Yasuyori starts narrating about how he's always heard someone's voice coming from the bottom of his heart, telling him that he can't take back the mistakes of his past. He talks indirectly about how in the past, he got into an argument that ultimately ended with someone else dead. There was no reason for it to have gotten to that point, and that was the point that he realized that he was someone who could not control himself. It was then that he decided to call himself Yasuyori (re: obedience), serve someone else, and follow their orders. He was afraid of repeating his mistakes. He decided to serve someone wise so that he wouldn't take such a foolish action again, and this was something he had always thought about until he arrived at that place the day.
Title card pops up, and this chapter is called Blue Skies, Piñatas, and Southern Breezes.
We then tune in to a beach volleyball game that Yasuyori is taking part in, and he humbly announces that he'll serve before he does so. Durga complains that he's going too high with it, then tells Kengo to go for it. Kengo bumps the ball, then tells Gunzou to take it. Narration then starts talking about the piercing blue sky and the false sun is shining. An out of season heat wave is bearing down on hard enough that people could forget it's supposed to be the Christmas season, so Andvari's Resort is filled with swimsuit wearing visitors. You and the gang have run into the jocks and have joined them for a game of beach volleyball.
Kyuuma is playing on the same team as Ziz and bumps the ball to her, and when she does she hits it harder than he was intending, which she apologizes for. Yasuyori says it's not a problem and moves to hit the ball next, except then the force of this ball slams his head into the sand. Ziz goes to check on Yasuyori in concern, but Yasuyori laughs it off and says he's used to this level of impact from the sumo ring.
Ashigara laughs and suggests going to play in the water, which all of the other jocks enthusiastically agree with. Yasuyori however attempts to plead for everyone to stop pushing him, but this falls on deaf ears as he falls into the sea. Shirou comments on everyone being so excited, though he accepts it's inevitable with being able to swim in this time of year. Ryouta questions if it's okay to be playing around like this, which surprises Shirou. Ryouta says he's glad that everyone can play together, but he's still worried about the sun falling onto Shirou.
Shirou tells Ryouta's that he's ready for whatever happens. This shocks Ryouta, so Shirou points out that problems on this level have happened several times already which comes with hanging out with you. The rest of you are working hard to solve the problem at hand, so all he can do is believe in you guys. Shirou also adds that if he starts worrying about his apparent doom, the Evils will start feeling even more responsible for it. One of them chatters, so Shirou tells it to sleep some more since they worked so hard with the pastorela. Touji says that if the one with bigger stakes in this is saying so, then should roll with it too. He also comments that Shirou's gotten way bolder since the first time he met him. You promise to do something about this and ask him to have faith in you. Shirou nods and says he's counting on you, both for his sake and the Evils'.
An announcement comes on with the speaker doing so timidly, announcing that the piñata smashing will be happening at 10 pm. They start asking for everyone to come participating, only to flub it towards the end by biting their tongue. You comment on hearing the announcer's voice from somewhere before, call it a unique announcement, and say you could feel how hard they were trying in making it. Some calls out to you guys, expressing their surprise and saying she was right when they told them they could find you here.
You turn around at recognizing the voice and express your own surprise at seeing the speaker, who turns out to be Taromaiti. She asks if you guys are having fun at the resort, then says she came to take a look since she thought she heard a voice she knew. Shirou is surprised to see her here and asks if she's around to have fun too. Taromaiti laughs and says she's always with Shinya and Kalki, though today she's here with another friend for a part time job. She's in charge of the sports area and can instruct people on things. If there's a sport you're interested in she offers to teach you in an easy to understand way.
Touji says that's nice, then asks if the person hiding behind Taromaiti is one of her friends. Taromaiti is briefly surprised as she takes a look, then comments on her coming all this way too and prompting her to introduce herself, stepping aside to reveal Echo looking shy. Echo stammers out a good day to everyone, though she changes it to good evening when she notes what time it actually is.
You call out Echo's name or start to ask if she's who Taromaiti meant when she mentioned a friend earlier. Echo is embarrassed at the idea of being Taroimaiti's friend and says she's her senpai. Taromaiti explains that Echo invited her to come over in a surprise. The two of them are working on two different things, but she says that Echo is trying her best. Echo says she's not good at exercise, so Andvari assigned her something more in line with her skills. You either ask what this is, ask if she's making chocolate, or say she'd fit with something related to sound work. In A, Echo nods and repeats herself before elaborating that she's working behind the scenes on broadcasting audio. In B, Echo says she isn't a chocolate maker, then says she's working in broadcasting. In C, Echo tells you you're correct and says she's working on the broadcasting.
