Chapter 11 | Contents | Commentary
I returned to the dark hospital room.
With Hisaka Eiko-san gone, who will come in tomorrow? Now that we’ve created a situation which resulted in a nurse from this hospital getting arrested, will I be able to receive treatment tomorrow? But I was too tired to entertain those thoughts. The cold of the rooftop garden had sapped away at my stamina.
As I looked at the bed, I wanted to click my tongue in annoyance. I could not get onto the bed from my wheelchair. I’d carelessly told Nakata-san, who’d brought me back to the room, that I was fine on my own. I felt sorry for doing it right after she returned to her other tasks, but I had no choice but to use the nurse call button… that was what I thought, when a voice called out to me.
“Welcome back, Kobato-kun.”
Osanai-san was sitting on the bed. Without thinking, I exclaimed.
“It’s almost twelve!”
“It’s fine. I’ve told my family that I’m with the police.”
Wouldn’t they be even more worried with that phrasing…
I unraveled the muffler and handed it back to Osanai-san.
“Thank you, this really helped. I think I wouldn’t have made it if not for this.”
“You’re welcome. It was cold, huh.”
With Osanai-san’s assistance, I returned to the bed. The area that she’d been sitting at was warm, which made my chilled body a little happy.
On the table was the vase filled with water and the notebook I’d written into during my stay in hospital. I spoke while looking at the notebook.
“I talked with Hisaka-kun.”
“That’s good.”
“Hisaka-kun knew that I was thinking about him and was curious about what happened to him. I didn’t talk to you about it, did I?”
In the first place, I couldn’t talk to Osanai-san about anything at all because I was being put to sleep every night. There was only one way for her to find out that I was reminiscing about Hisaka-kun.
“You looked at my notebook, right?”
Osanai-san’s eyes widened.
“I assumed you wrote it for me to read.”
“Not exactly, but…”
I just wanted to know what I did.
“But you expected me to read it, didn’t you?”
Well, I suppose I did. If not, I wouldn’t have used the notebook to communicate with her when I didn’t get the chance to pour the sleeping medication-laced water into the vase of dried flowers.
On the bed, I lowered my head as much as the pain in my ribs would allow.
“Thank you, Osanai-san. I’m glad you called Hisaka-kun over. It’s great to be able to talk to him, but he even saved us from a crisis.”
Osanai-san placed her hands on her chest.
“I was really shocked. It was terrifying.”
“It’s all thanks to you searching for Hisaka-kun. Good job finding him.”
Upon hearing that, she shook her head.
“For that, you should thank Doujima-kun. Hisaka-kun… or rather, now that his surname is changed, it should be Miura-kun, but the one who found him was Doujima-kun. He said that you were the one who asked him to do it, though.”
…Come to think of it, I did.
“But he refused.”
Osanai-san tilted her head.
“Doujima-kun didn’t say that. But he did ask me to tell you that he’s sorry for not being able to visit as well.”
When I requested him to look for news about Hisaka-kun, he refused on the spot, but must have felt bad about it, so he did some investigation anyway. There was nothing more characteristic of Kengo than that.
“I see. Can you thank him for me?”
“Hurry up and get better so you can thank him yourself.”
My rate of recovery won’t change from me working hard, but I should indeed try to get better as soon as possible.
Osanai-san picked up the notebook on the table.
“The hit-and-run accident from three years ago was a massive failure for me. You also never investigated about what exactly happened in that case, right, Kobato-kun?”
Who was Nagahara Takuma, the person who ran over Hisaka-kun? Where did the sky-blue light wagon car go? I never looked into those questions, and apparently, neither did Osanai-san. Three years ago, I was afraid of a mystery I couldn’t solve, so I kept averting my eyes from the security camera.
But now, I could say this.
“I think it was probably amazingly simple. Nagahara Takuma, the culprit who ran over Hisaka-kun, was working part-time.”
“Yes, it was written in the newspapers.”
“He was a convenience store employee, I believe.”
Osanai-san’s eyes took on a serious expression.
“What do you mean?”
“The car that hit Hisaka-kun should have been shown on Nanatsuya Town Store’s security camera footage, but it wasn’t, so why was that the case? Thinking in that vein was wrong. That footage clearly had some strange points if you consider the facts now.”
