Chapter 11
Getting to Know Hinamizawa! Let's Strike Home Run!


In Hinamizawa…

The Smashers continued down the road and eventually came to a plain-looking house along the side, and there was a sign saying that this house was for rent. "This must be the one Keichi told us," Ike said.

"Not too shabby looking," Ness commented. "It should suit us nicely during our stay here to protect Everything."

"Wait a minute, do we have Japanese currency?" Wario asked. "You can't go around with currency from Soleanna here, you know."

"Um… I don't think any of us have thought of that…" Bowser said.

"Now that you said it… What do we do?" Kirby asked.

Then Kirby's cell phone rang and he answered it, "Hello? Master Hand? Yes… What? How did you know that we are having monetary trouble? Plot device? Whatever… Oh really? Thanks for saying this!" And he ended the call.

"What did Master Hand say?" Ness asked him.

"He said that the warp stars are installed with a new feature," he replied. "He claims they are now installed with a monetary changing device. You can convert your current currency into the currency of the country you are in currently."

"Imagine saying that five times very fast!" Toon Link said jokingly, if you know what I'm talking about.

"That's handy, I tell you!" Wario said. "Now we do not need to worry about money!"

"I'll call the warp star over," Kirby said, and he dialed the cell phone again. He didn't have to speak into it, as when he pressed the correct numbers, the phone let off a loud ringing sound and shortly afterwards, they saw the warp star coming down from the air at high speed.

CRASH!!

There was a crater left behind where the star landed, and then the six of them climbed up from the crater. "The next thing to install would be speed control for these things…" Bowser mumbled.

Shortly after they cleaned up themselves, they gathered around the warp star and inspected it. "How do you get it to change currency?" Wario asked.

"Um… He didn't say…" Kirby said.

"You should've asked more clearly from him! We know this thing can help us but we do not know how it can help us! It's like having lots of money on a barren islet!"

Then out of frustration, Wario gave the warp star a kick so hard that it flipped upside-down, and a slot was revealed underneath it with a message telling one to insert currency into it. "Well, that settles that," Ness said.

-

To make a long story short, they were able to convert all their moneys that they have and then rented the house from the landlord at a cheap price.

The Smashers went into their newly rented house and took a look around. It was a really simple house that has only one floor containing the living room, kitchen, and a bathroom. "For a house this cheap, it's no surprise that you don't get too much out of it," Bowser said.

"At least it can fit us all," Kirby said. "And it's not like we're going to live here forever."

As everyone sat down onto the tatami floor, Ike said, "Okay, it's still early out there, so let us get things done as fast as possible."

"Where do we start?" Toon Link asked.

"First thing we need to do is to get familiar with this place first. Let's split up and move around this village and try to gather all the information we can."

"Easier said then done!" Bowser commented.

"And be on a lookout for suspicious people. The Failures may have very well arrived at this place, so keep an eye on them."

"If we knew where Everything is to begin with, it would've been easier," Ness said.

TL touched Ness in the shoulder and said, "Let's go together! We'll sure to find lots of cool stuff!"

"You're always excited, aren't you?"

And then both the kids ran out. Ike got up next and began to walk away. "We'll meet again some time."

All that's left were Bowser, Kirby, and Wario. "So what are we going to do?" Kirby asked.

Wario lied down onto the floor suddenly and said, "You guys go ahead and do whatever you want. I want a snooze right now."

"Lazy, aren't you?" Bowser commented, and he said to Kirby, "Let's get out there then. How about we go have a bite or something?"

"Sounds good!" Kirby said happily, and thus the two of them left together.

-

Ness and TL walked down the road and eventually heard some loud noises going on around a tall brick wall. They went to the gate before them and found themselves in a school yard, and there in the field were two baseball teams competing against each other. "Baseball! This will be fun to watch and pass time!" Ness said.

"Shouldn't we be doing our job?" TL asked.

"You're right… But it wouldn't hurt for us to watch too."

As the two kids walked into the audience area to watch the competition, they noticed some familiar people. "Hey, you're the one from before," Ness said.

Satoko turned to them and said, "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here-wa?"

"Just walking around when we happen to stumble here. I'm a big fan of baseball!"

"Whatever…"

"You don't look too happy."

"Well, the team that we are cheering for, Hinamizawa Little Fighters, is losing to the rival team-wa…"

"Ah, I can understand the sadness of seeing your team losing."

