Hinamizawa Hell

"Revealing Demons" Arc: 2

Ch. 13: The Fulfilled Promise part 1

With every step the demon took, one could say that the earth trembled. This massive creature, bound with the sins of many lives, took her form before the others; licking the air with her tongue as if to savor the despair. Her eyes were truly that of a demon's; the darkness of her stares showing no soul or emotion. The Oni was taller now, more wretched and vile than before. If this was truly the form of a demon, then she surely came from the depths of hell to curse those in Hinamizawa.

The sister of the demon's host stepped forward, her eyes unrelenting in this battle for survival. Seeing this act before her caused the demon to hate the girl even more; the rebellious attitude distasteful to her thoughts. Oh, how the demon wanted to eat the girl alive; to rip her skin off and drink Shion's crimson blood. These thoughts fueled the evil of her core, urging her forward to kill them.

However, though now in her real demon form, the Oni bearing the cruel image of Mion's once evil heart was still weak. Even though the Oni didn't know it, Komoto's bullet and Keiichi's shovel had dealt serious damage, her power less than what it should have been. Rika noticed this hesitation in the demon, taking note of her smallest displays of pain. The demon was hurting, that was clear to her. This fact she hoped to combine with other gained knowledge to defeat this evil, and, send it back to hell.

As the demon roared demonically at the others, Keiichi protected them by standing between her and his friends. He just smiled at the thing, laughing at how crude it looked now.

"Damn, you really are a demon, huh? You look like you crawled out of a well, that's for sure…" mused Keiichi. He spat at the ground in the demon's direction; aggravating her to no end.

"You are quite resilient, Kei-chan. Why not test that when I eat you alive?" Again, the demon growled at him; her teeth ready to rip into his flesh. This time, though, the demon wouldn't be allowed any ground. The others would make sure of that.

"You ready, Shi-chan?" asked Satoshi. He protected her from the demon, their plan all set to be put into action. Shion stood behind him, admiring her love for being a knight in shining armor.

"Don't get hurt, ok? That's all I ask…" she responded. Satoshi just smiled, now looking to Keiichi and nodding.

As the demon rushed into her opponents she stretched outward her hands to grab their necks. Evading her attacks, Satoshi and Keiichi suffered cuts from the demon's fingernails; blood dripping down their arms and back. This pissed Shion off; now close enough to the demon to initiate her electrifying plan.

"TAKE THIS!"

Shion came out of nowhere and threw a bucket of water over the demon's head; the water soaking the Oni all over. Confused for a moment, the demon growled at her, now charging blindly into Shion's direction. As it whipped her arms randomly in all directions, unable to remove the bucket from her head, Satoshi and Keiichi came up to bat. After taking aim, Keiichi and Satoshi swung what could have been said to be home runs. The force of the weapons colliding into the metal bucket disoriented the demon, causing one hell of a headache if she could feel pain. Her body wobbled around, unable to remain standing.

"ARUGGH! DAAAAMN YOUUUU! WHERE ARE YOU!!!!" screamed the Oni. She tried to reach for the annoying bucket, her long fingers unable to grasp a hold to remove the cursed thing. What happened next, though, would definitely cripple the demon to no end.

"NOW, SHI-CHAN!"

Shion pulled out her favorite weapon and initiated a powerful blow, the taser's electricity arching between the prongs. Jamming the device as hard as she could, the prongs impaled the demon's backside; the electricity tightening all of its muscles and stunning it for awhile. Though the charge wasn't enough to take down the demon, it certainly furthered her daze-like state. The demon lost sense of its surroundings, her arms reaching out to pick off any victim she could.

As her hands swung to the backside, Shion's shirt was caught; the horror of her capture upon the faces of the others. Shion panicked, trying to stun the demon again to release her. However, as the demon reached again for Shion, she managed to grasp her neck; picking her into the air with ease. Shion struggled for air; the hold almost too strong to take. Breathing became harder with each moment; her throat almost closing shut as her neck cracked more and more towards a broken neck. Her feet dangled as she struggled to survive, the end of her life quickly approaching her mind. That is, until the girl who loved all things that were cute, Rena, jumped in to save the day…

"FORGET ABOUT ME?!"

Rena came out of nowhere, her wicked-hooked meat cleaver suddenly severing the hand which held Shion's throat. Her body fell to the ground with a loud thud, Shion now gasping for breath and scrambling out of the fight to recover. Rena watched as the severed hand twitched on the ground and later dematerialized into nothing but black liquid. Rena smiled at the demon, her own eyes sinister in her mind's machinations.

"My, my…did you miss me? I know the truth when I see it; you're going to die down here. A HA HA HA HAH!" Rena cackled in pleasure, watching the demon's badly damaged arm ooze more of the black liquid out. The Oni writhed in pain, clutching the severed arm in agony. With all the motion it took from struggling, the bucket eventually fell off her head; the vengeance intent in the demon's eyes.

"ARGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!" it screamed, the voice of the demon deeper now. Rena only laughed again, somewhat scaring her own friends now.

"A HA HA HA! You can really feel pain, huh? I guess a demon can be hurt! I wonder how you'll survive, I wonder? But I know one things for sure, Oni, you'll suffer for what you did to Mi-chan and me!"

