13 – Twin stories

Hinamizawa, 15th October 1983

- - - - - - -#l#- - - - - - -

IRIE INSTITUTE

HEREDITARY DISEASES DEPARTMENT

HINAMIZAWA SYNDROME

REPORT #132

14th October, Year of Showa 58

- - - - - - -#l#- - - - - - -

"I've already said I don't want to read those dossiers!" Rika exclaimed. "They are so long, and boring..."

Like during the previous meeting, it was a late evening. And, like the other time, Rika had to hear what Irie-sensei and Takano were saying.

"I've never said you had to, Rika-chan. They are useful because they remind me everything I want to tell you. But before examining our results, there is another issue I can't absolutely forget..."

"And what is it?"

"This." Irie took a little black box, and he opened it. He looked serious, careful not to spoil its content. Rika eyed him, worried. What has happened, now? A letter from someone? Maybe the Tokyo organisation is trying to rebuild contacts with the Clinic? And why? Irie didn't give her time enough to think about it. He raised the hand, and he showed a white lace band.

"Oh, Rika-chan" he asked with his brightening eyes, while reaching a joyful state of ecstasy, "Do you think that this band match the black maid suit I've bought last week? I don't know if it's too big, but it would bring a touch of style, I am sure of it, so if you wear it I could say immediately if it's …"

Ten seconds later, Irie was medicating his fingers, after that Rika had smashed them with the dossier.

"I'm in my period, so please don't kid me, Irie-sensei." Irie was already aware of that part of her character, so Rika wasn't forced to always smile, or say Nippa in each sentence, when she was with him, and finally, after how she had behaved in the previous days, she couldn't fake to be just an innocent little girl. Still, a little girl having menstruation was not the best image she could evoke, but it was vivid enough to break off the subject.

"I... I see, it's better not to exaggerate, then... So let's see what we've discovered in these last days. Do you remember what I've told you in the end of our previous meeting here?"

"Hmmm... I'm sorry, I don't. Can you remind me?" In the final moments of the last meeting she was too nervous, to listen to what he was saying.

"It's not a problem. I've told you I wanted to fill my database of blood samples, in order to find other inhabitants of the village with the ATPC."

"ATPC? What does this acronym stand for, now?"

"Hem, sorry, it's the name of the protein we had found inside Satoshi-kun's blood. We've decided to give it a temporary name, calling it simply protein would have been too generic, and we might confuse it with other similar substances we often talk about with the other doctors, when they are here. This name comes from..."

Rika shook her head, to make Irie-sensei realize she cared only about the other carriers of the ATPC, she wasn't interested in speeches understandable only by other doctors.

"Hm... yes, this is a minor matter, I've written it in the dossier, but we can leave it out... So, if you want to know it... Our result is... Two matches."

"It's not a great achievement. In this moment only two people in the whole Hinamizawa can survive even without my help, this is what you're saying."

"I know it, but this is not unexpected, don't be disappointed because of this. If the protein had been present in a larger number of blessed people, if you want to name them so, we would have analyzed it much sooner. Moreover, this means we have someone who can give us samples of it, if necessary."

"You should have found it sooner anyway. Didn't you say you already had a giant database you used during your tests?"

"It's not that easy, Rika-chan. When you look for something, you often don't notice the other things which are around it. Imagine, if you are in an entirely dark room and you want to search for a coin, using a powerful magnet can help you a lot. But the magnet itself doesn't allow you to find your shorts, or your mirror, and so on, because they are not metallic objects. In medicine it always works so: when you look for something, you use a test which can find it, but which ignores a lot of other things. Do you how many exams a full check-up is made of?"

"The ones you've made me in all these years are enough, for me. But so why, in Satoshi-kun's case, have you..."

"...have we found it? Because its concentration was so high that even the basic analysis could observe it. I suppose that such a quantity was due to the previous level of Satoshi-kun's disease, the strength and the high number of parasites made the presence of ATPC increase exponentially. It's the most classic predator-prey system, put a couple of foxes in a wood full of rabbits and you'll see how many of them you'll see after some time."

