Hinamizawa Hell
"The Truth of Fate" Arc: 3
Ch. 8: Foundations of the Past
/
"How…can that be possible? HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT MY MEMORIES ARE INCOMPLETE?"
She screamed in their small space of the Meta-world; almost sending the entire existence into a fury of trembling and shaking earth. Her expression became one of wrath, her eyes narrowing in anger at someone who literally bitch-slapped her pride right into the gutter. Bernkastel's grip on the chair made the wooden structure creak; her nails digging into the very fabric of the wood with ease. She trembled in anger; unable to accept the truth which Reimei Ryuu had set before her as a certain law.
"I told you a truth, but you refuse to accept it. This isn't a game where you can reverse or deny my theories. This is merely MY game to destroy whatever you thought of your life and MAYBE save you in the end from your foolish beliefs; that, and maybe indirectly change the tide in Battler's never ending torture. For the most part, though, I may be able to save Rika-chan and the others if they act according to their hearts and not the foolish intentions of some witch's inner realms…" Reimei watched in pleasure at Bernkastel's sudden change in demeanor. Even he was taken off guard at her quick movement from no emotion to complete wrath.
"This truth…if it is one…doesn't make sense then. If you are telling me a truth…then that means the possibility of a dead end in this world is possible. Rika and the others may not be able to reset time again and face off against this unseen Evil in Hinamizawa! However, I won't ever let it come to that…"
Quickly, Bernkastel rose from her seat and began to walk away from Reimei; the look of a set goal on mind being displayed once again in her demeanor. Realizing that Bernkastel would try something like this, Reimei disappeared from his seat instantaneously and in the next moment appeared right in front of the Witch of Miracles with a look of serious intent written all over his face.
"And where do you think you're going?" he asked, dead-serious with gritted teeth.
"I'm going to put an end to this charade and stop the Evil in Hinamizawa myself! If it means lending Rika my powers in her form for the time being, then I will do so! Get out of my way if you wish to live, Reimei Ryuu!" Bernkastel stepped back and took on a stance meant for fighting; inherently prepared for any retaliation from Reimei's part.
"No can do. If you want me to set a truth for you as well, then it will be completely counter-productive for what you have in mind."
"Another truth? What are you going to imply, then?" She had venom in her voice, irritated that Reimei would continue the game of truths at this crucial moment in time.
"In Black: If Bernkastel or any other directly interferes in this world, disaster may happen. In White: The Evil in Hinamizawa can only be defeated by this world's players. In Twilight: Only Rika and her friends can defeat the Evil in Hinamizawa through their own accord and will. So far as the physical realm is concerned, we should not take any part in it!" As Reimei said this, the room changed according to whichever truth he used; the shadows and rays of dark and light changing the very fabric of their space. Even the text which came into existence around them in spellbinding circles changed according to their colors.
Bernkastel stepped back in disgust from Reimei's definitive law. Were she to go against his truth, it could spell the end for Hinamizawa; all at her own hands. She thought as hard as she could whether or not to go against Reimei and at least try to save Rika. However much she tried, Bernkastel could not fathom the consequences.
"Then…that leaves me with only one choice then…"she sighed, seeming to give up on her original plan.
"Good…you finally seem to realize…GHAGH!"
As if everything in time stopped, Reimei looked down to find Bernkastel holding a dark, blue and black glowing scythe which directly impaled the left side of his ribcage. As she pulled the weapon from his side with incredible speed, blood impacted the lower floor and stained the tiles with a crimson red. Reimei collapsed to his knees and looked up again at his opponent, only to find Bernkastel smiling eerily at him with a look of bloodlust.
"I did finally realize something in all this. I've decided its long past due to visit Rika once more and grant her the power to overcome this unseen and impossible Fate you keep imagining will happen. I'll give Rika the power to protect her friends and blast Evil into oblivion once and for all! At the very least, I won't have to deal with your incessant truths or lies anymore, Reimei-san…"
"You…fool…" Reimei collapsed to the side of the floor; blood pooling all around him. Bernkastel smiled, kicked him in his wounded side and then disappeared in a cloud of darkness from the Meta-world, leaving a wounded and dying Reimei Ryuu on the floor.
Once she was gone, Reimei attempted as best as he could to sit upright against the nearby wall, a hand to his left side trying his best to put pressure on the massive wound. Breathing heavily, Reimei clutched his wound harder, breathing in between dark murmurs and disbelief. In moments, his hand became engrossed in the energy of light and dark; his wound miraculously healing in seconds till he was fully revived. Looking across the room at the shard in the center of the area, glowing blue and bright with images of Bernkastel's coming meeting with Rika, Reimei spoke to himself with a twisted grin.
