He is finally alone. The Yaka named Matsuri is not here. I don't know how he ended up working at this restaurant, but I can finally…exchange our misfortune. Sora Ishizuki needs to learn the truth.

Chapter 3: In the region of HinamiSola, 6 months ago...

Sora Ishizuki just walked toward his first customers in the Azure Restaurant unexpectedly. He is glaring at Takeshi with full force. Mayuko smiles though when she sees Sora. Takeshi sighs with relief.

"Sora," Mayuko muses out loud. "How did you get here? And you look quite fashionable in that waiter outfit."

"Now's not the time Mayuko. Unless Takeshi here has a pretty damn good story why he took my parents sword, killed my parents and is now trying to kill me."

"The sword, sure…but killing you and your parents? Man, your village leaders are insane. It's time you learnt the truth Sora. Why would I kill you? It's pointless for my mission."

"Yeah, that mission you seemed to go on about back when you stayed at my house. What is it? Because if you don't tell me now…"

"SORA!? What the hell are you doing?"

Hatori is walking toward Sora, shaking his fist madly. Sae is following, a little confused. Luckily, no other customers are in the restaurant. Sora is quick to act; "Oh…boss, this girl is very picky about what she wants to eat. You know, the man here has a daughter, and you know how they are with food…hehehe…I hope your happy Takeshi. Fake profile. Caring father."

Sae meanwhile is in her dreamy state. "Wow…that man has such a cool goatee…" Hatori stops frowning, and puts on a smile for Mayuko. "I'm sorry for the rudeness. This is Sora's second day, and he is still quite rough around the edges. What would you like to eat?" Mayuko keeps quiet for a moment, and turns to face Takeshi. She eventually makes her decision. "I made a mistake Takeshi. You're not the worse anymore. Sora's boss is."

"The worse!? Why you little—"

"I will have the herb spiced prawn dish with lemon sauce. I'll also have a small garden salad. If that is possible of course."

Hatori slowly takes a deep breath and walks off, a bit shocked and pleased that she ordered such a good dish. Sae starts to giggle, because of Mayuko's order, Sora's humor and Takeshi's goatee. "Oh, thank you so much for doing that young girl! And oh my! You there, with the goatee, what's your name?" Sora snaps back, quite irritated. "Sae, now's not the time. Give me 10 minutes with these two, and then you can talk to Mr. Goatee man."

"Aww…but I want to talk to the goatee man now…" She walks off, very disappointed. Sora finally sits down next to Mayuko and faces Takeshi eye-to-eye. "Alright, let's start from scratch. Your mission, and why you took the sword."

"Ok then. But first tell me how you know about Mayuko. She seems to recognize you."

6 months ago…


200 kilometers away from proper civilization. In a village with only 200 people. And they say Hinamizawa is a small countryside town. Those pointless murders...why did they occur anyway?

Sora is lying on a grassy hill just outside his village Sola. Looking out at the beautiful clouds, avoiding work from his parents.With his left hand, he moves his chestnut brown hair out of his eyes.

Sola is said to have the best view of the sky…which is why the village recently got the name. But also because of its second meaning. In Spanish, it means…

"Alone."

"Were alone in this country…like I said, were far away from proper civilization. And the people of this village want to keep it that way. Whether it is because of the dangerous town Hinamizawa just a few miles away from here, or because of our own little private matters that we want kept hidden from the world…"

"Well, how do you supply yourself and keep your people alive?"

Huh? Sora sits up. A man is knelling down to look at him. A cardboard box is on the grass next to him. "What?"

"You were talking to yourself. About Hinamizawa and Sola. Boy, avoiding Hinamizawa was tough…so, how do you supply your village?"

I looked at the man. He was wearing black clothes. His black jacket was unbuttoned, revealing his purple buttoned shirt. A small pair of glasses was hanging on his eyes, and he had a small goatee growing on his chin. He smiled, waiting for my answer.

"You know, it's hard to say, but we supply each other. The village elders know each other, and though we supply each other with food and building material, we don't make any type of contact. Stories of murder and some sort of cursed festival are heard all the time whenever I visit the town of Okinomiya. The owner of the Angel-Mort restaurant claims that the town is abandoned, but since all entry to Hinamizawa is blocked, I can't go there to find out myself. Meanwhile, my village people are too busy fearing this yaka legend that I find…kind of stupid, don't you think?"

