Chapter 021: Ginro and Koya

Ginro and Koya  (銀露と鋼夜 "Ginro to Kōya" ) is the 21st chapter of the Kekkaishi Manga written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe

Summary
Kouya comments that Madarao is still hanging around humans, again calling him Ginro. Madarao replies that he's thrown that name away, and that Kouya still feels the same way about humans. Yoshimori asks if they know each other, and Madarao says they did long ago. Kouya slashes at Yoshimori with his tail, and though Yoshimori blocks with a Kekkai. However, the slash is powerful enough to destroy the Kekkai, and Yoshimori realizes that Kouya hasn't gotten serious yet. Yoshimori asks why Kouya aimed at him, and Madarao says Kouya hates all humans in general.

In a flashback, Madarao and Kouya came to live on the same mountain, and survived together on deer because Kouya was an excellent hunter. But because of war, humans came and the deer vanished, leaving no food for them. Madarao ends the story by saying he died of starvation, while Kouya was killed by humans. Kouya is happy that Madarao hasn't forgotten their past, and invites Madarao to become his comrade again. Madarao refuses, and explains how once he died, his spirit was unable to pass on, so he returned to the mountain, where he found Kouya again. They began to hunt together again, but Kouya had become more vicious, especially with humans. One day, they came upon Tokimori Hazama and Hakubi, who had come to destroy them. Madarao immediately chose to serve Hazama, which confuses Yoshimori.

Tokine uses this chance to re-capture Honetaro, Uhosuke, and Nagao. They beg for Kouya to save them, and Kouya responds with a slash that tears through the Kekkai, but also seriously wounds Uhosuke. Honetaro is shocked, and Yoshimori demands to know why Kouya attacked his own comrades. Kouya says they are useless and that he's done with them. Kouya again invites Madarao to join up with him, and again Madarao refuses. Kouya decides he will kill Yoshimori to cut Madarao's ties with him. Kouya begins to transform, and because he is an old friend of Madarao's, Yoshimori tries to figure out a way to merely drive him off. Madarao warns him that Kouya is strong and won't hesitate to kill, so there is no way to fight him without being willing to do the same. He asks Yoshimori to remove his collar so he can finish Kouya himself. Yoshimori remembers his grandfather's warning never to remove Madarao's collar, since it is a seal and without it, Madarao is no different from any other demon. Madarao reveals that he asked Hazama to release Kouya, even though he knew better. Yoshimori says that Madarao will owe him a favor and yanks off the collar. A beam of light shoots out of Madarao's doghouse and slams into him, restoring him to his full demon form just as Kouya completes his own transformation. Kouya says that Madarao could never beat him in a fight, and Madarao says that he let Kouya win in the past, but not today.

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Kouya
 * Madarao
 * Yoshimori Sumimura
 * Tokimori Hazama
 * Tokine Yukimura
 * Hakubi
 * Honetaro
 * Uhosuke
 * Shigemori Sumimura
 * Nagao