"You're saying that the parasites were the prey, then, and once there wasn't any of them anymore, there was nothing to "feed" the protein with... That's why, after that he looked fine again, the ATPC nearly had disappeared, then..."

"That's right, Rika! You've got it! By the way, I can say that the two matches I was talking before about carry the ATPC naturally, on the contrary of Satoshi-kun. Its concentration in their blood is too low to hypothesize that they have it as result of a L5."

"OK, I've understood. Now, let's go to the most interesting part. Who are these matches?"

"Look yourself." Irie gave her a couple of sheets of paper, full with data, graphics and a lot of tables. They were similar to a clinical folder... well, probably they were so. And in the top right corner, she could read their names.

She gasped. Sonozaki Oryou, Sonozaki Mion. She looked at the doctor, who decided to explain her at once what he knew. But before he could open his mouth, Rika whispered "TIME, STOP!" And time really stopped, everything stayed as it was in that moment, even Irie-sensei and Takano were motionless statues.

To tell the truth, Rika was not able to stop time. That short sentence was not a spell, a sort of abracadabra, but only a way to communicate with Hanyuu. She wanted her to do that magic, in order to discuss with her about that revelation. She eyed her ancestor, and she asked: "Hanyuu, could you remind me how many times each of our friends had been gone crazy, in all the previous worlds?"

Hanyuu raised her right hand, and she closed her eyes. A little purple crystal appeared, and then it rolled like a music box, before disappearing after some second. Hanyuu opened her eyes again, and she answered: "In the past 248 worlds, in 63 of them Keiichi-san had been guilty, in 61 it had been Rena-san, in 62 Satoko-chan, in 24 Shion-san and in 38 Mion-san. At least this is what we've concluded during our examinations."

"And now Irie is telling us that Mii-chan can't ever suffer from the disease? So were our calculations wrong?"

"It's hard to say, Rika. Have we been wrong 38 times, in your opinion? It's not impossible, but it would be simpler to claim that maybe he's the one wrong, while we..."

"Hmmm... before saying this, let's think more deeply about it... I had never thought about them really, I considered them as something pointless, but now... Hanyuu, don't you think that those numbers... are anomalous? We know that their problems were present in every single world, but the one who went crazy was chosen randomly. There wasn't a real reason if for example, in a specific world, Keiichi's paranoia overwhelmed him, instead of seeing Rena listening to those theories about the alien invasion."

"I don't understand, Rika."

"Neither I. Let's say it in this way: once you decide the protagonist of a story is chosen randomly, it's like throwing a dice, OK? Well, if you roll them a big number of times, the number one, two, three... they all appear globally a similar number of times. At least they normally do so, we've tried it so many times, with Satoko-chan, during the rainy evenings at home..."

Hanyuu opened her eyes wide: "Now I see what you're saying... Why is Mion-san's and Shion-san's number of tragedies so small, compared to the others?"

Rika nodded: "In 250 worlds, nearly, each of them had to be involved 50 times, more or less... While instead..., you can see it. So, what about Mion's 38 cases? Hmmm... it's not that difficult to explain it, if you think carefully about it. Don't we know they often switch their role? They've told us once, during the last Watanagashi. And we know also that their have similar likings... And that... that Mion's and Shion's worlds were quite similar, after all."

Hanyuu froze, and Rika slightly smiled: "The only possible conclusion is that even in the worlds where we thought Mion was guilty... well, in those worlds her sister was the villain, and not her. If you add 24 to 38, you have 62, which is very similar to the other numbers we have."

"So are you saying that Mion-san has never suffered from the Hinamizawa Syndrome, thanks to that substance? This is what are you saying, Rika? But so... why only her, and not Shion-san? They are twins, she should carry that protein too, then!"

"I don't know why. Probably the doctor was going to tell us the answer now, but you have blocked him."

"You've told to do that, Hauu! Don't blame me!"

