Chapter 5
True Responsibility
Things weren't looking well at all today. Today was special, as both Okinomiya and Oshima were going against each other today in a baseball game, so the schools were closed for today. Though it seemed that the Okinomiya Titans were losing at least three to one against the Oshima High School. Over at the benches were the group, consisting of Mion, Shion, Rena, Rika and Satoko. Whilst Mion and Satoko were filled with determination, Rena and Shion were unsure if the Titans could win it back. As for Rika, she clearly didn't care. It was obvious to her what was going to happen, and how it would end. Irie, the baseball leader, came over to sit down, sighing deeply.
"This isn't looking good at all" He spoke out, "They're taking us out like flies out there."
Satoko pouted, folding her arms together, "it's because of that Koichi guy they have on their team. He's just too good."
Koichi Kameda, the Koshien player, is one hell of a talented baseball player over at Oshima. He has shaved black hair, dark eyes, and freckles on his face. He wears a white shirt and a white cap. So far, he had gotten countless of batters from Okinomiya out, his talent far exceeding the opponents he faced.
"I don't think there's any use." Shion stated.
Mion looked at her, unbelieving of what her sister just said. "Wh-What do you mean!?" She blurted out. "They can still win this!"
Irie shook his head, replying to her, "I'm sorry to say Mion but she's right. With those skills that Koichi has, he's practically a devil. Unless we have a trump card of some kind, excuse my language but our toast is buttered."
While the others looked at him unamused of his weird saying, Satoko pondered to herself. A trump card huh? There's was only one person she could think of that's good at baseball, her brother Satoshi. Sadly, he's gone. But that didn't stop her of thinking of an idea. After all, there was one person she looked up to that could help them out. She just needed a phone...
At the Maebara residence, Keiichi was already up. He had already eaten breakfast and had gone back to his room, sitting on his futon with Hanyuu. After last night's nightmare, he was somewhat on edge, though thanks to Hanyuu, he was able to sleep soundly after it. Though that didn't stop him from wanting to know answers.
"Alright then Hanyuu" He began, a hint of aggression from his voice, "Start talking. What the hell was that nightmare, or whatever it was?"
"Please calm down Keiichi" Hanyuu asked him, "I did say I would give you answers. After all, you're a part of this now."
"Alright then, well I want to know what I'm apart of" He stated.
She nodded in agreement. "I understand. But before I start, I'll warn you right now; What I'm about to tell you, you may find hard to believe. But I assure you I am speaking nothing but the truth."
He calmed down, letting go of the tension as he nodded in reply to her. The violet-haired girl closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She opened her eyes, ready to begin. "That nightmare you witnessed was indeed from my perspective. But what you witnessed has already happened."
He was already confused from this, yet scared. "What do you mean!? Does that mean Satoko is-"
"She's still alive, don't worry." She assured him. "I mean that this happened already in a Hinamizawa before this one. In fact, there have been countless of other Hinamizawas before." Keiichi was unsure of what she was saying. The more she told him, the more he wanted to ask questions, though so far, he was limited in what he wanted to ask.
"Other...Hinamizawas? What does that mean?" he asked in curiosity, wanting to understand more clearly.
"It means that you and your friends have lived through the same experiences and such from these worlds" She continued. "Each time repeating the same June of 1983. Though changes may differ."
"Woah hold on a second" he stopped her, raising his hands. "So, what you're saying, is that...those memories that I experienced from yesterday and all, were from a previous life I had from one of those worlds?"
Hanyuu nodded her head, "That is correct, Keiichi. But those other worlds that exist, including this one right now, are because you and your friends died from those previous ones before. Although there are some changes in each one. For example, there is the world that you saw, where Shion, over her jealously, disguised as Mion, and locked her down in the Sonozaki basement. Later she killed both Rika and Satoko. After that, she continued her descent into madness, killing her sister and getting rid of you. Though in the end, she died by falling off the side of a balcony."
