Chapter 87

Brothers is the eighty-seventh chapter of Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun by AidaIro.

Summary
The chapter starts off with a colored page announcing the results of the Chapter 77 Project, the "Situation Vote", where fans voted for which character they thought was the best fit in a handful of specific situations.

The chapter formally starts by picking up near the end of Chapter 85, with Kou protecting Hanako from a lethal strike from Teru's sword. As Nene rescues Hanako, and they begin to run away from the train, Teru tries to chase after them. Kou stops him again.

Kou clashes weapons with Teru, who effortlessly blocks each of Kou's blows. As their weapons grind against each other, Teru says that this wasn't what he had meant when he told Kou to "follow Yashiro-san" in Chapter 83. But Teru figures that Kou already knows what he meant, anyways.

Kou says that he isn't trying to help Hanako, exactly, but that he's doing this because he wants to support his senpai, Nene, who he made a promise to.

Teru tells Kou to quit the heroics. Lamentingly, he talks about how he never expected Kou to be of much help here in the first place, but that he hadn't expected him to get in the way. He then says they'd have been better off if Kou had just stayed home to cook dinner for them.

Kou says he isn't trying to act like a hero at all, and that he's always found Teru's treatment of supernaturals weird. He tries to say that he thinks Teru's opinion that every supernatural is evil is wrong, but Teru cuts him off.

Teru says that Kou might be right in him being weird, and wonders if Kou sees him as a villain right now. But he says that this is the way exorcists must act, and that he can't be normal. He yells at Kou, asking him why he can't understand that.

Kou yells back, saying there was no way for him to know that because Teru kept him distanced from exorcist work in the first place. Teru wouldn't let Kou come along with him on missions as a child because it was too dangerous, and had him do house chores instead.

Kou says he doesn't really mind doing the housework, or anything, but that it makes him feel pathetic. He says that Teru started doing exorcist work younger than Kou did, and that everyone relied on Teru. Meanwhile, all Kou's done is take over the work his mom used to do. Frustrated, Kou screams and asks why he was the only one that ever did that.

In reply, Teru knocks Raiteijou spinning out of Kou's hand, and pins him up from behind against the train. Kou, now defenseless, is told by Teru that is was all because Kou was "too weak". As Kou cries, Teru admits, however, that Kou's weakness is something he's envied from time to time.

Then Akane arrives, with Aoi in tow, and asks what the hell is going in. After breaking up the fight, he asks why they started fighting in the first place. Teru explains that Kou let Nene and Hanako escape, while Kou trembles silently to the side. Akane berates Teru, saying they both expected Kou to turn on them anyways, and that Teru totally went overboard. In comparison, Akane's a lot kinder on Kou, who shakes off Akane's concern by yelling that he's fine.

Akane relents, and says that they can settle their family disputes when they get home. For now, they need to discuss what their next move is.

Kou lingers behind the group as they begin walking off, lamenting to himself that he'd never asked Teru to protect him in the first place. As he trudges through the water, unbeknownst to him, a shadow begins to form behind him. Teru looks back, noticing it before he does, and screams his name. Lunging forward, he grabs Kou and shoves him out of the way, protecting him from the attacker. The unknown enemy strikes his sword arm, causing Teru to stagger.

The attacker is School Mystery No. 6, the Lord of Death. He says that the boundaries stopped collapsing, and came to see what was causing it. He claims that Teru looks familiar, before correctly placing his identity-- a member of the Minamoto Clan of exorcists.

Holding a bloodied Teru up by the collar of his shirt, he fixes Kou with a glare. Kou stares back in horror, his brother's blood splattered on his body.

Characters in Order of Appearence

 * Kou Minamoto
 * Teru Minamoto
 * Hanako
 * Yashiro Nene
 * Aoi Akane
 * Akane Aoi
 * Shinigami-sama

Events

 * No. 6 makes his return after being absent for 22 chapters.