The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul

[ ACT I ]

KAG climbs out of the Dry Well, hurling her haversack over.

KAG:  I’m back, Gramps! Is the bath water hot? I have to hurry or I’ll be late!

Hojo: (in the background) Is it so serious that she can’t have visitors?

KAG:  That voice…

In the courtyard. Hojo is talking to GRA.

GRA:  Yes… Kagome is laid up in bed.

Hojo: (concerned) I see. Err… (holds up a blue present in his hand) This is a hot compress for Kagome…

GRA:  (takes the present, tearing) Oh, you’re so thoughtful, Hojo! (wipes his tears) My… I mean, her neuralgia will get much better with this.

Hojo: I’ll be going then.

KAG peeps out from the Dry Well structure at them, whimpering.

GRA:  (waves) Okay, take care.

Hojo leaves. Cut to GRA waving, KAG stands next to him with folded arms.

KAG:  Who has neuralgia?

GRA:  (swings around and faces KAG) Oh, Kagome! Be happy! You’re supposed to be disposed today, so you can miss school.

KAG:  (clenches fists and waves exasperatedly) What are you saying?! I WANT to go to school desperately!

GRA:  You’re a strange one.

Bird’s eye view of the Higurashi shrine.

KAG:  (narrating) Only my family knows of my jaunts through the hidden well into the Feudal States Era.

Cut-scene of KAG in English class.

KAG:  (narrating) Besides, I doubt that anyone else would believe me if I told them.

Close-up of KAG’s textbook.

[ End of ACT I: 1min 5sec ]

[ Title screen: The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul ]

[ ACT II ]

KAG and her friends buy ice-cream in a shop. KAG takes her cone and sighs. Cut to them walking in the street, eating ice-cream.

Yuka: Huh? You’re going to take the math supplement course, too?

KAG:  Teacher told me to.

Eri:   We’re used to it, but it’s a shock to hear that you need it, too. The high school Hojo is applying to is very difficult to get into.

Yuka: What? Don’t tell me you’re seeing Hojo, Kagome?!

KAG:  Stop it! Who has time to go out with boys?!

Eri:   That’s not something you want to brag about.

KAG:  Err… Well… (looks down worried, thinking) Gee, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to get into high school! Not with a life like this!

KAG, Yuka and Eri walk across a playground. Several kids and their mothers are playing with fireworks.

Yuka: Oh, look! Fireworks! So pretty!

KAG:  It looks like fun! Huh?

The screen changes to saturated tones. A little girl, laughing mischievously, peeps out of a playground structure. She holds out a small firecracker. It lights up and spins towards the pile of firecrackers that the kids and their mothers had put on the ground. The entire pile crackles, startling everyone. The little girl gets on top of the structure and laughs.

Girl:  Ha-ha-ha! Serves them right! (runs off)

KAG:  (angry) That girl! (chases the girl while Yuka and Eri look at her)

KAG reaches the girl further up.

KAG:  Hold it! (the girl stops and turns around) What did you do that for?!

Girl:  You… You can see me?

KAG:  (examines her, thinking) Who is this girl? Where’re her shoes? And a down jacket…when it’s almost summer? (walks towards her, saying nicely) Let’s go apologize. I’ll go with you.

Girl:  (slaps away KAG’s outreaching hand) None of your business!

KAG backs away and a ring of flames surround her suddenly. The girl looks at KAG defiantly and vanishes. The ring of flames becomes smaller and disappears too. KAG, shocked, falls on her knees. Eri and Yuka walk up behind.

Eri:   What’s the matter, Kagome?

Yuka: Who were you talking to?

KAG:  Huh?! (looks around, thinking) Gone… Who was she?

Feudal Japan. TET is stuck into a hive covered in thick wax, while bees buzz around the sheathe. INU squats and stares while waiting behind a bush, looking bored and frustrated.

INU:   Myoga, isn’t it finished?

MYO:  (lands on INU’s shoulder) Not yet. Master Inuyasha, if you go out now, you’ll be stung to death. The sheathe was cracked battling the Thunder Brothers. Let the steel wasps repair it with their special wax.

A pink blob (Shippo) floats behind INU.

SHI:   Dang it… It’s boring! (bites INU on the head and chews)

INU:   (shoves and punches SHI) Shut up!

