hijiri shinozuka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
predicting) wrote2012-02-05 10:14 pm
predicting) wrote2012-02-05 10:14 pm
canon history / summary
A series summary
- Covers events up to just before the Iris Hunter arc
- Written byhastits , used with permission
In the world of Iris Zero, there are two types of people: Those with “irises”, who can see things others can’t, like lies and who’s qualified for what and even what’s for dinner that night, and a now-rarer breed: “iris zeros”. To be an “iris zero” means to gain the discrimination of everyone, to be the target of bullying and hate. A while ago there was only a 1% of being an Iris and a 99% of being a normal baby. Then, for some reason, it skyrocketed 27 years ago and the numbers switched: 99% Iris, 1% Iris Zero. A lot of children have Irises, and a lot of adults don’t. For example, a 25 year old person would most likely be normal, but have a slight chance of being an Iris, and they’d be the ones discriminated against.
This is where Toru’s story begins, being one of the only “Iris Zeros” in the school he goes to. It started in elementary school, when he used to pretend to have an Iris that could “see what other’s iris’s were”. This worked out fantastically until a certain Asahi - a childhood friend, actually - came along because, and since he didn’t have one himself, he grew naturally to have a sharp eye and a sharp mind. As with Asahi, he exposed her Iris and was exposed as well - she can “see those who lie” by the devil’s tail that grows behind them, and she didn’t want her iris exposed either, so it was a cold dish of payback. This caused the rest of his elementary years to be a torturous experience for him, and thus he came to learn a certain motto he now lives by: “low/minimal exposure”. Fortunately for her, he’s come to terms with it, he’s accepted it, and ultimately it made him who he is today. For better or for worse. They’re friends again after he helps her with her problem.
It was around the age of 14 or so that he first became interested in Shinozuka Hijiri, a new kid in his tutoring class and one who worked the gardening club with a girl named Katagiri. Toru always observed everything about people if something changed suddenly, but he would and never will remember his classmates’ names and faces. It came about because of a girl named Tachibana, whom Hijiri had fallen hard for and who sat in front of Toru, suddenly having something changed about her that made Hijiri change, and Toru, being Toru, investigated it a bit and figured it out: Hijiri’s iris allowed him to “see the demise” of another person by black butterflies. Not something like a time, but the steps towards it (if you were going to die by a car accident, you’d get closer to that death by getting a license). During this investigation, he figured out who, why, and what to do to prevent it.
Toru caught Hijiri in the bathroom before something he would’ve regretted happened, and told him to stay away from Tachibana because he “was interested in her, too”, which was a straight out lie. So Hijiri stayed away from Tachibana as planned, and Toru got his answer when he swiped a note that was for said girl from Katagiri, who had a crush on Hijiri. He met her at the park at 5 instead of Tachibana, just as a big tree fell, while Hijiri had found out Toru was an “Iris Zero” and went to search for Tachibana and found her safe and sound and not-covered-in-death-butterflies. Katagiri, a girl who’s Iris can “see danger”, had decided to kill Tachibana by luring her into danger. When it fails and she tries to play innocent when she sees who it is, Toru calls her out on it.
“You would’ve definitely regretted it.” he had said to her. “If you do kill Tachibana, Shinozuka would probably never forget her for the rest of his life.” Instead, he said, try for his affections like other girls do without holding back (alas, it was not meant to be anyways). This incident is how Hijiri and Toru becameHeterosexual Life Partners best friends. Hijiri caught him and told him to explain, to which Toru tried to lie again but Hijiri cut him off straight. Toru told him he figured out Hijiri’s iris by watching him do the flowers and the ones he didn’t water would definitely wither no matter what, and who it was by noticing who felt hurt by the lack of attention she was receiving from Hijiri. The motive was clear to Toru after he confronted Katagiri, who was jealous of Tachibana and sought to kill her to make Hijiri hers. When asked why he didn’t stop Katagiri in the first place, Toru tells Hijiri that it was all just speculation, and before he knew for sure he had to take away the one thing he knew for certain was causing the problem: Hijiri himself. Once that was removed, it became clear to Toru.
