Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Reflection [Jukko-hen]
Continuation from Tsumihoroboshi-hen. "Everyone has been claimed by the fateful June and I stand the lone survivor. Clouds pass over the sun, abandoning the village of Hinamizawa; my home - reclaimed by demons".
The sky flared like the flames it shared colour with as the sun drew closer to the soft earth. Together they stood before her, beneath her, like a congress that had gathered to hear a speech from a politician ahead of election. She stood atop the camper van buried amongst the mounds of trash, clothes in a black rubber suit to avoid staining her clothes in blood from her secretive toil. Mion, Rika, Satoko, Keiichi, gathered once again - originally heading into the dump with the intention of locating the supposed ghost of the man who fell victim to the first wrath of Oyashiro-sama, the dismembered construction worker whose death triggered the mysterious chain of murders and disappearances.
She spoke of her sins, robbing both the uncle of Satoko and the girlfriend of her own father of their lives; their selfish, greedy, useless lives. Having them walk the Earth without punishment would only breed more insolent beings, unworthy of living. Keiichi stepped forward, asking her why - why she had taken the law into her own hands and become Hinamizawa's vigilante and in such a cruel way. Why she hadn't turned to her friends for support, she had moved ahead on her own, using such drastic actions to deal with her family's problems, bringing about a swift end to the troubles her father would have from the blond man named Houjou Teppei, preventing him from falling into debt to the man as several others had, hearing the hushed woman's voice talk about how she could get them out of the deal safely. The secret meeting at the café in Okinomiya that she was never supposed to hear. He insisted that had she turned to them, they could have been of help; that they could have brought about a path without staining her hands with the blood of the two vile adults.
She challenged him. Asking him exactly what the four of them would have done. He attempted to answer strongly, ultimately failing to give a real reply. Rena lifted her head, revealing her azure eyes sparkling as brightly as the setting sun, beaming sincerely - she had won that round, there could be nothing that they would do to avoid the gruesome events that she had chosen to undertake. She was sure of it.
"It's impossible" she muttered. Her eyes closed to strengthen her content expression, a true smile of happiness - exactly what she believed she had found in that moment, satisfaction that her friends couldn't have altered her actions. That she had done right, by justice. That she had done nothing wrong. "Keiichi-kun, you couldn't have done anything. Everyone else too… Nobody could have done anything".
"Well… that's…" Keiichi feebly protested, trailing off with each word he spoke, trying to put together something to argue back with.
"Friends…" Rena intervened, resuming her light, yet solemn tone. "Those companions you speak of are only friends during those fun, yet unimportant times. When painful times come, they won't be your ally".
"That's-" Keiichi cried out.
"It's always been like that" Rena called, bringing the brunette male to a premature halt. "Even when I moved away". Her eyes surveyed around her, across the mountains formed by human debris, left to rot in the deserted site of such a tragedy. A place she had made a second home out of - somewhere to clear her mind, to cry alone where no-one could see. A place where droplets of blood clung to the ground and the stench of death rose from the corpses thrown into bin bags, laced with masking tape as a means for concealing the contents and hidden in a fridge near to the camper van. Despite her efforts, the slim hand of the woman remained exposed from beneath the pile, streams of blood dry and attracting the flies that buzzed incessantly about the hideous sight. "I stopped thinking whether I should tell my friends. Because… it's not like anyone is going to help. And no-one can help"."Why?"
"Eh?"
Tears slipped from Keiichi's eyes, hidden beneath the shadow of his fringe, sliding down to his chin and then plummeting to their end against the harsh ground of the otherwise abandoned site. Clear droplets reflecting the light of the day's final hours until the end embraced them. "Why won't you trust us?"
"Kei-chan" Mion whispered, watching the boy with eyes bearing pity for him.
"Maybe like you said, even if you told us, we might not be able to come up with the best solution. But… even so…" he continued, clenching his right fist by his side tighter. His head rose, revealing the tears clinging to his damp eyes, the azure flames of despair burning inside of him, mixing with the determination to make everything right again shimmering from the depths of his eyes. "I believe we would have reached a better future than now!"
"'A better future than now'?" Rena echoed, smirking at such a thought - he had proven there was no alternative. What she had done was right. "There is no such thing". Keiichi's jaws clenched fiercely, enough for his body to tremble with rage at the thought of there being nothing better than murdering people who stood in the way of happiness. From where he stood, what Rena spoke was nothing but nonsense. "This is… this is the best possible future".
"Usoda!" Keiichi yelled in protest, squeezing his eyes shut and expelling the tears clinging onto the edges of his sockets as his head dipped, his pained expression turned from Rena and to the ground. The girl took a breath of surprise from the reaction. A couple of seconds passed before Keiichi raised his head to face her, eyes swimming just as quickly. "To prove my point… Rena, you're crying even now".
"Huh? Who is?" Rena asked tauntingly, tilting her head forward and raising a curious eyebrow to accompany her smirk. What he claimed amused her, she wanted to see just what it was he believed. "Me? When did I shed a tear?"
