Tomoe Minai

	This article is about a character in Higurashi When They Cry.

Overview

Gallery

Sprites

Tomoe Minai
Identification Details
Japanese	南井 巴 南井 ともえ (birth name)
Aliases	Tomoe Sorimachi (反町 巴, Sorimachi Tomoe) (married name)
Nicknames	Princess (Hayami) Japanese Joan of Arc-chan (Miyo Takano)
Titles	NPA: Personnel, Life Safety Department, Juvenile Crime Division, Ibaraki District Police Bureau Special Investigation Officer, Investigation Division 1, Ibaraki District Police Bureau Third Subsection Chief of Wide Area Coordination Section 1, Chubu District Police Bureau Chief of Special Affairs for Media Correspondence, Public Relations Department Kakiuchi MPD: Chief Inspector - First Division Vice-Deputy Chief Chief of Special Affairs
General Information
Age	29 (1983) 39 (1993)
Gender	Female
Occupation	Detective Public Relations Officer
Affiliation	National Police Agency Unnamed Police Department in Ibaraki Kakiuchi Metropolitan Police Department (Kakiuchi MPD)
Portrayal
First Appearance	Someutsushi-hen
Japanese VA	Nana Inoue

Tomoe Minai (南井 巴, Minai Tomoe, a.k.a 南井 ともえ) is one of the main protagonists of the Advanced Story. She's a detective and Chief Inspector of the Kakiuchi City police department, first appearing in Someutsushi-hen.

She also appears in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei.

Profile

She is a detective in the Kakiuchi Police Station's criminal investigation division, and her rank is Chief. She's transferred to Kakiuchi Station as a candidate for an executive position in a group recommended by the National Police Agency.

She's a serious person, but her flaws are that she's a bit stubborn and inflexible. Her investigation of a mysterious burnt body found on the night of the Watanagashi Festival leads her to become involved in the Hinamizawa case.

(Translated from Entergram's Higurashi Hou website.)

Appearance

Tomoe has short brown hair and amber eyes. Her regular outfit consists of a red coat over a black shirt and a red skirt. At other times she wears a standard police officer uniform.

Personality

Tomoe takes her job as detective seriously and is always prepared with the necessary paperwork and materials. When she interrogates people she comes off as very cold and oppressive, but she knows when she's made people uncomfortable and usually apologizes for it. The few times Tomoe loses her cool are when it involves the relationship between her sister Madoka and her boss Yamaoki.

Tomoe dislikes the mass media since she feels they always take words and twist them to suit whatever story they want to push, having experienced it firsthand after nonstop interviews after her parents' deaths. After becoming a detective she started to dislike TV interviews as well, always refusing them since they want to focus more on how she's a woman police officer rather than how hard she's worked.

Tomoe has an appetite for junk food. She especially loves hamburgers and often eats dozens of them at a time. She later develops an appetite for desserts and becomes a regular at Angel Mort.

Background

Tomoe was born to Yuusuke Minai, a police officer for the Metropolitan Police Department. She was named after the Japanese war hero Tomoe Gozen, as Yuusuke wanted a daughter with a strong will. Tomoe's mother disliked the idea however, so they had Tomoe write her name in hiragana all the time in school.

As a teenager, Tomoe was an aspiring athlete and was to attend the National Sports Festival. She and her sister Madoka were orphaned one night in 1971 when a fire broke out at their home, resulting in the deaths of their parents. It was unclear if the accident was an accident or premeditated, but it changed the sisters' lives. In the burnt remains, Tomoe discovered some notes left behind by Yuusuke related to a case he was working on and a single memo: "Kakiuchi Airport, June, Wednesday. Go." Miotsukushi Ura reveals that the fire was caused by Shirou Hanada on the orders of Akihiko Chiba, in part due to Fujita holding a grudge against Yuusuke for a past incident and due to Yuusuke getting too close to uncovering Chiba's Placil smuggling operation.

The girls went to live with their grandmother. When Madoka developed psychological trauma because of the incident and was hospitalized, Tomoe quit athletics and skipped school a lot to support her as much as possible. When her sister returned home, Tomoe began working part-time to make money while still studying in school and acting as Madoka's guardian whenever she got in trouble. Tomoe managed to get into college and, though some of her relatives tried to help the two sisters by sending them money for tuition and living expenses, Tomoe set them aside for Madoka's wedding fund since she already saved enough money herself.

One day, Madoka suddenly dropped out of high school and ran away from home, leaving behind a note blaming herself for latching on to Tomoe. A saddened Tomoe searched everywhere for her but concluded she was no longer in town. She contemplated suicide, but she was convinced otherwise after meeting Kuraudo Ooishi. Ooishi was an old friend of Yuusuke's and believed that the fire that killed him was indeed planned because of a case he was working on. Tomoe was introduced to Chief Yamaoki soon after.

Tomoe continued her college studies and joined the police force. A few years later, she met Madoka again while in Tokyo and saw she was working at a cabaret club. Enraged and dissatisfied with the way her sister was living, Tomoe expected to never see her again. Tomoe eventually became an outstanding detective, skilled enough to earn the rank of Chief Inspector at her age. Her hard work and efficiency also earned her the affectionate nickname of "Princess" by some people in the police force and the ire of others. She also became Assistant Director of Kakiuchi Station's First Division and started research into improving investigation success through profiling analysis. In the meantime, Tomoe pored over her father's memo, visiting Kakiuchi Airport every June for 12 years and desperate to unlock the secret behind it.

Relationships

Overview

Kakiuchi Station

• Madoka Minai (younger sister, colleague)
• Shingo Fujita (subordinate)
• Shirou Hanada (subordinate)
• Kaoru Yamaoki (friend, father figure, superior, future brother-in-law)

Other

• Kuraudo Ooishi (friend)
• Mamoru Akasaka (friend, brother-in-law)
• Osamu Tsukada (ex-boyfriend)
• Nagisa Ozaki (friend)
• Rena Ryuugu (friend)
• Natsumi Kimiyoshi (friend, student, surrogate sister)
• Yuuichi Sorimachi (step-son)
• Azusa Sorimachi (daughter)
• Miyuki Sorimachi (daughter-in-law)

Madoka Minai

Madoka is Tomoe's younger sister by 4 years. After the deaths of their parents, Tomoe worked hard as her guardian and raised money to provide for her. When Madoka ran away from home one day, Tomoe became devastated, unable to understand why. They've since reconciled and have become colleagues at Kakiuchi Station, though they still argue at times. Tomoe heavily dislikes Madoka's engagement with her boss Yamaoki.

Shingo Fujita

Fujita has been working under Tomoe for a year. At first he was prejudiced since Tomoe was a woman working in a male-dominated field but came to appreciate her intelligence and willpower. Tomoe greatly trusts Fujita but won't hesitate to reprimand him if the situation calls for it.

Kaoru Yamaoki

Yamaoki is well-acquainted with Tomoe's father and worked alongside him for years. Sometime after Yuusuke's death, Yamaoki became like a father figure to Tomoe and later recommended her transferral to Kakiuchi when she became a police officer, becoming her boss.

Though Tomoe dislikes his engagement to Madoka, she is skeptical of rumors that Madoka's only dating Yamaoki for Tomoe's benefit, and so she pays them no heed.

Kuraudo Ooishi

Ooishi was acquainted with Yuusuke and helped Tomoe get back on her feet, informing her that the fire was definitely a conspiracy. They work together on a few occasions, however Tomoe dislikes Ooishi's teasing of her and often threatens to report him for sexual harassment.

Rena Ryuugu

Tomoe doesn't know Rena very well and sees her in a negative light due to the Ibaraki incident and the strange things she sees her do while investigating Kouhei Sawamura's death. In Miotsukushi-hen Ura, a year after Nagisa's death, the two encounter each other again and settle their differences. Tomoe becomes a good friend to Rena.

Natsumi Kimiyoshi

Tomoe and Natsumi rarely interact at first, though Tomoe feels that she and Natsumi come from similar backgrounds and tries to help her as much as she can.

Starting in Tokihogushi-hen, Tomoe and Natsuhi become good friends. Tomoe starts tutoring Natsumi in her studies and becomes seen as a big sister.

Osamu Tsukada

Tsukada was Tomoe's senior in high school, where they dated as the president and vice president respectively of the student council. They've since gone their separate ways, but Tsukada still seems to have an interest in Tomoe.

