Relationships are born naturally from interactions between people.
Relationships change rapidly,
especially those between men and women.
When one of them dies,
I wonder what happens to the unforgettable memories
of the one left behind.
Ky?ko-san is a coward,
because she alone would be able to quickly forget.
With just that, Ky?ko-san
is fragile and fleeting.
Fragile
Fleeting
What?
What is it? What's wrong?
What's that?
Just imagination?
Right now, I'm a suspicious intruder.
Tainted by my name of Yakusuke,
even though I've lived a blameless life up to now...
Yes.
Hello, Sandglass.
Ah, Ky?ko-san?
This is Kizunai H?r?.
Ah, mm...
At the front?
A suspicious figure?
What kind?
Mm.
A man.
Carrying a large backpack...
No one's there?
I see.
Sorry to have troubled you.
So many times before,
I've been falsely accused of crimes I didn't commit.
But this time I have no excuse.
Deceiving everyone,
stealthy,
because I'm about to enter Ky?ko-san's home.
It all began yesterday...
- Shigenobu-san? - Shh!
Keep your voice down.
I'm on a top secret mission from the president.
The president of Saku S?-sha?
Saku S?-sha is a leading Tokyo publishing company
where Shigenobu-san is an editor.
Is this from Sunaga Festa...?
The manuscript of Sunaga-sensei's last work.
Mystery novelist Sunaga Hirube.
Last month, his big fan Ky?ko-san and I
went to Sunaga-sensei's villa
to participate in Sunaga Festa,
an event organised to search
for a manuscript hidden in the house..
But that morning
Sunaga-sensei died suddenly of heart failure.
Sunaga-sensei's final manuscript
was almost lost forever,
but Ky?ko-san brilliantly deduced where the data was
and solved the matter.
...Or so I thought.
Is something wrong with this?
The truth is, Sunaga-sensei's death
may have been suicide.
According to Shigenobu-san's story,
the possibility had emerged that
Sunaga-sensei's heart failure may have been suicide.
It seemed he may have taken
an overdose of his usual sleeping pills.
If it really were suicide,
that would cause a news sensation.
The publicity department of Saku S?-sha
had begun raising concerns about publishing.
However, President Konaka said,
"There's no way Sunaga Hirube killed himself",
and that's where Ky?ko-san came in.
I want you to ask Ky?ko-san.
Quickly and confidentially.
Why not ask her yourself?
Her beauty has haunted me even in dreams.
If I saw her again,
I don't know what would happen.
Since when have you...
And so,
I was supposed to convey his request to Ky?ko-san.
President Konaka thinks if it was suicide
there should be clues hidden in there.
Sunaga Hirube had no reason
to think this was his final work.
If that can't be confirmed,
they're hesitant about publishing.
That's how it seems.
On the flip side,
I want to confirm it wasn't suicide.
I want to confirm
it wasn't suicide
It's far more difficult to prove
something didn't happen than that it did.
Even so,
I'd like to work with the hypothesis,
"There's no way Sunaga Hirube killed himself"
In Sunaga-sensei's novels,
there's no character who commits suicide.
- Not even one? - It's not even discussed.
It's as if he avoided the word "suicide".
But that...
Yes, that's just from what I remember.
It's possible a book's been published
since my memory began resetting
and I've forgotten even if I read it.
In other words
In other words,
to carry out this investigation,
just reading this story isn't enough.
I'll need everything Sunaga-sensei wrote.
I'll need everything
Sunaga-sensei wrote
Which brings us to today.
Ah... I'm Yakusuke.
- Yakusuke-san! - Yes.
- Nobody saw you? - No.
Um... About the request...?
I read the note that was on my left thigh this morning,
so I roughly understand.
- Want to see? - Ah, no, thanks...
Come on in.
Come in?
Right.
Okitegami Ky?ko's Memorandum
Subtitles by Candylemon
Day 1 9 am
In 45 years, Sunaga-sensei wrote
a total of 99 books.
It's spectacular!
Will you really read them all?
Of course.
The objective is to confirm
there's no representation of suicide at all.