Keiichi sat there; his eyes widened with shock. What he heard, what was being told to him, to someone else, they would think it was crazy. But Hanyuu said she would speak nothing but the truth, so if what she was saying was right then...there has been countless of worlds where him and God knows how many of his friends, killing and dying, blood being shed, horrors committed by them, or maybe not just them, but others too. Taking this all in gave Keiichi an uneasy feeling of dread and horror.
Hanyuu realised this and asked him, "Are you alright Keiichi?"
He looked up to her, trying to relax himself, "Y-Yeah, I'm alright." He replied to her, almost unsure. "It's just, a lot to take in you know. I mean, just the sound of it all is just...crazy"
She agreed with him indefinitely, "I know what you mean" she said. "Being told about all this death and murder would frighten anyone. So, don't worry, I'm still here to help you out if you need it."
"Thanks, Hanyuu..." He said, blankly. "So, from what you're saying there's something that's going to trigger in this...world of ours that we have to stop, otherwise we'll have to reset again or something?"
"That is correct." She answered. "But the thing is...this might be the last world."
Keiichi sat up straight, shocked from her words. "...What? But...But why?" He asked hesitantly.
Hanyuu sat there silently, before telling him, "It's because I'm running out of energy to do so. I won't have enough to reset again. In other words, this will be possibly our last ever chance."
He went quiet, sighing heavily to himself as he gazed outside the window. So much to take in. Being told about spirits and powers was one thing. Being told that this is probably you're one hundredth time living is major already. But that this could be their last chance to succeed, was a lot to take in for even someone like him. Hell, he must remind himself that Rika had to hear all this and deal with it.
He turned back round to her, letting go of that fear. If what he was told was true, he had to help Hanyuu and Rika against this threat. No matter what, he had to be brave for them. "Alright then Hanyuu, I'm alright now. I can deal with this." He said, determined.
Hanyuu grew a bright smile, relieved of his words. "I'm glad you're still on board with this. We need you after all."
Keiichi nodded, "Right, so what is it that we need to look out for?"
"Well for starters you need to-"
Suddenly, the phone in his bedroom began to ring. It seemed that they had been interrupted from their talk, but from who? He got up and went over to the phone, picking it up and answering.
"Hello? This is Keiichi speaking." he answered first.
"Keiichi, we're in deep trouble!" It was Satoko from the other end, and she sounded quite panicked.
"Satoko? What's wrong?" he asked with curiosity.
"We've gotten into a fight with some other school, and they're really giving it hard to us." What? A fight? That didn't sound right. Why would his friends get into some brawl with some other school? It was a Saturday, and he wanted to have time to do his own things and plan more with Hanyuu. Besides, for all he knew this was a prank by Satoko, and he wasn't in the mood for that crap. "But that's not all" Satoko continued, "Mion is really taking a beating out here." Wait! Mion!? Mion's getting beaten up! The hell he was gonna let that happen.
Keiichi, now riled up, replied, "say what!? Alright, I'm coming over! Where are you guys!?"
"We're at the baseball court, be sure to-" Before she could finish, he slammed down the phone. He went over and grabbed the bat that he was borrowing (it was from Satoshi, but he was allowed to use it) and got ready.
Hanyuu loomed over him, nervously. "W-What's going on? Au au?" She asked.
"Mion and the others are in trouble. I can't just let them get beat like that! I'm gonna help them out!" He rushed out his room, as Hanyuu pondered to herself.
"Wait does he mean the baseball game? Maybe I should tell him...nah, he'll be fine." She giggled to herself, dissipating over to Keiichi to follow him.
Back at the court, Mion was laying on the floor, filled with defeat. She had attempted to face against Koichi Kameda and the Oshima team, thinking she could take them on. But ultimately, she had gotten destroyed by them. The Oshima players laughed in mockery, high five-ing each over. Meanwhile, the others looked in somewhat embarrassment and shame, whilst Shion face palmed, shaking her head in shame, though Satoko was missing in the group.
