Memory — Autumn, Two Years Ago —
God, talk about a waste of time.
Tell me about it.
That's not true.
I saw it, I swear.
Those bones were...
You may be able to dupe the police,
but you can't dupe me.
Because I know who that woman was!
Kujou
Do you still need somethi—
Huh?
Sorry.
Oh, I thought you were the police.
You're the boy from the other day.
Yes, that was how we met.
The Twelfth Bone Under Sakurako-san's Feet...
Present — January 2nd —
And when Asahikawa's first snow fell, late in the season,
Sakurako-san told me goodbye.
I haven't seen her since.
Imai HNY! Officer Utsumi It's the new year! Kougami-san Happy New Year! Shouko-san Happy New Year
I mustered the courage to text her a few times,
but she never replied.
She never answered my calls, either.
Soon enough, it was the new year...
I know I should let it go.
Still, I couldn't just sit around,
so I went into the city.
But I wasn't even brave enough to visit her at home.
This is goodbye, boy.
Welcome!
It's so warm in here! I feel alive again!
I guess she wouldn't come here...
Thank you for coming!
This is the worst thing ever.
The worst thing ever, huh?
Come to think of it, the way we met was the worst thing ever.
Memory — Autumn, Two Years Ago, in Nagayama —
It happened in autumn, two years ago, when I was still in middle school.
It all started when I went to visit my grandparents in Nagayama.
Their former neighbor, Yachi Hatsue-san, had disappeared from her nursing home.
All right. Let's help search, too.
Okay, I'll go look around the shrine.
That was how it all began.
Who's that?
Yachi-san!
The first time I saw Sakurako-san was a little earlier, in summer.
Memory — The Forested Path to the Kujou Mansion —
If you follow the path leading from Nagayama Shrine,
you'll see an old mansion.
I liked its somewhat otherworldly appearance,
and I often took the long way to or from my grandparents' just to see it.
I thought she was so beautiful, she seemed like a dream.
From that day on, I took the long way every time.
It wasn't love at first sight or anything, but I...
At the time, I was feeling depressed for reasons I couldn't name.
I was frustrated, and bored, by the future I could somewhat foresee for myself.
That was the life I led when she appeared.
She was a touch of the unexpected.
But one day, I saw something I shouldn't have.
Memory — The Back Road to the Kujou Mansion, Summer —
Thanks so much. I've been waiting for this!
Oh! This is great!
It's perfect.
It was clearly a corpse of some kind.
Yet she...
The beautiful dream I thought I'd seen was, in reality, a...
Memory — Autumn, in Front of Nagayama Shrine —
Yachi-san!
P-Please let her go!
And who are you?
A neighbor!
You know her? What good timing.
I just met her on the road,
but she seems a bit senile.
I couldn't figure out where to take her home.
Did you think I was a kidnapper?
That's not—
No...
No, the color is different!
Color?
This isn't it.
This isn't it!
I'm sorry...
I'm sorry!
Are you all right, Yachi-san?
Yachi-san was returned safely to her nursing home.
My life returned to normal,
and I was about to become a bored high school student, but...
Memory — Autumn, at the Grandparents' Home —
What?
Hey, Yachi-san's gone missing again.
What's wrong, Shoutarou?
I have a hunch.
That's right, the way we met was...
So, what do you want?
What did you do with Yachi-san?
Yachi?
Oh, the old woman from the other day?
Did she go missing again?
Don't play dumb!
I saw what you were doing in your backyard!
My backyard?
What's so funny?
Are you the one who called the police?
Did you tell them I was some violent public menace?
You thought I killed the old woman, Yachi,
and was boiling her bones in my yard or something?
Y-You didn't?
I do boil bones,
but unfortunately, they aren't human.
Then what...
You want to know?
Bone specimens. I made all of them.
Bone specimens?
I remove the bones from dead animals and reassemble them.
That is my job, as an osteologist.
And that thing in the yard...
It was a Hokkaido sika deer.
But it had already started to rot, so I couldn't turn it into a tasty stew.
Don't you think they're beautiful?
The coexistence of strength and fragility in bones
allows them to support the animal and life itself.
And even in death, the bones remain.
Bones symbolize life and embody death.
Never mind.