This manuscript for his 100th novel
is the main focus for deciphering hints.
I need to read even the books I remember
in chronological order from the start
in order to understand anew
the changes in Sunaga-sensei's thinking.
An ordinary person
could read the 99 novels over many days,
but for Ky?ko-san,
she'll forget it when she sleeps.
Normally, she only takes on cases she can solve in a day,
but a request relating to Sunaga Hirube-sensei
is a different matter.
I'll read read read
around the clock until I'm exhausted!
Yesterday I left this recommendation.
Yakusuke-san will watch over me
so I don't fall asleep!
Single strokes, please.
Right.
Yesterday I was scouted by Ky?ko-san.
I'll be able to read
Sunaga-sensei's last work in this form.
Yes...
Even though I was looking forward to that promise...
Promise?
Ah...
Could it be...with me?
Please tell me, I'll have forgotten tomorrow.
When the book was published,
I promised to leave it in the Sandglass bookcase.
You suggested it.
I asked you to do that?
Yes.
That story led her to trust me...
Trust
Stand guard so you don't fall asleep?
Naturally I'll pay by the hour.
But staying at your place would be...
Since this is a top secret mission,
we mustn't leak any information.
If it's inconvenient for you,
- perhaps Shigenobu-san would... - I'll do it!
Please let me do it.
I, who normally had to be rescued,
was now a real Watson.
Promoted from a client
to the great detective's assistant.
I'll keep Ky?ko-san awake until the case is over
Well then...
Please work well with me.
Likewise, please work well with me
Then right away...
...here.
It's a list of the books,
summarised by title and publication date.
With that, you can read them in order.
"Konaka"...
He was the first editor in charge of Sunaga-sensei.
He's the president now.
It's because he was his editor
he wants to get to the truth of this matter
- and you were requested. - I see.
It seems I agree with the president.
I read the final work this morning, before you arrived,
but frankly it was mediocre.
Mediocre?
Rather than a glorious finale,
it's just a typical Sunaga Hirube work.
- That's harsh. - It's because I'm a fan.
I don't think he'd want this to be his last work.
It's easier to believe it inadvertently became his last.
So it's not unreasonable of the president to believe it wasn't suicide?
Right.
However, that's currently just a fan's sentiment.
I have to read them all.
First...
I'll begin with his debut novel, "Murder Underwater".
Right.
4 hours later
Day 1 1 pm
Reading a long novel in 30 minutes is a phenomenal pace,
on sheer reading speed alone.
99 books x 30 minutes = 2970 minutes
= 49.5 hours.
She can finish reading in 2 days.
Staying up for 2 nights is doable.
My job is just to watch Ky?ko-san.
You might think I'd get bored or sleepy...
...but I won't!
It's too much fun!
I'm getting paid just to watch Ky?ko-san.
I never knew there was just joyful work...
Wait.
If Ky?ko-san and I got married,
and became husband and wife...
Welcome back.
I'm home.
I could look at her every day,
seeing her relaxed appearance
and even her sleeping face.
No, wait a minute.
Ky?ko-san would forget me when she slept, so...
Next morning
Who are you?
I'm your husband...
There's an intruder in my home!
Don't report me every morning!
Help me!
It's no good.
Thanks to my unlucky life,
I can't even have a happy fantasy.
Yakusuke-san, are you married?
I wasn't fantasizing about marriage!
Well, are you?
Ah, no...
I'm not married.
- Any plans to marry? - None.
- Girlfriend? - Sadly not.
I'm glad.
Eh?
If you had a girlfriend, this situation could get messy.
Ah...
Do you want to marry?
It's not that I don't, but...
I don't think marriage
has to be the goal of relationships.
That's true.
It's enough if we're
the best choice for one another.
It sounds like you have someone in mind...
Don't let it bother you.
Put it out of your mind.
Right out.
As far as I remember, Sunaga-sensei was single, too.
It seems he was a lifelong bachelor.
His legacy is going to distant relatives.
What do they think of his death?
If marketing it as suicide sells the books,
they'll take that stance.
