Crimso's Notes:
1. Do bear in mind that, while the buildings and area and such of Hinamizawa/Onifaguchi are similar, characters are quite different due to the amount of changes.
2. Characters won't be all that different… mostly.
3. Keep in mind I have a few OCs for my story, though I'm trying to cut down on them.
4. Some of the murders of the Chain of Mysterious Deaths didn't occur. You'll figure out which ones did and which ones didn't.
~~~~~X~~~~~
Chapter 1: Onigafuchi
A rather small bus dashed down the paths leading to a rather small village, just barely visible from its current location. A young boy leaned back in his seat with a sigh, glancing to look out the window, watching as the trees flew by. His parents were chatting happily about their new village, and about the adventures they were going to have there. He, on the other hand, was regretting every single second of his life. He knew for a fact that the village he was going to be moving to was no good, and his parents did too, it's just that they didn't believe.
"Ah, Aiko! Don't you think that we will have quite the adventure here?" the boy's father asked, jabbing the woman who sat next to him in the stomach with his elbow.
"I'm sure it'll be nicer than they say it is," she spoke, smiling at her husband.
Keiichi rolled his eyes at them and returned to looking out the window, knowing that he was to meet his doom in a few days, if not, less than a few days. For starters, the village they were moving to was called "Demon's Abyss," which was not a place that any normal person would go near. However, his parents, who were huge fans of the horror genre, were expecting a great adventure.
Yeah right. They're just walking towards their doom, Keiichi thought to himself as he stared at the village in the distance. From there, it just seemed like any old village, one with kind villagers and no supernatural horrors. However, the boy in the bus knew better. The moment he stepped on that demon-infested ground, he was going to be walking on the grounds he would die on. He bit his lip as he imagined the horrors awaiting him in his new home. Were there really demons? And if there were really demons, what did they look like?
He pictured a horrid monster in his head, one with a reptilian head and claws sharper than knives. It had fangs like daggers, and a body of a sickly green color, along with two red eyes that seemed to pierce right through his soul. He shivered at the image, and shook his head to erase it from his head forever. He hoped that they wouldn't look like that, if demons really did exist in Onigafuchi. He gulped as he played with the collar of his white school shirt, wondering to himself he would even encounter something like that.
Were demons a common species there, or were they seen every once in a while, just wandering the place in search of a human snack? He didn't know, and a part of him didn't want to find out the answer to that. If anything, he'd like to be curled up on his soft futon back in his house located in the city. He was sure that he wouldn't be able to sleep here, fearing that a demon would come into his house and gobble him up.
"Hey, Keiichi, we're almost there! Are you excited or what?" his father asked, shooting him a large grin that seemed a little too happy to Keiichi.
"Yeah, sure," he muttered, looking back out the window. Maybe he'd spot a demon if he looked hard enough.
His mother looked a little worried, but more for her son's sake than her own. "Listen, Keiichi, it's going to be a ton of fun. Just remember that demons don't actually exist and you'll get along in this village just fine! Besides, I'm sure you'll meet a few friends at your school," she spoke, her tone warm as usual.
Keiichi could only look at her out of the corner of his eye, not wanting to get distracted from his hunt for demons. He had never had friends before, not even once in his life. How could he make friends if he hadn't had any before? He didn't know how to, for the most part. Besides, all the people he had met before weren't very nice to him, mocking him for being too obsessed with school. How were the people in Onigafuchi? Were they really all that different? He highly doubted it. They were probably psychos, if they were anything. He would surely be ostracized for being an outsider, and would be stared at for being different from them. Perhaps the people who went to school were actually demons. Perhaps all the villagers were actually demons.
"Perhaps you're being a little paranoid about this, Keiichi," his father suggested, patting him on the head when he saw his rather frightened expression as they got closed to the village. "I'm sure that the kids in the village will be perfectly nice to you, and I can assure you that there are no demons here. Such things can't actually exist."
His mother frowned. "Keiichi, in some mystery books, they make it seem like there's some kind of supernatural force behind the murders. However, in the end, it's always revealed to be a trick by a human. This is the same thing, Keiichi. I know that you're a little scared, but I promise you that you'll do fine here," she reassured him, shooting him a warm smile. "If there were really demons, do you think that I'd want to move here? I only want the best for my dear son. Just remember these words when you get scared, all right?"
As much as Keiichi tried to believe in those words, he found that a part of him wouldn't accept it. He simply nodded at her, deciding that he'd have to take a good look at the village for himself before he decided on anything. He mumbled a few words to himself as he noticed that the bus was about a three minutes away from a bus stop. He knew that his end was coming.
