The Watanagashi Festival (1)

Ever since Satoshi's fight and Rena's disapproval of him eavesdropping on her, Keiichi was left alone during Golden Week. There was no one to help him this time, and his parents didn't have any plans to go anywhere. Instead, they suggested that he have some fun near Okinomiya. It was a nearby town that was close to Hinamizawa, with more modern facilities and entertainment areas.

"Go have some fun, Keiichi. We didn't move here so that you won't have any friends!"

Keiichi's parents tried to cheer him up, but he felt like he had made such a huge mistake since that time. He didn't know how he was going to reconcile with Rena and fix their friendship. He also had to deal with Satoshi's overprotective barrier on Satoko, as she tended to target Rika when he wasn't there.

So, this is what it's like to have no friends. So much for wanting to find out why Furude-san was like that. Now I'm just like her…

He clenched a pillow that he had taken from the living room and laid down.

How am I going to reconcile with Rena-chan? Forget the club, I need to get close to her again or else I'll be alone in this place…

Keiichi sighed and went to check inside the drawer cabinet inside his room. Rena had brought in more notes than just helping him find the school, so there were still some extra notes scattered around. Out of all of the notes, one of them stood out in front of him.

It was larger than the rest and was folded in half. He took it out of the drawer to see what it was. Large letters decorated in cute faces decorated the note, courtesy of Rena.

"Directions to the Furude Shrine in Hinamizawa."

Furude shrine? Is that the shrine that overlooks the town? What kind of a god does this town pray to?

Keiichi went towards a window in his room to check if there was anything nearby. But there was nothing that he could see yet. Looks like he would have to get there by himself.

All alone. Without help.

"Mom. Dad. I'll be going to visit the Furude Shrine. How far is it from here?"

An hour later, Keiichi went to ride his bike all around Hinamizawa. He had changed to a casual black t-shirt with a red vest, and green shorts. The town was small, but it still took some time before he could see the shrine up on the hill above him. His parents had made him get his bike so that he could explore the place faster and didn't want him to get lost on his way back.

His dad had suggested him the idea in the first place, while Keiichi brought some onigiris that his mom packed for him for the day.

"Keiichi, you should really go get your bike. It's faster to travel around here. Plus, you can ride it to Okinomiya if you want to explore that town too. Who knows what you will find there."

Keiichi smirked at his dad's advice. Maybe it won't be a bad idea to explore by himself once in a while. Heeding to his advice, he left to explore Hinamizawa and find the Furude shrine using Rena's note.

As he continued biking, he noticed a steep stone staircase on a hill near the town's meeting room. A large torii gate could be seen on top of it, overlooking the town. Keiichi quickly went to lock his bike near the hill before double-checking Rena's note.

It looks like the right place. The town here isn't that big, to begin with.

He began to climb up the stairs to get to the shrine.

There was a water basin, a temple, and an offering box on top of the hill. Keiichi saw no one there, and the forest near the shrine created an eerie feeling around him. He felt someone was watching him even if he couldn't see them.

This is Hinamizawa's god? Wonder if Rena-chan put the name somewhere in the note…

He flipped back and forth on Rena's note and found nothing. However, he noticed a small fold on the note. Taking a peek, he decided to risk it and see what the fold said.

"Pray to Oyashiro-sama."

Oyashiro-sama? So that's this town's god. I wonder if he can help me reconcile with her.

He then quickly went to the water basin to wash his hands before taking out a five-yen coin he had in his pocket. His parents tended to give him pocket money for certain things such as entertainment and for visiting places such as the arcades back when he was in the city.

Keiichi threw the coin at the offering box and clapped his hands.

He closed his eyes and offered a prayer.

"Please let me reconcile with Rena-chan, Oyashiro-sama."

He expected nothing to happen, but suddenly he heard a deep voice reply right in front of him. It felt like there was a demonic-looking being staring down at him. He thought there was something that was going to kill him right then and there.

"You can reconcile with Rena-chan, Maebara-san. I have answered your prayer."

The voice sounds feminine. Is there an adult hiding nearby that I didn't know about?

Keiichi slowly opened his eyes, fearing the worst. But right in front of him was Rika.

She had been hiding near the offering box of the shrine the whole time, and he didn't notice her at all. Was she the person that was watching him?

"Ah! What are you doing here, Furude-san? You scared me!"

Keiichi freaked out for a moment before calming down. Rika just smiled back at him.

"Nipah! You really got scared by my voice, Maebara-san?"

