The story ends with Hotaru accepting her pain and moving on with her life. The night ends in tragedy when Gin mistakenly touches a young boy who sneaked into the spirit festival, though before he disappears, he and Hotaru embrace and confess their love for one another. When Hotaru reaches high school, Gin takes her on a date to a festival in the forest hosted by the spirits. Upon reaching adolescence Hotaru begins to struggle with their budding romance and their uncertain future together, while Gin wishes he could touch and hold the young woman that Hotaru has become. As the years go by, Gin hardly ages while Hotaru physically matures and grows closer to his apparent age. Although at summer's end she must leave Gin to return to the city and her studies, Hotaru promises to return to visit him every summer holiday. During a summer vacation at her grandfather’s house, six-year-old Hotaru Takegawa gets lost in a forest rumored to be inhabited by spirits. It was published in the July 2002 issue of LaLa DX in Japan, and in July 2003 it was reprinted in a tankbon short story collection of the same name, which included four romantic one-shot stories written by Midorikawa. A young boy appears before her, but she cannot touch him for fear of making him disappear.

Hotaru returns to visit Gin in the forest over the next few days and they become friends despite the limitations on their interactions. Into the Forest of Fireflies' Light) is a one-batzt shoujo manga written by Yuki Midorikawa. One hot summer day a little girl gets lost in an enchanted forest of the mountain god where spirits reside.

She is found by a mask-wearing, human-like entity named Gin, who informs Hotaru that he will disappear forever if he is touched by a human.

The original Hotarubi no Mori e shjo manga and subsequent film tell the story of a six-year-old girl named Hotaru Takegawa, who gets lost in a forest inhabited by a yamagami, or mountain spirit, as well as ykai (strange apparitions from Japanese folklore).

Hotarubi no mori e movie