Jobun-hen (Introduction/Preface Chapter)

"Are you ready for this Dusty-chan?"

"No way I'll lose this time!" The fox-girl stretched as she watched her speedy boyfriend do the same. They stood in the middle mast gym of the Ocean Dreamer, preparing for some sort of activity.

"We'll see." He grinned, disappearing in a blur.

"Alright… where are you…?" Dusty jumped out of the way as a 'thwack' was heard in the spot she was standing. "Ha! Missed me!" She teased as she swung around, diving in and out of the gym equipment with her strong flexibility. As she poked her head out from a pommel horse, she felt a light tap on her forehead as DJ appeared in front of her again.

"Sorry Dusty-chan, not this time. Tag, you're it."

"Damnit! I haven't won yet!"

"Sorry Dusty-chan, being supersonic kinda helps in tag." DJ laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "But you lasted longer that time, your evasion is getting better, I'm just getting faster at a similar rate."

"Yeah well…" Dusty trailed off as she looked out the window, spotting something in the distance past the waves. "WHOOT! We finally hit land!"

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"God I'm bored, how long has it been since we left Water 7?" Devon asked, tapping his foot against the bed he and Kirsty shared, sharpening his gladius swords while laying down.

"A few days at least." The blonde doctor looked to her swordsman husband, checking over her medical records and comparing them with her books.

"Maybe I should go spar with Macleod, I'm bored enough, I'll do anything…" The blonde male sighed.

"He's training with Dusty in the gym right now, doubt he'll be able to fight you too."

"Psh, you call that training? They play tag and games all the time, they're more like little kids than pirates…"

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!" Came a shrill, loud voice from outside the cabin.

"Was that Dusty?" Kirsty asked, turning her head.

"That's impossible… Azu soundproofed this room himself, nothing can get in here…" Devon sat up, looking around.

"YO GUYS! LAAAAND!!!"

"Guess he didn't Dusty-proof it…" The swordsman sighed as sure enough, the kitsune girl came pounding on their door and every door on that floor, screaming about land.

Once the whole crew of pirates was on deck and the island was in clear view, they watched their excitable scout jump up and down excitedly. "What the hell's wrong with you kit? You act like we've been out here for years…"

"Well it has been a while since we last docked, we're all a little eager to stretch a bit." The red-haired navigator, Chizuru pointed out.

They all looked out onto the island that was quickly approaching. It was fairly large, but not as big as others they had seen like Alabasta and Little Garden. It didn't seem to be technologically advanced nor underdeveloped, it had a balanced, small town feel.

"Alright guys! Let's go! To… ADVENTURE!" Captain Axe shouted as he pointed to the island.

Sharpshooter Niri stared blankly at her captain, eyebrow twitching. "I don't know what's worse, Dusty's hyperness or your adventure craving…"

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"Hello there, welcome to Hinamizawa, strangers." A small girl with long dark hair in her mid to early teens greeted them with a small welcoming party.

"Wow, good welcome for pirates." Azu whispered.

"They don't know we're pirates yet, so try not to piss them off…" Herman told the shipwright.

"Hey, it's me." Azu grinned to the lobster merman chef, causing him to roll his eyestalks.

"I am Sierra Furude, resident miko of Hinamizawa, and part of the welcome party." She smiled brightly and bowed. "I welcome you on behalf of all residents here. You're just in time for the first day of Spring Festival."

"Alright! A festival!" Dusty cheered.

"Whoohoo, a party, let's get wasted!" Azu took a drink from his clay jug to get things off to a good start.

"What's this festival about?" Kirsty asked, looking at the little girl and also taking in the number of men in black clothing surrounding her that could easily be hiding weapons under their clothes.

"It's our festival to celebrate the patron god of the island, Kyuui-sama. The festivities play out for three days before the celebration feast. This is Idei, the first day so we'd be honored if you'd join us for the celebration."

"Awesome…" Axe grinned and put his fist in the air. "Alright, we accept!"

"Psh, ignorant people and their gods, Odin is the true god." Devon crossed his arms grumpily.

"Shush you." Kirsty elbowed him in the ribs lightly as Sierra turned around and began walking, her escorts following her and the pirates soon after.

"What kind of festivities do you have during these three days?" Niri asked as they followed Sierra from the outskirts of the simple village to a somewhat busier street. The homes and buildings were simple and trees and hills were interspersed between them.

