"Please do not deplore yourself.

Even if the world does not forgive you, I will forgive you.

Please do not deplore yourself.

Even if you do not forgive the world, I will forgive you.

So please tell me.

What will it take for you, to forgive me?"

-Frederica Bernkastel

Short gore warning

June 1983

The sound of a shattering lamp and the sounds of a person being beaten up echoed across the empty room as a young boy repeatedly raised and brought down his baseball bat on his victim, mercilessly hitting them. Blood coated the scene as the boy dropped his bat, his breath ragged at what he did. Two other young boys lied in front of him, not a single limb moving from them after their merciless beating.

Short gore ends here

Spirited Away by the Demon Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Ludwig sighed contently as he woke uo from his slumber, the chirping of birds greeting him good morning. He stretched his arms and went downstairs. "Guten morgen (Good morning), Gilbert." He greeted. Gilbert turned around. "Guten morgen!" He greeted back and presented to him a simple but hearty breakfast: bread, toast, rolls, marmalade, honey, eggs, ham, cheese and a cup of coffee.(1)

Within a few minutes, the meal was quickly devoured and Ludwig stood up from his chair. "I'm heading out." He called to his brother as he slipped on his shoes. "Ah, Luddy?" The albino called back. "Do me an awesome favor and tell Feliciano thank you for the eggs, alright?" He requested. The blonde nodded and exited his house.

***First person - Ludwig***

It's been a month since I moved to Hinamizawa. It's my first time hearing that they have a good air circulation.

"Ciao Luddy! Buongiorno (Good morning)!" A sweet Italian voice called out to me. "Early again, eh?" I said as I walked past Feliciano, him following suit. "Don't you want to sleep in a little longer?"

"But if I take my siesta longer, I'd risk myself making you wait for me!" Feli said. "Who told you that?" I countered. "Meanie! Why wouldn't you wait for me?! I wait for you!" He pouted.

"Don't be upset." I assured. "I have better things to do." Feli gave me his cute pouty face. "Luddy, why are you being like this? like this?(2)" He asked, repeating the last part of his question. "Hey, entspannen sie sich (relax). I would always wait for you." I said.

"Ve...grazie (thanks)..." Feli thanked, his cheeks dusted pink. "That's very nice of you." He commented.

Oh right, I forgot to tell you. This brunette cutie with a curl on the right said of his hair is Feliciano Vargas. He tends to blush a lot when flustered and I think it suits him well.

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that my brother said danke (thank you) for the eggs."

"Ah! Nessun problema (No problem)!"

I've only known him for a few weeks but I only know that his name isn't the weird thing about him.

"Tell him he's welcome, ve~" He ended his sentence with a cute verbal tic.

"Ah, there you are." Another Italian voice rang, but it sounded older. Ah yes, it's Lovino, Feli's older brother. "What's going on? Why are the two of you late?" He asked. "Ciao Lovino! Buongiorno!"

"Hey! YOU'RE the one who's always late, not us!" I countered. "Long time no see, bastard(3)!" Lovino playfully said, the insult was intentional, in case you're wondering. "How long has it been now, hm?"

"I've been only away for two days, Lovino." I stated. All three of us then began to walk forward. Unlike Feliciano, who's self-concious(4), this Vargas brother likes to set his own rules. His full name is Lovino Vargas. He's the upperclassman and is probably the head of the school we attend.

"So, what was the reason why you went back to the city?" Lovino asked. "I had to go there because of a funeral." I answered, not stopping my steps. "That's what we did the whole time." I added.

"Well, did you come back and brought the thing I asked you to buy?"

"I didn't bring back anything, I said I just went to a funeral, remember?"

Time skip by a long walk

Hinamizawa is a small village and the school only has one classroom for everybody. We're a total of 50 students made up from different age groups and different grades. We share the same teacher as well. I really don't know how Miss Lena does it but it must be very hard teaching all different grades.

