Episode 8

**Bless You** (お大事に, *Odaijini*) is the 8th episode of *Odd Taxi* anime series.

## Synopsis

* Yano and Sekiguchi come to realize that Kakihana is just a poor, in-debt janitor, and not worth their time. Kakihana asks if Shiho is safe, only for Yano to reveal that she is part of his gang and that she was using him for money.
* After the Halloween fiasco, Dobu and Odokawa meet to make another plan, only for them to be interrupted by a call from Yamamoto, who asks to pick him up along with one of the Mystery Kiss girls. Dobu offers to hide in the trunk and eavesdrop on Yamamoto, who may ask about buying the dash cam data again, but Odokawa refuses, seeing it as too risky, and a breach of client confidentiality. Dobu then asks Odokawa to offer the data for one billion yen, instead.
* Odokawa picks up Yamamoto and Shiho, and is asked to drive to Shibaura Harbor. Odokawa ponders where he has seen her before. Yamamoto reveals to Shiho, who wants to quit the gang's scheme, that the target (Kakihana) ended up being broke. When Yamamoto asks Odokawa for the dash cam, Odokawa asks him for one billion yen, much to his shock. Odokawa tells him that someone was going to give him nine hundred million yen for it, but Odokawa refuses to say who the offer was from. Yamamoto considers the offer, but says that he has to ask his superiors about it.
* Yamamoto and Shiho go to the warehouse where Kakihana is tied up, where Sekiguchi tells them that Yano is busy, and shows disappointment with Mystery Kiss' sales. Kakihana wakes up, begging Shiho to tell him that their time together was meaningful, but she reveals her disgust in him, and says that her reason behind wanting to quit is because of this disgust.
* Outside of the warehouse, Odokawa spots Yano's scooter, before receiving a text from Gouriki asking whether he can recognize Kakihana in a picture taken from behind, and inviting him to Yamabiko. Gouriki and Shirakawa are surprised by his accurate response, and hypothesize that Odokawa might possess some type of synesthesia Shirakawa also brings up the fact that Odokawa talks to someone in his home when he is presumably alone, with Gouriki believing that he is talking to an imaginary friend brought on by stress. Gouriki tells Shirakawa that Odokawa's parents left him when he was in middle school, and that an NPO who took care of orphans paid for his living expenses. When he reveals that he had met Odokawa three years ago, Shirakawa asks about their first meeting.
* Gouriki reminisces about the taxi ride where they had first met, where Odokawa was able to recognize that he was a doctor, guess his expression without looking at him, and know where to take a shortcut to the clinic. Odokawa had claimed that he was psychic, and that he could see souls. Gouriki then explains that Odokawa had actually had him as a customer before, and simply remembered him, further cementing the synesthesia explanation in his eyes. When he asks Shirakawa if she wants to go to Yamabiko, she refuses as she thinks that Odokawa will leave the moment he sees her.
* At Yamabiko, Odokawa recognizes a Donraku Shofutei autograph, and Taeko explains that he had stopped by earlier. Gouriki, wanting to test his theory, plays a game with Taeko and Odokawa, where he shows the two various pictures. Notably, Odokawa recognizes Kakihana from behind, cannot recognize someone from an unsigned message, and can recognize Shirakawa even when her eyes are covered. Gouriki changes the subject when Odokawa tries to pry.
* Back at the warehouse, Yamamoto tells Sekiguchi that someone wants to buy Odokawa's dash cam data for 900 million yen. Yamamoto explains his desperation to get his hands on the data due to a recent news broadcast, before Sekiguchi angrily chides him. Yamamoto tries to explain that Mystery Kiss will come into good money soon and that there is a particularly obsessed fan who just won one billion yen in the lottery. Sekiguchi is skeptical, but Yano notes that Dobu is likely the one who offered 900 million yen, and is planning on robbing the fan. Yano wants to wait for Dobu's plan before doing anything with Kakihana, and has him call his mother for what is likely the last time.
* Kabasawa boasts about catching Dobu on video, and claims that he will not get away with attacking a member of his "Online Salon". However, he believes that one of the members of the salon is a traitor who revealed Kabasawa while he was filming. Kabasawa declares he will find the traitor, also revealing that the salon is nearly at ten thousand members, and that, for a limited time, the membership fee is ten thousand yen, and that he is placing a million yen bounty on the traitor's head. Two viewers in Odokawa's taxi note that Kabasawa is gaining haters as his fame grows. Odokawa then receives a message from Taeko worrying about Kakihana due to the fact that he has not come in for a week.
* While working at the cabaret club, Shibagaki discovers that Homosapiens made it into the N-1 semifinals, to his delight.
* At Dobu's apartment, he and Odokawa discuss Yamamoto's involvement with Yano and the data. Dobu then reveals his plans to rob a bank; he plans to rob a newly rich Imai as he withdraws his money under duress by Yano, who needs that money for the dash cam data. Dobu explains that he is allied with a bank employee and Kenshiro, and wants Odokawa's aid as well. Though Dobu is suspicious of Odokawa's questions, Odokawa is able to record their conversation without his knowledge, and takes a picture of him.
* While waiting for Imai at the White Dolphin, Odokawa sends the recording to Koshiro, and tries to get in touch with Kakihana. Odokawa reveals to Imai that the yakuza is looking to take his money, much to his shock, and instructs him to edit the picture of his ticket, change residences, and lay low for a while. When Imai tells him that Mystery Kiss' "spring's finally on the horizon", Odokawa remembers what Kakihana told him about his new date, and realizes that he was dating Shiho, who is connected to Yano's gang.

## Characters

* Sekiguchi
* Yano
* Eiji Kakihana
* Dobu
* Hiroshi Odokawa
* Fuyuki Yamamoto
* Shiho Ichimura
* Ayumu Gouriki
* Miho Shirakawa
* Atsuya Baba (radio, flashback)
* Donraku Shofutei (mentioned)
* Taeko Harada
* Taichi Kabasawa
* Kensuke Shibagaki
* Kenshiro Daimon (mentioned)
* Hajime Tanaka (mentioned)
* Koshiro Daimon (referenced)
* Shun Imai

## Trivia

* "Bless you" the episode title is what people would say after someone sneezed, like when Odokawa took the sneak picture of Dobu.
* Yano compares his instincts to those of Inspector Totsugawa, a fictional character in the mystery novel series *Totsugawa Police Department Series*, by Kyotaro Nishimura.