Her head tilted, Osanai-san stared at the ceiling.
“I can’t remember much of it now.”
“To be precise, it was weird that it showed nothing out of the ordinary. Since there were no spots to make a U-turn, every vehicle going to the scene of the accident should have been caught on that camera. However, the footage showed only normal vehicles.”
Osanai-san clapped her hands together.
“You’re right! I was such an idiot back in middle school.”
With Hisaka-kun collapsed on the ground after getting hit by the car, Hisaka Eiko used a mobile phone to report the accident. Hisaka-kun was sent to hospital, and police rushed over to the scene. In particular, a few police cars should have gone there.
Since it was impossible to make a U-turn at the embankment road on that day, we were thoroughly convinced that any cars going to or from the accident scene would definitely be captured on the convenience store’s security camera. Fujidera-kun even witnessed the ambulance not making an illegal U-turn.
In other words, that video footage should have shown an ambulance and police cars.
But since they were not shown, the only explanation is that the video was faked. Asoya-san had copied the data from the 7th of June, on which the accident occurred, for us. If that was a fake, it would mean that the original data had already been tampered with. Thinking back, the date of the footage was displayed only on the file name, and the video itself only showed the time. Changing around the file names wouldn’t have been a difficult task.
I’d thought of the nine-kilometer stretch of the embankment road as a big locked room, and amused myself by playing the detective without checking if it counted as a locked room, or if there was even a key.
“Nagahara Takuma was an employee of Nanatsuya Town Store. The office of that shop was said to be out of bounds to non-employees, which means that employees could enter. The culprit probably knew that every single car going in and out of the embankment road would be caught on that store’s security camera. After the accident, he switched the file names of the video that showed his vehicle and a video of another date. He was afraid of the existence of video footage that showed his vehicle right after the hit-and-run accident, after all.”
After taking a breath, I continued.
“I can also understand why Asoya-san immediately solved the case after hearing about the situation. She probably noticed that it was strange for no ambulances or police cars to show up on the video, but more significantly, she would know that Nagahara Takuma’s car was a sky-blue light wagon.”
Now the locked room mystery of three years ago was finally solved. Osanai-san was absolutely right. In a sense, I was such an idiot back then.
Osanai-san opened the second layer of the chocolate bonbon box. She removed the small eavesdropping device – or as she insisted, a walkie-talkie – and placed it in the pocket of her down coat. There was no need for eavesdropping now.
I had a thought when I saw her down jacket.
“By the way, what did you throw at Hisaka Eiko-san just now?”
I inhaled some of that too, didn’t I? Osanai-san’s response was calm.
“Black pepper. Don’t worry, it’s harmless.”
“It made me cough, which hurt my broken ribs.”
“Sorry.”
“Why did you have something like that on you?”
Osanai-san glanced at me.
“I guessed that you were being given sleeping pills by the nurse, so it’s only natural for me to be careful when going into her territory. I really should have brought a hammer.”
“I see.”
That bit of preparation proved effective, and helped us escape from a dangerous situation. Hisaka Eiko-san had managed to corner us, but that led to her revealing everything she did to her younger brother by her own mouth.
“…Hm?”
“Eh? What is it?”
That can’t be, I thought, but there was something I noticed.
“Osanai-san, you were angry at the person who ran me over, right?”
In the darkness of the room, I could see her raise an eyebrow.
“Of course I was.”
Naturally, I was definitely not feeling very placable either.
“I believe that Hisaka Eiko-san was prepared to be arrested somewhere in her heart. It’s impossible to keep me in the hospital forever, and she couldn’t kill me. But to Hisaka-san, letting her younger brother know everything she did is the worst conceivable outcome, even worse than getting arrested.”
Osanai-san nodded.
“That’s what I think as well. After she saw Hisaka… Miura-kun, she looked like it was the end of the world.”
“That make you feel better?”
“Yup.”
She said, then pointed at herself.
“Eh? Kobato-kun, do you think that I set that all up?”
Since Osanai-san had met with Hisaka-kun, it wouldn’t be weird for her to have heard that his sister was working at Kira Municipal Hospital as a nurse. If that information is linked with the deduction that I was being given sleeping medication against my knowledge in the hospital, it would be natural to have her suspicions pointed towards Hisaka Eiko-san.
