Garasu no Kamen Synopses

Tankoubon 48

Ayumi's Goddess

Akame and Onodera enter the warehouse where Ayumi is rehearsing with Utako. Ayumi recognizes them from their silhouette and scent. Thanks to the fact that she cannot see, she can imagine that she is in the red plum valley. How ironic, Maya could do that without being blind! Still, Ayumi is confident that she has got her own Kurenai Tannyo and she will conquer the audience's hearts.
Ayumi starts rehearsing. Akame finds her acting very different. He replies to her as Isshin. He is really charmed by Ayumi's mysterious, absent look. Onodera is impressed as well.
Utako challenges her daughter. In the scene where Isshin throws away the chisels, refusing to create the sculpture, she has the light switched off, so that Ayumi has to use her sense of sound to collect the tools and bring them back to Akame - Isshin.
The lights are switched on again. Akame and Onodera praise Ayumi's perfomance, very mystic and convincing.
Finally Utako reveals Ayumi's conditions, explaining that she will not undergo an operation before performing on stage for the trial show. Onodera is worried, but he doesn't have a choice. It's too late to look for another actress for the main role, moreover it would be pointless. He can only ask her to make sure the journalists won't find out about her conditions. Of course they won't find out. After all, she is an actress.

Ayumi, Utako, Akame and Onodera are having dinner in a luxury restaurant. Ayumi managed to sit down without giving away the fact that she cannot see and nonchalantly asks Akame to order the food for her. Onodera is very impressed by Ayumi's acting skills... It's risky, but he has to place his bet on her.

Sakurakoji's Isshin and Maya's Akoya

Sakurakoji is rehearsing with the other actors at Kids Studio even if he's still using crutches.
Kuronuma orders another actor to attack him. Sakurakoji/Isshin defends himself and manages to defeat the other actor.
Kuronuma praises Sakurakoji.
Maya/Akoya approaches him trying to help him but he rejects her.
Maya and Sakurakoji are playing the scene where Isshin visits Akoya and Akoya asks him not to leave anymore.
The other actors are very impressed... The two actors improved so much!
While performing, Maya realises that whatever Isshin Sakurakoji plays, she can get it!

During the break everyone congratulates on Sakurakoji.
Maya is happy for him. Quietly, she goes out to the balcony on the back of the Studio.
She is holding the dolphin-shaped pendant Sakurakoji gave her.
She wants to give it back to him, but this is not the right moment; that will be after the Kurenai Tennyo demonstration.
Then she thinks of Masumi Hayami. It seems that the night on the ship was just a dream...
But it wasn't. She remembers, hears, feels all of it: the rosy sky, the orange sun, the sound of waves, Masumi's arms...
Akoya's words are her own words...
Hayami-san, purple rose fan, I'll wait for you...

Pensive Sakurakoji is staring at her from a distance.

Masumi's villa in Izu

Masumi is in his villa at Izu, sitting on a chair, staring at the ocean and talking with Mizuki on the phone. He insists that he wants her to cancel the wedding and everything.

He looks around the house and for the first time realises that it is decorated with a bad taste.

Masumi share this opinion with a maid... The maid is quite shocked since Masumi never cared about these kind of things before. Masumi blushes.

Masumi is back to his thoughts.
This villa, it's decorated with such bad taste... Should I decorate this place with flowers? It's the first time that I change this place for someone... Maya you're changing me... Please, wait for me. I want to welcome you here properly.

Will Ayumi manage to keep the secret?

Ayumi, who thanks to some injection no longer suffers with nausea and headache, insists not to have her eyes cured. He sight is worse and worse, but the doctor doesn't manage to convince her.

Ayumi is going to rehearse again with Ondine company. Everybody is excited at the big news!
While walking in the corridor Ayumi is afraid that someone might notice something is wrong with her sight.
A group of fans approaches and asks for autographs. It would be impossible for her to know where to sign... So she offers her fans a handshake instead. The fans are over-joyed.
Suddenly someone calls her... She turns toward this person, and she understand it's Hamil. In that moment he tooks a photo of her.
Ayumi is annoyed and goes away quickly. Hamil looks at the photo and notices something...
All the journalists who would like to see the rehearsals are sent away and they are pretty annoyed about this. It's the first time it has happened!
Onodera urges Akame to keep the secret about Ayumi's sight.

The rehearsals start. Everybody is quite shocked at Ayumi's new Goddess. She barely moves, while she used to dance so graciously before! Her face now is almost expressionless! At the same time, the new goddess is solemn, mystical, charming. Akame is really impressed. Not only she doesn't reveal her eyes condition, but she also uses it to improve her performance! She is a genius!

Hamil stares at her from a distance.

Suddenly Ayumi's sight gets blurry again. She can only use the sounds around her as a guide.
Everybody is impressed by Ayumi's expression and Onodera is happy with her performance, much deeper than before!

Hamil is still not convinced.

Akame/Isshin faces Ayumi holding an axe in his hand. Ayumi cannot see him.
Akame is petrified. Onodera and Hamil are startled. The audience is puzzled.
Journalists outside start spreading the rumour that Ayumi was at the hospital...
Ayumi, trembling, is standing in front of the axe.

