Chapter I - Suprise
"She looked like her, acted like her, had her same face… but even though they shared the same qualities, they were totally different."
"Hey, she's been asleep for two hours. Is she going to be okay?" A male voice said.
"I'm not sure…" said a worried voice, presumably a female's. "I hope she didn't get a brain injury or anything. Then we'll have to bring her to the clinic. I hate clinics."
"Yeah, we know. But she'll come to eventually."
"Mm."
"Well, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, so call me when she wakes up."
"Ah, all right. I'll make sure she wakes up.
She heard familiar voices as she slept, and she figured that she had probably fallen down. Just what I need, she thought. A brain injury as soon as Hanyuu resets the world. However, she managed to bleakly open her eyes, earning a squeal of surprise from the softer voice.
"Ah! She's awake!"
It was Ryuuguu Rena, the orange haired, "I'm gonna take you home" girl who liked hunting for treasure in trash heaps. Her blue eyes got bigger with happiness as Rika opened her eyes. "Oh, I'm relieved. I was afraid you were… you were…"
"Mii! I understand." Rika managed a trademark "mii" to ease Rena's worry. "I would be scared if I was sleeping for a long time, too."
Instead of a regular giggle or smile, Rena frowned. "'Mii'? What's 'mii'? As in 'me'?"
Now it was Rika's turn to frown. "You know what I mean for 'mii', Rena. I've always said it, and you've never questioned it before."
Now Rena looked even more baffled when Rika said "mii". "Rena? Who's that?"
Rika just stared at her. What kind of world is this? Rena doesn't remember when I say a cute "mii" and she doesn't even know her own name. Does she have amnesia? No, the voice I heard before was…
"Hey, is she up yet?" A boy strolled into the room, and then noticed Rika sitting up in bed. "Oh! You're up. Is your brain okay? Do you have any injuries?"
This boy was none other than Maebara Keiichi, the newest Hinamizawa resident, and sadly a victim of the Hinamizawa Syndrome in other worlds. He was an all around good guy, and Rika suspected he was the object of Rena and Mion's affections.
"N-nope. I'm fine. Nipah✰" Rika smiled sweetly at Keiichi, hoping that he would at least remember that. Alas, he just looked at her with a similar baffled expression Rena wore.
"I don't know what she means, either," Rena supplied, a worried expression replacing her confused one. "Do you think she really has brain damage?"
"Good question," Keiichi said, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. "Well, she did have a fall pretty hard down that path. Maybe she's kinda…"
"No!" Rika interrupted, who already had a pretty good idea what Keiichi would say next. "I'm fine, but what happened to me? How did I get here?"
"Did you forget?" Rena asked. "Well, we were all ready to go to pick up some groceries for one of the older villagers, and while going back to their house, we came to a sharp turn in a path. We're guessing you stepped on the turn too far because you went tumbling down. Everyone was really scared, but we all helped you get to my house, and now you're here."
Ah, so that's why I was sleeping. That makes sense. But what doesn't make sense that Rena doesn't remember her own name and Keiichi doesn't remember my "nipah✰".
"Oh, I guess I just forgot. Sorry." Rika put on her most innocent smile.
Rena giggled. "It's all right, Rita. I guess when people fall down, they forget stuff?"
"…Rita?" Rika repeated, her mouth suddenly turning dry. "Did you just call me …Rita?"
Rena nodded. "Yeah. That is your name, right, Rita? Rita Franklin?"
…Rita Franklin?! Doesn't she mean "Furude Rika"…?Rika was such at a loss for words she just stared numbly at Rena.
"Rachel, maybe Rita does have amnesia," Keiichi commented. "Should we bring her to Dr. Eerie?"
"I don't know, Casey," Rena-as-Rachel said, looking worried. "Maybe Milly will know more about this stuff. You know, since her family is, like, the mayors of Honeyville."
"Rachel?" Rika repeated dumbly. "Casey? Dr. Eerie? Honeyville?!"
"Gee, Rita, you sure did bump your head hard to forget all your friends' names and where you live," Keiichi-as-Casey laughed.
Rika honestly couldn't find any humor in this situation. Why did everyone's name change? How could Rena become "Rachel", like Keiichi could become (gag) "Casey"?
"Well, Rita, since you can't remember, I'll remind you," Keiichi-as-Casey said, sitting on the bed. "Your name is Rita Franklin, okay? You have two parents, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin."
"Are they… dead?" Rika asked.
Instead of Casey, Rachel spoke. "Rita… they're not dead."