"Damn you Bernkastel, though, I knew you were likely to pull something like this. However, this doesn't change anything…yet. The game board is set, now let everything you ever knew fall all around you. Only then will you have no walls to hide behind and nothing left but the Truth at your hands to accept. I'm…sorry Komoto, but you will need to take a hit for the team earlier than planned…I'll make it up to you, I promise…"
In sequence, Reimei's wound fully healed, allowing him to sit back down in his seat once more to resume watching Bernkastel's fate become written with his hands alone. Elsewhere, at the same time, a man named Komoto Hagara was in his bathroom, brushing his teeth, when suddenly he began to cough sporadically. Holding his hand to his mouth, Komoto found blood dripping from his fingers into the sink; their long streams of murky red water flowing down the drains in a spiral. As he looked in the mirror with a look of astonishment and horror, he felt his heart rate suddenly increase rapidly with the room beginning to spin quickly around him. As his eyes fluttered and he fell backwards onto the floor, Mizuho Otome found her soon to be husband just in time to watch him vomiting on his side unconsciously. In rapid succession, she went to his side, found him unresponsive, and called for an ambulance. Frantically trying her best to stabilize him, she began performing CPR on him, managing to keep his heart pumping blood until paramedics from Dr. Irie's nearby clinic arrived to take him to the emergency room. During all this time, though, Mizuho was lost in thought and left devastated as to whether or not Komoto was even alive until later when Dr. Irie would inform her of his condition.
/
Being held by his friend, his arms forcefully intertwined with Rena's own arms, Keiichi could not get up to escape from his seemingly insane friends. In his own room, Keiichi was defenseless and already at a disadvantage; his head throbbing from being attacked by strange men earlier that day. More so, his neck had an insane need to be scratched; the itchiness under his skin starting to irritate him.
In front of Keiichi was his best friend, Mion, looking down at him with those very same cat-like pupils that Rena had shown to him at odd times these past few days. The eyes, the same ones that made him start to really wonder if there were demons in the quiet village of Hinamizawa, started to make him distrust his friends and those around him. Not much to be said, though, this very instant proved his point. Before him, Mion began to pull out what appeared to be a large syringe filled with some untold drug; a weapon ready to be used against him.
"Hehehe…you know what this is, right? Mion grinned evilly, causing Keiichi to start panicking like never before.
*That's…the drug that was used on Tomitake-san to make him claw out his throat!* he thought, his eyes growing wider by the second.
"Hurry Mi-chan! The Coach will be here soon!" giggled Rena, her hold on Keiichi almost impossible to break.
"Kei-chan…it's time for the punishment game, remember?" Mion moved closer to Keiichi, her face inches away from his. Harshly grabbing his wrist and pulling his arm out so that she could have a clear view of his vein, Mion pushed the syringe closer to his skin while Keiichi struggled harder to get free. The whole scene of Keiichi struggling like a preyed upon animal was all too entertaining to the two girls Keiichi once believed to be his friends. As Mion pushed the syringe into his skin, and pushed down on the piston to inject the drugs, Keiichi vainly screamed out against this maddening betrayal.
"No…no no no no NOOOO!"
Suddenly finding the strength to fight back, Keiichi elbowed Rena hard directly in her face, causing her to fall back in pain. Crying and holding her nose, she edged away from Keiichi, fearing for her life. Mion stood there with an awed expression, confused as to why he acted the way he did. Unable to find an answer, and oblivious to the next counter-measure on Keiichi's part, she felt her gut suddenly take a blow as he delivered a clear punch to her stomach. Having the wind taken out of her, Mion crumpled to the floor coughing for air. Meekly opening her eyes, tears sliding down her cheeks, Keiichi quickly rushed to the side of his room, and recovered an old large, steel bat. Gripping tightly to the bat, and kicking a confused and helpless Rena to the floor just as she tried to reach out for his legs, Keiichi moved on to his first opponent with a look of madness in his eyes. All the while, though, Keiichi was crying just like the others, hurt and betrayed in some strange way.
"Kei-chan! What are you going to…"
"YOU THINK YOU CAN ERASE ME LIKE YOU DID TO SATOSHI? I WON'T…BE KILLED BY ANY OF YOU! I WON'T LET YOU KILL ME!" Keiichi screamed to the top of his lungs, towering over Mion as she looked at him with wide eyes and utter disbelief at his current actions. From what was to be a cheering up session for Keiichi by merely fixing whatever was broken between them and then leading on to writing on his face with markers, the two girls were unable to grasp how it all led to this.
For all they knew, Keiichi was about to kill them for some unknown action they did on their part.
"Keiichi-kun! We aren't going to hurt you…we're your friends!" pleaded Rena, trying to stand up again and stop Keiichi from acting the way he did.
"FRIENDS? YOU AREN'T MY FRIENDS! FRIENDS DON'T LIE…DON'T KEEP SECRETS…DON'T HURT EACH OTHER WITH CLEAVERS OR NEEDLES!" Keiichi screamed again as he looked down from Mion to Rena and back again; unable to quench the need to itch his neck. Mion and Rena looked on as they noticed this same symptom Satoshi once had, much like Rena knew as well from her own experiences in the past. In a last ditch effort, Mion rose up quickly to persuade Keiichi from trying to hurt them.
Quickly, and taking Keiichi off guard with much struggle, Mion found the strength to hug Keiichi tightly while crying deeply; unable to stop the tears from coming. To her, it felt as if her heart was being broken; the man she had held a deep crush for now standing against her and shunning her away. She wouldn't have it end like that, for Mion cared too much for Keiichi in their own special way.