Role in the Story

Someutsushi-hen

Tomoe is first introduced. She and Fujita are called to the scene of a fire, where a woman's burnt corpse was found in an oil drum. However, the body was located in the jurisdiction of another police station, and so Tomoe and Fujita cannot do any real investigating of their own for concern of being written up. Some forensics people still get pictures of the body and send them to her later. A TIP features Tomoe speaking with Kuraudo Ooishi over the phone and learning some more details about the corpse: the autopsy report had many suspicious corrections on it, and the time of death seemed to be off. This woman was apparently walking around even though she was determined to have died the day before. Thinking it a flaw on the forensics side of things, Tomoe plans to corroborate with them the next chance she gets.

Sometime after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, Tomoe and Fujita head to Saeki General Hospital to speak with Kazuma Hatakeyama, whose family they learned moved from Hinamizawa. After presenting written consent from Hatakeyama's family and gaining access to his room, Tomoe gives her condolences to the many deceased villagers before asking Hatakeyama everything he knows about the god Oyashiro-sama and the rumors that his curse destroyed Hinamizawa with gas. She pulls out a picture of Rika Furude, the shrine maiden of Oyashiro-sama, and mentions that she was murdered a few days before the disaster; and Hatekeyama should know her.

Hatakeyama doesn't respond. Tomoe's questions about Hinamizawa and Oyashiro-sama's curse intensify when Natsumi Kimiyoshi, Hatakeyama's caretaker, has enough and steps between Tomoe and the old man. She demands Tomoe leave him alone and that a detective should care more about a victim's feelings; just because Tomoe obtained his family's consent doesn't mean Hatakeyama agreed as well. Tomoe posits that Natsumi must also be from Hinamizawa since she defended him, and the girl exclaims that she's not. Tomoe then apologizes for her behavior, as nobody related to Hinamizawa was willing to cooperate with her on the case.

Tomoe runs into Natsumi again at the hospital gate, who blames her for making Hatakeyama's fever go up because of her interrogation. Tomoe sincerely apologizes again for her behavior and promises not to act like that. Natsumi prepares to leave but Tomoe calls out her full name, having seen her name tag and linking her with the Kimiyoshi family, one of Hinamizawa's Three Families. Seeing Natsumi's shock, Tomoe asks her about everything she knows.

A few days later, Tomoe returns to the hospital to handle a crime scene. The nurse Kazuko Yamase has been murdered by Hatakeyama, who killed himself soon after. Tomoe is forced to relay this news over the police radio with Natsumi listening nearby. When paramedics carry out Yamase's covered-up corpse, Natsumi tries to get a good look at her friend despite Tomoe's warnings and panics when she sees its horrible state. Tomoe tries to calm her down and resorts to knocking her out.

Shortly after, Natsumi reawakens inside one of the hospital rooms. Tomoe enters to ask her some things. Chisato tells her off but Natsumi agrees to questioning alone. Tomoe apologizes for her earlier roughness and consoles Natsumi as she explains the circumstances behind Yamase's death and Hatakeyama's suicide: Hatakeyama broke into the caregivers' room and killed Yamase by striking her in the back of the head with a fire extinguisher. The old man then returned to his room and scratched at his neck, dying from blood loss. Tomoe knows this has a connection with Oyashiro-sama as other elderly people have been blaming the god for the disaster and asks Natsumi what she knows. Natsumi cooperates but on the condition that Tomoe stop asking her and her friends about Hinamizawa after this. With Tomoe's agreement, Natsumi explains the Watanagashi Festival, the curse, and how villagers are afraid of leaving Hinamizawa. Tomoe thanks her for her time and leaves.

A TIP takes place after Tomoe spoke with Hatakeyama's family again after his death, however they didn't cooperate. Taking a break at the station, she expresses her desire to get more clues on Ooishi's whereabouts, as he disappeared shortly after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. An announcement suddenly comes on from the prefectural police department reporting a murder, and Tomoe assigns roles to nearby officers. Another announcement comes on reporting an attempted murder-suicide at the Hatakeyama residence, shocking the detective.

Natsumi attacks Akira on the roof of the school and kills herself soon after. Tomoe investigates the scene with bitterness that she couldn't save her. She swears that she will uncover the truth of the disaster.

The credits show that Tomoe died in a gunfight in 1989.

Kageboushi-hen

The arc begins with a flash-forward to sometime after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Tomoe, Ooishi, and Mamoru Akasaka investigate the Hatakeyama residence, the site of a murder-suicide: Masao Hatakeyama took a hunting rifle and shot his wife and two kids before turning it on himself. One of the kids, Aoi, was the only survivor and was taken to the hospital. The group finds strange talismans pasted all over the house and a shrine to Oyashiro-sama inside, with Tomoe relaying earlier testimony from neighbors that the grandfather, Kazuma Hatakeyama, always talked about the god. Tomoe also indicates that she's keeping her collaboration with Ooishi and Akasaka a secret from the rest of the police station since they're from a different area. Tomoe discovers a medicine capsule dropped inside the house and plans to hand it to forensics. She then receives a report that the Kimiyoshi family has been acting strangely for a while.

The scene switches to two weeks before the Hatakeyama incident. Tomoe heads to Kakiuchi Airport and ruminates on her deceased father's case, which had some connection with the place. All she had was a memo saying to go to Kakiuchi Airport on a June Wednesday; Tomoe has visited the airport every June for 12 years, and she's no closer to figuring anything out. Madoka soon arrives, and Tomoe apologizes for a fight they had earlier over shampoo. Tomoe says she has a dentist appointment to go to but Madoka convinces her to cancel it and eat out with her.

That same day at a Kakiuchi Angel Mort location, Tomoe and Yamaoki meet Ooishi and Akasaka, who were investigating the disaster; they were searching for families originating from Hinamizawa and saw that many of them moved to Kakiuchi. The two detectives believed these families would be more willing to cooperate since they weren't so afraid of the curse and were living much farther away from the site of the disaster. Tomoe doesn't quite understand their goal and says her job is to investigate criminals, not to speculate on crimes that may have happened. Ooishi says he asked for Tomoe's help regarding a nurse Miyo Takano's burnt corpse earlier and believes the curse and the disaster may be connected. With this, Tomoe is convinced to help the two on their investigation. Tomoe expresses her ire that they were discussing such serious topics at a place like Angel Mort, as she's never been to the place before. Ooishi and Yamaoki delight in her ranting while espousing the virtues of the place. Tomoe gets fed up and leaves.

A few days later, Tomoe, Ooishi and Akasaka head to the Kakiuchi Service Area, where that nurse's burnt corpse was discovered. Tomoe pulls out the autopsy report and confirms that it was tampered with, thinking that the burnt corpse was not Takano's but someone else's. During the next few days, they investigate households with Hinamizawa families. Tomoe mentions seeing one family performing ritual sacrifices of chickens, hanging their carcasses around their yard and offering prayers to Oyashiro-sama. She also mentions having spoken with a member of the Hatakeyama family at the park and learning that Kazuma Hatakeyama's behavior changed entirely after the disaster. Tomoe is soon called to the scene of a murder-suicide: Hatakeyama was stabbed repeatedly by Kiyoshi Obata when he visited his house, with the perpetrator killing himself after. She hears of similar incidents happening all over the town and realizes that the culprits were all former Hinamizawa residents.

The group returns to the station, where Tomoe formally introduces Ooishi and Akasaka to Fujita and Hanada. They examine the households with families related to Hinamizawa and realize that they're multi-generational families. Not only that, Obata was originally from Okinomiya, which is near Hinamizawa. After eliminating options, Tomoe assigns the officers to inspect different households, with Tomoe herself to visit the Hatakeyama family after visiting Saeki Hospital. Ooishi and Akasaka investigate the Kimiyoshi family but screw up when they practically pressure Natsumi for information. Tomoe tells them off and asks Akasaka what her own daughter Miyuki would feel if she were in a similar situation.

As more Hinamizawa families keep dying, Tomoe begins to get discouraged since they're not making progress, and their investigations seem to be making things worse. Ooishi and Akasaka convince her otherwise and task her with speaking to the Kimiyoshi family again. Tomoe is forced to settle with Natsumi; her mom Haruko seemed unwilling to speak with police according to a "certain document" Tomoe read, her dad Touji had no social life, and her grandmother Aki definitely had knowledge of the curse but wouldn't talk to strangers.

