Crimso's Notes:
I want to start off this chapter by apologizing for the delay. I've just had no motivation to write recently, with school and all that. BFB is starting to feel like work as well. It really shouldn't be. I can't wait to get to the good parts… so for that, I want to warn you updates will be slow. I'm sorry. There's not much I can do.

One: Okay, so I changed the Sonozaki rules a little bit. I'll explain a little more at the bottom of the chapter so you aren't spoiled, but if anyone comments that they're wrong… well… I know. But for plot's sake, it's necessary.

Two: Do note that the size of the Sonozaki Manor is not an exaggeration. In the Watanagashi-hen visual novel, Keiichi describes the garden being huge. It's a little more like property they own, since they also own a whole freaking forest, but they refer to it as a garden. This was omitted in the anime.

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Chapter 4: The Sonozaki Family

Class was over, though Keiichi didn't quite want to go home. The only place he felt safe at was the school, which nice Chie looked over. She was the only person Keiichi knew wouldn't do anything bad to him, so he enjoyed his time at school. He didn't have too much suspicion about his friends, other than the fact that they were probably hiding something from him. Although he had to wonder why they were trying to hide such dark secrets from him. Doing so was only hurting him.

Do they want me to get killed by demons? Keiichi thought to himself as he drummed his fingers on his desk. There shouldn't be a reason to hide the existence of demons from me. Now that I know they exist, and that it is possible for them to attack humans… I know it's not safe for me to be here. I've got to find some way to convince my parents to move back. Sure, I do like my friends, but I can't live in a town infested with demons!

Keiichi didn't know what to tell his parents. He couldn't confess to them about the existence of demons, because he knew for a fact that they wouldn't believe him. His mother had told him that supernatural didn't exist, and that was her firm belief. However, Keiichi now knew better. Demons existed for sure. The corpse, the book, and what Takano had told him lead to this conclusion, and he knew that he couldn't deny such evidence.

I'm living in a town infested by monsters, and I probably won't be able to escape. …What does this mean for me? Am I going to die? I don't want to die. I'm too young to die. Keiichi sighed as he grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He knew for a fact that he couldn't stay in the classroom. He had to return home. I shouldn't be so considered. A demon won't attack me on the way back. …Would one attack me on the way back? …I don't know. I don't think anyone would order one to kill me, but since they killed Hiroshi… I'm not sure anymore.

Keiichi noticed Takeru looking at him, a serious expression on his face. However, when he realized that Keiichi was looking back, his expression softened into a friendly smile. "Ah, Keiichi! You look down," he commented. "What's wrong? Are you sick or something? Or did you get rejected by a pretty girl?"

He shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing of that sort. I'm just having… one of those days. You know what I mean?" he lied to the green-haired boy, trying his best to smile at him.

Takeru tilted his head to the side. "Ah? Is that all? Then, do you want to come to my place? I don't believe I've showed it to you yet, and it's really a cool place. We could do some stuff there and perhaps help you cheer up," he suggested to him.

Keiichi wanted to reject the offer. He had no idea how dangerous Takeru's house was, as he belonged to one of the three great families of Onigafuchi and all that, so it was possible that he owned demons at his house. Actually, he probably did own demons. The Sonozaki family was supposed to be powerful, so the probability of demons living in their house was high. I don't think I want to encounter such a thing, even if Takeru is my friend…

The green-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Oh, are you worried about the demons?" he asked him, causing Keiichi to whip around in his seat, startled. Upon noticing his shock, Takeru simply grinned. "…Takano told me what she told you. You're worried about the demons, aren't you?"

Keiichi clenched his fists. So Takano had told him about the conversation he had had with her? Darn it, Takano! I should have known that she would have told someone about it! …But Takeru's my friend… so I guess I shouldn't be too concerned. But still… damn it!

"Well you shouldn't be worrying about them, Keiichi. You see, we keep our demons locked up in an underground room located quite far away from the house. The demons wouldn't hurt you unless we told them to, and there's no way that we'd tell a demon to hurt you," he spoke, not even bothering to hide the fact that there were demons in the village anymore. "Takano was right when she said that demons are under human control now. They're basically our pets, just like how a normal family would own a dog or a cat."

Keiichi's fear softened a little bit after listening to him. They were locked up, so they wouldn't hurt him. He still didn't want to go, but he knew that it would be rude to say no, and that it would be best to introduce himself to the Sonozaki family, which was said to be very powerful. His mother and father might have already done so. He slowly nodded. "Yeah, okay. I'll go with you to your house, then," he decided.

