Written by gonzotheanime
She had to leave.
She didn't want this to follow her. Not because of guilt.
It just stinks of rotten flesh and formaldehyde.
Kotonoha had held on to the decapitated head for the whole trip. Her father's hired movers thought of it as strange, seeing her held on to it in the back of the Freightliner's cabin through the mirror. Her eyes were concentrated on the head, but they were hints that she was lost in a world no one wants to relive. The two movers were worried about her state of mind, despite the therapy she underwent and the stress of the court system she endured.
They were uneasy on such a girl. Why would anyone want to be a friend with a murderous girl who was pleaded insane by her father, and was bargained for extensive therapy? Looking at her, you can't tell what was on her 102 centimeter chest, you can only see such a radiant beauty that any man would die for...and with one already in that state.
A man with a black suit was standing outside the building where the truck finally rolled to a stop. He wore black sunglasses and appeared to have a earpiece in his right ear. It was hard to tell from the brushy black hair setting atop of the tall figure.
"Haji!" Kotonoha exclaimed as she rushed to hug the man. "I knew you'd be here!"
"I was sent to help take care of you, as you may already figured. But I don't know about him." The man spoke in a deep monotone voice.
"No!" she responded. "Makoto stays with me!"
"Not that I'm pressing..." said the man, looking at one of the movers who exited the truck.
The men flinched as their eyes meet Haji's.
She then walked around to the other side of the truck to observe the rolling hills behind it, dotted with various buildings and roads, shaded various tones of orange as the sun tries to set. "This is perfect. I have never seen such a place like this before. How come?"
"It's one of the hidden gems of Japan. The locals love the individual climate here, which differs from the rest of the nation."
"Nice. This is perfect. I can't believe Papa let me move here. Where's my new home?"
"On the top floor, ma'am. On this side, so as to overlook this scene. Your father picked it having you in mind."
"Wow...I love it here. It's perfect. What's it called?"
"Hinamizawa."
(-)
A hand-held bell rang in the halls of a small school building.
"Class, I'd like to introduce you to a new student. Her name is Katsura Kotonoha. Say hi to her," A blue-haired young woman says to a room full of students.
All responded with a loud "Hi!"
"Katsura-san moved here from Tokyo," the woman continued. "She has yet to take in our ways so show her how we learn in Hinamizawa, OK?"
"Can she sit near me and Kei-chan so she doesn't sit alone?" A skinny green haired girl asks.
"OK! So Katusura-san is seated with Sonozaki-san and Maebara-kun. Great! Now lets get ready for today's lessons!"
Kotonoha shuffled her feet toward the back of the classroom until she was right next to the green-haired girl.
"Hi, there. I'm Mion. You can sit here since Kei-chan is sick today. Or at least faking sick," the green haired girl said.
"I'm...Kotonoha. Nice to meet you...Mion," she responded.
As she sat to Mion's right, Kotonoha notices a cute girl across from her. She had a nice shade of red hair on her head and sports a pair of beady little eyes the likes of which Kotonoha never saw before. "I bet he's trying to skip on our club so he doesn't have to wear the maid outfit, isn't it, Rena-chan?" Mion said to the girl with a sly smile on her face.
"Ooh. I wanted to take him home in that outfit! He's so cute in it!" Rena replied while blushing.
"Eh? What are you guys talking about? And why are you talking about it here?" Kotonoha asked in a small panic.
"Oh, sorry, Katsura-sempai. We have a game club here." Mion stated.
"A game club?"
"Yea. We have it after school. We play all sorts of games, and the loser does something that we as a club decided."
"Like wearing maid outfits?" Kotonoha was turning red with embarrassment at the thought of a teenage boy in a maid uniform, frills and all.
"Well, there are other stuff as well," Rena spoke with some assurance.
"Although," Mion spoke as she turned her attention from Kotonoha's face to her large bosom,
"I bet you'd look a TON better in a maid outfit than Kei-chan."
