To The Bridge (橋へ, Hashi e?) is the fifty-third chapter of the Koe no Katachi manga, and the first chapter of Volume 7.
Summary[]
The chapter begins with a dream sequence notably similar to the one Shōko has in Chapter 51, this time from the perspective of Shōya. In his version of the dream, Shōya imagines a reality where he never bullied Shōko during their elementary school years and was able to properly communicate with her. He describes feeling as if everything in his life would go well for him, even during his middle school and high school years.
After going to sleep feeling happy, the dream shifts when he describes the feeling of being pulled by his hand, away from everyone he knows, causing Shōya to wonder where they are going and if they are all going to die despite the implication that he himself is being pulled towards his own demise. After declaring to himself that they can't die, Shōya then sees a vision of Shōko standing alone on the bridge. He begins to call out to her in his dream and awakes from his coma while shouting her name.
Shōya quickly realizes that he is alive from his fall and attempts to go find Shōko to see if she's alright before noticing the medical equipment attached to his body. Shōya tries pulling the equipment off of himself and begins to panic when that fails and he is unable to leave the hospital bed, causing him to call for his mom in his mind. His hysteria continues when a nurse comes into the room and greets him. Shōya asks the nurse what happened to Shōko and if she's okay, to which the nurse apologizes in confusion, having not understood what he said. As Shōya realizes how dry his mouth is, the nurse tells him not to worry and that he's perfectly fine. Shōya begs the nurse to take the medical equipment out of his body, assuring her that he is totally fine now, to which the nurse agrees but tells him that they'll let the doctor examine him first. Before the nurse can explain further, Shōya cuts her off and demands her to take off the equipment right now. Shōya continues, tearfully demanding to get his mother, his phone, and water to quench his dry mouth, to which the nurse tells him to wait a moment before leaving.
Unwilling to wait, Shōya finally figures out a way to detach the tubes from his body and goes to an upwards facing faucet at a sink to get a drink of water, while a couple nurses find out that Shōya isn't in his room and asks where he is. Shōya makes his way to the bridge and initially believes Shōko isn’t there until he sees her crouched near the corner of one of the fences.
After Shōya calls out to her, Shōko looks up and turns to see that Shōya has joined her on the bridge, both in disbelief that the other could really be there at that moment. Shōya then waves and greets a tear stricken Shōko as he starts to question if it's a delusion and if he's still dreaming, believing that running into her is almost too perfect. Shōya further questions if this is an old cliche in which either he or Shōko's dead and is now present as a ghost. Shōko and Shōya wipe the tears from their faces and stare at one another for a brief moment before Shōko walks up to Shōya and pokes his chest, recoiling when it confirmed to both of them that this encounter is reality and not just a dream or hallucination. Shōko smiles while Shōya laughs in relief.
Characters[]
In Order of Appearance:
- Shōko Nishimiya
- Shōya Ishida
- Takeuchi
- Naoka Ueno
- Keisuke Hirose
- Kazuki Shimada
- Miki Kawai
- Tomohiro Nagatsuka
- Miyoko Sahara
- Miyako Ishida
- Yaeko Nishimiya
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