Takeru smiled. "Yeah! We can have a lot of fun there. I can show you around the place, I can introduce you to my family, we can talk about pretty girls, we can talk about games, and we can do all sorts of things!" he cried out. Keiichi noted that the boy looked rather excited, perhaps a little too excited. "Haha, sorry about that, Keiichi. Did I surprise you with my excitement?" Takeru spoke, running his hands through his green hair.

Keiichi nodded. "Er… yeah," he admitted.

"Ahaha, well sorry. It's just that I've never really been able to have a guy friend like you, Keiichi. I mean, Satoshi is really shy and all that, and he just blushes and looks away every time I try to talk him about girls or any of that kind of stuff. He kind of prefers Satoko and Rika's company, I think," he explained to the boy in front of him.

Satoshi sure didn't seem like the type of person who would like to talk about such things. He was really shy after all, and it really did seem like he preferred to be around the younger kids. Well, that was probably because Satoko was his little sister, and Rika was Satoko's best friend. Takeru's eccentric personality probably didn't match up to well with Satoshi's shy, meek one, even though they really were friends.

"All right then, let's go, shall we?" Takeru said, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Keiichi looked at him with a genuine smile on his face for what seemed to be the first time in forever. Spending some time with his friend would be fun, he told himself. His demons were locked up, so there was no chance of an attack. He would be safe with him. He probably knew how to take care of an angry demon, so if they were to be attacked by any demon, he would be able to handle it. "Okay! Let's head off!"

The two boys exited the classroom and walked into the sun shining brightly down on the village of Onigafuchi. The bright rays were a complete contrast to the actual dark nature of the village. Keiichi never really took notice of the presences of the sun in the village, anyways. The whole place just seemed dark to him, even with it. However, now that he knew he was going to spend a good time over at his friends place, he actually began to note the bright rays. It was refreshing, really.

"So, have you ever spent time like this, Keiichi?" Takeru asked the boy next to him as he walked down the dirt-covered pathways. "I sure haven't, but I've already told you all about that."

Keiichi shook his head. He sure hadn't spent time with a friend like he was now, and he was sure of that. He had never really talked to anyone before he moved. This was a first for him. "Nope. I've never really had friends before this," he answered.

Takeru raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? I wouldn't ever be able to know that by the way you're acting around us. You don't act like you haven't had any friends before," he commented. "Any siblings, then?"
"Nah. I'm an only child," he answered.

"Ah. Well, I hear that siblings can be annoying sometimes, so I'm not sure if I'd ever want a sibling," Takeru commented as he squinted his eyes, trying to make out his house. "But Satoko and Satoshi are very close siblings, so I suppose that that siblings are very close a lot of the time." He paused for a moment, a troubled expression on his face as he rubbed his temples and let out a large sigh. "…I don't really know," he started up again.

Keiichi simply grinned at him. "Well, I guess it doesn't really matter. We have such great friends anyways," he replied. He then turned his head to look off into the distance, trying to catch sight of Takeru's house. He wasn't sure what it looked like, but judging by his family's status, they probably had some rather large house.

Takeru nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, of course! Everyone is glad that you decided to move here, Keiichi, even though it's such a twisted place. We were shocked, to say the least, when we heard about the new transfer student coming in." he spoke to him as he continued to glance about the area in front of him. "You have no idea how happy people were. Rena was really glad that she was going to get a new friend."

Keiichi chuckled. "I'm glad to hear that," he commented.

"Yeah, though, no offense or anything, I was hoping that a girl would transfer in. You know, because Rena's the only girl our age and I was concerned that you might develop feelings for her or something," he replied, his voice apologetic. "But I don't mind, really. I'm glad that it was you who transferred in."

"Hah, well you don't need to worry about that. I don't think Rena's really my type, anyways," he replied as he kicked some dirt with his feet. "…Are you really serious about Rena, or are you just flirting with her because it's fun?" he asked him.

Takeru looked startled. "Now why would I flirt with her if I don't like her? That would be really misleading! I just chose to make my feelings obvious. Doesn't matter anyways. Rena doesn't like me back. If she did, she would have done something about it already," he replied, focusing his eyes on the house located far in the distance. He squinted, trying to make it out. "Er..."

Ah, is that really so? The flirting looked a little more like playing to me. He's kind of the type that would do that, I think. But if he says he really likes her, then I guess he really likes her. "Are you sure about that? Because Rena blushes a whole lot when you flirt with her like that."

