Missing Child Videotape (2024) Movie Script
(Boy coughing)
(Bell ringing)
(Bell ringing)
(Bell ringing)
(Bell ringing)
(Footsteps)
(Bell ringing)
(Keita) Matsushima Shohei-kun?
Are you okay?
This?
Ah, it's a bear bell.
(Shohei) A demon repellent?
Here, take it.
(Sound of Shohei ringing the bell)
(Keita) Let's go home.
(Murmuring crowd)
(Shohei) Big brother...
(Bell ringing)
(Reporter) ...has been rescued.
According to Gunma Prefectural Police, Shohei-kun...
was found near a river about 3 kilometers from the forest road where he went missing...
by a male volunteer who was part of the search party.
(Door opening sound)
(Tsukasa) Oh, good morning.
(Keita) I'm home.
Did you just wake up?
(Tsukasa) Yeah.
Ah, hey! Too bright, too bright, stop it!
Ah...
You should've called meI would've picked you up.
Tsukasa, you're working too, right?
2. (Tsukasa) Well, yeah.
3. Oh, thats for Keita.
4. (Keita) From Mom again?
5. (Tsukasa) Yeah.
6. My parents wouldnt even send me anything if I asked.
7. (Sound of opening)
8. (Tsukasa) Whats wrong?
9. (Tsukasa) Hungry?
10. Should I make something?
11. Ah Its fine.
12. Oh, no Actually, maybe Ill have something.
13. (Tsukasa) Yeah, got it.
14. Hey
15. Do we even have a VCR?
16. Uh, can I help you with something?
17. (Mikoto) Sorry to drop in like this.
18. Im Mikoto Kuzumi from the Gunma Shinpos Society section.
19. Huh
20. (Mikoto) I wanted to ask Kodama Keita-san a few things.
21. I rang the doorbell earlier, but no one answered.
22. (Tsukasa) Oh.
23. He just got back, so he might be asleep.
24. (Mikoto) Oh, right. That makes sense.
25. Um, about Kodama Keita-san
26. Im his roommate. Something up?
27. Its about that boy
28. Shouhei Matsushima, the one who went missing and was recently found.
29. (Tsukasa) Saw it on the news. What about it?
30. Oh, do you mind if we walk and talk?
Ah... yes
2. After finding Shouhei Matsushima
he disappeared from the scene
3. There are volunteers
4. I think that might be...
Keita Kodama-san
5. And then?
6. Do you know about the disappearance case from 13 years ago?
7. About Kodama-san's younger brother
Hinata-kun
8. This might be rude, but...
9. That personal alarm...
10. It's just a guess, but...
11. I'm not stalking, but...
I've been following Hisumi-san
12. I can see them, you know
things of that nature
13. Nobody likes being interrogated, right?
14. Tsukasa Amano
15. About Keita...
I might not be able to help
16. But if you're troubled by something like that,
I can at least listen
17. Well then, excuse me
18. Does this have something to do with your brother?
19. Why would Tsukasa know about this?
20. A journalist approached me today
21. They were asking about Keita
22. They're looking for volunteers
who found that kid in Gunma the other day
23. I declined the interview, but...
24. He went missing
25. When I was in elementary school
26. He still hasn't been found
27. Sorry for keeping quiet...
28. (Sound of removing a case)
29. (Tsukasa) He's gone to his room
30. Tsukasa...
I want Tsukasa to watch it with me too.
(Hinata's voice)
(Young Keita) Hinata and Dad are playing catch.
(Hinata and Kengo's voices)
(Young Keita) Hinata is...
(Hiroko) Keita.
That's Dad's, isn't it? He'll get mad again.
(Young Keita) It's fine. Dad said it was okay.
(Hiroko) Really?
Well then, Keita, why don't you go play outside with them?
(Young Keita) Ugh, annoying.
(Sound of running up stairs)
(Young Keita's muttering)
(Young Keita) Should I go...?
What's that?
Should I go...?
(Young Keita) Looks like a dam.
Whoa, no way! It's so high...
There are no fish.
This place is kinda sketchy.
It's scary here.
Whoa, it's all rocks.
(Hinata) Big bro.
(Young Keita) Go away.
(Hinata) Why?
(Young Keita) I wanna play alone.
(Hinata) I wanna play hide-and-seek.
(Young Keita) Well, I don't.
Why?
(Young Keita) "Why, why"ugh, so annoying.
Just go over there for now.
Hey, go stay with Mom.
(Young Keita) What is this place...?
Amazing.
(Hinata) There's a Puyo Puyo!
(Young Keita) What? A bug?
(Hinata) Puyo Puyo!
(Young Keita) Huh? What's that?
There's nothing here. See?
(Hinata) Big bro, can't you see it?
(Young Keita) No.
Then let's play hide-and-seek.
Hmm... Hinata, you hide over there.
I'll be "it" first.
(Hinata) No.
(Young Keita)
Come on, stop with that already.
Here, go on.
4, 5, 6
Ready or not?
Can I come out now...?
(Young Keita) Not here.
(Young Keita) Not here either.
Where is she...?
(Young Keita) Found you!
Okay, your turn to be "it," Hinata.
Huh?
(Young Keita) Hinata?
Hinata?
(Young Keita) Hinata?
Hinata?
(Young Keita's heavy breathing)
(Young Keita's heavy breathing)
(Young Keita) That's enough...
(Young Keita) That's enough...
Hinata...
That's enough...
Hinata...
That's enou
(Sound of sandstorm)
What happened after that?
We went down the mountain
And told my father and mother
The police came
But no matter how much they searched
that
ruin
itself couldn't be found
That was the end of it?
Do you feel something?
I think we should burn this or throw it away
Yeah, you're right
Keita's mother...
why would she...
(Knocking)
Ah... the door was open
The children will be arriving soon
Just a little while is fine
Pardon me
(Tsukasa) Is she angry about something?
Was it Amano-san who gave you my number?
(Tsukasa) To whom?
I got a call yesterday from Keita Kodama's father
But we couldn't really have a proper conversation
(Tsukasa)
I'm not quite following what you're saying...
"Please take care of my son"
What on earth is that about?
(Tsukasa) Um...
That guy's father passed away last year.
(Mikoto) Huh?
(Tsukasa) His ashes are at my place right now.
His parents got divorced, so...
Apparently, there was no one else to take him in.
Wh... What... That can't be...
Is this really okay with you?
(Customer) Thank you very much. (Keita) Yes.
Thank you very much.
(Mayu)
Yamato...
Yamato... Yamato?
Yamato?
Yamato?
Yamato?
Yamato?
(Honda) Kodama-kun, could you go handle the register for a bit?
(Mayu) Yamato?
Huh? Is he lost?
(Mayu) Yamato?
(Honda) Nah, nah, we'll find him in no time.
What if we don't?
Huh?
(Yamato) Mama...
(Mayu) Yamato!
See? Found him, just like that.
The register, please. Handle the register.
A videotape... capturing the moment he disappeared?
Yes
2. His mother
3. While organizing the luggage,
we found his father's belongings
4. She sends them occasionally
5. It was mixed in with those
6. Can you take a look at it?
7. No, that's a bit...
8. I see
9. But why so suddenly?
10. Sometimes I can't tell
what Keita is thinking
11. So I guess I just wanted
to talk to someone about it
12. (Mikoto sighs)
13. S-sorry...
14. It's straying further from
the original direction of the article
15. I'm wondering what to do...
16. What will you do?
17. (Mikoto) Hmm...
18. Can I also ask about
Amano-san's story?
19. Huh? Is it related?
20. Just personal curiosity
21. Oh, sure
22. You can see things
normal people can't, right?
23. Meaning...
24. Dead people
25. That would be correct
26. (Mikoto) If you see them, then...
27. How do you handle it?
28. I don't do anything special
29. Most don't require intervention
30. (Mikoto) Most of them...
