Chapter 25 of “Ran to Haiiro no Sekai” came out in the August 2012 (issue #24) of “Fellows” manga magazine on pages 243-266. The opening page shows Ootarou in semi-insect mode, sitting in the trap that the witches set at their village. Outarou looks angry and determined.
Back at the Uruma house Ran's teacher Tamao is looking at a piece of paper and trying to decide if she should tell Ran about it or not. On the paper is a sketch of Outarou which has been created by the witches as something of a “wanted” poster. Tamao crumples the paper and decides not to tell Ran. But when she throws the paper at a trash can it bounces off of the rim and onto the floor. So Tamao picks it up and decides to burn it. But when she sets it alight with her lighter it slips out of her hands and falls into her coffee cup. Tamao then thinks about trying to hide it but decides that she won't be able to do that either.
At Ran's school the witch kids are sitting together outside during recess. One of the witch kids does a magic trick with his face and ends up wearing the visage of Outarou that is on the wanted poster. The other witch kids sitting around him are impressed. Hibi is passing by and is startled when he sees the trick. He realizes that the new transfer kids must have powers like Ran. The witch kids start to laugh and talk about how they will catch and kill Outarou with their various magical powers.
Hibi wonders if Ran knows about this and starts to look for her. Ran is off jumping rope by herself, looking very dejected. Hibi calls out to Ran, she turns and sees him, and the next thing we see, the two are sitting on the floor of Ran's classroom, their legs tangled in Ran's jumprope. Hibi yells at Ran that they could have walked, but Ran just stares in confusion at the “wanted” poster of Outarou that is taped onto a classroom wall.
Ran asks why Outarou's face is scribbled in such a strange way. Ran grabs the picture, crumples it up, and says that she won't stand for any meddling with her friend just as the witch kids come into the room. Nio and the other witch kids ask “Friend?” in shock. Ran is surprised by this and responds back defensively, “Friend”. Outside the window a heavy rain shower appears out of nowhere.
The next thing we see, Ran is in her adult form and is bounding across rooftops at high speed with Hibi still attached to her by the jumprope. Hibi yells at Ran and tells her that they are stuck together but Ran doesn't listen. Ran flies to the garden rooftop of Outarou's penthouse. As Ran and Hibi land Outarou's butler Gogou runs out to greet Ran. Ran yells at Gogou to see if Outarou is there, but Gogou starts to weep and hugs Ran, telling her that he has been searching for Outarou and hoping that she knew something about what happened to him. Gogou begs Ran to tell him anything that she knows.
Ran hugs Gogou and tells him to wait and she promises him that she will bring Outarou home. Hibi is still hanging on to Ran's legs and looks on with a look of dismay on his face. As they fly through the rainy sky once more Hibi asks Ran what she intends to do about Outarou (calling him “that old guy”). Ran just answers “later” and the two start to descend through the clouds and rain very quickly. Hibi yells at Ran that they are going too fast. As they streak down towards Ran's house Hibi starts to scream that they are going to crash.
And crash they do, through the roof of the house and into Shizuka's bedroom where Ran's mother sleeps in an extremely deep sleep. Ran goes to her mother and tries to wake her to talk to her, but Menou, who has been on watch over Shizuka, grabs Ran by the shoulder and tells her to stop. Menou tells Ran that her mother needs to sleep to recover her magical powers. Ran tries to explain to Menou but Menou puts her hand on Ran's head and casts a spell that turns Ran back into her child form.
But Ran immediately reverts to her adult form and angrily tells Menou that she will stop. She then tells Menou to tell her mother that she is okay and stomps out of the room with Hibi in tow. Menou looks in surprise at her hand and comments on how quickly Ran reversed her spell.
Ran then drags Hibi to her father's room, but Sango sits on guard outside the door and tells Ran that her father is in an important meeting and he can't be disturbed. Ran gets angry again but she just tells Sango to tell her father that she is okay and stomps off again with Hibi.
While Ran is marching down the hallway Hibi tries to get her attention again but suddenly one of his legs is grabbed by a skeletal hand and arm. Hibi and Ran both scream at the sight. Sitting at the side of the hallway is Dr. Betsuchin who grabs the skeletal arm and holds it down as it wriggles on the ground. He apologizes to Ran and Hibi for scaring them. Dr. Betsuchin attaches the skeletal arm onto the stump of his right arm and flexes it. He tells Ran and Hibi that it is a “living” artificial arm.
Ran realizes that he is a doctor and runs up, asking him if it is possible that a person who is possessed by an insect can be cured. Betsuchin starts to say that this has been done once and Ran immediately interrupts him, says thanks, and runs off. Betsuchin continues his sentence and says that it was a failure, but Ran is already down the hallway and doesn't hear this. However, Hibi does.
Ran reaches another door, pulls it open, and bounces off of the chest of a very large were-bear that is wearing a robe. In the room are a number of were-animals including a kitsune who is in mainly human form. The kitsune assumes that Ran is a maid and asks if food is ready yet. The kitsune then stops and says that he hears a crowd approaching. Down the stairs come a number of crow-men, many of whom are still injured from their earlier fight with Outarou.
When the crow-men reach the room the kitsune starts to razz them about their failure and the were-men start to brag how they will kill the insects and Outarou. As this goes on Ran gets more upset while Hibi looks more and more worried as more witch people show up and the mood gets threatening. Suddenly Ran yells out for everyone to stop.
The next thing we see, Ran is being carried away from the house by several of the witch kids, while Hibi dangles below her in the rain, still attached to Ran by the jumprope. The witch kids yell at Ran and tell her that they will find Outarou, catch him and kill him. Ran answers back that Outarou is in pain and should be pitied. Nio responds that it is over and that there is nothing that can be done for Outarou now but to kill him.
Ran screams out in frustration and a huge blast of magical power and light shoots out from her. With that blast every flame in the entire town went out. Hanging below Ran, Hibi sees that snow has started to fall. Adult Ran has a look of total determination on her face. The chapter ends with snow falling on the town and a remark that a long, long winter is coming.
↧