Happiness (Part 2) (しあわせ
The theme of Happiness continues but goes into an ironic twist, with Yugi Amane's definition of Happiness being to flee to the land of the gods and becoming their servant in killing other people, and Minamoto Teru having a terrible feeling that becomes reality after he accidentally exorcises his brother Kou.
Summary[]
Part 1: The Kidnapping of Yashiro Nene[]
The chapter begins with the very last moment of the previous chapter, this time in color. It shows Yashiro Nene's horrified face as she is captured by the now-transformed supernatural Yugi Amane. He is also spouting the words that he said, clearly in a crazed and manic fashion.
The colored cover then appears, showing many of the characters at the mercy of The Clock Keepers, including the other members of Teru's Team, both Minamoto Kou and Mitsuba Sousuke, and the Original Timeline Yugi Amane attempting to fix the Broken Clock at The Sealed Auditorium.
Afterwards, the scene returns to Nene, who is now horrified at the sight of Amane's face that she asked him what had happened. But instead of responding to her questions, he begins to laugh manically and then proceeds to grapple her tightly with both arms and tentacles. She screams at Kou for help, as he is just standing nearby. But instead of doing anything to help her, he does nothing and stands there. Then Amane mocks her further and tells her:
| “ | Why are you upset? Is this not the "Happiness" you all wished for? Flee this Mortal World and reach the Hole's end...Where the Land of the Gods awaits! | ” |
— Yugi Amane taunting Yashiro Nene, and then proclaiming his idea of Happiness.
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This only makes Nene all the more shocked, and as she is being grappled by the tentacles further, she angrily cries out to Amane to stop, and then she fully shouts "Hanako-Kun Save Me". This just shocks Amane further and restores his human face, leaving enough room for Kou to finally get back to his senses and whack Amane with a chair. The tentacles let go of Nene, and Kou catches her on his back. One of the tentacles attempts to strike them but misses and destroys the door instead, giving Kou and Nene time to escape. As they leave, Amane does nothing but watches them. Afterwards, his tentacles disappear and he seemingly forgets what he was doing, wondering what he was doing and having a feeling that someone was in there just earlier.
Part 2: Hiding from Yugi Amane[]
Meanwhile, both Kou and Nene reached a part of the Red House and Kou decides to stay there and hide. Nene thanks him, and Kou says "No problem". He then asks her if the places the tentacles touched are ok, and she answers that she is fine. Likewise, she asks Kou if he's ok, and he says that he's never felt better, which Nene finds as a relief. She then asks Kou about who the person was, and then all of the sudden, asks if he's "Hanako-Kun", seemingly forgetting about what had happened to her earlier. Kou seems to be surprised by her question, and then she continues in her joyful monologue by stating that Hanako taking a grown-up form and then attacking them is just as expected from the Red House. She also notes that many strange things had happened to them the entire time, and if Hanako were still alive, he would be way older than that. She then concluded that the Hanako they encountered was a "faker", and she was about to continue her conclusion when Kou interrupts her.
Kou tells Nene if she had realized that he was the "Hanako" of this world. This stuns Nene, and she attempts to answer back, but Kou continues on. He tells her that he could have lived a long life in the world but then tells her that in his form, he is being controlled by the one who controls the Red House (Possibly alluding to The Entity), and is killing lots of people (Referring to the countless ghosts that are trapped in the Red House). Kou then concludes that Amane couldn't be happy in this world.
Nene is shocked by what Kou said, and asks him if he was really killing people, and then she tells Kou who he knows that. Instead of answering her question, Kou tells her that the reason he took her away from the team was because he wanted something from her. She asks him what it is, and he answers her that he knows she is still undecided, but he asks her if she could bring back the Old World. This request shocks Nene, and Kou tells her that he couldn't do that alone. She asks him why he can't do it alone, but before she could complete the question, knocking was heard on the door.
As the knocking sounds became louder and louder, Nene asks Kou if it's "Hanako-kun" who's knocking but Kou quickly covers her mouth. He points to a black door, and tells her that they will leave through there. They both run towards the door, and as Nene ran, one of her Magatama hairpins drops from her hair and tumbles to the floor.
Part 3: Teru's Team searches for Yashiro Nene[]
Meanwhile, the other members of Teru's Team (Minamoto Teru, Aoi Akane and Akane Aoi) are going throughout the Red House searching for Nene, who had gone missing, all the while calling out her name. Akane notes that despite the house not being that large, they seemed to not have found her yet. Akane notices that Teru seemed out of it, and calls him. He responds in matter that he seemed out of it, and Akane tells him to stay focused. Teru then tells Akane if it does not feel odd to him. Akane responds with a "huh", and Teru tells him that while he can't fully describe it, he felt that eversince they arrived at the Red House, that there was a "terrible feeling". Akane asks what Teru meant by "Terrible Feeling", to which Akane clarified that he knows that Teru has such a feeling, since the House itself is cursed, and thus, any feeling he has shouldn't be of the positive kind.
