Tonari/Plot

Tonari's Past
Tonari lives rather normal life in a presumably wealthy family. Her dream is to surpass her father Erran G. Dalton. At seven years old, she wakes up and finds her mother dead. Her father gets condemned as a killer and is to be exiled. Tonari is faced with a decision between staying home as an orphan or following her father into exile. Tonari decides on the latter, as she believes in her father's innocence. They are sent to Jananda Island, where everyone is obsessed with the tournament which determines the leader of the island.

One day, Erran reveals to Tonari that he has decided to participate in the tournament. Despite Tonari's worry, he insists and promises her that he will not die. Erran wins the tournament, leaving Tonari in denial as she does not accept her father as a ruthless killer. On her next birthday, she discovers a book from her father as a birthday gift. Whilst reading the attached note, Erran falls down a nearby set of stairs. He tries to apologize, but dies before he was able to finish his sentence.

In the next few years, Tonari lives on her own and meets a few friends. They plan an escape, only to be struck by the reality that they aren't welcome in the outside world.

Meeting Fushi
Tonari is 14 year old when she sees Fushi at a port preparing to board the ship to Sarlnine. She is approached by a mysterious person who tells her that if she leads Fushi to Jananda, he will win the tournament and completely change Tonari and Jananda Island's fate. Intrigued in the opportunity, Tonari appears in front of Fushi and Pioran, guiding them to the ship to Jananda, explaining that the other one is full.

Upon Fushi's arrival in Jananda, he was inspected by a dock worker who notices that his legs aren’t shackled and that he isn’t branded. Tonari appears again, apologizing to the man and stating that she'll bring Fushi back. Tonari grabs Fushi's hand and runs. Fushi questions Tonari about Pioran's whereabouts, to which she answers vaguely that "she's probably already taken care of". Tonari then proceeds to tell Fushi that "everyone who comes here eventually comes to smile", but without explaining any deeper meanings. Fushi frees himself from Tonari's grip and disappears into a crowd.

Arena Tournament
However, they unexpectedly reunite some time later, as Tonari and her friends find Fushi lying dead on the ground after failing to climb a tall wall. Fushi is able to revive himself, earning cheers from Tonari's group. Fushi asks them if they know a way to get to the other side of the wall, but none of them do. Tonari then explains that Jananda island is a place for criminals, and that even if he found Pioran, she won't be able to leave as long as she's marked. Seeing Fushi enraged, Tonari proceeds to sign him up for the arena tournament, assuring him that if he wins, he will be able to control the island. During the arena fight, Tonari is amazed by Fushi's ability to survive all of his opponent's attacks and realized that what the mysterious person said was true. After the fight, she finally introduces herself to Fushi.

Jananda's residents gather around Fushi, celebrating his victory. Tonari announces that she has finally found a proper lawgiver for the island. Fushi walks away in an effort to get rid of her, but Tonari and her group continue following him. While they walk around the city, Tonari explains that the island was once run by a different country, but after a while the population got too big and the prisoners themselves started managing the island, eventually becoming self-sufficient. While only the non-prisoners are allowed to leave the island for the main land, the prisoners work as farmers on the island. After Tonari mentions this, Fushi gets angry and asks why Pioran wasn’t released to work outside. Tonari hesitates to answer, but finally says that serious offenders have certain restrictions and that she heard rumors about her killing 10 people. She then explains that someone told her to bring him and Pioran to Jananda, but also that she doesn’t know that person. After that, Fushi decides to leave the group behind, calling them ‘not normal’ for still being able to smile in their situation. Upon hearing that, Tonari bursts into laughter.

The next morning, Tonari finds Fushi after he once again fails to climb the tall wall. She reminds Fushi of the second round of the tournament which is in two hours. The dock worker asks to have a word with Tonari, telling her that the woman from Yanome has run off. They soon find out that this woman has slaughtered her opponents in the arena and intends to win the tournament. Tonari's group soon reunite with Fushi as he was captured and brought back by Ligard while in the form of a mole. Tonari urges Fushi to return to the arena and participate in the second round, where he will again be victorious, although still being hesitant to kill his opponent.

After the round, Tonari finds Fushi(in Parona's form) in grief next to a lake, having discovered Parona's death. She tries to invite Fushi to eat but gets rejected. She then starts complimenting Fushi's new body while leading her back to the populated area. Tonari attempts to persuade Fushi that some people are better off dead, such as the man that Fushi fought in the arena who has killed more than 50 people. She reveals to Fushi that she wants them to work together, but Fushi answers that she won't be controlled by anyone and requests Tonari to leave. Tonari puts on a sad expression, questioning how she can make Fushi like her. Fushi explains that she dislikes her because her actions resulted in Pioran being locked up, and that she chooses to believe in the Pioran she knows even if Tonari calls her a murderer. Reminded of her father and the unconditional trust she used to place in him, Tonari comes to understand Fushi's feelings and decides to cooperate with her to save Pioran. Before leaving to investigate, she reminds Fushi to smile when she's sad.