Hinamizawa Hell

Arc 1: "Stained Souls Chapter"

Ch. 10: Recollections

"In later news today, a murder has occurred in the small village of Hinamizawa. A man was brutally crucified onto the wheel of a mill early yesterday morning. Police suspect this brutal attack to be none other than the work of the Dark Spector. Citizens are urged to remain in groups at all times, and to remain on silent alert until the culprit if found. The government has placed a reward of 100,000,000 yen for the capture of the Dark Spector. If you have any information, please contact…"

This was the news heard all over Hinamizawa and across Japan for the next three days. People all over were astounded with the bounty on the assailant's head, and tips across the nation were sent in, however, none led to any arrests. The people in Hinamizawa remained cautious all over, and with such a recent event as of Komoto's death, officers, courtesy of Detective Oishi, performed patrols often throughout the village day and night.

But seemingly, no trace was found of the Dark Spector.

Rika and her friends remained very quiet over the next few days. Rika was not in the mood to talk at all, which discomforted the others to some extent. Upon Shion and Satoshi's return from their love sojourn, the news reached them last. Satoshi took it hard, but bottled up his feelings for Shion's sake. She was saddened just as much as Mion was over Komoto's death.

From the Irie Clinic to school, Rika had felt like she was someone in constant danger. Though having Akasaka as a personal bodyguard was nice, the longing of being back home enticed Rika to plead for her departure. However vainly she tried, Dr. Irie continued to remind her that she was the Queen carrier of the syndrome, and if she died, then the entire village would fall to a similar fate.

While being driven back from the school to the clinic one day, Rika sat in the car with Hanyuu and Satoko, just idly looking out the window at the passing scenery. She sighed at the whole mess, wondering why nothing else had happened in the past few days. If it really was the Dark Spector, by the looks of it, there should have been more incidents, but there were none at all.

"…Rika..are you listening?"

In her daze, Rika turned her head to Hanyuu, who was speaking to her unknowingly. Hanyuu gave her a small, worried look, trying to figure her out.

"…Rika, his house…" she pointed.

Rika's eyes opened wide at her comment, and she looked sideways out the window, noticing a newly built home right at the edge of the intersection. Just like Komoto once said, his house was hard to miss. At this point, Rika pushed herself to the front seat near Akasaka.

"Akasaka-san, please, can you stop the car. There's something we want to see…"

"But Rika-chan, we need to get you back to the clinic…"

"Please, Akasaka-san, trust me. We need to go see something…"

With a look of concern, he decided to stop the car. He put it in park and got out, opening the door for the three young girls. Satoko hopped out first, wondering why Rika was so curious with his home.

"Rika-chan, we don't have a key to the place. We won't even be able to get in…"

They walked up to the front door, at which Satoko, proving her previous statement to be true, turned the knob and revealed the door to be locked.

"See, I told you…"

Rika looked around the ground area, still covered with snow. She hoped that maybe something was amiss, like a hiding spot for a key. However, she found no such thing.

"Rika-chan, you're saying this is Hagara-san's house? We had no record he even lived in this one. We assumed that he was staying at the Irie-clinic…" stated Akasaka.

"No…this has to be his home…there has to be something we can use…" Rika looked to Akasaka for some help, at which he intended to kick down the door. However, Satoko sighed and pushed them out of her way.

"Just give me one moment…"

Rika looked on in curiosity, seeing Satoko pull out what looked like lock-picking tools. After at least a minute, Rika heard the locking mechanism of the door turn, from which the door finally opened.

"You don't need to resort to bashing the door down. Just make a key…" said the little trap master. She grinned and laughed at her own work. Rika smiled for once in what seemed like too long a time. She nodded happily at Satoko, and went inside. Akasaka hurried inside with Hanyuu and Satoko, making sure no danger would be present.

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"Seems like no one's around…" Akasaka closed the door, and went around the house. After being satisfied that no one was home, he returned to the group of girls.

The house seemed like it was used up until a couple days ago, just around Komoto's death. Satoko went into the kitchen, marveling at the new pans and cooking utensils that decorated the ceiling overhead. The stove was brand new, amongst other things in the house as well. It seemed almost like Komoto was ready to settle down in Hinamizawa pretty comfortably and well off. As she ventured further, she found food in the refrigerator that was still perfectly edible.

In the living room, Hanyuu found a large, plush couch in front of a t.v. set. The walls were adorned with various decorations and plants, even a few samurai swords from what she could see, though, they were too high up to even reach at her height. On a nearby table were some sketchpads and manga books.

