Konjiki no Gash!! Chapter 16

**A Real Family** (本当の家族, *Hontō no Kazoku*) is the 16th chapter of Makoto Raiku's Konjiki no Gash!!. This chapter was originally released in Japan as part of volume 2 on August 9, 2001.

## Plot

On a rainy day, a young girl, Kolulu cries alone while a sea of people move past her without noticing her. She continues crying until she is approached by Shiori with an umbrella and a handkerchief to dry her tears. From there, Shiori brings Kolulu home with her where she then goes to draw her a bath. As Shiori gets clean clothes for Kolulu to wear, Kolulu looks around the kitchen. On a whiteboard on the wall, Kolulu sees notes exchanged between Shiori and her parents, who seem to not be around much, if at all. Shiori calls Kolulu over when it’s time for her bath. After this, Kolulu and Shiori are in Shiori’s room, where Kolulu is now wearing Shiori’s old pajamas from when she was a kid. Kolulu asks where her own clothes are, and Shiori reassures her they’re just being cleaned. Shiori says it’s time for them to eat, and she and Kolulu properly introduce themselves to one another. Kolulu says Shiori is kind, to which Shiori replies she couldn’t just leave Kolulu out there alone. Shiori asks about Kolulu’s parents, and Kolulu tells her that there is nobody looking for her, and that she is truly alone. Shiori gets up, brings dessert to the table, and tells Kolulu to call her "big sister". Kolulu beams at Shiori after hearing that.

Another day, at Kiyomaro’s house, Gash begs Kiyomaro to bring him to school because the botanical garden is closed today. Kiyomaro tells Gash to go to the park, but Gash explains that all of the other kids found somewhere else to play, but Naomi won’t tell him where, and so Gash is always alone at the park now. Kiyomaro tells Gash that if he wants a friend, then he will make Gash a friend. Shortly afterward, Kiyomaro gives Gash the Vulcan 300, a toy robot made out of a snack box and chopsticks. Gash is ecstatic with his new friend and decides to take Vulcan to the park, and so Kiyomaro goes to school without Gash. At the park, Kolulu just finished making a flower crown for her doll, Tina, when she notices Gash by her. Kolulu recognizes Gash and is about to say his name when Gash immediately introduces himself and says that he’s never seen her before, then asks for her name.

Kolulu is a little nervous, but introduces herself. Gash then introduces her to Vulcan, and Kolulu introduces him to Tina. Gash thinks Tina looks so much better than Vulcan, and boasts about how his friend was handmade while hers was probably store bought. Kolulu interjects that Tina was, in fact, also handmade, and that her sister made Tina for her. Kolulu goes into further detail about how much work was put into making Tina and that it took her sister weeks to make, all the while Gash is getting upset that Kiyomaro put no effort into making Vulcan. Vulcan’s arm pops off and Gash starts sobbing, devastated that Kiyomaro didn’t even use glue. Shiori shows up to pick Kolulu up on her walk home from school, and she notices Gash and asks Kolulu if he’s her friend, but she tells Shiori they just met. Kolulu gives Shiori a flower crown she made for her to match the one Tina has, and the two play a bit together before heading home.

Back at Shiori’s home, Kolulu is taking a nap with her backpack beside her in Shiori’s bed, and Shiori is at her desk looking at the flower crown Kolulu made for her. Shiori thinks about how she now has a family. In brief flashbacks, Shiori’s parents are too busy to listen to her and tell her if she has anything important to say that she should write it on the kitchen’s message board. Glimpses of other flashbacks are shown of Shiori and Kolulu caring for one another which greatly contrasts with Shiori's interactions with her parents. She thinks back to when Kolulu said she didn’t have any parents, and resolves to adopt Kolulu herself if that’s really the case. Just then, something inside Kolulu’s backpack starts glowing and Shiori picks it up. She pulls out from it a pink spell book and starts flipping through its pages. Kolulu starts to wake up from her nap as Shiori finds a page she can read and starts to read it aloud, but Kolulu yells for Shiori to not read from the book.

Later, at Kiyomaro’s house, Gash is yelling at Kiyomaro, begging him to remake Vulcan, exclaiming he wants to be able to introduce Vulcan with confidence like Tina. Kiyomaro wonders who Tina is, right when a news report comes on the television. The report states there has been another supernatural incident near Mochinoki City, and police are searching for possible eyewitnesses.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Kolulu
* Shiori
* Gash Bell
* Kiyomaro Takamine
* Naomi (flashback)

### Locations

* Mochinoki City
	+ Takamine Residence