Or perhaps she’d simply seen Hisaka Eiko-san outside my room with her name tag on, as per regulations – but in that case, I’d like to believe that she would have somehow communicated the nurse’s identity to me, even if I was asleep.
And that led to a theory.
“Letting the culprit get their worst outcome was probably the best form of revenge to you.”
Osanai-san laughed off my suspicion.
“There’s no way I did that. I didn’t even know that the culprit would come here tonight.”
“But it was you who made the suggestion to turn on the lights, making it clear to anyone outside that I wasn’t sleeping, wasn’t it?”
“I just thought it would be dangerous in the dark. On top of that, there’s no way I could have known that Miura-kun would be late.”
If he was on time, Hisaka-kun and Osanai-san would have come to my room together. And… that would have led to them running into Hisaka-kun’s sister.
“So you’re saying that you didn’t think it would be funny if Hisaka-kun and his older sister met?”
Putting her hands on her hips, Osanai-san glared at me.
“Kobato-kun, what do you think I am?”
“S-Sorry.”
“Of course I did.”
On the bed, I laughed. Osanai-san raised her eyebrows, as if saying that she hadn’t expected such a reaction from me, but eventually also let out a chuckle.
I requested Osanai-san to open the windows, to which she complied. My body was still cold, but I wanted to breathe in some of the air from outside.
I never noticed before, but there was apparently a temple nearby, for I could hear the chiming of a bell.
“I believe…”
Without particularly intending to, I spoke up.
“…that Hisaka-san being unable to kill me was not because she was a coward. She still took care of me properly as a nurse. There were only two instances in which I was exposed to danger. One was when she wrapped the towel around my neck a little too tight while washing my hair, and the other was when she failed to securely lock the wheelchair’s tires before I rode on it for the first time… I suppose her professionalism as a nurse didn’t allow her to harm her patient?”
Osanai-san sat down at the side of the bed and replied while looking out of the window.
“Kobato-kun, I think I know what you’re feeling now.”
“Sentimentalism?”
“Stockholm’s Syndrome.”
I could only respond with a wry smile. Well, Hisaka-san probably just wanted to avoid a case of medical malpractice.
But there was still one point that I was confused about.
According to Hisaka-san, she commuted to work the day after running over me, upon which she found out that she was in charge of me. But before that, during my stupor after the collision, I’d heard the words, “This is retribution.”
Temporally speaking, Hisaka-san could not have said that. So, who was it?
…It probably wasn’t anyone at all. If I had to guess, it was most likely my own voice, right?
As I fell into a bit of a daze, some thoughts churned around in my head – what will happen to Hisaka Eiko-san after this? Will the police treat her as an attempted murder who consciously tried to kill me in a hit-and-run?
I think that if she wants to protect her life, she will try to give excuses and diminish her crime to be a mere traffic violation as much as possible, rather than accept her sentence with good grace.
If the police noticed Hisaka-san’s intent to kill, I don’t think I’ll deny that during the police interview, but if not, I won’t mention that she was aiming for me.
While I’ll never forget the fear of almost getting killed, I’ve started to think that I don’t have the right to question her guilt.
The cold wind made me feel comfortable. Running her fingers through her hair, Osanai-san asked.
“…Is there anywhere you want to go when you’ve recovered?”
Osanai-san probably won’t be in this city any more when I can walk out of here. So she wasn’t taking me anywhere, but it was just a simple question. I mulled for a moment. When Miyamuro-sensei had asked me the same question, I’d answered that I wanted to go to a mobile phone shop. At that time I’d been unable to think of anything else, but the important matter for which I urgently needed communication had already been settled tonight. If so, there were some places I wanted to visit.
“Alice, I suppose. I want to buy their strawberry tarts.”
Apparently not expecting that answer, Osanai-san put on a shocked look.
“Huh?”
“Out of the sweets you’ve recommended, that’s the one I haven’t tried. They’ve got to be delicious.”
Osanai-san’s eyes narrowed a little.
“…Yup. The taste is slightly different every year, but they’re always really delicious. I especially like how they’re riddled with strawberries.”
“Saying that they contain an abundance of strawberries sounds more tasteful.”
The spring-exclusive strawberry tarts from Alice were stolen before Osanai-san’s eyes two years ago in spring. To be precise, her bicycle which had the strawberry tarts in its front basket was stolen. In that case, Osanai-san broke our promise to become petit bourgeois soon after we entered high school. Well, since I also got my nose into a couple of situations, the same can be said of me.
