This is the 12th Chapter of The Summer Hikaru Died manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren.
Synopsis[]
Tanaka, the man who was sent to investigate Kubitachi, has come to take a look around the mountain area, where Indou Hikaru went missing all those months ago. It doesn't take him long to find a promising lead, and with that, he makes his way to discuss it with Kubitachi's village leaders. Meanwhile, Yoshiki and "Hikaru" are in the process of confronting the ominous hair entity. However, it poses to be a much bigger threat than they expected, with Yoshiki still being under its control and unwillingly drowning the both of them in the bathtub. "Hikaru" did promise Yoshiki he'd protect him. And so he decides to fight back, to stay true to his word...
Plot[]
Tanaka drives into the Kubitachi Mountains, then travels on foot into the restricted area on Red Sand Mountain. He notes that the hamster he's carrying with him is staying calm. He explores a little more and accidentally steps on a waist bag that was left on the ground, which also alerts his hamster. On the drive back down the mountain, he hits a large crack in the road. He later arrives at the Takeda household in Kubitachi to meet with Takeda Hajime and Mikasa. When Mikasa comments that he looks ragged, Tanaka laughs and says that "they're" more likely to approach him if he looks dirty. Once they are seated inside, Tanaka begins to explain what he found in the mountains.
Elsewhere, at a convenience store, Asako tells Yuuki about how she got roped into an arm wrestling match with a boy from another class. They eventually decide to head home, and are going to part ways, but Asako stares down the road toward the railroad crossing. She tells Yuuki that she probably shouldn't cross that way today, and Yuuki agrees, saying that Asako's intuition is never wrong. Amidst the clanging of the tracks, Asako hears the words "it's coming" repeated over and over. She puts in her headphones to drown it out, as she starts walking home.
At the Tsujinaka household, Yoshiki is affected by an entity and has gotten on top of "Hikaru," forcing the both of them underwater in the bathtub and scratching "Hikaru"'s face in the process. By pushing his foot against Yoshiki's stomach, "Hikaru" is able to bring both their heads above the surface of the water. He quickly realizes that the entity has gone inside of Yoshiki. Yoshiki suddenly bites down on "Hikaru"'s arm, hard enough to break skin. "Hikaru"'s insides spill out and enter Yoshiki's mouth, forcing the entity out the back side of Yoshiki's head. Yoshiki releases his jaw, slightly confused at what he was doing. "Hikaru" glares at the corner, where the entity has fled to, but it manages to escape. Yoshiki notices that "Hikaru" is bleeding and asks why he has bitten him.
After they've dried off and changed clothes, Yoshiki apologizes. "Hikaru" brushes it off, reminding Yoshiki that he's just weak to that sort of interference. He also takes blame for letting the entity get away from him in the first place, and is glad that they had built up his resistance before.[1][2] Yoshiki is still disturbed, unable to forget the feeling of his hands drowning "Hikaru" – but "Hikaru" is just glad that Yoshiki came back fine. When Yoshiki asks why he goes so far to protect him, "Hikaru" just replies that he did so unthinkingly, in the spur of the moment. He hastily changes the subject by asking to go catch frogs, which makes Yoshiki laugh and call him a country bumpkin. "Hikaru" says that he really likes the countryside, unlike Yoshiki. Yoshiki admits that the countryside isn't all bad, it just doesn't feel like where he belongs. Their conversation is interrupted by Yoshiki's mother, who asks them about dinner.
At the railroad crossing that Asako and Yuuki avoided, an entity begins to appear over the railing. It suddenly gets dispelled by Kurebayashi's interference. She's reminded of Yoshiki, and hopes that he's okay.
Character Appearances[]
- Tanaka
- Takeda Hajime
- Mikasa Tetsu
- Yamagishi Asako
- Tadokoro Yuuki
- Takeshita (flashback)
- "Hikaru"
- Tsujinaka Yoshiki
- Tsujinaka Satoko
- Tsujinaka Kaoru (mentioned)
- Kurebayashi Rie
- Kurebayashi Iori (flashback)
Gallery[]
References
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