Haine

* Before 11th loop
* After 11th loop

**Haine** (ハイネ, *Haine*) is the God of Hitogashima, Hiruko no Mikoto and "Mother" to the Shadows. She takes the appearance and the name of the first person she copied, Haine. As she has issues moving, Haine had copied Shiori Kobayakawa and transforms into her when she needs to explore the island.

## Appearance

Haine is a short girl with white hair and blood red eyes. She normally wears a red yukata with a flower blossom pattern and floral obi. Due to her injuries she is incapable of walking without help.

In her natural form prior to meeting to Haine, she took on the appearance of a whale's shadow. Though its likely her actual shadow-form is much larger due as her awakening at end of the third loop consumed the whole island.

## Personality

Unlike many other people in the show, Haine is a character who lacks empathy or remorse. She is relentless while feeding off of souls to awaken and strengthen her power. Despite her ancient existence, Haine is oftentimes spoiled and immature, automatically assuming she is entitled to overpower and consume any living person regardless of their morals or abilities. Haine’s childlike behavior can only be assumed to be a reflection of her appearance. She relies heavily on Four Arms to protect her the same time he is defeating Haine’s foes, and expects her firstborn to be the victor due to his overpowered capabilities in combat.

## Plot

### 3rd Loop

The parent shadow offers many humans to Haine, who appears in the sky and shines in red. As the shadow spreads and consumes all humans on the island, Haine licks her lips, savoring the taste. Shinpei asks Hizuru to kill him so he can return in time, and as she does, he starts floating in a ghost-like form. He looks at Haine, who also turns and looks at him, but he then travels back in time.

### 4th Loop

On the fourth loop, Shadow Ushio replays the death of Ushio for Shinpei and Sou. In the end, Shiori grabs Shinpei's arm, surprising him, and they can interact. However, Shiori then turns to Haine, who tells Shinpei that she has finally found him and won't let him go. However, Shadow Ushio ends the replay, and they escape Haine.

Tokiko takes Shinpei, Shadow Ushio and Sou in front of Haine. She explains that Haine is Hiruko, the god of the island, and likes to be called and look like Haine, the first person she copied. Lately, she has had issues walking and needed a body replacement. Haine then turns into Shiori, making Shinpei realize that Haine killed Ushio. Tokiko calls Negoro, who brings two coffins for Haine. Tokiko explains that her family, for generations, has been getting all the dead from the island for Haine to eat. Haine then eats the first body and prepares to eat Ushio's body, but Shinpei asks Shadow Ushio to print him a nail gun. With it, he frees Ushio, who then takes Ushio's body. Annoyed, they stole her food. Haine transforms Negoro into a wilder and more muscular form, but she ends up defeated by Ushio. Shinpei then gets close and points the nail gun at Haine, but the shadow parent shows up and cuts his fingers. He notes that Haine was about to eat Shinpei but mustn't, and Haine confirms, as she was annoyed they stole her food. He promises to take Ushio's body back and shows he has Mio but tells Haine not to eat her as well, as she is an indispensable hostage. As the shadow kills Sou and Tokiko, Haine takes Shinpei's eye, but the eye returns to him. Since Ushio had become quite strong, she decided it would be a waste to kill her and chose to reprogram her so that she could help at the festival. She starts corroding her, but after Shinpei takes the poison and starts dying, Ushio manages to withstand the corrosion and turn it against Haine. Haine tells the shadow to kill Ushio, even if he also needs to kill her. The shadow jumps in to kill Ushio, but Shinpei dies, takes Ushio, and loops back with her.

### 5th Loop

At the Kobayakawas, Hizuru and the rest appear to kill Shiori; however, she is with the four-armed shadow, who then kills Hizuru. Shiori asks Shinpei if he remembers when she told him she found him and gave him the black mark on his hand. From then on, she always knew where he was. She has been chasing him since their eyes met at the summer festival. Haine then reveals she can loop as well. The shadow states they don't need two observers, and the survivors will see the real world. The shadow then attacks and kills Ginjiro. The shadow then surrounds Shinpei and is about to capture him, but Ushio cuts Shinpei's head. As the shadow is about to smash her, Shinpei's loop is activated, and Ushio vanishes with Shinpei. Haine is okay with that, as this was just a greeting, and knows that she will eventually catch up to him no matter how many times he loops.

### 6th Loop

Haine loops back in Shiori. Confirming what time it was and the last times of the loops, she realizes the starting point is getting later. The four-armed shadow Shide guesses its because Shinpei's power is waning. Shiori is fine with them letting Shinpei loop, as that will give him less and less time until he reaches his limit; thus, they should focus on killing him rather than keeping him alive. An hour and a bit later, they head for Shinpei at the elementary school. After killing the scouting Ginjiro, Shide takes his rifle and kills Shinpei.

