Disclaimer: I do not own When They Cry Higurashi no Naku Koroni, it belongs to its original creator.

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When They Cry Higurashi no Naku Koroni

Tachiagari-hen

Hyakunenmai no Hatsukoi

Chapter 6 "Twin"

Sonozaki Shion woke up from her sleep as she opened up her eyes and found that it was still in the middle of the night.

It had been the three nights since the incident at the school. Ever since then, she had been having dreams.

"I thought those dreams had stopped." Shion said to herself as she leaned back against bed again trying to sleep.

She had the same dream last year when he disappeared, yes when Hojo Satoshi disappeared from her life.

She could vividly remember every detail of that dream. That dream pf seeing Satoshi being taken away by others in the Sonozaki family and yet she was powerless to do anything about it.

And after several more minutes of lying on her bed, Shion realized she would not be able to sleep like this. Therefore, she quickly put on a coat over her pajama and decided to take a walk.

Although her grand mother had finally accepted her back into the estate after a bitter fight, Shion still felt uneasy living here, after all, the history between her and the others in the family was too deep.

Then just as Shion turned around corner, she saw a light still lid up, and after digging through her memory, she realized it was the room where her grandmother resided.

Although Shion did not want to be anywhere near that room, voices of conversation caught her attention as she moved towards the room

"It's been a year since Hojo's child disappeared, grand mother." Shion could tell that the voice belonged to her sister.

"That Hojo kid, it was good that he disappeared when he did." Those words shocked Shion and with the recent dreams, this brought the suspicion back into Shion's mind whether or not her own family was involved in the disappearance of her loved one

Then an urge came into her as she stepped closer to the room while anger bred in her heart. It was an urge mixed with the growing call for action, revenge, and for blood.

The next few moments, she could not remember what happened, but when she had realized it, both her sister and her grandmother had lost consciousness.

At first, she wanted to scream, but then a thought entered her and it made her smile.

"Why not ask them where I can find Satoshi?" The young maiden was leaping for joy in her mind and thus, she quickly decided to act upon it.

None knew that at this time, another storm had descended upon the village, that another tragedy would again strike in this small village.

No one knew how long had passed as the young girl felt something dripped on her face and she slowly opened her eyes to find herself bounded to a flat surface standing up.

"Where am I?" The girl asked herself as she looked around, trying to remember what happened.

"Shion, you are awake." The young girl then turned to source of the voice to find someone, whose figure she could not make out, standing not far from her, wearing a white kimono.

"Anta darei?" The bounded young girl asked, remembering that the name did not belong to the other girl standing in front of her.

"I am Mion, the one with the blood of demon." The girl in white kimono said as she approached the girl bounded.

Then the young girl bounded remembered one thing.

"Where is grandmother?" She asked worriedly as Mion caressed her face.

"Oh, she is right there." Mion said as she pointed towards a dark room with steel bars and Shion was horrified as she knew what was beyond there.

"Why?" Shion then began to sob as Mion took her own hands away.

"Well, I tried to ask her a few questions, but she died after a few jolt." Mion then took out the stun gun and pressed the trigger, instantly electric light shun through the room.

"Sorei wa hedoi." Shion said as the sobbing continued.

"I also have a question to ask you, Shion." Mion then stopped. "Where is Satoshi?"

"I don't know." Shion shouted as tears continue to come down her cheek.

"Stop lying, Shion." Mion then continued as she held the stun gun closer to her sister and pressed the trigger once more.

"I really don't know." Shion then screamed out as she tried to persuade her sister of her innocence.

"How can you not know? You are the next matriarch of Sonozaki family." Mion then shouted back as she pressed the stun gun into Shion's side. Seconds later, Shion screamed at the top of her lung as electricity went through her.

"Are you going to talk now?" Mion then asked as she stopped the electrocution.

"How can I tell you something I don't know." Shion said between her sobs. "We are even trying to find out what happened those nights ourselves."

However, these were not the answer Sonozaki Mion sought for.

"You are tough, and I compliment you on that." Mion then pressed on the trigger again, sending waves of electricity through her sisters, while Shion screamed.

