You know...
Yukiho...
I was happy.
Should I call an ambulance?
I thought I didn't care when I died.
But...
Winter 2004
Drink this hot water.
It'll flush your stomach out.
If you can get me some alcohol, I'll be okay.
Don't be stupid.
Stomach trouble can be serious.
It can possibly be an ulcer.
Shouldn't you go to the hospital, after all?
I'll call a taxi...
I think I'm going to be fine.
Thank you very much.
Hey!
Wait!
Sasagaki Detective Office
Hello, I lost my keys...
Yes.
My name is Sasagaki.
I can't get in.
November 23-30, Offerings
He's not here.
This case...
Could you investigate it?
What for?
It's for me.
I understand.
Can you give me a week?
What is...
your connection with those two?
That...
I'll tell you next time.
Sasagaki Junzou - Writer
Um...
as I said on the phone...
It's about Yukiho in high school, right?
Yes, yes.
We're trying to gather information for a feature on Karasawa Yukiho.
I've been collecting data...
and I've heard some strange rumors.
If those rumors are true, the department wants me to stop work on this article.
Strange rumors?
Yes.
Like...
Karasawa Yukiho...
and you witnessing that assault incident.
Right?
From what I heard, things from Yukiho's past somehow spread throughout the school...
And Yukiho trapped the person who spread the rumors in an assault.
There's a former classmate...
who's still...
spreading that rumor, right?
That kind of rumor existed...
but it was just some high school girls' fabrications.
Ah...
However...
it was really a odd set-up, I hear.
Even though there were pictures of an assault, there still was no trace of rape, right?
Is it possible that it is just to keep someone's mouth shut?
I don't know anything about that.
Oh, of course...
yes, that's true.
Kawashima Eriko, rape
Someon she likes - Karasawa Reiko
She seems to have someone she likes.
You're mad, aren't you?
Has something happened?
Something has happened to you.
I got a call from his mother...
saying she was sorry that it had come to this.
Talk about a shock out of the blue!
I was thinking of telling you after I settled down.
Well...
You seem fine.
You came all the way here just because you were worried?
Well, I also wanted to do some sightseeing ofthe 'Hills'.
Are you going to the 'Hills'?
Yes...
she came because she was worried about my divorce.
How about you?
There's no sign of resuming the investigation.
What Shinozuka asked Sasagaki to investigate...
probably has nothing to do with Takamiya.
Then, it's Eriko?
I'm sorry...
it's my fault.
If you think so, you should protect the store carefully.
I'll see what I can do about Sasagaki.
Wait!
Because I'm like a ghost.
Excuse me.
Oh, it's really you...
Thank you for last night.
Are you feeling better now?
If it's okay, would you like to have dinner together?
So you're a hospital pharmacist.
"If you have a job, you can make a living", my parents said.
I can make a living, but...
I've become an old maid.
How about you, what do you do?
I'm a systems engineer.
But I quit as of today.
I was thinking of writing a novel.
What kind of novel?
A ghost story.
Ghost?
Something wrong?
I had an affair a long time ago...
That time I thought of myself as a ghost.
I see.
I'm not going to...
claim any damage.
I don't know anything about that.
Everything is about rape.
Why?
Amitabha's vow...
is to allow evil people to enter nirvana.
I trusted him when he said that he would marry me...
I even lost money to him.
3 million yen!
Do you feel cold?
Do you feel cold, Noriko?
Yes, it's cold.
You know...
Yukiho...
Fragments of the past have fallen off...
are impossible to retrieve...
I wanted to erase the one that was retrieving the past.
Someday I'll go to the sea...
for the sake of your future.
Byakuyakou (Journey Under a Midnight Sun) Chapter 9
And then? You started living with him just like that?
He had to move out of his company's housing unit.
What does he do during the day?
Writing a novel at home, I suppose.
Loser's Diary - Noriko
A diary...
Are you sure you're not being deceived again?
It isn't an affair this time.
