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Quick recap of the last update: Keiichi and his friends were attending a village meeting held to discuss the Watanagashi festival when he was pulled aside and told by Chie-sensei, Ooishi, and Mion to call off the protests. So, he decides to do a little biting back of his own... VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 8 Part 3  BGM: Fearlessness They all knew immediately that I was going to say something about Satoko. ...I guess they weren't just old for show.  I ignored him and continued talking.  "If you have something to say, just tell me directly. Don't go through Mion or Chie-sensei. I don't like it when people are so indirect. Let's talk face to face."Everyone went quiet. Nobody there wanted to be involved in a conversation about the Houjou family.  "Everyone here knows that Satoko Houjou is practically being confined by her uncle and suffering at his hands. Well, I don't care that you're not proactive about helping her. I'm sure that some of you don't want any trouble. ......But we're different. Satoko is our friend. We're fighting as hard as we can to save our friend from danger. However--" "Keiichi-kun. We're aware of all that. All we're saying is that you've done enough to the consultation center by now...!" "Is there a problem if we continue our appeal?" "......Of course there is! It's a big problem, too!!"Someone with a stern voice spoke out to me. ...Heh heh, I had gotten under their skin.  "Then what is the problem? Can you explain it so a child like me can understand?" The subject wasn't even Satoko anymore. All they had to offer was a bunch of excuses. "I'm not asking about your past, and the dam conflict has nothing to do with this! This is my war!! So if you're going to partake in my war, then let's make it clear if you're my enemy or my ally. Which is it?! Are you my allies, or my enemies?!"Mutter mutter mutter mutter!! Listen to the things that come out of this boy's mouth! Young people these days don't know how to be polite! The whole room lit up and started filling with the smell of gunpowder. However, none of my allies let themselves get swept up in the commotion and maintained their harsh stares. Those expressions made me feel as though I had a million supporters behind me. I was standing in front only as their representative. It wasn't my fight alone... This was everyone's fight! Because of that realization, the fierce looks the old people were giving me didn't intimidate me at all.  “The dam conflict is a thing of the past." "I don't care what you thought about that. I'm talking about me, my friends, and Satoko. I never asked you about the dam conflict. Ever thought of getting your ears checked, old man?" "Why, you... How can you talk to your elders like that?! You direspectful little brat!! I'd like to have a word with your parents!!"My dad, standing behind me, gave an apologetic and bitter smile.  "...Pardon me. I'm his father, you see." "You're his father? How could you raise him like this?" "Hahahaha... I guess I'm not a very good parent. ...I'm not sure if I raised Keiichi the way I was supposed to."My dad paused. In the next moment, however, his expression changed to a glare.  “He's only making his assertion, as a man. So I don't think there's really any reason to be talking to me here."Silence filled the room as the old people sat there with their mouths agape. ...Ooishi-san broke that silence with laughter.    “I don't understand the logic of how the dam conflict being over becomes a reason we shouldn't make our appeal to the child consultation center. Would you explain that to us in detail?"Rena's voice remained perfectly level, as though the matter didn't concern her. ...However, I could see the fury in her eyes. I was probably the only one who noticed that fury. The old people seemed like they'd rather deal with her than me. "Reina-chan. This village has no reason to fight with the government now that the dam conflict is over. During that time, we did fight them, true. But after the conflict was over, that's water under the bridge. So our village re-established relations with the government. Hinamizawa is not an individual country. We're just a small village in Japan. The government is taking care of us. That's why we need to try and get along with them." "...You're right. It is important for a village to have a good relationship with the government.""Listen to Reina-chan. She understands us, at least." "Maebara's boy ought to learn from her!" I heard little bits and pieces from the noise of the crowd.  "Exactly, just like Mion-chan said!" The old men cheered. However, Shion was the next to open her mouth.   “The trip itself is mostly paid for with tax money, isn't it? Oh, and I know so many other things.” “Like the donations for the New Year and End of Year parties, as well as the vast financial aid the town council receives for festivities. The upcoming Watanagashi is one of them. The government is putting millions of yen into subsidies and aid. They're the ones who pretty much pay for the whole festival.” “Ever since the conflict ended, the festival has been getting bigger and bigger. That's because we're receiving money from government officials. So if we get in trouble with them, we might not be able to hold a festival next year. That's why Hinamizawa keeps kissing their asses. Isn't that right, Uncle?" "Sh... Shion-chan... How do you know all of that...?!" "Ahaha... I switch places with my sis sometimes..." "...What the hell. That's a ridiculous story! I still don't understand why you're against what we're trying to do. Rena, will you sum this up for me? What are they saying?" The whole room went into a panic after Rena summed it up so simply. Some of them were ashamed that we hit the nail on the head, some of them were enraged by our ignorance, and some of them were simply angry about our disrespectful attitudes. All of them combined to throw the room into a chaos of chattering and stomping.  They all settled down after Kimiyoshi-san raised his voice. By the time they quieted, the mayor had a terrible look on his face. "Keiichi-kun... The relationship between the town council and the government officials has nothing to do with this. You're just sidestepping the issue yourself. There's no point in mixing the two up together!”  “Listen, we won our battle against the dam project, but we're all labeled as a nest of troublemakers. And yes, we were taking advantage of that image during the conflict. However, now that the conflict is over, that image is working against us badly. We need to try and repair it.” ”Otherwise, this village will have no future. Do you understand?! It's not just about being your enemy! It's much deeper than that!" The old people nodded as Mion spoke. They were assuming that Mion was on their side.  "Mii-chan. What do you mean by the 'friendly atmosphere'? Does that mean that we shouldn't seek help for a poor, innocent girl who's being abused?" "They're trying to say that the child consultation center is doing their job already. So they want us to stop interfering.” “Given their position, the officials can't say 'leave us alone' that strongly. So they're asking our village to deal with the matter for them, since they're granting us a lot of subsidies." "Oh, so what you're saying is the town council is the government's lap dog." "Hey you! Watch what you're saying!! Be a little more respectful, why don'cha!" "Why don't you watch what you're saying! I hope you're not refusing to help her just because Satoko is the daughter of the Houjou family!" "That's not it! We're not saying anything about Satoko-chan! We're just telling you to take a look at the bigger picture and show some more restraint in your appeals. The child consultation center isn't ignoring you. I'm sure they've taken your huge protest into account.” “They already understand your point. We're just saying that you're carrying this way too far...!" "...Keiichi-kun. I just saw something really interesting.”  Rena pointed at the wall, and everyone followed the direction of her finger. There were very many different picture frames all over the walls of the assembly hall. They mostly had to do with the dam conflict, and were usually about glorifying the Onigafuchi Guardians. Rena was pointing at a framed article. Kimiyoshi-san wrote it, way back when he was the leader of the Guardians during the dam conflict. "Look at the middle portion there. '......We attempted peaceful negotiation, but the government and their marionette, the president of the electric company, declined. They have trampled on our village's democratic movement and our native land with indescribable atrocities.'" Everyone knew why Rena had brought that up. I could hear them all gulping. "'They attempted to negotiate peacefully with the government and its marionette, the electric company'... What's this? Are you sure they don't mean the Hinamizawa Town Council instead of the electric company?” “Still, 'marionette' is a difficult term. Do you think the people understand what that means? Could someone explain it to me?" "Oh, that sounds like the perfect word to describe Hinamizawa right now." "...Ahahaha, yeah, that is perfect." "What are you saying?! We're not their marionette! We're just trying to cooperate with them! Calling us a puppet is just splitting hairs!!" "But that's what you just stated. You clearly told us that you want us to stop, not because of Satoko, but for the sake of the village! You said there's an issue because the village needs to maintain a friendly relationship with the government! Don't tell me that you didn't say exactly that! You did say it!! Didn't you?!" "Mm, I heard him. He said it had nothing to do with Satoko-chan." "Mion. I thought there was a saying in this village. Something about how the whole village comes together for one villager?"  “If one person is abused, the whole village is abused. We all work together for that one villager. That's the unity of the Guardians. The unity of the Guardians is stronger than rock.' ......That's what their leader said back in the day." ".........Ugh..."Mayor Kimiyoshi used to be the head of the Onigafuchi Guardians. He crossed his arms and started to groan. There were many things he wanted to say, but he knew that none of them would make him look good. And so he continued to stay silent.   “I believe those traditions have been here for over forty years, ever since Japan lost the war!! That's why I really respect those who fostered the unity here since that era, and I find them incredible! And more than anything, I'm impressed by the courage the Onigafuchi Guardians displayed here in this picture frame!!” “The government tried to pull many dirty tricks to submerge this village under the water. But the Guardians thwarted every one of them!! Because of the efforts of those men, Hinamizawa is still here today! If they hadn't done anything, we'd be at the bottom of a lake right now! So I'm grateful that this village still exists, with its proud unity and beautiful scenery! I'm proud to call myself a resident of Hinamizawa!!" "That's drat right!"Someone shouted. It wasn't one of my friends. It was one of the elderly villagers.  “If there are eight, sixteen would fight back. If there's a thousand, the whole village should stand up and fight. If one person is abused, the whole village is abused. Get together for one villager. That's the unity of the Guardians!! Satoko Houjou is one of us!!” “You all know how horrible her uncle is. You all know that we can't leave her alone with him for a whole month!! We need to save her from her uncle right this minute!! We need the power of the Guardians one more time!! We need the spirits of the Guardians to reunite again!!!" I saw smiles creeping across the faces of the old people. However, they quickly wiped away those smiles and started discussing with their neighbors. "Keiichi-kun is right. It's not like Hinamizawa has to obey the government all of the time!" "But the dam conflict is over now... The government officials are taking care of us, too..." "I wasn't aware of that. Are they really supporting us that much?" "Well, on a personal level, I agree with what Maebara's boy is saying..." "I can't approve of how the town council is operating. Keiichi-kun is right. The village can't put pressure on him just because the government is telling us to do so!" "Mr. Mayor. We might not be able to support Keiichi-kun, but I also don't think we have the right to tell him to stop." ".........Hmmm." "You think you can get away with talking to us like that?"Three scary old guys came up to yell at me. I raised my own voice and yelled right back in their faces. "It's not about my attitude! It's about the soul of this village! Get out of here if you don't have the courage to stand up for one innocent villager!" "H-How dare you speak to me that way!"Thwack! The big old guy smacked me upside the head. "What do you think you're doing?"Thwack! I hit him right back, and the room went into a panic again.  