When Worlds Crossover
Reality of the Notebook
Disclaimer – I do not anything from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or Death Note. Higurashi is the property of Ryūkishi07 07th Expansion and Studio Deen and Death Note is the property of Tsugumi Ōba, Takeshi Obata, Shūeisha Inc. and MADHOUSE Inc.
Okinomiya, XX Prefecture, Japan – Friday 22nd June 1984
"No way," Sonozaki Shion thought to herself after hearing the news that her grandmother had died from her identical twin sister, Mion, who released her from her embrace once she regained her composure, "There's no way, it's just impossible."
A wave of horrifying dread had washed over her as she remembered the previous day when she had come across a mysterious notebook lying on the ground. The notebook or Death Note as it was called had instructions on how to kill people and according to those instructions, the writer could kill people by writing their intended targets' names so long as they had their faces in their minds and that if they did not specify a cause of death, then the person would simply die of a heart attack forty seconds after having their name written down and Shion remembered writing down her grandmother's name, though she did not really believe that the notebook had any power and that it was all just a silly prank. She had not really expected it to work, though she had to admit that at the time, she had fantasized that it did work and that her grandmother had really died. After all, she absolutely despised her grandmother and had, in the past, fantasized about killing her in so many different ways; not that she was actually planning on carrying those fantasies out, but she enjoyed dreaming about it.
Now, however, it seemed as if one of those fantasies had become a reality and now after hearing the news of her grandmother's death, Shion just stood in shocked disbelief, unable to believe what she had just heard. She remembered her grandmother and all their past meetings and she remember how Oryō had ostracised her and had practically cut her off from the family, hoping to get rid of her and all because she was alive. She had wished death on her grandmother so many times in the past, but never actually had the courage to think up or even execute a plan on how to do it. She knew that even if she had thought up of a plan, something would inevitably make her balk at the last minute and reconsider. She did not know what it was, but something would always prevent her from going through with killing her grandmother and now that she was really dead, she could not help but feel an overwhelming sensation of guilt and perhaps even sorrow mixed in with her shock and disbelief.
"A heart attack," she crocked out after a good few minutes, still not wanting to believe it as she took a few steps back from her sister, "Are you certain?"
"Uh huh," Mion said with a nod, "That's what it looked like, though they're sending her body in for an autopsy just to be sure."
"That just can't be," Shion said to herself in complete and utter disbelief as she shook her head and her body started to tremble and to her, it was as if Mion was longer in the room.
"I don't want to believe it either," Mion said with a sniff, completely unaware of her sister's current state, "But bā-chan was getting old and was close to the end of her life anyway, so I suppose it's not too much of a surprise, but it's just that… it just came on so suddenly."
"That's not possible," Shion said aloud in a guilt-ridden tone of denial, ignoring her sister's statement, "No, that just can't be. I didn't kill her, I didn't, I just didn't, did I?"
"Huh, Shion, what're you saying?" the younger twin asked in confusion as she momentarily forgot about her grief for the moment and then she noticed that her sister appeared to have gone emotionally numb as her body stopped trembling as she was tensed up with a look of pure horror and the colour had appeared to drain from her entire body.
Mion could not help but feel a tad scared for her sister at the moment. From the way Shion was acting, it was as if she believed that she had killed their grandmother when that clearly was not the case, but why would Shion believe that she had killed their grandmother when it was clear that Oryō had died from a natural cause of death? No one had the power to cause heart attacks, did they? Of course, she knew how much Shion hated Oryō and also knew that her sister would sometimes fantasize killing her, but she also knew that Shion would never go through with it if she had the opportunity. Despite everything that their grandmother had put her through, Mion knew that somewhere deep within Shion's subconscious, Shion did genuinely love their grandmother, even if she was too full of rage over their grandmother's treatment of her to admit it. Maybe it was because Shion probably spent most of her time wishing that Oryō was dead and now that had actually happened. Yeah, that had to be it, Mion had figured; Shion was just experiencing what it was like to learn the lesson, "Be careful what you wish for".
"No, I didn't kill her," Shion went on as she shook her head once again, her tone starting to sound desperate, "I didn't, I couldn't have, I…"
"Shion!" Mion shouted as she walked over to her older sister slapped her across the face before speaking in a calmer voice, "Shion, get a grip, you didn't kill bā-chan. She perished of natural causes. I'll admit, it was a bit sudden and out-of-the-blue, but bā-chan was really old and would've probably died anyway."
"B-b-but," Shion stammered in protest, but Mion placed her right index finger up to Shion's lips, silencing her.
"Bā-chan was in her eighties," the younger twin went on as she explained how old their grandmother was, "And people that old are prone to that sort of thing."
"It's not old age that causes heart attacks, it's eating habits," Shion protested as she recalled having done some research into the causes of heart attacks while at St Lucia, "Well, it's most commonly a build-up of plaque in the arteries, which is mostly caused by eating habits or smoking, though it does take years before a heart attack becomes possible."
"Yeah, but as I've said, bā-chan was well into her eighties and close to death anyway," Mion pointed out, "Even if she hadn't died yesterday, she probably would have died sometime in the next couple of years anyway. It's just that with her dead, that makes me the Head of the Family and… well, I just don't think I'm ready to take that on just yet."
"Oh great," Shion thought bitterly as she realised the implications of Oryō's death had on her sister, "Now I've just created another problem."
With everyone believing her to be the younger twin and therefore, the family outcast, Mion would now be expected to follow their grandmother's example and deal with her sister with the same disdain and derision as Oryō had. Shion was under no illusions about that. She knew how Mion would be expected to act towards her and any refusal on Mion's part could cause a civil dispute within the Sonozaki Family as Shion was aware of the Family's internal struggles and disagreements. Several members of the family were not too happy at Mion's closeness with her and if Mion did not get in line with what was expected of her, then those who opposed her would undoubtedly use any opportunity they could find to stir up trouble and seek to undermine her rule.
"Oh no, I could have just ruined my relationship with onē," she realised as her eyes widened in fearful realisation.
"Come now, Shion, I realise that you may have wished for bā-chan to die," Mion said, unaware of her sister's terrifying epiphany, "But that doesn't mean you killed her. It was just a coincidence, that's all; nothing to be worried about. Things that that happen."
"Coincidence?" Shion said, acknowledging that she had heard her sister and a light of hope suddenly started to shine inside her, "Yeah, it's probably just a coincidence."
Mion nodded as she embraced her sister in a hug, though despite the light of hope, Shion could not help but fear that the notebook's power was real and she really had murdered their grandmother.
"But, onē, with Oni-baba now dead, doesn't that make you the new Head?" she asked in an attempt to get the notebook out of her mind as she brought up her realisation.
"Yeah, but… I'm not ready," Mion said with a shudder as the tears that had been flowing down her cheeks after she had lost her composure before resumed, "I'm not ready. I don't think I'll ever be ready."
Shion's eyes widened as Mion wrapped her arms round her for the second time and the proceeded to cry into her shoulder.