"Kei-chan! Please, I don't know what you are talking about, but we weren't trying to hurt you or lie to you. We tried to keep the village's dark past from you because we didn't want you to be scared of us. We…just wanted you to like this place for the way it really is. I would never betray you Kei-chan…no…I would never want to! It's because I'm in lov…"
*Crack*
Mion's arms slipped as Keiichi broke free from her hug, for in his mind he saw Mion with her crazy eyes trying to hold him tightly as the itching became uncontrollable and was beginning to cause him to want to scratch his throat even more. Seeing this as an attack, Keiichi only heard Mion's insane laughing as he pushed her away and quickly raised the bat. In an instant, he swung down with enough force that he cracked Mion's head open clearly and sent her limp body straight into the floor. As her body impacted with the ground, Keiichi watched with high alert as Rena rushed past him and clutched Mion's body to her chest, hoping that Keiichi did not kill her.
"NOOO! WHY? WHY!" she cried, feeling the blood from Mion's cracked and bruised skull begin to cascade down her now crimson stained hair and into Rena's hands. The warm feeling of the liquid almost made her sick to her stomach.
Without a response, Rena turned to Keiichi only to see him swing the bat into her right arm; as if Keiichi were up at bat in a game of baseball. She fell over Mion's body, sucking in air while feeling the intense pain in her arm. Staggering up again, she faced Keiichi again, trying to talk reason into her while at the same time protecting Mion from him.
"She was…your friend…I'm your friend! We care about you…but why? WHY ARE YOU HURTING US?"
"YOU'RE…GOING TO TRY…TO KILL ME…I WON'T…LET YOU…" Keiichi fumed and groggily breathed, huffing as if he were on the verge of keeling over. Rena realized at that point that Keiichi was under the influence of the same illness she and Satoshi may have had in their lives. If that were the case, then there was no way now to talk any reason into him. What Keiichi was seeing, perhaps this entire time, was just what he was now telling her: that she and Mion were, in his eyes, trying to kill him.
For that, she was sorry: sorry that things ended like they did and sorry that they were the ones that had to suffer this fate.
Getting on her knees, Rena opened up her arms to him while crying; knowing the end was near but still trying to once more talk reason into Keiichi; so that if he never knew their truth in the matter here, then in some other lifetime Keiichi would know of what happened and believe in them once more. She knew all too well that no one was at fault here, not even Keiichi.
"Keiichi-kun…I'm sorry…I'm sorry you had to go through what you did, but I guess…that won't make a difference now. I just wish…no…I want you to believe in me Keiichi-kun…please…believe in us…that we won't try to…hurt you. Please…Keiichi-kun…"
*Crack*
And with that, Keiichi, unable to make past what he thought was Rena mocking him and continuously laughing maniacally in his mind, swung the bat down hard into her head. Rena was unconscious before she hit the ground, never feeling pain nor knowing what had hit her. Her body lied in the opposite direction of Mion's, their limp yet still somewhat living bodies sprawled over blankets and the futon. In the next moments, all they could remember what the earth-shattering grunts of Keiichi and the breaking of the overhead lamp as he unleashed a barrage of blunt force attacks to their arms, legs and skulls again; blood spattering across his shirt and all over the area his victims laid. In what seemed like minutes but only seconds, Keiichi would manage to kill both his friends without ever knowing in that lifetime of their innocence or the real culprit behind the madness.
After the deed was done, Keiichi completed whatever last affairs he had with the note behind the clock in his room and looking over his sin once more. Going over to Rena and Mion's bodies, he muttered to himself once more as tears yet again engrossed his eyes.
"Why…did it come to this? Why did this ever have to happen?"
Bending down to their bodies, Keiichi clutched their still somewhat warm bodies as he shivered from the ever growing need to scratch at his throat. Whispering into their ears as the memories of all the good times he had with them rushed through his mind, Keiichi slowly laid down Rena's body, but oddly enough held Mion's longer in his arms. Feeling the most pain from having to kill her, Keiichi's heart broke and remained shattered that moment as he softly brushed her hair before putting her back down to the ground onto his futon. Kissing her forehead with some unknown need out of respect for the woman he had some unseen bond with, Keiichi quickly ran downstairs and out of the house from which his nightmare had occurred.
That nightmare, being only a re-visitation to his past sin, was all too real as he realized the whole event was only a dream.
/
"K…e…i-kun….KEI-KUN! WAKE UP!"
"GAH! AAAAH! MION!"
Suddenly jumping forward and out of his futon, Keiichi threw off the covers and found himself in Mion's home; their shared room surrounding his present area. In their large futon, Keiichi realized that Mion had been next to him, holding him softly by his shoulders. With a look of concern on her face, and oddly enough dark bags under her eyes, Mion held Keiichi gently in her arms, trying to soothe his fears of what may have happened.
"Mi…Mi-chan?" asked Keiichi, still trying to determine if he was dreaming again or if he was really back in the real world.
"It's ok Kei-kun. You must have had a pretty bad dream. You were tossing and turning…even crying in your sleep while calling out my name and Rena-chan's. I hope you weren't thinking something naughty Kei-kuuuuun!" she joked, weakly smiling and lightly hitting Keiichi on the head.
Almost taken off guard, Keiichi nearly topped Mion to the floor, clutching tightly to her body as if he never wanted to let her go again. She blushed more soberly now, hugging him back while noting his panicked breathing and almost completely sweat-soaked clothes.