This repeated for several hours until, Shion's consciousness faded away. And seeing this, Mion decided to give thoughts to what Shion had said.

"If they are not related, then…" Then she quickly shook this thought out of her mind. "There is no way anyone else would and could have done it."

Thus, seeing that interrogations would have to be paused for the time being, Mion then decided to return to the surface and figure out what to do from there.

Just as she finished changing, Mion then heard the door bell rang.

"Who could it be?" Mion thought as she walked out to answer it.

"Hello Mion-san, I came here to get the extra soy sauce you announced in the town council bulletin." It was Satoko and this actually surprised Mion a little bit.

"Oh, is that it?" Mion then answered as she put up a smile to pretend everything is normal.

"This way then."

Then as if nothing had happened, Mion led Satoko to the kitchen, but just then Satoko noticed something as she walked passed a room with the where the door was closed.

"Mion-san, what is…" Realizing what Satoko had saw, Mion quickly grabbed Satoko and without any second thoughts, used the stun gun on the young girl.

"It's all your fault for noticing it, Satoko-chan." Mion then said as her eyes trailed onto what Satoko had seen, a small trail of redness.

It was hours later when Satoko regained consciousness, and at first she was very confused as to where she was and why she was in the position that she was in.

Then when she came in, the young girl then remembered.

"Mion-san… what is this? Some kind of joke?" Satoko asked weakly as she realized that she was tied to a pole.

"Sorry Satoko-chan, you've seen something you shouldn't have seen." Mion said as she slowly walked up to the young girl and in her eyes, Satoko could tell that she was dead serious.

"What are you going to do to me?" Satoko then asked as fear and horror crept slowly into her heart.

There was silence for a moment, then Mion spoke.

"You will remain here for a very long time." And as those words came out, something in Satoko broke and she immediately bursted into tears.

At first it was just plain crying, but as time went on.

At first, Mion chose to ignore her, but then a thought grew in her as she heard Satoko said something.

"Niinii dasukete!" And hearing this the second time, she snapped.

"She is acting like a brat." Mion thought at she turned her attention onto Satoko, then another thought came into her mind. "It was her weakness that gave so much pressure to Satoshi."

"It must be so, because Satoko will run to Satoshi whenever she is in trouble. She never tried to solve anything by herself." She then remembered once that when she scolded Satoko for being a brat, that Satoko simply hid behind Satoshi both physically and metaphorically.

"It is her fault." Then Mion decided that this girl must also pay for Satoshi's disappearance.

What happened the next few moments was unspeakable violence, as she repeated what the Sonozaki family did to her and further.

And as all of this went on, Shion, who at this time had been moved to a cell down the chamber, cried as she tried to shield herself from all the events that were occurring by hiding herself in a little corner of the cell.

"Mo yamede, mo yamede mo yamede." Shion repeated as Satoko's cry continued and as blood continued to flow out from her injuries.

No one knew how long went by until the voice of the Hojo girl stopped, but when the crying stopped both of the two remaining people knew that it was over.

While Shion continued to cry, Mion was panting for breath after all the cursing and violence.

Then as Mion realized as she sat down, people will come looking for her, especially Rika and Keiichi, who were the last of her close friends.

"Interesting, hahahaha…" Only Mion's laughter echoed through the chamber, while Shion's crying had finally died out as she hollowly watched her sister going into completely madness and darkness.

At the same time, Rika walked slowly down the hill wondering what she should prepare for dinner, not realizing what had transpired on the other side of the village.

"I am going to invite Keiichi over." Rika thought as she remembered what had happened not too long ago with Rena, and thus she decided that she would do her best to cheer the others up.

"Also, Mi and Shi." Rika then thought as she finally arrived at the steps below the shrine.

Minutes later, Furude Rika opened up the doors to the little house she had resided for the past two years. And just as she took off her shoes, she felt a shiver ran down her spine.

"What is this feeling?" Rika said to herself as she dropped her shopping bag and ran towards the common living area. But when she opened the door, she was silence and the emptiness of the room.

"Satoko?" Rika called out the name of her housemate as her eyes searched around the room, but the figure she sought for could not be found.