I thought she'd come to stop me, but she suddenly hit the old guy in the head too. SFX: Thwack "What?! What're you doing?!" "Don't think you can get away with this just because you're a girl!!!" However, Rena talked back to him with a firm look in her eyes. "If one comes at you, two should fight back. Isn't that the spirit of Hinamizawa?!" "Keiichi. Your father's going to fight too! Everything you've said is right. If they're going to try and stop you with violence, I won't turn a blind eye to that!" "......There are three people blocking Keiichi's way. We need six people to fight them." "R-Rika-chama...!!" "I'm impressed to see that courage of yours, Rika-chama! Let me in too!" Chie-sensei stood up. I thought she had given up under all the pressure.  "I was almost going to neglect my student. ...I prioritized myself, even though I thought I'd do anything for them. I'm ashamed to call myself a teacher!"Wearing a fierce expression, she stared at the mayor. That was her answer to the pressure he'd tried to put on her. ".........Chie-sensei......" "I think that I overstepped my bounds as an educator. However, what Maebara-kun is doing is the right thing. As an educator, I have to acknowledge the fact that he's doing something right. I can no longer tell him to stop!" "If I have your support, Chie-sensei, then I have nothing to fear!” “Let me ask you people one more time. Is it more important to stay cozy with the officials than it is to save the life of one poor, innocent villager?!" “...Nobody without their spirit would ever come to a place like this." "..........Mion-chan..." "Mr. Mayor. Kei-chan's actions are embodying the spirit of Hinamizawa. The way he's trying to fight without fear is exactly what the Onigafuchi Guardians were doing. I think it's shameful for this town council to tell him to stop. If you're still going to ask him to back off…” “I'm going to smash all of these pictures on the wall, and set fire to the flag of the Guardians!" "............Nnn..." "I'm going to support Maebara-kun. He may be disrespectful, but he has the right spirit!" "I agree!! It's pathetic the way we're colluding with these government officials!" "Keiichi-kun, don't worry about what anyone else thinks! Keep on fighting! Don't give in to the pressure!"The assembly hall instantly filled with a great round of applause.  "Very well. On the day Satoko was kidnapped by her uncle, Chie-sensei visited her house. However, he refused to let Chie see her, and it was obvious that something unusual was going on. Chie-sensei called the child consultation center right after that." "That night, a social worker visited her house. However, they determined that there was no abuse going on, and they put her case on hold. This might be a normal way to handle the situation, but they don't know how dangerous that uncle is.” “For that reason, the five of us went to the child consultation center to let them know how urgent it was that she be rescued." "They said they'd take that into consideration, but they still didn't take action after that.” “We thought five of us was not enough, so the next day, we went there along with more than twenty of our classmates." "You took the whole class...?" "Kei-chan gave a very moving speech. He told them that they had to save their friend and not abandon her. If he was here during the dam conflict, I'm sure his charisma could have resolved it a year earlier!" "Ha ha ha, we all know too well how spirited this lad is!" "The consultation center was still not willing to listen to us on the second day. We made almost no progress. All they told us was that they were working on it." "The fact that they tried to pressure us to stop meant that what you did was working. You made progress!"I see... I guess you could look at it like that... If they weren't scared of us, they wouldn't have acted that way! "On the third day, we called all our friends and gathered sixty people. This time, we got to meet the head of the office. He listened to us, but he didn't say what their decision would be." "Keiichi-kun, to tell you the truth... at that point, the council had already spoken to the officials and had made our decision to stop you. After the child consultation center confirmed that the whole village wasn't involved in the protest, they decided to just ignore your appeal." "That's what I thought... I could feel that from the way the head of the office treated us. It was obvious that they were just trying to get it over with." "We're planning to go there tomorrow too, but... I wonder if they'll even pretend to listen. They might not even let us in because they think the village is pressuring us to stop..." "Yeah. They think that the village is on their side."  "I agree. Otherwise, they definitely won't listen to us again." "We should do that! We should tell them that Hinamizawa is not going to stop Maebara-kun from what he's doing!" ".........Hmmmm... Personally, I don't want to complain about Keiichi-kun's actions… ...However, it's complicated when I think about it from the town council's point of view... Even if we tell them that we're not on either side, they'll think that we're on his side. That's tantamount to picking a fight with them.” “...But I still have to respect the opinion of the council, too... I can't just decide this on my own... ...I need to get approval from all the council members..." "Most of them are here right now." "...So you say, but... Hmm........." "..........."The whole room sunk into silence. That was the heart of the matter. "Everyone thinks that the dam conflict is over. You all told us that a few minutes ago. You also think that there's no need to discriminate against the Houjou family, now that everything is said and done. However, you're still afraid of her family." "You're afraid that you'll be badmouthed if you interact with the Houjou family." "Satoko-chan's parents were indeed the leaders of the evacuation supporters... But what crime did Satoko-chan herself commit?" "......Personally, I don't have anything against her... But other people do..." "I don't have anything against her either. The conflict is over, and her parents also passed away..." "I don't hate her either. But I know there are some people who still do, yeah..." "Let me ask you this. If you hate Satoko, please raise your hand. I'm sure no one will. ...Yet you all still believe that interacting with her will make others speak ill of you.” ”However, no one's going to! There is nobody like that!" "No......... That can't be true. There's one person, at least." "Then tell me who it is. Tell me who told you directly that they hate Satoko!" It had become obvious that they were all avoiding Satoko because of a huge misunderstanding. "The child consultation center won't do anything, no matter what we do. They're convinced that the town council is on their side. We won't be able to fight until the council makes it clear that they're not supporting them." "......Kimiyoshi. By any chance... do you need approval from someone?" "............Ouch. ...You're right on the money with that one..."The mayor forced out a smile. I had no idea what Rika-chan was talking about, but she must have hit the nail on the head. Who could it be, though? Who was that someone? If I could persuade them, the village would end up supporting us!  "......The Kimiyoshi family has forgiven the Houjou family. The Furude family has done the same, right?" "......Meep. I'm one of the leaders of the Three Families too."Hinamizawa has three powerful families who make all decisions for the village. That's been a tradition since the time of Onigafuchi Village. ...It's kind of an old tradition, but this was a road we couldn't avoid. "So all we need is approval from the Sonozaki family. I've heard that they have the most power among the three..."Everyone knew that, but it was taboo to speak it. It's something only I could say, since I didn't have the ties they did.  ".............What do you think, Mion-chan...?" "...I don't want to fight with Granny.” ”But if she's standing between Satoko and safety, I'll have to. I won't be fighting as the next head of the family. I'll be fighting as Satoko's friend." "Kimiyoshi-san. Please promise. If we persuade Mion's grandmother, will we have the council's support?" "Of course. No one would complain if it was the decision of the Three Families!" "Let me get this straight. You're all refusing to help because you're afraid of Mion's grandmother, right? You're all grown adults! Good grief!" "That's what you say... But isn't Oryou-san terrifying...?" "Ahahahaha, that's not true. I know Mii-chan's grandmother very well. Sure, she has a scary side, but she's not that bad. Keiichi-kun is scarier than her when he's angry." "Yeah, and Rena is even scarier than me! All right. I'm going to persuade Mion's grandmother. Support us when we succeed! Actually, don't just quietly support us, either. I'm expecting you guys to take action too!!" "We want the Onigafuchi Guardians to reunite. Are you going to let us kids do all the protesting?" "You want us to protest too...? We can't do that..." "We should do that! We're going to tell those officials that we're going to fight against them. We need to do everything we can!" "If we're going to support Keiichi-kun on behalf of the whole village, we need to make things clear to them. We have to support these kids if we're going to be on their side." "Once we decide to do that, it's no longer just Maebara-kun's fight. It'll be the village's fight too. In that case, you should be our leader, Kimiyoshi-san! There's no way the mayor shouldn't participate in the protest!" "......All right, I got it already!” ”If Oryou-san gives us her approval, I'll act like a man! I'll help Keiichi-kun! Does everyone here agree?" "But you're not going to help him persuade Oryou-san...?" "Ahahahahah... ugh... fine. I'll come with him to persuade Oryou-san.” ”The way he talks might be too immature for her... She needs someone who can talk like an old person." "I'm sorry for being so disrespectful today. I really have to apologize, everyone." "Don't worry! You said some good things! You broke up the collusion in one fell stroke! Your refusal to cave under pressure is the very pride of Hinamizawa itself!" "I'm sorry for hitting you. I got pretty riled up." "No, that was my fault..." "You did a good job too, Chie-sensei! You're a wonderful teacher!" "...I really didn't know that some people were still bitter toward the Houjou family..." "Probably... Oryou-san is the most bitter of anybody."However, according to Mion, Oryou-san doesn't hate the Houjou family either. Really, the whole thing was ridiculous...!   "No, I don't have them on my side just yet. I need to persuade Mion's grandmother first." "Oryou-san is like a dictator around here, but she won't do anything that would make her lose the trust of the villagers. If you've already settled things with the town council, then it'll be hard for the Sonozakis to oppose you alone.” ”You're such a great negotiator. You insulted them at the start, but then you gradually buttered them up!" "I, uh, I did it the way my dad writes articles for his art magazine. That's the same style he uses..." "Hoho? Your father's set a good example for you, huh? He's an artist, isn't he? I'd love to see his work someday." "Well, ha ha ha ha......"My dad doesn't even let me see his work. I guess he can't show it to him either... What kind of dirty pictures is he drawing? "Well then, let's go and see Oryou-san tomorrow night. We can't go right away. Once she gets into a bad mood, she'll never listen to us..." "I'm coming too. Rena-san's also coming. She said she'd cleave her head apart if she doesn't nod it for us." "Hauu... I'm not going to do that! Don't be mean, Shii-chan!" "......I'm going too, Keiichi. I'll talk to Oryou myself." "I see, I see. Give her a piece of your mind!! Of course, I plan to myself, as well!" "I'll try and be there too. I might be able to help just by being around." "This sure is getting interesting. Are you ready to defeat that evil hag, Sis?" "......To be honest, I wish you'd swap with me tomorrow. Ahahaha......" "Yeah. The more people we have on our side, the stronger we become. We can save Satoko if the whole village gets together! This village once won against the national government, after all!"The old people seemed proud to hear me talk about the dam conflict. Everyone started talking about all the heroic things they did back then.   
limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 03:41 on Jun 22, 2022 |
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limeicebreakers posted:
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VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 9 and Day 10 Part 1 BGM: Pros  We were all gathered at the Sonozaki residence. I thought we'd be talking with Mion's grandma over tea, or something. ...However, it wasn't so relaxed a situation as that.  That wasn't the only thing, either. There were about five members of the Sonozaki family surrounding her, as though I was at some kind of yazuka gathering. Yes, this wasn't just any old town council meeting. It was a meeting of the Three Families. I kind of felt as though I didn't belong, but I also didn't have the time to be afraid. If I could persuade this lady, I could get help from the villagers...!  “At the very least, the town council needs to declare their neutrality..."The mayor was the first to speak. The old woman looked very grave. I couldn't tell if she always wore an expression like that, or if the story made her look that way. She made a comment in a very low voice to her people. The lady wearing a kimono spoke for her instead. ...She must be Mion's mother.    "Didn't you investigate him, Kasai? Teppei Houjou, I mean." "...I did make such a report to Akane-san."  The old lady finally spoke... but she didn't have anything pleasant to say.  "Sh-She might not die, but..." "Then shut up, you idiot!! Worse, you're not even willing to risk your own life over this! Grow a backbone, you twit!! Aaah, what nonsense!! The more I listen, the more nonsense I hear!!"...Wow. So that's why the whole village is afraid of her. This was Oryou Sonozaki, known variously as "the hag" or "Empress Sonozaki."  "Rika-chama, remember what I've told you all this time? You have to choose your friends carefully. That girl is a demon child of the Houjou family!!!”  “I'm disappointed in you too, Dr. Irie!! Aren't you old enough to realize what you're doing?!" "Satoko-chan is the daughter of the Houjou family. But she's not the one who supported the dam project and fought against the village. I think it's unfair for you to judge her that way..." "Shut up!!! Who do you think you're talking to, you piece of poo poo!!!"  "That's what Mion told me. I think I get where the other villagers are coming from now." I made eye contact with Mion's mom. ...She's very pretty, but she was wearing the same grave look as Oryou. By then, I had no doubts that this was Mion's mother.  "I don't mind talking. ...Is it really okay, though?" "Go ahead. You came all the way here to the Sonozaki residence. You should speak if you want to."Rena nodded in agreement. ...Okay.  "......I already know a great deal about you." "Let me tell you something... When your family moved to this village, you didn't come here to introduce yourself... That left a pretty bad impression..."Why was Mion only telling me that now? Sure hope I'm not too late to introduce myself...  "Leave aside the fact that it's Satoko Houjou for a minute. The important thing to note is that a villager is in danger right now. In order to help that person, we have no choice but to make an appeal to the child consultation center. Besides, I'm doing all this of my own accord. I haven't caused you any trouble." "But you heard from the mayor that you have been causing trouble, didn't you? The Hinamizawa town council and the Shishibone city hall are working together. The Shishibone mayor and this virago here had a talk with each other, and they decided to coexist. That was necessary for this village to prosper." "...But that village is going to let an innocent girl suffer?" "Didn't you hear what I just said? No one is going to just let her suffer. The consultation center will take action when appropriate. You want them to hurry up, but frankly, you're being selfish." "The town council and the government officials are in a business relationship. They're treating Satoko's issue like it's an ordinary one. ......So basically, you're saying that you don't care how much danger Satoko is in right now?” ”Like Mion just told you, Teppei is a horrible person. ...When Satoko showed up at the school three days after she was kidnapped, she was already at her wit's end. After only three days! I can't even imagine what would happen if we left her alone with him for a month! There's no guarantee that she will be saved after that, either. At that point, they might decide to put her case on hold again. ...Umm... Mrs. Sonozaki, does the emotional damage she's suffering not matter at all to you?!" "So what do you think we should do?" "I'm making an appeal to the child consultation center, asking them to save her as soon as possible. I'm going to continue going to the center until they do." drat it... She's so hard-headed... It was easy to win an argument with the old people in the assembly hall, since they got agitated so quickly. But Akane-san, Mion's mom, is way tougher than that. Both of the Sonozaki sisters and their grandma are quick to anger, but Akane-san seemed incredibly calm. She was calm, but still full of animosity. "But I can't continue our appeal anymore. If the town council doesn't tell the officials that they're going to support us, the child consultation center won't listen to us at all..." "Did you hear that, Mom...? We can't just do whatever we want. We need the town council to decide whether they're going to support us or not." "Actually, the council has already made their decision. They said they'd support us as long as Granny agreed." "You're all aware of how the Houjou family acted during the dam conflict, aren't you? If you're asking me to forgive them, my answer's still 'no'." "I'm not really familiar, actually... What were Satoko-chan's parents like?" "......Her mom was like a stronger version of Satoko. Her dad was, well, Teppei's older brother. He was even stronger and scarier than Teppei." "Scarier than Teppei...? That's not very funny. ...I see. Now I'm starting to understand how they clashed with the Sonozaki family. I guess she hasn't forgotten how much they pissed her off..." "Ah, you're saying it out loud so we can hear. My children have told me a lot about you. I heard you're one courageous boy." "........And if she said no?" "I'd smash her head in and make Mion the new family head, so she can nod for us." "What the loving hell did you just say, you god-damned son of a bitch?!?! Someone bring me a sword! I'll cut him into pieces and dump him in the well!!!" "Are you ready for a fight, old lady? Whatever you ate tonight will be your last supper!" "Shut up, you loving little poo poo! Do you even know who you're talking to?!" ...Normally, I'd be terrified. However, I can't back off today. ...Satoko doesn't have much time left. ...Everyone here knows that. We all know that she'll be forever damaged in only a few more days. We would then cry, and lament our powerlessness. We have to fight as best we can, so that we have no regrets! There can be no limits to how far we'd go to save her!  “Isn't that how strongly you rejected the dam project?" ".........You're just an outsider." "Wait a minute, old lady. I'm not an outsider. I'm Keiichi Maebara from Hinamizawa. I'm fighting to save my friend, who's also from Hinamizawa. How can you say that I'm an outsider?" "Oryou-san. Maebara-kun came to this village not too long ago, but he's already adapted to our way of life. He's a young man with lots of promise." "...Since when did you think disrespect is the same as promise, Dr. Irie...? Someone bring me my medicine and some tea already... All this blood rushing to my head is making it ache."The man on the far end stood up and brought over some tea and medicine. "If you think I'm being disrespectful, then let me make this request properly. We want the Sonozaki family's help in order to save Satoko Houjou. Satoko lives in this village too. Moreover, she's my friend. Please help us...!"As I deeply bowed my head to her, my friends bowed along with me.  "It's none of my business... What are you expecting out of me?" "Satoko-chan is like family to Keiichi-kun. It's only natural for him to seek help for his family."  ""Mom...!"" "...What do you mean, 'distinction'?" "They would need to make an apology. However, the parents died in an accident. There's no one else who can apologize to us. Forgiveness won't come cheap." "So if she apologizes to you, you'll forget about what her family did?" "The world we live in is one of honor. If she apologizes to us, we'll have no choice but to forgive her. Are you going to make Satoko-chan apologize?" "......Sure. I'll make her apologize for what her parents did. Her parents can't be there to do so, but you'll still forgive her, won't you?" "......We'll have to see her before we make our final decision. But I suppose we can say that we'll forgive her." "What do you think, Oryou-san? What if Satoko-chan apologized to you about the dam conflict?" "...Pff... Ha ha ha haaaa!! Well, I'll think about that when she apologizes to me. I might forgive her... if she really did."She laughed, obviously thinking that Satoko would never actually apologize to her. It seemed for a moment as though Rena had compromise in mind. ...However, Rena always has a plan up her sleeve.  “Would you apologize to her for discriminating against an innocent girl who didn't deserve to be treated that way...?" "........Hah?" "Satoko-chan wasn't the one supporting the dam project. She's just the child of those who did. But you hate her just for her last name. You're not just an ordinary old lady in this village. You hold great influence over the people here, because you're the leader of the Sonozaki family. Your public hatred toward Satoko-chan had a huge impact on the way the village thinks." "That became clear with the town council, too. Everyone is afraid to interact with the Houjou family because of how much you hate them." "...You're the mother of all Hinamizawa. You were instrumental in keeping us all afloat in the difficult times after the war. It's only natural that you hold such great influence over the people here." "You're aware of how much your decisions can affect the whole village. Let me say this again... Satoko is my friend. She's my family. If your influence is going to cause us trouble... I will do battle with you. That's what protecting your friends is all about!" "...Hmm. I'm impressed to hear that from a city boy like you. Let me ask what the other family members think. Well, how about it, everyone?" "............What he's saying does make sense. The problem between the Sonozaki family and the Houjou family is not his business, but he's clear about how much he wants to save her." "There wouldn't be any problem if she wasn't a child of the Houjou family..." "They can do whatever they want to. We, as a family, can just stay neutral. Don't you agree?" The big, scary man in sunglasses spoke with a deep voice. "He's saying that the town council won't support them unless the Sonozaki family agree to as well. And without the support of the council, the center won't listen to them either. We need to be clear about our decision on this one." "What do you think?" "......Keiichi-kun. You're a stronger man than my daughters have led me to believe. Frankly, I've had to change my opinion of you. You're a man among men." "Ah, h-hello... Are you Mion's father...?"I thought he was the boss of a yakuza clan or something. ...Wait, I did hear once that her dad is exactly that... He certainly looks the part. "It's partly our fault that your friend is struggling. Her parents aside, she's just an innocent girl. ...Isn't that right, Mother?" “A bastard like that doesn't deserve to be called a man among men!!" "...Mother. Can we help Keiichi-kun this one time? ...He's a passionate young man. Not many youngsters these days have that kind of inner strength."  "..............."Upon seeing the twins bowing so deeply, the stubborn old woman simply stared at them with that grave look of hers. ...I figured it would be difficult to get her to cooperate with us. The mayor looked troubled too. Mion's grandma eventually turned her gaze to me, and I stared back at her.  “You have no reason to hate her." ".........If I nod my head... What happens next?" "Once the council is on our side, the consultation center will have to hear us out. If they still don't listen, then we'll go there again. We'll go there with the whole village! Tomorrow is Saturday. The consultation center is open in the morning. The villagers will all be gathering for the preparation for the festival then. So I'll just take them all along with me!" "Th-That would be crazy... You'd be involving hundreds of people..." "...How many people would come, exactly?" "I don't know how many of them would, but... I'd definitely go make a speech in front of all of them." "How do things look to you, Mr. Mayor?" "Most of the council members are supporting them. ...Our relationship with the government is important, but some of them think it's more important to fight for Satoko-chan, that is, to resurrect the spirit of the Guardians. We all understand what Keiichi-kun is trying to do, and no one disagrees with him." "So the whole village is united even without Mother? But you're still seeking final approval from the Sonozaki family? That's a rather dirty way to do business." "...Akane-san, Oryou-san. To put it simply... I feel bad for Satoko-chan. She's doing the best she can, even though she's all alone. I think it's time for us to let her know that she won't be ostracized by anyone anymore..." "I refuse!!! I will never forgive the demon child of the Houjou family!!" As I jumped up, her family members stood in my way. ...They all had put their hands into their pockets. I don't want to imagine what they might pull out of there... ".........Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!! This is pissing me offff!! How dare you say that!! I can't take this anymore!!!" "...Oryou. Think of your blood pressure." She was mumbling too much for me to tell what she was saying, but I could tell that she was furious. She whispered something into Mion's mother's ear. She spoke for her instead.  "But... but I still haven't gotten my answer!" "Keiichi-kun. You need to learn to play by the adults' rules. I've been very patient with you today. ...That's because you're a friend of my daughters. You need to reflect on that, don't you think...?" "K-Kei-chan... We've done enough today... Let's get out of here..."Based on Mion and Shion's reaction, Mion's mom is very scary when she's angry. They were convinced that their mom was going to explode in about ten seconds... ...Still, should we really leave after just that? drat it... I really want her to nod! If she gives me an answer tonight, I can gather a huge crowd tomorrow!  