"Guess Komoto-san liked drawing…" Hanyuu said in a depressed tone. She sighed and continued to look around for anything that seemed indifferent.

Up stairs, Akasaka found a locked door, which sparked his curiosity. After calling up Satoko to pick it for him, he went inside to discover what seemed like a war room. There was a cage of locked weapons, some hand guns, ammo, knifes, rifles, and...

"C4…even I can't get my hands on that quality of an explosive substance. Why would he bring all these things into Hinamizawa?"

Every second that passed while looking at the weapons only increased his fear of what Komoto had intended in Hinamizawa. Akasaka, even after some more searching, found body armor, some MRE's for food, survival tools, and even a bunch of documents and files.

"He was a mercenary after all. These must be some records of his past jobs…"

Akasaka filed through some of the files, and found data from Komoto's past tours of battle. Amongst them, he discovered that Komoto's traveling expenditures started from Japan and went all the way to North America, Africa, and even Europe and South America. He was contracted even for odd companies, each providing large payouts for him, but what was odd in the files was a section in a bin labeled "Rejected".

Akasaka filed into that section, and found jobs Komoto supposedly found unworthy of completing. Some jobs were under dark companies, ones even Akasaka knew of around Tokyo city. However, what caught his attention was a filed labeled "Dam Project".

"Wait…Hagara-san was almost contracted by Okonagi Landscaping?! That would have meant he would have been in on the whole takeover of Hinamizawa. But he rejected it…" Akasaka decided to grab that file and some others to take back to Detective Oishi. As he ruffled them together with some binding wire nearby, he noticed something else in a bin. It was a folder section, but what was in it was completely bare. Akasaka only found the file name. "Spector?"

While Akasaka was on the same floor, Rika decided to do her own investigating. She wandered off into the back of the house's second floor, passing by a few empty rooms and was appeared to be Komoto's own bedroom. In it was an extremely large futon, still a bit messed up from sleeping in it, some bookshelves with books of all sorts stacked in them, a desk and a nearby kotatsu. Nothing seemed odd in the room, as it appeared quite normal to her, so she continued her movements down the hall.

High up on the ceiling, Rika found a long string with a ball attached to the end. She thought it to be the handle for the attic entrance, so she hopped up as high as she could to grab it. On her last effort, she managed to get it, and with a tug, pulled it down.

Akasaka heard Rika hit the ground, so he rushed out of the room and found her at the end of the hallway, rubbing her behind from her fall.

"Rika, what did you find?" he asked.

"It's an attic. Can you pull down the ladder for me?" she asked.

Complying, he did so, and by this time the others came up to help investigate. With a loud creaking sound, the ladder came down, and allowed them to go up finally.

The attic was dark all around, almost black enough to halter any sight. Luckily, Akasaka found a light on the top of a beam, from which he pulled and illuminated the room. Upon doing so, he gasped at his findings.

"Akasaka? What's wrong?" asked Rika. She went up after him, and saw the very same things he did. Once Hanyuu and Satoko were up as well, they tried to take in everything one at a time.

"What the hell does this all mean?" stated Akasaka.

His amazement couldn't be described from the detailed scrolls across the room. In the attic, piles of books from what seemed like ancient times were stacked everywhere on the floor. A large desk was placed in the middle of the room, and a large corkboard placed on the wall. On it were newspaper clippings of the "Dark Spector's" victims and news reports. Also were some document pieces from the files that may have been once stored in the bin downstairs. But what sparked Rika's interest the most were two scroll hangings on two separate beams behind the desk. On the left, her family's insignia was found in large, black ink: the three revolving '6' shapes. On the other was one similar to Komoto's tattoo. It was a large Yin/Yang surrounded by the 8 trigrams.

*Why does Komoto-sempai have my family's insignia and his own?* Rika pondered.

Hanyuu looked at some of the books and then the insignia. She seemed a bit unsettled by it all, so she decided to investigate the corkboard on the far wall.

"Two dead in Tokyo. 20 in a mass murder in Kyoto. Dark Spector strikes again. These are all newspaper clippings on the incidents in the past 6 months. Hagara-san was following this Dark Spector like a hawk. Hmm…"

Akasaka looked at the document files, and found only one interesting bit on the board.