An old man who sat in a seat near them was eyeing the family suspiciously, listening to their conversation. He looked shocked when he heard them speak about their new adventures in the village they were going to be moving to, his eyes wider than plates. "Are you crazy?" he asked them. "Don't you know about the demons? Those things are so monstrous and terrifying! My son had to go to the hospital when a demon ripped his ear off!" he cried out.
His father raised an eyebrow. "Interesting story there, old man. How much of it is true?" he asked him. "The old tales of Onigafuchi do not scare me! I'm sure that demons don't actually exist!"
The old man looked startled. "But I'm not lying! My son-!"
"Please don't scare my son with such stories," Keiichi's mother spoke, smiling at him. "I'm sure it wasn't a demon."
The old man didn't say any more, he simply looked at them like they were crazy and returned to the book he had been reading before he caught sight of them. He mumbled a few things to himself about a demon, but Keiichi tried his best to ignore him.
"Oh, Keiichi! We're here!" his father called excitedly.
The bus suddenly halted, surprising Keiichi, but mostly scaring him. He knew that he wouldn't be exiting this village, and he knew that he was doomed. His parents looked strangely happy, though, as they grabbed their bags containing clothing and jumped out of the bus as fast as they could. Keiichi was a little more hesitant. He was thinking of just staying on that bus until it went elsewhere. He had enough clothing to do, anyways. However, he knew for a fact that he couldn't do that. He grabbed his bag and stumbled out of the bus, looking down at the ground beneath him.
"Ah, the air is so fresh here!" breathed his father. "I can just taste how wonderful this place is!"
Keiichi rolled his eyes.
His mother nodded in agreement. "This is such a wonderful village. I can tell you that all ready!"
Keiichi grumbled and kicked the ground. This was the ground of his new village, a village he knew he wasn't going to get along well in. He knew his life was going to take a turn for the worst. If he were to be eaten by demons here, he was sure he'd rather be back at home studying for math tests.
"Ah, you're the newcomers, aren't you!" a rather rough, old voice called out to them. Keiichi's vision was torn off the ground as he turned to look at the source of the voice, a rather old man with a cheesy grin on his face.
"Yes we are!" cried his father. "I'm Maebara Ichirou, and this is my wife, Maebara Aiko," he explained to the old man, gesturing to his wife. "And this here is my son, Maebara Keiichi!" he cried out, pointing towards a rather un-excited Keiichi.
The old man grinned. "Well, my name is Hiroshi, and I'll be the one guiding you guys today!" he spoke, sticking out his boney, shriveled hand for Keiichi's father to shake.
He took it, grinning. "It's nice to meet you, Hiroshi! And thank you in advance for showing us around your village!"
He laughed. "Ah, it's no problem, no problem at all! This place is small, but you don't want to get lost!" he spoke.
Why don't we want to get lost? Will we get eaten? Keiichi thought.
Keiichi's mother smiled. "I'm sure of that!"
"First of all, you're probably wondering where your house is. Well, it's right this way, so just follow this old man right here and I'll take you to your new home!" he cried out in his rough voice. Keiichi's parents exchanged grins as they followed the old man up the dusty path, both of them chattering about how different the place was from their old location.
Meanwhile, Keiichi was lost in thought. Would he really be okay here, like his mother said? Her words echoed in his mind, and he had to question whether or not she was right. Maybe there are no demons. Maybe…
"Well, this old place might seem a little bit worn, but this village sure is lively!" laughed Hiroshi as he pointed towards various houses, all decorated in a very old style. "We have two thousand whole people living in this village, and with you, we have more! I'm sure you'll be able to find some nice people, and some friends for your young son over there," he spoke, turning to look at Keiichi with a jolly grin that made him shudder.
"He's sixteen," his mother spoke as she walked along side the old man. "Are there any people his age around here?"
The old man scratched his head for a little bit. "Oh yes! There are three young kids around his age living in this old village, so I'm sure he'll be able to make friends with them! All three of them are lively and sure to make great buddies!" he spoke, once again glancing at the worried teenage boy behind him.
"I'm so glad!" cried his mother, turning to smile at her son. "You see, Keiichi, all the kids are really nice here! You'll be sure to make friends with those three, and perhaps even some younger kids!"
Hiroshi burst out laughing once again, causing Keiichi to cringe. This guy sure was friendly, wasn't he? "Well, the young ones are quite lively too! They're incredibly friendly, and they would make great friends also! Especially Furude Rika, she's one girl who happens to be friends with all the kids!" he spoke. "She's only nine years old, too! That just goes to show you have friendly these people are!"
Keiichi narrowed his eyes at the old man as his back was turned. He was rather friendly, so were the other people like him, too? He didn't seem to be a demon of any sort, nor did he seem to be troubled by the supposed presence of demons. It made him wonder if there really were creatures like demons wandering around Onigafuchi.
