Publisher's Synopsis
During the summer, Mitsuo and his schoolmates take a school trip to a lake and stay at an old Japanese-style hotel, where he gets nonstop hiccups. An old woman working at the hotel tells him that a person who hiccups 100 times dies, and suggests that his attack of the hiccups is the doing of the god of happiness' Zashiki Doshi. After the trip, Mitsuo begins to fear that he is being watched by someone. He discovers the identity of that person - a young man named Kanau Hibiki, a former drama club member, who has been haunting his school over the past 15 years. Hasunama is injured during this narration, and Mitsuo collapses from exhaustion after offering a prayer for Hasunuma's recovery with a vow to undergo ascetic training at a Shinto shrine. Mikuni, the chief priest of the shrine, nurses Mitsuo back to health, which makes Hasunuma jealous. Hasunuma's soul has been separated from his body from the shock of his accident. Mikuni reveals that Kanau committed suicide. Through Mitsuo, Kanau laments to Hasunuma that a senior drama club member, who was supposed to die with him, had betrayed him and that he died alone. Mitsuo goes to the shrine to try to return Hasunuma's soul to his body.;Happy that Hasunuma had listened to his story, Kanou hopes to help him. The priest, who is a playboy, realizes what's going on, and returns Hasunuma's soul to his body. The relationship between Mitsuo and Hasunuma is restored.