"…In sum, "Tokyo" had discovered that Hinamizawa Syndrome can elevate beyond level 5 stage and into the next. Suicidal urges are found to be gone in these new stages, which are then replaced with even greater levels of paranoia and even distortion of reality. However, this in turn comes with greater fighting abilities and survival instincts. Currently, research subjects are found to be few in these new stages. However, recently there are three test subjects to have been found tied together with Hinamizawa Syndrome. Only one is known and currently still active in the field of battle, however, efforts to bring him closer to "Tokyo" have proved futile. As of last notice, the one known as "Komoto Hagara" has eluded our radar, and thus, we must deem him as either dead or MIA. The other two continue to test our efforts in locating them. We do know both of them to be female; however, names and classified info are not available. One, however, has been exemplifying high levels of paranoia and the occult. She has been active in the field, and skilled to have been a master of disguise.. We believe that one to be the cause of the sudden serial slayings that have been occurring in Japan. Intentions and reasons why, however, are not known. We've deemed this person Project "…."…."

The last part was blurred out and missing. Akasaka quickly took the document and filed it along with the other document info into the folder. He seemed satisfied with the information and evidence collected. Now, he had to work on tying it all together. For whatever matter it was, Komoto had a part in this somehow.

"Rika-chan, everyone, lets go. I'll have the police come by to collect the weapons and the other evidence. We should be leaving now…"

Rika heard Akasaka, but her interest in her family insignia was what kept her there. As the others went down, Rika looked at one of the books on the desk. It was a leather bound book with notes in it. It almost seemed like a diary to her.

"Rika-chan, come on down already," called Satoko.

Without thinking twice, she grabbed the diary and stuffed it into her school bag to read later. She went downstairs, looking a lot happier than she had been in the past few days, but still, the pain was still there in her heart.

"So let me get this straight. You all went into what you thought was the late and deceased Komoto Hagara's home, wandered around from room to room doing as you pleased, and stole vital evidence without so much as a thought for a search warrant?"

Detective Oishi was with Dr. Irie, Rika, and Akasaka in a guest room, discussing their findings. Oishi fumed at Akasaka's discovery, wishing he would have taken better measures to acquire the information. However, he smirked none the less; glad to know that the vital evidence was safely in their hands already.

"At least the other evidence is now being documented. We'll just say I found this all under a floorboard somewhere in the house tomorrow, and document it then. For now, we need to figure this all out," stated Akasaka.

Rika listened intently to their ideas and theories that went back and forth, but she could see that the evidence there was too little to use effectively at that point. She gave an excuse of feeling tired, and went back to a room deemed for her stay. She knew Hanyuu was there waiting for her already, and Satoko had gone back home with Satoshi and Shion for the rest of the day.

Once the door was safely locked, Rika hurried over to her bed, while Hanyuu began doing her school homework. She looked over from a desk, and found Rika pulling out some sort of diary.

"Rika, did you take that from the attic? What is it? Hau!" Hanyuu was instantly interested in the book, as she could see some bit of hope in Rika's eyes. She opened it next to her without hesitation, wishing to find some clues to whatever was written in it. She discovered, however, this was a volume of many diaries. This covered 4 years ago to the present up to a couple days ago.

"…April 12, 1979. My superiors have assigned me to a protection detail in Egypt, where rebel resistance has of late been extremely high. This job pays well, but it's going to be hell…

The people here are suspicious. Every day that I'm protecting this worthless VIP, the more I'm seeing these people become hostile. Better to have just carpet bombed them all…saves me the trouble with washing the blood off my clothes.

…There was a little girl today who I met. She was holding a stuffed bear, acted sweet and all. Makes me feel bad for the kid; doesn't even deserve to have to endure all this.

…the VIP left today, but my work isn't finished in this hell hole. I've been here two weeks, and so far nothing major has occurred. However, I feel like the people here are plotting something, an attack of some sort. I don't know why, but tonight I won't stay in this hotel again. I'll sneak out when the time is right and change position with my team. All that's left is to wait for some contact source and gain some INTEL on rebel movements…

…I was right last night. The enemy, whoever they are, used suicide bombers to take out the hotel. My team and I are safe, but how I knew that was going to happen I'll probably never know. The enemy already confirmed that we weren't there, so the city is nearly impossible to hide in. Extraction has already been called out, and by tomorrow night we should be out of this place.

From reading all this, Rika was starting to seemingly become worried. This all seemed familiar to her and Hanyuu, remembering something from Komoto's memories.

"…May 1, 1979………I've killed so many people already…that job in Egypt…the city erupted in flames that night. Even being in the comfort of security and safety of my own room doesn't quell the fact that I lived through that nightmare. The villagers all became hostile before the night of the extraction. Once we met up with the contact source the villagers, even our keeper at our safehouse,, turned against us. Their…eyes…deformed into something I've never seen before…they all tried to kill us. My team made it to an extraction point with the contact source, but I stayed behind to provide support. I was supposed to hook up with evac at another location, but it never came…damn bastards at headquarters. Again, they thought I was lost assets and continued on without a care…

…The city…that was my doing…the burning flames and the blood soaked ground. That last night was…hell. HQ at least had the decency to have stockpiled a good sum of C4 in another safe house. Wasn't hard to find it al land plant it in key points of the city. My evac eventually came in the form of a car with enough gas to a safe city…but that night…I saw the girl…

…The rebels…damn bastards…Damn BASTARDS! They killed her in the cross fire! God…the blood. Why... SHE WAS JUST A LITTLE GIRL!..."