"Maybe she will be back shortly." Rika said to herself as she tried to calm herself and rid of the bad feeling she had.

However, hours passed and still Satoko did not return.

Therefore, Rika then immediately went back to the shrine, where she had just passed through, worrying that Satoko had gotten into some sort of trouble.

Thus, she ran passed the tori and down the steps and when she came to the bottom of the steps, she decided to start in the direction opposite of shops.

And just as she was ran across the field, she could hear a voice calling out her name.

"Rika-chan, what's wrong? " Rika realized that it was Keiichi and quickly she stopped, allowing him to approach her.

"Keiichi, Satoko is missing." Rika said as her voice was full of worry.

Keiichi was shocked and without any hesitation, he nodded.

"I will help look for her as well." Keiichi then gently patted the young miko, which slightly calmed the young girl.

"Arigato nano desu, Keiichi." Rika said as she slightly enjoyed the comfort of her loved one and moments later, the two went on their way as the search for Satoko continued.

The search lasted for hours before Rika and Keiichi finally decided to pause and rest a little bit.

"So what do we do next?" Rika asked as she panted for breath while Keiichi sat down right next to her.

"The only option right now is to go to Mion and ask her and Shion for help." Keiichi replied as they sat down under the shadows near the door.

Rika nodded as she leaned her head onto Keiichi's shoulder, knowing that by themselves there was a limit to what they could do in the search for Satoko.

Still, in her heart she was deeply worried for Satoko, because she knew that the village had yet to let go of the grudges of the past, and Keiichi could tell just by the looks on her face.

"Rika-chan, don't worry, we will definitely find Satoko." Keiichi said as he patted her head again.

Thus, the two lovers sat quietly under the shadows as they rested, while giving thoughts to what they should do next.

An hour later, Rika and Keiichi made their way to the Sonozaki estate and when they arrived, they were greeted by Mion, with Shion no where to be found.

"Mion, I will get right to the point." Keiichi was the one to speak as they sat down on the floor in one of the many rooms of the house.

"Satoko is missing and we need your help in finding her." As Keiichi finished, Rika looked at Mion, and found that despite there was the surprise that should be there, it seemed a little odd; to be exact, Mion was overreacting in her response.

Yet, Rika remained quiet, thinking that maybe it was just the fact Mion had too many things to deal with.

"Of course I will help." Mion said as the surprise on her expression disappeared.

"After all, she is a precious member of the club." Mion then added with a weak smile.

After further discussion about the methods of search, Mion and the others exited out of the estate and started their search.

Keiichi then noticed one thing as they exited out of the house.

"Mion, where is Shion?" Keiichi asked and for a moment, time seemed to have stopped as Rika also noticed the unnaturalness of the missing Sonozaki.

"Shion went back to Konomiya to take care of some business with Kasai." Mion answered as she shrugged, but for some reason Keiichi and Rika could sense that something was wrong.

Still, they decided hold off on it and observe for the time being, knowing that whatever it was, the situation was quite complicated.

Thus, the three left the estate and made their way to the school where their classmates and teacher had gathered at in order to help the search.

"Don't worry, we will find Hojo-san." Chie said as they finished with assigning who should cover which area.

Hearing that, Rika squeezed out a weak smile, and told the others that she had confidence that they would. However, Keiichi could tell that Rika was not positive as they thought.

"Rika-chan, can I have a moment with you?" Keiichi asked while the others dispersed from the room.

Rika nodded and then followed Keiichi to one of the corner of the classroom.

"Rika-chan, are you alright?" Keiichi asked as soon as everyone was away.

"Mii, I am alright." Rika replied as she put on a tired smile, which Keiichi could tell that Rika was very worried.

"Rika-chan, you don't have to put up a façade for me." Keiichi then held onto her hand and looked deep into her eyes assuring that she would be fine.

Then Rika sighed, knowing that she could not hide anything from Keiichi. Thus, she spoke after a few seconds of thinking.

"Keiichi, I have a really bad feeling about all this." Rika said as she wrapped her own hands around her shoulders.