Suddenly, the cardboard box rattled. I stood up very quickly and backed off. The man opened the box and whispered inside it. Then he closed it again. "Sorry about that. I've got something…uh…volatile in there."

"What!? You mean…it could…explode without proper care?"

"Volatile as in the thing in it will get mad if we say the wrong stuff. Don't say anything about yakas, and help me carry this box into the village."

And with that, I reluctantly helped the man pick up his box and help carry it into Sola village. As we walked off the grassy hill, and past the empty cave which is where the yaka "supposedly" lived hundreds of years ago, until eventually we made it to my house. All the houses in this village are small, but quite cozy. We have one small school, just like Hinamizawa, but there are even less kids here. I grew up with my cousin Mana, but she moved away 7 years ago, along with her family. The basic of the basics only exist here. A small Clinic, a small police station and council where the village elders live. The only extra building we seem to have is a shrine. This scares me a bit…how similar Sola is to Hinimizawa…

"5 minutes left!"

Back in reality, Sae yells out to Sora, Takeshi and Mayuko, while running to the kitchen carrying stacks of plates. Takeshi moans rather loudly after hearing the beginning of this lone flashback tale. "When you meant start from scratch, I didn't think the day I met you 6 months ago. You know this is going to take more than 5 minutes to tell each other our stories."

"Whatever Takeshi. That very same night I actually came across Mayuko."

"What?! Mayuko, why didn't you tell me this?"

"I didn't really feel like it. And where's the food? I'm hungry. Sora's boss is the worst."

Hmm, looks like settling things with Takeshi will have to wait. Sora quickly jumps out of the table he's sitting in and walks toward the kitchen. "Sae, I'm coming to help you with those dishes."

Later that night, about 3 hours later, Hatori was busy closing for the night. He gave the keys to Sae and told her to lock up when Sora and Takeshi are done talking. The only reason he is letting them stay is because of that scary girl. "That girl…" Hatori shivers in fear whenever he looks at her. Meanwhile; Sae, Sora, Takeshi and Mayuko are sitting together on a 4-seated table. Sora begins the conversation. "So where was I…?"

"We arrived at your house with the box."

The man and I arrived at my house, and I quietly opened the door. Because the house is just a small-to-medium sized cottage, the interior is really cozy. After taking off our shoes, we walked over to the living room, and placed the heavy cardboard box on the soft polyester carpet. The man immediately sat on one of our soft blue chairs, and stretched his arms out in relaxation.

"Thanks for letting me stay here. Now, do you have a guest bedroom?"

"A guest…bedroom? Yeah, but it's quite small, and my parents—"

The man interrupted me in a very calm manner. "Don't worry. I won't stay for too long. Can you keep a secret?"

I said yes, and then he started talking very quickly. His name was Takeshi Tsujido. He apparently came here to find a sword that has been hidden in this village for years. I introduced myself as Sora Ishizuki of course, and told him about the village Sola. He nodded his head, and grabbed the box again. "I'm just going to take this outside Sora. Be back in a minute."

Takeshi took the box to the backyard, and I went over to pick up the phone. The only reason we have phone signals and electricity is because of Hinamizawa's and Okinomiya's resources. I dialed the number of my best and only friend, Natsumi Kimiyoshi. She moved away from Hinamizawa a few years ago, which I found strange, but she has been a great companion ever since we met. I had to get some answers off her; she was the closest connection to the Village Elders.

"Hello?" She said in her bright voice. I still wonder how she came here, escaping all the murders and whatnot. "It's Sora. I need to ask you something about the village elders." She encountered the village elders before being allowed to move here, and she was allowed to stay. The elders are very private, and they don't talk to the other villagers in Sola very often. But Natsumi...

"Oh, hi Sora! What do you want to know?"

"Can you go talk to them about new people in the town? A man named Takeshi suddenly arrived, and now he's in my backyard, carrying a suspicious box. He seems to have been past Hinamizawa."

"Wow…he must be very lucky then! I'll go talk to them later today."

"Thanks. You don't know how relived I am. You know what to say."

"Of course."