"I'm scared," the younger twin admitted with fear evident in her voice, "I don't want to be the Head, I never wanted to be the Head, that was supposed to be you're position."
Shion nodded with a sigh. That was indeed true. She remembered that she was the real Mion and therefore the position as heiress rightfully belonged to her. Unfortunately, Mion, who had been Shion back then had insisted that they swap over. Unfortunately what neither twin could predict was that that time when they did switch was when Shion, who was then Mion was supposed to get branded with the Oni tattoo that would signify her status as Family Heiress as well as the next Head of the Family when the current head passed away.
"Gomenasai, Shion," Mion apologised as she briefly choked up and the tears continued to flow in torrents, "It's all my fault you ended up like this. It's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted we switch… you wouldn't have…"
"No," Shion said, shaking her head in agreement, "I wouldn't, instead you'd have been in my position and I can tell just by looking at you that you would not have been able to cope with it, just as I doubt if I would have been able to have coped with the responsibilities of being the next Head of the Sonozaki Family. Yes, you were the one who suggested that we switch, but neither of us knew that you would be branded with that tattoo."
"Shion…" Mion cried as she looked up into her sister's eyes, "A-a-aneki…"
Shion's eyes widened in surprise for a moment as she remembered that Mion had not addressed her as aneki in a long time since before their permanent switch.
"Gee, you haven't called me that in a long time, imōto," Shion said, making that fact known while addressing her sister in the way she used to as well, "Look, I know this has been hard on both of us, but we both managed to pull through. I think you'll make a great Family Head. After all, you were able to put your feelings aside rather well when you had me rip out three of my nails."
Mion cringed as she heard the bitterness in her sister's tone while referring to that horrible incident. In truth, Mion really had wanted to side with Shion and truth be told, she had actually been quite glad that her sister was finally giving their grandmother a piece of her mind and even though she did not admit it, she had actually been rooting for her sister. Unfortunately, the situation they had found themselves in had been serious and had Shion persisted, things would have undoubtedly have gotten out of hand and so, Mion did the only thing she knew that she could have done. She intervened before Shion could strike their grandmother, since she knew that Shion would listen to her and go along with whatever she wanted, even if she did not like it. However, from the way Shion ended up begging to her, she sounded as if she believed she had been betrayed and despite Shion's assurances afterwards that she held nothing against her and that she had only been acting the way she was expected to, Mion knew that that was a lie. She knew that her sister had pent up resentment towards her.
"I already told you before, you were only acting as you were expected to as Heiress," Shion said as if she had read what her sister was thinking, "I don't hold it against you."
"You and I both know that that's a lie," Mion admitted, deciding to risk making her sister angry, "I'm not stupid, you know. You say that you don't blame me for how your life turned out, but I know that deep down, you really do blame me. Gomenasai, gomenasai, gomenasai, I'm sorry I ever born. I've caused you nothing but heartache and sorrow, I robbed you of what was rightfully yours and now, I have someone in my life that I can see every day and yet, when you had someone, he went and disappeared. It's no wonder you tease me so much. I don't blame you if you're jealous of me and Kei-chan, I'm…"
She then burst out crying, unable to string her words together any longer and despite admitting all this to Shion, she continued to latch onto her and cry into her shoulder, leaving Shion to contemplate what she had just heard.
"Yes, mostly all of that is true," Shion admitted with a nod after a few minutes of silence as she rubbed her sister's back and she had to admit that she was indeed jealous of her sister and Keiichi, especially since Keiichi seemed to share some of the same character traits as Satoshi, "I guess I am jealous of you and Kei-chan and as much as I hate to admit it, I may have started to develop feelings for him despite the fact that I don't want anyone replacing Satoshi-kun in my heart. Satoshi-kun's the one for me and yet, whenever I see Kei-chan, I just can't help myself. Something about him just reminds me of Satoshi-kun."
"Y-y-you m-m-m-mean that y-y-y-you're in l-love with K-K-Kei-chan t-to?" Mion asked, stuttering curiously, though her older sister could detect a hint of fear in her voice, but even so, Mion did not release her embrace.
"To be perfectly honest with you, I'm not really sure, myself," Shion replied honestly with a sigh, "He does share some of Satoshi-kun's traits and maybe I'm just misunderstanding my own feelings and in reality I'm just viewing him as a temporary substitute or maybe, as you said… maybe part of me really does resent you since you have someone in your life and I don't; at least not anymore among other things. Maybe, I'm subconsciously seeking to steal Kei-chan from you, but not because I've fallen in love with him, but rather, I' using him as a means of getting revenge against you. However, I can't really say for certain. It's just so confusing. Anyway, as you say, I did feel rather betrayed after you got between me and Oni-baba and appeared to take her side and when you apologised afterwards; somehow, it just made the situation feel even worse. However, now that I think about it, you actually saved me that day."
"Huh?" Mion said in surprise, though she had to admit that she was completely taken aback by her twin's honesty.
"I mean it, onē," Shion went on, deciding to go on, "If not for you, I would have physically lashed out at Oni-baba and… well, let's just say that if I wasn't in hot water before, I would definitely have been if you hadn't intervened. Heck, having three of my nails ripped out is fairly light in comparison to what could have happened to me and I couldn't even carry that out without freaking out, though I will give you credit, at least you tried to calm me down. If I couldn't go through a light punishment without freaking out, I can't really imagine what I would've been like if I had to go through a far harsher punishment."
She had to admit that that was true. Despite the punishment being rather light, she had still freaked out after she had removed her first nail and despite her sister's best efforts to calm her down, she ended up suffering a full blown panic attack and two of the Sonozaki Family's henchmen had to remove the other two nails for her. If she could not keep herself composed while going through that punishment, then she knew that she would have not been able to have handled a far worse punishment and because of that, she found herself being grudgingly thankful to Mion since she knew that had she gone ahead and struck their grandmother, then Mion would not have been able to have done anything to help her and even worse, no doubt Oryō would have made Mion administer the punishment just to rub salt in the wound. In Shion's mind, Oryō was a heartless tyrant and she would not put it past her to make her sister hurt her since she remembered how she had lashed out at Mion years earlier when she brought her home after she had run away after the tattoo incident and Oryō had blamed her and when Mion stood up for her, Oryō had viciously whacked her with her cane for daring to defend her twin.
Mion nodded in agreement as she remembered that incident.
"But I bet that doesn't change how you feel," she said with a shudder, "It seems that no matter what, all I do is cause you nothing but heartache and pain without meaning to. Perhaps it would have been better if bā-chan had killed me when we were born. At least you would have had a happy life and would not have come to be aware of my existence. You could have still been Sonozaki Mion and no one would have been any the wiser."
Shion suddenly wrestled free of her sister's embrace, surprising Mion, but before she could contemplate, Shion then raised her hand and delivered a rather hard slap across her sister's cheek, causing the room to echo with sound of the contact and Mion stared at her older sister in shock as Shion glared at her.
