Okay, so...
You should invite Tatewaki-kun, Yuri.
Huh?
You're good friends, right?
You guys talk a lot lately, even though you're not in the same class.
I guess.
What about you, Chika?
Ken-kun's off from work, right?
Yeah.
It says he read my message, so it should be fine.
C'mon, Yuri.
It's more fun with a big group.
Okay?
Mana, you're inviting Touma, right?
Oh, how'd you know?
It's totally obvious!
Yeah, talk about a shock.
When I went to Sakurako-san's place yesterday,
she'd gotten these sea lion bones...
Oh, sorry.
It's not something I should bring up when we're about to eat, huh?
Oh, it's no problem!
I want to know more about Sakurako-san, too.
So, what happened then?
Oh... Well, as soon as we opened the box,
Hector went crazy and kept getting in the way.
I think it's partly just because he's Hector,
Asahikawa Summer Festival
but I wonder if it got his primal instincts going.
The Sixth Bone Asahi Bridge Irregulars
With him throwing his bulk around...
A Story Dedicated to Those Trapped by the Past
Asahikawa Summer Festival
What? You didn't invite Tatewaki?
Sorry, I just couldn't find a good time to ask him.
But aren't you and Tatewaki-kun... You know?
Yeah.
I thought you two were an item already.
Huh?
No, not at all.
Tatewaki-kun's more like... a friend I met through someone else.
Someone else?
Anyway, Tatewaki-kun and I aren't like that at all!
Sorry to keep you waiting!
How's my yukata?
Hey, you look cute!
Isn't it cute?
Where do you want to start?
Yeah, nice.
I'll leave it to you.
What, Kougami, you don't have a boyfriend?
Yuri's the serious type.
Ishikari River
That's too bad.
If I'd known, I might've volunteered myself.
Ow!
Hey, what's that supposed to mean?
C'mon, it was a joke.
What're you getting all serious for?
I'm not!
Don't make Chika-chan cry!
I didn't.
Chika, you're so jealous!
Hey, what about that?
You already had that.
Oh, sorry.
Oh, no, I'm sorry.
I wasn't paying attention.
Oh...
Jeez.
Grandma, hurry up!
Now, there's no hurry. The festival isn't going to run away from us.
Yeah, but...
Matsuda-Sensei Mana
Oh, well.
This is no big deal, anyway.
I'm sure it'd be fun if I had a boyfriend.
It must feel great to walk hand-in-hand
with someone you really like.
But right now...
I just want to become the kind of person who can
protect the people she cares about.
This is hers, right?
A ring...
Did she lose it?
But just now...
It seemed like she wanted to throw herself off along with the letter.
What should I do?
If I don't do anything, she might...
Miss, are you at the festival alone?
Isozaki-sensei...
Are you at the festival by yourself, too?
Who'd want to be in a crowd like this?
I'm on patrol as a volunteer, at the school's request.
They want us to look out for and guide our students
to ensure none of them get into trouble.
Well, um... If that's the case...
Huh?
I do have a small problem...
A mysterious woman in black, huh?
There's no name on it anywhere. What else can we do?
"I'm sorry.
Please forgive me for going to him."
Isn't that a suicide note?!
Who knows?
It's definitely mysterious.
A diamond in a solitaire setting...
Based on the design, I'd say it's a wedding ring.
She was throwing away something so valuable?
Let's try an experiment.
Kougami, do you have a permanent marker?
No.
Then can you go borrow one?
I'm sure someone around must have one.
Will that help us figure out if the diamond's real?
Yeah.
Diamonds have an affinity for oil.
Oil-based ink from a marker should leave a mark.
If it's zirconia or something else, it'll repel the ink.
Looks like it's a real diamond.
Though, based on its shine, I'd say it's synthetic.
Synthetic?
So it's not valuable?
No, that's not necessarily true.
There's an inscription... A date three years ago, and...
Is that in French?
Yeah.
"Holding hands forever"...
Or something like that.
I'm sorry. Please forgive me for going to him.
Forever...
So does that mean the lady was trying to follow her husband into death?
Who knows?
There's nothing more I can say for sure.
Huh?
I should get back to my patrol.
I'll take the letter and the ring to the police.
