I, own, nothing. Please enjoy!
--
A crying girl, a suspension bridge.
"Fall! Fall!" She shouts the word over and over again, becoming more enraged with each passing second. She shakes the bridge, shouting as it begins to rock. She's staring down the entire time, tears in her eyes, as if she's looking at someone. I'm not sure, but she might be shouting at me.
Why? Does she want me to fall? What have I done to deserve this? ...I don't want to fall. I don't! So...why? I feel as if I know her, this girl shouting down at me. I think she's close to me. Why would someone close to me want me to fall? I have a hand on one of the suspension cables, the rest of me hangs far above a raging river. I can't feel anything, but I know I'm beginning to weaken.
She continues to shake the bridge. Using all of her might to make me fall. Is she a bad person?
Am...I, a bad person? How did it all come to this? Why do I have to die!? Please! Stop that! I try to shout, but the words don't leave my mouth. Why can't I talk? Why!?
"Fall!" She shouts it one last time, putting as much force as she can muster into the shaking.
I...Fall. "Sato..ko." I hear myself speak for the first time.
The river below is getting larger. It's rushing up to get me! It's over!
Why!? What did I do!? I can't remember anything, but I've got this strong feeling. One that tells me I don't deserve this. This twisted world; This upside-down Hinamizawa should just perish! That is the last thing I think of.
I hit the water.
"Ahh!" I shout, as I wake up. What just happened? Was that a dream? I try to stand up. I stumble, and hit hard floor. I open my eyes, and take a look at my surroundings.
The sun is bright outside the window, it shines upon a group of tall buildings. The floor is hard, and cold. I wasn't sleeping in a futon, rather, a large bed. A small tv sits in the upper-corner of the room. The walls are pale, smooth, and boring. This is not my room.
"Where am I?" I ask. "Ah!" I jump at the sound of my own voice. My voice is deeper, somehow. "Is that, me?" I ask nobody in particular. I look around once more, and finally realize what kind of room this is: it's a hospital room. I shakily get up, my body feels, so heavy. I see an oval-shaped piece of glass on the wall. It must be a mirror.
I walk carefully, inch by inch, over to the mirror. I calm my breathing, which I have just realized is rather panicked. I lean over, and look in the mirror. I fall back in surprise, before getting up, and staring again.
I look, so much older. My build is larger; I don't look particularly strong, just bigger, although I seem to be very lean.My face is more or less the same, the only change being it looks a bit more hardened, and mature. My hair is actually a bit shorter than what I remember, maybe it was cut recently? I was dressed in a patients gown, no wonder it was so breezy.
"What? What happened to me!?" I shout in my new deeper voice. I look around in a frenzied state.
"What's going on in here?" a voice questions. The nearby door opens, and a tall man in a doctor's uniform comes walking in. His hair is medium-length, and light brown. His eyes are rather squinted, and he seems calm. "Keiichi!?" He seems surprised. "You're awake!"
"What am I doing here?" I ask. "When did I get here? Where's everybody else?"
"Calm down." He orders, his calm tone helps my thoughts clear up.
I slowly sit down on the bed. It really is soft.
"You may call me Dr. Miuchi." He says in a soft tone.
"Where's everybody else, Dr. Miuchi?" I try to remain calm
A solemn look crosses his face. He stares down, and massages his temples, before looking back up at me. "Keiichi.." He begins softly.
"What!?" I ask in a panicked tone. His actions have only served to increase my anxiety.
"You were found washed up on a riverbed, just outside of Hinamizawa." He explained.
Several memories flash through my head, the dream comes back to mind, I remember it all. "Yes, that would make sense." I slowly mutter.
"That same night, something, happened in Hinamizawa." He quickly muttered.
"What? What happened?" I'm nervous again.
"There was some kind of gas, or substance in the air. The government says it was volcanic gas." He looks away.
My eyes widen. Volcanic gasses? Are you serious? How is everybody?; I want to ask all of these questions, but I remain silent.
"It happened in the night, so nobody suffered. But, everybody in Hinamizawa perished that day." He silently finished.
"Wh-What!?" My voice is raspy. My breathing becomes ragged. "Everyone?! Mom, Dad, all of my friends!?" I can feel tears in my eyes.
"...Yes, we are led to believe that everyone in Hinamizawa died that day." He sighs.
"That can't be! Why don't we go in their, and look for more survivors!?" I shout.
"Keiichi. Surely you've noticed by now." He stares at me. "You're different, older."
I slowly nod my head, dreading what was to come next.
He pinches his nose. "Keiichi, you've been in a comatose state for nearly six years."
I nearly fall off the bed. "Six years!? That long!?" I put my head in my hands.
"Calm down Keiichi. If you need any help; the government has already agreed to pay for any assistance you need." He puts a reassuring hand on my head.
"Thank you." I slowly calm down, only slightly though.
"Do you want us to try and keep this a secret for a while? The news will probably swarm you as soon as they find out." He smiles at me.
I nod my head, thankful for this. "I'll try to deal with this the best I can."
"I'm going to go get the nurses to treat you, and make sure you're completely healthy." He stands up, and walks to the door.
"So... there really weren't any other survivors? They found all the bodies?" I ask, desperate for something.
"Well there was one thing amiss." He seems slightly perturbed by this as well. "One body wasn't found, a young girl's body, I believe."
"So someone else survived?" I ask, once again hopeful.
"We haven't seen her since that event, and the government has sent out searches for her. But the searches always came up dry, so we assumed she must be dead as well." He sighs again.
"What was her name?" I ask, completely out of breath.
"I can't quite remember. I believe it was Sa- Sato- Satoko! That's it! Houjo Satoko." He seemed pleased with himself.
My eyes widen, and I still refuse to breathe. The dream flashes by once again. Satoko may still be alive?
"Oh, that's right! The nurses! I'll be back in a moment." He doesn't notice my expression, and quickly exits the room.
I fall back on the bed, and slowly start to breathe again. "Satoko, are you still alive out there? Do you know everything that went on? Where are you?" I say to nobody.
I try to sleep, but it just won't come. Just what went on in Hinamizawa? Does Satoko know? Is she even still alive? The thoughts just won't end.
I sit up, I'm calm now. I need to find out everything, or else I'll never be able to move on. Starting a life now might be hard, but if I worry about things like this, it'll be impossible. I need to find someone who knows something, or find out everything myself. Either way, it all leads to one absolute thing I have to do.
I have to return to Hinamizawa.
Well, how was that for a first chapter?
I'm a big Higurashi fan. I remember when the last episode of Kai was finally translated, boy those were fun times. This anime/game/manga deserves a lot more attention on this website.
Was the story okay so far? I didn't originally plan it, but it ended up being first person. It's a surprisingly easy style to write for though. I hope I didn't mess up anywhere.
This story is a slightly AU continuation of the Tatarigoroshi-hen arc, as you may have noticed by now. I've definitely changed a lot of things up. The virus is different, if even existent. I couldn't remember if Keiichi's dad died, I was pretty sure his mother did though, so I decided to just make it both(Yes I'm evil, deal with it.). And Satoko's possible survival is very important to this story.
I'm unsure how frequently I'll update this story. I enjoy it, but I'm still working on my first fic. The story won't be incredibly long, and I'm not sure if it'll have much action in it. This plot isn't so much of defeat evil villain as it is a closure plot. I'm unsure of each character's age, they never state them, so bear with me on that.
Forgive me if this isn't very good, it's my second fic. Forgive me for all the errors I make, and feel free to drop in a suggestion. Please, if you enjoy it, drop a review(Constructive criticism is fine, just try to be nice!) in every once in a while, they motivate me to get my writing done faster(wink wink).