Episode 17 - I Wanted Someone to Stay By My Side

I Wanted Someone to Stay By My Side (誰かにそばにいて欲しかったんだ, Dareka ni Soba ni Ite Hoshikattan da) is the seventeenth episode of the Little Busters! Animation. It aired on February 02, 2013. This is the second episode of Haruka Saigusa's arc.

Short Summary

 * Haruka tells her friends how she and Kanata were born from two separate fathers, one of whom, Shou Saigusa, was the one previously arrested. Due to this, the Futaki family took control of the Saigusa family, and Haruka and Kanata were compared from early on to decide which one of them would be the heir to the family. After Kanata was chosen to be the heir, Haruka was blamed and tormented by the family, so Haruka chose to make trouble for Kanata so that she would get scolded for not keeping her in line. Haruka initially believes her friends will abandon her after knowing the truth, but they resolutely reassure her that they would never abandon her. Later, the Little Busters play baseball until Haruka is able to smile again, though afterwards Kanata warns her not to drag her friends into any trouble. Another day, Haruka bakes chiffon cake, but it turns out dry. Haruka goes see Shou, to find out if he is in fact her father, but he does not tell her. Later that night, Riki tells Kanata that he just wants to help Haruka like he was helped in the past, but he apologizes for his arrogance. The next day, Haruka shows Riki some chiffon cakes she baked, and he is surprised at how much better they taste this time. However, it turns out that this was merely Kanata disguised as Haruka, who suddenly shows up shocked.

Detailed Summary

 * Haruka continues telling the Little Busters crew about her family’s sordid past for a good chunk of the first half. We left the story off on Haruka telling everyone how the woman in her household take two husbands and that Kanata and herself were by-products of this breeding project. Shou Saigusa was one of the husbands and apparently he became disillusioned or he found out something else or whatever, but he got fed up with the Saigusa family and tried to kill them. He was arrested for attempted murder. Having a criminal in the family shamed them so they simply got rid of the mom and other husband just like that. However, the family took Kanata and Haruka in because they still needed a heir.


 * The family had Haruka and Kanata compete against each other. This was mainly due to figuring out which husband the children came from. Kanata and Haruka are half-sisters and yet they are twins. It’s not uncommon for a woman giving birth to twins from different guys if she has made love roughly in the same time span. The family figured that the heir can be whoever learns faster, better, and is more athletic. In every category Kanata was superior to Haruka. Haruka became the second daughter and was thrown aside. Whenever things went badly for the family they beat Haruka and blamed everything on her. She was prevented from going to school, making friends. She was always apologizing for this outside her control, for things she had no influence over.


 * Haruka first made friends in high school, but by them the damage has been done. Kanata became the heiress and Haruka does bad things on purpose because the family punishes Kanata for failing to control Haruka. This is Haruka's twisted way of getting revenge on her innocent twin sister. And now the reason for Kanata’s and Haruka’s hatred for each other is made clear. Haruka hates herself more than anyone could hate her, she calls herself a number of things but there is one thing that Riki refuses to allow her to say. He won’t allow Haruka say that she wishes she was never born. All of the other problems can be fixed, but not if she never lived.


 * Riki only wants to help Haruka and he and the rest of the Little Busters make Haruka understand that they care deeply for her and would be devastated if she were not around. Haruka is their mood-maker. Haruka is best when she is making harmless pranks and smiling they tell her. Haruka knows they are good friends so she doesn’t believe them; she thinks they are lying. Riki and the others manage to convince her that they aren’t lying one bit. Afterwards they hold baseball practice until Haruka smile again. Her smile is short lived and breaks when she sees Kanata. Kanata confronts Haruka about telling the Little Busters about their family situation. They ask Kanata if she put up the posters and she asks what if she did. They are shocked; Haruka calls Kanata a bitch. Kanata doesn’t care, she knows that she is one and walks away after on a last parting shot.


 * Haruka is busy making chiffon cake in the cafeteria oven again. Outside there are people muttering about her family history. Rin sees this and attacks them, or tries to but Haruka stopped her. Haruka and Rin find Riki and Haruka gives them the chiffon cake that she just baked. Haruka feels confident in the cake because she is very good at making things with eggs. But the chiffon cake is like dust in their mouths; Riki and Rin decide to lie through their teeth to keep Haruka happy for this one moment. Haruka confides in them that she is planning on meeting with Shou. He was recently released from prison. The reason why she wants to meet with him is because nobody knows which daughter belongs to which man. Kanata might know, but for certain the only people that know are the parents. Two are missing.


 * The three friends head to Shou’s apartment and find him leaving it. He went to a park where Haruka confronts him. She tells him who she is and she demands that he tell her which daughter she belongs to. It doesn’t matter to her which father it is, but not knowing is killing her from the inside out. She can come to terms if it is Shou, but she wants to know. Shou doesn’t tell Haruka her parentage and eventually gets annoyed with her and throws his alcohol bottle in her general direction. Haruka starts crying and runs away, Rin chases after her. Riki talks with Shou alone. Shou is protecting Haruka from the harsh truth, he wants Riki to understand that. Knowing who her dad is will do more harm than it will do good.


 * That night as Riki is thinking his thoughts outside, he sees Kanata returning to the dorms after visiting her family. Kanata asked them as she is leaving why they put up those posters. In answer Kanata got slapped on the face. Riki called out to Kanata and was surprised when she actually answered him in a civil tone. Kanata knows about Haruka’s parentage, but she agrees with Shou that knowing with do more harm than good if Haruka ever came to know the truth. She is keeping her lips sealed. Kanata knows because she was the only family member to visit Shou while he was in prison.


 * Kanata says that Riki is being arrogant for wanting to help Haruka and he admits this point. He just wants to help his friend and wanted nothing more than that. Kanata goes philosophical and asks Riki about the value of happiness. Imagine if the world was equally balanced in happiness and unhappiness. If someone becomes happy then someone else becomes unhappy. All the unhappy people think that everyone else is happy and vice versa. Riki thinks and wonders if Kanata is talking about being chosen as the heiress to the family. She doesn’t respond.


 * The next day Haruka comes up to Riki and offers him more chiffon cake, only this time they taste like an oasis. These are much better today than yesterday, Riki says. Haruka drops the cakes onto the ground. Riki looks to his side and sees another Haruka standing there completely stunned. She is crying. Riki looked back to the first Haruka and now her face is contorted like a villain. Kanata looked exactly like Haruka, even Riki couldn’t recognize her. Haruka just wanted somebody to stay by her side, taking her side. It didn’t matter if that was a friend, lover, parent, or siblings. That person was Riki at first and now Kanata is ruining that most precious memory in this single moment.

Important Events

 * Haruka revealed how she and Kanata became twins and why Kanata continued to torment her.


 * Riki and Haruka set off to meet Shou, Haruka's father.


 * Riki learned that Kanata disguised as Haruka all along after the real Haruka showed up.

First Appearances

 * Shou Saigusa

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