While heading to the school to speak with her, Tomoe sees Natsumi sitting on a park bench alone. She takes a seat next to her and acts friendly towards Natsumi, giving her a juice can and pretending to be a graduated student. After conversing a bit and warming her up to her, Tomoe sees a newspaper in Natsumi's bag with a "Great Hinamizawa Disaster" headline and asks to see it. Natsumi is reluctant and tries to keep the paper away, accidentally spilling her juice on Tomoe and moving to clean it up. Seeing Natsumi's kindness, Tomoe lays bare her thoughts about the disaster's coverage and how thoughtless it is to use the suffering of others for attention. Natsumi has an idea of what Tomoe's talking about but suddenly rants that friendship is meaningless, that some people only help and pretend to be friendly when it supports their interests.

Tomoe is disturbed by her sudden change in behavior and accidentally calls Natsumi by her last name, which she shouldn't know; Natsumi sees that Tomoe is a detective and insults her, as her suspicions were just proven true. Natsumi begins to leave when the detective apologizes for deceiving her. She asks if Natsumi really wants to live life by not trusting anyone, stressing that she and Natsumi really do have similar lives. Tomoe finishes her speech and realizes she's crying. Natsumi wishes that they met earlier and walks away. Left alone on the bench, Tomoe forces herself up to return to the station when she notices Natsumi left behind a small pill case. Just then, Fujita pages her that the Hatakeyama family has become the victims of a murder-suicide. While returning to the station with Ooishi and Akasaka, Tomoe relays her strange encounter with Natsumi and how she seemed to act like a different person, "snapping" like they say on the news.

Tomoe takes a nap at the station and dreams of the past. Spring 1983, where Tomoe and Madoka were celebrating the former's acceptance into the police force as deputy inspector. They get drunk and catch up, with Tomoe asked if she was still pursuing her dad's case. She still is, but with her new role as deputy inspector she can get access to archived case materials. The topic changes when Madoka reveals she's living with someone, with Tomoe shocked to hear it's Yamaoki.

Tomoe is woken up by Fujita and joins Ooishi, Akasaka and others in a conference room. There they discuss the circumstances with the Kimiyoshi family: Aki Kimiyoshi has been missing for a few days, and they suspect Touji is responsible. Touji claimed to go fishing in the Gifu mountains despite evidence to the contrary, and so Tomoe sends some officers to check there. Tomoe meanwhile shows them Natsumi's pill case. She wanted to return it but hadn't had time to, and in the meantime she asked major drug manufacturers about the pill markings but they couldn't identify it; Natsumi's medicine may be illegal. Tomoe wants to confirm if Natsumi was ever hospitalized at Saeki General Hospital, since she may have records transferred from her old clinic near her hometown. Tomoe also says that the pills match the one she found at the Hatakeyama residence, so she wants their family records looked into as well.

Tomoe sends everyone away and takes a report from Fujita, something she didn't want Akasaka, Hanada or anyone else to see. Inspecting the crime scene photos of the Hatakeyama residence within, Tomoe deduces that Aoi was the true culprit behind the incident, not Masao. She has no idea what could cause a 10-year-old girl to do such a thing nor how it's even possible, but Tomoe requests for double protection on Aoi for the worst-case scenario.

Madoka enters the room and reminds Tomoe that tonight's the night Yamaoki's parents arrive to meet their future daughter-in-law. Tomoe doesn't want to go but a saddened Madoka convinces her to do it, just this once. She wants to properly introduce Tomoe to them as a family and thanks her for all of the work she's done her entire life. Convinced, Tomoe agrees and also offers her blessings for Madoka's marriage, however she still refuses to be called sister-in-law by Yamaoki.

After confirming the meeting time, Tomoe plans to go to the dentist before then but realizes she left her insurance card at home. Madoka pulls out her own insurance card and offers it to Tomoe. She refuses it since it's obviously not her card, but Tomoe gets a flash of inspiration and quickly calls the forensics department, getting info on where a certain hospital keeps their records.She also gets an update on the medicine's analysis and heads off to the Gifu prefectural police forensics department.

On her way back to the station, Tomoe goes to the service area to get gas and almost drives into a woman crossing the street. The woman complains of car troubles and Tomoe decides to help her, but she suddenly gets stabbed in the side and falls unconscious. Tomoe could just barely see the woman who stabbed her, whose mouth was stained bright-red. Tomoe wakes up still clutching her sides in pain and sees that her car has been vandalized, with all of her case materials missing. Eyeing an object in her hands, Tomoe is satisfied she could keep the culprit from getting their hands on it and apologizes for failing Madoka. As paramedics take care of her, Tomoe keeps repeating "Shiro cabinet office" with her dying breath.

Tomoe is taken to the hospital and operated on while Yamaoki, Madoka, Akasaka and Ooishi await the results and discuss what happened. They found Tomoe clutching a bankbook in her arms with Madoka's name on it: it was all of the money that Tomoe's relatives sent her for her tuition, along with portions from Tomoe's own scholarship money and allowances. The operation light then turns off and the surgeon emerges, announcing that Tomoe has died.

The grieving party discusses how the culprit could have ambushed Tomoe. Her destination that day was written on the vehicle scheduling board, and she always talked about getting gas at the Kakiuchi service area since it was cheaper. Yamaoki inspected records at the information center and saw there was no sign Tomoe was there, with evidence the tape recording was erased. The group determines that there's a traitor in Kakiuchi Station. Yamaoki prepares to look into what Tomoe meant by her last words of "shiro cabinet office".

A belated envelope sent from Tomoe to the station is opened by Ooishi and company. In it is a letter from Tomoe saying she had a bad feeling while refueling her car, so she mailed several things to the station, one of which was reports confirming that Natsumi's medicine and the pill found at the Hatakeyama residence were the same. The analysis stated the medicine contained potent substances for anti-excitement and mental suppression, which were mainly used for those with mental illnesses; the person who prescribed them must know the medicine is banned in Japan, America, and Europe. Akasaka later receives a call from Tokyo asking him to stop his investigation of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, as the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office has intervened and won't allow them. Akasaka realizes that this organization, CIRO, is what Tomoe was talking about all along.

In the final TIP, three years later, Madoka Yamaoki sends a letter to Akasaka, saying that Fujita and the others managed to capture Tomoe's murderer last year.

Tokihogushi-hen

In October 1982, a bruised and beaten Tomoe walks into Kakiuchi Station after a case gone wrong, horrifying Madoka. As she cleans herself up, she retells what happened: Tomoe and Fujita were staking out at a cafe when Tomoe leaned in to whisper something into Fujita's ear. Fujita's wife, a jealous woman who was getting suspicious of him for always coming home late, suddenly walked in and assumed Tomoe was Fujita's mistress, taking out her rage on her. During the chaos, a key witness they were waiting for also walked into the cafe and bolted when Fujita accidentally said "stakeout", leading Tomoe to chase after him before he could destroy evidence.

Tomoe changes topic and offers to drive Madoka to her date with Yamaoki later, showing some positive support for their relationship. She ponders to herself about the nature of their relationship before pulling out the case materials her father left behind. She thinks back to 1971, three weeks after the fire. Tomoe had been discharged from the hospital and inspected the charred remains of her home, finding these materials inside a toolbox. "Kakiuchi Airport, June, Wednesday. Go." When she joined the police, Tomoe looked at many case records but could never figure out the meaning behind that message.

Yamaoki presents Tomoe with an opportunity to do an interview in Tokyo, by request of the public relations department of the National Police Agency. Tomoe refuses since she dislikes interviews, but the chief explains that it has already been decided and pulls out a business trip permit. Tomoe becomes livid when she hears Yamaoki made this decision without consulting her, getting even angrier when she sees the chief did it in exchange for new golf clubs. Fujita and Madoka try to calm her down. Tomoe tries convincing Fujita not to overlook the clear corruption in front of him but Yamaoki threatens to cut Fujita's pay, knowing his wife wouldn't be pleased.

Tomoe does the interview, where she's asked about her regular work day and what she did on off-time. She prepared notes to talk about investigation methodology, but they turned out to be useless. Afterwards, Tomoe and Yamaoki stroll around town looking for a certain restaurant. They discuss Tomoe's first experiences working as a detective and how Yamaoki's taught her that cases don't necessarily end just because an arrest is made; Tomoe's compassion is what will make her a better detective compared to others.

Yamaoki and Tomoe finally arrive at their destination, which turns out to be Angel Mort. Tomoe is caught off-guard by the skimpy waitress outfits and explodes with rage, thinking this was the real reason Yamaoki wanted to take a trip to Tokyo. She prepares to leave but stops when a waitress presents her with a dessert menu. Tempted by the delicious-looking items and the smell of a freshly-made cake, Tomoe gives in and proceeds to eat four entire cakes. Yamaoki comments on how Tomoe has an appetite just like her father. She thinks back to the day she first met Yamaoki and how she's seen him like a father, up until his engagement with Madoka. Tomoe considers asking him about his true feelings but instead asks if Yamaoki's recommendation for Tomoe's transferal to Kakiuchi had to do with her father's case. The chief replies that he felt it would make her investigation easier, though he also thinks Tomoe should move on.

