Chapter 2: New Friends
"Hey Rena, put the poor kid down. You can't just go around hugging strangers, you know!" A voice said. It was one of the new people that came in, a boy judging by the sound. I say that because I'm being squished into the chest of the girl in front of me, so I can't see very well. She loosened her grip on me, and I was able to look up and see her.
She was taller than me by quite a lot, as I was being lifted off of the ground as she hugged me. She had orange-brown hair in an angled cut, with the front being parted in the middle of her forehead. Her eyes were a deep, vivid blue, just like mine. She was wearing a white dress which had a slit up the middle, with a purple bow and sash, while she had a white cap on her head and brown knee-high boots. She wasn't a kid like Rika, but she wasn't old enough to be a grown up yet, either. I think Alphys called them teenagers in her notes on humans, so this is my first time seeing one. Looking at the rest of the new people that Dr. Irie let in, two others look like they're around the same age, with a blonde-haired girl being the only kid among them.
"But Keiichi-kun, he's not a stranger, he's Rika-chan's friend! Aren't you, aren't you?" The girl said, looking down at me.
"Which means he's a friend of ours, too!" A different girl came up to us, smiling with her hands on her hips. Her hair was... green? What an odd color. Then again, Rika's was blue, so maybe not so much.
"Excuse me, but who are all of you, and why are you here?" I asked, trying to be polite.
"They're my friends, and they're here for you." Rika said, walking up to me and standing by my side. "When Chara-chan and I left you here, I called them and told them about you and how we became friends. They all want to know more about you." So she wants to introduce me to them? Okay then.
"Alright, so where do I start?"
"How about telling us your name first? That way Rena can know the person she's hugging." The green-haired girl said, smirking.
"Hi, my name's Frisk. It's nice to meet you all." I felt myself being lowered to the floor. I had forgotten that I was being held this whole time. The orange-brown haired girl set me down as she looked at me.
"I'm Rena Ryugu, it's nice to meet you too! You don't mind hugs, do you? Do you?" Rena asked, tilting her head. Her facial expression was probably one of the cutest I've ever seen. I knew right away what my answer was.
"No, not at all. But can I ask you something?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
"...Would you mind my hugs?" I asked, holding my arms out wide. In a split second, Rena switched from being confused to glowing with joy.
"Hauu! So cute! You can hug Rena any time!" She lifted me up and I found myself being pressed into her chest once again as I returned the hug. I remembered back in the Underground how Toriel would give me a hug before I would leave the Ruins, and how warm and comforting it felt. 'This feels even better.' I thought. So soft...
"Feeling comfy, are you?"
I looked to my right and saw the green-haired girl, who was looking at me with a mischievous grin.
"Looks like Rena's taken a liking to you. Lucky kid, you've got the best place to rest your head now!" I looked back up at Rena, who was smiling serenely, eyes closed as she held me before I looked at everyone else.
"So," I said. "Who do I get to meet next?" The green-haired girl stepped forward.
"I'm Mion Sonozaki, class rep of Hinamizawa School and leader of its one and only club! I'm actually the one who brought everyone else here. Rika called me and told me about you and Chara-chan, and I rang up the others and told them to come with me so we could meet you two."
Now that Rena didn't have me held quite so close to her, I was able to see Mion better. She had green hair, which was styled into a ponytail that ended just below her waist, with her bangs being parted in the middle. She wore a yellow shirt with a slight black turtle neck, a white sweatshirt tied around her waist, blue jeans and brown shoes. What caught my attention was the gun holstered on her left shoulder. It was painted in bright orange and red, which made it stand out a lot. It was probably just a toy gun, unlike the revolver I had carried with me in the Underground. Mion was slightly taller than Rena, and her chest stuck out more, too.
I'm glad that it was Rena that liked hugs, Mion might've suffocated me.
"Since you've already met Rika-chan," Mion said, counting her fingers. "That just leaves Kei-chan and Satoko-chan. Come say hello, you two!" Rena let me go again as a boy stepped forward, the same one that I had heard earlier.