Kotonoha suddenly glowed red with sheer discomfort as she then shrieked and covered her breasts with a book. "I-I-I'm not sure if I s-s-should be involved."
"Please join. You won't regret it, it'll be fun!" Rena spoke with a shine on her face, which killed all of Kotonoha's hopes of escape. So she replied with a slum "I guess..."
(-)
It was late afternoon as Mion, Rena, and two other girls gathered around Kotonoha's desk.
One wore a green dress and had short blond hair. She was smaller than Rena, but had an attitude shown on her face. The other was even smaller but had the cutest face ever. She sported a shirt with overalls and long blue hair. "This is Hojo Satoko and Furude Rika. They're in the club, too!"
"Hi. I'm Kotonoha. Nice to meet you," she shyly said.
"Just because you're new doesn't mean we should go easy on you!" boasted the blonde.
"That's what you said about Keiichi, Satoko. But he isn't too bad a player nano-desu," the blue-haired kid said with a cute "Nipaa" at the end.
"Ah, er...yea, he's not that bad, Rika-chama."
"And he is fun to hang around with all that weird stuff on him desu."
"You guys keep mentioning Keiichi. Well, who is he?" Kotonoha inquired.
"He's new, but he was here before you came along," another green haired girl explained as she entered the almost empty room. "He's fun to dress up in weird costumes."
"S-S-Shion? What the hell are you doing?" yelled Mion.
"To play games, what else?" reply the look-a-like.
"Oh, well. This is Kotonoha. She's the new student."
"...and here is a picture of Keiichi in that maid outfit." Shion produced a picture out of her pocket and handed it to Kotonoha quick enough to plug her ears and avoid Kotonoha's
"Yipes!"
She toppled to the floor in total humiliation at the sight of a boy in his teens wearing a black and white French maid outfit complete with white stockings, a small white hat, and a feather duster posing awkwardly toward the camera in the picture. Kotonoha blacked out temporarily before shaking on the ground in a seizure-like trance. From her point of view, none of her therapy could've prepared her for such a sight.
"I think that was too much, Shi-chan7," Rena said with a worried tone.
"Is she alright nano desu?" Rika asks. "Her face was all reddy red nano desu."
Just as sudden as she toppled over, Kotonoha sat up and quickly scanned the area. She then asks, "So what are we playing?"
"Poker!" yelled Shion.
"Old Geezer!" shouted Satoko.
"Hide and Seek!" said Rika and Rena in unison.
"We're playing Mah-Jong!" Mion exclaimed.
"I don't know that one," Kotonoha whispered.
The whole room went into silence. "But I do know how to play some card games!" she quickly blurted. "Does anyone know War?"
The rebound caught everyone off guard. "Er...yea." Mion replied.
"Well, would it work?"
"Yeah, but it's kinda never ending. Would Poker work?"
"I can play that."
"OK, then it's decided. Winner makes one of the losers a kitty nurse!"
(-)
"You're beautiful in that costume," Rena assured the now scantly-clad Kotonoha as they walked down an isolated road.
"It's not really comfortable no matter how many times you say that," she replied in such an embarrassed tone.
"You shouldn't be comfortable here." Rena's tone was suddenly changed, as if she was an entirely different person.
"What?"
"Nothing." Her voice was suddenly back to it's cute, normal tone.
Kotonoha looked at her with concern and fear. It seems odd on how Rena would say something so out of character in such an tone. But it never quite occurred to her about how she should've respond to a quick breeze finding its way up her tight mini-skirt. She felt the cold and then screamed, startling Rena.
Kotonoha arrived home with not only a costume but a borrowed blanket to keep her warm. She could smell something delicious being cooked in the kitchen as she finds her way to her new bedroom. After finding some clothes, she discusses the day's events to Haji.
"So this club was the reason for your delay, ma'am?" Haji asks. "And the...outfit?"
"Yes. But it was the penalty for losing a game. Well, the costume is..." Kotonoha replied.