Yes
2. (Mikoto) Does it affect your daily life?
3. Well, seeing them is normal for me, so...
4. Not particularly... but
5. (Mikoto) But?
6. If I had to say...
7. Maybe it just means more secrets to keep?
8. (Mikoto) Do you know Keita Kodama?
9. Yes, I know Keita.
10. Since I can see them
11. (Mikoto) I see.
12. (Mikoto) I... this...
13. Even indoors, I can't go without it.
14. I think I'm starting to understand...
15. what exactly I'm afraid of.
16. (Tsukasa) If you'd like, I could ask Keita
17. if he'd at least be willing to talk.
18. What changed your mind?
19. (Tsukasa) He doesn't seem like a bad person, so...
20. Ah... yes.
21. (Sound of door opening)
22. (Tsukasa) Oh... good morning.
23. Well, I should get going then.
24. Ah, wait just a moment.
25. It'll be over soon.
26. Then, see you tomorrow.
Looking forward to it.
27. Yes.
28. Um...
29. Aren't you scared of Amano-san?
30. I'm not scared of him.
Yes
(Tsukasa) I'm home
Welcome back
(Tsukasa) Ah, I'm tired
What are you doing?
As I thought... this video
I'm going to return it to Mom
That kind of thing
You could just mail it back
I want to talk
I don't want to see Mom though
But when she sends me things like this...
I want her to just stop
That's because Keita is family
Mom doesn't know anything about me
Things like family...
Or living with that pitiful older brother look on my face
I want to end all of that
Then I'll go with you
(Cell phone vibration sound)
(Footsteps)
(Keita) Your phone's been ringing nonstop
(Tsukasa) Ah, it's fine
(Tsukasa) Ah, it's fine
(Ends call)
(Tsukasa) Ah, it's fine
(Instructor) Amano's absent today
(Mikoto) Ah...
(Instructor) He contacted us this morning
I think he'll be here tomorrow
(Mikoto) Understood
(Instructor) Yes
(Mikoto) Thank you
(Cell phone vibration sound)
Good work today, this is Hisumi
(Tsukamoto) So? What about that super volunteer we talked about?
Were you able to talk to him?
That guy is definitely the right one, isn't he?
Yes, it's definitely Kodama Keita-san.
(Tsukamoto) Oh, great. Then...
We should be able to make it into tomorrow morning's paper.
But the situation has changed...
(Tsukamoto) Huh? You met and talked with him, right?
Well, he ended up breaking his promise...
(Tsukamoto) We need to get this done by today.
W-Wait a minute, please.
Can I have just a little more time?
(Tsukamoto) How much longer?
I'll go back there once more today.
Then maybe 2-3 more days from there.
(Tsukamoto) Hurry up, or...
Other companies will start catching wind of this soon.
(Mikoto) Sorry, there's somewhere I need to go.
I'll be back by tonight.
Hello.
(Sound of door opening/closing)
(Sound of keys being taken out)
(Sound of unlocking)
I'm home.
(Sound of switch being turned on)
(Sound of switch being operated)
(Tsukasa) Excuse me.
Mom...
(Keita) What's wrong?
Can I stay downstairs for a while?
Is the second floor scary?
(Sound of footsteps running across the ceiling)
Mom wasn't there.
(Tsukasa) I see.
(Keita)
That's the one I used when I was little.
I think this is the first time I've seen Keita's family.
There's not even a portrait of his father.
It feels kind of strange.
Really?
Looking at it like this...
They seem like a much more normal family than I'd heard.
Oh, sorry.
Haha...
There's a small park in this neighborhood...
We used to play catch there a lot.
On holidays, Dad would take me and Hinata...
Hinata was still little, so she'd just watch.
"Make sure you learn by watching your big brother," he'd say.
Somehow, ever since then, I...
Felt like he was just playing the role of a father.
It creeped me out.
Even after Hinata disappeared...
On holidays, Dad would...
"Let's play catch."
"Let's play catch for Hinata too."
Mom was the same.
Every year on Hinata's birthday...
She'd always buy a whole cake to celebrate.
So cheerfully...
As if Hinata were right there with us.
"Happy Birthday, Hinata,"
they called out
2. Even Dad joined in
3. Even though it wasnt normal anymore
4. (Sound of a ball dropping)
5. Sometimes I wonder if family
6. is just people playing roles
father, mother, child
7. I used to think that as a kid
8. Tsukasa...
9. Both Dad and Mom
10. Probably thought I killed Hinata
11. Thats impossible
12. I know
13. I think Ill go to that mountain now
14. Its about an hour by car
15. (Tsukasa) The mountain...?
16. Where Hinata disappeared
17. (Sound of car door closing)
18. (Sound of car door closing)
19. Youre climbing it now?
20. (Keita) Its fine
21. Didnt bring much gear anyway
22. Wont go too deep in
23. (Tsukasa) Seriously?
24. (Keita) Gotta work off the lack of exercise
25. (Tsukasa) This is rough
26. (Old man) Climbing now, are ya?
27. (Keita) Yeah
28. Ah, right
29. Be careful now
30. It gets dark early
Ah
2. You're Kodama Hinata, right?
3. You know him?
4. (Old man) Of course I do.
5. Folks around here searched for him desperately.
6. Me... after he went missing,
7. I once saw him in the mountains.
8. Huh?
9. I tried to follow him,
10. but he vanished right away.
11. This kid...
12. Maybe he's just been playing hide-and-seek all this time.
13. It's happier to think that way.
14. That's what I believe. What do you think?
15. Sorry...
16. Wait, Keita.
17. Hold on... Let's rest...
18. Ah!
19. Hah... Hah...
20. (Keita) You okay?
21. Yeah.
22. (Bell ringing)
23. (Bell ringing)
24. Oh, right.
25. I already gave the bell away.
26. (Tsukasa) It's getting dark already.
27. Hinata?
28. (Running footsteps)
29. (Running footsteps) Hinata!
30. (Running footsteps)
(Keita) Hinata!
(Tsukasa) Hey... Keita!
(Keita) Hinata...
(Sound of tripping over something)
(Keita) Ah...
(Tsukasa) Keita, that's...
(Keita) Huh...
(Keita)
An urn...
But why would something like this...
(Tsukasa) There's more over here.
(Keita) What?
(Tsukasa) What's going on?
(Makino) I'm sorry for keeping you so long.
(Tsukasa) Not at all.
(Makino) It's likely that during a grave relocation somewhere...
The reburial service illegally dumped them.
Illegal dumping...
Of something like that?
(Makino) It's downright sacrilegious.
That concludes our discussion. Thank you for your time.
Can you make it back on your own?
Ah... I'll be fine. I have a car.
(Takiuchi) Mr. Kodama Keita...
Yes.
(Takiuchi) 14 years ago, your brother Hinata went missing...
It was 13 years ago.
(Takiuchi) My apologies.
13 years ago, your younger brother Kodama Hinata disappeared...
Correct?
(Keita) Yes.
(Takiuchi) It happened right when I was assigned here...
So I remember it well.
I see.
(Takidashi) Regarding Hinata-kun's case, we're still doing our best.
I feel utterly useless.
Your mother used to come here often too.
Though I haven't seen her much recently.
You might already know this, but about that mountain...
(Makino) Takidashi-san.
It's about time...
Ah...
Well then, sorry to trouble you. Thank you for your cooperation.
Keita.
(Mikoto) Has that contractor still not been found?
No.
Ah... Also, I wanted to ask about the person who reported it...
Anything known besides it being a hiker...
I see.
Yes, thank you.
You startled me...
Ah, sorry.
You seem more fired up than usual somehow.
Do I?
Originally...
It was about being glad that Shohei-kun was found, right?
What's the point of digging into Kodama-san's past cases?
I know that but...
That place you mentioned wanting to visit on the phone - Mount Mashiro?
Yes.