"Mi-chan…I'm sorry…forgive me…please…I never meant to hurt either of you back then…I'm sorry…"
"Kei-kun? Are you talking about…that "time" again? It's alright…that's…in the past…"
"I can't…I can't forget…I can't let go of that sadness Mi-chan…I can never let it go…"
"Kei-kun, calm down, please. You're worrying me. Lay down with me on the futon and tell me everything…"
Pulling Keiichi to the futon and caressing his hair, Mion managed to calm him down enough for him to explain the tormenting dream to her. When he was done, Mion became just as confused as he was as to what it all meant.
"You shouldn't have to keep all that pain to yourself, Kei-kun. It's all in the past now, you need to move on. I don't know why you'd get a dream like this…but I'm not one to argue…"
As Keiichi looked up to Mion, he noticed that she, too, had some sort of experience before he had his eventful dream. Noticing the somewhat dark bags under her eyes, Keiichi rose up and looked deeply into Mion, searching for his answer.
"Mi-chan…have you slept at all tonight?" he questioned. Mion looked away and shook her head, confirming some of his fears.
"Since that dome was discovered, I haven't been sleeping well. I keep…having this dream where I'm in our family's underground dungeon…and…the rest of it is…" she looked very ashamed that moment, turning away and biting her thumb while a she began to softly cry again. Mion must have also had the dream and woken up crying like he did, holding the sadness of her nightmare to herself before Keiichi woke up too.
"Don't be afraid to tell me Mi-chan. Please…continue…" he responded.
"We were…in the dungeon again, but this time I succeeded in killing everyone. It was so real, like I was reliving my worst sin all over again. I killed off everyone as if they really were my competition and trying to steal you away from me. Just as I finished dumping the corpses to hide any evidence of the bodies, you somehow showed up and caught me dumping Rena's body in the well. You stood there unable to believe what I did, and when I tried to…when I tried to…"
Mion stopped for a moment and sat up burying her face in her hands, while Keiichi sat up as well and tried to comfort her by holding her hand tightly. When Mion found the strength to continue, he was surprised to find the conclusion to her own hell filled story.
"It's ok Mi-chan, don't be scared…"
"…When I tried to tell you how everyone was out to get you and take you away from me, you walked over to the side of the well to confirm what I did. You collapsed to the side of the stone wall, murmuring to yourself about how you lost everyone. I foolishly thought that with them gone I could comfort you…that you would then look to me and only me and would love me in return. And then you said it to me…said something that made everything I did up to that point wasted for nothing…"
"What did I say?"
"You said 'I gave the doll away because I saw you as a tomboy…but that didn't mean I never saw you as a girl. I have…always loved you…but what you did broke my heart…'. I looked at you, unable to accept it, and just when I was about to try to persuade you, the floor underneath us gave away from our weight, and somehow you held onto a nearby root and managed to hold both of us together for only a moment. I was slipping from your grip, and you couldn't save both of us, so I smiled at you and let go. You screamed to hold onto you…saying that you 'didn't want to lose me again', whatever that meant. When you probably saw that look in my eyes as I shook my head, you looked down at me again and said '…then, I'll go with you even in death…'. You let go, and all I remember was being held by you as we fell into time…"
At the end of Mion's story, Keiichi sat there with wide eyes, trying to sort out how Mion's story really ended. It was tragic and sad like his, however, the more he thought about it the more he realized how sad those lives of theirs were. As he thought more on it, Keiichi suddenly remembered how it all happened; somehow able to pull that past life of his to mind and recollect all the memories of that event. Holding his legs in his arms now, Keiichi sighed and looked over to Mion in some confusion.
"I remember that now. I remember…all of that…" he said softly, holding Mion's hand again. She rested her head against his, listening to his soft breathing patterns.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you this sooner. I wouldn't have been so cranky before. I think maybe it's all the stress from finding that dome…" Mion sighed and listened to the nighttime sounds, noticing that the cicadas were singing a different tune than normal.
"Maybe…but…Mi-chan, I think our past is trying to warn us about something. I don't know why…but I think it;s just food for thought right now." Keiichi mused. He laid back down on the futon with Mion, staring at the ceiling for a few more moments.
"If that is true, then we should go talk to Rika-chan tomorrow and get this figured out, at least, before the Crimson Lotus Festival this Saturday. I think we all need to get sleep for that night…"
Agreeing with Mion once more, Keiichi allowed Mion to nestle her head in the crook of his left shoulder, letting her use his arm as a pillow for the rest of the night. Smiling, he kissed her on the lips before giving in to the pleasure of at least some normality in his sleeping. However, before giving in to sleep he let Mion confirm something for him.
"Mi-chan, you said before falling together in the well that I said I didn't want to lose you again, right?"
"Hmm? Yeah…why?"
"I think I was referring to my own dream I had. I never want to lose you, Mi-chan. I'll protect you till my last breathe. That's what I'll do for someone I love, especially you most of all."
Smiling as he said this, Mion thankfully nestled closer to Keiichi, blushing from this statement. Before passing out to the grasps of sleep, Mion murmured once more loud enough for even Keiichi to hear.