"Are you sure you wish to stay at this school and in this club?"
"Of course. I made new friends there. And I saw a picture of a guy in a maid outfit, sadly."
"...Yikes, Katsura-san."
"What is it, Haji?"
"There is nothing more devastating than a man in girly get-up losing his dignity."
She giggled. "Wow, and I thought it was a little demeaning, too." She then went silent in thought and then asks, "Is there something about this town that you didn't tell me when I moved here?"
"Well, kinda but I found it out after you moved. There's a taboo about this town that people can't enter or leave this town, but this was sometime ago when the government wanted to build a dam here. They claim that it might result in wrath from the guardian spirit of Hinamizawa."
"A guardian spirit?" Kotonoha repeats as Haji finished placing food on the table.
"Yes. They call him Oyashiro. It's said that whoever trespass town lines to get in or out will be cursed. But that's only folklore."
As Kotonoha grabs her chopsticks, she murmured, "It wouldn't work anyway, right?"
"That I'm not sure of, miss. But I wish to ensure your safety when you're out. We should be worried about this matter."
"HE should worry about me," Kotonoha thought.
"Oh, I almost forgot. There is a festival coming up in a few weeks. They call it Watanagashi. Are you interested, Katsura-san?"
"What's it about?" she said with a piece of shrimp on her lip.
"I hear they take the old blankets to Oyashiro's shrine to be ripped up by the shrine girl and placed in the stream by residents to cleanse their souls and mind of their sins."
"Sounds like something to ease my mind of the past. I guess it's alright. I'll go, then."
After a few minutes of idle eating, a knock was heard at the door. When Haji opened the door, an elderly man was standing in the hall. He was wearing a black shirt with a red tie and matching suspenders. He revealed a police badge and ID and then said, "Detective Oiishi. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Both were tense. They knew they haven't broke any law that they're aware of. The man entered the apartment. "This is lovely," mustered the detective. "Hope I wasn't interrupting something."
"Dinner," Kotonoha murmured under her breath.
"Listen, you guys haven't broke any law as far as I know. I'm only here to investigate some strange activity that's been going on a few years now. You're not suspects, but I need your help and cooperation along with the other residents here."
"What's your story?" asked Kotonoha, in a mixture of serious and seriously-pissed-off tones.
"Easy there, ma'am. For four straight years someone has gone missing and someone else is found dead. All this happens around the time of the Watanagashi. We have yet to determine who's behind it. So if you see anything suspicious, you can tell me."
Kotonoha then thought of the odd behavior Rena exhibit earlier that evening, but dismissed it as a case of a dry throat.
"No, not that I know of. We just started living here." Haji explained.
"You got a nice daughter," Oiishi then said.
"No, I'm her guardian." Haji corrected.
"My bad." He then starts to stroll to the door. "If you find anything, here's my number." Oiishi laid down a card on a stack of boxes on his way out the door.
As the door closes, the two then locked eyes for a while until Kotonoha asked, "Was he staring at my breasts?"
(-)
"This is great, Makoto," Kotonoha Katsura spoke to the decapitated head. "The festival is a few days away and I can't wait. You'll see; I can be the person you have always wanted me to be."
A knock was heard at her bedroom door. "Is it a bad time to enter?"
"No, Haji. Not at all. Come in!"
The door opens to the familiar man in the black suit, but with an apron on and holding pancakes. "My favorite!" she exclaims as he walked in and handed her the plate covered in syrup and whipped cream. "A little excessive, though, don't you think?"
"Speak for yourself, miss," spoke Haji under his breath.
"What did you say?" Kotonoha pressed with anger in her voice.
"Nothing," he replied in a small panic. "Well, actually, I was wondering where you might wish to go?"
"Umm...it is Sunday, so how's that restaurant I heard about at the market?" 3
"The Angel Mort?"
"Yea!"
"Alright then. I'll prepare the car."
