35. Shinigami Record V

Shinigami Record V (シニガミレコードＶ Shinigami Rekōdo V) is the thirty-fifth chapter of the Kagerou Daze manga.

Summary

 * The chapter begins 1,014 days after Azami's and Tsukihiko's initial meeting. Rain is falling as Tsukihiko continues working on the house. Azami is sitting in front of a small shed next to a barrel filled with hot water, while she watches him carry a large wooden plank to the rest of the construction, and he props it to stay upright. She questions what drives him to work, why he does not want to rest even though the rain is pouring, and worries that he might hurt himself. The plank that Tsukihiko moved wobbles and falls to the ground while Azami comments to herself how he turned out to be a klutz with an undeniable spirit. The sun is about to set when Tsukihiko finishes with his work for the day. He is covered in dirt, so Azami sends him immediately to take a bath. As he walks toward the wooden tub, Azami recalls the moment when Tsukihiko made the small shed she is sitting in front. When she asked him what the purpose of the shed was, he explained that it was for him to rest. Azami objects to this, but he argues that the work on the house would speed up if he stayed there. This led to the two of them living together for the next few years, and Azami begrudgingly agrees that it did speed up the progress. As she thinks about how she is spoiling him by heating up a bath for him, Tsukihiko interrupts her by thanking her for the bath, which makes her blush.


 * The scene changes to day 1,032. Azami is sitting outside of the shed with her feet dipped in a small tub of water. Tsukihiko is working on the roof of the house and Azami warns him that the beam that he is standing on is about to come off, but he misinterprets her and just waves back to her. She keeps trying to warn him, but the beam gives away and Tsukihiko falls to the ground. Azami panics and rushes to the construction to check on him, but she cannot find him anywhere on the ground. Tsukihiko is hanging from the construction and appears to be alright. Azami begins to berate him for not being careful, then commands him to fill up her tub again and that he shouldn't go back up on the roof. As she walks back to her previous spot, Azami thinks about how she hates being scared like that and how she will not speak to Tsukihiko as a punishment.


 * Time moves to day 1,058. It is nighttime and Azami is sitting on the grass in front of the shed. She complains how Tsukihiko is late after he went to get some food for himself after he had run out, and how he said that he would be back in the afternoon. It would always take him around three hours to finish his trip, so it was unusual that he didn't return before sunset. Azami tries to reassure herself that Tsukihiko will come back in the morning, but she soon realizes that she is only avoiding the most probable cause; that Tsukihiko ran away from her. She recalls the time she first met him when he said that he wanted to get a closer look at her, which makes her blush. Azami begins to panic when the possibility of Tsukihiko being attracted to her comes to mind to her mind.


 * The next day, day 1,059, Tsukihiko comes back covered in mud and bruises. He and Azami are sitting in front of the shed, while Azami cries and questions why he is so hurt. The question makes him shudder so Azami questions if he cannot tell her the reason which he immediately denies. She continues to press him, so Tsukihiko sighs and asks her if she remembers the first time they met. He explains that he was traveling back home after fighting in a war since he was not considered useful in the army. When Azami told him to build a house for her, he felt happy that he could help someone as pretty as her. Continuing on, he explains that his parents passed away when he was younger, but that they had left him behind a decent amount of money and land so he never had a problem staying afloat. The day he went to get some food for himself, he ran into a villager who hurt him because of how different he looks compared to other people. Azami quickly gets furious when she hears this, she stands up, determined to get revenge for what they did to him. Before she could do that though, Tsukihiko steps in front of her and stops her. She questions why he won't let her have revenge, he replies that he doesn't want her doing the same thing that they do, which she agrees to. The thought of him living in a place where he is mistreated and hated for the way he looks disturbs her, so she asks him to never go back to that village again. She quickly apologizes, since she knows that he keeps his promises and she had commanded him to leave after he finishes building the house. Tears drip down her face while she berates herself for telling him to leave and the feeling of loneliness is hard for her to bear. As she mentally tells him to get out of her life so she can finally be alone, he asks her if she wants to be his wife, to which she immediately responds by saying yes. Tsukihiko then reaches out to her and hugs her, apologizing for breaking his promise to her, but Azami begins to cry even more and calls him a fool.