The old dirt road, unused for decades, was warm under the mid-summer sun. A metal barrier stretched across the road, preventing any vehicles from progressing farther. Beyond the barrier, stretching as far as the eye could see, was a beautiful landscape of green. Trees covered the valley and the mountains around it, belying the true nature of the place.

Two figures stood on the road, leaning on the barrier and observing the peaceful valley. One was an elderly man who looked to be nearly in his eighties. He was somewhat obese, though he had lost a lot of weight in recent years, and his gray hair was pale and fading in more than one way. San stood beside him. Her gray eyes were sharp and studious, inspecting the valley laid out before her.

Their connection was simple. She was what he had been twenty-five years earlier. Somewhere down below, in amongst the trees, she knew Reiko Mikami's murderer was hiding. Vaguely, they could make out the shapes of old buildings in the overgrown valley. According to the old retired detective, who had worked several cases in this very place when it had been populated, an entire town rested in forgotten abandonment down there.

What secrets were hidden here, she didn't know or care. After more then ten years of not a single hint or trace, a murderer had been located. She had been just a child when it first happened, but she remembered well her dance with death that was intertwined with the victim whose death would soon be avenged. She didn't remember meeting the woman, but it had happened. She had met Reiko Mikami more than eighteen months after the murder of Reiko Mikami.

And now it was all going to end.

The retired detective glanced over at the younger detective. "So your friend is down there in that hell."

San nodded. "I wouldn't exactly call us friends, but I have to get her out of there."

He scratched his head. "Well, that's up to you, I suppose. Huh. Everyone around here is afraid of the place. Everyone who lived down there went absolutely crazy twenty-five years ago. Okinomiya is still recovering from the effects. Those crazies tried to burn it all down."

San looked over to him. "I want to thank you for coming out here, Ooishi. Knowing the layout of the town helps a lot, and you gave me an idea of who is behind all this. I'll find a way to repay you someday."

He waved her off. "I'd do it myself if I could. Something tells me that those people down there are responsible for everything that happened. You'll be repaying me several times over if you make things right in Hinamizawa."

San turned back to the old bus stop. There was a car resting on the side of the road, and two other people standing by. "You've all helped, and though it took longer than I'd hoped, I think it's time to move. Ooshima, take Ooishi and Akasaka back to Okinomiya and wait for me. I'll give you a call as soon as I'm done."

Nodding, Natsuko moved over to the car trunk and opened it, taking out two large black bags. She set them to the side and closed the trunk, nodded to the bags. "Everything a growing girl could want."

After two weeks, San hoped Mei Misaki had managed to hold out that long. She hoped, but she was still going in armed. The bags, as she looked through them, were filled with explosives, guns, launchers, and loads of ammunition. She picked them up and shouldered them.

"Get going. The sun will be down soon, and then I move in. I'll make the school my hiding place and head for the clinic. I should be able to find something there, just like Ooishi said. I'll call you from that payphone when I'm done."

The car was filled, and they drove away. San watched until they disappeared from sight, then turned and stepped around the metal barrier. She began her descent into Hinamizawa. A descent into, as she had been told, hell itself.

As she walked, she found the heavy plant coverage to be almost jungle-like in appearance. The path became overgrown. The sky disappeared from view. Everything seemed to be closing in, and the dark green around her almost seemed aware of her presence. Then things got eerie. Voices, coming through the darkness. If there was supposed to be an army in the village, she would expect to hear the voices of men. Radios crackling. What she heard instead were children laughing. Always something scary to here in the darkness, but she shook it off.

Ooishi's directions were true enough, and she found herself at an old abandoned school. The place was full of the feeling of madness. Whatever had really happened in this town was, ultimately, none of her concern so long as she found Mei, dealt with Kazue, and took in the man who killed Reiko Mikami. She had to keep reminding herself of that. She could try to take down the entire organization, but it wasn't optimistic.

Stepping into the classroom, the only one in the tiny school, she was startled by someone else already occupying the room. A woman with long blue hair, wearing something that looked like a shrine maiden costume. The two watched each other for a long time before San finally found the words to speak.

"Who are you?"

Turning her head to slowly look out the window, the woman remained completely expressionless as she answered. "I am all that remains. I am the light in the darkness that is my home. I am the silent guardian of this place. I am ever-watchful, all seeing, the final bastion of hope for these lost souls."

San shook her head. "I didn't ask what you are, I asked who."

She turned back to San. "My name is Rika Furude. You are San Watanabe, correct?"

San set the bags down on the ground. "Furude? Ooishi mentioned that the Furude family tended to the shrine here. Does that mean you're the shrine maiden Misaki mentioned?"

Rika's face changed at the mention of Ooishi. "So he is still alive..." She shook her head. "Regardless, yes, I am the shrine maiden. I am the only one who can communicate with Oyashiro, the god of Hinamizawa."