"Well, well! We're almost to your house, so you better tell me what you think of the village so far!" Hiroshi spoke to Keiichi's parents, giving them both a merry grin.
"It's certainly different from the city!" cried Keiichi's father. "I can't wait to paint the various scenery, it's going to sell for a ton of money! Ooh, and the buildings too! I cannot forget about the beautiful structures you guys have made!"
Keiichi's mother giggled. "Oh, Ichirou, you and your paintings. I'm sure they're going to sell for a ton of money, but that doesn't matter right now. Take the time to think about something other than painting and just enjoy the fresh air!" she scolded him in a polite tone.
"Ah, sorry my dearest. But you do not understand an artist's inspiration! Whenever I see something, I just have to paint it!" he cried out in a dramatic fashion, throwing his arms up in the air.
Keiichi sighed. His father, as an artist, was going to have a blast painting whatever he could find in the village. The scenery was a lot different than what he usually painted, probably a reason why he wanted to move here in the first place, thrills aside. He decided to take a look around his surroundings for once, instead of looking at the ground and thinking about how he was going to survive in the village. It was strangely old and traditional, but aside from that, there wasn't much that indicated that the village was cursed or anything similar.
"Well, here's your house!" the old man said, pointing towards a rather big house located on a very green area, several trees scattered nearby.
"Thank you, Hiroshi!" His father said. "No, really, thank you so much!"
"It's no problem, no problem at all! The truck with the furniture should be arriving shortly, and until then, how about if I tell you a little bit about Onigafuchi?" he suggested, gesturing towards the door.
His father nodded. "I think it would be good to know quite a bit about the village, don't you think, Aiko?" he spoke, turning to meet the eyes of his wife.
Aiko nodded as well. "Yes. Keiichi, let's go inside."
And so, Hiroshi led them both inside the pretty much empty house, allowing the three new villagers to step inside before he cleared his throat. "You have a rather nice place, I think. It's pretty big compared to most houses in Onigafuchi, so you should feel lucky! I guess most of it is going to be used for your art studio, though, Ichirou-san," he said, looking towards the younger man.
His father stuck up his head proudly. "Mhm! I'm going to be drawing the plants, I'm going to be drawing the houses, I'm going to be drawing the people, I'm going to be drawing the-"
"Enough, dad!" Keiichi spoke. "I just want to hear about the village already!"
Hiroshi just laughed his old, hearty laugh. "Ohoho! It looks like someone's rather excited about their new village, hm?" he said before letting out another laugh.
Keiichi grumbled that he wasn't, but such was not picked up on by the old man.
"Well, I can tell you this about the village. We have a population of two thousand people, as I have stated before, and all two thousand people are very friendly and will be willing to help you out if you get lost or need pointers as to where you can buy things and such," he began to explain. "I can assure you that no one will ever turn down your need for help! No one will ever!"
His mother looked pleased. "It's good to have friendly neighbors. I guess that means I won't have a problem finding where to buy things for my cooking!"
His father nodded. "Oh yes! Aiko here is a master chef! She's great at cooking!"
"Is she really?" Hiroshi said, glancing over to the young woman. "Well you will not be disappointed, then! Okinomiya, the city nearby, has all the food you need! There's Hiro's Bakery, the market… there's everything you need! Not only that, but Okinomiya has many places of entertainment for your son, so if he's bored, he could go over to Okinomiya and go to the various entertainment stores they have there."
Keiichi's father nudged him in the stomach. "Isn't that great, Keiichi?" he spoke, shooting his son one of his signature grins.
Keiichi just nodded and said nothing.
"There are also other things you may want to check out before you go anywhere else! First thing is first, the Furude Shrine. The Furude Shrine is a shrine that is owned by the great Furude Family, one that is great and should be worshiped by all of the village!" he cried out, throwing his arms up in the air, as if expressing a rather dramatic point. "The Furude Family is one of the three great families of Onigafuchi, and as I said before, they take care of the great Furude Shrine. It's the rather large, so I suggest that you take a look and be amazed by it! Ohoho, us old folks love showing off the Furude Shrine! It gives us pride, you know?" he spoke, winking at both of them before bursting out laughing.
"Haha! Well in that case, I can't wait to take a look at this Furude Shrine!" laughed his father.
His mother, however, looked a little puzzled. "You said something about the three great families of Onigafuchi… what is that, exactly?" she asked him, her head tilted to the side ever so slightly.