I wonder what Sunaga-sensei would think.
Sunaga-sensei was a novelist who faced life.
They're mystery novels, so people die in them,
but death is never treated crudely.
I have to work hard for Sunaga-sensei's honour.
I was suddenly worried.
Was it possible she could be mislead
by her strong feelings about Sunaga-sensei?
Day 1 9 pm
Have you seen Ky?ko-san today?
I haven't.
Itadakimasu.
Mm~! It's delicious!
I'm glad you like it.
This is delicious, too!
Try the salad.
So you can make beef stroganoff.
It's surprisingly easy.
And you can substitute cheaper ingredients.
This situation is just like
a newly cohabiting couple.
Although I've never cohabited.
Ah, I'm sorry.
Unfortunately,
I'm obviously the only one thinking that.
I must calmly devote myself to assisting her.
Day 1 11 pm
Sunaga-sensei worked on a number of series in parallel.
most of his novels
belong to one series or another,
with a total of 22 series existing.
And whatever the series,
it is neatly completed.
As long as there was even one reader,
he would complete the story however long it took.
That was Sunaga-sensei's pride.
Huh?
What's up?
For the past few years, Sunaga-sensei hadn't started any new series
Instead, he finished all his ongoing series.
Doesn't that suggest he was
tying up the loose ends of his life?
That's an amateur's view of Sunaga-sensei.
An amateur's view?
It's not a rare phenomenon.
Several times in the past,
he had times where he'd finished all his series
and fans would say,
"Sensei is putting down his pen",
and make a fuss.
And then a new series would start.
So would "The Corn Shaft"
have begun a new series?
- No, it's a non-series work. - Non-series?
Non-series?
In other words, it's a one off story not part of a series?
That's right, there are only a few.
"Eye of Gok?",
"Angel Passing Through Life",
and "Quarrel Murder" are the same.
That's not many.
Non-series works didn't sell well,
and even fans consider them idle works.
Idle?
Sometimes Sensei wanted to write
carefree novels without worrying about sales.
Continuous reading is unexpectedly tiring.
I know a yoga pose to help concentration.
I remember it from a cleaning job at a gym.
- Please teach me! - Alright.
Use your right foot as an axis,
and put your left foot on the calf.
Then put your palms together in front of your chest.
While breathing in through the nose,
raise your hands upwards.
- Done. - And then...
Looking back, that time
was the peak of harmony.
Day 2 11.45 pm
No, for 2 days we had fun.
The high of all-nighters
created a strange sense of intimacy
as though we'd always been this way...
But there's no relationship that doesn't change.
Day 4
72 hours of reading
9 am
Ah!
Sorry.
Ky?ko-san is concentrating hard,
using her brain at full power,
so she's more tired than me.
Over 3 days, her reading speed has steadily decreased,
and it now takes her 2 hours to read one book.
If she slows down to 3 hours
and 35 books remain,
35 books x 3 hours = 105 hours =
Another 4 days?!
That's impossible.
What?
- Talking to myself. - You're distracting me.
I apologise.
Thinking about it,
it was a reckless challenge.
"Utterly Foolhardy".
I was naive to think Ky?ko-san could do it.
For one person to read 99 books without sleeping
would be "Easier Said Than Done".
If possible, I had wanted
the "Happy Embarrassment Festival" to continue forever.
Ky?ko-san, no!
Are you alright?!
Shut up!
Don't talk so loud.
These past 12 hours
Ky?ko-san's bad mood reached its peak.
Recollection
I'll do this without you telling me.
If I'm going to keep this up all night, I can't eat something that heavy.
You're inconsiderate, aren't you?
Ah~ You're distracting.
Move out of my sight.
What the heck?
We're not even married,
but we're like a couple sick of each other.
Water.
Not even a married couple,
this is slavery.
It's a master-slave relationship.
I understand.
It's due to drowsiness and fatigue.
This situation isn't Ky?ko-san's fault.
The trouble is,
at this rate I'll grow to hate Ky?ko-san.
That a day has come when I think of hating Ky?ko-san...
