Alice no Toge (Alice's Thorn / アリスの棘)

I've already thrown everything away. To take revenge on every single person

who drove my father to his death.

Is it true he died of a medical error?

If there's no proof, truth doesn't exist either.

If I can make Hagiwara's treatment fail,

it can trigger Bandai's downfall.

A smiling face suits you the best.

Don't try to shoulder everything by yourself.

- Let me take half of your load. - I'll never waver again.

I'll do anything to avenge my father.

It appears there's something suspicious about this Mizuno Asumi-san, huh?

My father and Bandai?

The sales rep from Tezuka Pharmaceutical heard the two arguing loudly

a few days before Osanai Sensei passed away.

- What would you know?! - What do you think human lives are!

Did Osanai Sensei ever tell you he was having trouble with Professor Bandai?

Can you tell me one more time about the day Osanai Sensei died?

My father had stomach ulcer.

It wasn't a condition that endangered his life, and

I was told that he would eventually need surgery, but not any time soon.

But...that night...

I'm Osanai Asumi. Is my father...?

He vomited some blood.

I found this out later, but

what was being performed inside

was laparoscopic gastrectomy.

At the time, it was an extremely difficult surgery.

And Bandai's the one who coerced them into doing it.

A few days before, Bandai was arguing with my father.

Something smells fishy.

Do you know anyone who would know something about those days?

I know one.

Give me a break!

- Please don't get me involved anymore. - Do you think

you have a choice?

- Answer me, quick. - I didn't know.

That there was trouble between Osanai Sensei

- and Professor Bandai. - Are you sure?

- I'm positive! - Is there anything else you can remember? For example,

there was something you felt wasn't right that day.

That's...well...

you could say there was.

It was an emergency surgery, so

I just assumed they were going to perform a regular gastrectomy.

But they suddenly decided to use the latest surgical procedure they've never tried before.

I went along with it because it was the Professor's order, but

the way he pushed it wasn't normal.

And one more thing.

The surgeons assigned by the Professor that day were

Date, who just got off night shift and was up all night, and

Chihara, who didn't have surgical skills.

I'm sure there were other doctors around.

I guess that didn't feel right to me.

And the bleeding...

With the usual hemostatic treatment,

the bleeding should've been held to 200-300 ml, but

that time, even without the transfusion,

there was at least 10 times that amount of bleeding.

Stop the bleeding first!

I can't get the field of vision!

The bleeding wouldn't stop no matter what.

It was as if

we were under some kind of a bad spell.

Asumi!

Guess what! The other day, Yuma Sensei told me that I'm a good cook.

- It was sort of like a positive response? - Really?

And so, to close the distance at once here,

I'm thinking about inviting him to an overnight trip somewhere.

You'll come too, won't you?

- I'm not sure... - Come on, please!

I'm counting on you.

Isn't that Hyuga Sensei?

Bandai Sensei please.

Hyuga Sensei.

Do you have some business with my father?

Professor Bandai's young master.

- It's been a while. - Uh...

The news that was reported the other day was really unfortunate.

But my father was worried

how you were doing after that.

Was he really?

I'm sorry, but I'm not worried at all.

I'm planning to

have your father buy this.

Why are you here?

That's a harsh thing to say.

To me, who was your legal adviser for 15 years.

I believe I dismissed you already.

Or

did you come to apologize for that press conference?

I was able to prove that the hospital's decision had no basis in fact.

I'll have you know I was set up.

Someone's setting up the people who were involved in that incident one by one.

Date, Chihara...

and me.

You may be next.

- What do you want? - I need money.

I was charged with a criminal complaint, but I'm going to win in court.

The thing is,

I need funds in order to win.

Of course, I'm not asking you to just give me the money.

There's something I want you to buy.

My vacation home.

For 80 million.

Lake Kawaguchi?

Do you really think this rickety 30-year old shack is worth that much?

Take your offer elsewhere.

Are you sure?

It's not just an ordinary vacation home.

If I tell you what's inside,

you wouldn't think that 80 million is unreasonable.

What's hidden there

is something you want very badly.

It's been a while, Hyuga Sensei.

You're out on bail, aren't you?

I heard you're going through tough times with debts and legal proceedings.

You're a reporter indeed. You have a keen nose.

Like a hyena.

- What did you come here for? - Nothing.

I just came to have a business talk with the Professor.

Business talk?

As the saying goes, if you're prepared, there's no need to worry.

You just wait.

I'll return the favor for that article.

Business talk?

I'm sure that's what he said.

What do you suppose he meant?

More than likely, he's scheming to extort money from Bandai

by bringing up information that's disadvantageous to him.

By the way, were you able to get any more information about Osanai Sensei?

There was something strange

about my father's surgery after all.

Questionable forced schedule,

questionable personnel assignment,

and

questionable excessive bleeding.

In other words,

some kind of trouble arose with Osanai Sensei

and Osanai Sensei became a hindrance.

That's why he intentionally set up the surgery so that it would fail...

Bandai

killed my father on purpose.

Let's start out by trying to find people who may know something about 15 years ago.

If we can find conclusive evidence,

it's all over for him.

Some kind of trouble that arose 15 years ago?

- No, I don't recall. - Tezuka Pharmaceutical

is practically glued to Professor Bandai all the time.

I don't think there's anyone else who's as knowledgeable as her.

I heard a rumor that 14, 15 years ago, trouble arose between

Bandai Sensei and a doctor from pediatrics.

14, 15 years ago is around the time I was in junior high.

Does anything come to mind?

Trouble among doctors isn't unusual at university hospitals.

You ought to know that too.

I'm sorry. My father's always been hard to approach ever since I was a kid.

In fact,

we hardly ever talk about work.

I see.

To tell you the truth,

there's still a lot of things I don't know about my father.

Like today,

he decided to buy Hyuga Sensei's vacation home all of a sudden.

Vacation home?

Mizuno Sensei, can I see you for a minute?

The thing is, if you'll excuse me for being rude,

my subordinate took these.

Can you explain?

Why you were meeting the woman you were embroiled in a legal dispute with.

Why you went into Professor Bandai's office without his knowledge.

Or is there a reason why you can't explain?

Good day.

I can explain.

This woman, Satonaka Eri-san...

I wanted to apologize to her once directly, without going through the attorney.

As a doctor, I wanted to come face-to-face with the patient.

At first, she wouldn't even look at me.

But as I continued to talk to her in earnest,

she gradually started listening to me.

I think that's when the picture was taken.

What about the time you went into Bandai Sensei's office?

I just couldn't get out of my mind

the case of false accusation from 15 years ago

that Attorney Hyuga talked about at the press conference.

I just couldn't understand why the professors and

everyone in the medical staff's office

were acting as if nothing happened.

So I thought I might be able to find a clue.

I realize now that I was being reckless.

But

I don't think I've done anything wrong as a doctor.

I want to respect your intention.

But, you know, even if it's something you did with the best of intention,

it may cause other people to misunderstand.

Next time something happens,

come ask for my advice first.

I'll do that.

I guess I came off sounding like a know-it-all, but

having said all that, when it comes to myself, I'm always at a loss.

I have two sick family members.