Hiroshi rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, forgive me! I forgot to explain to you about the three great families of Onigafuchi!" he allowed his hand to fall back to his side before began to explain. "You see, there are three families here that have been around since ancient times. They take care and manage Onigafuchi, each of them having a different job. The first one is the Kimiyoshi family, which is led by Kimiyoshi Kiichirou. They are the leaders of the village. The second one is the Furude Family. The Furude Family, as of right now, is being lead by Furude Rika, who is much, much too young to be taking care of such a job," the old man let out a sigh. "Poor thing. Her parents died two years ago, and she's been managing the whole family by herself since."
"That must be a load of work for a girl that small," commented Keiichi's father.
Hiroshi nodded. "Poor, poor little girl. I feel so bad for her. She's much younger than the other heads. Kimiyoshi is rather old, around my age, and he's a good friend of mine. As for the last family… there's the Sonozaki family. They take care of the local festival, and that's really their only purpose," he explained to them. "But… recently… the Sonozaki family has gotten much, much more powerful than the Kimiyoshi family, though some refuse to believe it. I-It's a long story… but they're pretty much in charge now. The head is an old woman by the name of Sonozaki Oryou. She has a terrible temper, so be careful around her…" he looked a little dark. "I… I really shouldn't be saying that, but I'd watch out if I were you… since she has so much power, she can do whatever she wants and… yeah, you don't want to get on her bad side."
Keiichi's father looked over to his wife and nodded. "We'll be careful. We don't want to get on anyone's bad side, seeing as we just moved here and all that."
Hiroshi smiled. "Well in that case, I think you'll do just fine here. Furude Rika… well, she's really nice, and as I've said before, she's friends with anyone. Besides, she's only nine, so there's no reason to be careful around her. Kimiyoshi is incredibly nice as well, so it's only Oryou you need to look out for. All the other villagers are perfectly nice!" he said to them.
"That's great! I'm sure that we're going to get along fine with everyone, and I'm pretty sure that Keiichi here is going to make a lot of new friends, isn't that right, Keiichi?" his father commented, turning to look at Keiichi before winking at him. "You said there were three people his age, right? Well he'll be just fine then! Keiichi's never been into big groups, anyways."
I haven't been into any groups, Dad, Keiichi thought to himself. But perhaps I'll enjoy meeting these new people. Though I can't help but wonder… is this guy really telling the truth, or is he just exaggerating? He seemed awfully nice to Keiichi, to the point where it was rather suspicious. He kept emphasizing how nice everyone was…. but was that really the truth? Was he keeping a secret from everyone? His parents didn't seem suspicious at all, but Keiichi knew for a fact that something was wrong. It just didn't settle well in his mind. There's no way people in a town called "Demon's Abyss" would be that friendly!
His father ruffled his hair, laughing. "Well, Keiichi will be just fine in this town, I can see! I bet a place like this is just the place that Keiichi needs, right, Keiichi?" he spoke.
Because every teenage boy needs to live in a town with demons! Keiichi thought sarcastically.
Hiroshi grinned at the boy. "Well, how about if you take the boy to the school and introduce him to the kids right now? It's the middle of the day, but I'm sure they won't mind taking some time off their homework to greet him and talk to him. After all, kids these days will do anything to get out of work! I'm sure all of them will be friendly to Keiichi and teach him about this place better than I can! It seems as if young ones have an easier time talking to people of their age."
"That sounds like a lovely idea!" his mother agreed, "I'm sure Keiichi is excited to meet his new friends. I think it'll be better for him, more than sitting around in a house bare of furniture."
Keiichi opened his mouth to protest, but he was silenced with his father grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out the door. "Come on, Keiichi! We're going to be heading to your school now, and you'll be able to meet those kids this nice old man here was talking about! Isn't that just so exciting?" he asked, patting his son on the head with his free hand.
"I-" Keiichi tried to protest again.
"Oh hush! You don't need to tell us how excited you are! I can just sense how excited you are from the look on your face!" his father joked, slapping him on the back. His father knew for a fact that if he didn't drag his son there, there was no chance of him going to school. He'd probably just hide upstairs and never come out.
Hiroshi looked down at Keiichi and shot him a friendly smile, one that seemed a little suspicious to Keiichi. Was this guy really just being friendly to him, or was there something deeper behind it? He tried his best not to let his suspicions show on his face as he grinned back at him. "Yeah, I'm excited," he lied.
"That's my boy!" his father laughed. "I'm glad, I'm really glad! Now, shall we go and meet your new classmates?" he asked.
Hiroshi nodded. "I'll take you guys over there, so just follow this old man here and you won't get lost! Ohoho!"
Keiichi gulped as they set off for the school. This school couldn't be all that big, now can it? This was such a large town! And besides, if there really were demons, kids were probably dying all the time! He shook that last thought out of his head. Many people were born and raised here, some of them being rather old like Hiroshi, so it was highly possible that there weren't any demons and it was just a legend. Or perhaps they just knew how to handle demons well. Keiichi wasn't sure, but he decided not to dwell on the matter anymore. He had to focus on the good things.