We'd gradually increased the number of people we had until the third day, but on the fourth we had far less. They must think that we won't show up at all within a couple of days... No matter what, we can't stop showing up. How many days has it been since she was taken by her uncle? We don't have a single day to waste! However, for tonight, the meeting was over. The old lady went to sleep and we were kicked out of the room. - - - BGM: Silence SFX: Crickets  We decided to wait in the yard for him to come back out.  "You said everything you needed to say.” “You have to give her time to think about it. ...Of course, we don't exactly have time to waste." "What do you think, Coach?" ”Once she gets like that, she'll stay that way for at least three days. ...It might be difficult for us to take any villagers along for the protest tomorrow." "......At least she listened to us until the end. We just have to trust that she'll make the right decision..." "You're right. ...It's hard to trust in someone and just wait, though." Mion and Shion ran over to join us. "Hey, you two did a good job too. How was it? Do you think it'll work out?" "I have no idea. From the looks of it, she was in a terrible mood.” ”Honestly, Kei-chan, I don't think you should ever come back here..." "What, so I can't ever hang out at your house again? Geez." "Still... that was really impressive, Kei-chan. You didn't even seem scared." "Was she that scary? She had a scary look on her face, sure, but it wasn't that bad." "Hmm... You can only say that because you don't know how scary she really is…” ”Well, as they say, ignorance is bliss..." "Speaking of which, you seemed fine when she yelled at you too, Ryugu-san." "She might have raised her voice, but she wasn't actually angry. I wasn't scared at all either. Not at all." "Did, did she really not look angry to you?!" "No. Your grandmother wasn't angry at all."Is... Is that really how it looked to her?? To me it looked like her head was going to explode... The next moment, I heard someone walking toward us. It was the mayor, who was accompanied by Mion's mother. "Oh, Uncle Kimiyoshi...! How was it? Did the old witch finally start melting?"BGM: Silence  BGM: Thanks  "What?" "......You mean...?" "The virago gave you the green light. You can do what you want to now, Keiichi-kun." "Are... Are you serious...?!" "I-Is that really true, Mom?!"That hag was so ticked-off, though. I can't even imagine what caused her to grant us permission. ...No matter how it happened, I guess she accepted me in the end.  “You only just moved to this village, but you'll need to understand and appreciate the history of Hinamizawa. Can you take on this responsibility?" "Yes, I can." "My, you're a brave boy! You do have my respect. It takes great courage to address the virago like that. It gave me chills when you jumped on top of her and put your hands around her throat." "Eh? Well, I almost did jump on her... but I wasn't actually serious." "Heh heh heh.” "W-Why? That's so violent...!" "The virago can't possibly forgive the Houjou family. She also can't possibly give you what you want simply because you came to her and begged for it. So unless the story goes something like, 'After Keiichi-kun violently fought with the virago, she was impressed by his chivalry and decided to grant him special permission,' it won't sound convincing. Got it, Mion?" "Y-Yeah! That sounds great."  "...Hah. This is how a legend is born... Now people will believe that you physically fought with the hag in order to save Satoko. ...People are going to be afraid of you, Kei-chan." "......This is the beginning of the legend of Keiichi the Strongest. Everybody will run and hide when they see you on the streets." "I-I don't want to be a legend!” ”But anyway... Thank you very much!" “That was a dirty move of yours, Mayor Kimiyoshi-san." "No, well... I'm glad that she gave us her approval, after all that..." "The virago always worried about Satoko-chan, because people were still treating her poorly. She thought that she could only make everything right with her death. But thanks to all of you, she was able to settle this issue before the end. I'm sure she appreciates it." "N-No, we're very thankful to her as well. I'll have to come here again to thank her in person." "Aha ha ha ha! That's not a good idea. She'll chase you around with a sword next time! In fact, I'm surprised she didn't do that today. She must be fond of you, Keiichi-kun." "Rika-chan... Don't say that with such a big smile... I'm glad I'm still alive..." "I've grown fond of you too after today. That's what being a man is all about.” ”Satoko-chan is a very lucky girl, having such a dedicated man as you!" "Wait, Mom, Satoko and Kei-chan aren't like that..." "Oh, they're not? If he doesn't have a girl yet, then you two have a chance!” ”Hey, Keiichi-kun, between Mion and Shion, which do you prefer? You can call me your mother from now on if you like!"  Mion and Shion simultaneously turned red and hit me with their fist and their elbow. ...The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree, huh. Their mom talks just the same way that they do.  “And of course, I'll tell them to take Satoko-chan under their protection as soon as possible. We have Oryou-san's support, too. I'm sure Satoko-chan will be rescued shortly after my call." "A-Are you serious...?" "You just managed to persuade someone that important, Kei-chan." "So... Satoko-chan really will be safe this time tomorrow...?!" "We can't say that for sure.” ”If they refuse Uncle Kimiyoshi's request, that means the Onigafuchi Guardians will come after them. He's normally a calm guy, but he's like a monster when he becomes the leader of the Guardians, aren't you, Uncle?" "I'll be a monster if I have to. I can promise you that. I'll do my best to ensure that Satoko-chan is rescued as soon as possible." "We heard you saying bad things about her, you know. Something about how she's a member of a cursed family..." "I... I was just saying those things because of other people... I don't personally have anything against her..." "Then quit saying it, all right? Please accept her as just another child of the village." "Of course. I'll never say that again. I promise you that. I'm afraid Keiichi-kun might throttle me too!"To think Shion tortured him to death in Meakashi for saying the exact same thing… - - - SFX: Crickets  Satoko still isn't saved. ...But I think we made huge progress today just the same. The mayor is going to call the child consultation center tomorrow to tell them that he's on our side. He's also going to persuade them to save Satoko as soon as possible. He'll bring up Oryou-san's name too.  "Yeah, I'm sure she will. She might even be saved tomorrow! If not, we'll go all-out next time. It'll be the war to end all wars!” ”Also, Rika-chan..." "......Meep?" "Don't use words like 'fate' anymore. Putting it like that, it's like it's already been decided. But see, nothing is actually decided in advance. We're the ones who make our own futures. So stop using the word 'fate', as if there's nothing we can do." "..........."Rika seemed to think about what I said for a while. ...I wondered for a moment if I said something that hurt her feelings... but Rika-chan soon smiled at me.   “...And after a hundred years, you're about to break the horrible cycle of Teppei's return. ...I can now believe that the danger that awaits me is something that can be changed as well.” ”...The worst thing that could ever happen is you not moving to Hinamizawa. ...I experienced that twice in the past one hundred years. Those were the saddest worlds of all." ".......Huh? I don't understand a thing that just came out of your mouth. You're trying to confuse the issue, aren't you?" "......Meep. That's a secret☆"- - -  - - -  BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi   SFX: Phone  "Hello, thank you for calling. You've reached Shishibone City Hall." "Of course. Please hold." "Hello. May I speak to the head clerk, Aida-san...?" "Hello, Kimiyoshi-san. Thank you very much for the other day." "No, no, it was no problem. Really, I should be thanking you. I'm much obliged." "The head clerk is right here. I'll give him the phone. ......Sir... It's Kimiyoshi, the head of the Hinamizawa town council." BGM: R of Can "Well... I'm calling about that case at the child consultation center." "Oh yes. A group of young children have been protesting in front of the office. They're such an inconvenience... I'm so glad that we were able to talk to you about that. So how did it turn out?" "Well. The village has officially decided to support Maebara-kun." "Eh? Excuse me, could you say that again?" "The town council agrees with what Maebara-kun is doing. The younger people in the council want to support him as best they can.” ”Well, I say younger, but they're in their fifties and sixties, ha ha ha." "I see... However... What are the other council members saying...?" "Well. We held an emergency meeting last night. Some of the more hard-headed members were against it at first, but they were persuaded by Maebara-kun in the end.” ”You know, we don't see young people with that much backbone these days. In my opinion, attitudes like that ought to be nurtured, for the sake of a brighter future." "So... everyone on the council has reached a consensus...?" "Yes, that's right. Everyone came to an agreement. Nobody is opposed to supporting him." “However, they cannot render their final judgment before the investigation period is over. It's a human rights issue..." "I believe Maebara-kun explained it to them many times. Satoko-chan is being locked up by a terribly violent man. The emotional scars she's suffering will never heal! She will forever have a deep wound in her pure and innocent heart. Remember what they were saying at the youth seminar the other day? You were there with me, weren't you?" "Yes... well... What does the Sonozaki family say about this...?" "Well. Oryou-san also agrees with us. She was very clear about that. If you are going to insist on not rescuing Satoko-chan, the whole village will be joining Maebara-kun's movement!" "O-Oryou Sonozaki-san said that...? ............Well, that... This is a problem within the family... so it's very hard for the government to take care of it..." "If I could see the man, I'd talk to him in person. But he rarely even leaves his house! Besides, if one of us personally said something to him, he might get nervous and hurt Satoko-chan even more. That's why the local government has to get involved!" "Um, ummm, I understand your point... I'll call Sonozaki-san in a moment and ask for her opinion too..." "Really...?! That's not good... hahahaha... When she's mad, it's like she turns into a demon..." "Anyway... I want you to tell the child consultation center to put Satoko-chan under their protection immediately. I'll come with you if you need me to. We can go right now." "Oh no! I can't make you go to all that trouble. I'll call the child consultation center, and give you their feedback later today." "I want you to let me know before noon. I'm sure your call won't be so long it stretches into the evening. Is the head of the office that busy?" "No, no he's not! Very well. I'll call you back before noon today." "Thank you very much. Tell them that the town council is very upset that they're not taking this appeal seriously enough." "Yes. I will let them know. ...Yes. ...I'll talk to you again soon..."Click.  "This is bad... Hinamizawa Village is kicking up a storm again... Saitou-kun... will you please call Sonozaki-san and ask her what's going on...? I need to call the child consultation center. ...This... might be a resurrection of the dam conflict...... ...Oh, hello? Yes, this is the local government section calling... May I speak to the head of the office?" "I did... When I spoke to the mayor the other day, they weren't involved. However, they changed their stance just last night." "...I understand. However, we're still not going to reverse our decision even if the whole village really does show up. It wouldn't be right to give her special treatment just because the town council protests." "Sir... I believe you're aware of this, but they're the Onigafuchi Guardians. You know about the dam conflict, right?" "I wasn't living here then, so I don't know much about it. I heard that it was some huge government protest, or something like that..." "...I'm going to be honest with you. I think you should pay attention to what they're saying..." "But, wait a minute. I heard that the Onigafuchi Guardians disbanded years ago. Haven't you had a fairly close relationship with the village ever since the conflict ended?" "Yes... things had worked out smoothly... I wonder what happened to change that overnight... The mayor seems to be favoring a young man named Maebara-kun. They have the support of Sonozaki-san too... It's not a trivial matter..." "Sonozaki-san... you mean the ruler of the underside of Hinamizawa? I've never actually met her." "I'm not familiar with this mayor, so I don't know what kind of person he is. Our job needs to be done carefully, and no matter the job, it's just not right to do things in a disorderly fashion. Our people are doing the best they can. They have piles of other cases to work on. Every single case is very important. We can't just prioritize her case for no reason." "...I see... I understand... ...I'll call Kimiyoshi-san back and let him know your opinion..." "You need to call him back? Look, the municipal government doesn't exist for this town council's amusement. Why are you bending over backwards just to look after the needs of one village?" "I understand. Thank you for your time... ...I'm sorry for the inconvenience..."Click.  "Ahahahaha, that's a transfer from the prefectural office for you." "He's fighting against Hinamizawa... I refuse to be responsible for this one... How did you do? Did you get to talk to Sonozaki-san?" "Yes. She has the same opinion as Kimiyoshi-san. She also wants a call from you regarding what the child consultation center said." "Noooooooo! This is really really bad! I thought this was going to be a happy Saturday! The head of the consultation center has no idea what he's up against! There's going to be a huge crowd swarming the area by the beginning of the week..." "...Before anything else, we should be calling the mayor of Shishibone..." - - -  ...And, actually, there’s no TIP at the end of this chapter segment! Here’s what that looks like: 
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Jun 23, 2022 20:52
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I appreciate Akane "You threatened to kill my mother, want to marry one of my daughters?" Sonozaki. This is the first time we haven't had at least one TIP, right?
