Disclaimer: I do not own When They Cry Higurashi no Naku Koroni, it belongs to its original creator.
--------------------------------
When They Cry Higurashi no Naku Koroni
Tachiagari-hen
Hyakunenmai no Hatsukoi
Chapter 3 "Love in Watanagashi"
"I wonder whether he will like how I look in these clothes." Furude Rika said to herself quietly as the villagers helped her put on ceremonial the white gi and red hakama.
It had been more than two weeks since that day when Keiichi carried Rika to the clinic and ever since that day Rika's feeling for Keiichi had grown stronger as each day went by.
"I see, thanks." Rika again replied as if talking to someone, but no one heard it as she looked at herself in the mirror.
After careful thinking, Rika had decided to make use of this opportunity, despite that she would be attending to her duties as Oyashiro-sama's miko. She would do her best at the festival dance and make Keiichi proud of her, since after all today is June 19th,the Watanagashi festival, the day to honor Oyashiro-sama, the deity of Hinamizawa, who also happened to be the deity of love.
While Rika thought of everything that would happen that night, time went by quickly as the preparations continued until finally the time had come.
"Let's go." Rika said to herself as she stood up and exited from the preparation room she had been in for the past few hours. As she walked out in the shrine grounds, she could feel her heart beat faster than usual knowing that she would be seeing Maebara Keiichi, the boy whom she had fallen in love with.
"There she is." Very soon after entering the shrine grounds, Rika was sighted by the others and the club members quickly gathered around her.
Rika greeted everyone of them as Mion, Shion, Rena, and Satoko all surrounded her while the young miko's eyes sought after Keiichi. But to her disappointment, he could not be found amongst the club members.
"Mion, where is Keiichi?" Rika asked and all Mion could give was a shrug.
"Oji-san wa shiranai yo." Mion replied as Rika turned to ask Rena and she was given the same answer.
Then before anything else was said, someone called their names as a figure approached the group.
"Sorry everyone, for being late." Rika's heart skipped a beat as she heard the voice.
"Kei-chan, where have you being" Mion asked as she pouted displaying her displeasure as the others except Rika started picking on him.
After going through all the other club members' complaint, Keiichi's finally stopped before Rika.
"Doshida no, Rika-chan?" Keiichi asked as he knelt down on one knee next to the young miko with a slight smile on his face.
"Keiichi…" Rika was at a loss of words now that she was finally before him, but before Rika could come up with a response, she was taken by surprise over what happened next.
After taking a good look at her, Keiichi smiled and said, "Rika-chan, kono sugata neeoui desu."
Hearing that, Rika blushed and steam almost came out of her as she replied in a small voice saying, "Arigato nano desu, Keiichi."
Seeing all this, Mion finally decided to clear her throat to break up the good mood between Rika and Keiichi.
"Well, let's get to it shall we." Mion said as everyone in the club turned their attention towards her, while Rika still remained in a dreamy state and slightly confused about things that just happened.
"Ja ikuyo." Mion said with a smile as everyone nodded.
"Watanagashi rokukyo bakudo, hajime." As soon as Mion said that, everyone cried out in excitement, with the exception of Rika, whose eyes were on Keiichi the entire time.
"You guys seemed to be having fun." A man with glasses wearing black tank top with a camera on his hand noted as he approached them.
"Tomitake-san, you are going back tomorrow, right?" Rena asked as the man stopped before them.
"Yeah, well after all, I have gotten a lot of beautiful pictures." Tomitake replied as he held up his camera a bit to emphasize his point.
"Tomitake-san, why don't you just settle down here in Hinamizawa?" Keiichi asked.
"I have only being here for a short while and know it's a little inconvenient, but…" Keiichi was stopped by Tomitake, before he could go on.
"I would love to. I think I will be happy to do so." However, there was hesitance and regret as those words came out of Tomitake's mouth.
Then Rena patted Keiichi's back before anyone else could say anything.
"Keiichi, don't be so mean." Rena then paused for a second before going on. "Since, it's the last night, let's make it enjoyable for Tomitake-san."
"Well, I would definitely love that." Tomitake replied as he smiled.
"Mi-chan, Mi-chan, let's make Tomitake-san part of the club, can we?" Rena immediately as Tomitake finished.