Can sleep deprivation mess with a person that way, too?
No, it's my own fault
for being such a petty man.
I wish I'd never taken this job.
It's that damn Shigenobu's fault for...
No, it's Sunaga-sensei...
Why did you die, Sunaga Hirube?!!
Sorry...
I'll be quiet.
Oh no...
I'm being corrupted, too.
Remember the cute Ky?ko-san,
the lovable Ky?ko-san...
She was so cute...
That time, too...
That time, and that time...
In any case, I pass.
PASS!
I remembered too much.
Ky?ko-san will forget
even about all this.
Even though I can't forget,
and don't want hate her,
Ky?ko-san is a coward who'll forget it all.
A coward
What if Ky?ko-san's died alone in her room?!
Day 4, noon
Eh?
- After all, today is... - The fourth day.
She hasn't been down for 4 days. Let's go and see!
Ah~ No no no no...
Ky?ko-san is an adult.
Just because she happens to live upstairs,
that doesn't mean we should interfere.
I know, but...
Ah, H?r?-san,
have you ever been in her flat?
Hm?
No?
I haven't.
Another day ended...
Day 4 7 pm
At this point, I've tried every method
to keep Ky?ko-san awake as she asked...
Yuck.
I'm sorry.
- I wish I didn't have to make you... - Yes.
It's waking me up.
This is torture.
We're a criminal and their torturer.
Why do I have to make the person I like suffer so much?
Criminal and torturer
Ky?ko-san!
Day 5 3 am
I've reached my limit...
Pinch me, please.
Pinch my cheeks, hard.
- No, but... - Hurry.
If I don't survive this sleepiness,
all the work up to now will be wasted.
It's punishment to myself
for treating you so horribly
when you've been so willing to help.
Have you forgotten the oath you wrote?
Excuse my rudeness.
Both hands.
Yes.
Yup, like that.
Ky?ko-san had said it before.
I want to know it myself.
Why is Okitegami Ky?ko a detective?
I still didn't know
what the true meaning was,
but if solving mysteries was what Ky?ko-san
wished for her life,
I had no choice but to help.
That's good.
- We'll get through this. - Yes.
90 hours from the start of reading,
Our relationship had changed to that of teammates
working together at a sport.
But the fundamental reasoning had been left behind
Reasoning had been left behind...
in the effort to read 99 books
...and it seemed we'd been misguided
in the target we had aimed for.
100 hours of reading
Day 5 1 pm
Let's stop.
Let's end this.
For the past 4 hours
you've been reading the same book.
You haven't taken a step beyond "Things I Didn't Do".
There are 21 more to read.
And not just reading, you need to use reasoning.
I know you want to solve the task you've been given, but...
What day is it?
It's noon.
Day 5.
I haven't...
...had a bath in 5 days...
I'm going for a shower.
If I stand under the water...
I think I'll wake up...
You're going to keep on reading?
Of course...
Breakfast...
Lunch?
Prepare some, please...
Ah.
Don't come into the bathroom.
A meal...
There are no ingredients left...
When Ky?ko-san gets out of the shower...
I'll ask what to buy...
Ky?ko-san!
Ky?ko-san, can you hear me?!
Sorry but I'm coming in.
Ky?ko-san! Ky?ko-san!
Bathing in cold water for 3 hours will kill.
This person will die.
If you warm a cold body rapidly,
cold blood will enter the heart
and may cause shock.
A job at a ski resort taught me
the same care for treating frostbite.
You must increase the heat gradually.
As a rescuer I worked to warm the patient.
7 pm
At that time I was probably quite crazy.
From sleep deprivation and fatigue,
and the relief that Ky?ko-san was safe.
That's what made me able
to be so bold.
I betrayed Ky?ko-san.
She should never have taken this request.
If I didn't stop her remembering,
she would start again from scratch.
And next time, she would die.
The trust she had written at the start...
Yakusuke-san
will watch over me
I erased everything.
Thoroughly, without a trace.
Forget it. Forget it all.
If she forgot it,
she could begin a new day.
