It's been a while folks, but I still don't own anything from Higurashi. So quit asking!
At first, all is dark, I can't see anything, nor can I feel anything. But I can hear, I can definitely hear. Yet.... I'd do anything to not hear at this moment.
But there's no such luck, I can hear it all around me: White noise, the sound of a rushing river. It's as if I've been engulfed by the sound, like it's flooding my senses. But.... that's not the only noise I hear. The other sound that reaches my ears is far more terrifying to me.
"Fall! Fall!" The noise assaults my mind again, the words having an overwhelming effect on me. Each word feels like a blow to the stomach, or more.
And slowly, the darkness begins to lift, but it only serves to worsen my state.
It's below me, I can see it: A powerful river, waiting to swallow me. Every part of it's deadly form seems to beckon me closer, to my death. Unable to bear the sight, I look up, and realize my situation for the first time.
I am not on solid ground at all, instead I am hanging on a cable from the bridge above. The bridge is shaking, and the reason fills me sorrow.
A young girl, tears in her eyes, is shaking the bridge, shouting for me to fall. "Fall! Fall and die!" She repeats the words like a mantra, her eyes wide with rage.
Why? Why is she doing this? Why does she want me to fall? WHY!? What could I have ever done to deserve something like this!? Is that it? Was it something I did? Or is it all her fault? I don't want to die. That's all I truly know, I don't want to die. So.....why?
She's putting every ounce of her being into her attempt to kill me, my death is her greatest desire. How terrifying.
"I don't want to fall! Why are you doing this!?" I want to shout, but my mouth does not open. I can't feel it, but I can see my grip weakening.
The river seems to grow louder with hunger.
My eyes linger on her face. Everything about her... seems so familiar, so close to me. Why would anyone like that want to kill me? Suddenly, I'm certain I know her.
I lose my grip, and fall.
"Sato...ko." It's the first time I hear myself speak, and I'm certain it's the last.
The river looms closer, it's body growing even larger as I speed towards it. I can feel it's happiness at my misfortune. It's over for me now!
My eyes remained locked on the girl's, refusing to look away.
WHY!? What did I do to deserve this!? Why do I have to die!? I know, that whatever I've done, it's not enough to deserve this! It's the fault of this town! The fault of this twisted Hinamizawa! It should just perish!
The water is cold and hard.
--
"AHH!" I sit up, shouting louder than I've ever thought I could. What was that? What was that dream I just had? I'm still groggy, my eyes are glued shut, and I feel like I've put on thirty extra pounds. I do my best to get out of the covers that are twisted around my body(I've always had that problem when I sleep.). The result is me falling out of my bed, and onto cold floor. Wait.... Cold floor? That can't be right. Can it?
As I finally force my eyes open, I take a look at my surroundings. The walls are a faint and boring blue, all without a scratch on them, all forming a perfect square shape. Small rays of sunlight, filtered by the tall buildings out the open window, light the room with a calm feeling. This room would generally be very calming, but I only feel panic. For a second I think of the clinic, but this place is nothing like it.
"Where am I?" I ask myself. "What the?!" I give a small jump in surprise. My voice, it's... different, older sounding. "Is this really my voice?" I ask myself in the same strange voice. "I sound like an adult." My throat feels extremely raspy as I speak.
I shakily bring myself to stand up, my body still feels so heavy. I notice the large hospital bed that I had been sleeping on, the covers are all over the ground. I feel a cold breeze, and notice that I'm wearing a patient's gown. "What's going on?" I'm beginning to get used to my new voice. I notice a mirror on the far wall, and slowly make my way towards it. With a deep breath, I look into the small mirror.
Who is this person? Is this...me? I look so much older. I stand a great deal taller than I used too, but I don't look particularly built. My face is more hardened, more mature. My hair is actually shorter than I remember it being. Was it cut recently? By who?
"What the hell is going on here!?" I shout.
"What's with all this commotion?" A man wearing a doctor's uniform enters the room. "Keiichi!?" He gasps. "You're actually awake!?" He seems stunned. He is an averaged sized man, with clean-cut brown hair and slightly squinted eyes.
"Who are you!?" I shout. "Where am I!? What am I doing here!? Where's everybody else!?" My breathing suddenly becomes erratic, I'm literally gasping for air. I can feel all my panic constricting about my lungs, squeezing off my air.
He quickly moves towards me. "Calm down Keiichi, or you'll go into shock!" He nudges me towards the bed. "Sit down, you just need to calm down."
I sit on the bed, it's really quite soft. My breathing slowly returns to normal, and I begin to feel better.
"Alright, you should be okay for now." The man smiles at me. "But don't get too worked up, your body might not be able to handle it." He warns. "You may call me Dr. Miuchi."
"Dr. Miuchi." I take a deep calming breath, before asking my first question. "Why am I here?"
He let's out a deep sigh, and massages his temples. "Keiichi..." He begins slowly.
The look he gives me fills me with dread. "What? What is it!?"
"You were found washed up on a riverbed, a good distance from Hinamizawa." He explains. "You were then brought to this hospital, in order to recover."
"That makes sense." I nod my head. "But where's my parents? Or any of my friends? Has anybody come to visit me?" I ask.
He stares at me, as if judging if I'm up for what he's about to say. "That very night you were found, something happened in Hinamizawa, something....terrible."
My hands tighten on the covers of the bed, I can feel the icy dread all over my body. "What? What happened?"
"According to the government, volcanic gasses were released into the air. The gasses filled Hinamizawa." He pinches the bridge of his nose anxiously. "And... everybody in Hinamizawa died that night."
....What?...