"Hi, I'm Keiichi Maebara. My family and I just moved here from the city about a month ago, so technically I'm new here too."
Keiichi was the tallest out of everyone in the room, probably close to twice my height. He had brown hair and violet eyes, and wore a black, sleeveless shirt beneath a red vest, green shorts with a black belt and red shoes.
" This is Sato—OOMPH!" Keiichi was suddenly punched by the blonde girl, and doubled over in pain on the floor.
"WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!" Keiichi exclaimed, holding his stomach.
"I think I'm more than capable of introducing myself, Keiichi-san." The girl said before turning her attention to me. She had blonde hair with a black headband on top and violet-red eyes. She was slightly taller than Rika, about as tall as me. She wore a pink, sleeveless collared shirt, blue shorts, a belt and pink sneakers. As she was talking, I noticed that she had very sharp canine teeth.
"So you're Rika's new friend? From what I've heard, Rika wanted to be friends with you even before she knew your name. What makes you so special that she'd consider something like that?" She asked, glaring at me. Rika stood next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Satoko, aren't you forgetting something?" Rika asked.
"...Hojo. Satoko Hojo." The girl said, looking away. Chara, who had been staying at the back of the room, came up to me and folded her arms.
"Well that was rude... I think she's jealous of you." She said in a low voice as the others gathered around Satoko.
"Why? What did I do?" I asked, confused. Chara turned to me and sighed.
"While you were out, I went with Rika to her house and she introduced me to Satoko. The two of them live together and they're best friends, probably even closer than I was with..."
Chara paused before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say," she began, wiping her eye with her sleeve. "Is that Rika wouldn't stop talking about you, and how special you are. Satoko is jealous of you because you've taken Rika's attention away from her." Is that all? Why would she be so upset about that? I asked Chara, only to have her shake her head.
"I don't know," She said. "That's something you'd probably have to ask Rika about." Okay, then. I'll try to get to the bottom of this when I can. Satoko and I might have had a rough start just now, but I'm sure it's just a misunderstanding.
"So," I asked, as everyone else was still talking to Satoko about something. "What do you think about them, Chara?"
"They seem alright, at least in terms of first impressions. Rena is a little clingy, though. Evidently she's obsessed with cute things... Anyway, when I met them, they asked me all kinds of questions, and I had to make up some answers for a few of them."
"Like what?" I asked.
"Like where you and I came from, how we got here, you know... things we can't tell them the truth about." Oh no! I never thought about that!
"What did you tell them? Did they believe you?" Chara smiled from the side as she giggled.
"I told them that you and I are orphans, and that we ran away from home together looking for a new place to live. Technically it's true; you and I have no parents, and you've taken us to a new place we could call home if we wanted to. My story seemed to strike a chord with Rika, as she offered her condolences to us."
"Well, that's nice." I said, liking Chara's idea. "Thanks for doing that for us, I forgot all about how we'd handle being asked about our pasts."
"You're welcome." She said. Soon after, everyone else had gathered back in front of us, with Satoko being in the center.
"So, Satoko-chan..." Mion began, folding her arms. "Do you have something you want to say?" Satoko fidgeted for a moment before looking at me.
"I... I'm sorry, for how I acted. Rika and I are best friends, and hearing about her being so interested in you made me think that you'd take her away from me. I realize how stupid that sounds now. I just met you, so I can't judge you so soon."
"It's ok," I said, trying to cheer her up. "From what Chara told me, you and Rika care about each other a lot, and I'd never split best friends apart. I'm just a new kid in town, so it's normal for her to be curious."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Satoko said, agreeing. "To be honest, I'm curious about you and Chara-chan as well."
"We all are." Mion stepped forward. "It's not often Hinamizawa gets visitors, so it's good to have new people freshen things up."
"Plus, you two have been wandering around homeless without a family. That's no good." Keiichi said with conviction.