Rena rushed forward into the demon along with Keiichi and Satoshi. With Shion incapacitated, her neck bruised and still gasping for air, the three fighters began an onslaught of attacks and hits against the evil being. The Oni lost ground with each strike, unable to find a chance to return any blows. She shielded her body with both arms, the demon losing strength with each passing minute.

Suddenly, during the confusion in the battle, Keiichi managed to slice open the demon's left leg, sending more of the black liquid gushing out from the wound. She roared in misery, the pain now incapacitating most of her movement. They were killing her slowly, and the demon had very little left to fight on.

"This…ISN'T OVER!"

In a fit of rage, the demon blindly rushed into Satoshi; cascading his body into a nearby wall from her striking arm. With Satoshi unconscious from the blow, Satoko rushed to his side; pulling him away from the demon's reach. She cried over him, the blood flowing down his forehead in streams now. Shion soon rushed over, helping Satoko carry him away; fretting all the while over her unconscious boyfriend.

"SATOSHI-KUN!"

"NII-NII!" They both screamed in unison. His eyes fluttered on and off, looking up to them weakly. Satoshi, though, smiled as they helped him away from the fight.

In succession, the demon grabbed Keiichi's leg and tossed him hard into Rena, sending them both into a mangled pile on the ground. They quickly recovered, trying their best to get back up off their knees. Rena looked on, seeing the incoming attack from the demon. She roared at Rena and Keiichi, catching them off-guard from the attack.

What Rena couldn't believe, though, was the demon falling into herself in the ground; kicking up dirt in her face as three knives now impaled in its backside. The demon's eyes went wide from her inability to move, the knives severing important parts of her back muscles. As the demon struggled like a writing beast on the ground, she turned her head to the back wall, noticing a darkly dressed figure stand with three more knives in his hand.

To Rena's amazement, her beloved boyfriend had found her at last, now saving her and Keiichi from a near death experience….

"RYUU-KUN!" Rena cheered in joy. The darkly dressed man, Ryuu, just smiled back to her, juggling one knife in his hand a few times over.

"Long time no see! I didn't know you were going to have a party without me down here, or I would have invited myself…wait, I just did!" Ryuu joked, watching the odd creature now get up and reach her arms back; grabbing the knives and throwing them away to the side. He looked confidently at the evil demon, studying her as if she were new to him somehow.

"WHO…ARE YOU! TELL ME!" The Oni roared in hatred again, demanding answers from Ryuu. He just looked on confidently, dropping one of the knives and wielding just duel blades now.

"Who am I? One very pissed off boyfriend! HOW DARE YOU HURT RENA-CHAN!" screamed Ryuu. His grey eyes sent the demon's mind into a frenzy; his cold stare chilling her to the bone. He was the same man from before, the very one her host body bumped into at the festival. All this time, he was stalking Mion and trying to find the whereabouts of Rena. It was only obvious that Ryuu managed to find the dungeon doors and make his way downstairs to this whole event; watching from the shadows for the right moment to strike. This infuriated the demon more, her eyes larger in panic at the new foe.

With his own speed, he rushed into the demon and began slicing away at her remaining arm and legs; hoping to incapacitate the wretched thing for a final kill shot. As skillfully as he was, Ryuu was able to quickly slice into the air with both knives, the demon faltering away from his deadly blows. As he pushed the demon away from the others, Ryuu managed to create long cuts on the arms and face of the demon, causing more of the black liquid to seep out. He didn't know what the thing was, but just that it was intent on killing Rena and her friends. That, he thought, he could not stand for at all. With each passing minute, Ryuu managed to offset the demon more and more; frustrating it in anger and bewilderment. He was giving his all against the beast, protecting the one he loved most with all his effort.

However, like Rena and the others had done before, the demon proved too fast for him. Successfully causing a high amount of damage to the weakened demon, Ryuu's lucky streak of attacks soon ended thereafter. With one resounding punch, she hit Ryuu squarely on the right shoulder, sending his body flying into the ground. He rolled right over to the others, his right side screaming in pain as his knives were dropped randomly into the dirt. With no weapons now, he tried to get back up to fight, but found himself unable to do so. Rena rushed over to help him, finding his shoulder bruised horribly and bleeding now. He just looked up, smiling at her.

"I…tried my best at least…" he murmured, pissed off that he couldn't do more. Rena just smiled down to him, shaking her head.

"You did well Ryuu-kun. Let us finish the rest, ok?" She picked him up now, while Keiichi defended their retreat to the wall from the demon. The Oni looked on; ready to charge again, that is, until a blue haired girl stepped into battle; this time, managing to seriously screw up the demon's abilities.

As they fussed over their fallen loved ones, Rika rushed over to protect Rena, Ryuu and Keiichi; waving her hoe around like a baton user. The demon gave a crooked smile, finding amusement again in the little one's acts. It seemed to be a showdown between an heir to a holy shrine and the evil incarnate itself.

"A little girl with a garden tool. Oh, this will be funny!" The demon cackled at Rika, however; noticed how she looked more fiercely on at her. Rika's eyes burned brightly; her strength ready to make the demon fear her for good.

