Crimso's Notes:
AHHHHHH DARN IT! I forgot important details in the last chapter! Someone, quick, hit me with a hammer! T_T.
One: Here's a repeat of what I said before with Onigafuchi's scenery and such being the same in some ways, but there may be extra buildings and characters may be different.
Two: Another OC warning. It's necessary with these fanfictions…
Three: Again with the chain of mysterious deaths, with some not happening.
Annnd school starts tomorrow. You can probably guess how excited I am about THAT *rolls eyes*.
~~~~~X~~~~~
Chapter Two: Tour
After lunch that day, the many friends Keiichi had met had taken it upon themselves to explain to him about the classroom and how things worked around the school. It was quite different from his old school, to say the least. It wasn't only the size difference, though. They had some different rules for classes and other things like that.
"You got to remember to NEVER say bad things about curry in this classroom!" Takeru warned the boy as he worked on a math sheet Chie had given him. "Chie-sensei loves curry more than anything else in the whole wide world, and if you say something bad about curry… then man! The punishment is even worse than forgetting to turn in your homework!"
"And the punishment for forgetting to turn in your homework is pretty bad, too," Rika added on as she worked on her art project. She was building some sort of clay model, though he noted that her partner, Satoko, was doing little to help her. "Just don't say anything bad about curry and you'll do fine in this school."
Satoshi frowned. "Muu... not just school, but anywhere in Onigafuchi. Chie WILL find you if you say something bad." He looked scared as he said such a thing. He was probably remembering a time where he insulted curry and got beaten by Chie.
Keiichi rubbed the back of his head nervously. "So that's why it smelled strongly like curry when I went into her office," he recalled.
Takeru laughed. "Curry is the only thing Chie eats! She eats it for breakfast, she eats it for lunch, and she even eats if for dinner! So that's why if you insult curry, you're probably going to end up dead before anything else gets to you!" he joked.
Keiichi laughed along with him, but the last part of Takeru's sentence was making him feel a little uneasy. He said "before anything else gets to you." What was this anything else that he was speaking of? Perhaps they were demons? Keiichi shook his head, remembering how well the villagers had been treating him before. It couldn't be that there were demons in this nice, friendly town!
Satoko smirked. "But you know… maybe it would be worth trying… you know, just for fun," she spoke, giving him a mischievous grin.
Satoshi sighed, patted his sister on the head. "Now now, Satoko. Don't make silly jokes like that. Angering Chie-sensei is not a good idea."
The blonde-haired girl looked upset. "Aw, but I was just curious!"
"Muu…don't you remember what happened to us last time we angered Chie? It wasn't very pretty at all," Satoshi reminded her, still ruffling her blonde hair.
Keiichi smiled at the girl in front of him, but a part of him couldn't help but be a little suspicious by her intentions. Was she purposely trying to get him hurt? Did Chie have demons that she'd beat people up with when they insulted curry? Keiichi thought that perhaps he was being a little too paranoid. He wasn't scared at all when he first saw Chie, as she had a rather soothing presence to her. There was no way that his imagination was true.
The green-haired boy simply laughed it off. "Oh don't worry about her! She's always trying to get someone to fall for one of her pranks, even if they're obvious like that one," he spoke, seemingly sensing the boy's worried thoughts.
Satoko looked annoyed, and then, with a snap of her fingers, a large basin fell from seemingly nowhere and hit Takeru right on the head. He rubbed the spot where it had hit, murmuring a few words to himself. "Do not underestimate any of my traps!" warned Satoko. "And never, ever, EVER call one of my traps obvious or lame! I bet you anything that you didn't see THAT one coming!"
"Haha, yeah. I guess I shouldn't have underestimated the great Trap Master Satoko, then!" he spoke, still rubbing his head. "And you should take that advice, too, Keiichi. Satoko is certainly not someone to be underestimated in any situation!"
Keiichi grinned. "Well, I'll take note of that and make sure that I don't underestimate her! She seems like a tough opponent, always," he spoke, staring into the girl's purple eyes, which lit up with glee when she heard his words. "No, really, you certainly seem like the type that I don't want to underestimate! I'm sure that you would be able to make some kind of trap to make me pay, as you did to Sonozaki-san there."
Satoko puffed out her chest and stuck her chin up in the air rather arrogantly. "You got that right!" she spoke, though she was secretly happy that she had been praised. Everyone mostly thought that her traps were more annoying and often scolded her for setting one up.
"HAU!" Rena suddenly cried out, startling everyone. She had been silent for most of the conversation. "Proud and happy Satoko is just SOOO cute! I'm going to have to take her home with me… right NOOOW!" And without another word, Rena scooped Satoko up in her arms and began to spin her around as fast as she could, cooing however how cute she had been at that moment and rambling about what she was going to do when she took her home.
Satoshi looked surprised. "P-Please, Rena! You're going to hurt her if you're not careful!"