"Well we have feasts, contests, and things like that, but most popular are the games." The young miko girl gave a devilish grin that made a few of the less brave crewmembers gulp in fear.

"G-Games?" Dusty shivered and hid behind DJ a little. "I don't like the way she says that… What kind of games?"

"There's not much unusual about the games themselves, whatever people think up, we play, but what happens afterwards is the fun part. The loser has to take a punishment that the winner decides." She giggled into her hand. "You can make them do WHATEVER you want."

"Hmm… I like the sound of that." Azu chuckled lecherously, earning him a few bonks on the head and some large lumps.

"It's awfully peaceful here, you guys don't have any trouble with pirates or marines?" Chizuru asked.

"You mean other than you?" One of the men in black asked., giving a glare towards them

"Shioru-san, shush." Sierra calmed him down slightly.

"They were flying a Jolly Roger, I could see their ship from the dock Furude-sama." The man, Shioru said, not taking his eyes off the pirates.

"They're welcome for the festival, no matter who they are." Sierra answered, looking back to them and smiling brightly. "Sorry about him, this is Shioru Oishi, he's the head of our ninjutsu police force here that keep the peace, not a large group but big enough for our needs." Sierra patted him on the waist, which was where the girl was able to reach the middle-aged man at arm's length. "We have a few pirate crews come and go ever now and then, we have another small pirate crew with us right now, but most leave us alone since we're such a small town and have little of value. The Marines don't bother us much anymore either…"

"Anymore?" Kirsty questioned.

"Anyway, we're a fairly small town and we have plenty to go around, the island has a population of about 2,000 which, considering the size of the island isn't that much." Sierra swiftly changed the topic, leaving some skeptical about what she was avoiding saying.

"Hihi Furude-chama!" A blonde girl about Sierra's age came running towards them, nearly glomping the miko as she approached. "How're you?" She looked towards the pirates and began to hide behind Sierra, head poking out a little with an eyebrow raised. "…Who're they?"

"Oh, these are our new pirate guests, the Axe-Heads." Sierra introduced them, knowing the crew name better than the individuals. "Everyone, this is my roommate Michelle Hojo, we call her Mi-chan."

"Kawaii~" DJ's lovesick voice came from the back of the small pirate crowd along with a distinct jealous fox-like growl.

"Nice to meet you Miss Hojo." Chizuru bowed lightly as the rest of the crew grumbled greetings.

"Hmm, this is going to take a while if we all stay together, how about we continue the tour and split up into threes? Mi-chan, Shioru and I will all lead one group." Sierra suggested.

"Awww, but I just found you, I dun wanna leave again…" Michelle hugged Sierra and rubbed her cheek on hers.

"Hot…" Azu commented, earning a few more swats.

"I promise I'll meet you again soon." Sierra patted the blonde girl and began to lead her own group as Michelle and Shioru begrudgingly did the same.

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Sierra led Dusty, DJ, Chizuru, and Herman around what looked like the Hinamizawa religious shrine. "This is the shrine to Kyuui-sama, it's normally fairly trafficked during the festival so people can pay their respects." The young miko led them around the large, ornate shrine.

"What is this Kyuui like?" Chizuru asked inquisitively.

"I bet she's pretty~" DJ chimed with a look of love on his face.

"Take a look for yourself." A male voice came from just inside the paper wall of the shrine before he opened the door, revealing a man with black hair and looked to be in his late twenties with a straight scar down his right eye. "That's her over there." He pointed to a large elegant white statue.

The group of pirates hurried over to the statue and examined it carefully. It was of a beautiful, but feral-looking mature woman. She wore worn-out clothing with scattered bits of battle armor and was standing on what appeared to a collection of terrified skulls beneath her. She had a pair of white fox ears on her head and a white tail extending from her back and held a wicked-looking stained sword.

"Wow, reminds me of Dusty-chan, I always knew she was a goddess~!" DJ exclaimed, keeping his look of love.

"That's Kyuui-sama, she's a goddess of death and torture. She was one of Inari's messenger foxes that fell from grace because of her sadistic ways. She came to this island and founded Hinamizawa, torturing and killing whoever she didn't like. It's a shame that such a god exists, it truly speaks to human nature that an idol can be created by human beings and sanctified by their fear. I certainly hope that there will come a day where humans won't have to be afraid." The man sighed as he and Sierra walked up to them.