"It's just the same, but if this can make you feel better, that's OK, I've been the one who has blocked him. Well, maybe I should have waited for some moment, before asking you to freeze time. But now I know what I must ask him. Hanyuu, please dispel this enchantment, and let's hear what he wants to tell us."

A moment later, Irie was free to speak again. Anyways, he blocked himself momentarily, hesitating, uneasily as if he had noticed that something strange had happened. But, since he couldn't realized what it was exactly, he thought it was just a suggestion, and he kept on explaining:

"Rika-chan, this result can be unexpected, but it's not incompatible with our whole knowledge of the Syndrome. Moreover, the fact that Mion-san is one of the carriers of the ATPC allows us to explain what really had happened in the basement."

"So could you explain it to me, please?"

"Yes, sure. When I was told about it, I asked for all the possible details, and they said to me that Mion-san's arm had been bitten by Satoshi-kun, and that some of her blood went on his eyes."

"I didn't know it. I wasn't told about it, they explained to me only the most important facts."

"Rika-chan" said Takano "Human eyes are peculiar organs, full of open blood vessel. Namely, we're pretty sure that Mion-san's blood came into contact with Satoshi-kun's one, and the ATPC entered into his circulation. Blood inside human body is very fast, and it can reach in a very little time each limb of the individual, including the nervous cells. So, while the others were looking for him, that sort of antidote worked inside him, and it healed him. This kind of process can happen also in case of other bacteria, or other diseases generally, for example Hepatitis C. If, for any reason, a sample of infected blood reach the doctor's eyes, the latter can seriously contract the same disease, no matter how many cautions he had taken before. This is what happened to your friend, but in this case we are talking about a helpful protein, he was lucky."

"And in only twenty-thirty minutes has he got fine again?"

"Not completely fine, but yes, it's true. Less than half an hour is a short time for an antidote, indeed, but other substances work even more quickly. Some poison can kill you in one or two seconds, if you ingest it."

"So Mii-chan has unwillingly helped Satoshi-kun to heal? It's so... so ironical. You had been looking for a cure for so much time, and it would have been enough to observe more deeply your own patient, and the ones just around him."

Irie wasn't someone who usually got angry because of Rika's satire, and even this time he started laughing: "AH-HA HA HA! You're really right! But it's not the first time that a complex problem is solved by an elementary solution... Let's see, for example... Do you know about pasteurization? So many diseases and problems brought by infected milk were solved by simply warming it..."

"Yes... but... can I ask you for something else?"

"Hmmm... do you want to know why Mion-san carries the ATPC and Shion-san doesn't, am I right? It's really normal to think about this, I understand."

Rika nodded. For her, this was a very important question. If Shion had been protected by the Plague, all those disasters, all that pain... could have been avoided. Their road towards a happy world would have been much shorter.

"I can't be sure of it, Rika-chan, unfortunately. It would take quite a lot of time to discover the origins of the ATPC, and I don't deny that I'd like to study them, after having definitely defeated the Syndrome, of course. But we can think about some hypothesis. We can discard the hereditary factor, since Shion-san, as nearly the whole Sonozaki Family doesn't carry it. So... some past experience who make her develop it, as vaccine? Possible, but not probable. I can't think about an event which involve only two people in Hinamizawa."

"What about something about the rites of their family?" proposed Takano "Oryou-sama has been their ruler until some day ago, and now Mion-san has taken her place... Maybe some drug they swallow. Who knows, if she hadn't been disinherited, also Sonozaki Akane-san would have been protected by the Syndrome. After all, surely in the past the Sonozakis, as vassals, had sometimes to leave Hinamizawa, to pay homage to their lord. Without the Queen Carrier's help there would have been quite a high chance to die, if they hadn't some hidden resource. Even if... if you think... this village claimed to be descendant from the Demons, and now we discover that the chief of the family who more embody this principle can't really become like a demon... this is... really ironical. A joke by Fate... A joke by Fate... A joke by Fate..." Until some month before, this kind of speech would have made her terribly excited... Now she might be still interested in it, but she didn't show that feeling at all, she was repeating those last words, as if she was just a tape recorder, without caring about what she was saying. Well, maybe it was not a full shame, Rika thought, being keen on these matters had been one of the reasons which had brought her to that state of hollow.

