...That was my first time losing consciousness.

You often hear of regaining consciousness on top of a bed, but this was my first time actually experiencing it.

"...Hello?

Are you okay...?"

Realizing that I was awake, a young doctor called out to me.

I didn't intend to respond, but it seems my body language had told him I was conscious.

My head was wrapped in bandages.

The scratches all over my body had also been treated.

...My sense of pain also returned with my consciousness, causing me to groan from the intense pain shooting all throughout me.

"Don't try to get up. Just stay lying down, please.

It seems that you took quite a few blows to the head...

I want you to stay rested so we can monitor your condition for at least the next 24 hours."

"...Where is this?"

"This is my clinic.

Pleased to meet you. My name is Irie."

...I remembered that this young doctor was the one in the car headed the opposite way earlier.

"...Is there,

somebody here?

...Where's Ooishi-san?"

"Ah, I'll call him over.

There's no smoking inside the clinic, so I had him smoke outside."

Dr. Irie left the room to go call Ooishi.

...The scenery outside the window was tinted with gold.

The pouring rain had stopped, with the voices of the higurashi heralding the cooling temperature.

I felt that the tone of the higurashi's voices was... comforting.

Eventually, I could hear heavy footsteps coming closer, which I reckoned to be Ooishi's.

The fog that was enveloping my head slowly faded back to reality...

What had happened since then?

What had happened to the boy?

What about the reinforcements from Tokyo?

The door to the room flew open, allowing Dr. Irie and Ooishi to enter.

"So there's no serious damage, is there?"

"...I can't promise that.

I assessed the wound to his head was dangerous the moment I saw it."

"Got it, got it.

I want to have a little chat alone with him for a bit, would you mind?"

"...Yeah, go ahead. Call me if anything happens."

Ooishi, after basically forcing Dr. Irie outside, shut the door.

"How are you feeling?"

"...I did something I'm not used to, so I'm pretty banged up all over."

"Nahahaha..."

Ooishi brought over a folding chair that was leaning against the wall and sat down beside the bed.

"Were the perpetrators arrested?"

"Unfortunately, no.

...They've probably already fled the prefecture, or are being hidden by the villagers.

Well, we won't let them get away.

Nfu fu fu!"

"What about the Minister's grandson?"

"They're taking care of him at the station.

But your colleagues from Tokyo are rather insistent that nothing can be recorded.

Shige-chan doesn't like that too much. Na ha ha ha..."

The kidnapping was a confidential matter, so his custody was also probably being kept under wraps.

How the kidnapping of the Minister's grandson would be handled, how it would be covered up, treated like it never happened... would be handled by the brass.

...If this case ended without the nation going into an uproar about it, then our job had been done.

...The possibility that the Minister had negotiated with the perpetrators couldn't be ruled out.

...But something like that was no longer my concern.

My role in this case was over.

"...Sorry for the trouble.

...You must think that Public Safety is a rather unseemly place, don't you?"

"No, no.

We all work on the government's dime."

Ooishi laughed boisterously.

When we first met, I was somewhat prejudiced against Ooishi, but now that feeling was gone completely.

"It would be more convenient for us if this case was handled properly instead of being hidden away.

If that happened we would be able to have something to go at the Sonozaki family with, since they were behind it all.

Well, if we just start poking around we'll get all sorts of pressure put on us, though.

...What a mess."

"Are you going to continue the fight against the Sonozaki family after this?"

"Nah.

There's all sorts of dark rumors swirling around them, but it's not like I have a personal grudge.

It'd be wise not to step on any toes here.

Na ha ha ha."

Ooishi laughed happily, and I couldn't help but laugh along.

"Oh, that's right.

There was word at the station from the prefectural police.

Your colleagues arrived at Nagoya, and are driving up here right now.

You've got your battle scars, so you're being recalled to Tokyo, apparently.

That's how it's shaking up. ....Good job.

Your work in Okinomiya is safely over."

I was being recalled to Tokyo.

...I inadvertently breathed a sigh of relief when I heard those words.

"...I'm deeply thankful for your cooperation, Ooishi-san.

...It seems the collaboration fee I paid you didn't go to waste."

"Na ha ha ha ha!!

...I kind of meant that as a joke, though."

Ooishi took out his wallet, casually pulled out several large bills, and jammed them into the breast pocket of my shirt.