It’s in his 2nd year of middle/lower-secondary school he meets his next friend, though it’s not as if he wanted it to happen. It was that day that Sasamori Koyuki, the most popular and loved girl in their school, asked him out. Her iris allows her to “see who’s qualified” for what she’s thinking of in forms of Xs and Os. For example originally she was supposed to be looking for someone who was qualified to be the Student Council President, and after she couldn’t find someone wanted some cake and Toru was the most likely person to take her out if she asked. Toru is understandably mortified, but ends up meeting with Sasamori anyways to see what she wanted with him, saved her life by pulling her towards him just in time to have a pot fall where she would’ve been, and tells her that he can’t help because he’s an “Iris Zero”.
That doesn’t stop her from becoming his friend though. When it’s time to report to the council who the next President is, Sasamori admits that she hadn’t been able to find anyone. Tokita, a glassed man who is assumable the secretary or vice president of the council, calls her out on the possibility she is an “iris zero” as well, to which she denies. It’s at that moment of rising tension that Toru steps in, announcing with rather bad acting that he got the wrong room, and with a flower on his head. Everyone, even Hijiri, is dumbfounded. When Sasamori points it out hesitantly, Toru smiles a little and comments that he didn’t notice because he can’t see above his own head. This prompts others to realize that maybe Sasamori couldn’t see who’s qualified, because she herself was the only one qualified for the job. And thus she became the President of the School Council.
The next time she needs his help is when Asahi, who’s iris can “see through lies” by devil’s tails growing out behind them, hits a teacher without any provocation at all. He refuses her, saying he’s sitting this one out, and Hijiri explains to Sasamori that the one who made him have his motto seemed to be Asahi and what happened ten years before between the two. Despite this Sasamori waits for him outside the school and Toru finds it in his little heart with a little talk from her about Asahi. He goes back into the school saying he “forgot” something and confronts Asahi in a hallway, telling her that Sasamori asked him to help, but then continues on to say that he had not forgotten his resentment towards her and that “there’s no way I’d ever help you”. To which her iris tells her is a big, fat lie.
After this encounter, he tries to figure out why Asahi hit the teacher other than that she was being lied to. Hijiri helps out by answering Toru’s question of “who” and of their relationship. Ms. Fujimura is the teacher, 25 years old and is Hijiri’s, Sasamori’s, and Asahi’s homeroom teacher (not that Toru noticed, he focuses more on himself than he does others). She doesn’t seem like the type to lie, so both try to figure out why she might’ve lied. It’s mentioned that they were speaking of Asahi’s future plans, her choice of being a police officer, and Toru suddenly realizes why she might lie.
Then, with Sasamori, he sets up a little trap for the two of them by using false notes to bring them into the same room with a one-way mirror, where he speaks through a microphone and watches them. He tells them that Asahi’s iris lets her “see through other’s lies”, and he asks the teacher why’d she lie. Fujimura has no answer, so he supplies it for her: That, even if it was a slim possibility, she had an iris of her own, probably one like Sasamori’s which can tell if they’re qualified for that career, or to see their vocations. The teacher confesses that she did lie in order to protect students for the hurtful reality that they had no potential in that career and Sasamori calls her selfish over the intercom, dragging Toru out of the room with her.
After a spiel about how they weren’t so weak, Toru pulls Sasamori back to add more enlightenment to the situation: That Asahi couldn’t say why she hit the teacher because she didn’t want the teacher’s iris to be exposed. He says that some lies, the ones that are made for the sake of others, shouldn’t be punished, right? Asahi’s stunned by that revelation. Later, when she’s leaving, Asahi tells him that she’d never want to be friends with a guy like him, but only she can tell that she’s lying.
Sometime later, Toru’s most hated day comes by: The school field trip. It’s when he goes to the outcasts, who don’t really care what you are because you’re a loser too, to join their group. He meets Kuga, who’s in his homeroom class along with Tokita, and lets her join his group of ragtags. Though somehow it ends up that Toru’s stuck once again with Instant-Exposure, Carefree, and Loud for company on the trip. After meeting a somewhat loony old lady who scared the pants off of Asahi by hanging upside down off a branch after putting a little bird back in its nest and a story about the haunted stall in the girl’s bathroom that won’t open, night falls and Asahi finds herself in a dilemma... That she needs to use the bathroom. Scared but determined, she takes along Sasamori, who instantly falls back asleep when they get there. Toru and Hijiri are woken up by their phones, the former with an ear-bleeding shout from Asahi.