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Jun 24, 2022 00:22
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Happy Landfill posted:This is the first time we haven't had at least one TIP, right? Yep, at least after the end of a 'chapter', which are marked by the menu I posted.
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Jun 24, 2022 01:28
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So if reading this right, Oryouu is not quite the extreme hag, but feels she needs to portray the image of one no matter what, actually cares about Satoko but needed some kind of "out" to get this done without losing her image, with Rena seeing through her facade. However we don't actually see her personally confirming this is what happened and her "approval" is relayed from Akane and Kiichiro, who could have just seen the old lady to bed angry as hell and told everyone she was just putting on a show. When the officials called her they only said she "shared Kiichiros opinion" which Oryouu might have assumed was still "No saving Satoko" since she had not endorsed it yet, they could also have just reached Akane with old lady being busy sleeping off the rage and she lied again regarding her opinion. However in this case Rena preempted the lie by saying Oryouu was not angry before her approval was stated. The "don't return here, don't thank her" could also be insurance so no one explicitly asks/informs her of a decision she did not take. Could just be the first option and i like reading into things too much but it is a bit more compelling if this is a mini revolution against her than just "nah she faking shes on your side for reals".
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Jun 24, 2022 16:41
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This is out of the blue, but I've got a lot of embroidering to do and I'm using it as an opportunity to finally, FINALLY catch up on this thread. Just got off of Shion Sonozaki's Wild Ride last night and I gotta say, all the gory anime scenes engraved in my mind still did not prepare me for the relentless misery in the last few updates of Meakashi-hen. Goddamn. Of course, then the thread immediately dives into wacky school hijinks and loving Angel Mort before reminding me once again that Ryukishi always nails domestic drama so well that it hurts.  I recall during the Umineko thread, after finishing the bullying scenes in the fourth arc, someone posted, "Can we get back to the gruesome murders now?" Which kinda feels like a secret motto for the When They Cry series as a whole. All the gore is sensational and eyecatching, so it's what everyone remembers. But the parts that really hit home when you read the novels are the agonizing psychological snapshots of people in turmoil.I am looking forward to the ending, though. When I watched the anime I found the ending immensely cathartic, so much that it uplifted the rollercoaster ride of the story into something magical. I was so delighted that I brushed off the die-hard novel fans' complaints about the anime and began pursuing other WTC works--which, of course, led me to the much better Umineko. More than a decade later, this LP has finally shown me why the novel fans were complaining so much--and it's only heightening my expectations for the ending. It also makes me super salty about Higurashi Gou. We coulda had a proper adaptation, dammit!  Thanks for LPing Higurashi, limeicebreakers. I don't think I could have made it through the game on my own, so I'm so glad to have you here.
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Jun 26, 2022 14:21
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Please don't take this as a stealth "ugh where's the update??", just hope you're doing okay, limeicebreakers
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Jul 18, 2022 22:51
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Viola the Mad posted:This is out of the blue, but I've got a lot of embroidering to do and I'm using it as an opportunity to finally, FINALLY catch up on this thread. Just got off of Shion Sonozaki's Wild Ride last night and I gotta say, all the gory anime scenes engraved in my mind still did not prepare me for the relentless misery in the last few updates of Meakashi-hen. Goddamn. Happy Landfill posted:Please don't take this as a stealth "ugh where's the update??", just hope you're doing okay, limeicebreakers Thanks a lot for the continued interest, you guys, seriously.  And also major thanks to all readers of this LP. I'm doing fine, was just swamped with other obligations, and unfortunately they hit right when my interest in Higurashi was starting to wane. So, near month-long hiatus.I was just about to post here today so that the thread wouldn't be archived - I'm cutting my obligations down so that I can come back to this LP and finally finish it. New update will be posted this Tuesday. Satoko has been trapped in her uncle's house for far too long. EDIT: Something came up for Tuesday. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to reschedule the comeback to this Thursday. Apologies! limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 10:00 on Jul 26, 2022 |
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Jul 23, 2022 22:00
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Glad you're doing alright  Appreciate your work! I enjoy screenshot LPs but I imagine putting them together can be fairly tedious, which is why I'm always impressed with what people put together.
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Jul 25, 2022 07:24
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And thanks very much for waiting everyone. Here's the next update - and as it just so happens, today is Rena's birthday (July 28)! Let's call that a lucky coincidence. Brief recap of what happened the last few updates: Keiichi persistently appeals to the child consultation center to help Satoko. At first, it's just his friends, but he slowly expands the scope until there are people outside Hinamizawa also joining the protest, as well. But it isn't enough, as Oryou denies involvement with the group. Told on the night of a Watanagashi festival meeting to stop the protests before action is taken against them, Keiichi instead takes the discussion to the village elders and, eventually, Oryou herself until they both cave. And now, it's the dawn of a new day...  Content warning for onscreen physical abuse of a child.VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 10 Part 2 BGM: R of Can   “I even told them that we have no time to spare!"The mayor came to the school before noon to explain to us what went down with the officials. We had all gathered in the teachers' office to meet with him.  "He used to work for the prefecture, so he's not familiar with the town council here. He's not treating this like it's a big deal."  "We'll just have to fight them. I spoke with the other council members, and we all agreed that we can't stay quiet anymore. After all, we can't just nod our heads in defeat and back down after I put our name out there!" "Okay. I'll get right on arranging for the town council to send some people too. I'm about to go consult Oryou-san on how to handle this." "This isn't like with the dam conflict, though. It's an ordinary Saturday. Isn't it going to be difficult to get people to go?" "Don't worry. Kei-chan. This isn't a city. People are out there farming every day of the week. Whether it's a Saturday or a Tuesday doesn't really matter to them. It won't be that difficult to find people who are willing to help out."I see. I tend to think of adults as people who work at big companies. But this is Hinamizawa. I almost forgot about that.  “I can't promise you how many people I'll be able to bring along, though..." "It doesn't matter how many people we get, as long as we get people. Thank you for your help!" "I'm so glad that more adults are involved now!" "Yeah. This is going to make a huge difference." "......The number of people we get will depend on what Oryou says." "That's true. We'll see how serious she is about helping us based on how many people show up." "Thirty adults plus ten children…” ”It sounds better than yesterday!" "I'm coming too! I'll bring my megaphone." "Yes!” ”Your legendary megaphone! I thought it was broken." "That's the one I used to have. The riot squad broke it. Ah, the memories... I can feel the spirit of Onigafuchi making my blood boil!" "......It seems like we're going to be holding a festival on the day before Watanagashi too. To the consultation center!" "That's pretty likely. ......How are things on your end, Rika-chan? Were you able to persuade Satoko to seek help...?" ".........I did my best... It's all up to her now." "I wish Satoko would stop being so stubborn..." "Sis... There are both times one should and shouldn't be stubborn. I can understand how Satoko must feel." "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean it that way..." "She might not want any help from us. But we wouldn't be her real friends if we couldn't see how scared she is." "I agree. It'd be easy if Satoko asked us for help. But it'll be too late if we wait for that to happen." "......If there's a child in the middle of a busy street, you pull her to the sidewalk before talking to her. Sometimes, actions have to come before words." "Right. That's a good example. We have to pull her back to the sidewalk first!" SFX: Bell  However, we were wrong. I had no idea how serious Hinamizawa can get... By the time I get there with my ten classmates, the quiet atmosphere around the library had completely disappeared. BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi  BGM: R of Can "Not just Hinamizawa. I see some people from Okinomiya too." "You're right. Some of them are even here in their work uniforms... What an incredible sight..." "......Looks like Oryou got really serious." "Apparently. This really is like old times! How I've missed the way I felt during the dam conflict!" "Hey, Kameda-kun. Well... I just called on the whole village to come here." "I thought you'd only be able to get kids. How'd you get all these adults here too?! You're making me weak in the knees, man!!!" "Little girls are mankind's greatest treasure! Of course this many of our comrades would gather here!!" Not only had many people shown up, but many different kinds of people too. I wonder how many people there are... "Umm... I think there's well over a hundred so far... More people are still on their way, too."  "So this is the power of Onigafuchi..."  "Keiichi-kuuun! There sure are a lot of them, eh?" "Kimiyoshi-san... how many people did you talk to?!" "I'm not quite sure. We just used the phone list and asked people to gather for a meeting of the Onigafuchi Guardians. Everyone left work and came right here! Hey, you there, this movement is an initiative of the town council, so don't use a banner with the name of the Onigafuchi Guardians on it, okay?" "Hello, Rena-chan! Keiichi! I'm here to support you! Your mom wanted to come here too, but she had to stay home and wait for a phone call. She says to do your best and keep at it!" "I will, thank you!" "I've heard the stories about the dam conflict, but this is impressive! You're representing all of these people, right?" "...Yeah. I was only representing five of us in the beginning, but it's grown so big now that I don't care if there are a hundred or a thousand people here! No matter what, I'll do everything I can to save my friend!" "Yup. Our force of arms is more than enough! Those losers are peeping at us through the curtains right now. They must be quaking in their boots!"- - -   "But... there's a banner that says 'We want to talk with the head of the office'... See...?" "............Ugh..."That banner was the same one that the Onigafuchi Guardians had used in the past. They brought along as many banners as they could reuse. This one said "the head of the office", but originally it meant "the head of the construction office". Of course, the head of the child consultation center didn't know about that. "You spoke with three of those representatives the other day. According to the people from city hall, these Hinamizawans have a good memory. If they see you walking outside to the parking lot, they'll recognize your face..." "What do you mean? Are they going to kidnap me or something?" "...During the dam conflict, it wasn't uncommon for people to get injured... If you can postpone your business trip, I'd recommend you do so..." "I-I guess that'd be for the best. It's not an emergency, so I'll just stay here for today..."In the next moment, the crackling noise of a speaker echoed outside. SFX: Higurashi  They were adjusting the output of the speakers. A few trucks carrying those speakers were parked outside. The head of the consultation center finally realized, in that moment, what it really meant to fight against the village of Hinamizawa.  "If they come inside, they'll disturb our work. Don't let them in..."- - -  The mayor told me that there were still a few more people on their way. Even more people are going to show up...? Rena counted up all of the people here already and found that there were more than a hundred and fifty of them. I really doubt we can get this many to come back by Monday afternoon. Hopefully we can finish this today...!  