If Hiroshi wasn't lying, the kids were all really nice. Perhaps he could meet some friends for once, and perhaps he could have an adventure, though hopefully one that didn't turn into some horror movie. He hoped that they would treat him well despite the fact that he was an outsider, something that was probably uncommon in this supposedly haunted, tiny village. He had to wonder what they were like, if they were energetic or shy, if they were the type that would warm up to him right away, or if they were the type that would take a while to warm up to him.
"The school is a rather small one, and it only has one classroom and one teacher," Hiroshi explained to them. "There are around twenty kids, three of which are his age, and a bunch of youngsters. However, as I said before, the really young ones enjoy the company of the older ones. They really look up to them, and they're really friendly towards them, too! In this school, age does not matter one bit!"
"Well that's good! It'll be easier for Keiichi to make friends with less people around," he spoke. "He's better with small amounts of people rather than large amounts. That's why this village is good for him."
Good for me? What about the part where demons eat people's heads? Keiichi thought
"I'm glad that you feel that way, Ichirou-san! I enjoy knowing that young children can appreciate the rural scenery. These days, people tend to prefer the busy city. It's sad, really. I've always been a country boy and I'll forever be a country boy! I just think it's just that much nicer around here, compared to the dirty old city!"
"I have to agree. I think that this place is much more nice than the city we used to live in," his mother commented.
Hello? Am I the only one who remembered the part about the demons? Didn't you say it was supposed to be infested by demons, Mom, Dad? Why are you suddenly forgetting about that! Keiichi screamed out in his mind, though he knew he couldn't speak such words in front of the old man, seeing as he thought so highly of his village and was treating them so nicely, even if it was a little suspicious.
Suddenly, everyone halted, and Keiichi looked up to see a rather small building. Was this really the school? Sure, it was larger than most of the houses in this old village, but the school looked so small in comparison to his old schools! It looked like it only had four or five rooms at most, along with a hallway. He scratched his head as he observed it. This is where he was to be staying, where he was to be learning about math and all other subjects.
"Well, here it is, young Keiichi-san! This is your new school!" Hiroshi said, pointing to the medium-sized building.
"It's quite small," commented his father, his arms crossed in front of his chest, "but I'm sure that it's perfect for our Keiichi here! Now, Keiichi, aren't you excited?"
"Yes," was all Keiichi said.
Hiroshi smiled. "Good! Then, let's go in and introduce you to Chie-sensei. All the school form have been filled out, I believe," he said, turning to look at the two parents.
"Indeed they have!" replied his father. "So it's all good! I suppose Hiroshi will show you to the teacher's room. So, we'll be off, then!"
"Do you know your way from here?" Hiroshi asked, looking a little worried.
Keiichi's mother nodded. "Indeed we do. And if we get lost, we could just ask one of the very friendly villagers, isn't that right?" she spoke, a sweet smile on her face.
The old man let out another laugh. "That's right! I'm glad that you're in understanding of how wonderful these villagers are! So then, I'll see you two!" he called out.
"Goodbye!" both of his parents called, waving.
And as he watched his parents walk away, Keiichi suddenly felt his fear rising. He no longer knew anyone in this area, nor did he know the area itself. Hiroshi was very suspicious, and he could try to pull a trick on him now that his parents were gone. He tried to make his expression calm, but his efforts were in vain. A bead of sweat trickled down his forehead as his eyes widened and the sound of his breathing increased dramatically.
"Ah, nervous about your new classmates, eh?" Hiroshi spoke to him. "Well you don't have to worry about a thing! Besides, you'll never know until you see them!"
He simply nodded, not telling him the truth behind his sudden nervousness.
"All right then, young one, let's get you to Chie-Sensei! I'm sure that it's around lunch time, so we'll try looking in her office before anything else," he spoke, gesturing for Keiichi to follow him.
The old man entered the building, and the first thing that greeted them was a medium-sized hallway. There were only four rooms. One of the four rooms was the classroom, the other the teacher's room, the other one the girl's bathroom, and the final one the boy's bathroom. Aside from that, there was nothing in this building. Hiroshi walked down the hallway and Keiichi followed him as he observed his new school. It didn't seem too bad, at least. Of course, there was an ominous feel to it, but that just may have been him imagining it, since he was so afraid of this village.
Hiroshi stepped into the teacher's office, and Keiichi decided to wait outside. He heard them chat a little bit about him, and there didn't seem to be much suspicious with their conversation…
"Oh, Hiroshi-san! It's a surprise to see you here!" the teacher's cheerful voice spoke.
