Helping Ai and Sentarou

Reina was glad the voice answered her wish to let her go back to Ai's childhood time to help her. She was going to make Ai live a long, normal, happy life. When she got nearer to the village she saw Ai and Sentarou playing; Ai was seven years old now. "Good it isn't time for Ai to be sacrificed to the mountain yet, so I have plenty of time to sort out a plan to help out Ai and Sentarou" said Reina. She decided to try out her powers. 'I wish to transform into my fourteen year old self' she thought. Just like magic Reina turned into her fourteen year old self. She then asked for a mirror, which appeared at once and Reina took a good look in the mirror. "Wow it really works" she said. It was the power of thought that made her magic happen. "Well time to get started". Her first plan was be undercover as Ai and Sentarou's friend. (She has the same Memory Manipulation powers like Ai and her companions had in the anime)

Reina walked over to Ai and Sentarou. "Hi Ai and Sentarou" she called out. "Hey Reina" said Sentarou. Thanks to Reina's powers, Ai and Sentarou really did think Reina was their friend. Just then Reina noticed Sentarou had some bruising on his face. "What happened to you?" she asked him "don't tell me it was Koukichi and his friends again?" She remembered them from the anime as the bullies who treated Ai the worst. Ai spoke up and explained about the four boys bullying her for bringing a dead butterfly back. "The butterfly wasn't even dead" she said, sadly. Reina remembered the villagers treated Ai unkindly because they thought she was an evil spirit. She went over to Ai and hugged her for comfort. "You're not an evil spirit Ai, you are just misunderstood by those idiots" she said. "That's what I say" said Sentarou. Ai felt happy having Sentarou and Reina as her friends. Reina felt more determined to save Ai and Sentarou more than ever.

It wasn't long till it was time for Ai to be sacrificed to the mountain so the village would get a good harvest for the next seven years. Reina hated watching this ceremony; to her this was just simply murder. She decided to come up with plans to not only save Ai, but stop the villagers from doing this horrible tradition of sacrificing seven year old girls. This was going to be a long job for Reina's first quest.

After Ai was sent up to the mountains, Reina had a secret talk with Ai's parents and Sentarou. She told them she would also help keep Ai alive by bringing her food and other things. "It will be too risky if you keep on going into the mountains alone at night Sentarou; not to mention your father may get suspicious and so will Koukichi and his friends" said Reina. Sentarou understood, especially since he knew how loyal his father was to the village. He also didn't want Koukichi and his friends to know about this because they would tattletale about Ai to the villagers. "Thank you for agreeing to help us Reina" said Ai's father. Ai's mother thanked her too. Reina could see how much Ai's parents loved her and they were willing to do anything to save their daughter from death, even though they feared the anger of the mountain god. So Sentarou and Reina agreed to take turns of taking food and clothing up to Ai at night time, in secret.

The months passed. Like in the anime the village's rice fields got flooded by too much rain, and now it was the time when not much rain would come at all. This was where Reina was putting her first plan into action. The plan was every night; Reina would water the rice fields with her magic. Therefore the rice fields were saved from drying up due to lack of water. The villagers found it weird though; finding their rice fields still watered despite the hot dry days. "This seems strange don't you think?" said a male villager. "You're right;" said another male villager "it hasn't rained for ages but somehow the fields show no sign of going dry. It's almost as if something or someone is keeping our fields watered". "Maybe it's the mountain god's doing" said another male villager. With Reina keeping all the rice fields watered, the rice crops were growing well and the villagers weren't in a panic this time.

Over the next six years Reina continued to help Ai by bringing her food, and continued to keep the rice fields watered. There were times when she had to leave the village because there was something she needed to do. (This something is to do with the next chapter, so I won't explain it now) Over the six years though, the villagers found it all strange how the rice crops were doing so well despite the lack of rain they had been getting for the past six years. Some villagers believed it was the mountain god's doing, some believed it was a miracle, but some thought it was spirits at work. This started to make Reina worried the villagers would start to act suspicious of what's going on. The most worry was Reina started to hear the villagers say that some of them had seen Sentarou sneak off to the mountains at night. (They hadn't seen Reina because she had secretly used her teleportation magic to visit Ai) 'It's time I warn Sentarou and tell him to get Ai out of this village now' she thought.