The green-haired boy let out a sigh. "Sadly, Rena would blush if a three-year-old were to call her the slightest bit pretty. She's embarrassed quite easily. It's nothing actually," he explained. "Maybe someday, though. We'll see what happens."

Keiichi didn't know what to say after that, so he stopped the conversation and began to observe the area around him. He hadn't really gone down this path before, and it was a little different than most. He crossed his arms as he looked about the green grass that swayed in the wind. There were a few cars parked here and there, which was rare for a small town like Onigafuchi. Was there some reason for that?

"Well, here we are," Takeru spoke as he pointed to his right.

Keiichi turned to look at where he was pointing, and his eyes grew wide as he did so. There was a gigantic garden surrounded by fences, and to Keiichi, it looked a little more like a chunk of land that they owned rather than a small garden. It was huge. There were many different types of flowers blossoming all over the place, and the whole place was rather grassy. He could see a pond with Koi swimming about in it in the distance, and there was what seemed to be a forest on the side. A path went down the middle of it and went straight, leading to a gigantic house.

"T-This is your place?" Keiichi spoke, stunned.

Takeru nodded, a grin on his face when he saw how surprised the boy next to him was. "It sure is my place! Now follow me. There are security cameras around the place so they'll probably get mad at you and think you are some kind of robber if you wander off," he explained to his friend.

Keiichi just nodded, and Takeru opened the gate to his garden. They both stepped inside, and Keiichi began to scan around the area once again. It really was huge. This thing could hardly be called a garden! It's more like a whole park!

Takeru led the way down the paths and Keiichi followed him close behind, and on the way, he glanced at the many different kinds of plants that grew in the garden. He tried to count the different kinds of plants he saw, but he gave up after a minute or so. There were just too many. The whole garden was simply amazing, and he could tell that Takeru's family was probably extremely rich.

The two of them reached the front door, and Takeru opened it. "The place is rather old and traditional, just so you know," he explained to his friend as he held it open. "So don't be too surprised by the fact that it's not modern, all right?"

Keiichi nodded as he stepped inside of the house, gasping as he saw what was inside of it. It was very, very traditional, complete with sliding doors and Japanese art. The front room was very extravagant, and he had to wonder if all of the rooms were the same way.

"Well, let me show you to my room, and then I'll introduce you to all of my relatives," Takeru spoke. "There are quite a few people staying with us now since the local festival is coming up, so don't be surprised. That's why all the cars were parked outside."

Takeru lead the boy down the hallways that were decorated with traditional Japanese art. Each piece looked rather expensive, and Keiichi was surprised to see how well they kept the place. They probably had a lot of servants working to keep everything clean. It was probably just too much for one person to take care of. There were many rooms, and he had to wonder if all of them were currently in use. Did they really need so much space, or were they just showing off how rich they were?

And then, he wondered where they kept the demons. Takeru had told him that they kept them locked up in an underground room far away from the Sonozaki Manor, so he figured that he would be fine. Takeru wouldn't take him down to take a look at them unless he asked, and even then he probably wouldn't take him down to look at them. Not that he wanted to see the demons. They probably looked twisted and evil, disgusting and hideous. That certainly wasn't a sight that he wanted to see. I'll probably run into one some time or another, though…

Takeru slid open a door, and gestured for Keiichi to come inside with him. He did so, and with one look, he knew that the room had to be his bedroom. It was huge, and it contained a whole bunch of clothing that he had thrown all over the place. Books were scattered about the floor, and the futon hadn't been made neat. Wow, this guy really doesn't bother to take care of his stuff, huh? Oh well. I supposed that most people our age are like that.

"Hey, Sonozaki-san, how old did you say you were again?" Keiichi asked the green-haired boy.

Takeru blinked. "I'm a year younger than you, remember? Oh, and, just Takeru please. Sonozaki-san makes it sound like you don't know me or something," he requested.

Keiichi nodded and sat down on the floor, scooting himself away from the piles of used clothing that had been scattered across the room. Takeru yawned as he fell back on his futon, sprawling himself out on it. "Well, that's a school day done, and now we can just hang out for a little bit. Just warning you, though, my grandmother's probably going to come in soon and start bothering me to do a whole bunch of work. So when that happens, you can go stay with my family and introduce yourself to everyone."

Keiichi felt uncomfortable about the situation. The idea of staying with someone else's family just seemed a little awkward, especially since he didn't know anyone aside from Takeru, who wouldn't be there. He didn't say anything, however. Takeru had to do his work, whatever that was. Keiichi was sure that it had something to do with his position as the heir to the Sonozaki family, though, which was probably something that he didn't want to get into.