Keiichi nodded, knowing that Rika might be right knowing that the older people in the village still held the grudge from the dam war against the Hojo family and Satoko was the only one left from that family.

"But if the elder member of the village are responsible for Satoko's disappearance, then we will definitely encounter obstacles." Keiichi then noted as a seriousness appeared on his face.

Rika said nothing but nodded as she agreed with the assessment.

Seeing the worried expression on her face, Keiichi sighed and tapped on Rika's shoulder.

"Don't worry, we still got Mion and Shion on our side." Keiichi said as he attempted to cheer up his young girl friend.

Rika then smiled a bit, believing that may be there was still hope.

On the other hand, Shion sat in her dark cell quietly as she waited for what was to come.

"How long have passed?" Shion said to herself as she looked up to the ceiling of her cell.

She then laughed knowing that there was nothing she could do in this dark basement but to obediently await her fate.

The first day passed soon came to an end as everyone returned to their homes. And unlike what everyone had hoped for, Hojo Satoko was not found.

This however, did not discourage anyone as they promised to continue to search for their missing classmate. Still, Rika still worried that the worst might have happened as apparently there were no signs of her anywhere out in the open.

"Rika-chan, I will walk you back to your house." Keiichi said as everyone went on their own way.

Rika nodded, but remained silently as they made their way back and when they arrived she said nothing but bid farewell to her lover.

"Rika-chan…" Keiichi quietly called out her name as he watched her enter into that small house.

And as he made his way back down the stone steps to the shrine, Keiichi promised himself that he would find Satoko and bring back what was left of Rika's already darkened world.

While Keiichi gave thought to all this, Rika watched him from the window of her small house until he completely disappeared from her view.

"What do you think have happened?" Rika then asked in a worried voice while no one said anything.

"What do you mean she went out by herself?" Rika asked as again, there was no other voice.

"So she wasn't taken away when she was in here." Rika then again thought of what could have happened.

Then without saying another word, Rika again examined the contents of the house and to her surprise, it seemed to her that Satoko was preparing the meal as agreed with before she left.

"The food was warm, and everything else is in place. So she must be going to somewhere not far and only temporarily." Rika reasoned as she began looking for any thing that appeared to be missing, which could help indicate where Satoko have gone.

After several minutes of looking, she could found none as her eye lid began to feel heavy from all of the tiredness that had incurred on her during the day of search.

And slowly she closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the table surface, still worrying about her housemate.

When her eyes opened up again, Rika could hear knocking on the door. Thus, she quickly got up as she yawned to open the door.

When she arrived down stairs Rika proceeded carefully, not wanting to be to careless and fall. And when she stopped before the door, she called out asking who it was.

"Rika-chan, it is me, Keiichi." Hearing that, Rika immediately opened the door, allowing the young man to come in.

"Rika-chan, are you okay? You look more tired than yesterday." Keiichi asked as he took off his shoes.

Rika then gave a weak smile as she led Keiichi into the common space on the second floor of the small house.

"After you left, I looked through the things to see if I could find out where Satoko might have gone before she disappeared." Rika explained as she opened the door to the common living space.

"But…" Rika did not finish the sentence, but Keiichi could tell what she meant by the silence and thus, he took hold of her hands without saying a word.

"I will help." Keiichi then offered as Rika looked up at the young man before her.

Hearing that, Rika nodded and again the small house was searched through and by the end of the morning, they were finished.

"Anything out of place?" Keiichi asked Rika as they both sat down to rest.

"Nothing really." Rika replied as she laid down on the floor stretching out her arms as Keiichi began to think.

Then as she laid there, Rika thought of Satoko and that she would cook a great meal when they find her. Suddenly, Rika realized one thing just as this thought came into her mind.

Immediately, she got up and ran to the kitchen of the house, and seeing this, Keiichi also got up and made his way to her side.

"What's the matter?" Keiichi asked as Rika opened the cupboard under the stove.

"It's missing…" Rika noted as she as flipped everything that was in the small space under the stove.

Hearing this, Keiichi was a little bit confused and before he could ask, Rika replied as she turned around and looked at Keiichi "The soy sauce bottle is gone."