"This isn't a refund on the collaboration fee, you hear?

This is just me gifting you a little spending money.

The booze around here is pretty good.

Use this to buy yourself a little souvenir."

Ooishi flashed me a grin.

"If your injuries turn out to not be too serious, call me before you head back to Tokyo, will you?

The ol' man and Sato-san said they'd like to sit at a table with you again."

"...Oh my... ahahaha, can't refuse that."

"And no tricks this time.

Just some plain ol' fun."

"They always say that.

This world is done for if an active officer can cheat that blatantly."

"Na ha ha ha ha ha ha!

It's not often that we meet someone who's more than a match for us.

It's too bad you're going back to Tokyo."

When I heard the words "going back to Tokyo" from Ooishi, I was reminded once again that I was relieved from my duties.

Soon, Yukie would be giving birth.

It might still be possible to attend the delivery that I had at one time given up on.

When I thought that, the pain from my injuries became trivial. I wanted to hurry back to Tokyo and see Yukie at once.

"Can you pretend that your injuries are a bit more serious, and hang around Okinomiya for a bit?

I can introduce you to a few nice places.

Of course, I won't make you pay for everything.

Na ha ha ha!"

"I'm terribly sorry, but I'll have to take a rain check on that.

My wife is due to give birth any day now.

I want to hurry back home."

"Oh my, oh my!

I didn't know that!

Then you shouldn't be hanging around here!

You have to hurry back home."

For a while after that, Ooishi asked all sorts of questions about my wife, teasing and bantering with me.

"...Well then.

How do you feel?

Think you can get up?"

"Yeah, it's not so bad, thanks to you.

I can get up and walk no problem."

I stood up and shuffled around for a bit, which seemed to amuse Ooishi.

"Nah, I just thought that you might not feel comfortable at a hospital in Hinamizawa.

Dr. Irie said he wanted you to stay overnight.

...But we still haven't caught the perpetrators.

For the time being, this is enemy territory for you, after all."

"Are you saying this hospital isn't safe?"

"Na ha ha ha.

...Well, Dr. Irie is somebody who's well-regarded in the community.

I don't think anything will happen while you're here, but I'm more worried about your mental health."

...I had relaxed a bit now that things had progressed this far, but it was exactly as Ooishi had said.

When I realized that this was enemy territory, I suddenly felt uncomfortable.

With leaving being the only thing left for me to do, the chance that I would come to harm was logically fairly low.

But that didn't mean I was completely safe.

"...That's right.

If I'm just going to be lying down, then doing it in a hotel bed won't be all that different."

"Right, right.

I also think that's for the best."

At that moment, I caught a glimpse of the clock over Ooishi's shoulder.

It was the evening.

...The hours when I could call Yukie at the hospital were almost over.

I wanted to tell her as quickly as possible that I would soon be back at her side.

"I want to call Yukie at the hospital.

Is there a public phone in the lobby?"

"Na ha ha ha!!

You newlyweds are all like this.

If I recall correctly, there's one by the register.

I'll be waiting here, so go ahead, go ahead."

Ooishi, laughing while saying that he was jealous, opened up the window, and pulled out a cigarette even though he was in a hospital room.

Appreciative at how considerate Ooishi was, I set out to the lobby to find the phone.

The lobby was just a short distance down the hallway from the hospital room.

I thought that this hospital was a bit too grand for a village like this, but of course, it was nothing compared to the general hospital Yukie was admitted to.

Running inside a hospital wasn't the best of manners, but calling hours would soon end, so I dashed over in a hurry.

There was nobody else in the lobby.

It may have been the evening, but there was nobody at the reception desk.

...Well, this might actually be lucky for me.

I wasn't planning to have a conversation to feel guilty about, but it would still be embarrassing to have someone listen to the conversation between me and Yukie.

Taking a quick look around, I soon found the payphone.

Digging around in my pockets, I grabbed a few coins.

I was calling Tokyo from here, so I would burn through this amount fairly quickly.

I picked up the receiver and inserted a coin, then dialed the number for Yukie's hospital, which I had completely memorized at this point.

Whirrr.

Whirrr.

Whirrrrrr.

The number for Yukie's hospital had a lot of eights and nines, so dialing it in inevitably took some time.

Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but currently, any time was precious.