(-)
The two arrived to the said destination and took a quick glance of the place. The building was nicely decorated with white and sky blue paint, some covered by huge banners with various sweets and the words "Dessert Fair" on them. The parking lot was starting to fill up when they arrived, but the two found a spot just in time.
Upon entrance, the restaurant had a close-to-home theme with a cacophony of real and fake plants, wooden panels, comfy-looking chairs, and a garden decoration or two.
Kotonoha then notices a familiar face in an odd disposition; Satoko in a slightly revealing black and blue uniform with white frills, black stockings and disconnected sleeves and a silver tray in her hands. A penalty game from losing in checkers, according to the baby-clothed Rika, who also lost.
"I couldn't believe I tied with Keiichi-kun. I must've had luck on my side, too," Kotonoha spoke with some confusion. "So sad that Rena-chan didn't come yesterday."
"I think she might've gotten lost in her treasure hunting," said Shion who sat next to where Kotonoha and Haji were seated. "She always head off to the dump where the dam was gonna be and digs up all sorts of weird stuff. She even tried to take home that kenta doll from that KCF place they tossed."
"...O...K. I didn't know that." Kotonoha spoke with a confounded sound in her voice.
"Well you didn't know that she's right behind you..." Shion pauses to squint her eyes as if she is trying to get better sight, and then continues. "...with a stranger."
Kotonoha then tried looking at where Shion was looking at and noticed the familiar white dress that Rena wore at school once because her uniform was stained. Rena was at a display counter across the dining hall with a tall woman with purple hair and what appeared to be a star on her hip. Both seemed to be talking, with Rena having what looked like an upset expression.
"I wonder what they're arguing about, and who is she?" Shion asked herself.
"I might want to see," responding Kotonoha, having hearing Shion's questions. "Do you know where she lives?"
"Got paper and a pen?"
(-)
As Haji reluctantly knocked on the door with "Ryuuguu" written on it, a middle-aged man opened and revealed himself. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
"Yes," answered Kotonoha. "I'm one of Rena-chan's classmates. Is it a bad time to come by?"
"Well, Rena is out, but she'll be back soon."
"Mind if we wait here for her?"
"Go on, come in."
Both stepped in and took off their shoes. They went down a small hall and was shown to the living room which was oddly full of clean, fresh furniture in a house with some slight deterioration in it's walls.
"Rina thought it looked better than the previous furniture. She suggested it." said the man.
"You must be the father," pointed Kotonoha. "But who's Rina?"
"Someone I'm seeing. I got divorced not too long ago, but seeing as Rena needed a mother, I decided to date. Rina came along and she has done so much. Here, I have a photo."
Haji took the photo Mr. Ryuuguu pulled out of his wallet and looked at it, handing it to her afterwards. The picture had the same features as the woman at Angel Mort. Something must've been going on. Kotonoha can tell.
The door opened and closed shut, followed by Rena appearing in the living room. "What are you doing here? Get out!"
"Is that how you treat your classmates? I thought you know better!" pressed the father.
"What classmate? Get out!" Rena, seeing Kotonoha in a confused state, clutched her fists and screamed "OUT!" She then grabbed Kotonoha by the jacket she was still wearing, started to pull on it, and continued her barrage of screams. "OUT! OUT OF MY HOUSE! GET OUT!"
Both Haji and Kotonoha quickly grabbed their shoes and then hurried out to the now cloudy outdoors. Rena was running out the door screeching the same words when her father grabbed her arm and tried to knock some sense into the manic girl by smacking her head.
The two put on their shoes fast as they ran toward their black car and into a small mist of rain.
"Did you see that? There was something wrong with Rena!" Kotonoha exclaimed as they hurried back to the apartment.
"Should we report this to the authorities? Her odd behavior might be a key to the case Oiishi mentioned when he was at our home." Haji suggested.
"No. They might not help. I think there's more to this than I previously thought."
"Such as, ma'am?"
"I dunno. I have to look around."
"How about we start at the old dam site?"