"For one, I'm not a little girl. And second, this is a tool blessed under ritual from my ancestors; the very ones who worshipped Oyashiro-sama!" Rika took pleasure in this fact, the aura of the weapon seen only to her and Hanyuu. The demon only laughed, unable to understand the seriousness of this fact. The holy weapon, or what the demon thought to be a common garden tool, held an unspeakable power which could crush evil from the slightest blow.

As the demon lunged forward, Rika swung the weapon in a circular direction and snapped the blunt part over the Oni's head. Her eyes went wide from the impact, the aura of the weapon scolding the demon's scalp. The burning sensation was almost like fire; causing the demon considerable agony. In succession, Rika aimed for a kill shot; pushing the demon back from Rena and Keiichi using the main pole. Successfully, she managed to impale the weapon into the demon's stomach; the sharp, flat part of the hoe ripping easily into the demon's flesh.

"A..u…gh…a…hah…this…can't…" The demon couldn't speak; the attack too much for her to take. Her weak voice said it all, the hoe shattered the demon's will to fight. She held the weapon now and fell backwards into the ground, lying almost motionless in a pool of black liquid. It seemed like the battle was over at last.

"Phew…" Rika sighed in relief, having found her attack to be effective. It was clever, using a holy weapon against evil. Noting that the demon didn't move at all now, Rika went over to help Keiichi and Rena back on their feet. Those who could walk came over as well, regrouping as a team.

"Is it…over?" asked Shion, holding Satoshi at her side. He came out of his daze finally, his head pounding like never before. The others came up to their side; Rena now gently caring for Ryuu's probably broken shoulder. Although, Hanyuu watched the demon feverently, her eyes still focused on the evil being. She shook her head a few moments later, pointing for the others to see in terror again.

"No…NOT YET!"

As the group of friends slowly turned their heads around in fear yet again, they witnessed the demon rise up and remove the holy weapon. With one foul swoop of her foot, the Oni shattered the tool and kicked it to the side; leaving the weapon inoperable. Now, there was nothing present for the others to hurt the demon with.

The group surrounded their fallen friends, making a human shield against the evil being. As she clutched her stomach, the black liquid oozed over her fingers; causing her to cough up black blood. Speaking with a now drenched mouth, the demon smiled at them on and off, her voice cracking.

"If…I go…THEN…"

Without notice, the demon ran into the group of friends, snatching the smallest one she could get her hands on: Satoko. The others fell aside, unable to match the speed of the demon. To their horror, they found the demon's long and twisted fingers wrap calmly around Satoko's throat, threatening to kill her on a pure whim. They screamed at the demon to let her go; fearing that their friend would have her neck broken like a twig.

"SATOKO!" screamed Shion. She rushed forward at the demon, only to meet the whiplash of its severed arm. Enough force was thrown into the blow to send Shion's body rolling away; her limbs kicking up dust as she flew. Satoshi rushed to her side, looking over in fear at his captured sister.

"NO…SATOKO-CHAN!"

"HEHEHEH! IF…I'M GOING TO DIE…I'LL MAKE SURE THIS WORLD SEES ANOTHER DEATH OF YOUR PATHETIC FRIENDS! TIME TO GO…SATOKO-CHAN!"

The demon moved quickly away towards the darkest part of the dungeon, swiftly moving her feet towards a well known destination. The others rushed forward, leaving Hanyuu to care for the fallen Mion and Komoto. Keiichi and Rika, though, ran as fast as they could to catch the demonic phantom in flight, heading towards the entrance to the well.

Satoko tried to scream to the others, unable to remove the grasp around her neck. She kicked and bit as hard as she could with her teeth, however, the demon merely laughed at her attempts as she rushed to her destination. Every attempt made was in vain for Satoko; freedom nearly impossible by this point.

"SATOKO-CHAAAAN…COME TO HELL WITH ME! WE'LL HAVE SO MUCH FUN SKEWERING YOUR BODY ON IRON RODS!" The demon cackled again, sending Satoko's heart rate into overdrive. As the others caught up to them, Satoko watched on in horror; the demon's grasp on her throat almost painful now.

As everyone halted in their tracks, they found the demon facing them head on; her back towards the depths of the well. Her eyes were wide with insanity; the demon's madness to die together with their friend apparent. Satoko moved her small hands to the demonic fingers around her throat, trying her best to breathe. The demon moved her face next to Satoko's, whispering terrifying thoughts into her mind.

"Oh, yes little one. I'll make you my slave and drag your soul to the darkest parts of…"

"SOMEONE…HELP ME! KEIICHI-SAN! R…RIKA-CHAN!" struggled Satoko. She cried as the demon's grasp became tighter around her throat; the room slowly becoming fuzzy from the lack of air.

As they rushed head on into the demon, all of the Game Club members stopped instantly in their tracks. Their faces growing wide in astonishment, as each of their bodies softly collided into one another in the stack. Keiichi moved back a step, making sure what he was seeing now wasn't an illusion.