SHI:   (deflates and goes back to normal, shouting) I came along because I thought Kagome would be here! Why must I be stuck alone with you?!

INU:   That’s my line!

SHI:   (exasperated) Arghh… (falls back and rolls on the ground to and fro dejectedly) Why am I alone with you?!

INU:   (scoffs) Keh!

MYO:  Don’t I count at all? Huh?

A ball of yellow light float across the lake across them. Five other balls of light trail behind it and peaceful flute music is played in the background.

INU:   That’s…

SHI:   (latches onto INU’s shoulder, nervous) A demon!

INU:   Shippo… So are you!

MYO:  That’s the Soul Piper.

Close-up of the Soul Piper blowing a little flute, while the light balls twirl around it. The light balls sometimes fade to children laughing and playing. The eyes of the Soul Piper are almost closed.

MYO:  (voice-over) It was born from the souls of departed children. When a child dies, the Soul Piper plays with that child until the soul is able to rest in peace. As long as its eyes are closed, it’s a peaceful demon.

Exterior of KAG’s house.

KAG:  (voice-over) What?! Not when I’ve come back to this world!

In a busy subway, KAG holds Sota’s hands while walking down a staircase. Sota holds a chain of paper cranes in his hands.

KAG:  Jeepers! Why do I have to accompany you to visit YOUR friend in the hospital?!

Sota: Because the hospital’s in the next town and Mom’s too busy to take me today.

KAG:  Cripes! Everyone’s interfering with my studies!

KAG and Sota get out of the subway onto the road outside.

Sota: Sis…

KAG:  What?

Sota: Is there such a thing as an evil spirit?

KAG:  Huh?

In a hospital room, a boy lay unconscious on the bed, with a gas mask over him and drips injected in his arms. A woman stands near the bed.

Woman: Sota, thank you for coming so often.

Sota: Aunty, how is Satoru?

Satoru’s mom: Physically, he’s healed. But he’s still unconscious.

Satoru and his mom abbreviated as SAT and SAM respectively from now onwards.

Sota: Here… (gives his cranes to SAM)

Cut to close-up of SAM’s hands holding the cranes. There are a lot of burn scars on her hands.

SAM:  Thank you so much for worrying about Satoru.

KAG:  (concerned, thinking) Burn scars?

SAM:  (notices KAG looking) Oh these… I got them from the fire six months ago.

KAG:  Oh, I’m sorry!

SAM:  That’s how Satoru…

Cut to SAT lying on his bed. Light glows from under the bed and a hand reaches out. It grabs the tube of a drip and pulls it down, shattering the drip.

KAG:  (gasps, thinking) Huh?!

KAG notices the girl under the bed tugging at the drip tube

KAG:  The girl at the park…!

The girl fades away.

KAG:  She disappeared!

SAM:  (walks towards SAT) Again… Why must this happen?

KAG:  (thinking) Who is she anyway? I can’t ignore this.

Above the hospital, the girl floats in midair. A Soul-Piper blows his flute next to her.

Girl:  Darn, foiled again!

KAG and Sota are walking along a road.

KAG:  You mentioned an evil spirit. What did you mean, Sota?

Sota: I thought maybe an evil spirit was after Satoru… Satoru has been in a coma since the fire six months ago. At first, all my classmates when to visit him at the hospital. But weird things happened on their way home, like falling down the stairs, or barely missing getting hit by a car… After these things kept happening, the kids stayed away. In that fire six months ago, she died…Satoru’s older sister. Her name is Mayu.

KAG and Sota look up to a burnt apartment in a building, from the ground.

KAG:  Is that the place?

Sota: Uh-huh… Whenever they tried to clean up after the fire, an accident would happen. So it’s been like that for six months now.

Cut to balcony of burnt apartment. A pot of plant suddenly floats up and drops towards KAG and Sota.

KAG:  Watch out!

KAG takes Sota and walk a few steps away. KAG covers Sota with her body. The pot crashed in front of them.

Sota: I knew it! There is an evil spirit!? (faints)

KAG:  Sota! (shakes Sota and looks to the apartment) Huh?! Watch out!

The girl from before stands on the parapet of the balcony and jumps down. She lands in front of KAG.

Girl:  Stupid! I’m already dead.

KAG:  You’re Mayu, aren’t you? Why do you do these things? Aren’t you Satoru’s sister?

