Axel is now outside in the forest. It is either morning or evening as the chirping of circadas fill the air. He checks his watch to see that it is six P.M., the evening then, and the date is Sunday, June the nineteenth. He takes out his notebook and writes down the events of the previous universe.

Upon finishing, he puts his notebook away and begins walking through the forest, uncertain of where he is going.

Over time, the sun sets and twilight grows increasingly faint, forcing him to take out his flashlight. Axel is still trampling through forest. The sky is clear, fortunately, and the moon graces the sky as he can see through the tree branches. A warm breeze blows, making the leaves rustle.

Axel next hears the sound of a car as it stops and keeps its engine idling. He feels relief and starts walking in the direction of the noise, knowing that a road lies in that direction. There is dense underbrush and he has to tread slowly and push his way through. He can next hear the car driving away and it is soon quiet once again.

AAAAAARRRRRRGH!

Axel jumps with a gasp as he points his flashlight in the direction of the scream. He is quick to turn it off so as not to attract whoever, or whatever that may be. His expression is firm, though his shrunken irises and sweat betray his fear over not knowing what that was all about.

AAAAAARRRRRRGH! AAAAAARRRRRRGH! AAAAAARRRRRRGH!

The screams came again. Screams of terror and torment.

AAAAAARRRRRRGH! ARUUUUUUGH! URRRRRRK!

As they became more strained and turned to gurgling and began to fade.

And now . . . silence.

Axel listens intently. His imagination works overtime and starts wondering if it is some person or monster about to attack him.

It seems as if hours are passing. Axel takes a deep breath and turns on his light once again to check ahead of him, but sees nothing. And nothing comes. He walks in the direction where the screaming came from.

He eventually emerges to the sight of a clearing with a paved road running perpendicular and somebody prone near that road. He walks up to the prone person in question to see that it is a man, and a very familiar one judging by the way he is dressed, with an ever growing pool of blood around him.

Carefully, so as not to step in the blood, Axel approaches the victim to have a better look and gasps as he recoils with a wide eyed shrunken iris look of horror.

Holy shit! It's Miyo's boyfriend! He must've had Hinamizawa Syndrome.

Jirou's blood smeared face is frozen in terror, made all the more terrifying by his bloodied torn throat with his equally bloodied fingers still dug into it.

Axel stands there for a time, wondering what to do next as he does not feel that his own presence in this world is over. He looks around and notices Jirou's bike and hurries over to it.

Now I get it. Whoever that was, dumped Jirou here while he was unconscious, along with his bike. But who?

Light from one side, along with a car engine, gets Axel's attention and he looks to see a car approaching and come to a stop. It is a police car. Axel stands as as he wonders if they will jump to conclusions.

The car stops and two cops get out. The officers slowly approach. He can see the looks of concern on their faces.

"It's okay, I can understand Japanese," Axel assured them.

They relax and one of the officers approaches him. That officer looks to be middle aged and is short and portly with grey hair and wearing cream-colored pants with red suspenders and a black short sleeved button up shirt with a red tie.

"I am Detective Kuraudo Ooishi," the officer said as he takes a cigarette out of its package. "And you are?"

"I am Axel Sawyer. An American tourist."

"Please to meet you, Sawyer-san," he said and lights the cigarette, then takes a drag and puffs. "What is an American tourist doing out here in the countryside this late?"

"I was hiking and got lost," Axel answered, which in way was true. "And if it weren't for the sound of a car and the screaming that followed, my body would've been the next one to be found."

Ooishi looks at the bike and then at the corpse of Jirou. He walks up to the corpse and squats to take a closer look at it as he puffs on his cigarette. He stands and goes back over to Axel as he takes out his own notebook.

"It's not what it looks like," Axel said intently as he waves his hands slight.

"Oh?" Ooishi inquired. "You mean you had something to do with this man's death?"

"Oh, okay," Axel chuckled as he rubs the back of his neck as he gives a close-eyed smile of unease with a large sweatdrop. "Then it really is what it looks like."

"Did you happen to see the car and its driver?" Ooishi asked.

"No, the person drove away before I got here," Axel verified. "Then the next thing I heard was these horrible screams. I was so scared, I turned off my flashlight. I didn't move until those screams stopped, and even then it wasn't right away. I finally worked up the courage and went to investigate. That is when I ended up here and discovered him." As he points at Tomitake. "Then you guys showed up."

Ooishi ponders as he takes another drag of his cigarette and puffs more smoke. "I had received a report earlier that a woman's body was found burnt up in a drum."

"What?!" Axel exclaimed. "That's horrible!"

"Is there any place you're going?" Ooishi asked.

Axel ponders that as he looks up at the sky. "You wouldn't happen to know what the weather's going to be like tonight?"

