Episode 19: Kobato-kun and Osanai-san
Christmas?
A bad wolf that ate the young sheep
Please don't think it's childish
I know that it is better than anyone
P.S.
You may not have more than one bonbon chocolate a day
Vanilla
Orange Sauce
Blackcurrant
Caribbean Cacao
Vanilla
Orange Sauce
A bad wolf that ate the young sheep
Please don't think it's childish
I know that it is better than anyone
P.S.
You may not have more than one bonbon chocolate a day
Yellow
Small car (Kei car?)
Plates unknown
A little different from 3 years ago
Yellow
Small car (kei car?)
Plates unknown
(A little different from 3 years ago)
Good morning.
Did you get a good night's sleep?
Yes. I never knew being injured made you so drowsy.
Yup.
I'll take your temperature.
That's an adorable plushie.
My friend seems to have left it for me last night.
Did you get a chance to talk to them?
I was asleep the whole time.
You start your rehabilitation today.
Do your best, all right?
I see.
So your phone broke in the accident.
Yes. I can't thank my friends for visiting.
Physiotherapy
Mabuchi
Vanilla
A fantastic harmony of Madagascar vanilla and milk chocolate. Simple but delicate.
Vanilla.
Just one a day, huh?
On Hisaka Shotaro-kun
I'm Osanai Yuki. Class 3-4.
I'm Kobato Jogoro. Class 3-1.
So, did you want something?
I need that book.
How Cars Work
What for?
The car that nearly hit me left skid marks.
I want to learn more about them.
I don't mean to downplay accidents, but they happen.
And yet...
Even after our eyes met, the driver sped up anyway.
I was scared.
So I need them to pay.
I want to identify the person who hit Hisaka-kun.
I think I can pull it off.
I want to give it a try.
I want to find out how capable I am.
What would you think if I told you that you're being vain and self-congratulating?
I'd appreciate that you understood what I said correctly.
I was going to do this alone, but I wasn't sure I could pull it off.
What about you?
I won't quite go as far as saying there's no point if I don't do it myself.
So you think you just need to outsmart me in the end, huh?
Let's work together.
Kobato-kun, are you going to help me? I'm not sure if I'd help you.
Why don't we swap information, then?
Or maybe something a little more involved.
Something that'll benefit both of us.
How about a reciprocally beneficial partnership?
That's an odd choice of words.
Let's make it official.
Will you enter into a reciprocally beneficial partnership with me?
Gladly.
Have you finished your breakfast?
We're tracking your nutrient intake.
Please go easy on the fruit.
Sorry.
Don't put too much strain on your right leg.
A little bit of motion should be fine.
Thank you.
Can I use a wheelchair?
Orthopedics
Miyamuro
Not yet.
Caribbean Cacao
Enjoy the distinctive flavor and depth of cacao.
Left you some gifts
You'll like them
I'm checking the cameras
What are you having, Kobato-kun?
L-Let's see...
I recommend the milk coffee.
I'll have that, then.
A map of the site of the accident, huh?
The culprit's vehicle followed the Inabagawa river upstream from here.
Togou Bridge
Underpass
Site of Accident
The Togou Bridge was nearby, but the levee road takes an underpass under it,
so the driver couldn't have crossed there.
The levee road isn't wide enough for a U-turn, so turning back wasn't an option, either.
Hisaka-kun was lying in the road, with the police and ambulance there, too.
There's no way they wouldn't have noticed if the driver had doubled back.
The river was high that day, so driving across the riverbed is out.
Which means the culprit could only have continued down that same road.
Convenience Store
Underpass
Upstream
Togou Bridge
Site of Accident
Conceptually, we can treat it as a one-way road.
The levee road is here. It eventually intersects with another road at a 90-degree angle.
Underpass
There's no way a car could have escaped up until there.
You seem confident.
After it nearly hit me, I walked down the road to make sure.
Sorry. I never imagined you would've walked all that way after the accident.
That's, uh, impressive.
Anyway, there's a convenience store at this intersection.
Convenience Store
Upstream
Togou Bridge
Underpass
Site of Accident
Convenience Store
Staff Only
Osanai, are you serious?
I'm the one who's going to get yelled at if my dad finds out.
My dad's at the register, so keep your voices down, okay?
I'm not supposed to have non-staff in here.
Well? What data do you want?
The ones on the right. The recordings from the two security cameras.
I want an hour and half from 5 PM onwards on the 7th.
No can do. The data's stored in one-hour segments.
Two hours, then.
Just take an hour.
Nope. Two hours.
I don't like this.
It's for Isawa-san.
You're a piece of shit, you know that?
Even brought a guy with you. You're so low.
Thanks, Asoya-san.
That was easy.
I was so happy.
I asked you not to say anything, and you really didn't.
You might be the first person I've met who'd do that.
I understood what you were trying to do.
It didn't matter who it was, as long as you could put pressure on Asoya-san.
Does that bother you?
Not at all.
Are you done eating?
Yes.
Please drink all of this.
Thank you.
There's no video of the car
There's a huge mistake
in this somewhere
Very good.
Given your progress, you'll be walking soon, no problem.
Did you hurt your hand?
Oh, yeah, actually. I got scratched by a cat.
Could it have been a two-legged cat?
It's a cat.
Excuse me.
Did you have this today?