What is she doing here? There could be better places to go than to just stick around at a shrine the whole day…

He tried to remain composed but failed. Rika went closer towards him and told him to lay his head lower towards her. Keiichi was confused by why she asked him to do it, but he did it anyway, unsure what to expect.

"This is for you, Maebara-san."

He immediately felt something warm and fuzzy touching his head. Rika was just head patting him. Her warm hands made him feel better while they were on the dreary shine grounds.

"By the way Furude-san, why were you hiding here? Do you really have no one to play with?"

Rika glared back at Keiichi before grinning in front of him. She put her hands behind her back and leaned closer to him. Keiichi felt like he had just said the wrong thing in front of her.

"That's kind of hypocritical of you, saying something like that."

Rika was right. He also had no friends in Hinamizawa. His actions had foiled his plans to make new friends in the rural town. Rena had originally wanted him to join their club, but now she's been ignoring him since. At most, he just wanted to reconcile with her.

"Fine, fine. You win. Do you know anything about the Furude shrine?"

But she just stared back at him, dumbfounded.

"You already know my last name, do you?"

Furude-san. Furude shrine…. I'm dumb. How could have I not noticed it sooner?

"Ah, I see. So, what do you do around here?"

Rika smiled back and took Keiichi's hand. He suddenly felt like he was being led somewhere by her as she began to show him some other places near the shrine. The two of them walked and walked until he saw a warehouse shed near the forested area of the shrine.

"What's that, Furude-san? Do you store Oyashiro-sama's tools there?"

But she sounded quiet after he mentioned the shed to her.

Uh oh. Did I ask her the wrong thing? She didn't say anything about that shed…

But instead, she just smiled back at him and dragged him to a different location.

"Nipah! Let's not focus on that. Let me show you where I live!"

A couple of minutes later, they arrived at a small shed with some windows and a door on it. Keiichi saw a few windows installed on the shed, assuming that it had converted into a living space for someone to live in. Rika pointed towards the shed, gesturing him to look at it.

"This is where I live. I live near the shrine, Maebara-san."

Interesting. So Furude-san must be from a family that takes care of the shrine here. I wonder where are her parents?

Keiichi looked at Rika, but she seemed to be smiling and pointing at things for him. He didn't want to ruin the mood, so he kept quiet. He still doesn't know much about Hinamizawa yet.

But he had just learned about the town's deity today. Its name was Oyashiro-sama.

The two of them enjoyed themselves and explored the area near the shrine together. Keiichi ended up sharing his onigiris with Rika as they sat down on top of the hill overlooking the town. He didn't feel alone for once but still didn't understand why the others at the school hated her.

Especially with how Satoko tried to mess with her in some instances.

"Maebara-san, you should really reconcile with Rena-chan. It would be for the best."

Keiichi looked back at her. He didn't want to leave her alone either.

"But what about you? Aren't you lonely like this?"

"Mii. It's fine. Don't worry about me. I need you to make friends first."

Why me only? Shouldn't you also want friends too? What's wrong with her…

Rika looked solemnly at the sun as it slowly began to set.

"The club's baseball game in Okinomiya is being held tomorrow. You should really go there and apologize to her. You have a chance."

But won't she be alone again? Why does she want to push me to reconcile so hard? She's a pretty nice person.

"But you can always talk to me, Maebara-san. You are not alone."

Then Rika gently patted his head again. After a while, Keiichi felt like it was getting late and that he had to leave. He felt bad that he had to leave her by herself again, but at least he knew her better. She really wasn't a bad person at all.

"I should really get going, Furude-san. Thanks for everything."

But just as he was about to leave, Rika pulled on his shirt. She forgot one more thing.

"By the way, how about I call you Keiichi? You can use my first name too. We don't need to be so formal."

That was fast. I guess she isn't happy with me addressing everyone by first name in school…

"S-Sure, R-Rika…chan."

"That's fine, Keiichi! See you later then!"

And she pushed Keiichi down the steps of the shrine as the sunset in front of them. The red and purple hues of the sky made everything darker and creepier. Keiichi wanted to get out of the forested area so that nothing scary chased after them as they walked home together. Rika held his hand as she leads him back to his house.

"Good luck, Keiichi! Hope you can reconcile with her!"

She waved back at him as he returned to his house.

We'll see about that. You don't need to push it so hard, Rika-chan.

The next day, Keiichi took some money and a bento and rode his bike to Okinomiya. The town was close to Hinamizawa, so many residents also worked there. The town was more modernized and had other centers that Hinamizawa didn't have. Pachinko parlors, mahjong parlors, and other entertainment areas filled part of the town.

