| Overview |
Indou Hikaru (
Overview[]
- “Something” appears in place of Hikaru, Yoshiki's childhood friend who went missing on the village mountain six months ago. It looks like Hikaru himself, but...?
Appearance[]
Hikaru had short, white hair that was slightly wavy.[5] He had short, white eyebrows and gray eyes. He was 165 cm tall[6] and his shoe size was 26 cm.[7] He had somewhat crooked teeth, most notably a snaggletooth on the upper left.[8]
He was usually seen wearing his school uniform, which consisted of a white button up shirt and black pants with a belt. He also wore a black watch on his right wrist.[6]
Personality[]
Hikaru had an excitable and energetic personality. He was frequently seen smiling or joking around with Yoshiki.[9] He was also a dedicated and caring friend, as he told Yoshiki to just come to his house whenever he felt upset about living in the village,[10] and in his final moments he wished that Yoshiki wouldn't be left alone.[11]
History[]
In a flashback, Hikaru was told that the members of his family must marry their significant other quickly. This is because members of their family are safe from "Unuki-sama." If they wait to marry their partner, the Unuki-sama will take them to the mountains due to loneliness. To prevent this, members of the family should marry quickly, so their partner will not be taken, as they too become members of the family.[12]
Six months prior to the start of the series,[10] Hikaru went to Red Sand Mountain[13] to complete his family ritual that keeps impurities at bay. While he was there, however, he saw a tree in the shape of a woman's body. Distracted, he fell down a steep drop, suffering a serious head wound. While on the brink of death, he noticed distortion in his vision and recognized it to be Unuki-sama. Resigned to his death, he asked it to stay at Yoshiki's side so that he wouldn't be lonely.[11]
Relationships[]
Tsujinaka Yoshiki[]
Yoshiki and Hikaru became friends as young children, because there weren't many children their age for them to play with;[14] it appears that the boys' fathers were friendly with each other as well.[15] Although they at times fought,[16] they maintained a close friendship into high school. Hikaru became a comforting presence for Yoshiki, who hated living in the countryside and always felt cramped and uneasy because of the villagers prying into his personal life. Hikaru had encouraged Yoshiki to come to him whenever he felt that way.[10]
From Yoshiki's perspective, Hikaru was slightly childish.[17] At the same time, to him Hikaru was someone who never cried[17] or appeared vulnerable.[18] After Hikaru's death, Yoshiki appears to have realized that there are things he didn't know about Hikaru – for example, the possibility that he often wanted to cry.[17] It is implied that Yoshiki has or had romantic feelings for Hikaru,[citation needed] but he believes that these feelings were not reciprocated.[13][17] Regardless, Hikaru still cared deeply for Yoshiki, as his dying wish was for Unuki-sama to stay by Yoshiki's side so that he wouldn't be alone.[11]
Yamagishi Asako, Tadokoro Yuuki, Maki Yuuta[]
Along with Yoshiki, Hikaru became friends with Asako and Yuuki during middle school. When they started high school, Hikaru befriended Maki and pulled him into the group.[7]
Indou Kouhei[]
Hikaru's father, Kouhei, passed away on the job when Hikaru was in the fifth grade,[14] which affected Hikaru to the point that he hated mornings because he would always be reminded that his father was gone.[19] He still wears the watch that his father gave him[20] daily. Kouhei taught Hikaru about their family history[12] and the family ritual they carry out in the Kubitachi Mountains. Hikaru felt the need to carry on the ritual and he was sorry to his father that he failed to.[11]
Etymology[]
- The kanji of his surname, Indou, are "mourning; abhor, detest(able)" (忌 in) and "hall; shrine" (堂 dou).
- The kanji of his given name, Hikaru, is "light" (光).
Trivia[]
- From Yoshiki's perspective, Hikaru had many qualities that resemble a manga protagonist.[17]
- His father accidentally bought him a watch for left-handed people, so Hikaru wore it on his right wrist even though he was right-handed.[21]
- Hikaru's birth date (March 20) was the year following Yoshiki's (April 20), making Yoshiki almost a year older than him.[22]
- Although Yoshiki said Hikaru never cried, this is an incorrect assumption on his part. According to Mokumokuren, the times that Hikaru cried, Yoshiki was sobbing even harder and didn't notice or remember.[23]
- He didn't get along well with his senpai because he didn't speak with them using honorific speech.[17]
References
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Twitter @mokmok_len (March 20, 2023). 今日は光の誕生日です！
- ↑ Episode 1 (Season 1): Replacement
- ↑ Volume 1, page 79
- ↑ KR Volume 2 special edition, school ID inclusion. Source archived on May 20, 2025.
- ↑ Chapter 16.5 (Vol. 3)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Volume 1, undefined page number
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Volume 3, undefined page number
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Bluesky @mokmok-len.bsky.social (December 30, 2024). これは、ぼんやりとしたキャラデザの小話（らくがき）です。 Retrieved on March 25, 2025.
- ↑ Chapter 1 (Vol. 1)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Chapter 9 (Vol. 2)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Chapter 10 (Vol. 2)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 3 (Vol. 1)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chapter 2 (Vol. 1)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Chapter 5 (Vol. 1)
- ↑ Chapter 14 (Vol. 3)
- ↑ Chapter 11 (Vol. 2)
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Chapter 24 (Vol. 5)
- ↑ Chapter 8 (Vol. 2)
- ↑ Chapter 18 (Vol. 4)
- ↑ Volume 2, undefined page number
- ↑ Volume 3 (Q&A by Mokumokuren)
- ↑ Volume 2, page 104
- ↑ Mokumokuren, Twitter @mokmok_len (February 12, 2024). 「光が死んだ夏」第２４話-４. Retrieved on August 14, 2024.