"Don't you ever say that!" the older twin spoke in a furiously harsh tone, "Don't you even think that!"
Her look then softened as she once again raised her hand to her sister's cheek, but this time, she gently placed it on her cheek and started to rub, soothing the stinging pain, surprising Mion.
"B-b-but it's true," the younger twin crocked, "Ever since I was branded with this wretched tattoo, your life's been nothing but one pitfall after another. Gomenasai…"
"Don't you dare say that," Shion said somewhat threateningly as she glared at her sister, "Nothing that's happened to me was your fault. I know that at times, I may resent you for it and stuff, but I guess that's just me looking for someone to take my frustrations out on. Now let me ask you something, imōto; did you want me to get sent away? Did you want me to be ostracised and persecuted?"
Mion shook her head.
"N-no, of course not, you're my sister," Mion said in a hastened tone.
"And after I had three of my nails removed, didn't you also remove three of your own and in fact, was it not you who said that we were twins and that it wasn't fair if only one of us suffered?" the older twin went on and the younger nodded as she remembered that she did say that, though that had been after Shion had tried to strangle her after her comment about Satoshi.
"I will at admit that perhaps there are times when I wished you weren't here, but you're my sister and I wouldn't have it any other way," Shion continued as Mion looked at her curiously, "I guess I'm just miffed at the fact that you're also in pain. You may think that you're existence is responsible for my hardships, but whenever you're in pain over it, I'm in pain. Your pain is my pain. Anyway, I thought that after I confessed the truth about Kei-chan, you'd have screamed at me, what gives?"
Mion sighed as she hung her head for a brief moment and after a second or two gathering her thoughts, she looked up, straight into her sister's eyes.
"This may sound strange to you, but after hearing that, I want to be angry, I really do," she said simply, "However, maybe it's because I'm depressed… I don't know, but I just don't have the heart to be mad at you. I'll confess that whenever you tease me in Kei-chan's company, I am a bit frightened that you'll steal him from me and that's why I can get so riled up. However, now that you've admitted it, well… I can't help but wonder if perhaps you're right on all counts. Who knows, maybe you are just seeking to use him to get back at me or perhaps you really are falling for him or maybe you're desperate or maybe even it's a combination of all three. Like I said, I should be angry with you, but I just can't. You're all alone. You found someone whom you could spend the rest of your life with and then suddenly, he ups and disappears without warning and now you're back to being all alone again. Taking that into consideration, I can't be mad at you."
Shion just listened intently, letting Mion say her piece without interrupting.
"I know it probably sounds weird, but like I said yesterday while on the phone, though I don't act like it when you tease me, I do care about you and I want you to find happiness," she went on as tears once again started to flow down her cheeks, "It's not fair that only one of us finds happiness while the other is left to stew in misery."
"There, there, calm down," Shion said soothingly and she moved towards her sister and brought her into a loving embrace, "You're my sister, Mion, and I'll always love you no matter what. Sure, we may have had our share of hardships, but we'll pull through… somehow."
"I hope you're right, aneki, I hope you're right," Mion said, sounding a bit fearful and unsure.
"I hope so to," Shion said gently.
A while later after Mion had left the apartment; Shion found herself walking the streets of Okinomiya at night with the Death Note under her left arm and a pen in her right hand. After Kasai returned, the twins had informed him about what had happened to Oryō and needless to say, he had been shocked, though he did accept that she had died from a heart attack due to her age and Shion had instructed him to take Mion home and also told him that she would be going for a walk. Streetlights lit up the night sky and illuminated the city. However, Shion paid her surroundings no mind as she was currently wrestling with her inner thoughts.
Oryō was dead, apparently having died of a heart attack and Shion had discovered the Death Note, which was said to kill people via heart attacks just by writing the target's name down while having their face in mind if the cause of death was not specified. However, Mion, despite not knowing about the Death Note had claimed that it was a coincidence, assuming that Shion had wished that their grandmother would die, which was technically true.
"Yeah, Mion's right," she told herself, "It was probably just a coincidence."
However, unfortunately even as she told herself that and repeated it in her head like a mantra, she just did not sound so sure of herself. After all, Oryō had died not long after Mion hung up the phone after their conversation just as she had been about to start the Family Meeting and Shion knew that it was not long after her conversation with her sister over the phone that she had written their grandmother's name in the notebook and if the Death Note was real, then it meant that Oryō had died forty seconds after her name had been written down. Despite Mion's assurances that it was probably coincidence, Shion just could not get the notebook out of her mind.
"There must be something wrong with me," she continued to muse in her thoughts, "Mion's most definitely right, but why can't I just accept it and move on and why am I so upset over that old prune's death anyway?"
That was another thing that had been bugging her. She had absolutely despised and reviled her grandmother and yet, she found herself grieving over her death despite wishing that it would happen for years. She had not expected that. She had thought that she would have been rather ecstatic over her grandmother's demise and even had fantasies in which she was dancing over Oryō's grave while proclaiming rather loudly how glad she was that she was dead. Instead, all she felt was a wave of regret mixed in with guilt and she did not know why. It could not be because that deep down; she had secretly loved her grandmother, did she. She doubted it very much. After all, as far as she was concerned, Oryō had been the Demon Granny from Hell in Shion's mind and ever since the tattoo incident that had left her permanently stuck with the name, Shion, not once did she see any hints that her grandmother loved her or… what if Mion had been right and Shion simply let her rage cloud her judgement and refused to see any hints that told her that Oryō had secretly loved her?
"Nah, that just can't be," she thought, shaking her head as the anger over her grandmother's treatment of her flared up.
It was indeed a mystery to her as to why she was grieving. She just could not understand it. However, remembering Mion and what it meant for her, plus the possibility that she may have killed her grandmother herself, which meant she may be technically responsible for it, Shion found herself coming to rationalise her grief.
"Yeah, that must be it," she thought to herself with a content nod, "It's not because of Oni-baba herself, it must be because of what it means for Mion."
She remembered pondering on the realisation that now that Mion was the new Head of the Family, she would be expected to get in line with the traditionalists and join those in the family who despised her in ostracising her. She knew that that was what was expected of her sister and that any resistance on Mion's part could cause a civil war within the Sonozaki Family since she knew that there were those who were not happy about Mion being heiress and would most likely seek to undermine her at every given opportunity and Shion knew just how vulnerable and insecure her sister was. Sure, Mion may act like a big and tough tomboy and may at times address herself as "Mion-ojisan", but Shion knew that it was all just a mask to hide her insecurities. In fact, her treatment of Keiichi whenever h lost a club activity and had to go through a Punishment Game reflected Mion's insecurities. Mion loved Keiichi, but just could not gather the courage to tell him how she felt and fearing that he'll reject her, she constantly sought to make him lose so that she could put him through punishment games in an attempt to hide it from him.
"Not the best course of action if I do say so myself, especially since Rena also seems to have feelings for him," Shion mused to herself, getting off-topic.
