| Period 33: The Toilet Goddess | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Period | 33 | |
| Volume | 9 | |
| Previous | Period 32: The Queen's Trick | |
| Next | Period 34: Hell's Clock - Part 1 | |
The Toilet Goddess is the 33rd chapter of the Zekkyou Gakkyuu series and 1st chapter in the volume 9 manga.
Premise[]
Bitter from abandonment, Suzu makes a wish for Rena to disappear. But after it comes true she attempts to encounter the rumored Toilet Goddess in hopes of setting things right.
Yomi's Introduction[]
Yomi is scrubbing the toilet in the restroom and observes it. She remarks on the rumor surrounding it, saying that if one shines it well enough the Goddess within it will grant their wish. She wonders who could have possibly started such a rumor.
Summary[]
It is said that there is a toilet goddess in the inner-most stall of the girls room. If one cleans it piously, she is said to appear and grant ones wish.
As a group of girls discuss this rumor and share a laugh, one girl is hidden within the toilet eating lunch. She hopes they won't try to confirm the rumor, or else she would be discovered. It isn't like she enjoys being in there, but she dislikes break because she is lonely. Before middle school she had many friends, but barely a month in they separated due to growing apart and making new friends. She was alone before she knew it. It's better to be in here then to be noticed as a loner.
Suzu prepares to leave the stall until she happens to get a closer look at one of the girls among the group, recognizing her as her childhood friend, Rena. She watches as Rena applies some makeup, and one girl asks if it's alright not asking Suzu to join them. Rena confirms that it is, because she doesn't get along anymore. Suzu is devastated hearing this, as one girl asks about the rumor again. Rena believes it could be true, because she was told about a frequently bullied girl would clean the toilets every day. One day, the bullying quit when she emerged and everyone saw how beautiful she was. Rena's friend wonders if she should clean the toilet hearing this and they share another laugh as the bell rings.
After they leave Suzu makes herself known, badmouthing the rumor. She mockingly takes a large wad of toilet paper and rubs the toilet. She demands the goddess come out to grant her wish, but as expected nothing happens. She becomes saddened as she recalls how much fun elementary school was. They would chat about manga and exchange them, she and Rena had been very close; to the point Rena would be jealous if Suzu traded manga with others despite having access to it when visiting Suzu. She became flustered when they would tease her over it, but it was all in good fun.
How could Rena leave her so easily?
Once break rolls around again, Suzu takes a moment to observe the girls looking at the latest issue of Seventeen Magazine. She returns to the stall to mope, wishing she could have at least one friend. However, to her surprise she finds a message has been written on the toilet, asking her "are you okay?". Suzu gets a closer look, realizing it wasn't there before. She adds her own message, "not at all!"
The following day she returns to the stall to find "why?" has been left in response. Doubtful that it is the Toilet Goddess, Suzu asks "who are you?" and later returns to see "I am your friend" written on it. From that day, strange, wonderful things began to happen. Every time she had a chance Suzu would return to the toilet to find a new message left for her. Days began to pass, from drawing silly pictures to just communicating with small sentences, Suzu was very happy. She would even clean the toilet as thanks for her kindness, seeing no harm in this strange new friendship.
One day, Suzu is running late as she had to clean up after P.E. and to her surprise, she sees Rena leaving the stall she was hurrying to. She asks what she was doing, but Rena claims it was nothing; only to drop the marker she's been using. In dons on Suzu that she was the one writing to her, and recalling Rena's earlier statement of how they don't get along anymore causes Suzu to think she's doing this to mock her. She angrily accuses Rena of this and shoves her into the stall, holding the door shut so that she can't escape. In anguish, she yells at Rena to never stand before her again and to disappear, then she runs out of the restroom.
How could Rena possibly understand how alone and scared she felt being on her own now?
People like her shouldn't exist at all.
The following day, Suzu is shocked when Rena doesn't show up to class. Everyone is so surprised, even the teachers are making a fuss about it in the staff room; but she's sure it isn't a big deal, she probably just stayed at a friends house. She thinks about the Toilet Goddess rumor again, but she's convinced its not real now.
During lunch, Suzu is astonished when Rena's friends approach her to invite her to lunch. She initially doesn't believe it was genuine until they express wanting to invite her for some time now. They surprise her with their kindness, and use of makeup. But they say it's fine because it's just mascara anyway. They go on to compliment her soft skin and they chat while enjoying lunch. Suzu is amazed by how much fun she has, and they officially become friends.
As a result she stopped showing up to the toilet stall as she no longer had need for it. It remained where it was and began to get dirty again. But soon she became aware that she had been forgetting Rena, and she worries as it's been over two weeks now. One day, one of her friends brings up how close Rena and Suzu were in elementary school. Suzu confirms and the girl expresses how worried Rena was for her. Suzu is stunned as the girl informs her that Rena really wanted to include Suzu and still be friends, but Suzu always left during break so they were led to believe she didn't want to be near them. Rena never openly says what she feels, so it didn't look that way. Suzu agrees with this as she recalls their childhood.
As she recalls last seeing Rena leaving the stall and dropping her marker, she realizes that she was wrong about her this entire time. She wasn't trying to be cruel, she was trying to communicate with her. Suzu rushes back to the toilet stall to see that Rena wrote "You should try to talk to everyone!", and she signed her name beneath it with the intention of revealing her identity to Suzu. Suzu cries realizing what she did and she grabs a bunch of toilet paper to resume scrubbing the toilet as hard as possible, begging with the toilet Goddess to let her see Rena so that she can apologize.
Suddenly, as she pauses to overlook her work, she sees frightening hands grab onto the rim of the toilet seat. She falls back and a damp, horrific girl pulls herself out. They exchange glances and she realizes this isn't Rena as the girl grabs her and forces her head-first into the toilet. In her last moments Suzu wonders if this is what Rena experienced. She recalls the story and realizes this scary girl must be the one who was bullied and mysteriously changed years back; the girl who exited the restroom wasn't her, but someone else stuck within the toilet.
- - - -
Rena's friends locate "Suzu" and ask if she is okay, as she rushed away suddenly. The mysterious girl now donning her uniform smiles and assures them that she is.
Yomi's Epilogue[]
Still observing the toilet, Yomi remarks that Suzu and Rena probably made up and became best friends again. One day, someone else will appear to make a wish. She asks the Readers if they have such a toilet in their school and suggests they try it out as she flushes it.
Characters[]
- Suzu Oono
- Rena
- Rena's Friends
- Toilet Goddess
Quotes[]
Trivia[]
- This chapter is vaguely reminiscent of Period 20.
- Both girls had friends in elementary school, but became lonely in middle school due to their friends separating or attending other schools.
- Both girls write messages to someone they did not think they could see.
- Both girls discover that the group they befriended really did want to be her friends, but because of her behavior they thought she was antisocial.
- Both girls were attacked and killed/harmed by the source they were communicating to/with.
- The manga the girls are shown reading throughout the chapter is based on the first Manga volume of the series, featuring an image of Yomi on it.
