Hinamizawa Hell
"The Truth of Fate" Arc: 3
Ch. 4: Blank Slate
/
"Wow, Rika-chan, you weren't kidding when you said you needed our help," stated Ryuu Maebara from the front entrance of the Furude Shrine. Light peered into the dark room, while dust flew from the floor and surrounding objects as a steady wind crept inside. The shadows of many people came into the room and grew along the floor as the light from the outside world illuminated their surroundings. As the doors opened even further, one could see the glinting tones of the various torture tools and devices the shrine held; that, and the giant, stone statue of Oyashiro-sama.
"So what exactly do we need to do today, Rika? Satoko stated as she coughed a bit from all the dust flying around in the air, to which a few helping villagers went inside to open the tall, side windows. It seemed the shrine needed a good airing out before anything could be done.
"I wanted to clean the room up before the Crimson Lotus Festival, and we need to move the statue too! It's a good thing that a lot of villagers came today to help load it onto the truck." Rika happily went inside, beginning to make a checklist of the things that needed to be done. As she was the first to go in, her friends also cautiously walked in; this being their first time in the shrine. As far as they were concerned, this shrine was sacred ground.
"Wow, I can't believe Hinamizawa had such a mysterious past. Just look at all these torture tools…" spoke Satoshi. He was a little scared from seeing the sharp and rusty blades and devices in the sides of the room.
"Hinamizawa or at the time it was called, Onigafuchi Village, had an unfortunate past. Many of these tools were used in ceremonies to quell the dark spirits from harming the villagers. However, some of these tools are merely for show I'm sure…" Hanyuu walked beside Rika while looking at many of the devices. She herself knew of everything in the room, but felt that her senses as a human now reignited their mysterious nature. She did, in particular, eye a certain object in the room, hanging on the wall wrapped in cloth. For now, she didn't care to go to it or even inspect it. "Hmm…it wouldn't matter anyway…" she murmured to herself.
"What was that Hanyuu?" asked Rika, taking her eyes off the checklist for a moment.
"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking how dusty the room is. I'm not sure if we'll even be able to get it all out…"
"Don't worry about that Hanyuu! Kei-kun here is Rika-chan's slave for today, so I'll make sure he gets all of it out! Right slave?" Mion triumphantly walked in and stretched her arms, grinning in Keiichi's direction. Coming into the room alongside Rena and Shion now was Keiichi, draped head to toe in odd assortments of cleaning clothes. He wore a pink bandana on his head, whereas he had rubber gloves and a white cleaning apron on too. In both hands were a bucket filled with water and soap, and a large mob and broom. It seemed like he was the Rambo of cleaning.
"Mion, you owe me for this! When we're done cleaning, I'm…" Keiichi fumed. As his gaze went over Rika, looking sad and hurt in a cute manner, he suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
"Mii…Keiichi, I thought you would…*sniff*…want to help me…mii…" Rika put the list to her lips as some tears in the sides of her eyes began to form. She casted her eyes away, looking hurt in the process. Keiichi mentally bashed himself for acting like he did; that, and felt the penetrating gaze of Mion burning into his head.
"Er…ah…what I meant to say was that I'll gladly do this for you Rika-chan. Just call and I will obey, ok?"
"NIPAH!" went Rika. She smiled at Keiichi, earning his blush in return. As he turned his back to her and Mion, they both grinned darkly and held up fingers in the form of a "v" for victory.
"Hehehe! Thank you for your generous offer Mion-sama. I'll put Keiichi to good use. I'm sorry, though, if I break him…" spoke Rika, her darker side taking over.
"No problem Rika-chan. But don't kill the poor guy, I need him for other things too!" grinned Mion. She laughed at the sight of Keiichi being whipped around like he was. However, she was thankful for him agreeing to help Rika and everyone else with the preparations for the festival. Besides that, Mion thought, she could watch him whilst he cleaned.
*Hmm…Kei-kun working hard and eventually taking his shirt off from all the sweat…his muscles showing and all…* Mion drooled again at her perverted thoughts, but instantly banished them away and regained her composure, blushing in front of the others for no reason.