Rena didn't seem to hear him, however, and continued to spin the poor girl around in a circle. By this time, Satoko was getting extremely dizzy and her eyes were spinning. Rena eventually put the poor girl down on the ground, still cooing over her. "Hau… Satoko can just be so cute at times…"
As Rena continued to ramble about how cute she was, Satoko was busy trying to regain control of her body, which was now stumbling about. "Please don't do that again, Rena-san. That was very rough…"
Rika smiled. "Don't worry, Satoko. Next time she'll be sure to be a little gentler with you. Nipah~!"
Upon hearing the final word of Rika's sentence, Rena whipped around to look at the girl who was standing there with the most adorable smile anyone had ever seen plastered onto her face. Rena turned a bright red and she picked the girl up in her arms, spinning her around and around faster than she had been spinning Satoko. "HAU! Rika-chan is so cute, too! I want to take her home with me, too!"
Keiichi could only laugh at the scene in front of him. Everyone here seemed to be such close friends, and it looked as if he would fit right in with them. Still, the suspicions he had about Onigafuchi were lingering in the back of his mind. Surely they didn't have to do with his friends, though. Rika was just too innocent, and so was Rena. Satoko may act like she's a prankster who would hurt someone, but he was sure that even she couldn't commit brutal murders. Satoshi just seemed to shy to be involved in anything bloody, and Takeru was just too nice. So if it turned out there really were demons or any kind of creepy supernatural, his friends would be able to protect him and warn him. He hoped that he would survive, and it seemed as if he really would.
"Well, I think we should be getting to working on our homework, now shouldn't we? We're going to be showing Keiichi around the village, so we might be out for a little while," Takeru suggested to his friends.
Satoko pouted. "I don't want to do my math homework, though! It's so boring!"
Satoshi simply patted his sister on the head, once again. Keiichi noted that it seemed to be a habit of his. "Satoko, work hard."
And so, class continued, though many times his friends would look up from their work to comment on one thing or another, sometimes getting completely distracted from their work to talk about something that was complete irrelevant to their assignment. Most of the time, it was Satoko, but every time she got distracted, Satoshi would just pat her on the head and gently tell her to go back to work.
He had to admit that it wasn't bad hanging out with these guys. They were really nice to him, though it came as quite a surprise to the boy since he had never had friends before. Usually, people would just tease him for being too into schoolwork. This, however, was completely different. These kids were willingly accepting him, even though they didn't even know who he was for the most part. Surely a town like this couldn't be infested by horrible man-eating demons.
But then again, if it wasn't, what was with the rumors and the name? There had to be some reason for it to be called Onigafuchi. It just didn't seem right to have a perfectly nice town which an evil name like "Demon's Abyss." He sighed as he scribbled down the answer to math problems, reminding him of his days in the city. Now that he met some new friends, he wasn't sure whether or not he enjoyed the city life more.
I guess I'm getting too far ahead of myself. I can't drop my guard down right now. If it turns out there really are demons, then I'm going to be screwed if my guard is down, Keiichi thought to himself. He finished the sheet he was working on with a large sigh. Now that he had no homework, he didn't have to worry. His friends could make him explore the town for as long as they wanted and he wouldn't have to bother going home early to finish homework.
I'll really just have to wait and see in this point in time, and at the same time, keep my guard up and accept both possibilities. Demons may or may not exist. This place may or may not be completely innocent.
"Ah, Keiichi-kun! You're already done with your homework?" Rena commented as she briefly looked up from her homework sheet. "Well that's good, then! Rena can show you around the village for as long as she likes!"
Takeru chuckled. "Don't forget about your own homework, Rena," he said, jabbing her in the shoulder with the back of his pencil.
"R-Right!" Rena called out before getting to work on her math homework.
"FINISHED!" Satoko suddenly yelled, surprising everyone in the group. She dropped her pencil down on the table triumphantly, a proud look on her face.
Satoshi simply sighed and looked at her sheet. "No you're not. There are some problems on the back as well…"
The blonde-haired girl's face fell.
Keiichi couldn't help but laugh just a little bit. It really was fun to be hanging around these people. Demons or not in this town, he knew for a fact that he could trust all of his friends, no matter what happened.
~~~~~X~~~~~
"Class dismissed!" called Chie.
And with that single sentence, all of the little kids jumped to their feet and scrambled out of the door as fast as they could. It seemed as if none of the little kids really wanted to be in class.
Keiichi got up from his chair and stretched. He had survived his first day at his new school, and he was probably going to survive the next, too, at this rate. Glancing around the classroom, he noticed something rather strange he hadn't really been paying attention to before.
"Huh? There are a lot more desks than there are students…" he murmured, trying to recall how things looked when he first entered the classroom. He scratched his head to try to recall what things had looked like when he first entered the classroom, but it was no use. It was lunch then, and a lot of children had pushed their desks together. Besides, he wasn't paying much attention to the classroom in the first place. He had been focused on the eyes of the children.
Rena stiffened, and Satoshi looked a little uncomfortable. However, Takeru only smiled. "Chie orders a lot of extra desks, just in case."
"Just in case what?" Keiichi asked him.