We hung up at the same time. It feels uncomfortable, but once you enter Sola, it might be a while before you leave. Takeshi then entered the house again, and sat down on the lounge chairs.

Back at the Azure Restaurant, Takeshi frowns in disappointment. Sae looks confused, and she takes out a small book. The cover has a picture of Rena Ryuugu, with a cleaver in her hand.

"Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Hinamizawa can't exist! You didn't tell me this while we wrote the resume."

I already had a reply, just in-case. "Some things are better left unsaid. Besides, I'm unsure if the town even exists. No one in Sola has ever gone near the closed off village. Anyway, Takeshi, what happened once you met my parents and decided to take a walk through Sola? I expected that you bumped into Natsumi and the village elders."

"Yeah, your right. My turn."

Sora and I sat and talked about normal things through the afternoon. After a knock at the door at 6pm, Sora hopped up and answered it.

"Hi Mum! Hi Dad!"

Sora's mother…her name was Lua Ishizuki. Her long, wavy blue hair startled me. She was smiling, happy to see that they had company. The father was named Firo. He had an actual goatee on his chin, unlike my growing one. He looked very tired, and kept a straight face as Sora mentioned my name. They all walked toward me.

"I'm sorry to intrude on you like this, I have been trying to find this village for a while now—"

"Why? To find information about the Yaka? We don't believe in it."

…wow. So his whole family doesn't believe in it. In a town where most of the people are afraid of it.

"No, not that."

Must think of a lie…

"I'm a freelance photographer, looking into the Hinamizawa murder cases from 24 years ago."

At this, Lua's smile changed to a solumn frown. "Then you must leave. Immediately. You will get killed trying to find out. Like my cousin, Jiro."

Damn it! I'm a bad liar. One last chance.

"Alright then, then I am here for the Yaka information. So then I can bust the myth once and for all. I don't believe in the yaka either."

For the next few minutes, I talked to Firo and Lua about staying and about my safety. Was this place just as bad as Hinamizawa? I left civilization last week; to find this village, just to have my car break down in the outskirts of Hinamizawa. And then it became a battle, just to escape with Mayuko and walk here, keeping her hidden in that box the whole time. As the conversation dragged on, I noticed that Sora left for a couple minutes. By the time his parents finally decided that I should go to the council building to talk to the elders, he came back, with a confused look.

"Alright then. I'll go talk to the village elders. Thanks for letting me stay at your house. Sora, I'll see you in the morning."

With that, I walked out as fast as my legs would carry. Oh crap, I've got to be fast. Mayuko might pop her head out and surprise them! As I jogged past the tiny school building, I couldn't help it. I ran, desperately trying to find the council building. Suddenly, I bumped into a girl and she fell over.

"Oh man…I'm so sorry; let me help you up…"

Natsumi Kimiyoshi was in a nightgown. Her peculiar green hair and bright orange eyes startled me a bit. But only a bit. What really scared me was the 3 hooded men walking toward us!

"This is starting to sound like a horror fanfic!" Sae's voice broke the flashback yet again, stopping Takeshi's story. It was 9:30pm, and it was starting to rain. The patter of the raindrops hitting the windows kept Mayuko's attention. Sae then looks at her watch. "Sora, we have to go home! This story can continue later!"

"Aww man, but it was getting to a good bit."

Takeshi suddenly stood up. Mayuko follows.

"Sorry Sora, but our long stories might carry on for a while. We will meet again at 10pm, tomorrow night at the Church. We will continue with no disruptions."

"Ok then…"

"We will find out each others motives…soon enough."


Eventually, at 11pm, Sora was back at Sae's house. He was lying out in the backyard, while Sae was sitting next to him. The rain had fortunately stopped.

"You told me about Natsumi, the small village, and the facts that your parents got killed and you ran away, but it seems there is a deeper story to this."

"Yeah, there is Sae. I think its best you don't know. I might scare you."

Sae suddenly lies down with him and whispers into his ear with her cheery voice. "See you in the morning. I'm going to kill you if I have nightmares."

That night, Sae Sakura dreamed about the "goatee man", while Sora stared at the stars.

"The view from here is just as good as the view from Sola."

