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It's a family of five, including my parents, my older sister, who is in middle school, my younger sister, who is in fifth grade, and my younger brother, who is five years old. My mother once bought my younger brother a toy bear, and he treasured it like a friend.
Hikigaya was telling a seemingly normal story to Machida Sonoko during a break from their weekend tutoring. He offered to share a tale.
"One day, when my mother came home, she found the window open. My second sister was in a state of confusion, and my brother was crying incessantly. As for his little bear, someone had cut off one of its arms, and the scissors used belonged to my mother's cabinet. My brother treated that bear as a friend, so he must have felt really sad."
"But the story isn't over yet. My oldest sister, who is in junior high, discovered that the handkerchief she had left on top of the washing basin was also missing. This handkerchief had been given to her by a senior she admired. While it wasn't expensive, she cherished it a lot. Given the bear's lost arm, my oldest sister started to worry that an outsider might have entered the house."
As Hikigaya reached this point, he noticed Machida's attentive reaction.
"So, the next afternoon, my oldest sister came home earlier than usual because she had finished school early. When she arrived, she found her brother's bear lying on the sofa, and its arm had been reattached. However, the tool used to bind the arm wasn't a bandage, but her lost handkerchief."
"She picked up the bear and examined her handkerchief closely. She found dark red stains on it, which were definitely bloodstains. This series of events seemed too strange. The day after that, my oldest sister confided in her tutor about it, seeking answers."
Hikigaya paused, enjoying the suspense of the story, even face-to-face.
"What's wrong? What's next? Don't keep me in suspense, Hikigaya-san!" Machida Sonoko said, grabbing Hikigaya's arms and shaking him gently.
"Okay, okay, Editor Machida, I'll continue," Hikigaya replied, realizing he had to keep her engaged to avoid any interruptions during tutoring.
"Just think about it carefully. Whether it's the handkerchief in the wash basin or the scissors in my mother's drawer, these are all things that only the family knows about, which means it must have been done by someone in the family. This should be easy to understand."
"The truth is that my second sister, in fifth grade, had her first period at home that day. The girl panicked, and while dealing with it in the bathroom, she grabbed the handkerchief from the top of the wash basin. This resulted in bloodstains on the cloth."
Hikigaya observed Machida Sonoko's complicated expression as he continued.
"When the second sister came out with the handkerchief, my younger brother saw her. Not knowing what she had been through, he recognized the handkerchief as the one that the oldest sister treasured so much. He thought she was panicking because she had soiled it and was afraid of being blamed by their sister."
"So, my younger brother came up with a plan to protect his second sister. He took a pair of scissors from my mother's drawer and cut off one of the arms of his beloved bear. In his innocent worldview, he believed that the bear, which he regarded as his best friend, would also feel pain and bleed. This way, he thought he could explain the bloodstains on the handkerchief as coming from the bear."
"The second sister didn't fully understand her brother's childish reasoning, but she didn't want to see him hurt his beloved teddy bear for her sake. So she opened the window and threw the handkerchief out. However, the honest second sister chose to tell their mother the truth when she came home."
"The mother, unsure whether to laugh or cry, picked up the handkerchief and used it to reattach the bear's arm, placing it on the sofa. She had originally intended to let the younger brother see the restored teddy bear first when she picked him up from kindergarten. However, the oldest sister, having returned home early from her cram school, discovered the scene first."
"This is the first chapter of my upcoming series, 'The Causes of Disintegration: The Guardian of Disintegration.'"
Hikigaya finished speaking. This was the only story in the original work that was not a murder case, but it had become his favorite.
"This... is a really heartwarming story, Hikigaya-san. Are you including this story in the first issue to give everyone the impression that you're going to write a healing story?" Machida remarked, surprised by the dramatic change in Hachiman's storytelling style.
"No, actually, as I mentioned before, 'Disintegration' explores the murderer's method of dismembering a body. There are several potential reasons he might want to achieve this. This story discusses the possibility of covering up another person's mistakes by dismembering the body, thereby protecting that person. It's called 'Disintegration Protection'."
"Regardless, you have such a rich imagination, Hikigaya-san. I'm looking forward to reading your other stories!"
"In addition to this one, I have seven more stories, but I haven't finished them yet. I'll send them to you when I do," Hikigaya promised.
"That's good enough. Come on, Hikigaya-san; we've had enough time to rest. We should continue studying!" Machida exclaimed with enthusiasm, while Hikigaya felt overwhelmed.
It was already late July, and Hikigaya's first semester of his third year of junior high was coming to an end. He was preparing for the midterm exam, which would lead to reclassification for the third-year students. After this exam, a few students in the class would be replaced by new ones.
Although Hikigaya wasn't particularly worried about this, he was determined to return to the top six in his grade, so he wouldn't relax for a moment.
During this period, Naho Imamura informed him about the first month of sales for "Malice." Thanks to a surge of word-of-mouth promotion on the Internet, the first month's single volume and paperback editions sold a total of 400,000 copies. While this wasn't enough for an immediate reprint, it far exceeded the publisher's expectations.
As for "Confessions," with the official recognition of winning the Mystery Writers Association Award, its sales in six months had reached 950,000 copies. A third reprint within a year was practically inevitable, and the publisher had even raised its year-end sales forecast for "Confessions" to 1.5 million copies. Hachiman had undoubtedly made an impact becoming synonymous with best-sellers.
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