Tomoe leaves the restaurant to catch her train back and considers that maybe she doesn't believe in Madoka and Yamaoki enough. While walking through a park for a shortcut, she sees some politicians giving speeches and asking for votes. The speeches remind Tomoe of the Lowell Incident, where the pharmaceutical company Lowell Inc. had been selling medication to treat mental illnesses and lost a lot of credibility when several patients taking this medication died and evidence of bribery to Lowell officials came to light.

Tomoe also takes note of the man asking for votes, Akihiko Chiba. She pays him no heed and runs into one of the people passing out flyers: Osamu Tsukada, her former upperclassman in high school. Tsukada is excited to meet Tomoe again and explains that he works for Chiba as a secretary, with Tomoe congratulating him for pursuing his dream of working in politics. She mentions that she's working in Kakiuchi and Tsukada says that's close to Chiba's hometown; Tomoe recalls seeing the man's face on posters there. Tsukada asks Tomoe to eat with him next time they meet and hands her a business card before going back to work. Tomoe later kills time waiting for her train by reading the newspaper, stopping when she reads a story of a patient falling from a hospital window and dying; this patient was someone she's interviewed before.

Tomoe returns to Kakiuchi and speaks with section chief Honjou, receiving some documents regarding the recent patient death. Kouhei Sawamura had fallen from his 8th floor hospital room and died upon impact with the ground. Suicide seemed likely since the room was locked and the hospital's cameras didn't record any suspicious activity. Tomoe isn't so sure and asks if he died on Saturday, recalling information from a prior case. Every Saturday, the victim's girlfriend Nagisa Ozaki would visit him, so there's no way Kouhei would kill himself on that day. Honjou also agrees it was murder, showing her some photos of scratch marks on the room's window.

Tomoe goes to the hospital and speaks with the nurse Hiranuma, who was in charge of Kouhei. She hands over his records while explaining that there was a malfunction with the fire alarm, so she went to every patient room to calm them down. Kouhei's room being locked was strange since patients didn't normally lock their rooms. Tomoe examines the room and asks about the scratch marks on the window frame, with Hiranuma positing that Kouhei lost his balance and tried to grab onto the window before falling. The detective then asks why there aren't any bars on the windows, as this hospital is for patients receiving psychiatric treatment. The nurse explains that the bars can have adverse effects on patients by making them feel confined but admits the window was open because she opened it for air earlier.

Tomoe visits Kouhei's grave and runs into Nagisa there. They talk about Kouhei for a bit where Nagisa is still distraught over Rena having attacked him long ago. Tomoe calms her down and assures her that Kouhei was murdered, explaining the calendar in his room. She asks for Nagisa's cooperation and promises that she'll find the killer.

Tomoe heads to Okinomiya and runs into some delinquents harassing a girl for knocking over their bikes. Tomoe intervenes and scares away the delinquents, then makes her acquiantances with the girl: Natsumi Kimiyoshi. Tomoe starts jotting down the bikes' license plates, as they were probably stolen. Seeing that her new friend is actually a police officer, Natsumi gets nervous and begins walking away. Tomoe introduces herself and gives a parting promise to help Natsumi if she calls for her. Tomoe then heads to the Okinomiya police department and meets Ooishi. She presents her materials surrounding Kouhei's death and asks about Reina Ryuugu and Oyashiro-sama. Ooishi explains the legends of Oyashiro-sama and Hinamizawa, and then the yearly curse when Tomoe shows some superstition. After hearing that one of these curse victims may have been influenced by Oyashiro-sama, Tomoe wonders if Rena was the same way.

Tomoe and Ooishi go to Hinamizawa where Ooishi explains that Rena consulted with Satoshi before his disappearance. She claimed that all of Satoshi's problems were caused by the god. Tomoe also hears the story behind Satoshi and Satoko's abuse, showing pity. They visit the dam site junkyard where Tomoe learns that the person who died in the first year of the curse was Ooishi's best friend. Sympathizing with Ooishi's plight, Tomoe offers to help the detective if he needs it. Just then, they see Rena traversing the junk. Ooishi explains Rena's eccentric behavior, and Tomoe asks if she ever received medical treatment after coming to Hinamizawa. Tomoe believes Rena's strange behavior may be related to Oyashiro-sama and that the Ibaraki incident had to have been instigated by someone else. Ooishi and Tomoe begin to leave but Tomoe trips, looking behind to see Rena staring daggers at her.

Ooishi goes off with Kumagai and leaves his car with Tomoe, who uses it to visit the Ryuugu household alone. Tomoe sees nobody is home and finds a matchbox from the Blue Mermaid cabaret club at the doorstep. While looking at the junk around the yard, Tomoe feels something behind her and realizes she's hearing footsteps, the same things described in Oyashiro-sama's curse.

Tomoe laughs it off and tries to start up Ooishi's car, but she sees that the gas tank has been mysteriously drained. Seeing nobody else around, a frightened Tomoe makes her way to a phone booth to call Ooishi, hearing extra footsteps every time she moves. She makes the call for Ooishi to pick her up and immediately after sees Rena standing outside. Rena points out that Tomoe is a detective and then steps inside the booth to strangle her. Caught off guard by her strength, Tomoe loses consciousness as Rena laughs.

The next morning, Tomoe awakens inside of the Irie Clinic. Doctor Irie introduces himself and explains what he did to treat Tomoe, including injection of nutrients. As he goes to fetch Ooishi, Tomoe inspects herself and finds an injection mark above her elbow. Ooishi asks if anything is wrong and Irie says she's suffering from sleep deprivation. After sending the doctor away, Ooshi explains that last night he found Tomoe collapsed in the phonebox. Tomoe is sure that Rena tried to kill her, recalling the sensation of her fingernails digging into her throat, and wonders why she stopped. She also realizes that her inability to fight against Rena's inhuman strength was just like what the others felt during the Ibaraki incident. Ooishi explains that the hospital Rena frequents is one in Gogura, but he's unable to investigate it himself since it's outside the Okinomiya police station's jurisdiction. A later TIP describes Tomoe's examination report at the Irie Clinic. Notes are written down suspecting her of xxxxxx with a symptom level of xx.

Tomoe visits the Gogura hospital and sees Natsumi requesting medication at the counter there. Tomoe greets her and Natsumi apologizes for the way she acted earlier. They bond over vending machine drinks and talk about Kakiuchi. Tomoe learns her full name of Natsumi Kimiyoshi and is stuck pondering her surname for a little bit. She gives Natsumi some advice on how to better live life with her friends, and they soon become friends themselves and share contact information. Natsumi leaves to pick up her medication.

Tomoe returns to Kakiuchi, having made no other progress at Gogura, as the doctors were unwilling to hand over private records without a search warrant. She has lunch with Nagisa and explains that Kouhei's case is being restarted as a murder case. Nagisa asks where Rena lives so she can talk to her. Tomoe asks what she'll do after she knows and lectures her about hatred, saying she should wait before contacting Rena if she still feels animositity towards her. Nagisa accepts that she may hate Rena but still wants to talk to her anyway and clear things up between them before Nagisa's feelings for her get any more negative. Tomoe makes her promise that the only thing she'll do is talk to her, not wanting to see another incident break out. She hands over a note with Rena's info, and Nagisa shows her a childhood photo of her and Rena; Nagisa burned all of her pictures of Rena save for this one, realizing that she couldn't just forget all of her memories of her. The two see each other off where Tomoe offers her an umbrella, but Nagisa says her mom will pick her up at Oumaki station. Tomoe prays that their conversation goes well.

A few days later, Tomoe and Madoka go out and run into Tsukada again. who's in Kakiuchi because Chiba's giving a speech at Saeki General Hospital. Tsukada asks if Tomoe remembers her promise of eating with him the next time they met, but Madoka interrupts and says they're going shopping now. Tsukada sees they traveled by car and asks Tomoe to call him again some other time before leaving. Madoka expresses her dislike for the guy and points out that Tsukada was trying to conceal his wedding ring and hiding his hand in his pocket.