Friday, July 20th, 2007

All day, Sora slept outside Sae's house. Her parents were too busy working to ever notice him, and Sae had school. He had many dreams throughout the day. Some good; like the bliss of never going to school again (he hasn't been to school since he ran away from Sola), reuniting with Mana or Matsuri, or buying some chocolate for Sae to impress her. But there was his share of nightmares. The thought of being alone again scared him. He had gained the happiness of friendship with Natsumi and Takeshi in the past few months, but things changed dramatically. But the weirdest dreams of all…were about a strange girl he had never seen before.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Sora is suddenly looking toward the cave back in Sola. He swears he saw someone in the cave. The voice speaks out again.

"Hey! The sun isn't out! It's safe to come out."

Slowly, Sora notices a shadow. Eventually, the girl steps out into the night's shadow. She had silver-white hair and red eyes that suddenly lit up when she saw her visitor. The girl was a lot shorter and younger than Sora; her pink kimono suited her very well. Her worried face turned into a warm smile. "Sora! I knew you would come to visit. Come inside!"

"Come…inside?" He gulped when he thought about a yaka living with her. But he told himself, that yaka's do not exist. So he slowly walked inside the dark cave…

"SORAAAA!!" Wake up! Dinner is ready!"

Back in reality, Sora sat up slowly, while yawning. The sun was already gone. He checked his watch. 6:30pm. He spent his entire day sleeping. Sora couldn't help it; he hasn't had a comfortable sleep in weeks.

Wow…was I really asleep for the whole day? And who was that girl? She seems familiar…but I can't put my tongue on it.

"Sae…I feel disconnected."

"Disconnected? In what way? Did you have nightmares, because I did, thanks to your scary story—"

"I know it's a bit scary, with Hinamizawa existing and all, but don't worry. You don't have to listen to it anymore…unless you want to know how my parents really died?"

"You wrote down on the resume car crash."

"Pfft, there are no roads in Sola. You have to walk from Hina—

"Alright then! Let's have dinner!"

Note to self, don't scare Sae anymore.

Sae and I had a quick dinner while her parents weren't home. I asked her quickly about Mana. "How is she these days? Does she still give out Mana-Chops? She did them to me back when we lived together."

"She seems ok at the moment. I got an interesting theory to tell you. Mana finally found out why Yorito was acting strange. He was hiding a girl in the house! And I think it's Matsuri!"

What!? I spat out my drink in surprise. Sae began to laugh. As expected from someone like her. How did she get this gossip?

"Alright then, stop laughing. What did Mana say?"

"She decided to visit Yorito's house. And then look around. She saw a girl that looked our age and they got acquainted. And I told you what Yorito looked like, right?"

"Right. I think he was the guy that I saw at the park when I first met Matsuri."

Suddenly, we heard the door open, followed by a female's voice talking on the mobile phone. Sae's mother has arrived home. Sae whispered to me. "Hide quickly."

I then had a quick thought into the bigger picture. I can't stay at Sae's anymore. Freeloading at her place all the time will eventually start to annoy her.

"No…I've decided. Sorry, but I can't stay at your house forever."

"Good evening Sae—What? Who are you?"

Sae's mother entered the room. I politely answered her question quickly. "Sora Ishizuki. I'm a friend of Sae. Just came by to help her cook some dinner. Anyway, I'm off for now. I'll see you at the Azure sometime this weekend Sae.

"Oh…ok Sora!"

I walked out of the house quickly. I hope Sae followed, so I could explain why I had to leave for now. I overheard her mother talking.

"That was fast. Were you two up to something?"

"No, of course not! Let me just properly say goodbye to him. He seemed to be in a rush."

Thank god. I knew she would follow.

2 minutes later…

"Why can't you stay a little longer!?" Sae was frowning at me. Eh, I expected it. At least she isn't crying. Or sobbing.

"I don't want to be a bother to you. Besides, I've had a great time staying with you, but I want to help Matsuri and find Mana. First I have to get some answers from Takeshi. And we can always talk at Azure or hang out in the weekends. I just need a mobile phone."

She sighed, but she put on a small smile.

"Alright then! Here's my number. Call me when you have a phone. And I'll see you at the Azure on Monday! Just don't expect me to talk much. The goatee man…"

"Yes, the damn goatee man. What if I grew one? Ah, never mind. I better go. I want to have a quick look at the stars in the park before meeting Takeshi."