Ryouta asks if that means Echo was the one making the announcement a few
moments ago. Echo confirms that, adding that she did bite her tongue at
the end. She talks about wanting to be more confident, so she invited
Taromaiti over. Taromaiti says Echo can work on her own and says she was
a witness to it, which Echo thanks her for. Itzamna then walks by
commenting on you guys having gathered together and says it's good how
lively things are. Since it's almost time for the piñata smash, he
suggests that you get going.
Echo is surprised at how close it is to starting, then says she needs to get back to her own work. Taromaiti offers to walk her back, saying it'd be a problem if she were late to start. Echo is surprised by this saying it would help, but she asks if it's okay for Taromaiti to step away from her teacher post. Taromaiti answers that the event area is crowded already, so she figured she'd need some help. Echo then accepts her offer and says she'll see everyone else where the event will be happening later.
Shirou comments that they should get ready too and considers calling over Kengo and the others. Ryouta suggests that you go on ahead if things are going to get crowded, and Touji volunteers to bring Yasuyori. Yasuyori walks up soon after to thank Touji, and you ask if he's done playing in the water. Yasuyori nods and says he's had his fun, commenting on how irreplaceable spending time with your friends is. He does keep in mind that you guys have things you need to do, saying you can't forget that. He then turns to the rest of the gang and says he'll be borrowing you.
Shirou nods and says the rest of them will be coming later, then asks Yasuyori to take care of you. Yasuyori acknowledges the request and swears to complete his task with you. Itzamna says he'll be there later, and he asks you two to go to where Ded is when you get to the site. Yasuyori nods, then asks for your hand. You say you'll be counting on him and say it's time to go.
Some time passes as you and Yasuyori head over to the picnic area that's been opened up for the event, which is noted to be elsewhere from the sports area. As the two of you walk along the beach, Yasuyori is quiet, so you ask if he's okay and if he has something on his mind since he's frowning. Yasuyori snaps out of his thoughts and says he was just thinking of something that happened the other day during the meeting the event party was having over the event plans.
Flashback kicks in to the meeting, set a few days ago. Yasuyori asks Ded for further details about piñata smashing, and you comment on hearing the word piñata earlier as you point up at the fake sun. Everyone in attendance turns up to look at it, and White says that sure is the piñata. Breaking it will take some other measures though. White then starts with his explanations about piñatas, saying the smashing comes from a certain culture's Christmas customs as he looks through the Santa Encyclopedia.
White says the simple explanation is that it's a game of breaking open a ball made out of paper. The paper ball is called a piñata and is filled with candy and presents. Participants take turns swinging at it, and if they break it they get the presents. This was originally meant as a demon exorcism thing, but as time passed it turned into a Christmas celebration. Yasuyori thinks on this explanation and says it seems like the sort of thing his school friends would have fun with. You say it seems fun and exciting and comment on there being lots of ways to celebrate.
Itzamna talks about how he hopes Tokyo will have its usual Christmas and says other cultures have ways of celebrating that you guys don't know about. There are tons of various origins and traditions among them, and this would be how a certain hot country would greet the holy night. You think on the subject, and White decides it's time to move onto the main subject. He explains that the idea of the plan is to have the sky piñata fulfill its purpose. Itzamna says belief is holding it up as an unsetting sun, which in turn is causing a hot Christmas time. White adds that if people believe that the holy night has come, then the problem will be solved.
Yasuyori thinks on the concept of faith, and Ded explains that the idea of the piñata smashing is to instill the idea that people will get presents if it's broken. Itzamna explains that that would mean having people witnessing this think that Christmas has come. White starts to explain what'd happen if the game is made as eye catching and attention grabbing as possible when the piñata is broken, at which point Yasuyori catches on and says people would think a Christmas miracle has happened. He swears to make this a success.
White tells Yasuyori to not rush into things since there is going to be danger involved in smashing the piñata. You either ask Ded to explain this or stay quiet and wait. White looks serious as he looks to you and Yasuyori, then says he wants you two to remember that he has a reason as Santa Claus to be able to create a Christmas miracle in Tokyo. People believe in Santa, which is why he can use his power. This goes for him as well as Black, but White says that this is a thing because Lots of People Believe So.