After eating and heading back, Madoka notices some strange people near her car, seemingly picking the car lock. Tomoe calls out to them and begins running when the car suddenly explodes, starting a fire. Dazed, Tomoe looks around and sees Rena standing at the street corner and watching her. Thinking that she was responsible for draining the gas from her car earlier, Tomoe moves to apprehend her when Madoka starts having a panic attack from the fire. Tomoe calls an ambulance and by the time they get there, Rena has disappeared.

At the hospital, Madoka is sedated while Tomoe hears from Yamaoki what happened. Because of the explosion, two people were in critical condition, and another had an injured mouth and throat. Tomoe leaves Madoka in Yamaoki's care and asks Fujita to take her back to the explosion scene, thinking it was an act of sabotage. As they drive, Fujita mentions that many strange car accidents have been happening that day, like a case of a girl being hit by a truck at Oumaki Station when she was apparently sleeping in the middle of the road. Hearing that the victim was identified as Nagisa Ozaki, Tomoe tells Fujita to take her there instead.

An enraged Tomoe marches over to the spot where Nagisa died. Some detectives from the Second Investigation Divison try to stop her since it's their turf, but Tomoe ignores them. After seeing the horrible state of Nagisa's corpse, Tomoe hears from Hayami that the truck driver was driving at a regular speed and couldn't see Nagisa in time since she was lying in a darkened spot. Hayami warns her to get away before any more Second Division people appear, but Okabe and Kojima arrive. Tomoe asks Hayami to send her the autopsy results later but Kojima gets in the way, saying she needs to get permission from the Second Division first. Kojima insults Tomoe by insinuating that she only got into her position because Madoka got engaged with Yamaoki, and Tomoe yells at him to shut up. Fujita tries to calm her down but Okabe fuels the fire by agreeing with Kojima's assessment. Tomoe gets even angrier and hits Okabe, and she's eventually escorted off by other investigators.

Tomoe apologizes to Okabe later, but she's given a one-week suspension. She visits Madoka at the hospital, talking with her about the latter's fear of fire and how difficult it was for Madoka to keep jobs because of it. Tomoe now understands why Madoka worked at a cabaret club long ago and assures her that Yamaoki won't mind her pyrophobia. Just then, a patient walks into the room and soon runs away when Tomoe questions him. Madoka says he was probably just confused, explaining that the floors in the hospital were all identical, so patients got confused easily and entered the wrong rooms. Tomoe has an epiphany and calls Honjou.

Tomoe deduced that Hiranuma was Kouhei's murderer. Kouhei originally had a room on the first floor, and he was transferred to the eighth floor. When the fire alarm was pulled, Hiranuma went to Kouhei's room and told him there was a real fire, making him habitually try to jump out the window. Kouhei tried to stop himself and grabbed the window, and Hiranuma pushed him out to kill him. Tomoe hears that Honjou and his men went to confront Hiranuma before she could board an airplane, however she suddenly went crazy and killed herself by slitting her throat. They have no idea what Hiranuma's motive for killing Kouhei was or why she committed suicide, as they have no records of her taking any medication. Tomoe once again thinks that Rena has some connection to this case since she was also a regular person who underwent a sudden change in behavior.

Tomoe is called to Yamaoki's office, who presents her with notice that the National Police Agency is transferring her and making her the chief of media correspondence. Unbeknownst to Tomoe, Yamaoki received a formal letter of complaint against her with Okabe's name on it. If he refused then it would cast suspicion on his recommendation for Tomoe and hurt Madoka, so he decided transferring her was the best course of action. Yamaoki thinks back to a conversation with Yamaguchi, who believed someone at the Public Safety Division had their sights on Tomoe and her father's case. The possibility of Tomoe suffering a "workplace accident" was high, so Yamaoki further believed this was for the best.

Tomoe objects, as this means she would be unable to continue investigating her cases, including Yuusuke's and Nagisa's. She pleads for more time but Yamaoki tells her that what she's doing concerns Tomoe's personal justice, not that of the police force. She demands to know why Yamaoki accepted this request when earlier he pushed for Tomoe's transferral to Kakiuchi in the first place, giving her the chance to solve Yuusuke's final case. The chief replies that working under Public Relations Director Maeno should be good for her career advancement. Tomoe continues objecting and cries, but soon accepts her transferral and leaves.

Fujita gives a saddened Tomoe a belated letter from Nagisa, sent two days before she died. Tomoe puts it away and then receives Nagisa's autopsy report: her body had an injection mark in her arm and showed signs of moving around before falling unconscious in the middle of the road. Tomoe begins to think she was murdered. Fujita explains that Kakiuchi Station is working with prefectural HQ to crack the case, and Tomoe says to leave it to them, surprising Fujita with her demeanor. She asks to be alone and reads Nagisa's letter. Nagisa says she managed to talk with Rena after the latter called and arrange a meeting with her, hoping to make amends and give Tomoe flowers when they bloomed later. Tomoe cries once again, lamenting her ability to help.

Tomoe drowns her sorrows with alcohol and stumbles around in a park, wondering if she's really fit to be a detective. Just then, she hears the same footsteps she heard in Hinamizawa when her gas was drained and suddenly finds herself in the Sea of Fragments. Hanyuu speaks to Tomoe and tells her that she is important to Rika's destiny. Tomoe is confused, and Hanyuu explains that she is like a small gear in the wheel of fate: Tomoe has a strong will to move forward, and so Rika and everyone else needs her. Tomoe asks who Hanyuu is and she introduces herself as Oyashiro-sama. She asks if Tomoe feels hatred and frustration, saying that they can resist a dark will. Hanyuu says they are waiting for her in Hinamizawa and sends Tomoe back to the human world, who wakes up on a park bench. Tomoe vaguely recalls the experience, but she feels a lot better now.

After settling in at the public relations office, Tomoe returns to the station and presents Yamaoki with a formal request for joint cooperation between Kakiuchi Station and Aichi prefectural police, wanting to test the usage of profiling techniques to investigate unsolved cases. Earlier she had convinced the higher-ups that her investigation techniques were successful in Kakiuchi and were now considering implementing them country-wide. Tomoe had also planned to do a TV report of profiling techniques from the West, stunning Madoka because of her prior dislike for the media.

As Tomoe cleans out her belongings from the station, she apologizes to Yamaoki for the way she acted and accepts that her own justice differs from the police station's justice. A formal police report for Nagisa's murder is presented by section chief Doujima, with Tomoe introduced as Subsection Chief. She plans to never give up on the case.

Connecting Fragments

Several Fragments detail Tomoe's past from before she was a police officer. One Fragment portrays Tomoe's fright during the arson incident that killed her parents. Another one shows her subsequent resignation from the high school track team. Tsukada was sad to see her go, but he sets up a high jump bar and encourages Tomoe to try and break her record one more time. "Madoka Minai" shows Tomoe acting as her guardian after Madoka once again gets into trouble at school.

"Incident Report 4" describes the aftermath of Tomoe's murder in Kageboushi-hen. A month after her death, an anonymous caller reported a suspicious man in the Kakiuchi service area. He was arrested and found to have several knives and wallets on him, none of which had his ID. He confessed to being Tomoe's murderer when investigators saw he knew things only her killer would know, but at trial later he denied all those charges and claimed the investigators were pressuring him to give testimony. His trial was postponed.

Various Fragments detail Tomoe's days at the public relations office and her developing friendship with Director Maeno. In "Drunken Boss' True Identity", Tomoe goes to pickup Maeno at a bar when he gets drunk. Tomoe admonishes him for getting so drunk and the shopkeeper asks her to overlook it; he's a close friend of Maeno and knows he's only like this when something terrible happens. Tomoe then recalls a meeting Maeno attended the other day that placed the blame on him for a kid's murder in an old case. Tomoe begins to sympathize with him. Tomoe gets a sleepy Maeno into her car and notices his police notebook, which contained a picture of young Maeno and Yuusuke in it. As she drives, Tomoe realizes that she met Maeno a long time ago, as he sometimes came home with Yuusuke after drinking. Maeno murmurs in his sleep, promising Yuusuke he'll help Tomoe succeed. Tomoe is moved by his words.

In "Gone with the Ashes", thanks to Maeno's help, Tomoe makes a proposal to the National Research Institute of Police Science to change the way the police tackle cases by introducing profiling analysis techniques. NRIPS considers it.

The Fragment "Reversing the Gears", taking place 24 years later and after Yoigoshi-hen, shows a future where Tomoe has become Senior Superintendent and the new Public Relations Director. She's also gotten married and become Tomoe Sorimachi, having a daughter named Azusa.

