This is the 5th Chapter of The Summer Hikaru Died manga series, written and illustrated by Mokumokuren.
Synopsis[]
A pushy housewife warns Yoshiki of the dangers of being too close to unnatural beings like "Hikaru." She even offers to hear him out, if he's ever ready to talk about it and goes as far as offering him her contact information. While Yoshiki doesn't heed her warnings right away, he becomes more emotionally conflicted about his relationship with "Hikaru." Can he simply go on like everything is normal, disregarding the complicated situation he finds himself in...?
Plot[]
Kurebayashi tells Yoshiki will no longer be human if he becomes mixed with something from the Other Side, and explains that she can see more than the average human and has always had a bad feeling from the restricted area in the Kubitachi Mountains. She noticed that the bad feeling suddenly disappeared, and has now realized that it has come to be by Yoshiki's side. She gives him her phone number in case he'd ever like to talk about it.
Yoshiki walks to the Indou family home and offers the watermelon he'd brought to Hikaru's mother. He finds "Hikaru" in the living room and tells him that he brought a watermelon. "Hikaru" says that he'll eat it like they do in manga and spit the seed out like a machine gun, which reminds Yoshiki of a time during childhood when Hikaru said the same thing. They both had swallowed the watermelon seeds by accident and became scared they'd turn into "watermelon men." Yoshiki recalls that Hikaru's father was still alive at the time, and realized that he had also gone to the restricted area in the mountains around the same time that Hikaru did.
"Hikaru" offers Yoshiki a slice of watermelon and showed him how he eats them – by swiping his face across the rind and eating it instantly in just three quick bites. "Hikaru" then lies down on the tatami to go to sleep, and Yoshiki puts his head in his hands, distressed and feeling like he can't continue like this, as if things are normal. Just then, "Hikaru" pipes in that he's really enjoying being with Yoshiki, and he wants to be upfront about those sorts of feelings.
Once "Hikaru" falls asleep, Yoshiki walks around the room and finds a photo from their grade school graduation ceremony. Reminded that the Hikaru in that photo is gone forever, he feels distressed and opens his phone to text Kurebayashi. Hikaru's mother calls him into the next room to give him something, and Yoshiki leaves his phone on the table when he goes. "Hikaru" wakes up and Yoshiki's phone buzzes with a message, which draws his attention. He reads that Kurebayashi has texted Yoshiki back asking if he feels like talking now, and "Hikaru" wonders who she is.
Character Appearances[]
- Tsujinaka Yoshiki
- Kurebayashi Rie
- Indou Yuki
- "Hikaru"
- Indou Hikaru (flashback)
- Indou Kouhei (mentioned)
- Tsujinaka Satoko (mentioned)
Gallery[]
[]
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||