Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni SAI

When They Cry Again

Disclaimer

I do not own Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Kai) or anything like that. My characters are obviously mine, though. That's Mikan, Nanaha, Nina, Kain, Sanyu, Ryouno, Mishi Takano, and Ayu..

Note

Do do do

Sooo This chapter will be a bit weird xD I apologize. Not much else to say ; Thanks for continuing to read! I'm gonna try to move this arc a bit quickly... Umm... Lemme know what you think! I apologize for my sucky poetry at the end of the chapterrrr

. A R C . T W O .

The Screaming Mirror Chapter

C h a p t e r 0 0 7 : Broken Mirror

Breakfast was awkward to say the least. Sanyu was bombarded with questions from her new friends, who were all eager to find out how many other times their Ayu has been replaced with sweet Sanyu.

"I've been switching in every once and a while since Ayu moved here." Sanyu ended up explaining, "But this is my first time attending the Watanagashi Festival."

"I met Sanyu waaayyyy back in Jr. high school." Nina had answered when asked how she'd known about Sanyu, "Ayu, Sanyu and I went to school together before we moved to Hinamizawa. But Sanyu wanted to attend a boarding school so never came."

"But boarding school got BOR-ing. So I snuck in here during a break and Ayu replaced me back home and then, well... I guess I found a reason to keep coming back."

The group seemed to find this to be completely understandable. After all, they were a "great lively bunch of Kids" and it was "natural" for Sanyu to want to play with them a lot.

"But Sanyu, are you sure it's ok for you to be here?" Nanaha asked, her voice borderline-concerned, "Hinamizawa is a pure place for getting rid of our demons... You're not purified yet, so you're dragging dirt into our house..."

A laugh came from Sanyu and she shook her head, smiling. "Oh no, I think it's just fine! I've been coming here for ages and everything seems fine! I don't think I have enough dirt to ruin your clean house."

Nanaha twitched, her eyes narrowed and voice cold. "Liar."

The table went silent, attention drawn to the growing tension between Nanaha and Sanyu.

"Come now, Nanaha. Every thing'll be fine! You've got your god, Oyashiro-sama, to clean up after you, right?" Sanyu said cheerfully, trying to keep a carefree and happy attitude in the room.

This didn't help. In fact, Nanaha's eyes seemed to darken and were narrowed more than ever, a clear hint of hatred in her voice when Sanyu spoke so carelessly about her God.

"Oyashiro-sama isn't our maid." Nanaha snapped, before rising from her chair and heading to the door. She slipped on her shoes and opened the door, but was stopped by a call from Nina.

"Nanaha! Nanaha, where are you going?"

The cold girl turned, her eyes reflecting a mind lost in hatred. "To the shrine to pray. You should too, Sanyu."

The white haired twin shuddered, sensing that her and Nanaha might not turn out to be the best of friends.

"So, Sanyu... Is Ayu coming to the festival at?"

"Naw. She's visiting someone today."

After breakfast, Sanyu and Kain had been the ones to go on to the festival. Nina and Mikan had ended up taking up the job of cleaning, and Mikan wanted to try on a summer yukata Sanyu had brought her from the city. Sanyu had then dragged Kain away, telling him that Nina would appreciate some time with her "child".

"So, Kain, I understand this is your first Watanagashi festival as well, correct?" Questioned the girl, who was walking next to him with only about a delicate inch between them, "'guess I can't count on you to show me around."

The boy laughed and shook his head, hands in his pockets. "Naw, I'll just improvise."

Sanyu laughed right along with him, her cheeks turning a bit red when a certain idea came to mind. But she brushed it aside peeking up at the taller boy out of the corner of her eye.

"So, um... When will the others catch up?"

Kain shrugged. "Nina'll want to take pictures of Mikan for that web blog of hers." He said slowly, "And I dunno about Nanaha... I hope she's ok."

"Me too... Oh gosh, I'm so so sorry.. That was all my fault." Sanyu whined, looking at Kain with teary eyes, "Really... I'm so sorry.."

Kain stopped her by grabbing her arm and reached up to pet her head, smiling kindly. "Hey, don't beat yourself up over it, Sany-"

"Ah! Call me Ayu." She said quickly, "I'm Ayu, remember? Don't want to get kicked out..."

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

Just to be sure, the two glanced around for signs of anyone who might have heard their mistake. When they heard no one, the two sighed in relief.

Click.

Flash.

Sanyu screeched in surprise, jumping at least a foot in the air and then hugging Kain. Or, well, tackling him was more the word. The two fell to the ground, leaving a very startled young woman with her camera to wonder why they were spazzing over a picture.

"Oh my, how cute!" The camera-wielding woman finally said with a laugh, "You react like a shoujo heroine!"

The pair had been focused on separating themselves up until now, both muttering 'sorry' and the like out of sheer embarrassment, but the woman's voice drew them back to her. She was tall and thin, wearing red trim glasses over her brilliant green eyes while her short black hair was clipped back with anime-character hair clips. Her camera was similarly covered in childish anime stickers, and she looked very young, though the pair knew she was no student at their school.

A tourist, maybe?

Sensing their confusion, the Otaku giggled.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I'm Takano Mishi." She explained kindly, "I'm a manga-ka in the making. My editor thought I should base the location of my manga off Hinamizawa."

Well, that explained the hair clips and stickers.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Miss Takano. I'm Awayuki Ay-"

"Oh, I know that." Takano said rather quickly, "Remember? You helped me pick up my sketches. I just forgot to give you my name in return."