Hours later, Keiichi and Rika walked into the Sonozaki estate together as the noon sun shined on high.

"Mion, iru?" Keiichi asked after knocking the door.

Soon after, the door opened as a girl with long hair dressed in white kimono appeared before the couple.

"Hello Kei-chan." Mion greeted them as a smile appeared on her face and this brought shivers down the spine of both of them as they could see that behind that smile was some sinister plan.

"Mind if we come in?" Keiichi asked as soon as he recovered from shiver.

"Sure." Mion replied as she then opened the door further, allowing the two to come into the house.

After entering the house, Keiichi and Rika walked slowly behind Mion until they finally arrived at one of the rooms used for meeting guests.

After sitting down, the three remained quiet for a few moments with Rika and Keiichi attempting to predict the move of the other side.

Finally, Keiichi spoke.

"Mion, did Satoko come to your place yesterday?" Keiichi then looked at the elder girl.

Mion was abnormally calm as those words came and seeing this, Rika decided that they should push in further.

"Mii, I have spoken to the people who worked at the estate and they say they haven't seen Oryo since two days ago." Rika then paused for a moment, "They said that Shi is missing as well."

Then it was silence again as the trio in the room remained motionless. Then finally a voice broke the stillness.

"Rika-chan, what are you saying?" Mion asked in a surprised manner.

"Mion, it's time to finally stop the acting." Keiichi then added in as he stood up.

Mion looked up at Keiichi and remained quiet for a few seconds before she sighed and laughed.

"Kei-chan, you did well." Mion then complemented him as the laughter died down.

"Why?" Keiichi then asked with sadness in his voice.

"Why? The answer is simple." Mion then looked down as the room became silent again.

"Because we are demons." For a moment everything froze, then Mion went on.

"You both know of the legends in Hinamizawa, right?" Mion asked as Keiichi and Rika watched her stand up.

"A little bit." Keiichi replied while Rika nodded.

"According to legends, people of Hinamizawa are descendants of demons." Rika explained as she stood up as well.

"However, as time went by, they intermarried with humans, thus their blood becoming lighter." Rika continued.

"But, it is still possible for them to become demons." Mion added as she laughed.

"Yes, and the three families are still closest to demons." Mion went on as she then looked at Rika.

"That means you are their descendant as well." Mion then pointed out as Rika looked at her sadly.

"Mii, you are imagining things." Rika said calmly as she tried to calm Mion down, but then when she got near her, she felt electrical shock running through her body and soon afterwards, she lost conscious.

"Rika-chan!" Keiichi cried out her name as she fell onto the floor and soon after, he came under the same fate.

He didn't know how long had passed, but as Keiichi regained consciousness, the sight that came before him quickly took away all the side effects from the electrical shock.

"Mion, what are you doing?" Keiichi shouted as he watched Mion approaching Rika.

"What am I doing? Isn't it clear enough by itself?" Mion's response was cold as the knife drew near to Rika's small body.

"Yamaede Mion." Then another voice came from far across the room.

"Shion?!" Keiichi was surprised to see her, but then he felt something was not right.

"Shion, I knew you always had a thing for him." Mion noted as she moved away from Rika and towards the other side of the room.

"Please don't hurt Kei-chan." Shion continued as Mion stopped in between.

Keiichi was confused for a moment as to what was said. He always thought that Shion liked someone else, but as he continued to watch the development, it became clear it would be the least of his concerns.

"Then are you willing to give your life for him?" Mion's question stunned Keiichi as she approached the cell where Shion was.

"Stop it Mion, stop it, don't loose to the demons inside of you." Keiichi then shouted with the loudest voice possible and for a moment, Mion stopped.

Then what followed was a time of silence where nothing moved, but before Keiichi could say anything else, Mion then began moving again.

"Kei-chan, Mion is no longer here." The girl said. "What are left here are her figure and the demon inside."

Keiichi was shocked as he still believed till the very last moment that she was still Mion, not something else.

Seeing that Keiichi was silenced, Mion then continued her move towards her younger sister, but before she could go all the way, the grounds shook.

"Mion, the police have moved in." Keiichi shouted as Mion looked at the ceiling of the room.