"What Takano-san has said is possible too, but... I really can't imagine such a powerful rite. This protein is quite surely produced inside Mion-san's bone narrow. However, I'm going to ask her about her family's stories and tales about this kind of traditions, maybe we'll be lucky."

"But so... two of the Three Great Families have some substance who fight the disease, inside them... Maybe that's why they have become the Three Great Families, indeed... What about the Kimiyoshis? Have you found something special?"

"I don't, sorry, Rika-chan. In order to find something unusual, I need to know what I have to find, just like in the case of the ATPC."

Rika was puzzled, but she had still something to ask: "Earlier, you told me that the protein was produced by Mii-chan's body... So... are you saying that the ATPC inside her blood will never disappear?"

"I think so.. Of course, I can't be sure of it, I told you mines are still conjectures, but I am going to make some test in the next days. I'm going to check the concentration of the protein, and to use it for develop a final cure for the whole village. Don't worry, this whole story is making me trustful about our future researches. Ah, by the way, could you help Shion-san, please? She's arranging Satoshi-kun's case in the basement, he's going home tonight. I've told Satoko-chan she had to wait some other day, but I had lied, I just wanted to make her a surprise. It's a real pity, I won't be able to see her face, when she sees him..."

…

The following morning, at school, in the teacher's office, Chie-sensei was explaining to Alice her exercises for the whole day. Since she was the only teacher of the school, she couldn't take care of everyone at the same time, so she had to delegate some of her students, or, like in this case, giving the work before the start of the lesson.

As for Alice, she was listening her words diligently and she claimed in the end to have understood everything. She was alone that day, her brother had been required in Krinoto without any warning, because of job issues, and so she was destined to stay far from all her classmates, and during all the time. But She stood up, but Chie-sensei asked her about a doubt she had:

"Alice-san... There is something I had been wondering for some week. You seem to speak a pretty good Japanese, but I don't understand why both of you talk to each other using the appellations Nee-chan and Nii-chan. These titles are used towards only an older brother, and an older sister, so one of you doesn't use it properly. Which of you is the older twin?" Chie-sensei was not present, when Alice had told it during their first day of school. The Italian girl looked at her, then she smiled.

"Well... I think that Nii-chan is a so nice word, it sounds so sweetly, so I like to use as endearment. However, we are aware of the meaning of those words, and none of us is wrong. I've been the one who first came out of our mother's womb... but at the same time he is the older brother."

"What... do you mean?"

"It's a strange story... and today's lesson is going to start just in ten minutes. I've time to tell you, if you are interested."

Chie nodded, then Alice went on speaking: "We're born in February 1965, a very cold period there. When my mother started being in labor, Dad decided to drive her into the hospital. It was not that far from our house, but they had to go down from the mountain to reach it, using their car. Midnight had already passed, and it was a clear but very cold night. But halfway, after a hairpin bend, they ran into a little unexpected snowslide, which had partially blocked the way. Dad made the mistake of turning the engine off, to get out of the car and check if they could go on somewhat. Once he had understood they could continue, he realized the engine didn't turn on anymore, probably because of the frost. And in that point, after that turn, there was no slope, it was impossible to go down with the engine off."

"Even today, that is a secondary road, and in the night there are no cars traveling, there. It's used only to go to work, or to go to the bigger cities, to do shopping. Then, being blocked there could become a tragedy, and Dad tried to turn on the engine again, uselessly. After four or five attempts he had to give up, he would have only discharged the car battery without obtaining anything. So he gave his coat to Mom, and he hugged her to make her suffer less from the low temperature. They could nothing but staying in their car and keeping the windows up, going on foot to home or to the hospital was pure madness. But even so, when the first car passed in the morning, and they could reach the hospital, more than six hours had passed in that cold car, and she had already struck by hypothermia."