Tomoe's daughter-in-law Miyuki Sorimachi returns to the station with her results from her Hinamizawa trip: there were strong theories that the Great Hinamizawa Disaster was man-made rather than a natural disaster, and Miyuki's inspection of the secret passage near the Sonozaki estate suggested that canisters of nerve gas were dumped there long ago. Miyuki wants to conduct a large scale investigation of the area with help from the National Polce Agency, however Tomoe secretly arranges for the SDF to destroy the secret passage and make it seem natrual. She believed the true mastermind of the disaster had long died, so there was no point in trying to avenge the 2000 people who've died long ago. Ooishi and Rena had also gone missing during the disaster, and Tomoe regretted being unable to do anything for them and Nagisa.

Tomoe wishes to have another chance to save them, and Hanyuu speaks to her again. Hanyuu tells Tomoe that she has tremendous power as one of the last Fragments she needs, and that Rika is waiting.

Miotsukushi-hen Ura

Akasaka and his daughter Miyuki visit Kakiuchi Station, where Ooishi introduces them to Tomoe. Akasaka mentions that he was recently working on a case that was shut down from above, and he had help from a friend at the prosecutor's office too. Akasaka also says he'll be going on a hot springs trip to Wakura.

Tomoe meets Natsumi at the Kakiuchi Angel Mort. Ever since they met in Gogura, they've been conversing more often, and Tomoe's started acting as a tutor for Natsumi. A few days ago, Tomoe and Natsumi talked at a bus stop where Natsumi accidentally let her hair down, revealing just how pretty she could be. Natsumi explains she used to keep her hair down but was bullied for it, and Tomoe convinces her to be herself and keep it like that to impress her friends.

Tomoe and Natsumi celebrate the latter's newfound popularity with this small change over lunch. After eating, Natsumi starts to take her medicine but decides to do it later, explaining that she gets sleepy with it. She takes the medicine after studying so her head stays clear. Tomoe reviews Natsumi's homework and compliments her for her translation efforts, especially regarding the Puritan Revolution and Bloodless Revolution. Tomoe explains she knew a lot of people obsessed with England, so she memorized some history stuff related to it. They talk about Tomoe's personal life. She mentions she wanted to be a stewardess when she grew up and memorized the codes for airports all over the world. They also talk about Hinamizawa a little bit, and Natsumi asks if she can start referring to Tomoe as her sister. Tomoe thinks back to Nagisa and how she ended up, but she agrees to Natsumi's request anyway. Tomoe takes Natsumi home in a taxi.

Madoka asks Tomoe to visit Yamaoki's parents with her, who are coming into town in a few weeks. Tomoe decides to make time for them and gives Madoka her support, but she also questions if Madoka is really okay with the age difference she has with Yamaoki and that he will most likely pass away before her. Tomoe asks if she's going to let her children experience the sadness from losing a parent at a young age, and Madoka is unresponsive. After ruminating on Tomoe's profiling analysis project and how it may not end well for her either way, Madoka wishes her good luck and leaves.

Fujita and Hanada give Tomoe some updates on Nagisa's case. Many people in Ibaraki connected to her are refusing to reveal anything else and giving very similar, vague responses, almost as if someone is forcing them to clam up. They reveal some additional details about Nagisa's death that were kept out of the previous report, namely that her shoulders were dislocated and there were signs she was moving around before ending up in the spot where she died. There was also a bag of flower seeds belonging to Nagisa that were found near the road where she died. Tomoe asks Hanada about Rena's status, and he explains that when he told her about Kouhei and Nagisa's deaths, Rena seemed very apathetic. Rena's fingerprints were also found on the gas cap of Tomoe's car, meaning she was responsible for stealing the gas from it; the possibility of bringing Rena in for obstruction of justice is brought up, however Hanada mentions that Rena is friends with a daughter of the Sonozaki family in Hinamizawa and could be given a good lawyer, making it difficult for them to pursue investigation there. Tomoe considers talking with Rena herself later, if she can.

Tomoe heads to the TV station to practice for a later interview and bumps into Ryuuichi Arakawa, one of Maeno's informants. Tomoe drives Arakawa to Kakiuchi Airport, and during the drive Arakawa tells her that Public Security has called off their mark on her. Tomoe was being followed by investigators from Public Security and Personnel Affairs for a while, which she thinks is because of Nagisa's case. Tomoe ponders again her transferral to Public Relations, having learned later that Hata was pursuing liability against her. After some small talk, Tomoe drops off Arakawa at the airport.

Tomoe goes to the park to relax where she finds Natsumi unconscious and tries to rouse her. Natsumi awakens and mutters for her medicine. Tomoe finds Natsumi's pill case and asks how much to use when Natsumi suddenly smacks her hand away and says she'll disappear if she takes them. Tomoe goes to a nearby phonebooth to call an ambulance but looks back to see Natsumi scratching at her throat. She goes back to stop her but Natsumi suddenly grabs Tomoe and starts strangling her. As she's suffocating, Tomoe considers pulling out her baton and hitting Natsumi with it, but the girl calls for help despite her actions.

Tomoe caresses Natsumi's face and smiles, asking her to return since the Natsumi she knows is not so weak. Natsumi then remembers everything Tomoe did for her in the world of Kageboushi-hen, even giving up her life for the analysis results of Natsumi's medicine, and falls unconscious again. Tomoe stays with her as the ambulance arrives and Hanada and Fujita check the scene. Tomoe tells them that she won't press charges, thinking that Natsumi's behavior was not normal for her. She asks Hanada to get Matsuoka of the Gifu prefectural police to do an analysis of Natsumi's blood for traces of the medicine she uses.

Natsumi is taken to Saeki General Hospital to recover. In the meantime, Tomoe calls Natsumi's mom Haruko and hears that she had an argument with Natsumi that led to her storming out of the house that morning. She asks if Natsumi had a past of strange behavior, noting Haruko's tone when she first called her. Natsumi soon wakes up and, remembering the park incident, cries as she apologizes to Tomoe. Tomoe consoles her and assures her that it was not her fault, then listens to Natsumi explain her life and why she has that medicine. She took it at a young age because she was diagnosed with anemia after some incidents at school. Because Natsumi would take more than the recommended dose all the time, she developed an evil split personality that tried to take control of her and kill Tomoe earlier. Tomoe consoles her again, professing that Natsumi really is like a sister to her. Chisato then enters the room and cries with Natsumi, asking why she never trusted her friends or wanted to talk to them about her problems. Tomoe tries to separate them but eventually leaves the room, letting the two friends settle their differences themselves.

Tomoe is busy at work when Yamaoki invites her to his office and presents her with a new project: writing wedding invitations. Tomoe rages over the suddenness of the job and at how close the wedding date is. Yamaoki also asks her to pick out a wedding ring for Madoka and hands her a catalog, then changes tone and asks how her investigation is going; Tomoe sees he's talking about her secret investigation into Nagisa's murder. He says that because Tomoe is conducting an investigation with NRIPS, she could act as an investigator if she explains things to the higher-ups. Tomoe refuses, believing that investigation content is being leaked and presents some evidence proving obstruction by a third party. She shows Yamaoki her notes regarding the Nagisa case and explains that a close friend of Youko Hiranuma who spoke with her before Kouhei's murder had gone missing, supposedly going on a trip. Tomoe apologizes for keeping the chief in the dark about this, hoping he'd understand why.

Yamaoki explains that Fujita came to him earlier and tried to persuade him to stop Tomoe from pursuing the investigation, as he was very worried. The chief tells Tomoe not to worry, as the case is still being carried out by her colleagues, but he stresses that Tomoe herself is still important. Ultimately, he tells Tomoe not to be so selfish in wanting to sacrifice herself for the investigation and explains that Maeno is still working to protect Tomoe from the fallout if she doesn't solve it within three months.

Tomoe ruminates on her past some more and prepares to leave, but then Yamaoki asks if she knows about the Lowell Incident. Tomoe is aware, but she didn't know that two patients really did die because of it, and that the incident was the result of Lowell experimenting with drugs for military applications. Tomoe realizes that the trials were also conducted overseas because the standard of living is much better, allowing for more detailed data similar to what was done in Japan. Yamaoki and Public Security had been trying to shut this all down, but they didn't have enough evidence as to the mastermind, and they had no real authority anyway. The chief believed that Yuusuke had discovered info related to this, and that was why he was targeted. Yamaoki transferred Tomoe to Kakiuchi because he wanted her to catch the culprit. The chief also explains that Yuusuke had contact with an informant who lived near Kakiuchi Airport and had connections to a certain political group that Public Security later found was connected to CIRO.