"Just now. You're still crying" he claimed strongly, voice matching his will to break this cycle of madness beginning to occur. To prevent any more murders, to stop anything else diverting his friends from their usual ways of life. Rena's eyes widened, losing their glimmer as the words struck a nerve inside of her, stunning her, and she couldn't comprehend what it was he was saying. Her pupils shrank dramatically, almost as though they disappeared from her eyes completely, along with her confidence in proving to him that what she did was the best - and only - solution to her troubles. "Do you not understand this yourself?"
Her eyes widened again, a gasp escaping from her lips as though the realisation of her actions had finally dawned on her - those moments of losing herself to her murderous intentions that had slain two humans had no reason in them. No consideration for what she was doing, those she would leave grieving for the pair. She had killed… twice.
Keiichi rubbed his eyes against the sleeve of his white school shirt as he continued on, almost unable to even look at Rena after the acts she had committed. "Rena, what you did is the worst imaginable thing". His face rose from the material, eyes remained tightly shut. "You're an idiot! But I, as your friend, will accept what you did, Rena. 'That there was no other way'… I will accept that this kept running through your head until you concluded that this was your last resort".
She gazed at him, a sense of loss in her eyes, of fear and regret beneath the creased brow that guided her narrow eyebrows to adopt the expression. Her mouth hung open slightly, watching him as he uttered each word that continued to force the message inside of her further, like a drill that aimed to pierce her heart and reveal the true extent of her methodology.
He straightened up, smiling, speaking in a much calmer tone. Like he understood. "That's why, I'll try to understand you, Rena. We're the only ones who know of these awful bags. If we keep it a secret, then it's okay. There's nothing for you to worry about, Rena".
Without hesitation, he stepped forward, climbing the short distance between himself and her, lifting himself onto the roof of the campier van, provoking a defensive step back from Rena who watched in bewilderment. He rose before her, standing opposite her at the same height, opening his hand as a means of accepting her, to bring her back from the nightmarish world she had unintentionally stumbled into.
"Rena" he beckoned.
She gazed at the hand anxiously, he had claimed she had committed a heinous act, yet was willing to accept her as things had been before. She was a murderer, but he wanted her to take his hand, to walk back into everyday life like nothing had happened - Teppei and Rina would have merely run off together somewhere. How could they so lightly forgive her for things they insisted were horrible acts? Her mind ran wild with thoughts about why they cared so much, why they were reaching out.
A small hand touched the top of Keiichi's palm, but not Rena's. The brunette's eyes met the sight of Rika by his side, the small sapphire-haired girl smiling innocently as she uttered her catchphrase of "Mii~" happily.
"Rika-chan" Rena muttered, perplexed by why the girl bothered to reach out. She had said nothing, instead cowered by Satoko's side - why did she want to invite Rena back into the real world?
A hand of matching proportions touched Rika's, drawing the eyes of Keiichi, Rena and Rika to the mischievous blonde girl who smiled despite the deep, hidden truth that one of the butchered corpses not too far behind her was uncle - as abusive and terrible as he was, he was the only remaining blood relative of the girl's.
"Satoko".
"Both Rika and I lost our parents and are alone, but even today, we never cried about it" she spoke optimistically. "That's because we had everyone, in a family called 'friendship'".
"'A family called friendship', huh?" Keiichi asked, smiling brightly as the title that the girl usually playing his rival had given the bonds between her friends. "That's a good analogy you came up with, Satoko".
As the fourth hand fell over the others, the green haired club president continued on, rubbing the back of her head embarrassedly as she tried to follow the words of her younger comrades. "I thought the precious value of friendship was something I, as the Club President, should explain. But… well, well. I guess I fail at being the Club President, huh?" she chuckled.
"Mion" Keiichi exhaled, touched that even without words from her heart, Mion had joined in the effort to remind the final member of what reality was, that they were there for her, even if they couldn't supply an answer worthy of consideration. Mion opened her eyes, maintaining her smile.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't joke here". She turned to Rena. "To not understand the circumstances you were in, as your friend - as the Club President - I am ashamed. Please forgive me. Of course, we will forgive the fact that you didn't talk with us. Because… that means that we weren't worthy enough for you to talk to us. We are accountable for that incompetence. That's why I won't condemn you".
"Rena is… a murderer, you know?" Rena whimpered, tears building at the corners of her eyes, clinging to her eyelashes as she gazed at the four smiling faces opposite, overcome by their caring. Yet feeling a lack of worth, they were reaching out to a tainted girl, one who had already committed unforgivable deeds. "Ill be a burden to everyone".
"This isn't a dream or an illusion. And it's not too late, either" Keiichi responded strongly. "Rena, you still have a choice to make. So choose; you can still make it! Come here!"
Rather than reaching forward, Rena brought her right hand up, brushing the knuckle of her finger against the dampness around her eye. As her hand lowered, Keiichi reached out and seized it, bringing it to the stack before her and laying it on top, resting it atop Mion's. Rena gazed up, staring into the four faces that smiled brightly at her, waiting for her to accept their wishes to return to them. Her eyes narrowed slightly, tears building quicker than previously, a sharp intake sounded as she tried not to fall apart in front of them.