Cleaning Staff
Yamazato
Oh, no. That was from yesterday morning.
I'm sorry.
No, it's fine.
Does it hurt anywhere?
I'm okay.
I'm putting on the cape.
I'm going to wash you down now.
Um, thank you very much.
Not at all. Please keep it warm.
There's no video of the car
There's a huge mistake in this somewhere
The car that hit me vanished
Just like 3 years ago...
Here we go.
Convenience Store Security Camera
I think we can fast-forward a bit.
Fujidera-kun said the accident happened at 5:06.
It was 5:08 when I checked the time after I nearly got hit.
We don't know which is correct, so we shouldn't skip forward.
The accident should be happening downriver any minute now.
If the driver was going at a normal speed in order not to draw suspicion,
it might take longer than we expect.
Odd.
There's no way it could have taken half an hour.
I watched it by myself last night.
All the footage from all the angles.
I didn't see a blue minivan anywhere.
You watched it all, huh?
There's a huge mistake somewhere.
If something that should have been there hasn't appeared...
Given evidence like this,
even I would have to admit I was wrong about there being no other way out.
I don't think you were wrong.
What do you think, then?
I think both the footage and your observations are right.
That makes no sense.
A minivan vanishes on a single stretch of road.
It's essentially a locked-room case.
On the day of the accident, which side were you walking on? The river side or the city side?
The river side. The map would make it clear if there were a long road on the city side.
Okay, I'll take the river side today.
How about you walk the city side?
Let's contact each other if we find anything.
Okay.
Hello? Notice anything?
Nothing.
If the minivan had gone down this slope, the grass would have been stripped.
There aren't marks like that.
Same here. There's no way it could've gone down the slope.
Right?
I wasn't really doubting you, but should I apologize for doubting you anyway?
Osanai-san?
I was thinking of thanking you.
You didn't think my observations were nonsense.
Instead, you assumed my observations were correct but something unseen existed.
There's no reason for me to think you'd spout nonsense.
There is.
I'm small.
What does that matter?
It absolutely matters.
When you look like a grade schooler, people don't believe anything you say.
Oh? There's a slope here.
I'm on my way.
Keep out
"Closed when the river is high."
"Inabagawa River Management Office."
It was closed when I saw it, too.
Someone from the management office comes to lock it when the river rises.
If you had the key, you could drive down to the river,
wait a bit to calm down, make a U-turn, then exit the levee road
without the security cameras picking you up. Is that your theory?
I might consider it a vague possibility after ruling out every other possibility.
They couldn't have escaped on the river side.
Nor on the city side.
So all that's left is to inspect this side of the road up until the convenience store.
You went to visit Hisaka-kun, right?
Tell me more about that.
How much of it?
I want to know where you took a break.
Also, I want to know about Fujidera-kun.
Well, uh, let's see...
Will you be paying together?
Separately, please.
Hey, this might be oversimplifying it, but...
If you're trying to point out that there's a blind spot right under the camera,
there was no spot that could've been missed by every camera.
Right.
What's wrong?
How...
How did we miss something so simple?
You figured out where the minivan could've gone?
It might be something more important.
Why was Hisaka-kun walking there, right on the edge of the sidewalk?
or otherwise is a crime
Do not vandalize vehicles
Vandalizing vehicles by damaging them
Hisaka-kun was walking with someone else.
And Hisaka-kun was walking on the road side.
That's why he was walking at the edge of the sidewalk.
That has to be it.
How did I not notice that?
You only briefly saw the accident as it happened, right?
Was there anyone next to Hisaka-kun?
I don't know.
I think I saw Hisaka-kun on the ground.
But after that, I was too busy avoiding the vehicle coming towards me.
I think they were hidden behind the minivan.
But the sidewalk isn't so narrow that you'd nearly get pushed out into the road.
Maybe there were three of them?
The other person was pushing a bike.
So Hisaka-kun was pushed further towards the cars.
Do not vandalize vehicles
Vandalizing vehicles by damaging them
or otherwise is a crime
Why didn't anyone mention that?
Well, actually... I don't mean to be insulting, but it shouldn't be a surprise.
Why not?
Remember how you told me what Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun had said?
I noticed something was off then.
They were trying to change the subject on you, Kobato-kun.
Do you normally take that route home from school?
What's your deal?
Is it really that amusing to you that I got hit by a car?
You're right.
Fujidera-kun was even more blatant.
Hisaka was there alone, right?
This might not be relevant,
but I did see a girl climb up the levee between me and Hisaka-senpai.
But that makes no sense.
That would mean Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun are keeping a secret together.
Um...
Did you confirm that?
From what you've told me, Fujidera-kun called him "Hisaka-senpai."
Besides, Fujidera-kun only saw him from behind,
and knew it was Hisaka-kun walking in front of him.
The two were walking down the road one after the other.
That might be because they left school at the same time.
Fujidera-kun could have been Hisaka-kun's junior in their club.
But supposing that's true, why would he shut him up?
I don't know.
I don't know anything about Hisaka-kun.
You probably don't, either.
I can't deny that possibility.
Hisaka-kun and Fujidera-kun—victim and witness—had a connection.
I think we should investigate Hisaka-kun going forward.
They're colluding to hide something about the person walking next to him.
We just need to make some deductions, then.
You look like you're enjoying this.
Let's find the person he was with.
Osanai-san?
Why can't we meet?