Takeru kept the smile on his face. "Just in case."
Just in case one breaks? Just in case a student needs more than one? Huh… I don't really understand… Keiichi thought to himself, scratching his head as he tried to work it out. He thought about asking Takeru, but Rena and Satoshi were acting strangely uncomfortable to the subject, so he said nothing more.
Rika shot him one of her cute smiles. "In case Satoko breaks one with her traps, like she usually does."
Satoko opened her mouth to protest, but Satoshi covered her mouth before she could say anything.
Keiichi raised an eyebrow, but decided not to press the matter and just go with the explanation Rika gave him. It didn't seem like anything odd. Satoko certainly was the type of person to break a desk with a trap, from what he could gather.
"Ah, oh well. Let's move on. Aren't you guys going to tour me around the village?" he asked all of his friends, looking from face to face.
Takeru nodded. "That's exactly what we're going to do. Rena, Satoko, Rika, Satoshi, let's go," he spoke, gesturing for all of them to get out of their seats.
They all did so, grabbing their bags and pushing their seats in. Keiichi placed his backpack on his back and looked at all of his friends. He had to wonder what Onigafuchi was like, as he really wasn't paying too much attention when Hiroshi was showing them around the village. Both Rena and Satoshi's troubled faces had softened and returned to normal, making Keiichi feel a little more comfortable.
"Let's go."
And with that, the six friends departed the building and stepped out into the fresh air. Onigafuchi really did have fresh air; it was certainly a change from the dirty old city. Keiichi took a breath of the air, enjoying it for once. He would get used to it in a few days, so he knew he should simply enjoy it now. Rena smiled at him when she saw this, knowing things must have been different for a boy who had lived in the city all of his life.
"Is the air better here, is it?" Rena asked the brown-haired boy.
Keiichi nodded quickly. "It sure is!"
Satoshi wore a soft smile on his face. "Muu… I'm glad you say so, Maebara-san… I'm glad that people from the city can enjoy this rural old village, too…" he said, though there was a slight uneasiness in his voice that made Keiichi feel a little worried.
Satoko seemed to sense this and looked up at her older brother. "Nii-Nii… do you really mean tha-" she was cut off quickly by him patting her on the head once again and giving her a stern look in the eye. "Oh," she squeaked.
Keiichi raised an eyebrow. What was that about?
"In any case," Takeru spoke, "let's get moving."
The six of them walked down the paths, and occasionally, one of them would point at a house and explain to him about who it belonged to, and sometimes a little bit about the family who lived inside. They said it was good to know the name of every villager.
"I can name every single person in this village!" Rena said proudly. "You see, the person we just walked by was Dr. Hayashi from the Irie Clinic. He does a lot of work with-" she suddenly froze midsentence. Her voice just seemed to cut off there. Her eyes suddenly grew wide, and she shook her head. "…He does a lot of work…" she finished.
Keiichi shot her a suspicious glance. "With?"
Satoko crossed her arms. "He visits Rika and Takeru often…"
Satoshi shot her another silencing look, and Satoko just nodded her head when his eyes met hers. She didn't say another word.
Takeru laughed it off. "Oh well. Just forget about it. We'll go visit him at the Irie Clinic if you want to later. Oh! And we should visit Dr. Irie and Nurse Takano too. They both work there, and they'll be taking care of you if you get hurt or sick or anything similar."
The brown-haired boy nodded at him. "That sounds like a good idea! It's always good to know where the doctor's is and the doctors themselves if someone gets hurt."
"All right, then! But first, let's go to the Furude Shrine. It's a great shrine owned by Rika's family, and it'll be where a bunch of events are held, like the local festival," Takeru spoke as he made his way down the paths in front of him.
Rika smiled at the mention of the shrine. "My family runs the shrine. The Furude Family has been taking care of the Furude Shrine since the beginning of Onigafuchi. It's really amazing that my family has been taking care of it all by themselves for the past hundreds of years, I think," she said with a small grin on her face. "And I'm not just saying that because it's my family that takes care of it! You should really see it for yourself! Nipah~!"
Rena's face grew red again and she tried to resist the urge to take Rika home then and there, but she shook that off rather quickly. "I think it's really amazing what the three great families of Onigafuchi do. They've been alive for hundreds and hundreds of years, their jobs being passed down from person to person! Onigafuchi's history is really incredible!"
Takeru nodded in agreement. "It really is something."
And as they continued their walk, Keiichi glanced about at the many houses they had. They really were a lot smaller than his, and they were very old looking. Still, it was a beautiful village for the most part. He let out a sigh. He would be living in this village for the rest of his life, so he had to get used to life here. He allowed the fresh air to flow into his nostrils yet again. The fresh air really was calming.
"Ah, the Furude Shrine shouldn't be too much longer," Takeru commented as he squinted his eyes. "I think I can see it coming up…"
Rika frowned. "Takeru… you have terrible eyesight."