"Everyone, this is Iago Togire. He's my assistant here at the shrine. Togire-san, you shouldn't talk about Kyuui-sama like that. It's not good to speak ill of a goddess, and you're scaring our guests." She looked to a cowering Dusty. "Besides, Kyuui-sama isn't all bad, she had a dirty job but it has to be done."

"Tell that to the ghosts that haunt the Saiguden." Iago scoffed.

"Saiguden?" Herman and Chizuru said in unison, eyes widening as Dusty let out a whimper and DJ seemed to be a bit startled.

"It's fitting for a goddess of torture and death to have a torture chamber, no?"

"The Saiguden is a torture chamber under the temple… that we don't use anymore Iago." Sierra shot a glare to the assistant. "A long time ago people used to torture others in the name of Kyuui-sama."

"But we don't have to anymore do we?" Iago muttered something under his breath.

"This is sounding scary… let's get out of here." Dusty suggested.

"Don't worry, every land has some dark history, don't you agree?" Sierra smiled brightly as she continued to lead them around. "In the back is mine and Michelle's room and farther back than that we have the Wata River that runs through the island and next to that we have some of the worship rooms we use for our daily rituals."

"Is it just me or are you getting a bad feeling about this shrine too?" Herman whispered to Chizuru as Sierra continued the tour.

"It's not just you, I'm a psychic and I can't even tell what's going on here. But it's not like we have anything concrete other than feelings."

"I suppose so, it such a small and nice place otherwise, what could possibly go wrong?"

"Famous last words, Big Guy, famous last words…"

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Meanwhile Shioru lead Axe, Niri, Pingu, Sora, and Azu into one of the local diners that had… interesting customs.

"I LOVE THIS PLACE! I WANNA STAY HERE FOREVER!" The drunken perverted shipwright shouted, ogling the waitresses.

Aside from the staff of the diner being almost entirely female, they all had quite interesting uniforms on. The front of the black red-trimmed dress was low cut and the skirts were extraordinarily short, so much so that if not for the lace at the bottom, the girls would be at least partially exposed. "Boy, Paulie would have a fit in this place." Niri looked around disdainfully, glaring at Axe who seemed to be enjoying himself a fair amount as well.

"Wow, didn't know places like this would be in a small town." Pingu told Sora in the language only the penguin and the sky fox could understand. "Watch and learn, blue boy." Pingu hopped up on an empty table, making his eyes big and looking very cute, attracting some of the female waitresses.

"Aww, he's so cute!" A green-haired girl exclaimed.

"Hey, look at that one!" Another waitress pointed to Sora, who was curled up into a blue furry ball, looking very cute himself.

"AWWW! He's so cute, I just wanna take him home!" A red-haired lady ran up to the fox with amazing speed and grabbed Sora, rubbing him on her face delightedly.

"I win." Sora stuck his tongue out at Pingu.

"Damn fox…"

"It sure is refreshing to be welcomed into a community instead of hated." Niri ate slowly, watching Axe go from watching the girls to stuffing his face. Azu had calmed down a fair amount too; even his perversion had its limits she supposed.

"Don't get used to it, pirates." Shioru gulped down his food angrily.

"Yo, Ryuugu! Stop hugging that damn fox and take my order!" The man in the next booth shouted at the redhead that was trying to steal Niri's sky fox.

"That guy's certainly loud." Axe mumbled with a mouthful of noodles hanging out of his mouth before slurping them in.

"Meh, Rena can get distracted sometimes, it's best if someone tries to keep her focused." The head ninja watched the girl and the customer argue.

"Do you know that guy?" Niri asked, nodding into the next booth.

"You know these booths aren't made of stone or nothin', I can hear you just fine…" The man called as Rena put Sora down and went to get his order. He turned around to reveal a he was a middle-aged man with jet-black hair, and a few scars scattered across his face. What was most surprising though was the fact that he was missing his entire right arm up to his shoulder.

"This is Ishu Tomitake, he was a marine lieutenant before he came to live here." Shioru introduced the man.

"Hmm, really?" Niri grinned. "I was a marine once too, but I wasn't all that far up."

"Ha, no surprise there, I can tell that just by looking at ya." Ishu sipped his drink while glaring at Niri.

"What was THAT!?" Niri shot up out of her seat, forcing Axe and Azu to hold her down with their strength.

"Bah, women marines." The former lieutenant grumbled gruffly and sat his drink down. "I'll see you guys around I guess, if you survive the night…" He sat up quickly and walked out, leaving a confused red-head waitress holding his order.