Koichi stood along with his teammates; his arms folded with a smug look on his face whilst his teammates talked to each other over their wins.
"Hah, she didn't stand a chance."
"I know right? Isn't she supposed to be a Sonozaki or something?"
"Nyeheh, more like Sono...er, lozi, heh."
"Those Okinomiya guys just have to face it, they're at a loss."
They laughed along with each other as they gossiped over. Satoko appeared, her hands on her hips as she stood there vigilantly.
"Not so fast, peasants!" She announced, getting everyone's attention. She pointed over to the players, a mischievous look on her face. "Don't think you've won just yet; we're not even finished."
They all paused for a moment, looking at each other confused. They then began to laugh hysterically at what the loli said, including Koichi Kameda himself.
"Oh yeah?" He asked, a sarcastic tone in his voice, "And why is that?"
She snickered, answering to him, "Because I just called one of our best players yet. He's so good, they say he's scared off countless of dunces like you by just his glares."
Koichi looked at her with a look as if to say, 'that sounds stupid', though some of his teammates seemed to have fallen for the bluff, as they seemed tensed up. She grinned at their looks as she continued, "He's coming right now, and when he arrives on the scene, you're all going suffer his endless wrath."
A moment later, Keiichi arrived on his bike into the court. He jumped off of his bike, landing spectacularly as he pulled out the bat from behind his back. He ran up at least a few metres from them, pointing the bat at them.
He shouted at them, "Alright then! which one of you want an ass...kicking..." he slowly took in his surroundings as he looked around the court. He had a somewhat look of confusion on his face, not knowing what was even going on here.
The same couldn't be said for everyone else. While Koichi was somewhat intrigued in the new guy on the scene, the players behind him were shocked, whilst some were terrified that the blonde-haired girl wasn't bluffing. One of them fainted in the background, as the group however were relieved that he had arrived. Dr. Irie was however intrigued.
"Ah, I see. So that's what Satoko's plan was" said Irie, "Though I don't see how he could turn the tide."
Rena pouted, looking at Irie with a cross tone on her, "Don't doubt Keiichi. With him, our chances of winning are now like...a million to one!"
Mion came back to the bench they were at, nodding in agreement to Rena, "She's right you know. He may be an idiot, but he's a smart idiot." Though Irie didn't get what they meant, he shrugged, somewhat agreeing with them.
Keiichi rubbed the back of his head, asking, "So uh, what the hell is all of this?"
Satoko went up to him, looking slightly embarrassed, "Heh, about that fight..."
"Unbelievable!" Keiichi shouted out, annoyed. "I thought you guys had gotten into a real fight or something, hell, I was worried. But no, it was just some 'baseball game' this whole time, making me look like an idiot in front of everyone!"
Satoko had told him about her plan, and that they needed his help to win. Of course, Keiichi was annoyed that he was told in a way of a lie on the phone. He sat there on the bench, his arms crossed, and a sour look on his face.
Mion sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I get that you're annoyed, but we seriously need you for this."
The hot-headed brunette turned to her; an eyebrow raised. "How am I gonna change the match? Didn't you get beaten as well? I thought you were the best of the group."
The comment flustered Mion, as she tried to retort back at him. "H-Hey! I'm not good at everything ya know!"
Rena interrupted them as she peered in the middle of them. "Besides Keiichi" she stated, "Maybe you could use that charisma of yours or something right? Right?"
He sat there, as he thought to himself for a moment. He looked at Koichi, who was at the other side on his bench with his teammates. This guy was a real pervert for sure. From what he guessed; he probably compares girls to sweets. Of course, there's nothing wrong with being a pervert since it's what boys are for like him. He could in-fact use that to his advantage, forcing him to let him win. It was just something else. As if...he's already done it before, from one of those 'worlds' Hanyuu was talking about. He got up from the bench, stretching a bit as he took in the surroundings.
Irie asked him, "So are you up for it then? You're gonna help?"
