing a little grey creature waving at her again. She tried to remain calm and rubbed her eyes. Their conversation stopped. Nanako realizing something was wrong. "Rei-sama, are you okay?" She shook her head from side to side. She whispered in her lover's ear. "I'm going to go outside for some fresh air."
As Rei went outside, she noticed that Takashi and the lady, Ms. Hoshino, whose first name she didn't know, had left. No one else was around. She leaned against a wall and took a deep breath. What were all these strange grey creatures? And why was she seeing them? She hadn't started seeing them before... she knew now what it was: they were the aftereffects of the blue angel. She wasn't sure she wanted to give them to anyone else. If they did this to her, what's to say that the effects on other people wouldn't be more severe? It wasn't in her nature to think about these kinds of things. That magic mushroom changed her in some ways.
Just then, Nanako opened the door and saw Rei outside, leaning against the wall. She walked over to her and tried to act encouraging.
"Rei-sama, let's go for a walk in the park," she said with exuberance, while pointing to the nearby park. It wasn't the same one she'd gone on a date with her to, all that time ago. On that day, she even skipped classes because she wanted to be with her. That wasn't an issue this time, however, because it was a Sunday.
As they walked together, Rei decided to share what she had been going through. She had to tell someone. "I saw those grey men creatures again today...I think it was that...uh...plant I took on Friday." She tried to keep it vague enough if someone was listening, but also to clue in Nanako, while obscuring it was actually a fungi. However, she didn't get in the next word.
"What plant? What grey creatures? What is going on?" Tomoko asked in what was a completely honest question. Nanako whispered to her that this was not the place to talk about it. Tomoko decided to accept her reasoning. As it so happened, a train station was nearby. They were skilled at using the train to get to school, then transferring to a bus, to get to the academy gates. In what seemed like a blur, they walked off the train station and began walking toward the apartment building within which Rei lived. Lucky for them, Fukiko seemed to not be present. They would rather not run into her.
After getting inside, they took off their shoes. Rei closed the window shades and turned on some lights. She took the mushrooms out of her pocket. They still continued to glow blue. This even surprised Rei a bit. She had expected they would have wilted, by this point. Tomoko was amazed. Is this what Rei had been talking about earlier?
"Some man in a cotton white hat gave them to me a few days ago...and it brought me back from a...uh...darkplace. I've been having some visions since then...I don't know what to do."
Nanako hugged the woman she loved, holding onto her. Tomoko didn't know what to say. Nanako did. "We'll help you, Rei-sama. Don't worry...we will get through this together." Tomoko smiled when she heard that. She wanted to stay with them, but she saw a nearby clock and knew she had to go home. "See you both at school tomorrow!"
The door closed. Her steps down the apartment building's stairs could be heard as they faded away. Rei was about to put the mushrooms back in her pocket when Nanako grabbed one. Rei was horrified. Wanting to feel the same thing as the person she loved, she stuffed one in her mouth and swallowed it. Everything felt different. Her pupils got bigger and her limbs got numb. She started to be isolated from everything around her and felt at ease.
Rei could not believe her sweet girl had done that. What was she thinking? She began laughing. "You know, Nanako-chan, this drug doesn't suit you."
Nanako, still under the influence of drug, began thrashing and shouted so loud, perhaps the loudest in her life. "It so does suit me! If you can take it, so can I!" She then slumped onto the ground and fell into a deep sleep. During that time, she began hearing voices and echoes, and even started to see back to when she had been born. She wasn't sure how this was possible. There was no doubt that this was a moving experience.
Knowing that Nanako's parents might be worried, Rei called Nanako's house on the telephone, getting the number from Nanako's parents. She told them that Nanako would be staying over that night, and that she was okay. Her parents were relieved. After ending the phone call, Rei, tired from everywhere they went that day, slept in her bed, next to Nanako, and held her tight. No matter what, she wouldn't let her go. She wouldn't let her slip away.