Episode 18 - The Answer Is In Your Heart

The Answer Is In Your Heart (答えは心のなかにあるんだ, Kotae wa Kokoro no Naka ni Arun da) is the eighteenth episode of the Little Busters! Animation. It aired on February 09, 2013. This is the third and last episode of Haruka Saigusa's arc.

Short Summary

 * As it begins to rain, Haruka confronts Kanata and discovers that Kanata had lied to her when they were younger about being allergic to eggs. After Kanata leaves, Kud tells Riki that she is a nice person when inside their room, and merely pretends to usually be cold. Riki finds Kanata in a classroom and she tells him how she told Haruka she was allergic to eggs to protect her from getting beaten by their family, but Haruka finds it difficult not to shoulder all of her hate onto Kanata. Later, Riki convinces Haruka to go talk to Kanata, and she tells her she wants to know the truth about their family. Though initially reluctant, Kanata tells Haruka that their family was nice to her as long as she was better than her, and that the Futaki family often beat Kanata whenever she went easy on Haruka. Kanata had to secure the succession of the Saigusa family and be hard on Haruka, or else they would have killed Haruka. Haruka apologizes for thinking that she was the only one having a hard time, and she reconciles with her sister. Kanata decides to leave the family and the two go see Shou, who tells them their mother and their other father tried to leave the family with Haruka and Kanata, but the Saigusa family took the kids back, prompting Shou to intercede and ultimately go to jail as a result. Haruka tells him that she does not have to know who her real father is anymore, and later, Haruka and Kanata go see their mother and other father.

Detailed Summary

 * The episode opens with Riki looking from Haruka to Kanata while awkwardly sitting between them. Kanata is slowly taking away everything that Haruka cherished and the one thing that she took pride in was being good at making chiffon cake. Honestly anything to do with eggs she felt pride in that she was better than Kanata at, but obviously she is not. Haruka’s chiffon cake was burnt to a crisp while Kanata’s earned a stellar review from Riki. Kanata is a liar and she always has been for as long as she can remember; it was she that told Haruka that she is allergic to eggs when they were younger and obviously she isn’t allergic to them. Haruka really, really hates Kanata and wishes for her death at this very moment. She breaks free of Riki’s hold on her and she charges Kanata as if to strike her down herself, but when she started pounding on Kanata’s chest her punches came weaker and weaker until she fell to the ground. That’s why, Kanata says, everyone calls her a good-for-nothing; even in this situation she can’t deliver on her promises.


 * Kanata took off her disguise (big, pink ball hairpins and colored contact lenses) and left after making her statement. The two sisters’ negative thoughts for each other are reaching the boiling point. Rin, Kud, and Komari were watching everything from a safe distance away rush up to console Haruka after Kanata leaves. Kud looks at Riki and asks him if he thinks Kanata is a bad person as well (as everyone). Kud tells Riki that Kanata is actually a very nice and kind person whenever she and Kud are in their room together. Kud accidentally mentions something about Kanata, but catches herself and says that it might be best if she doesn’t tell anyone about it. Riki decides to chase after Kanata, mostly thanks to Kud telling him about Kanata’s real nature.


 * Riki finds Kanata in the student council room. He was shocked at first when he saw her because it looked to him like she was undressing. She wasn’t, in fact she was expecting him to follow and is patiently waiting for him to ask her something, anything. Riki asks Kanata why she lied about her allergies to eggs. Kanata almost laughs; of all things Riki could have asked her, she never thought that he would ask her this. Kanata begins her story by reminding Riki that she is a liar and always has been. The lie regarding the eggs came from an innocent desire to protect Haruka from the evil family. There was a cooking competition at school and this cooking competition meant something more for the family, it was another chance for them to compare the two sisters.


 * For the cooking competition Haruka was going to make an omelet. Unbeknownst to Haruka, Kanata was also told to make an omelet, but Kanata knew that if she made an omelet then Haruka would be beaten by the family elders for being inferior. Kanata instead made miso soup; of course she won the cooking competition but the family couldn’t use the chance to beat Haruka some more. When Haruka asked about why Kanata didn’t make an omelet Kanata replied that she is allergic to eggs. Haruka believed this lie until today; it was her one pride. For just one small thing Haruka felt that she was better than Kanata. Eggs, she took special joy in burning eggs because the lie meant that Haruka was better no matter how bad she was. Of course Haruka was still beaten for the cooking competition, but at least it wasn’t as bad as it would have been otherwise.