"Gee, Mi-chan, you're red in the cheeks. Are you dehydrated or something?" asked Rena. She put a hand to her friend's forehead, checking for a fever. When she found none, Mion just smiled awkwardly and shunned the thought off.
"I'm fine, it's just the dust I'm sure. Come on you guys, let's finish opening up the windows and get this place cleaned out!" Mion cheered. The others did likewise in response, however, Ryuu wanted to get his own jabs at his cousin.
"Hey Keiichi, too bad you're a slave today. Though I must admit, the apron looks very good on you!" Ryuu laughed at Keiichi, while he looked on with narrowed eyes. At this moment, just before Keiichi would exact a fitting punishment on his cousin, Rena suddenly appeared behind Ryuu.
"Oh, Ryuu-kun, I didn't want you feeling left out as well. So I also volunteered your help to Rika-chan! Plus, I got you this CUTE apron to wear!"
In a flash of godlike speed, Ryuu went from laughing at his cousin to sheer embarrassment in mere seconds. Rena, with her grace at being a goddess of speed and all things cute, instantly dressed Ryuu in a getup similar to Keiichi's. She drooled at seeing how cute he was, trying her best though to stay out of "take it home" mode for the time being. Everyone else just laughed at this spectacle.
"Wha…wait! How could you…how did you even put this thing on me?" Ryuu's face lit up as red as a tomato in embarrassment; his hands trying to cover whatever decency he felt remained at that time.
"Aw, don't worry about it. Now go help Keiichi-kun!" Rena smiled darkly at Ryuu, making him think twice about going against her word. Sighing in defeat, he joined his cousin on the other side of the room, murmuring softly to him so that no one but them could hear.
"We can't win, huh cousin?" Ryuu hung his head down, his eyes to the floor.
"You're right…women are just too powerful…" responded Keiichi, his head also sinking in the same manner. It seemed like a cloud symbolically formed over their heads, raining hard on their slave-like statuses.
"Screw it…let's just be allies and get this over with. Agreed?"
"Agreed..."
"Hey, I don't hear you guys cleaning!" yelled Mion. It could be said that she pulled a whip out and began delivering some much needed motivation for the two slaves. While Mion motivated them, the boys suddenly dawned on the thought of their missing comrade.
"HEY! WHAT ABOUT SATOSHI-KUN? HE CAN HELP TOO!" Ryuu and Keiichi both yelled in unison. Satoshi just sweated a bit from their request for his help, though he didn't care either way to give any so long as he wasn't dressed up like they were. At this moment, Shion interjected.
"Satoshi-kun volunteered himself to help, unlike you two. So he's exempt from any punishment on your ends! Got it?" Shion glared at the two men with a sinister lookd; one that would make them shiver at the thought of. They swallowed their prides and nodded in response, though held in their hearts a wish for vengeance against Shion's dirty, underhanded methods.
While all three boys began sweeping, washing and wiping down the items and floors of the shrine room, the girls began figuring out what needed to be taken out in order to make room for the statue of Oyashiro-sama. Since Mion had moved many of the torture devices from her family's dungeon to the Furude Shrine, the room was currently somewhat overcrowded with tools and such. For this matter, the girls would take what little they could carry one by one and, with the other villager's help, eventually move everything outside. Though the task was arduous on their part, they were already ahead of schedule that day with so many villagers on hand to help.
"Phew! Almost done with everything. Now we just need to load up the statue on the truck outside and we're done for the day, right Rika?" asked Keiichi. He and Ryuu emerged from the shrine room, covered head to toe in dust and dirt. They began dropping their cleaning items on the grass outside, and from how hot it was that day, began stripping off their shirts. If one could see Mion and Rena from the sidelines, their noses began bleeding like fountains in sheer perverted thoughts. The oddest thing, though, was seeing Rena act likewise to Mion; Rena also thinking of Ryuu with some sexual intent. When both Mion and Rena's eyes met one another, they coughed and looked the other way in embarrassment; unsure of how to respond.