"There is no way that you can get away. So give up." Keiichi wished that this would be the end of it, but reality was always far off.

"I can't do that." Mion replied as she continued making her way towards where Shion was.

"I still have to find him." Those words seemed out of place, but it made him realize that she was not Mion.

"Time to go." Mion then said as she stood before the cell that Shion was in.

"Yes, it is time." Shion replied weakly as she stood up.

Then seconds later, Mion reapproached Keiichi and before he could realize what had happened, his consciousness again faded away.

When Keiichi woke up again, what surrounded was flashing lights and the sight of Rika holding onto his hand and calling out for him in a worried voice.

"Keiichi, Keiichi." Rika repeatedly called out his name as he slowly turned his focus towards her.

"Rika-chan?" Keiichi answered weakly and hearing this, Rika immediately hugged him as she cried.

Moments later, when the young miko calmed down, Keiichi finally had the chance to ask what had happened.

"I see." Keiichi nodded as Oishie finished explaining what happened.

"At this moment, we are still not sure which of the twin is responsible." Oishie continued as he stood up from the seat right next to the place where Keiichi was laid on the ambulance.

"After we entered the basement, we found the dead bodies of the matriarch of Sonozaki, the body of Hojo Satoko." Oishie went on as he watched several of his men exited the estate.

Keiichi then thought of what happened as the officers who approached Oishie said a few things to Oishie. And upon hearing it, Oishie frowned.

"Looks like we have also found the Sonozaki twins as well." Oishie said after the other officers saluted him and lefy

"Sonozaki twin?" Keiichi was surprised as he thought that Mion escaped.

"Yes, we found the twin's bodies down in a pit with numerous dead bodies." Before Keiichi could say anything Oishie continued.

"There is a problem though." Oishie then paused for a few seconds before continuing on.

"We cannot identify between which one of the twin was actually the murderer." Keiichi was shocked as he processed those words.

"What do you…" Before he could finish, Oishie then turned his gaze back on the young man who was several decades to his junior.

"The description you gave us, matched both of them." Hearing this, Keiichi realized one thing, he never really saw Shion.

"Is that so." Keiichi then turned his attention on the young girl waiting for him not far away.

"Have you told her yet?" Keiichi's question was answered with a shaking of head.

"If you want I can tell Furude-san…" Before Oishie could finish, Keiichi replied.

"I will tell her myself." Keiichi then thanked Oishie before taking his leave.

Keiichi did not really know how to proceed at this, but he knew that he had to do this, and that she had the right to know what had happened.

Then finally, Keiichi stopped before Rika, who greeted him with a warm and tired smile, and as seconds went by, he could tell that his heart rate was growing faster as he wondered of how to tell the young girl of the tragedy.

Then the words came, it went forth and what followed was a moment of silence.

"Rika-chan?" Keiichi asked as he approached the trembling young miko who stood before him, and seconds later there was large sound of wailing as she burst into tears.

As he took her into his arms, he realized that there was nothing he could do to stop all of this.

Furthermore, the happy daily life was so fragile that there was nothing that he could have done to prevent anything.

Yet they do not know what awaited them in the future ahead.

Completed: May 25, 2009

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Author's notes: This chapter is modeled after Watanagashi-hen. However, originally, I planned it to be more similar Tatarigoroshi with Shion going berserk. Anyway, after some thinking, it ended up becoming Watanagashi-hen. The primary reason is that in Watanagashi-hen there are more mysteries elements that can be played with, especially on the identity of the twin. Anyway, I had to seriously modify out some of the gory scenes, which will enhance the horror and mystery factor due to rating issues. Anyway, coming up is a more happy chapter, please stay tuned for that.

Translation:

["Anta darei?"] translates to "Who are you?"

["Sorei wa hedoi."] translates to "That is cruel."

["Niinii dasukete."] translates to "Niinii, help me."

["Mo yamede, mo yamede mo yamede."] translates to "Stop it, stop it, stop it."

["Arigato nano desu, Keiichi."] translates to "Thank you, Keiichi."

["Mion, iru?"] translates to "Mion, you home?"