Though my body was cold, my head seemed to be getting hot. The wind caressing my forehead made me feel sleepy.
“After that… I want to visit Cecilia and challenge their parfait.”
The summer-exclusive tropical parfait’s feeling of size was too much for me to handle. But Cecilia should have normal large-sized parfaits as well. Osanai-san asked in a concerned manner.
“Are you really fine with parfaits?”
Since that case in the summer of my second year, I’ve been unable to eat parfaits. However, now would be a good time to overcome that.
“I should be.”
As I said that, I tried recalling if I ever talked to Osanai-san about being unable to eat parfaits. I don’t think I have… but given that she knew, I must have told her at some point in time.
How much will I recover once spring and summer passes? Will I be able to walk without a crutch in autumn?
“I’m definitely going for Sakura-an’s kuri kinton. That was so delicious it entirely changed my perception.”
Osanai-san’s face looked a little troubled.
“I’m happy that you like it so much. However, the quality of chestnuts differs every year, so don’t be disappointed after one bad year.”
“If so, I’ll look forward to the next year. A good year will arrive sooner or later.”
“Exactly.”
I’d probably go to Sakura-an alone, with its black and red décor that make lacquer and Bengal Red come to mind. Since I’ll be living as a rōnin1, I might bring along reference books and notebooks. But perhaps it would be uncouth to enjoy kuri kinton while studying.
I heard the bell ring again. Still sitting on my bed, Osanai-san placed a hand on the sheets.
“…Hey, Kobato-kun. A lot happened, huh.”
Indeed.
“And our lives as high school students will end soon.”
True, they would soon be over.
On entering high school, we developed a symbiotic relationship and made a pact to strive towards becoming little citizens. However, that promise faded with time, and started turning into something more reasonable and appropriate. That was probably the circumstance by which we began accepting ourselves, bit by bit. Through this case with Hisaka Eiko-san – or the case of the winter-exclusive chocolate bonbons – I thoroughly realized that in the end, I don’t like myself much. I would always lament that whenever I impertinently swung around my blade of wisdom and pierced someone with it, the spurts of blood would always sully my hands. How can I like myself when I take on such an attitude? But then again… even if it shames me so, there’s nothing I can do but to accept myself for who I am. I’ll be alone now, after all.
Osanai-san spoke.
“Kobato-kun, what is the one moment in these three years that you don’t think you’ll ever forget?”
What is it, I wonder?
The first that came to mind was the car rushing towards me and the heavy, drooping clouds that filled my vision. But I’ll probably forget that eventually.
Since I was unable to reply, Osanai-san spoke again while looking out of the window.
“I think it’ll be this moment for me.”
The bell rang. Drowsiness crept up to me.
Osanai-san stood up and closed the window. It was certainly a little cold. With that, she looked at the clock.
“I’ll be going off, then.”
“Alright. Thank you.”
“…It’s a shame about your entrance exams.”
Come to think of it, she’s right. I forgot due to all the events that transpired, but my entrance exams are already over.
“Well, I’ll take my time to study.”
I said. A mysterious smile spread across Osanai-san’s face.
“Kobato-kun, where did you plan to go to for university?”
“Nagoya since it’s close, but I’ll have to revise my university choices.”
“I think you should go to Kyoto.”
That came out of the blue. Astonished, some of my sleepiness retreated.
“Why?”
“I’m trying to get into a university in Kyoto.”
Oh, so that’s why. I took a short breath.
“I see. Let me know if you get in. I’ll send you a congratulatory message.”
“Not telling you.”
She placed a hand at the side of my bed.
“Kobato-kun, you made me out to be some kind of schemer just now. My feelings are hurt.”
“…You’re welcome.”
“And you made me so worried because you wouldn’t regain consciousness. That’s why I think some retribution is in order. While waiting for you to come to me next year, I’ll make a maze out of Kyoto.”
In the quiet night, Osanai-san giggled. It was all I could do to keep my eyelids open.
“I’ll look for a shop with delicious desserts, and you’ll have to find me. When you do… I’ll give you the last one.”
