Episode 5

**The Water Flea's Song** (ミジンコの歌) is the fifth episode of the anime of *Migi and Dali*.

## Synopsis

The Ichijo family invites the Sonoyama family over for dinner to honor Hitori for performing at the top of his class on the midterms. Eiji accuses Hitori of stealing a snowflake button that is missing from a childhood pajama shirt, and the Ichijo family takes Hitori into the house to reeducate him. They keep Migi locked in a hidden room while Dali tries to put together the pieces of why their mother was murdered.

## Plot Summary

The Sonoyama family is invited to the Ichijo family home for dinner to celebrate Hitori for performing at the top of his class on the midterms. Dali and Migi make a plan for Migi to play the role of Hitori while Dali searches the house for the water flea wallpaper and clues to their mother's murder. Prior to their arrival, Eiji is at home in his bedroom looking at a small pajama shirt with a missing snowflake button.

At the Ichijo home, the Sonoyamas are entertained by Mrs. Ichijo and her two children while Dali searches the home. Knowing that Hitori is likely wearing a necklace with the snowflake button, Eiji shows Hitori his pajama shirt with the missing button and interprets Hitori's surprised response as an omission of guilt that he stole it. Dali puts a knife up Migi's shirt to cut the necklace off before Eiji takes off Hitori's shirt. He encourages Eiji to check the pockets of his pants and down to his underwear, and Eiji does so. Eiji tells his dog to find the missing button based on the scent, and Dali, hiding under the table with the button begins to panic. Migi distracts everyone and admits that he took the button, having found it in the bathroom. Mrs. Ichijo suggests to the Sonoyama parents that they are not raising their son properly and suggests that he might be taken away from them if the orphanage were to find out about his behavior. She offers to keep Hitori with the Ichijo family to re-educate him.

Migi is kept in a hidden room, tied up, wearing only his striped underwear and is fed dog food by Eiji, who demands to know why Hitori has the snowflake button that was lost from his pajamas 8 years ago. Dali tries to release his twin, but Migi tells him that he is not in pain and encourages Dali to continue to search the Ichijo home for clues. Migi has been dressed into baby clothes and made to stay in a playpen. Dali says that he has not found the water flea wallpaper anywhere in the home.

Migi recalls a childhood memory of when they heard the water fleas singing and realizes that they were hearing a piano playing. Dali realizes the there is a piano near the hidden room where Migi is and encourages Migi to search the room. Migi realizes the room he is in has water flea wallpaper, and he finds the squiggled lines the two drew as children. He finds a note written by their mother: "Well done my dear Migi and Dali." Migi begins to cry for his mother, and Mrs. Ichijo comes and forces a bottle into his mouth. She tells him to grow up to become Eiji.

Dali continues to search the Ichijo home, disturbed by how the Ichijo family continues their lives as if they are not harboring a child in a hidden room. When trying to enter the Ichijo father's study when the family is gone, he is discovered by Mrs. Mitsuyama who cleans the home every Wednesday. He searches the office and finds a photo of Mr. and Mrs. Ichijo discovering from the reflection on a glass in the photo that reveals their mother was the one to photograph the photo. Mrs. Mitsuyama suspects the woman was a housekeeper for the family but finds this strange as the Ichijo family prefers their housekeepers to be over the age of 50.

Dali tricks Mrs. Mitsuyama into going into the upstairs rooms where she is not supposed to go. They find a portrait that turns and opens the way into an attic, where there is a large diorama of Origon Village. The diorama contains miniature figurines of all the people who live in the village, and Dali finds documents that suggest that the family has everyone in the village under surveillance. Mrs. Mitsuyama encourages Dali to hide upon hearing a noise. Later, he leaves his hiding place and finds that the figurine of Mrs. Mitsuyama has been decapitated.

## Characters

* Migi
* Dali
* Youko Sonoyama
* Osamu Sonoyama
* Eiji Ichijo
* Karen Ichijo
* Fidelite
* Reiko Ichijo
* Akira Ichijo *mentioned*
* Mrs. Mitsuyama