As the terrible feelings worsen, Aoi tells both Akane and Teru to get to where she is, to which Akane asks her what's up. She shows both Teru and Akane the missing magatama that Nene has, and that it was located right in front of the door she came in, which is a black-colored door, similar to the one Kou and Nene entered earlier. The three of them seemed surprised by the presence of the door, with Aoi noting that the door wasn't there before.
Part 4: Becoming one with the Red House[]
Going back to Kou and Nene, it seemed that instead of going back to the other members, they seemed to go down a descending staircase that gets darker and darker with every step. Nene notes that it's so dark in the place that it felt like the both of them are walking forever. Nene tells Kou that they should go back and get Teru and the others, but Kou interrupts her, and then tells her if she's curious to find out about the Yugi Amane of this world, and how he became the way it is. As Nene continues to listen to Kou, he tells her this as they continue on downwards:
| “ |
If you die here, you become its prisoner, trapped in the bowels of the Red House. This house uses the souls of the people it captures to lure in new prey from the Near Shore. The Yugi Amane of this world was once one of those people. The dead that are trapped here, can never go against the House's will. EVER I once came here and became This. I finally understood. And pretty soon, you'll understand too...Senpai |
” |
— Minamoto Kou describing how the Red House captures its victims, and then attempting to make Yashiro Nene "understand" by joining them
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As he was telling her all this, Kou shows her his face, now with a large, gaping hole in it. Nene becomes rightfully shocked by all this and attempts to resist. But Kou grabs her arm strongly and pulls her towards a well at the end of the staircase. Nene could do nothing but struggle with futility and crying out words like "Let me go!" on and on.
Part 5: The Death of a Brother[]
But all of a sudden, a loud voice screaming "Kou" is heard, and then Teru appears, using his sword to slash out his arm and causing a powerful supernatural explosion that separates Kou from Nene. Teru's exorcist power courses through Kou, which restores Kou to his rightful state of mind, and begins to exorcise him, while leaving out a stump where his arm was. He notes that it's "Ni-chans lightning", and as Nene begins to realized what is happening to him, he tells these words as he dissipates:
| “ |
Don't worry about me. Just think of this as a Bad Dream We'll meet again in the Old World, ok? I have to go now. I just can't leave him on his own now, can I?
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” |
— Minamoto Kou's last words to Yashiro Nene before being exorcised, Chapter 120.
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After he says all that, he finally dissipates in a flash of flames, traumatizing both Nene and Teru. Denying that Kou had indeed passed away, Nene wanders around the place while crying out his name. She then gets shoved by Teru, also clearly stunned by what happened, who proceeds to the well and peers into it. He mutters his name, clearly saddened by what he had done.
Akane and Aoi then arrive, with Akane asking what had happened while Aoi comes and hugs Nene. He then sees Teru looking at the well, and after telling the girls to stay back, proceeds to approach him and see what had happened. Akane also looks into the well with his phone and Teru slumps down, having become guilty that he killed his brother. He seems to see something that makes him angry. And as the others look on, Akane, who is clearly angered by everything that had happened, makes this proclamation aloud to everyone present:
| “ | We're going back to the school...To turn back the hands of the Big Clock and Undo This World! | ” |
Then the chapter ends on a tragic note for everyone involved.
Events[]
- Investigation of the Red House
- Minamoto Kou's exorcism
Characters in order of appearance[]
- Yashiro Nene (New Present)
- Yugi Amane (New Present)
- Minamoto Kou (New Present) (Killed in this chapter)
- Minamoto Teru
- Aoi Akane (Clock Keeper Form appears in cover)
- Akane Aoi
- Mitsuba Sousuke (Original Timeline) (Indirectly mentioned)
Cover Only[]
Release Notice Only[]
Trivia[]
- The Clock Keepers featuring prominently in the chapter cover is a possible soft promotion for Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun Season 2, as the Three Clock Keepers Arc will be adopted for the season, and a trailer featuring them came out a few days before the release of this chapter.
- Additionally, while the New Present iteration of Akane has not assumed his Clock Keeper Form so far, he is implied to be present with the other Clock Keepers due to his absence among the other members of Teru's Team, and he is seen holding the Clock Keepers' Yorishiro in his hand. Thus, this would technically be the first appearance of the New Present Akane's Clock Keeper Form.
- One of Yashiro Nene's magatama hairpins falls to the floor, marking the first time her hairpins fell down in the series.
- Minamoto Kou's accidental exorcism by Minamoto Teru is the first death of a major character in the New Present, not counting Mitsuba Sousuke's capture by Yugi Amane that turned him into one of the supernaturals.
- Chapter 120 is the latest chapter since Chapter 116 to have a Release Notice that is irrelevant to the story. This could be explained however, as the Release Notice features a memory that both Nene and Kou have with Hanako altogether, which helped to drive the story forward.