The Okinomiya Police Station was also nearby as he biked towards the baseball courtyards. A fancy western restaurant called Angel Mort was also located there. A toy store was also in the area.

I hope she's right. But won't I feel like a stalker doing this?

He shook his head at that thought.

No, no! Don't think like that! I'm only here to reconcile with Rena-chan! That's all!

The wind blew into his face as he went to look for a bike parking spot. There were more people than usual in town, due to Golden Week. The laughter and fun surrounding him made him feel even more lonely, but he persisted anyway. He just didn't need to make himself look like a fool in front of Rena again.

"I wonder if the game already started. It's midday already."

Keiichi quickly found a spot for his bike and parked it. The sound of kids playing nearby made him believe that Rena and the rest of the club were really there. He slowly walked towards the baseball courtyard and noticed the club members playing against a team.

"Go! We still have hope in beating the Okinomiya Titans this round! Just take this lesson as experience, Hinamizawa Fighters!"

Irie also happened to be there, guiding the club members on facing their opponents with their team. He then gestured for Satoshi to come closer and whispered into his ear. He already had his bat and baseball mittens in hand as Satoko snuggled close to him. Rena and Mion were facing Irie, not noticing Keiichi nearby.

Man, I wish I could join in too. But I haven't been invited to the club yet and Rena-chan might not like me right now. Let me just see what's going on.

Keiichi sighed before he went closer towards them. The sounds of the club members and their opponents began playing another round as everyone sat and switched their positions on the field. He gripped his hands behind the metal bars that marked the baseball courtyard as nobody paid attention to him.

"Nii nii! Let's do our best this round!"

Satoko smiled gleefully at Satoshi as they prepared their equipment and walked towards the field. Keiichi noticed that his neck had more bandages on them than before, despite his own injuries from the fight being healed by now. Maybe he probably had some skin infection after all.

Man, can he really play like this? Wonder what's wrong with him.

But the doctors back at the clinic didn't seem to say anything about it, so he had just assumed it was nothing. It was best to ignore it for now. If Irie didn't say anything, it probably wasn't an issue.

The kids hit and ran as they threw the ball and ran towards the bases in the field. Keiichi felt nostalgic watching them play, making him miss playing baseball back at his old school. There was a chance right there in front of him, but he couldn't do anything but watch.

I want to play with them so badly. But I'm not even in their club. Gah…I need to apologize to Rena-chan first!

He gripped the metal bars again as he tried to think up a way to call to her. The game had already started, so he didn't want to distract them from their game. Rena was out cheering on her team before she left the benches to play during a round. The sounds of pavements, running, and screaming filled the air, making him feel restless.

Then he felt like someone was watching him. It definitely wasn't any one of the club members. They were too busy playing their baseball game.

A demonic figure again. With horns.

"Keiichi-kun? What are you doing here?"

Keiichi looked around and spotted Rena looking back at him. She had noticed him watching the game from afar as he tried to keep his composure at the scene. It looked like he was caught spying on them, another guilty act.

Oh no! She noticed me! I'm screwed!

"Keiichi-kun! Wait!"

He felt embarrassed and ran away from the baseball courtyard. Rena continued calling out to him, but he didn't come back to the field. All the other club members were too busy playing the game to notice him, except Rena.

And he had just failed at his chance to reconcile with her.

"I failed! Ah! I feel like I just made things even worse between us! I just look like someone spying on them!"

Keiichi scratched his head in frustration as he sat on a bench near the baseball courtyard. Even though Rika's suggestion sounded reasonable, his own fear of embarrassment and stupidity made it harder for him to just say it. The opportunity was there, but he couldn't take it just yet.

Maybe I should just stick with Rika-chan for now. I just feel so stupid in everything I do…

He then took his bike and rode back to Hinamizawa. After some time has passed since Keiichi left, someone came out near the side of the building near the baseball courtyard. It was Rika, eating some ice cream.

Her face looked disgusted as if someone had just failed in doing what they were supposed to do. Keiichi had already left and failed to reconcile with Rena that day.

A few weeks later, Keiichi went to the Furude shrine to hang out with Rika again. They had become closer and friendly with each other, and he felt like she was his only friend. She didn't seem to mention anything about Rena and his reconciliation for a while, so he had hoped that she had forgotten about it or assumed it happened.

"Keiichi, do you know about the Watanagashi Festival? It's coming up soon."

