This is the 16th Chapter of The Summer Hikaru Died manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren.
Synopsis[]
Asako regains her consciousness and wonders if "Hikaru" is okay, explaining that she worries about him being possessed by a ghost. Yoshiki and "Hikaru" play along with her assumption, and "Hikaru" and her go back to their friends while Yoshiki, seemingly upset with "Hikaru," heads home alone. The next day, however, Yoshiki waits in front of "Hikaru"'s house and asks him if he wants to skip school together. "Hikaru," rightfully confused, can only wonder why his friend is being extra nice today...?
Plot[]
Asako wakes up after passing out. She immediately asks "Hikaru" if he's okay, since she worries he's been possessed by a ghost. She explains her ability to hear beings from The Other Side, and that "Hikaru"'s voice has sounded strange every now and then ever since he came back from the mountains. However, she also sensed that the thing possessing him was also protecting Yoshiki and sometimes felt safer,[1] which is why she thought it might be okay to try communicating with it. Asako is worried the boys will think she's strange for this, but Yoshiki assures her that he believes her. She goes back to join the others at "Hikaru"'s place. Yoshiki, however, decides to go home alone and coldly bumps into "Hikaru," leaving him behind.
"Hikaru" stays overnight with Asako, Maki, and Yuuki. He lies awake in his futon and considers what it means to have life, because a soul does not disappear after death - it simply changes form. He thinks of Yoshiki's soul, which he finds beautiful, and wonders why he doesn't want Yoshiki to die, or whether that desire is actually Indou Hikaru's. He thinks of Asako and realizes his mind is too jumbled to make sense of anything. In the morning, Maki's dad drives him, Yuuki, and Asako home.
The next day, Yoshiki arrives at "Hikaru"'s house to walk to school with him, causing "Hikaru" to wonder why he isn't angry about the day before. To his surprise again, Yoshiki suggests they skip school. They go to watch a movie together. During the film, he asks if Yoshiki isn't still mad, but Yoshiki simply says no and tells him to keep watching. Afterward, Yoshiki stops at a convenience store and buys him an ice pop, which only makes "Hikaru" more confused at how nice he's being. On the walk back to Yoshiki's house, they casually talk about the movie.
Once they're home, they sit on Yoshiki's bed together, noting that Kaoru went to work with his mom today. "Hikaru" is reading a volume of the Master x Master manga, not noticing Yoshiki approaching until he is directly by his side. Yoshiki draws back, breathing heavily, revealing that he has plunged a knife into "Hikaru"'s abdomen.
Yoshiki curls into a ball on the bed, remarking that he should've expected that "Hikaru" wouldn't die. He apologizes repeatedly, saying he had no choice but to try to kill him. "Hikaru" asks if he was planning this all day, and Yoshiki explains that he thought he'd let "Hikaru" enjoy himself during his final hours. To "Hikaru"'s distress, Yoshiki asks to be killed instead. "Hikaru"'s mind is overrun by pained thoughts, panicking over what he should do while tears and his insides begin to leak from his eyes. He slowly calms down and draws his insides back in. He realizes that Yoshiki did this because he's been treating human life too lightly, which he presumes must be the wrong thing to do.
"Hikaru" reaches into his own chest and tears out a piece of himself. His insides spill out of him and then condense into one small piece of bone. He gives it to Yoshiki and explains that he still doesn't understand the importance of human life, but by doing this, he's become small enough for him to not so easily kill someone again. Yoshiki asks why he'd go that far. "Hikaru" explains that he doesn't know what he is and had never felt emotions before the body-snatch, only a vague sense that he had nowhere to belong and no duty to uphold. When Yoshiki accepted him for what he was,[2] "Hikaru" finally felt a sense of belonging, so it meant a lot to him to stay by Yoshiki's side.
Yoshiki thinks to himself that it makes sense "Hikaru" doesn't understand the living. He calls himself an idiot, but reaches out and takes the piece of "Hikaru" from his hand, privately vowing that he'll stay with "Hikaru" until the end, even if it breaks something inside him. Out loud, he reminds "Hikaru" that his existence is probably not meant to be here – but since he's going to remain here, then they should look into his origins and find out what he really is.
Character Appearances[]
- Yamagishi Asako
- Tsujinaka Yoshiki
- "Hikaru"
- Maki Yuuta
- Tadokoro Yuuki
- Indou Hikaru (mentioned)
- Hara (mentioned)
- Tsujinaka Kaoru (mentioned)
- Tsujinaka Satoko (mentioned)
Gallery[]
References
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