She knew that Rena also had feelings for Keiichi and knew that if Mion did not shape-up and spill it out, then Rena would steal him away from her and she shuddered to think of what that would do to her sister, though she did have to admit that the part of her that resented her sister was secretly rooting for Rena. Shion figured that if she could not have Keiichi, then him ending up with Rena would be the next best thing since it would mean that Mion would suddenly find herself in the same boast as her; well, maybe not exactly the same boat, but close enough. She wanted her sister to know what it felt like to no longer have the person she loved and the fact that if Keiichi ended up with Rena, then Mion would have no one to blame but herself for not acting sooner only seemed to add to Shion's glee.
However, despite this, Shion still loved her sister and absolutely hated herself for thinking like that. Despite Mion having someone in her life, Shion knew that the fact that she, herself did not really want to hurt her twin. Mion was also in pain over the fact that her sister was in pain and her sister's pain only served to increase her own and the more her own pain increased, the more Mion's increased as well. Anyway, that was probably why she was upset over Oryō's demise; not because of Oryō, but because of what it meant for Mion and her love for her sister was vastly greater than the resentment she felt towards her.
"Yeah, that's it and it probably is a coincidence," she repeated to herself, "And yet, why can't I ignore it?"
She had contemplated getting rid of the notebook and when she had gone out for a walk, she had originally intended to dump it in the first bin that she could find, but unfortunately, her curiosity overpowered her common sense and she found that she had a pen in her hand as instead of getting rid of the notebook like she had originally planned, she found herself wanting to try it out again; if for nothing else, just to alleviate her fears that she had indeed murdered her grandmother instead of it being a coincidence.
"Gee, there must be something wrong with me," she thought for the second time, "I should just get rid of this thing and be done with it and yet… I seem to have gained this irresistible urge to try it out one more time, just to be sure."
Looking around, she saw many other people passing her by and going about their normal business, not really paying attention to her or anyone else for that matter. Remembering the rules of the notebook and knowing that she needed to know the person's name and face before she wrote in the notebook, she realised that she did not really know most of the people that passed her by and she had this unbearable urge to write in the notebook. She wanted to see if it was real or not as quick as possible as she felt that every second that went by without knowing only caused the fear that she had murdered Oryō to get increasingly worse.
"Damn it," she went on in her thoughts, "Why can't I get this whole thing out of my head. Is this what peer pressure feels like? But how can I be feeling it when there're no peers to pressure me? Anyway, if I'm going to use this thing, then I need I guinea pig, don't I? However, the notebook only works if I know the person's name and have their face in my mind's eye and just to be sure, I better add a cause of death just to be absolutely certain. Anyway, if I'm going to test it, I might as well go for a criminal. After all, no one will shed tears if a criminal were to kick the bucket."
She then went over a list of known criminals that she had seen on news reports recently since their names were well known and their photographs had been broadcasted as well, which meant that she also had their faces as well.
"Of course, problem there is if they're too well known, then their death may be covered up," she continued to monologue to herself, "And I daren't try it on those who despise me in the Sonozaki Family either. After all, if they were to all start dying in succession, anyone with half a brain may see the connection and trace to back to me."
She shuddered at the thought, knowing all too well that the people of Hinamizawa tended to be very superstitious and easily believed in the existence of the supernatural and not even the revelations of the Watanagashi Murders and Disappearances had been enough to dissuade their beliefs. Despite those incidents being proven to have been a series of contrived coincidences and people taking advantage of the folklore of Oyashiro-sama's Curse, a lot of Hinamizawans still believed in the supernatural and it was not much of a stretch to believe that some in the Sonozaki Family were among them. If she tested the notebook on those who despised her and they really did start to die, then no doubt those who believed in the supernatural would automatically come to the conclusion that they were being cursed and anyone who was smart enough could easily figure out that those who were dying were those who hated her and could easily at the very least come to suspect that she had a hand in their deaths and since the believed in the supernatural and the main reason that the youngest born twin was murdered because it was believed that they were a demon child; they would easily see it as proof that those superstitions were real since everyone aside from Mion believed that she was actually the younger twin.
"Gee, I could very well end up digging my own grave," she thought with a shudder, "Everyone believes that I'm the younger twin and if the notebook proves to be real, then all they'll need to do is realise that all those who died were those who hated me and they'll no doubt delude themselves into believing that the superstition surrounding twin births is real and that I'm simply taking my revenge by somehow hexing them, which unfortunately would turn out to be half-true."
However, as she was pondering the possible repercussions of such a move, she failed to pay attention to the path in front of her and was brought out of her thoughts when she walked into someone and the person she had walked into was obviously not paying attention to where they were going either since the impact caused Shion to fall on her butt, though she somehow managed to miraculously hold onto the notebook and the pen she had been holding as well.
"Hey, watch where you're going, Sonozaki-san!" the person that Shion bumped into said in a rather rude, uncaring and slightly annoyed tone, glaring down at Shion, not looking in the least bit concerned for her wellbeing.
"G-g-gomen, Yukari-san," Shion replied with a stutter as she looked up and realised who the person she had bumped into was and glared back at her as she picked herself up.
Itsumi Yukari, the woman who Shion had bumped into had long black hair that went down to the back of her waist and really sharp intelligent looking brownish red eyes and currently she was wearing a pair of low-heeled black shoes, a long flowing bright green skirt that went down to her ankles and a white sleeveless blouse with a variety of purple and pink flowers with each flower having a maximum of four petals each shaped like the stereotypical petal drawings. However, what was most impressive about her blouse was that it was really successful in covering her cleavage in its entirety.
"Yukari!" Shion thought with a bitter snort, "Maybe I should test it on her."
Yukari was also a co-worker at Angel Mort and was perhaps the only one who did not like Shion all that well. At nineteen-years-old, she was a college student doing a course in business studies. However, unfortunately for her, her mother was in poor health and so, she had decided to get a job on the side in order to raise enough money to cover the cost of her mother's medical bills and her mother's condition only worsened over time. Yukari was a hard worker and knew the value of hard work and she had to work extremly hard to get her job at Angel Mort and that was where she had come to hate Shion. She knew that Shion was the niece of the establishment's owner and felt that she had only gotten her job because of that fact and did not have to put in the same amount of work she had put into it in order to get the job. She was all too aware of the Sonozaki Family and their influence and needless to say, she resented Shion for being a Sonozaki, not knowing the circumstances behind her life and believed that Shion had gotten everything handed to her where as she had to work to earn everything she had.
"No, I should definitely avoid using it on those I know," Shion went on as Yukari had turned on her heel and left without saying another word to her, though Shion did feel her right arm tremble as she discovered that she had already opened the notebook and her arm seemed to have developed a mind of its own and she briefly had to fight to prevent herself from writing Yukari's name down, "Besides, despite not liking me, at least she doesn't make a big deal out of it."
