Summary:
This episode opens at the Black
Auctions (called the “Darkness Auctions” in Japanese). As a part of being
bought by the Mad Hatter, she now has to assist his as “Alice” during the
auctions itself. She obviously has bad memories from being sold off so she is
quite wary of everything. She runs into Soryu’s underlings for the first time –
Inui and Samejima. She is surprised to learn that such young men are working
for the mafia. Kisaki and Baba are also there, and the whole group falls into
laughter when they see what she is wearing: a ruffled blue dress with white
socks (clearly playing on the classic Alice in Wonderland look). They all
continue to tease her mercilessly until the Mad Hatter shows up. His presence
initially shuts them all up. He is pleased with the outfit and thinks it suits
her – although he did choose it apparently. The other men are soon laughing
again, but he seems unfazed. She – on the other hand – is mortified. She tries
to get the other men to understand that this was not her choosing and she’s not
a “weirdo”, but the auction start buzzer sounds before she can get her comeback
in.
As the assistant, she brings
various items on the stage to be auctioned off. She is very self-conscious and
wants to get back into the wings as quickly as possible so people will stop
staring at her. The Mad Hatter follows her though. She is looking down, and he
gently tips her chin upward to speak to her.
He gently chides her for being rude to the customers by hurrying off so
quickly. Some female customers witness this interaction and stare daggers at
her. She goes on to watch him from the wings as he talks eloquently about the
items being sold. She thinks that he does not seem so scary now and actually
admires his work.
After the auction is over, the
MC is walking back to her room to change, but she is suddenly grabbed and
cornered. They are the same female customers from earlier. Apparently, the Mad
Hatter has some fans, and they are very jealous of her, trying to discern her
relationship with him. They threaten her and begin to mess up her outfit, but
the Mad Hatter arrives and stops them. He drives them off and takes the MC’s
hand to lead her back to “Wonderland”. She notes that she can actually feel
some warmth through his glove this time.
The next morning, Detective Kishi arrives
to talk more about the previous theft. He says that he was looking at the Mad
Hatter’s passport which shows his country of origin to be “Neverland”. Kishi doesn’t
appreciate what he thinks is a joke. The MC notes that it’s obviously a fake.
The Mad Hatter doesn’t reveal anything though and babbles on. Noting her
unusually pale complexion, Kishi tells the Mad Hatter that he needs to let the
MC outside sometimes for her health. He comments that it is ok, but he has not been outside
for 4 years. Kishi and the MC are certainly shocked to hear this. At the end of the episode, the MC
finally steps outside. She is able to go back to the morning meetings for her
work and runs into her friend Sakiko in the lobby. She is overjoyed to see her
friend after so long.
My
commentary:
This episode truly endeared me
to the Mad Hatter. From the special episode before, he was already becoming
much less creepy, but this was seriously sweet. He had been mostly cold to her,
and we see the change in action as she feels the warmth through his glove this
time around. The whole thing about the fake passport was pretty humorous to me,
mostly because Kishi gets so irritated. I was also shocked about his statement
of not going outside for 4 years. I started to feel bad for him because there
must be a reason why he’s been shut away so long. It’s really nice to see the
MC finally somewhat happy at the end of the episode because she wouldn’t stop
bemoaning her situation in the previous episodes.
Songs to
listen to while reading this chapter:
"The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" by Panic! At the Disco
“It All Adds Up” by Shinedown (for the part where the women are trying to attack her)
“It All Adds Up” by Shinedown (for the part where the women are trying to attack her)
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