Pleuvoir — Rain Which Doesn't Know the Sky is the fifty-third chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
Summary[]
“Fine. That’s fine.”
Dominique falls. She thinks that if she won’t cause anymore pain for Noé, if he won’t have to cry like that time in their past ever again, then… A laugh, mocking and knowing and familiar. In the dark space of her consciousness. Dominique kneeled on the ground with her child self standing next to her. And now, yet another figure who has appeared. This figure, looking remarkably like Louis, smirks down at Dominique condescendingly and asks if she’s really doing this for Noé’s sake. Dominique stares back, stunned. A scream. She snaps back to reality, where Noé is running towards her as fast as he can, though not fast enough. He’s screaming her name at the top of his lungs, face full of panic and terror and grief. Dominique stares wide-eyed at Noé’s heartbroken face. Still, she continues to fall, but just before she can hit the ground—
She’s grabbed out of the air. Dominique is shocked. Mikhail is as well as he whips towards the scene. Noé stares stunned at the rollercoaster above.
Jeanne, having swooped in and caught Dominique in her arms just in time.
Jeanne saves Dominique from falling
Jeanne asks if Dominique is alright. Mikhail, irritated, wonders who it is who’s just arrived. Jeanne continues to ask Dominique about her well-being, but all she can do is lie limply in the other’s arms. Noé’s voice yells out to Jeanne. Dominique flinches and her eyes slowly turn down to where Noé is. Noé looks up at the two of them, tearful in his relief. Jeanne asks Noé what’s going on—she flinches and jumps away. Dominique has just leapt out of her arms and attacked her with her sword. Jeanne is baffled, as is Noé below on the ground. Dominique wields her sword on unsteady legs and starts brokenly crying out. An image of her child self is juxtaposed on her form. She calls out to Jeanne, that she doesn’t want her, not to come near her. Dominique screams that she hates Jeanne. Jeanne stares in shock.
In her consciousness, Dominique protests that she can’t fight Jeanne. Her child self asks her why she shouldn’t. After all, she always felt as though she was in the way. Dominique stares. She had envied her. And, in that moment of jealousy, she wanted Jeanne to just disappear. Dominique pales and shakily tries to deny this. Mikhail jumps into the confrontation atop his mechanical dog. He confirms her to be right, caresses her cheek, and tells her that everyone who gets in the way is a bad guy. And so, they will kill them all together. Jeanne glares, eyes glowing red and fangs baring in her anger, as she realizes he’s the one behind everything. Mikhail glares back at her with a deep enmity, not once flinching at her dangerous tone.
Down below Noé tries to warn Jeanne against fighting Mikhail, as he possesses a Book of Vanitas. Jeanne interrupts him and screams his name out. She declares loudly that she has come on Luca’s orders. She promises that she’ll save Dominique. As Noé stares in shock, Jeanne tells him she’ll leave Vanitas to his care. She tells him, watch him properly. Dominique rushes at Jeanne with her sword who prepares for battle. Vanitas charges at Noé as well to continue their fight. Noé, however, is still in shock, staring up at the sky, taking in the words he’s just been told. As if he’s finally come to realize something. The rain continues to fall.
Noé thinks. “Watch him”? Noé, watch Vanitas? In his mind flash bits and pieces of the fight they’d just had, Vanitas’s gun and serum dosage. The ferris wheel towering above them, the blinding lights of the amusement park, the moon hanging high in the sky. Noé thinks, he doesn’t need to be told to do that. Vanitas charging headfirst into Noé’s attack. What he looked like as he did so. The face Noé seemingly could not see. The endlessly falling rain.
Jeanne braces herself against the flood of attacks barely missing and bouncing off of her. Dominique as she attacks with her sword is fast and agile and relentless in the way she fights. Jeanne doesn’t want to hurt her, so she makes to immobilize Dominique using the Crimson Gauntlet. An electric shot like a bolt of lightning strikes her right in her Gauntlet. Jeanne freezes and whips towards her weapon in panic, suddenly finding it useless. The Book of Vanitas crackles with energy, and Mikhail, panting with exertion, smugly brags that she won’t be able to use the Gauntlet for a while. Jeanne realizes that her interfered with the Astermite, rendering it inoperable for the time being. Noé yells out to both Dominique and Jeanne in concern, and he makes to race into their battle. Vanitas swoops down onto Noé, swinging on his wire from a tree above. Noé whips around in surprise, and Vanitas kicks him forcefully, sending him plummeting down and crashing through the roof of the building below. Vanitas lands on said rooftop, visibly exhausted, and starts to totter over. Inside the building , Noé sits up disoriented in the rubble. A shadow rises up behind him. Noé whips around to attack—
It’s himself. His own reflection, staring back at him through the mirror. Lunging forward with elongated claws, bared fangs, glaring red eyes, and an almost deadly countenance. Noé’s eyes widen. He stares at himself, starting to calm down. He wonders, is this how he’s looked the whole time? Noé realizes. What about Vanitas? When their violent, destructive, terrible fight first began, what did he look like at that time? Noé thinks back, of Vanitas snapping at Noé to not get him involved in his emotional baggage, to get out of his sight, even threatening to attack Dominique himself. And Noé asks himself, what did he see in that moment? Vanitas holding his gun out, hand clasped over his own face. Noé attacking Vanitas with his fangs bared. Vanitas, looking up, moving his hand out of the way, allowing Noé to see fully and clearly just what he looked like when Noé had attacked him.