Takeru rubbed the back of his head. "Hehe. Guess I do…"
Rika's expression remained unchanged. "Mii… you should probably see someone about that, Takeru. That bad eyesight of yours may cause a problem."
"Yeah yeah. I'll see someone about that a little later. I don't have time right now," he sighed. "Too much work at the Sonozaki Manor. My grandmother wants me to do this and that to prepare…"
"You poor, poor boy. It won't take long to get used to, though! You'll grow up to be just like me! Nipah~!" beamed Rika.
That's when Keiichi remembered what Hiroshi had mentioned earlier. Rika, despite being so young, was the head of the Furude Family. That seemed to contrast with her personality, being so happy and everything like that. Someone so young would surely sink under pressure at having to run a great family.
Rena was humming a tune to herself as she skipped merrily along the dusty pathways. Satoshi and Satoko were lagging behind the group, Satoshi whispering a few things in Satoko's ear with a rather dark expression on his face. Satoko was nodding at whatever he was saying, also wearing a dark expression, though less so than her brother's. Keiichi was curious as to what they were talking about, but he didn't make any attempts to find out.
"You can see the Furude Shrine from here, see?" Rena said, pointing at the great shrine in the distance.
Keiichi was genuinely shocked by what he could see of the great shrine, even though it wasn't that much. It seemed quite large, and it was decorated beautifully. It definitely looked old and traditional, but that was one of its highlights. If that was what a part of it looked like, then Keiichi couldn't wait to see the rest of it. It certainly looked like something more beautiful than anything he could find in a city.
Rika caught the amazed expression on Keiichi's face, and she giggled. "That's my family's shrine! You can see how well I run it just by looking at it, and how great my family was! Nipah~!" She seemed rather excited to show off her family's work, to say the least.
"It's Onigafuchi's pride and joy!" cried Satoko. "It's probably the most beautiful thing you're going to see in this whole village!"
Takeru laughed. "I have to agree with the little kids on this once. It's beautiful."
Satoko shot Takeru an annoyed look. "I'm NOT a little kid! I'm a lady!"
The green-haired boy looked taken aback. "Haha… I'm sorry then for treating you otherwise! I guess I should ever mistreat a lady, huh?" he shot her a toothy grin.
Satoko seemed pleased. "You shouldn't. Especially not me."
"I'll keep that in mind, then."
The group of friends slowly approached the great Furude Shrine. And as Keiichi saw the whole thing in front of him, a look of awe painted itself on his face. It was huge, and it was extremely beautiful. There was no doubt that the Furude family had been taking good care of this shrine. It didn't look like it was about to fall apart at all! "Wow," was all that would come out of his mouth as he observed the shrine's features. "Wow…"
Rika beamed. "Behold, the Furude family's masterpiece! Nipah~!"
"And not JUST the Furude family's masterpiece!" cried Takeru. "It's all the masterpiece of all of Onigafuchi history!"
Their description was not an overstatement. The shrine in front of him truly was a masterpiece. Everything about it was just gorgeous, from the top to the bottom.
Rena giggled. "Keiichi-kun, do you want to go up the stairs?"
Keiichi snapped out of his thoughts. "Uh… if Rika doesn't mind…"
The blue-haired girl nodded. "I'm fine with it!"
The group scurried up the steps to the shrine, with Keiichi taking in every single last detail he saw as he approached it. It was surely a sight that he didn't want to miss.
Wait a moment? Why am I thinking as if I'm not going to see it again? Keiichi thought to himself. This is my home now. I'll see it always. I don't need to worry…
As they reached the top, Keiichi took some time to admire it some more while the others looked about the grass area nearby. Rika was now seated on the grass along with Satoko, chatting happily with each other about miscellaneous things., though Keiichi wasn't paying too much attention to what they were saying. Satoshi, Takeru, and Rena stood rather far away, and Keiichi couldn't quite catch what they were saying, but they were all wearing rather dark expressions.
Keiichi finally tore his eyes of from the shrine and went to sit down with Satoko and Rika, not wanting to join in on whatever dark conversation Takeru, Rena, and Satoshi were having.
Rika smiled. "Mii, Satoko and I were just talking about a good friend of ours."
Keiichi tilted his head. "A good friend of yours, huh?"
Satoko nodded. "Yeah! She's a really good friend of ours! Her name is Kaede and she-"
Rika shot her a silencing glare. Keiichi noted that they seemed to be doing that a lot to poor Satoko. "Kaede is a good friend of ours, you see. She's really nice to us and we love her! Nipah~!" she finished.
"I didn't see anyone named Kaede at the school," murmured Keiichi.
Keiichi noticed Satoko opened her mouth to speak. "She's an adult," Rika answered before Satoko could say anything. Her friend shot her a glare, crossing her arms. "So she doesn't go to school! She is very nice, though, and a good friend even though she is an adult."
"Ahaha, Rika-chan, you're friends with people of all ages, now aren't you?" Keiichi said, rubbing the top of her head roughly. "That's what I heard from an elder, anyways. He said that you were friends with everyone."
