Title: Just a Little Lonely
Summary: "It's not that waiting is tough, but I'm just a little lonely..."
Notes: Was listening to Yours ▪ Thanks and decided to write another Higurashi story. Perhaps I shall do one for every character… Likely not…

-X-X-X-X-X-

The wind whistled and blew vigorously as she looked down at the place of her birth, and the tune was similar to the sorrowful call that had echoed around her heart so many years ago. The nightmares were the cause of that, surely, but the cry continued even as the horrific dreams faded over the years, only to resurface when she forgot about them.

So maybe the instigator of the cry was debatable, but as she stared out over the village, she formed a theory in her mind about the message. She had tried her very best, pushed herself to the limits, to fulfil expectations of others all her life, but her best didn't seem to ever be enough. It was always failure.

The only definite thing in her life was her constant failure and the nightmares that seemed to start on the first day of June of Showa, and would continue until they almost drove her mad. Sometimes she wondered if, somewhere and somehow, in a parallel universe, she gave in to the madness and copied the nightmares. It had seemed perfectly logical at the time, but now she couldn't imagine how she could have ever considering doing such atrocious things.

The wind had calmed now and it blew around her with a lot less ferocity, but she felt as if it had worsened with her mood. Though many had admired her for seemingly being unaffected by many events that happened, she had laughed scornfully as they praised her nonchalant attitude to the situation. If only they knew the thoughts that ran through her head, that the instinct to kill their family was forced upon people such as her from the start, maybe they wouldn't foolishly throw around such sayings.

She doubted it so much, and as she leaned over the railing to glance at her household, she thought of Houjou Satoshi and how hard he tried to protect his little sister. Maybe if I had helped too, instead of chastising others on what they should do…

She considered this for a second and then decided it was pointless. While she was the one who had madness running through her veins, the one who had the demon in her soul and name through a strange twist of fate, it was the others who played the devil's advocate.

It wasn't really her fault that she was possessed. It wasn't really her that did all those terrible things; it was the demon inside her. Such a thing was forced on her, and she couldn't be to blame for what the others activated, albeit unknowingly, right?

It's fine though now, She thought somewhat happily. He's back, though he's sleeping. It was all worth it in the end…

But the waiting.

What could she do but think on what happened?

It's not that it was hard to wait, but she was never a patient person. It was her sister, who was brilliant at waiting things out, that was the calm and patient one. So in a way, she wished that her sister was feeling how she felt, because no person that's patient can understand really what being impatient is like. By the time she realized, it was already too late and nothing could be done. That was painful.

She found herself staring at her right hand's fingernails as she remembered something from a while ago that might not have happened.

Why did she do it?

She didn't really remember her reasons, or maybe she didn't want to, or maybe it was because it didn't happen and it was one of the nightmares that occurred. A flash of memory that could be a fake dream slashed her mind, and she stared blankly at nothing for a while.

Holding the hammer and nail just above his first finger joint, she had watched him carelessly barter his life for someone who wasn't who he thought she was (Or maybe she was. Telling the two apart had become increasingly difficult over the years). She didn't know why, but his selflessness caused a warm feeling on her scalp, where Satoshi had patted it after rescuing her. Something stirred, something stronger than the demon, and everything that had built up to the demon overpowering seemed to just vanish…

Maybe it was his resemblance to Satoshi that did it.

So, she spared him, and she warned him about the demon. So nothing that happens could be her fault, since she warned him against coming near her. Part of her knew that a warning wouldn't work, that Maebara Keiichi wouldn't believe something so terrible of his friend, so the demon squirmed as it began to make plans for the slaughter.

But she didn't spare her sister. How could she, when she had said such things and made her do such things? She didn't plea for Satoshi-kun or herself, of course she didn't, because everyone listens to the illustrious Sonozaki heir. Had she repented when she tore out three of her own fingernails to mirror her own?

No… It wasn't quite enough.

So she let her sister fall in that godforsaken pit, and had almost laughed as she heard the dull thunk as her body smashed against that of her friends, Furude Rika and Houjou Satoko.

That's what she gets for being so selfish…

Then, later.

Throwing rocks at his window, she could feel the knife, concealed in a hidden scabbard underneath her shirt, hitting her stomach. She quivered with anticipation as she saw his face at the window, and waited for him to come out of the back door. Fabricating some lie, she waited until he was close enough…

And she stabbed the knife in his gut, smiling insanely as his eyes widened in shocked pain and he fell to his knees. Blood soaked his white shirt and she laughed as loud as she could.

"I finally did it!" She screamed, bursting into gales of maddened cackles. "I finally killed everyone I wanted to kill!"

Still giggling, she ran off towards her Okinamiya apartment, stopping only to catch her breath. Sliding down the side of a tree, she sat down on the muddy floor of the forest and listened to the cicadas cries.

She began crying herself, cackling through the hitching in her throat and the tears spilling out of her eyes.

"I killed them all…"

She sobbed, falling over onto the floor sideways.

"Satoshi-kun…"

Picking at the ends of her long fingernails and closing her eyes, Sonozaki Mion called Shion debated on what to do while she waited. What could she do, really, that could take her mind off it? Being in Hinamizawa didn't help, since whenever she saw one of her sister's friends, or her sister, her mind wandered to their relationship with Satoshi.

She pondered for a while, and when nothing came, she opened her eyes and turned facing away from Hinamizawa, leaning against the railing and dreaming of when he would wake up rather than the waiting.

"Good morning," She said, smiling wistfully, tears filling her eyes again. "And… " She closed her eyes and let the wind carry her tears over Hinamizawa. "Welcome back."