...However, I felt that something was strange as I was dialing in the number.

I don't know exactly how to put it, but it was as if the receiver was too quiet.

That unique white noise from the telephone line wasn't there.

"...?"

Somehow, I felt that I wasn't getting any feedback from the phone, and without feeling a response, I hung up the receiver to try again.

The coin popped out from the return slot.

I reinserted the coin and began dialing once again, but the receiver was still dead silent.

"...What is this?

...Is it disconnected?"

While I was wasting time like this, the amount I had to spend talking with Yukie shrunk...

I began to feel needlessly impatient.

"Excuse me~~~!"

I felt the presence of someone on the other side of the glass, so I called out.

There was an immediate response, and a man who seemed like a pharmacist came over.

"Yes, how can I help you?"

"Pardon me.

This phone seems to be acting a little strange.

...Could you take a look at it?"

The man came over, and tried testing various things with the receiver pressed to his ear.

...Come to think of it, this was someone who worked at the hospital, not someone from the phone company.

Just as I didn't know much about phones, neither would he.

"...Huh?

What's this...?"

The man held up the cord that connected the phone to the wall.

...It was completely severed.

"What the heck is that?

Well this is a dilly of a pickle...

Can't do anything with this until somebody from the phone company comes and fixes it...

If you're looking for a phone, do you want to use the one in the office?"

I didn't want the people in the hospital office around while I was talking...

"Is there another payphone close by?"

"Let's see... if you leave here and follow the road, you'll come out into the shopping district.

I think there's a smoke shop on the corner around there.

If you head that way, you should be able to find one soon enough."

I was dressed in a hospital gown.

I was wearing sandals on my feet.

My head was wrapped in bandages -- just looking at me, you could tell I was a hospital patient.

No matter how you looked at it, I was not dressed to be wandering outside.

But that's where the impetuousness of youth came in.

Choosing the chance to talk to Yukie for even a little longer, I headed outside in my current state.

Follow the road to the shopping district.

Should be able to find one soon enough.

With only those two lines as my guide, I ran outside the gates of the hospital.

With the village nestled in a valley, when the sun set, it got dark quickly.

...The sparse streetlights lit up enough to start attracting moths.

The higurashi, knowing the time for their chorus was soon at a close, redoubled their fragile cries...

Finding the payphone wasn't as easy as the person at the hospital had suggested.

Was it still up ahead? Did I miss it already? Was I just getting farther away?

Just as I was about to be crushed by the wave of uncertainty towering over me, I found a shop on the corner with "Cigarettes" written on a small sign.

My joy spurred me onwards.

...Just as I had heard at the hospital, set next to the counter of the cigarette shop was an antiquated payphone.

I wasn't wearing a watch, so I didn't know what time it was... I probably didn't have much left, though.

But it was enough.

Just as long as I could tell Yukie my job was done and I would be coming home soon.

Picking up the receiver, I slid a coin down the slot.

...But I felt that something was strange, just like at the hospital.

Even after inserting the coin, the phone showed no response.

"..."

I hung up the receiver and tried putting in the coin one more time.

...But there was absolutely no response.

This phone was dead.

It couldn't be...

Thinking that, I felt along the cord that protruded from the back of the phone.

...Doing that, my hands found the end of a completely severed line.

...What... is this?

Having now had the same thing happen twice, my bafflement was accompanied by a sense of unease.

It seemed that the cord had been severed cleanly by a sharp blade of some sort.

And I may be mistaken, but it didn't look like much time had passed since it was cut.

"Uhh... excuse me!

Hello?"

Opening up the booth window of the tobacco shop, I looked for someone in the dimly lit interior.

Eventually, there were the sounds of somebody plodding down some stairs, and an old lady appeared.

The old lady's plodding and lethargic steps, for some reason, only served to make me more frantic.

"You need some cigarettes?

I'll need to get my husband..."

"I'm not here to buy cigarettes.

Rather, this phone here..."

Realizing that saying the phone was broken and asking them to take a look at it was going to get me nowhere, I swallowed back my words.

"Sorry, it seems that this phone is broken, and I was wondering if you could tell me where there's another payphone..."

The old lady moved her jaw up and down slowly as if chewing on the meaning of my words. It seemed that she wouldn't understand until she had digested things thoroughly.

"...So the phone is broken?