When will "The Corn Shaft" be published?
It might be the only crime
of the life I've lived cleanly,
but I used the experience I'd amassed through various jobs
to thoroughly destroy all the evidence.
I'm a villain who committed a perfect crime.
Ky?ko-san and I
had become criminal and victim.
As her betrayer,
I couldn't ask for Ky?ko-san's help ever again.
That was fine.
There were plenty of other detectives.
But there was only one Ky?ko-san.
At that time, accidentally,
I happened to see
something I shouldn't have.
I happened to see
something I shouldn't have
What's wrong?
Last night, various things...
No, these past 6 days...
It's been too much...
So...what about the case?
Ky?ko-san fell asleep part way through.
So she's forgotten everything?
It's my fault.
So there are no clues, huh?
The release date for...
..."The Corn Shaft".
Huh?
It was written on Ky?ko-san's upper arm.
She probably wrote it just before she fell asleep.
When and how did you see that?
Who cares about that?
The release date is next February, isn't it?
Yeah, what about it?
I don't know.
Can't be helped.
Sunaga-sensei's death will be suicide.
Sunaga-sensei wouldn't commit suicide.
Ky?ko-san!
Shigenobu-san and Yakusuke-san.
- Right. - How...?
It's sudden, but I'll present the evidence.
Evidence Sunaga-sensei didn't commit suicide.
You can prove it?
Yes, although it's presumptuous.
When I woke this morning,
I had completely forgotten everything up to yesterday.
However...
I picked up this list in my room.
- Eh? - You dropped it.
"What is this list?"
As I wondered that,
I saw the name Konaka-san written here.
I inquired at the publishing company
and was able to meet President Konaka in person.
He blossomed while discussing Sunaga-sensei,
and when he told me about his request
I understand the situation.
Until yesterday I was recklessly trying to read
all Sunaga-sensei's novels,
but that wasn't necessary.
The case could be mostly solved just by looking at this list.
Eh?
Until yesterday I was using the job
as an excuse to read all his novels.
Fan psychology is frightening.
What can you tell from the list?
I noticed it in one second.
One second?!
The publication dates are the key.
Each book in the set was published in the same month.
- Which series? - Let me see.
The series that wasn't grouped.
Non-series?
The one off books that aren't part of a set?
Yes.
According to this list,
the 1st, 25th, 48th,
51st, 66th and 79th novels
are the 6 non-series works.
Ah... They were all published in February.
"The Corn Shaft" is also non-series,
and will be published in February.
These are also the works for which
Sunaga-sensei planned the Sunaga Festa manuscript search events.
I don't believe that's coincidence.
So I read these novels
in the company's library.
And I realised something unexpected.
The group of novels considered "non-series"
have a common point that makes them a series.
Hm?
But the genres and themes are different.
Yes.
If I hadn't specifically read these 7 books
- I wouldn't have noticed. - Noticed what?
A supporting character.
Supporting character?
One character has been casually included
in all 7 books
in a way nobody noticed.
Non-series book 1,
the debut novel "Murder Underwater".
A 17-year-old schoolgirl appears
as a classmate of the main character's sister.
She sits in the row whose surnames begin with M.
Published 7 years later
was "Eye of Gok?".
A 24-year-old woman named Momota
appears as a witness to the crime.
9 years later came "Angel Passing Through Life".
The pen pal of the detective heroine
is Kuwata-san, in her thirties.
- Kuwata? - Not Momota?
She'd married.
The following year came "Quarrel Murder".
The housewife Asami-san gives the hero directions.
This is where we learn her given name.
Maiden name Momota Asami-san.
9 years later, "Bata Foot Club" was published.
The receptionist is a woman in her mid-forties known as "Kuwatchi".
7 years later, in "Yellow-Green Boy",
A woman in her fifties known as Asa-chan
returns lost property to the children.
And 12 years later comes "The Corn Shaft".
A 62-year-old woman farmer appears
to supply corn to the hero's family.
The publishing years fit with the ages.
