Summary: What might have happened if there had been a pair of visitors to the village before Makabe and Munataka? What if one of those two had been a woman? What if she and Itsuki discovered they had a special connection?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fatal Frame games, I do not own Tecmo, I am not getting paid in any way for this, etc, etc. I usually only write Devil May Cry fics, but Crimson Butterfly got me thinking. If it sucks, deepest apologies. Flamers will have gasoline poured on them and be danced around sometime around midnight.

The Visitors

Michiko Shibata watched as the village came closer to them, and she felt a sudden intuition about the place. Something isn't right, she thought. Involuntarily, her hand closed about the two charms she wore about her neck. Her father, noticing the movement, turned to look at her.

"Is something wrong, my daughter?"

"No, honorable father." She continued to stare at the village gate, her sixth sense tugging at her mind urgently. "I just... I feel..."

"Your mother's Gift again, I see." Kisho smiled at his daughter sympathetically. "Your mother, Michi, would be begging me to leave right about now, if you were her. She feared her Gift. But you do not."

"Because it only shows what is already there. What most people are blind to, I can see." Michiko willed herself to let go of the polished stone charms, and took the reins in both hands once more. "A blessing as well as a curse. Ignorance is bliss, after all."

"Perhaps your Gift will calm down once we reach the house of Hiroshi Tachibana, and find our shelter therein." Kisho patted the neck of his stallion, the bay horse whickering softly at his touch. "Once he sees these horses, I am sure he will be willing to barter more than his original offer."

Michiko smiled softly. Her father had only two loves in life: his daughter and his horses. Through careful breeding, he had managed to create a superior line of horse, one of the best in all of Japan. The reason they had come to All God's Village in the first place was to bargain away some of the young colts and fillies of the past two years, each of them already broken to the bit and the saddle, as well as the plow. Hiroshi Tachibana was very interested in purchasing some of the famous Shibata horses, and had invited Kisho and his daughter Michiko to his home while the bargaining was done.

She looked back to the colt and filly they had brought with them as evidence of their offer. A beautiful black filly Michiko had come to love named Akira, and a chestnut colt her father had named 'Kin' for the golden sheen of his coat. She would be sad to see Akira go, but as long as she would have a good home here, Michiko would be content.

They dismounted from their horses once they passed through the gate, and tied the animals to a handy post. The horses, obediant and fond of their riders, would stay in place even if they were not tied. Another of the qualities which made the Shibata horses so coveted throughout the land.

Michiko and her father approached a man standing just inside the gate, a servant of Tachibana. "Come, honorable guests. I shall take you to the Tachibana house that you may find rest."

"When will Tachibana meet with me to discuss the horses?" Kisho inquired politely.

"He is very occupied with family matters at the moment, sir. I must regretfully inform you that it may be a day or two before he can meet with you concerning the horses. But he did say to tell you that you and your daughter are to have full run of the house. His home will be as yours for as long as you stay in All God's Village."

"Tachibana is very generous, as his name would say," Kisho noted. "Lead us to the house, then. I am very tired from the long journey, and I am sure that my daughter is as well."

Michiko decided not to tell him that she was, in fact, almost energized by the novelty of this place, despite the warnings of her Gift. There was a kind of timeless beauty to All God's Village that intrigued her, and she wanted to explore the house where she and her father would be staying. Perhaps there was someone her age she could speak with.

MIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMIMI

Itsuki finished writing in his diary for the day, and carefully sprinkled sand across the wet ink so it would dry faster. Bored, he went to the window and looked down at the grounds below.

Nothing ever changed in All God's Village. Even after the horrors of the festival, when all the villagers knew what he had had to do, everybody was just as cheerful and smiling as ever. Not even his mother and father seemed to notice the burden which he carried.

Mutsuki...

He fingered a lock of his white hair.

"Itsuki, you never did tell me why your hair turned white."

The sweet voice of his little sister, Chitose, turned him away from the window to face the doorway. She stood just inside the door, her hands hidden behind her back. The gentle tinkle of the bells he had given her had gone unheard in his dark musings.

He offered her a sad smile. It hurt to feel happy, he didn't want to feel happiness, but he couldn't let Chitose know what he had been forced to do. She was the only person in the village who didn't know anything about the Crimson Sacrifice Ritual. "I don't know why it turned white, sister. It just did."

Chitose fidgeted. "Mother said there are visitors coming to stay in the house. A man bringing horses, and his daughter."

"And you are scared. Is that it?"

She lowered her eyes. "People scare me."

Itsuki went to her, stroked her jet-black hair. "I won't let the visitors do anything to you, Chitose. Don't worry about it."

Her eyes lifted, searching his. "I'd feel better if both you and Mutsuki were here. Where is he? Nobody will tell me."

Itsuki turned away, retreated to the window. "I... I can't tell you, sister."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

He heard the jingling of the bells, and Chitose came to stand beside him, peering out the window. "What's out there? I can't really tell."

"Those eyes of yours again." He smiled kindly down at his little sister, letting her know he was only teasing her, and turned to the window. "Let's see. There's Aiko Tsuchihara getting a doll from the Kiryu house, probably for her daughter Hana. Tatsu Osaka is walking with that one girl, Estu. And..."

His voice trailed off. One of the family servants, Yasashiku, was leading a man and a girl to the house. The man was middle-aged, dressed in a dark robe tied with a black cloth. Even from this distance, Itsuki could see that his black hair was beginning to gray at the temples. That would be the horse-breeder his father was planning on buying from, Kisho Shibata.

The girl following close behind was wearing a pale blue kimono. Her black hair was long and flowing, an inky sheen down her back and sides. Her skin was moonlight pale, and from what little he could see, she possessed great beauty. She looked to be about his age, sixteen.

"Itsuki?" Chitose tugged at his sleeve. "Itsuki? Why did you stop? What do you see?"

He didn't answer. Below them, Yasashiku opened the front doors and led the visitors inside. He regained his tongue once the beauteous creature he had glimpsed was out of his immediate sight. He turned to his sister.

"The visitors have arrived."

The simple statement made Chitose's eyes widen in sudden fear. Without a word, she ran away, the bells jangling as she fled for the safety of her closet.

Itsuki looked back to the window, and then down at the floor. The visitors were directly beneath his room right now.

He wanted to meet the girl.