When other students need help, I sometimes teach Feliciano and Lovino myself.

"Wait, how do you solve this again?"

"Oh, the equation goes like this..."

Ding! Ding! Ding!

The sound of the bell was heard, signalling that it was free time.

"Wow Luddy! You're a very good teacher, did you know that?" Feliciano stated as he highlighted important details in his math book. "You made it easy!"

Instead of looking up, I slumped over my chair. "I hate teaching you two." I swore. "It made me realize how very little I know."

"You know what they say: if you gotta teach someone, you better know it three times than they do." Lovino half-encouraged. "Hey! What did I do anyway?! Aren't you a year higher than me, dummkopf?!" I said, feeling insulted at his "encouragement". "You're the one who's supposed to be teaching me!"

With that, Lovino grabbed my face. "Si si, whatever. Details of this, details of that." He said, pushing me off. "Hey Ludwig, it's okay! Oh, I was wondering what you're doing tomorrow. Do you have plans?" Feliciano asked. "Huh?" I looked up.

"I may be wrong, but you still have problems navigating yourself around Hinamizawa, si?" Lovino guessed. "Ja, I still don't know my way around besides school and the central city."

"And that's what Lovino and Feliciano(5) will do. Give Ludwig a long walk across the village, okay?" Feliciano said. "I was gonna make lunch as well for all of us, are you interested?" Lovino butted in. "Si! It will be great! Join us?"

"Ja sure." I said with sarcasm. "If I'm free." I added. "Oi, what's with the stupid attitude?! You have two brothers asking you out, you potato bastard!" Lovino cursed. "I said if I'm free." I casually repeated.

Lovino didn't take it seriously. He growled, clutching his fist tightly. "Well Ludwig, are you gonna be free tomorrow? Are you?" Feliciano asked, his beady eyes looking through me. "Ja ja, I'm free." I said, holding my hand up defensively.

Feliciano's mood improved. "Happy now." He said. "Hey, what's with you?! Why do you treat my little brother better but not me?!" Lovino hissed, you could practically see devil horns out of his head. I stuck my tongue out in reply.

"Hey Feli, maybe it should just be the two of us mingling tomorrow."

"Sure! If that's what you want, ve!"

"Hey, what are you two talking about?! I was the one who suggested that!"

Time skip by the end of school

***Third person***

"This is the Kirkland Shrine! The view is very nice here!" Feliciano described as Ludwig climbed up the endless stairs. "There's gonna be a festival here during the next break." Lovino said as the trio walked further ahead.

At the picnic site, Feliciano laid out the blanket and the lunches he made. "Ta-da! See, I said that I would make lunches for all of us! This one's my specialty!" The bubbly Italian proclaimed. "Wow Feli, you made a lot." Ludwig commented as he and Lovino took off their shoes and sat down on the blanket.

"Hey, I hope we're not interrupting." A young female Australian voice said. Lovino turned and was greeted by a young girl who had a short curly side-pony and a young boy with blonde hair wearing a sailor outfit. Both of them had thick eyebrows. "There you guys are!" The older Italian said.

***First person - Ludwig***

Oh, it's Peter and Wendy. Both of them are in my class, too. Their full names are Peter Kirkland and Wendy Kirkland. You probably won't believe it but they're a few grades younger than me.

"What's happening? What's with the excitement?" Peter asked. "What does it look like to you?" I replied. "I can see that, jerk(6)!" He said and smacked me with such strength for a little boy, which sent me toppled over. "What I want to know is why you three are on someone else's property?"

I sat back up in a flash. "Hey, I know this shrine is a public property so don't act like you own it!" I said. "Ludwig is right, Peter. It can be anyone's property." Wendy stated. "Ahhh, Wendy is always a good little girl." I said. "Why don't you sit next to me?" I requested, making Peter glare at me. "Well then." He began. "It appears that I have no choice but to sit and join all of you." Peter said slyly.