After regaining her consciousness, she asks Akame/Isshin:
What's wrong my dear? Can't you cut me down?
Akame plays along with Ayumi:
I can't do it... I can't cut you down.. Even though I know you're not human.. I can't do it!
Everyone watching is really impressed by her performance... Someone comments that they were so worried that they couldn't take their eyes off her... Onodera lets out a sign of relief after hearing that.

The rehearsal are over, Ayumi congratulates on herself: that was close! She managed to act that far without relying on her eyes... She could even sense other people's shadows and colors in the darkness... Yet for a moment of carelessness, she could have failed... She has to be more careful...
Hamil is watching her.

Hamil's help

In his house Hamil is looking at the photos of Ayumi he had taken. He notices somthing strange, something between the photos taken in the Red Plums Valley and the recent photos is different...

The following day Hamil comes see Ayumi and hands her a file saying that those are the photos of her he took. He congratulates on her amazing expressions, both as Akoya and Kurenai Tennyo.
Ayumi agrees and thanks Hamil...< br> Hamil is startled. These are not Ayumi's photos!
Ayumi drops the photos down and starts trembling... When did he find out about her eyes?

Hamil and Ayumi go to the roof terrace to talk. Hamil explains that he noticed how her eyes were different when he compared the photos.
You can fool anyone but you can't fool the camera...

Hamil enquires about her condition... When did it start, what did the doctor say. Ayumi is very defensive, but Hamil insists. He informs her that he is taking all these photos of her because he wants to introduce her to the world, not just Japan.
He finally makes her talk. He finds out that the doctor did advice to undergo surgery urgently, or she might become blind.
Hamil is very worried and upset.
Ayumi shouts at him that she is trying hard to practice without her eyes and that she will be able to play. He orders him not to tell anyone about her secret. She wants to play Kurenai Tennyo at any cost.

Later at a party, a lady greets Hamil and comments that it is strange to see him alone. There are actresses who want to be photographed by him. Why does he want to take pictures only of Ayumi Himekawa? Hamil replies that Ayumi is different from other actresses, but he doesn't know and he cannot explain why.

Back to Ayumi's rehearsals.
Hamil appears and tells Ayumi that he is concerned about her. Ayumi insists that he doesn't need to.
She then asks him to turn the light off. This way he is like her, they both can't see anything. But she has memorised every part of the room and now she will try and find him in the darkness.
Having listened to Hamil's footsteps, she is now able to locate him and she can walk towards him.
The hide and seek game is over, my love, I know where you are now...
Ayumi walks to Hamil and grabs his arm. Hamil takes out his lighter and lights it.
Under the dim light of the lighter, Ayumi is smiling at him and he blushes.

Reporters have heard the rumours about Ayumi's conditions and are gathered at the studio try to find out. Ayumi is about to take the lift, but Hamil stops her and asks her to hold onto his arm and walk with him. When the reporters see them walk down the stairs, talk and laugh, they are esily convinced that the two are on a date. The couple exits the building, but the reporters are not quick enough to follow them.

Kuronuma's lucky guess

Lunch break at Kids Studio.
Sakurakoji keeps avoiding Maya, even though they used to eat together every day.
Maya goes and eat on her own by the river. Kuronuma approaches her, determined to find out about what happened between the two of them.
Maya tells him that on the night Sakurakoji had an accident, she asked him to get back home alone.
However, it's quite obvious that she is hiding something...
Kuronuma asks her if she sent Sakurakoji home alone because she was with a special someone, and Maya is so embarrassed that Kuronuma doesn't need a reply to understand...

Kuronuma suspects that Maya didn't give back the cheque to Shiori but maybe she kept it for herself!
He then has someone make a telephone call to the cruise ship Astoria... So he finds out that Shiori actually didn't board for some reason, but the man she brought, he did board the ship...
Kuronuma is puzzled. Who did Maya give the cheque to?
Who should have been on a one-night cruise with Shiori? Masumi Hayami is the only one...
But that would mean that Maya and Masumi...
If so, why Maya would try to hide it?
What happened between Maya and her worst enemy?
And when Sakurakoji came pick up Maya at the port he must have seen them... Is this connected with the accident?
Sakurakoji... Kitajima... There is an invisible someone between them...

Masumi's confession

Masumi received a telephone call from Hijiri while he was in his house by the seaside, in Izu.
Hijiri informed him about what he found about Shiori.

Shiori is waiting for Masumi in a place where they are going to plan their wedding. When she sees him, she gets up and smiles at him. She apologises for making him worry recently (about her health conditions).
Masumi kindly reassures her that there is no problem, and enquires if she is better now.
Of course she is. Also, she couldn't afford to rest now, there is a wedding to plan. The planner and other collaborators will be there soon...
Masumi informs her that this is not going to happen, since he cancelled everything.

Shiori is worried. Masumi doesn't explain any further but he asks her to show him her engagement ring. Then he tells her that his suspects were right, it's not easy to slip that ring off her finger. The designer had to make it smaller for her.
Finally, he bluntly accuses Shiori of putting the ring in Maya's handbag.

