Disclaimer: I do not own When They Cry Higurashi no Naku Koroni, it belongs to its original creator.
Higurashi no Naku Koroni
Forgotten World Wasure Rareru Sekai (忘れられる世界)
Prologue "Dream" (夢)
"Ja matta ashta." The little girl waved good bye to her friends as she stood near the stone steps leading up to Furude Jinja.
"See you tomorrow then, Rika-chan, Satoko." The guy amongst her friends replied as her roommate stood next to him.
The little girl was Furude Rika, the miko of the village and the leader of one of the three great families in the village. Next to her was to her roommate, Hojo Satoko, who had resided with her for the past several years.
"See you, Keiichi." The young miko replied again as a smile appeared on her face. Well, after all, this was the man whom she had fell in love with, after all those years in the fragment.
Seeing the expression on her friend's face, Satoko sighed as anyone else would have picked up what the young girl meant, with the exception of Keiichi.
"Let's go, Rika." Satoko was loosing patience as she called her elder roommate. Although, they had been friends for a long time, there were still certain things that she could not just give away, thus, Satoko was jealous.
Then slowly, the two housemates made their way up to the stairs as they talked about their daily chores.
"Alright, I will do that." Satoko replied as they arrived at the top of the stairs.
"Mii…" Rika then cheerfully turned around to face Satoko.
Then for a moment, Rika paused as she looked at the scene before her, as the village they resided in was bathed in orange sunlight.
Seeing this, Rika smiled as she once again felt the fact that the tragedy was no more.
"Rika?" Satoko asked as she was curious to why her housemate suddenly stopped.
"Oh nothing, just enjoying the scenery." Rika then replied as she skipped back to their house.
"Everything is alright now." Rika said to herself as another figure showed up before her.
"Okaieree, Rika, Satoko." The deity of the village, Hannyu greeted them as the door was opened.
Seeing her, Rika felt relieved. Although Satoko could no longer see her, Hannyu still kept them accompanied, and aided them in whatever way that was possible.
"Taidaiema." Rika replied with a warm smile as she greeted the invisible housemate.
Everything seemed well after all that had happened and now there was nothing she could ask for.
Soon, the sun went down as the two girls enjoyed their routine life.
"Rika, help me on this one." Satoko begged her roommate as they did their homework.
"Satoko, you got to stop relying on me every time for the homework." Rika sighed as she looked up from her assignment.
"Well, you have Keiichi to help you." Satoko then noted as Rika did not seem to show any sign of leaving her own homework.
"And the two of you look good together." With that everything froze for a couple seconds before Rika's face became red.
"What are you talking about?" Rika then bursted out to her friend who sat across from the table.
"Ara, am I mistaken that you have a crush on Keiichi?" Satoko then smiled evilly.
"That's…" Rika immediately was wordless as it was almost right on target.
"Seems like it's more serious than I thought." Satoko then sighed and gave a defeated smile.
Then just as she turned her view back on Rika, the young miko's face appeared right in front of her.
"Ri..ka?" Satoko was surprised as Rika was too close for comfort.
"If you tell anyone, I will make sure you pay for it." Satoko gulped as she nodded, knowing Rika was serious.
"But really, don't you also like him as well?" Rika then asked while she went back to her original position.
This time, Satoko was silent as her face grew red.
"Well, why would I like him?" And Rika could tell that the reply was just not truthful.
"Whatever you say." Rika then returned to her homework.
Then it remained peaceful throughout the night.
"Rika, it's time for bed." Satoko said as Rika walked out of the bathroom.
"Alright, I will be done in a minute." Then Rika went on as she finished drying herself.
Then Rika's thought drifted off as she thought of the things that happened for what seemed like eternity to her.
Although her friends no longer remembered them, they were all trapped in a never ending cycle of cruelty where they all died as Rika tried to escape out of her own fate and sought after the truth.
When she felt hopeless in that cycle, his words gave her hope, telling that fate can be changed. Then Rika's thought, drifted onto that young man, and just as his face appeared in her mind Rika blushed as she thought of things they could do together if they became lovers.
"What am I thinking?!!" Rika then brushed away the thoughts and finished drying herself and quickly dressed up for bed.
Soon afterwards, Rika turned off the light and went into her futon and as she laid there, she thought of all the happiness that she had been through.
"It seems so great." Rika said as Hannyu appeared next to her.
"What is?" Hannyu asked as tilted her head curiously.
"Everything." Rika replied as she got in bed. "I mean after breaking out of the cycle."
Hearing that, Hannyu nodded with understanding as she sat down next to Rika's futon.
"No more dying without knowing what happened." Rika continued on. "And I can finally enjoy life with my friends."
Seeing that Hannyu smiled as Rika slowly closed her eyes.
"Tomorrow is another day." With that Rika drifted asleep.
To be continued…
Completed: 12/14/2009
1st Edit: 02/15/2010
Author's note: Well, my friends, welcome to another adventure story in the world of Higurashi no Naku Koroni. I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this journey. Also, do not be tricked by calmness of this chapter, for it is only the beginning. Please also feel free to comment and review so that I can improve the story and my writing skills. Well, again, see you again in the next chapter.
Translation:
["Ja matta ashta."] translates to "See you tomorrow."
[jinja] translates to "shrine"
[miko] translates to "priestess"
["Okaieree, Rika, Satoko."] translates to "Welcome home, Rika, Satoko."
["Taidaiema."] translates to "We are back."