She kicked a rock as she said that. Keiichi put his hand on his chin and thought about what it was. It was probably another new thing he hasn't heard about for Hinamizawa. He was still learning about the town after all.

Watanagashi Festival? Does it have to do with Oyashiro-sama, this town's deity? I wonder what they do here…

"Will there be vendors and food booths in the festival? Any dancing and singing?"

Rika laughed at his remark.

"Of course, Keiichi. You must have gone to many festivals in the city, right? Since I'm the priestess for Oyashiro-sama, I would be doing a ritual dance at the festival. Please watch me do the dance."

"That's great! I'll definitely come and see it, Rika-chan."

Keiichi smiled and patted her on the head. The two of them walked around the nearby forest that oversaw the aisle that was going to fill by vendors soon. Everyone had already begun preparations for the festival.

But just as he was about to go down the aisle to check it out, Rika tugged on his shirt again. Her face suddenly turned grim and dark.

"By the way, Keiichi. Did you reconcile with Rena-chan?"

Does she know that I couldn't do it? Hmm…. what can I say. Uh…

Keiichi looked back on the steps of the shrine, trying to not to look at her face. He didn't want to upset her either. He would have to find another time to talk with Rena later.

"W-Well, I…of course, I did! Now everything's a lot better between us."

He tried to sound genuine, but his own face and body language said otherwise. He hoped Rika didn't notice it when he said that.

"I see. Then why aren't you talking to Rena-chan more, Keiichi? Are you ignoring her?"

He felt like her words had just stabbed him in the gut.

He hadn't been paying attention to the club members at all and didn't talk much to Rena apart from classwork and study sessions in school. Then he quickly left the school after it ended and avoided engaging with them during break.

He just wanted to learn more about Rika instead.

"I-I…"

After a moment of silence and awkwardness, Rika let go of his shirt. Keiichi suddenly felt off-balance due to the steps and the hill they were on. After regaining his balance, Rika laughed as she walked alongside him as they went down the steps of the shrine.

"Nipah! It's fine if you don't want to talk about it. Let's prepare for the festival, Keiichi!"

Oh right, the festival. I need to watch her dance. I hope that will make her happy.

"Yes, Rika-chan. Let's prepare!"

The night of the Watanagashi Festival finally arrived, with many lanterns and vendors crowding the aisle area to the Furude shrine. Keiichi was waiting for Rika as he looked around for his other classmates from the school. Rena and the others had been doing their own activities at the festival, such as making a shooting contest so that they could get the plushies from the play booths.

At least they are having fun. I wonder what's taking her so long.

Satoshi and Satoko were laughing together before Keiichi spotted someone that looked like Mion approaching them. She had set her hair long and had a ribbon hairband. She looked more feminine than Mion. Plus, Mion was nowhere to be found among the crowd.

Is that Mion-san dressing up to be more feminine with Satoshi-san? Didn't know she had a girly side. Guess that's just girls being girls.

Keiichi sighed as he waited and rested down on the steps of the Furude shrine for a while. Maybe he should go get some food from the food booths and enjoy the festival. After Rika is done with her performance, they could hang out together.

"Alone, little boy? Are you Maebara-san?"

A woman's voice came to him from the top of the Furude shrine. She also happened to be with another man, who was dressed up in camera gear and taking photos of the lively festival. Keiichi looked up to find that she looked like the nurse that took care of him after Satoshi's fight a few months ago.

She had changed into casual attire, wearing a green coat and a yellow skirt.

It took a moment before she noticed that Keiichi didn't know how to respond to her.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you my name. My name is Takano Miyo. I work as a nurse in the Irie Clinic."

The cameraman that was with her also introduced himself.

"Hey! My name is Tomitake Jiro. I take pictures of the birds around here, but now, I'm here to take pictures of the Watanagashi Festival. Nice to meet you, Maebara-san."

"Nice to meet you, Takano-san and Tomitake-san. How do you know my name?"

Takano giggled at that remark.

"You don't think I wouldn't know you since you and Satoshi-kun got bloodied together in a fight? Of course, I'll know your name. Sorry about that."

"I see."

Keiichi looked down on the floor, wondering what they were doing in talking to him. He didn't know much about Hinamizawa yet because he was still a newcomer and came from the city. Hopefully, the two of them would tell him something about the town.

"Maebara-san, by the end of the Watanagashi Festival, make sure to go to the river and drift some cotton there. The cotton will help wash away your sins for this past year."