The mayor gave me the green light. He wanted us to chant our slogan in chorus before going inside. It really was like a real protest. "Mii-chan, do you think all of us can fit inside that tiny office? Do you think so?" "Of course we can't all fit. We'll split up into those who can go in, and those spilling out.” ”That's why we had everyone start chanting together before we go in." "Sis~ You can't break or kick anything today." "L-Like I'd ever do something like that!” ”You got me in so much trouble when you pretended to be me doing all that!" I didn't expect to see him here. Of course, he's my mahjong friend! He came here to support me, even though he's not from Hinamizawa!  "Ooishi-san! You're here right on time! We're getting ready to go inside right now."Ooishi was accompanied by a few of his own men. He brought along four police officers in uniform. "Maebara-san. I need to have a little chat with you! Oh, hello there, Mayor Kimiyoshi!" "Hello, Ooishi-san. What brings you here?" "I need to have a talk with the two of you right now. May I...? Oh, and can it be in private, please?"BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi   I was really taken aback. I thought we were just getting started, but Ooishi-san, and by that I mean the police, are telling me to break up the crowd.  "Look, we're not doing anything wrong. We're here to ask them to help Satoko. Why is that such a bad thing?" "You're protesting here without permission, for one. Also, there's a policy at this child consultation center, which allows the caretaker of the building to dismiss any client when he feels that they're disrupting their service." "The caretaker of the building?! Who is that?!" "Well, that would be the head of the office here." "What a cheap trick!! He won't even let us speak our minds?! Where are we supposed to protest, then?! If we have to get off the property, can we do it across the road?!" "If you want to use public roads, you have to get permission from the public safety department first. You'll have to contact them through the police. In other words, you have no choice but to disband for today. ...My my, Maebara-san. It seems they really do hate you..."BGM: Cradle Song  My friends soon all came running over. Ooishi-san explained the situation to them, and they reacted exactly the same way I did.   "No matter what we say to them, all they do is jot down the amount of people in the group. That's why we brought lots of people here today!" "But they do have the right to refuse us...” ”There's nothing we can do about that. We have to either listen to the police, or disregard what they say entirely." "Na ha ha ha... The dam conflict's been over for a while. I don't want to play that game anymore." "drat it...! What are we going to do, then? Do we just have to leave and come back later?" "The same thing will happen when we do. They'll just call the police again. The head of the consultation center has no intention of letting us in there ever again. We must have really upset him." ".........We'll just have to be patient. If we can't protest on their property, we'll just have to do it from across the road. Seeing that every day will put a lot of pressure on them." "That's going to take way too long...!" "......The government is like the yakuza. It'll get more complicated if we keep making them mad." "So even the Onigafuchi Guardians can't do anything about this? How pathetic! Can't you do something about this, Uncle?" "...Shion-chan, in a battle like this, you have to be patient. They're refusing us so blatantly, just like the construction office did in the dam conflict, so we'll just have to surround them and dig in for a prolonged fight..."But that's not going to work... There are so many people here. I was supposed to end this today.  Her uncle called and claimed that her cold had resurfaced. He promised that she'd be back on Monday. ...But hearing that wasn't any relief to us. Today is Saturday, so there are two more days until then. Nothing is guaranteed for Satoko. ....In the world I imagined, it was too late to save Satoko by the day before Watanagashi. The Satoko in real life hasn't gotten to that point yet... But nothing guarantees that she'll still be fine in just two days. I don't know if she'll still be sane the next time we see her.  "No, Keiichi-kun. We have no time to waste for Satoko-chan! I just know that something... something bad is going to happen!" "......We got help from this many people... yet we can't even go inside the building..."Rika-chan said that with tears in her eyes. drat it, drat it, drat it! I told Rika-chan that I could defeat anything if I put my mind to it. I don't want to give up here! Even a few days ago we never imagined that we'd get this many supporters. We got approval from the town council, and even from Mion's grandma. What else am I supposed to do? What can we do to make our wish come true?! Is there something that we haven't done yet? Son of a bitch!!!  "......Meep...?" ".......We're doing everything we can. You believe that. Right?" "Yeah. I believe we did everything we can do." "......Then we just have to wait for the wind to come. We just have to wait. I'm sure that a strong wind is on its way." "When is that...? drat it, drat it, drat it, drat it!!!"- - - BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi   If he didn't send her to school, that annoying teacher might come to harass him again. He really wanted her to go to school today. However, no matter how much he forced her to wake up, she collapsed and went back to sleep. He touched her forehead and realized that she had a high fever. If he sent her to school like that, they might say something about it.  Chie asked him many questions, but Teppei told her that she really was sick this time. One hour later, he realized he had said something he shouldn't have to the teacher. Ever since he took Satoko in, there had been nothing but trouble. The teacher came to visit him the day after he took her. He received calls every so often too. They were all from the child consultation center. Every single one of them told him to put Satoko on the phone. Teppei was still certain that Satoko wouldn't give him up, because of her fear that he'd destroy Satoshi's room if he did. However, he wasn't sure how long she'd keep her silence. In short, Teppei had no idea whether or not Satoko would continue to do as she was told. The only thing he knew for absolute certain was that he couldn't control her forever with fear alone. He could frighten her with just a look, but that fear wouldn't last for a very long time. He wanted to leave the house before Satoko got him into trouble. But in order to do that, he needed to find the bankbook as soon as possible.  She was sweating heavily and breathing deeply. ...Both were signs of a very high fever. Teppei wasn't concerned in the least, of course. Instead, he felt that this was his chance. In that state, she wouldn't notice if he went into Satoshi's room. He'd promised her that he wouldn't mess around in there as long as she stayed obedient to him. In reality, he went inside Satoshi's room while Satoko was at school, but he was very careful about putting everything back into place. However, by this point, he'd had enough. He was anxious to leave as soon as he could. Even Teppei could tell that Satoko's fever wasn't from a cold, but from emotional distress. If she got even sicker, it could cause even more trouble for him.  He tried to open the door slowly, but it was stuck on something. He assumed he'd just hit the furniture with the door, but in the next moment... Crash!! He heard the loud noise of falling metal. Something had been stuck behind the door, and it had knocked over something on the bookshelf. Teppei clicked his tongue. He had been planning to sneak into Satoshi's room while Satoko was asleep. And shortly after that, he heard Satoko running up the stairs. She wasn't running just because she heard a noise. She was running because she heard a noise from Satoshi's room, and that meant that Teppei was trying to get inside it. BGM: Solitude   "...Aaah, gently caress, I was just gonna look around for a minute. No drat luck!! All I need is some cash! I know there's a bankbook inside his room!! I know that you hid it in there!! Be a good girl and tell me where it is!!" "I don't know anything about a bankbook!! It's not inside Nii-nii's room...!! Don't mess around in there!! Leave it alone until he comes home!! Nii-nii... Nii-nii!!" "Shut the gently caress up!!"Satoko let out a dull cry as she went rolling across the floor.  Satoko's screams echoed around the room. Hitting her would leave a mark, and then the child consultation would harrass him and maybe more than that... As a man of violence, it was already stressful enough to be warned not to hit her. But once he hit her on impulse like he just did, his restraint was all gone. Satoko was crying and holding her left cheek. She might have suffered a cut on the inside of it when he punched her. She had bloody drool trickling out of a corner of her mouth.   "loving hell... that did it... The center's gonna be back here next week... ...I'm gonna be in real poo poo if it's still swollen by then…” ”Aaaah, god drat it!!! This is more trouble than it's worth!! Quit with the 'Nii-nii, Nii-nii' already! Are you supposed to be a broken record or something?! Can it, you little bitch!!!"Teppei kicked her, and she curled up on the floor. ...Ever since Rina had abandoned him, nothing good had happened at all... All he got was a whiny little girl. All she can do is cook and clean. Other than that, she just acts scared all the time. So once Satoko started crying like an infant, Teppei also lost his mind.  - - - BGM: Silence   "drat it...!!" "Stop it, Kei-chan! He's just trying to piss you off!" "Hey, old man... you won't live long with that kind of attitude...!" "Oh, now I'm scared. If you keep on talking to me like that, I'll arrest you for threatening an officer. Nfu fu fu...!" ".......Calm down, Keiichi-kun. He's on our side." "What? What are you saying, Rena?"BGM: Iru  “If he really wanted to make us leave, he wouldn't be talking to us like this. He'd simply use force." "But he's still blocking our way right now...! How can he still be on our side?!" "Ooishi-san, you've got a call in the cruiser from the chief." "Oh, thanks. I've gotta go for now. Start vacating the area, please.” ”If you take another step forward, I'll take it as a declaration of war. Got it memorized? Nfu fu fu!" "God drat it...!"- - -  "Ooishi-san. How's the situation there?" "It's fine. Everyone's being perfectly reasonable. There are quite a lot of people here, so it's taking time to break them up." "Really? We're still getting calls from the child consultation center. They're wondering when you can get them out of there." "They'll leave soon. I've already spoken to the leader. It's taking time for him to explain it to his people. If they call again, tell them to wait for a little bit." "I heard that the Onigafuchi Guardians are back in action, but it seems like it's not getting too messy this time." "Yes, yes. The dam conflict has been over for a long time. Just give them a little bit to pack up and leave." "Na ha ha ha... Now now, was that really a lie?" "The chief warned us that this could turn into a riot. I think we should call for help and shut this down before anything happens." "Kuma-chan. Don't be mean." "Excuse me...?" "He got this many people together in order to help his friend. That's no small feat, you know? The whole village is here... and that means he persuaded Oryou Sonozaki. It wouldn't be easy for a young boy like him to persuade the Empress." "You think Oryou Sonozaki is backing this crowd......?" “There was a thick wall between them and the Houjou family... But he broke that wall down in just a few days...!” ”...Actually, I've been following his progress up to this point. I saw him at their Watanagashi planning meeting. He's a drat courageous boy. The elders screamed and yelled at him, but he wasn't scared at all. He magnificently brought them over to his side. After that, they told him that they'd support him if he could also persuade Oryou.” ”Since he's here today, he apparently also succeeded at doing that. ...He's going to be someone big one day. You should probably get close to him while you still can. Nfu fu...!" "...I want to see Maebara-san earn a little credit today."Ooishi said something that he shouldn't say as a policeman. Kumagai had to struggle to understand what he meant. Giving Ooishi a thin smile, he asked him a question. "Do you want to leave without disbanding them?" "Nfu fu! Nah, we don't need to treat them special! You don't know anything about the Onigafuchi Guardians, you and Maebara-san both. They're not as weak as you think. You'll see." "You want to wait and see what they do, huh? ...As usual, we're doing a thankless job." "Nfu fu fu! Want a cigarette?"Kumagai accepted the offer, taking a cigarette from Ooishi's hand. BGM: Silence  "There they come... Look closely, Kuma-chan." BGM: Fearlessness  Some of them looked like muscleheaded gangsters, and some of them more resembled intelligent businessmen. There was a clearly overbearing old man in a hakama with a crest, and what looked like a whole circle of yakuza leaders arrived after him.  "I... I'm Keiichi Maebara... H-How may I help you...?" "Don't worry. We're on your side." "Who... who are you exactly...?" "I can't... I can't believe he actually showed up...!"Shion and Mion's surprised reactions made me feel nervous. "Keiichi-kun, you're the leader here. There's no need to hesitate. Let's go."The group of men clapped me on the shoulders. But I can't go... The police are here...  “Good afternoon. Where are you all heading?" "Who do you think you are? How could you stop law-abiding citizens from conducting a protest?" "Well, Sonozaki-sensei... We're here because the child consultation center called us here."Sonozaki-sensei? Is he a teacher from some school? Wait, no, I don't have time to joke around... This man in a hakama must be the Sonozaki family's representative on the prefectural assembly. I heard that he's a really scary guy when he raises his voice, just like Mion's grandma...  "Na ha ha ha, the chief of police ordered us here. I can't disobey him, you know." "The Okinomiya police chief??! He's going to hear some real complaints from me later. Tell him to be ready!!!"Ooishi's partner was doing his best not to laugh. "Okay, okay, I'll relay that message to him. Anyway, there are rules in this city,” ”like how the caretaker of a building can order people to vacate their property, if he thinks that they can cause trouble for his business."As Ooishi-san explained in a strange half-troubled and half-delighted manner, one of the intelligent-looking guys started talking instead of representative Sonozaki.  “I went over the laws that apply to the child consultation center. Their claim is unjust, and it could be considered an abuse of their official authority. Here is a copy of the regulations.” ”Furthermore, Keiichi Maebara-san is the appointed leader of the Hinamizawa Unified Council. This is the power of attorney issued by the council. The Hinamizawa Unified Council is a good samaritan organization of citizens formed under the observation of the Shishibone local government section.” “That makes him a proper representative of the organization, and he went through the proper channels. Rejecting his appeal is a clear abuse of authority, and violates the municipal public servant regulations. Therefore, the order made by the head of the child consultation center is unlawful, and if the police continue to interfere with this movement, then..." "Oookay, okay..... I understand, my apologies. Well then, you can carry on, everyone." "That's what you should've said from the beginning!! Let's go, Keiichi-kun!!" "Don't worry. Only the representatives are going in. Is even that going to interrupt their business? With four couches in the visitor's room, I assume they can easily hold ten people in there..." "Na ha ha ha... I guess you know better. Please go, go on ahead then." "Maebara-kun, let's go. Nobody's going to stop us now." "Oh... yes, sir...!” ”Hey, Rena, Mion, Shion, Rika-chan! We're going in!"   ".........Probably.” ”...I didn't think she'd talk to these guys too..." "No matter how you look at it... it's the Sonozaki family giving us the most support. I wonder what made the hag change her mind..." "I'm not surprised at all. I always believed that Mii-chan's grandma would help us!" "Really...? I said some nasty things to her last night, but right now I could kiss her!!" "All right, everyone!! We're going inside!!"SFX: Higurashi  The crowd cheers. The main event is about to begin!  "Maebara-san! Please save Houjou-san!!" "Help rescue Satoko-chan!!" "Hey, Maebara boy! Good luck!!" "This is your show!! We wish you luck!!" "Angel Mort Grenadiers, secure the path of retreat. Support the charge!!" "K!! Show us what you got!!" "I will!! I'm going to get them!!"  I pumped my fist in the air in response to their high expectations. We entered the child consultation center, backed by the power of the Sonozaki family… I finally made it...! limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Jul 28, 2022 |
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Jul 28, 2022 23:21
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Happy birthday Rena  I like that Oryou pulled out literally all the stops and literally sends the family yakuza lawyer. Fuckin sick
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Jul 29, 2022 04:17
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Content warning for onscreen physical and mental abuse of a child. VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 10 Part 3 BGM: Fearlessness  I could still hear the crowd, but at a lower volume. It was loud enough to hear their cheers. The staff in the building must have known who we were. They tried to concentrate on their work as if they didn't see us.  "I'm Maebara Keiichi. I'm here to request that Satoko Houjou be put under protection immediately!" "H-He is unable to see you at this time... I will take a message for him..." "Hello. I'm a lawyer from the Sonozaki Law Consultancy Office. For the purpose of its future use, I will be recording our conversation from this point forward. We would like to be treated responsibly by the child consultation center." "......I... I will try and see if he's available... Please wait for a moment...!" "R-Representative Sonozaki... How have you been...?" "I'm here today as a member of the Hinamizawa town council. May I see the head of the office please?" "Of course... Hey you, take them to the reception area inside the boss's room and serve them some tea!"I guess the power of a representative can really get public officials moving. ...I heard that there are both prefectural and municipal representatives in the Sonozaki family. ...We have the power of both of them today. And that means we have nothing to fear. - - -  I'm sure he's somewhere in this building. All the exits are blocked. There's no way he could escape from us! He better not be thinking that he can hide from us all day! The head of the office, in fact, was peeping out through the blinds of the meeting room on the second floor. He was shaking in fear.   "...O-Okay, I've got it. Today is Saturday. It's nearly three, right? I'll just stay here until then. Have them leave after we close up. Meanwhile, I'll talk with the municipal manager about what to do next...!" "...I thought he told you to concede..." "He said something about a town council... I was expecting a bunch of neighborly old men...!! I never thought I'd see representatives and lawyers and yakuza! Who would have thought there would be two hundred people out there?!" "............Well, that's... Hinamizawa." "Anyway, the office is closing in ten minutes! I'm sure they'll threaten me if I meet with them! But I'm not going to concede! That's my duty as a civil servant! I've been working for the government for forty years, and I'm not ashamed to boast about that! I'll never compromise just because some gangster threatens me...!"SFX: Phone  The head of the office nearly jumped out of his skin. Scared even of the phone, he told the manager to tell whoever it was that he wasn't there. "...Hello? This is Harayama. ......Oh, thank you. I'll let him know. Sir, it's the municipality calling.  "But it's your job as a municipal government to control trouble within the town councils...! Do something about this! It is your sworn duty to take care of this!" "That's not our job... hahahaha. Our job is to support the growth of the local communities of the region, and..." "I don't care! Can't you do something about this?" "At this point, you have no choice but to accept their request. I think you should stop being so stubborn about policy. A government is there for its citizens. Isn't that right...? Can't you just peacefully accept their appeal...?" "You're an official too, aren't you? How dare you take the side of the town council! I'm not going to concede! I'm going to follow the regulations. A civil servant's duty is to conduct business impartially. I've never broken that rule in my entire career. I passed the administrator's exam because I always follow the rules!" "......Well, it's your decision. We'll do our best to help... but I told you, didn't I? I know I did. I know I told you not to get them upset!" "F-Fine! Then I won't ask for your help anymore! I'm hanging up the phone!"Click!  “This'll definitely come up at the weekly meeting..." "I haven't done anything that would upset the mayor! No matter what he says to me, that's what I'll tell him! ...Eeek!"The phone rang once again. Also once again, the head of the office trembled in fear. ...The manager had to reluctantly pick up the phone. "...Yes. ......Eh? .........Can you transfer it here? ...Yes, this is the right office. One moment please...... .........Sir. You have a call from city hall." "City hall? Not the municipal offices...? Who is it now...?"BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi  - - -  “It's important to be impartial and unbiased, but you must act according to the occasion. ...Ha ha ha ha, yes. Please do so. After you're done, please come to the mayor's office and give me your report. I expect you by 6 PM. Thank you very much."The man spoke with a gentle demeanor, but in a tone that didn't allow objection. Then the elderly man in a double suit set the receiver down.  Oryou was sitting on the couch in the reception area. Akane was there with her, too. "Not a problem. It's been a while since you visited city hall. I was surprised to see you here today." "Sorry for the surprise. If I'm going to ask someone a favor, I want to see them in person. Thank you, really." "It's no problem at all. I'm sorry that our staff were so impolite. I should've taught them better. Maintaining a good relationship between municipal governments and town councils is vital." ...It's a huge deal when Oryou Sonozaki comes directly to his office. It's also unusual for her to do things indirectly to begin with. Rather than leading the charge herself, she was having Keiichi Maebara save Satoko. The mayor understood that she was doing this so Keiichi Maebara would get all the credit. Because of that, he was very interested in this young Keiichi Maebara. "He sounds like quite the young man. I can't believe that he's gone so far just to save his friend from an abusive relative."BGM: Thanks  "Please, Mother, don't joke around like that." "Ta ha ha ha ha! It was worth living this long if I was able to meet someone like him! Take care of that Keiichi boy if something happens again!" "You've grown so fond of him! Are you still mad at me for not having any boys?"- - -  The head of the office finally showed up in the room. He seemed like a totally different person. When I first met him, he had a cold attitude and responded to questions with blunt answers. But now he was much nicer and agreed with everything we said. I guess the power we held must have intimidated him... If I was alone, I would've never gotten him to listen to me. It's thanks to everyone's support that I'm able to talk to him now.  "Y-Yes sir..."...Satoko... Finally...!! You're finally free!! - - - SFX: Phone BGM: Silence  He could ignore the call, but if it was someone from the child consultation center, they might become suspicious of him. ...He'd hurt Satoko enough to leave bruises. He couldn't let them visit, so he had no choice but to deal with them over the phone. ".........Tch. That's enough for now. You better remember where you hid the bankbook by the time I come back.....!" "...Ugh... hic......"All Satoko could do was curl up and cry. SFX: Higurashi  "Good afternoon. This is the Shishibone child consultation center." "...Again? Do you guys have nothing better to do?! Why don't you stop calling me and work on your other cases? You're getting paid with the taxes I pay, you know?" "We're very sorry to interrupt you. One of our social workers will be visiting your home shortly. May I get permission for them to enter the premises, please?" "N-No way! We're cleaning the whole house right now. We can't have any visitors today! Come back again some other time!"The consultation center wouldn't give up. Teppei wanted to hang up the phone, but if he did, he knew that they'd show up for sure.  "What the hell do you need her for? I'm her guardian, so I'll answer you instead!" "Are you refusing to put Satoko-san on the phone?" "I-I'm not refusing! I'm just saying that I'll answer your questions in her place! Can't you see what I'm saying? What's your name, anyway?" "I'm asking you one more time. May I speak with Satoko-san please?" "......Guuuuhhh, dammiiiiit...!" If you hit them hard enough, they won't show up for a while. But today, whoever was on the phone seemed so provocative and self-assured. Teppei sensed that they'd definitely come to the house if he didn't put Satoko on. And if they sounded like that over the phone... If they came to the house, they might be bringing along more than just a couple of people. For all Teppei knew, they might even bring a police officer. If they did, he couldn't turn them away at the entrance. He knew too well just how scary police officers could be.  