Episode 22

## I’ll Be There With You

**I’ll Be There With You** (会う時は俺も一緒だ, *Au toki wa ore mo issho da*?) is the twenty-second episode of the A Couple of Cuckoos anime series.

## Plot

Erika, Hiro, Sachi, and Nagi spend more time at the beach home retreat, and eventually, clues about Erika's missing older brother are found. This incites Nagi to search for him around the nearby town with Erika by his side.

## Summary

Hiro asks Nagi what his sister Sachi is to him, and he responds that she's his sister and part of his family. Amused by the answer, Hiro notes how Sachi is a bit odd, which Nagi interprets as Sachi's complex personality being hard to teach, and apologizes on her behalf. However, Hiro clarifies that Sachi seems to like Nagi and would later get rebuked by Sachi for revealing this to Nagi, by Sachi. A flashback shows the day Sachi took the tour of Nagi's school by Hiro; she reveals that Nagi is merely her rival to Sachi. Another flashback reveals that Erika's father asking Sachi if she'd like to become Nagi's wife. Back in the present, Sachi is overwhelmed by the revelations Hiro gave, while Nagi in the nude stands outside and, after yelling at the ocean, leaps into the outdoor pool. Moments later, much to his dismay, Erika joins Nagi in the pool and asks him to join her in gazing at the nearby lighthouse. Nagi hesitates about this proposal mainly due to Hiro's reaction, but Erika notes that she's never had friends and has always been alone. Overcome with stress and the heat of the bath; Nagi leaves it and, as he does, freaks out Erika, who reveals that she is wearing a two-piece swimsuit.

That night, it's revealed that only two beds are available at the house, and Nagi refuses to follow Sachi's suggestion to sleep on the couch because a spider is roaming about. Hence, Hiro suggests that they draw straws, and in the end, Sachi ends up having to sleep with Nagi for the night. On the other hand, Erika is forced to sleep with Hiro, and the two play twisty together, in which Erika loses against Hiro. After this, they bathe together and later have a heart-to-heart about Erika's popularity and Hiro's fiance. Toward the end of the conversation, Hiro asks if she could have Nagi, but Hiro falls asleep before Erika can answer. Meanwhile, Nagi finishes taking a bath and gets into bed with Sachi, and Nagi notes that he's unable to sleep as Sachi is revealed to be awake as well.

The following day, Nagi meets Erika in the living room as she recalls what the Twisty game and bubble bath mix were from and remembers that she and her brother Sousuke once stayed there. This fact is further proven when Erika finds a couple of markings on a pillar of her and her brother's heights. From Nagi's inspection, the game and bath mix was recent, and he suggests they wake up Sachi and Hiro to help find clues to Sousuke's whereabouts in the house. Once Sachi and Hiro learn about the situation, they search around the house for clues, and all they find is a doll house with some toys. Hiro then suggests that they play a video game together, and from the saved data, they learn that there was another player from three days before. In light of this, Nagi rushes out of the house and heads to the nearby town to see if Sousuke is still there, but he's soon joined by Erika, who admonishes him for continuing to look for Sousuke. Her reason was Erika was too scared to see him again; however, Nagi insists that they continue as he'll be there with her if they find him. In the end, though, they're unable to locate him or figure out whether he was still in town, but all-in-all, Erika is happy that Nagi insists they do that.

## Characters

* Hiro Segawa
* Nagi Umino
* Erika Amano
* Sachi Umino
* Souichirou Amano (Flashback)
* Sousuke Amano (Flashback)