Nevertheless, the tears trickled down her cheeks, falling from her chin. Eyes closed and mouth opened, a sob escaped. The true Rena had fallen back into the world where her friends stood, a comforting hand from Mion fell upon her back, welcoming her home.
「ひぐらしのなく頃に」
熟考編
Chapter 2 - Return
Wild gusts ruffled Rena's hair as tree passed by like people standing in the streets of a busy town centre, each insignificant, each without a name or history. Unimportant to her. Nobody outside Hinamizawa mattered. The sky overhead was a serene blue, much like that day a month before then when the boy sitting behind her had waltzed into her life, opening his arms where few would, resisting the unbearable urge to turn away and recoil in horror at the past, misdeeds of yesterdays drifting further and further into history, no longer just weeks or months behind. The weather of the new Spring matched that of the preceding summer - warm, pleasant, void of any warnings of impending destruction.
It was strange to think that a year before, Maebara Keiichi didn't exist to her. Strange to think that she had only known him a month, yet they bonded easily and felt as though they had met much earlier in their young lives. Keiichi apparently had that effect, to force bonds and friendships easily - a quality that many would strive to accomplish if it was absent inside of them. The months of May and June seemed to long looking back, all of the fun times that the group had shared, the exclusive club of the Hinamizawa Branch School. The same club established around about the time of her return to Hinamizawa. Life outside of the tranquil village seemed like a distant memory, like a dream, fading with experiences far more enjoyable since the days of isolation and cold shoulders from those around her, including her mother. The woman who had decided to live her life with another man, choosing a stranger over the partner who fathered a child with her. The day that she last returned to Hinamizawa from such a distance was exactly the same as this day she found herself living again.
With spring came the blossoming of armies of flowers in each village and each field, anywhere that had housed the delicate plants previously. As the vehicle rolled swiftly along the roads, the armies became little more than blurs without time to inspect details about them. Fields freshly ploughed met the same minimal assessment. Rivers that ran along or under the roads along the route drew the sapphire eyes of the girl, watching the calm flow of water as it was carried by a force outside of its control.
Behind Rena, Jouichirou watched the same scenes, drawing his eyes back to the inside of the vehicle, eyes drifting from Rena to Ooishi at the wheel of the casual car. The two with a common past intrigued him, he sat as the outsider of the trio, with no history with either of the two from the region wherein their destination lied. The possibility that he would travel with them came as a complete surprise to him, believing that he would spend much longer in the hospital to deal with the loss of his family in the incident. Yet word reached him that he was capable of discharging himself in time for the initial trip to Hinamizawa, to experience the past by Rena's side as she faced the delighted faces of her friends, classmates and her father. To confront those she left behind when she departed from the village and rebuild fractured bridges left to stand meekly over the period between the previous summer and the current spring.
As promised, Ooishi had come to collect the pair shortly after his retirement; less than a week old, ready to transport them to the village that Rena had spoken of, the world that seemed to distant - an opposite - to that which Jouichirou had lived throughout his life. She had spoken commonly and fondly of the days where the group would stay behind after class, meeting to play games with punishments for the loser ranging across various possibilities - usually ending with the loser dressed in a costume that would trigger the moments of delusions she would experience and cry out that she'd take it home no matter what anyone else did to prevent it. Such occasions peaked his interest, he desired to see times in her stories happen in front of his eyes, to see the idyllic everyday life of this village plagued with the bloodstains of a mystery beneath its peaceful surface, the murky curse hidden beneath the cover of a wonderful place, rising once a year. June.
Three months were left until the Watanagashi Festival that he had learned of would take place, where the mystery occurred and the darkness of Hinamizawa revealed its ugly face - the murder of one individual and the disappearance of another - one offered to Oyashiro-sama and another "demoned away". The trend had crossed five years and the approaching summer would mark the sixth if such mystery was to happen.
'Six years, huh?' Jouichirou asked himself inwardly, pressing the left side of his jaw against the palm of his hand, watching the scenery pass idly by.
It was difficult to consider how many years the tradition would continue, if there would ever be an end to it. He was pondering about a distant ritual, a distant place with traditions and standards far different from those he would be used to. Lives in a village without any major cities nearby would be far different from those in the cities absent from the former's region. He had no comprehension of Hinamizawa outside of the words that had been passed to him; words of an insider. Ooishi had yet to talk about Hinamizawa or the mysteries that plagued it; those that he had investigated.
Travelling along the road brought back memories of the trips he would take with his parents - days when they would cross plains matching his current surroundings, days when they would watch the shoppers of a city strolling along the streets as they enjoyed their day of leisure. The destination was always unique - a holiday retreat near the base of mountains, a journey to the edge of the country and experience the sea, aiming for a city hosting an event that had attracted the eye of either parents. Those days were long gone and Jouichirou missed both his mother and father dearly, their passing months old, buried somewhere far from where he was heading. Moving forward in his life as Rena planned, their methods far different. Both with the same goal in mind, each ready to tackle the world on their own. Jouichirou's thoughts turned to his parents and where in the sky they were, watching down on him with bright smiles, glad that he had found someone to confide his past troubles with, someone he shared things in common with, someone with the same motivation for moving ahead, to live through life, as he did.