"Later. I need to rest from that episode."
(-)
Monday came with Kotonoha nervous of Rena coming to class in the same act as was Sunday afternoon. To her surprise, Rena did arrive but looking at the floor with a stoic expression.
"Rena! How are you? We were worried about you!" exclaimed Keiichi.
"What are you talking about? You lucked out of the penalty game!" shouted Satoko.
"A victory is a victory," Keiichi boasted, rubbing it in Satoko's face. "If only I could see which costume you was forced to wear..."
The bickering had no effect on Rena, as if she was lost in deep thought. Mion tried to break the stoicism by asking, "Is everything alright?"
Rena replied with a monotone "I'm alright."
Kotonoha can't even believe it. The same girl whose blood-curling screams ordering a friend to leave her home is now a dead silent girl. Something must've happened for this dramatic change to occur. But Kotonoha can't worry about it now, since class was starting.
Rena decided to leave early, not bothering with the club. She left a few word of strange and lost meaning: "There isn't much happy days left. We should enjoy them before it's too late."
The club is now confused, with one less member and such an odd saying. To knock out the confusion, Mion decided for the club to teach Mah-Jong to Kotonoha. Mion turned to the beaten locker behind her and opened it. She dug around but she noticed a box and open it.
"Damn..." she said in disappointment.
"What is wrong, Mi-chan?" asks Rika.
"A few titles are gone. Rena must've took them and we never noticed."
"The girl has issues," grouched Keiichi. "We might have to go to the dam site to ask her where the hell she took them."
"Would it be too much trouble if I went with you?" asked Kotonoha, in hopes to find something about why Rena is acting odd.
"Then it's decided. Our club activity is to find Rena-chan and the missing Mah-Jong pieces," declared Mion. "I better call Shion and tell her about it."
(-)
"I got nothing," flumed Keiichi, exhausted from his end of the search around a vast area ofdebris, junk, and water.
"I haven't found her, either nano-desu. I'm worried about Rena desu." Rika glumly said. Kotonoha, a yard or two away, let out a soul-shaking scream.
The others found Kotonoha and ran to the hill where she stood. She tried to cover her eyes, but one hand shook while she points to a pile of bags down the hill, dripping in blood with a hand sticking out from the bottom of one.
"Oh god, I'm scared." Satoko whispered to her friends.
Shion almost gaged at the stench of rotten flesh making its way up the hill.
"Who-who could've done this?" Rika softly spoke in a tremor of fear.
Kotonoha suddenly turned to the others and commanded, "Go tell police. We can't let this go unnoticed."
"Come with us, then," suggested Mion.
As they run, all noticed some sirens going off at the distance. And for odd reasons, it came from the direction of the school. They quickly sprinted through any shortcut they could find, hoping that the school is alright. A few fell, which delayed their arrival by minutes.
The school was in sight, but the sight was what they feared: cops and residents blocking the way to the school. And the sun is setting.
"What is going on? Someone, tell me!" yelled Keiichi in dire desperation.
"What the hell? Kids, stay back!" barked the elderly detective. "It's dangerous here!"
"Oiishi, please tell us," Rika asked, in a cute yet worried tone.
"It's Ryuuguu-san. I have no idea why but she took the school and some kids and threatened to blow it all up!"
"WHAT?" all exclaimed.
"She kept saying no one understands her or listen to her. She has blood stains on her so we're on high alert."
"Damn it," Keiichi angrily grunted. "What happened to her and why didn't she tell us anything?"
"It makes sense now..." Kotonoha softly said, in an low and discrete tone. "Detective, there are bodies at the old dam site. We don't know who or what but that might be Rena's doing."
"What? Why wasn't I informed of this earlier?"
"We just found it about a half hour ago," answered Mion. "But how can it be Rena's doing?"
"Let's say I had a hunch," Kotonoha slyly smiled as she then ran off to her home.
"Where the hell is she going?" asked Oiishi.
"I have no clue desu." replied Rika.