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3-something A.M. A drunk regular announces to the whole store that Kaito and Amano Yuki — the night-bus driver who stops in on her 3:12 layover — are obviously in love. Unable to make himself deny a thing that happens to be true, Kaito treats the claim as a factual error to be corrected: he collects contradictory, unverifiable verdicts from the night regulars (a tracksuit can-collector, a nurse, a student, an old man) and even phones head office out of pure displacement, three times opening his mouth to deny it and three times failing. When Yuki arrives and is told what was said, she answers flatly — "Yes. Obviously. So?" — and Kaito finally agrees out loud. They stand there having admitted it with nothing whatsoever to do about it, because her layover is thirteen minutes and then she has to go drive a bus. She leaves at 3:31. At dawn Kaito says the rest of it to an empty doorway, and Rin — who filmed the whole confession — quietly decides not to post it. A self-contained deadpan Dead Hours comedy: Kaito gets the correct answer and nothing else.
Page 1
A wide establishing shot of the interior of a 24-hour convenience store at around 3 A.M. Fluorescent lights buzz overhead; rain runs down the front windows onto an empty street. Kaito (name tag KAITO) stands behind the register, deadpan and tired. A drunk salaryman in a rumpled grey suit and loosened tie slumps against the counter holding a can. Rin (name tag RIN) leans on a shelf, holding up her phone to film. KAITO: ...quiet one tonight.
Page 2
Three panels. Top: the drunk salaryman points a wobbling finger across the counter at Kaito, delivering a grand pronouncement. Middle: a tight close-up on the drunk's smug, flushed face, finger still raised. Bottom: Kaito (name tag KAITO) stands frozen and blank-faced as Rin's phone swings into the foreground, filming him. SALARYMAN: You. And the bus driver. SALARYMAN: You're in love. Obviously. RIN: oh, we're recording this.
Page 3
Two panels establishing the chapter's running beat. Top: Kaito (name tag KAITO) stands behind the counter, mouth just opening, a bead of sweat on his temple, saying nothing. Bottom: the same framing, mouth open now, one index finger raised as if to correct a fact. KAITO: ...that's not—