Though it crosses prefectures...
That's right.
Expenses won't be approved.
Well, about that...
And... if we want to pursue this further, we'll have to go there ourselves.
Yes.
There's a case I was investigating 20 years ago...
(Mikoto)
"The Meiyo University Mountaineering Club Mass Disappearance Incident."
Some of the members were from this prefecture.
I was covering it back then.
Mt. Mashiro itself isn't much of a mountain.
It's strange that no bodies have been found there even now.
(Mikoto) "The unfound ruins"?
Among the lack of clues, only one piece of evidence was discovered.
A cassette tape and recorder.
The voices of the missing club members were recorded on it.
What was on it?
The members were hiking...
And seemed to have reached some ruins.
That much could be gathered from their conversation.
And then...
Right after they entered, the audio cuts off.
But those ruins were never found?
If I wrote about it seriously, people would think it's just an occult story.
So it never went public.
Anyway...
This is that tape.
Isn't this evidence?
(Tsukamoto) Heh...
Got it from a police contact.
Even the police couldn't handle this story properly, right?
(Yukito) It's all static.
(Keita) Uh...
Are you with this inn?
(Yukito) More or less.
So was it you who found the urn?
2. (Keita) What if it was?
3. (Yukito) No...
4. Do you know about Hinata?
5. Everyone around here knows about that.
6. (Door opening sound)
7. (Fuyumi) Yukito.
8. What are you doing?
9. I'm sorry about my sonhis attitude is terrible.
10. Shut up.
11. (Fuyumi) Please. (Keita) Uh, well...
12. (Keita) I still have someone with meI'll go get them.
13. (Phone vibration sound)
14. (Tsukasa) Keita.
15. (Keita) Huh?
16. I'm gonna take a quick bath.
17. (Keita) Yeah, got it.
18. I have some documents I want to show you, so a video call might be better...
19. Okay. The signal might cut out, though.
20. Were you with Kodama-san when you reported it?
21. Yes.
22. So, what kind of information did you gather on Hisumi-san's side?
23. Waitit might be hard to see...
24. On Mount Mashiro, there have been other inexplicable incidents periodically.
25. Mysterious disappearances.
26. This one was a mass suicide.
27. A family suicide pact.
28. This many?
29. With this many cases, you'd think it'd actually be famous as a haunted spot...
30. Don't you think?
There are very few such posts online.
There was also a time when it wasn't called Mount Mashiro.
The mountain's name has changed several times.
The town underwent repeated mergers and redistricting.
It was quite difficult to gather all this.
(Host) I see.
You've done thorough research.
And... this is the audio recording I mentioned earlier that I'd like you to hear.
(Host) Ah, about the college student who went missing.
Yes.
This might also be hard to listen to.
(Audio playback sound)
(Male student) Yes, uh...
We started about two hours later than planned.
The beginning part is easy since we walk on paved roads for a while from the starting point.
(Male student) My brain is running late.
(Male student) Seriously...?
(Male students laughing)
(Fast-forwarding sound)
(Audio playback sound)
(Male student) There's a building.
Uh...
It's not on the map or anywhere...
(Fast-forwarding sound)
(Audio playback sound)
(Male student) We entered the ruins.
It's definitely ruinsno one's here.
(Male student) Is anyone there? (Another male student) Stop it.
(Male student) I'll check upstairs just in case.
Want to come with me?
(Male student) Nah, I'm good.
(Male student) Scared of the second floor?
(Male student) Nah, not really.
It's not that I'm scared or anything...
(Female student's scream)
(Male student) You okay?
(Female student) Someone's here...
(Male student) Huh?
(Female student) So many... look...
(Female student) In that room too...
That room...
(Sound of playback ending)
What... do you think?
The ruins in this recording...
They also appeared in the videotape
that captured Hinata-kun's disappearance.
They were there.
What did the ruins look like?
(Tsukasa) More than a house...
It felt like some kind of facility.
We traced records back to the Meiji era,
but...
That areaaside from mountain trail maintenance
never had any major facility construction.
(Tsukasa) So then...
Both the hiking club students and Keita's group...
went to a place that doesn't exist.
Do you think that's possible?
Something like that?
Impossible.
...That's what you'd think, right?
Are you okay?
When Keita went back to his family home...
he said something similar
to that recording earlier.
Asked if the second floor wasn't scary...
What does that mean?
I don't know
But I think I'll go to Keita's family home
Um, I was actually planning to head there now too
(Tsukasa) Right now?
I want to see it with my own eyes
And also... about Keita Kodama
I'd like to have a direct conversation with him soon
I'm sorry
I broke our promise
That's alright
Let's meet up there
Okay, see you later
(Tsukasa) Ah... Hisumi-san, um...
(Tsukasa) Ah... Hisumi-san, um...
(Call disconnects sound)
Ah, wait...
(Keita) Um...
Haven't seen my companion?
Went to the bath and hasn't come back for a while
I saw them go outside earlier
Ah... I see
Um...
(Yukito) Something else?
Can we talk for a bit?
(Yukito) About what?
You said you knew about Hinata
He's my younger brother
What should I tell you?
Anything about that mountain
If it could help find my brother
Find him...?
I saw Hinata
Before finding the urn
The customer found it after all.
That place has all kinds of things like that just dumped there.
Everyone's known about it since forever.
The police said something similar too.
If you knew, why would you just leave it like that?
Because it's a place where you can dump things.
A place where you can dump things?
How should I put it...
My late grandmother used to say...
It was my grandmother who started this inn.
That place, that mountain...
Since she was little, she was told by her parents not to go there.
But the adults...
After the kids went to sleep at night...
They'd all sneak off to the mountain.
So Grandma thought the adults were sneaky.
When Grandma was little...
She wondered if the adults were doing something fun up there.
That's what she thought.
But it was completely different.
And then?
Grandma couldn't stand it anymore...
One evening...
She went to the mountain with some friends and played tag.
Nothing really happened, but...
When they got caught later...
She said they got scolded like crazy.
And then... Grandma...
Said, "I know the adults go there to play!"
Then Grandma's mother...
Great-grandma?
To my great-grandma...
She told me, "Adults don't go to the mountain just to play."
And then... Grandma...
When she asked, "Then what do they do there?"
She said, "They go to discard things."
Discard what?
The gods.
Huh?
Gods, Buddhas...
Things belonging to the dead...
Even their ashes.
She said they threw all those things away on that mountain.
You know...
Grandma had her first period just before starting middle school, apparently.
She said she was terrified and so embarrassed at the time.
And since it was a small village...
Word would spread instantly
"That family's girl became a woman."
The gossip would spread immediately...
She said she absolutely wanted to avoid that at all costs.
That's when she suddenly remembered that mountain.
"That's right... I can just go there to discard it."
She thought.
So... Grandma secretly took her stained underwear at night...
And went to the mountain.
Deep in the mountain, it was too dark to see clearly...
But torii gates and sacred ropes...
Were scattered like trash everywhere.
And there, Grandma threw her bloodstained underwear into the pile.
And then...
Grandma said she never had her period again after that.
2. "I'm glad, so glad,"
3. "My life was better without that troublesome thing bothering me."
4. She used to laugh a lot about it,
5. but when I first heard that story, even I
6. "Grandma, that's great for you,"
7. But now...
8. Every time I remember Grandma's laughing face,
9. it terrifies me.
10. Because then... who on earth did Grandma give birth to?
11. What am I to Grandma, then?
12. What about Mom?
13. You just met her earlierthat customer.
14. That woman...
15. She's my mother, but she's not Grandma's child.
16. Is that how it is?
17. So I stopped thinking about it.
18. I try to stay as far away from that mountain as possible.
19. It's hard to escape since my family home is here,
20. but I just avoid thinking about it altogether.
21. (Keita) Thanks.
22. I don't know what you plan to do,
23. but you should leave quickly with the person you came with.
