Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Fanfiction
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. Though they accidentally ended up similar, my Maria is not related to the Maria from Umineko.
Note
Arere. I haven't updated in ages. I'm sorry.
I apologize to those of you that read for my murder scenes; the next two chapters do not include much horror. They exist to set up the situation, since this arc takes place outside of Hinamizawa with new characters.
Enjoy!
.ARC FOUR .
The Killing Lies Chapter
The skies rumbled with thunder, bringing light to the otherwise midnight dark school. Shadows gave her face outline, light reflecting off of her smooth cheeks and tears. The clear drops of salt rolled down from her eyes, mixing with crimson smears and stains. Shaking, the teen opened her mouth, no sound escaping until another flash of lightning and clap of thunder. Her wails and screams mixed with the screams of the sky.
Oyashiro-sama was watching.
C H A P T E R 0 1 5 : A M A Z I N G
The school was bustling with activity, students chattering and laughing as they went about their final chores. Lockers were being cleaned and old posters torn down, classrooms cleaned and yearbooks signed; the last week of school was upon the students of Hopenhill High School. It was a cleaning period, a period of class where students and teachers pitched in to clean up the school before summer. It was also a time of club farewells and planning for the next year, and this included the infamous "Amazing Club".
"I now declare this meeting officially IN SESSION." Announced a cheerful senior, her eyes glowing with far-too-much-ernergy an a cocky smile on her face, "Today is our last meeting! So let's review our accomplishments!"
"Don't we do that every meeting, Rina?" Asked a boy who sat directly across from her. Contrasting, the energetic girl, whose hair was carrot red and eyes were bright green, his hair was a dark shade of brown and his eyes with blue. The girl, Rina, frowned and pointed at him accusingly.
"SILENCE KAZUN! The Amazing club is all about us four accomplishing the amazing!"
"And bragging." Commented another boy, who sat on Rina's left. Like her, he had brightly coloured hair, though his was blonde and his eyes were blue, like the other boy, Kazun. Opposite of him was a rather petite girl, her dark brown hair in curly pigtails that hung above her shoulders, tied up with shiny pink ribbons. She smiled silently, but remained otherwise silent.
"Yes, Mark. We must brag about it too. After all, we beat even at art Club in Art Contests and the writing club in the number of magazines that accept our work! We deserve to brag!" Rina exclaimed, now turning to the silent girl, "That means you too, Maria!"
Maria, the petite girl, blushed and nodded slowly, looking down and putting her hands together, fingers locked and thumbs twiddling to vent her shy nerves.
"Y-yes… But… umm…"
"If you won't start the final bragging, then I will." Mark said with a wide grin and a flirty wink to accompany it, "This year I won a fundraiser tennis match and raised over a thousand dollars thanks to my sponsors! I was second in a five mile marathon and joined the basketball team once again. I also got in one of the top five scores on our finals-"
"But Maria got first. You really can't brag about that when the real winner is in front of you." Rina scolded, leaning over to Maria and petting the smaller girl's head. Once again, Maria's cheeks changed to a red shade and she averted her gaze.
"I-it's okay… Fifth is a major accomplishment too…"
Rina paused, putting a finger to her lip, "I suppose… I mean, Kazun didn't get in the top five. He only got eleventh this year."
"But you weren't even in the top twenty this year." Kazun retorted, glaring a bit at Rina. She froze and turned red, clearly embarrassed by the facts.
"W-Well! Academics isn't my specialty! Maria has the brains, Mark is the sportsman, Kazun is the writer and I'm the artist!" Rina explained, laughing nervously.
Maria and Kazun laughed quietly in unison, but Mark stepped up to Rina and looked her in the eye, a grin on his face.
"Anyways! You guys still need to brag! Or do you not have anything to brag about?"
Rina stuck out her tongue. "I won a scholarship for a thousand dollars and published a comic book! I'm not just winning awards, I'm making money!"
"I got a few more poems accepted to magazines and am writing the speech to represent the senior class this year." Kazun commented, "I got to publish a book too."
At the mentioning of the book, all eyes turned to Maria, who currently had her nose in a book and was barely paying attention. When they saw the author's name, Mark and Rina 'aw'ed.
