The Summer Hikaru Died volume 1
by Mokumokuren
published in English by Yen Press
2023
Hikaru went missing in the mountains. And then… Hikaru came back.
But the Hikaru that came back is not the same lifelong friend that Yoshiki has always had at his side. This Hikaru admits that he is… something else, something that has never been human before. It has Hikaru’s memories, but is feeling everything in Hikaru’s body for the first time. And in a moment of stress, he/it loses some of Hikaru’s form, and Yoshiki can see things he should not be able to see.
But Yoshiki has missed his dear friend so badly, that maybe this other Hikaru is enough. Maybe.
The cicadas chirps fill the air, the summer heat makes the boys sweat on their walks to school, and Yoshiki gets warnings that something dark is taking over the town, from others who have seen the forms the darkness can take…
This is broad-daylight-spooky. I can’t wait to read the next two volumes!