Aah, konnichiwa~! Yep, yep, this is an update (a mere 7 pages though . . . Urgh . . . x.x).

Unfortunately, I apologize to those who have been SERIOUSLY looking forward to some blood and gore. I was looking forward to it too. But, I realized I couldn't transition from where I stopped and keep going all the way through to the blood and gore (in which 3 people will die. X3) without it sounding quite awkward. Because of my change in plans last chapter, it threw off my chapter structures and plans, so, unfortunately, we have yet another "filler chapter." I am very disappointed in myself, so, if you DO review, please don't scream. I know. ;A;

This time, I PROMISE-PROMISE that gore will be in on the next chapter. If the bottom of the chapter won't prove it, I don't know what will. If you want to skip over this, feel free. I don't mind. But, I suggest you not though. For many reasons that I shall keep confidential.

Again, I apologize. And, thank you to Hollowfied and DemonRaily for the only ones reviewing, and special thanks for Kit-chan, and many thanks for those who have been sticking to this story, and will be sticking to this story. Thank you very, very, VERY much. I hope not to disappoint any of you from this point on.

Disclaimer: Kit-chan and I do not own Higurashi or Fullmetal Alchemist. The two brilliant creators of these ingenius stories are on a league far exceeding my own.

Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni: Ungranted Wish

"How about this? Say that you're sorry one thousand times."

—Shion Sonozaki: Eye Opening Arc

"Psalms Drown Prayers"

Mion yawned, covering her mouth and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Great, she was getting drowsy. Last night, she was so excited about these new, different club activities that she had forgotten to fall asleep last night, trying to think up a way for a sure-fire way to win. However, that was going to be proven useless unless she would be at full alert. Ah, the cons for having a slow head.

"Are you getting tired, Onee?" Shion vexed, grinning. "You can sleep during the game, if you want. I'll protect you."

"Ah, shut up," Mion groaned, yawning again. "It's every man for himself, right, Kei-chan?" she asked, grinning also.

"Yep!" Keiichi agreed, laughing. "I will defeat you all! And then, you'll have to succumb to my every whim!" He walked further ahead, turning and pointing at the girls. He laughed arrogantly, acting as if he had already won the game.

"Well, you have a lot more opponents, then, sir," Rika pointed out, smiling. "Nippaah~!"

"I want to win too!" Hanyuu inputted.

It was a nice, bright day. The sun radiated its light across the serene village and over the club members. It was like luck was with them – such good weather just for this club activity. The five teenagers each carried their own paintball gun, except Keiichi, Mion, and Shion, who had Ed's, Rena's, and Satoko's paintball guns also slung over their shoulders. They were excited! Each person had their own thoughts and strategies – successful or not, they would win at least something.

As they neared the forest that surrounded the Onigafuchi swamp, the sky seemed to turn darker as clouds drifted passed the fiery sun. About four blue birds flew out of the forest, spurring the cicadas to remain silent for a few seconds before erupting into chants once more. Ecstatic, they marched right into the depths of the forest.

"Woah, Rena and Edo-chi must have made the area pretty big," Shion noted, already spotting the orange paint line trees and a few leaves. She reached up, feeling the paint. "It's wet," she observed, pulling her fingers away and rubbing the orange-colored tips of her fingers.

"Then, if we follow the lines, then we can probably meet up with Rena sir and Edo-chi sir," Rika suggested.

"Yeah," Mion agreed, already rushing into action and running alongside the orange, speckled lines. "Let's catch up to them as quickly as possible!" she called, leaving her friends in the dust.

"Onee! Not so fast!" Shion exclaimed, dashing after her sister.

"C'mon, Rika," Keiichi said. "It's a race then!"

"Yes, sir!" Rika laughed, following close behind the Maebara.

Hanyuu grinned, dashing after her friends. She tripped over tree roots, hopped over piles of leaves, and laughed as leaves and twigs tapped her cheeks and shoulders. She was so happy – nothing can take that away. She needed to catch up to her friends, and then they would probably be looking for Satoko near the swamp – since that was probably the place that she would plant her traps. After Hanyuu had fallen in a few of Satoko's little traps, the deity finally figured out the "pattern" behind Satoko's unpredictable plots. After weaving around trees after Rika and Keiichi, Hanyuu finally spotted the little group.

