Recap: Haruka reveals the big secret between herself and Kanata. It turns out that the two of them are twin sisters with a twist. They share a mom but they each have a different dad and one of their fathers is an arsonist.

Without knowing which of them is actually the child of the arsonist Kanata is chosen to play the role of family heir while Haruka is chosen to fill the role of the arsonists daughter. Haruka goes to visit the arsonist who is said to be her father and ask for the truth, but he refuses to say anything. Kanata seems to know but she won’t say anything either. The episode ends off with Kanata impersonating Haruka, humiliating her in front of Riki.

Is this the face of someone who doesn’t care? I am not buying that.

Lifesong’s Thoughts: Haruka’s family is brutal. It seems pretty clear that Kanata is not exactly enjoying her position of power over Haruka, but I find that a poor excuse for her actions. The idea that happiness is a zero-sum game is petty. You get it back when you invest it, but you don’t need to have much to invest. That was moral of Komari’s happiness spiral theory and it seems like Kanata could use a lesson.

I find it interesting that each of the girls stories have dealt with comparisons to reality. That seems to be an ongoing theme. With Komari she had trouble accepting that her brother was dead and replaced him with with a fake, Riki. When Mio tried to disappear she was replaced by Midori, another fake. Now we have Haruka and Kanata, who hold fake positions inside their family. I am beginning to wonder how the various themes will come together as we reach the end. For all three, having a place inside the Little Busters has been the answer for them. Is that somehow the secret of the world? I suspect it to be something more mythical honestly.

There is being mean and their if being dirty. This is the later.

Kanata has successfully managed to make me hate her. Haruka is not without spite herself, but after being abused both physically and mentally for being the lesser child who can blame her? I have a feeling that Kanata is actually trying to protect Haruka to some degree. We saw her calling names at her relative under her breath and with her zero-sum happiness theory it’s seems likely that she hasn’t had an easy time of things herself. Regardless of her intentions, she still behaves like a royal bitch when Haruka is involved. I get the impression that Haruka doesn’t really want Kanata’s position. She just wants it all to go away, and finding answers is a means to that end. Knowing who she is could be the first step to moving forward. Telling Haruka the truth might not give her any answers but keeping it away from it will only perpetuate her uncertainty.

After Kanata’s cruel play with Riki at the end of this episode, I want to see her explain herself. More than anything else I want to see Haruka’s torment stop. She has a place that she can belong, but it seems that Haruka is not content to let her have it. Does Kanata’s bitchiness have some greater purpose? Or is she just being petty and abusing her position? We should find out next week.

There are some “unpleasant” implications here.

Of note for anyone curious it apparently is possible for one woman to have a child from two men. The improbability of it all more or less implies that both men did their in quick succession. If the three of them were in such an “understanding” relationship why would one of them want to burn their home down? They were okay with banging the same woman but not sharing her after? Ah I’ve got it, maybe they are all in on it! Food for thought.