The demon looked on, seeing them suddenly stop in more fear than they've ever seen in their lives. She narrowed her eyes at the group of friends, unable to understand what was going on. However, upon further inspection in the mere gleam of Keiichi's wide eyes, the Oni saw her own phantom behind her…a phantom more terrifying than her wildest imaginations.

"ARGHUGH…A…"

The demon's blood burst forth from her mouth, sending black liquid over her lips everywhere. Everyone except Keiichi stepped back, watching the long, glistening katana suddenly explode from the demon's neck. The blade dripped the oozing matter down its sharp edge, as Satoko looked up to find the demon finished off with one final blow. The grasp over her neck went limp, to which she shrugged the demon off and rushed forward into the waiting arms of her brother and Shion.

From what had happened, their friend whom was believed to be unconscious now impaled the evil being with a long katana, the blade striking from the back to the front of the demon's throat. Instantly, one could hear the bone snap as the blade severed the demon's spinal cord, her eyes becoming a dim grey of nothingness now. The wretched Oni spoke no more, her life spark extinguished from this reality. And it was all thanks to their beloved friend returning to banish the demon once and for all…

"M…Mi-chan?" murmured Keiichi. He watched as his love stood behind the demon, her hair hiding the dark features on Mion's face. She breathed heavily, holding the katana with all her might as the blade was pushed one final time into the demon, completely killing the wicked creature. Before the demon knew no more of this world, Mion whispered so that only the Oni could hear.

"You…take over…my body and try to hurt the others? I am MION SONOZAKI…the head of the Sonozaki family! I…don't need you ever again. STAY WHERE YOU BELONG: IN HELL!"

As the final word was whispered, the demon's body suddenly turned completely black. In moments, the form of the evil demon melted around the blade; the black liquid pooling in all directions. After a few more seconds, like the severed hand from before, the melting form dissipated into nothingness; leaving this world for good. The battle, for now, was over.

Mion didn't look at the others, now dropping the katana to the floor with a loud clang. Her hair fell over her face, hiding the emotion in her eyes from them. She was exhausted beyond belief, her body reaching its peak as the sun hit its own in the sky outside. She smiled as her eyes began to flutter, her mind at ease finally. Everyone smiled on, amazed at Mion's return to grace at last. For what seemed like a happy moment, though, soon became another life or death scenario…

"Mi..chan…" uttered Keiichi. His love had returned to them, in full force as the real Mion Sonozaki. She wobbled a bit from the attack, recoiling oddly from the battle. He looked on, noticing something wasn't right as he moved forward towards her.

"Kei…..kun…"

As she whispered his name weakly, Mion's eyes fell shut to the world around her. She slowly bent backwards, Mion's legs giving out from exhaustion. Her mind began to close itself, as her body fell towards the open pit of the well; the rocks under her feet slipping into the nothingness. She felt as if floating for a minute, like her body was at last clear and devoid of any evil. Within her final thoughts, Mion looked around at her friends, watching the horror apparent on their faces.

*Don't cry…I've caused you all so much trouble. I'm sorry…everyone…Kei-kun…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sor…*

"…mi…on…"

"Miioon…"

"MI-CHAN!"

*Huh…Kei-kun…NOOOOOOOOO! DON'T DO IT!*

As the others rushed to prevent Mion from falling, a flash whizzed by them with incredible speed. As Mion's body floated above the pit of death and darkness, she looked up to find Keiichi jumping out, his arms reaching out for her. Her eyes went wide with terror, not wanting him to sacrifice himself over her. Mion weakly screamed out, wishing he would go back to the others. However, she couldn't believe any of it, as Keiichi flew towards her and screamed out her name.

"MI-CHAAAAAAAAN!"

Keiichi threw his body into hers, grabbing tightly around her as both of them fell down into the well. Mion's last sight of Keiichi before blacking out was of him looking into her eyes: moving his body to take the impact of the fall for her. In a fluid motion, Keiichi just smiled at Mion: his tears floating against gravity towards her cheeks as if time and gravity slowed to a halt. She smiled and closed her own eyes, knowing that if they were to die it would be together. There was no use in changing his mind; Keiichi was too much of an idiot to let her go. For that and many reasons more, she loved him with all her heart.

Mion then blacked out to the world around her, not feeling the impact of the unusually soft ground. There wasn't even any pain…an oddness of death she thought. But again, miracles could happen…

From what could be remembered, flashes of bright light were seen in view; voices murmuring like a chorus in one thought. Blurs of colors transcended her mind, the waves illuminating different points of time as she floated in a world unseen. She felt heavy at times and light at most, but the single reoccurrence around her was the warmth present on her body. It felt familiar, caring, and loving; as if the warmth was there to protect her from any harm. She never wanted this warmth to leave her, just to stay with her for the rest of eternity.

Even while her mind was confused to the reality around her, she still felt pain in her arms and neck. Even more so, she felt itchy; her mind willing to scratch but her arms unable to, as if being tied down. If only she could stop it, to scratch away the itchiness and rid her urge once and for all. However, given her state she couldn't even comprehend how to. She just drifted in and out of worlds, her thoughts jumbled from everything that had happened up till blacking out over the pit. When this realization hit her, only then did she begin to come out of this bright world and return to her own. When Mion awoke, she met the barrier between reality and lies.