"Es tur mir leid, there's not enough room for you to sit and not enough food for you." I countered, sticking my tongue out. "Yes there is!" With that, we began to fight each other: teen vs child.

"Hey, hey, let's not fight now! There's plenty of food for Peter to dig in!" Feliciano said, attempting to break our fight.

"Nein! Because I'm planning to eat Peter's share!"

"Jerk! I'm not gonna allow you to eat it!"

Wendy grabbed a pair of chopsticks and gave it to Peter. "Here." She offered. Peter removed the wrap and sat down. "Yay! Finally!" Peter grabbed a piece of food, declaring "I'm going to eat all of this share!"

"Not if I finish first!" I said and engaged ourselves in an eating contest.

"Ahhh, look at them, it's nice being young."

"Eat up everyone! Don't be shy!"

"Come to vati!" I said as I dived my chopsticks for a food item. Peter glared and stood up. "So you think you're getting it?! Crazy!" With that, he bonked me on my back.

"I should've followed the rules..." I groaned. "There were rules?" Lovino innocently asked. "Eating lunch together is so much fun, is so much fun, I like it, ve~!" Feliciano sang. "This is very delicious, Feliciano." Wendy complimented.

Time skip to sunset

"It's time to call it a day, amicis." Lovino delcared as the cry of the cicadas were heard. "Arrivederci (Goodbye)!" He said as he saluted to me and Feliciano.

"Danke for putting this together, Lovino." I thanked. "It was awesome." I added. "See you tomorrow, big brother!" Feliciano said as Lovino turned and ran to his path.

"I had fun, Luddy!" Feli told me. "How about you?" I smiled. "Ja. I enjoyed it. I fact, I had so much fun that I don't want to go home." I said.

"If you don't mind," he began. "we could go somewhere fun as well. Can we?" I nodded. "Okay. But where? Is it far?" I asked. "Not really, just a walking distance." Feli answered. "Follow me!" With that, he took a headstart. "Whoa wait!" I followed him.

Feliciano giggled as I followed him. "Ve~! I haven't been there for a while!" He said. "I wonder what's there, I wonder what's there~!" He sang. I was confused. Where was he taking me?

When Feli stopped, he inspected the place. "You said it's been awhile since you've been in this place?" I asked. I saw where we are and my jaw dropped. "The garbage?!"

"Si! But it's not garbage to me!" Feliciano pouted. "When I look, I see treasure and cute things!" He then pointed to a pile. "A brand new mountain! Yipee, yipee! I'm so lucky!" With that, he jumped down. "Hey!" I called as I followed him. I accidentally stepped on a tin can and fell on my butt. Feliciano waved to me. "If you want, you can stay there! I don't mind it, ve! I'll be out in a few minutes!" With that, he turned his back and explored a pile.

"Are all young boys from the country like this...?" I thought out loud as I lined down on a smooth metal sheet. I yawned, staring at the sunset as I listened to the cry of the cicadas. I felt my eyes become heavy and I closed them.

I heard a footstep and I opened my eyes and was face-to-face with a photographer with his hair tied into a side ponytail. "Whoa there, you surprised me, aru!" He said in a Chinese accent as I sat upright. "Really? I was gonna say that!" I said.

The young photographer scratched his head. "Bàoqiàn (Sorry)! I wasn't sneaking up on you! Promise, aru!" He said. "Are you a local? Are you from Hinamizawa, aru?" I nodded. "Ja, sort of."

"I'm Yao Wang, a freelance photographer." He introduced. "I come here every now and then for work, aru." I stood up. "Aren't you supposed to ask somebody first before you take their picture?" I guessed. "Bàoqiàn, my bad. I usually take pictures of wild birds. I never try asking them, aru! Maybe I should!" With that, Yao laughed. I growled in response.