Rika grinned. "Of course! I'm the head of the Furude Family, I know everyone and I'm friends with everyone! Nipah~!"
Satoko opened her mouth to speak, but then shut it upon better judgment.
"Satoko was about to say that she's a friend with everyone, too, but then she got sad because she reconsidered the idea," Rika explained, looking to her friends with a look of pity on her face. "But she shouldn't reconsider the idea. Satoko is friends with Kaede too, and a bunch of other adults!"
The yellow-haired girl froze for a moment. "Oh, yeah. I felt down…" Satoko spoke, though it was rather unconvincing and sounded quite like a lie to Keiichi's ears.
Keiichi smiled at her. Satoko and Rika certainly did seem like best friends, though it seemed as if Satoko was a little less friendly than her best friend was. She didn't hear about her being friends with the entire village from Hiroshi, but then again, he could have left her out and probably thought of Rika since she was the head of the Furude Family and all that. Keiichi had to wonder if Satoko ever felt childish compared to Rika. Everyone seemed to be silencing her all day, and he had to wonder if she felt bad about herself for that.
His thoughts were interrupted when Rena, Satoshi, and Takeru suddenly approached them, their ominous expressions now faded into ones of joy. Keiichi wanted to question them about what they had been talking about, but he decided against it.
"It's really nice up here," Keiichi commented, trying to find some way to start up a conversation.
Rena nodded. "I think we'll have to come up here sometime for a picnic!" she spoke. "It would be very nice! There's the grass, the slight breeze, the sun, hauu! It would be perfect to have a picnic up here!"
"Hm, that sounds like a good idea," commented Takeru as he looked about the area. "I think that Rena's right! It'll be wonderful to have a picnic up here~!"
"You'd have to ask Rika first," Satoko growled, as if to protect her friend.
However, the blue-haired girl only patted her on the head. "It's fine, Satoko. You don't need to stand up for me like that. I don't mind my friends coming and snacking around the Furude Shrine one bit! Nipah~!"
Satoshi frowned. "Satoko, be a little more polite," he reminded her gently.
Satoko looked irritated. "Yeah, yeah! Sure, whatever! I'm just trying to stick up for Rika here! You don't need to yell at me or anything!" she hissed in an unfriendly manner.
These actions startled Keiichi, though he figured that Satoko's snappy behavior was due to the fact that she was the youngest of the group and felt like the older kids were picking her on. Apparently, because they were older, they had more control over everyone and herself.
Satoshi shot everyone a look of apology before moving his gaze back to the stubborn girl in front of him. "Satoko-"
"You keep telling me to be quiet, and it's really annoying me! So next time I have something to say, let me say it!" she ordered all of them, a furious look on her face.
"Satoko," her older brother sighed. "I'll need to talk to you for a little bit. Takeru, Rena, Rika-chan, and Maebara-san, you guys move on. I… I need to have a little chat. I'll walk, but we'll just be behind the group just a tad."
Takeru nodded. "Well, that's completely fine! Let's hope Satoko cheers up, and let's move!"
The six friends moved on, with Satoko and Satoshi trailing behind. As Keiichi went down the stairs, he was able to make out the figure of an object sitting in front of the Furude Shrine that he didn't notice before. He had apparently been so intrigued with the shrine that he didn't realize that there was an object sitting there. It looked like a table of some sort, but Keiichi knew better.
"Is that… some kind of restraining board?" he asked.
Takeru froze. "…Let's move on, Keiichi. We need to get to the Irie Clinic, you remember? We need to introduce you to Irie-sensei, Nurse Takano, and Hayashi-sensei. They'll be pleased to meet you."
Keiichi stared wide-eyed at the object, even halting to take a better look at it. Rena and Takeru walked ahead of him, murmuring a few things to each other as they did so.
It had restraints attached to it, one for each limb. It looked as if that if someone were to be placed in it, they wouldn't be able to move a muscle. Keiichi gulped as he wondered why they would have something so ghastly sitting right in front of the beautiful Furude Shrine. And why would they need such equipment, anyways? What was the point of it?
Right before he was about to move on, Satoshi and Satoko walked by. And as they did so, Keiichi was able to catch a little of their conversation.
"We're trying to hide things from him for now… so don't blurt out anything about that," Satoshi spoke to his brother. "…I know it's hard… but we'll see how long this lasts for…"
Keiichi froze up. They were trying to hide what from him? Apparently, Satoko had been trying to tell him a few things that they didn't want him to know about. What were they, then? Did it involve the demons of Onigafuchi, or did it involve some kind of creepy curse that would make him die?
Noticing that everyone was getting far ahead, Keiichi forced himself to move. He felt all the suspicions he had locked in the back of his head burst open and return. And now, he knew that his friends couldn't be trusted with such matters. They were lying to him about something, but what were they lying to him about?
He tried to wipe the terror of his face to appear more normal, but he found that he just couldn't. There was something funny about this village. And now, Keiichi knew. The name "Demon's Abyss" was probably just the start to all the horrors of this village.