That's a dilly of a pickle...

You should try another payphone."

The old lady directed me to another payphone that seemed quite a ways away.

Her way of telling me was so long-winded, that I inadvertently started to get impatient.

At that moment, I spotted a clock in the dim interior of the store.

The minute hand was just about to point straight up.

Even if there was a phone right here that I could use, I would only be able to tell Yukie good night with the time I had left.

On top of that, my destination was a remote payphone which I didn't know the exact distance to.

..If I was of a normal state of mind, deciding to give up the phone today would have been the natural thought process.

But, at that moment, I had become somewhat... stubborn, for some reason.

Unable to use the phone in the hospital, and coming out here and still being unable to use one.

...There was no mistaking that I had become quite insistent on using a phone.

"Ah, thank you very much...

I'll try looking for that phone booth."

Refusing her offer to draw me a map, I left the tobacco shop.

According to the old lady, even though the phone booth was quite far away, it would be easy to find.

If I just followed this road straight down, I'd eventually find it.

Sandals flapping as I ran, I couldn't help but laugh at myself.

I'll admit that I was quite steadfast about calling Yukie.

But there were days when I was tired or busy when I wouldn't call her.

Even today, my entire body was covered with injuries, and I was dead tired. On top of that, there wasn't much time left.

...It wouldn't be strange at all if today was one of those days I didn't call her.

But, having twice been foiled trying to call her, had I become hot-headed about it?

Was I like a dog who was being told to 'stay' with a piece of food dangled in my face?

"...What am I doing?

...Ahahaha."

Even so, I somehow couldn't quell the uneasy feeling sitting in the pit of my stomach.

It was like that with the hospital phone, and the same with the one at the tobacco shop.

Both cords were definitely not severed from being frayed by long years of use.

The clean cuts indicated that someone had taken something sharp and deliberately cut them.

But who? And for what reason?

The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I felt, so I tried to push the thought aside...

...How much had I run so far?

The scenery around me was no longer that of a shopping district, with residential buildings scattered about the lonely road.

The surroundings had already grown dark.

I was blatantly out too far for a quick phone call, and it was quite obvious I was far removed from the hospital.

I recalled the clock I saw at the tobacco shop.

...It might almost be time.

I had run for quite a bit, so my breathing had grown quite ragged.

...If I had just wanted to hear Yukie's voice, I should have just thrown away my reservations and borrowed the phone in the office.

...I regretted it a little.

Well then, was it about time to give up?

...Just when I thought that.

I saw the light in front of me.

I had finally found it.

It was a phone booth.

It seemed that the light in the phone booth had recently been changed, as it shone with a vivid white light.

Although in the gloom of Hinamizawa, it was nothing more than a gathering spot for moths.

But, in any case... I had finally found it!

As my hand touched the door of the phone booth, I realized that I was breathing and sweating heavily.

...I didn't know what time it was right now, but... even if it was just for a moment, I might be able to get in touch with Yukie.

Since I had spent all this effort getting here, turning back without even giving it a try was out of the question.

Before I picked up the receiver, another wave of uneasiness washed over me.

I was worried that this phone cord might be severed as well.

How was the cord in this phone booth?

Squatting down, I followed the bundle of cables as they ran along the corner into the ceiling.

At a glance... nothing was out of the ordinary.

I ran my fingers as far as I could along the line to check it out.

...The only thing they found was a thick layer of dust.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

"..."

...I wondered if it was popular in Hinamizawa to cut the cords of payphones as some sort of tasteless prank.

It might be prudent to talk to Ooishi-san about this later.

Even if it was nothing more than a prank, it was still vandalism of public property.

...In any case, this one was fine... this time.

Pulling out a coin from my pocket with one hand, I picked up the receiver with the other.

...But this time, before the receiver even reached my ear, I felt something was off.

The receiver was... light.

...It was more than a slightly unpleasant feeling, it felt almost sickening.

To verify the source of my displeasure, I peered at the receiver in my hand with a measure of reluctance.

"...What the hell...is this?"

...The coiled cord that connected the receiver to the rest of the phone...

...had been ripped apart, the tip of the cable swaying in the air.

It was all I could do to restrain myself as a raw and unpleasant feeling worked its way up the small of my back.

...It was a type of dread.

At that moment, I heard the crunch of somebody stepping on gravel.