"But being a club member required him being a resident of Hinamizawa and Tomitake-ojisan is not a resident of Hinamizawa." Mion then began to think and immediately an idea came into mind.
"Onee, you can figure out something right?" Shion asked as the others waited for the club president to say something
"Since Tomitake-ojisan comes to Hinamizawa every year, he shall be considered an honorary citizen of Hinamizawa." Mion explained as the other club members listened with a smile on their face.
"So by the authority as the club president, I hereby proclaim that Tomitake is a member of the club." And as soon as she said that, everyone cheered.
"Well, get ready then." Mion then said to Tomitake with a grin.
And so the festival begun.
Very soon, the time to part came and Tomitaka left them after saying goodbye with the tank top full of their writing sand signatures.
Eventually, the time came for the festival ceremonies to begin and after Rika quickly ran up to Keiichi before she the ceremony began.
"Keiichi, do you have a moment?" Rika asked as she walked up to Keiichi, who like everyone else was heading to the ceremonial stage.
"Yeah, Rika-chan. I do." Keiichi replied as he knelt down on one knee to hear to what his young friend would say.
"Keiichi, I am going to do the ceremonial dance and before I go, I want to let you know that…" Before she could finish, a voice interrupted, shattering the mood.
"Rika-chama, it is time for the ceremony." One of the elder women of the village called to Rika as she turned to woman calling out to her.
"I will be right over." Rika replied then returned her attention back to Keiichi.
"Keiichi, I have to go, so I will talk to you later after the dance behind the shrine, alright?" Rika then turned around and started walking towards the ground.
Rika then turned around and said to Keiichi shyly with a blush on her face, "Keiichi, and please definitely do watch me throughout the entire dance." And before a mesmerized Keiichi could respond, Rika ran off leaving Keiichi confused.
Then as he neared the stage for the dance, Keiichi saw two people walked off into the forest path, which was not where the ceremonial ground was. However, what attracted his attention more was the identity of the two people. One of the two was Tomitake and the other if he remembered correctly was Takano Mio, the nurse at the Irie Clinic.
But before he could actually go after them, Keiichi's attention was drawn somewhere else.
"Kei-chan, the stage is this way." Mion, who had apparently came back looking for him called out, which caused to turn his sight away for a few seconds. And when he turned back, the couple could no longer be found.
"I am coming." Keiichi then shouted back and ran towards the direction where his friend awaited him.
When they arrived at the stage, everyone had already sat down, so Keiichi and Mion quickly sat down next to Rena, who had saved seats for them.
Then slowly, the crowd quieted down. Then shortly after that, Rika slowly stepped on the stage behind the elderly man acting as the priest.
And as Rika walked onto the platform, Keiichi noticed that Rika was holding a hoe. Knowing that this was ceremonial dance, Keiichi assumed that the hoe was a ceremonial tool; however, the size of that hoe compared to Rika's body still amazed him.
Then just as he returned his focus back to the greater picture, Keiichi noticed that all sounds had stopped as everyone's attention went to the young miko.
Then as the music began, so did the movements of Rika's body. As the music went, Keiichi became aware of the fact that Rika had followed every beat of the music to the nanosecond. Furthermore, aside from the accurate timing, there was also gracefulness as Rika moved through the air, and Keiichi could only watch as he was mesmerized by the picture of the young miko dancing with her long black hair flowing through the air.
Only when the silence came after the final drum beat stopped, did Keiichi realized that dance was over.
The silence was quickly overcame by thunderous applause, which came following Rika bowing and leaving the stage, but Keiichi noticed that before the matriarch and miko of Furude walked off, she looked at him and smiled.
"I got to get to the back of shrine." Keiichi then said to himself as he ran through the crowd that was now leaving the area surrounding the stage.
A few minutes later, Keiichi arrived at the back of the shrine, but just as he approached corner, he heard a voice talking.
"What if he likes someone else?" The voice then paused for a few seconds before continuing on in a shy manner. "You sure?"
Keiichi could tell that the voice belonged to Rika, but as to who she was talking, he could not make it out since he could not hear the other person at all. But regardless of all this, he felt hurt for some reason that he did not know. However, in his head the most important thing was that why was Rika talking to this person right now? And why do they sound so close?
"Alright then." Finishing her conversation, Rika took a breath. Meanwhile, Keiichi decided to walk out knowing that even if he hid there, it would be no use but to cause him more pain in his heart. Also, it was simply impolite to listen in on someone else's conversation.