"Two of our team's players hurt themselves and couldn't play, so Mion and Keichi volunteered to replace them. But…" Satako looked out into the field to see Keichi at the bat, but he ended up spinning like a top when he tried to swing at the ball.

"I can see what you're worrying about…"

TL then said to Ness, "How about we give them a hand?"

"Hmmm… Not a bad idea. Wouldn't hurt to give our good friend a smile on the face!" Ness agreed.

Keichi came back to his team's corner and Mion said to him, "I thought you would do better than me! You did worse instead! You call yourself a man?"

"I never said I was good at this!" he shouted back. "You could've called other people for help! I was just in the middle of my daytime nap when you tricked me into coming here by saying that you were being bullied! And then I came here with a golf club ready to beat the living daylights out of whoever was harassing you only to make myself a fool standing in the middle of the field and grabbing unnecessary attention!"

"That's her idea," Mion said, pointing to Satako, who looked aside and whistled in innocence (which isn't true). "But at any rate, the team we're cheering for is going to lose…"

"I see you're having some trouble," Ness said. "Need a hand or two?"

Mion turned to them and said, "You know how to play baseball?"

Ness smirked and got out his baseball bat and said, "That's a question that doesn't even deserve to be asked."

-

Bowser and Kirby set their eyes upon a rather fancy-looking restaurant called Angel Mort. "This place looks good for our lunch!" Kirby commented.

"For a rural village like this, it's quite unexpected to find a well designed restaurant like this if you ask me," Bowser said. "But then, if you wanna eat, then might as well make sure the place for eating enhances your appetite!"

"Right on!"

And thus they went into the restaurant. Just like how it looked great from the outside, the inside was equally good too. Of course, it's not like anything you would see in five star restaurants, but for a place found in a rural village, it's pretty neat.

"Nice place here," Bowser commented.

"What's to eat? Hmm…" Kirby thought while flipping through the menu.

As they pondered about what to eat, a waitress wearing a rather revealing maid outfit which is colored black came up to them. "May I take your orders please?"

Bowser looked at the waitress and took great interest (more like perverted thoughts) on the maid costume. "Hmmm… Nice choice of dress they have here!" But when he set his eyes on the person herself, he was a bit surprised. "Why! You're that girl from earlier! Mion, I think…"

"Oh no, you're mistaken!" the girl said. "I'm not Mion…"

"But I could've sworn she has green hair, and you have the same too!"

"Actually, I'm her twin sister Shion."

"Oh, I see. Sorry for the mistake."

"That's all right; it happens pretty often since we look so alike. You know my sister?"

"Yeah, we were tourists in this place and she gave us some info and such."

"I see. Anyway, I hope you like it here."

"By the way, nice costume!"

Shion's face turned red and she pressed her arms close against herself with embarrassment. "Um… Thanks…"

"I'll take this!" Kirby said, pointing to a specific dish on the menu.

-

Ike found himself at what looked like a temple ground. He walked around the place and observed the shrines set up around the place, and he also saw Rika sweeping leaves off the ground. As he approached, she looked at him and said, "Hello! Enjoying your time here?"

"Yeah, pretty much," he replied. "So this is where you worship some sort of deity?"

"Yes, and I am in fact a priestess here. At my age, can you believe it? Heheh!"

"I've seen stranger things."

"Want to have a tour around here? Free for charge-nanodesu!"

"That'll be nice."

So Rika took Ike around the place and showed him the various locations of the temple. The last location they visited was the most important place of all. "And this is the temple containing the statue of Oyashiro-sama, the great deity that we worship," Rika told him.

"Really?" he said, looking at the gates of the building.

"I'll show you inside, though be sure to keep your manners. It's a sacred ground in there."

Rika pushed open the gate and they went inside. The inside of the temple was rather dark, and before them was a large human-shaped statue made out of precious metals. However, what was more attention grabbing was the placement of various sharp and dangerous objects all over the place. There was also a blond woman standing in front of the statue. "Ms. Takano!" Rika said.

The woman turned around and said, "Oh hi, Rika!"

Rika turned to Ike and said to him, "She's the nurse of our hospital. For some reason, she has great interest in this place and comes often."

Takano turned to look at the statue again and said, "Whenever I look at this statue, I feel very excited. I have never seen such a splendid masterpiece!"