24. That's what I'd do.
25. (Sound of TV turning on)
26. (Hiroko & Kengo) One.
27. Two.
28. Three.
29. Four.
30. Five.
6 pieces
2. 7 pieces
3. (Hiroko) Wow, today is...
4. Hinata's 7th birthday!
Congratulations!
5. (Kengo) Hinata, congratulations!
(Hiroko) Congratulations!
6. (Kengo) Congratulations!
7. (Kengo) Take a picture.
(Hiroko) Okay, okay.
8. (Hiroko) Here, Hinata-kun.
7 years old, happy birthday!
9. (Hiroko & Kengo) Congratulations!
10. (Kengo)
Alright, let's sing "Happy Birthday"!
11. (Hiroko) Oh, sing?
Wait a second.
12. (Kengo) Ready
(Hiroko) Go ahead.
13. (Hiroko & Kengo)
Happy birthday to you
14. (Kengo) Come on, Keita too.
15. Happy birthday to you
16. Happy birthday, dear Hinata
17. Happy birthday to you
18. (Kengo) Congratulations!
(Hiroko) Wow, congratulations!
19. (Kengo) Blow them out...
(Hiroko) Yeah.
20. (Hiroko) Here, congratulations!
Happy 7th birthday!
21. (Kengo) Congratulations!
22. (Footsteps heard from the ceiling)
23. (Phone ringing)
24. (Answering machine message)
Currently unable to answer the phone...
25. Mom...
26. (Hiroko) Tomorrow is Hinata's birthday.
27. You can't forget, right?
You're his big brother.
28. I didn't forget.
29. (Hiroko) You're lying again.
30. I'm not lying.
(Hiroko) Hinata has been waiting all this time.
2. This isn't Mom's life.
3. (Sound of shattering)
4. Hah...
5. (Hiroko) Please find her quickly.
6. (Mikoto) Mr. Keita Kodama... right?
7. Nice to meet you.
8. (Mikoto) Mr. Kodama...
9. You've been to that abandoned ruin on the mountain, haven't you?
10. Yeah, well...
11. This cassette tape...
12. For some reason, it recorded the entire journey.
13. If we rely on this and your memory...
14. Do you think we can somehow make it there?
15. Why do you want to go there so badly?
16. Why... I wonder...
17. (Phone vibration sound)
18. Oh, can I take this call?
19. (Keita) Sure.
20. (Mikoto) Hello, this is Hisumi.
21. (Tsukasa) Hisumi-san...
22. Is Keita nearby?
23. (Mikoto) He is, but...
24. On the second floor of Keita's family home...
25. His mother's body was found.
26. She probably took her own life days ago.
27. Did Amano-san find her?
28. (Tsukasa) Earlier today, Keita went up alone...
29. to the second floor once.
30. He must have seen it then too.
But I probably couldn't see it.
He'd already been affected by that mountain long before.
Mr. Hisai.
Even if Keita wants to go somewhere, you must stop him no matter what.
(Tsukasa's voice) Go to the mountain now. (Static noise)
Take Keita with you.
Huh?
What do you mean...?
(Static noise)
What? Mr. Hisai?
Hello? Mr. Hisai?
(Keita) I'll go by myself.
Mr. Hisai, can you wait for Tsukasa?
(Mikoto) Are you sure? There's no need to go right now.
(Keita) Right now... I feel like I can reach that place.
If Tsukasa hears about this, he'll try to stop me.
(Mikoto) No, but...
(Keita) Please tell him I'll be right back.
(Sound of operating recorder)
(Playback sound)
(Male student) We've been walking about an hour from the trailhead.
Uh... we've come out onto a pretty open route now.
From this point, if we walk another two to two and a half hours...
We should reach the summit.
The fallen trees must be from last month's typhoon.
Uh, and then...
Huh? Did you hear that sound just now?
(Male student) Hear what?
(Male student) It's like... someone's calling from behind us.
(Male student) What? You heard it too?
(Female student) I can't hear you.
(Male student) No, you can hear me just fine.
(Male student) UhSakai tripped and slightly twisted his ankle.
He says he's fine, but I'm a little worried.
(Male student) They went ahead already. (Male student) Yeah.
(Students chatting)
(Male student) Uh
It's already pitch black, and it's only 2 p.m.
The trees are getting denser, and the path is becoming much steeper.
(Female student) Huh... Someone's watching us right now.
(Male student) Calm down.
(Female student) What? Look, look, lookover there...
(Students chatting)
(Male student) Uhwe found a sign.
It says we're 3.8 kilometers away from the summit.
(Female student) How much farther is this...?
(Male student) It's so dark...
(Male student) Should we turn back?
(Male student) Nah...
(Female student) Huh? What's that?
(Male student) What?
(Male student) There's a building.
(Male student) Um... It's not on the map or anything.
(Male student) Maybe we can take shelter from the rain there?
Let's go.
(Cellphone vibration sound)
Hello?
Tsukamoto?
(Tsukamoto's voice) You should go see her, don't you think?
You should go meet her.
Maybe I should go see him...
(Mikoto) Huh?
(Noise)
(Male voice) Um...
(Mikoto)
Uh, the sound is a bit...
(Mikoto)
Uh, the sound is a bit...
Please take care of my son
Please take care of my son
Uh, Mikoto, Mikoto...
Ah... ah... ah...
(Eerie voice)
(Growing eerie voice)
(Bell sound)
(Bell sound)
(Security alarm sound)
(Knocking)
(Tsukasa) Where's Keita?
He's already gone
Please wait
Before, you said "most things"
don't require any action
Right?
(Tsukasa) Yes
Then
What's in this mountain...
Isn't "most things," is it?
Hinata-kun called it
"Puyo Puyo"
Surely, that was the only way
he could explain it
I also...
Don't know what to call it
Let me go too
(Tsukasa) That's...
You said before you weren't scared, right?
Excuse me.
2. I was lying.
3. To be honest, Ive never once thought I wasnt scared.
4. Hearing that actually makes me feel relieved.
5. (Mikoto)
This... Kodama-san took it...
6. I think Keita probably remembered.
7. (Sound of playback)
8. (Male student)
A ruin... No one's here...
9. (Male student) Is anyone there?
(Male student) Stop it, man...
10. (Male student) Just checking upstairs too...
11. Let's go...
12. (Mikoto) What's wrong?
13. (Tsukasa) No...
14. Let's go.
15. (Mikoto) Th... this...
16. (Footsteps)
17. (Mikoto) That just now...
18. (Tsukasa) Keita.
19. (Sound of Tsukasa running)
20. (Keita) Hinata.
21. Found~ you.
22. (Sound of running footsteps)
23. (Tsukasa) Keita!
24. Let's go home. Together.
25. Yeah... Hinata too.
26. That thing isn't Hinata-kun.
27. What are you talking about?
28. There's something I've been hiding from Keita all this time.
29. What?
30. Hinata-kun has always been right beside Keita.
Even now
I could see it from the very beginning
Ever since I first met Keita
So...
Hinata-kun is already dead
What Keita is seeing right now...
that's not Hinata-kun
That thing is...
I see
Yeah, you're right
I'm sorry
Let me go
Huh...?
(Young Keita) Found you!
Okay, Hinata's "it" next
What?
(Young Keita) Hinata?
(Tsukasa) Keita
(Young Keita) Hinata?
Hinata?
Hinata?
Where's Tsukasa?
Aaah!
Aaah!
Aaah!
(Young Keita) Found you!
Okay, Hinata's "it" next
(Matsuyama) Isn't that the story Tsukamoto-san got mad about? Said it wasn't publishable
You're still chasing that?
Because it's not over yet
Besides, someday it might turn into a proper article
(Yukito) Hah...
(Sound of unlocking)
I'm home
(Sound of putting down luggage)
Tsukasa?
~
(Sound of children playing)
(Children) 1 2 3
6 7 8...