San took a deep breath. "Alright... I have a few questions I'd like to ask. You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I could sure use the help. If you're willing..."

Rika nodded. "You want to know if I saw your friend. You want to know where she is, where the people who pretend like this valley is their own are hiding. You want to find the murderer of Reiko Mikami. Perhaps a trade, then?"

San crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you want?" She supposed that Rika could have gotten all this information from Misaki.

Rika sighed. "Your friend wanted to stay with me until you got here, but I refused. You see, I've had enough of people like her. The person you are looking for is no longer here. The murderer, however, is hiding in the clinic."

San thought for a second, then knelt down and started searching through the bags. "Alright, so does that mean he's working with Kazue and that crazy scientist? Or are they experimenting on him?"

Rika didn't move. "You misunderstand. Miyo Takano is not in the clinic. She and her men are in a newer facility beneath the property once belonging to the Sonozaki family. They stay away from the clinic, and with good reason. The way in is not secure, and so she could get in at them. They found this out very quickly."

San looked up at Rika. "She?"

"Hanyu."

Standing up, shouldering an assault rifle and a shotgun, San arched an eyebrow. "What is Hanyu?"

Outside, the sun had set. Total darkness had taken the village. Through the shattered windows, echoing through the night, they heard a distant roar. San's attention snapped away from Rika and to the ominous sound. It was terrifying, indicative of something inhuman out there somewhere. The sound passed, and San slowly looked to Rika.

"What in hell was that?"

Rika seemed strangely calm. "She doesn't want to be this way. She's only defending Hinamizawa from invaders, people who mean harm. They caused all this, and she hates them for it. Every night, she comes out in the hopes of making them suffer. That voice you just heard... that is my dearest friend. That is Hanyu."

"There's something out there... is that what Misaki meant when she said there was something here that wasn't Human? Was she talking about your... your friend? This Hanyu?" San lowered the shotgun, contemplating explosives instead. "What is she?"

Rika smiled. "You question my friends, when it is your own you should question. Hanyu is consumed by rage. She was once just a little girl, but now she has been changed and twisted by this madness. It's revenge that drives her, anger fuels her mind. But she will not harm you. Her fight is with those that disrespect the lost souls that wander here. With Takano, and Kazue... and Misaki."

Sighing, San knelt down again and set the shotgun down. She took out several grenades as well as some plastic explosives and a grenade launcher. "Why would she be after Misaki if she's as nice as you say? And what about the murderer?"

"I have my suspicions, but I do not know for sure." Rika sat down on the windowsill. "If you leave before too long, the spirits here will leave you alone... for the most part. Hanyu fights to avenge them. Misaki has overstayed her welcome and done nothing in return. She is far from Hanyu's first target, but she's not doing herself any favors." She took a deep breath. "But... that should not be your main concern. There is one spirit here who... seems to be after you personally. I know most of the ghosts here, but this one just arrived, and it is filled with hatred. I don't know why it wants you, because it won't talk to me, but it is very dangerous."

Shotgun strapped across her back, grenade launcher and assault rifle in her hands, San stood up. "I killed a ghost just two weeks ago. I think I can handle it."

Rika looked up, surprised. Her voice had, to this point, been tired and weary. Now it was sharp and deadly serious. "You cannot kill a ghost with guns."

San grinned. "Oh, no, I know. I stabbed it."

"Mmm..." Rika didn't seem to want to comment. "Regardless, there is something else you might be interested to know. The people they have been experimenting on. They are all like you, Kazue, and Misaki. The experiments have to do with curses, and you've all been through them. This place is a place of curses, and it's where their experimenting began. They killed and dissected dozens of people when their investigations began, and it's no stretch to imagine they have continued to do so."

"Great..." San shook her head and shrugged. "Well, no matter. I've fought things that were supernatural and inhuman before. Any more inhuman things in this village I should know about?"

Rika stood up. "There is one more. Me."

"You?"

"I gave up my humanity long ago."

"How exactly does one go about doing that?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Is it aliens?"

"...You're mocking me, aren't you?"

San smiled. "I'm far more accepting of the unusual than you seem to think. I stabbed a ghost, remember? If you don't tell me how you managed to stop being Human, then I have to assume it's aliens."

Unimpressed, Rika started walking for the door. She stopped to look back. "Don't stay for too long, or Hanyu will be after you as well. And forget about saving Mei Misaki, if you know what's good for you."


Author's note: Yes, sure, this could have been in the crossover section, but then where would the surprise be? It's a plot twist, and if it says that it happens right on the tin, there goes the whole game. Anyway, I'm trying my best to make it so that everything you need to know you can find out through reading this story. Of course I suggest going and watching Higurashi, but you don't have to. Our hero remains as San Watanabe. We're just expanding our limits.

If you have any questions, comments, queries or posers, please PM me or leave them in a review. This has been a fun yet brutal story, and it's about to get more fun, for me at least, and definitely more brutal.