Sanyu blinked, looking to be quite honestly confused.

"A-Are you sure now?" Sanyu asked quickly, "Positive it was me?"

Takano laughed. "Of course! What, do you have an evil twin?"

"Of course she doesn't!" Kain said, almost defensively, at the mentioning of an 'evil twin'. The power behind his voice left both Takano and Sanyu looking a bit surprised.

"Hey Miss Takano, don't go provoking the residents." Cried a flustered little voice from behind them. A man this time, tall and timid looking with messy brown hair, hurried up behind Takano. He panted for a moment, then looked up at them and smiled. "Oh. Sorry. I'm Miss Takano's editor, Ryouno Hatori."

The two teens bowed in greeting.

"It's nice to meet you. This is my friend Shirogane Kain, by the way."

"Ah.. Yes. Pleasure." Takano and Ryouno said in unison, which made them look at each other and laugh. Then, Takano snapped another photo and winked.

"Ah yes. The ideal couple, no? Good material for my manga! Anyways, mind if I ask you some questions?"

The two exchanged looks, then shrugged and nodded.

"Sure. Shoot." Kain said confidently, "What do you wanna know?"

"We want to know more about the mysterious deaths." Ryouno blurted, "We think it'd be a great base for our manga's plot."

Kain looked a tad bit startled at this news.

"Eh? I've never heard of these mysterious deaths." He admitted, looking to Sanyu for an answer, "You?"

Sanyu seemed to be suffering stage fright. It made Kain raise a brow in confusion. Maybe she hadn't heard of them either...?

"Sorry, we have no idea."

"Mmmmm? That's weird. I'd have thought all the locals would know... Especially since tonight..." Takano's voice trailed off, making Kain want to urge her on.

Which he shamelessly did,

"Can you tell us?" He asked hopefully. The Manga-ka laughed again.

"I think Ryouno is more cut out for this. He's the smart one, I just draw. Go on, Ryouno."

A bit flustered by the stop light, Ryouno stepped up a bit and bowed again.

"Uh, well! Ever since Hinamizawa was founded, one person has died and one has vanished tonight, on the night of the Watanagashi, every year." He explained simply, "The people of this town say it's to feed their inner demon's desire for blood."

Sanyu and Kain exchanged confused looks.

"Anything else?" Kain asked hopefully. But Ryouno shook his head sadly.

"No. Sorry. If I discover something, I'll let you know."

"Thanks."

There was a short silence, then Takano whispered something to Ryouno. He whispered back, then the two faced the teenagers again.

"Well, we need to go. Have fun, you two."

"Ah... Ok, we will." Sanyu replied, waving cheerfully, "Thanks for talking to us!"

"You two! Bai bii, you love birds!" Takano replied with another laugh, "Look out for my manga!"

They left Sanyu and Kain to look confused. Then, sighing in relief, they faced each other.

"That was weird... She said that she'd seen me before." Sanyu murmured, "I wonder if that means sis is nearby."

"Maybe... Let's keep our eyes peeled."

Sanyu nodded, then grabbed Kain's hand and led him on, almost at a run. When she turned off the main path, Kain let out a startled yelp.

"Hey! Sanyu, where are we-"

"It's a short cut!" The twin said happily, "If sis is here then we'll find my bodyguard's car parked up he-"

Squish.

Something went squish under their feet.

The twin blinked, daring to look down at what had gone 'squish' under her pink summer flip-flops. Whatever it was was making her feet all gross and sticky..

Gross and..

Sanyu screamed in horror, instantly backing away from the gorey scene right under her feet. An equally as horrified Kain jumped back, putting a hand over his mouth to avoid the urge to throw up.

There lay Ayu, her bleached hair dyed red with her own blood that formed a pool around her, coming from a wound on her chest that still pumped blood. The girl was still alive, if only barely, with tears washing blood off her otherwise reddened face, leaving clean streaks down her face.

"Who..." Her voice was faint, losing life already. The girl's screaming sister fell to her knees by Ayu, reaching shakey hands out to brush hair from her twin's face, wide eyes gushing with tears that left clean spots on the dying girl's cheeks.

Ayu must've recognized her sister's sobs, because the next thing she muttered was "Sanyu" before struggling to seat up, hands around her sister's throat.

"SANYUUU." She hissed hatefully, "WHYYY"

The twin screamed in alarm, feeling her sister's bloody thumbs on her wind pipe. Kain snapped out of his daze to pry them apart, his presence sending Ayu to a sobbing fit.

"Kaiiin! Kain!" She sobbed, "Sanyu... she..."

She drew a deep breath, feeling the effects of moving with her deep wound.

"...Leave." Ayu whispered,"Don't... I..."

"Ayu! Please stop talking!" Sanyu sobbed, bending over her sister, "Ayu!"

The elder sister smiled and reached her bloody hand up to pet her sister's cheek, "Sorry... Sanyu... Just... run."

"I can't leave you like this! I'll get a doctor! I'll call the ambulance, so hold on!"

Ayu weakly shook her head. "Leave... now... I'm sorry."

Her eyes suddenly went dim and she breathed out one last time, wearing a strong smile.

Sanyu stared, horrified, then shook her head and screamed.

Chapter End

As the shards fall,

those who try to catch them

find themselves cut by a puzzle

they cannot fix,

drawn into a curse

of a broken mirror