Itzamna says it's unknown what kind of faith you guys will get when you do the piñata smash, meaning there's no telling what will actually come out of the thing. White says that faith is a vague and undefined thing, and it's unpredictable as to what will happen with it. Itzamna says it's possible that something worse can happen as a result of this. You say you guys still have to do this since you can't have the holy night not coming, or you turn to Shirou and say you're good at cutting things. C gets an extra line where Shirou is embarrassed you're doing this for him and the Evils.
Yasuyori is moved by how brave you are to go on without concern of the danger you face, so he asks to go along with you. White and Itzamna look unhappy about this, and Yasuyori says this is originally his job and that he has confidence in his toughness. He also starts talking about not caring about how much he'll be hurt if it'll help someone else when Itzamna snaps at him to stop talking like that. Yasuyori is taken aback by this, so Itzamna apologizes for raising his voice but repeats his request that Yasuyori not talk about sacrificing himself. If anyone is going to be a sacrifice, it should be him since he's old. He starts to yell again about a mistake he once made as he thinks about how he failed to save anyone, only to back away from it and ask that someone young like Yasuyori not talk about stuff like that.
Yasuyori looks at Itzamna in concern, and you either say you never
planned on sacrificing yourself even if it doesn't look like it, or you
stay quiet and look at Itzamna. Yasuyori concedes that this isn't just
his problem, and he says it's possible someone else may be forced into
thinking that it'd be fine if they were sacrificed. It's not something
he thinks would be their true feelings though.
Itzamna says nothing, so Yasuyori says that if someone has to do it, he asks that he be allowed to do so. Setting aside the talk of who would be sacrificing themselves, Yasuyori says he feels he's tenacious and qualified for this. Plus, you guys can't leave the false sun alone when you don't know what's going to happen. That is his own wish, the one he became able to have after meeting so many people here. He thinks about the other Yoyogi jocks, and he admits that it's possible he'll still fail. He promises he isn't going to sacrifice himself as Plan A, so he asks Itzamna to accept that this is how he chooses to live his life.
Itzamna looks at Yasuyori for a while before he goes oh, then apologizes to him, noting that he pushed his opinion onto him while he was thinking of him. Yasuyori however tells him it's fine and thanks him actually since he knows how much he cares. White speaks again to note that there is going to be danger involved with the piñata. But even so, you guys can't not go through with the piñata smashing for this event. He asks for your guys' help and apologizes for being so powerless. He does have plans to minimize the risks, so he asks for your help in getting Christmas back. You agree to help, promising to bring Christmas back and to go for the best possible ending to this, so White thanks you as he calls you a cute, nice child.
Things tune back to the present as Yasuyori notes that Ded looked like he was in a lot of pain back then. Echo talks to you two, surprising Yasuyori as you ask Echo why she's there since you thought she went ahead. Echo apologizes to you guys, saying she heard what you guys were talking about and has something she wants to tell you guys. Echo then says she wants the two of you to come back safe and sound for sure, and Yasuyori for some reason asks if she overheard you guys.
Echo admits she did since she got separated from Taromaiti and got lost as to what to do. She pushes the subject aside at that point since that's not what she came to talk about, then says that while every path may look to be a repeat of things, she was taught that after the repeating loops that there will be something new past them for sure. Just as she was told that, she wanted to tell it to you guys as she thinks of Heracles. There will definitely be something new out there, and she wishes you guys good luck. You thank Echo and promise to make it back safely no matter how many times it takes.
Echo is happy to hear you say so, then excuses herself before she tells you guys to do your best at the piñata smash. She'll be cheering for you guys, and she says she'll raise her voice plenty of times. After she leaves, Yasuyori comments on how nice it is that everyone is worrying about you guys. He really really wants to do something for them, but he admits he still doesn't know how to protect people aside from throwing himself in as a chump blocker. He has no confidence he can protect himself and admits in shame that he doesn't know how to live like that.
You assure Yasuyori it'll be okay since you'll be protecting him. This surprises him, and you say that you two will get back safely if it doesn't work out. The two of you will keep at it until it turns into a success since eventually it will turn out right for you guys. Yasuyori doesn't say anything at first, then walks in front of you and stands up straight. He responds affirmatively like a soldier, swearing that the both of you will make it out okay. He also vows to protect you, and he invites you to celebrate Christmas together once things are over as the episode half ends.
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