A week passed and luckily Rika quickly recovered from the shock.I've been stabbed with daggers and all kinds of tools for a hundred years. Period blood is nothing!She thought.I'll get used to this too.

Before long, the summer holidays were over, and unlike the Western world, a new school year was not starting but continuing in Japan. The school year changed every April when the cherry blossoms made their spectacular appearance.

Rika already had plans for the rest of the school year. There was a luxurious High School in Okinomiya called St Lucia and wanted to study there for a long time. For that reason, she had to take the necessary actions so that with her good grades she'll get would be accepted. As much as she loved Hinamizawa, that humble little village, she couldn't stand the memories it had caused.

She hated there was divine blood in her family. She hated there was this legend, this tradition of the god Oyashiro. According to it, if generations continued to be born a first-born girl, the eighth generation would become the reincarnation of the god Oyashiro. She was the reincarnation of this god, and she had to suffer all this for a divine century! But at the same time, she felt guilty feeling this way, so she thought it would be best to forget what happened even for a little bit. To move away for a while from her familiar environment in order to find her identity elsewhere. She didn't know who she was. But she certainly didn't want to be just the reincarnation of a god!

As for the new functions of her body, she thought she had them under control, especially with Hanyuu's help since it was a brand experience for her. But that was until she entered the 7th grade.

It was June of 1985 and she was going to Okinomiya with Satoko to buy new clothes and swimwear. Not only were their bodies growing, but the weather had warmed up enough for them to start their first baths in the sea and pool. —Hinamizawa didn't have clothing stores so most of the residents went to Okinomiya—

"Well? What do you think?" Rika asked her friend as she came out of the fitting room. The swimsuit she wore was a turquoise bikini with stars on the bottom and on the breast area. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. At least she didn't have a child's body anymore. Buttocks had formed and breasts had grown considerably compared to the previous year.

"You're so cute Rika!! You've got a model's body!" Satoko hugged her as if she was a stuffed animal. As if she was a puppy who had been dressed up in clothes for a dog beauty pageant. Rika blushed slightly. "Not to the slightest, haha... I'd say I have the average girl's body."

"You do have the average girl's body. I have one too. But what makes it so special is the clothes you wear. Bikinis always suited you because it highlights your femininity. And your hips got wider and sexier than last year! I mean... It does look like you've grown into a young miss! Just don't let your breasts get any bigger and you take the boys away from me."

Both girls giggled at Satoko's joke and she waited for Rika to change while paying for their swimsuits. Soon, her eyes fell on two familiar faces for both Satoko and Rika. It was a woman in her late twenties with a little girl next to her around six.

"Well, well if it isn't Satoko, Rika's roommate!" Satoko was embarrassed to tell the woman she couldn't remember her, so she simply greeted her with an Asian bow.

"Is Rika with you or you're by yourself?"

"Yes, we came to buy new swimsuits as the previous ones don't fit us anymore."

"Makes sense. You're growing up after all."

Rika hearing the conversation rushed to get dressed out of curiosity to see who Satoko was talking to. As soon as she came out of the dressing room she immediately realized it was the wife of her good friend and "partner in crime" Akasaka, and their daughter Miyuki. Her name was after her mother's name Yuki.

"Say hello to the girls, Miyuki. They're our friends!" Yuki said to her daughter. The little girl waved shyly without speaking. They found this move cute since she was still an infant, so they giggled.

"How nice to see you girls, especially Rika! You've become a beautiful young miss!" Yuki praised.

"Thank you..." she bashfully accepted the compliment.

"I don't know what your plans are, but I was thinking of going to the pool of Okinomiya with Akasaka and Miyuki this afternoon. If you want you can come, or even invite the rest of your friends. Not trying to put pressure on you, just want you to know that you're always welcome in our family. We owe it to every one of you, especially to little Rika! If it wasn't you, my husband wouldn't have saved me, and probably both my daughter and I would have been under the ground for eternity."