Maybe he is robbing you.
He might steal your savings and disappear.
Welcome home.
What's wrong?
Nothing.
You finished work?
Yes.
What are you doing?
I'm researching about drugs for the novel. It's quite complicated.
I can teach you if it's about drugs.
Really?
That will be helpful.
What do you want to know?
Potassium cyanide.
Huh?
I'm going to use it as a gimmick in my novel.
I see.
Divorce decree
Delicious.
It must be hard managing a boutique.
I still can't afford to hire help.
Since you no longer pay the rent, can't you hire someone with that money?
I don't want to spend money just to make it easy on myself.
Besides...
I want to launch a new store next year.
You really like doing business, don't you?
I only have the store now.
Potassium cyanide itself...
is a stable substance.
But if it gets inside the stomach...
it will become a hydrocyanic acid gas.
That's when it becomes a toxin.
How about if it's put in a drink?
That's not realistic.
It has a peculiar smell, someone with a good nose will notice it immediately.
And the tongue will become numb too.
How about producing it as a gas and making the victim inhale it?
The murderer would be exposed first and die.
I see.
Yuichi...
Do you like my body?
Huh?
I like it.
Then...
why can't you orgasm?
I thought it was only a coincidence...
but it's been like this, hasn't it?
Am I not good enough?
It's not only you, Noriko.
Eh?
It's always been like this.
You mean you've never been able to orgasm?
I have, just once.
With what kind of person?
A person who will never get pregnant.
A man?
It's not a man.
But she was very cold.
Eh?
You like someone cold?
Are you a masochist?
I didn't like her.
How about with ones you liked?
I couldn't do anything.
Wouldn't it be better...
to have it treated?
It probably means I shouldn't...
leave my genes behind.
Why?
Because it's useless.
Why rape?
That's been my question.
You...
were telling me then that Kirihara set you up, right?
At any rate, he set me up!
Anyway, don't you think that he went to a lot oftrouble to set you up?
Listen...
Did he hold any grudge against you or something?
I don't know about that.
I was threatening Kirihara.
Threatening?
I couldn't tell you then because I was on probation.
I'm sorry.
No, no...
What did you threaten him with?
Photos...
Scenery photos taken by Akiyoshi Yuichi.
Yes.
But in those photos, there was...
Kirihara's father and a little girl.
A little girl?
Kirihara said that she's his father's child from an affair.
But...
there's only one way to look at it.
By any chance...
could the little girl...
be this child?
Only her back was visible.
I'm sorry.
Hey.
I have something to ask you.
Your husband's lover...
wasn't Nishimoto Fumiyo...
but her daughter, right?
Your son...
Did your son know that?
You can't talk to anyone.
It must be hard.
If you change your mind...
call me.
Will this help us get more customers?
Of course not.
We also need to call them.
You don't look like it, but you can be aggressive!
Welcome!
I see you're swamped with work.
Anything wrong?
Before going home, I thought of contributing to your sales.
I was going to pay for it.
Think of it as your train fare.
Listen...
Can I ask you a question?
Is it true...
that your abortion...
made you infertile?
Is that true?
But...
I think it's better this way.
After all...
I don't think I could love my children.
Instead of raising children...
I want to make my business grow.
I'm sorry.
It seems like...
this is the first time I've heard what you really want.
I couldn't have children also.
It's like we are related in that funny way.
Here...
These are addresses of flower arrangement teachers.
Many of them are rich.
Do your best!
If that's how you want to live.
Yes.
I see.
So you talked with your mother about that?
I never expected that she'd speak that way.
Hey...
About your infertility...
It's true.
A long time ago I went to the hospital...
That's when they told me...
that I can't get pregnant naturally.
And when you were married to Takamiya?
I made it up a bit.
Is it related to what happened in the past?
It doesn't matter either way.
When I heard about it...
I felt relieved.
Sorry...
for talking about this.
Where are you now?
I'm at Memorix.
Are you really okay?
Everything is fine?