Keiichi turned to him and replied, "Yeah sure. I'll try out with helping you guys." Rika peered at him, for some reason interested. It was like she knew that he was planning something. But then again, it couldn't be something she hasn't seen before already...right? Hanyuu was also interested. She knew that he must have a plan for this. Or maybe he'll think of something during the match? The curiosity was quite entrancing.
Rena pumped her fist in excitement. "Yeah! That's the spirit Keiichi!"
Mion nodded, "Go show them what the club's made of."
"Yeah! Otherwise, you're in big trouble!" Satoko commanded, though it was obvious she was hiding her appreciation.
Keiichi rubbed the back of his head, overtaken by their words. "Hey now, don't be thinking I'll turn into superman all of a sudden or something."
Meanwhile, Irie took in the other's inspiration, amazed in their sudden tone shift from despair to excitement. "Interesting. They're all just rooting for him now. He's really made it look like he can turn the tide."
"Well, that's him for you I guess" Shion answered, sitting next to him. "Always full of surprises."
Keiichi took the bat, as he nodded to the referee. They understood, declaring that he was now officially in the match. Meanwhile over with the Oshima team, Koichi took interest in this guy, as he prepared himself for what this guy could pull off that his half-wit friends couldn't.
As thought, Keiichi was not doing so well. So far, he had lost a few times thanks to Koichi being their pitcher. His throws were incredible, catching him off guard many times with how he threw it, and the angles they went. Keiichi just couldn't seem to predict his movements.
He was back at the bench where everyone else was, waiting for his turn yet again against the terrifying Oshima pitcher. Mion sat there in frustration, her arms crossed, rapidly tapping the floor, a sour mood on her face.
"Aw, this is some real bull!" She exclaimed, "We're just getting rubbed into the dirt with that guy!"
"Indeed" Irie said. "Nothing has seemed to change in this match at all. Satoko, I thought you said Keiichi could turn this around." Satoko herself was also infuriated by their lose streak by Koichi Kameda and the Oshimas. This was meant to be their big break, but yet they weren't even gaining an advantage at all.
She spoke out, "He's supposed to be. Hey, Keiichi! What are you even doing out there!? Are you even trying!?" She got no response from him. "Hello? Are you even listening to me?"
Keiichi was sat there, a hand on his chin as he was thinking to himself. True he was losing, but he had clearly figured out something. Since this Koichi guy was so skilful, and clearly the best player on their team, that meant if he could pull off even a single bat, possibly a home run even, then he could for sure break his team, hell, even making them surrender. But that would be hard to pull off on his own. Unless...
"Keiichi!"
He stopped thinking, looking over to Satoko who had been trying to call him. "You need to get really serious, ok?"
He gave her a blank look for a moment, then gave her a confident smirk, which made her slightly confused at his reaction. "Oh, don't worry" he replied, "This one will make you guys' jaw drop for sure." Everyone else was somewhat dumbfounded as to what he meant. They haven't really seen much to what he's done, other than losing this match, so it'll be a miracle to them if he can pull something off.
However, Rika was somewhat intrigued. She was still sat at the far end of the bench from everyone else, staying quiet. But she took somewhat interest into Keiichi now. She didn't know why, but there was something off about him. How confident he was, and... different? He was up to something, but what exactly?
He was already next up, as the last player was wiped out. He got up, grabbing his bat as he headed to the batter position. He positioned himself as he got ready. Koichi had a good look at him, as he grinned in his own praise from his teammates.
"This is it?" He thought to himself, "This is the guy they called for? What a joke. I've wiped this guy out more than he probably wipes his own ass. Doesn't matter any ways, cause either way, they've lost." Koichi got himself ready form his pitch, readying the ball in his rough hands.
Keiichi whispered under his breath, "Hanyuu." She immediately appeared next to him, curious as to what he summoned her for.
"What is it, Keiichi?" She asked him. "Do you finally have a plan?"
"Yep, and it's simple" he said quietly, making sure no one was giving him a weird look as if he was talking to himself. "If we can pull off a home run on this guy, we'll be sure to win this."