Takeru frowned. "Keiichi, I'll have you know that the people in the clinic are extremely nice. Takano especially!"
Rena nodded in agreement. "Nurse Takano and us all get along! She gives everyone treats when they come to the clinic and all that! Takeru and Takano are really good friends, but Rika is also a friend of Takano's! She's just that nice!"
Keiichi forced himself to laugh. "Rika's friends with everyone, huh?"
"Of course!" cried Takeru. "She's only the greatest Furude Rika! She's extremely adorable! I mean, who could do anything bad to a cute face like that?"
Keiichi couldn't imagine anyone hurting Rika, and maybe that's why she was still alive in this haunted town. Unfortunately, he wasn't cute like Rika. How was he to survive? How did Rena survive?
Takeru sensed his uneasiness. "Aw, cheer up! I know that you're a little too old for her and all that, but there are other girls in this world!" he joked, slapping Keiichi playfully on the back.
Keiichi looked startled. "S-Sonozaki-san! That's going too far!"
Takeru just laughed it off. "Oh, but Rena here is just as cute! You see? Look at her adorable eyes and that cute grin of hers! No man could resist her!" he spoke dramatically, gesturing to the horribly flustered girl next to him.
"H-Hau!" was all Rena let out of her mouth.
The brown-haired boy narrowed his eyes. "Does that mean that you can't resist her then?" he pointed out.
Takeru grinned. "Of course! Rena's just amazing! Aren't you, Rena?" he spoke, turning to wink at her.
"H-Hau! Takeru-kun, please don't! You embarrass Rena every time you do this!" she cried out, burring her head in her hands.
Every time he does this? He does this often, then? Keiichi thought as he watched Takeru flirt with a flustered Rena, not even bothering to comment on the situation.
Satoshi and Satoko eventually finished the conversation and moved up to where the rest of the group was. Satoko looked annoyed, her arms crossed in front her chest and her eyes focused on the ground. Satoshi looked a little worried for his sister, his eyes also gazing down at the ground. Keiichi felt a little uneasy when he spotted them, remembering the conversation they were having. What else did Satoshi say to Satoko? He was probably telling her to stop talking about the dark secrets of Onigafuchi, but did he mention which secrets he was trying to hide from him?
"The clinic is right here!" Rena said, pointing to the upcoming building. Takeru had stopped flirting with her by that point, and her previously tomato-red face had returned to its normal color.
Keiichi could see the building not to far up ahead. It was rather large, and there were several cars parked in front of the building. He wondered to himself about how many people were in the clinic at one time, since the village appeared to be so small. Perhaps the clinic was so big because it needed to hold a lot of people. He wondered if it the reason why it was so large was because they got so many injuries from demons. The guy on the bus was talking about how his son lost his ear from an encounter with a demon. Did such things happen often?
The six friends entered the clinic. The first room was, naturally, a waiting room, decorated with many couches and a stack of books for people of all ages to read as they waited for their turn. A rather old man was sitting on one of the couches, his head buried in a book.
"Kimiyoshi!" cried Takeru as he ran over to the man on the couch.
The man looked up from his book, at first a little annoyed that he had been pulled away from it, but when he realized the boy was Takeru, his upset look contorted into a huge smile. "Oh, if it isn't Takeru! How has everything been? How is Oryou?"
Takeru laughed. "It's been fine, and grandmother has been fine, too! She's getting old, but Irie-sensei said that she was healthy for an old woman! So I don't think that we need to worry about her dying anytime soon."
Rena poked Keiichi in the shoulder. "That's Kimiyoshi," she whispered to him. "He's the leader of the village. You know, from the great Kimiyoshi family."
Ah! I remember Hiroshi talking about him. He's the leader of the entire village, the head of the Kimiyoshi family! The brown-haired boy thought to himself as he observed Takeru chatting cheerfully to the old man on the couch.
"So, what brings you here today, Takeru?" laughed Kimiyoshi. "Did you hurt yourself? You seem nice and lively to me!"
Takeru shook his head. "Nah, showing someone around the village. What are you doing?"
Kimiyoshi laughed. "Oh, I'm taking Kai in for a check-up with Hayashi. He said that his back was starting to hurt a little so I was worried."
Takeru frowned. "Well you work him so hard, Kimiyoshi! Perhaps you should give him a break and let someone else do the jobs," he suggested.
"Nah, Kai's tough. He's the only one of them I trust with those kinds of things…"
Keiichi didn't quite understand their conversation, but he listened to it anyways. He hoped he could uncover some things about Onigafuchi's history, but it wasn't really working all that well. Maybe it's better if I stay out of their conversation for now. Besides, eavesdropping is rude.
"Oh, by the way, Kimiyoshi, I want you to meet my new friend!" Takeru turned around, pointing towards Keiichi with a single finger. "This guy is Maebara Keiichi, though I'm sure you already knew that. He came in today and right now, we're showing him around the village!"