6 7 8...
~
(Bell ringing)
(Bell ringing)
(Bell ringing)
(Bell ringing)
(Footsteps)
(Bell ringing)
(Keita) Matsushima Shohei-kun?
Are you okay?
This?
Ah, it's a bear bell.
(Shohei) A demon repellent?
Here, take it.
(Sound of Shohei ringing the bell)
(Keita) Let's go home.
(Murmuring crowd)
(Shohei) Big brother...
(Bell ringing)
(Reporter) ...has been rescued.
According to Gunma Prefectural Police, Shohei-kun...
was found near a river about 3 kilometers from the forest road where he went missing...
by a male volunteer who was part of the search party.
(Door opening sound)
(Tsukasa) Oh, good morning.
(Keita) I'm home.
Did you just wake up?
(Tsukasa) Yeah.
Ah, hey! Too bright, too bright, stop it!
Ah...
You should've called meI would've picked you up.
Tsukasa, you're working too, right?
2. (Tsukasa) Well, yeah.
3. Oh, thats for Keita.
4. (Keita) From Mom again?
5. (Tsukasa) Yeah.
6. My parents wouldnt even send me anything if I asked.
7. (Sound of opening)
8. (Tsukasa) Whats wrong?
9. (Tsukasa) Hungry?
10. Should I make something?
11. Ah Its fine.
12. Oh, no Actually, maybe Ill have something.
13. (Tsukasa) Yeah, got it.
14. Hey
15. Do we even have a VCR?
16. Uh, can I help you with something?
17. (Mikoto) Sorry to drop in like this.
18. Im Mikoto Kuzumi from the Gunma Shinpos Society section.
19. Huh
20. (Mikoto) I wanted to ask Kodama Keita-san a few things.
21. I rang the doorbell earlier, but no one answered.
22. (Tsukasa) Oh.
23. He just got back, so he might be asleep.
24. (Mikoto) Oh, right. That makes sense.
25. Um, about Kodama Keita-san
26. Im his roommate. Something up?
27. Its about that boy
28. Shouhei Matsushima, the one who went missing and was recently found.
29. (Tsukasa) Saw it on the news. What about it?
30. Oh, do you mind if we walk and talk?
Ah... yes
2. After finding Shouhei Matsushima
he disappeared from the scene
3. There are volunteers
4. I think that might be...
Keita Kodama-san
5. And then?
6. Do you know about the disappearance case from 13 years ago?
7. About Kodama-san's younger brother
Hinata-kun
8. This might be rude, but...
9. That personal alarm...
10. It's just a guess, but...
11. I'm not stalking, but...
I've been following Hisumi-san
12. I can see them, you know
things of that nature
13. Nobody likes being interrogated, right?
14. Tsukasa Amano
15. About Keita...
I might not be able to help
16. But if you're troubled by something like that,
I can at least listen
17. Well then, excuse me
18. Does this have something to do with your brother?
19. Why would Tsukasa know about this?
20. A journalist approached me today
21. They were asking about Keita
22. They're looking for volunteers
who found that kid in Gunma the other day
23. I declined the interview, but...
24. He went missing
25. When I was in elementary school
26. He still hasn't been found
27. Sorry for keeping quiet...
28. (Sound of removing a case)
29. (Tsukasa) He's gone to his room
30. Tsukasa...
I want Tsukasa to watch it with me too.
(Hinata's voice)
(Young Keita) Hinata and Dad are playing catch.
(Hinata and Kengo's voices)
(Young Keita) Hinata is...
(Hiroko) Keita.
That's Dad's, isn't it? He'll get mad again.
(Young Keita) It's fine. Dad said it was okay.
(Hiroko) Really?
Well then, Keita, why don't you go play outside with them?
(Young Keita) Ugh, annoying.
(Sound of running up stairs)
(Young Keita's muttering)
(Young Keita) Should I go...?
What's that?
Should I go...?
(Young Keita) Looks like a dam.
Whoa, no way! It's so high...
There are no fish.
This place is kinda sketchy.
It's scary here.
Whoa, it's all rocks.
(Hinata) Big bro.
(Young Keita) Go away.
(Hinata) Why?
(Young Keita) I wanna play alone.
(Hinata) I wanna play hide-and-seek.
(Young Keita) Well, I don't.
Why?
(Young Keita) "Why, why"ugh, so annoying.
Just go over there for now.
Hey, go stay with Mom.
(Young Keita) What is this place...?
Amazing.
(Hinata) There's a Puyo Puyo!
(Young Keita) What? A bug?
(Hinata) Puyo Puyo!
(Young Keita) Huh? What's that?
There's nothing here. See?
(Hinata) Big bro, can't you see it?
(Young Keita) No.
Then let's play hide-and-seek.
Hmm... Hinata, you hide over there.
I'll be "it" first.
(Hinata) No.
(Young Keita)
Come on, stop with that already.
Here, go on.
4, 5, 6
Ready or not?
Can I come out now...?
(Young Keita) Not here.
(Young Keita) Not here either.
Where is she...?
(Young Keita) Found you!
Okay, your turn to be "it," Hinata.
Huh?
(Young Keita) Hinata?
Hinata?
(Young Keita) Hinata?
Hinata?
(Young Keita's heavy breathing)
(Young Keita's heavy breathing)
(Young Keita) That's enough...
(Young Keita) That's enough...
Hinata...
That's enough...
Hinata...
That's enou
(Sound of sandstorm)
What happened after that?
We went down the mountain
And told my father and mother
The police came
But no matter how much they searched
that
ruin
itself couldn't be found
That was the end of it?
Do you feel something?
I think we should burn this or throw it away
Yeah, you're right
Keita's mother...
why would she...
(Knocking)
Ah... the door was open
The children will be arriving soon
Just a little while is fine
Pardon me
(Tsukasa) Is she angry about something?
Was it Amano-san who gave you my number?
(Tsukasa) To whom?
I got a call yesterday from Keita Kodama's father
But we couldn't really have a proper conversation
(Tsukasa)
I'm not quite following what you're saying...
"Please take care of my son"
What on earth is that about?
(Tsukasa) Um...
That guy's father passed away last year.
(Mikoto) Huh?
(Tsukasa) His ashes are at my place right now.
His parents got divorced, so...
Apparently, there was no one else to take him in.
Wh... What... That can't be...
Is this really okay with you?
(Customer) Thank you very much. (Keita) Yes.
Thank you very much.
(Mayu)
Yamato...
Yamato... Yamato?
Yamato?
Yamato?
Yamato?
Yamato?
(Honda) Kodama-kun, could you go handle the register for a bit?
(Mayu) Yamato?
Huh? Is he lost?
(Mayu) Yamato?
(Honda) Nah, nah, we'll find him in no time.
What if we don't?
Huh?
(Yamato) Mama...
(Mayu) Yamato!
See? Found him, just like that.
The register, please. Handle the register.
A videotape... capturing the moment he disappeared?
Yes
2. His mother
3. While organizing the luggage,
we found his father's belongings
4. She sends them occasionally
5. It was mixed in with those
6. Can you take a look at it?
7. No, that's a bit...
8. I see
9. But why so suddenly?
10. Sometimes I can't tell
what Keita is thinking
11. So I guess I just wanted
to talk to someone about it
12. (Mikoto sighs)
13. S-sorry...
14. It's straying further from
the original direction of the article
15. I'm wondering what to do...
16. What will you do?
17. (Mikoto) Hmm...
18. Can I also ask about
Amano-san's story?
19. Huh? Is it related?
20. Just personal curiosity
21. Oh, sure
22. You can see things
normal people can't, right?
23. Meaning...
24. Dead people
25. That would be correct
26. (Mikoto) If you see them, then...
27. How do you handle it?
28. I don't do anything special
29. Most don't require intervention
30. (Mikoto) Most of them...
