Episode 21: The End of What Seemed Like a Golden Age
I think we can give you permission to go out next month.
Thank you.
When next month?
By mid-month, most likely.
Is there somewhere you want to go?
The police asked me to help them with their investigation.
Kira General Hospital
You don't want to catch a cold. You'd best...
The view here is nice.
Well, let's go inside. It's cold.
Thank you.
For wheeling me here.
Ouyou High School
Flyer Operation
Dear Ouyou High School Students,
We are looking for any Ouyou students who witnessed the hit-and-run at the Inaba River levee on June 7th. Our classmate is still in the hospital. Please help us find the person who sent him there. If you saw the incident or know someone who did, please contact us.
Wow. I could have never come up with such a straightforward plan.
Straightforward?
How should I put it?
It's just so... plain.
I mean, uh...
It's like you really are... an ordinary person.
Hey, it's some juniors.
A hit-and-run, huh?
Someone saw a girl wearing an Ouyou High School uniform at the site.
I wonder if it was Eiko from Health.
I heard a rumor she was involved in an accident.
Congrats
On Reaching the Women's Judo Nationals
General Studies 2nd Year Sakurai Sara
Congrats
On Reaching the Men's Swimming Nationals
Commerce 3rd Year Takahashi Ren
Congrats
On Reaching the Badminton Nationals
Health & Nursing 2nd Year Fuyuta Kaede
Apparently not.
She was almost hit by a bike, not a car.
Couldn't water the flowers today
Flyers Day 4
Received a call
Saturday 4 PM
Inaba River Hotel
Hisaka Kazutora
Unknown Caller
Hello? Kobato here.
Hi, my name's Hisaka.
I'm Kobato Jogoro. Ninth grade at Takawa Middle School.
You must be the Hisaka-san who called me.
I'm Shotaro's father, Hisaka Kazutora.
Your hot milk.
I'd like to hear about Shotaro's accident.
The police won't tell me much.
I'll answer any question you have.
But I would've thought Hisaka-kun would know more about the incident.
I asked him, of course.
I needed to make insurance claims and such, after all.
I want to know as much as I can about what happened before and after the accident.
I can't guarantee that what I know is true.
I'm simply putting together what I've heard and seen.
That's fine.
We know that the girl with him was pushing a bicycle
and that she was wearing an Ouyou High School uniform.
So...
We put up flyers.
Um...
How's Hisaka-kun doing?
Hm? Oh. Well, not too good, and not too bad, I suppose.
Will he be discharged soon?
We have to wait for the doctors on that.
You've given me a lot of information about the incident.
But this is a matter for the police.
I'll inform the police about the student he was with.
You focus on your studies.
That's a student's duty.
So basically...
You're telling me to back off.
Of course not.
I'm simply worried about you.
If you're too obstinate, I'll have to bring it up with the school.
Understood?
Thank you.
Not a problem. Eat it slowly.
Um, may I have some water first?
I'd rather not bother you when you're taking my tray away.
I know this is a busy time.
All right.
Working late again?
No, I'm clocking out on time.
I see.
Happy new year.
Happy new year to you, too, Kobato-san.
I watered the flowers.
Osanai, what the hell are you doing?
The police showed up demanding the security footage.
June 7th, 5 PM. The same footage I gave you.
Totally normal video of totally normal cars passing by totally normally.
There was a hit-and-run.
A hit-and-run?
It happened on the levee road to the south of Togou Bridge.
The victim was Hisaka Shotaro-kun of Class 3-1.
What does that have to do with anything?
The driver traveled upriver from the site of the accident.
The road passes in front of your convenience store, Asoya-san.
In other words, the car showed up on our security cameras.
Except it didn't.
Huh?
There's no way the car wouldn't have shown up, but it didn't.
The blue van somehow left the levee road
without passing in front of your convenience store.
And you guys have been investigating that?
For days now?
You're both dumbasses.
There's only one answer.
She arrived at the truth before we did.
Welcome back!
I'm happy for you.
Take care of yourself, man.
Thanks.
Can we talk?
Sure.
Congrats on being discharged.
Thanks.
When did you get out?
Saturday morning.
Saturday morning?
Kobato, listen...
I met your father on Saturday evening.
But something was a bit odd.
That person didn't know you'd been discharged.
If that person wasn't your father,
why did he want to know how the investigation was going?
I...
might have met the driver.
You're impressive, Kobato.
All I told you was when I was discharged. And you came up with all that?
You're so annoying.
Man arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run
and other charges
Good evening.
Whoa. Good evening.
You've been sleeping so much every day, it seemed kind of odd.
You could've come during the day.
I was busy.
Studying for entrance exams.
Yup.
And...
And playing detective?
I'm surprised you thought to suspect the water.
It's weird she'd have you drink a cup of water every night.
I never would have noticed I was being drugged.
I couldn't believe it at first, either.
I could've warned you earlier, too.
Sorry.
