Chapter 97

Fireworks Party (Part 2) (パーティー の) is the ninety-seventh chapter of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun by AidaIro.

Summary
While Aoi, Nene, Akane, and Tiara play with fireworks outside, Kou and Teru bump into each other as Teru is exiting his room. Kou is holding a tray with a drink and sliced watermelon on top of it.

Teru is nervous, and he tries to retreat back into his room, but Kou stops him. Unable to look at him as he speaks, Kou tries to apologize and take responsibility for the wounds Teru suffered after taking a blow for him. Teru spots the tray in Kou's hand, and asks if Kou brought that for him. Kou confirms that he did, but amends that it's almost dinnertime. Teru asks if it's okay if he helps Kou out with dinner today.

Donning aprons, and moving to the kitchen, Kou says that they'll be serving onigiri and fried chicken tonight. He says that he'll do the fried chicken, and leaves it to Teru to handle the onigiri. Kou tells him that there are dried plums and cod roe in the fridge to use as ingredients in the onigiri, and begins slicing the chicken and making the breading.

When Kou glances over to check on Teru's progress, Teru has turned the flame on the stove so high that they reach the top of the ceiling. Screaming, Kou grabs the fire extinguisher and begins putting it out. He questions why Teru needed fire to make the onigiri, and Teru says he thought the onigiri would taste better roasted. Kou scolds him, and tells him not to do that.

After forbidding Teru from going near the stove again, Kou lets out a sigh, and reflects on how Teru is good at everything except cooking. He comes to the realization that Teru probably thinks Kou is as bad at being an exorcist as Kou thinks Teru is at cooking.

Teru calls Kou's name suddenly, and admits to him that he doesn't think Kou is cut out for being an exorcist. He brings up supernaturals that Kou is friends with, like Hanako and Tsuchigomori, and says that he doesn't think Kou would be able to kill any of them if he was ordered to. Exorcists must protect people by exorcising supernaturals, and even if the supernaturals are intelligent or pitiful, Teru says that they must be exorcised if they pose a threat to humans. As Teru is saying this, we see a flashback of Teru as a young boy hunting down a supernatural. Two human kids are with a kid-sized supernatural in a parka, who is tangled up in Teru's beads on the ground. The kids beg for the supernatural to run, and the supernatural is pleading with Teru not to kill it. Back to the present, Teru tells Kou that he thinks he's too nice of a person to handle work like that.

Kou asks Teru if it's draining for him to think like that while being an exorcist, and Teru admits that it was once draining for him. His job leaves him with injuries, and he's had to give up on many things because of it. When he was younger, he wondered what it'd be like to have been born into a normal family. In a flashback, we see a young Teru with bandages on his legs, staring from the doorway at a group of kids having fun in his classroom.

As we see a young Teru walking through the streets of Kamome with a frustrated look on his face, Teru tells Kou that he isn't very motivated to protect people, and that he doesn't care about anyone but the people close to him. Another flashback, and we see a younger Kou clinging to Teru as he's leaving their house at night to exorcise supernaturals. With a big grin on his face, the young Kou tells Teru that he thinks he's super cool. The young Kou says to Teru that he wants to be an exorcist like him, and Teru in the flashback pats his head and tells him he can if he becomes stronger. With a smile on his face, Teru in the present tells Kou that he wants to be a cool big brother to him and Tiara, so he thinks that's why he's been able to keep up the family business.

With a dark aura about him, Teru immediately amends that he doesn't mind killing supernaturals, either, and that he's suited for that kind of work. His face softens soon after, though, and he frankly tells Kou that his job sucks. The supernaturals are violent, the job puts his life on the line, and he's forced to work mornings and nights. Still, he asks if Kou is okay with that, and if he'll become an exorcist himself.

Kou freezes, and his jaw drops as he turns around to look at Teru. Eyes sparkling, he excitedly tells him he will become one, and Teru comments on how fast he answered. Teru asks if it's really okay, though, and tells Kou that he's free to live his life however he wants. Kou affirms that he does want this, and that he wants to become strong like Teru, no matter how hard it is or how unsuited for it he may be. He tells him he wants to be a bigger help with his senpai, Nene's, lifespan, and he wants to become stronger so that he can one day exorcise Hanako if he has to. He says that he can't stay weak like he is any longer.

Teru comments about how Kou always makes it about other people, but suddenly wonders if that's because Kou has really come to like Hanako and Nene. The thought causes Kou to pause, and he hums in thought as he thinks. Kou eventually says that Teru might be right about that, but quickly feeds Teru a hot piece of fried chicken in the middle of his sentence. Teru bites it, and begins sputtering over how hot the food is. This causes Kou to laugh, and he tells Teru that he likes him, too. Smirking, he adds that he also likes Tiara, and asks Teru if the food was good. Teru tells him it was.

A short time passes, and dinner is finally done. Teru's hair is frazzled as he excitedly takes a picture of it, and Kou is bent over in exhaustion. Teru says that they exerted a lot of effort to make it, and we see the display of Kou's beautiful soy sauce fried chicken next to Teru's disastrous onigiri plate. Internally, Kou tells himself he'll eat the onigiri that he thinks looks the most dangerous.

Carrying the plates of food in both hands, Kou tells Teru to go get everyone while Kou brings the food to the table. In the middle of him speaking, however, electric discharge begins sparking through their house. Kou looks surprised as Teru's face darkens. A talisman-like object on their ceiling with the character for "lightning" written on it is the source, and Teru says it's reacting to a supernatural nearby. He comments that this level of electricity would mean that it's only a low-level spirit, but tells Kou he will go check it out as he's walking away.

...Teru pauses in his footsteps. He suddenly turns around, and yoinks the plates out of Kou's hands. He tells Kou to go, instead, and Kou's whole face lights up. He dashes up the stairs, commenting to himself that this is the first time Teru has asked him to handle a supernatural, and that this is the first step to him becoming a stronger exorcist and a better help to Nene and the others. He runs outside of his house.

Brandishing his Raitejou, he notices a rustling in the bushes. He bravely demands the supernatural to show itself, but rather underwhelmingly discovers that it was just a cat.

Suddenly, he hears laughter. We see Mitsuba drape himself over Kou's shoulder, and tells Kou that he's behind him. Kou is surprised to see him, and as they stand in the middle of the street, he confusedly calls out Mitsuba's name.

Characters in order of appearance

 * Aoi Akane
 * Akane Aoi
 * Minamoto Tiara
 * Yashiro Nene
 * Minamoto Teru
 * Minamoto Kou
 * Tsuchigomori (mentioned)
 * Hanako (mentioned)
 * Mitsuba Sousuke