Yes
2. (Mikoto) Does it affect your daily life?
3. Well, seeing them is normal for me, so...
4. Not particularly... but
5. (Mikoto) But?
6. If I had to say...
7. Maybe it just means more secrets to keep?
8. (Mikoto) Do you know Keita Kodama?
9. Yes, I know Keita.
10. Since I can see them
11. (Mikoto) I see.
12. (Mikoto) I... this...
13. Even indoors, I can't go without it.
14. I think I'm starting to understand...
15. what exactly I'm afraid of.
16. (Tsukasa) If you'd like, I could ask Keita
17. if he'd at least be willing to talk.
18. What changed your mind?
19. (Tsukasa) He doesn't seem like a bad person, so...
20. Ah... yes.
21. (Sound of door opening)
22. (Tsukasa) Oh... good morning.
23. Well, I should get going then.
24. Ah, wait just a moment.
25. It'll be over soon.
26. Then, see you tomorrow.
Looking forward to it.
27. Yes.
28. Um...
29. Aren't you scared of Amano-san?
30. I'm not scared of him.
Yes
(Tsukasa) I'm home
Welcome back
(Tsukasa) Ah, I'm tired
What are you doing?
As I thought... this video
I'm going to return it to Mom
That kind of thing
You could just mail it back
I want to talk
I don't want to see Mom though
But when she sends me things like this...
I want her to just stop
That's because Keita is family
Mom doesn't know anything about me
Things like family...
Or living with that pitiful older brother look on my face
I want to end all of that
Then I'll go with you
(Cell phone vibration sound)
(Footsteps)
(Keita) Your phone's been ringing nonstop
(Tsukasa) Ah, it's fine
(Tsukasa) Ah, it's fine
(Ends call)
(Tsukasa) Ah, it's fine
(Instructor) Amano's absent today
(Mikoto) Ah...
(Instructor) He contacted us this morning
I think he'll be here tomorrow
(Mikoto) Understood
(Instructor) Yes
(Mikoto) Thank you
(Cell phone vibration sound)
Good work today, this is Hisumi
(Tsukamoto) So? What about that super volunteer we talked about?
Were you able to talk to him?
That guy is definitely the right one, isn't he?
Yes, it's definitely Kodama Keita-san.
(Tsukamoto) Oh, great. Then...
We should be able to make it into tomorrow morning's paper.
But the situation has changed...
(Tsukamoto) Huh? You met and talked with him, right?
Well, he ended up breaking his promise...
(Tsukamoto) We need to get this done by today.
W-Wait a minute, please.
Can I have just a little more time?
(Tsukamoto) How much longer?
I'll go back there once more today.
Then maybe 2-3 more days from there.
(Tsukamoto) Hurry up, or...
Other companies will start catching wind of this soon.
(Mikoto) Sorry, there's somewhere I need to go.
I'll be back by tonight.
Hello.
(Sound of door opening/closing)
(Sound of keys being taken out)
(Sound of unlocking)
I'm home.
(Sound of switch being turned on)
(Sound of switch being operated)
(Tsukasa) Excuse me.
Mom...
(Keita) What's wrong?
Can I stay downstairs for a while?
Is the second floor scary?
(Sound of footsteps running across the ceiling)
Mom wasn't there.
(Tsukasa) I see.
(Keita)
That's the one I used when I was little.
I think this is the first time I've seen Keita's family.
There's not even a portrait of his father.
It feels kind of strange.
Really?
Looking at it like this...
They seem like a much more normal family than I'd heard.
Oh, sorry.
Haha...
There's a small park in this neighborhood...
We used to play catch there a lot.
On holidays, Dad would take me and Hinata...
Hinata was still little, so she'd just watch.
"Make sure you learn by watching your big brother," he'd say.
Somehow, ever since then, I...
Felt like he was just playing the role of a father.
It creeped me out.
Even after Hinata disappeared...
On holidays, Dad would...
"Let's play catch."
"Let's play catch for Hinata too."
Mom was the same.
Every year on Hinata's birthday...
She'd always buy a whole cake to celebrate.
So cheerfully...
As if Hinata were right there with us.
"Happy Birthday, Hinata,"
they called out
2. Even Dad joined in
3. Even though it wasnt normal anymore
4. (Sound of a ball dropping)
5. Sometimes I wonder if family
6. is just people playing roles
father, mother, child
7. I used to think that as a kid
8. Tsukasa...
9. Both Dad and Mom
10. Probably thought I killed Hinata
11. Thats impossible
12. I know
13. I think Ill go to that mountain now
14. Its about an hour by car
15. (Tsukasa) The mountain...?
16. Where Hinata disappeared
17. (Sound of car door closing)
18. (Sound of car door closing)
19. Youre climbing it now?
20. (Keita) Its fine
21. Didnt bring much gear anyway
22. Wont go too deep in
23. (Tsukasa) Seriously?
24. (Keita) Gotta work off the lack of exercise
25. (Tsukasa) This is rough
26. (Old man) Climbing now, are ya?
27. (Keita) Yeah
28. Ah, right
29. Be careful now
30. It gets dark early
Ah
2. You're Kodama Hinata, right?
3. You know him?
4. (Old man) Of course I do.
5. Folks around here searched for him desperately.
6. Me... after he went missing,
7. I once saw him in the mountains.
8. Huh?
9. I tried to follow him,
10. but he vanished right away.
11. This kid...
12. Maybe he's just been playing hide-and-seek all this time.
13. It's happier to think that way.
14. That's what I believe. What do you think?
15. Sorry...
16. Wait, Keita.
17. Hold on... Let's rest...
18. Ah!
19. Hah... Hah...
20. (Keita) You okay?
21. Yeah.
22. (Bell ringing)
23. (Bell ringing)
24. Oh, right.
25. I already gave the bell away.
26. (Tsukasa) It's getting dark already.
27. Hinata?
28. (Running footsteps)
29. (Running footsteps) Hinata!
30. (Running footsteps)
(Keita) Hinata!
(Tsukasa) Hey... Keita!
(Keita) Hinata...
(Sound of tripping over something)
(Keita) Ah...
(Tsukasa) Keita, that's...
(Keita) Huh...
(Keita)
An urn...
But why would something like this...
(Tsukasa) There's more over here.
(Keita) What?
(Tsukasa) What's going on?
(Makino) I'm sorry for keeping you so long.
(Tsukasa) Not at all.
(Makino) It's likely that during a grave relocation somewhere...
The reburial service illegally dumped them.
Illegal dumping...
Of something like that?
(Makino) It's downright sacrilegious.
That concludes our discussion. Thank you for your time.
Can you make it back on your own?
Ah... I'll be fine. I have a car.
(Takiuchi) Mr. Kodama Keita...
Yes.
(Takiuchi) 14 years ago, your brother Hinata went missing...
It was 13 years ago.
(Takiuchi) My apologies.
13 years ago, your younger brother Kodama Hinata disappeared...
Correct?
(Keita) Yes.
(Takiuchi) It happened right when I was assigned here...
So I remember it well.
I see.
(Takidashi) Regarding Hinata-kun's case, we're still doing our best.
I feel utterly useless.
Your mother used to come here often too.
Though I haven't seen her much recently.
You might already know this, but about that mountain...
(Makino) Takidashi-san.
It's about time...
Ah...
Well then, sorry to trouble you. Thank you for your cooperation.
Keita.
(Mikoto) Has that contractor still not been found?
No.
Ah... Also, I wanted to ask about the person who reported it...
Anything known besides it being a hiker...
I see.
Yes, thank you.
You startled me...
Ah, sorry.
You seem more fired up than usual somehow.
Do I?
Originally...
It was about being glad that Shohei-kun was found, right?
What's the point of digging into Kodama-san's past cases?
I know that but...
That place you mentioned wanting to visit on the phone - Mount Mashiro?
Yes.
Though it crosses prefectures...
That's right.