When the two arrive on the scene Asahi immediately takes off, leaving them vaguely confused and Sasamori to cling to Toru sleepily. Asahi enters and sees the haunted stall, the old woman’s words coming back to her. Someone moves in the shadows and it’s Kuga, Asahi grabbing her in relief and both returning outside once an acorn rolls out from under the door. Kuga had looked under the door and seen no one there, all stalls lock from the inside, so it’s a mystery of what could be going on. Sasamori points out to Toru the cute squirrels running around, and he figures it out. He tells her there’s nothing in there that she hates unless she hates animals, and she quickly goes to relieve herself as he tells Hijiri and Kuga what he’d figured out. The story being that due to the construction around, many wildlife lost their homes and sought refuge somewhere. Back when the hotel was still being built squirrels took over that last stall and the landlady never got it fixed because they needed a home. With that case solved, the group was free to enjoy the rest of the trip and have photos to prove it.
Before Toru knows it, it’s the Cultural Festival, which Hijiri happily points out to him. This case begins with Sasamori’s hakama going missing and Asahi’s accusing another class, who are running a maid-style café as their food stand for the popularity contest, of stealing it. If they were to do that, Hijiri explained, they’d definitely win the contest because Sasamori was scheduled to visit the Japanese-style restaurant since she’s the president of the student council. No one could’ve taken it if they already had theirs because they search everyone’s bags before they leave. When the idea of the clothing being worn under the maid’s dress came up, Kuga stepped in and said that there would be no way to hide a hakama under a maid outfit. That was Toru’s second clue. The third came when Asahi again outright accused the girls of taking it and they told her they hadn’t, and she saw no tails. In order to put his thoughts together, Toru leaves to stand outside and Hijiri follows him.
Despite figuring it all out, who’d done it and how, Toru couldn’t figure out the motive. The one who had stolen it was Kuga (this coming from the fact no one had said what type of clothing Sasamori would be wearing, so only the culprit would know), that she’d put it into her bag (the girls thought it was hers), but he couldn’t figure out why. In his mind, that case was unsolved. Unknown to both of them Sasamori had heard and she went to find out why, and even later Toru’s shown still looking for the hakama. In a last attempt, he opens the door to the student council’s room and finds Sasamori there in the outfit she’d lost, hair put up and decorated. She tells him that she had found it in her bag, and, while not believing her, Toru reluctantly accepts it with some protest. He comments that since the festival’s over, no one got to see it, and asks her why she’d wear it anyways. To that she replies that sometimes girls just like dressing up nice like this, and that... Well, that he was looking at her, wasn’t he?It’s at this point that everyone knows for sure he’s got feelings for Sasamori, because all he does in return is turn away blushing to watch the fireworks light up the sky. And then Iris Hunter stuff happens oh boy.
Hijiri in general
- You can tell I wrote this part because it's shorter and more lazily-written...
→ In Hijiri's world, there are people known as 'irises', those born with unique abilities that, by his generation, make up 99% of the world's newborns.
→ Thus, he was born with the power to 'see the death' in something, seeing black butterflies accumulate around those close to dying.
→ Needless to say, he became something of a nihilist once he figured this out, to the point where he took up carrying a knife on his person to slash his own wrists.
→ To pass the time, he joined the gardening club at school, and met Katagiri, a girl with the Iris to 'see danger'. After a little nudging on her part, they entered a tutor class together.
→ Here, he became friends with Tachibana, the girl sitting across from him. Her Iris to 'see a person's happiness' let her see Hijiri's depression, and she was determined to cheer him up.
→ A few months later, he's seriously fallen for her, and is the happiest he's ever been.
→ So of course, things get worse, and one day he sees Tachibana's death approaching. Rather than be disturbed, he concludes that he has finally found a purpose in his life: saving Tachibana.
→ He immediately starts searching for whatever will cause Tachibana's death, even asking Katagiri to tell him if he sees danger approach her. Despite this, he fails to learn anything, and as the day of her death draws closer, Hijiri becomes more and more desperate.