"Hauu... Frisk-kun and Chara-chan have nowhere to go. Can they stay here, here?" Rena asked, looking at us with puppy dog eyes. I turned to Chara, looking for her answer.
"Hey, why not?" She said, shrugging. "It'll be a new experience. I'll go wherever Frisk goes." Suddenly, all eyes in the room turned to me. I found myself glancing at Rika. Her mouth was moving, but no words were coming out. 'What's she saying?' I thought. I looked closer, trying to see what she was trying to tell me. I read her lips, and the message was clear.
'Stay with me.'
Wow, Rika likes me enough to let me stay at her house? That's really generous of her. I can have a place to call home in this world on the first day!
"I'd love to stay here." I said, smiling. Everyone looked really happy to hear that.
"That's great!" Mion exclaimed, pumping her fist in excitement. "Three new friends in the span of one month, things are really looking up here!"
"Yeah, the more the merrier!" Keiichi said, giving us a thumbs up.
"Yay! Welcome, new friends!" Chara and I were swept off our feet by Rena, who held us close and rubbed her cheeks against ours. I guess this is what Chara meant when she said Rena was clingy, as she looked slightly annoyed. 'I wonder if this is what happened when they first met?' I thought. Chara had a permanent blush on her cheeks, which looked really cute. There's no way anyone couldn't see it that way, so it's no wonder why Rena took a liking to her.
"So..." Satoko said, getting everyone's attention. "Where are they going to live here? Not just anyone is going to take them in." Everyone's excitement died down as they thought about this. But I already knew the answer.
"Can I stay at your house, Rika-chan?" She perked up at my question, along with everyone else.
"Umm... sure." Rika said. "But my house may feel a bit cramped with four people living there. It's very small."
"That's okay, Frisk and I won't need anything beyond the basics." Chara said as I nodded.
"Well, there's a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room which doubles as the sleeping space." Satoko said, counting off the rooms on her fingers. "That's all there is to it."
"That's all Chara and I need. Thank you very much." I said. Keiichi patted my back as he smirked.
"You're a lucky kid. You've got two cute girls taking care of you now!"
"H-hey!" Satoko exclaimed, blushing. "It's not like that! We're just letting them stay at our house, that's all! Stupid, perverted Keiichi-san!"
"I don't mind taking care of you." Rika replied, smiling at us, me in particular. I swear that Rena glowed brighter than the sun as she went on about how cute the four of us looked together. Eventually, Mion reminded everyone that it was getting late, pointing to the clock on the wall.
Everyone started getting ready to leave before Mion stepped forward.
"Hold on there, you two." She put her hands on our shoulders as she bent down to look at us.
"Now that you're going to be living here in Hinamizawa, it's my duty as class rep to inform the school of any new students that might be joining."
"Wait, we're going to school?" Chara asked, surprised. Mion nodded.
"Yep. It's mandatory for everyone to attend until they're 18, so I have to let Chie-sensei know so that she can prepare a curriculum for you. Don't worry, I'll make sure you have fun there. I've already decided to let you be a part of our club!"
"That sounds wonderful." I said. "Thanks for all your help."
"Eh, don't mention it." Mion replied, waving us off. "Now, you and Chara go on home with Rika and Satoko, it's going to be a big day tomorrow so I want everyone to be rested and ready. Got it?"
"Got it." Chara and I said together.
"Good to hear. See you tomorrow!" Mion waved goodbye as she left. Chara and I said goodbye to Rena and Keiichi (with one last hug from Rena, of course) before meeting Rika and Satoko outside.
Evidently I had been out cold at the clinic for a while, as the sun was setting. There were barely any lights to brighten up the area at night, so it was getting dark fast.
"I was hoping I'd get to see more of this place before nighttime." Chara said, sighing.
"I don't know, a good night's sleep sounds pretty nice right about now." I replied. Satoko turned to look at me with a questioning stare.
"You were knocked out for an entire day at the clinic," she said. "How can you still be tired?"