One day Reina had a secret talk with Sentarou by the stream where Ai and Sentarou liked to play at. "Listen to me Sentarou," she said "rumours about you being seen walking off to the mountains alone at night, have just started spreading around the village". "Oh no" said Sentarou, worriedly. "You have to get Ai out of here as quickly as possible or the villagers will find out she's still alive and kill her and her parents" said Reina. "I'll leave the village with her tomorrow night" said Sentarou. "I'll go visit Ai tonight Sentarou," said Reina "you tell Ai's parents about what's going on and I'll tell Ai". "Okay" agreed Sentarou.

That night Reina met up with Ai at her secret hiding place and told her about the rumours and Sentarou's plan to get out of the village with her tomorrow night. "I'm scared," said Ai, worriedly, "I've been scared these last six years the villagers will find out I'm still alive and kill me for good". Reina pulled Ai into a hug to comfort her. "I swear Ai, Sentarou and I will not let that happen" she said. Ai started to cry from the comfort. "I only just want to live my life like the other villagers" she said, tearfully. "You will Ai, I'll make sure of that," said Reina "once you and Sentarou leave this village you will live your life with him somewhere else where the cruel villagers will not see you". Ai was happy to have a good friend like Reina.

Suddenly Reina sensed someone was coming up the mountains and it wasn't Sentarou. "Ai get back into the shrine and don't come out someone's coming up the mountains" she said. Ai did what she was told and Reina went to see what the noise was. It was a good thing too, because Koukichi and his friends were coming up the mountains. 'They must have heard the rumours and decided to see why Sentarou was coming up here,' she thought 'time to scare them'. She started using her magic and created an illusion of some skeletons of seven year old girls; this was to scare the boys out of the mountains to prevent them from seeing Ai. Reina also created an illusion skeleton of Ai when she was seven years old.

Koukichi and his friends were getting near towards the shrine. "Do you think Sentarou has been coming up here?" asked one of the friends. "Why would he anyway because that evil witch Ai is dead up here" said another friend. "That's what we are here to find out" said Koukichi. Suddenly they heard some moaning noises. "What's that?" asked one of his friends. "Hey look there" said another friend. The boys suddenly saw the skeletons walking towards them and they freaked out. Koukichi threw a rock at the skeleton of Ai, but the rock went through it; obviously because it's an illusion. "Ai has cursed us!" shouted Koukichi. He and the other boys ran back to the village, screaming in fright. Reina couldn't help smirking and laughing in triumph from watching the boys run away in fright, thanks to her illusion.

Reina went back to Ai. "I heard screaming," said Ai "what happened?" "That was Koukichi and his friends," said Reina "I don't know what happened but they suddenly ran away as if they just saw some ghosts". Reina didn't tell Ai the truth because she wouldn't have believed her. "I need to get back to the village now Ai, just in case something else has happened, stay here and don;t come out no matter what". Ai understood.

Meanwhile, Koukichi and his friends were back in the village and they told the villagers what had happened. "What?" said Koukichi's father "you're saying you saw the spirits of Ai and other little girls?" "That's right," said Koukichi "we saw them walking about in the mountains". The villagers were surprised to hear that. "That must mean we are being cursed by them" said a male villager. "That wouldn't surprise me one bit" said a voice. The voice came from Reina, who just came back to the village. "As you lot sacrificed your own children by making them die from starvation, no wonder those poor little girls' spirits are wondering around in the mountains. Even if this was an important ritual for the village's sake, those girls still didn't want to die at all. That's why the spirits of the girls are still around; they hate you for what you did to them. That includes Ai; she hated all of you for treating her like she was an evil spirit, and she especially hated you Koukichi for bullying her all the time". The villagers, including Koukichi, flinched with what Reina just said. Scaring the villagers with believes they were being threatened by the spirits of the girls they had sacrificed over the years, was another part of Reina's plan.

The next day the villagers couldn't stop talking about what happened last night. The village headman was talking to the village priest about it. The village priest looked thoughtful. "I will pray tonight for all the seven year old girls to rest in peace;" he said "hopefully that should put their spirits at ease". The village headman agreed. What they didn't know was Reina had been secretly listening to them. 'If they think just praying to them is enough to put me at ease, then they are so wrong' she thought. She had another plan to scare the villagers.

