Crossroads of Fate
Chapter 2
"Rika! Homura! You two okay?" they ask, helping me and this Homura girl to our feet.
"Mii~" I reply.
"Who are you people? Where the hell am I?!" asks Homura, backing up slowly, clearly confused. Other than me and her, everyone else seems to think this is all normal.
"Looks like she hit her head pretty hard." says one of the girls I don't know; the one with short blue hair.
"Maybe we should take them to the clinic?" says another one of the girls I don't know; the one with pink hair.
"Can you see how many fingers I'm holding up? Can you?" asks Rena, holding up two fingers. Maybe I should act like I hit my head and got amnesia. My head does hurt pretty bad right now anyway, so something like that must've happened.
"Mii~ you're holding up exactly 6 fingers, nipaa!" I say.
"...Yeah let's get them to the clinic. Homura looks like she has amnesia, and Rika managed to see two fingers as six. That can't be good." says Keiichi, picking me up like he thinks I broke my leg.
"Mii~ I can walk, Keiichi." I say.
"You're not taking me anywhere. Who are you people? Where the hell am I?!" Homura asks again.
"Calm down, you just fell out a tree! We were playing zombie tag, Rika climbed up a tree so no one could tag her, got stuck, we went to get a ladder, but you climbed up there to get her down while we were gone, and you both fell. And apparently you hit her head hard and are going cuckoo." explains the other girl I don't know; the one with red hair.
"Must have been one heck of a fall if she doesn't even remember us." says the blue haired girl, crossing her arms.
"Uhm, Homura, we're your friends. I'm Madoka, she's Sayaka, she's Kyoko..." says the pink haired girl.
"I know who you three are, but who are THEY?" asks Homura, pointing to me and my friends.
"What? How come she forgot us but not them?!" asks Mion.
"Because we're her favorites, duh!" says the red haired girl; Kyoko.
"Guess we should introduce ourselves and see if it jogs her memory. I'm Satoko Hojo!" says Satoko.
"I'm Keiichi Maebara!"
"Rena Ryuugu!"
"Mion Sonozaki!"
"Rika Furude. Nipaa!"
"We're all your friends, and this is Hinamizawa, the village we all live in...ring a bell?" asks Mion.
"...No." replies Homura, whom still looks clueless.
"Well, atleast Rika hasn't forgotten anyone, right Rika?" asks Keiichi.
"I don't know who those four are, nipaa!" I reply, pointing to Homura and the other three.
"Wha?! You serious?!" says Kyoko, baffled.
"Mii~" I reply.
"Let's just get them to the clinic...I'm sure they'll remember after some rest." says Keiichi. Everyone nods in agreement, and we walk to the clinic, which we happened to be only about 10 minutes away from.
Two hours later...
"You don't have any serious injuries, just several bruises and some cuts. I don't see how you could have gotten amnesia..." says Dr. Irie, putting a bandage on Homura's arm. "Can you tell me exactly what you don't remember?" he says.
"I don't remember anything about this place, or anyone here." says Homura.
"Complete memory loss? This doesn't make any sense..." replies Irie, scratching his chin. "This is Hinamizawa, the town you live in. The kids who brought you to my clinic are your friends from school." he says.
Homura still looks puzzled. None of this makes any sense. She is certainly not from here, and she knows it. But why do the other girls, whom she said she knows, not think anything is unusual?
"I see...you should both go home and get some rest. Maybe it'll all come back to you after a good amount of sleep." says Irie.
"Home...?" says Homura.
"Oh, haha, of course, you don't remember how to get home if you don't remember this town. I'll drive you girls home." he says.
So he walks us out to his car, and starts driving us home. He stops at my house to let me out.
"Goodbye Irie and Homura, nipaa~!" I say as I get out of the car.
"Eh? Why are you saying goodbye to her?" asks Irie.
"Mii~? Aren't you taking her home?" I ask.
Irie chuckles. "She is home! Silly Rika, you both live here." he says.
"Why do I live in the same house as her?" asks Homura, getting out of the car.
"You two are sisters, why wouldn't you live together?" asks Irie.
"What...?" me and Homura both say.
"Oh...you see, you're both orphans. Homura, your parents were killed four years ago, and Rika, yours were..."
"Mii~I know when my parents died. Were her parents killed for Oyashiro-sama's curse?" I ask.
"Nobody knows. It was one of the many bizarre deaths that seem to be completely unrelated to Oyashiro-sama's curse." replies Irie.
"Bizarre deaths...unrelated to Oyashiro-sama's curse?"
"Yes. There have been mysterious deaths happening for a few years, along with Oyashiro-sama's curse, and nobody knows anything about it, other than they died. It's really weird..." explains Irie.
"Uhm...how does that make us sisters?" Homura asks.
"Ah, yes, I was getting to that. Rika, four years ago, a man named Akasaka Mamoru moved to this town. You and him seemed to be really close friends."
Wait, what? Akasaka moved here...? That has never happened before. No matter how much I tried to warn him about his wife's fate, he never went back to Tokyo, and when he does, his wife is always already dead, and I never see him again.
"He said he made a promise to you, Rika. And, long story short, he adopted you. He heard about what happened to Homura's parents, and knew you two were best friends, so he adopted her too. That makes you two foster sisters." explains Irie.
Akasaka...adopted me? This just keeps getting stranger and stranger...wait he called her my best friend. My best friend is Satoko! What is he talking about?
"Anyway, it's getting late, so you two should go inside now. Cya." he says, and drives off.
"Au au..." says Hanyuu, suddenly appearing.
"Hanyuu...you don't know ANYTHING about what's going on?" I ask.
"No. This is really weird, Rika...auau..." she says. Of course, she has nothing useful to say.
"Damn...do you atleast know how much time I have until my death?"
"Two weeks...auau..."
"Damn! My time just keeps getting shorter and shorter!" I say, balling my fist in frustration.
"Who are you talking too?" asks Homura, staring at me with a raised eyebrow. I must look silly to her, since no one but me can see Hanyuu.
"Nobody, nipaa~! You and me are clearly the only ones here, nee-chan." I reply. She stares me in the eye.
"We both know we're not sisters, and we both know I don't belong here. Now, I think you should get talking." she says, grabbing my shoulder threateningly.
"Mii~, nee-chan wouldn't hurt her little sister." I say.
"I'm not your..."
"Nippa~!"
"Tch...forget this. I have to prevent Madoka from signing that contract..." she says, and starts walking away, but I grab her arm. Contract? This is interesting.
"Akasaka will not be pleased if his two beloved daughters aren't home before dark." I say.
"..." she says nothing, then sighs, and we walk inside the house together.
"Oh, you surely have made this game far more interesting than before, Kyubey." says Featherine, sipping tea as she moves her piece.
"Just as I said I would." replies Kyubey.
"You've given my miko a father and a sister, and even added an additional series of murders. I wonder what other changes you've made?"
"Only one way to find out." says Kyubey, moving his pieces with his tail.
TO BE CONTINUED!