"Likewise…Kei-kun…"
/
Suddenly awaking from what felt like a nightmare, the young woman sat up quickly in her bed, breathing hard. Sweat encompassed her entire body, her clothes soaked to the bone. Putting a hand to her face and brushing away some loose strands of hair, Rena wearily looked up to study her surroundings. Finding the cozy room empty except for her, she looked to her left side of the futon she shared with her lover, noticing that it was empty with the covers off. Scanning the room once more to see if she had just overlooked him, Rena could not find Ryuu anywhere. As the nighttime sky's clouds parted away and revealed moonlight through a nearby window, Rena watched as the room she occupied illuminated before her.
"…"
Slowly getting up, Rena tiptoed out of the room quietly and went down the hallway, noticing that the bottom floor of Ryuu's apartment was illuminated. Going downstairs, she found the young man sitting at the counter of his kitchen, sipping on some warm milk. He looked awfully tired, and for whatever reason he held a very dull look in his gaze, as if he wasn't really sitting there at all. Ryuu seemed, for the most part, like he was reliving a distant experience. As Rena crept closer towards him, it didn't seem like he noticed her at all. However, as she came around and looked on the table, Rena found Ryuu holding a large kitchen knife in his hands. Whether it was his odd fondness of using knives for fighting or because of his current situation of daydreaming, Rena became somewhat scarred.
"Ryuu-kun…"
As if he was pulled out of a trance at the sound of Rena's voice, Ryuu turned his gaze from the table to her eyes; smiling oddly enough with his same dull eyes. Noticing that the knife was in his hand, he gently put it away on the other side of the table, and then turned completely around in his seat towards Rena, holding his cup of now cold milk in his hands.
"Oh…Rena-chan, did I wake you? I couldn't…sleep…so I tried making some warm milk. I must have…been sleeping while sitting here…" he stated, confused and still looking as if he were remembering some far off memory.
"You didn't wake me. Ryuu-kun…what's wrong? You weren't sleeping when I found you here. Why don't you come back to bed with me…with me?" she asked, putting a hand to his shoulder. He felt cold with sweat, much like she did. She began to worry when he shook his head.
"I…don't think I will be sleeping very much, Rena-chan. This dream I've been having…its keeping me from any sleep. It's been like this since…" As Ryuu was about to finish, Rena spoke up, suddenly grabbing his interest.
"…Since the dome was found." Rena looked solemn at that point, completely serious.
"Wait…how did you know that? Unless…"
"Unless…I am also having dreams and…I'm not sleeping well too…"
Rena sat next to Ryuu, holding her hands together on the kitchen top. She gave a long sigh and picked her head up, remembering her horrific dream as well. She turned to Ryuu, giving him a glassy look in her eyes; the same look that made him wonder why Rena could hold such a cute and yet mysterious personality all at once.
"Is Ryuu-kun also having bad dreams?" she asked. Ryuu merely nodded to her, swallowing some fear from seeing her odd expression. Rena turned her gaze away and began to speak to him with a lighter tone. "What kind of dream did Ryuu-kun have, I wonder…"
"My dream? I don't think you would want to know, Rena-chan. My dream…this one at least…is gruesome…" Ryuu casted his eyes to the table, remembering the blood stained events that plagued his minds.
"I want to hear…all of it…" she blatantly said, making Ryuu wonder whether or not if he should tell her. Regardless, if Rena pressed him on she would get her wish in the end anyway, so with a large sigh he began to retell his dream.
"In my dream…I'm in this hospital where there are only white walls. A lot of people are around me…a lot of doctors and nurses and orderlies with white clothes on. Many others are there too…but…they're the type of people that need to be there. I'm alone in a room…one with a lot of pads and no windows except for a tiny one on a large metal door with slots. I'm also in a straight jacket…restrained from hurting anyone or myself. I try to get out, but no one comes to help and no one cares. As far as I remember…I feel like the loneliest person in the entire world, with no friends and no family. I only knew of Keiichi being my blood relative…and even he wasn't around to help save me. It felt like as I was in that cell…that insane asylum…for many years. And somehow, one day, a man…a doctor who tried so hard to be my friend…slipped me a knife and told me to kill an evil man…a dangerous man who wanted to destroy everything we ever knew about this world. However…I wasn't in the right mind…I killed even the doctor who wanted to be my friend…I hurt that evil man and cut off his arm and even took his eye. As for the other doctors…I killed every one of them and left all the patients to starve to death in the asylum. After that…all I remember is coming to Hinamizawa…and meeting you and everyone else. However…the evil man survived…came back and…did so much harm to everyone. It wasn't a happy ending…we lost so many people…and even when we won the battle…it all ended in despair…"
Ryuu remained silent for some time, unable to fully grasp the meaning of the dream. All he knew was that it was a common dream he had since he was young, and from it he learned to be a better and caring person, not the cruel one that caused so much pain to people. It was such a crazy dream to him that even he could not believe it at times, but no matter what the dream felt too real, as if it were a past life of his in some far off dimension.
"Hehehe…I bet you find it pretty odd, huh Rena-chan?"
"No…" was her only response. Ryuu was surprised to see Rena with all seriousness, accepting his dream as a truth even. Before he could press on more, Rena turned to him and assured Ryuu that his dream was, in fact, real. Her expression, though, was one that foretold something dark.