"Interesting. I didn't know that. Do you know anything else about the festival?"

Tomitake also jumped in to give some more information to Keiichi.

"Do you want to know a secret, Maebara-san? It's something dark and spooky."

Spooky? This can't just be scary stories that people tell each other during the summer, right? I'm sure it's some urban legend or something around here…

"Sure, tell me. What is it?"

He grinned as he told Keiichi.

"Have you heard of the Curse of Oyashiro-sama?"

Curse?!

The sounds of laughter and talking drowned out Keiichi's shock in hearing about it. Thankfully, no one seemed to pay attention to them as Takano and Tomitake explained the curse to him. Many people had died and disappeared in the past four years, with this year's possibility of being its fifth.

But Keiichi wondered if it had anything to do with the festival.

"But Oyashiro-sama would be fine with this festival in his honor right? Why does he want to sacrifice people?"

"Maebara-san. You know about being spirited away, right? And every god needs sacrifices. Otherwise, our sins won't be forgiven. Do you have any regrets?"

Takano's words hit him like a nail. His own actions had caused strife between him and Rena, and he had failed to reconcile with her. Rika had tried to support him into doing it, but he still failed at it even when given the chance.

He wished that he had a second chance. Maybe a redo so that he could make things better.

"Maybe. I should probably go see Rika-chan's dance soon. Thanks for explaining everything to me, Takano-san and Tomitake-san."

"Thanks for listening to us, Maebara-san. May Oyashiro-sama not put a curse upon you."

They waved back at him as they went climbing up to Furude shrine. Keiichi assumed that they were just going to offer and pray to Oyashiro-sama on top of the hill. It was the Watanagashi Festival after all.

I better get going. I don't want to be late for that! Rika-chan told me to see her dance so I'll do it for her!

He ran into the crowd just as Rika began her ritual dance. She was dressed up as a Miko priestess and was holding a ceremonial farm hoe. The sounds of the drums and flute began playing. The ceremonial dance began as she started to move slowly as she turned in circles towards a stacked pile of cloth on the table. She continued to ring the bell that was on her hoe, creating sounds as she danced in circles.

In the end, she smacked the hoe on the cloth.

Everyone applauded, including Keiichi. After the dance was over, Rika bowed towards the audience and thanked them for watching her performance.

As the crowd died down for the night, everyone began preparing for the Watanagashi ritual, which meant preparing pieces of cloth and cotton to drift on the river. Keiichi ran towards the river, looking for Rika, He noticed Rena, Mion, and Satoko together on the other side of the river. Satoshi wasn't with them this time.

Maybe he just went to prepare some cotton or something. I wonder if they're having fun too. I don't exactly have any cloth or cotton with me either.

All of a sudden, he felt a poke on his back. He turned out to find Rika next to him, still wearing her priestess clothes. She held up some cotton pieces for him to use.

"Nipah! I found you, Keiichi!"

"Ah! You scared me, Rika-chan."

Keiichi blushed, feeling embarrassed. Rika took out one of the cotton balls that she had and gave one to him.

"I'll show you how to give your respects to Oyashiro-sama."

She moved her hand and pointed the cotton ball on her head and made a straight line with it before doing a vertical line gesture on her stomach. Afterward, she put the cotton ball on the flowing riverside with the other cotton balls that were drifting alongside it.

"Now it's your turn, Keiichi."

Keiichi smiled and repeated what she had shown him. After a few minutes, his own cotton ball drifted into the river. Rika looked alongside him as they watched everyone's cotton balls drifting together into the night.

"It's really beautiful to look at, Rika-chan. I hope that Oyashiro-sama won't curse us this year."

Rika's expression suddenly changed from hearing that. Keiichi felt like he just said the wrong thing. Hopefully, she won't respond too bluntly to him.

"Curse? Mii. What are you talking about, Keiichi?"

She smiled again and made him kneel down so that she could pat him on the head again.

"Don't think such bad thoughts. It's best that you don't believe those sorts of things. Oyashiro-sama will accept our cotton ball offerings to him. I'm sure of it."

But her tone sounded mildly strange. Keiichi couldn't put his finger on it, but he felt something off about her. But since she was the Miko priestess to Oyashiro-sama in this rural town of Hinamizawa, there could be some merit to her words.

Rika-chan really is a strange girl. But she's a good girl, I'm sure of it. Hopefully, whatever Takano-san and Tomitake-san said about the curse isn't true…

Keiichi looked down on the riverside.

What could possibly happen in this town?