"Being unconscious is different from sleeping." Rika said, defending me. "We should all get some rest, Mii-chan will have a lot of things planned for tomorrow." With that said, we all started walking to Rika's house. The way forward was a simple dirt path with a few buildings here and there, but nothing really worth mentioning. To pass the time, we all asked questions about each other, so that we could get to know one another better.
It turns out that both Rika and Satoko are orphans, and they live together in order to support each other. The idea of two kids living alone without grown-ups surprised me, so I asked how and why they did it. Rika explained that her family, the Furude House, as it was known — had a special place in the village of Hinamizawa. They were in charge of running the shrine that housed Oyashiro-sama, the god that watched over the village. One day, Rika's dad died, and then her mother drowned herself — something that neither me nor Rika understood. After this had happened, all of the duties that would've been done by her parents were passed to her, and because Rika was capable of doing all of these things by herself, she was allowed to live alone without any grown-ups taking care of her. A year later, Satoko moved in with Rika after her parents fell off a cliff by accident. This was shocking to me. Not only did they both lose their parents, but they carry on all by themselves and no-one seems to mind. I asked Rika how they were dealing with this.
"It's been hard sometimes," she replied. "But our friends have been very supportive. They're the best group of people anyone could ask for, and I'm glad to have you along with them." I smiled in response.
"I'm glad to be with you too, Rika-chan." Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she smiled back.
"Nipaa!" Rika made some strange sound I couldn't understand. It sounded happy, and cute.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
"That's one of Rika's verbal tics." Satoko replied. "She only does that around people she really likes. Rena goes wild whenever she does it." So it's Rika's way of telling me that she likes me? For someone who's known me for less than a day, she seems eager to get close to me. Not that I have a problem with that, I had many friends in the Underground that wanted to hang out. However, none of them were human, so this is something new.
"So, Frisk-san, what about you and Chara-chan? What did you do before coming here?" Rika asked. I have to be careful here, I can't say anything that doesn't match what Chara had already told them.
"Chara already told you, didn't she?" I asked, trying to get an idea of what they know.
"Just that the two of you are orphans and that you've been looking for a new home. I'm so sorry to hear that, no-one deserves that fate."
"Well," I began, trying to think of something. "Before Chara and I came here, we lived in a place called the Underground." Chara raised her eyebrow at me, she probably thinks I'm just going to tell the truth. I can't talk about the monsters, that's the one thing they can't know about.
"The Underground? That sounds creepy, like a dark cave. Why did they call it that?" Satoko asked, interested.
"Because the Underground was a dark cave. Or at least it looked like that on the surface, anyway." Both Rika and Satoko stared at me in confusion.
"Let me explain," I said, holding up my hand. "The Underground wasn't just a hole in the surface like a cave, there was a whole town down there and I found it on accident when I fell from a cliff into the entrance."
"It's true," Chara said, backing me up. "I was exploring the side of a mountain on my own one day when I fell into the same place. I met Frisk not long after." Rika looked amazed, but Satoko was different.
"Do you have proof of what you're saying? It sounds fishy to me." Satoko asked, skeptical.
"Yes. Look at these." I said, taking out some pictures I had taken during my time in the Underground. Among them were beautiful snapshots of all the different places: The Ruins, Snowdin Forest, Snowdin Town, Waterfall, Hotland, the Core, and New Home. I had several different things that I brought with me at the time I had used Sans's teleporter to come here, just a bunch of stuff to remind me of my time spent in the Underground in case I never came back. Both Rika and Satoko were shocked at what they were seeing.
"This looks beautiful..." Rika said, looking at Snowdin Forest. "What's all the white stuff that's everywhere?"
"That's snow. Haven't you seen it before?" Rika shook her head.
"It's like rain," I explained. "Except it's frozen and floats down slowly, covering everything."
"Hmm... it looks fluffy, I'd love to play in it sometime!" Rika exclaimed, excited. Meanwhile, Satoko was busy looking at the other pictures, and stopped when she saw Hotland.
"What in the world is this? Is that lava!?" She asked, in disbelief.