"Okay! So let's talk about things. First off, how are you liking the village so far?" the green-haired boy asked his friend.

"It's nice," Keiichi answered instantly, trying not to let his fears about the nature of the village show. "It's a lot different from the city, that's for sure. But that's a good thing. Now that I think about it, I didn't really like that dirty old place, anyways." He thought back to the time where he shot the girl with his gun, frowning at the memory. His action movie turned bad was the only thing that had been entertaining about the city. Well, before the turned bad part happened, anyway.

Takeru grinned. "Well I'm glad to hear that! City people are always so stuck up about how amazing their city is compared to our measly little town. People are rather cruel to us. Okinomiya is used to us, but people from other towns and cities don't like us because… well, we're from Onigafuchi. Onigafuchi is said to be infested by demons. People don't take well to that, and no one dares to challenge us."

That made sense. He was still scared of Onigafuchi, despite being a village, and he could completely understand why someone wouldn't want to challenge the village or why they would be scared. "Has anyone ever tried to challenge Onigafuchi before?"

"Once," Takeru answered. "…That was a little incident called the Onigafuchi Dam Project, in which they tried to build a dam that would flood our village. If they had gone through with that, then this whole place would be under a lake! We wouldn't have a place to stay!" He looked a little angry at the thought, understandably.

"And how did that go over?" Keiichi asked.

"Oh, not so well for the people trying to build the dam. Kimiyoshi just got out his demons, threatened to maul everyone involved in the dam to death, as well as actually carrying out a few murders, and that was enough to send them screaming home. Didn't bother after that. It barely lasted two days!" he continued to explain to his friends as he tried to recall the memory. "It was nothing, really. Most people have forgotten about it."

It really seemed like nothing to Keiichi. Though he felt a little bit afraid at the idea of someone threatening to maul people with demons. That was certainly a good reason to abandon the project and run. He would have done the same thing if he were managing the dam.

"And that, Keiichi, is why we're thankful to have demons on our side. Sure, they were once our enemies, but Kimiyoshi Koichi took down their king, and now they're nothing but pets. So that's why you shouldn't worry," he spoke, playing with the sheets of his futon. "They're really nice, actually. Well… some of them more so than others. Most are reluctant about the whole thing, but there's nothing they can do."

"How many demons do you have?" Keiichi asked without thinking.

Takeru rolled over on his futon so that his dark green eyes met his blue ones. "Oh, we have quite a few," he said nonchalantly. "But I don't ever go down there. We have other people who take care of the demons. The guy who is currently in charge of them is my uncle. He feeds them and all that stuff. We don't tend to use them, really. But maybe they'll come in handy some day. Who knows?"

That didn't really make too much sense in Keiichi's head. What was the point of keeping demons if you weren't going to do anything with them? They had to be something behind that, another reason why they were keeping the demons. It was probably to prevent them from attacking, but if they were really in charge of the demons, they could just order them to commit suicide and be done with all of them.

"I don't get it, either, but my grandmother insists on keeping a few. There's nothing I can do about that until I'm head, which will be quite a while. And who knows? Maybe there will be some great battle and we'll need the demons. Best to be prepared for anything," he spoke as he picked at a lose string on his futon. "They won't do anything to anyone now that they're under our rule. They're practically puppies until we tell them to be demons. Koichi was really amazing for being able to take down a king that powerful. His name was Makoto. He was a powerful demon who killed countless numbers of humans, and yet, Koichi managed to kill him. It was quite a feat."

"And then he enslaved them." Keiichi added.

Takeru nodded. "That's right. With their king dead, he forced all the demons to obey him, and then he gave the demons to the three great families. Each family sold demons to other villagers, and now most villagers keep a demon or two. The only families that have more than a few are the three great ones, though. Kimiyoshi has the most by far. We only have a few, and so does the Furude Family," he explained to the boy.

So that meant that Rika owned demons too. Keiichi shuddered at the thought of such a little girl owned so many ferocious demons. Ah, I guess that's why she said that Hayashi visits Takeru and Rika often. It's because their family has demons, and he is the demon doctor. It makes sense now…

"Ahaha. Rika's nice to her demons. Most of them are really kind to her back, except for one or two," he spoke, noticing the surprise on the other male's face. "But that's Rika for you. She's nice to everyone. Heck, she would even be nice to those extremely creepy demons that Kimiyoshi owns. My gosh, they're the worst in all the village. But he's nice, so he won't hurt you with them. He's only used them for scaring away the dam people."