Hanyuu put a finger to her chin, confused as to what he meant. "But how?" She asked, "As far as I've seen, the scores are pretty unbalanced, it would be a miracle to take it back. Also, what do you mean 'we'?"
He gave her a reassuringly smile, winking at the goddess. "Just trust me, alright?" he asked her. She was unsure for the moment, but then she shook the feeling off, wanting to be sure that she doesn't doubt anything again. She wasn't going to let her negative thoughts get in the way. She nodded, giving him relief. "Alright then" He continued. "Be ready for my signal."
The referee blew the whistle, beginning the match. The buzz-cut wonder threw the first pitch in an amazing arch. Keiichi swung the bat at its direction but missed it.
"Strike one!" The referee called out.
The others were in complete tension just watching this match. All except Rika once again. Something was wrong to her. Keiichi didn't just miss the ball; he wasn't even being serious. He intentionally missed. But why?
Koichi was passed back the ball, and he prepared the next throw. This time however, he threw a curveball, wanting to be sure he could scare his opponent. Unpredictably though, Keiichi wasn't even phased. He went and swung at where it was being thrown, and missed again, and he still had a reassured face on him.
"Strike two!"
It was confusing to the great pitcher himself. He didn't get it. Why was this guy so relaxed? This guy was losing. The whole of his team is losing. He should be mad, panicked, scared. But there he is, thinking he can just win this? Not by a long shot. And he was going to finish this, one way or another.
He was passed the ball again, this time clenching it with pure passion and diligence. He aimed the ball, this time, he knew just how to throw it. "You're finished." he thought to himself. He aimed the ball, and threw a four-seam fastball, probably one of the fastest throws he's done for a while. He would be sure that he took out this guy, making him purely embarrassed. It was over.
Under his breath, Keiichi smirked to himself, and gave the signal, "God's world."
Immediately, Hanyuu appeared, freezing everything around them completely. The ball was directly in front of him on the side. This was Keiichi's plan.
Hanyuu landed on the ground, somewhat intrigued in his idea. "I see what you wanted to do" Hanyuu said, "Stopping time in this exact moment is perfect. In fact, you have a perfect shot at the ball. Though, how is this going to work?"
He went up to the ball, as he crouched down, holding his bat to aim directly at it. "You'll see." Is all he said. He began by hitting the ball lightly and didn't stop there. He did it again, and again, and again. But he wasn't just hitting them randomly, no, he was aiming over the fence. That was what Hanyuu noticed and made her realise his plan.
"I-I understand now!" she exclaimed in excitement. "You're using God's world not to just freeze the ball in place so you can hit it perfectly, you're also adding momentum and force to it, so then when you hit it out of time, the ball will hit straight out of the pitch! Giving you a home run!"
Keiichi was impressed in how Hanyuu managed to figure it out. "How many seconds do we have left?" he asked. The violet-haired loli put up two fingers on her hand, meaning only two seconds. He understood, as he got back into the position he was in before. He took a deep breath, tightening the grip on the bat. He gave a full, proper swing at the ball, going straight for it.
As he did so, time stopped at the exact moment he hit the ball. Suddenly, the sound of the collision made a loud bang, as the ball went soaring into the sky, wing gushing past it as it flew hats off of people and blew their hair. It went as fast as a race car, it even broke through the clouds, splitting them apart. Everyone was awestruck in the awesomeness of what they just saw, shouts of excitement and cheering went on in the crowds of the players on the Okinomiya team. Rena and Satoko were cheering greatly, amazed completely. Meanwhile, Mion and Irie jaw-dropped at the sight they had just witnessed, along with Koichi himself.
Everyone on the Oshima team were completely dumbfounded and shocked to the sight in front of them. "WHAAAAAATTTTTTTT!?" They all exclaimed in unison. As this happened, a lot of their players dropped their bats and gloves, leaving the benches. "Yep, I'm out." One of them said, walking away from the sight. From the looks of it, they had surrendered, which meant that altogether that the Okinomiya Titans win my default.