Expenses won't be approved.
Well, about that...
And... if we want to pursue this further, we'll have to go there ourselves.
Yes.
There's a case I was investigating 20 years ago...
(Mikoto)
"The Meiyo University Mountaineering Club Mass Disappearance Incident."
Some of the members were from this prefecture.
I was covering it back then.
Mt. Mashiro itself isn't much of a mountain.
It's strange that no bodies have been found there even now.
(Mikoto) "The unfound ruins"?
Among the lack of clues, only one piece of evidence was discovered.
A cassette tape and recorder.
The voices of the missing club members were recorded on it.
What was on it?
The members were hiking...
And seemed to have reached some ruins.
That much could be gathered from their conversation.
And then...
Right after they entered, the audio cuts off.
But those ruins were never found?
If I wrote about it seriously, people would think it's just an occult story.
So it never went public.
Anyway...
This is that tape.
Isn't this evidence?
(Tsukamoto) Heh...
Got it from a police contact.
Even the police couldn't handle this story properly, right?
(Yukito) It's all static.
(Keita) Uh...
Are you with this inn?
(Yukito) More or less.
So was it you who found the urn?
2. (Keita) What if it was?
3. (Yukito) No...
4. Do you know about Hinata?
5. Everyone around here knows about that.
6. (Door opening sound)
7. (Fuyumi) Yukito.
8. What are you doing?
9. I'm sorry about my sonhis attitude is terrible.
10. Shut up.
11. (Fuyumi) Please. (Keita) Uh, well...
12. (Keita) I still have someone with meI'll go get them.
13. (Phone vibration sound)
14. (Tsukasa) Keita.
15. (Keita) Huh?
16. I'm gonna take a quick bath.
17. (Keita) Yeah, got it.
18. I have some documents I want to show you, so a video call might be better...
19. Okay. The signal might cut out, though.
20. Were you with Kodama-san when you reported it?
21. Yes.
22. So, what kind of information did you gather on Hisumi-san's side?
23. Waitit might be hard to see...
24. On Mount Mashiro, there have been other inexplicable incidents periodically.
25. Mysterious disappearances.
26. This one was a mass suicide.
27. A family suicide pact.
28. This many?
29. With this many cases, you'd think it'd actually be famous as a haunted spot...
30. Don't you think?
There are very few such posts online.
There was also a time when it wasn't called Mount Mashiro.
The mountain's name has changed several times.
The town underwent repeated mergers and redistricting.
It was quite difficult to gather all this.
(Host) I see.
You've done thorough research.
And... this is the audio recording I mentioned earlier that I'd like you to hear.
(Host) Ah, about the college student who went missing.
Yes.
This might also be hard to listen to.
(Audio playback sound)
(Male student) Yes, uh...
We started about two hours later than planned.
The beginning part is easy since we walk on paved roads for a while from the starting point.
(Male student) My brain is running late.
(Male student) Seriously...?
(Male students laughing)
(Fast-forwarding sound)
(Audio playback sound)
(Male student) There's a building.
Uh...
It's not on the map or anywhere...
(Fast-forwarding sound)
(Audio playback sound)
(Male student) We entered the ruins.
It's definitely ruinsno one's here.
(Male student) Is anyone there? (Another male student) Stop it.
(Male student) I'll check upstairs just in case.
Want to come with me?
(Male student) Nah, I'm good.
(Male student) Scared of the second floor?
(Male student) Nah, not really.
It's not that I'm scared or anything...
(Female student's scream)
(Male student) You okay?
(Female student) Someone's here...
(Male student) Huh?
(Female student) So many... look...
(Female student) In that room too...
That room...
(Sound of playback ending)
What... do you think?
The ruins in this recording...
They also appeared in the videotape
that captured Hinata-kun's disappearance.
They were there.
What did the ruins look like?
(Tsukasa) More than a house...
It felt like some kind of facility.
We traced records back to the Meiji era,
but...
That areaaside from mountain trail maintenance
never had any major facility construction.
(Tsukasa) So then...
Both the hiking club students and Keita's group...
went to a place that doesn't exist.
Do you think that's possible?
Something like that?
Impossible.
...That's what you'd think, right?
Are you okay?
When Keita went back to his family home...
he said something similar
to that recording earlier.
Asked if the second floor wasn't scary...
What does that mean?
I don't know
But I think I'll go to Keita's family home
Um, I was actually planning to head there now too
(Tsukasa) Right now?
I want to see it with my own eyes
And also... about Keita Kodama
I'd like to have a direct conversation with him soon
I'm sorry
I broke our promise
That's alright
Let's meet up there
Okay, see you later
(Tsukasa) Ah... Hisumi-san, um...
(Tsukasa) Ah... Hisumi-san, um...
(Call disconnects sound)
Ah, wait...
(Keita) Um...
Haven't seen my companion?
Went to the bath and hasn't come back for a while
I saw them go outside earlier
Ah... I see
Um...
(Yukito) Something else?
Can we talk for a bit?
(Yukito) About what?
You said you knew about Hinata
He's my younger brother
What should I tell you?
Anything about that mountain
If it could help find my brother
Find him...?
I saw Hinata
Before finding the urn
The customer found it after all.
That place has all kinds of things like that just dumped there.
Everyone's known about it since forever.
The police said something similar too.
If you knew, why would you just leave it like that?
Because it's a place where you can dump things.
A place where you can dump things?
How should I put it...
My late grandmother used to say...
It was my grandmother who started this inn.
That place, that mountain...
Since she was little, she was told by her parents not to go there.
But the adults...
After the kids went to sleep at night...
They'd all sneak off to the mountain.
So Grandma thought the adults were sneaky.
When Grandma was little...
She wondered if the adults were doing something fun up there.
That's what she thought.
But it was completely different.
And then?
Grandma couldn't stand it anymore...
One evening...
She went to the mountain with some friends and played tag.
Nothing really happened, but...
When they got caught later...
She said they got scolded like crazy.
And then... Grandma...
Said, "I know the adults go there to play!"
Then Grandma's mother...
Great-grandma?
To my great-grandma...
She told me, "Adults don't go to the mountain just to play."
And then... Grandma...
When she asked, "Then what do they do there?"
She said, "They go to discard things."
Discard what?
The gods.
Huh?
Gods, Buddhas...
Things belonging to the dead...
Even their ashes.
She said they threw all those things away on that mountain.
You know...
Grandma had her first period just before starting middle school, apparently.
She said she was terrified and so embarrassed at the time.
And since it was a small village...
Word would spread instantly
"That family's girl became a woman."
The gossip would spread immediately...
She said she absolutely wanted to avoid that at all costs.
That's when she suddenly remembered that mountain.
"That's right... I can just go there to discard it."
She thought.
So... Grandma secretly took her stained underwear at night...
And went to the mountain.
Deep in the mountain, it was too dark to see clearly...
But torii gates and sacred ropes...
Were scattered like trash everywhere.
And there, Grandma threw her bloodstained underwear into the pile.
And then...
Grandma said she never had her period again after that.
2. "I'm glad, so glad,"
3. "My life was better without that troublesome thing bothering me."
4. She used to laugh a lot about it,
5. but when I first heard that story, even I
6. "Grandma, that's great for you,"
7. But now...
8. Every time I remember Grandma's laughing face,
9. it terrifies me.
10. Because then... who on earth did Grandma give birth to?
11. What am I to Grandma, then?
12. What about Mom?
13. You just met her earlierthat customer.
14. That woman...
15. She's my mother, but she's not Grandma's child.
16. Is that how it is?
17. So I stopped thinking about it.
18. I try to stay as far away from that mountain as possible.
19. It's hard to escape since my family home is here,
20. but I just avoid thinking about it altogether.
21. (Keita) Thanks.
22. I don't know what you plan to do,
23. but you should leave quickly with the person you came with.