*Damn, Kei-kun really looks…* thought Mion.
*Ryuu-kun's body exposed…is so sexy…* thought Rena, very much unlike her want of cute things.
"Um…girls, we're ready to go on break now. You coming along?" asked Satoshi. Just when Mion and Rena shook off any sexual thoughts, they found Shion at a distance looking at a shirtless Satoshi as well; spouting one of her own nosebleeds. They just giggled uncontrollably, causing Satoshi to remain confused on the spot.
*Satoshi-kun, even in the light of day you look so stunning…* thought Shion, drooling at seeing her lover as he was.
/
Around noon time, everyone gathered at the shrine had gone on break for lunch; most of those present sitting on blankets and drinking and eating all the while. While some villagers began drinking alcohol together, others just sat down for a nice and fulfilling meal. For Rika's group, they all sat down to Mion, Shion, Rena and Satoko's infamous bento-lunch boxes. Likewise, as they all dug into their portions, Keiichi and Satoko had another one of their comical battles over certain food items. While the other's laughed, unbeknownst to them arrived another pair of their friends.
"Well it seems like you two are having quite the merry time. How's it going everyone?" asked Komoto. He wore a pair of jean shorts and a white shirt; his hands outfitted with a pair of leather gloves and his shoulder's carrying what seemed like a couple of pulley spindles.
"Hey, nice to see you again Komoto-san! Are you here to help get the statue out?" asked Shion, nibbling away on a noodle.
"Ooh! Are you all eating bentos? Mind if I have some?" asked Mizuho, coming up behind Mion and Shion unexpectedly. She was drooling at the mouth, her stomach growling uncontrollably. The girls merely sweated in surprise, nodding to Mizuho's request and giving her some to eat. Mizuho happily began trying some of their dishes, and even cried at how delicious they were.
"My, I can't believe how good these taste. You girls are masters of the art of cooking!" she professed to those around her. Komoto just gave an odd look and sighed, causing Keiichi to question his sudden change in mood.
"Nice to see you again Komoto. Hey, why are you looking so down?" asked Keiichi. He saw his friend sigh once more, and then looked up with a defeated look.
"First, I assumed the bouts of hunger were normal. However, I failed to realize just how much Mizuho's metabolism was, and with that I'm starting to wonder if I'll have enough money to buy food every week. Besides that, just look…"
As Keiichi followed the direction Komoto was pointing at, he found Mizuho practically dancing in her position from savoring the girls' food. She even began hugging them for the delicious meal, and then suddenly went into a bout of depression from thinking she was eating too much.
"Damnit…I'll lose my figure at this rate. I can't control these urges to eat…" Mizuho cried into her hands comically, causing the girls to pat her on the back for support.
"Wait, don't tell me…" started Keiichi. It was exactly along the line of Komoto's thinking.
"Yup, the mood swings finally hit her so early in the pregnancy…I'm leaving everything in my will to you by the way, Keiichi…I don't think I have that much time left in this world…" Komoto looked off into some random direction, his eyes casting off a look of peace and understanding of his circumstances. Keiichi tried his best to pull Komoto out of this thought for his sake.
"Oh, come on Komoto, it won't be that bad."
"Hmm…let's put that to the test. Three…"
"Eh? Three?"
"Two…"
"Why are you counting down? Wait a min…"
"One…"
"KOMOTO-KUN! THIS IS YOUR ENTIRE FAULT!"
At the last count, Komoto practically predicted how Mizuho's mood swings would lead. In a moment, she instantly became enraged, and in her fierce focus she targeted Komoto in her sights and made a dash in his direction. Komoto sighed again and decided to find a moment of sanctuary with Keiichi's aid; the aid being Komoto using Keiichi as a human shield.
"Sorry man, no hard feelings…"
"Eh!"
