June 22, 3:00 AM, Assembly Hall Part 4 (6月22日午前3時 集会所④ Rokugatsu Ni-juu-ni-nichi Gozen San-ji—Shuukaijo: Yon) is the eighth chapter of Yoigoshi-hen.
Summary[]
Arakawa is confused as Mion looks down at Yae, who’s inching away. Mion thinks the criminal didn’t carry Takumi’s body back here, but rather they couldn’t move it in the first place. Yae is the only one who ever saw Takumi awake, and the others have only ever seen him sleeping under a blanket; Mion deduces Takumi was dead since the start, and Yae is the perpetrator. Arakawa says she would’ve run away immediately if she were the killer, and there's no reason for her to say she was attacked and come back here. Mion agrees, as if Takumi really was attacked outside then his clothes should be wet and dirty. Mion asks Yae to pull the blanket off of Takumi so they can confirm it. She does so and admits that she killed Takumi long before everyone arrived, and was close to getting her peaceful life back.
Yae used to love Takumi and was genuinely happy with him and loved hearing about his dreams, however after they graduated from college, Yae was able to find a steady job while Takumi couldn’t. She says Otobe should understand and explains that she was paying for most of Takumi’s expenses, and they soon began to argue over the most simple things. One day Takumi was drinking sake during another argument. Yae wanted things to change and was mentioning that her friends thought poorly of Takumi, and then he suddenly hit her. After beating her for a while, Takumi calmed down and began profusely apologizing. Takumi would become abusive when things didn't go his way, but Yae continued to stay with him, even after she was hospitalized. She desperately wanted Takumi to go back to the way he was, but one day she had enough. They heard about Hinamizawa after reading about it in a magazine, and Yae invited Takumi to visit it with her so she could kill him; Takumi got drunk and Yae strangled him to death with rope, however she failed to anticipate other people visiting the village.
Yae says she might feel regret for it later but Arakawa is doubtful, thinking she had another motive like money or another lover. Mion says Arakawa could be telling the truth and wants to let Takumi explain it himself, going up to his body and resting her hand on his forehead. Takumi then begins speaking, much to everyone’s shock, and apologizes for not realizing that Yae was cornered by him. When Yae asked him to visit the village, he had hoped to change himself for the better and was already planning to get a job at a firm. Yae exclaims that he’s lying, and Mion pulls something out from Takumi’s pocket: an admission letter. Takumi forgives Yae and says the only bad person was him, and says all the things he loved about her before falling silent.
Yae starts crying and wants Takumi to say more, but Mion says he’s dead. Arakawa wonders how a dead man can speak, and Mion reminds him that Hinamizawa is connected to the land of the dead, and the dead have every right to express themselves like the living can. Arakawa still questions the fact that Yae pretended to get attacked by someone and acted like Takumi was still alive, and Mion figures she really did hear Takumi’s voice speaking to him up until she killed him. Arakawa and Otobe get shocked, and Mion asks if they’ve noticed the people surrounding the meeting hall. Arakawa is confused and Mion says she was hoping to escape earlier but got caught up in this little murder mystery. She tells everyone to stay put and draws her katana.
Characters[]
References[]
| ||||||||||||||