"Rena-chan…it's just a dream…it can't be…"
"Rena-chan already told Ryuu-kun the story about the demon Mi-chan possessed…and why Hinamizawa is reverent to the deity Oyashiro-sama. Rena-chan also told Ryuu-kun why she believes in past lives. Can Ryuu-kun accept that he, as well, also had a past life? I wonder…"
What Rena began to tell Ryuu was starting to unnerve him a little. It was true what Rena was saying when it came to why she and her friends knew so much about their dreams and what they meant, but Ryuu never fathomed that he was just as involved as they were in the past lives. In his dream, they all died in the end because of some untold sickness the village went under. Did that mean that it really happened, and as he was now was some success in a line of many failures in the past worlds?
"Accept…that I had a past life? It's possible, but…"
"No buts Ryuu-kun. You and I lived did live together at one point in a world long ago…I remember the evil man you hurt and eventually killed in the end. I remember Jack…"
The name, though no one but himself would know, was the very name which titled the man who tried to kill every villager in Hinamizawa. He hated that man with every fiber of his being, and to hear his name only boiled Ryuu's blood. However, as much as he felt anger, Ryuu was more surprised to hear Rena say that name. More so, to have her give him definitive proof that the life he only knew of in dreams was in fact possible; a life she herself experienced by his side once.
"But…how could you know that?" Ryuu replied, his eyes wide in astonishment.
"Rena-chan and Ryuu-kun fell in love in that world. Rena-chan lived with Ryuu-kun…and even fought against Jack and the people who tried to kill everyone in the village. I remember everything…" Rena moved a bit closer to Ryuu, almost pushing him back in his seat. He sweated when he looked into her eyes, watching as they never blinked.
"Rena-chan…you're scaring me…stop it…" he murmured. Suddenly realizing what she was doing, Rena blinked her eyes and moved back into her chair; not knowing what came over her.
"I'm…sorry…I'm not trying to scare you. I want Ryuu-kun to understand that it was all real…"
Watching Rena sink her head low and casting her eyes away from him, Ryuu sighed and patted her on the head in much the same way Satoshi would do to Shion at times. Forgiving Rena for her momentary awkwardness, he asked her a question that was nagging at his head for some time.
"It's ok; I accepted that strange part of you a long time ago. But…if you knew my dream, and it really did happen, then what happened in your dream that was a past life?" he asked, curiously. Rena just sunk her head lower, sighing again and telling him her story without hesitation.
"In my past life…in my dream…my father was being seduced by an evil woman named Rina. She swayed my father into falling in love with her, but under her sheep skin she was a terrible wolf trying to take my father's fortune away. When I confronted her at the dump, she beat me and tried to kill me. I almost died, but I didn't give up and I fought back; cutting her stomach open with a piece of sharp glass. When she starting begging for mercy…I didn't stop. I took a steel pipe and beat her until I couldn't swing anymore. Her face…was so broken and bloody…her eye hanging out…that I would have gotten sick to my stomach had I not been so overcome with joy for protecting my father. After I hid her body, I lured the man who was working together with Rina to the dump. I cut his head wide open with my cleaver, and after that took both of their dead bodies and cut them up into smaller pieces. When my friends found out…they decided to help me dispose of the body parts…"
"Wow, and I never knew how good your friends were to you. To hide two dead bodies and tell no one…" said Ryuu, trying to lighten the mood. He failed miserably, as he saw Rena grip her nightwear tightly. From that moment on, he decided it would be in his best interest to shut his mouth up.
"…That's what I thought, until I was slowly becoming infected with the syndrome. I started to distrust everyone…especially Mi-chan. After no one would believe what I told them…about how I believed a conspiracy was afoot involving the deaths of Takano-san and Tomitake-san, I ran away and isolated myself from everyone else. I went to the dump, and tried to get away from the people following me. At that point, I believed that no one was on my side…and I was so angry with everyone that I decided to make my point as clear as possible to the village by taking over the school and threatening to set it on fire." Rena took a moment to rest from her conversation, trying her best to compose her thoughts.
"Go on…" asked Ryuu.
"…When I took hostages in the school, I tied everyone up and poured gasoline everywhere; especially over the people. Keiichi-kun pleaded with me…tried to tell me to stop and surrender to the police. I didn't…I kept threatening to use a lighter to burn everyone. Meanwhile…to punish Keiichi-kun for betraying me and to punish Mi-chan for lying to me about the bodies, I began to beat her over the head with the blunt side of my cleaver without mercy. Keiichi-kun eventually stood in my path, and to make him obey my every word, I made a promise to him that I would stop beating Mion if he did what I asked. When I told him to get something from outside the room, Detective Oishi made contact with him and told him about the situation. At that point, he learned of the timer I placed on the roof to ignite the school on fire if my demands were not met in time…in time before the itching in my throat and wrists became too much for me to handle. While Rika-chan and I began to fight below after I found Keiichi-kun looking for the bomb, he went up on the roof and tried to disarm the device. I quickly made easy work of Rika-chan, and just before Keiichi-kun was able to reach the bomb I grabbed his leg before he could hit the disarmer on the timer. The timer ignited a pool of gasoline below, and the whole school went up in smoke. Keiichi rushed downstairs to try to save everyone. As he went below, I found him and began to fight him inside the school; maddened with the syndrome completely by that point. As I cut him in the stomach with my cleaver and left him bleeding next to Mi-chan while she was still tied to the heating unit, I laughed and laughed and laughed while scratching my neck, watching as everything burned with bright, beautiful colors all around. All I remember at that point was the smoke suffocating everyone as the police and villagers outside tried to save us in vain. The roof collapsed, and we all burned to death…"
After telling her heartfelt story, Rena brought her eyes up and revealed to Ryuu how much she was crying. Tears effortlessly rolled down her cheeks, her demeanor unable to be controled now. She moved quickly into Ryuu's chest, crying softly as she remembered her worst sin. Ryuu only smiled and gently brushed her hair, trying to soothe her woes. After a while, Rena began to speak up a bit.