I'll think up some reason why we opened the envelope.
Wait a minute.
You're just going to let this go?
Got something else in mind?
Aren't you concerned about her?
Huh?
She may have reconsidered earlier because there was a lot of foot traffic,
but what about next time?
Or the time after that?
Even so, that's her choice to make.
We don't need to butt in.
Are you saying we should just let her die, then?
Hey, you two.
Don't be fighting at a festival.
Oh, Utsumi-san?
Oh... Yuri-chan?
Asahikawa Central Police Temporary Police
This certainly is a...
It's just like him to be unavailable right when you need him.
What's wrong?
I called Tatewaki-kun to ask Sakurako-san for help,
but he's not picking up.
I see! Kujou-san!
Yes.
Since Sakurako-san doesn't have a cell phone,
Tatewaki-kun's my only hope to reach her.
Well, for now,
let's just try to do what we can until we can get a hold of Shou-chan, okay?
Me, too?
Yup.
Um... Isozaki-sensei, right?
Huh?
I'm saying we should all look for her.
Are you serious?
Huh?
Look at this crowd.
How do we find someone we wouldn't even recognize?
You've got to be kidding me.
Sensei...
Besides, what makes you think she's even still here?
But...
Sorry, Kougami, but I'm going back on patrol.
If you two want to look for her, that's your choice.
Hey, Sensei!
Wait! Are you really okay with that?
Utsumi-san?
There's a chance we could save a life, and you can just walk away?
Like I told Kougami,
Um...
in the end, it's her choice to make.
You guys...
Are you seriously saying this?
Life isn't anyone's own choice! It shouldn't be!
And I say you should mind your own business.
Damn, for a high school teacher, you're really pissing me off!
Excuse me!
Here!
This is what she looked like!
She wore a black yukata and had long hair.
Oh, she looked like a celebrity!
That one who sings rock songs a lot!
Fine.
But I'll only look for her as a part of my patrol. All right?
Thank you for your help!
What's so funny about this?
Ishikari River
Oh, come on!
Yuri-chan.
Any luck?
No, I haven't seen her.
I can't get through to Tatewaki-kun, either.
What about you guys?
No leads.
Haven't we done enough?
It's time to let this go.
But...
Mom!
Whoa, what's wrong?
Did you get separated from your mom?
I'm a policeman, okay?
I'm Officer Utsumi!
Sorry, Yuri-chan.
I'm going to take this boy to the lost children center.
I'll find you later.
Okay.
All right, come with me.
Everything will be just fine.
Just leave it to me! We'll find your mom!
Okay! We're on our way there, too. Are you okay, Yuriko?
It's just from my friend.
I guess they think I'm lost, too.
You still want to keep going?
Huh?
How do we find someone in this crowd
when we don't really know what she looks like, much less her name?
We have a lost child.
Just think of that kid earlier.
He is a boy about five years old.
I'm sure his parents were frantically looking for him,
He's wearing a black T-shirt with a cat on it, and beige pants.
but they still couldn't find him.
His own parents.
If you know this boy, please come to the information center.
But...
Utsumi-kun, was it?
He said life is no one's own choice,
but I think what makes us human is that very right
to make our own choice with our lives.
A right?
Yeah.
Choosing your own life or death and taking responsibility for that choice...
I think she has that right, at least.
What about us, then?
Do we really have the right to deny her that choice?
Let's just go. I'll walk you back until you're close to home.
So what if it isn't our right?
Has anyone important to you ever passed away without warning?
Do you know what it's like to be left behind?
There's someone nearby who might die,
and you talk about responsibilities and rights?
Isn't it human nature to just not want someone to die,
instead of analyzing it like a rational choice?
Fine!
I'll look for her on my own!
Wait!
Wait.
No matter what you say,
I don't think I'm wrong.
But if I leave you to your own devices and you get into trouble,
I'll be held responsible.
I don't want to deal with that.
Let's go.
You're going to look for her with me?
Yeah.
But I don't think she'll be found,
and I don't think you'll be able to find her.
I think I'm starting to hate you.
That's fine.
I don't like anyone but myself,
and I don't care if others hate me.
But you should be prepared.
Even if you can't find her, that's not your responsibility.
