Deep Water

Thirteen-year-old Aki Kasuga is discovered at a gruesome crime scene near Lake Ezu in Kumamoto City, standing over the bodies of her murdered parents. Found by both her younger sister and Detective Toru Takahira, she becomes the prime suspect in a case shrouded in mystery, as the true motive behind the killings remains entirely unknown. Due to her status as a minor, Aki avoids standard incarceration and instead enters a rehabilitation program designed for juvenile offenders. To sever ties with her dark past, she assumes a new identity, living from that point forward under the name Sei Kamihara. Six years later, the fragile peace surrounding Lake Ezu is shattered once again when a young girl is found dead near the same waters. The tragedy deepens just one week later when several animals at the local zoo are discovered lifeless. As these unsettling incidents unfold across Kumamoto, an ominous pattern begins to emerge. What sinister thread connects the murder of Aki’s parents, the death of the child, and the sudden demise of the zoo animals? As Sei Kamihara, Detective Takahira, and those entangled in the city's growing nightmare search for answers, they must uncover the hidden link binding these seemingly unrelated tragedies together before more lives are lost.