*Power Punch*
To the look of Mion and the other's horror, Komoto pulled Keiichi straight in front of his own body and allowed Mizuho's punch to instead impact with him. In a moment, Keiichi flew straight past Komoto and into the other side of the lawn. His body, mangled on the ground as it was, lied limp without movement. Mion rushed to his side, afraid that Mizuho may have killed him. Thankfully, Keiichi was only dazed with slight scratches and bruises from the impact.
"Kei-kun! Are you ok?"
"Did anyone…see where that truck came from?"
"Oh no, Keiichi, I didn't mean to…"
"Mizu-chan, next time don't go wildly throwing punches at people. If it was someone other than Keiichi, they would be dead now I'm sure…good thing he's just dazed a bit…" Komoto spoke, giving Keiichi one look over, making sure he was fine, then moving over to the shrine room to meet Rika. He began figuring out how to position the pulley system whilst Mizuho worried over Keiichi. She suddenly wailed again into her hands, unable to control these odd mood swings.
"WAAAH!"
"It's ok Otome-sensei, don't worry about him. Keiichi-san could take more than that, especially from my traps!" spoke Satoko, trying to reassure Mizuho once more that everything was all right.
/
"Um…wow, this old statue is….pretty big…." Komoto stood in front of the giant deity statue, its grey figure intimidating him in every way. Giving it a look over, he came up with a couple ideas which could aid in moving the giant item out, however, it would take a lot more than pulleys and villagers to do so.
"Don't let the size intimidate you, Komoto-senpai. It is not really that big actually. Besides, we had to have gotten it in here before, so getting it out should be possible. Nipah!" went Rika.
"I get that, but still, we need to figure out a way to get it out. The base is pretty wide, so we may be able to tilt it on its side and then carry it out. However, that will still be a lot of work and muscle. If one of us even lets go for a second, we may lose the whole thing!" Komoto sighed and put his leather gloves on for the moment, inspecting the statue again and seeing just how heavy it was. Even with a small effort of lifting he could estimate just how much it really weighed.
"Ah, Rika-chan, we'll start cleaning the ceremony items you requested outside. Call us if you need anything, ok?" yelled Rena from outside. Rika turned around and noticed that she, Hanyuu and the other girls were outside washing down some of the old torture tools and such. Hanyuu, however, seemed very mellow for some odd reason. The look she gave off, and even the aura, was something she herself had felt and lived with for many endless years. It was almost as if…
*You don't care…* Rika thought to herself.
"Hey, Rika-chan, give me a hand over here?"
Rika suddenly snapped out of her thinking and noticed Komoto was behind the giant statue of Oyashiro-sama, requiring some much needed help. As she nodded and came to his aid, Rika realized she had never been behind the statue before in all of her lifetimes. Now meeting Komoto on the backside, she noticed for the first time that the statue was surprisingly bolted to the wooden wall side.
"This shouldn't be too hard. All I need to do is get a ratchet and loosen the bolts."
"Mii…that's odd. I never noticed these back here before." Rika looked over the bolts and noticed that they were made well before her parents' time. They almost seemed ancient even.
"It's just support for the statue. If an earthquake happened, it would stay steady with this building. No problem, be right back."
Komoto smiled and walked outside to grab a tool. In the meantime, Rika looked over the statue again whilst villagers came in and out with items to clean. To her, the statue seemed almost different to her; its stature almost breathtaking as it towered over her small figure. By the time she realized it, Komoto was already back with the required tool and moving to get into a good position.
"Ok, just need to remove these two bolts and we're ready to go."
"Hmm…something doesn't seem right Komoto-senpai. I don't think these bolts are here to provide stability to the statue…" Rika traced her fingers over the bolted metal pieces which somehow fit into the statue. Oddly enough, Rika may have been right in this assumption.
"Well, now that you mention it, I think you're right. These bolts are really old. When did you say this shrine was built again?" asked Komoto with interest. He loosened his grip on the tool and looked on at Rika.
"Since the time the village began. It has been in my family for generations."