Ever since I finally found this town, there has been a sense of disconnection. The dreams with that girl from the cave don't feel right. And my goal of staying positive has been difficult…

A yaka is the embodiment of pain and loneliness in a human.

If I died, would I become a yaka instead? No, I mustn't think those thoughts. I'm about to explain to Takeshi about meeting Mayuko, and in exchange, I'll find out what happened when he bumped into the village elders and Natsumi.

Sora had many things on his mind as he walked to the church just outside town. As he approached the door, he opened it with a renewed hope, and sat down next to Takeshi with a determined smile.

"Takeshi, continue."

"What, no 'Hello Takeshi, how've you been'?"

3 hooded men were walking toward me and the girl you call Natsumi. They were wearing black cloaks and big hoods, just like a member of the organization XIII. These must be the village elders. Because I couldn't see their faces, to me they were emotionless when they spoke in their raspy voices.

"You are the one called Takeshi, are you not?"

"Yes. Yes I am. I was on your way to find your building and inform you of my arrival."

"Ah…yes…Natsumi here happily found you for us."

The girl Natsumi frowned as the second man mentioned her name. "Whatever, I'm going home now."

She walked off while yelling out to me.

"See you at school tomorrow Mr. Takeshi!"

"Mr.? School?"

The third one spoke this time. I was surprised that it was a female's voice.

"Yes, you'll be staying here for a while. We need another teacher to teach the few kids we have here. Besides, I heard you are looking for something here, are you not?"

I've been found out. Is this because of Sora, or are these people smarter than I thought? Well, should I tell them the truth or not? If I am going to be here for a while looking for the sword, in the village where a yaka did live here for a short time, then what choice do I have?

"Yes. I supposed you've heard of the sword that can take the life force from a yaka and turn another back into a human?"

At this, the three of them looked taken aback. The female even took off her hood to reveal her face.

Back in the church, Sora started to bug Takeshi with an obvious question. "Wow! What does she look like!? I always wanted to know. She was the friendliest of them, even though she seemed to overpower the two men of the elders."

"Hmm…for now, I will not tell you Sora. It will make more sense later. But for now, I'm going to tell you about the sword and why I need to kill your 'friend' Matsuri."

The female elder took off her cloak. She was younger than I thought. Her mature beauty stunned me; at the time I thought she was 30; boy, how wrong was I.

"What a surprise! The story of that sword has always intrigued me since I moved and became an elder for this village 24 years ago! Don't you think so too?"

She looked sternly at the two cloaked men. They nodded their heads slowly in reply. One of them whispered to the other, and he decided to approach me.

"We are looking for that sword. If you think its here, then someone in Sola is hiding it from us. We'll make sure to help find it for you. On the condition you help Natsumi and Sora as a teacher. How about, gym? Since you look tough."

"Oh! Of course! Thank you very much! But I guess you must want to see the yaka. She is harmless."

The female elder spoke again. "We believe you. Ever since we took charge, we still believe in the yaka, but we take a more optimistic approach. They are not monsters, unlike what some of the people and their ancestors thought. Let us take this conversation someplace else. The council building perhaps?"

One of the men spoke. "Yes, I'm tired of standing here."

The men started to walk off, and the female elder shook my hand and took a small bottle out of her pocket.

"Anyway, let's follow them. I'm in the mood for some sake! Are you?"

"Sake! Oh, sure! Looks like you were prepared."

Sake and a more comfy building with a beautiful lady instead of staying at Sora's house seemed like the better option at the time. I just hoped Mayuko would be ok. When I find the sword, I will use it to take Matsuri Shiho's life force and restore Mayuko back to normal.

"Hey, have you heard of Matsuri Shiho? She is a yaka."

"Oh…I see…we have plenty to talk about then, don't we?"

"And that is why I must kill Matsuri. I'm sorry Sora, but don't you want Mayuko to be human again?"

"Ye…yeah, of course! But can't you kill a different yaka? Matsuri can't be the only one!"

"I would if I could Sora, but it took me years just to find one. And then finding Sola, passing through Hinamizawa…oh yeah, about that place. You do know that it has opened up again?"

"Op...Opened Up!? What the hell!? But Natsumi lived there a few years ago! I thought the village wasn't abandoned? And they power up the whole village!"

