Chapter 05

Reject is the fifth chapter of the Koe no Katachi manga, and the final chapter of Volume 01.

Summary
During the entrance ceremony of his middle school, Shimada tells everyone in his class that he got bullied and he doesn't deny it when others confirms it and he gets isolated. During his third year high school, he lives a loner and sees everyone in his class has negative thoughts towards each other and especially to him. He sees everybody's activities an act and thinks people around him thinks badly at him which makes him hateful towards others and seldom interact with them and sees them with a big cross mark in their faces.

Despite his antipathy towards others, he hates himself the most. He admits to himself he is the one who chose to isolate himself. He recalls during his second year in middle school, he went to Nagoya by himself to buy a limited edition. At first he was nervous because it is quite far but he feels accomplished after buying it. He felt it is rather close as long as you have guts and money. He happened to see Shimada and his friends wanting to buy the limited edition so he suggested to himself he bought one. But that didn't turned out the way he expected when Shimada and his friends told him he will no longer be a fan. He lost his hope of gaining his friends back and thinks his future ahead. He sees himself out in the middle school class picture, with only cutout of his image, living alone without a lover or friends as he grows old. In the end, he sees himself dying alone together with garbage.

He creates a mindset where he is gonna die someday and need to make things up for everything he did. He plans to commit suicide as he cuts his calendar with the last number as his dying date and quit his part-time job after earning the 1.7 million yen his mother paid to Nishimiya's mother. He puts it in the envelope with writings "I pay you back." and places it beside his sleeping mother. With one last thing to do, he goes to a sign language club where he believes Nishimiya is. As he looks around in the hallway, he made a glimpse of her and turns around. As he confirms her, he starts to have a teary eye but then he slaps himself to keep his emotions and directly calls for Nishimya who has now a long hair.

Characters
In Order of Appearance:
 * Kazuki Shimada
 * Shōya Ishida
 * Satoshi Mashiba
 * Miki Kawai
 * Keisuke Hirose
 * Miyako Ishida
 * Shōko Nishimiya