"Then if you're right, they wouldn't have considered such a thing. They would have been sure that the statue would stay on its own. And now that I look at it, even this bracket seems odd. I mean, look…"
As Komoto pointed on from the bolts in the wall to the statue base, it seemed like it was not holding the statue in place, but in fact just acting as a base to the statue. If that were true, then it had some other purpose other than looking like protection for the statue.
"Well, there's no harm in moving it I suppose. Let's see what happens…" stated Rika. She put aside her clipboard and began to help Komoto move the bolts out.
"Ok, on three. One…two…Three!"
With great effort, Komoto and Rika both took the ratchet by the handle and pushed and pulled in the general direction. Luckily, after a few moments Komoto heard the bolt literally snap off. The two fell back and forward on the floor, their legs in pain from impacting the hard surface. Coughing from all the dust behind the statue, they recovered and noticed the bolt's fragments all across the floor.
"Definitely too old. Rika-chan, these bolts are crudely made. I would even think that they were made with some of the ores around here. I can't believe they withstood so many years…"
"Then if that's true, we should be able to just break the other one, right?" Rika handed the hatchet to Komoto again, to which he grinned comically.
"Like this?"
In one hilarious act of strength, Komoto rushed into his plan like usual and just lifted the ratchet high into the air. In a moment, he flew the tool down over the remaining bolt with great speed, shattering the small screw without effort. In the next second, as the bolt fragments joined the others on the floor, the bracket suddenly loosened and fell off the wall; the item making a loud thud sound as it impacted the ground.
"Well that was easy. Now, about getting this statue on the pulleys…"
"…anyuu…"
"Huh? What's all that commotion outside?"
"Somebody get some water! She's dehydrated!"
In a flash, Rika rushed outside to discover a crowd of villagers and her friends hovering over someone. Quickly moving to the front, Rika looked down on the ground to find Satoko holding Hanyuu; her body drenched in sweat and her cheeks flushed. These were clear signs of either a heat stroke or dehydration.
"Hanyuu! What happened?"
"We don't know. She suddenly just grabbed her head, mumbled something, and fainted to the ground! Someone, hurry up and get Dr. Irie over here!" Mion looked back at Hanyuu and the others, and then rushed over to try to find the doctor. He and Takano had been at the shrine today, given that Takano's wish was granted to finally see the inside of the shrine with permission. She had been studying some of the torture devices and scribbling notes in her binder off a distance away. When Mion finally found them, they rushed over to help.
"Oh my, Hanyuu-chan, can you hear me?" Dr. Irie ran over to the tent with Takano a little behind carrying his medical bag. Hanyuu had been placed under the shade in the meantime, with Mizuho looking over her all the while. She patted her forehead with a damp, cold cloth to ease Hanyuu's breathing pattern.
"Hanyuu, you need to wake up. Can you hear me?" Keiichi stood at the side with Mion, trying to fan some cool air her way. Luckily, with the cold cloth, some water and the motion of air flowing her way, Hanyuu finally woke up from her daze and looked around, smiling weakly.
"I'm…sorry…auau…" She murmured. Rika came to her side and patted her on the head.
"Hanyuu-chan…how long have you been working in the sun for? Have you even been drinking water?" asked Rika. To her dismay, Hanyuu hesitated for a moment as if she was thinking about something, then gave a half-truthful answer.
"I was…in the sun for a couple of hours. And I thought I wasn't thirsty…so…I didn't drink anything today…" Hanyuu gave another forced smile.
"Mii…"
"Hanyuu-chan, we'll take you to the clinic to get checked out. We'll also give you an IV for some fluids, ok? If you don't feel better, and if this fever doesn't improve, we'll keep you the night for observation, ok?" Dr. Irie smiled to her, and then nodded to Takano and Satoshi to help her into his car. Hanyuu didn't seem to protest at all, however; she just smiled to Rika like it was ok.
When Hanyuu finally left, everyone around resumed their work again, but the close group of friends still harbored worries about her. They sat in the shade for a small break while Komoto talked with Mizuho about what happened. Rika sat next to Satoko and Shion, drinking some water like the others so as to not succumb to the same heatstroke occurrence.