That didn't sound too convincing to Keiichi. If no one would hurt anyone with a demon, then why did Hiroshi die? Those marks were certainly from a demon. Someone had killed him with a demon. So then, did Kimiyoshi do it? Did he use those ferocious demons Takeru was talking about to maul the poor guy to death? Or perhaps another villager used their single demon to kill him for some reason. That was possible, too. But the fact was that someone had definitely ordered a demon to kill someone, and that it was possible that it could happen again.

Takeru sat up in his futon before pulling himself off, brushing off his school clothing. "Well, before Grandmother starts pestering me, let's go and introduce you to my family. I'll leave you there with them to let you get to know them further. They're a little boring to me because they're my family, but you may like them," he spoke, gesturing for the other boy to stand up. "I need to do some work with Grandmother…"

Keiichi nodded, and Takeru walked out of the room. He followed the other boy close behind as he wondered what his family would be like. Were they a bunch of old, creepy people, or were they actually nice? It seemed that most of Onigafuchi's population were old men and woman, so it might be the same for this family. Of course, there were always his parents, who couldn't be too old. However, his main concern was whether or not they would take well to him, an outsider, or if they would be rude to him.

But surely they wouldn't treat a visitor badly. They would probably welcome him and act really sweet, though if they did so, it would probably creep him out just a little bit.

Takeru slid open a sliding door, revealing a bunch of people all seated at a table, some of the sipping hot tea. They all turned to look at the green-haired boy, stopping whatever conversation they had been having.

"Ah, Takeru!" cried a man. "You're a little late. But that's all right. We were just discussing random things that came to our head, nothing much."

"Sorry, Dad," he apologized. "But today I was late because I wanted to introduce my new friend to you."

A woman with green hair raised her eyebrow. "Ah, the new villager?" she commented. By the looks of it, she had to be Takeru's mother. The green hair made it undeniable.

"Yup! His name is Maebara Keiichi, and he's standing right behind me," Takeru said to his family. He then stepped aside, revealing the nervous brown-haired boy.

Keiichi gulped as he felt a few pairs of eyes rest on him. They didn't look they were hostile at all, or even rude in the slightest bit. It was actually rather reassuring, though he still felt a little nervous. The people before him were people who were a part of the Sonozaki family, a family that was said to own demons and be very, very powerful. These people were above him. Would they take well to an outsider?

"Ah, well he looks like a promising young man!" another man commented. "It's good to see another lively young man like you, Takeru. I can see why you made friend!"

The green-haired woman smiled at him. "Ah, Maebara Keiichi. We've heard a lot about you. Come and sit down with us!"

Takeru led the nervous brown-haired boy to an unoccupied seat, and he then sat next to him. He looked at Keiichi and gave him a reassuring smile, silently telling him that it was okay. His family certainly wouldn't be rude to him, and they would certainly take well to him.

"U-Um… he's already said this, but I'm Maebara Keiichi. It's nice to meet you," was all the boy managed to get out of his mouth. He felt a lump in the back of his throat, almost preventing him from speaking all together.

A man smiled. "Ah, no reason to be nervous! We're all friend here, right?" he spoke, nudging the man who sat to his left.

He nodded. "We sure are. Maebara-san, is it? Well it's nice to meet you!"

Takeru pointed to the man who had just spoken. "This here is my father, and the man next to him is my uncle, Yasuo," he explained to his friend.

Ah, his uncle. He means the one that takes care of the demons, as he was saying before? He gave them both a nervous smile. "I-It's a pleasure to meet you both," he managed to stammer out. Yasuo was in charge of the demons, so he was a possible suspect as to who had killed Hiroshi. However, he tried his best not to think about that. It seemed rather rude to him.

"And this is my mother, Akane," he said, gesturing to the green-haired woman seated next to Takeru's father. "Mom, this is Keiichi, as you already know. He's a little nervous, so please treat him well. I have to do some work with Grandmother, so…"

Akane nodded. "All right, I understand. We'll be nice to him, I promise," she spoke, turning to give the brown-haired boy a smile.

Takeru also nodded as he stood up from his seat. "Well, now I have to go. Keiichi, talk to them a for a little bit while I go take care of family matters. Oh, and Uncle Yasuo? You need to go check on them. Did you bring meat this time?" he asked his uncle.

Yasuo rubbed his head. "I forgot."

"Well that's fine. I guess they can live without it… I don't know much about them, though. Well, see ya," he spoke before he walked out of the room.