Before him, Rena smiled contently - rejection lingered in her mind, that the others may still bare scars that they were insisting on hiding while uttering such comforting words to her - yet Ooishi had stressed how that wasn't the case. How Keiichi had led them back to the camper van that the five of them stood on, Rena's hand atop as he clutched it, insisting that they weren't going to condemn her for her actions. To see those faces after so long, she would eventually slip into the flow of Hinamizawa's daily life, having experienced the feeling once before, knowing how swiftly Keiichi adapted to the peaceful routines. There was no doubt that she would be held back and continue her education where she and Keiichi left off, the boy ascending to the grade above, but he always helped her with the problems she faced with the academic challenges, it was Mion he teased - the cerulean haired girl a whole grade ahead of them who asked of him the same assistance. Each and every time he commented on how he didn't mind helping Rena, but how it was worrying that a girl older than him needed his help, curious how she had advanced so far before his arrival.
Maybe the group would go easy on her during their games, resuming their taunting of Keiichi to avoid penalising Rena as they had him once he joined the village's single class. She wondered how many adorable costumes she had missed out on wanting to take home, how many times Keiichi had been forced to belittle curry in front of the curry-loving Chie-sensei. How many of those fun days she loved to talk about with her friends had she missed? How many more days would they spend together at the school - it wouldn't be long before Mion, and then Keiichi, would graduate and move into the adult world within Hinamizawa, leaving Rena with Rika and Satoko alone amongst the students, inevitably becoming the eldest student while her friends continued without problems, doing her best to continue the small club she cared so deeply for.
The wind rushing through the car's interior, hitching a ride to the village whistled both wildly and a soft melodic tune. Gently playing with the hair of each of the occupants, Ooishi unaffected with his short greyed hairs, laying atop his head with very little interference. Jouichirou paid no attention to the chilling breeze that flooded the vehicle, gazing through the glass of his window to the picturesque scene outside. Rena's eyes narrowed slightly shielding them from the full force of the wind, yet at the same time not losing sight of the fields passing by.
Since arriving at the hospital, Ooishi had become deathly silent, a fact that both of the adolescences had picked up on. However, Rena's mind had been drawn to her home, the destination laying ahead of them, filled with the thoughts of the faces of her friends, of stories that they would exchange, how life in Hinamizawa had resumed despite the drama of the previous Watanagashi Festival. Jouichirou had nothing in the past to rely upon for his expectations of Hinamizawa, he would be meeting people for the first time, it was another ordinary trip for him; Ooishi's solemn mood had caught his attention much more significantly than it had Rena. The dark haired boy turned to the now retired officer.
"Ooishi-san, you've been awfully quiet. Is something the matter?" he inquired.
Ooishi took a moment to reply, drawing in a deeper than usual breath before his eyes moved to the boy's reflection in the mirror hanging between himself and Rena.
"It's nothing" he exhaled, the breath holding the qualities of a sigh, provoking a raised eyebrow from Jouichirou.
The boy turned his head from the driver, his eyes tracing the features chiselled across his face from the angle he had - the left side alone exposed. Something about the aging man felt off, from his personal deduction based on one encounter with him previously. There was little for him to go by on any matter as the three journeyed quietly towards the tranquil village that had connected the three once strangers. Fate worked in peculiar ways; that much he could comprehend.
With each spin of the wheel, destiny drew ever closer. Reality. Truth.
"Jouichirou-kun?"
Jouichirou snapped out of his brief separation from the real world, his head lifting sharply from the palm of his hand as though the gentle voice had woken him during the course of a lesson in school. He turned to Rena, seeing her gazing at him from her place in front, her brow creased somewhat, his eyebrows lowered, reducing his surprised expression.
"Rena… I'm sorry. What did you want?" he inquired.
"I was wondering if you're feeling okay" she uttered softly. "It looked like you were drifting off, are you tired? I could always wake you when we get to Hinamizawa".
"N- no. It's fine" Jouichirou protested meekly. "I was just thinking about things and wasn't paying attention. I don't want to sleep Rena, I want to be there when you catch your first glimpse of Hinamizawa again".
Rena's concerned expression lifted, replaced with a sincere smile of gratitude towards Jouichirou. To shrug off her concerns, he smiled back. Her recollections of Hinamizawa stretched across many aspects of daily life, how he and Keiichi would surely be friends, how the others would act. These tales intrigued him as to who could be responsible for the murders, unsure if he was capable of fully believing the legend of Oyashiro-sama. Yet he said nothing, feeling just how strongly Rena believed in the Shrine God that had plagued the village with such attacks after their victory in the Dam War. Why the God would continue was something far beyond his understanding. Peculiar behaviour of a divinity towards its followers.
The scenes of untouched nature and freshly ploughed fields, flowers streaming along the roadside like gathers to an event - the sea of nature's colours - faded behind houses rapidly increasing in frequency - from small isolated cottages to larger residences, growing into the outskirts of Okinomiya. Rena drew closer to the window, laying her fingers over the dormant barrier as the car slowed behind additional traffic that occurred in front of them, allowing her eyes to open to their full extent, the quaint smile on her face growing gradually. Jouichirou watched curiously, he hadn't seen Rena so gleeful and optimistic before - she had been excited about returning home, but to a degree of the emotion she let flood out of her.
