Winter Limited Edition Bonbon Chocolate Case: Part 1
The small-time citizen flies in the sky

Part 1: The Fox's Deep Sleep

Chapter 1: According to the letter left behind, Osanai
Chapter 2: My Middle School Sins
Chapter 3: Were We Really Destined to Meet?
Chapter 4: Kobato and Osanai
Chapter 5: A Good Day to Find Secrets

The Winter Limited Edition Bonbon Chocolate Case: Part 2
Part 2: The Wolf Never Forgets

Chapter 6: Unfounded Suspicions
Chapter 7 Please water the withered flowers
Chapter 8 Lucky Star
Chapter 9: Undesirable Characters
Chapter 10: The End of a Golden Age
Chapter 11: The Price of Sin

The petty bourgeois does not fly in the sky
Commentary: Kobato, Living in Bed | Masato Matsuura
Translator's Note

Kobato Becomes a Bed Detective

Kobato and Osanai have become inseparable to each other since last summer.
But on a winter day a few days before Christmas, a mysterious vehicle crashes into the two people walking home from school together.
Kobato, who lost consciousness in the accident and barely woke up, finds a message card left by his bedside.
“I won’t forgive you.” It seems that Osanai has set out to find the culprit of the hit-and-run accident himself… … .

But this incident was so similar to the hit-and-run accident that Kobato had tried to solve three years ago.
Is it just a coincidence that past and present events resemble each other? And why can't Kobato meet Osanai, who visits every night?

『The Winter Limited Bonbon Chocolate Incident』 begins with a rather shocking incident, despite its sweet title.
Kobato, who was involved in a sudden hit-and-run accident on the way home from school with Osanai, is seriously injured, and after barely regaining consciousness, he is forced to stay in bed for a while, and of course, he is faced with the fact that he has to give up the college entrance exams he had been preparing for since April in the previous work, "The Autumn Limited Kurikinton Incident."
Even tossing and turning in her hospital bed is painful, and Kobato remembers that a very similar hit-and-run accident had occurred three years earlier at the same location as her accident.
And he decides to slowly reflect on his middle school days, recalling the huge failure he had committed at the time.

In “Yonezawa Honobu and the Classics Club” (translated by Kim Seon-yeong, published by Elixir, 2021), author Honobu Yonezawa stated that while writing the second full-length novel in the series, “The Summer Limited Tropical Parfait Incident,” she “planned to use the same motif as Josephine Tei’s “The Daughter of Time” in “The Winter Limited Bon Bon Chocolat Incident.”
That is, in this work, Kobato becomes a 'bed detective', lying motionless, overcoming physical pain and using only his reasoning powers to look back on the accident from three years ago and his own failures.
Meanwhile, Osanai, whom he rarely meets in person, is busy outside the hospital room, investigating the case with Kobato through message cards.
As Kobato's past flashbacks and present-day hospital life intersect, the mysteries of the past gradually become mysteries of the present.
Was the accident that Kobato suffered really just a coincidence caused by bad luck?

Regarding the "Petit Bourgeois" series, which is Honobu Yonezawa's representative school youth mystery series along with the "Classical Club" series, the author explained, "Unlike the "Classical Club" series, which depicts the mysteries of everyday life, the hidden theme of this (the "Petit Bourgeois" series) is that the sins of the incidents that occur become increasingly heavier."
In fact, in the previous work, Kobato and Osanai solved fraud, kidnapping, and a series of arson cases in succession.
So how will the mystery of the hit-and-run accident, in which the victim himself became the victim, be unraveled? As you turn the pages, brimming with curiosity, you'll be amazed by the seemingly unrelated foreshadowing that connects and reveals the "truth behind the scenes."

Beyond a 'reciprocal relationship', to a proper and reasonable relationship

As the youth detective duo is featured, the growth and change of Kobato and Osanai is a point of interest that cannot be overlooked in the "Petit Bourgeois" series.
Kobato, the "cunning fox", and Osanai, the "sly wolf", experienced some failures in middle school due to their personalities, and after entering high school, they promised each other a mutually beneficial relationship to avoid repeating the same mistakes, taking their first steps as "petty citizens."
(『The Spring Limited Strawberry Tart Incident』) They are neither simple friends nor lovers, but rather, they use each other as excuses to avoid friction with those around them, and they decide to live ordinary lives, ‘not standing out’ and ‘not getting involved in noisy things.’
However, after experiencing a series of events in the "Summer Limited Tropical Tart Incident," the two realized that they did not need to be together to hide their false image as "petty citizens," and said goodbye to each other.
After that, Kobato and Osanai each build relationships with new people and continue their school life as 'petty citizens', but they still acknowledge and accept their self-consciousness that they cannot hide, and they come to reconcile with themselves to some extent and grow.
And we also confirmed the sense of solidarity and connection we felt toward each other. (The Autumn Limited Edition Copper Kinton Incident)

(……) We only regarded the other person as a convenient tool.
A handy tool that has human form, human speech, and occasionally even tells interesting stories.
But now I think it's a little different.
Perhaps we have rediscovered each other as not merely convenient but also valuable tools.
You could also say that you realized that you are a unique being.

_From 『Winter Limited Bonbon Chocolate Incident (Part 1)』

In the previous work, Kobato and Osanai, who acknowledged and accepted each other's existence, are also reconciling with the self-consciousness they had been denying and trying to hide in "The Winter Limited Bonbon Chocolat Incident."
Kobato recalls and reflects on his middle school days, when he was filled with confidence, vanity, and a sense of pride in his abilities, but he knows that his former self has not completely disappeared.
On the other hand, Osanai, whose inner self is relatively hidden, does not seem to deny that he has tamed his 'wolf'-like true nature by putting on sheep's clothing and becoming gentle in society.

The process of constantly clashing between the overconfidence of one's ego during adolescence, the desire to stand out as special, and the desire to belong to the 'ordinary' world despite this, and finding the right distance between them, seems to have finally reached a middle ground in 'The Winter Limited Edition Bon Bon Chocolat Incident.'
The three years of high school life from "Spring" to "Winter" are also "footsteps of the two young men, Kobato and Osanai, gradually accepting themselves."
It may have been only a matter of time before the two became “one of a kind.”
In order to embrace the 'fox' and 'wolf' within oneself, one needs to accept the 'wolf' and 'fox' of the other person.

The four-part "Petit Bourgeois" series concludes with this installment of Kobato and Osanai's high school life, but with a collection of short stories expected to be published in the future, expectations are high that we will soon be seeing the two detective duo again.