"Ohoho! Chie-sensei, you're as young and lively as ever! I've come here to introduce the new kid to you," he explained to him, his old laughter echoing from the room.
"Oh, I wasn't expecting him until tomorrow! But it's wonderful to meet him now! I'm sure the children will be excited. Bring him in!"
Hiroshi stepped out for a moment and grabbed Keiichi by the wrist, startling him. For a moment he thought that they guy was going to perform some kind of fatal trick on him. However, he simply smiled again and tugged him into the teacher's office. He stumbled forward and entered the rather small room, gazing at what was inside it. There were two desks, one for the teacher, and one for the principle, but that was about it. He also noticed that the placed stank strongly of curry, a food that he wasn't very fond of.
"Hello there! Maebara Keiichi-san, isn't it? I'm the teacher, Chie." It's a pleasure to meet you!" the teacher greeted him after she had swallowed her lunch, which was a giant thing of curry. She had rather dark blue hair and emerald green eyes that went really well with the color of her hair, and she wore a giant smile on her face that actually seemed genuine to the boy. She looked too sweet to be anything evil, so Keiichi relaxed a bit.
"Yeah, that's it. I just moved here from the city. It's nice to meet you too, Chie-sensei," he saw, bowing respectfully to her.
She giggled. "Well then, how about if we introduce you to the students here? They're all very nice, so you shouldn't worry about a thing! I'm sure your eager to meet your new classmates and your new friends!" she spoke in her soft, polite tone.
Keiichi nodded, speaking nothing of his fears. "Yeah, I heard from Hiroshi-san here that all the children are very nice, so I look forward to meeting them," he said in the most polite tone he could.
Hiroshi laughed once again. "Yes, yes! I taught you well, young one!" he spoke. "The children here will be so happy to have a new student, I'm sure!"
Chie nodded her head in agreement. "I told them that we were getting a new student earlier, and they all seemed rather excited! I bet they're not expecting him now, though, so it'll probably be a pleasant surprise!" she spoke.
"Yes yes! Now, I don't want to disturb you further, so take young Keiichi-san over to the new kids. He was feeling a littler nervous before, but he's a young one, so he'll be able to warm up to these kids in no time at all! No time at all, I say!"
Chie smiled. "All right then. Thank you, Hiroshi-san, and I hope to see you again sometime soon!" she spoke, waving to him gently.
Hiroshi nodded. "Good bye, Chie-sensei! Good bye, Keiichi-kun!"
And with that, the old man left, and Keiichi relaxed a little bit. His attitude had scared Keiichi slightly, so now that he was gone, he had nothing to worry about. Chie was probably the nicest person in this whole town, and she did not seem to have any kind of evil in her.
"Now, Maebara-san," Chie spoke in a polite tone, "let's go."
She lead him down the hallway until she stopped at a room with loud chattering from kids of all ages coming from inside. She told Keiichi to wait a little bit, and then she stepped into the classroom. Suddenly, everything grew dead silent, and he could hear a few children repositioning their chairs so they could get a better look at her from their seat.
"Class, the transfer student has arrived!" she announced to them with large amounts of glee in her voice.
Keiichi could hear an overload of excited chattering coming from the room. Chie stepped out of the room and gestured for the teenage boy to follow her, which he did.
He felt nervous stepping in the classroom for the first time. What would these people think of him? Would they look down on him for being an outsider? And what if some of them were insane murders in disguise, ready to rip him up and feed him to the demons? He tried not to appear nervous as he stood in front of the classroom with eyes of every single color resting on him.
"Class, this is Maebara Keiichi. He's from the city. Maebara-san, would you like to introduce yourself?" she asked him.
He gulped. "M-My name is Maebara Keiichi, and yes, I am from the city. I just moved here today, and I hope to get along with everyone…" he spoke, not even knowing what he was saying. He just let some words fly out of his mouth, but in truth, there really wasn't much to say about him. He was a boring person before this, and he probably still was in some people's eyes. "So please treat me well... that's all…"
Chie smiled at him before returning her gaze to the class. "Now, class, please treat Maebara-san well, just as he asked for," she spoke to them. She then turned her gaze to a young girl who sat in the back, who promptly gave her teacher a look of surprise. "Ryuuguu-san, if you would introduce him to your friend back there…"
The girl Chie was gazing at looked startled. "Y-Yes, Chie-sensei!"
"And with that, class, continue with your lunch!" she announced to them.
And once again, the chatting continued. Chie looked over to Keiichi, giving him a reassuring grin. "Ryuuguu-san will introduce you to her friend over there. She's around your age, and I'm sure you two will get along. She's really friendly, so don't worry about a thing!"