Kimiyoshi grinned as he spotted Keiichi. "Oho! Another lively young man. I'm glad, Takeru, that you're able to meet another young man your age. It's tough with so little people around here," he commented to Takeru before standing up and walking over to Keiichi. "My name is Kiichirou Kimiyoshi. Do you know about the three great families of Onigafuchi?"
Keiichi nodded. "Yeah. You're the head of the village, right? Kimiyoshi family leads the village…"
Kimiyoshi grinned. "I'm glad that you know! That makes things a lot easier for me. You'll be a fine man here, a fine man indeed!"
The brown-haired boy rubbed the back of his head, finding fear and embarrassment in talking to the man who ran the entire village he lived in. He was probably someone to be feared, knowing the nature of the village. But he didn't seem to bad to him, though Keiichi figured that he was probably putting on an act, just how he suspected the same with Hiroshi.
Takeru laughed. "He's already great here!" he spoke. Then, suddenly, he turned to Kimiyoshi. "Oh, and," he leaned forward to whisper something in the old man's ears, causing the man to nod once.
"I understand," he responded, a serious expression on his face. However, he dropped that expression in a matter of seconds. "Well, I hope you enjoy the village, Keiichi-san!" Kimiyoshi said.
Keiichi nodded. "I hope I do, too! I like it already!" he lied.
Kimiyoshi went back to the couch and returned to his books. Takeru was now walking down the hallway, and he knocked on a door not far down. After a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a man with glasses and a doctor's coat on. "Irie, I want you introduce you to someone. Bring Nurse Takano too, please," he requested.
The man nodded and returned to his room, only to come back out a few seconds later. A nurse followed him, her hair long and blonde. This had to be Nurse Takano, the really nice nurse that Rena and Takeru had been talking about before.
"Ah, Maebara Keiichi-san!" cried the doctor smiling. "I know about you because everyone has been talking about the new villagers moving in for a while now, so don't be surprised. I'm glad that you decided to stop by today. I'm Doctor Irie. I hope to see you around the village!"
He didn't seem to be that bad of a person, Keiichi figured as he looked at him. His voice seemed very friendly and fun, and definitely not like someone who lived in a cursed town. Then again, that's what everyone sounded like. But there was something about this guy… something that told Keiichi that he really wasn't faking his funny attitude.
Nurse Takano dipped her head. "I'm Nurse Takano Miyo. I do hope to be seeing you around town as well, but I hope it's not here. I don't want such a young boy getting hurt," she spoke in her soft tone.
Once again, Keiichi forced himself to laugh. "Ah yes! I do hope that I don't get too hurt in the near future, or any time future for that matter!"
"But you can visit when you have a headache. Takano will give you candy, then! Nipah~!" Rika spoke, an adorable smile on her face as she looked up at the brown-haired boy.
Irie's face flushed. "Oooh! Rika-chan, please wear this maid outfit for meeee~!" cried the doctor as he pulled a rather skimpy maid outfit out. Keiichi's eye twitched as he imagined poor, young Rika wearing such a thing. Pedophile! He thought.
Rika frowned. "I'll have to decline…"
Satoko didn't look amused in the slightest. "Please, Irie-sensei, stop trying to get me and Rika into those outfits. I don't want to do it…"
"Oh, but Satoko! You'll look so adorable in this maid outfit! Kyaa~!" He cried out as he spun around in a circle, imagining the young girls clad in one of his many maid outfits.
Just then, another doctor walked in the room, his hair of a jet-black color and his eyes lemon-lime. "Ah, what do we have here? It seems that a lot of people have gathered! Come on now, do tell what the special occasion is!"
Takeru smiled at him. "Oh, Hayashi-sensei! I want you to meet Maebara Keiichi, the new villager who just arrived today!" he cried, gesturing dramatically to the boy on his right.
Hayashi looked at Keiichi with his lemon-lime eyes, a grin on his face. "Oh my, I wasn't expecting him to come for a while! But I guess that's a good thing you're here now, hm? Everyone was excited," he told him in his rather rough and loud voice, though it had a gentleness to it that prevented him from sounding too gruff.
"Haha! Yeah. I'm Maebara Keiichi, as you already know. It's nice to meet you, Hayashi-sensei!" he said, trying his best to smile at the doctor in front of him.
Hayashi let out a loud, hearty laugh. "Oh my! He seems like a rather lively one, and I'm sure you guys are appreciating that! It's too bad that I won't be able to work with you here, but I'll be glad to see you on the paths around Onigafuchi!"
Keiichi titled his head to the side. "You won't be working with me?"
The buff doctor nodded. "Oh yes. In fact, I'm sure that I won't work with you!"
The room was silent for a few moments, and in that time, Keiichi tried to figure out what exactly he meant by that. Was he just a janitor or something? But if that were the case, he wouldn't be wearing a coat like that, now would he? He rattled his brain to try to find answers, but none came to mind.
And finally, a shrill, young voice that could only belong to Satoko broke the silence. "He doesn't work with humans. He works with demo-." Satoshi quickly covered his sister's mouth
"SATOKO!" all of the club members cried out at once.