I'm sorry, too.
For pushing you.
Kobato-kun.
You weren't hurt, were you?
I've been worried.
Kobato-kun.
You were eating taiyaki.
I spoiled it.
I don't care about the taiyaki.
If you hadn't pushed me, I would've been hit.
Thanks for saving me.
You have no idea how happy I am that I'm talking to you right now.
I'm so glad you're alive.
Still, how did you know I was being told to drink water?
You knew about the radio, didn't you?
Hello.
Not that one.
It's in here?
16 Assorted Chocolates
A false bottom.
What made you decide to eavesdrop?
I'd prefer to call it "spectating."
I don't think that's what that means.
It was a voice recorder at first.
But you kept falling asleep,
so I figured something was wrong, and switched it with a bug.
So you swapped out the contents? There were two boxes of chocolates?
You never noticed?
Come to think of it, I might have had two vanillas.
Anyway, that made you question the water.
What was this for, then?
A cute decoy for when the attacker was on to me.
I got the sense that the car that hit you that day never touched the brakes.
If they were targeting you specifically, the hospital wouldn't be safe, either.
And I don't know why they were making you sleep.
Osanai-san, could I ask you to do me a favor?
When I go to the bathroom, I leave my room and go to the right.
The right?
Yeah. So the opposite direction we just went.
I think we'll find the reason I was being knocked out there.
I don't get it.
Let's talk in my room.
Sorry, I was in the bathroom.
I see.
Please call for a nurse when you're going to the washroom.
Why were you giving me a sleep agent?
A sleep agent?
What are you talking about, Kobato-san?
I skipped the water you gave me after dinner.
Shall I bring you some water?
I've arranged to have the water delivered to the police.
You were agitated after a serious injury.
I needed to make sure you would relax and rest.
So the sleep agent was for my treatment?
Of course.
This is a hospital.
Oh, I'll introduce you.
This is my friend who was there when I was hit by the car.
Good evening. I'm Osanai Yuki.
This is the nurse that's been taking care of me.
Her name is...
What was it again?
I've received a lot of help since the accident.
Dr. Wakura from Neurosurgery.
Neurosurgery
Wakura
Dr. Miyamuro from Orthopedics.
Orthopedics
Miyamuro
Physiotherapist, Mabuchi-san.
Physiotherapy
Mabuchi
Yamazato-san, who cleans my room.
Cleaning Staff
Yamazato
Their names were on their name tags.
Everyone has a name tag.
It's strange that a nurse wouldn't have one.
Nurses are sometimes stalked by their patients after they're discharged.
We forgo having name tags to prevent that sort of thing.
You've been at work every day since I was hospitalized.
Which means I've had no opportunity to meet any of the other nurses.
My guess is you don't do night shifts.
So you were worried about me at night.
If I were to wake up and call for a nurse,
a nurse with a name tag would show up.
Like I said, the nurses at this hospital don't wear name tags—
I saw a nurse named Nakata-san at the nurse station.
And I noticed something.
You wheeled me in a roundabout way when I went to the bathroom.
You didn't want to go past the nurse station.
And at the rooftop garden, you were in a hurry to get me back to my room.
Because another nurse could've shown up at any moment.
Wait, Kobato-kun. Why did the nurse want to hide her name?
Because..
I wonder if it was Eiko from Health.
Health?
Ouyou High School has several other courses besides General Studies.
General Studies 2nd Year
Commerce 3rd Year
Health & Nursing 2nd Year
Health and Nursing.
Eiko from Health.
A nurse.
Your name is Hisaka Eiko.
You wouldn't have had to hide your name otherwise.
But Hisaka is the one name you couldn't divulge.
I would no doubt have remembered when I heard that name.
I'd remember Hisaka-kun, who was a victim of a hit-and-run three years ago.
And the name of the nurse assigned to me, another hit-and-run victim at the same spot...
was Hisaka.
Would I dismiss that as a coincidence?
Why were you so desperate to avoid me making the connection between the two accidents?
It's obvious.
Because you were the one who hit me.
I believe you knew I was Kobato Jogoro,
and that you deliberately made a sharp turn.
Supposing I'm Hisaka Eiko and that I was spiking the water...
That still wouldn't mean I'm the hit-and-runner.
The police seem to have confirmed your car wasn't in the security footage.
I think it's only a matter of time before your car is found as well.
You're talking out of your ass.
The car's down by the river. You hid it in the weeds.
Or it's in the river.
You must have been giving Kobato-kun the sleep agent
because you were utterly terrified that he might speak up about the incident.
You were able to hide your identity because Kobato-kun was in your hospital room.
But he'd eventually recover.
So you must have panicked.
You only had two options.
The first was to kill Kobato-kun.
I would never...
And the second was a cowardly stalling tactic.
All it took was a gentle whack of his thigh while he was drugged and out cold.
That would be enough to keep him in the room.
Tell me, Hisaka-san.
Why are you hiding your hand?