This is the 14th Chapter of The Summer Hikaru Died manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren.
Synopsis[]
To make more tangible progress in his search for "Nounuki-sama," Tanaka decides on a more aggressive solution to uncover the entity's location – much to Hajime's dismay. Meanwhile, Yoshiki and his friends get together and have some lighthearted fun with fireworks. However, it doesn't last long until one spark, in the form of a simple question directed at "Hikaru," brings their joyful pastime to an abrupt end.
Plot[]
Tanaka leads Takeda Hajime through a rural path in a village. Takeda asks if he can erect another barrier around the whole village, like the one he had placed at Mikasa's shrine. Tanaka explains that he can't, since doing so requires one of his organs in return. He further explains that he doesn't have any spiritual intuition, so he has to use methods like this, and further elaborates that his methods are much stronger than his Company's typical recommendations. After Hajime inquires about the bruise on Tanaka's neck, he confirms that this was also "taken" on one of his previous jobs. He remarks that it slowly spreads from time to time, but considers it unproblematic overall.
They then arrive at what appears to be a small shrine, but Tanaka immediately kicks it over. Shocked, Takeda holds him back from doing more damage, but it's already destroyed and Tanaka appears to have found what he was looking for underneath it. He then takes out a pocket knife and cuts a line across the palm of his hand, then places a small bell directly on the bloody wound and throws it onto the ruined shrine. He tells Takeda that there's an entity here that's like a wild hound, and he'll use it to chase after Nounuki-sama. Takeda thinks to himself that Tanaka will eventually be detrimental to their village, but wonders if he's actually hoping for that deep down.
At Kibogayama High, Yoshiki snaps pictures of "Hikaru" as part of his activities for the photography club. He's approached by Tezuka, one of the teachers. She compliments the club's photos from last year's school festival, particularly a photo of a church. Yoshiki realizes it's strange how a remote town like theirs has so many churches. Tezuka then explains that oppressed believers flocked to this land during the Edo period, and Yoshiki recalls Kameyama's family as an example. Tezuka also explains that the land here was somehow hard for the feudal domain to interfere with, so the believers were safe from persecution here.
Later, Yoshiki and "Hikaru" gather at the Indou family home with Asako, Yuuki, and Maki. "Hikaru" sends Yoshiki to grab a game from his bedroom. While he's there, Yoshiki notices a baseball cap that invokes a memory from his childhood. He'd gotten lost at a festival, but his father found him admid the crowd, and pulled him away. They sat down together and his father said the festival was originally meant to celebrate the god of the mountain. He warned Yoshiki to stay away from it, or else he'd be taken away. Hikaru and his father then appeared and invited them to come along, the latter wearing the baseball cap that now hangs in Hikaru's room.
In the present, Yoshiki muses that he never spoke much with his father but strangely, he can remember this moment clearly. He pulls the video game he was looking for off of the bookshelf, and with it drops a crusty piece of notebook paper. He unfolds it and sees Hikaru's handwriting. A lot of the writing is obscured but he can make out words like "Hichi" and "duty of the Indous."
Later that night, the group plays with sparkler fireworks together. The lighter they're using stops working, so "Hikaru" says he'll go to Yamahisa to buy a new one, and Asako offers to tag along. The two leave together while the the other three stay behind to clean up. Yoshiki soon leaves to Yamahisa as well to buy ice cream, following after Asako and "Hikaru."
While walking, Asako points out Red Sand Mountain in the distance and "Hikaru" confirms it's the one where he went missing, though he doesn't really remember most of it. Asako remarks that at the time, every day felt like being at a wake, so it's good that he's back and it seems like things are returning back to normal. She hesitates for a moment, and says that if it doesn't make any sense what she's about to say, then he should just ignore it – she then proceeds to ask him, who exactly he is.
Character Appearances[]
- Tanaka
- Takeda Hajime
- "Hikaru"
- Tsujinaka Yoshiki
- Tezuka
- Kameyama (mentioned)
- Yamagishi Asako
- Tadokoro Yuuki
- Maki Yuuta
- Tsujinaka Satoko (flashback; mentioned)
- Tsujinaka Toshinori (flashback)
- Indou Kouhei (flashback)
- Indou Hikaru (flashback)
- Yamahisa (mentioned)
Gallery[]
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