Copying Kanae ( カナエ似 / かなえに/ kanae ni / Imitating Kanae ) is the fiftieth chapter of the Elfen Lied manga series.
Plot[]
Yuka walks in on the tender embracing between Kouta and Nyu. Kouta realizes that holding Nyu awakens the warm nostalgia within him, and misses seeing Yuka, who leaves the medicine in the corridor and walks out silently.
Kouta tells Nyu that seeing her cry reminds him of Kanae, who he still describes as dying in an accident (as opposed to the illness he once said she died from), and whom he hurt with harsh words just before her death, leaving him unable ever to gain her forgiveness. Nyu startles him with more recently learned words, as he realizes that Nyu's consolation for his loss is juxtaposed with her breaking a memento of Kanae, who he has trouble remembering. She then begins to stare obsessively at Kanae's picture, until she collapses from her fever once more.
Though sick with a fever, Nyuu still attempts to dress up as Kanae to forgive Kouta in her place.
Wondering where Yuka is with the medicine, Kouta discovers it in the hallway and realizes that she must have witnessed his embrace with Nyu. Preparing some food to take with the medication, he leaves her alone. Still afflicted with her fever, she rises and grabs at some clothes drawers, finally picking up a pair of scissors which she seems to be aiming at her throat. As Kouta returns with the food and medicine, he is shocked to find that Nyu had cut her hair and clothes in an attempt to look like Kanae, offering him the same forgiveness that Kanae can never give, and then apologizing for the seashell she broke when she first arrived at Maple House. Kouta thanks her and tells her he likes her as well, holding her as he puzzles anew at how familiar being with her feels.
On the beachfront near Kamakura, a heartsick Yuka cries her eyes out over Kouta.
Trivia[]
- On this cover, the concern and worry evident on Yuka's face seems greater than possible worries about her modesty, or perhaps she is away from prying eyes at this point.
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