"Geez, I can't believe she didn't drink anything today. And with this heat wave?" stated Shion. She sighed and waved her face with her hand, trying to cool down herself.
"She'll be fine once she's at the clinic. Trust me, all the girl needs is some fluids and rest, and she'll be back in shape." stated Ryuu. He lied against the nearby tree, enjoying the coolness of the shade in the meantime.
"It's odd, though. Before she fell to the ground, she was acting really weird." Keiichi sipped again on his water and then wiped his forehead from the sweat. Mion nodded in response, agreeing with what she herself saw.
"Yeah, Hanyuu-chan was mumbling something…someone's name I think. I didn't catch it though…" Mion felt bad about what happened, somehow feeling like she should have made sure everyone was drinking enough given that she was a leader in the village and of her own friends.
"A name? But why…would Hanyuu do that? What else do you remember Mi-chan?" Rika looked earnestly at the woman, her eyes pleading with her for more information. If it had to do with Hanyuu's odd actions as of late, she wanted to know.
"Er…well…all I can say is…she acted really angry about something. I don't think I ever saw her so angry before since I've met her. And I even thought I saw…no…nevermind…"
From Rika and everyone else's view, they saw Mion suddenly look frightened at the thought of Hanyuu being angry. Even Keiichi was thrown off by how odd Mion looked at that moment; her eyes widening in fear from seeing Hanyuu from before. As he reached out to touch her, Mion suddenly snapped out of her daze again and casted her eyes away.
"Mi-chan…"
"I'm ok…I just thought…"
"Mi-chan…what did you see? You can tell us…" Rena looked over to her best friend, urging her to stay the course and tell them what she saw. Giving Mion some courage, she confessed to the others about the sight of Hanyuu in anger and the single most distinguishing spectacle she encountered.
"I thought…I saw her eyes glow red…in such anger…"
No one said anything for awhile, all denying the fact that Hanyuu could ever show even the slightest bit of anger in her demeanor. They all saw her as a kind, benevolent person in their opinion; however, it was possible even for Hanyuu to show anger. She was human now, so even she could be afflicted with such emotions. With the thickness of the heat giving no help to the situation, Rika decided to speak up.
"She is a demi-god Mi-chan. I've told you all the truth before; about our past lives and who Hanyuu really was. But the question becomes why Hanyuu was angry? She's been depressed about something lately, but she won't say why. Mii…" Rika casted her eyes down in sadness, wishing she could cheer her friend up. However, she still felt something wasn't right about everything.
"I'm sure she just needs some space. Rika-chan, maybe you should talk to her again when she's feeling better. Maybe then she'll be more open to talking with you about what is really going on…" Satoshi smiled weakly at the others, hoping his suggestion would do some good. They nodded in response and left it at that, however, they still felt worry over Hanyuu.
"Yeah, besides, I bet it's just that time of the month for Hanyuu-chan. You girls definitely act strange when you're PMSing…"
Though Ryuu was only joking to the group, the girls stared at him with deadpanned looks. Their demeanor's then changed to one filled with anger and resentment for such a statement. In moments, they rose from the ground and looked like they were ready to bash Ryuu's skull in, especially at the hands of Mion, Shion and even Rena.
"Wa…wait! I was just kidding…ok, please, I didn't…"
"Ryuu-kun, how can you say that? Get him girls!"
"Hey, you guys, we're ready to finish up here!" Komoto called from the sidelines to the group of friends, asking for their assistance with the statue. A random villager had then ran up to him; breathing heavily from his short run.
"The pulleys are in place, Hagara-san. We can begin moving the flatbed in and gathering the villagers to help pull it out," The villager wiped off some sweat in the process, feeling tired from building a makeshift pulley rig inside and outside of the shrine per Komoto's instructions in such little time. He prayed on the inside, though, that everything would work out.
