Chapter 40 is the 40th chapter of Kodocha, the fifth chapter of the eighth book in the Tankōbon Release, and the fourth chapter of the sixth book in the Kanzenban and Bunkoban releases.
Summary[]
Sana and Akito have a conversation about their relationship, and Akito deals with the reality of his paralyzed hand after returning home.
Plot[]
Sana is hesitant to talk to Akito about their relationship, but he encourages her. She vents her feelings, about how she feels weird getting together with him right after he and Fuka broke up, how she learned that a lot of people assumed in sixth grade that they were dating, etc. All the while, Sana continues to get recognized by passerbys, only for Akito to glare at them so hard they get too intimidated to approach her.
Rei comes to gather them, and lets Akito know that he learned from the hospital that he's being discharged the day after the next. Sana rejoices, and Rei thinks about how he'd love to give Akito a long lecture due to how much Sana's cried over him. He decides not to do anything for the time, and instead tries to make idle chat, but Akito responds with a snarky remark, making him mad.
Two days later, Akito returns home. His family has sushi to celebrate, and Akito struggles to use chopsticks with his left hand (his dominant hand was previously his right, which is now paralyzed). Natsumi changes the subject to something lighter by bringing up how when Akito was in the hospital, he asked a weird question about their mom, asking if she was a delinquent. Natsumi brushes it off as absurd, but their dad takes a more serious tone. Natsumi insists that their mom was gentle and sweet, but upon thinking about it more, remembers her talking casually and roughly - and is upset to remember such a thing. Their dad then admits that she was a delinquent too, that he and she both hurt people and have been hurt, but that's part of life - you just need to have at least one person you can depend on to get through it all. Akito asks if for his dad, his mom was that person, and he shyly admits she was.
Sana tries to do things only with her left hand to more accurately know how things will be for Akito due to his paralysis, and has a hard time. She worries that he's downplaying his struggles, and wonders how he's doing. Concurrently, Akito gets out of the bath, frustrated after struggling during it. He gets a phone call from Sana, and they have a nice conversation that puts him in a better mood.
The next day at school, classmates try to pester Akito for details of he and Kazuyuki's disappearance, but he scares them off. Tsuyoshi offers to take notes for Akito (because of his hand) but Akito refuses the offer. In Mr. Sengoku's class, Tsuyoshi worries about things getting heated again. Just then, he calls Akito to write on the chalkboard - Tsuyoshi tries to do it in his place, but Akito insists it's fine. Akito struggles to write with his previously non dominant hand, which is made worse when Sengoku tells him he needs to start over thanks to not being able to read it. Akito continues to struggle, having to stay longer than everyone else in order to finish it, while everyone stares at him.
Tsuyoshi bumps into Sana in the hall, and vents to her about it. In response, Sana immediately runs to go tell Mr. Sengoku off. She yells at him, and he tells her he never wanted to be a teacher, he just has nothing better to do, and that he'll likely quit at some point because he's "sick of having to deal with you brats". Sana is so speechless that he just leaves. Akito finds her, and Sana rants about how angry she makes him, meanwhile Akito responds calmly, saying he's been bad to him too (citing telling everyone about his toupee, which has apparently caused a lot of students to tease him on it). Akito says this makes them even, but Sana insists Sengoku is treating Akito worse than the other way around.
Akito then gets more serious, saying that he sees himself in him - that he thinks that if he didn't have Sana in his life, he could've turned out to be like Sengoku - or like Kazuyuki. He finishes by saying he thinks he's very lucky, and Sana reflects on how it's shocking to think he thinks that after everything he's been through, and how shocking it is in comparison to when she first met him.
Sana changes the subject to how they should have another middle birthday party on Christmas Eve, and they also both remember that it's Fuka's birthday also. She runs off, excited to tell everyone - while Akito looks on, feeling weird about how Sana didn't pick up that he'd like to spend it alone with her.
Characters[]
- Sana Kurata
- Akito Hayama
- Tsuyoshi Sasaki
- Aya Sugita
- Yukihiro Yasuda
- Fuyuki Hayama
- Natsumi Hayama
- Sengoku
- Rei Sagami
- Fuka Matsui (mentioned)
- Kazuyuki Komori (mentioned)
- Koharu Hayama (mentioned)
Author's Notes[]
Continuation...: "So, if you're going to look on pages 1-35 for Akito's mom's ghost, I should tell you that she appears three times. And I think she appeared because she knew Akito was walking a thin line between life and death, and she wanted to watch over him. I've never seen the ghost of a person... and I don't really care if they exist or not. But I have seen the spirits of my old pets... I get a nice feeling when I have a chance to see them. Right now, I have a dog. a cat and a squirrel, and they're all in good health. I know I'm getting off the subject, but I just want to tell you a story. One time, Maguro Fujita (the manga artist) came over, and when she saw my cat Nao, she said that she looked just like Akito! She trusts me, but she isn't very affectionate. She likes to maintain a little distance, and I guess the look in her eye must remind people of Akito. I thought it was pretty funny. My dog, Sana, is very smart and has been learning tricks pretty quickly, but she is a bit of a brat and likes to get into trouble. I thought Labradors were supposed to be really calm! Maybe I named her wrong (hee hee). But I love her."
"My squirrel is kind of a loner. I guess he's the Akito type too."
❤ Thank you ❤❤❤: "Hello! This is my last essay in volume 8. Thanks again for reading Kodocha! How did you like volume 8? If you'd like to tell me what you think, please send letters! This volume, I wanted to use this space to tell you more about the story (rather than just about myself). But that's partly because I realized that there were some things I wanted to express in this volume that I don't think I was really able to. And I feel kinda stupid about that. I really don't think I'm all that great of a writer, and my drawing skills aren't as good as I'd like either. So it's very frustrating sometimes. (C'mon, you big amateur!) But sometimes, when I refuse to give up and I try really hard - I think I can come up with something really good! So you better not give up either! Hope to see you soon, when volume 9 comes out!" - Signed Miho Obana, January 1998
Trivia[]
- This chapter was never adapted in the anime.
- Christmas is thought of as a romantic holiday in Japan, adding context to why Akito would want to spend it alone with Sana as opposed to having a party.