"I'm a horrible person for doing that to everyone…I don't know why I can live happily with everyone else while these dreams plague me with these sins…" Rena seemed like she couldn't let go of any of this pain, and for that Ryuu took her gently by the shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.
"Rena-chan, if this all really happened then you're not the only one bearing such things on your shoulders. You are not the same person that did those things long ago. You're the beautiful, smart and cheerful Rena-chan we've always known." Ryuu smiled at Rena, causing her to blush a deep red and begin to smile again. However, it wasn't until he spouted another one of his jokes did Rena feel much better.
"Besides, I think I know what caused the problem in that past life of yours in the first place…"
"Really? What? The syndrome, right?"
"No…you're just hanging out at the dump too much. You must have caught a pretty nasty thing at that old place to go insane like that…"
Suddenly, Rena became overcame with a fit of giggles, lightly punching Ryuu in the arm. He grinned, finally glad that he was able to cheer her up at last. However, that didn't solve their problems with these dreams.
"But seriously…if these dreams are plaguing us so much, what should we do?" he asked. Rena already knew the answer, and it wasn't far off from what her other friends were thinking that night.
"We go see Rika-chan. She will be able to interpret these dreams for us, I'm sure."
Agreeing with her without question, he got up and accepted that solution for now. Touching his clothes now, Ryuu got a shiver from his wet clothing. If he didn't get out of them soon and dry off, he was sure to catch a summer cold.
"I'm still pretty drenched with sweat. Since I can't really sleep now, I think I'll go take a hot bath before going back to sleep," stated Ryuu. He got up and began to take his shirt off, while Rena watched on with red blushes and drool appearing on her lips.
"RYUU-KUN! YOU'RE SOOO CUTE! I'm going to take you home with me!"
"BWAH!"
Suddenly, Rena tackled Ryuu onto the floor, hugging him tightly while going into "take it home" mode. Ryuu became oblivious to the attack, taken off guard and falling softly.
"Rena-chan! We're already home!" he yelled, laughing.
"Doesn't matter! Ryuu-kun is Rena-chan's!" she laughed. They remained like that for awhile, tossing and turning on the floor while tickling one another. When they got out whatever pent up energy they had, Rena helped Ryuu get up off the floor and then began to go upstairs with him. As he neared the bathroom, Ryuu sighed again.
"Now I'm even sweatier from playing around. If I don't get out of these clothes quickly, I'll get sick…" he said, sighing again. Suddenly from behind, Ryuu felt two arms come around his waist side and begin to unbuckle his pants. He was too stunned with shivers of pleasure and confusion to respond, feeling Rena's hot breath on his neck side as she whispered seductively into his ear.
"Then Ryuu-kun and Rena-chan better get out of these clothes…and get into the hot bathwater soon…"
Without knowing what he was doing, Rena turned the lights of the bathroom on and pulled Ryuu into the room; locking the door behind them. She then turned on the bath faucet with her foot, while pulling Ryuu into a loving kiss. When he realized what was happening, Ryuu didn't fight back but only give in to Rena; kissing her back with more passion. Giggling and letting the bath fill with hot water, Rena began to undress Ryuu as he did likewise to her, leaving their wet clothes on the floor. As steam filled the room, Rena and Ryuu definitely made sure to stay warm in the bathwater; only giggles and moans of pleasure being heard before the door was open once more to the bathroom and the two exited to return to their futon. From there, they were able to achieve peaceful slumber once more in each other's arms.
For them and the rest of their friends, the next day would coincidentally involve a trip to Rika's home in search of answers. But for Rika, she would have more questions than answers for them and herself.
/
"…And welcome back to our latest discussion on the unprecedented finding in the locality of Hinamizawa Village, just outside Okinomiya City. As you viewers have seen over the last hour, at around 3:30 p.m. two days ago demolition experts demolishing an old dam site at the outskirts of Hinamizawa village had, after an unusual encounter with an untold amount of additional explosives taking out a nearby cliff, unearthed a massive dome said to have dated back hundreds of years ago. Our news crew was at the scene that day recording the initial demolition of the dam project remnants. As reported, the demolition went as planned, that is, until a second explosion occurred after experts had determined that a stockpile of oil and gasoline ignited. The second explosion was enough to level out a nearby cliff side, which in turn revealed the ancient ruins of the dome. As you viewers can see on our captured videos, the dome spans the length of a football field and is approximately twenty feet in height. Local archeologists have noticed strange markings all across the dome's sides, and have noted that the dome is composed of two outer shells meeting towards the center. Experts are inclined to believe that the dome may have been some type of monument dedicated to the local deity…"
The murmur of the television far off was drowned out by the unusual cry of the cicadas that night. Paying no mind to the television set, and now dwelling on the past two days of excitement, confusion and shear uncertainty, Rika sat outside on the porch watching as the night drifted on. For everyone else, the discovery of the dome was something astounding in Hinamizawa. Local archaeologists from across Japan were flooding to the area to study and excavate the ruin, however; all in all no one could figure out what it was. The dome held something in it; that much could be speculated by Rika, but the way it was built and the way the outer shell was made could not have been by the hands of humans. To have such a smooth, glass like surface that was constructed hundreds of years old was impossible for humans at that time. For everyone caught up in the hype of the discovery, Rika could easily count herself as out.