Keiichi knew for a fact that he had been referring to the demons. Meat? I wonder what kind of meat he's talking about. Perhaps they were referring to… human meat? No, perhaps they just bought some beef or something like that to satisfy them… for the most part. Besides, I shouldn't be thinking about this right now. I need to talk to these people…

"So, how are you liking Onigafuchi so far, Maebara-san?" Yasuo asked, startling the boy and breaking him away from his thoughts. "I'm sure that it's completely different from the rotten old city."
Akane smiled. "I do believe that most people prefer the city, though. What's your view on that?"

Keiichi scratched his head, feeling a little nervous now that Takeru wasn't by his side. But these relatives seemed rather nice to him, so he knew that he should act normally around them and not think about morbid things like demons. This was just a simple little chat, and that was it. "Well, I think I like it better than the city. It's a nice place and the air is really fresh."

Takeru's father laughed. "Oh, but isn't the city so much more fun? You have food stands everywhere, restaurants, shops, attractions… you guys have everything! Meanwhile, this place has nothing."

"Well, I was bored in the city anyways. The people in the city are rather rude and they're not very friendly," he recalled, thinking back to when people at school bullied him. Now that he looked back on it, he realized it wasn't a very pleasant memory at all. He hadn't minded before, but now that he actually had friends, that memory just seemed sour.

"The people here are rather nice, I agree!" Yasuo spoke. "Especially Takeru, hm? He's a really nice young boy. Shame he hasn't been doing too much with his life recently," he commented, glancing over to Akane.

So, he hasn't been doing anything up until now either? I guess he's kind of like me in that sense. Keiichi ran his fingers through his hair as he thought about this.

Akane grinned. "It's wonderful that you're such a lively young man, Keiichi-san. I think that's just what my son needed," she said before taking a sip of her hot tea.

Takeru's father nodded in agreement. "Ah, he's been so bored recently. He's got Satoshi to talk to, but you know, that poor boy is so frail and shy that it's hard for him to really have a blast with him. I mean, they're friends and all that, but…" he sighed. "Well, I'm glad that you've moved in here. My son has taken quite a liking to you!"

"Yeah. He's had no one," Akane added on. "He's got no living siblings, either, so it's a little rough for him at home…" She paused for a moment, and her presence almost turned melancholic. She let out a sigh. "…But that's a different story…"

Takeru's father frowned. "You don't have to remember that, Akane. We've got Takeru now, so…"
Keiichi was a little puzzled as he watched the scene before him. Wait, did she just say that he doesn't have any living siblings? So does that mean that mean that he had siblings before, and they passed away? He allowed the curiosity to show on his face, as he wasn't really trying to control his expressions.

Akane noticed Keiichi's curious expression, and she shot him a sad smile. "You're probably wondering what we're talking about, huh? Well I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you," she spoke, glancing at her husband, who simply nodded in response.

Keiichi knew there wasn't much else to say, so he didn't object to the idea of being told a story. It might give him some information about Onigafuchi that he might need, anyways.

"Ahaha. Well," Akane paused as she tried to figure out her words, and just by that, Keiichi could tell that the memory was probably painful to her. "…You know, before I had Takeru, I had twins."

That certainly caught Keiichi's interest. "You did?" he replied.

Akane nodded, looking down at her reflection in her tea. "Yeah, I d-did. I had twins." The expression on her face was one that was full of sorrow, and Keiichi couldn't help but feel a little sorry for her, even if he didn't exactly know what the story was. But judging by what she had said before, it was likely that those twins probably weren't alive anymore. "…I… didn't really get to know them… at all."

Keiichi looked curious. "At all?"
Takeru's father nodded, noticing the pain in his wife's expression. He too looked sorrowful. "I-It's not a very pleasant tale, but the Sonozaki family has a bunch of really strange traditions…"

Akane nodded slowly. "Very, very strange ones. And for some reason, one of them says that the birth of twins in the Sonozaki family is prohibited! They say that they are cursed, and that they should be killed instantly. So that's just what they did! As soon as those twins were born, they took them from me and murdered them! I didn't even get to see what they looked like, or even know their genders. They took them from me before I could even give them a single glance and killed them!" She looked down at the table, clenching her cup of tea tight. Keiichi could see a few tears, but he said nothing. "I mean, I didn't really know my children… but it's still sad. I carried them for nine months, after all. I kind of felt this connection with them… even if I never got to know them…"

It truly was a sad and twisted tale. It was simply cruel to murder a child, especially one that had just been born. Those twins would never get a chance at life, all because of the Sonozaki family's twisted rules. It just showed Keiichi that Onigafuchi was really a messed up town, one that he certainly didn't want to live in. If only they hadn't been born in this town. In that case, I'm sure they would have been able to have a chance at life…

Takeru's father pulled his wife into a tight hug. "You don't have to remember it, dear. Just think about how happy we are with Takeru now," he whispered to her.

