her father's (changing her last name from Nishimoto to Karasawa) and matures into a beautiful upper-class woman, attracting the attention of multiple men and achieving success in different fields, such as stock trading and opening up a successful clothing store chain. However, many people connected to her suffer from incredible misfortunes, and several characters in the narrative note that there is a hidden dark side to Yukiho hidden beneath the surface. Throughout the story, Sasagaki shows up multiple times, unable to let go of the unresolved murder and determined to find the truth, even after the case passes the statute of limitations. Twenty years after the incident in 1992, he is finally able to piece together the truth: Fumiyo Nishimoto was prostituting her daughter to Yosuke Kirihara in order to pay the bills, explaining the interest displayed by Yosuke towards the family in the beginning of the story. Ryoji, who was Yukiho's friend, became suspicious after seeing her with his father and followed them to an abandoned building, where he witnessed Yosuke molesting her. In his grief, he killed his father with a pair of scissors. In turn, Yukiho killed her mother by drugging her with sleeping pills and causing a gas leak in her house. Ryoji and Yukiho then developed a close relationship of some sort in order to cope with their grief, using their talents to achieve success and ruthlessly disposing of anyone who got in their way. Towards the novel's end, Sasagaki is able to obtain evidence linking Ryoji to Matsuura's death. The police wait for him to appear at the opening of Yukiho's second shop on Christmas Day, and discover he is one of the employees dressing up as Santa Claus. Cornered, Ryoji runs to the top of the building and jumps to his death. When asked, Yukiho denies knowing him. Characters The son of the victim killed 19 years ago, Ryoji's eyes have been dark and emotionless since the childhood incidence. He loathes getting close with other people. He started to get involved in shady businesses like housewife prostitution rings and game bootlegging when he was a student. He is a very astute man who possesses professional software skills. He loves to use vintage scissors of his since childhood and is very good at paper cutting. (The English translation by Alexander Smith renamed him Ryo Kirihara for reasons unknown.) A stunning beauty, Yukiho is the