"Luddy~!" Feliciano's voice called out to me. I turned around. "Sorry for the long wait! I'm almost done! I promise!" He yelled then went back to what he was doing. "Oh? You have company, aru." Yao said, watching Feliciano move scrap metal around. "Is he looking for something specific down there or is he just digging, aru?" He asked. "Nah, I don't know. I think he's looking for that dead body he dismembered a few months ago."

As soon as I said that, a dark shadow was pasted on Yao's face. "That was a horrible crime, aru." He stated. "One of the arms are still missing, right?"

Now that made me paranoid. "M-Missing?" I stuttered. I heard Feliciano giggle. "Thanks for waiting, Ludwig!" He said, though, I ignored it. "I have to go now, they might kick me out. Sorry for sneaking on you, Ludwig. Catch ya later, aru!" With that, Yao walked away.

I processed what he said. An arm still missing?! What did Feliciano do to hide it?! "Oh Luddy~ You waited, you waited! Grazie!" Feliciano said. My eyes averted to Yao walking and Feliciano stepped in front of me. "Ludwig?"

I was snapped out of my thoughts. "Ah? Well? Did you find anything good down there?" I asked. Feli's face lit up. "Si! I did really really good! I found something awesome: a Kenta doll!" He told me. "Kenta doll? Are you talking about that plastic figure that stands in front of that fried chicken place(7)?" I asked. "Si! He's really cute! I wanna take him home with me!" He cooed.

I laughed softly. "Well, it's just trash so I guess people won't mind it when you take him home." I said. "Ve...he's trapped under a pile of junk." Feli said. "I tried to dig him out by myself but I couldn't." I placed my hand on his shoulder. "How about I help you tomorrow?" I proposed. "E-Eh?" He began. "In exchange for that gourmet lunch you made." I added. "Ve~ Grazie! Ludwig will help me dig out my treasure! And I can take him home and have him all to myself!" Feli swooned.

"Hey Feli, has anything bad happened to this dump?" I asked. "I heard that they were trying to build a dam here a while ago but that's what I know so far." Feliciano answered. "A dam? It might be a construction accident. Is that possible?" I guessed. "I don't know." Feliciano answered suddenly in an unusual dark tone. I flinched.

"You see? I was living somewhere else until last year!" Feli's voice went back to its normal happy tone. "Really? Then you must be a transfer student as well! I assumed that you were born here." I said. "No, I transferred so I don't know much about what happened before until last year. Scusate (Sorry), Luddy." His voice became dark again but I shrugged it off. "Ah, that's fine." I assured. He looked at me and giggled slightly in response.

(1)This is the traditional breakfast in Germany

(2)This is the speaking style of Rena Ryuugu, where it is normal for her to repeat the last part of the sentence or by adding "I wonder if that's true" or "ka na? ka na?" in Japanese. "ka na? ka na?" is the Japanese masculine or neutral way of saying "I wonder if that's true". "Kana-kana" is also the Japanese onomatopeia for the sound that is emitted by the crickets or higurashi. (source: Onikakushi-hen chapter notes)

(3)While retaining his constant use of bastard to Ludwig, Lovino's personality has been altered to match Mion Sonozaki's.

(4)While retaining Feliciano's innocent and happy-go-lucky image, his personality has been altered to match Rena Ryuugu's.

(5)More of Rena's speaking style. Besides repeating the final part of her sentence or saying "I wonder if that's true", Rena will sometimes talk in third person. (source: Onikakushi-hen chapter notes)

(6)It's not just Arthur who's being called jerk, hahahaha. Peter's personality has been altered to match Satoko Hojo's.

(7)Kentucky Fried Chicken is very popular in Japan, especially during Christmas Eve; it's probably less surprising if you note that very few Japanese people are Christian so they treat the holiday as a secular Western one. Majority of the restaurants in Japan have a life-sized statue of Colonel Sanders in front - in Higurashi, this is the 'Kenta-kun' that Rena wants to take home (source: Onikakushi-hen chapter notes)