A young girl- long dark blue hair, white collared shirt with a little pink bow in the front and a navy blue skirt—awaits her friend by, what looks to be, a wooden bus stop. Her small figure leaned on the side of the wall, her navy blue hues narrowed and looking towards the morning horizon. Then, a few specks of people appeared on the road. Initially, she thought it was her friends. But as the specks came closer, their faces seemed unfamiliar to this small village of Hinamizawa. The young girl stood straight, placing her hand on her forehead to block the dawn's light. There, walked a group of what seems like young men and a boy.
As the group grew closer towards the girl, the boy—longish red-brown hair, a red button up shirt, dark green pants and a pair of boots—noticed the young girl up ahead; his name was Toboe. He smiles, as if from relief.
"Hey, look you guys! There's a villager! Let's ask her if she knows where we can find Cheza!" the boy enthusiastically claimed, pointing to the young girl up ahead.
"Don't get your hopes up, runt. That Cheza is probably in a different town than this old, small one…" said a man from the group—his hair gray with a little ponytail on the back, he placed his tan hands inside his black leather pockets. He looked to be like an amateur punk, with his tight leather shirt and pants. But he seem to have pulled that look off. This man was named Tsume.
"Well, at least maybe she would know where that big-ass, black spaceship thing went to. I mean, you can't miss that thing!" yelled a another young man in the group. He had a messy, fluffy light brown hair, wearing a yellow sweatshirt and baby blue, sweatpants. His name was Hige.
"…Let's just ask her…" said yet another young man in the group. He's calmer and rather quiet than the rest of the group. He has a dark brown, semi-long hair. He wore a white shirt under a dark green jacket, jeans, and black chucks. And lastly, his name was Kiba.
"…Mii?" the young girl asked herself, seeing the group approach her.
The boy ran towards her with a warm smile while the girl looked at him with a questioned expression.
"Excuse me, miss. Have you seen a girl around here? Well, I mean… she has light pink hair and she's wearing--" Toboe's mouth was then covered by a hand.
"Heh heh… don't mind him. But we are actually trying to find a girl in this village. Do you think you may know where she is?" Hige asked, his hand on the boy's mouth.
"…Mii?" the young girl responded, tilting her head slightly to the side.
"We're looking for this girl…" Kiba held a picture of the girl they were looking for—the girl who was to be called Cheza, a flower maiden.
"…I haven't seen this girl before, nano desu. But, maybe if you came to the Watanagashi festival tonight, you might be able to find her, desu." The young girl said, her eyes closed and giving a bright smile.
"Watana- waaah??" Hige asked, scratching his head because he was confused with the girl's accent.
"Watanagashi, desu. It means, 'The Cotton Drifting' festival. But… why are you looking for this girl, nano desu? Is she lost, desu?" the young girl asked, tilting her head to the other side as she pouted slightly.
"Uhh… well, I guess you can say that. She's just really important to us--" Hige pouted as well, still scratching his head.
"RIKA-CHAAAN~!!" a girl's voice echoed from behind the group of boys. There, a young blonde, short haired girl with a green uniform dress came running down the dirt road. The young blonde waved her hand along with a wide smile. At first, she skipped passed the small group in front of her and stood beside her fellow friend.
"What'cha wait'n for, Rika-chan? We're going to be late for school if we don't hurry!" the young blonde said, winking her eye towards her friend.
"Wait, Satoko-chan. We have visitors, desu…" the young girl, named Rika, gestured her hand towards the group of men.
"Ehh?? Are they here for sight-seeing or someth'n??" the young blonde named Satoko asked, raising a brow and leaned towards the group.
"Don't worry, Satoko-chan. They're just looking for someone, desu" Rika waved her hand up and down, trying to calm Satoko with a gentle smile.
"Look, if you're busy, we understand. We'll just go to another town. Maybe she's there…" Kiba responded, smiling lightly and slightly turned around.
"W-Wait!! Please don't go, desu!" Rika exclaimed, reaching a hand out.
Kiba looked back towards the young girl. Rika's eyes were almost widened and filled with worry. The village of Hinamizawa hardly gets any new visitors. It was a big deal to Rika, especially since she is the priestess of the Furude shrine.
"Come on, Kiba… maybe we should search here first. Then we can leave in the morning." Toboe suggested, feeling kind of guilty that they were going to leave this innocent little girl the moment they met her.
"I don't mind. As long as there's chicks in this town, I'll be good." Hige smirked. Tsume punched Hige on the arm.
"Hey… what was that for, Tsume??" Hige rubbed his arm, the pain was tingling up his spine.
Kiba sighed, 'I guess it can't be helped…' he thought, kneeling down to Rika's height.
"Fine… we'll stay for the festival. But we have to leave in the morning…" he calmly said, giving another smile. Hearing this, made Rika smile happily. "Thank you, nano desu. Ni paaah~" Rika gestured her hands to her ears and imitated a cat by meowing.
"Oh ho ho ho ho ho~!!" Satoko laughed, holding her hand out on the side of her mouth—her signature gesture of victory and what-not.
Toboe and Hige laughed along with the girl's playful nonsense while Tsume only gave a slight chuckle.
Rika then gasped and took Satoko's hand. "Oh, look at the time! We're going to be late, nano desu! We'll see you guys later, nano desu!!" she yelled, happily running with Satoko on their way to school. Rika gave a small wave as well as a giggle. Both the school girls were already specks in the distance.
"Those girls are so nice... not to mention welcoming…" Toboe sighed as he looked to the girls sprinting away, almost admiring them. "Yeah… they were such cuties…" Hige snickered, his hands behind his neck. Tsume punched him on the arm again. "What's your problem, Tsume?! I just think they're adorable, that's all! You think I'm some pervert or something?!" Hige ranted, pouting and rubbing his hit arm again.
"There's…something strange about this village…" Kiba casually said, looking to the mountains of the small town.
"What was that, Kiba?" Hige asked, still rubbing his arm. Kiba didn't respond. But instead, he walked down the path where the two schoolgirls walked off to.
"Maan… I can never get this guy…" Hige shrugged and decided to follow Kiba.
"Why are you standing there, Tsume? Is there something wrong?" Toboe asked, leaning towards Tsume.
"…This village… I have a bad feeling about this place…" Tsume muttered and walked passed Toboe, his hands in his pockets. "T-Tsume! Wait for me!" Toboe quickly ran over to Tsume's side, almost forgetting what he had said.