Don't move. Don't move. Don't move.
Ash pressed himself closer against the wall, his chest heaving. His fingers were shaking, knocking against the stone and making hollow noises. Forcefully, he stuck his hand in his pocket to stay quiet. At least his knees knocking together weren't making much noise. He tightened his grip on the knife in his other hand, his face contorting in the blade's reflection.
Cilan had been acting strange since the Cotton Drifting Festival, barely giving him any eye contact, abruptly leaving when the two of them were alone, refusing to visit the club after classes. It scared Ash and made him suspicious. This kind of behavior was bizarre to him; Cilan was usually easy going, relaxed, and friendly. What would've caused his best friend to act so strange suddenly?
Perhaps he was plotting something. That was what Ash was thinking. He didn't trust him one bit, so confrontation was the best way he could do it. He had asked Cilan to come meet him near one of the older shrines outside of town, somewhere isolated where they couldn't be overheard. Maybe Lord Oyashiro would watch over him in this act of self-protection.
A rustle of footsteps jolted him out of his thoughts. Cilan emerging from the trees. He was wary, glancing side to side.
"Ash?" Cilan's voice rang out through the trees, starting a few birds, "A-Ash? I'm here."
Ash slid out from the shadows behind the shrine. He held his weapon behind his back, not wanting to scare Cilan right away. The two's eyes met, and Ash immediately saw the anxiety flicker in his face. Bastard.
"Is everything okay, Ash?" Cilan asked steadily, "What did you want to talk about?"
Ash's whole body was shaking, and he felt like he was going to throw up. He took a deep breath, "Yeah… hey, um, why… why did you lie about going to the Cotton Drifting Festival last week?"
Cilan flinched, "A-Ah, I didn't want to hurt your feelings, I-I got side tracked by something. It really doesn't matter…"
"What were you sidetracked by?"
"U-Uh, I was talking to someone. They said they wanted to speak to me."
Ash's throat felt it was burning, "Who?"
"I don't remember his name, b-but it was the one that d-died…Mister Tomitake?"
"Mister Tomitake…" Ash scratched at his throat absentmindedly, "None of the girls or me can recall seeing you, Keiichi was looking for you but he said he never found you. Why were you talking to Mister Tomitake—"
"I know who killed him."
What?
"Him and Miss Takano. I-I know who killed them." Cilan's voice was hoarse, "When we spoke, Mister Tomitake said that this place, this village, they don't like outsiders…that they are uncomfortable in the presence of strangers. A-And how when the Dam was going to go through, someone was murdered. And the year after that, someone else was…how the villagers think it's a curse but really—"
What? "What else could it be besides Lord Oyashiro's curse?" Ash whimpered, feeling confused.
"I don't believe in curses," Cilan's voice was rising, "What I'm saying is, are you sure it's not the villagers committing these murders under the guise of a curse? Are you sure this isn't a ruse created by Hinamizawa?"
"No…" Ash took a step back, clenching his hand tighter on the knife behind him, "There is no way. It's a curse, it's Lord Oyashiro… just like we've been told for years…"
"No it's not!" Cilan took a menacing step forward, "You people here, you're all insane. I'm pretty sure you're a part of this conspiracy too! How much do you know about Mister Tomitake's death?"
"I don't know anything!" Ash cried out, whipping out his knife from behind him, "But now I know why he was killed, he was digging up old dirt and was threatening to the peace of the village! That's why Lord Oyashiro chose him as a sacrifice!"
Cilan stayed frozen in place, eying the knife, "W-Were you planning on killing me, too?" he whispered, "I'm an outsider too; I wasn't even born in this country. You're going to sacrifice me because of something like that?"
Ash's breathing quickened, his free hand scratching at his neck, "I'm not…Wh-why would Lord Oyashiro sacrifice—"
"No!" Cilan was closer now, "That's what you want to believe! You're telling yourself that it's a stupid curse, that it's his doing, but it's not at all! All of you, Rena, Mion, every single one of you is responsible!"