Rika was lost for words, or even thoughts of reason. She had no idea what just happened in front of her. Keiichi just did something that she has never seen before. Hell, it was inhuman of what he had done, as if there was something else to it. But this...only gave Rika great reassurance. It meant that if he does, then this could mean...that maybe they have one more chance.
Koichi nimbly knelt to the floor, looking down at the ground in disbelief. He, Koichi Kameda, the top Koshien player, had lost to this guy. He heard footsteps approaching him, then stopping right in front of him. He looked up, to see the mysterious brown-haired boy himself towering over him, the sunlight shadowing his eyes.
He stammered in his words, "Y-You're incredible! Stunning! Fantastic! I've never lost to anyone but you, you got me to my own knees!" As Koichi looked up again, the boy had reached out a hand to him, offering to pick him up, a bright smile on his face.
"That was a good game. You we're great out there." he said to him. "But just never underestimate me again, ok?" The once-top player was swayed by this guy's words. He wasn't boasting at him, no, he was admiring him. He knew how good he was, how he, Koichi, was boasting his skill, and how mean he was to his friends. But instead, he was showing him kindness.
He took his hand, getting back up. He immediately bowed before him, tears of joy flooding his eyes. "Thank you so much!" he exclaimed, "For now on, I'll do anything for you! I'll respect others! I'll stop being perverted!"
Keiichi put a hand up to stop him for a moment. "Hey now," he said, "who said you needed to stop being perverted. Take pride in it. After all, we're guys, right? It's what we do." He winked at him, a shining glint in his grin, Hanyuu behind him blushing in completely embarrassed over his words.
Koichi took these words deeply, smiling along with him. As Keiichi went off to the bench with the others, Koichi called out, "W-Wait! What should I call you!?"
He stopped in his tracks, turning to him. He smirked greatly, answering him, "Just call me K." He continued walking back, the buzz-cut boy standing there, astounded by this mysterious person, who goes by the name, K.
Whilst Keiichi was heading back to the others, Hanyuu appeared beside him. "Keiichi, that was amazing. I've never seen such a thing like that before."
Keiichi casually gave her a thumbs up. "I'm just glad you trusted me through it all."
"But um, could I ask something of you?"
He stopped in his tracks, paying full attention to her. "What is it?" he asked, curious to what she wanted. She was somewhat anxious to say anything at first, rubbing her arm softly.
"It's just that, I want to make sure that you'll take this power of mine seriously is all." She said, concern in her voice. "I can tell that you're going to great things, but at the same time, this power is no joke to just be used for silly things. However, I'm still amazed by you. After all, you've been the only one that can sustain and use this power compared to Rika, and yet I still don't know why."
It was quiet for a moment, Hanyuu standing there with anxiousness, feeling as if maybe she's asked too much of him. Though all he did was give her a confirmed look, nodding. "I promise I'll use it seriously. You can count on that." He answered to her. She looked back at him, reassured by his words and promise on what he would do, her pretty eyes gleaming in thankfulness. She truly knew that he was a man of words, other than a great person himself.
"However," he started, getting her attention for a moment. "It doesn't mean I won't use it to peep on girls in the shower, heheheh!" Hanyuu immediately broke down into a flustered fit, waving her arms around exaggeratedly.
"Au au au au au! Keiichi you pervert!" He laughed at her as he continued walking over to the bench, enjoying the sound of the panicked goddess herself. He was only joking after all. Maybe he should tell her...nah, she'll be fine.
End Chapter 5
A/N, Hoo jeez, that took much longer than it needed to with finishing this. Apologies for the wait, for the past couple of weeks or so I've been in a block of such. I tried staying up late to finish this for a few nights and, well, it didn't do well for my health. Either way, hopefully the wait was worth it. It was going to be longer than this but I decided to save the rest for chapter 6, which will be going more in depth with the memories and such.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed and see you next time or so.