Synduality: Noir – 08 – Mouth to Mouth

Ellie has a dream about laughing at something Kanata said when they were little, and him looking pained. She wakes up thinking it was an awful dream, but at least she gets to go on a date with Kanata today. Only, he kinda invited all the women he knows except Ma’am, Schnee, Dolce, and the waitress at the bar. Their destination: Satellite Aqua, a water park.

That’s right, it’s Synduality: Noir’s Pool Episode, and it wastes no time putting everyone in swimsuits. Maria, Ange, Claudia, and Flamme are determined to help Ellie succeed in snagging Kanata once and for all. To that end, they recommend she wear either a slingshot string bikini or just stickers, but she settles for a cute two-piece that he likes just fine. Meanwhile Noir, who sports a one-piece, shows off her unique, submarine-like swimming.

Kanata asks Ellie to help him swim, as he doesn’t know how, but the lesson is interrupted by a surprise concert from Ciel, who declined Kanata’s invitation because this was the errand she had to do. After her extremely popular (and profitable, at least for Tokio) show, she tells Kanata he inspired her to follow her dream and do the show. When she offers to help Ellie with his swim lesson, Ellie tells Ciel she can do it alone with him, and skulks off.

A concerned Kanata gives chase, but when he grabs her shoulder she plunges into the pool and a leg cramp keeps her under the water. Despite not knowing how to swim, Kanata dives in to rescue her, and the next thing she knows, she’s regaining consciousness after someone—apparently Kanata—gave her mouth-to-mouth. That would mean she wasn’t conscious for her first kiss.

Ellie laments that her feelings for Kanata may not be as powerful as Ciels, but her big sis tells her she shouldn’t worry about intensity, only taking advantage of opportunities to show him that she does like him. She gets than chance when Maria keeps Noir occupied, and Ellie apologizes for laughing at his dream of finding Histoire, which she knows was mean.

To her surprise, he had forgotten that she was mean to him at all, since it was so long ago, and in the years that followed, she helped him out again and again, proving her quality as a friend. When asked, he clarifies that it was Ange, not he, who gave her mouth-to-mouth, but he and Ellie end up in a position to kiss for real when Noir arrives to protect him.

All the talk of “ambushes” and “attacks” has her thinking Ellie has hostile intentions with Kanata, when in reality she simply wants to get closer to him. Considering this is a two-cour series, I’m sure she’ll get another chance or two to make her feelings clear. But since this is Kanata, she’ll have to be extremely clear.