Tomoe and Hanada drive to Gifu to pick up the results of Natsumi's medicine analysis from Matsuoka. She brought Hanada with her because she felt reluctant to see Fujita's face. On the way they stop at the Kakiuchi service area. Hanada gets gas while Tomoe goes off to buy a drink at a vending machine. She suddenly gets deja vu; she recalls a memory of Hanada driving her here in the past and also recalls the sensation of getting stabbed, checking her lower abdomen only to see that nothing happened. Tomoe looks at a group of people waiting to board a bus and notices Rena among them. Deciding to follow and question her, Tomoe first uses a phonebooth to call Kakiuchi Station and tell them of what she's doing, asking that they also inform Hanada through her car's radio. Tomoe then gets onto the bus and silently observes Rena and her belongings. She realizes that maybe the Ibaraki incident was just like what happened with Natsumi, with how she developed another self because of her medication.

The bus stops at Oumaki, where Rena gets off. Tomoe is confused, as the only reason for Rena to come here would be to visit Nagisa. She recalls what Hanada said earlier about Rena being apathetic to Nagisa's death and determines that something is wrong. Tomoe follows Rena to a park and later introduces herself, explaining she used to be a detective at Ibaraki. She says they met a year ago at a phone booth, but Rena doesn't recall. They're both on guard with each other but Tomoe takes the initiative and deduces that Rena came to visit Nagisa Ozaki. Rena tries to leave but Tomoe stops her, claiming that minors loitering at night can be brought in by police without discretion. She also brings up Rena's criminal record and threatens to call her parents and school if she doesn't comply, and Rena breaks down crying, wanting to understand why nobody doesn't seem to accept her atoning for her sins. Tomoe remembers Nagisa's desire to continue believing in Rena and apologizes for treating her so harshly.

Tomoe agrees to take Rena to Nagisa. During their trip, Tomoe tries to contact Hanada but fails. They eventually reach the graveyard where Nagisa is buried. Seeing Rena's reaction, Tomoe's suspicions about Hanada grow even more. Rena crumples to the ground at Nagisa's grave and laments not being able to properly apologize to her. Tomoe hands her the letter she received a year ago and tells Rena she can atone by never forgetting Nagisa. Seeing that Rena scratched herself when she fell, Tomoe pulls out a bandage and accidentally drops a packet of Natsumi's pills. Rena recognizes the pills as "PC" and says she used to take them but stopped since she would always lose herself. Tomoe determines that the Ibaraki incident really was caused by these pills and asks Rena to come with her to NRIPS HQ.

At HQ, Tomoe asks Chief Souma to give counseling to Rena and to analyze the pills. After the counseling, Tomoe talks to Rena about their past encounter in Hinamizawa. Rena had no idea Tomoe was watching her at the junkyard then, and she denies that Hanada ever talked to her when Tomoe shows a picture of him. Tomoe thinks back to when Rena tried to choke her and realizes that maybe she was hallucinating, same as when she saw Rena after Madoka's car exploded.

Souma and Tomoe talk about split personalities and medication that could drive someone to self-harm. Souma mentions that he got a call from Gifu prefecture complaining about him, that he ordered Matsuoka to analyze a drug without the consent of the higher-ups. Tomoe knows she was the one who really asked Matsuoka and kept secret about it, but sees that Matsuoka gave Souma's name because of that. She also realizes that only one other person could've known about her request. Tomoe apologizes for getting them involved but Souma doesn't care. He promises to get Tomoe the drug analysis results by tomorrow.

Tomoe drives Rena back to Hinamizawa and returns to Kakiuchi Station, where she learns that Hanada has betrayed the police force and attempted to kill her. Their car exploded at the Kakiuchi service area, which was rigged to explode when the radio went off. Hanada's name also wasn't written down on the vehicle scheduling sheet. Unfortunately, Hanada has completely disappeared since the incident.

Tomoe gives Fujita a good punch for talking about her case behind her back, and later hands him the drug analysis results. As suspected, Natsumi's medication was unlicensed and is not the kind of drug a regular hospital can provide. This medicine is supposed to increase the thought-processing speed of whoever takes it, but it's very addictive. Tomoe thinks that Hiranuma's suicide may have been murder all along if she was adminstered this medicine without her knowledge. Fujita says this medicine is very similar to the Placil medicine distributed by Lowell and that they should raid it, but Tomoe rejects him since that requires a warrant.

Tomoe speaks with Arakawa again and learns that Maeno is pursuing the movements of the Ministry of Health and Welfare while Public Security is looking for a link between Lowell Inc. and the Gogura hospital. Back at the station, Tomoe takes a call from Tsukada, who asks to eat out with her. During dinner, Tomoe and Tsukada reminisce on the past. As they walk to Tsukada's car they talk about politics and Tsukada's career when he suddenly asks how much Tomoe knows about Lowell Inc. Taken aback by Tsukada's sudden change in expression, she realizes that he was involved in the case the whole time. Tsukada reveals that his boss Akihiko Chiba has been involved with the Alphabet Project and was reponsible for distributing Placil. Tomoe demands to know why Tsukada would get involved when he's always said he wanted to be a politican for the sake of justice, and he explains that it's for revenge. Tsukada vents his frustrations about politics, but Tomoe notices that he really doesn't mean all of that. Rather, he was playing the part of the bad guy and testing Tomoe.

Tsukada hands Tomoe a key, giving a strange message that it would be best used without bloodshed. Tsukada prepares to unlock his car but Tomoe stops him, fearing it'll explode like the other times. Nothing happens, and Tsukada welcomes Tomoe into the passenger seat. He explains that he was ordered by Chiba to watch over her and even kill her, as Chiba considers the detective his greatest obstacle. Tsukada apologizes for the harsh things he said, aware that he is complicit in corruption and hopes that Tomoe won't hesitate when she arrests him in the future.

Just then, Hanada emerges from hiding in the backseat and knocks them both out by injecting alcohol into them. When Tomoe awakes, she discovers the car has been moved to the harbor. Hanada plans to kill off Tomoe and Tsukada by sending their car rolling into the ocean, making it seem as though they died in a drunk driving accident. Tomoe attempts to break out of the car however she cannot do much due to her inebriation. Hanada mocks her futile attempts and explains that he was ordered to get rid of her the second she learned about the Placil medicine, regretting that she could've stayed alive longer if she didn't continue the investigation. He also explains that his boss is Chiba, the same person Tsukada was talking about, and that Hanada himself was responsible for killing Tomoe's parents 12 years ago. Hanada sends the car rolling and walks away laughing, expecting the two to meet a watery end.

Tomoe tries to rouse Tsukada but he's still knocked out. She struggles even more to escape the car and hits the brakes but nothing is working due to the sabotage Hanada did. Just as Tomoe gives up and accepts her death, Nagisa's ghost suddenly appears and tells her to break the rear door. Tomoe manages to get the backdoor open and escapes the death trap with Tsukada in tow. After getting them both to land, she falls unconscious again.

Tomoe wakes up in the hospital, with Fujita greeting her and saying that Tsukada is resting in another room. He explains that they were able to pull the car up from the harbor, which had every entrance except the rear door sealed shut. She hears from Madoka that Yamaoki is meeting with Maeno at his office and returns to Kakiuchi Station, where Maeno shows her a tabloid: Tomoe's been accused of an affair with Tsukada, with the secretary said to have forced her into a double suicide when they broke up. Tomoe reads the article and sees that much of the info is stuff only old acquaintances would know. Tomoe tries to defend herself as Maeno admonishes her, with Tomoe realizing that she should've been more careful in dealing with an enemy like this.

Maeno tells Tomoe to step away from the investigation and rest at home until they decide on a more formal course of disiciplinary action. Tomoe objects and repeats the crucial info Tsukada told her, including Chiba's machinations and Hanada's betrayal, along with Tsukada's desire of vengeance. Maeno reveals that Tsukada was engaged to a woman named Masumi Ounuma back in college: the same Ounuma whose father Shigeru Ounuma was one of the arrests made after the Lowell Incident. Maeno takes this new info to heart but still places Tomoe on adminstrative leave and promises he'll get a suitable replacement for the time being. Tomoe leaves, and Maeno and Yamaoki talk some more. The tabloid was actually Maeno's doing, as putting it out when they did should stall the enemy and give them less reason to kill Tomoe.