Mayu:  Satoru, hah! I’ll kill him! Mom hated me! That’s why she abandoned me! She never wanted me!

KAG:  Mayu… She seems so nice. Don’t make her unhappy anymore.

Mayu:  Be quiet! If you keep interfering, I’ll kill you, too!

Mayu disappears and the plants around KAG are uprooted from the soil. A tree is uprooted high up in the air too. KAG shields Sota while the plants crashes onto the ground around them. When the commotion stopped, KAG looked up. A flute tune is heard. KAG turns around to find the Soul Piper blowing her tune in front of her.

KAG:  Huh? Until my eyes…are open…?

The Soul Piper disappears.

KAG:  "Until my eyes are open"? What does that mean?

[ End of ACT II: 8min 34sec ]

[ ACT III ]

KAG and SHI sit on the Dry Well in the feudal era. INU sits in front of them, leaning on a log with his arms folded.

KAG:  So that demon is called the Soul Piper?

MYO:  (on KAG’s fingers) Uh-huh… So you have it in your world, too? It’s supposed to console the souls of the dead children. It plays its flute until the souls find peace.

KAG:  And if the soul cannot find peace? If the soul has regrets or harbors a grudge…

MYO:  Then that spirit becomes an evil spirit.

KAG:  Evil spirit?!

MYO:  When regrets turn to rage and hatred in a spirit, it becomes evil. Upon becoming an evil spirit, the Soul Piper hurls it into the depths of hell.

SHI:   When the Soul Piper’s eyes are fully open, it’s too late.

KAG:  I won’t allow that! Mayu must find peace!

INU:   Forget it, Kagome! Ghosts are different from demons. You can’t just slay them. One misstep and you’ll regret it.

KAG:  But I can’t ignore it! (stands up) I come from a shrine family! There must be something I can do!

INU:   Keh! Well, count me out of this one! There’s nothing in it for me… (turns around to look at KAG)

SHI:   Kagome is already gone. (refers to the well) Fool!

In the well, KAG is falling.

KAG:  (thinking, determined) I can’t ignore her. That girl has so much sadness in her.

Evening in the hospital. SAM is sewing a kimono. Fade to flashback. Mayu is looking at a goldfish swimming in a fishtank. SAM is washing dishes behind.

Mayu:  Mom, I want a cotton kimono with goldfish on it. (turns around to look at SAM) When the summer comes, I’ll go to the fairs and catch lots and lots of his goldfish friends. I want to wear my cotton kimono then.

SAM:  Mayu, summer’s a long ways off.

Mayu:  That’s okay. Promise?

SAM:  All right! (smiles)

Fade to hospital. SAM stops sewing and sighs. Mayu floats in the air, looking into the room.

Mayu:  When Mom leaves the hospital tonight, I’m going to kill her dear, little Satoru.

The Soul Piper appears behind her and its eyes open a little.

Nighttime in the hospital reception. SAM is walking with a bag in her hand.

Nurse: You’re going home now?

SAM:  Yes, I’ll see you again tomorrow. (bows)

Nurse: Take care. (bows)

Outside, KAG runs towards SAM hurriedly.

KAG:  Excuse me…

SAM:  Oh, you’re Sota’s sister?

KAG:  Umm… About Satoru’s late sister…

An ambulance is heard in the background. A nurse runs out and waves in a direction.

Nurse: We’ve been waiting for you! Please go around!

KAG and SAM look at the ambulance, worried.

SAM:  That day…

CUT TO FLASHBACK. In SAM’s apartment. Mayu just returned. SAT lies on his bed with a towel over his forehead. SAM looks at him worried.

Mayu:  Stupid Mommy! Why did you come to the Open House?!

SAM:  (turns to Mayu) It couldn’t be helped. Satoru’s temperature shot up.

Mayu:  All you care about is Satoru!

SAM:  (chiding) Mayu!

Mayu:  I hate you and Satoru! (plops her bag down and runs out)

SAM:  Mayu, just a minute! (gets up and chases Mayu) Mayu! (stops chasing at the door)

Image of Mayu's bag.

SAM:  (voice-over) We always had arguments like that. On that day, when Mayu ran off, I thought, "Oh, there she goes again."