Since you're here, you might as well have some tea.
What's your name?
Shoutarou.
Tatewaki Shoutarou.
Shoutarou...
Is it such an unusual name?
Ah... No.
I'm Kujou Sakurako,
the owner of this house.
What bothers me is that Yachi Hatsue was fixated on the shrine gate's color.
Right, she said the color was different...
Before I realized it,
I'd told Sakurako-san everything about the case.
Then we should look around in this area.
There are two more shrines here.
Well, then...
Let's go, boy.
Huh?
What? Are you still frightened of me?
N-Not at all...
To tell the truth, I was still a little scared.
She lived surrounded by animals she'd turned into bones as if it didn't bother her at all.
She had no qualms declaring that she found bones to be beautiful.
Boy.
Um, yes?
Let's go.
It seems this isn't the place.
Don't space out on me.
If the sun sets, we'll be in trouble.
Let's go!
O-Okay!
The color's different...
Isn't it unusual?
Our shrine has a silver gate.
The main shrine seems new.
Was this place recently renovated?
Yes, there was a Shirayama Shrine nearby
that worshipped Kukurihime-no-mikoto.
But due to decay, it was merged with our shrine.
Kukurihime, huh?
Yes.
I hear the gate was remade at the time of the merger.
Do you know where it was?
Huh?
The old Shirayama Shrine.
Yes.
Got it!
Got what?
"Yachi" is a common surname in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Shirayama Mountain, in Ishikawa Prefecture, is believed to contain a god's spirit,
and Shirayama Hime Shrine is devoted to Kukurihime.
Kukurihime is thought to be a goddess who connects the living to the dead.
Um, what does this have to do with it?
Follow me and you'll find out.
Wait, Kujou-san...
You can call me Sakurako.
And just as she'd said,
Yachi Hatsue-san was found
at the old Shirayama Shrine site.
It's pointless sentimentalism.
So where are we going?
To find what Yachi Hatsue was looking for.
What Yachi-san was looking for?
Yes. If we don't, she'll just keep running away.
Oh.
What is it?
Actually, Yachi-san seems to dig under
the cherry tree in the yard, no matter how often they ask her not to.
Hmm, cherry trees...
Do you know something?
Boy, what do you think is buried beneath a cherry tree?
Huh?
A body.
At the time, I didn't understand why she said such a thing.
But now, I think I do, a little.
Fantastic!
It's completely intact!
The bones belong to an adult male.
Based on his incisive suture and dental wear,
I'd say he was in his thirties to forties.
H-How can you...
Because bones change with age.
If you have some knowledge, bones can tell you many things.
You can see an abnormality in the elbow of the right arm, his dominant arm.
He must've been a carpenter, a tatami maker,
or some other job that entailed putting strain on the elbow.
You can even tell that much?
To a certain extent, you can even learn the cause of death.
Look.
There are several depressed fractures here.
That means he was hit multiple times with a hard object.
O-Okay...
Not to mention, his thyroid cartilage is broken.
That indicates that he's been strangled.
I can't determine the direct cause of death,
but this man was struck, strangled, and killed.
What? Killed?
Yes. That's why Yachi Hatsue was desperately looking for him.
Then he's...
Boy, aren't you going to do your thing and call the police?
Oh, uh...
If you don't, I'll take them home and turn them into a specimen.
Later, the police found
that the bones belonged to Yachi-san's father.
But due to the decades that had passed since the incident
and lack of evidence,
it became a cold case.
Smile Home Nagayama
Yachi-san...
She's looking well. Her color's good.
We're here today to tell you something.
It's about the bones found beneath the cherry tree at Shirayama Shrine.
You need not worry.
We found what you were looking for.
They've been buried in their proper place, and given a memorial service.
Were you the one who killed and buried him?
I didn't have a choice...
Da was the village's best carpenter,
and he was usually a kind father anyone would be proud of.
But when he'd been drinking...
He'd hit you?
Ma always told me, "He'll stop soon. Just endure it."
But that day, it was different.
No matter how I tried to stop him, Da...
If I hadn't done something, Ma would've died!
The next thing I knew, Da wasn't moving.
That night, I went with Ma to bury him at the shrine.
The god there is a god of Jizokko, so...
