If you read Samurai Deeper Kyo, have not yet reached chapter 246, and dislike spoilers, then read no further. I'm a rabid Hotaru fan, and I must babble.
So, I happened to read the four new chapters (243, 244, 245, and 246) that had gone up when I wasn't looking. There's been a lot of focus on Hotaru lately, with flashbacks and stuff cuz he's fighting his teacher, Yuan, and kind of getting his rump handed to him, albeit in a slow, agonizing sort of way. Except then Yuan got sick of it and just said "Here, I'm gonna eat your soul" and that was supposed to end it except Shinrei dumped water snakes on him. So Hotaru is not dead, because he's obv