Yasuo looked down at his tea, not commenting on the story. He had a rather dark expression on his face, but he didn't look upset in the slightest. God, he doesn't feel sorry for her at all? That's just not right!

Suddenly, the sliding door opened, revealing Takeru's figure. "Ah, sorry about that. Turns out Grandmother just wanted to have a quick conversation and that's it," he explained to them. "Ah? Mom? Are you all right?"

Yasuo shot Takeru a glance. "She's fine. She was just talking about that story," he explained to him.

Takeru frowned. "Ah, I don't like that story. It's sad. I really wish I could have had two older siblings," he sighed, running a hand through his brown hair. "But I guess that life is cruel. I don't want to have to do such things when I'm head of the family…"

Keiichi certainly couldn't see Takeru killing two helpless children or doing anything of that sort. The picture of him doing so just didn't fit. Well, perhaps he'll change things around when he's the head of the family…

Takeru let out another sigh and then shook his head, trying to get the idea of having siblings out of his head. He was an only child, and he had spent his years bored because he didn't have too many people to talk to. The idea was probably just depressing. "In any case, Uncle Yasuo… you should probably check in on the demons just to make sure they're all right. You know, check to see if none of them have died or anything. Not that they would, but…"

Yasuo nodded, standing up instantly. "Of course. Thank you for reminding me," he murmured before he walked out of the door, not even bothering to say goodbye to them.

Keiichi glanced over to his friend. "So, now that you don't have any work to do… what should we do?"
Takeru looked over to his parents once again, a worried look on his face. "Hm, I think we should probably go outside. My parents probably need some time after recalling that horrid, painful memory." He winced at the thought. "Yeah, let's go explore the garden."

Keiichi nodded and stood up, glancing over to Takeru's parents once again. The idea of having your children killed was just terrible, especially the idea of killing them when they were only babies. It was probably something that they wouldn't ever get over, though quite understandably so. He murmured a quick goodbye to them, but he was sure that they wouldn't have heard him if he had said it any louder, anyways.

The two friends wandered down the hallway and exited the gigantic house, once again meeting the fresh outside air. Keiichi took a deep breath as he stepped out onto the path, gazing at the grass and flowers around him. It was a wonderful garden, with a traditional Japanese style in the front of the house. He wasn't sure where he wanted to explore first.

Takeru chuckled. "Let's sit down for now."

The two of them sat outside in the grass. Being outside in such an extravagant garden felt nice, especially since Keiichi hadn't really been in such a relaxing place before. This was even better than the outside of the Furude Shrine! It was completely different from the loud, annoying city, which had cars honking all the time and a bunch of people shouting. It was really much more pleasant in the garden.

"Don't worry too much about what my mom told you. …It's just that there's a legend saying that twins will bring doom to Onigafuchi, and my grandmother believes in such stories. It's sad, but we got to move on," he said, playing with a single blade of grass. "Besides, if they had lived, mom would have never had me. There wouldn't have been a reason to have me. So either way, I couldn't ever have siblings."

"I'm sorry," murmured Keiichi, not sure what else to say.

"Don't be. It's really nothing," muttered Takeru.

A few moments of silence followed, in which Keiichi thought a little bit about what he had heard. Did people really believe in such things? Perhaps it was really true and the twins were cursed, but Keiichi highly doubted that idea. Still, killing a kid was a sick, messed up thing to do. If that was the kind of thing that went on in this village, then Keiichi knew that he had to convince his mom to move away. Sure, it was nice in Onigafuchi, but there was surely a village that was just as beautiful that did not have any demons or anything morbid. Even if the killing of those two didn't affect him in the slightest, it gave him an idea of what kind of things went on in this twisted village.

"Let's go walk in the forest," Keiichi said.

Takeru looked surprised. "There's really nothing there, though."

Keiichi shrugged. "So what? I'm bored of just sitting around. Let's go."

Takeru stood up, and the two of them went back on a separate path that led into the small forest that they owned. The fact that they owned such a thing in a garden made Keiichi realize just how rich the family was. Sure, he had realized they were incredibly rich before, but now he had to wonder just how rich they were. It was like they owned a little park, which no one else could enter.