"What do ya suppose he meant by that?" Azu blinked and looked to the others as they shrugged.

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Michelle led Devon, Kirsty, and Austin down a country path, lined with trees and a few rocky hills. "This is the main transportation path for the community, it connects the residential district and the business district." She said in a voice fitting of a tour guide. "Near here we have the school and clubhouses, the hospital and apartments, things like that."

"You guys have a hospital here? How big is it?" Kirsty asked.

"We're a small town, not a bunch of backward hicks. The hospital's one of the biggest buildings in the entire city. Although I can't say much for the staff, they're a bit… eccentric…" She warned.

"Can we go there? I want to see what kind of medical supplies you guys have." The blonde doctor pleaded.

"I don't see why not, it's not far." Michelle waved them along and hurried them down the road to a large building at least three times taller than the other houses. As they stepped inside they noticed it was almost entirely white inside and had some interesting-looking tools, serums, and maps on carts and on the walls.

"Is Dr. Irie in?" Michelle asked an attendant. "We have another medical professional here who wants to talk to him."

"Hohoho!" A male voice called out before an orange-haired man in classes and a white lab coat came spinning towards them. "Why hello there! To what do we owe your presence here today Michelle? Who are your friends?"

'This guy reminds me of Sanji from the Strawhats…' Austin told his brother in sign language.

"Yeah, he kinda does…" Devon chuckled and patted his mute brother on the back.

"Oh my, aren't you cute?" Dr. Irie kneeled down to Austin's eye level and grinned. "Mind if I take him for a… checkup for a few hours?" He giggled effeminately.

"What the… are you coming on to my brother!? You're worse than Macleod, get the hell away from him!" Devon kicked the doctor over, causing him to fall flat on his face.

"It's just a proposition, no reason to get violent." Irie stood up and fixed his glasses, turning to Kirsty. "I understand you're a doctor as well? It's a pleasure to meet you I am Dr. Kotaro Irie, head medical professional for Hinamizawa. Our services are open for you to use and research for as long as you stay here."

"Thank you Doctor." Kirsty beamed. "See Devon? He's not so bad."

"Other than the gay flirting with my brother? Yeah, he's just peachy…" Devon grumbled and crossed his arms, turning to Michelle and Austin.

"Don't worry about that, he just gets… excited around children, he even asked me to marry him when I grow up, although he's the one who needs to grow up if you ask me…" Austin gave a definite nod to Michelle's assertion.

"Doctor…" Kirsty looked carefully at the map posted on the wall. "What's HS? This entire wing here is devoted to just two letters? I don't believe I've heard of that disease before, is it something local?"

"Oh that?" Irie blinked, quickly getting between Kirsty and the map. "That's, um… nothing important. HS stands for… Hollow Space, that's an unused wing for when we have extra patients and all the other rooms are filled up, nothing in particular is done there."

"An entire wing of 'nothing in particular'?" Devon scoffed. "Sounds like a design flaw to me."

"Yes, well… it just works out that way sometimes doesn't it?" Irie chuckled, sweatdropping lightly.

'Hmmm… someone's hiding something here…' Austin looked from the young blonde girl to the pedophile doctor. 'I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this place…'

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Later on the entire crew met up again after their tours, they discussed what they had seen, had dinner for those who hadn't eaten yet and took part in some of the strange games that the first day of the festival offered (with some strange results for punishment games, leaving some of the crew in strange outfits). After their fun and some collaboration, most of them agreed that something strange was going on and they had better find out what before that something happened.

"That temple was creepy… especially that statue and the torture chamber." DJ (who was wearing fake cat ears and a tail along with whisker face paint and a leash for some reason) shivered.

"That guy in the diner was pretty freaky too." Azu (who had had a wet spot in his pants from pouring ice down there) agreed.

"And that doctor was hiding something… something besides the fact he wants to molest Austin." Devon (who was in a skimpy maid outfit) nodded in the most dignified fashion he could muster.

"Agreed." Axe nodded and walked over to Sierra (who was feeding Michelle her dinner like a baby). "Excuse me Furude-sama, can I speak with you a moment?"

Both girls gulped, one swallowing food and the other out of fear. "Sure..."

"You better not be trying anything, pirate…" Shioru warned, pulling a kunai seemingly out of nowhere.

"Please, you'd be dead twice before you hit the ground. Besides, those things don't work to well on me…" He grinned.