Shiori is shocked and speechless.
Masumi goes on. He lets Shiori know that the CCTV in the shop where she tried the wedding dress showed clearly that Maya didn't pour the fruit juice on her dress.
Shiori objects that she said it was an accident, but Masumi tells her that nobody believed her, included himself, because the whole situation seemed to show that Maya was responsible for what happened. Also, Shiori didn't insist too much in defending Maya.

Last but not least. Masumi shows Shiori some pieces of the photos she tore apart. He asks her if she remembers them. Shiori is petrified.
Masumi asks her why she did that. Why she sent them to Maya making her believe that it was from the purple rose fan. Shiori this time answers the question. It's because he is the purple rose fan. He has been supporting her for all these years... A girl so much younger than him...
Masumi doesn't deny:
Yes, I am the purple rose fan.
Shiori is more shocked than ever.

So, does he admit having feelings for a girl who is 11 year younger than him? Sending her purple roses after every show? Paying for her education?
Yes. Masumi clearly explains to Shiori how he got charmed by Maya's energy and vitality on stage since her first show. Maya's performances have always been special to him. But Shiori is clearly satisfied by Masumi's answer. Is he just a fan? Since she realised that behind Masumi's cold mask was hidden a strong passion, she has hated Maya and she has tried to separate her from Masumi... Because she loves him!
Masumi thanks Shiori for being so straightforward, but claims that he is not worth her love (!).
Then he adds that there was no videocamera in the atelier where she tried the wedding dress. Yes, he lied to her. Shiori herself was the one who confirmed the truth to him. As far as all the other details, he had some research done, but there was no proof about the dress. Masumi is like that as far as business, he would use any means...

Shall we reconsider our wedding, Shiori-san?

Shiori starts talking about business, the merge between Daito and Takamiya... Blah blah blah...

Masumi insists that they are different: in the same places, they see and look for different things. He looks for the stars above, she looks at the city below.
He realised that he couldn't marry her in the exact moment when he saw the room she booked for the night on the cruise ship; he wanted to run away but the ship had just left.
He apologises, but he will not be able to make her happy.

Shiori is confused and upset. She starts crying, but Masumi won't change his mind.
At some point Shiori understands that there is nothing she can do, and excuses herself. She must look horrible... She needs to go to the toilet...
But before doing that, she enquires if Masumi and Maya used the room on the cruise ship.
She is relieved to know that nothing happened in that room.

When in the toilet, she looks at herself in the pocket mirror. She finds herself horrible... No surprise Masumi despises her... Then she breaks the pocket mirror, grabs one shard of glass and in her mind asks her parents and grandparents for forgiveness... She can't stand the idea of losing Masumi...

After a while Masumi gets worried because Shiori doesn't come back. He asks a cleaning lady to check... When he hears the woman scream, he runs to see what happened: Shiori tried to cut her wrists (!).

The ambulance has been called.
Masumi is petrified. Then he rushes towards Shiori, removes his neck time from his neck and binds it around her upper arm.

Diplomatic accident between Hayamis and Takamiyas

Daito HQ. Mizuki is rushing through the corridor, excusing herself by saying that she has an urgent appointment.
She jumps into the car and asks the driver to hurry up.
She remembers Masumi's words about cancelling the meeting with the wedding planner... Even so, she didn't imagine such a thing would happen...

The Takamiyas and the Hayamis are having a meeting at Takamiya mansion.
After Shiori came back from the emergency hospital, after her attempted suicide, she asked a specialist to see her... She hasn't spoken since.
Masumi and Eisuke can only say that they are sorry.
Being asked what he told Shiori to reduce her like that, Masumi answers that he just told her that he couldn't make her happy.
Then why did he engage to her? Her parents explain to him how unhappy she's always been, since she's never had friends because of her poor health conditions...

Shiori's grandfather then invites Masumi to come and see his granddaughter.
Shiori is in her room. She ordered loads of purple roses. She keeps tearing them apart repeating:
Masumi-sama hates me... I hate purple roses... I wish them all withered...

The stage for the trial show

Scrunched up in an old smelly car, Kuronuma's group is driven to the place were the trail show will take place.

When Maya gets out of the car, she is astonished. There isn't any stage or set, just ruins, rocks, construction cones, and bits of concrete.

The staff are explained that the place used to be a train station and that Chigusa Tsukikage was the one who chose this place.

They can only rehearse at this place for only one day.

Maya looks around... The railways turn into streams of water, and the metal roof turns into trees. Maya is excited. She will be able to perform in that stage!

Soon afterwards, Onodera's group arrives and the journalists rush to take picures of Ayumi. Onodera is worried. Ayumi feels uncomfortable and she fears that she might expose her health condition if she isn't careful.

Maya calls Ayumi. Ayumi recongnises her voice. She looks towards Maya but all she can see is a blurry silhouette.

While Maya and Ayumi are standing in front of each other, the event organizer announces that that the press conference is about to start.

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Attention!

Original story by Suzue Miuchi. Synopses by Francesca.
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