What about Sasagaki?
Like I said before...
He is not a policeman anymore.
It's possible that he'll leave us alone.
I'm...
going to do my best...
Ryo.
Yes.
You...
Are you the one wanting to buy this?
Sulfuric Acid
I'll see you.
Kirihara.
You want to see real potassium acid?
There's some at the hospital, right?
There is, but...
I thought of a good gimmick, but I have to see it for myself first.
You don't have to go through so much trouble...
How about stabbing or punching?
Why does it have to involve drugs?
It's a mystery.
It's nothing...
but ordinary white powder.
It smells like almonds...
That should be enough, right?
I'll just ask someone else.
Someone else?
I can probably get some from my former corporation.
You say you are worried about me, but you don't wanna get your hands dirty, right?
It's not like that...
Are you the type who wants to have a pet, but doesn't want to take care of it?
After all, you only care about yourself, right?
Am I wrong?
Maybe I went overboard...
Mama, I want to eat strawberries, can I?
This one?
Yes...
I want to buy this one...
We bought this one before.
I want this one.
What is this?
Noriko...
What happened?
Shut up!
Before I realized it...
it was already the day before Sasagaki's return.
Sasagaki Detective Office
If I have to, I can just change the plan but...
I didn't...
want to experience another real death.
I replaced it with something else in storage.
No one will be using it anyway.
You're really...
only going to take a look at it, right?
Weren't you mad?
I've...
had an abortion.
My last affair.
I could have afforded to raise a child alone...
Just that...
I didn't like the idea of stress from raising a child...
and lowering my standard of living.
It's just like you said, Yuichi...
after all I'm just thinking about myself.
It's getting better, but...
I start eating...
as if to fill up the space where the baby was.
I still do it from time to time.
I don't like it, but...
there's nothing I can do about it.
That's why...
I decided to believe.
Eh?
I don't know what happened to you, but...
Yuichi...
don't you have something you deeply regret?
That's why...
your body follows it by refusing to create another life.
That's...
a true regret, I think.
To believe that you won't do anything that you might regret anymore...
is really okay.
Thank you.
That's fine!
I want you to believe me, too!
I never thought of you as a pet...
and I won't throw you out because you're troublesome!
I can get my hands or mouth dirty for you.
It's been a long time.
Yukiho is not here...
Yes.
Um...
I have one thing I want to make sure...
You said in the past that there's someone that Yukiho liked...
Yes, that's right.
Is that person's name Shinozuka Kazunari?
If he's her University sempai, maybe it's him.
I can't say for sure...
Is that all?
Yes.
Thank you very much.
Excuse me...
Really, can't you just stop this?
That child...
is finally beginning to live the way she wants.
She can...
talk about her true feelings a little now.
True feelings?
She said that she has no confidence to love her own child.
Why is that?
Why does she hate herself so much?
It's because her mother did those things, of course!
No!
Is that really all there is to it?
I'll be going now.
Is something wrong?
Oh, no, nothing...
I got this from my son's wife...
I believe you would like this, right?
I have so many pots at my place!
Here you go.
Thank you.
Yes, please come by our store.
Thank you very much.
Yes...
Yukiho?
What's the matter, mom?
It's nothing...
Are you fine?
I'm using the list you made for me.
Is that so?
Anything wrong?
It's nothing.
I just wanted to listen to your voice.
Well, bye then.
It's not your fault, Noriko.
Why is it not working?
Because of your hands.
Your hands are small.
Hands?
It's like a child's hand.
So is your hand, Yuichi.
We don't have to hurry, right?
We still have tomorrow and the day after that, right?
This is a punishment.
For what?
I wonder...
There are too many things.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Without a doubt...
it's a punishment for killling my father that day...
a punishment for leaving Yukiho...
for taking away her future from those little hands...
In the depths of darkness, while confused, making mistakes...
the future that Yukiho finally grasped.
I'm going to do my best...
Ryo.
I can't let her lose it again.