"So that's why you've been clinging to that book all day It's Kazun's book!" Rina teased, "How cute!"
Maria's face went red once again and she closed it quickly, holding it so it covered the lower part of her face, and to hide the embarrassed smile creeping across her lips.
"N-no, it's not… like that… I just thought I'd advertise…" She replied meekly, "And… Kazun needs it to sell… or he can't publish another. I want to support his dreams…"
Hearing this, Kazun blushed a bit as well, and glanced away.
"Oh? Support his dreams? Are you two finally da-"
"A-ANYWAYS!" Kazun exclaimed, cuting Mark off, "Aren't we meeting today to plan our senior prank?"
The teasing was dropped, and a slightly more serious mood consumed the room. Rina nodded, a slightly scary smirk replacing her playful smile.
"That's quite true. As the Amazing Club, we need to go out with a bang."
Mark nodded. "Something amazing and memorable that doesn't put our scholarships at risk."
"But that's still fun." Maria added quietly, now too shy to read the book, so deciding to join in the conversation.
"Not many options, then." Kazun commented with a sigh. The serious mood broke when Rina stood up from her seat and pointed at Kazun, pressing her finger against his cheek,
"WRONG! With out combination of talents, we'll definitely think of something!" She exclaimed confidently, "We have Maria's brain for planning, Kazun's writing and creativity for an idea, my art for making it beautiful and Mark's strength for the labor!"
Maria giggled and clapped quietly, "Yes yes. Let's do our best."
"Agreed." Kazun added, smiling. Mark frowned. "What? You're abusing me!"
"Sorry" Rina chirped, winking and sticking out her tongue, "Can't put my artist hands at risk, ye know?"
It seemed a fight was ready to break out, but the quiet voice of Maria redirected the club's attention to their mission.
"Maybe… If we move all the desks in the hallway… And arrange them… to make statues." She offered quietly, "With Rina designing and Mark moving them… And then… Kazun can write a poem."
Rina blinked, then nodded. "I can't think of anything better, so let's go with it!"
"Sounds good. I'll help Mark move the desks." Kazun offered, "Good thinking, Maria."
"But when?" Mark asked, "When should we do it?"
Silence fell momentarily before Rina offered her wisdom.
"It needs to be after the janitors clean up but before the staff arrives in the morning…"
"If we have a long club meeting, we can stay in the school until after the school is cleaned and do it in the evening." Kazun suggested, "And while we wait, we can plan how to do this quickly."
A nod of agreement passed among the club members.
"Let's do it tonight." Rina decided, "Students have been cleaning all day, so the janitors will be out by four. We'll have from four to eight to do what we can."
"Four hours is plenty." Maria added, "Shall we plan now?"
Mark shook his head, "We ought to get back to cleaning. We don't want to raise suspicion, right?"
Maria frowned. "Pataaa… That's true…"
Hearing the disappointment in his friend's voice, Kazun leaned over to Maria and pet her head. "Don't worry. We have class together, right? We can plan while we clean."
"Just don't get caught." Rina warned, "We're going to make this the most amazing thing ever!"
With the decision made, the club members rose from their seats and made their ways to their proper classes. The entire school was full of smiles, innocent and naïve, unaware of what horror was loaming on the horizon.
Stopping, Kazun peered out the window and sighed. It was hard for him to grasp the reality; this was his senior year. It had been four years since that terrible night…
"Gau!" Maria exclaimed, bumping into her taller friend when he suddenly stopped, "Kazun? What's wrong?"
He looked down, gaze softening a bit. She seemed so happy and cheerful… Had she forgotten what had happened four years ago?
As if she had read his mind, Maria closed her eyes and hugged his arm, smiling faintly. "I remember… But that's the past now. I have Kazun to take care of me, right? I'm not alone."
He smiled lightly and nodded, "Yeah. And they caught the murderer."
Her arms fell to her sides, the hug abandoned, and a shocked look on her face. But ti wasn't the type of relieved shock Kazun had hoped to see; Maria looked scared.
"They…. What?"