Rika immediately noticed Keiichi's presence and without any hesitation, Rika turned around and as she did so, she could feel that her own determination was strong inside.
"Keiichi, I am glad that you can make it." And as Rika finished she added a "Mipa" trying to ease up the mood.
"Rika-chan, the dance was so beautiful." Keiichi complemented as he stopped before her as he scratched the back of his head to hide the embarrassment.
"Arigato nano desu." Rika then replied as she shyly smiled while a blush also appeared on her face.
Then a few seconds passed as the moon light shun its light into the space between them.
"So Rika-chan, what do you want to…" Just as Keiichi were about to ask, Rika's finger tip stopped on his lip, signaling for him to stop and let her talk.
"Keiichi, listen to what I have to say first." Rika then took a deep breath and slowly breathed out to calm herself. But despite this, her heart was still beating hastily. Still, Rika knew that like she said she had to go forward and tell him about what she felt or else everything would just slip away.
"Keiichi, I know it has only been a short while since we first met, but there is something that I have to tell you." As the words came out of her mouth, Rika looked earnestly with courage at the older boy and Rika could feel her heart beating faster as each second went by.
"Keiichi, I want to tell you that… I like you." Although there was a short pause in between, Rika was finally able to say it. With those words out, Rika felt embarrassed and yet relieved as her lips stopped.
And now she finally done everything she could and the young miko could now only await the answer.
It seemed as if forever as Rika awaited the answer from the young boy, but eventually it came.
"Rika-chan, I don't really know what to say under this circumstance, but I believe this will speak louder than my words." Then Keiichi reached into his pocket and took out a small box and then Keiichi added, as he placed the small box into Rika's hand, "This is the reason why I am late today."
As she received the box into her hand, Rika looked at Keiichi and in respond he nodded back signaling for her to open it. And when Rika opened it, she gasped and looked at Keiichi with surprise.
"Rika-chan, I like you a lot as well, but…" Keiichi thought of a moment for the correct words to go on.
"I think I am not ready yet, so can you wait for me a little longer?" Keiichi then looked at Rika with a gentle smile as he waited for her reply.
Hearing what Keiichi said, Rika was finally relieved for the fact that the man whom she cared for have the same feeling towards her. And despite the fact that he said to wait a bit, she knew that she was promised a place by his side with the present he gave her.
Then with a smile, Rika decided to show her reply through her actions as she took out the content of the small box.
"Let me help put it on for you." Keiichi offered and Rika carefully handed the item to him. And after positioning himself behind her, Keiichi lifted up Rika's long hair with great care as he put the metal necklace around her deck and then slowly allowed a pure white crystal shard then slowly came down below her neck and stopped in front her chest.
"I will wait for you, Keiichi." Rika then turned around after the Keiichi hooked the two ends of the necklace. Then without any further words, the Rika buried her head into Keiichi's chest, while Keiichi slowly lowered his hand behind her neck pulling her close.
As they embraced one another, Rika knew that everything would be fine with him by her side and that even if eternity was against her she would prevail because of this man before her, no matter what.
Completed: February 14, 2009
Edited: February 20, 2009
----------
Author's Note: This chapter is the confession scene. I chose for Rika to confess at this time is because it is the festival and in a festival people tend to be in festive and romantic mood. There are also constant switching of perspective between Keiichi and Rika throughout the chapter and hope that doesn't confuse anyone. As to how the night was structured, I actually followed the transcript for Onikakshi hen as the basis, so there is going to similarities. Also, there are places when Rika seemed to be talking to herself, I guess you should know if you have finished the entire Higurashi series in some ways. Anyway, this chapter only finishes the set up for everything yet to come, so the happy story ends here and what follows this chapter will story of sadness. Anyway, see you next chapter.
Translation:
["Oji-san wa shiranai yo."] translates to "Uncle, I, don't know."
["Doshida no, Rika-chan?"] translates to "Something wrong, Rika-chan?"
["Rika-chan, kono sugata neeoui desu."] translates to "This really suits you, Rika-chan."
[Arigato nano desu] translates to thank you.
["Watanagashi rokukyo bakudo, hajime."] translates to "Watanagashi six people tournament, starts."
["Ja ikuyo."] translates to "Then, let's get started."