I will generally copy this information over thread to thread each week for ease of finding - you can always expect the schedule at the top of any weekly thread
Law and Order
Any reveals, for the current chapters must be behind spoilers or detail curtains. When we get further in you don’t need to hide details that were revealed in previous chapters.
Questions on vocab, grammar, nuance, and the like are both welcome and encouraged. If you’re not sure if it’s a spoiler, assume it is and use one of the above options to hide the text.
You are encouraged to speculate and guess wildly
Be kind about other peoples’ wild guesses
Even if you don’t read the chapter(s) in time, you are still encouraged to post in the thread for that reading once you have finished it. I advise not reading ahead in the threads as you may see spoilers.
To gauge participation - a poll!
Are you reading week 3?
Yes, I’m planning to read along/am reading along this week
I’m reading, but not at the same pace as the club
I had no intentions of reading the book, but I desire to click a poll
This book is such a comfortable read, I’ve already managed to catch up!
Well, chapter six finished on one hell of a cliffhanger if I understand correctly so it looks like the couple are actually siblings? And the guide was their father? If so, what is with these mystery books and incest?
Hold up! Why would the man suspect them? What of? I thought they were just a regular couple caught up in an accident - well obviously not or there wouldn’t be a book - but… are they actually predators? Did they already have something to hide? Were they planning something? And isn’t Chihiro a girl’s name?
I actually wanted to pause reading the chapter halfway, and come here to post that I think they’re siblings, because why would that place they had never been in be important for both of them? But then it was explained anyway. Anyway, I don’t think we’re necessarily dealing with incest. I think that’s why the woman is so cool about the man having a girlfriend. They were strangely close for adult siblings, but maybe they found each other later in life? I’m sure we’ll find out more soon.
By the way, the place they mention seems to be 白神山地. I don’t know why books avoid explicitly mentioning place names so much.
Oh good point, I would definitely prefer your explanation! Although my controversial dark prediction is that it is incest and the dad works it out and kills himself over guilt/horror/fear that his new young child will turn out like these two, so it’s not really a murder after all
Also I think it is Riku Onda’s stylistic preference for the place names, she did the same for The Aosawa Murders.
So many questions about the last line of chapter 6.
If they are just siblings and not in a romantic relationship, what was up with the whole earring thing? The song reference was about betrayal in a romantic relationship. Why would you hide your earring in your brother’s bag because he’s… moving out to be with a girl and you won’t live together anymore? You feel betrayal because you’re codependent?
Why was going to see their dad their “last stop”? I took it to mean that it would be the end of their relationship with each other, but why?
Is あの男 the same as the guide?
I’ve been having some difficulty keeping track of all the clues that have been dropped so far. Feels like I understand each sentence while reading but then whoosh, the details just don’t stick in my mind like they do when reading in English. I feel like I’m going to have to reread the earlier chapters now and see if I catch anything new.
I’m thinking these two people maybe come from different homes, and bonded when they realized they’re (half?) brother and sister. Maybe they found each other while in search of their identities, maybe they didn’t even know they had siblings before then. I guess that finding their father (from whom they expect nothing and had no intention to interact with), will be like the end of that journey, and therefore their bond would become looser, like a regular adult sibling relationship? I may be completely off of course. (New thought: maybe they present themselves to other people as a couple, because it’s easier to explain why they live and travel together all the time. So when they part ways, they won’t be able to be in each other’s life any more without raising suspicion).
As for the earring, it’s not like the song had to be true to their situation 100%. She took from it only the elements she needed. The earring in his bag creates a secret bond between them that even he doesn’t know about. They may part ways, but he will carry a part of her until he finds it or throws away the bag. It’s partly an attempt to keep the idea of their bond, and partly an insurance policy I think, in case he was violent towards her or something (she did think he might kill her, didn’t she?), where it would be a clue that just might connect them.)
Me too, actually. I think it may be that we’re reading only a couple chapters per week, or more likely that I’m also reading several other things at the same time, but I find I often can’t remember if something was stated explicitly or it was just my (possibly wrong) interpretation of vague clues.
I totally agree, I know that wakeru can just be to part, it doesn’t mean a break up, but then it’s not normal to never intend to see your sibling again once you’ve moved out from your shared house. I think the author has exploited the ambiguities of ‘wakeru’ and ‘kare’ deliberately here! Maybe the next chapter will shed some more light on their strange arrangement…
That would make a lot of sense! I think because I had been reading through the lens of one interpretation (and forgetting exactly which details were explicitly given and which details I had filled in) I got to the end of the section and was just like whaaaa…? And rushed over here to share the with you guys, haha. Definitely want to go back and reread in light of new revelations.
I was late to this week’s reading and oh boy, what a cliffhanger!
I had mostly the same thoughts as you all. I was like Chihiro? Isn’t that a girl’s name? It certainly seems more common as a girl’s name and I think the choice to not write it using kanji was intentional.
I’m also thinking incest might be happening…? The youtube ‘trailer’ for the book says, ‘犯人はかつての恋人なのか’ when explaining the set up…but it could totally be a diversion.
I can’t wait to dig in deeper, this is getting juicy
I know this is a very late comment but I finally read through chapter 6 and had to write something lol
Dang! With all the ambiguities I was wondering who this guy would turn out to be, and why they had to meet him while concealing their identities, but did not expect him to be their father!
The book already had y attention but I’m definitely going to push to catch up with you all now.
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Law and Order 
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with you guys, haha. Definitely want to go back and reread in light of new revelations.