'She no longer feels alone' he mentally examined. 'Just as I, she was left standing on her own without any clear path to take for the sake of her future, to beat the twist that fate had thrown against her. Now that she and I have met, we've both moving forward. She will have her friends like I will have her - we're no longer alone because we have each other and those that we care for. Mother… father… I miss them terribly, but I know they're alive inside of me. They're watching over me. Perhaps it was them that guided me to Rena that day, closing the distance between us by holding out a branch for me to take, an opportunity that I couldn't be happier to have seized. If that's the case… thank you'.
Hazel eyes rose from the streets littered with shoppers and residents passing by blithely to the peaceful sky, the occasional cloud hovering without any danger of colliding with another, ending its unique shape. The city around was so alive, making it difficult to believe that a silent village lay further on, a short enough distance for the children to race on their bikes as Rena spoke of.
Rena smiled seeing the convenience stores; the variety lined along the sides of the road that she could remember from her times visiting the neighbouring town. Old times were flooding back, no longer bringing tears of regret that she had ruined the lives of those she cared about - with the hopelessness of returning to the former life gone, so had a large portion of her guilt, allowing her to become the girl that had lived in the village for a year before the incident that caused the breakdown inside of her. The people around continued, falling behind the car as it accelerated smoothly, following the flow of traffic through the active street, Rena watching the scene contently as she opened her mouth.
"Hey, Jouichirou-kun" she uttered.
"Hm? What is it?" he asked, turning his head to watch her.
"You're a year older than me, right? I bet Mii-chan would like having you around - she was in the grade above Keiichi-kun and I" Rena commented. "She enjoyed having him around, I believe she was close to Satoshi-kun too".
"Satoshi?" Jouichirou echoed.
"Satoko-chan's elder brother, remember? He transferred during the fourth year of the sacrifices" Rena replied, continuing to evade making eye contact with him.
Despite the downcast end to Satoshi's time in Hinamizawa, Rena continued to smile, like she didn't care about the grimness surrounding the tale of the Shrine God. His gentle smile faded to nothing before he turned his head, watching each of the shoppers wandering the streets; to him, they would fade in a matter of seconds, never to enter his life again. That was how he had found life to be. Each of those striding along the pathways, they had no idea of the tragedies the two teenagers had been through, possibly lucky enough to have not experienced a loss themselves. Everyone in Hinamizawa knew each other, many learning of the Maebara family immediately once they purchased a large manor, moving into a new life. A life of peace away from the worries of city-life, where the stress of hurried life would send the days flying past without notice. A whistle of the wind floated in the air as the car continued on, like a song of the town, a melody chanting to him from the area itself.
"It's strange" he muttered to himself, raising his eyes above the roofs of houses and businesses alike. "The accident has offered me the life I had desired. Just the one thing missing. They…did fate let them sacrifice themselves for me?"
The streets shortly thinned in life, Ooishi tilting his head to the right side of the street.
"This is the area I live in, Yamamoto-san" he commented much chirpier than his previous words. "I was stationed here in Okinomiya, that's how I came to meet Ryuuguu-san and work on the case of the deaths and disappearances. Now that I'm retired, I'm settling down here for a bit, it makes sense to enjoy some time here before heading off and leaving my colleagues with nothing more than fond memories".
The elderly man gave a slight chuckle, a sign that his light-hearted attitude hadn't completely evaporated yet. Signs of the town fell behind, the rooftops of building sinking beneath the horizon behind, Jouichirou set his eyes on Ooishi who had fallen silent after his brief rise in spirits. Nature reclaimed the scenery again, trees hindering the far view. Moments without sound from the others passed, only the incessant purring of the car's engine, the crunch of gravel beneath the tyres.
In the distance, the roofs of houses poked through the trees acting as a veil, slowly growing from behind the leafy guard to reveal a small village - Hinamizawa. Rena sucked in her breath, sounding her excitement at having finally returned, finally able to see the place of her birth and the village that beckoned her to return each time she had stayed away for an extended period. The sunlight bathing the village seemed like nothing to the glimmer of hope and ecstasy, her head inching closer towards the window, hair flapping fiercely in the speeding breeze created by the car's momentum. The village seemed dormant, like no-one ad ventured out of the buildings that housed them or their profession, the large yard situated around the school, out of trio's sight, as empty as the roads. From the roads built upon an incline to offer those heading out a view of the village, the three descended, heading towards the ground level of Hinamizawa, the level that would have been submerged had the Dam War ended in favour of the construction workers and the government.
The vehicle rolled from the slope, continuing on an even plain and through the thinning trees, opening up the path to the village. What seemed like several more minutes passed before the trees rolled away completely, permitting a large open site for one to enter the village. Around the once invisible barrier to the village, a large chain link fence stood, much higher than any ordinary person would stand. Facing from the village, a sheet of paper hung to those approaching from the outside, attached hastily and left to flap feebly in the spring breeze as though desiring to soar high into the sky and away from the binding that kept it hanging without a will.