Vanitas was scared.
Vanitas scared of Noé
Noé is shocked. He slams his head against the mirror. As blood stains the cracked shards remaining of the mirror and slowly drips down his face, he thinks to himself. Mikhail was right. He doesn’t know anything about Vanitas’s past. Noé bites his lip. But even so, throughout all this time. Throughout all their time together, every hardship they’ve been through, every battle they’ve fought, every victory they’ve earned—every expression upon Vanitas’s face throughout all that. Noé has watched him. All along, his eyes have been witnessing what kind of person Vanitas is.
Up on the rooftop. Vanitas kneels down, panting heavily, exhaustion clear on every part of him. Noé stands off from him, holding his unusable arm. Noé tells Vanitas that he wants to stop this, that he wants to make up and reconcile. Vanitas stares at him unhearing. Noé stares back defiantly. Vanitas charges at Noé once again. Noé, as he endures Vanitas’s attacks against him, recalls what he knows about Vanitas. He’s bad-tempered. He always does whatever he wants arbitrarily. Vanitas continually slashes at Noé with his knives. He doesn’t care whether he gets hurt but can’t abide others getting hurt for his sake. All the while, Noé tries yelling to Vanitas, to break through to him. He tries to isolate himself by pushing everyone away. In Noé’s mind flashes the words Vanitas spoke previously at the beginning of their fight: “If I do, you’ll be free too…”
And Noé realizes. When Vanitas says “free,” he means “alone.”
Vanitas keeps attacking. Sweat from exhaustion and the persistent rain covers his face with moisture. Blood and bruises color his entire form, not an inch left untouched by the spoils of their fight thus far. His eyes reflect no light, vision bathed in darkness with the only light of coherence being that order to not allow anyone to take his memories. Over and over again he repeats to himself, “Kill that Vampire!” Noé listens to Vanitas say this and grits his teeth. He spreads his arms out wide and open and declares—he is Noé, not “that Vampire.”
Vanitas’s eyes are wide. The building beneath them cracks and begins to collapse right beneath their feet. Jeanne stares with wide eyes at them. In his mind Vanitas desperately tried to deny Noé’s words, to block out what he’s hearing. Noé continues to yell anyways. He refuses to be what Vanitas wants him to be. Vanitas holds his knife high above his head as he descends upon Noé fully ready to kill him. In response, Noé continues to hold out his arms open and wide and ready, as if accepting everything coming to him, and he screams at Vanitas.
“I will never set you ‘free’!!!”
Vanitas’s eyes are wide. The darkness staining his vision fades away.
They crash onto the ground together, Vanitas on top of Noé.
Jeanne screams to them in concern. Dominique, despite her mind still deep within turmoil, whips around to their fight. Mikhail watching this all breathes heavily and grins with anticipation.
Noé’s arms lie motionless on the ground. Vanitas kneels on top of him with his knife. Blood splattered onto the ground arcs outward from where the two of them lie.
Noé’s eyes are wide. Vanitas’s knife is centimeters away from cutting his throat. Vanitas grips tightly with both hands which shake heavily. Vanitas growls in frustration, why can’t he kill… Vanitas screams “Why?!” Droplets fall.
Vanitas crying
Vanitas is crying.
Vanitas sobs, why, as Noé stares at him in complete shock. His drop the knife, clattering to the ground uselessly. Vanitas crumbles onto Noé’s chest and repeatedly slams the ground with his fist, cursing his frustration, his devastation, his failure. Noé starts to cry as well. Brokenly, he apologizes to Vanitas. They lie together on the ground broken and defeated as rain falls down upon them from the stormy sky above.
Characters[]
- Dominique de Sade
- Louis de Sade*
- Noé Archiviste
- Mikhail
- Jeanne
- Luca Oriflamme (Mentioned only)
- Vanitas
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
Gallery[]
Coming soon!
Trivia[]
- Pleuvoir is literally translated as "to rain" from French.
- The alternative title in the original Japanese, "
空 知 らぬ雨 " (sora shiranu ame), is a metaphor for "tears".
[]
| v - e - t | The Case Study of Vanitas Chapters |
|---|---|
| Parisian Excursion Arc | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 |
| Bal Masqué Arc | 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Hunters of the Dark Arc | 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 |
| The Beast of Gévaudan Arc | 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 34.5 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 38.5 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 |
| Amusement Park Arc | 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 54.5 • 55 • 55.5 • 56 |
| Miel Incident Arc | 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 61.5 • 62 • 62.5 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Other | Vanitashu no Karute • Author's Notes |