→ It reaches the point where, after seeing Tachibana practically engulfed in butterflies, that he genuinely contemplates ending his own life.
→ Until suddenly! Another student, Toru Mizushima approaches him, claiming that he can save Tachibana with his own Iris. In exchange however, he says that Hijiri must do something for him: never approach Tachibana again. Backed into a corner, he accepts.
→ Of course, he later learns that Toru is an 'Iris Zero', a person without an Iris, and runs to find Tachibana, fearing the worst. However, to his surprise, her 'death' has completely vanished.
→ It is soon revealed that Toru had found Tachibana's would-be killer: Katagiri who, jealous of the attention Hijiri gave Tachibana, sought to lead the girl into danger with her Iris, and kill her. In other words, Hijiri's constant attempts to save Tachibana had fueled Katagiri's jealousy, and only brought her death closer. After drawing Katagiri out, Toru makes her doubt her desire to kill Tachibana, and thus saves her.
→ Shortly after this, Hijiri thanks Toru, and the two become friends.
→ SKIP AHEAD A FEW YEARS and we're at the start of the series. Here, the popular, well-known Koyuki Sasamori, with her Iris to 'see those qualified for a task', approaches Toru, asking for his help in finding the new president for the student council. Here, Hijiri plays Mr. Exposition, filling Toru in on who Sasamori is, and watching as he makes her the one to become president.
→ Shortly afterwards, one of Hijiri's friends, Asahi Yuki, attacks a teacher. In this arc, Hijri takes a slightly more active role, telling Yuki about those who care about her, filling Sasamori in on how Yuki's Iris to 'see through lies' screwed up Toru's childhood, and helping Toru get Yuki pardoned.
→ Next comes the school field trip, where Kuga is introduced, Yuki cannot go to the toilet alone, and Hijiri's only act of importance is trolling everyone.
→ Next comes Hijiri's mini-arc where Sasamori, curious as to Toru's attitude, asks Hijiri to help her understand him better. After initially saying he couldn't help, he accepts, asking that Sasamori answer a question of his in exchange.
→ As per Sasamori's request, Hijri tells her about the incident with Tachibanawasting two chapter's worth of ink in the process, admitting he still hasn't approached her since. Thus, he asks Sasamori to fufill her end of the bargain, and use her Iris to answer a question of his: "Back then, was I the one qualified to change her fate?". Sasamori, unfortunately, can't give him the answer he wants, leading him to tell her that sometimes, the truth can be painful.
→Then Toru just has to walk in on them, and Hijiri decided to act as though nothing happened. We also get a little introspection detailing how he's happy to go through life without any specific purpose, and that he considers everyday Tachibana lives part of his 'victory', both against fate, and his own nihilism.
→ Aaaaaaaaaand that's all up til his canon point.
- Covers events up to just before the Iris Hunter arc
- Written by
hastits , used with permissionIn the world of Iris Zero, there are two types of people: Those with “irises”, who can see things others can’t, like lies and who’s qualified for what and even what’s for dinner that night, and a now-rarer breed: “iris zeros”. To be an “iris zero” means to gain the discrimination of everyone, to be the target of bullying and hate. A while ago there was only a 1% of being an Iris and a 99% of being a normal baby. Then, for some reason, it skyrocketed 27 years ago and the numbers switched: 99% Iris, 1% Iris Zero. A lot of children have Irises, and a lot of adults don’t. For example, a 25 year old person would most likely be normal, but have a slight chance of being an Iris, and they’d be the ones discriminated against.
This is where Toru’s story begins, being one of the only “Iris Zeros” in the school he goes to. It started in elementary school, when he used to pretend to have an Iris that could “see what other’s iris’s were”. This worked out fantastically until a certain Asahi - a childhood friend, actually - came along because, and since he didn’t have one himself, he grew naturally to have a sharp eye and a sharp mind. As with Asahi, he exposed her Iris and was exposed as well - she can “see those who lie” by the devil’s tail that grows behind them, and she didn’t want her iris exposed either, so it was a cold dish of payback. This caused the rest of his elementary years to be a torturous experience for him, and thus he came to learn a certain motto he now lives by: “low/minimal exposure”. Fortunately for her, he’s come to terms with it, he’s accepted it, and ultimately it made him who he is today. For better or for worse. They’re friends again after he helps her with her problem.