Jizokko?
It refers to children who died young.
This is where we buried my youngest sibling who'd died, too.
We return dead children to the gods.
We thought if we could return babies, we could return Da, too.
But...
I always... I always wanted to apologize.
Da, I'm sorry...
I'm sorry, Da!
It's tragic.
Huh?
I'm talking about Yachi Hatsue.
Though she had no other choice, she killed her father,
and that froze her heart in time.
In time?
Yes. She couldn't let go of the regret resulting from that incident,
and she's led her entire life trapped in time.
By the way, was it fun?
Huh?
Escaping your everyday life, I mean.
How did you know?
Well, you were always walking past my house looking bored.
You were watching me?
And you were watching me, right?
"And when you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you."
That's an exaggeration,
but you should be prepared.
When you try to reveal someone's secret,
your own may be revealed.
It means there's just as much risk in it for you.
I'll be careful.
At times, I feel as though the whole world's gray,
as though time is standing still.
There was a time like that for me, as well.
But time never stops.
It moves forward endlessly,
as surely as bodies buried in the ground will one day become white bones.
Listen, it's always you who stops time.
If you stop in fear of the future, you gain nothing.
And nothing begins.
You spend your life as though already dead.
Oh, really?
Oh, Tatewaki-kun!
It's freezing today...
Hey, Shou-chan!
Happy New... Huh?
That's right, boy.
Whether you wish it to or not, time never stops.
That's why there is nothing more interesting than this world.
Don't be too negative.
You haven't become ashes just yet.
You have your flesh and blood,
and your bones are supporting you.
That's right, I'm still...
Where are you going, Hector?
Hector!
Hey, cut it out.
Hector!
I told you not to go running off—
Sakurako-san...
Boy...
Why are you here?
To escape my everyday life.
I told you, you can't come here anymore.
Go home.
No.
Go home!
I won't!
"Time won't stop."
You told me that before.
So no matter how you care for someone, you'll eventually have to say goodbye.
It's true that, in this past year,
I've seen many deaths with you.
Kougami-san's grandmother, who lived her best until the very end.
Ii-chan's mother, who gave her life to save her children.
My grandma, who lied for my sake.
No matter how much you care for or love someone, their life will end.
But if that's the case,
what's left for us in the end?
Just pointless sentimentalism?
Are bones all that remain after life ends?
I don't know what lies ahead.
To be honest, I'm kind of scared.
But I still want to be with you, Sakurako-san.
I want to spend the same time with you, and see the same world.
Even if it might hurt, I'm prepared to see it.
No!
Hanabusa's...
He's an abyss you must not gaze into!
He's already gazing back at us.
He's gazing, and searching
for the despair you thought you'd buried deep within,
the fear, and the unfulfilled dreams.
Hanabusa incites people's fears and takes advantage of them.
You've seen it.
You've seen what happens to those manipulated by him!
But you've saved lives that he would have taken, Sakurako-san.
I'm talking about Ii-chan, the baby, and Fujioka-san.
I just... got lucky.
They're alive because of you.
No!
What about you, then?!
If I'd made just one mistake—
But I'm alive.
I'm alive, and I'm here.
Don't be stupid!
Are you saying you'll only learn once you're dead?!
I don't want to see your bones!
Learn your lesson already.
If you stay with me...
I'll be safe.
What?
If anyone can go up against Hanabusa,
it'd be you, and only you, I think.
So let me stay with you, like before.
Please keep me safe from Hanabusa.
Is that a little unfair of me?
Sakurako-san?
You got me.
You're right.
If I let my fears convince me to let you go,
and if something happened to you...
I'd never forgive myself.
Sakurako-san...
I'll promise you that I'll protect you.
I'll never let Hanabusa do anything to you.
I won't let you—
It'll be fine.
You won't lose.
How can you be so sure?
Well, you have such an excellent assistant!
There's apple pie.
Huh?
It's Gran's idea of provoking me.
Ever since you stopped coming,
she makes it every day, as if out of spite toward me.
Oh...
Come on, don't space out on me.
Let's go,
Shoutarou.
Okay!
Oh, my!
Welcome back.
This is the story of Sakurako-san and me.
Now, let us solve the mystery.
Welcome
to the abyss.