"Huh? … Twice?" He blinked to find that as fast as he drew his kunai, DJ as right behind him, holding his sabre-katana Raikiri to his neck and Niri had drawn her father's pistol and was aiming it right between Shioru's eyes."

"Lower your weapons everybody, we don't want to turn a fun time into a battlefield, Nipah~?"

"Nipah? What's that mean?" Herman asked.

"No clue." Chizuru shrugged. "Must be some local dialectic."

"What did you want to ask, Axe-san?" Sierra smiled brightly.

"Is there something you're not telling us about this place? This seems like a very nice town, but something seems out of place…" Axe admitted, he watched Sierra, Michelle and Shioru as their eyes flashed recognition and despair.

The Furude miko nodded. "There is…"

"Furude-sama, don't!" Shioru called out to her, but the dark-haired girl shook her head, shaking a few tears from her eyes in the process.

"If there's anything you're not telling us, I suggest you do it now." The captain asserted, the rest of his crew listening intently.

"The truth is… the Spring Festival is… a sacrifice."

The pirate's eyes widened at the realization, some yelped in terror, some growled in hatred, and some stayed silent, dumbfounded. Axe stayed calm and stared the miko girl down. "What do you mean a sacrifice?"

"For Kyuui-sama…" Sierra lowered her head. "Every year for the past four years… something happens to any visitors that come to the island during festival times. They all… die."

"D-Die!?" Dusty and Austin attempted to hide underneath their dinner picnic blanket, poking their heads out to listen.

"You… you kill them?" Devon growled, grabbing his swords.

"No, no! It's not like that at all!" Sierra waved her hands in front of her face. It's the curse…"

"What curse?" Kirsty asked.

"Kyuui-sama's Curse. Because Kyuui-sama is the goddess of death and torture, she demands a sacrifice every year and she spirits away any traspassers on the island and kills them…" Sierra sobbed quietly. "I'm sorry, I should have told you as soon as you got here, but once you stepped foot on this island, the curse began to seal your fate, no one can survive…"

"I wouldn't say that, after all it wouldn't be the first time we kicked a goddess' ass." Devon grinned, looking at his Water Moon sword fondly.

"We're tough, there's no way something like a curse is going to beat us." Niri nodded.

"You don't understand." Shioru interceded. "The outside world seems to have a universal law that tries to prevent death of people with strong wills. Haven't you ever noticed that people who are strong-willed and even some that aren't can survive a seemingly inhuman amount of torture and pain?"

"Now that you mention it…"

"Well that boundary doesn't exist here. No matter how strong your will is, as part of the curse, a human being can and will die as easily as anyone else. Kyuui-sama is an envoy of death and this is her kingdom, there won't be any second chances for you. Death and torture will erode your bonds of friendship and shatter your dreams." Shioru glared at them.

"We'll see about that won't we?" Axe grinned broadly.

"Who are you to smile in the face of death, pirate!?" The ninja screamed.

"I'm Captain Axe, and there's no way I'm going to die before I realize my dream to become the greatest treasure hunter in the world!" Axe pointed to himself, still smiling foolishly.

"And if you do die?"

"If I die, then that will be it, won't it? No sense worrying about it." He grinned. "And my crew feels the same way, right guys!?"

"AYE!"

'These people… they remind me of him…' Sierra smiled warmly towards the pirates. "Best of luck to you then…"

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The crew decided to return to the Ocean Dreamer for a meeting to decide what to do about the so-called 'curse' and how the next few days would play out.

"I say we get the fuck out of here!" Dusty raised her hand quickly.

"We can't do that…" Chizuru sighed. "The Log Pose has already begun to set and according to Sierra it takes three days to set to the next island. Until those three days have passed, we're stuck here."

"Aww, man…" Dusty's ear's drooped as she lowered her head.

"The better question is should we go to sleep with those island freaks so nearby?" Devon leaned back in his chair. "They didn't tell us about this curse to begin with so how can we trust them at all? For all we know one of all of them could be the ones who killed those visitors for the past four years."

"That's not right Devon, we can't start mistrusting everyone around us, if we do that then we'll drive ourselves nuts from paranoia… The fact that they told us about the curse at all should be an indicator that they can at least be somewhat trusted. If they wanted to kill us, why warn us first and risk upsetting their god?" Niri argued, polishing her father's pistol.

