Death Sentence (Chapter)

**Death Sentence** (死の宣告, *Shi no Senkoku*?) is the first chapter of the third volume and the seventh chapter overall of the *Platinum End* manga series, written and illustrated by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, respectively.

## Summary

Mirai wonders why the man sounds desperate to prove his innocence after suddenly appearing at Saki's balcony. He tells Mirai to hit him with an Arrow at the risk that he is under Metropoliman's control. Revel instructs Saki to shoot him, but Nasse stops her, saying that the man is not lying.

With Mirai and Saki's Arrows on standby, the group lets the man inside the room. Revel states that Nasse is bound to be correct whenever she detects someone lying and believes that the man had no reason to ask Mirai to hit him with an Arrow if he wanted to attack first. Revel adds that it would have been useless to pierce him with an Arrow if they were to form an alliance since he would be under Mirai and Saki's control, with no freedom of speaking his mind. With this, Mirai and Saki trust that the man is innocent and will their Arrows away.

The man confesses that he has terminal cancer with no possible recovery. He recalls being diagnosed four months ago, when he was given three months to live. Three months afterward, an Angel appeared before him, whom he thought was to escort him to the afterlife. However, he was invited by the Angel to the God choosing process after she had seen that he had lost all hope in living. He was introduced as Nanato Mukaido, who ended up joining the God choosing process to secure his family's safety once he passes.

At present, Mukaido confesses that he had swindled the richest men in Japan and obtained 200 million yen using his Red Arrows, which will be kept safe for his wife and children. For this reason, he believes that he is a thief and does not deserve to become God. However, he also believes that the best path for him while he is still alive is to prevent Metropoliman from becoming God. To defeat Metropoliman and decide who is the best fit to become God, Mukaido wishes to meet all 12 God candidates. Before the meeting at the Jinbo Stadium, Mukaido had apparently used all his Arrows to control 14 detectives and psychologists in doing the work for him. Through the detectives, he found out that Mirai and Saki showed signs that they could see the Angels and Arrows, and from then on, he decided to ally himself with them.

Revel is worried that Mukaido has successfully discovered Mirai's and Saki's identities and advises that they must be more careful next time despite Mukaido being beneficial to them. Mukaido asks if Mirai and Saki would like to become God, and they decline. He then informs them that he found another God candidate at the park and showed them a photo of a young boy. He proposes that they team up to find the boy, which Mirai agrees with in exchange of promising him to continue his treatment. Mukaido agrees and introduces himself, revealing that he is a production employee at an apparel company.

At his lair, Kanade wonders what he should do with the three new sets of Wings and Arrows that he has after the grand incident at the Jinbo Stadium. He realizes that a person who is under the control of the Red Arrow cannot kill himself or commit murder on their own, and that there is no order way to cause death besides a White Arrow. However, he wonders if the command using the Red Arrow would work on someone who is already prepared to die.

Back at Saki's room, Mukaido is surprised to learn that Mirai has the ability to shoot White Arrows. He gladly tells Saki, who only possesses Red Arrows, to claim his Wings once he passes, which earns a warning from Mirai for speaking about death. He then introduces his Angel to be Baret, the Angel of Knowledge, who was demoted from Special Rank to First Rank for being a know-it-all. With the help of Nasse, Mukaido begins drawing a guide map of all the thirteen Angels, their abilities, and their selected God candidates: three Angels are in Special Rank and four Angels are in the First and Second Rank each, while Ogaro's rank is unknown. Excluding Metropoliman whose real identity is unknown, there are five other God candidates who have not been revealed, including the child that Mukaido's detectives photographed. Before leaving, Mukaido suggests that they must all hide their identities from the public and offers to make costumes for them.

At Joso Academy, Minamikawa asks Kanade to accompany him to the middle school archery club's practice. Watching Sayuri, Minamikawa wishes he can go out with her, prompting Kanade to offer to help him charm her if he would die for it in exchange. Afterward, Kanade asks Minamikawa about one wish that he would like to come true. Minamikawa wishes that he would like for all ugly women to disappear from the world and asks Kanade about his wish. He tells him that he would like to bring the dead back to life, referring to his younger sister.

Minamikawa notices that the archery club has ended practice and that the range is now empty. Kanade stacks an Arrow on top of another and shoots at the target. He concludes that it is possible to shoot from 60 meters away if two Arrows are connected, and 90 meters if there are three. After school, Kanade flies to Joso Industries to visit Rea's frozen body for her birthday.

Mukaido is back at Saki's room and encourages the alliance to find the boy in the image. Suddenly, a news alert goes off on television about an escapee called Girl A, who was sentenced in prison for targeting middle school students two years ago. Viewing Girl A's criminal declaration, Mukaido surmises that she is being controlled by Metropoliman.

## Character in order of appearance

1. Mirai Kakehashi
2. Nasse
3. Kanade Uryu
4. Meyza
5. Revel
6. Saki Hanakago
7. Nanato Mukaido
8. Baret (flashback)
9. Mizukiyo Minamikawa
10. Susumu Yuito (photo)
11. Rea Uryu (corpse)