“Kuramori — Haibane of Abandoned Factory — Rakka’s Job” “Kuramori — Haikōjō no Haibane tachi — Rakka no shigoto” (クラモリ — 廃工場の灰羽達 — ラッカの仕事)

In a flashback, Kuramori and Remu witnessed Reki being born with black-spotted wings. Kuramori promised Reki that she would stay by her side forever. Kuramori takes Reki to see the Communicator, who gives Reki her name and shows Kuramori how to prepare the special medicine. One day, Kuramori falls ill due to her poor health, and Reki and Nemu cook breakfast for her overnight. The next morning, Kuramori lets Reki live in the guest room to take on the responsibility to take care of any newborn Haibane. In the present, Reki goes to the Communicator to ask for help for the ailing Rakka, so he tells her that Rakka is no longer sin-bound. He also says that Nemu always worries about her. Rakka feels better after Reki gives her the special medicine. As punishment for touching the wall, Rakka is given her own job within the wall around the city, as she is to gather light leaves to make halos and to purify the rusted name tags. Hyoko and Midori offer a tentatively friendly gesture from Abandoned Factory to Old Home. Reki tells Nemu not to think of her as a burden for worrying about her so much.

“Parting — Darkness in the Heart — Irreplaceable Thing” “Betsuri — Kokoro no yami — Kakegae no nai mono” (別離 — 心の闇 — かけがえのないもの)

Rakka go to Abandoned Factory to meet up with Hyoko and Midori there. Midori hints to Rakka that Hyoko almost died because of Reki when the two once ran away together. During her work underground, Rakka hears Kuu’s voice as drops of puddles flow down the stream. The Communicator later tells Rakka that while she had the birds to offer her forgiveness, Reki will not accept help from anyone and has little time left. Rakka vows to try and help Reki, already knowing she probably will not ever see her again. Since Nemu is sick, Rakka visits the library, coming across one of the petrified books, which Sumika says that it was turned to stone by some sort of magical force. Rakka becomes upset when Reki views that their moments together will not last forever.

“Well — Rebirth — Riddle” “Ido — Saisei — Nazokake” (井戸 — 再生 — 謎掛け)

The Haibane leave Old Home in search for Rakka, who realizes that the crow that died in the well represents someone who cared about her in her old life. The Toga find and rescue her from the well, but they do not know what has happened to Kuu, much to her dismay. She believes she heard Kuu’s voice behind the cold wall, but the Communicator catches her touching it. Now having a sprained ankle, the Communicator leads her home. The Communicator says that the crow had finished its purpose before dying, but Rakka sympathizes for this crow showing what her dream meant. The Communicator also remarks how she is sin-bound due to her black-spotted wings that she tried to hide. He then gives a riddle, which he calls the Circle of Sin, stating that to recognize sin is to have no sin. As the Communicator departs, Reki and the others find her. However, Reki realizes that Rakka has touched the wall, feeling her cold body. Rakka becomes ill and Reki takes her home to take care of her. It is hinted that Reki may have been in a similar situation in the past.

“The Bird” “Tori” (鳥)

Hikaru gives Rakka a pair of wing covers that will protect her from the cold atmosphere, though she uses it just to hide her wings. After Reki helps Rakka move Kuu’s bed into her room, Rakka questions her purpose for her existence, to which Reki suggests she must find out on her own. They take the Young Feathers to buy winter clothes. After talking with the store owner, a woman tries to touch Rakka’s wings. She flees out of the store, and, as she trip onto the pavement, one of the wing covers comes loose. A man helps her back up and gives her back the wing cover, and she ashamedly runs into the Western Woods, led by the crows, who take her to an old well where she learns about her cocoon dream. Rakka feels both nostalgic and amnesiac of the crow she has seen in this dream.

“Scar — Illness — Arrival of Winter” “Kizuato — Yamai — Fuyu no tōrai” (傷跡 — 病 — 冬の到来)

Rakka refuses to believe Kuu will never return from her Day of Flight, since it has now been a month since then as winter soon approaches. She goes insides Kuu’s room to clean up the place, but she begins to notice sickly black spots begin to appear on her own wings. Depressed, she goes into town alone to get something to eat and later encounters Hyoko. Although he is relieved that Reki was not the one who has disappeared, Rakka becomes upset since she really cares about Kuu. When Rakka returns to Old Home later that day, more black spots start to show, and Reki begins to worry when she catches sight of this. Rakka cries as she runs back to Kuu’s room, and Reki follows and embraces her. Reki gives Rakka special medicine extracted from an elderly tree for her wings. Reki explains that a Haibane is deemed to be sin-bound if they have forgotten their dream while inside their cocoon. She also reveals that she was sin-bound when she was a newborn and that she had been haunted by nightmares since then.

