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 7 "Moments of Happiness"

Two days had gone by since the death of their friends. Despite the sadness, Keiichi knew that Rika depended on him, and thus he knew that he had to stand firm against the sadness and do something.

Finally, an idea came to mind as he sat on his bed thinking.

"I will talk to mom and dad about this." Keiichi then quickly descended down the stairs and that night a decision was made.

Morning came quickly as Keiichi could barely sleep due to the excitement, and very soon he made his way to the school, wishing to tell Rika of the great news.

When Keiichi arrived at the school, he could feel that the same heaviness was still there as the school was still mourning for the loss of four of its students while it had yet to recover from losing one student prior..

Yet Keiichi believed that he could at least cheer Rika up a little with his plan.

"Rika-chan, do you have a moment?" Keiichi asked as the recess bell rang.

Rika simply nodded as she gave a weak smile and then she followed Keiichi to a corner of the classroom, waiting for what Keiichi had to say.

"Rika-chan do you want to come and live with me?" Keiichi's question took Rika by surprised as she was expecting him to say something about the events that had transpired through the last couple of days.

"I mean it's hard to live by yourself and plus my parents really want to know you better." Keiichi then continued as he looked at the young girl.

Rika was speechless as it was far from her expectation, but soon a smile appeared on her face as she felt that there was still warmness in this cold world.

"I will ask Kimiyoshi about it." Rika then replied with excitement and joy in her heart as Keiichi smiled with relief.

Then throughout the rest of the day, Rika seemed to be back to her old self. Seeing this Keiichi felt that may be one day they will be able to move pass what had happened.

Quickly, the day came to an end and Keiichi waited quietly for Rika as she awaited permission over the phone.

"Hope everything will go well." Keiichi said to himself as he looked up at the ceiling of the corridor.

He then remembered that a few days ago, this place was where they fought against Rena, who was once a companion of theirs. Keiichi then quickly shook off the thought about what had happened as he heard the door to the faculty office open.

"Kimiyoshi says it okay." Rika said with energy and joy as she stood before Keiichi.

"That's great." Keiichi and Rika then made their way out of the school to the shrine to pick up things Rika would need.

The way back to the shrine was full of laughter as Keiichi and Rika spoke of the things they could do and the long walk to the shrine seemed to be like seconds as they let go of the troubles.

When they arrived at the shrine, Rika and Keiichi quickly made their way to the little house where Rika had resided and started packing.

And as they packed, Rika remained silent as memories of the past flowed through her mind.

Keiichi, knowing the thoughts of Rika, also remained quiet and only spoke to Rika when he had to.

"Rika-chan, anything else?" Keiichi asked as he sealed one of the bags that they would be taking.

"Mii…, I think that will be it." Rika then stood up and grabbed one of the luggage while Keiichi also did the same.

"Let's go then." Keiichi and Rika then exited the house, leaving all the memories of the past behind them.

When they arrived back at Keiichi's house, the two of them were greeted by Keiichi's parents.

"Nice to meet you, I am Maebara Isachiro, Keiichi's father." Keiichi's father greeted the young girl before introducing his wife.

"And this is my wife, Aiko." Rika at first was a little reluctant, but then nodded slightly as she approached the elder lady.

"Yokoso Rika-chan." Keiichi's mother greeted the young girl warmly as they came into arms distance.

"Thanks for taking care of our son." Isachiro added as they entered into the house.

As they went on the way, Rika could feel that this house was filled with happiness, a happiness she had lost years ago.

"Rika-chan, this is your room." Aiko said as she opened up the door to a room on the first floor.

Inside the room, there was no fancy decoration, but a table, chair, and bed. However, it was clean and bright.

"This room was intended to be a guest room." Isachiro added as they entered the room.

"But since Keiichi's girlfriend is moving in, from now on, it will be your room." Keiichi's mother continued as an innocent smile appeared on her face.

"Mom, what are you talking about!?" Keiichi shouted as his and Rika's face became bright red.

After brushing off Keiichi's words, Keiichi mother then knelt before young girl as she took hold of the young girl's shoulder.

"Rika-chan, please treat this place as your home." Hearing those words, Rika felt warmness in her heart as tears of gladness came out.

The others in the room quickly gathered around her wondering the reason of the tears. Then Rika spoke.

"It's just that I remembered my mother." Rika explained as she tried to wipe off the tears and hearing this, Keiichi's parents felt relieved knowing that they had really achieved what they set out to do, to make this girl feel at home.

After letting Rika finish wiping her tears away, the group continued their tour of the house.

"This is Keiichi's room." Aiko noted as they stopped before a room on the second floor.

"Oh and please do not enter into his room during the night. Not that I would mind having my grand kids." Aiko then added, to which Keiichi shouted back with a blush on his face, "Mom, we won't do that."

"Well, the grand kid part is a joke, but I seriously don't want you two doing inappropriate things." Aiko then continued as Rika still remained red and shell shocked from the previous statement.

But then Rika realized as she watched the laughter and listened to sounds, these were all signs of happiness.