"Rika…the pages are scratched and torn here and there, Hau!"

"…Komoto-senpai was at a stage of paranoia by this point Hanyuu. The anger here…"

"…they got what they deserved…heheheh…A few key point oil lines, some building columns, and a couple of grams of C4 with remote detonator triggers placed here and there…how the city burned with so many colors that night. The thrill of it all…it never gets old…"

"…Komoto-senpai…" uttered Rika.

"…he took pleasure in it?" stated Hanyuu.

"…June 1980. So many missions later, it still gets tiring. The money's getting good now with each passing mission. I'll soon have enough for that house back in Hinamizawa…

…I met a woman today. Her name's Mizuho Otome. About my height, a good bust size, long, blue hair, and a punch that could buckle steel. She's opted for entrance into my team for combat, but geez, I never would have imagined a girl to have wanted that. Says she's a skilled sniper and tracker, but I felt I've met her somewhere before…

…Mizuho…I remember! She was in Hinamizawa when I was a child. We both went to the same school, but I'm sure she doesn't remember me. I barely talked to her then. Even those days for us, times were hard. No parents, just living off whatever we had left for inheritances from our parent's deaths, even then it was dismal.

…I talked to her today. She remembers a bit about me, and she got a laugh from it at least. We talked over coffee and an MRE, and she was pretty excited about hearing my idea of returning to Hinamizawa…

…November, 1980...Got shot today in a mission. We were stationed out on the homefront today in Tokyo, but the Yakuza proved smarter than some previous enemies I've faced. I would have been a goner had Mizuho not been there. Never have I seen a woman shoot so many people in less than 5 seconds. I was surrounded in a warehouse, and she took the high ground on an upper rafter. It was a drug deal gone sour, and once I got found out, probably from a leak in our agency, did they turn on me with guns drawn. Luckily, I carried enough ammunition to hold them off until reinforcements showed up. Have a shoulder wound that's gonna take some time to heal, but geez, Mizuho with a Dragonov rifle…reminds me to never get on her bad side.

…December, 1980. Mizuho has been away on missions and after some recovery time in the hospital, I'm back on the active list. I'm scheduled for a mission in Russia soon with Mizuho. But the agency isn't telling me anything on her whereabouts…

For a while, the next pages of the diary detailed some more missions he and the woman Mizuho went on. From Rika's perspective, it seemed that Mizuho and Komoto were really close, more of like in a relationship. However, it never went into detail on anything serious. After reading more pages, her interest was rekindled in a passage for the last year.

…,January, 1983…Missing out on the Watanagashi festival yet again for another year, so it seems likely. Missions are going to be longer soon, but I'm positive I'll be retired after this festival. That festival always brought out the best of memories for me. Mizuho and I hope to visit soon together. She always smiles when I mention the thought of Hinamizawa. She's eager to go back too…

…Lately, though, Mizuho has been acting…strange. She's becoming less talkative except when I mention Hinamizawa to her. Same thing has been happening to me a lot lately. Either the depressed winter months or the stress from this job are causing this problem. The agency's been on our back about taking up charity missions, helping out villagers in poor, third world countries fighting against rebels and such. I've had it with them…

…March, 1983. Rejected some offer from an organization called "Tokyo". Damn bastards. Said they'd pay me to monitor some job in Hinamizawa. Okonogi Landscaping? What the hell would they need mercenaries for in a peaceful village? It doesn't sound right. I'll be there hopefully soon to monitor them…"

"Komoto-senpai would have been here to stop the cycle?!" astounded Rika. She always had a glimpse of hope had Komoto ever managed to get home, but thankfully, she and her friends had won the game of fate before then.

"…June, 1983…Mizuho…"

At this point, Rika noticed stains all over the paper. She didn't know why, but it seemed like tears to her, which was more probable given the next passage.