"That's Hotland." Chara said, looking over her shoulder. "Evidently, the Underground had a volcano forming under it and some people decided to move in there. No idea why, it was way too hot for me."
"Wait, all of these places are a part of the Underground, right?" Satoko asked. "How can it be cold enough to snow in one area while there's a volcano in another?"
"That's the best part about the Underground, there's something for everyone there. Hot, cold, wet, dry, light, dark... you name it, it's there." I explained.
"Sounds like a lot of fun. Can you take us there one day?" Rika asked me, tilting her head.
"It's pretty far away from here, but I'll see what I can do." I'm not sure about that at all, actually. It's one thing for me to come here, but another for Rika to come back with me. If Rika wants to see the Underground, it'll have to be before the barrier was broken, but how do I do that? The only way for me to go back is to re-load my SAVE point, but that'll undo everything that's happened here, and I don't want that. I may never find my way back here, which means I'll never meet Rika. I'm not taking that risk.
"We're here." Chara said, causing me to look up. There was an enormous set of stone stairs that led to a fancy building with decorations on it.
"This is the Furude Shrine. My house is just over there." Rika pointed to a small building with a big metal folding door on it. We walked in through a regular door on the side and Rika shut the door behind us.
"So, what do you think? Is it too cramped for you?" Rika asked us. In truth, the house was pretty small, with every room having a doorway that led to the living room where we stood. The living room itself was mostly empty except for a few decorations and two mats with a pillow and blanket, where Rika and Satoko slept. The kitchen had a fridge, sink, counter, and a few cupboards. The bathroom had a tub, toilet, sink, and mirror. There wasn't any air conditioning, so the window in the living room was left open to let the late night breeze cool the house.
"It's a little smaller than the last house I stayed in," I said, after seeing how close everything was. "But I don't mind. Thanks again for letting us stay here."
"You're welcome. If there is anything Satoko and I can do to make you feel more comfortable, please let us know."
"Ok. I have some things I need to talk to Chara about, so we'll be back in a second, ok?" Rika nodded.
"Ok, see you soon." Rika said, waving before Chara and I walked outside.
"So..." Chara began, folding her arms. "You've waited all day for this. Do you think you can handle the truth?"
To say that I was surprised was an understatement. What Chara had told me when I asked her who she was and how she knew me made me look at her in a totally different light. I first asked her if she was the same person that Asriel had mentioned by name in the video tapes from the True Lab, and she said yes. When I had calmed down enough after learning that the person in front of me rose from the dead, I asked Chara how she knew me when I never met her before. Chara had been with me from the very beginning of my journey through the Underground — and I didn't even realize it. When I had fallen into the Ruins for the first time all those resets ago, the flowerbed I landed on was her burial place. Chara explained that when Toriel left for the Ruins, she had taken her body and buried it under the flowerbed as a more fitting place to rest instead of the coffin in New Home where she was originally. Chara then said that me falling on it woke her soul from its sleep, and after feeling the emotions coming from my own soul, she latched onto me and stayed with me, watching me make friends with everyone as I moved throughout the Underground. Chara said that after feeling the compassion that I had felt for everyone, she had become interested in seeing how I would handle the barrier, as she had come up with a plan to break it when she was still alive. When I asked her what her plan was, she said:
"First, I would eat buttercups until I became sick and died. Then Asriel, already informed of my plan, would merge with my soul and we would cross the barrier together. After arriving at the nearest village, we would use our combined strength to kill six humans and take their souls. Then, we would go back to the barrier and use the power of the souls we had collected to destroy the barrier and set everyone free."
"That was your plan?" I asked, stunned. "You were going to kill people... to free everyone?" Chara looked away, not wanting to look me in the eye. "That's wrong, Chara! You can't just go around killing people!"
"What would you have done, then?" Chara asked. "We needed human souls to break the barrier. Did you think that they would just hand them over to us?"
"..."
"Exactly. Do you remember the five other kids that fell down? If Asgore hadn't ordered that all humans be killed when they arrived, then Asriel wouldn't have been able to absorb their souls to destroy the barrier. All of us would still be trapped underground."