The light was reflecting off the glass walls of the booth, leaving me unable to see outside into the darkness.

I steeled myself, and stepped out of the phone booth.

The inside of the booth was lit with that strong light, which might have made it warmer in there.

Just stepping outside, I could feel a chill wash over me.

And there... was the silhouette of a person.

A small silhouette.

"...You're..."

The long hair of that silhouette was blown about by the cool breeze.

"...Injured people shouldn't be sneaking out of the hospital..."

Somewhere in my head, I knew who this girl was.

I didn't have any basis for it, but I knew that she was that girl.

"...Right, Akasaka?"

She, Rika Furude, said that almost like it was a warning...

"...Did you... do this to the phone cord...?"

"..."

Her expression remained unchanged, and my question was left unanswered.

In other words, no response.

Regardless, I felt that she had affirmed my suspicions.

"...Why would you do something like this?

...Why!?"

The last word had a tinge of anger behind it.

I frantically tried to smooth things out, but she didn't seem very afraid.

"...There's nothing that can be done."

"...Huh?"

I interpreted her words as meaning that I wasn't going to be in time for calling hours at the hospital.

...But, thinking about it, that would have been a strange thing to say.

Why would she know something like that?

I could take what she had said to have any other meaning.

She just stood there like a mannequin, not even moving an inch.

...Almost to the point that if the wind wasn't occasionally rustling through her long hair, there would be the illusion that time had stopped.

"...I know very well that you think I'm creepy, Akasaka."

"Huh...

...ah...

...no...

...that's not... true."

My denial came out almost like a bad piece composed for a poetry slam,

but her words were right on the mark.

I had always felt something ominous and uncanny about her.

...Ever since her strange threats at the shrine.

"...Hee hee."

She had noticed that my expression was contrary to my words, seemingly laughing at the gap between them.

"...Akasaka,

you coward.

Tee hee hee..."

"I-I'm not a coward...!"

Being laughed at by this small child didn't sit well with me.

So I said that.

"...Even if you find another phone, it's too late."

"...Sigh.

...That's right."

She didn't even have to say it.

I was absolutely too late.

I might have already missed calling hours even by the time I reached this phone booth.

I was too late. I had no option but to give up for today.

Once I decided that, my unhealthy obsession with phones suddenly faded.

...Even I thought that it was strange that I was that obsessed.

That strange obsession now gone, I began to laugh at how hopeless I was.

I mean, just look at what I was wearing... it wasn't normal.

A hospital gown and sandals.

My head wrapped in bandages, and my body completely soaked in sweat.

It was a wonder that the old lady at the tobacco shop wasn't surprised to see me.

With wanting to hear Yukie's voice as my motive, I had traipsed around the town the entire evening.

...I didn't know whether to call it the follies of youth, or simply plain embarrassing.

...In any case, it was all I could do but to laugh at myself.

"...Now.

There's nothing left for Akasaka to do tonight."

"You're right. There's nothing.

...I'll just quietly return to the hospital."

"...That's fine.

Do you know the way?"

"...I hope I do."

She waved her little hand as I began to head back the way I came.

She began to follow alongside me.

Looking at her face, I could see that she wore a mischievous smile.

...As if she was extremely interested in whether or not I would get lost.

"Is Rika-chan's house also this way...?"

"...It is."

"Won't your parents be mad that you're walking around alone at this hour?"

"Not really.

My parents are busy today, so they probably forgot about me."

"...Even then, it's best if you head on home.

They'll definitely be angry."

"...Even if they are, it's much more interesting to talk with Akasaka, so I'm fine."

She said that with a face free from worry as she looked up at me once more and smiled.

When she showed me that smile, ...the eerie feeling surrounding her faded.

...But even then, she was still as mysterious to me as ever.

We arrived at the corner I had turned at earlier.

...But it was much darker than before, and with the point of view changed on the return trip, I wasn't very confident that this actually was the corner I turned at.

There's no mistake... it had to be this corner.

As I began to move my feet again, the girl grabbed onto my clothes.

"...Isn't Akasaka going back to the hospital...?"

"Of course... at least, I intend to.

...Am I going the wrong way...?"

A short moment of silence.

Eventually, still holding onto my clothes, she began to walk.

It was the beginning of the walk to the hospital this mysterious girl would take me on.