Chapter 54 of Dorohedoro is the Fifth Chapter of Volume 9 titled: Curse 54 "The Door To The Past"
Summary:
The night prior the events of the previous chapter we see Chota in lingerie using his mask while no one sees him in Nikaido's room in the mansion, looking at the hour he knows is time to go to bed. Worried that the cleaning personnel would find his mask, he decides to find a better hide for it. In his search the bird masked sorcerer find Nikaido's journal, intrigued about how her magic works or what secrets she wrote, Chota takes his time to read the journal:
Nikaido explains how her actions and will are fading by day and this journal is a testament to her memories in case they also will be erased too thanks to the power of En's contract. And so the story of her childhood begins:
And orphanage raised by an elderly couple in a rural zone in the Magic Users Realm alonside her two siblings, living a happy life with no worries, until Yakumo, her older sister, dissapeared. The bird mask grow bored as none of that was about her magic, and went to sleep, asking himself what could be the reason for Nikaido to be terrified about use her magic.
Next day in the mansion En present his brand new product, a terrifying yet adorable sculptures of him made in mushrooms, with the tendency to attach to other life forms as parasites (with Fujita as the example). When En ask "Nikaido" about using her magic, Chota tries to use an excuse to get mad at him in order to delay the subjet, locking himself in the bathroom and ordering the mansion maids to not let En come in. The proceeds to take a bath and continuing where he left the journal last night:
Nikaido used her magic for the first time when she was approximately 3 years old, not knowing what it was, as she simply materialized a cube made of smoke. Yakumo was using her flying-type magic when she spotted the corpse of a child murdered in the forest by hunters, kawajiti used his teleport-type of magic to save the girls from the hunter near them, going back home where their parent waited them with goyzas.
Yakumo trained Nikaido in martial arts and quickly became strong and skilled enough to perform highly difficult acrobatics, yet at cost of suffer lessions in her hands (as Kawajiri told Yakumo to go easy on her), Kawajiri came with a new mask made by a Devil and some news, he was chosed to take the Devil exam, making Yakumo sad as they knew he would no longer stay with them (Nikaido even though she had romantic feeling for him), proud of their adoptive son, the elderly couple, Nikaido and Yakumo said goodbye to Kawariji as he teleported away. The same night as everyone was out and Nikaido finished the chores, she practice her magic one last time, now able to produce a smoke box big enough to get inside, not knowing the horrible consequences of use her magic.
Back to the mansion En got really desperate to regain "Nikaido's" forgiveness and tried to enter in the bathroom with gifts, as Chota prepares himself to go outside, to his surprise, Asu's magic was dispelled (thanks to his demotion from devilhood the same day) and was reverted to his old self.
In Berith we see Risu, hanging from the roof of the Cross-Eyes Hideout, as Kaiman, Nikaido and Natsuki finally reach the town.
Characters
Trivia
- The second part of the story takes place at the same time as the previous chapter
- Yakumo is introduced
- The elderly couple is introduced