Chapter 39

Breaking of Close Ties, SCENE 1 1. EXT. HOTEL – NIGHT The exterior of a relatively large business hotel. It’s night, yet there is still a bit of light left. 2. HOTEL ROOM The hotel looks clean with sparse furniture. The room is on the large side. Having been left there by second-year middle school student Koudai Kamiuchi, Miyuki Karino is terrified, face pale as she is surrounded by several men of clearly low standards. There is a double bed behind the men. MIYUKI K-Kou! Koudai Kamiuchi ignores the voice calling out to him and closes the door. Miyuki sees this and tries to escape, but one of the men plants himself in front of the exit. Miyuki searches for somewhere to run to, then quickly darts into the bathroom. The bathroom just so happens to have a lock. Putting the latch in place, Miyuki sits down against the door, her breathing ragged. The silhouettes of the men can be seen through the semitransparent door. MEN Come on out, Miyuki! We won’t treat you bad. It’ll feel good. We paid a lot of money for this. At the sound of the men hitting the door, Miyuki wraps her arms around herself, her lips trembling. She hurriedly tries to open her school bag (but struggles to do so). Getting the zipper undone, she pulls out a mobile phone with many charms and decorations attached to it. She begins to enter text with shaky fingers. 3. SCREEN OF A MOBILE PHONE Help me! At this rate a bunch of weird men are going to… Miyuki’s hands stop as she enters the message, her face white. The screen has halted on Come save me. 4. FLASHBACK—RINO’S HOME An elementary school–aged Daiya Oomine pats little Miyuki’s head. It seems to tickle her. Next to them, an elementary school–aged Kokone Kirino hovers over Daiya with an uneasy look on her face. 5. BATHROOM Miyuki continues entering text, nearly in tears. The phone screen displays “Come save me, Dai!” She presses the SEND button. The screen says “Your message has been received.”