A DARKENED SUN opens as a whodunnit with warmth and humor:
psychology sophomore Haruka and sharp-witted high schooler Ren team up to track down a bag-snatcher in autumnal Hokkaido. But as they close in on their suspect, a petty crime unravels into a vast fraud operation—and it becomes clear that each of them is hiding a painful secret of their own.

A parallel strand follows Rio Shimizu, nineteen, who has been drawn into the criminal underworld by poverty and the need to protect her younger sister. As the three protagonists’ paths converge, the lines between victim and perpetrator dissolve, and Abe asks a quietly devastating question: to what extent do the wounds we carry determine who we become?

“The center was sunken in darkness, and nothing could be seen, but its fiery outline emitted a powerful glow. This was the kind of entity they were now dealing with.” — p. 342