I hopped onto my bike, speeding off down the dirt rode, passing tall grass, some farm houses, some old people, and very few young kids. I ended up passing Keiichi and stopped, staring at him and waving. "Hey, Keiichi! Over here!"

He laughed and flashed me a smile. "You know, you're late again." He started to walk towards me as he always did, his eyes warm and welcoming yet cold and mysterious. He always told us everything... as far as we knew.

Oh, you didn't know? By us, I meant me, Mion Sonozaki; Satoko; Rika; Rena; and Shion. Although, Shion doesn't hang out with us as often. Excluding Shion, we all attend a small school of only one class in Hinamizawa. Hinamizawa is a very small town, so small that they only have one class. That's just how little the amount of kids in school there are!

"I know, but hey, you should've waited, Keiichi!" I cleared a spot on the back of my bike and patted the seat, motioning for him to hop on to get a ride to school.

He walked over to me and began to throw his leg over the seat, then quickly pulled away and ran ahead. "Gotcha!" His laugh filled my ears once more; I laughed along with him.

"That's not very nice!" I got back onto my seat and pedaled towards him furiously to catch up, although it didn't take much time to.

A car passed by.

"Why won't you ride with me?" I questioned him, sticking my tongue out at him with a wide smile on my face.

"Eh. Have you forgotten? We walk to school with Rena." He continued to walk forward, seeming to not care much either way. He kicked a rock and it flew across the dirt road about seven yards ahead.

I passed it--along with him--with ease and eventually ended up next to Rena, who was waiting patiently. She held a boxed lunch wrapped nicely in her hands.

"Oh! Mion! That's a surprise. You're... here before Keiichi!"

As I slowed to a stop, Rena started to approach me. "Yeah, yeah."

"Let's wait for Keiichi, then!" Rena turned to the direction in which I had arrived from, staring as the sun rised. It was a beautiful sight; bright green grass, and every color on the spectrum spreading across the sky. She breathed in pleasantly, her lips curving into a peaceful smile.

In the distance, I saw Keiichi running towards us, panting and sweating, his jacket draped over his shoulders. I started to burst out laughing, then exclaimed, "It took ya long enough!"

"That wasn't funny, Mion!" He finally stood next to us, bent over and panting wildly, his hands on his knees. Then, steadily, he slowed his breathing and stood up straight. His eyes averted to Rena's form. "Oh, hey Rena!"

"Hi, Keiichi! Are you ready to go to school?"

He nodded, and stared at the bike. He noticed it could only hold two people, so he came to a conclusion. He told Rena to go with me and that he'd catch up to us.

"Do you think that Keiichi will be all right, Mion?" asked Rena, her arms tight around my stomach as she sat behind me, her body close to mine.

"Yeah, I'm sure he will be."

We arrived to the school and walked in, the kids running around until first period started. I took my seat next to Rena, and Satoko and Rika approached us.

"Hey! Good mornin', Mion, Rena!" Satoko spoke, her hands resting on her hips, her short, blond hair in its usual bob cut.

"Hi, Satoko! Hi, Rika!" Rena exclaimed and tucked her redhead hair behind her ears, then folded her hands in her lap. She scooted into her desk farther, her smile gleaming up at the two.

"Yeah! Hey!" My chin rested on my left hand, my elbows laying on the desk lazily. I yawned lightly and waited them to say something.

"Did you hear about what happened yes--" Keiichi busted in, and Rika instantly fell silent, turning and walking to her desk with an uncomfortable look upon her face.

"That's strange..." I chimed, then the teacher came in and asked us all to take a seat and take out our mathematics text books.

Keiichi dragged his desk in front of ours, ready to tutor us as he usually did. He opened to page 39, which was lesson three of chapter four.

"Why were you so late, Keiichi?" Rena asked him politely, her voice soft with curiosity.

"... Oh. I got... distracted." He looked up and stared Rena in the eyes, his face overtaken with an honest expression. Then his eyes slowly moved over to mine. "You're a year ahead of us! Why do you constantly need help?" He chuckled.

"So what?!" I reached over and flicked his nose, then pulled back immediately, ducking when he tried to pinch mine.

Rena let out a fit of giggles, covering her mouth and leaning her head forward.

"What's so funny?! I barely understand it myself!"

Class ended soon and Rika approached Rena and I. She had us come outside, and whispered to us as quietly as she could.

"Did you hear about the accident?"

I scratched my head lightly, tilting my head as I thought hard. Nothing came to mind.

"Nope," Rena and I said at the same time.

"Well, I heard that last week, there was another murder. Except, it's not time for the festival. The festival is a whole month away!" Rika spoke softly, a bit of panic risen in her words as she spoke. Then she gave a stare to Satoko, her dark blue bangs falling in her eyes.

Satoko nodded lightly, her face more serious than usual.

"What is it?" Rena asked hesitantly, and waited for a response, her eyes full of concern.

"Well... they found his neck broken. As if someone had murdered him." Satoko bit her lip, then added, "And his daughter, who also believed in the curse..." She paused as Keiichi came outside.

"A curse? What curse?" He approached us, coming between all of us and asking a strange question.

I blinked, Rena tilted her head, Satoko's eyes widened, and Rika shook her head.

"You don't know about the curse?" we all asked at once.

Keiichi put his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow, and for a moment, I thought a smirk crossed his lips. But I blinked again and saw true curiosity.

"Well, a while ago, a dam was going to be built," I began.

"Yeah, and it would've put us all underwater..." Satoko followed suit.

Rena furrowed her eyebrows, but decided to help. "There were so many that were opposed against it! But there were also a few that wanted it to happen. Eventually, it was cancelled, but..."

"Oyashiro decided to punish those who believed that the dam was a good thing. That it should've happened," Rika added.

"And, so, every year at the Cotton Drifting Festival, he takes a life that believed it was good, and spirits away a person that knew them," a voice, similar to my own, finished the story.

"Shion!" I stared at the girl that finished the story.

She was identical to me in every physical way: our hair both green and big, our skin color pale, even our hips and bust the same size. If that wasn't enough clues, then I'll put it bluntly. She's my twin sister, named Shion Sonozaki.

Keiichi stared at the girl. "Ah, Mion!... Shion! Who are you?" He shook his head and dismissed his own question, deciding not to get into it. He sighed. "So... is that curse true?"

I coughed abruptedly. "Yeah, it's true! Anyway, I have to go."

"Yeah, me too." Rena waved and walked off.

"Uh huh. Bye, Keiichi!" Satoko dragged Rika off, and they soon disappeared behind tall grass.

Shion smiled and waved, walking with me, and I heard Keiichi speak to himself:

"That's... weird."

I turned my head back, watching Keiichi following after Rena, since their homes were both in the same direction.