"Shut up!" Ash was in hysterics, madly clawing at his throat. It felt as if there were bugs pushing out of his skin, trying to break free. He dropped the knife he was holding, and it fell to the ground with a thud. "Shut up, shut up, shut up! You don't know anything! You don't know what you're talking about!"
His vision was blurring. All he could focus on was the bugs crawling with their little legs under his flesh, their wings clicking together and whispering to be free. Choking, he started to claw more aggressively but was stopped when someone grabbed his hands.
"Stop it."
"Cilan?" he whispered.
Cilan was grasping both of his friend's hands tightly, and Ash could feel that his hands were also shaking. His pupils were dilated and it frightened Ash even more.
"You…" Cilan's voice was echoing in Ash's head, "You're not going to kill me, Ash Katou. I won't let you kill me."
Within seconds, Ash was pulled by the collar closer to Cilan, and he felt the blade of his own knife against his throat. While Ash had lost focus, Cilan must have bent down and dropped it before grabbing Ash's hands. Cilan's breath was hot and heavy, sweat beading on his forehead.
"I am not going to be killed by you," Cilan grumbled, "Or by the theatrics of this stupid village. I'm going to go home tomorrow. I already called my brothers, I'm going to fly back to Striaton City and get as far away from you as possible."
Ash felt his heart hurt, "Cilan, I wasn't…"
"You weren't what? Plotting to kill me? Participating in this demonic sacrifice?"
"I thought…" Ash breathed, "I thought you were going to kill me…"
"What?" Cilan hissed, "Why would I be the one killing you. I thought you were trying to kill me!"
"Cilan, I-I know… about what happened to your parents and I-I…I don't know…"
Cilan's grip tightened, and Ash felt the knife begin to tear into the tender flesh of his neck, "You don't know anything about them."
Ash shaking snaked his hands to grab onto the knife, "Cilan, stop…"
"You don't know anything about what happened that day," Cilan snarled, "You don't know what happened to them! Don't act like you were there!"
"C-Cilan…"
"Be quiet! Just stop it!" There was blood bubbling from the incision the knife was making, "Don't make me remember that time! Just be quiet! Just shut up—"
Cilan gave a strangled choke.
Pain. That was the feeling that consumed his upper body. The knife that had been pushing up against Ash was now buried inside of his chest, Ash's fingers grasping the handle tightly. Blood was dripping out, slow like molasses.
"I don't want you to get cursed, Cilan," Ash's gaze was glued onto Cilan, fear deforming his face, "I don't want Oyashiro to get angry with you, Cilan. So I'm saving you. You're going to be safe now, okay Cilan?"
"Shit…" Cilan fell to his knees, vision blurring. The pain he was feeling was unimaginable. His brain was hazy, already his senses shutting off as blood continued to slither across the ground. He rolled over onto his back with his remaining strength and looked up at Ash.
Ash was holding the knife still, gawking down at Cilan with tears running down his face, "Oh shit… Oh shit, Cilan, no… I'm sorry I—"
Frantically, Ash pointed the knife at himself, the tip resting at his throat, "I'm… sorry…"
Cilan could barely hear Ash's whispers as he faded away: "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
…
I haven't written anything this edgy since I was in middle school LOL I decided to mess around and write something a little silly for fun (it's silly to me because of the OOC, the cheesy violence, etc.). I was rereading some old stuff my sister and I had written back in 2012 when we would rp Higurashi/Pokémon crossover stories. There was a "police report" we had written as the ending of something else similar and I guess Ash and Cilan had died because Cilan had killed Ash or something? The idea sounded fun, so I decided to loosely implement this as another BAD END for the Kousaten-hen universe. As stated in the previous story, this is a no-Pokémon, more of a "modern" setting (1983 since it's Higurashi) and Pallet Town resides very close to Hinamizawa. There's some more exposition in "Presage" which was written a day or two before this. I'm on a roll! I'm going to write a few more oneshots/similar stories in this universe most likely, it's fun to create this universe. Make sure to review (and review Presage too!). Happy Watanagashi and have a wonderful day!