"…ood…You're…finally awake…I'll go tell…Dr. Irie. Be right back…"

"Huh…wah?"

As Mion's eyes adjusted to the bright lights in one of the Irie Clinic's recovery rooms, she groaned in a dazed state; her body feeling as if it were heavily drugged. The room was a blur at first as she tried to get a sense of her surroundings. Mion found herself in a bed, her arms bound to the metal rods of the bedsides with leather straps. Pulling on them as best as she could, Mion found herself unable to move them; still unable to scratch at her neck. Her mouth twitched from the annoying sensation as the urge progressed more and more.

Hearing the door close to the room brought Mion's attention to the far corner. Besides the noise of the medical devices monitoring her slowly rising heart rate and other statistics, Mion had sworn she had heard the voice of Rika, her small form exiting the room with soft footsteps. Taking no heed to it now, Mion again studied the room; the nearby window showing that it was almost evening that Sunday. She sighed, trying her best to remember all that had happened so recently to her and the others. What more, Mion remembered the vile demon tainting her soul, now finally being free from it all.

"Damn…hurry up…I'm so…itchy!" Mion threw her head into the pillow of the bed; writhing her neck around in attempts to relieve her pain. However, as she looked up into the ceiling of the room the door suddenly opened slowly; the shuffling of feet coming in masses.

"Huh? Who's…there?" Mion picked her head up, finding many people in the room around her. She smiled when she saw her friends encircling her bed, as if to check on how she was feeling. However, as Mion peered closer upon their faces, the heart monitor suddenly bleeped louder and more frequent. Something wasn't right, a fact that again caused Mion to panic.

"Hey, Sis! How're you feeling?" said Shion. Her face was dark, Shion's eyes displaying catlike pupils that never shifted once. She smiled down to Mion, dressed in what seemed like green surgical clothing. Mion even noticed that Shion had blue gloves on, giving them a tight pull on her fingers after raising a surgical mask over her mouth.

"Huh? Shion, what's going on?!" asked Mion, sweat beading down her forehead. The monitor continued to elevate, the noise causing yellow signs to appear over the monitor.

"My, is the patient ready to go Dr. Shion, I wonder, I wonder?" Coming into view now, Rena stepped forward in similar clothing to Shion's. However, Rena's eyes were likewise sinister and twisted compared to Shion's own; the pupils also catlike. Mion blinked a couple times, unable to understand what she was seeing.

"Hmm…I'd advise putting her under general anesthesia, but I think Mi-chan's tougher than that! We're almost ready for the procedure, Dr. Shion and Dr. Rena!" Satoshi came up to the bedside, flashing a light into Mion's eyes. Mion shut her eyes from the blinding flashes in response, shaking her head to wear off the blurs.

"Thank you, Nurse Satoshi-kun! I hope we can do this quickly before dinner…" spoke Shion again. She looked over to three younger girls, everyone appearing to now be wearing surgical clothing for some unknown procedure. "Now, interns, like us older adults, you must take special note of how this procedure is done. Isn't that right, Dr. Ryuu!" Shion looked over to a man not well known to Mion. She eyed him as being the one she bumped into at the festival before. He smiled to Mion as he put on his surgical gloves; their elastic sounds creeping Mion out more by the second.

"Now, this takes the artful skills of precise cuts and slices. If you go too quickly, you might not enjoy doing the procedure as much. Got that, girls?" spoke Ryuu.

"YES!" resounded the three girls composed of Rika, Hanyuu, and Satoko. They stood at the side, their eyes garnering the same twisted pupils. They held notepads and scribbled furiously as if they were interns taking notes in a hospital. However, Mion started to believe this was all a funny dream, for those girls were too young to be in medical school.

"Wait, you've got to be kidding! This must be a dream…" spoke Mion, the itchiness in her neck growing more and more.

"Oh no! The patient is exhibiting delusions of grandeur! What should we do doctor?" asked Satoko, the scribbling on her notepad furious and methodical.

"We must act fast if we are going to succeed in this procedure. Nurse Satoshi-kun, if you will, hand me the large knife there!" spoke Shion. Satoshi did as told, handing Shion what appeared to be a large kitchen knife covered in blood. At this point, Mion's heart monitor went into overdrive; red warning lights signaling dangerous problems ahead.

"Oh, me too Nurse Satoshi-kun! My cleaver, if you will! We need to be fast for this procedure…" Again, Satoshi handed Rena another surgical-like instrument, but to Mion's horror it was a large, iron cleaver again covered in blood. The smell of iron was almost sickening for Mion, her stomach becoming nauseous upon watching her friends imitate surgeons.

"Wait…what's going on? What procedure are you guys playing at?" Mion screamed. Shion and the others just shook their heads, laughing now.

"A HA HA HA! Why, the procedure to gut you alive, of course! This is your punishment game, remember?" laughed Shion, her narrowing eyes more sinister than before. She raised her knife, focusing the point towards Mion's chest area.

"Oh, Mion's organs will be so cute! I'm gonna take them ALL home with me!" laughed Rena, Ryuu at her side with his own knife now. They both aimed at different areas, almost like they were going to slice her neck open.