Meanwhile Sentarou was talking to Ai's parents; he told them he was going to run away with Ai from the village tonight. "Reina believes it's too risky for Ai to stay here and I agree with her, and it's not fair to Ai to keep living in secret like this" said Sentarou. "I agree," said Ai's father "not to mention with these talks about spirits of girls roaming around the mountain, they may find Ai still alive in the mountains, and I dread to think what they will do to us for breaking the rules". "Please take Ai away from here and protect her like always" pleaded Ai's mother. It was finally decided; Sentarou will run away with Ai tonight.

That night, when the villagers were all asleep, Sentarou quietly got ready to leave the village. He gathered up a coat, a straw hat and a bag of things. While he was doing that he looked at his father, who was fast asleep, and made sure he didn't wake him up. 'I'm sorry for leaving you father, but please understand and farewell' he thought. After putting on some shoes, Sentarou left the house for the mountains.

Right now Ai's parents had made their way into the mountains to see their daughter, with Reina. Ai's mother was carrying a coat and straw hat, and Ai's father was carrying a bag of things for Ai. Reina kept a watch out, in case anyone had been following and watching them. It wasn't long till they met up with Ai. Ai's parents hugged Ai and Ai was happy to see them again. "We have come to say goodbye to you Ai" said Ai's mother. "I'm afraid you're mother and I cannot come with you and Sentarou, Ai," said Ai's father "we fear that if we leave here, the villagers may come to realize what we've done for these past six years". "We will pray for your safety and happiness everyday Ai, and meet up with you again in heaven" said Ai's mother. Ai felt sad because she won't be seeing her parents again, but she understood they were doing this to save her life out of love for her.

At that moment Sentarou turned up, all ready to leave with Ai. "Sentarou we are leaving our daughter in your hands" said Ai's father. "I promise you Aunt and Uncle;" said Sentarou "I will make Ai happy and protect her forever". "Thank you" said Ai's mother. "Ai, Sentarou;" said Reina "you need to make haste and leave now before anyone from the village comes up here". Sentarou and Ai thanked Reina with all their hearts for helping them. Reina gave a bag filled with money to Sentarou; she created this from her magic sack. "This money I've saved for you will help you settle down somewhere and whatever happens you must never come back here ever" she said. Sentarou understood. Ai and Sentarou gave Ai's parents tearful hugs and goodbyes one last time, and then they ran off together to leave the village.

Ai's parents felt sad because they were never going to see their daughter again. "Don't worry, the gods will protect them, I know they will" said Reina. "Thank you Reina" said Ai's mother. "We better get back to the village, before anyone sees us" said Ai's father. Ai's parents soon made their way back to their hut in the village; they were not going to get a good night's sleep after losing their daughter, but they knew she was now safe for good this time. Reina was happy she saved Ai and Sentarou, but her task was not over yet.

The next day, Sentarou's father was in a panic. He woke up to see his son was gone and he couldn't find him anywhere. No one in the village knew where Sentarou was either; Ai's parents also pretended to know they didn't know where Sentarou was, even though that was a lie. Reina walked up to Sentarou's father to talk to him. She remembered how he betrayed Ai and Sentarou in the anime, all because of his loyalty and fear of the village. To her it was a good thing Sentarou didn't tell his father he was helping Ai stay alive; Sentarou's father was someone who could never be trusted, especially as he betrayed them in the anime. She decided to give him a serious talking to make him feel guilty for the rest of his life. "Did something happen between you and Sentarou sir?" asked Reina. Sentarou's father sighed. "Well I know Sentarou hadn't been the same ever since Ai was sacrificed to the mountain god," he said "so I allowed him to mourn for her because I know how much he meant to her. But during the six years I noticed how you and Sentarou always met up a lot, Reina. So some time ago I told Sentarou to forget about Ai now and move along with you. As you had been a good friend to my son over the years I had hoped you could marry Sentarou and help him forget about Ai now. I was doing it for his own good to make him understand". Reina couldn't believe her ears; she can't marry anyone because she was immortal. "What happened when you said that to Sentarou?" asked Reina. The father sighed. "He got mad at me and said I didn't understand his feelings at all," he answered "he also said that even if he did marry someone else he would only love Ai". Reina shook her head in disbelief; Sentarou's father didn't understand at all in her opinion. (I don't know if Sentarou's father knew about Ai still being alive in the mountains, before the betrayal, so I'm just making it up here) "That sir is the reason why Sentarou ran away from this village and you", she said, firmly, "he had always hated how the villagers treated Ai and of course none of them have any remorse for what they did to her, especially Koukichi and his friends. They still think of her as an evil spirit and they have no guilt for bullying her. And now you had just told Sentarou to forget about Ai and move on quickly all because her sacrifice was all for the good of the village. I'm sorry to say this to you sir, but not understanding Sentarou's feelings had caused him to leave you because of his hurt feelings. Your loyalty to this village had cost you, not only your own niece, but your own son too. And there's nothing you can do about that". Sentarou's father flinched sadly at this, knowing Reina was right. "The only thing you can do now sir is if you ever do see your son again, you will have to apologize to him and admit you were wrong" said Reina. Sentarou's father nodded sadly. It wasn't going to be easy for him from now on since he has lost Sentarou, but he bought it upon himself and would have to live with this guilt for the rest of his life.