“End of Summer — Rain — Loss” “Natsu no owari — Ame — Sōshitsu” (夏の終わり — 雨 — 喪失)

Rakka searches for a room of her own to move into, but most of Old Home is in disrepair. Kuu gives her a warm coat to prepare for winter, but as she leaves, Rakka is disturbed to see the halo over Kuu’s head flickering. Seeing Rakka in her new coat, Kana tells her it was the first item of clothing Kuu bought for herself, despite being too large, and that Kuu has always had a habit of trying to imitate her older companions, often with disastrous results. Returning to her search, Rakka discovers that Kuu has circled a specific room on her map. She goes there and is delighted to feel a sense of familiarity. Kuu, who has been waiting for her, explains that this is the room where Rakka was born. She then thanks Rakka for the influence she has been, and leaves. That night, a rainstorm hits, and Kuu is nowhere to be found. After Rakka sees a light in the Western Woods, Reki says that Kuu may have taken her Day of Flight and passed outside the walls. The Haibane all don raincoats and go to the woods, where they find Kuu’s halo, now cold and dim.

“Library — Abandoned Factory — Beginning of the World” “Toshokan — Haikōjō — Sekai no hajimari” (図書館 — 廃工場 — 世界のはじまり)

Rakka goes to work with Nemu at the library. There she meets Sumika, a kindly, pregnant librarian who asks for Rakka’s perspective on what it was like to be born. Rakka then explores the library books for information about the world outside the walls of Glie. Sumika tells her that she, too, has made such a search and found no answers. At the end of the day, Nemu tells Rakka that she is working on a gift for Sumika involving an old, partially destroyed book they once discovered called “The Beginning of the World.” As they walk, they catch sight of Reki and witness an unfriendly encounter between her and a male Haibane named Hyoko. Nemu explains that he comes from another nest, Abandoned Factory, and that he and Reki once ran away together. As a result, they are no longer allowed into each other’s territory. The next day, Nemu shares with Rakka the gift she is working on, a rewritten version of “The Beginning of the World” with the gaps in the story filled in. Together, they finish writing it, including a possible origin for Haibane and a bit of Nemu’s own sleepy personality.

“Trash Day — Clock Tower — Birds Flying Over the Walls” “Gomi no hi — Tokeitō — Kabe o koeru tori” (ゴミの日 — 時計塔 — 壁を越える鳥)

Exploring her job options, Rakka spends a day with Kana. This begins early in the morning with taking out the trash and fighting off crows that plague the yard. Rakka suggests setting aside any leftover food the crows might like, but Kana replies that birds are the only creatures that can fly back and forth over the walls of the city, and that if they were to become too comfortable inside, they might never be free again. She then shows Rakka her personal project, a broken-down clock tower on the Old Home campus, and they hurry off to Kana’s work place, a much larger clock tower and shop in the center of Glie. Kana’s employer is a gruff old man who treats her very strictly but secretly appreciates her and worries that Rakka’s presence means Kana will leave soon. After Kana and Rakka clean up a mess left by repair workers, they go out on a balcony which turns out to be the highest point in town, other than the walls. They then return home, and Kana’s boss gives her a set of tools with which to repair the Old Home clock tower.

“Temple — The Communicator — Pancakes” “Jiin — Washi — Pankēki” (寺院 — 話師 — パンケーキ)

Rakka goes to visit Reki, who wakes up on the floor after falling from her bed during a nightmare. From the paints and other materials in the room, Rakka learns that Reki is an artist, although she will not share any of her paintings. Hikari takes Rakka to the temple of the Haibane Renmei, where Rakka meets the Communicator and is approved as a new Haibane. He gives her the notebook with which she can make purchases and encourages her to search for a job. Back at Old Home, Rakka finds Reki dealing with her own job, which is to help cook and care for the Young Feathers. To help convince the children to eat their carrots, Rakka volunteers to go visit the bakery where Hikari works and purchase some pancakes. Kuu, the youngest of the older Haibane, accompanies her and shares her belief that, despite their small wings, each Haibane will one day be able to fly. At the bakery, they discover that Hikari had used the halo mold in a cooking experiment, which explains the effect Rakka’s halo has on her hair.