"WAIT! STOP THIS YOU GUYS! PLEASE!" Mion screamed; her eyes wide in fear. They stopped for a moment, thankfully by the order of Shion.

"Oh Sis, don't worry. Kei-chan is right here to hold your hand for you!" At the mention of his name, Mion looked around the room; finding Keiichi not present. She looked at them confused again, as they slowly moved away from her bed. After a few moments more, she noticed Keiichi kneeling on the ground, slowly rising up to her level.

"KEI-KUN! HELP ME, THEY'RE GOING TO…" Mion's pleas were unanswered, as Keiichi suddenly grabbed her arm hard. She noticed his touch was ice cold; almost like he was dead. As she looked closer at him with fearful eyes, only then did Mion realize that Keiichi was paler and dirtier, his body in shambles as if he had fallen in the well. It dawned on her then that something horrible was about to occur. Too scared to notice that the door to the room opened again, Mion screamed in fear as Keiichi's grip grew more painful than before.

"Mi-chan…"

Mion stopped struggling, watching Keiichi rise his head up slowly. Finding his forehead covered in blood, his opening eyes wide and twisted in some sick and demented way, Mion's mouth gaped open in awe and shear terror; her words cracked in confusion.

"K…K…Kei-kun…"

"Just as you wanted, my love…TOGETHER FOR EVER, JUST YOU AND I!"

Keiichi's smile was almost as demonic as her evil form, the teeth jagged and fang-like in insanity. He sweated in excitement seeing Mion like this, her fear clearly obvious. Keiichi jumped onto the hospital bed, leaning into Mion's face and staring deeply into her eyes sadistically.

"NO…NO…NO!" Mion repeated in shivering frequency, unable to control the raging heart monitors now. She pushed back hard against her bed, trying to escape this nightmare; however, the bindings prevented any such efforts. The others soon converged onto Mion as well, all of them laughing in total madness. Mion's rising chest and heavy breathing were too ragged now, her heart feeling like it was about to burst.

Unable to prevent what happened next, Keiichi laughed insanely, taking a hammer from out of nowhere and raising it high behind his back. They all laughed in unison; the chorus of madness almost shattering Mion's mind. As he dropped the hammer down towards her head, Mion shut her eyes closed once last time, wishing for this nightmare to end…

"Ok, I've stabilized her. You can let go now Keiichi-san." Dr. Irie loomed over what looked like a frightened beyond belief Mion, watching the heart monitors as the yellow warning signs returned to green again. He nodded his head time to time, checking off marks on a clipboard.

"Mi-chan! It's alright, just breathe slowly and let the medicine take effect." Rika rubbed Mion's forehead with a cold wash-cloth; trying her best to calm her down. She smiled when Dr. Irie gave her the thumbs-up, signaling that everything was ok.

"Geez Sis, I almost thought we lost you there for a sec. You started babbling about a procedure, then started to bash your head in once you saw Kei-chan. You must have been delusional; you nearly took off the leather straps. Though, I'd say you need to lay off the martial arts. Your grip almost broke my hand!" Shion breathed a sigh of relief, standing to her left side while rubbing a very sore hand. Satoshi was at her side as well, with Satoko herself standing in front looking over the rails at Mion.

"She alright now, doc?"

Mion looked over in a weak daze to the far wall of the room. Now realizing that this white clinic room wasn't a single but a multi, she found two others in hospital beds; badly injured from the prior events. With IVs sticking out of their hands and running to large bags of saline, Mion found Komoto and the boy named Ryuu lying up in the beds. To Komoto's right was Mizuho, holding his hand while staring intently at her. Mizuho looked worried, eying Komoto's injuries like they were life threatening. His leg was bandaged up and hanging in a crane sling, while his shoulder was stitched and bandaged up as well. The worst thing, though, was his hand; the bandages showing signs of blood still seeping out. Either than that, the hand was casted to prevent any further damage. Seeing all this, the most astounding thing was Mizuho's fidgeting, like she needed to get something off her chest. However, no ill was shown from either of them towards Mion; a thing she herself felt was much deserved after all that happened.

In the other bed, Ryuu lied comfortably with his shoulder bandaged all around from his neck to waist. He seemed pretty loopy almost, like he was on a good dosage of pain killers. He lobbed his head over, just eyeing Mion a little. To his bedside, though, was Rena; feeding him some soup to eat. She just turned to Mion, smiling in acknowledgement to her. In response, Mion's guilt skyrocketed; unable to look Rena directly in the eyes. She turned her head to the side, finding herself staring into the face of someone very familiar to her.

"Kei-kun…" she whispered. They looked at each other blankly, unable to say anything at the moment. To break the awkwardness, Keiichi held Mion's now unstrapped hands, while Dr. Irie began to place a few medical band aids on her neck areas. Mion felt confused as to why the doctor was doing this, but didn't care so long as Keiichi held her hand as gently as he did. Keiichi smiled at her, giving her a soft hug when Dr. Irie finished.

"I…thought I lost you back there…"

"Wait…THE…WELL! But…how did…"

As Mion recalled what had happened before, Kasai came in through the doors, holding Keiichi's backpack in his hands. He walked over to their side, handing him the bag now. His emotionless face didn't look concerned, but even behind Kasai's dark glasses both Shion and Mion could tell he was worried.

