***Rena's Conclusion***

Rena and Keiichi finally concluded I might be the one behind all the recent disappearances. So, the next day, they came to call me out on it. It was about ten in the morning, which meant I managed to finally sleep for five hours or so. When I saw the cutely dressed Rena and the rather sloppy-looking Keiichi at the door, I let them in without any particular plan.

Random memories were surfacing in my head as my mind broke down. One thing I remembered was that I was actually minutes older than Mion, and was originally supposed to be the family head. Little more than toddlers, we had switched places… and we had switched names as well. I had been born as Mion, and in my current state, I couldn't tell if I was Mion or Shion or one of my other personalities.

Regardless, I kept playing Mion, the family heir who protected the traditions and religion of Hinamizawa. After we all sat at the tea table, the first thing Keiichi did was apologize to me for sneaking into the ritual tool shed. I acted furious at Keiichi for his actions, sarcastic and unforgiving.

"Mion," said Rena sternly, "Keiichi is offering the most sincere apology he can. Don't you think you could at least take it somewhat seriously?"

"I do," I answered. "What's wrong?—Do I not look serious enough?" My eyes betrayed my darkness.

"No," replied Rena, eyeing me suspiciously, "you look serious after all." She turned to Keiichi. "Saying sorry won't be enough. We'll tell her everything we know. It seems like that's all we can do."

Keiichi sat up from where he had bowed on the floor. "You called Rika and Satoko over to your house the other day," he said. "Didn't you, Mion?"

"Based on our deduction, Rika probably came over in the evening," Rena continued. "It was around dinner. She came with a big bottle of soy sauce thinking you were going to give her some." Rena produced a letter, written by my sister, offering fine Akita soy sauce to little Rika. "She came here without knowing what you had in mind. Then you…" Her voice faltered a little. "You spirited her away. It was supposed to end there. That's what you thought."

My hands began to shake and my expression lost some of its cool. So Rena was going to outsmart me after all this. Why hadn't I known she was so clever? She would have made a far better detective than the reactive, impulsive Mari.

"You didn't factor in the possibility," Rena went on, "that Rika would tell Satoko where she was going. That was a mistake. I checked the house again. Satoko had made dinner for two that night, but she left it untouched and wrapped inside the fridge. That speaks volumes about what you must have said to Satoko when she called to ask about Rika's whereabouts."

"Bravo," I said, and I laughed again to cover my fear. "That's it. I give up. You two are astounding. You found out how everything went just by looking in a refrigerator. DAMN IT!" I pulled at my hair, feeling like a rabid animal.

"Did you kill the village leader, too?" asked Rena in a low voice.

I managed to calm down. There might still be a way out if I convincingly played Mion and switched places with my sister after having her killed. And, after all, I had been born as Mion. So I seated myself as if giving a formal introduction.

"It's nice to meet you two. I am the heir to the head of the Sonozaki family. My name is Mion Sonozaki. I intend to speak openly and honestly about the events that have recently transpired. Did you know that Hinamizawa used to be called Onigafuchi, the Depths of the Demons? Our ancestors were a wise and strong race descended from Demons."

I almost had no idea what I was saying anymore. Perhaps I was only stalling.

"The people around despised our ancestors," I continued, "calling them Demons. So the people of Hinamizawa banded together. Remember those bikers who threatened you, Keiichi, by the diner? Everyone from Town Square came out in force to protect you. That tradition comes from the ancient days. If Hinamizawa could be as righteous and feared as it was in the old days, then the descendants in this town would see their dream come true. The Sonozaki family shares that dream, as well as the blood of the Demon."

"What do you mean?" asked Keiichi. "You share the blood of the Demon?"

"For each generation," I explained truthfully, "it's customary for the Sonozaki heir to have a character for Demon in their name. 魅音 reads Mei-on, or Mi-on, but the Mi character also means evil spirit. The Demon doesn't stop with just that. A Demon has also been engraved into my body as a tattoo."