"She seems to have great interest in art, so that must be why she comes here often-nanodesu. The statue is Oyahiro-sama," Rika explained to Ike. "He watches over this village and legend says that he drove away the demons that once terrorized this place, thus people here are grateful to him."

"I'm more curious about all these… stuffs…" Ike said.

"Oh, you mean all these torturing devices? Legend says that Oyashiro-sama is also a very cruel god when he gets angry, so all these are things that he uses for punishing people who committed sins. It is said that his punishment, or curse as some people call it, will last in the village for several years as a reminder that one should not sin again."

"Sounds like a tyrant…"

"Don't worry; so long as you treat him with respect, he will take care of you. They say that he will even follow behind you and keep an eye on you. Some people actually claimed to hear footsteps when they were alone."

"Sounds like a ghost story to me." Ike looked at the statue again and wondered some things to himself, and then he also looked at Takano who was busy taking photographs of the statue. "Hmmm… Maybe I'm thinking too much…"

-

Back to the ball game…

CLANG!!

"It's a home run!!" the players gasped.

The people were amazed at how Ness hit the ball, and because of him, the Hinamizawa Little Fighters were able to score many points.

TL came up to the bat next and swung the ball. However, the ball did not fly very far and bounced near the surface of the ground instead. The pitcher was able to catch it and was going to throw it towards the first base, but he was shocked to see TL zooming at monstrous speed across the first base and then heading for the second base. The pitcher had no time to throw the ball at all and TL made it back to the home base in a single lap.

"Whoa! These two are amazing!" Keichi exclaimed.

"You should learn from them, you know?" Mion said to him.

After a while, it was time to change positions. The rivaling team's batter was able to hit the ball and knock it very far into the air. But Ness ran after the ball and leaped up as high as he could and caught it, and thus kicking out that batter in the process.

The next batter came up and swung at the ball, but the ball flew backwards instead and was landing for the audience area, heading for Satoko to be precise. She lifted up her hands to defend herself, but TL ran up next to her and caught the ball before it hit her. "You all right?" he asked her.

"I'm all right," she replied.

TL turned to the batter and shouted to him, "Be careful how you hit the ball! This isn't a game of injuring people!"

As he went back to the field, Satoko continued to eye him and thought, "He's handsome…"

The game continued as usual and the ball once again soared into the air thanks to a very skilled batter.

Ness moved back as far as possible and raised his hand to try and catch it. But then TL ran up to him and bounced off his head and into the air and caught the ball before landing safely onto the ground. "Sorry about that," TL said.

"I knew you would pull this sooner or later…" Ness said.

Soon, there was another high-flying ball and this one actually flew towards the school building! "I'll get it!" TL shouted. He ran as fast as he could and when he reached the school building, he climbed all the way up the wall as fast as he ran! This feat alone amazed everyone beyond words. He leaped off the wall and caught the ball and landed safely like always.

"Good catch on that!" Ness said to him.

The game continued again and the ball hit the ground before falling into the hand of Ness. The batter, however, was a fast runner and he made it past the first base and was heading for the second base. Ness combined his throwing skills with his PSI and the ball shot forward like a cannonball (there was even a glowing streak left behind in air) and it went into the hands of the catcher at the second base before the batter got there.

The supporters of HLF cheered happily at the amazing talents and skills of the two Smashers, and they were even happier that their team was catching up at last.

The game went on and on and the HLF were starting to catch up to their rivaling team. Soon, the game was at a conclusion and both teams were tied. Things were getting risky as the HLF had gotten two outs, so one more out would mean a draw for the game. TL was at the bat and one could tell that it was an intense moment.

"You can do it, Toon!" Ness shouted to him.

"You can do it! I'm supporting you!" Satoko shouted to him.

The pitcher began to throw the ball and said, "I am the best pitcher in their team! You think you can hit my ball? Wait a thousand years!"

"We'll see about that!" TL said.

The pitcher threw the ball TL missed it, thus resulting in a strike. He struck out the second time again and everyone was getting nervous. However, the third time the ball was thrown, TL pulled off a whirling blade technique that knocked the ball into the distance. Not only did the ball fly away, but the bat also flew out of his hand and took off for the air too! "All right! A fly ball! Run for the bases fast!" Ness shouted.

TL took a bit a time to stop spinning before running for the base. The ball dropped quite a bit of a distance, but it was not home run. One of the catchers picked up the ball from the ground and quickly threw it at the base TL was heading for.