So you can't blame yourself.
Sensei?
Listen.
Right now, you're trying to shoulder someone else's life.
That might be the right thing to do.
But that act requires a lot of resolve.
It'll become a thorn that can't be removed, and it'll continue to hurt you forever.
The briar will continue to grow, but it'll never flower.
It'll only hurt. It'll only cause you pain.
But you still
want to find her?
I do.
I'll never be able to forgive myself if I give up now.
All right.
But only for another hour, okay?
I can't allow anything more than that.
An hour?
Yeah. After all...
Asahikawa Summer Festival
Fireworks Show Starts at 8:00 PM
I want to see the fireworks.
You're terrible.
The owner of this device is currently unable to answer.
Please leave a message after the—
Now Chika and Touma are gone, too.
Sorry, I was lost in thought.
No worries.
I like being lost in thought, myself.
We have a lost child.
Kujou Sakurako-chan from Asahikawa,
What a coincidence.
Sakurako-san...
Kujou Sakurako-chan from Asahikawa,
your guardian is waiting for you.
Please come to the information center.
Boy!
Well, you don't have a cell phone. How else was I going to find you?
Now, now. We managed to find each other, right?
This is unacceptable!
Oh... Kougami-san?
Are you the one who brought Sakurako-san here?
Tatewaki-kun, if you were here, why didn't you let me know?!
Huh?
I called you a bunch of times!
Sorry, I think I left my phone at Sakurako-san's place.
How could you forget something that important?!
If you don't keep your phone on you,
how am I supposed to get a hold of Sakurako-san?
Wait, that's all I mean to you?
I see.
A letter, a ring, and a woman dressed all in black...
Sounds interesting.
So it looked like she threw this suicide note and the ring
into the river from here.
Can you shine a light on my hand?
Sure, here.
Hmm...
It does look like a synthetic diamond.
It's not valuable?
Well, not to others.
"Please forgive me for going to him," huh?
S-Sakurako-san?
You called this a suicide note?
It most certainly is not!
What?
But that wedding ring...
This isn't a wedding ring.
It's a piece of mourning jewelry.
"Mourning jewelry"?
The inscribed date is probably the date of passing for this "Mr. K.H."
Oh, so it's jewelry for mourning someone's death.
Right, it's a type of jewelry created to remember the dead.
The tradition is more prominent in the West,
and in many cases, the hair of the deceased is used to create an accessory.
The hair of the person who died?
Right.
But you shouldn't be too surprised at the thought of hair.
After all, this ring is made
from someone's bones.
Bones?!
You can extract carbon from bones and
transform it into a diamond through high pressure and temperature.
It's not much more than cinders, really,
but to the owner, it must be an irreplaceable gem.
Then why'd she try to throw it away?
And if that wasn't a suicide note, what was the letter for?
It's just like it says.
She found someone to be a new partner in life.
So she tried to bid farewell to Mr. K.H. by sending him off from this river.
Send him? Where?
To the other shore...
To the afterlife.
This is just speculation,
but given that it's a part of someone's body,
she could neither sell nor dispose of this ring.
Yet she can hardly take "him" along to her new life with her new partner.
Her decision to do this followed quite an internal struggle, most likely.
Then she wasn't trying to follow him into death...
No.
I'd say it was the exact opposite.
If you still want to return this ring to her, there are ways.
There aren't many craftsmen of this sort,
so we can trace the information back to the owner.
But...
What have you done?!
It's better this way.
She's setting forth on a new journey.
That bit of cinder is just a pebble in her path.
Sorry you wasted your time on that.
Well, I'm glad.
This means no one died.
Yeah.
Oh, here they come!
What about your job, Utsumi-san?
Don't worry about that!
Fireworks!
Oh, Sakurako-san, did you see that one?
It was a watermelon!
Boy, do even fireworks look like food to you?
No! It really was a watermelon!
I'm giving up on finding Chika and Touma. Let's go eat shaved ice!
See?!
Sure!
Sensei, I'm glad I didn't give up.
Even if the end result... wasn't what I expected.
I see.
I wonder if she's watching somewhere, too.
The fireworks.
I wonder.
So beautiful.
What, me?
You're terrible.