"It's ok," said Rena, convinced, "you don't have to show that to Kei-chan."

Unable to stay still, I walked to the open sliding door and stood by the threshold. I gazed numbly at the woods and mountain owned by the Sonozaki family.

"Let me start by addressing the deaths of the past four years," I continued to stall. "The Sonozaki family—and thus Mion—was at the center of every one of the Mysterious Deaths."

"Mion, tell us the truth," said Rena abruptly. "Did you kill our friends Rika and Satoko?"

"Yes," I confessed, "I won't lie. This Demon is now the center of my soul."

"You must have some control over it." Rena realized something didn't add up. "Otherwise, why would Keiichi be alive? He violated the tool shrine. As a Demon, it serves you no purpose to keep him alive."

"Maybe Mion, and not the Demon, has some reason for it," I answered. I wasn't about to tell her that I was Shion and I had been trying to use Keiichi to smoke out the criminals hidden among the villagers.

"The police already suspect you," Keiichi rejoined after a brief silence. "Detective Oishi is outside right now. He's waiting for any excuse to break in here."

I sank to my knees. For a moment, I was able to speak honestly despite the Demon digging in my brain.

"There can be no excuse for what I've done," I stated tiredly. "I'm sorry. There is a Demon inside me."

I couldn't see her because my back was facing her, but I heard Rena's voice become softer. "You're going to need to turn yourself in, Mion," she said quietly. "We'll go with you so you won't get hurt. You are still our friend, no matter what you've done."

No. Their kindness was lost on me. To me, it could only be seen as condescension.

***One Last Favor***

A plan began forming in my crazed mind. If I was going to be caught anyway, I might as well destroy the last of the once great Sonozaki family and their collaborators in crime. My sister was the only person left. How could I best torment her? Then there were Keiichi and Rena, too—if given a chance, I would kill them vindictively. They had figured me out, and they had told the police all about me, so I resented them. Nevertheless, I made my voice as pleasant as possible. Even when crazed by a brain parasite, I was Shion, and she had always had a kind, feminine voice, if a little more prone to sarcasm than Mion.

"I'd like you to indulge me in one last favor," I told my visitors. "I'll do it. I'll turn myself in. But first I'd like to have some alone time with Keiichi-kun."

To my surprise, Rena and Keiichi agreed. Naturally, if we didn't return soon, Rena would call for help, but she didn't seem overly concerned since I said I would turn myself in. I walked side by side with Keiichi, on a lovely path between evergreen hedges and the stone-bordered creek. I wondered if this would be my last time taking a walk in a nice setting—soon, I would be jailed as a serial killer. When I thought about prison—and execution—I felt indescribably lonely. I longed for some physical reassurance… even the slightest touch would do. I blushed thinking of Keiichi this way, but…

"Would be alright if I held your arm?" I asked.

Keiichi stammered a confirmation. He blushed redder than me when I took his arm. We walked on.

"It seems Shion must have liked you as much Mion did," I remarked.

One word kept going through my mind, just as it had when I was a small child: Demon. Oni, Akuma, Yomu… Demon. I had gotten to a point where I could no longer tell whether I was Shion or Mion. I couldn't tell if I was Mari, Haruka, or Jun for sure either. It was probable that I was Shion because I couldn't remember murdering people as Haruka, but I had gathered the pieces when I saw Satoko's corpse. Inside me, my first instinct was to love Keiichi—to worship him for saying he would stay my friend—which also made me think I was Shion. However, there was also the Demon; in this case, the Hinamizawa Syndrome or brain parasite. Urges to attack, torment, and/or kill overrode my instinctive feelings. So I determined to kill this young man.

"Come on," I said to Keiichi. "If you want, I can show you my crimes. Be warned that they're gruesome, and there's nothing you can do about them. What's done is done."

"I don't care." Keiichi looked me right in the face with his dark eyes. "Show me whatever you want. But nothing will change the fact that Mion Sonozaki is the best friend I've ever had." He reached out his hand and patted me on the head, just like Satoshi.