TL was fast enough to make it past the third base, but thanks to the spinning just now, he was having a hard time retaining balance so his speed was affected somewhat and he couldn't even run properly. "You're out, dude!" the catcher said, and right when he was about to throw the ball, the bat dropped onto his head and knocked him out cold, so the ball was never thrown.

And thus TL made it across the home base and everyone exclaimed happily. "YAY!! HE DID IT!! WE WON!!"

The fans of HLF all gathered around TL and began tossing him up into the air over and over while cheering happily for him. Ness was left in the dust however. "Hey! What about me?! I contributed to your winning too!"

-

That evening…

Bowser and Kirby returned into their house and saw Wario watching TV in a lied down position while scratching his butt. "Enjoyed your time out there?" Wario asked.

"The food was pretty good!" Kirby said.

"It's not too bad out there," Bowser replied. "Though it can get a bit boring considering that this place isn't a bustling city like Soleanna."

Shortly afterwards, Ike, TL, and Ness came inside, and the two kids were covered in sweat. "Hey, you're back too," Kirby said. "And what are with you two? You're covered in sweat!"

"We had a rough game of baseball," Ness said. "Everybody loved us after we helped their favorite win their game."

"We sure had a great time too!" TL added.

"So did you guys find out anything?" Ike asked. Everybody shook his head as reply. "Figures…"

Then there was a knock at the door and Ike went over to open it, and he found Keichi and his usual friends out there. "Hi there," Ike said.

"We just want to thank you for helping our team win the game today," Keichi said.

"Oh, you're welcome about that!" Ness said. "You also gave us the opportunity to have fun too!"

"To thanks you, we have brought dinner and we were wondering if it is all right that we eat together," Mion said, holding up a lunch box.

Kirby ran over and said happily, "Oh boy! Just when we were wondering about what to do for dinner!"

"Kirby! You're as cute as ever!" Rena squealed, and then he picked him up and gave him a tight hug while rubbing him on the head.

"I'm sure popular with girls!" Kirby thought happily.

"C'mon in," Ike said. "We don't mind if there is a bit of noise in here."

"Okay, we're coming in!" Mion said. "Oh, by the way, this is my twin sister Shion!" She pointed to the identical-looking girl next to her.

"Nice to meet you! They told me about you already," Shion said.

And so, the Smashers had dinner with their friends, and they also learned that they are the Smashers.

"So you guys are the Smashers!" Keichi said. "No wonder I thought some of you looked so familiar!"

"Heh! Nobody can ever forget my handsome face!" Bowser claimed.

"He's probably referring to me," Wario said with a mouthful.

"You're not handsome."

"More handsome than a turtle though."

"You guys sure made a lot of headlines all the time," Mion said. "Are you people really like the news always said?"

"Most of the time," Ness told her. "It's true that we are constantly saving the world and such. Though most of the time we were dragged into it like innocent sheep. It seems that we can never have some quiet time…"

"Being hero is hard work-nanodesu," Rika said. "But you deserve a big clap for your efforts. Clap clap clap!"

"Thanks!"

Satoko sat near to TL and said to him in a rather shy voice, "Um… You're so cool today-wa!"

"I'm always like that," said TL, who was eating and seemed somewhat oblivious. "It's very normal, though I am indeed more hyperactive than my brother."

"I've never seen someone as… cool as you-wa!"

Kirby swallowed his food and said, "This is delicious!"

"I made those sushis!" Rena said. "I'm so glad that you like it!" She picked up another piece and brought it over to Kirby. "I'll feed you. Open wide!"

To make a long story short, they had a great time together.

-

Meanwhile, somewhere in the darkness of the night…

"You sure the Smashers are here?"

"Yes, I'm sure of this. I've seen those faces on news before."

"Figured they would come sooner or later…"

"What do we do? I know they don't have anything to do with this, but suppose they get in the way of my revenge…"

"Don't worry; just do as you originally planned. I'll try to make it so that the Smashers will not interfere with you."

"What are you planning to do?"

"I know what I am doing. So long as I can get my hand on Everything, you will have my support."


TO BE CONTINUED

I tried my best with this chapter. I hope it was a good relaxation chapter. I also want to tell you that I'm not planning to make this arc as gruesome and frightening as the actual anime. I can't even be sure if there will be psychotic girls going on killing spree. But rest assure that I have ways to make up for this.