“Town and Wall — Toga — Haibane Renmei” “Machi to kabe — Tōga — Haibane Renmei” (街と壁 — トーガ — 灰羽連盟)

Rakka’s new companions introduce around Old Home, the previously abandoned dormitory in which they now live in. This place also houses numerous children referred to as the Young Feathers. Rakka is then accompanied by the Haibane, except Reki, into the nearby town of Glie, which is mainly populated by ordinary humans. Rakka learns that certain rules have been set down by an organization called the Haibane Renmei. They are required to work and are only allowed to own secondhand items that humans have stopped using. Because they are also forbidden to use money, they must instead write down their earnings and expenses in special notebooks provided by the organization. The town and local countryside are surrounded by an enormous wall through which only the mysterious traders called Toga can come and go. A masked figure called the Communicator is the one person allowed to speak with them, and then only through sign language. Rakka has an eerie feeling as she looks at the Communicator and at the crows near the walls. When the group returns home at night, Reki waits for an exhausted Rakka and watches her until she falls asleep.

“Cocoon — Dream of Falling from the Sky — Old Home” “Mayu — Sora o ochiru yume — Ōrudo Hōmu” (繭 — 空を落ちる夢 — オールドホーム)

A girl dreams that she is gently falling through the sky and that a crow is trying to save her. Later, she wakes up inside a giant cocoon. Upon breaking out, she is tended to by a group of winged and haloed people who introduce themselves as Haibane. They name her Rakka. Like her, none of them can remember anything before being born from cocoons into this world, and all are named after their own dreams. They give Rakka a newly-forged halo, which slides away from her head and must be temporarily strapped on, then leave for the night. Reki stays behind to help Rakka through the ordeal of growing her wings. After they erupt painfully from her back, Rakka sleeps while Reki cleans the blood from her feathers.

“Onizuka’s Final Battle”

Miyabi’s friends and teachers work to protect her from the corrupt teachers’ union whose pressure on Mr. Saitou over his unprofessional relationship drove his student lover to suicide. Eikichi decides to take the blame for the stabbing to clear Miyabi of any wrongdoing. Azusa also confesses her feelings towards Eikichi.

“Old Wounds Revisited”

Miyabi confronts Noboru Saitou, the class’s former teacher, about the incident that drove them to hate teachers. When Mr. Saitou is later found stabbed, suspicion immediately falls on Miyabi.

“Confessions”

Eikichi orders his class to walk through a derelict hotel as a test of nerves. Anko and Noboru make it past Eikichi’s test, but when confronted by four local hooligans, Anko stands up for Noboru against the bullies and confesses her feelings towards him.

“Matters of the Heart”

Following her ordeal, Anko is conflicted over the new emotions that she feels for Noboru. To teach Anko to be true to her heart, Eikichi plans a special nighttime lesson for the class.

“Alone in the Dark”

Separated, Anko and Noboru are forced to find their way to safety together. Eikichi, however, believes their disappearance was a ruse to conceal their discovery of the treasure, and searches for them in hot pursuit.

“Great Treasure Okinawa”

Eikichi learns of a hidden treasure somewhere on one of Okinawa’s islands and decides that a special class trip is in order. During the expedition, Anko and her friends tie up Noboru to leave him in the jungle, but end up getting lost in the process.

“Living Together”

To make it a trip to remember, Eikichi assigns his students to co-ed rooms. Noboru is perplexed with Eikichi’s decision to assign him with Anko and her friends. Eikichi helps Noboru make the most of a bad situation with a good old-fashioned prank on the girls.

“Self-Improvement”

Nao helps Azusa choose a bathing suit for the trip to Okinawa. Asuza tries to get a makeover in order to impress Eikichi, but ends up getting carried away in the process.

“Wedding Bell Blues”

When Kunio finds a wedding dress catalog at home, he suspects his mother will marry someone behind his back. Overprotective of his mother, Kunio will stop at nothing to stop her wedding.