"Good job. Gather the villagers; it's time for Oyashiro-sama's grand exit!" spoke Komoto, smiling at the villager. He smiled in response and left the group of friends in order to meet with the village elders. However, for the time being Komoto could only help but wonder why the others looked sad. That and why all the girls suddenly began to gang up on Ryuu and beat him to a pulp.
*Rika-chan, must still be worried about Hanyuu. I wonder…is everything alright?* he thought.
"UGH! Komoto-san, HELP ME!" screamed Ryuu from the dog pile. Komoto just blinked at Ryuu and the others, watching Keiichi suddenly burst into laughter.
"Umm…well then, lets get to the statue…more important things to still do, yup!" murmured Komoto, talking to no on in particular. However, he did pray for Ryuu's survival at least…
/
"ONE!"
"TWO!"
"THREE!"
"Everyone! PULL!"
*Creak*
At least a hundred villagers had now appeared on the shrine grounds, helping to move objects out left and right and maneuvering different pulley ropes in the process. From the inside of the shrine, loud creaks and rumblings could be heard as the giant statue was slowly lifting into the air thanks to the physics of leverage. Keiichi, Ryuu and Satoshi helped Komoto angle the giant statue and wrap ropes around it quickly as the villagers pulled in groups on their own ropes. Outside, the girls watched the men and women of the village successfully raise the statue off the ground and flip it sideways.
In the minds of Rika and many other villagers, the major fear was of the statue being too old to move or too heavy to get out. It would be impossible to imagine the amount of fear and panic that would spread throughout the village if the statue were to break suddenly in the process. More so, she feared that the Hinamizawa Syndrome would show up again if people worried too much over the incident, and believed Oyashiro-sama would curse them. However, Rika had faith in the statue's stability, and like many who came to marvel at the statue coming into the outside world, her faith paid off.
The statue's original structure was crafted superbly from ancient times. Though the statue was missing a palm due to an unfortunate incident years ago, everything else in the stone structure seemed perfectly fine. With the pulley systems in place and doing their job, little by little the statue was taken out of the shrine and placed more and more on the cushioned flatbed. With one final pull and push, Komoto, Rika's friends and many of the stronger villagers managed to push the large statue onto the flatbed at last with a soft thud. With the other villagers slowly lowering it safely on the plateau, a large sigh of relief was heard followed by many cheers in the crowd.
"WE DID IT!"
"YAHOO!"
Everyone present gave a cheer from the splendid work done by the efforts of the village residents. Rika smiled on to the others; glad to know everything worked out as planned. Now all that remained besides tidying up the shrine was to secure the statue to the truck, and then with the other villagers' help again put the statue in the center of the festival grounds for everyone to admire and praise. Thankfully, Rika didn't have to be around for that part, as the village elder Kimiyoshi managed to find helpers for such a task. With everything said and done, the group of friends took the devices and tools back inside the shred before taking off for the rest of the day.
"Wow, I can't believe we managed to do it! That statue was huge, right Rika-chan?" Keiichi still couldn't believe how well everything went. Judging by the amount of creaks and sounds of breaking, Keiichi could have sworn the statue would crumble. However, nothing of the sort happened.
"Mii…because of the teamwork, everything worked out as planned! Nipah!"
"Heheh, looks like the Game Club overcomes another obstacle! Great job everyone!"
Mion cheered for everyone's hard work, just as Rika went to the statue area to look at the floor. In the time that the statue had been placed in the shrine, the wood underneath it had withstood the tests of old age. Now all that remained in the place where the statue once stood was the discoloration of the surface of the floor and the old base from which the bracket was attached to.
"Hmm?"
As Rika moved closer, she noticed an odd feature about the wood in the base. It seemed like there was a notch in one of the boards; the hole leading to the darkness of the shrine's underbelly. Looking curiously at the board, Rika went down and put her finger in it; wondering if the wood was rotten or otherwise just a knot in the cut of the wood. To her discovery, as Rika's finger looped into the hole and pulled up, the board suddenly became loose.
"What in the world…" Rika stated with intense interest. She pulled the board completely out, and found the darkness beneath the base to hold something of grave importance.