Rena's expression altered immediately, smile fading into a curious oval tipped on its side as she perceived the fence around the village. Inside, her heart began to throw itself against her chest - something didn't feel right. Something had gone wrong.
Cautiously, the door opened and the girl unfastened the seatbelt keeping her against the seat without taking her eyes from the scrap of paper hanging. Jouichirou observed the same scene, left as bewildered as Rena when there was no sign of human life around, just the fence fixed in place that separated them from the village - what had happened to the Hinamizawa from Rena's stories? Rena approached the fence gradually, staring at the peak of the fence - her petite frame couldn't even barely reached the central bar running along the midway point vertically of the barrier. Atop, strips of barbed wire had been wrapped in the same manner as the sign - those working on the boundary cared not for the state they left it in, like they wanted to move on as quickly as they possible could. Rena raised her right hand, slipping the narrow fingers through the diamond gaps between each narrow strip of metal and closing them on the other side, gripping the fence as though she planned to scale it to get home.
Ahead, the rooftops of houses poked above the ground, the lush grass and trees hat would lead them along a clear path was beginning to grow wildly. The village's tranquil appearance had become something more, something… almost sinister. Rena stared becomingly, unable to comprehend just what had happened to provoke the barricade to rise, preventing her from passing through into the village she had so eagerly awaited. Behind her, Ooishi and Jouichirou approached leisurely, guilt imprinted across the former police officer's face while Jouichirou watched with naivety that was beginning to vex him; wishing he could understand what had happened. All he could tell was that he had discovered the answer to Ooishi's previous dismayed attitude during the journey to the village - an answer that neither he nor Rena were going to like.
"O- Ooishi-san…" Rena breathed without taking her eyes from the haunting sight. An empty entrance to the village she had seen so vivid and satisfying during her time on the other side of the previously invisible borderlines. "Why is this here? What's going on?"
"Ryuuguu-san…" Ooishi sighed, casting his eyes beneath the girl in front of him. "I didn't want things to happen like this, but your condition for a long time was far too unstable…"
The aging man's trailing off drew Jouichirou's eyes to him, the boy creasing his forehead when anxiety swelled inside of him - what was he talking about?
"Ooishi?" he uttered. "What's going on?"
A moment passed before Ooishi finally sighed, the first sign of acknowledging Jouichirou's inquiry - something on the minds of both adolescences. Just as Jouichirou's patience came to an end and his necessity to knowledge grasped his mind, the man opened his eyes wistfully, gazing at the scene of Rena standing on the outside of the barrier, regarding her home village - a scene of the melancholic qualities as his eyes.
"Ryuuguu-san, not long after you left…" Ooishi replied hesitantly. "…There was an incident".
"'An incident'?" Rena gasped, widening her eyes slightly. At the corners of her eyes, tears began to grow, the sheer terror of what was coming, distress swelling within her, pumping adrenaline through her veins as apprehension raced trough her, voice suffering from the emotion building inside.
"What kind of incident?" Jouichirou inquired, continuing to watch Ooishi, intrigued by his choice of words. "What kind of incident could have caused this fence to appear? Are they trying to keep outsiders away from Hinamizawa?"
Ooishi's head lowered slightly, eyes falling shut. "It was just the night after Ryuuguu-san left Hinamizawa following her admission to the hospital… There was a gas leak…"
His eyes remained fixed on the distraught girl; there was a large risk in informing her of the horrific truth about the fate of the ill-starred Hinamizawa. Her reaction was unpredictable; she could fall apart and undo months of work, she could descend down the levels of the curse of Oyashiro-sama - the religious label for what was otherwise known as the Hinamizawa Syndrome - he couldn't be sure. But sugarcoating the truth under the words that Keiichi spoke and false promises of seeing her friends could no longer work, time had run out. Regardless, she had a right to know, lying was no longer going to help - it may have cushioned the blow of her long-term separation from her friends in the hospital, but Ooishi had become very familiar when Rena's reaction to lies, a far less pleasant side to her that would rise from the depths of her shadow.
"It was a normal night, moon shining just like the night that you and Maebara-san confronted each other on the roof of the school building. The sun wasn't long from rising" he continued. "It guided us to the village when we came to ask some more questions over the incident at the school - the hostage situation that you unintentionally created when troubled greatly over the string of murders and the claim of aliens invading. There was… nothing we could do".
"Wh- what are you saying?" Rena asked weakly, throat tightening as tears slipped down her warm cheeks, unable to cling onto their origin any longer.
"There were many bodies - much more than just hundreds" Ooishi sighed, apprehensive of carrying on, delving into details that would disturb the girl further. "We arrived at the school, your friends… Maebara-san and the girls had been gathered there".
"They were at the school? At night?" Rena asked, lifting her head by millimetres, gazing deep into the village ahead, wishing more than anything in the world to wake and realise that a terrible dream had befallen her since the news that she was to return to the village. "But why?"
