Chapter 07

I Gave Up Once Before is the seventh chapter of the Koe no Katachi manga.

Summary
After Nishimiya grabs his hands, they were teased by the people passing by which makes both of them get embarassed and she lets go. An old woman suddenly approached Nishimiya asking her about bread duty which makes Ishida curious. The old woman thought he wants to help and explained that NIshimiya is assigned on tuesday since the breadman is not coming on that day. He still doens't understand and Nishimiya shows a plastic of bread.

It turns out that she is taking care of the koi fishes by giving them the bread. He asks why she feeds them and suggested an answer of wanting to do it. Nishimiya answers she feels happy when needed that makes Ishida frankly tells her that she always respond in a weird way that makes Nishimiya feel a little embarrassed.

Ishida realizes he used to hate Nishimiya but he is currently having a normal conversation with her and he makes an expression like he doesn't understand himself. He admits he has never done it in his whole life where he supposed to end his life after apologizing to her but instead he asks for friendship. He looks at himself in the river seeing his bloodshot eye and some pimples. He turns around after hearing Nishimiya's mother asks Nishimiya to leave. When Nishimiya's mother sees him, she drags Nishimiya to the car but she shouts when she feels Nishimiya is resisting. On the other hand, Ishida is looking at them. Ishida explains Nishimiya still wants to stay because the bread is not yet finished when he sees her making actions. Nishimiya's mother ignores him and pushes her a little more. She suddenly notices her old communication book and throws it off the bridge. It surprises her when Nishimiya tries to grab it in the air but she falls on the bridge instead. She gets more surprised when Ishida jumps off without hesitation. He helps her when she sees her desparately looking for it despite its contents which are insults. He successfully found it and gave it to Nishimiya.

As Nishimiya and her mother are living, Ishida shouts at the mother apologizing and telling he regretted what he did. He turns around as they continue to get in the car but suddenly, Nishimiiya's mother returns to slap him real hard.

On his way home, his mind is full of what happened in the afternoon. He remembers Nishimiya telling him later. He wonders if he has the right to see her again or if it is a good thing to see her again. He remember what Nishimiya answered him when he asks if it is really important; "I've given up once, but you picked up for me". He finds her answer weird again and calls her a weirdo.

In his home, his mother has prepared a delicious meal and happily serving him. He wonders and sees her enjoyingly holding the money he earned. He thinks if he died that day, he would never see his mother happy like that.

In his room, what Nishimiya said has affected him and he tapes back the calendar dates he once teared and decided to live on.

Characters
In Order of Appearance:
 * Shōko Nishimiya
 * Shōya Ishida
 * Yaeko Nishimiya
 * Miyako Ishida