"…she's gone. She was somewhere in Kyoto when it occurred. Some people I've asked said she went Section 8 on everyone, even began to shoot out her own teammates as if in pain. I went to the area where she was last reported, and only found blood. I'm not sure what happened or even if she's still alive…

…The agency gave me an exit today. Said if I did this last job, the money will be a small fortune. The financial part is already in my bank account, and even if I decided to skip town it would be impossible for them to get any of it back. But…I stick to my word. They must have thought that the stress of Mizuho had finally gotten to me…but they're wrong. I'll find her once I get out of here…

"…September, 1983. They…betrayed me. It was a setup. The agency considered me a lost asset again, beyond value or worth. It was my own death sentence. My teammates…their eyes…it was all a warning. They sent me in first to secure a building of what was thought to belong to a rival agency. My "ex" agency even said the enemy may have had something to do with Mizuho's disappearance. Boy…did that rile me up…Without thinking; I went alone into the building only to meet some sort of impact device. A month later, after being in a fucking coma, I've awoken to another hell.

…In a fucking hospital bed, blindfolded, but at least still able to write and see. Must have scared my eyes or something…Dr. Irie…says I've had a virus in my system causing paranoia and a bunch of other fucking things. I don't get any of it. Just my day…once I'm out of here…the agency is done for…courtesy of a little C4 and some lead…

…My eyes did something to that poor doctor. Even the attendants trying to hold me down while I squirmed in pain and agony until sedation…what the hell happened? They took it off to see the scaring, and they just collapsed to the ground one by one. My eyes are fine, but they still lock me into a room without any contact? What the hell is going on…

…Dr. Irie's kind. Taking care of me at the clinic in October. Good people must really be in this world. He's doing research on this Hinamizawa Syndrome, hoping to find a cure. He also says that adrenaline is causing my sudden bouts of paranoia. He gave me some Adrenaline Suppressors and Stimulants to manage the syndrome levels. I learned about what happened with that Okonagi Landscaping job. Another cover up for some plot to kill people, and all around this virus. Human's really are cruel…Thankfully, it ended without bloodshed…

…but…not for the agency. Didn't take long. Just strolled in with some automatic rifles and took them all out, one by one and floor by floor. Managed to steal a bunch of data and documents, some even on Mizuho. It'll be easier to find her now…and to find some peace soon.

...December 1983…Rika…very interesting little girl. She saved me today from the storm on my way back to Hinamizawa. The Irie Clinic was harder to get to through the storm than I thought. Though she and her friends saved me from the storm, I thought at one point she was going to attack me. Thankfully, she was actually a good natured person…

…I was able to return the favor to her today. Saved her from some thugs in a back alley… damn punks. Being able to fight them reminded me of how long it's been since I've been in battle. Got a better start off with Rika. She reminds me a lot of Mizuho and her personality…but…even today she was able to look into my eyes and still remain sane. Hanyuu, though, is an odd one, but I guess that comes with being a god. I've already learned what my eyes are capable of now…so getting information is easy, but I have to break some minds to do it. I still don't understand why I can do all this…

…A gaming club? All these kids aren't even afraid of me? Hinamizawa…truly is a wonderful place. Mizuho…I wish every day that you could be back here with me. Mion, Keiichi, Shion, Satoshi, Satoko, Hanyuu, Rena, and Keiichi…all such interesting people. I hope to have more fun days with this club…

Rika, at this point, was crying, reliving some few good memories of her dead friend. Hanyuu softly rubbed her back for her, trying her best to keep Rika strong.

"…Zombie game…almost won had not Hanyuu tricked me. She must be a god if she could do that to me…however…after the game I had to use another one of my Adrenaline Suppressants to prevent some paranoia again. I thought they were gonna punish me with some penalty game, but it really seemed like they were gonna get me. I saw…their eyes change, but…more terrifying than ones I've seen before. The syringe took it away; thankfully…but the penalty game still is on. I have to attend their club meetings. Sounds fun, but first I have to find Mizuho…

…The Dark Spector…slaying all those people in Tokyo and all over Japan. The methods of killing, the feel of it all, and the strategy all follow a pattern. An occultist out to obtain some number…and the document INTEL on this person says she's a woman from Hinamizawa? Mizuho…is that you? What's going on?

…Rika-chan…I'm sorry. I took you out to a dinner with false intentions. My job…has finally come. It is time to end these sins and start living fresh, but I need to get Mizuho back here…only then can I see happy times again…If you find this, don't worry…I'm sure the police are doing their jobs already…but…if you saw the insignia then I'm sure you still have questions. I'll tell you…one day. It's a promise…and I never break my promises…

Author's note: Longest chapter ever….and I'm tired. This chapter has recollected a large portion of Komoto's life, and I know there's still questions to be answered, but bear with me.

The next chapter will be titled Arc 1 "Stained Souls: Ch. 11: Spirited Away".