Cut-scene of SAM returning from grocery shopping. Two neighbors stop her and point in a certain direction. SAM looks shocked. In the apartment, fire flames have engulfed the entire room. SAM rushes in and looks around, coughing from the smoke. Cut to firemen putting out the fire. SAM walks down the stairs with an unconscious SAT in her arms. A fireman put a blanket over her.

SAM:  (voice-over) But… If I had known that Mayu was inside the apartment…

In the apartment, two firemen stand near a closet.

Fireman: A child! Poor thing!

BACK TO PRESENT.

SAM:  If I had known, I would have gone back… If I had only known…! (starts crying)

KAG:  (thinking) She wasn’t aware that Mayu was inside during the fire.

Sound of breaking glass is heard. They look up to find the window of one of the rooms shattered.

SAM:  That’s Satoru’s room!

KAG:  Mayu! (runs into the hospital)

In SAT’s hospital room, the florescent lamps shatters. Medical equipment also breaks and sparks fly all over the place.

KAG:  (opens the door) Mayu, stop!

Mayu hovers above SAT’s bed. SAM gasps.

SAM:  M-Mayu! Why?! (walks towards Mayu)

Mayu:  Quiet!

Mayu sends SAM flying. SAM crashes onto a wall, falls on the ground and faints. The kimono in her bag falls out a little.

KAG:  Mayu, think hard! Did your mother really abandon you? Maybe she didn’t know you were inside the apartment during that fire?

Mayu stops and ponders.

CUT TO FLASHBACK. Mayu just returned. She takes off her muffler and places it on a clothesline over the heater.

Mayu:  Brrr… It was cold! (warms her hand around the fire)

SAT:  Sis… You’re not supposed to hang things above the heater when Mom is not at home.

Mayu:  Oh, be quiet! (opens a closet and hides in it) Don’t you dare tell Mom that I’m hiding here. I want to make her worry! (closes the closet)

Mayu:  (voice-over) That muffler caught fire! It’s all my fault. Mom’s not to blame. Even Satoru…

BACK TO PRESENT.

KAG:  Mayu…

Mayu:  I… I… I know that!!

Mayu shouts and the floor shatters and rumbles. SAT’s bed is flipped and SAT is thrown out of the window.

KAG:  Satoru! (rushes to the window) Huh?! He fell!

INU:   Cripes! I can’t stand to watch you!

Pan upwards to façade of hospital. INU hangs from above the window, with Tetsusaiga stuck in the wall as support. INU holds SAT in his other hand.

KAG:  Inuyasha! You came!

INU:   Didn’t I tell you not to get involved? (looks at Mayu who is floating in front of them) It’s too late for that little kid.

KAG holds SAT and INU jumps onto the window ledge.

INU:   Making her realize the truth doesn’t mean she’ll find peace. It ain’t that simple!

The Soul-Piper appears behind Mayu. Its eyes fully opens.

KAG:  Huh?! The eyes!

Chains suddenly appear and tie around Mayu.

Mayu:  Aghh! What’s this?!

The Soul Piper drags Mayu away with the chains.

Mayu:  No! No! (shrieks)

A train runs along a bridge spanning across a river. INU runs hurriedly along the top of the bridge, piggybacking KAG. Both of them look determined and worried.

INU:   Remember this! I don’t know anything about ghosts! So you work it out!

KAG:  I must help Mayu find peace before she falls into hell.

INU leaps and jumps onto a building. The Soul Piper flies past them.

INU:   This is what Myoga said…the Soul Piper takes the Spirit to the spot where the death occurred then drags it down into hell!

INU leaps towards a window in a building which in glowing in pink ominous light.

INU:   Look over there! Seems pretty dangerous to me! (lands on balcony)

KAG:  Inuyasha, let me off here.

INU:   Fool! Did you really think you can manage alone?

INU walks into the room but KAG slowly fades away.

INU:   No wonder they say that there’s nothing scarier than an ignoramus! (notices KAG’s disappearance) Oh that’s right… This is where humans get sucked into hell. Only humans like Kagome can proceed any further. Damn! This is one time I’m totally helpless!

Mayu kneels in a dark area. Her hands are in chains.

Mayu:  It’s pitch black. Where am I?

A slit of light appears

Mayu:  A light?

Mayu reaches the vertical slit of light and opens it. Flames of fire and smoke rush in. She is in the closet, confronted by the fire. Mayu gasps and yells.