"Oh boy…you're not going to like the end of my story. Those elders were really...quite different. But what you wanted to know has been revealed. Now tell me about how you met Mayuko. I guess you saw her while I was gone."

Sora takes a deep breath, and begins to think about the past, once again...for some reason...it's harder than he thought.

When Takeshi was talking to my parents in our house, I decided to go outside and see what was in the box. Hey, it's a curiosity thing. And we don't have any cats. So what the hell.

Our backyard garden is also quite small, but my mother made it very beautiful, with rows of flowers boarding the area, and adding a small fountain in the centre. Behind it was the cardboard box. As I approached the box, it suddenly rattled.

"Ah! What is in that box?"

The box then flipped opened, and out came a girl's head. She looked around the garden, looking for something, until she spotted me.

"You. Where am I? I've been lying in this box all day. It's uncomfortable."

Aha! This was it! The proof I really didn't want, but I expected anyway. Even in the future, I would come to not believe Matsuri as a yaka until I saw real proof and Takeshi's return to my life. But the small girl, who just stepped out of the box, approached me. She was wearing a green dress. Something a Rozen Maiden character would wear. Jeez, I've got to stop comparing to other things. Wait, she's waiting for a reply to her question! Crap!

"Umm, you're in the village of Sola. This is my house. Takeshi is just inside."

Instead, she didn't seem interested in Takeshi. "I can always talk to him later. What's your name? Did you help carry me to this house?"

"Uhhhh…yeah. I'm Sora Ishizuki, nice to meet you…"

"Mayuko Kamikara. Do you know?"

"Know? That you're really…a yaka?" My urge to throw away all my disbelief in the yaka was at an all time high. And Mayuko just helped me finally throw it away.

"Yes. I am."


I went inside the house again, and Takeshi suddenly patted me on the back and headed for the door. "Alright then. I'll go talk to the village elders. Thanks for letting me stay at your house. Sora, I'll see you in the morning."

Damn. What should I do now? Should my parents know about Mayuko? No…I have to go back outside. After she told me the truth, I rudely walked away. That was the wrong thing. And so I quickly asked my mother to keep my dinner warm when she finishes cooking, and I went back outside. Mayuko was frowning, but then she smiled as she saw me.

"By now I thought you would be running to Takeshi. You're braver than I thought."

"He left the house to see the village elders. All part of the plan unfortunately. Anyone new in this village should stay and help out as much as possible. But, what about you?"

"It's obvious. Apparently I must stay hidden."

"That's not fair. Hey, I'll talk to you while we wait for Takeshi to return."

Mayuko then shrugged her shoulders and sat down with me. She seemed hesitant at first to talk, but we eventually had a long conversation about the yaka race and their powers, and what my village is like.

"Faster regeneration speed? That's pretty sweet. And your only weakness is the sunlight?"

"Yes. And I don't like it. I want to walk in the sunlight and see the sky clearly again."

I can imagine it. Never being able to see the sky. Though I appreciate the stars more than the clouds, I still like the day-time sky. I can't name clouds though, but I like to imagine the shapes while the sunlight warms me up. Such a horrible weakness…maybe the sword will help her? And suddenly, it occurred to me. How long have I been talking to her outside? I looked up, and judging from the increasing amount of stars beginning to shine, it's been an hour.

"Do you want me to get you some food? I should be having dinner with my mum and dad now."

"Yes. Salad. I'm very picky."

It was finally over. Now Takeshi knows about how I met Mayuko, and I know why he wanted to kill Matsuri. And I was safe from being harmed. Takeshi says he won't kill me, and he would have by now if he was lying. He smiled and patted me on the back.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry. For now, can we still be friends? About the shoulder, it was just so I could get you out of the way. The village elders did order me to murder you, but I will not listen to them. Were quite safe from them actually."

"Yeah, us being miles away from them and all."

There are still things left to figure out. How Takeshi found the sword, what was so bad about the village elders, how my parents died, and the mystery of Hinamizawa and Natsumi. But I can stay positive, because no matter what happens, I have Takeshi, Mayuko and Sae as my friends. And very soon, I will reunite with Mana and Matsuri. Even if I have to stop Takeshi from trying to kill her. Jeez, Yorito has it easy compared to me.