It was around the age of 14 or so that he first became interested in Shinozuka Hijiri, a new kid in his tutoring class and one who worked the gardening club with a girl named Katagiri. Toru always observed everything about people if something changed suddenly, but he would and never will remember his classmates’ names and faces. It came about because of a girl named Tachibana, whom Hijiri had fallen hard for and who sat in front of Toru, suddenly having something changed about her that made Hijiri change, and Toru, being Toru, investigated it a bit and figured it out: Hijiri’s iris allowed him to “see the demise” of another person by black butterflies. Not something like a time, but the steps towards it (if you were going to die by a car accident, you’d get closer to that death by getting a license). During this investigation, he figured out who, why, and what to do to prevent it.
Toru caught Hijiri in the bathroom before something he would’ve regretted happened, and told him to stay away from Tachibana because he “was interested in her, too”, which was a straight out lie. So Hijiri stayed away from Tachibana as planned, and Toru got his answer when he swiped a note that was for said girl from Katagiri, who had a crush on Hijiri. He met her at the park at 5 instead of Tachibana, just as a big tree fell, while Hijiri had found out Toru was an “Iris Zero” and went to search for Tachibana and found her safe and sound and not-covered-in-death-butterflies. Katagiri, a girl who’s Iris can “see danger”, had decided to kill Tachibana by luring her into danger. When it fails and she tries to play innocent when she sees who it is, Toru calls her out on it.
“You would’ve definitely regretted it.” he had said to her. “If you do kill Tachibana, Shinozuka would probably never forget her for the rest of his life.” Instead, he said, try for his affections like other girls do without holding back (alas, it was not meant to be anyways). This incident is how Hijiri and Toru became
It’s in his 2nd year of middle/lower-secondary school he meets his next friend, though it’s not as if he wanted it to happen. It was that day that Sasamori Koyuki, the most popular and loved girl in their school, asked him out. Her iris allows her to “see who’s qualified” for what she’s thinking of in forms of Xs and Os. For example originally she was supposed to be looking for someone who was qualified to be the Student Council President, and after she couldn’t find someone wanted some cake and Toru was the most likely person to take her out if she asked. Toru is understandably mortified, but ends up meeting with Sasamori anyways to see what she wanted with him, saved her life by pulling her towards him just in time to have a pot fall where she would’ve been, and tells her that he can’t help because he’s an “Iris Zero”.
That doesn’t stop her from becoming his friend though. When it’s time to report to the council who the next President is, Sasamori admits that she hadn’t been able to find anyone. Tokita, a glassed man who is assumable the secretary or vice president of the council, calls her out on the possibility she is an “iris zero” as well, to which she denies. It’s at that moment of rising tension that Toru steps in, announcing with rather bad acting that he got the wrong room, and with a flower on his head. Everyone, even Hijiri, is dumbfounded. When Sasamori points it out hesitantly, Toru smiles a little and comments that he didn’t notice because he can’t see above his own head. This prompts others to realize that maybe Sasamori couldn’t see who’s qualified, because she herself was the only one qualified for the job. And thus she became the President of the School Council.
The next time she needs his help is when Asahi, who’s iris can “see through lies” by devil’s tails growing out behind them, hits a teacher without any provocation at all. He refuses her, saying he’s sitting this one out, and Hijiri explains to Sasamori that the one who made him have his motto seemed to be Asahi and what happened ten years before between the two. Despite this Sasamori waits for him outside the school and Toru finds it in his little heart with a little talk from her about Asahi. He goes back into the school saying he “forgot” something and confronts Asahi in a hallway, telling her that Sasamori asked him to help, but then continues on to say that he had not forgotten his resentment towards her and that “there’s no way I’d ever help you”. To which her iris tells her is a big, fat lie.
After this encounter, he tries to figure out why Asahi hit the teacher other than that she was being lied to. Hijiri helps out by answering Toru’s question of “who” and of their relationship. Ms. Fujimura is the teacher, 25 years old and is Hijiri’s, Sasamori’s, and Asahi’s homeroom teacher (not that Toru noticed, he focuses more on himself than he does others). She doesn’t seem like the type to lie, so both try to figure out why she might’ve lied. It’s mentioned that they were speaking of Asahi’s future plans, her choice of being a police officer, and Toru suddenly realizes why she might lie.