### 7th Loop

Haine and Shide arrive at the school with more shadows and find Shinpei outside. They think it's a trap, but Shinpei wants to fight fairly and squarely. They send shadow Mio to kill him, but Ushio appears, and they run with her. Haine then orders the shadows to go and kill Shinpei, while Mio takes out Ginjiro, who had started shooting at them. They encounter Hizuru in a corridor, who defends Shinpei and kills all shadows that come after him. Hizuru sees that Shide will shoot Shinpei and takes the bullet, saving him. Haine notes that she knew she would do that as she, too, has the sight and can see two seconds into the future. Shide is about to finish Hizuru, but Ginjiro shoots at them, making her wonder what Mio is doing. Haine then sees Mio fighting two stray shadows commanded by Tokiko and is surprised by her betrayal. She tries to order the shadows that Tokiko isn't their master and to kill her, but the shadows don't listen, making her realize that Ushio had severed their connection. Enraged, Haine merges all shadows into Shide and heads after Ushio.

They reach the gymnasium, where Ushio copies gasoline, and Shinpei ignites it. While burning, Haine, with Asako, jumps at the ceiling but is shot by Shinpei and injured. Ushio then grabs her and prepares to erase Shiori, but Haine starts begging not to as she wants to take her and her family with her and live with them. Distracted for a moment, gives Shide a chance to grab and pull Ushio into the fire while also shooting at Shinpei, but purposely missing vital organs, so he dies slowly and after Ushio. However, Ushio reveals herself as a dummy and appears behind Shide, punching and erasing him. Haine scans the air and erases it from the gymnasium, putting out the fire and creating a vacuum that causes the windows to burst, giving them a chance to escape. Haine then asks Shide if he is fine, and Shide confirms that he will be able to reconstruct; however, all other shadows have died from the fire.

### 8th Loop

Shinpei returns from a loop, and Haine appears as a crow and realizes that Ushio has died. She summons strays, but as Shinpei unconsciously grabs something in his pocket, she stops and runs away. Shinpei then see he was holding Ushio's shell necklace. As Haine had previously copied during the first loops as Shiori, she transforms into Shinpei and calls Hizuru's group and Mio's group and informs them about Ushio's death and requests to meet with Hizuru's group at Torajima island, while with Mio as Alain's garden.

At Torajima, Hizuru, as Ryunosuke arrives, recognizes Haine immediately. Masahito comes and attacks Ryunosuke, but he easily dodges. Haine explains that she was tormented by eating her friend's brother and expelled part of herself and his data. Still, there was a slight incident, and coordinates in time shifted so that Ryunosuke could control Hizuru from 2 seconds in the future. However, she can see his movements and relay that information to Shide, which removes Ryunosuke's advantage.

Ryunosuke beats up Shide, but he keeps regenerating. Haine wishes to know why Hizuru returned, and recognizing she is displaying Shinpei's personality, Hizuru decides to talk to buy some time. Hizuru explains that she returned out of curiosity from the message she got but saw an opportunity to redeem herself as she blames herself for the death of her brother. Hizuru then tells Haine that Shide has different plans than hers, since in the third loop, he said this was his ending, but Shide denies it, stating Hizuru wants to confuse her. They fight, knowing that Shide's armor is "nobody." Then, it's an empty void that Ryunosuke can invade. She touches Shide's head and sends Ryunosuke, who takes over Shide's armor and creates a shadow of himself. With Masahito exposed, Tokiko then joins the fight. As things don't go well, Ginjiro and Tetsu help Tokiko get away, who then informs Shinpei, and he restarts the loop.

### 9th Loop

With the loop restarted, Shide got to fight Hizuru again, but this time knew all of her tricks and easily defeated and stabbed her in the chest with the spear. When Shinpei comes, feeling Ushio from his pocket, Haine retreats with Shide.

Haine asks Masahito if, during the search earlier, a stray ignored her call since it's been two hours since she lost Shinpei's location. Her handprint is still on Shinpei, but he can isolate his presence like Masahito while in the mud. Masahito wonders if they gave too many hints to Shinpei, and since most strays are looking for Ushio, if they decide to invade Hiruko Cave, they can easily reach Haine. However, Haine doubts they will attempt that unless they are fully prepared. Haine suspects that Shinpei is hiding as maybe the Ushio that's with Shinpei is the only one who can locate the Ushio in the sea and is trying to get to her before Haine. Shide eventually finds them, but Shinpei manages to reach Ushio and bring her memories back, who then kills dozens of shadows. Haine observes as a raven. Ushio attempts to attack Shide, but Mio stops her. Shinpei asks Shide if he can guess from where he came, but as Shide has yet to learn, Shinpei realizes that being in the stray, the handprint doesn't reveal his location. Shinpei then points a gun at his head, and Haine tells Shide to stop him, but using Ryunosuke's powers, Shinpei dodges Shide's gun and shoots himself.

### 10th Loop

Shinpei loops back with Ushio while the group is still in the stray and goes outside. Haine realizes they are in the Hiruko cave, and they head towards them. They manage to catch up to them the moment they break through the black barrier, but Ginjiro stays to fight Shide while the barrier is closing and prevents him from reaching Shinpei.