When the villagers, especially Koukichi and his friends, heard about Sentarou's run away, they didn't care at all. They still thought Ai was an evil spirit, who shouldn't have been born in the first place, and they still didn't understand why Sentarou cared about her. No one felt remorse how they treated Ai, and they didn't care what would happen to Sentarou now. Koukichi and his friends thought it was pathetic of Sentarou running awy from the village all because he missed Ai. Even Koukichi and his friends thought good riddance they were both gone. To Reina, the villagers really were barbaric; and it was a good thing the villagers didn't figure it out that Ai had been alive all this time.

That night when the whole village was asleep, Reina got ready to give the villagers one final threat. She gave them, except Ai's parents, horrifying nightmares about being killed by the spirits of the girls they had sacrificed with fire. This idea was from the anime when Ai killed the villagers after they murdered her and her parents. All night long Reina heard the villagers screaming and crying because of the nightmares she gave them.

The next day the villagers went up to the village headman and priest. Because of all the nightmares they had, they wanted to know what should be done. The headman and priest had the same nightmares too and they had no idea what to do. "There is something what you villagers should do" said a voice. It was Reina. "As I said to you the other day, the spirits of the girls you sacrificed are angry for what you did, and that's why they haunted you in your dreams this time. If you want all this haunting to stop the only thing you should do is build a temple to honor and pray for the children you sacrificed and apologize to them for what you did. Another thing is stop this sacrificing children ritual; the reason why they are not at rest is because of this murderous tradition". "But we have to do this because it will please the mountain god," said the village priest "without it this village is done for without the mountain god's help". Reina didn't believe the mountain god accepted sacrificed children one bit. "You've got two choices;" said Reina "you either stop this tradition and build a temple to apologize to the dead girls, or continue the tradition and get haunted by the dead girls forever". The villagers flinched from hearing those words; this was something the villagers really had to think about and soon.

Reina continued giving the villagers the same nightmares for the next three nights, until the villagers, including the headman and priest, finally agreed to build a temple to put the spirits of the dead children to rest, and stop the tradition of sacrificing seven year old girls. They clearly didn't want to be haunted by the dead children forever. As for Koukichi and his friends, they were pressured by their fathers to apologize to Ai whether they liked it or not after the temple would be build, and the boys, having no choice, agreed to apologize to Ai for how they treated her; although they would do it half- heartedly. As for Ai's parents; they kept their heads low to keep their secret a secret for the rest of their lives, and secretly prayed for Ai's happiness every day. As for Sentarou's father, he prayed for Sentarou's safety and hoped he would forgive him when they met again in heaven.

Now that Ai and Sentarou were save this time and the threats to the villagers were over, Reina decided now it was time for her to leave the village at last. "I'm glad I was able to save Ai and Sentarou and I hope they will be happy together forever. So now Ai won't be suffering the fate as hell girl. So that is one problem down, but I still have a lot more people to sort out". It was true Reina still had millions of people to help because of what happened in the anime hell girl.


I hope you like the changes I made to this chapter; after reading my original chapter I came up with this new idea instead. Sorry for the confusion and I hope you like it. I still hate the villagers for what they did in the anime, and I still believe Sentarou's father wasn't forgiven that easily after he died because he betrayed his own son and niece.