La Lune d'Automne des Mochizuki
This story was released alongside other works as part of the premiere of Shueisha's online manga service, Shonen Jump+ on September 22, 2014.
Summary
Rohan Kishibe tells the story of the Mochizuki family, who suffers from a curse that makes them die the same day every generation, the day of the Harvest Moon. After learning his wife, Haruko, has early markers of uterine cancer, the family patriarch, Noboru, forbids everyone in the family to leave the house as a safety measure. He warns his eldest daughter Aki and youngest son Takeru of the family curse, while his mother Mitsu sobs after hearing how her husband and other son died on this day years in the past. Noboru tells them that if they stay together all night, none of them will die, as his great grandparents lived to over 100 because they kept the family tradition of the moon viewing alive. They decide to throw a party in the backyard until the fated day passes.
The family enjoys their night together, even though it seems something is trying to kill them. Takeru's RC helicopter crashes into a tree, breaks a branch, and lands in a fishbowl, after which Aki's phone rings and she knocks her father's glasses onto the branch, sending a goldfish into Mitsu's mouth, nearly choking her. However, the same series of mishaps causes Takeru's kiddie pool to pop after Noboru hits it with a pair of hot tongs, making Takeru lose control of the helicopter which falls onto Mitsu to knock the goldfish out of her throat, saving her life. The pool water, however, washes a hornet's nest out into the family garden.
Later that night, everyone but Aki has fallen asleep, and she talks on the phone with her boyfriend who tells her he has come to the house to see her. She goes out to meet him, taking a jacket, unaware she is being watched by a rabbit-like creature who carries the curse. She drops her jacket, which lands on the hornet's nest. As she is about to be swarmed and stung, her boyfriend proposes to her, saving her from the curse as she is no longer a member of the Mochizuki family in mind and body. A nearby motorcyclist is killed when the hornets are redirected at him, while Aki rejoins her family who have all woken up as a result of the motorcycle crash. The rabbit creature leaves, promising to return to ensure the curse will play out once more during the next harvest moon.
Appearances
Author's Note
Author's Note
