Midnight Oratorio

Midnight Oratorio is the sixteenth episode of the 2006 anime series Kanon.

Synopsis
The episode begins with Nayuki returning home from a track meet. She wonders where Yuichi is, and Akiko tells her that he's at the hospital visiting a friend. She also tells her that Ayu went with him, visibly upsetting Nayuki that she had been left out.

We then see Yuichi speaking to Sayuri. He informs her that the damage done to the school during the battle with Mai's demons wasn't severe enough to cancel classes. No one seems to suspect that Mai was behind any of this, but she has still sustained many injuries and is unlikely to recover before graduation.

On their way out of the hospital, Yuichi and Ayu run into Shiori, and Ayu formally introduces herself for the first time. While they talk, a doctor approaches Shiori and tells her she has just finished speaking with her mother. When Shiori leaves, Ayu asks about what her illness is. Yuichi says she only has a cold, although they both seem to know that her condition is far more dire than that.

With Akiko nowhere to be seen, Ayu decides to make breakfast for Yuichi. He instead decides to skip breakfast and go to school. Before he gets far, Ayu rushes out of the house worried that something is wrong with Akiko. When he gets home, Yuichi sees that Akiko only has a fever and admonishes Ayu for worrying him so much.

Concerned about Ayu, Yuichi calls home to check on how things are going there. Nayuki then tells Ayu where the drugstore is so she can buy cold medicine for Akiko. Nayuki wonders if she should be there to help, but Yuichi dismisses it as Ayu being overdramatic and protective since she has no family of her own.

After school Yuichi walks with Shiori again and asks her if she would like to go somewhere on Sunday. The offer makes Shiori visibly elated. At home, Yuichi finds that Akiko has recovered from her fever thanks to Ayu's help.

Yuichi takes Shiori to an arcade that evening when she tells him she has never been to one. After that the two walk to her favorite spot, where she first met Yuichi and Ayu. She tells him that while it wasn't long ago, the memory of that entire day still stands out to her and that she laughed all day about how funny Ayu and Yuichi were. Shiori then shows him her other favorite spot, a fountain in a desolate park away from town. They decide to spend the day there, having a snowball fight, eating ice cream, and building a snowman together. Shiori draws a portrait of Yuichi, and while it does not impress him he is touched that she went through the effort of doing it for him.

Shiori has one last request for Yuichi before going home. She asks him to take her to school so she can see her old classroom that she had only been to once before falling ill. Shiori explains that she only forced herself to go to the opening ceremony to fulfill her dream of going to the same school as her sister and sharing time with her.

That night, Kaori calls Yuichi and asks him to meet her in the school's courtyard. She then tells him the truth of how Shiori is actually her little sister. In tears, Kaori regrets avoiding her sister, and asks why Shiori was ever born. Yuichi can only stand in silence in the snow as she embraces him.

Characters

 * Yuichi Aizawa
 * Nayuki Minase
 * Akiko Minase
 * Ayu Tsukimiya
 * Kaori Misaka
 * Mai Kawasumi
 * Sayuri Kurata
 * Piro

Locations

 * City of Snow
 * Minase Residence
 * Yuichi's High School

Trivia

 * An Oratorio is a a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists.
 * Last Regrets -X'mas floor style-, a remix version of Last regrets sung by Shimamiya Eiko, is played when Yuichi and Shiori are playing in the fountain.

Quotes

 * "Yes, we must think of the future and not the past." - Sayuri
 * "There's someone near you who is trying to turn away from hardships. Please be there for this person." - Mai
 * "You know how they say "uguu" doesn't catch colds." - Yuichi
 * "Mrs. Akiko is like my mother!" - Ayu
 * "I get a little better and then I get a little worse." - Shiori
 * "Don't tell me you're a fox or a tanuki or something." - Yuichi
 * "I don't have good reflexes at all." - Shiori
 * "I remember everything about that day. It's a precious memory for me." - Shiori
 * "Time has nothing to do with memories. How important that moment was to that person is all that matters." - Shiori
 * "You took the trouble to draw it. That alone makes me happy." - Yuichi
 * "I'll hang out with you 'til time runs out." - Yuichi
 * "I really wish we could stay like this 'til time runs out." - Shiori
 * "I had a dream to fulfill. To go to the same school as my sister, to eat lunch with her in the courtyard, to stop off somewhere on our way home and then chat about what happened that day at home." - Shiori
 * "I knew she was going to leave me soon. That's why I tried to avoid her, wishing I didn't have a sister." - Kaori