Shide and Haine later catch up with the group, and Shide attacks Ushio, but she defends the group. Haine observes the fight and gives Shide information on how to dodge. She notices that when Shinpei's left eye is closed, she can sense Ryunosuke from him and realizes he has obtained the power to fight them. While evading attacks, Haine senses Mio behind her and dodges again. Feeling the presence of all shadows and their printed objects, Haine attacks a printed nail gun, but Sou shoots her from the side. Haine realizes that the printed nail gun is a trap, and Sou uses Ginjiro's original nail gun. Mio then also attacks her, and Haine is unable to warn Shide, and he ends up punched and killed by Ushio. However, another Shide then appears. Ushio rushes towards Hiruko and hits it, causing the black mud to fall off from Shide, and Mio then stabs him in the head and kills him. Mio expects to disappear, but as she doesn't, she realizes Haine must still be alive.

Shide is discovered to be alive in a pivotal revelation, despite the apparent disadvantage as Hiruko loses both of their eyes and undergoes a size reduction. Shide expresses a shift in reliance, indicating he no longer needs Hiruko's assistance. This moment is marked by Shide's observation of Ushio possessing one of Hiruko's eyes, leading him to realize that his desires could still be fulfilled by acquiring it.

Acknowledging the critical nature of Hiruko's survival for maintaining his armor, Shide takes decisive action. He creates a portal leading to Hiruko's realm and promptly enters it, simultaneously extending an invitation to Shinpei and Ushio to engage in a confrontation within this alternate dimension.

Shinpei and Ushio go into Haine's world, Tokoyo. Initially, they are separated, but Shinpei finds Ushio, and Haine comes out of her. Ushio explains that when Haine ate Ryunosuke, her personality split between Haine, the young girl, and Hiruko, who was friends with Hizuru. Haine explains that time doesn't flow in this world, and they realize that Ryunosuke isn't shifted ahead of time. She reveals that Shide wants to take Ushio's eye, and then he can go to a higher dimension, where he will have control over time and space. Ushio then recalls reading his mind and goal to "turn off" and destroy the world. They need to kill Hiruko to escape this world, and Tokoyo will disappear.

As the world is connected to Hiruko's memories, Shide uses her memories of the WWII air raid and starts bombing Tokoyo, but Ushio protects them. As Haine also has memories of it, she manages to stop the aggression, and Ushio attacks Shide but realizes he is empty inside. Shide then reflects on her hacking and seemingly defeats her, but Ushio eats a fragment of the original Ushio and restores herself to a younger Ushio version. She then reveals to Shinpei that Shide's actual body is in the real world. But soon, she seems to have fallen unconscious, and Haine determines she cannot continue to fight. They make a plan to defeat Shide, with Ushio turning into hacking shells for the shotgun. Eventually, with the help from Haine, they manage to shoot Shide with the bullets and erase him.

As Ushio turns her focus to erasing Hiruko, she transports them to Hitogashima. Here, Haine experiences a profound realization upon witnessing the human world from three centuries prior, including a glimpse of her human form approaching Hiruko, then manifested as a whale. Shinpei intervenes, urging Haine not to disturb the deity. This encounter leaves Haine rattled, fearing she has encountered a spectral presence.

In a moment of clarity, Ushio discerns Hiruko's desire for her to erase the whale, lest history repeat itself. As she fulfills this task, Hiruko vanishes alongside the whale. Haine then acknowledges her impending disappearance, expresses gratitude, and seeks reassurance from Ryunosuke about the possibility of rebirth and renewed friendship.

### 11th Loop

In this final timeline, resulting from Hiruko's erasure in the past, a peculiar phenomenon occurs: the absence of shadows. As of July 2018, Haine is an 8-year-old girl in this new reality, significantly altering her identity and role. She now exists as the daughter of Ryuunosuke and Asako, with Shiori as her sister.

### Summertime Render 2026: The Room that Dreams of Murder

In this spinoff set eight years following the conclusion of the main "Summertime Rendering" series, Minakata Haine emerges as a 16-year-old teenager embarking on a new chapter of her life in Tokyo. Her journey begins with the search for an apartment, a quest initiated upon her admission to Tokyo University. Accompanying her in this endeavor is Minakata Hizuru, who, in this revised timeline, is her aunt.

The pair find themselves exploring an economically priced apartment rumored to be haunted. As the narrative of this concise spinoff unfolds, subtle hints suggest that Haine retains a fragment of her time-altering abilities as Haine's future self, who has tragically perished in a fire or possibly from a fan-turned-stalker's attack, manifests as a ghost. This spectral version of Haine communicates with her living counterpart and Hizuru, providing vital information about the impending dangers. Armed with this foresight, the present-day Haine and Hizuru navigates a path to circumvent these potentially fatal events.

## Etymology

* Her original name, Hiruko (ヒルコ, 蛭子), translates as "Leech Child."

## Trivia

* Her inability to walk is likely a reference to the shinto mythos regarding Ebisu/Hiruko, who was born without legs.
* Her ability to regenerate from damage without absorbing data is likely due to the fact she is the Mother of the Shadows. So she only needs the initial data to regenerate endlessly.