"We could never figure that out, there was many details that have yet to be concluded" Ooishi continued to report. "There were several others - the students that had been in the school when you took the building as a hostage situation, the teacher and principal, several elders. It seemed that many people had been gathered. When we discovered everyone, they were in the same conditions; slumped against lockers and sprawled upon the floorboards, saliva trails drying from where they had slipped from the mouths, tears pretty much the same. The eyes of many - if not all - remained wide open like they were in shock. Most of your friends were found together in that shape".
"'Most'?" Rena repeated, squeaking through her unhinged sobs. On the other side of the fence, her fingers tightened, bringing the nails of each finger back and pressing against the skin of her palm.
"Maebara-san. Sonozaki Mion. Sonozaki Shion and Houjou Satoko" Ooishi listed calmly. "Furude-san was found murdered at the entrance to the Furude Shrine. She had been dissected and her stomach removed from her corpse".
"Rika-chan slaughtered outside of her family's shrine? But why?" Rena whispered faintly. "Why would someone do such terrible things? Were they the ones responsible for leading everyone to the school?"
"Nobody has been able to determine that. There may have been an outside grudge against the family; with both of her parents gone from the third year in the sequence of deaths and disappearances, perhaps somebody decided to take on the final member of the family - one of the Three Great Families of Hinamizawa" Ooishi estimated. "The marsh where the volcanic gases spread from is being filled in - the same Onigafuchi Swamp where it seemed Furude-san's mother brought an end to her own life almost three years ago. There's much work to be done, it's such a large-scale operation, all so that nothing like this disaster can happen again".
"S- so… I'm the only survivor of this incident? I'm the only person from Hinamizawa left?" Rena asked timidly, terrified of the answer she predicted to follow. Tears continued to stream down her face like the river flowing through the village, under the bridge that she and Keiichi would meet Mion at during their morning travels to school.
"The only resident who was living in Hinamizawa at the time; it seems that is the case" Ooishi exhaled sorrowfully. "There were others living outside of the village whose origins lay in Hinamizawa. The Kimiyoshi family who were also one of the Three Great Families largely live outside of Hinamizawa - in Okinomiya".
Rena's head bowed, sobs emitting from her tightened throat. The tears streaming down her face slipped from the base of her chin, falling directly to the ground and shattering against the hardened soil.
"Usoda…" she whispered amongst the weeps that came from her.
"Ryuuguu-san, I know it's difficult to face, but this is the reality of what happened" Ooishi muttered, opening his eyes to the girl slowly bowing in front of her village, back curved as the weight of survival forced on her shoulders began to prove too much. "I apologize for misleading you initially".
"Usoda!" she cried, closing her eyes tightly, unable to look at the world she had ventured into. Her desire to travel back to the joyful times intensifying dramatically with each passing second.
"Ryuuguu-san, please-"
"USODA!"
A wail escaped the girl's throat as Ooishi stared in shock at her disbelief, yelling the same word that she had used in the past to intimidate those who had lied to her in the past in order to get the truth from them. This occasion was far different, rather than demanding the truth, she was hiding from it, wanting for lies to enter her ears. Anything to evade facing the reality that the world she had been promised was nothing more than a distant memory.
"B- but we promised. Keiichi-kun and I promised…" she sobbed, losing the ability to speak clearly through the despair that claimed her. "In that moment when he awoke me from my nightmare… shining the light in my eyes… he…"
Standing opposite from each other, bathed in the light of the full moon behind the school structure, they broke apart, lowering their respective weapons, discussing their wagers in the battle. Having just caught her off-guard, Keiichi stared into Rena's blank, dull eyes, despite the moon's light, the curse lurking within her heart continued to shadow over the true Ryuuguu Rena, his own eyes burning brightly with the desire to win, to protect her, clutching Satoshi's bat in his hands, holding it before his legs, her hatchet facing it at her side. He stared at her, watching her expression, accepting that she could win, that had been his chance to leap back, giving them this moment of peace. The children below staring up in awe and suspense, Ooishi among the crowd, staring in the same manner, seeing the two battling, after everything else that had happened; this was the final stage.
"If you win, Rena… I'll believe in your story. I'll believe that aliens are controlling the world" he promised calmly, his eyes lowering to her neck, the bandages clinging to the red sore skin, preventing anymore blood from escaping the wounds from her own nails. "Even if you claw your throat out and die, I'll see it through to the end, no matter what".
"You know what? Even if I win, that's so boring" Rena answered, her eyes beneath the shadow of her fringe, the moon shining down upon them, her hair in the right position to hide her large once-glorious eyes.
"What now? You want to change it?" Keiichi inquired bluntly.
Rena lifted her head again, her fringe back out of her way, smiling cheerfully, her eyes closed yet the happiness shining through nonetheless. She stood tall, proud, she had no desire to kill as she had when the battle began.
"I- I would like… the same prize you'll get, Keiichi-kun" she requested brightly.
"You want me to be a maid?!" Keiichi yelled, shuddering at the thought of losing another bet with such a wager.
"No, you don't have to be a maid" Rena answered, tilting her head back faintly. "But the rest is the same. I want you to greet me everyday with 'Good Morning' and to hear you tell me 'Good Night' in the evening. I'd like you to fill me with lots of kindness… to fill me with lots of joy".