"There's Hanyuu!" Rena exclaimed, grinning. Her face was splattered with orange, her fingers were covered in the paint, and her white clothing was streaked with the color because she had wiped her hands with them. Well, now everyone knew that Rena would probably be the first spotted. She was like an orange beacon.

Ed was no better: his nose was painted orange, and his gold hair had streaks of orange. Obviously, the two had a paint fight earlier, and the bucket containing the paint was almost empty. He held the bucket in one hand and slung his paintball gun over his shoulder. He smiled as a greeting to Hanyuu. "What took you guys so long? We finished painting the trees about 20 minutes ago."

"Hauu! Hauu! You guys were running too fast!" Hanyuu whined, smiling back.

"Then, you'll have to run faster to win!" Mion laughed, taunting the little girl. "Now, let's go look for Satoko!"

"Hey, Mion," Ed said, interrupting Mion. "We're playing with paintball guns – isn't there some sort of protective gear?" he asked, holding up his gun.

"Ah! Are you going wimpy on us?" Mion taunted, grinning as she held her gun as if she was going to fire at Ed. She earned a small glare from the boy as he retorted, "No way!" "Mind as well play that 'safer' game called 'Oni-san'! Wimp!" she vexed, sticking out her tongue at Ed. "Make ya feel better?"

"Hey! No! I was just worried about you backing off!" Ed retorted, grinning as he glared competitively at Mion. Both metaphorically told another that they won't be going down without a fight, smiling slyly at their future opponents/victims.

"I think a nice game of 'Oni-san' sounds nice," Hanyuu commented, "or 'Kagome, Kagome.' It's simpler!"

"You know those are really old school games," Shion pointed out, pulling at the corner of Hanyuu's mouth playfully. "This is Hinamizawa! We're playing to win and for glory! We're going to battle for the spotlight at our backs!"

"But, sir, we're playing for fun too!" Rika grinned, tugging on Shion's sleeve.

"H'bout we stop fooling around and look for Satoko-chan before she plots too many traps?" Keiichi suggested. He was about to continue as a small scream-like squealing sounded in the forest. He and the others immediately snapped around to see where it was coming from.

"Kyaa! Omochikaieri!" Rena squealed, hugging something small in the palms of her hands. "It's so cute! Aaah! Kawaii desu!" She squeaked happily, relaxing as some of "ADOWABLE" mode steam was vented out.

"Ugh, you scared us for a minute," Keiichi sighed, his smile shifting a bit as he watched Rena hug whatever was in her hands. He watched as Ed walked over to the girl and asked, "What you got there, Rena?"

"It's a li'l buggy!" Rena replied, holding out her hands to show Ed.

In her palms was a giant bug; it was almost 2 centimeters big. It was an ugly, disgusting little thing – cute in Rena's eyes – and its clear, veined wings were pressed to its black, wrinkled side. It was huge like a magnified fly. The harmless insect crawled around in Rena's cupped hands, only making tiny, terrified crickets.

"Oh! It's a Higurashi!" Ed exclaimed, reaching over and picking it up with two pinched fingers around its middle. The bug's leg flailed helplessly as it tried to look for the "ground."

"Oh yeah!" Mion recalled, poking at one of its little legs. "It's a breed of cicadas native to Japan. They're awfully loud during the summer – especially here."

"Yeah," Hanyuu agreed. "Y'know in movies and stuff? When they add the chirps of cicadas, it shows that it's summer," she explained. "Also, the cicada symbolizes long life and resurrection in the Asian culture."

"Oh? Really? I never knew that. You seem to know a lot about it," Keiichi commented.

"I'm actually surprised that you don't know all that, sir," Rika pointed out. "There are a lot of cicadas here, Keiichi sir. They always go 'kana, kana, kana' in the summer time! Mii~!" She beamed, bobbing her head like she was playing around and nodding in all seriousness in the same time. "And then, at the end of summer, they go, 'tsuru tsuru boshi'! Nippaah~!"

"Do you know why the Higurashi symbolizes resurrection and summer?" Ed asked. "It's because of their lifecycle. When they are born, they fall out of trees and into the ground. There, they grow into nymphs and burrow through the ground, where they live most of their lives – ranging 1 or 2 years all the way to 12 or 15 years. Then, in the summer, they come out, molt their shells, mate, and then lay eggs in the trees. After that, it just starts all over again." He shrugged, and then adding, "Also, they are actually defenseless creatures too; they can only harm trees and shrubs and stuff."