That much was true. Yukari did indeed hate her, but unlike those in the Sonozaki Family, she did not go out of her way to make her life miserable and pretty much tried to ignore her whenever she could and in situations in which that was not possible, Yukari had shown that she was not above putting her hatred to the side and tolerating her and even managing to co-operate with her when the situation demanded it, though she made it clear that she was not happy with it and in return, Shion had shown the same degree of tolerance.
"If I did test it on her just because she doesn't like me, that would make me rather selfish, wouldn't it?" she went on as yanked her right arm to the side and closed the notebook in an attempt to battle the temptation, "I'd be a selfish murderer and besides, it would also be vastly disproportionate to kill her off, not to mention, who'd look after her sickly mother then? I guess I could also kill her off, but I don't even know her name or even what she looks like."
She then shook her head in horror as she realised what she had just been thinking.
"Wait, what the hell am I thinking?" she continued to monologue as she stared at the notebook as a sliver of fear shot up her spine, "Don't tell me that the notebook's trying to possess me and get me to write in it!"
Once again, the thought of going through with her original plan and just getting rid of the notebook entered her mind and she had to admit that it was fairly tempting. All she had to do was find a bin or dumpster and throw it in and that would be that. However, another part of her just refused to let it go and unfortunately, that part of her won out in the end. She honestly could not explain it. Maybe she was indeed possessed by the notebook, but the fact of the matter was that her grandmother was dead, having perished from a heart attack and the rules on how to use the notebook had dictated that once a name was written in the notebook, that person would die and if the writer did not specify a cause of death within forty seconds of writing the person's name then the person would die from a heart attack.
Of course, it could have just been a coincidence like Mion had said when she believed that her sister had wished that their grandmother would just die and despite Shion trying to reason that that was probably it, she just could not accept that without proof. She just had to know if the notebook was real or not. Another factor that went against the coincidence theory was the timing in which Oryō had died, which had been not long after Mion had ended her conversation with her over the phone and it was also not long after then that Shion had written Oryō's name in the notebook and that really unnerved her, but still, it could have been a coincidence, but Shion felt that she had to know for sure. Perhaps she wanted to try it out so that when it did not work, she would feel vindicated and that she had not killed her grandmother. However, the fear that it was not a coincidence and that the notebook's power was indeed real continued to nag her, which was why she had decided to be selective in her choosing of a possible guinea pig.
Meanwhile, Mion was in the back of Kasai's car as Kasai slowly drove through the streets of Okinomiya on the route that led towards Hinamizawa. Normally, by car anyone travelling to Hinamizawa would be out of the town and nearing the village by now. However, unfortunately for Kasai and Mion, they were driving through a diversionary route that had been put in place due to roadwork on the shortest route to Hinamizawa and unfortunately the diversion took longer, not to mention that there was a huge among of traffic because of the diversion and the ride back to Hinamizawa had come to a crawl due to the resulting gridlock.
"So, Oryō-sama's dead?" Kasai said to Mion as he briefly glanced at Mion in the back, who looked rather depressed.
"Yeah," Mion said simply with a nod and her voice was so quiet that it was just barely above a whisper and lacked Mion's usual enthusiasm.
"And she died from a heart attack?" Kasai went on, making it clear that he was having a hard time believing it.
He honestly had not heard about Oryō's death the previous day and had only learned of it after returning from the shops to find Shion with her sister, Mion in the apartment and after Shion told him what had happened, Mion's presence suddenly made a lot of sense and he guessed that Shion had heard her grandmother's fate from her sister. It was not that he was not used to Mion's presence at her sister's apartment since he had been present in the past when Mion paid her sister visits in the past and he knew that Mion would visit her sister periodically to check up on her, but he had not expected to see her at the apartment so early since he was also aware of Mion's Gaming Club that she had founded two years previously in an attempt to help the Hōjō children and in the past, Mion would always visit later because of it. He had thought that she and her club would be engaged in one of their crazy games. However, he guessed that after hearing of Oryō's demise, Mion must have obviously have cancelled the club for the day since she obviously was not in the mood for a club game.
"Yeah, she did," Mion said with another nod in response to his statement.
"Well, given her age and the fact that she had not much longer to live anyway, I guess it's really not all that surprising," Kasai said, giving his opinion on the matter, "But I was under the impression that Oryō-sama was fairly healthy… well as healthy as one could possibly be at her age and I didn't know that she had heart problems."
"She didn't," Mion replied, speaking in a louder voice this time, "As far as I was aware, bā-chan's heart was perfectly healthy and didn't seem to be in any difficulty. I suppose that it could just have been her age, but it's just that it just happened out of the blue. One minute, she was perfectly fine and the next, she just dropped down dead without any warning."
"Well, heart attack victims vary," Kasai explained in a professional tone, "Some experience more pain than others and sometimes, they just drop down dead after appearing fine the previous minute; it all depends on the severity of the heart attack, Mion-san or should I be addressing you as Mion-sama now that you're the Head of the Sonozaki Family?"
"Just Mion-san, please, Kasai," Mion said with a growl of irritation, clearly not happy about his professionalism, "And yeah, I suppose you're right, but bā-chan seemed to take a severe heart attack. Surely there must have been some warning signs, I mean a severe heart attack just can't happen out of the blue like that without some prior warning, right?"
"To be perfectly honest with you, I can't say for certain, Mion-san, since I'm not an expert in that sort of thing," Kasai sighed as he knew that Mion was still having a hard time accepting what had happened and had clearly still not come to terms with it, "Gomen, Mion-san, but if you want my opinion, if there were warning signs in the past, then they've obviously been missed. In other words, you and everyone else failed to detect them."
"Not what I wanted to hear, but I suppose you're right," Mion huffed in grudging acknowledgment as it was clear that she did not like the way in which Kasai had mentioned that to her.
"Gomen," Kasai apologised in response.
Mion just nodded, acknowledging that she had heard him and that she accepted his apology.
However, just as the traffic started to move, Kasai started to move the car and then suddenly, the car seemed to dip down at the upper right-hand corner where Kasai was and they both felt the car bump at the driver's end.
"Kasai, what's going on?" Mion inquired curiously.
"Hmm, we seem to have a flat tyre," Kasai replied after pondering the situation for a moment.
"A flat tyre?" Mion repeated, feeling totally dumbfounded.
"Don't worry, Mion-san, there's a spare in the trunk," Kasai informed her as he drove the car to the side of the road and then got out.
He then went to the back of the car where the trunk was and after opening the trunk, he pulled out the spare tyre along with the tools he would need to replace it with.
Mion sighed, shaking her head as Kasai then rolled the spare to the front of the car where the flat one was and then went back to collect the tools.
"Great, just great, this really isn't my day, is it?" Mion complained in her thoughts as she looked out the window to her right and saw the long line of cars and other road vehicles lining the road, "At this rate, it'll be the early hours of the morning before we even get to Hinamizawa."