In the hospital, SAM, lying on a hospital bed, suddenly wakes and gasps.

Nurse: Huh?! You’re conscious!

SAM:  (gets up) Umm… What happened?

Nurse: Never mind… Look at Satoru!

SAM:  (rushes to SAT) Huh?! Satoru!

SAT:  (opens his eyes and say weakly) Mom… (SAT holds SAM’s hand) Mom… Umm… Sis is inside the closet. (SAM gasps) Please hurry and get her!

Mayu is surrounded by flames. She cowers and shields her head with her hands.

Mayu:  This is how I died. I couldn’t be saved…

KAG:  Mayu! Mayu!

Mayu:  Who is that?! Mom?!

KAG:  (walks into the burning apartment) Where are you?! Answer! (notices Mayu) Mayu! Hurry! Let’s get out of here! (holds up her hand, hopeful tone)

Mayu:  Are you crazy?! I’m already dead! I don’t have a home anymore!

The ground behind Mayu rumbles and falls away. The chains around Mayu are dragged downwards, pulling her into the void below. Mayu shrieks in fear.

KAG:  Mayu! (grabs Mayu’s hand) Mayu!

The eye of the Soul Piper appears and loom above Mayu. Flame sparks fly all over the place as KAG struggles to hold on to Mayu.

KAG:  You’re going home, Mayu. You’re going home and make peace with your mother. Your mother loves you so very much! Is it okay if you never see her again?

The chain tugs harder at Mayu.

Mayu:  (after a pause, says softly) She’s not angry?

KAG gasps and looks at Mayu.

Mayu:  Mom’s not angry at me?

KAG:  (smiles) Don’t you worry. She’s your mother!

Mayu looks at KAG and starts sobbing sadly.

CUT TO FLASHBACK of Mayu’s fond memories of SAM, at a carnival, at the beach and taking photographs of her.

KAG:  (voice-over) Try to remember…about your mother…

BACK TO PRESENT.

Mayu:  Mom! I want to see you one more time, so I can say I’m sorry! I wanted to make up with you!

The chains suddenly break and fall into the void. The scene fades to black.

[ End of ACT III: 18min 41sec ]

[ ACT IV ]

Daytime in the apartment. SAM enters and looks at the aftermath of the fire. She stops in front of the closet.

SAM:  Mayu… (kneels and stares into the closet)

Mayu:  (appears behind SAM) Mommy!

SAM:  (turns around) Mayu!

Mayu:  Mommy! (touches SAM’s face) I’m sorry…

SAM:  Mayu…

Mayu:  (smiles) I have to go now. (fades away)

SAM smiles.

KAG and INU sit on a ledge, at the top of the apartment building.

KAG:  I hope it worked.

INU:   Cripes! You get into such scrapes! One wrong move and you’d have been dragged into hell with that impish evil spirit!

KAG:  (looks at INU, thinking) Evil spirit…

Bird’s eye view of KAG’s house.

KAG:  (narrating) One week later, Satoru was released from the hospital.

Cut to KAG doing her homework in her room.

Mayu:  Kagome!

KAG:  (walks to the window) Mayu!

Mayu:  (floats outside the window in a goldfish kimono) I wanted to thank you before I left.

KAG:  Such a pretty cotton kimono!

Mayu:  (smiles) Mom sewed it for me. Thanks for everything. Bye-bye! (flies upwards)

KAG:  (smiles, thinking) Mayu, you weren’t meant to be an evil spirit. You were just a little girl who loved her mother very much.

The tune of the Soul-Piper plays in the background. Mayu flies upwards and joins the Soul-Piper (with closed eyes). Mayu turns into a light and flies around it, laughing happily. They fade away.

[ End of ACT IV: 20min 34sec ]

[ End of episode 12: The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul ]

[ Preview for next episode ]

Half-demon Inuyasha is half demon and half human. His motive is to use the Sacred Jewel to turn into a full demon. In our journey for the Sacred Jewel, we met this girl who was attacked by demons, Nazuna. We decided to stay the night in an old shrine. Spider-head demons suddenly appeared in the shrine! Are all these a trap? Also, the moonless night reveals Inuyasha's secret! Next episode, 'The Mystery of the New Moon, the Black-Haired Inuyasha'!