[SUMMARY] Toritan

22
January 15, 2020 // toritan

Type: Summary
Series: Toritan ~ Bye-Bye, Birdie
Author/Circle: Yamamoto Kotetsuko
Notes: While Toritan has been licensed, it will likely be some time before the conclusion reaches shelves in English, and even then, purchases are going to be difficult for many fans. As we’ve done for other complete series that get licensed before we’ve finished scanlating them, we’ll include here a detailed summary of the final few chapters of the manga. Read on for details!

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In Chapter 14, with their respective secrets out in the open, Mitsuru and Inusaki start to rekindle the mood with some making out–only to be interrupted by a phone call from Mitsuru’s mom. Mitsuru informs her that he’ll be spending the night at Inusaki’s place, in light of the downpour (and even makes Inusaki talk to his mom as well; rude little shit XD). Mitsuru gives him one last chance to back out, if he really doesn’t want to do anything, and Inusaki eventually gives in with a reluctant, “…As long as we don’t go all the way.” (hey, someone’s gotta be the adult in this relationship!)

More making out ensues (this time with far less clothing), and Inusaki wonders if Mitsuru just really likes kissing. Mitsuru confesses he doesn’t really know–as he’s got nothing to compare it to, since Inusaki is his first love. When he whispers Inusaki’s name softly into his ear, Inusaki begs him not to do that–the tone of his voice reminds him too much of Kuro. Mitsuru irrationally is irritated by this, which Inusaki finds ridiculous, because well, they’re one and the same, right?

Mitsuru not-so-gently reminds him, wrapping his fingers around Inusaki, that he could never do THIS with a crow.

True to his word, they stop at handies and lie beside each other in Inusaki’s bed, talking. Mitsuru asks when he first learned he could speak to birds, and Inusaki relates his sad tale of being cursed out by a pigeon as a boy. Inusaki turns his question back on Mitsuru, asking how exactly his power works. “You don’t actually turn INTO a bird, right??”

Mitsuru confesses it’s not quite so fantastic as that: he only borrows their bodies for a short time, sending his mind out from his own body to use theirs. He first learned he could do it as a second-grader, when he saw some crows flying in the sky and thought they seemed so free and wanted to be like them. He doesn’t use his power too often, as it’s taxing, and the day he met Inusaki as Kuro was the first time he’d used it in a while. He’d only been speaking to himself when Inusaki overheard him, certainly not expecting to be spoken back to. Especially not when they’d barely traded more than a few words as humans.

He’d been instantly attracted to Inusaki, but when he realized Inusaki was actually falling for his crow self, that had been a shock: his rival was himself…as a bird. Inusaki reminds him teasingly that it’s his own fault for being such a cool crow, and he shouldn’t be jealous of himself.

He then goes on to say that he’s always hated his ability to speak to birds, certain it could never come in useful–but it led him to Mitsuru, so maybe it’s not so bad.

This, unfortunately, only turns Mitsuru on, so sleep is difficult to find.

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In Chapter 15, Mitsuru is seen turning down another offer to go out with friends to karaoke, as he’s got a date. He’s in college now, commuting from home, so he and Inusaki are still together. As he meets up with Inusaki for their date, he confesses he’s actually been thinking of getting a bird as a pet and wants Inusaki to help him pick one out. None of the pet shop birds quite fits, though, so they resolve to come again another time and instead go out to dinner.

After, they relax back at Inusaki’s place with a post-prandial cup of coffee, and Inusaki wonders if Mitsuru gets hit on at college; he does, but he assures Inusaki there’s nothing to be worried about. Still, Inusaki wonders what might happen if Mitsuru got confessed to by a girl who could speak to birds, like Inusaki.

Mitsuru doesn’t think he’d want to date anyone who’d actually use that as their selling point, it’s way too cringey. “Well you’re already dating someone cringey right now!” Mitsuru is confused: what about Inusaki is cringey in any way? Plus, he didn’t fall for Inusaki because of his power. “Maybe, but it’s what made you interested in me, right??” Sure, but he loves Inusaki for himself.

Dropping the L word, he waits for Inusaki to reciprocate, and while Inusaki can’t bring himself to use the same language, he does confess, “Well I’m the one who fell for you first; have no fear, I’m head over heels for you.” Mitsuru quite likes the sound of that.

It’s not their first time–that happened the day Mitsuru got accepted into university–but it’s still fresh and fun. They make an early night of it, though, since Mitsuru has early classes the next day. Thus passes life for them, and when Inusaki runs into another crow, he greets it warmly–freaking it out until it flutters away in a tizzy.

“I’m the only crow who’ll ever hit on you,” comes a voice from behind him, and Inusaki turns around, greeting Mitsuru with a bright, warm smile.

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In the final little extra, we get a little peek back at that ‘first time’ as Mitsuru receives his acceptance letter for college. Since he got in, he asks Inusaki to let him spend the night (he’s already told his mom he’s doing so and even taken a bath, so His Body Is Ready). After all, Inusaki was the one who told him they could finally go all the way once Mitsuru got into college. Mitsuru warns him to temper his expectations, since he’s never had sex before, and Inusaki confesses that, well, that kind of goes for the both of them, which surprises Mitsuru, who thought he’d at least done it once (a boastful lie on Inusaki’s part, alas). This suits Mitsuru just fine.

In another tiny short, Inusaki wonders how Mitsuru managed to jump into the same crow every time to speak to Inusaki–there’s hundreds of crows around, it seems impossible! Mitsuru explains that he didn’t use the same one; it was a different crow every time. “But…you always seemed just as cool every time I saw you!” Mitsuru explains that, if that’s the cause, then it must simply be that Inusaki was seeing through the crow to the cool Mitsuru underneath.

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And that’s all! Hope this little summary helped wrap things up for you Toritan fans! Thanks for reading!