"Actually, I can answer that Mion-sama. Although I don't know what all of you were doing down there in the first place, I'm sure Hagara-san will explain all that to me later…" Kasai spoke, some hesitation in his voice at the mention of Komoto's name. He seemed to still hold some grudge over Komoto's doing of kidnapping Shion and using her as bait during the Dark Spector incident. In response, Komoto just waved him off with his good hand and grinned.

"I'd rather not…go talk to Takano-san. I'm sure she'll update you and Mi-chan's parents when they get here. But please, do explain. I'm curious, since I just woke up here not even an hour ago…" Komoto grinned, whereas Mizuho just sighed at his response; tapping her fingers against his bed rail. She began eating some of his hospital food, taking particular interest in his bowl of pudding. "…Hey, that's mine!" he joked. Mizuho looked at him, irked in a jokingly way, and bopped him over the head with her fist. Everyone just laughed in response.

"Yeah, don't worry about that Kasai. You and my parents will be informed about it all…just be patient, ok?" Shion patted him on the back, to which Kasai sighed again and did as told.

"Very well. Anyway, a while back I had a talk with Oryu-sama about the well. I had concerns about people falling in there, as well; I wanted to fix the broken ladder rods in the event we ever had to use the passageway again. As a result, Oryou-sama felt that it was justified to install a cage-net to a certain depth in the well to prevent any accidents. Thankfully, after whatever happened down there you two were able to be caught by the net…"

"Good idea on that one Kasai! If you didn't do that, we'd be goners." Keiichi thanked him for the bag, now holding it at his side for the time being. Kasai nodded to him and left the room, meeting Mion and Shion's parents outside in the waiting room with Takano.

"Wow…I…can't believe it. It's a…"

"Miracle? Yes, we've had a lot of those these past few days, right Hanyuu?" spoke Rika, smiling to her friend.

"Hau! That is so!" Hanyuu cheered, smiling back to Rika.

Mion was still confused on a lot of things, but with time and more explaining everything would be made clear. She looked over to Keiichi, finding no ill intent in his or anyone else's eyes for what happened. At realizing this, she held her head low; feeling like the worst person in the world.

To everyone else's observation, they found Mion gripping tightly to the folds of the bed sheets, tears falling down and soaking them now. She softly cried over all that happened, wishing it was just a bad dream. However, all her emotion wouldn't be let out until looking at Keiichi's eyes again, his words breaking open the walls of her mind once and for all.

"Mi-chan...Please, don't cry. It's finished…you don't have to worry about anything anymore, ok?" He smiled to her, wiping away her tears. To his amazement, Mion clenched her eyes shut, soon burying her face into Keiichi's chest and tightly wrapping her arms around him; wailing like never before in her entire life.

"Oh…KEI-KUN! I'M SORRY…I'M SORRY…I'M SO SO SORRY…" Mion couldn't contain it anymore. All of her pent up emotions were unleashed; her tears flowing freely now. Everyone looked on with sincere smiles, glad to know that she was back in the right mindset.

After some time passed from crying into his chest, Keiichi pulled Mion's head up and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, finally calming her down. She then looked over to the others, finding strength from his support to look them in the eyes. To them, the guilt and sadness in Mion's appearance was more than apparent; their forgiveness already given by that point.

"Everyone…I'm so sorry for what I did! I don't know what came over me…its all so much like a horrible nightmare…" Mion tried to remember it all, but the feeling of the demon controlling her body was too much to deal with. At this moment, Dr. Irie came up to discuss something with Mion.

"It will feel like that for awhile, Mi-chan. You were under the influence of the syndrome, the same one which Takano-san had. You start feeling uneasy in the first stage, but as the syndrome progresses you feel more paranoid and threatened by the presence of others. Even your mind will start playing tricks on you; people being in places when they are not even there or unusual talking and even distorted perceptions of people's faces. It all leads to this…"

Dr. Irie pointed to Mion's neck, now covered in large bruises, scratch marks and some cuts. She felt them now, her eyes going wide from touching the injuries. The itchiness from before, fortunately, was gone for good.

"The scratching…I couldn't stop…even on my back." Mion touched her back now, noticing that the scar marks of her tattoo were gone. She looked at Shion, confused as to what happened. Shion just shook her head weakly and shrugged, unsure of how to explain it.

"…You must have felt pretty itchy around that area. It's the impact of the final stage of the syndrome: suicide. You were going to claw your own throat out had the others not gotten you to me in time and strapped you to the bed. I injected you a little while ago with the vaccine, and it seems to be working just fine. I'll have to run some tests on you before I can release you for the night, but the others aren't as lucky I must say. How did you all get those injuries by the way?" Dr. Irie looked at Ryuu, Komoto and the others; staring intensely at their bruises and injuries. Ryuu tried to speak, but Rena quickly covered his mouth, smiling. Rika spoke up to clear up any issue.

"Dr. Irie, some things are better left unsaid. Everyone is safe, so don't worry. Nipah!" Upon seeing Rika do her usual cute phrase, Dr. Irie's glasses flashed; his focus narrowing on the young girl.