This unbelievable, noble kindness would have broken me, and I would have given up my last plan, if only my brain had been functioning. As it was, I thought Keiichi was being a freak. Why would he try to act kind now? Since I was fully possessed by the Demon—the microorganisms in my head—I could no longer relate to normal people. I did have a vague idea, though, of why my sister fancied Keiichi so much. That's what inspired me to use the boy against her.

Keiichi and I walked to the outside entrance of the Underground Torture Chamber. Its existence was a family secret. We passed through the steel doors, down the steps, across the torture room, and into the Underground Dungeon. Keiichi looked around, seeing signs of blood but no bodies. When Mion saw him, she weakly called to him from her cell. I paused, waiting for the right moment.

"Shion!" exclaimed Keiichi, rushing to Mion's cell. "Is that you? I don't believe it! You're alive!"

He gasped when he saw her condition. She was severely ill from dehydration, being given only a small mug of water in the last seventy-some hours. She was stripped down to a revealing slip, her face and skin covered with dust and bruises, and her hair scraggly and greasy. Her wide, desperate eyes changed when she saw Keiichi, taking on the light of hope. A weak smile crossed her face as she said his name. She said it three times, as if trying to convince herself that the boy was real.

"NOOOO!" Mion screamed suddenly, half-deafening all three of us. She had seen me, and she instantly retreated several paces back into her cell. "NOOOOO!" she howled shrilly. "DO YOU HATE ME THIS MUCH?!"

Keiichi made the mistake of not turning around to look. His back was facing me. He was preoccupied with trying to calm Mion's hysteria. The boy reassured her that everything would be ok and that he would get her out of the cell. Meanwhile, I lifted up a stone a little bigger than a football, and of course many times as heavy. With a triumphant laugh, I bashed the stone against Keiichi's head. He fell over at once, but remained half-conscious, murmuring feverishly.

All it would take to kill him was another strike from the stone. But I, Shion Sonozaki, was still fighting the brain parasite for every inch. I was not Haruka. I would not kill Keiichi! But the urges in my brain were irresistible. To kill or not to kill? I decided to put off the problem by tying him up.

***Keiichi and the Demon***

I dragged the boy's body onto a wooden, horizontal slab. It split in two directions near the bottom to hold each of the victim's legs. Two branches reached out from higher up, too, at an angle, for the arms. Two metal bands around his ankles kept Keiichi's legs from moving. Another restraint was locked around his throat. There was one metal band for each wrist too. Finally, his fingers were each tied down by small, separate bindings. I had a reason for this set up.

"Good, you're awake," I smiled. "After I've exposed 'Shion' to the dying screams of her boyfriend, she'll be next. Isn't that genius?" I laughed again because I wanted to cry. I wanted to stop myself. I scratched at my throat.

"Who exactly are you?" demanded Keiichi, suddenly looking much more grown up with the blood from his head-wound covering nearly half his face. "You cannot possibly be Mion Sonozaki."

I paused. Did he know I was Shion? Had he figured it out? But he made himself clear momentarily.

"You are a Demon," the young man stated. "Give Mion back! I mean it. Give her back!"

I chuckled with the knowledge that I could still take one secret with me to the grave. I took a moment to enjoy Keiichi's fear, idly fidgeting with a long nail. In my other hand I held the hammer. As Keiichi demanded to have his "best friend" back, I laughed at him, half weeping. Then I set the nail against one of Keiichi's left fingers. I was going to drive it through flesh and bone alike… I should have time to pierce several of the fingers, to cause acute pain, before killing him.

"Don't give up, Mion!" cried Keiichi, hiding any obvious fear with his gallant attempt to get through to me. "Don't let this Demon win! Come on, fight it! Don't give in! You're stronger than this!"

"You're a funny one," I said, laughing outrageously. "Keep this up and I may drown in my own tears."