"What are you trying to say?" I asked, afraid of what I was about to hear.
"What I'm trying to say," Chara began. "Is that your idea of a perfect world without suffering is foolish. People will always be hurt no matter what, and there's no changing that. You may not have harmed anyone during your stay in the Underground, but you did take advantage of the deaths of five innocent children in order to help set everyone free."
I was speechless. I wanted to say something, anything to try to prove that Chara was wrong. But I couldn't, because she was right about everything. The barrier could not be broken without human souls, and they would never give them up willingly. Even if they did, they would die without them — or worse. Five other kids had fallen into the Underground and had their souls taken, which was the only reason why Asriel was able to break the barrier. With the power of the five human souls, all he needed to do was absorb most of the other monsters' souls to equal the power of a sixth one, then he could set everyone free.
In order for the barrier to be broken, people had to die. Chara had simply found the quickest and easiest way to do it.
"But... people shouldn't have to die! Why did it have to be that way?" I asked, trying to hold back tears.
"The situation was out of our control, and the awful people who sealed everyone underground are responsible for it." Chara said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "But, I'm glad that you stuck to your principles, actually."
"Really?" I said, rubbing my eyes.
"Yes. It's why I decided to follow you around in the Underground, and why I'm here now. You're the most kind person I've ever met, and I really wanted to show myself to you back then, but I was worried about how you'd react to seeing me."
"So," I asked. "Why are you here now? What made you decide to come with me?"
"Well," Chara began. "When I saw that you were about to use that skeleton's machine, I was scared that it might not work the way you thought it did. I was afraid that if it did take you somewhere new that you wouldn't be able to come back. So, with every last ounce of strength I had, I used my determination to reform my body and grab on to you. Unfortunately, I had several abilities that I seem to have lost now that I'm corporeal. I might still be able to remember things from other timelines, but there's no way to test that without you re-loading a save or resetting the world."
"Wait, you remember the other timelines? You know everything that happened?" I asked, amazed. I thought only Flowey and I could remember!
"Yes, I remember. That reminds me, why did you keep resetting after you freed everyone? I figured that you would've stopped after you made it back to the surface."
"I didn't want to leave the Underground behind," I said, a warm feeling coming over me. "I had so much fun there, I made so many friends... I couldn't let it go."
"You had nostalgia and homesickness for a place that you loved." Chara said as I nodded.
"Yeah. But I realized that by resetting every time, I was keeping everyone trapped in the Underground. So I decided that I was going to leave for good so that the monsters could be free. I had something that I wanted to do first though, which is why we're here."
"Do you plan on going back?" Chara asked, taking me by surprise.
"Well, I don't know. I mean, I had Sans take over for me as negotiator before I left, but that was only supposed to be for a little while. I had no idea that I'd be exploring another world like this."
"Well, here's another question. What if you don't want to go back? What if you decide to stay here for some reason? Did you ever think about that?" Chara asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Then... I guess I'll just deal with it then. I mean, if I'm staying then the monsters can be free since I won't be resetting the world anymore, and I made a SAVE point I can re-load in case anything goes wrong here. So it doesn't matter either way, really."
"If that's how you feel, then I trust your judgement. I don't care about anything else as long as you're here with me. I don't want to be alone again, especially not in a world that I know nothing about." Chara said as she shivered, holding herself tight.
"If you're feeling cold, then let's go back inside and get some sleep. I've heard everything I wanted to hear." I said, putting a hand on Chara's shoulder. She smiled as she hugged me.
"You're warm... Can I sleep with you tonight?" She asked.
"Sure. Let's go." We walked back into Rika's house and shut the door behind us. Rika and Satoko had tidied up the house a little while we were out, and were getting ready for bed.
"You're back!" Rika said, smiling happily. "You were gone for a long time. What were you talking about?"
"Nothing much, just personal things." I replied. "Are you ready for bed yet?" Rika nodded.