She remained lost these past days wondering what everything meant in the end of things. Immediately after the discovery of the structure, Rika remained awestruck for some time, whereas her friends were just as confused as she was. Thinking back on it all, Rika felt as if she was set back in terms of her stance of solving the final riddle. The dreams of Reimei Ryuu, Hanyuu's odd actions as of late and her overshadowing confidence on top of that, and even Mion's inner Oni coming back not even a few weeks ago to try and kill all of them; all of it made no sense to her.
"Was this the way my life was supposed to be after beating Fate: a continuing cycle of fear and apathy?" Rika murmured, sighing right after and putting her head into her arms. She almost felt like crying right then and there, too stressed out to figure out anything in the state she was in.
*That thing…whatever it is…I have a really bad feeling about it. And even…Hanyuu…*
When the secondary explosion revealed the dome structure, in the chaos of the panic and astonishment of finding the structure, Rika could have sworn for an instant that she saw Hanyuu smiling at the discovery; the same smile she had when Mion's Oni appeared for the first time. Everything, the whole feeling and aura that Hanyuu gave off now, made Rika feel like at times that she herself may even have the syndrome. Everything felt crazy…
"HEY! Stop thinking so hard Rika!"
"WAAAH!"
Just when Rika tried to think things over again, she was suddenly blindsided by Satoko from behind. Her friend wrapped her arms around Rika's shoulders, her face brushing to one side and smiling.
"Mii...what are you doing Satoko?" Rika asked, blushing. She looked at her friend with wide eyes, surprised and confused.
"Why are you so down lately? The whole village is in an uproar over the discovery of the century and here you are down in the dumps! Come on Rika, this isn't like you…" Satoko playfully rubbed Rika's hair, trying her best to cheer her up. Still, to no avail did her actions work. Rika continued to sigh and be in the dumps over her worries. Lifting her head up once more, Rika turned to Satoko for council.
"Hey Satoko…don't you get a bad feeling about that dome? I mean…it seems too good to be true, don't you think?"
"Eh? Rika…we unearthed it with that explosion. How could anyone else put that there without the village knowing? Besides…until they open the dome we won't know what its purpose is. Don't get too worried about it, ok? It's just a ruin…"
Satoko smiled and left Rika to her thoughts, moving back towards the kitchen to finish dinner. Sighing once more in defeat, Rika rose up and went over to the table to sit down for their evening meal. As Satoko skillfully cook a wonderful meal, Rika casted her eyes over to the third chair at the table, noticing that Hanyuu was absent.
"Mii…where did Hanyuu go?"
"Oh, about that. She said she was going out for awhile on a walk. I guess she felt like getting some fresh air or something. It's not a big deal; I'll just put her meal in the fridge…"
As Satoko brought over the food for just the two of them, Rika began to wonder if everything would be alright in the end. More so, Rika wondered if Hanyuu was really telling her all there was to know about the dome…
"Rika…I told you already: I don't know anything about it. It is well before my time, Rika. I have no connection to it…however…in the grand scheme of things…it will be a part of the final puzzle for everyone…that much I am sure of…hau hau…"
As Rika began to eat her meal, suddenly everything around her turned grey with silver lining; a sign that a force stronger than her had appeared. Looking up from her meal with astonished eyes, Rika found her counterpart of many lifetimes idly floating in the kitchen lightly above the floor, just before landing with a soft thud. Before Rika was the Witch of Miracles, Lady Bernkastel, with a small grin on her face and hollow, dull looking eyes staring right back at her.
"Hello, Rika-chan…"
/
Can you let go of sadness,
Even though sadness is pain?
Can you let go of joy,
Even though joy is pleasure?
Can you let go of a memory,
Even though memories help us remember?
Can you let go of the past,
Even though it already happened?
And what do all these have in common,
Despite their difference in existence?
Can you let go of Evil?,
Even though Evil is the third wheel?
You can let go of Evil,
Because unlike the others, Evil has no purpose.
Such was what I learned through my ordeals.
Now Mother,
Will you see the Truth?
And will you come back to me?
Next time on Hinamizawa Hell: "The Truth of Fate" Arc 3, Ch. 9: Denial
Can you accept the Truth?
Author's Note: I'm back again guys, and trying my hardest to write this last arc to the series. In less than 24 days, I will be traveling to Japan for 5 months in order to finish up school. During that time, I'm not sure if I will be able to finish this story, being too preoccupied by living out one of my dreams.
Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter and the craziness I involved in it. If no one got the reference to Ryuu's own past sins, then I suggest reading the higurashi fanfic "Redemption" by mindofamaniac0851.
I'll begin working on the next chapter as soon as possible, and I guarantee you that you will be shocked by what's around the next corner.
As always, please read and review. Thank you.