Keiichi was stunned. Did Satoko just say he worked with demons? So was it true, then? Did demons really exist? Is that what everyone was trying to hide from him. If that was the case, there was no point in hiding. He had already suspected it from the beginning! Hiding it from him was just hurting him!
But maybe she didn't mean demons. Maybe she was trying to say something else, and maybe he heard it wrong. He didn't bother asking. He was too shocked.
Satoshi shot Keiichi an apologetic glance. "Excuse her."
Satoko looked around the room, and at the scolding gazes her friends gave her. "Um… oops."
Satoshi sighed. "Satoko, let's go home. Sorry, everyone, but I think it's time that Satoko gets to cooking dinner. Rika, you too. Let's go," he spoke to them, gently grabbing his sister's hand and pulling her out the door. He shot the group one last apologetic look as he walked out the door with his sister, Rika tagging behind him.
Takeru glanced to Rena. "Um… yeah, I have to go too. Grandmother wants me to do a few chores around the house and uh… can't stay! See ya!" he cried out before darting out the door as fast as he could.
Now, only Rena and Keiichi remained of the group. Rena looked nervous, and she was trying to find the words. "Um… do you know the way to your houses? Because Rena has to go home or her dad will worry…"
"Yeah," Keiichi replied robotically.
"Okay. So then… bye," was all she said before she too turned around and walked out the door.
Keiichi wasn't sure what to say. Clearly Satoko had said something they didn't want him to know, and that meant the word she was saying was probably demons. But maybe he was wrong. Maybe she said something else.
What the heck am I saying to myself? She clearly said demons! You know too, Maebara Keiichi. Don't deny it. This town… is cursed!
~~~~~X~~~~~
A figure walked in the darkness, stopping to glance about the room he was in before he continued forward. He let out a large sigh as he approached his destination, catching sight of two more figures barely visible in the darkness enveloping them. He rubbed his eyes, hoping it would make his sight better, but it did no good. Well, it didn't really matter anyways. He would be out in a few moments.
"It's been a while," the first figure spoke to the two others, his tone unfriendly.
One of the figures glared at him through the darkness. "It has," was the only thing the figure said.
The first figure laughed. "Oh, I see you're acting a little unfriendly towards me. Oh well, nothing changes. By the way, Number Twenty-Seven, you can wipe that disgusting look of pleading off of your face. I didn't bring any food for you. Yes yes, now get that look off of your face. It's making me want to violently murder someone."
"You visited and didn't bring food," hissed the third figure. "That's the only reason you ever come… and the only reason why you haven't come for three weeks."
The first figure shrugged. "I don't care. You and the rest of you demons don't need to eat. You can't die by starvation, as far as I know."
"What, then?" the second figure growled. "Are you testing to see if we die of starvation, then?"
The first figure cackled evilly and as loudly as he could, for there was no one else to hear him besides the demons resting in the room. "Oh no, I just don't want to waste money on buying you meat every few days when I could be using that money to buy food for me. You know, the little old human who needs food to survive." He smirked. "So you don't need to worry about dying and that crap. You're lucky I let you demons live, anyways. You're under our rule now, remember?"
The third figure didn't look pleased in the least. "I'd rather die than be under your rule."
The first figure smirked again. "Well then, how about if I kill you now, then?" he suggested.
The third figure looked startled, and the first laughed. "I knew it, you don't really want to die. So I'll keep you demons alive… for now. You'll be useful, I'm sure. So for that reason, respect me. I have control over your life, now. The years where demons ruled over humans are gone now. The members of the three great families took care of that. Now, you have no choice but to obey us."
Figures two and three growled in annoyance, but the first just laughed. "All right, well it's getting late and I should be in my very comfortable, soft futon by now. You enjoy your rest on the floor," he taunted them, satisfaction in his eyes. "I'll be back… some day. And no, Number Twenty-Seven, not to feed you."
All the demons could do was shout curses at them as he walked away, a smirk of satisfaction on his face.
~~~~~X~~~~~
Crimso's Corner V.2
Dude. It's 11:02 PM, I have school tomorrow, it's going to take forever to upload this chapter… so yeah, I'm doomed. Eh, school is okay so far. They didn't give me the history teacher I requested, but I'm fine with that, I guess. The one they gave me is rather unorganized but you don't need to work to get an A in his class.
Yeah, sorry for not updating in like… three days. It's kind of going to be like that with school, most unfortunately. Do remember that I have until June with this fanfiction, so I may be lazy. And also, know I have school life and other stuff to deal with.
So, please review and tell me what you think! Yes, I know, Keiichi went from paranoid to normal to paranoid in a short amount of time, but that was kind of the point. He isn't comfortable around here. For reviewing, you shall get a… hm… you shall get a Rena Plushie. I never gave one out before, huh. Pointing out typos will give you a extra special model of the Furude Shrine. I don't have enough time to proofread properly today since I need to go to bed.
~Crimso
EDIT: Does anyone know why my computer is slow on FF? I doubt it, but... it would be nice to be able to fix this problem.