Soon, time for dinner came. Without a word, Rika went to help Aiko, while the two man in the house talked.

"Well, dad, thanks for agreeing to this." Keiichi said as his father leaned back against the couch.

"Well, it is a good thing to help someone in need. Plus, your mother always wanted to have some female company in the house." Isachiro replied as he sat back up.

Meanwhile, Rika and Aiko stood in the kitchen next each other as they prepared food.

"Rika-chan, thanks for everything." Aiko said as she stir the content inside the boiling pot on top of the stove.

"No, I should help out since I live here." Rika replied as she finished washing the cabbage.

"Although that is part of it, it is not exactly what I mean." Aiko said as she turned the fire smaller.

Hearing this, Rika was confused as she could not really think of what else Keiichi's mother would be thankful for.

"Thank you for being there with Keiichi." At this moment, Rika realized what the older woman meant and her face again became red like a tomato.

"Keiichi came here because we want to give him a new start from all that had happened." Upon hearing this, Rika also understood that the young man she loved also had a past that he wanted to put behind.

"No, I am the one who has to be thankful as he was always there when I needed him." Hearing this, a smile appeared on Aiko' face.

"Well let's get to the cooking." Aiko then moved off the topic as the two female in the house returned their full attention to cooking.

Minutes later, all four of the people inside the house moved to the dinning room while Rika and Keiichi's mother brought over the food and the men helped set up the table.

"Ittadakimasu." The dinner went on as the four of them spoke of various things of the past, present, and of the future yet to come.

And all throughout the dinner, Keiichi could tell that this plan of his had the effect that he desired.

Keiichi could see that Rika had smiled from her heart for the first time in the last few days, which relieved him.

Soon, dinner was finished and the four of them sat around the table as they spoke of various things.

"Keiichi then did as Mii said he would." Rika said as Aiko sipped some tea from her cup.

Keiichi said nothing as he held his head down in defeat as he remembered that game where he got butchered.

But then as his thoughts went through all the embarrassment he received during the club games, he realized that all of these were pleasant memories as they were filled with laughter.

"Well, it's getting late." Keiichi's mother said as she noticed the time.

Hearing that, everyone started cleaning up and very soon the day came to an end as Keiichi and Rika slept in their respective rooms.

And this night was quiet for Rika, unlike the previous nights, where she had nightmares about all the horrifying events that she went through.

Then morning came as Rika awoke early like she always did.

It was a bright morning, like on that day when they first met. Rika smiled as she thought of that.

Soon, Rika made her way downstairs to find the older woman in the household there preparing for breakfast.

"Ohaiyo Rika-chan." Aiko greeted the young girl as Rika entered into the kitchen.

"It's quite early so you can sleep in a bit more if you want to." Hearing that, Rika shook her head.

"I am used to getting up this early." Rika replied as she approached the matriarch of the household.

Seeing this, Aiko sighed as she gave up the thought of pushing Rika back to sleep.

"Let's get to work then." With that, a bright new morning started.

Moments later, others in the household joined them as breakfast was readied.

"This smells really good." Keiichi said as he sat down around the table.

"Rika-chan made that." Aiko informed her son and he was slightly surprised, but then he realized that Rika was looking at him intently.

"Looks like she wants to taste it." Upon hearing that, Keiichi could swear that if Rika had neko mimi and neko shipo, that the ears would be pointing up and the tail would be wagging crazily

Then Keiichi looked at the food and realized that it was not the first time he had eaten anything Rika prepared, so he felt relieved as he moved to take the food into his mouth. But sadly, what made him more uncomfortable were the eyes that were fixed on him as he picked up the food with the chopstick.

"It actually tastes pretty good." Keiichi thought after he took a bite.

Keiichi then proceeded to compliment the young miko about her excellent culinary skill and the rest of breakfast went on as everyone there enjoyed the tasty food prepared by the two females in the household.

Soon time came and quickly, Rika and Keiichi readied themselves as they left the dinning room.

"You got everything?" Rika asked her elder boyfriend as they went down towards the atrium of the house.

"I think so." Keiichi replied as they sat down to put on their shoes.

Seeing this, Rika shrugged as she enjoyed the feeling of everyday life had been taken away from her for several days.

"Ja idekimasu" Then the two stepped out of the house as the sun shined on them.

And as they made their way towards the school, they knew one thing.

That no matter what was ahead of them, everything would be fine if they were with each other.

Completed: 07/09/2009

Edited: 11/01/2009

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Author's Note: Hopefully all of you have enjoyed reading this chapter. This kind of a transition from the other arcs to the ending. Finally, I will like to clarify that I am one of those who treat Miotsukoshi as the official end. So this story will follow that as well. Hopefully, they will animate that arc someday. See you next time.

Translation:

["Yokoso Rika-chan."] translates to "Welcome, Rika-chan."

["Ittadakimasu."] is a phrase used by Japanese before they start eating.

[neko mimi] translates to cat ear.

[neko shipo] translates to cat tail.

["Ja idekimasu"] translates to a similar meaning of "We are leaving, see you later."