"That can't...be." I mumble. "It's got to be a lie." Everything suddenly feels so surreal.
"I'm sorry... it's the truth." He gestures to me. "Just look at yourself if you want proof. Surely you've noticed. You're older now... a little over six years older to be exact. You've been in a comatose state all this time."
"Six years!? That long!?" I shout, putting my head into my hands. My breathing becomes erratic again, much worse this time. I can't get myself to calm down. Could everybody really be dead?
"Keiichi?" Dr. Miuchi stares at me. "Keiichi!" He shouts, as I begin to cough.
My vision begins to grow fuzzy, my entire body wracked by my coughing. The last thing I see is Dr. Miuchi running out of the room for assistance.
"Am I really... the only one left?"
--
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Satoko... she's apologizing now. Her eyes are full of tears, and she's clutching the curtain in the classroom.
I remember, I remember this now. This is what her uncle, what that bastard did to her. This is what drove me over the edge in the first place. This is why I tried to.... No. This is why I killed him.
Satoko... You've never deserved to feel anything like this. You haven't done anything wrong. It wasn't your fault that things turned out the way they did, Satoko. I killed your uncle because you deserve so much more than that man.
The classroom begins to fade away, but Satoko's still there, standing right in front of me.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She continues to apologize. Why?
She's all alone now isn't she? She died, just like everyone else in Hinamizawa.
Except me...
I'm sorry Satoko. I was never supposed to abandon you. None of this was your fault. I don't even blame you for pushing me off the bridge.
"But shouldn't you blame her for that? Shouldn't you despise her for that? Nobody considered your feelings. Why should you consider their's? You should be glad they're all dead!"
--
"Huh?" I wake up with a sudden jolt. I can feel cold sweat on my forehead.
I'm back in the hospital bed, wrapped tightly in the blankets. It's night time now, but the room is still lit by the lights of the city.
"What was that... just now?" I mutter to myself. For just one moment.... I was filled with rage towards everybody, towards the world. What a terrible feeling.
"Keiichi? Are you awake now?" Dr. Miuchi asks, stepping into the room. He's holding a packet of papers in his hands.
"Dr. Miuchi?" I ask. "What just happened?"
"The anxiety was too much for you, and you had a panic attack." He explains.
"Oh... Is that so?" I feel terrible, the reality of everything is suddenly hitting me.
"I brought these for you." He hands me the papers. "It's an official report on the incident in Hinamizawa. I thought you might have wanted to see for yourself."
"Thank you." I read through them carefully, praying for something amiss in the report. Everything matches up with Dr. Miuchi's account. I can feel all my hope fading away with each word I read. Suddenly, I notice something. "One body not found." I repeat to myself, unable to grasp what the words actually mean.
"That's right." Dr. Miuchi peers at the section I'm reading. "They couldn't find one person, no matter how much they looked. It was a young girl, I believe."
"A young girl?!" I try not to let myself get too excited with this news. "What was her name!? Please! What was her name!?" I plead.
Dr. Miuchi closes his eyes in concentration, trying to recall the child's name. "I believe it was..... Sato... Satoko." He nods his head.
"Satoko!?" I shout. She might still be alive! I might not be the only one left after all! "That means that, that...!" I can feel my lungs act up again.
Dr. Miuchi notices my condition. "It's best you get some rest for the moment. We have a lot of talking to do tomorrow." He begins to exit the room. "Please Keiichi, for tonight, just try to get some sleep." He leaves the room.
But no matter what I do, I can't get to sleep. Is Satoko still alive? Am I alone? What happened in Hinamizawa? Was it really just volcanic gasses? Or was it something more? There's no way I can rest with all of these thoughts in my head.
I sit up, my mind finally made up. There's only one way for me to ever let these matters rest. There's only one way for me to get peace of mind, and be sure that I've done everything I can. Only one thing can truly be done at this point.
"I have to return to Hinamizawa."
Wow~! This sure is nostalgic! Hi everybody! How's it going!? I'm finally back, and I feel a bit more skilled than before(Read:bit).
My second fic in the Higurashi area, and it's still kinda the first. How strange. But this story is going to be Muuu~ch different, I promise you that. So... this is kinda "The Return DX(Director's Cut? Special edition?)", I hope we enjoy ourselves with this one.
For those who didn't read the original version of this story: The plot is basically a "What if" continuation of the Tatarigoroshi arc(The one with Satoko and her jackass uncle). Everybody but Keiichi(and possibly Satoko), died in Hinamizawa(his parents returned to Hinamizawa the day it happened). There will be many things that seem a lot different in this, but I promise I'll do my best to make it be a worthwhile read.
I finally decided to end the polls, and the most votes went to "End Yet Unseen". But I wasn't so sure I wanted it to be quite like that. So I spent a very long time thinking up ideas, when I finally realized that I didn't have to delve into an entirely new territory. Instead, I decided to remake one of my favorite stories, but add much more to it.
To put it simply, there will be more characters, better writing style, more plot, and hopefully it'll just be plain better all around. I still don't think I want any OCs(other than Miuchi of course) in this story, but if I ever do use one, it'll only be for minor purposes(like a medical worker or something). The plot is going to be very interesting this time around, so be prepared for it!
I'm not taking down the original version of this story though, seeing as it'll be vastly different from this version. Plus, I still have a spot in my heart for that story, and I hope this will encourage others to give it a chance too(I suggest reading it after this is done though, it would still spoil some things).
I hope that I've gotten at least a little better at writing since I was last here. If not, oh well.
So please enjoy yourselves, drop a review(if you want), and I'll try to make the next chapter even better.