This is the 27th Chapter of The Summer Hikaru Died manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren.
Synopsis[]
Tanaka appears at the beach right when “Hikaru” has resolved to go back to the mountain! But he’s not here to fight—he has a favor to ask of the boys...?[1]
Plot[]
Tanaka claims that "Hikaru" is not actually Nounuki-sama, and that sacrificing something to save something else won't be effective. He points out that there's a transmitter on the sole of Yoshiki's shoes. Then he explains that Nounuki-sama doesn't exist, it's just an imaginary god created by human minds; "Hikaru" is an "anomalous being" called Spawn that was treated as Nounuki-sama by the humans who encountered him. Tanaka posits that this happened at the time that the Indou family head wished for Hichi to be resurrected – because "Hikaru" came manifested in our world at that time, the Indou ancestor convinced himself that what he encountered in the Kubitachi Mountains was Nounuki-sama. Tanaka continues that Spawn very rarely appear from The Other Side and can grant people's wishes, although these wishes usually invite tragedy.
He also says that the Indou family ritual holds no meaning – had they done nothing, "Hikaru" would have remained in the mountain. Furthermore, "Hikaru" returning to the mountain now wouldn't help direct impurity away from the town, because "Hikaru" has significantly weakened himself. Because of this, Tanaka assumes that "Hikaru" will self-destruct sooner or later even without Tanaka's interference.
Tanaka then references a Kubitachi folktale called "The Farmer's Head" where the farmer's head fell into a hole on the mountain and in exchange, the village enjoyed a feast.[2] He assumes some of the story is altered or embellished, but says it's likely that the part about the head disappearing is true. The heads disappearing even if their wishes remained unanswered became the basis for the villagers' belief in their god "Unuki-san" which later morphed into "Nounuki-sama". He also says that after looking into it, he's learned that there really is a hole that connects the world of the living to The Other Side, which has allowed impurities to come through. The hole has continued to grow in size and will eventually result in disaster, so his aim is to close it if possible. He asks for Yoshiki and "Hikaru"'s help in that, but Yoshiki doesn't feel they can trust him because of what he did to "Hikaru".[3]
Tanaka advises Yoshiki that it's only a monster inhabiting Indou Hikaru's corpse and he would be better off not to clinging to it any longer. Yoshiki asserts that "Hikaru" isn't just a tool to get over Hikaru's death, but his own individual. Tanaka then asks why Yoshiki would go so far for a complete stranger in that case. He asks them to think it over, and they soon part ways.
On the train home, Yoshiki reviews all the information they learned in his head. He's glad that "Hikaru" doesn't have to go back to the mountain – he says it was for "Hikaru" and the village's sake, but in reality it was really for ego reasons – he doesn't want to be alone and feels better with "Hikaru" at his side. He realizes that "Hikaru" was making a good choice by trying to go back to the mountain, but he selfishly tried to keep him.
He admits this out loud to "Hikaru", who doesn't understand why Yoshiki is troubled since everything "Hikaru" does is for ego. He says that no matter what Yoshiki thinks of it now, it still felt like kindness to "Hikaru" and he loves Yoshiki's ego for that. He asks what Yoshiki really wants to do. He wants to feel free and go somewhere far away with "Hikaru", but he couldn't bear it if something bad happened ot Kubitachi. He doesn't like the village, but his family and loved ones are there, and the village was important to Hikaru as well. He decides that they should help Tanaka close the hole.
"Hikaru" then reflects on everything Tanaka and Yoshiki said today. He was surprised that Yoshiki didn't want him to leave. Yoshiki asks him if there's somewhere he wants to go, and "Hikaru" replies there's a store in Tokyo that sells really big bread. They agree to go there together once everything is resolved.
Just then, they notice outside the windows of the train that there are multiple streams of light flowing through the night sky.
Character Appearances[]
Gallery[]
TBA
References
- ↑ Rakuten Kobo: The Summer Hikaru Died, Chapter 27
- ↑ Chapter 25 (Vol. 5)
- ↑ Chapter 22 (Vol. 5)
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