"Right, for now we'll trust them, but everyone keep your eyes open. We'll stay and enjoy the festival, no sense driving us crazy until something happens. We'll leave as soon as the Log Pose sets and as long as we're careful, everything should be fine." Axe ordered. "Meeting dismissed."

Some of the Axe-heads got ready for bed as the sun began to set, Kirsty walked out onto the deck and some of the others sat around the galley table talking. "So… how would you want to do it?" Niri asked.

"Do what?"

"Die… if you could choose how to die, what would you do?"

"Dying in battle is the only honorable way to go." Devon grinned, seeming unphased by the odd subject.

"I'd like to die protecting someone with my last breath, someone close to me. As for how, I think I'd like to die by falling. As you're falling you get one last second and your true self comes out, you get one last thought, one last phrase before you die, everyone becomes a poet with their dying breath." DJ smiled somewhat shakily, obviously more startled than his fellow swordsman about the idea of planning his own death.

"That's really gay Macleod."

"Shut up, baka Demon King!"

"I'd like to die in the sack, a beer in one hand and a girl in the other." Azu grinned lecherously. "Everyone's gotta go sometime, might as well do it happily."

Chizuru thought for a moment. "I'd like to go while spiting my worst enemy, that way you know there's no way they can ever get you back and you'll be laughing from hell as their soul rots away from the inside. Once you're dead they can't exactly do much, can't torture a corpse and when they finally die themselves the evil in their vengeful heart will drive them crazy and rip them apart." The fire-haired navigator grinned.

Everyone was silent for a while.

"Damn, you always win at these things…" Niri sighed.

"What about you Niri-chan?" DJ questioned.

"I don't know, I suppose I'd like to die in the arms of a lover, knowing that they were close to me till the very end, knowing that they will follow me into the dark." She smiled contently, then realized everyone was staring at her and blushed madly. "N-Not that there is anyone like that…"

"That does sound nice.." The brunette musician smiled warmly. As the remaining crewmembers discussed and got ready to go to bed or whatever night activities they had planned, Devon walked out onto the deck, finding Kirst staring off the side of the ship at the sunset.

"What're you up to?" He asked his wife tenderly.

"Just watching the sunset… it's funny how you can take things like these for granted…" She turned to him and smiled lightly before turning to the setting sun again.

"Like sunsets?" He questioned and walked up to stand next to her, gazing at the sight as well.

"Yeah… for some reason, when you get the idea that you might die tomorrow or the next day, you start realizing how precious everything is. You realize that this may be the last sunset you see."

Devon grabbed her and pulled her into a tight embrace, running a hand through her hair gently. "I promise you, it won't be. I promise that when everything's over here, when we're leaving this island, I will stand out on this deck with you again and we will watch the sunset together." He kissed her gently as the sun set and the sky began to darken.

As the stars came out and twinkled lightly in the sky, a sound began to rise out of the darkness. The cicadas began to chirp.

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Sierra stood on a small cliff overlooking Hinamizawa as night fell. She could see the entire town, the hospital and other buildings, the river, and even the coast the pirate ship docked there. A dark figure came out of the tree line to greet her.

"Do you feel bad about what happened last time? Is that why you told them?" The figure queried.

"Yes, maybe that's it… do you hear that?" The miko asked, hearing the chirping of the cicadas rising above the hills. "They sound sad… like they're crying…"

"Yes, there is much to cry about…"

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In the dark chambers of the pirate ship, the Axe-Head sat in its bed, tossing and turning from discomfort. It scratched at its skin feverishly, growing into a rash with a drop of blood spreading under their nails. "It itches… what's wrong with me?" They stared at their hand. "Whatever… it's probably nothing…"

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There's the first chapter, for some clarification, most of the people's names in the town are made-up first names with last names of characters from Higurashi. And before anyone says anything, Kyuui-sama is not a Kyuubi reference with the fox features, Kyuui means "peace" or "worn-out clothing" ironic, no? Secondly, This is to take place between the Thriller Bark arc and the Enies Lobby Arc as another stop before the Sabaody Archipelago.

Sorry for the amount of exposition in this chap, but I wanted to get the vast majority of it out of the way so people get to know how Hinamizawa works before the curse starts taking effect.

Hope you enjoyed! And in order to keep the suspense, I won't be making previews for any of these chapters, don't want to give away any of the mystery prematurely. So start placing bets people! Government conspiracy? Religious cult? Traitor among the crew or is it really a deity at work in Hinamizawa? We'll find out soon enough as the mystery begins to reveal itself…