She then opened the back door at the car's left and then walked over to a nearby lamppost and leaned her back against it and folded her arms as she waited for Kasai to finish replacing the tyre. However, as the traffic on the road ground to a halt once again, Mion noticed a flatbed truck that was carrying a cargo of giant long grey metal cylinder pipes was currently sitting beside their car as it waited to move. Luckily for Kasai, it was not too close and he had plenty of room to work. However, as Mion moved to turn her head to face the other way, she noticed that the ropes holding the metal cylinders in place were in the process of snapping as it was clear that they were being stretched beyond their limits.
"KASAI, LOOK OUT!" she screamed out in warning, causing Kasai to look up, but unfortunately for him, as soon as he noticed the huge cylinders, it was too late.
The ropes tying them to the flatbed snapped and the cylinder at the top of the pile to the left rolled down off the flatbed and before Kasai had a chance to react, it fell on top of him, crushing him.
Mion gasped in pure shock and disbelief, though she cringed as she heard the unmistakable sound of bones being crushed.
"K-K-Kasai?" she crocked out quietly as she cautiously walked round to the right side of the car as if believing or hoping that Kasai was still alive.
However, as her eyes fell upon the scene, she brought her hands to her open mouth as her eyes widened in gaping horror at what she saw. All she could see of Kasai was from the waist down as the rest of him was firmly wedged between the huge big cylinder and the car and a pool of blood was already starting to form round his legs.
"Oh shit," one of the truck's occupants said in a tone that sounded more annoyed than horrified as both he and his partner came out to inspect the damage, "Someb'dy got wasted."
"Was that our fault?" his partner asked, sounding more horrified than the first man.
"Yeah, like fuck it was!" the first man said with an uncaring scoff, "It was dem boys who tied da cargo ta da flatbed, it ain't our fault."
"Hey," his partner protested in shock, clearly not too happy with his partner's lack of sensitivity, "Can't you be more sensitive? Somebody just got fucking killed for god's sake and you're acting as if it's just an inconvenience!"
"So what?" the first man scoffed uncaringly, "It ain't ma problem. A didn't kill da guy."
However, for Mion, their argument failed to register with her as she just stood there in total disbelieving shock as she stared at what she could see of Kasai's body. Everything seemed to shut down with her as she felt her mind go numb as she refused to accept the sight that she was seeing. All she could focus on was what was left of Kasai, even as a crowd of shocked onlookers and some of the other vehicles' drivers and passengers started to gather, but for Mion, none of that mattered or even registered in her brain. Even as the truck's occupants continued to argue over whose fault it was, Mion just ignored them. It was as if the whole world had come to a crashing halt and Mion could definitely feel as if her world was shattering. First her grandmother dies and now, her sister's caretaker and bodyguard was now dead not even twenty-four hours later. Sure, she may not have seen much of Kasai due to him taking care of Shion, but Mion still considered him a friend since he was close with her mother and looked after her sister. She just could not get her head round the fact that he was now gone.
Anyway, she suddenly felt a pair of hands on her shoulders as someone stood in front of her, blocking her vision of Kasai and she then felt herself being shaken.
"Hey," she heard an unfamiliar voice said, laden with concern, though in her current state of mind, it sounded rather distant and far away, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Huh?" Mion said after a while when she finally managed to bring herself back to reality and saw a man staring at her with a concerned look on his face.
"Are you alright?" the man inquired yet again.
"Are you wi' da guy dat was killed?" the uncaring truck occupant asked in a rather rude and annoyed tone.
Mion just nodded, unable to speak.
"Well, it's 'is own damned fault!" the man exclaimed, much to the shock and outrage of many of the onlookers, including his own partner, "Shouldn't 'ave been sittin' at da side o' da road."
"He was replacing a flat tyre, you moron!" someone shouted in Kasai's defence, "I saw it with my own two eyes! Their car had a flat tyre and he was replacing it, have you no heart!"
"Whatever, A could care less," the trucker scoffed uncaring as he turned to his partner, "Let's go, a don't 'ave ta put up wi' dis shit."
He then stormed back towards the truck, much to the disgust and outrage of everyone else and his partner just gave everyone, especially Mion a rather heartfelt apologetic look.
"Will you be alright, ma'am?" the man who had shaken her asked in concern.
Mion just nodded with a sigh, though in truth, she really was not in the mood to care about the insensitive trucker's attitude.
Overlooking the accident site, Turrok closed his own Death Note and put away his pen as he looked down at the scene. If it were possible for him to frown, then he would have one plastered on his face right at the moment since he was not too happy with how things had played out.
"Was dat really necessary?" he asked as he glanced at his companion who was currently behind him, floating just a few feet off the roof of the building they were currently at the top of, "Did ya 'ave ta 'ave me kill dat guy?"
"Potential witness," a cold, somewhat deep female voice came from his companion that was totally dead and devoid of emotion, "Don't forget, he's Shion's caretaker and there's a possibility that he may have ended up seeing something that he's not supposed to. If you want your entertainment, then you'll have to agree to do as I say for the time being, is that clear?"
"Crystal," Turrok replied, though it was clear that he was still not happy over having caused Kasai's death, "Dough, A still say that ya didn't 'ave ta get me ta kill da guy. A just don't see da entertainment value in it."
"I don't care what you think," the woman replied honestly in the same tone as before, "Just do as I say."
Turrok nodded, though he shot his companion a suspicious glance.
"Can't say dat A trust ya, dough," he said, making his suspicions known, "What's in it for you?"
"I don't expect you to trust me and it's just well that you don't," the woman replied honestly, not seeming to care that her honesty may jeopardise her partnership with the Shinigami, "I am not a being to be trusted and yet, you'll still go along with my plan regardless."
"What makes ya so sure?" Turrok asked in defiance.
"Because, my dear Turrok, you and I are more alike than you'd like to admit," the woman replied and the edges of her lips slowly curved upwards and formed a smile on the woman's otherwise emotionless face.
However, the smile itself was hardly a friendly smile. Glancing at the woman's smile caused Turrok to shiver as a hint of fear made itself known in his mind. The woman wore a sinisterly dark and somewhat smug smile. The woman had called his bluff when he hinted that he was considering walking out of their agreement. She knew that he would not abandon their agreement and her smile reflected that and he also knew that she was goading him into doing so, as if daring him to try and abandon her, knowing full well that he would rather not take his chances with the possible consequences. She had him and she knew it.
"Like you, my dear Turrok, I also suffer from eternal boredom and everything I do is just simply to stave it off, as you and your friend, Ryuk can attest," the woman went on, "My sole reason for helping you in finding your entertainment is that it also entertains me as well, are we clear on that?"
"Boy, Am da one dat looks like a monster and you look human and yet, you witches scare da shit outta me," Turrok said as he trembled under the woman's sinister smile, "Ryuk sure wasn't kiddin' when he said dat yer kind were all powerful. A doubt dat even da Big S would want ta mess wi' ya."
"Why, thank you," the woman said as her smile widened, happy for the small amount of praise that the Shinigami had given her.