"Rika-chan…YOU ARE SOOOO CUTE! OH, PLEASE TRY ON THIS LITTLE OUTFIT HERE AND SAY THAT AGAIN!"

*BAM*

"Ugh…"

As Dr. Irie tried to charge at Rika and dress her into a little cosplay dress unwillingly, Satoko and Shion tag-teamed him and hit the doctor over the head with pans and fists. He lay on the ground in a heap, a large bump on his head. Satoko then patted her hands off, satisfied at protecting Rika from another devious attempt by Dr. Irie. Shion and Satoshi just smiled, lifted him up, and guided him outside to the waiting room. When the two returned, they took up some chairs and sat down, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

"Well, Mi-chan, we're all just glad everything ended the way it did. That wretched demon is gone at last. And with the vaccine in your system, you'll be all better in no time!" Keiichi patted Mion's head a bit, earning a blush on her cheeks. Everyone smiled on, watching the two lovebirds as happy as every.

"Umm…yeah. But, I'm really sorry you guys. Everything…around me felt like it was coming apart. I felt like I was pushed aside by everyone…like you all wanted Kei-kun for yourselves. And…all the responsibility on my shoulders…I felt like I was choking…I was…so lonely…" Mion curled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them while Keiichi rubbed her back.

"We know that, Mi-chan. And we're sorry for making you feel that way. We didn't know you were under so much pressure, and you didn't even show it to us. You hid it pretty well, I must say…" spoke Satoshi. He just smiled at her, his eyes caring and sincere.

"Sis, if you ever needed a day off from the responsibility, you could have just switched places with me for a day or two and hung out with Kei-chan. We can mask it pretty easily now, right?" Shion laughed over to her sister, however, didn't receive an exact answer like she hoped.

"With my tattoo somehow gone now…we'll be told apart easily." Mion smiled weakly back to Shion, but Rika interjected even now.

"Actually, we could tell you apart before no matter what. Just look at your hands and you'll know what I mean." Rika pointed to Mion's hand, the large scar from the Dark Spector incident still showing near the wrist area.

"EH?" The twins went. Their eyes went wide with shock, surprised to be told apart now so easily. They sighed, giving up completely on the switch idea.

"Don't worry about it Mi-chan…"

Mion looked over to Rena as she smiled; still feeding Ryuu some soup. He waved at her, smiling too.

"So…umm…I think we haven't met at all. I guess…you're really Rena-chan's boyfriend, huh?" asked Mion, laughing awkwardly at them. He nodded in response, surprising Mion the next moment in shear astonishment.

"Nice to meet you. The name's Ryuu Maebara…"

"Oh, Ryuu…Maebara…EH?!" She looked from Ryuu to Rena to Keiichi, who then confirmed this sudden fact. Mion began blurting out the name again, utterly confused to this new discovery. "…Wait a minute…Rena-chan's father said you were out with Maebara-san! I thought that he meant Kei-kun?"

"I guess that's what really caused a lot of anguish for you. My father didn't mean Keiichi-kun, but Ryuu-kun. You see…" spoke Rena. Keiichi just laughed and finished it for her.

"…Ryuu is my cousin. We're related by blood Mi-chan."

"You have a cousin? Why didn't you ever tell me about him?" Mion asked, pouting at him now.

"Because my dimwhit cousin and I don't see each other a lot. Last time I saw him was at that funeral a while back…" Ryuu closed his eyes and relaxed a bit, rubbing his temples now.

"On top of that, he lives outside of Hinamizawa in an apartment complex. It's no surprise we never saw the two together; they were always out of town on the weekends. But why didn't you guys tell us sooner?" asked Keiichi, looking oddly at his cousin.

"Well, Rena-chan wanted to tell you all when the time was right. I had no problem with it, but I can see why she did that," responded Ryuu, grinning at his love.

"That was my fault I suppose. I wanted to wait a while before I introduced him to you all. I felt it would have been better at the Watanagashi Festival to do so, but I guess that didn't work out as well as I hoped, did it?" Everyone chuckled at this remark as Rena blushed a bit.

"…I guess I really was wrong about everything. It's no wonder that voice had so much influence over me. I gave in to the lies and just believed in them so much. I can't believe I even felt all that…rage…jealousy even…" Mion shivered somewhat thinking about this.

"Uh, Mi-chan, this is just my opinion, but a freaking demon spawned out of you! I don't think any of us could blame you for being controlled by that damn thing. We'd only hold you responsible if you gave in completely to it…" The others agreed with Komoto's statement, still amazed that such a thing still happened. The image of that demon would be remembered for the rest of their lives, that much was sure.

"That thing…I'm glad it's dead. I feel so much like my old self again." Mion looked up, smiling to the others genuinely for the first time that night. They only nodded in response, accepting it wholeheartedly.

"Let's just leave it be. I think we had enough suspense for tonight…" Satoshi sighed as he rested his head on the chair; exhausted from all that happened.

For what they thought could be left alone, the main show of surprises was about to begin shortly, with the entrance of Mion and Shion's parents coming into the room…