She laughed to herself at the last sentence but the girls didn't. She didn't mind though. She knew black humour jokes were not much to their taste anyway.

"I agree," Satoko replied. "We don't have anything to do in particular this afternoon, do we Rika?"

"I don't think so," said Rika in turn. "we're free from obligations, except for some final tests we'll need to study for next week."

"Would you mind explaining it a little bit, sweetie? Are you taking the tests next week or you'll start studying for them next week?'' she asked trying to confirm the girl's words.

"The tests begin in one month. Next week we'll start the official study."

"Your mind has been stuck with studying, Rika! It's summer already! And in the summer, fun is always a must!"

"You're right, Satoko, but we can't do much when we're still students, especially in 7th grade."

"Anyway, are you coming? Just so I know."

"We will!" the girls replied in unison.

The girls still didn't know if the rest of the group would actually come, but just by thinking about it, they already felt summer coming into their lives for good. It was their favourite season after all.

*

*

"Pirate, bring back our ball!"

"If you want it back you'll have to beat me in a swimming race!"

In the end, the girls were right. Keiichi, Rena, Mion and Shion came to the pool to play together. Even Keiichi's little friends Tomita and Okamura were in the pool. He saw them by chance since they had come with their parents. So, they decided to divide boys and girls into two groups. The boys pretended to be pirates and the girls played with Rena's plastic ball while pretending to be mermaids. The one who had proposed a swimming race was Keiichi to Rena. And of course, all girls accepted. How else would they raise the feast?

Okinomiya's pool was the largest in the prefecture. The inhabitants of the local communities went there to bathe as soon as it opened around May 30th, depending on the weather conditions. With a children's pool and a larger and deeper one with water slides, the customers could relax on their vacation.

On that day, Michael Jackson's last hit was playing in the hall, as well as Madonna's. The ultimate 80's ambience. The visitors were definitely over sixty, but that didn't bother the kids. Besides, the pool was so big it could cover an entire field.

Surprisingly, the children had arrived earlier than Akasaka's family, so they arrived fifteen minutes later. They hadn't given a specific time to meet but the girls had in mind to get there by 7 pm. They weren't impressed by that either.

Yuki entered the pool first with her daughter after finding a table to put on the bag of towels and clothes. Akasaka didn't go in right away, since he had forgotten to put his swimming suit on at home. Thus, decided to relax a bit before entering the chlorine. Pools weren't much of his interest anyway. Not that he didn't like them, he just preferred the sea more since it's a part of nature.

At one point, Rika turned her head to look at him but he wasn't sitting at the table. Maybe he had gone to the bathroom. Would he dive into the pool? She had never seen his body, but she didn't care. She was too young for something like that. The twins who were eighteen years old could be interested in male bodies. It was normal for them. As for Rena, she had never heard her refer to naked male bodies, so she thought that only those who reached the age of eighteen could have their first sexual fantasy. It wasn't part of her personality anyway. Akasaka was just her friend and it was enough. He was like a big brother to her. How could she be seeing him sexually? He was also married!

She had once heard from her parents when they were still alive, that according to tradition of the family, women should not have sexual fantasies before marriage, because she should be faithful only to her husband. Even if her fantasies didn't come true, the only man she should be thinking about having sex with is her husband, otherwise, it's cheating. It doesn't matter she doesn't know him yet. She'll certainly get married in the future.Our ancestors were more experienced than us, so, of course, they'd know better,she thought.

"Guys, hope am not late. I could join your game too, if possible. Unless you're done." Akasaka said as he dived into the pool from the diving board.

"That's dangerous, love! You could have injured yourself!" his wife worried.

"You're acting like my mother, Yuki! I'm thirty-one years old, not sixty! It's not that my teeth will fall out of my mouth!"

"Right on time, Mr. Akasaka for the second round!" Keiichi announced.