Keiichi smiled, seeing her eyes finally open, the same light of the moon in his own now reflected in hers once again, the desire to be together, to win playfully rather than with their lives on the line had returned. It was the real Rena standing before him again.
"Huh? With these stakes, even if I win or you win…" she continued. "We'll… always be together…"
"We'll be together, but there'll be a difference in treatment" Keiichi stated merrily, flashing a thumbs-up as he did, his sign of approval.
Rena giggled, that was the Keiichi before her that she trusted; she had roused from that nightmare. She had tormented Keiichi with his past, injured both Mion and Rika; almost killed all of her friends and classmates. But through it all, he had believed in her, he was still ready to continue their battle with a bright soul. To him, it was nothing more than a game, much like those they would play with their friends. Those serious games, it was like a playful war… that was the Maebara Keiichi she… loved…
But where was he? He had been snatched from her.
The promise they made had been broken before it could even begin.
Just those few days before that fight, she had caused so much damage, reducing him to tears in rejecting his pleas for help because of the pain he had caused others in the past. The closest person in the world to her, and she had mistreated him. There was only the brief spell of time following the fight, the following day before Ooishi arrived and escorted her to the facility where she would get the help they believed necessary for her to overcome the traumas she had suffered, all of the unresolved conflicts. What felt like a lifetime of bad memories could only be tackled by a day of pure enjoyment with her friends. Together they had bee there, he had even comforted her when she was called to leave Hinamizawa.
Beyond that night without her… he had no memories.
"Keiichi-kun… w- was this… what you were trying to prevent?" she whispered, her grip on the diamond lined metallic strips tightening once again. All she could do was pass the fingers that had caused so much agony through the barrier, into Hinamizawa, nails pressing down harshly against her skin, threatening to pierce the upper layer of her palm. "Were you trying to protect me… no, Hinamizawa from this? Takano-san's scrapbooks of this were what drove me to that madness. Succumbing to Oyashiro-sama's curse again. I didn't listen to anyone, but you saw that something bad was going to happen and you wanted it to stop".
From behind, both Jouichirou and Ooishi watched in silence, forgotten by the mourning girl who continued to fall apart before them, dressed in the school uniform she wore every morning as she accompanied her friends as a classmate, planning to joke about joining them in school immediately, that she couldn't wait to return to that place. It was that moment when the symbols imprinted on the paper dangling close to Rena caught Jouichirou's eye.
Danger!
Toxic volcanic gases
Outbreak Area
Keep Out
The entire area inside had been contaminated - the swamp that possessed a deadly myth about it regarding demons living beneath its murky surface had come back to claim the lives of every person living in Hinamizawa that night. Perhaps not in the way of demons clambering out and slaughtering the humans who had been capable of settling and living perfectly happy lives, but by some other deadly means.
"Keiichi-kun" Rena whispered. Tears rolled down her cheeks just as they had that night when they were on their knees atop the school, the aftermath of the fight that had downgraded into nothing more than a fun standoff. A time she could treasure as she found herself there with him, feeling his arms around her as he spoke of how talking to their friends would help cure them of the madness that plagued their vulnerable moments.
The sky was still blue, the clouds still floating lightly, the gentle breeze ruffling the bushes and leaves in the trees, the cicadas crying. It was still just like that day; life continued all around the village whereas her friends and neighbours had all perished unjustly. Her entire body trembling, her legs shuddering harder than her upper-half, bending marginally. She was breaking down, unable to cope with the truth, just as she hadn't been able to fight the voice inside of her that persisted with the belief that aliens were going to invade Hinamizawa and replace everyone with copies.
Ooishi and Jouichirou watched silently, neither sure what to do, what to say, seeing it to be wise to let Rena cry first, keeping everything inside would only make things worse afterwards; history had been testament to that. Jouichirou stepped forward, raising a hand, but before he could advance further, Ooishi's hand dropped on his shoulder. The boy looked back at the aged man who shook his head slowly - Hinamizawa was Rena's home, the memories of the village were hers. She would say goodbye on her own - a final farewell to everything she knew and cared about before the future ahead of her would open. Rena cried out again, wails deteriorating almost into scream, her voice echoing in the air above alongside the cry of the cicadas.
Those voices of your past, they echo in your heart. The heart that is shattering. Don't let the memories fade as your soul aches.
"Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Reflection, Chapter 3 - Emptiness".
When this ceased with updates, I always planned to come back and rewrite it. Now with the New Year, I've come to do that with it being inactive for approximately a year. The story itself will have the same flow as the original version, yet has much more depth to it and expands from where the original was going - dragging in characters and concepts from Onisarashi-hen and the Kizuna series. The previews are still based on Why or Why Not? as though it were the ending for each chapter, like it's an extension to the first season. Once all five pre-existing chapters have been rewritten, I'll focus on continuing it rather than leaving it behind while other projects take up time. These two redone chapters are the first updates of this year and certainly won't be the last with an additional project for Higurashi in the works for a short time now. Thanks for reading, please leave a review.
- CuteYami, 18th January 2010.