24. That's what I'd do.
25. (Sound of TV turning on)
26. (Hiroko & Kengo) One.
27. Two.
28. Three.
29. Four.
30. Five.
6 pieces
2. 7 pieces
3. (Hiroko) Wow, today is...
4. Hinata's 7th birthday!
Congratulations!
5. (Kengo) Hinata, congratulations!
(Hiroko) Congratulations!
6. (Kengo) Congratulations!
7. (Kengo) Take a picture.
(Hiroko) Okay, okay.
8. (Hiroko) Here, Hinata-kun.
7 years old, happy birthday!
9. (Hiroko & Kengo) Congratulations!
10. (Kengo)
Alright, let's sing "Happy Birthday"!
11. (Hiroko) Oh, sing?
Wait a second.
12. (Kengo) Ready
(Hiroko) Go ahead.
13. (Hiroko & Kengo)
Happy birthday to you
14. (Kengo) Come on, Keita too.
15. Happy birthday to you
16. Happy birthday, dear Hinata
17. Happy birthday to you
18. (Kengo) Congratulations!
(Hiroko) Wow, congratulations!
19. (Kengo) Blow them out...
(Hiroko) Yeah.
20. (Hiroko) Here, congratulations!
Happy 7th birthday!
21. (Kengo) Congratulations!
22. (Footsteps heard from the ceiling)
23. (Phone ringing)
24. (Answering machine message)
Currently unable to answer the phone...
25. Mom...
26. (Hiroko) Tomorrow is Hinata's birthday.
27. You can't forget, right?
You're his big brother.
28. I didn't forget.
29. (Hiroko) You're lying again.
30. I'm not lying.
(Hiroko) Hinata has been waiting all this time.
2. This isn't Mom's life.
3. (Sound of shattering)
4. Hah...
5. (Hiroko) Please find her quickly.
6. (Mikoto) Mr. Keita Kodama... right?
7. Nice to meet you.
8. (Mikoto) Mr. Kodama...
9. You've been to that abandoned ruin on the mountain, haven't you?
10. Yeah, well...
11. This cassette tape...
12. For some reason, it recorded the entire journey.
13. If we rely on this and your memory...
14. Do you think we can somehow make it there?
15. Why do you want to go there so badly?
16. Why... I wonder...
17. (Phone vibration sound)
18. Oh, can I take this call?
19. (Keita) Sure.
20. (Mikoto) Hello, this is Hisumi.
21. (Tsukasa) Hisumi-san...
22. Is Keita nearby?
23. (Mikoto) He is, but...
24. On the second floor of Keita's family home...
25. His mother's body was found.
26. She probably took her own life days ago.
27. Did Amano-san find her?
28. (Tsukasa) Earlier today, Keita went up alone...
29. to the second floor once.
30. He must have seen it then too.
But I probably couldn't see it.
He'd already been affected by that mountain long before.
Mr. Hisai.
Even if Keita wants to go somewhere, you must stop him no matter what.
(Tsukasa's voice) Go to the mountain now. (Static noise)
Take Keita with you.
Huh?
What do you mean...?
(Static noise)
What? Mr. Hisai?
Hello? Mr. Hisai?
(Keita) I'll go by myself.
Mr. Hisai, can you wait for Tsukasa?
(Mikoto) Are you sure? There's no need to go right now.
(Keita) Right now... I feel like I can reach that place.
If Tsukasa hears about this, he'll try to stop me.
(Mikoto) No, but...
(Keita) Please tell him I'll be right back.
(Sound of operating recorder)
(Playback sound)
(Male student) We've been walking about an hour from the trailhead.
Uh... we've come out onto a pretty open route now.
From this point, if we walk another two to two and a half hours...
We should reach the summit.
The fallen trees must be from last month's typhoon.
Uh, and then...
Huh? Did you hear that sound just now?
(Male student) Hear what?
(Male student) It's like... someone's calling from behind us.
(Male student) What? You heard it too?
(Female student) I can't hear you.
(Male student) No, you can hear me just fine.
(Male student) UhSakai tripped and slightly twisted his ankle.
He says he's fine, but I'm a little worried.
(Male student) They went ahead already. (Male student) Yeah.
(Students chatting)
(Male student) Uh
It's already pitch black, and it's only 2 p.m.
The trees are getting denser, and the path is becoming much steeper.
(Female student) Huh... Someone's watching us right now.
(Male student) Calm down.
(Female student) What? Look, look, lookover there...
(Students chatting)
(Male student) Uhwe found a sign.
It says we're 3.8 kilometers away from the summit.
(Female student) How much farther is this...?
(Male student) It's so dark...
(Male student) Should we turn back?
(Male student) Nah...
(Female student) Huh? What's that?
(Male student) What?
(Male student) There's a building.
(Male student) Um... It's not on the map or anything.
(Male student) Maybe we can take shelter from the rain there?
Let's go.
(Cellphone vibration sound)
Hello?
Tsukamoto?
(Tsukamoto's voice) You should go see her, don't you think?
You should go meet her.
Maybe I should go see him...
(Mikoto) Huh?
(Noise)
(Male voice) Um...
(Mikoto)
Uh, the sound is a bit...
(Mikoto)
Uh, the sound is a bit...
Please take care of my son
Please take care of my son
Uh, Mikoto, Mikoto...
Ah... ah... ah...
(Eerie voice)
(Growing eerie voice)
(Bell sound)
(Bell sound)
(Security alarm sound)
(Knocking)
(Tsukasa) Where's Keita?
He's already gone
Please wait
Before, you said "most things"
don't require any action
Right?
(Tsukasa) Yes
Then
What's in this mountain...
Isn't "most things," is it?
Hinata-kun called it
"Puyo Puyo"
Surely, that was the only way
he could explain it
I also...
Don't know what to call it
Let me go too
(Tsukasa) That's...
You said before you weren't scared, right?
Excuse me.
2. I was lying.
3. To be honest, Ive never once thought I wasnt scared.
4. Hearing that actually makes me feel relieved.
5. (Mikoto)
This... Kodama-san took it...
6. I think Keita probably remembered.
7. (Sound of playback)
8. (Male student)
A ruin... No one's here...
9. (Male student) Is anyone there?
(Male student) Stop it, man...
10. (Male student) Just checking upstairs too...
11. Let's go...
12. (Mikoto) What's wrong?
13. (Tsukasa) No...
14. Let's go.
15. (Mikoto) Th... this...
16. (Footsteps)
17. (Mikoto) That just now...
18. (Tsukasa) Keita.
19. (Sound of Tsukasa running)
20. (Keita) Hinata.
21. Found~ you.
22. (Sound of running footsteps)
23. (Tsukasa) Keita!
24. Let's go home. Together.
25. Yeah... Hinata too.
26. That thing isn't Hinata-kun.
27. What are you talking about?
28. There's something I've been hiding from Keita all this time.
29. What?
30. Hinata-kun has always been right beside Keita.
Even now
I could see it from the very beginning
Ever since I first met Keita
So...
Hinata-kun is already dead
What Keita is seeing right now...
that's not Hinata-kun
That thing is...
I see
Yeah, you're right
I'm sorry
Let me go
Huh...?
(Young Keita) Found you!
Okay, Hinata's "it" next
What?
(Young Keita) Hinata?
(Tsukasa) Keita
(Young Keita) Hinata?
Hinata?
Hinata?
Where's Tsukasa?
Aaah!
Aaah!
Aaah!
(Young Keita) Found you!
Okay, Hinata's "it" next
(Matsuyama) Isn't that the story Tsukamoto-san got mad about? Said it wasn't publishable
You're still chasing that?
Because it's not over yet
Besides, someday it might turn into a proper article
(Yukito) Hah...
(Sound of unlocking)
I'm home
(Sound of putting down luggage)
Tsukasa?
~
(Sound of children playing)
(Children) 1 2 3
6 7 8...
6 7 8...
~