"Just call me by my name. No more formalities! We're no longer strangers to each other anyway. To you am Mamoru."

Rika stared at him unconsciously. She didn't know policemen had such fit bodies.—Except Oishi, of course, who wasn't that athletic.— He didn't have abs, but his arms indicated he was working out quite a lot. A large blue vein could be seen from the beginnings of his hands. He had transparent skin too... Such skin indicated eternal beauty. Oh, how she wished she could touch it! And his hair... It was wet from the dips, but with each of them, looked longer even if it was short. If he let them grow long enough he could tie them into a ponytail. Then it would fit him so much! The few fringes he had stuck to his forehead. Is this how his hair gets when he washes it? Probably... And his black eyes looked so impressive with the drops of water on them. As if he was a model in a magazine! With whom he was married? Yuki. What a lucky woman to have such a man by her side! Holy shit! Is this... Akasaka? For real?! she thought. She noticed the others playing volleyball with him. As soon as it was his turn to throw the ball to the opposing team, his chest hit it. And quite strong indeed. Even Keiichi admired his athletic skills.

What was his name, again? Mamoru. It means «to protect» in Japanese. He truly looked like a knight who would protect his beloved from any misfortune. Well... That's what he did last year: He protected Rika from Takano, the Yamainus, the whole prison tragedy of 1983. What does it matter if they had eighteen years apart? If he ever had a divorce with Yuki it would be Rika's chance to find a place in his heart. But... Would he ever see her as a woman? Not with a chest like that anyway. She looked at it to determine its size. It definitely showed the cusp of puberty, but it looked nothing like Rena's plastic ball.

The longer Rika looked at him, the more her cheeks turned to rosy red colour. Although didn't realize it, her heartbeat was increasing rapidly, as was her breathing. As if both organs liked Akasaka and not just Rika. Let him break up with Yuki as soon as she turned twenty!

A light hit from a ball landed on her forehead. She looked around as if had just woken up from a dream.

"What happened to you Rika? We've been talking to you for so long! Are you deaf?" Keiichi teased her. "We asked if you're going to continue the game with us." She didn't answer right away. Rena approached her.

"Are you tired? Maybe not feeling well?" she worried.

"Am... fine. Thanks. I was just looking around Okinomiya outside the pool. Nipah..."

Satoko gestured with her hands to Rena to approach her. The older girl leaned towards Satoko to let her whisper to her ear.

"Ignore her. She's fine. These moments are usual since she's the reincarnation of the God Oyashiro. Occasionally, her gaze is lost as if escaping from reality. There's divine blood in her family, so try to understand."

"Of course I understand! We're friends! It would be an alas if we didn't open our hearts to each other!"

Eventually, Rika got out of the water, put on her flip-flops and went to pool showers. Fortunately, they were empty. At least for now. She sat with her knees drawn to her chest so that she could better reflect on everything that had just happened. Her heart was still pounding fast. Maybe because she hurried to the showers. Maybe because of Akasaka. Did this have to be done? It wasn't her choice, she didn't control it, and yet she reacted in an unusual way when she saw Akasaka in his swimsuit. Was that a sin? Could she control her body and not leave it to his lust? She wasn't married, yet she thought of various romantic scenarios with Akasaka, a married man on top of that! What God Oyashiro punished her? Ideally, no one would ever find out and she would keep it to herself. She wouldn't even tell Hanyuu. At worst she would be followed by the rumour she's cheating on her future husband, and that she's ruining her future marriage. But... She didn't even know if she would get married! She wanted to marry Akasaka, just after he divorced Yuki, so... It counts. Right? What if it's like the red peony blooming every month? It may be so. Every month she'll see a man in her path, her entire body will block as well as the internal organs.

If I keep it a secret no one will find out. And if Hanyuu asks me, since my own senses are connected to her body, I'll simply tell her we had a swimming race. She can't see my thoughts, so am safe. Thank God...she thought while sighing deeply.