Hiiragi

**Hiiragi** (柊, *Hīragi*) is Nana Haruno's manager.

## Biography

### History

Fifteen years ago, Hiiragi's mother was bedridden with an illness. To cheer her up, Hiiragi gifted her some sweets she had received from Nana Haruno, a singer of which her mother was a fan. Hiiragi had gotten the sweets from Haruno at an Obon festival in Tokyo where Haruno was a guest singer; afterward, Haruno had given out candy to children. Unfortunately, after Hiiragi had given the sweets to her mother, her mother's condition worsened and she passed away a few days later.

Fifteen years later, Hiiragi started working at Haruno's agency to honor her late mother, and was eventually assigned to be Haruno's new manager.

### Obon Dance Murder Case

After overhearing that Totomaru Isshiki is a member of the Metropolitan Police Department at an Obon festival in Tokyo, Hiiragi approaches him for advice. She leads him and his companions Ron Kamonohashi, Chicory Monki, and Elmer Stingray backstage and introduces herself as Nana Haruno's manager. Haruno greets everyone as well, and Toto, Ron, and Chicory are quite excited to meet her which flatters Haruno.

Afterward, Hiiragi and Haruno tell them about the situation: Fifteen years ago, when Haruno was invited as a guest singer to this festival for the first time, she received a death threat from a fan. The meet-and-greet was cancelled back then when the police arrived. The police advised Haruno not to take the bouquets and candies fans had gifted her, and Haruno decided to give them away to children so that the items would not go to waste. Despite her discretion and the circumstances, her fans were quite unhappy when they found out about this, and Haruno is happy to have been invited again at all.

Elmer then correctly guesses that Hiiragi is concerned that the culprit who should have been released by now could return to take revenge. Toto promises to keep an eye out and make sure that nothing happens during Haruno's performance; Chicory, Ron, and Elmer promise to help too.

While Haruno is on stage, there is some commotion over an apparent gun; the situation quickly calms down when the origin of the "gunshot" is discovered. Then, there is a sudden blackout during which Haruno gets stabbed in the chest. After the lights turn on again, her body is discovered. The ambulance is called, and Haruno is rushed to the hospital. Hiiragi accompanies her to the hospital while Toto and the others investigate.

During the investigation, the man who turned off the lights shows Toto, Ron, Chicory, and Elmer a text message from Hiiragi in which she asks him to turn out the lights for 30 seconds at 6:15 pm. However, when Toto calls Hiiragi to confirm whether she truly sent that message, her phone rings from inside a nearby trashcan. He then calls an EMT to get into contact with Hiiragi who tells him that she lost her phone right before Haruno went onstage.

Hiiragi later gets another call from Totomaru; he inquires about Haruno who is still unconscious. He also asks her about the incident from fifteen years ago, and Hiiragi tells him that she heard from the agency's president that the threatener had sent a box cutter blade and a bullet to the office around the time of the festival. Because of the bullet, she also asks about the "gun" commotion from earlier, but Toto informs her that this incident is not connected to the case.

Later that night, Haruno regains consciousness after a successful surgery. At the hospital, a doctor checks on Haruno who is still slightly woozy from the anesthesia. After he has left, Hiiragi turns to Haruno and asks her why she will not die while she takes a syringe from her pocket. However, before she can inject the syringe's contents into Haruno, Toto rushes into the room and stops her; Chicory, Ron, and Elmer are right behind him.

Toto confronts Hiiragi by asking her if she was the one who stabbed Haruno. Hiiragi denies the accusation and reminds him that she was in front of the stage; she could, thus, not have stabbed Haruno. Toto knows that she is lying though: She was neither in front nor next or behind the stage; she was underneath it. Hiiragi was under the stage because she had to hand Haruno the clothes for the costume change which was planned for the blackout; only Haruno and Hiiragi knew about the costume change. When it was time for it, Hiiragi lifted the panel and drove the knife into Haruno who was kneeling at the opening. Haruno was stabbed perpendicularly, and Hiiragi put a mask between Haruno and the knife to ensure no blood would drip down on her. A false nail was found at the crime scene; Hiiragi lost it when she closed the panel.

Hiiragi still denies everything and asks for proof. Toto replies that she mentioned a commotion over a gun earlier and then asks her what color the gun had; if she was truly in front of the stage, she should know that. Hiiragi says she thinks it was either black or silver, and Toto tells her that there was never a gun: Everyone present knows it was actually a handheld firework made of paper. Because Hiiragi was under the stage, she only heard Toto call to drop the gun and what sounded like a gunshot.

Elmer then points out that Hiiragi was the one who asked for Toto's help: Why would she seek out a police officer if she wanted to kill someone? Ron says that Hiiragi did not originally plan to murder Haruno; she only formulated a plan after she learned of the incident and the candy Haruno gave out afterward. Hiiragi then reveals that she figured out that this candy killed her mother fifteen years ago when she heard about the incident. Fifteen years ago, Hiiragi received candy from Haruno at the Obon festival which she gave to her ill mother who died only a few days afterward. Hiiragi never quite believed that her mother died of an illness, and when she heard Haruno's story, she looked up her mother's symptoms and found out that they all point to arsenic poisoning. Hiiragi had become Haruno's manager to honor her mother, and now that she learned that Haruno had caused her mother's death, Hiiragi wants Haruno dead.

Enraged, Hiiragi tries to stab Haruno with the syringe but Toto slams it from her hand and pushes her to the ground. Haruno then speaks up and tells Hiiragi that she did not give her any of the candy she had received from fans that day but macarons that were bought only for her. Chicory adds that the threatener only sent out poisoned chocolate. Haruno also reveals that she employed Hiiragi because she recognized her as the girl from fifteen years ago. Hearing the truth, Hiiragi breaks down and apologizes.

## References

1. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 71, page 13
2. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 69, pages 7-8
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 71, page 14
4. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 71, page 17
5. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 69, pages 4-19
6. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 70, pages 2-3
7. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 70, pages 4-6
8. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 70, pages 14-15
9. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 70, page 3
10. ↑ *Ron Kamonohashi: Deranged Detective* manga; Chapter 71, pages 5-17