Keiichi nodded, and Chie walked out of the classroom to continue her curry lunch. He gulped as he turned around to face everyone, finding that some people still had their eyes on him. An outsider coming in was rather rare, so Keiichi couldn't blame them. He steadily walked over to the back of the classroom, to where that teenage girl was staring at him. She was supposed to introduce him to people, right?
Taking a good look at her, he also found that there wasn't anything suspicious about her. She seemed to be slightly younger than him, and some people could possibly describe her face as cute. She had hair of a reddish-orange color, and eyes of blue, slightly lighter than his own. He stood in front of her, gazing down at her.
"Hi!" she suddenly spoke, startling him. "My name is Ryuuguu Rena! I'm fifteen-years-old. It's very strange to see a transfer student here, here," she commented, gazing up into his deep blue eyes. "Were you sick of the city, city? Rena's never been to the city."
Keiichi noted that she seemed to repeat the last word of every sentence and that she referred to herself in third-person. "Nah, I wasn't, but my parents wanted a change. It's nice to be here, though." He paused. "It's nice to meet you, Ryuuguu-san."
Rena smiled. "You don't have to call me Ryuuguu-san. Just Rena is fine. Rena prefers to be called by her first name," she said to him.
Keiichi scratched the back of his head. It seemed a little strange to call someone he had just met by his or her first name. "Uh…. It's nice to meet you, Rena-san?"
Rena nodded. "Yup! It's nice to meet you too!"
She seemed to be a very cheery person, and Keiichi doubted that she had any relation to the supposed demons of the village, or any of the curses that it was supposed to have. She just seemed too sweet and friendly for that. Keiichi relaxed a little. He'd at least have one friend he wasn't going to be constantly suspicious of.
Rena glanced over to her side and nudged a boy who sat on her left. "Satoshi-kun! Say hi to Keiichi-kun!"
The boy on her left jumped in his seat, startled by the sudden physical contact. He looked up at Keiichi with his grape-colored eyes. A smile then formed on his face. "Sorry. My name is Houjou Satoshi. I've been living here for all my life," he spoke in a soft tone, one that Keiichi wouldn't expect a male to have. It seemed rather timid to Keiichi. There was no way that this guy could have anything to do with demons, either! He just seemed all too gentle. "And it's quite rare to meet a new student…"
Keiichi laughed. "I picked up on that part."
Satoshi suddenly stood up, glancing at two children who were happily eating lunch at their desks. They were playing with their food, something Keiichi had always been told not to do. "Satoko! Rika-chan!" he called to them.
Both girls turned their heads to him, and upon noticing the new transfer student, they both stood up.
"Satoko, Rika-chan! I want you to meet Maebara Keiichi-san," he said, gesturing towards the brown-haired boy.
Keiichi looked down upon these two girls. The first of them had rather long blue hair and wine-colored eyes, and a very, very cute face. The second of them had to be Satoshi's sister, as she had similar blonde hair and purple eyes, though her hair was a little brighter.
"Hello!" the blue-haired girl piped up. "My name is Furude Rika! It's a pleasure to meet you, new student! Nipah~!" she beamed.
She's awfully adorable, Keiichi thought.
"Ah, I heard about you. You're from the Furude Family who runs the shrine, right?" he spoke, recalling what Hiroshi had told him.
Rika nodded her head, an adorable smile on her face. "That's right! It seems as if you have learned a lot about me!"
The other girl looked a little annoyed. "What about me? Did Nii-Nii tell you anything about me?" she asked, jealous that her friend was getting more attention from the new student.
Satoshi just laughed. "I wanted you to introduce yourself to him, Satoko," he spoke, patting his sister's head gently.
The girl sighed. "Oh well, then I'll have to tell you about me myself! My name is Houjou Satoko! I'm his little sister, but that doesn't make me any less than him!" she spoke with a mischievous smile on her face. "I'm a master at traps and that kind of cool stuff, so you better watch out or Master Satoko will trap you!"
Rika giggled. "It's true, Keiichi. You have to watch out for Satoko's deadly traps! Nipah~!"
"Wow," Keiichi commented, rubbing the back of his head. "You seem to be rather strong, eh?"
Satoko nodded, beaming. "I'm the best trapper in all of Onigafuchi!"
Rika looked at her. "You're the only trapper in all of Onigafuchi, Satoko," she reminded her.
Satoko rolled her eyes. "Yeah yeah, details!"
Keiichi had to wonder if there really were demons in Onigafuchi. None of these kids acted like it, and none of the adults acted like it. Was it all just a myth? He chuckled at the display in front of him. The children really were friendly, weren't they?
Suddenly, the door to the classroom opened, revealing the figure of a boy. He glanced about the classroom before spotting Keiichi, looking genuinely surprised.