"Satoko and I were just waiting for you."
"Wait," Satoko said, noticing a problem. "There's only two pillows and two blankets, and they're ours. Where are they supposed to sleep?"
"How about we all share?" I suggested. Both girls blushed, so I decided to clear things up. "Chara and I already agreed to sleep together, so you girls can sleep on one side while we sleep on the other. Is that ok?"
"That seems reasonable. I wouldn't want my friends to sleep on the hard floor." Rika said, agreeing.
"You two agreed to sleep together? B-but..." Satoko froze for a while, trying to come up with words. "Boys and girls don't sleep together! Not until they're older, and a couple!"
"It's not like what you're thinking." Chara explained. "I asked to sleep with Frisk so that I wouldn't be cold. That's all." Satoko narrowed her eyes before grinning.
"Sure it is... And Rika talks about Frisk-san all the time because she thinks his clothes are weird..."
"Is that true, Rika? Are my clothes that strange to you?" I asked.
"No, that's not true at all, sir!" Rika said, shaking her head and waving her arms frantically. "Your clothes are perfectly fine, nothing wrong!" Huh, there's mixed messages going on here...
"She's just teasing you." Chara said, turning to me. "I've seen the way she acts around Keiichi. Believe me, he has it way worse." So Satoko is just messing with me. Well, I hope her idea of jokes are harmless like Sans'. Though I don't think he made fun of someone indirectly like that, so Satoko might be craftier than him.
"Heh, is that so? Well, an old friend of mine taught me a thing or two about pranks. I bet I can get you back." I said. The grin on Satoko's face became even wider.
"Ohhohoho! Don't be so sure about that, I'm known as the Trapmaster for a reason. You'll never get me!" I grinned back at her.
"I already have something in mind. Don't bother looking, you'll never see it coming."
"We'll see about that. I won't let my title be stolen by the likes of you!" After going back and forth for a while, we eventually got tired and settled down. Chara and I shared one side of the pillows and blankets, while Rika and Satoko had the other. The way we laid down meant that I was in the middle, with Chara on my left and Rika on the right. Satoko tried to get us to rearrange, but Rika wouldn't let her for some reason. As everyone fell asleep, I found myself to be the last one awake as I thought about how I was going to get Satoko to fall for my prank. Just as I was about to sleep, Rika opened her eyes and looked at me.
"Frisk?" She whispered.
"Yes?"
"Can you... hold me, please?" She must be cold too, I guess.
"Sure, come here." I said, opening my arms. Rika wrapped herself around me before resting her head beneath mine. After making some happy sounds for a moment, she fell asleep in my arms.
'That's strange, she doesn't feel cold to me...' I thought, before closing my eyes.
A/N: I made a promise that we'd be getting longer chapters from here on, so here we go. This one's roughly twice as long as the previous entries, which unfortunately for me means it took twice as long as usual to write. :/ I had the events planned out the way I wanted them to go, but it took some time to get them to flow the way I wanted them to. I find that while many fanfics that I've read have some very cool ideas, the authors sometimes rush ahead with the plot a little too quickly. There's a fine line between going too fast and too slow, and most of the time that I spent writing this chapter was actually used to pad out the sequence of events to make sure everything was running smoothly. Once the story gets into proper canon with Higurashi next chapter, things will get going much better since I'm familiar with the series. Frisk and Chara's presence within the setting will affect what happens, but not until they actually realize just how horrifically messed up Hinamizawa is beneath the surface.
P.S. I added a poem to the beginning of chapter 1. Higurashi had poems at the end of the various arcs, usually detailing the view of what happened from an outside perspective. These were written in free-verse, meaning that they had no rhyme or reason in terms of style. I will be adding poems at the beginning and end of each story arc so that it will be easy to tell when they start and end. For my poems, I have decided to go with the Shakespearean sonnet style, as it forces you to come up with some interesting rhyming schemes to keep them flowing. I used to write poetry a lot during my free time, so hopefully my skills haven't gotten rusty in the years past.
See you soon!