"I believe it's going to be clear and mild," Ooishi answered.

"Yes it will," the other officer verified.

"Then it will be a good night to spend outside," Axel said. "I have done it before. Will you still need me here? I have told all that I know. I wish there was more I could to tell you."

"No, that's okay," Ooishi said. "Good night, Sawyer-san."

Axel nods slightly and turns to walk down the road. With the moon, he keeps his flashlight off so as to save his batteries. He continues walking, wondering when he will go into another universe.

He comes upon a turnoff and notices a sign written in Kanji. Hinamizawa, it read. He goes down that road, since he figures that he may as well disappear while walking toward there. Or unless, he is not finished here yet.

He continues walking. Up ahead, he sees a radio tower by the side of the road. As he gets closer, he can see a van parked alongside it. Axel passes the van, and is slightly startled by the presence of a man wearing a cap and work suit hunched over facing the entrance. The next thing he hears is the sound of clinking and rattling.

If he were maintenance, he would be down here during the day. Axel thought uneasily as he leers side on at the man, though careful not to turn his head. Better mind my own business and keep walking, but he's clearly up to no good though.

Axel also gets a feeling that someone is scowling at him from elsewhere.


Up in the tower, a man wearing the same uniform as his comrade is staring down at Axel through a scope upon his rifle.

"The foreigner is walking on," he said into a microphone by his jaw. "He didn't even look, let alone stop."

"He suspects," a deep authorative voice over his earpiece said, "but is smart enough not to provoke a confrontation."

"Orders, sir?"

"Stand down. We'll deal with the foreigner."

"Understood." As the sniper lowers his gun.


Axel continues walking onward wondering what that was all about. Thieves maybe? Either way, he wants to put as much distance between himself and whoever that was.

He walks ever onward. Up ahead in the distance, he sees several trucks. He takes a deep breath and continues walking, not knowing when he will get that feeling that he will be moving on to another universe. The distance between himself and those vehicles grow ever shorter and he begins seeing more people around them.

Axel makes the decision to get off the road and go through the forest, circling around carefully until he is able to get a look at the trucks in question from his hiding place. He sees a man with long hair that is slicked back into a ponytail coming out of an RV like truck and speak to another man. They are too far for him to hear clearly.

Axel does, however, notice someone else standing in the doorway. A woman dressed in black. Something about that woman tickles at his memory. He gasps as it finally comes to him that she is Takano Miyo, and watches as the ponytailed man defers to her.

So she's in charge here . . . Something's going down, and it's far from good.

Axel backs away carefully and disappears into the forest. He heads in what he believes is the direction toward Hinamizawa. At least he thinks he does.

He listens intently for any sound of human activity and is soon rewarded with such in the form of distant shouting and other noises, and walks in the direction of it. As he gets closer, he can make out figures moving through the trees. He sneaks up to get a better look, carefully crawling through brush to move into postion for a better look without being seen.

Axel spies men moving around the building that houses the school. Beyond them are more trucks, with men dressed in a uniform manner, many of whom are carrying assault rifles. He sees movement through the windows. More of those uniformed men moving large long objects around. Those objects send a chill through him. The men outside move away from that area and Axel continues to watch for a time, wondering when he will disappear once again.

He next notices a girl walking up to the building in a dazed manner, unbeknownst to the others.

Is that Satako?! Axel thought with bewilderment. It is her!

He watches as Satako peeks in through the window of that building. She next falls back and screams, alerting the others to her presence as spot lights fall upon her and shouting is heard. She gets up and runs away, with men pursuing her. The spot lights follow after her until they can no longer keep up with her.

With many of the men now gone from that area, Axel uses this opportunity to go and see what it was that she saw. Though he has an uneasy feeling of what it may be. He skirts around the forest's edge to get closer to the building without being seen. Once close enough, he emerges and already feels so exposed, causing him to idly wonder if he is about to get discovered like she did and be shot. So far no reaction.

He sneaks up alongside the building and up to the windows. He peeks in around the corner to see that no one is around. There are men who walk past the doorway every now and again. Axel takes a deep breath and looks fully through the window, knowing that he needs to be quick to duck away before somebody notices him.

He gazes upon the bodies of the people of Hinamizawa stacked upon the floor. Adults. Children. Some in body bags and some not yet. One of them is Rumiko Chie, their teacher. Axel stares at that mind numbing scene for several seconds and finally ducks away, not wanting to push his luck any further. He next stares up at the windows and due to the moon light, he notices what looks like strips around the window corners.

They were murdered . . . ! Gassed!

Axel clasps his hand over his eyes as his mouth crooks and quavers. Tears stream past his hand.

"Miyo!" His voice a hushed sob. "How could you?!"