"Rika-chan, are you ok over there?" shouted Mion. She noticed Rika bending down and looking into what seemed like a hole.
"Everyone, come here! I need your help!"
As everyone rushed over, they too noticed the hole in the base's boards. They all peered into the darkness, unable to see anything with the poor light in the shrine. That's when an idea hit Shion, to which she ran over to a nearby candle stand and took one of the candles for the time being.
"Here, use this."
Rika took the candle and slowly lowered it into the hole; the light of the flame vaguely illuminating the environment underneath. The smell of old cedar wood lightly graced the air around them; in addition, the coldness of the darkness could be felt. To everyone's amazement, they noticed a box inlaid into the ground, wrapped in a very old brown cloth. With Rena's help, Rika was able to pick up the box, blow off some of the dust from it, and slowly unravel the item.
"I wonder what it could be?" stated Mion. She was excited to see something like this; like explorers finding lost treasures in some hidden cave.
"I'm not sure. Maybe it belonged to my ancestors from long ago…hey, look at this!"
As Rika took off the old brown cloth, she found a beautifully carved wooden case inlaid with many flower designs. She slowly opened the large box, and again to everyone's wonder, found an old, leather journal filled with many pages. Other than that, Rika found what appeared to be a small, blue crystal carefully set into the journal's front cover.
"Wow, it looks just like my necklace Keiichi retrieved for me…" stated Mion. She looked at the necklace, now wishing she had her own to hold back home. However, compared to this crystal hers had been much larger. Still, it gave off the same color tones and hues as hers.
"Rika-chan, what's in the journal?" asked Satoshi.
"It's…" As Rika opened the first page of the journal, the others gave off an odd look. To them, the journal was filled with old, blank pages. Not even a scribble was in the paper at all. They all gave off a look of disappointment; their hopes of finding a treasure map diminishing.
"There's nothing there at all! Who would bury an old journal and leave nothing in it?" stated Shion, irked from the odd concept.
"Well, before this was a shrine this place used to be a small house, or that's what Rika-chan told me. Maybe someone put it in there and just forgot about it?" Satoko looked around the place, confirming some of the building's structure to be that of an old house.
"Yeah, I guess your right. At least you found another heirloom of your family's Rika-chan. Congrats!"
"Mii…thanks. Even though there's nothing in it, I can use it later for a diary. I think it would be very appropriate. Nipah!"
As Rika's friends looked into the hole again only to find nothing else, they resigned themselves from the day of long work and began to leave the shrine. Rika remained behind to make sure everything was put back into the room before locking up for the day. However, as she got up and closed the empty journal, a sudden feeling of another presence was felt around her.
She looked around, feeling as if another being had been within her surroundings; watching, waiting, and hoping for something to come about. Though Rika never saw anything, she did realize how late it had gotten, and before she knew it she was already outside locking the door and leaving the grounds. However, she still felt the presence linger for a moment longer then diminish again.
"That's unusual. I wonder what that was. Could it be this journal?"
She looked over the item once more, thought nothing more of it, and then placed the object in her bag for safe keeping.
*I won't tell Hanyuu about this. I think it would just open old wounds…even mentioning her past will upset her I'm sure. I think I'll go see her at the clinic before it gets too late. Maybe I can cheer her up that way!* Rika thought happily.
This day, though, would be the beginning of the final fight; in more ways than Rika could ever possibly imagine. And it all began with that mere journal.
/
How far does God's forgiveness stretch?
Does God forgive a murderer;
Someone who has caused great pain to others?
Or does God condemn a mere child,
For breaking something she could not fully grasp at the time?
Do sinners go to hell, only to return to heaven again?
If so, then why won't God let a mother,
Come home to her Daughter,
Even if she herself was the child,
Who broke the balance
Without intention.
I wonder, if God is really so benevolent,
Or if I'm just missing the bigger picture.
Mother, I miss you so…
Come home…
Next time on Hinamizawa Hell: "The Truth of Fate" Arc 3, Ch. 5: Misplaced Anger
Are you still with me?