Tomoe, Madoka, and Fujita start packing up case materials to hand them over to the District Prosecutor's Office's special investigation department. Tomoe examines the last file they need to pack up, Yuusuke's memo, and Madoka asks about the code written on it. She says it reads like "C1", and the other part says "LX". Tomoe remembers that their father always had bad handwriting, especially with the English alphabet. She realizes that what she was reading as "go" (いけ) was actually airport codes: C1 and LX, referring to Central First Airlines and Loberta Airlines. Struck with inspiration, Tomoe asks Fujita to look into the last 30 years of activity for these two airlines. Fujita says Loberta Airlines doesn't exist anymore and merged with Central First 12 years ago, becoming just Central Airlines; and that Central holds air shows every June at Kakiuchi Airport. Tomoe happily hugs her two colleagues, having finally pieced together the mystery behind Yuusuke's note.

Just then, a man from the Tokyo District Prosecutor's Office appears and introduces himself to the group as Sorimachi. Tomoe eyes his business card and gets suspicious, as someone from the Nagoya DPO was supposed to come over. The phone rings and Tomoe picks it up: it's the Nagoya DPO member on the other end saying he'll be coming in 30 minutes and has an investigation warrant. After hanging up, Tomoe asks Sorimachi if he too has a warrrant, but he meekly says he doesn't because there was no time. He just learned that Tomoe's group obtained some great intel on the Chiba case and wanted to bet on her kindess in trusting him. Tomoe denies him but Sorimachi explains that the Nagoya branch is working on behalf of Chiba; if they get their hands on the case materials, they'll only arrest Tsukada and leave Chiba untouched. There's only a few days to arrest Chiba before the general election, where taking him in for his bribes will be difficult.

Tomoe ponders for a bit but is still unsure if she can trust Sorimachi. The prosecutor begs her to listen and bows, his wallet falling out of his jacket. Tomoe picks it up and sees a picture of Sorimachi's son with a little girl, who she remembers is Akasaka's daughter. She asks about Sorimachi's connection with Akasaka, and he says they went on a camping trip one time and heard he went on a trip to Wakura recently. Tomoe remembers that Akasaka said the same thing earlier and determines that she can trust Sorimachi.

Tomoe tells Madoka and Fujita to bring the case materials down to the mail center in the basement and mail them to the Tokyo DPO. Meanwhile, Tomoe and Sorimachi drive to the Kakiuchi service area to uncover the mystery behind Tsukada's key. They go to a set of lockers and open the one matching the tag only to find nothing there. They think Chiba's men may have gotten to its contents already, but Tomoe remembers Tsukada's love of English history and his hint of "accomplished without bloodshed" to unlock a different locker and find a lot of materials in there. With this, they have enough evidence to arrest Chiba and deal a crippling blow to the Alphabet Project. Sorimachi promises that he'll get this info to the right people.

Tsukada regains consciousness and Tomoe talks with him. She consoles him regarding what happened to Masumi and regrets that Tsukada will still be arrested since he's a key conspirator. Tomoe returns to the station where she sees a live TV report of investigators raiding the Gogura university hospital and carrying out materials. A doctor who used to work there was found prescribing Placil, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare sent officers to raid the place. Tomoe prepares to go to the Narcotics Control Office and demand they hand the materials over, but Doujima says he already made that request and was denied, as they want the credit for solving the case. Ultimately this is benefitting Chiba.

Tomoe realizes that the only way the NCO could launch this raid is if they had Kakiuchi Station's case materials, meaning someone else at Kakiuchi betrayed them. The traitor is soon revealed to be Oouchi, who is dragged in by Maeno. An angry Tomoe punches Oouchi for his backstabbing. The traitor threatens to get Tomoe arrested for assault but all of the nearby officers pretend like they didn't see anything. Oouchi is dragged off to a detention cell, and Maeno tells Tomoe that he has friends at the NCO and can get those Gogura materials before they're destroyed. Tomoe laments that they still missed their chance to raid the hospital themselves and leaves.

Tomoe wonders what to do now, as Hanada is still nowhere to be found. His family was interrogated for possible leads however the wife shows indifference to the fact her husband is a criminal. Tomoe determines that Hanada must still be hiding in Kakiuchi, as he was cocky enough to stand by and watch his plan play out before leaving at the last minute. Tomoe then gets a call from Tsukada, who tells her that a trade will be happening tonight. Every Wednesday in June, drugs like Placil are smuggled into Japan, but he has no idea where. Madoka then calls, having found that some of the directors of Central Airlines are former members of Lowell Inc, and there's a special flight that takes place every year that delivers equipment for the air shows. Tomoe realizes that this is the clue they need.

That night, Tomoe prepares to leave the station when Maeno stops her, having learned Tsukada's info. Tomoe knows Kakiuchi Airport is where they'll catch the masterminds working with Chiba and Lowell, and Maeno warns her that there will be guards. He asks her to wait until he can get NCO involved and they get a warrant, but Tomoe still wants to go. Seeing Tomoe's determination and willingness to act even though she's breaking some laws, Maeno lets her go. She exits the station and is greeted by Fujita and every member of the First Division, who all want to join her in the airport raid. They're violating orders and will face consequences, but they don't care. Spurred on by their support, Tomoe orders everyone to get into their cars.

As the police convoy races to the airport, Tomoe gets a radio report that Hanada was found to be staying in a Kakiuchi hotel, and he's headed for the airport as well. She also hears that even Okabe and Second Division is lending their support. The cars finally reach the airport and split up to blockade the area. Tomoe hears that they managed to get a search warrant, so they're clear to raid the airport. True to their investigation, there was a shipment of Placil being taken at the airport. Hostilities engage between the officers and the criminals, and the latter is taken care of with no problem.

Tomoe sees that Hanada's trying to escape by stealing the airplane the shipment came in. It starts takeoff and Tomoe drives up the runway to stop it. She rams her car into one of the landing wheels, causing the plane to crash. Tomoe manages to escape her car at the last minute but comes out gravely wounded, feeling as though something else pushed her out of her car.

Tomoe is ecstatic at succeeding in her death-defying stunt when Hanada emerges from the wreckage and corners her at gunpoint and fires several warning shots. Hanada starts having a breakdown, blaming the Minai family for all his problems and exclaiming that Yuusuke killed his brother 13 years ago. Tomoe remembers that this was the Shirakaba mountain villa incident, where the police battled extremist student activists; Yuusuke killed a student named Kazunori Takiguchi. Tomoe says the killing was justified since the students had already killed two officers before then but Hanada won't hear it. He looked up to his brother and suffered when he died, having joined Akihiko Chiba as one of his minions.

Tomoe calls Hanada a coward and says he refused to take life head-on and ran away instead. It was Hanada's fault that his life ended up like this, not Yuusuke's or Tomoe's. Hanada gets riled up as Tomoe expresses that maybe he really did want to become a police officer, noting how he showed genuine happiness at solving cases at times. She also gets Hanada to accidentally confess that he knows the truth about Nagisa's death. Hanada gets fed up and prepares to shoot Tomoe for real, but he suddenly falls over from being shot in the side by Yamaoki. The other officers arrive and surround the area as Yamaoki tells Tomoe to get on her feet. Feeling the silent encouragement of all her comrades, Tomoe walks up to Hanada and handcuffs him.

As a result of the sudden police raid, Tomoe will be transferred to the police academy in Ibaraki to teach there for a while as punishment; better that facing legal action. After getting Hanada's confession regarding his involvement in Nagisa's death, Tomoe realizes that Nagisa's ghost really did appear to her and save her from Hanada's death trap. Nagisa also pushed her out of her car when she drove into the airplane.

A bag of Nagisa's flower seeds was also found inside Tsukada's car, which Hanada used to kidnap Nagisa a year ago. Tomoe takes these seeds and visits Nagisa's grave, where she meets Rena. She thanks the girl for her help in the case and promises that the Placil medicine won't hurt anyone ever again. Nagisa's ghost then appears and thanks Tomoe and Rena for being her friends before disappearing. Knowing that she would've done the same, Tomoe gives Rena Nagisa's pouch of flower seeds. Rena sees that they're Nagisa's favorite kind: Japanese bell flower seeds, representing everlasting love.

Miotsukushi-hen Omote

Sometime after the airport incident, Tomoe is called in by Ooishi for a favor. Shion is arrested in Hinamizawa and Ootaka attempts to get her transferred to Gogura. Ooishi challenges his authority when Tomoe arrives, who explains that Shion will be transferred to Aichi police HQ instead. Ootaka leaves defeated. Afterwards, Tomoe explains to Ooishi that the burnt corpse they found may not belong to Miyo Takano after all, meaning he can get an arrest warrant for her.