"Hauu! Then, why did it bite me earlier?" Rena asked, teary-eyed. "It must hate me!" she cried, holding up a finger where the cicada had presumably bitten.

"It must have thought you were a tree," Keiichi laughed.

"Hauu! I'm not a tree!" the girl whined.

"Or maybe the Eastern Cicada Killer," Mion pointed out.

"It's either you just made that up, or scientists really are getting less and less creative by the day . . ." Shion said, glaring skeptically at her twin. "Easter Cicada Killer? Psh, it's just adding killer at the end of cicadas. Let me guess: it hunts mainly cicadas?"

"Yeah! They're real!" Mion defended. "They're 2 inches long wasp looking thing," she explained, holding both pointer fingers about 2 inches apart to show how big this bee-looking insect was. "They hunt cicadas for their nests. They kill cicadas by using their stingers! But, they aren't aggressive – like bumblebees! Except they're scarier-lookin'."

"Hauu! Hauu! How cruel!" Hanyuu whined, scrunching her head into her shoulders. "Why are the Higurashi always being used? They stay in the ground for all their lives, and then get out only long enough to lay eggs in trees! But, once they get out, they can get attacked by huge wasp killer things!" She stomped her feet on the ground, pouting like a little child.

"Did you know that cicadas are known to be very good dishes too? They're used for medicine; children collect their molted skin; and they make very good meals because of the nutrition in them," Ed stated, as if to spread salt over Hanyuu's wound from the empathy to the treatment of a cicada. "Want to eat it, Hanyuu-chan?" he joked, holding up the cicada to the deity's pouting mouth.

"Hauu! No! No! No!" Hanyuu objected, shaking her head from side to side while covering her mouth with her hands. "Leave the poor buggy alone! You're being so mean, Edo-chi!" she whined, trembling.

Ed just laughed, patting the top of Hanyuu's head. "Ah, don't worry," he reassured. He turned around, and threw the cicada back to where it should come from. The bug sailed for a bit through the air like a pebble before spreading its wings and flying off. "Now, let's go find Taco-chan," he said, clapping his hands of any dirt. "She probably set enough traps to satisfy herself by now."

"Right! Come on, then!" Mion nodded, grinning. "Whoever is the last person to get to the Onigafuchi swamp is going to have to pay for the rewards of the victor!" she sang, turning around and running off. She had a head-start, which made the other members unhappy, so they quickly ran after her, determined to not pay for anything. Given only if they didn't win the activity first.

Shion's grin widened as she dashed after everyone; too bad that she had reacted so slowly. She watched as the boys tore through with Mion right on their heels. Being the sore player that Mion was, the Sonozaki tripped both of the boys and dashed in front, laughing. Rena was tagging behind Hanyuu, who was running desperately behind Rika, who had her face turned towards Hanyuu and giggled. Shion too wanted to avoid the "punishment" after the little "intermission" activity, but she knew that she should save her strength so she might win the actual show. The girl leaped over roots; nimbly dodged trees, branches, and sticks; jumped over piles of leaves; and caught up to the back of the line of racers. Her gun tapped her side as she ran. She easily gained speed and momentum, but she made sure she kept at a pace that didn't let her go past Rena, who was the last person there. Eventually, she couldn't see the people ahead of her, but she knew just where to go anyway.

Shion un-slung her paintball gun as she neared the swamp, slowing down to a walk when she spotted her friends' backs turned to her. They stood side by side like a wall in front of her. "Hey, you guys. Why did you stop?" she asked curiously, walking up them.

Ed's trembling arm rose up and pointed ahead at the swamp.

"Huh? What's there?" Shion asked, peeking over the shoulders of her friends. Clearly, she had not expected what she would see.

Her eyes widened at the sight.

Blood.

Red, red blood. Like paint dripping from hanging meat in a butcher's shop.

The cicadas' cries turned only into a soft rumble, only making the volume of when Ed had held one in his fingers a few moments ago.

The gun slid from her fingers and fell down onto the ground with a clack.

Only one thing registered into her head.

"SATOKO-CHAN!"

Again, I am very sorry for disappointing you readers. But, I thank those who will be sticking around for the next chapter. And I thank those who read and reviewed, and those who will read and review. Thank you. ^.^

A million sorrys. And a million thanks.