Rika's eyes lit up. Perhaps this was a world where her parents weren't afflicted by Oyashiro-sama's curse? "Really? They're not?"
"Even worse… they've been sent to the Shadow Realm." She shivered.
Does this mean they're dead? Rika wondered, but asked, "Do I live in a shrine? Maybe the Franklin Shrine?"
"Nope, but you do have a really old Japanese-style house!" Casey said, looking excited at the very thought. "The Franklins are one of the Three Honeyville Leaders. I'm pretty sure you hold the Honeyville Fiesta every year in June, but I'll get to that later."
"I'm Casey Mills, and that's – " he pointed to Rachel " – Rachel Russell. The mayor family of Honeyville, one of the Three Honeyville Leaders, is the Swanes. Their two daughters, Milly Swanes and Sally Swanes, are our friends. Finally, your bestest friend Sandy Houze, lives with you. She has an older brother named Scott."
"Where's Scott?"
"Scott transferred to some school in Canada," Rachel explained. "It's called Toronto High School or something. He wrote to us and told us there's a girl his class named Ryoko something-or-other… the name is really foreign."
"Anyway," Casey said in a tone of voice that meant he really wanted to get back at the subject at hand, "obviously we live in the remote village of Honeyville. We have the Eerie Clinic, run by Dr. Eerie and his nurse assistant, Mary Takete. Our teacher at Honeyville School is Miss Ciel." He paused and then turned to Rachel.
"Is that everybody worth mentioning?"
"Pretty sure," Rachel said, and then turned to Rika. "Are you getting your memory back, Rita?"
"Of course," Rika lied. "I'm feeling much better after you two jogged my memory. Thank you both. So… where's Milly, Sally and Sandy?"
"They're finishing up some other stuff we needed to do for the villager we were helping," Rachel said. "We said we'd bring you back to the Franklin Estate, though."
"It's all right," Rika said, getting out of bed. She was thankful that everyone was still wearing their regular Japanese clothes and not different ones. "I know my way back to the Furude Shrine – I mean, Franklin Shrine. You can go back and tell Sandy that I'll be cooking dinner at home."
"Right." Casey nodded. "Then, Rachel, should we go and meet everyone up for some food?"
Rachel nodded, and the three of them exited the room. Rika guessed, from a family photograph hanging on the wall as she exited, this was the Ryuuguu's (or, this world's Russell's) house.
"Say, Rachel," Rika said as she passed another photograph, "does Mrs. Russell still live here?"
Rachel nodded happily. "Yup! Mom goes on a lot of business trips, so she's not here all the time. But Dad keeps me company, so it's all right."
"I see."
Soon, the exited the Russell household, and Rika was again thankful to see that only the identities of the townspeople, the buildings and the town was changed. It was virtually the same old Hinamizawa her friends and herself played countless punishment games in.
"So, Rita, you know the way, right? You'll be fine by yourself?" Casey asked, concerned.
"Of course, Casey. See you!"
"See you tomorrow."
The group parted, with Rachel and Casey side by side and Rika alone, heading opposite ways. When Rika was finally alone, she had a chance to actually think about her situation.
All right, let's see. I'm in a world where everyone's identities has changed into… well, kid-friendly names, as though they were going to be on some foreign show in another country. I will now have to address Keiichi as "Casey", Rena as "Rachel", and myself as … "Rita". Ugh. Do foreign girls really address themselves as "Rita"? I like "Rika" a hundred times better… but I digress.
She sighed as she turned the corner, heading toward the "Franklin Estate". "Hey, Hanyuu," she said, assuming Hanyuu was right beside her, "what do you make of this world?"
There was no reply.
For the second time in one day, Rika panicked. Hanyuu had always, always been by her side. For every world she braved, Hanyuu was always there. So why didn't Hanyuu respond?!
This must be… a very special world if Hanyuu isn't present… Rika thought to herself, still feeling panicky. Will I have to do it all by myself?
Without realizing it, she had finally come back to (what she had always known as) Furude Shrine. There was nothing different from it, except instead of one of the Japanese last-name plates, there was a mailbox with the name "Franklin" on it in front of the shrine. What a way to Americanize it.
As Rika stared at the shrine she knew so well, she made a decision.
I'm not going to let this world beat me down.But the trouble that Rika immediately thought of then was, How am I supposed to just casually call them "Casey" and "Rachel" and "Milly"?That was one question she'd be thinking about all night.
This world may not have Hanyuu, and it may not have the friends I know so well, but I know Oyashiro-sama will give me his – or her – blessing.
I may fail, but I will fail knowing that I will triumph one of the most challenging world I've been in yet!
