ERASED (僕だけがいない街)

5th Grade, Class 4 Kayo Hinazuki

Mom...

Kayo!

Where have you been for the last few days?!

You...

You!

So you were the ones behind this!

What do you think you're doing, hiding someone else's daughter?!

You made me worried about her!

Be prepared because I'm going to sue!

Have you looked for Kayo at all during the past three days?

What?

Are you... trying to paint me as the bad guy?!

Go to hell!

Kayo! Let go of me, idiot!

Made you worried about her?

You were only worried about yourself.

What?!

ERASED

Dammit!

What?! What are you doing, Kayo?!

Let go! You're not gonna listen to me?!

That's enough, Ms. Hinazuki.

Kayo doesn't want to see you like this.

How about you?! Treating me like a bad guy in front of Kayo!

Who the hell do you think you are, kidnapping someone else's daughter?!

Shut up!

What kind of parent throws her daughter in a shed

and doesn't do anything after she's gone for three days?!

You have no idea about the pains and responsibilities of being a parent, brat,

so you shut your smart mouth!

You—

You are Ms. Akemi Hinazuki?

We're with the Ishikari Development Bureau's Child Consultation Center.

We've come to discuss your daughter Kayo with you.

You tricked me...

Goddamn both of you!

It seemed you wouldn't agree to meet with us,

so we enlisted Ms. Fujinuma's cooperation.

Who ever said I wouldn't meet you?!

Please forgive my presumptuousness.

Sorry I asked you to do this.

Not at all, Mr. Yashiro.

I had a few words for her too,

so I'm actually grateful that I could help.

They're the criminals for abducting my daughter!

Call the cops!

No, first we need to discuss your usual relationship with your child.

What are you talking about?!

What about my relationship with Kayo?!

We've decided that your daughter, Kayo, needs to be taken into custody.

Into custody?! I'm her guardian!

You revoked your guardianship

by failing to look for your daughter when she went missing for three days!

It's because of that brat over there!

Why are you treating me like a criminal?!

All right, all right, Ms. Hinazuki.

Please calm down.

Fine!

I'll go to the police myself!

They can settle this!

Come on, Kayo!

- W-Wait, Ms. Hinazuki! - We need to talk!

Please calm down!

S-Sensei...

Come on! Come on, I said!

Kayo!

You come with me!

Akemi!

Akemi...

Mom?

I'm sorry.

We've been estranged ever since I made you break up with that man,

but I've been worried about you and Kayo all this time.

I know very well how hard it is for a woman to raise a child on her own.

You must have been so lonely.

It must have been hard.

I should have helped you.

But I made you...

DIVORCE REGISTRATION

take all of it on by yourself.

Everyone... This is my fault.

Please don't think badly of Akemi.

Mom...

Mom! Mom!

I bet those tears were out of self-pity.

Kayo wasn't moved either.

She wouldn't look at her weeping mother.

Akemi, don't worry about Kayo.

I'll take good care of her.

My child is the most precious thing I have in this world.

You must have thought the same way at some point.

Thank you, Sensei.

No, you're the one who got me in gear, Satoru.

Your heroic efforts just couldn't end in tragedy.

Kayo's going to be okay now.

I hardly have any memory of my father,

but I wonder if he talked like that.

Satoru, thank you.

Thank you for getting me out of here.

Well, shall we go?

"The Town Without Me," by Kayo Hinazuki.

When I get bigger, big enough to go somewhere by myself,

I want to go to a land that's far away.

I want to go to a faraway island.

I want to go to an island that has no people.

I want to go to an island that has no pain or sadness.

Thank you for dinner! Next time, I want to cook with you. -Kayo

On that island, I can climb a tree when I want to climb,

swim in the sea when I want to swim,

and sleep when I want to sleep.

When I think about the town without me, I feel a sense of relief.

I want to go far, far away.

I saved Kayo at last.

I fastened her life to the future.

From now on, Kayo will make her own mark.

I have faith that the future Kayo faces is a bright place.

Episode 9 Closure

Satoru's been like this all day. Do you think he's okay?

He's a hero for helping Hinazuki, but...

Hey, Satoru, are you all right?

Yeah. I'm fine.

You don't look fine at all.

Well, I can't blame him. I mean, with Hinazuki gone...

Yeah. Although that does bring closure...

Satoru...

Come here a minute.

STAFF ROOM

About Kayo's mother...

I don't think she'll be able to see Kayo for a number of years.

Kayo's going to begin a new life with her grandmother.

Sensei, thank you.

Oh, no need to...

No, not about that.

What you said, "Your heroic efforts just couldn't end in tragedy"...

That made me really happy.

Yes, well, it may have sounded a little vulgar

if I'd said "the reward for your heroic efforts,"

but what you did was deserving of a reward, Satoru.

What did you want? To see Kayo smile?

I wanted that, too.

By the way, Satoru, was Kayo in your house all that time?

No. We had a hideout.

- A hideout? - Yes.

We hid Kayo in the bus Izumi Elementary's hockey club used to use.

A place that only kidnappers like you guys would think to go, huh?

R-Right.

I can't really laugh...

KAYO HINAZUKI

Kayo's gone now,

AYA NAKANISHI

but the killer is still targeting Hiromi and Aya Nakanishi.

HIROMI SUGITA

HIROMI SUGITA

AYA NAKANISHI

KAYO HINAZUKI

I have to make sure neither one of them are left alone.

It's like with Kayo.

FIGHT, WONDER GUY! TV THEME SONG

Hiromi is my classmate,

but Aya Nakanishi goes to Izumi Elementary next door,

so it'll be hard to approach her.

I hear she's often with Yuuki, but how can I start a conversation with her?

She doesn't know anything about me.

This is a pretty high hurdle.

A way to become friends with someone you don't know?

Just be straightforward, like, "Let's be friends!"

Like that would—