Momota Asami
Kuwata Asami
In the non-series books, Sunaga-sensei
secretly told the story of a woman
from girlhood on past middle age.
So who was that Asami-san?
- She really existed? - Yes.
President Konaka let me examine some old materials.
There was a girl Sunaga-sensei dated at school.
That was...Asami-san?
She died of illness at 17.
That's why Sunaga-sensei wrote about life.
Thinking of her, who couldn't live even if she wanted to,
he wouldn't have ended his own life with suicide,
and never once used the word.
Her birthday was in February.
"The non-series works are Sunaga-sensei being idle".
All his fans believed that,
but it's not true.
To Sunaga-sensei,
he treasured the non-series works the most.
In a corner of the stories, Asami-san
happily graduated high school,
worked...
married and had a family,
raised children...
...and quietly lived a peaceful life.
For over 45 years,
alongside Sunaga-sensei.
In "The Corn Shaft",
Asami-san is still full of life.
Whenever he wrote someone's life,
he ended it with their death.
The non-series is still incomplete.
I see...he stopped part way through.
There's no way Sunaga-sensei would have killed himself with the story unfinished.
The president is also convinced.
Since it was an accidental death rather than a suicide
he's given strict orders to his subordinates to publish.
That completes my evidence.
Ky?ko-san!
See you again.
Now then, Yakusuke-san.
Shall we have an adult conversation?
- Where shall we begin? - Um...
- May I ask something first? - Go on.
I remember shutting the list
away in my backpack.
- When you say I dropped it in your room... - Right, that was a lie.
Then how...?
How do you think?
Could it be...you weren't asleep?
No, I slept soundly.
That's why I was able to solve the case.
I slept, and refreshed my mind,
then looked at the list from a new angle.
Did I forget to erase a message from your body?
No.
You removed them thoroughly.
You left the basic data,
but erased everything about Sunaga-sensei.
Even from my thighs.
I'm sorry, I didn't look,
I didn't look or touch...
Anyway, that's not the point...
Right, you cried, didn't you?
Even though I was warm and sleepy,
all that crying woke me up.
That time...?
I was shocked.
I had no idea what had happened.
So I pretended to sleep.
I checked all the memos before you erased them.
I was able to grasp the situation.
After that, I was just pretending to sleep,
and now it's as you see.
Then when I was
erasing the memos from your body...
I was wide awake.
Unbelievable. You should've stopped me!
If you'd already seen them, I had no reason to erase them.
You seemed to be trying your best, so I wanted to help you.
Huh?
I love seeing men working hard.
So calm about it...
Somehow I didn't feel afraid.
When you were erasing the memos
somehow I felt at peace.
With this person I'll be fine, I can relax.
It's likely that for a while now,
this person has been treating me kindly.
Somehow.
Thank you for your help.
For 5 days at my place,
I expect I was cruel to you, wasn't I?
Yes, very.
- I'm embarrassed. - So am I.
That's right.
You've seen my naked body...
Forget it, please.
I'll try.
Let me see yours next time.
Eh?
I'm joking!
If you need me again, please call.
- I can request you? - Of course.
And...about my bedroom ceiling.
Never tell anyone about that.
Welcome back.
- Do you want dinner? - I'm fine.
I'm going to bed. Goodnight.
At that time,
I saw something I shouldn't have.
The first message Ky?ko-san saw
when she woke in bed each morning.
From today, you will live as
Okitegami Kyoko, private detective
It wasn't Ky?ko-san's handwriting,
so why was it there?
Who wrote it?
I don't know.
It may be I'm a detective
because I want to know that.
But I feel being a detective suits me.
Private detective Okitegami Ky?ko.
If I have that name,
I feel I can go on living each day.
It's a strange thing to say.
On that day, I made a decision.
It might be exceeding
our relationship as detective and client,
but I didn't care about that.
Just as Sunaga-sensei
had secretly continued spinning Asami-san's life story,
Ky?ko-san's ephemeral life
that disappeared from day to day,
I would record
with my own hands.
"K's Memorandum"
Trust Kakushidate Yakusuke
but she won't remember it.