"Takeru-kun!" called Rena. "You sure were in the bathroom for a long time! You missed Keiichi-kuns's introduction!"
The boy quickly ran over to Keiichi, observing him with wide eyes. "Ah, the new transfer student! I didn't think that he was coming today," he said, gazing into Keiichi's blue eyes with his dark green ones.
Rena grinned. "I didn't really, either."
The boy ran his fingers through his forest green hair, feeling a little embarrassed. "Ah, oh well! I'm sorry, but I was in the bathroom. If I knew you were coming, I would have held it in!" he laughed. Then, without another word, he grabbed one of Keiichi's hands and began to shake it vigorously. "Hiya! Maebara Keiichi, is it? My name is Sonozaki Takeru! I'm glad that you're here!" he spoke.
Keiichi was feeling a little startled at his friendliness, and especially at how hard he was shaking his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sonozaki-san…" he paused for a moment, recalling what the old man had said. Sonozaki… he knew that name. Hiroshi had mentioned it when he was talking about the three great families of Onigafuchi.
"Sonozaki… I heard that was one of the three great families of Onigafuchi. Am I right?" he spoke, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
Takeru let out a toothy grin. "That's right! I'm a part of the great Sonozaki family!" he cried out proudly.
Rena giggled at her friend's eccentric personality. He really was acting quite friendly towards a person he had just met. "Actually, Takeru-kun is the heir to the Sonozaki family. He's going to be in charge of Onigafuchi when he gets older! Takeru-kun's going to grow to be big and scary. Please remember I'm your friend then, Takeru-kun, okay, okay?" she said to him, a cute smile on his face.
"But of course!" he cried out. "I won't forget you," he said, looking at Rena. "You! I won't be all Sonozaki on you, either," he said looking at Satoshi. He turned his dark green gaze over to Satoko and Rika. "And of course, not you two either." Finally, he looked at Keiichi. "And now, since you're our friend, I'll be nice to you too!"
Keiichi rubbed the back of his head, not sure what to think of the boy in front of him. "Thanks?" he said, not knowing what else to say.
"Yup!" Takeru patted Keiichi on the back, though he did so quite roughly. "He's our new friend now, guys! How about if we show him around Onigafuchi after school?" he suggested, glancing towards everyone.
Rena smiled and nodded. "Of course! Rena will be happy to show Keiichi-kun around, around!"
Takeru turned his gaze towards Keiichi. "And you're fine with this, right? Are your parents going to be worried if you don't come home right away?"
"Well, I guess so. They might be worried that I got lost, but I'll just tell them a few friends were showing me around the place," Keiichi decided.
"Then it's settled! We'll do that after school," Rena spoke. "Hau… Keiichi-kun is going to become such good friends with everyone, everyone!"
Rika smiled up at him. "I agree with Rena. You'll fit right in!"
Keiichi was feeling a little embarrassed and overwhelmed at the same time. He had never had friends before, but it looks like things were going to change now. These guys didn't seem too scary, so they would be able to protect him from the horrors of Onigafuchi… if there were any, that was.
"Come sit down at this desk here! No one sits here, so it's yours now," Satoshi said, putting his hand down on the desk that was right next to him.
Keiichi just nodded and did what he said to do. He sat down at his new desk, surprised that he was actually feeling okay with the new school. It wasn't nearly as bad as he thought, though he had to wonder if other areas were different. This was just the school, wasn't it? What if the other areas of Onigafuchi were different? He shook those thoughts out of his head as he looked up at his new group of friends. They would help him if he ran into trouble.
…Hopefully they would.
~~~~~X~~~~~
Crimso's Corner V.2
Seems as if Keiichi's calmed down a little bit. Hehe! Let's see how long THAT lasts for! (Foreshadowing).
So this chapter has probably raised a few questions. First of all, I know EXACTLY what you're thinking right now. You're thinking, "WHERE ARE MY SONOZAKI TWINS?" Haha. I knew it! I knew you were thinking that! I got it right, right? Well that should be the main question on everyone's mind right now… and I'm not going to answer it, because I'm mean. Just draw your own conclusions for now.
School starts soon. Two days from now, actually. I feel depressed. It shouldn't effect my updates too much, seeing how well I did with balancing Green-Eyed Demon and huge load of work last year.
Annnd please review this chapter and tell me what you think! For reviewing this chapter, you will get a Keiichi Plushie that you can hug when you go to sleep. Or you can hug him whenever you want! And he won't protest or anything! I'd like to hug Keiichi. Never going to happen, though, so… also, you get a cupcake of any flavor for pointing out typos. Cookies if you don't like cupcakes. Or ice cream.
And with that, Crimso is out. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
~Crimso.