 * Riki went and found Haruka and told her everything that Kanata told him. Instead of being happy that Kanata was always protecting her, Haruka became furious instead and asked Riki while shouting if she is suddenly the bad guy here. Does the lie make Kanata a hero? If she can't target Kanata with her anger, then who will become the butt of her hatred? Haruka has no target in sight if Kanata suddenly becomes the good guy. Her anger will eat her away; it has only been thanks to Kanata’s ever presence that she was able to keep her hatred in check for the most part. Haruka roughly gets up and leaves Riki (and Kyousuke) in the baseball club room feeling, if anything, worse than before. Kyousuke is always there for Riki during these trying times’ even now he gently guides Riki toward the correct path. Instead of feeding their hatred, Kyousuke tells Riki that only Haruka can bring herself out of this spiral. She needs to figure out what she really wants.


 * The following day while Riki is buying a drink from the vending machine, Haruka is stalking him to find a good chance to apologize for her behavior yesterday. Riki handed her Kanata’s big, pink ball hairpin. Haruka cupped the hairpin in her hand and looked at it. Riki tells Haruka what Kyousuke told him about how she is the only one that can find an answer to this problem and asks her what she really wants. Haruka tells him that she wants to know whose child she belongs to. Riki doesn’t think that will solve anything, but for Haruka she will finally get some closure; if she is really the daughter of a criminal…. But then heard this argument for too long and cut across her and asked Haruka what if, just what if Kanata was Saigusa Shou’s daughter. The family would tear her apart. That’s fine with Haruka, she says, but even Riki can tell that she is only putting on a strong front. She claims to want Kanata to feel her pain, but does she really? He tells Haruka to find the answer that is within her heart.


 * Haruka came to a decision and together she and the rest of the Little Busters crew confronted Kanata. Haruka asked Kanata to tell her the truth about which father she has. Kanata scornfully tells her that it will do her no good knowing and to ask on her knees and beg. Haruka does just that and asks again from her legs with her head bowed to the ground. This threw Kanata off for a moment; she asked if Haruka had no pride. Kanata stands firm in her decision not to tell Haruka the truth. Haruka returns the hairpin to Kanata. The hairpin is special; when the sisters were children Kanata received a package from their parents secretly and gave one set of hairpins to Haruka in the dead of the night in a shed. Kanata and Haruka was very friendly toward one another back then. Kanata was already chosen to become the next family head and was told to be extremely harsh to Haruka. They made a promise over the hairpins back then to see their parents together in the future. Kanata also told Haruka that she might seem like a total, uncaring jerk in the future, but that her real feelings will always remain the same.


 * The family forced Kanata to be harsh to Haruka. If she was kind to her even for a second then they whipped her and left deep scars on her arms and back. The scars were what Kud was about to tell Riki but stopped. The family wanted to kill Haruka and Haruka was only allowed to live because Kanata was mean to her. Being mean to Haruka was Kanata’s way of protecting her. At this point, Kanata broke down and starting crying and saying how Haruka will always be her little sister. Haruka came up to her and hugged Kanata and apologized for forgetting the promise all this time. She should have realized that Kanata was suffering just as much, if not more than herself.


 * Kanata and Haruka head to Shou’s rundown apartment. There Kanata tells him to tell Haruka the truth because she is leaving the family as of now. They head to the riverside where Shou spills everything. He tells Haruka how their three parents were childhood friends and both guys were in love with their mom, but their mom loved the other guy instead of Shou. When their mom had Kanata and Haruka, Shou decided to take himself out of the picture and let these two lovebirds raise the children together. They tried to sneak away but the family caught up to them and took the children. Shou fought for and tried to protect everyone from the family by doing everything in his power. He was arrested for arson and attempted murder.


 * Shou hands Haruka a letter from her mom and she holds it close to her chest. Now Shou is about to tell Haruka her last question about which daughter she belongs to, but Haruka doesn’t need to hear anymore. She always thought she was unloved and there were only evil, twisted people in the world. Now she knows better, how her three parents did everything to protect and love her, how her half-sister really feels. Her entire world changed for the better. On a day off from school a short time into the future, Kanata and Haruka leave together with the Little Busters crew and head to their parents home. Shou is with them. For a moment the daughters are hesitant about meeting the other father and their mother, but the awkwardness easily dissipates when they are hugged by their mom. The promise is fulfilled. Another happy ending thanks to Riki.

Important Events

 * Kanata told Haruka and the others the reason why she continued to torment her.


 * The twin sisters confronted Shou in which he told how he protected them.


 * The sisters decided to head to their parents' home (her mother's and other father's).

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Trivia

 * This episode marks the end of Haruka's arc.


 * During the sisters' confrontation with Shou, he is about to answer Haruka's question of which daughter belongs to, but Haruka doesn't have to hear it anymore in the end. This scenario is different in the visual novel, with Shou offering them to have blood samples to know who really is, on which both Haruka and Kanata refuse.