Meanwhile, completely unaware of her caretaker's fate, Shion was still wondering the streets in search of a potential guinea pig to use the notebook on. Unfortunately, she was not having much luck. She had come across many people that she knew, but had decided not to chance using the notebook in case it was real and the worse any of those in Okinomiya who hated her did was just plain ignore her and thinking back to her brief encounter with Yukari, she had decided that if the notebook was real and they really did die, then it would have amounted to disproportionate retribution, something that refused to condone if for nothing else, despite the fact that they did not like her, they had done absolutely nothing wrong.
Of course, her mind did go back to her original plan and use the notebook on a criminal, but the problem was that despite knowing the names and faces of many criminals, if the notebook was true and they did die, then if they were well-known criminals, then there was a tremendous possibility that their deaths would be covered up and if they were not that well known and died in places where hardly anyone ventured, then it could take a while before their bodies were discovered and when their bodies were finally discovered, Shion knew that she would be unable to say for certain whether or not they died from the power of the notebook or not since she would not know exactly when they died.
"Damn it, I need results right away," she thought to herself, "I need to be right there and then when it happens to say for certain."
After all, if she wrote someone's name down and then further down the line it was reported that that person had died, then Shion would be unable to determine if the notebook was real or if it was another coincidence. After all, a well-known criminal's lackeys could easily disguise the fact that their boss was dead while they thought of a good cover story and when they finally did release the news along with their cover story, Shion would be unable to tell if it was real or not and investigating the circumstances behind their deaths could prove fatal and she was not prepared to take her chances.
However, she then came to the outside of Angel Mort and parked outside were three motorcycles that Shion guessed must have belonged to those three punks that had led to her meeting Satoshi for the first time. She remembered that day like it had happened the day before. She had been posing as Mion since her uncle had hired her and she told him that if the Sonozakis ever inquired about her presence at Angel Mort, then he could claim that she was Mion. Anyway, it meant that she had to pose as Mion since she had no idea who in the Sonozaki Family would be watching and they had still been looking for her after she had escaped from St Lucia back then. She remembered that she had been returning to her apartment after she had been shopping and one of her shopping bags at caught on a motorcycle, ripping the bag open and causing its contents to spill onto the street and she kicked the motorcycle in anger since she was already having a bad day, which caused it to fall and caused a domino effect to two other motorcycles that her been parked beside it and unfortunately, the motorcycles' owners had shown up and were not happy to see what she had done to their bikes and Shion remembered how they backed her into a wall and she had been reaching for her taser when Satoshi intervened, believing that she was Mion. At first, she thought nothing of Satoshi, but then he gently patted her on the head and that was how she had come to fall in love with him despite the fact that he believed that she was really her sister.
In any case, afterwards, Shion had informed Kasai of the three punks and he was able to do background checks on them and get their names.
"Sure, why not," she thought to herself as she noticed an oil tanker sitting at a red traffic light out of the corner of her eye, "Those three will be perfect."
She then started writing a scenario, being sure she put in the three punks' full names while at the same time, leaving hers out knowing that if she had written her own name in the notebook and it was real, then she would probably die since the notebook stated that anyone who had their names written in the notebook would die and did not want to chance writing her own name in the notebook in case writers were not exempt from the rule.
"Okay, now then, let's see what happens," she said as she walked over to the three motorcycles and was going to pretend that she slipped and fell into the motorcycles, to cause a domino effect, but to her surprise, just as she was about to enact her plan, she genuinely slipped and fell forward and instinctively, she reached for the motorcycle nearest to her to stop herself from falling and when she did, it caused all three to fall over.
"Not what I had in mind, but still, at least I still got the desire effect," she said aloud as she picked herself up.
"Eh!" a familiar and furious sounding voice came from behind her, causing her to turn and though and behold, the three punks were standing there glaring at her as they looked between her and their bikes.
"Gee, you guys really need to find somewhere else to park your bikes," Shion said in a wisecrack tone with a smug smile on her face, being unable to resist taunting them.
"Don't get smart with us, nē-san," the punk in the middle, whom Shion knew as Akamaru Reiji said as he advanced on her.
Looking at all three of them, Shion saw that they all wore identical uniforms that consisted of black shoes, black trousers and black blazers with huge yellowish white buttons. Reiji had styled curly black hair that came out at the front beyond his forehead and black eyes. The punk to his right, Amayuri Kenji was a but pudgy and had bushy curly brown hair and black eyes and the last one, Ayatsuki Shinji was mostly bald aside from a few rectangular tuffs of dark brown hair at the top of his head and black eyes and unlike the others, he had his blazer unbuttoned and also had bandages wrapped round his abdomen.
"Yeah, you ruined our bikes, so how about you entertain us and maybe, just maybe, we'll forget the whole thing," Kenji added, causing Shion to cringe as she knew exactly what they meant when they said "entertain", though she had to admit that she was getting a bit fearful; not because of the situation she had put herself in, but because the responses they were giving her were exactly what she had written down in the notebook.
"Yeah, so what's it gonna be, nē-san?" Shinji put in in a smug tone as if believing that there was nothing that Shion could do to escape her predicament.
"Sorry, fellas, but I'm going to have to pass," Shion said as she suddenly burst into a run, catching the three punks by surprise.
Shion, now that she thought about it and becoming scared since everything that had happened so far had been written in the notebook decided to run down the pavement as she could honestly say that she had gotten cold feet and wanted to back out. However, instead, as if her body had developed a mind of its own, Shion found herself running across the road like she had written in the notebook and no matter how hard she tried to alter her course, she found, to her absolute horror that she was not in control of her own body and it was acting on its own.
"Hey, get back here!" she heard Reiji call out as she was sure that he was picking up his motorcycle at the moment, "You're not gettin' away that easily!"
She then heard him rev up his motorcycle and give chase, just like she had written in the notebook.
"No, don't tell me!" she thought as a horrifying realisation suddenly washed over her and she knew right then that all three punks' fates were sealed.
"Hey, Reiji, look out!" she heard Kenji call out and she was able to glance over her shoulder and saw Reiji on his motorcycle crossing the road after her, but then suddenly, the oil tanker she had seen earlier waiting at the traffic light slammed into him from the side, causing bits of scrap metal and blood from where Reiji got splatted to fly out to the sides and over the tanker and Shion could not resist the urge to scream in horror as the tanker did not stop and continued to drive onwards and turned a corner.
"Oh no, Reiji!" Kenji exclaimed in horror, unable to believe what he had just witnessed.
"Crazy driver!" Shinji growled angrily as he also just could not believe what he had just seen, "He didn't even stop! What's the deal with that?"
"Don' know, but I ain't stickin' 'round ta find out," Kenji said as he reached into his right trouser pocket and pulled out a butcher's knife.
"Neither am I," Shinji said as he also reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out an identical butcher's knife.
They both then raised the their knives to the right side of their heads with the points pointing straight at their heads and then they both started to violently thrust their heads to the right and slam the sides of their heads into the knives and Shion could only watch in pure horror and disbelief, unable to believe what was going on and also unable to believe that she had caused this to happen.
"No, no, no, this can't be…" she said in an increasingly panicking tone as she shook her head, refusing to believe what she was seeing.