"Please, Mion! I beg you. Don't let this Demon take you! You can beat this! You can. So FIGHT!"

"Keiichi-kun," I said, escaping the involuntary hysteria for a moment, "since you're so interested, I'll tell you a secret. You see, some form of Demon has been living in my body for quite some time." This time I was referring to Haruka more than the unknown brain parasite. "Until now I've always controlled it by reasoning with it. It had been a long time since the Demon stirred…"

I recalled a memory from earlier that summer. Mion had come over and talked about Keiichi a lot. I could tell she truly liked the boy because she incessantly worried about what he might think. She told me about how Keiichi won a porcelain doll in a game tournament. Instead of offering it to Mion, he gave the doll to Rena, who obviously seemed like more of a girl than Mion.

How happy my sister must be to have a boy to worry over, I had thought. Yet, I envied Mion for having this normal, silly young romance. As for me, those days were over. I remembered telling myself that I mustn't resent my only sister. But she kept making me think of Satoshi. She unintentionally paraded her privilege in front of me. Mion told me her feelings, and as she spoke, I started to remember my own feelings for Satoshi. At that point, I had wondered if the Demon inside me would reawaken.

"The Demon is, in fact, still there," I said to Keiichi, while a tear fell from my eye. "All it needed was something to wake it up again. The incident that started it was actually rather innocent. You screwed everything up, Keiichi-kun. All you had to do was give that doll to Mion instead, and maybe we wouldn't be where we are now. That's not the path you chose, however."

"But—but—I didn't know," said Keiichi.

His eyes, black with a highlight of deep blue, welled up with tears. The causative emotions were sympathy for me and his own guilt, rather than pain and fear. I prepared to drive the first nail in, but seeing his honest tears, part of me started fighting again. I was hesitating to torture Keiichi much more than I had hesitated with the others. That was because I was Shion, not Haruka, and I was still trying to fight the commands my brain was issuing. But it felt impossible. Shakily, I put the nail into position.

"If torturing me will appease the Demon inside you," Keiichi sighed, "then hammer away."

"Are you serious?" I asked, still hesitating to drive the nail through his finger.

"Yes, go ahead. Compared to the pain Mion must have gone through, this isn't anything, is it? You just have to promise me two things." His voice grew bolder. "First, forgive Shion. Secondly, I want you to leave that body and give it back to Mion forever."

"I don't believe it." I pulled the hammer away, still battling with myself. "With all that I could—and probably will—do to you, those are your only requests? You don't even ask me to spare your life?"

Keiichi actually smiled, though it looked pained. "Alright then, there's a third thing. Please don't kill me."

"You asked for two requests," I said, leaning close over him. "Don't get greedy. Then again, I'm a Demon. The chances I'll keep those two promises are pretty slim." I touched his face, half because Shion was desperately trying to reach him, and half because the Demon wanted to terrorize him. "About that third request, though," I told him; "I don't think I'll mind keeping that."

Of course Keiichi didn't understand. Why should I keep him alive? I couldn't simply torture him forever, since I thought Rena would be bringing along help soon. Certainly, the small part of me still struggling for sanity wanted to keep Keiichi alive. But the real reason I wouldn't kill Keiichi was because there was something more important I had to do before the police got here. I needed to trade places with my sister again. I couldn't waste any more time.

"I won't give up on Mion!" cried Keiichi, recovering from the chill of having my killer's hands caress him.

I heard the sounds of someone beating on the steel doors. "Do you hear that?" I asked. "I bet it's Detective Oishi." Abruptly, I bent over, put my face next to Keiichi's ear, and whispered. I whispered in perfect sincerity. "Listen. I am sorry for defiling Mion."

"Do what you want," snapped the boy. "But I will always remember the Mion who was my friend."

"You need to forget about Mion and Shion," I warned him. "If you ever see either of us again, the last thing you should do is approach us. The only thing left alive in me by then will be this madness… this Demon."

I took out my Taser and stunned Keiichi with a high voltage.