Alice lowered her glance, gloomy. "Her health conditions immediately appeared desperate. She nearly couldn't breath, her heartbeat was irregular, and she still had to give birth to both of us. And in fact, after some time, I went out of her womb, but I weren't moving, or crying. The doctors visited me quickly, and since there was no heartbeat nor breath, they thought I had been already dead. But they couldn't waste any time with me, there was another baby who had to come, and my mother needed full assistance."

"After a quarter of an hour Nii-chan had been born. Fortunately he was still alive, no one doubted about it, he was crying incredibly loudly, they've told me. He was put by me, and after that they started checking Mom's conditions, which were getting worse. She wasn't breathing at all, in that moment, and even her heart was getting weaker and weaker. She was going to die."

"Nii-chan, instead, was keeping on crying, louder and louder. Attracted by his voice, even people from the adjacent rooms had begun to give a look inside, to see what was happening, until one of the medics, getting impatient, exclaimed something similar to "Please, take that baby away from here!". He simply didn't stop. The nurse tried to take him, but in the meanwhile our arms had got stuck in each others, somewhat, maybe because he was going on flailing. It was like he didn't want to accept what was happening to her sister and her mother, and he didn't want to leave me. And just a moment before we were separated, as if he had been able to wake me up, I started crying, too."

"I don't know what had happened, neither the doctors didn't completely understand it. They imagined mine was only a state of shock caused by the hypothermia we had had to deal with, maybe they were right, who knows. However, with her two babies crying, even Mom's heartbeat answered, getting more regular, and in some hour she was awake again. Dad had been present during the whole time, and in the end he started crying, like a man come out of a nightmare. And then he decided to change the names he wanted to give us, to remember this strange miracle."

"What do you mean?"

"We had to be called Giorgia and Francesco, but that day he thought that other names would have suited us better. Alice, in fact, is a reminder of Lewis Carroll's character, who goes to Wonderland, the Other World, and is able to come back, awakening from her dream; Giorgia is just my second name, now. Giancarlo, instead, is a composite name: Giovanni comes from the Hebraic, and it shows the divine element, meant as present; Carlo comes from the German, and it reminds the human element, since it means free man. Namely, in his opinion he had been the point of contact between God and man, Heaven and Earth, which made that incredible event possible."

"Hmmm, he did choose your names carefully."

"Oh, sure! After all he felt blessed that day, he thought that if his wife and his sons had died it would have been his fault, because they hadn't stayed at home despite that really cold night."

"Indeed, it had been an incredibly high risk..."

"Dad, like our Grandpa too, is not good at taking decisions, they can't stand the stress. That's why, after he goes back to Italy, Nii-chan will probably have to take directly control of the little cotton mill of our family. At the moment an uncle of us is managing it, but this shift has already been planned."

"Isn't he too young?"

"We can't do otherwise. In the last twelve years, our uncle had managed it fairly successfully, but he has to retire, he is simply getting too old, and Giancarlo is the only one able to replace him, in our family. You wouldn't say it at a first glance, but he's a sort of Pole Star for all of us, he's so wise and attentive with who he really cares, even if he looks like a curmudgeon, initially. We could say that he's our Sonozaki Mion-san, even if such a role doesn't exist any more, in our birthplace. You can't imagine how many phone calls we have in the evenings from Italy..."

If her brother had been there he would have said she was exaggerating. Alice loved to do it, she had learned it from her grandfather. She was used to see only the virtues of the people around her, especially when she talked about her brother, even if that meant exaggerating with her praises. She liked to speak highly of him, because she wanted him to be a great person. In fact, she feared she wouldn't have been so, she feared to be worse than him. All of a sudden, the girl smiled, sadly, and then she said softly "This is his destiny... and his curse. Probably he would have been happier if I had never born."

"What have you said, Alice-san? I didn't understand your last words."

"Oh... no, sensei." The halo of bitterness vanished "Nothing special. Well, we should go, now, it's quite late!"

She hoped that nobody had heard her saying this, but she was wrong. She didn't know that, behind the door, Rena was there, and she had heard every single word.