Then, with Sasamori, he sets up a little trap for the two of them by using false notes to bring them into the same room with a one-way mirror, where he speaks through a microphone and watches them. He tells them that Asahi’s iris lets her “see through other’s lies”, and he asks the teacher why’d she lie. Fujimura has no answer, so he supplies it for her: That, even if it was a slim possibility, she had an iris of her own, probably one like Sasamori’s which can tell if they’re qualified for that career, or to see their vocations. The teacher confesses that she did lie in order to protect students for the hurtful reality that they had no potential in that career and Sasamori calls her selfish over the intercom, dragging Toru out of the room with her.
After a spiel about how they weren’t so weak, Toru pulls Sasamori back to add more enlightenment to the situation: That Asahi couldn’t say why she hit the teacher because she didn’t want the teacher’s iris to be exposed. He says that some lies, the ones that are made for the sake of others, shouldn’t be punished, right? Asahi’s stunned by that revelation. Later, when she’s leaving, Asahi tells him that she’d never want to be friends with a guy like him, but only she can tell that she’s lying.
Sometime later, Toru’s most hated day comes by: The school field trip. It’s when he goes to the outcasts, who don’t really care what you are because you’re a loser too, to join their group. He meets Kuga, who’s in his homeroom class along with Tokita, and lets her join his group of ragtags. Though somehow it ends up that Toru’s stuck once again with Instant-Exposure, Carefree, and Loud for company on the trip. After meeting a somewhat loony old lady who scared the pants off of Asahi by hanging upside down off a branch after putting a little bird back in its nest and a story about the haunted stall in the girl’s bathroom that won’t open, night falls and Asahi finds herself in a dilemma... That she needs to use the bathroom. Scared but determined, she takes along Sasamori, who instantly falls back asleep when they get there. Toru and Hijiri are woken up by their phones, the former with an ear-bleeding shout from Asahi.
When the two arrive on the scene Asahi immediately takes off, leaving them vaguely confused and Sasamori to cling to Toru sleepily. Asahi enters and sees the haunted stall, the old woman’s words coming back to her. Someone moves in the shadows and it’s Kuga, Asahi grabbing her in relief and both returning outside once an acorn rolls out from under the door. Kuga had looked under the door and seen no one there, all stalls lock from the inside, so it’s a mystery of what could be going on. Sasamori points out to Toru the cute squirrels running around, and he figures it out. He tells her there’s nothing in there that she hates unless she hates animals, and she quickly goes to relieve herself as he tells Hijiri and Kuga what he’d figured out. The story being that due to the construction around, many wildlife lost their homes and sought refuge somewhere. Back when the hotel was still being built squirrels took over that last stall and the landlady never got it fixed because they needed a home. With that case solved, the group was free to enjoy the rest of the trip and have photos to prove it.
Before Toru knows it, it’s the Cultural Festival, which Hijiri happily points out to him. This case begins with Sasamori’s hakama going missing and Asahi’s accusing another class, who are running a maid-style café as their food stand for the popularity contest, of stealing it. If they were to do that, Hijiri explained, they’d definitely win the contest because Sasamori was scheduled to visit the Japanese-style restaurant since she’s the president of the student council. No one could’ve taken it if they already had theirs because they search everyone’s bags before they leave. When the idea of the clothing being worn under the maid’s dress came up, Kuga stepped in and said that there would be no way to hide a hakama under a maid outfit. That was Toru’s second clue. The third came when Asahi again outright accused the girls of taking it and they told her they hadn’t, and she saw no tails. In order to put his thoughts together, Toru leaves to stand outside and Hijiri follows him.
