Akane Sumire

Akane Sumire (赤根スミレ) is a character in Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun. She made her debut in Chapter 66 of the manga.

She is part of the Akane family, to which No. 6 stated that they are that kind of family with children who are offered to God (specifically because of their coveted bloodline). Nene suspects that her full name must be Akane Sumire, and her family name has been confirmed by Teru in Chapter 70.

It has not been confirmed on whether or not Sumire is Aoi's ancestor yet.

Appearance
She has long purple hair similar to Aoi's, pale blue eyes, and pale skin. According to the September 2020 issue's color spread, her yukata is of pale lavender with magenta hues. She also wears a pair of geta shoes and plain tabi socks. On both wrists, she wears bracelets composed of bells. She gave one of them to Nene, stating that they served as protection charms.

Sumire's talisman also holds an identical resemblance to Tsukasa's seal. The only difference is that they are in different locations, with Sumire's on the side of her neck and Tsukasa's on his left cheek.

The wedding ritual failed when Hanako-kun rescued Nene from being sacrificed, which led to the villagers deteriorating into skeletons from a mysterious black smoke. After revealing that she was No. 6's yorishiro to the both of them, she explains that the events rewind every time she dies in that world (eg. leaping off the cliff's edge where they were standing). But despite presenting her yorishiro to unseal it, Nene convinces that Sumire may know something and decides to take her with them.

Young Appearance
In her younger years, which involved a flashback of her hiding in a cave with No. 6, she was shown to wear a large hair bow and kimono much similar to now. It had magenta hues, with a sky blue bow tied behind her waist and white-blue flowery patterns on the ends of her sleeves.

Ghost Appearance
In Chapter 62, there is an unusual spirit that closely resembles Sumire as it leads Nene and Akane to an elevator. Her eyes are concealed, but she says phrases in a sing-song voice about No. 6 and his yorishiro. Her clothes drift behind as bright particles float around her. It is still unknown on whether this is Sumire's spirit or not.

Personality
Nene notes that Sumire's personality shows a great resemblance to Aoi, in which both demeanors were cheerful, helpful, and lighthearted in their interactions. Despite this, Sumire has a strong infatuation with keeping Nene and Hanako-kun as her newfound pets, stating they reminded her of 'lost raccoons'. Because of this, she established precautions such as creating an electrifying barrier around her home to prevent escapes and putting Nene in doing housework.

In their first meeting, Sumire seems to hold a cold demeanor when it came to meeting the mountain villagers that invaded her garden. She also has an authoritative position, which is exemplified when all of them bowed to her presence. To Hanako-kun, her identity remains suspicious as he deduces that she must be following No. 6's orders. Her memories featured her being the kannagi for sacrifice in the past, and she intended to substitute Nene as the sacrifice in hopes of getting a response from No. 6.

As seen at the end of Chapter 66, Sumire is in love with No. 6 and is going to get married to him. She compares this to Nene, who also has a crush on Hanako-kun, saying that loving a supernatural is taboo. When the three were able to escape from the sacrifice, which caused them to rewind back to the first place they met Sumire, Nene insists that No. 6 wasn't the best match for her--due to his distant personality and lack of affection for her in the past. With that, she exclaims that Sumire may have only fell in love with No. 6 due to her disheartening life in the gloomy village. Sumire reacts by stuttering in realization, yet obliges to go with them when promised she won't hurt Hanako-kun again.

Past
Sumire was borned in a village that was relatively near a cliff rumored to lead to the Far Shore. While crying near a cluster of jizo statues, she was saddened by the fact that she had never seen her father or mother's faces, and that the rest of the villagers continued to ignore her. It also included her family, as seen in Chapter 70 when they stood a distance away from her in a family picture. The only caretaker she had was No.6 due to his master's orders. This was mainly for the purpose of making sure she wouldn't escape while she was being safeguarded as a child. As they grew up together, Sumire had a growing affection for him despite not receiving any responses aside from I wouldn't mind. The two often ventured outside, where one of Sumire's earliest memories was them taking refuge in a cave while it rained--and asking No. 6 if he would always be there for her. When news of her imminent sacrificial ritual was coming, she prayed to the jizo statues and wonder if a new one will be made for her once she was offered to God. Only when she witnessed the true ending after becoming a yorishiro did she know the Far Shore was never a place to be near God's side.

The village where Sumire used to live was the place where Kamome Gakuen was now built on.

Lightning
Similar to Teru's lightning cage, Sumire has the ability to establish a lightning barrier around her home, which prevented Nene and Hanako-kun from escaping. On several occasions, she also stuns Hanako-kun by simply flicking her finger on his forehead.

She is currently engaged to marry an immortal being, but she thwarts the wedding ceremony by placing Nene as her stand-in. Later, there is a scene that shows Hanako-kun laying unconscious near Sumire as her blade crackles in lightning.

Seeing Supernaturals
She can see supernaturals and apparitions ever since she was a child, especially when it came to meeting No. 6 and playfully referring to Hanako-kun as 'Gon' as a new nickname.

Yorishiro
In Chapter 68, Sumire explains that being a yorishiro meant that this world would rewind every time she died, and she called it a prison of time. Although No. 6 hasn't visited her once when she was awakened as a yorishiro, she has relived the same day and death of her wedding ceremony over and over.

Trivia

 * Her name, “Sumire”, is the Japanese name for violets, the flower.
 * Sumire's initial appearance was based on the urban rumor called the Elevator Game. A certain numeric input will allow one to witness a visitor from another world deemed to be the place of the unliving. In Chapter 62, Hanako is seen holding a note with the numbers: 4-2-6-2-10-5-1-6.