The forest wasn't too much, as expected. It was just a bunch of trees, but Keiichi enjoyed it anyways. It felt nice just to wander sometimes, and to think about life.

Would his parents listen to him if he said that demons really did exist? They probably wouldn't, but perhaps he would try. He would miss his friends a lot, but the last thing he wanted to do was live in a village with demons. They said that the demons weren't going to hurt him, but he knew better. Hiroshi was killed. He could be next. The demons weren't harmless, and Hiroshi's death was just proof of that.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a door being opened, and he whipped around to see steel doors embedded by a cliff. Yasuo stepped out of them, looking rather surprised to see his nephew and his friend standing right there. He held a single key in his hand, which was probably the one that locked the doors.

Since Yasuo took care of the demons, and he had said he was going to do so, that probably meant that the doors right there led to where the demons were. Keiichi could feel his heart race. Demons were right there, so close to him. Sure, they were underground, but they were still nearby. The idea scared him.

And yet, at the same time, Keiichi felt curious. What if he were to go inside and see the demons? Would they attack him? And what did the demons down there look like? How many demons were down there? He was dying to know the answers, but he knew that he couldn't just run in there. Besides, what if he did? What if the demons attacked him and killed him? That wouldn't be good at all. Still, he was curious about it, and the thought that he could answer all his questions there and then was too much.

Yasou slammed the doors shut and locked it. He tossed the key to Takeru, who caught it in one hand. "Let me know when you need it again. I'll just put it back in my room for now," Takeru said.

Yasou nodded. "Thank you."

"How are they?" Takeru asked.

"Hm… fine. The demons are never too pleased to see me, but that's something I'm used to. Besides, they can't do anything," he spoke nonchalantly. To Keiichi, it seemed that he had no fear of the creatures whatsoever.

Oh yeah, they can't attack me because they don't have orders. Then, if I were to go down there… would I be able to answer my questions?

He shook the idea out his head. He couldn't go down there, even if he wanted to. He told himself he didn't want to go down and see the demons, anyways. They were probably hideous and he was sure he didn't want to look at something hideous and twisted. Besides, he was scared of the demons, even if they couldn't do anything to him.

Yasou walked away, and Takeru glanced at Keiichi. "Sorry about that. Let's move on then, shall we?"

Keiichi nodded, still looking at the steel doors. Takeru turned away from them and began to head back, but Keiichi still couldn't take his eyes off of them. The demons were in there. He could see them for himself and judge whether or not the demons were bad for himself. He clenched his fists as he glanced at the key in Takeru's hand, only to turn back and look at the doors.

No. You're being silly, Maebara Keiichi, Keiichi told himself, so let's just get going…

And before Takeru could question why he wasn't moving, Keiichi ran to him, starting up a random conversation to make him forget about what had just happened.

But in his head, Keiichi couldn't shake the idea of going to see the demons for himself off. If he could see them, then maybe, just maybe, he could conquer his fears and answer any questions he had…

Again… that's just me being silly. …I need to move on from this and forget about the doors. Demons are evil. And I don't want to see a demon…

Deciding to go with that, Keiichi tried his best to forget about the doors, and to continue on with his time with Takeru like normal.

~~~~X~~~~

Crimso's Corner V.2

Ugh. That's a terrible way to end the chapter. But it's 12:53 AM, it's Wednesday (well, Thursday now, since it's 12 AM), and I have school tomorrow, and the only reason why I'm writing this is because I feel terrible for not updating in a while. I kind of just want to upload this for now so that I can go to sleep. I need to look over it, too, which is going to take quite a bit. I was thinking of putting this on hold due to the MASSIVE amounts of work I'm getting, but I don't think I'll do that. I'll let you know about that later.

AND Now we talk about the lovely, beautiful, amazing Sonozaki Twins. Yes, here, the rule is that you kill both twins. Some places it says one, some places it says both, so due to the plot, I'm going with both. So don't comment on this and say I'm wrong, because I will not be happy :c.

I don't know when the next update is. I'll try to do stuff on the weekends, and maybe tomorrow, but Friday is my birthday and I don't know what I'll be doing then.

Review please! Reviewers can get a model of the Sonzaki Manor to go with the Furude Shrine. People who point out typos shall get more of Rena's cooking, because my brain is dead and I can't think of anything else.

~Crimso.

P.S: My computer is still in the tech center, in case people are wondering. I really want to get to editing GED, but...