From beside my pillow, she picked up the last remaining chocolate bonbon and put it into her mouth. Once again, I was assaulted by the drowsiness I wanted to fend off. It was natural, and not caused by any medication.
“Goodnight, Kobato-kun, my second best. I’m really glad you’re alive. Take care, and have a good year.”
My eyes closed.
– In the depths of night, a bell rang.
Chapter 11 | Contents | Commentary
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Editors (Tier 2): Suleman, Dedavond, Egi Pratama, Pearl H Nettle
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Man, this series is finally over. What a great volume, and a wonderful ride. Thanks so much for translating this to the very end too!
Yeah it’s such a good ending to the series. I hope the author makes good on his statement that he’ll write more about Kobato and Osanai in university (there was a tweet about it I think)
I’m curious what Osanai means with “my second best”
Thank you so much for translating this series
I think she means exactly that. She likes herself the most, and she likes Kobato the second most. Do you know another phrase in English that could better describe that?
That’s the reference from what herself said to Kobato in the Volume 4:
“I don’t think you’re the best, Kobato-kun. In the future, I’ll surely have the chance to meet someone wiser, yet kinder. I believe that day will come.
“But while I’m still in this town, while I’m still in Funa High, before that prince on a white horse appears before me… I think you’re the next best option. That’s why…”
https://pigcow-translations.com/2023/08/08/case-of-the-autumn-exclusive-kuri-kinton-chapter-5-midsummer-night-full-text/
Oh, that makes sense. I hadn’t notice it was a reference to a previous volume. That’s a totally Osanai way of flirting.
Awww man, it’s over :”'(. Thank you so much for your hard work!!
You’re welcome. I hope that Honobu Yonezawa-sensei still produces some more stories of them in university. Also, there is still two stories in volume 5 and three uncollected stories I haven’t translated yet, so stay tuned!
Hey Pigcowhybrid!
What are the uncollected stories?
Stories that were published in various magazines (volume 5’s stories were like that as well). There are 3 such stories:
1. The Mystery of London Scones
2. The Mystery of Roman Gelato
3. The Mystery of the San Francisco Cookies
I will definitely be waiting for these then!
What a ride. Thanks for translating, reading the new chapters was always a bright spot in my day!
Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Is soushimin series have new volume ?
No, volume 6 is the latest volume.
Thank you for the translation! I used to religiously read your translation until life events made me very busy that I forgot about this series altogether. Today I saw a post about the cour 2 of the anime so I thought “how far have the translation gone by now?” So I checked and lo and behold, the epilogue dropped just yesterday.
Not gonna lie, I’m a little disappointed by this epilogue, I thought it would be a bit more conclusive on Osanai and Kobato’s relationship. I hope the author will make stories about them in university.
Again, thank you for translating this amazing series.
I’m a little annoyed by how open the ending is as well, but I imagine that Kobato will be able to join Osanai in Kyoto. Glad you enjoyed the series!
Thank you!
What an ending! As open endings go, I don’t mind this one. Our hero and heroine stay true to themselves and show that they care for each other. Even with a hint at something more. Thank you so much for all the hard work that went into the translation. I’m looking forward to the extras that you mentioned you have left!
Muito obrigado por traduzir essa obra inteira! Parabéns por todo seu esforço. Espero que na universidade em Kyoto, Osanai e Kobato avance em seu relacionamento.
Espero que no anime não corte esse volume 6 ☺
De qualquer forma, estou satisfeito com esse final, só queria que eles ficassem juntos em algum momento. Mas acredito q osanai é uma garota complicada rsrsrs tmj é noix
What a wonderful series. I feel like the ending regarding their relationship is still a bit ambiguous, whether their feelings are romantic or platonic. However, Osanai does say that she wants to wait for Kobato to join her in Kyoto, so that shows hints of progression. The anime was never about romance, but it would be nice if they would get together in the future. Are the rumours on their university arc true? Thanks so much for the translations!
““I’ll look for a shop with delicious desserts, and you’ll have to find me. When you do… I’ll give you the last one.”
From beside my pillow, she picked up the last remaining chocolate bonbon and put it into her mouth.”
Damn, this is such a good writing with a small hint and provocation. I totally loved it. I never expected that it was Osanai the ono who wanted Retribution. Such a good ending. And thank you for the excellent translation. I will be checking Volume 5 soon 🙂