Despite figuring it all out, who’d done it and how, Toru couldn’t figure out the motive. The one who had stolen it was Kuga (this coming from the fact no one had said what type of clothing Sasamori would be wearing, so only the culprit would know), that she’d put it into her bag (the girls thought it was hers), but he couldn’t figure out why. In his mind, that case was unsolved. Unknown to both of them Sasamori had heard and she went to find out why, and even later Toru’s shown still looking for the hakama. In a last attempt, he opens the door to the student council’s room and finds Sasamori there in the outfit she’d lost, hair put up and decorated. She tells him that she had found it in her bag, and, while not believing her, Toru reluctantly accepts it with some protest. He comments that since the festival’s over, no one got to see it, and asks her why she’d wear it anyways. To that she replies that sometimes girls just like dressing up nice like this, and that... Well, that he was looking at her, wasn’t he?It’s at this point that everyone knows for sure he’s got feelings for Sasamori, because all he does in return is turn away blushing to watch the fireworks light up the sky. And then Iris Hunter stuff happens oh boy.
Hijiri in general
- You can tell I wrote this part because it's shorter and more lazily-written...
→ In Hijiri's world, there are people known as 'irises', those born with unique abilities that, by his generation, make up 99% of the world's newborns.
→ Thus, he was born with the power to 'see the death' in something, seeing black butterflies accumulate around those close to dying.
→ Needless to say, he became something of a nihilist once he figured this out, to the point where he took up carrying a knife on his person to slash his own wrists.
→ To pass the time, he joined the gardening club at school, and met Katagiri, a girl with the Iris to 'see danger'. After a little nudging on her part, they entered a tutor class together.
→ Here, he became friends with Tachibana, the girl sitting across from him. Her Iris to 'see a person's happiness' let her see Hijiri's depression, and she was determined to cheer him up.
→ A few months later, he's seriously fallen for her, and is the happiest he's ever been.
→ So of course, things get worse, and one day he sees Tachibana's death approaching. Rather than be disturbed, he concludes that he has finally found a purpose in his life: saving Tachibana.
→ He immediately starts searching for whatever will cause Tachibana's death, even asking Katagiri to tell him if he sees danger approach her. Despite this, he fails to learn anything, and as the day of her death draws closer, Hijiri becomes more and more desperate.
→ It reaches the point where, after seeing Tachibana practically engulfed in butterflies, that he genuinely contemplates ending his own life.
→ Until suddenly! Another student, Toru Mizushima approaches him, claiming that he can save Tachibana with his own Iris. In exchange however, he says that Hijiri must do something for him: never approach Tachibana again. Backed into a corner, he accepts.
→ Of course, he later learns that Toru is an 'Iris Zero', a person without an Iris, and runs to find Tachibana, fearing the worst. However, to his surprise, her 'death' has completely vanished.
→ It is soon revealed that Toru had found Tachibana's would-be killer: Katagiri who, jealous of the attention Hijiri gave Tachibana, sought to lead the girl into danger with her Iris, and kill her. In other words, Hijiri's constant attempts to save Tachibana had fueled Katagiri's jealousy, and only brought her death closer. After drawing Katagiri out, Toru makes her doubt her desire to kill Tachibana, and thus saves her.
→ Shortly after this, Hijiri thanks Toru, and the two become friends.
→ SKIP AHEAD A FEW YEARS and we're at the start of the series. Here, the popular, well-known Koyuki Sasamori, with her Iris to 'see those qualified for a task', approaches Toru, asking for his help in finding the new president for the student council. Here, Hijiri plays Mr. Exposition, filling Toru in on who Sasamori is, and watching as he makes her the one to become president.
→ Shortly afterwards, one of Hijiri's friends, Asahi Yuki, attacks a teacher. In this arc, Hijri takes a slightly more active role, telling Yuki about those who care about her, filling Sasamori in on how Yuki's Iris to 'see through lies' screwed up Toru's childhood, and helping Toru get Yuki pardoned.
→ Next comes the school field trip, where Kuga is introduced, Yuki cannot go to the toilet alone, and Hijiri's only act of importance is trolling everyone.
→ Next comes Hijiri's mini-arc where Sasamori, curious as to Toru's attitude, asks Hijiri to help her understand him better. After initially saying he couldn't help, he accepts, asking that Sasamori answer a question of his in exchange.
→ As per Sasamori's request, Hijri tells her about the incident with Tachibana
→Then Toru just has to walk in on them, and Hijiri decided to act as though nothing happened. We also get a little introspection detailing how he's happy to go through life without any specific purpose, and that he considers everyday Tachibana lives part of his 'victory', both against fate, and his own nihilism.
→ Aaaaaaaaaand that's all up til his canon point.