However, as both Kenji and Shinji continued to head-butt their respective knives, the scenery surrounding Shion vanished along with Kenji and Shinji and she suddenly found herself in a wooden storage shed. Her eyes widened as she recognised the storage shed and looking to her left, she noticed what appeared to be Mion confronting Rika, who had a knife in her hand. However, Shion knew that the person confronting Rika was not Mion and was in fact herself posing as Mion. She remembered this scene from her nightmares. She had Mion held up in a cell down in the Sonozaki torture chamber and had been posing as her while making it seem as if she had disappeared. It was one advantage to having an identical twin, she supposed. She could stage her own disappearance without having to go into hiding. All she had to do was keep her sister locked up, assume her identity and then tell everyone that "Shion" had disappeared and that was that.
However, each of her nightmares varied when it came to Rika. Everyone else; their fates were constant, but Rika's tended to vary. Sometimes, Shion managed to get her down into the torture chamber where she would torture her to death, but other times, Rika somehow discovered what she had planned and got the drop on her; at least she assumed that Rika knew what she had planned because Rika would pull out a can of some substance and spray it in her eyes, temporarily blinding her while she tried to inject her with some unknown drug from a syringe. However, Shion would always manage to gain the upper hand and it always ended with Rika committing suicide after commenting on how she would "make her own exit".
Anyway, looking at the confrontation, she saw that Rika raised the knife to the side of her head like Kenji and Shinji had done and then started thrusting her head into it. Looking at the apparition of herself, Shion saw how her expression was one of pure shock, but then the edges of her lips curled upwards as she started to laugh and it did not take long till she erupted in insane, psychotic laughter as Rika continued to head-butt the knife for a maximum of seven times before falling to the floor, dead.
"My god, is that really me?" Shion said in disbelief as she studied her apparition, who appeared to calm down a bit as she took a few steps back and held her hands over her chest before erupting into laughter once again as she threw her head back and look up towards the ceiling.
"I won, I won!" she exclaimed triumphantly causing the real Shion to cringe in terror as she was unable to believe what she was seeing, "I beat all those who killed Satoshi-kun!"
She then threw her arms out to the side and let out a rather loud laugh that sounded more like a rather horrifying ear-piercing shriek, causing the real Shion to tremble in fear as she felt shivers crawl up and down her spine at hearing her own psychotic laughter. Looking into her apparition's eyes, she did not see the same eyes she had seen whenever she had stared into a mirror. No, those were not her eyes. Those were the eyes of a purely psychotic and crazed individual who had clearly lost their mind and had fallen completely out of touch with reality. The crazed look in the apparition's eyes absolutely terrified Shion to no end. She found herself shaking in terror as she looked into those insane eyes and what made it all the more terrifying was that she knew that those eyes belonged to her. In her nightmares, she remembered making references to a demon in which she believed that a demon was in control of her and she remembered having similar thoughts two years previously when she had lost her temper and tried to strangle Mion after she mentioned Satoshi right after he disappeared. Had it not been for her noticing that Mion had three of her fingernails missing, then she knew that she probably would have killed her sister then.
"Is that what I'm like when I let th so-called demon loose?" she thought to herself as she shook her head in disbelief, unable to believe that she was really capable of such atrocities, "Can I really transform into an insane sadistic killing machine?"
It was a frightening thought. In her nightmares, she remembered everything, including her own thoughts. She had managed to get Keiichi alone during the Watanagashi Festival and had taken him into the woods in which they had come across Takano and her lover, Tomitake Jirō trying to break into the Saiguden, where the Furude Family kept all their old Watanagashi tools, which was off limits to anyone aside from the Furude Family Priest and anyone wanting in had to have permission from the Priest before they could enter, but Takano and Tomitake had broken in and invited her and Keiichi to join them and then Takano recited the history of Hinamizawa back to a thousand years previously when it was called Onigafuchi. However, afterwards when she was staying at the Sonozaki Estate, she had overheard Mion and Oryō discussing Takano and the police investigation and had taken it out of context, believing that the Sonozaki Family had been behind the mysterious murders and disappearances and Mion had caught her eavesdropping after answering a phone and fearing that she was going to be killed, she had used her taser to knock Mion out, then proceeded to do the same to Oryō intending to interrogate her about Satoshi's whereabouts, but when she tased her, instead of knocking her out; due to Oryō's old age, the taser had short-circuited her heart and killed her and so, Shion, posing as Mion then proceeded to kidnap the Village Head, Kimiyoshi Kiichirō after he badmouthed Satoshi, though tasing him did not prove fatal, but he had been unable to tell her anything and then, she decided to target Rika because she was a Furude and part of the Three Great Houses, though she had to admit that she hated Satoko because she believed that she was always being a burden on Satoshi and on wondering why Satoko hadn't been killed or "spirited away" by "Oyashiro-sama's Curse" when the rest of the Hōjō Family had apparently been targeted, she realised that Satoko was Rika's best friend and came to the conclusion that she was shielding Satoko from the "Curse", which added to her animosity towards Rika since she had wanted Satoko dead and Rika was preventing that from happening and she also remembered how Rika came by the Sonozaki Estate looking for soya sauce, which led to the confrontation that she had just witnessed.
"Rika's just a girl, not even a teenager," she said to the apparition who continued to laugh, though she knew that the apparition could not see or hear her, "How could you have come to believe that she had a hand in Satoshi-kun's disappearance?"
However, before she could ponder this, she felt herself being shaken.
"…'Ave you done…?" she suddenly heard a voice that sounded suspiciously like her own practically shouting.
All of a sudden, the scenery round about her shattered and melted away and she found herself back standing in the street across the road from the Angel Mort establishment and she was surprised to see Mion standing right in front of her screaming her head off. Looking past Mion, her eyes widened in shock as she saw the dead bodies of Kenji and Shinji, both now lying in pools of their own blood after having done what she had seen Rika do in her vision.
"What the hell have you done, Shion?" Mion screamed right into her face as Shion looked down to see that Mion had the notebook in her hand and from the look on her face, she had also read, not only the rules, but also what she had written and seeing how Reiji, Kenji and Shinji had all died exactly how she had specified, plus remembering that she had gotten cold feet, but found that her body had run on auto-pilot and refused to let her back out, everything came rushing back to her in one big massive flood.
Shaking her head in disbelief she found herself backing away from Mion.
"No," she said in a panicked tone, "Oh god, no, no, no, no, I don't believe it. No, my god, the notebook really is real after all!"
Author's Notes – My second chapter done and it's almost been a week. This is unusual for me as I don't normally update so soon after I post a chapter. Anyway, my whole thing with Shion wanting to back out, but finding that she couldn't was just to give her more proof that the notebook was indeed real and not just a coincidence and now she's faced with a vision of one of her psychotic counterparts in one of the worlds in which she goes insane. That'll play a key role in the story later on when Light comes into the picture; especially the whole "possessed by a demon" philosophy.
