Koichi Sakakibara’s Investigation

This flow traces Koichi Sakakibara’s movement from skeptical newcomer to participant in the search for the casualty.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Transfer Into Yomiyama

The Newcomer Arrives A Difficult Admission Koichi Sakakibara transfers to Yomiyama North Middle School while recovering from a collapsed lung. His arrival places him inside the complicated social system of Class 3. First Contact He notices Mei Misaki before understanding why everyone else refuses to acknowledge her. His curiosity begins the chain of violations that destabilizes the class’s protective strategy.

Witness to Death

The Observer Becomes Involved Public Calamities Koichi Sakakibara witnesses Yukari Sakuragi’s fall and later learns of Sanae Mizuno’s elevator death and Ikuo Takabayashi’s illness. Guilt Takes Root The deaths make his conversations with Mei and Sanae seem dangerous in retrospect. He begins to believe that ordinary acts of sympathy may have helped direct the disasters toward others.

The False Self Suspicion

Could Koichi Be the Casualty A Nightmare Hypothesis Koichi Sakakibara dreams that his own face becomes monstrous and considers whether he died before transferring into the class. Rational Rejection The Two-Degree Blood-Relation Rule and his history outside Yomiyama argue against the theory. The episode reveals how the phenomenon corrupts not only records but personal identity.

The Execution Decision

Choosing Belief Reiko Under the Lumber Koichi Sakakibara discovers Reiko Mikami trapped beneath fallen timber and accepts Mei Misaki’s claim that she carries the Color of Death. A Nephew’s Choice He hesitates because Reiko resembles his dead mother and has cared for him since childhood. He finally chooses to believe Mei and lifts the pickax against the woman he loves.

The Survivor’s Aftermath

A Body Repaired Lung Collapse Koichi Sakakibara suffers another spontaneous pneumothorax after killing Reiko Mikami and undergoes thoracoscopic surgery. Memory’s Approach As he recovers, he learns that the phenomenon has erased Reiko from everyone’s memories. Physical healing is possible, but his emotional wound remains deliberately vulnerable to forgetting.

April 1998

May and June 1998

late July 1998

August 9 1998 before dawn

August 1998 after the massacre