Mom, I'm home.
I have no complaints.
It's okay.
I...
will be happy.
I'll make the store grow instead.
Ryo...
My mother fell ill.
Eh?
One of her students found her...
When I got back home...
there was one cactus...
that I didn't plant.
Does that mean...
I don't know.
She's still unconcious.
If...
It's okay.
Please...
pray for it.
So you finally...
came here to play?
Takamiya told me about a system stolen from Touzai Densou...
It bothered me, so I investigated it.
Akiyoshi Yuichi.
That person...
is Kirihara Ryouji, right?
He quit Memorix a week ago...
The one who gave Akiyoshi access...
could be Karasawa, right?
Did you investigate all of this alone?
I went to the company's system department and had it investigated.
How about you, Sasagaki?
Yes.
I think the assumption that the two of them worked together is correct.
They have a unique way of doing things.
When I told Kawashima about it, she noticeably panicked.
She might have been vaguely aware of it.
And the motive?
Karasawa Yukiho...
liked you.
You don't seem to be very surprised.
That's because I've thought about it as a possible reason.
But, however I think about it, I still don't understand the purpose behind it.
Hurting Eriko wouldn't make me turn to Karasawa anyway.
If that was her intention, wouldn't associating with me normally would've been better?
Yes, that's normal.
In the final analysis...
it's possible that she just wanted to hurt her.
A rape just for that?
And photos on top of that.
They think that's the one definite way to take away someone's soul.
Taking away someone's soul...
Yes.
She faced the same thing...
Yukiho Karasawa.
With whom?
At the age of 11...
with Kirihara Ryouji's father.
It's possible...
that her mother might have sold her.
For an 11 year old girl...
prostitution and rape...
are the same thing.
You mean Kirihara Ryouji...
paid for that?
By doing it to Eriko... just like his father?
However, that alone can't explain everything.
To me it seems...
almost as if Karasawa is protecting Kirihara Ryouji.
He'd be someone she'd want nothing to do with anymore.
There's no reason to be in symbiosis with him.
No.
I think there's one more missing element.
What is that?
I can't reveal it just yet.
I have something to ask of you.
Those two...
they have some idiosyncrasies.
Those who come close to the truth about them...
will be killed.
Mother...
Yukiho?
In the garden...
that...
what was it?
That?
Don't play dumb with me.
You tried hard...
to conceal it.
You...
your real mother...
did you kill her?
Does that person...
have anything to do with you?
It would've been better if you had told me.
You didn't say a thing.
It must've been hard on you.
I'm sorry...
for not noticing it.
sooner...
I should've noticed it sooner.
It was hard...
for you to not to tell me, right?
But you see...
the place you're in is...
called a living hell.
You really...
should've been happier.
laughing, getting mad...
crying, and such...
You don't need to hold back.
It's a loss...
You're in the red big time.
Give yourself up.
I'll live long.
I'll wait for you.
You'll always...
have a place to come home to.
Because I'm not alone...
I can't do that.
I can't go back, either.
Is it the white flower...
childhood friend?
I'm sorry.
Mother.
You can't do it a second time.
You just can't.
Go.
You won't be able to anyway.
I said go!
Please...
tell the kids...
that the true punishment comes down to your soul and memory.
Yes, I have the diploma of a student from your school.
Can you give me his address?
The punishment in your body will eat away at your soul.
And eventually...
that body of yours...
and your life.
Please...
before that happens...
Are you...
Kirihara Ryouji's mother?
What happened to your son?
I worry about him...
I really liked that child!
And...
He was a good child, right?
A smart...
and kind child, right?
I killed him...
I...
killed that child.
Please...
tell the parents.
This is...
a message from a ghost.
Ryoko...
it's me.
Tonight is crucial.
I'm a bit tired.
Can I talk to you?
Oxygen Alarm System Shutting down
Are you the white flower child?
You...
you two are...
so pathetic!
You are so pitiful.
You don't have to tell me...
what's right.