He covered the phone with his hand and spoke to Satoko downstairs.  "......Ohhhh, Satokooo... ...The child consultation center wants to ask you something. Can you come to the phone, pleeease?"Even though he had just been beating her, Teppei was addressing Satoko in a sweet, phony voice. It would disturb people to hear him talk like that. Satoko knew that his sweet voice was the scariest tone of voice he had. She couldn't refuse after hearing him talk like that, so she obeyed him and went upstairs. Teppei grabbed Satoko's shoulders with all his might and whispered in her ear.  "........Yes." "Remember, if you upset me, I'll destroy Satoshi's room. If you behave well, I promise you that I will never enter his room again. Is that a deal? Huh? Huh?!"He squeezed her shoulders even tighter. ...Satoko contorted her face in pain. "We're making up now. Right? Huh?!" ".........Yes... We're a happy family......"Teppei gave the phone to Satoko as soon as she nodded. He stood behind her, continuing to grip her shoulders tight. It was like a raptor gripping its prey with its sharp talons...   "............"The volume on the phone was low enough that Teppei couldn't hear what they were saying. However, he squeezed Satoko's shoulders harder and urged her to say something, because her silence could be interpreted as a negative answer. ".........Yes. .........Everything is working out between my uncle and I." "You don't have any problems with him? ......Hm? Ah, sure, go ahead..."BGM: Confession  "...Ah...... Yeah. ...It's safe here..." "Satoko, we're about to come save you! If you admit that you need help, the child consultation center will put you under their protection immediately!” ”It's not just the center, either! The mayor of Shishibone City is supporting us too! Heh heh, crazy, isn't it? It's all thanks to the Sonozaki family! Mion's grandma is doing all of this for you!"Satoko always felt bitter toward the Sonozaki family, because they were often the ones talking about her behind her back. She hated Oryou most of all. It didn't make sense to her that Oryou would do anything to help her.  “No one will ever treat you badly in Hinamizawa again! I wish I could show you all the people that have gathered around the child consultation center right now! Everyone from Hinamizawa is here to save you! They're even skipping the preparation for tomorrow's festival!” ”.........Huh? Oh, sure.” ”I have a message from the Sonozaki family. Mion's grandma said... to say hello to you. She's sorry about how she treated you. She wants you to come visit her house sometime…” ”You hear that? She's on your side now! She went to see the mayor in person, just for you! But you know, the same goes for us too. We've been coming to the child consultation center every day since you were taken away! Everyone has been supporting us, and all for your sake. Now we have the whole village of Hinamizawa on our side!” ”...Hang on, Rika-chan wants to talk to you!"BGM: Birth and Death  ".........Rika..." "......Keiichi brought it all to an end for you. The people of Hinamizawa aren't going to be mean to you anymore. .........So no one will ignore you when we go shopping together. They won't treat you differently from me anymore. ...No one will treat you coldly anymore."Satoko wasn't sure if she should feel happy or sad that Rika noticed how badly the villagers were treating her. ......All she could do was let out a bitter laugh. "......I can't... believe that..."  "......Rika?"Satoko was surprised. She was surprised to hear Rika's voice sound so mature over the phone. She almost sounded like a different person.  “But I found out that there's no such thing as fate. There's no dead end ahead of us. Keiichi broke that wall down and smashed it into a million pieces...!” ”Satoko, don't give into misfortune anymore! We're almost there! All you need to do is to nod your head!" ".........But... I... I have to get stronger..." "......That's because of how much you suffered. You're trying to overcome that. ......You felt guilty toward Satoshi because you hid behind his back when you were abused by your aunt. I know that you're trying to take Teppei's abuse as a form of self-punishment. I understand you're trying to get stronger as an apology toward your brother.” ”...I can respect that courage, and it shows how much you've grown up. ...Satoshi would be proud of you if he was here right now. ...He would pat your head. ...He would pat it so gently. "............Nii-nii..." Rika's words were suddenly toned with malice, pentrating Satoko's heart the moment she thought she was saved. "........." "You think that taking this abuse will make you stronger. But is this really that different from last year? You're just waiting here for Satoshi to come home. You're waiting for him to come back and save you again.” ”...You don't even know what kind of strength Satoshi held within him... Satoshi didn't just cry and quake in fear like you're doing. He fought. He fought his horrible aunt. He fought in order to save you. ...Remember the sight of Satoshi standing up to your aunt, the one you cried in terror from, with his arms spread wide to protect you!" All she'd ever seen was her brother's back. She had no idea what kind of expression he was wearing on his face. He didn't want to stand in front of his furious aunt. But he had no choice, if he wanted to protect his sister... Satoko never once saw how scared he was, and she never once saw how courageous he was in spite of that.   “I stopped struggling against it. I chose to accept fate and quietly endure my pain. I thought it was a waste of time to seek help. Just like you. I was just waiting for someone to come along who would change my circumstances.” ”......But I've decided to fight. That's why I'm on the phone with you now. I'm going to change this fate on my own! I'm going to persuade you to nod your head!" ".........." "Satoko. He's right behind you... isn't he?" ".............Yes. ...He's here." "Look at his face now. See how evil and scary he looks! Realize how brave Satoshi was to fight back against that furious face! If you want to give something back to Satoshi, don't just take his abuse without seeking help...!! You have to do what Satoshi did for you! Can't you recognize that?!!"Satoko slowly looked back at her uncle, though she was afraid to do so.  ...Ultimately, it wasn't even really about dealing with her aunt or uncle. ...It was about dealing with her fear.  He could've chosen to run from it, or to sit and take it, but he fought for his little sister instead. He fought that fear and didn't falter. And what was Satoko doing? She believed that the violence she was suffering was the punishment she deserved. However... Rika wasn't wrong. ...Satoko wasn't trying to gain strength at all. She was only shutting herself out until someone came to save her. She wasn't doing anything on her own. She was only waiting for someone else to do something about it. Satoshi faced it. He faced this fear. That was his strength...!  “Do you know what Satoshi wanted from you? Do you know what he was trying to show you? If you don't know, Satoshi will never come back to you!!!" Satoko was consumed by fear. Her teeth were chattering, and she felt shivers running down her spine. And that was what Satoshi felt every time she cried.  "............Rika... ...but I..."Even if she asked for help that very minute, Teppei wasn't just going to disappear. Once she asked for help, she'd need to survive until someone physically came to her house to rescue her. Satoko ached all over her body. Her wounds were pulsing along with her heartbeat, and she could taste the blood in her mouth. It wasn't as easy as Rika made it sound. One nod wasn't going to solve everything at once. They had no idea how hard it was for her to nod...!  She couldn't remember his face, but she remembered the strength in his words. And she even may have heard a little bit of fear in his voice. But even so, he still fought. He faced his fears and fought for her sake...! Satoko was scared, just like Rika said. Her teeth were chattering, and she felt shivers running down her spine. But she had to face him. She had to challenge him, to fight him, and to break the cycle!!  ".........Yes...... ...Yes......" "......Show me that courage." "Hello again. It's Harayama from the child consultation center. Please allow me to ask you one more time. Are there any problems between you and your uncle...?" ...Looked straight into the face of terror. All she ever did was hide behind Satoshi's back...! ......Show me that courage. It wasn't only Rika... her Nii-nii was watching her too...! ".........me." "Excuse me? Could you please repeat that?" SFX: Thump  Satoko rolled down the hallway, still clutching the telephone receiver. "Oh, Satoko... You finally betrayed me, huuuuhh?!!" "I hate you!!! Get out of my house!! This house belongs to my Nii-nii and me!! This house belongs to my family!! I hate you! Get out of hereee!!!" "Yoooooooouuuuuu!!! You little biiiiitch!!!" "Waaaaaaaaaaah!!!!" Instead, she spread her arms wide and jumped onto her uncle. Of course, that wasn't going to hurt Teppei at all. Satoko was as weak as a newborn puppy to him. That was, however, the best attack she had at her disposal. Satoko was fighting for the first time in her life. She had decided to stop waiting for somebody to save her. In the end, Satoko was the only one who could save herself. Enduring her uncle's violence had never meant anything at all. She had thought she learned something from her Nii-nii, but she had been mistaken this whole time!! "What's with that look in your eyes, huuuuuh?!! I'm gonna push your front teeth in!!" SFX: Higurashi "Teppei Houjou!! Open up! This is the police!!"Teppei couldn't help but jump in surprise. It had barely been a minute since Satoko asked for help over the phone.  - - -   "But she's still in danger! Teppei might kill her for betraying him!"We had heard a violent noise right after she asked for help. In other words, Satoko had been brave enough to do that in front of her uncle. "We have to get there right away...!! Can someone give us a ride?!"Several of the villagers who came by car started their engines. The crowd had started to realize what was going on. drat it...!! We're coming as fast as we can, Satoko!!!  “The police entered the Houjou residence not a moment ago. He wouldn't have had any time to hurt Satoko-chan." "What?! But, why?!" "...No idea. It's a mystery to me. Anyway, could you break up this crowd already? I'll be leaving for now, so excuse me. Have a good year. Nfu fu fu!" "......Ooishi must have contacted someone as soon as he heard Satoko asking for help." "The police had surrounded Satoko-chan's house ahead of time?" "I get it...! They were suspecting him of Rina's murder. It all makes sense now." "Wait, who's Rina??" - - - BGM: daily passing by(celesta)  Satoko was sitting by the porch, talking with another officer. She had some painful-looking bruises all over her face.   "Coach! She needs treatment right away!" "Let's take her to the clinic. Can you walk, Satoko-chan?"Satoko nodded to the Coach and stood up. It looked painful for her, but even so, I felt relieved to see her better than I expected. However... the cruel bruises inflicted over her body were all too horrible to look at. I'll never forgive that man for abusing a little girl like her...!! My body shivered in anger.   "......Hoh hoh hoh. Did you see what I did, Rika? ...I can act when it counts..." "......Yes. I saw your courage. You won. You broke the bonds of fate...!"Both Rika-chan and Satoko cried and hugged each other. I soon heard another car coming. I immediately knew who it had to be. It was Ooishi-san's police cruiser.  "No, don't be sorry! If not for you, Ooishi-san, he would've done even more horrible things to her. Thank you so very much..." "......I guess you can be a nice person sometimes." "Nfu fu fu! So how is she doing?" "The coach is looking after her. She was injured pretty badly." "Oh, Kuma-chan. What happened to Teppei?" "So he won't come back to this house ever again?" "It's not like he's going to get the death penalty or a life sentence... I don't want to think about this... but he might come back someday." "......Yeah, well, we won't let him. I'll make sure he can never come back to this village!" "Oh my, oh my... The successor of the Sonozaki family is saying such scary things already. You can't threaten him or anything, you know?" "I'm not going to threaten him.” ”I'm just going to advise him that he should never come back to Hinamizawa or Okinomiya. Otherwise, something terrible might happen to him..." "Ah, I guess advice isn't too bad then. Na ha ha ha!!" "I don't know. I think there will be more issues to come. Once Teppei loses his parental rights, they'll need to find a new guardian for Satoko. Someone has to take care of her.” ”But there's no need to worry. I'm sure that the Sonozaki family is going to back her up. We'll make sure Satoko is happy." "Really? That's good to hear!!" "I wonder if she can leave the clinic by tomorrow, I wonder!" "I'm sure those injuries will take more than a day to heal." "......That's not what she's talking about, Mii. Tomorrow is the Watanagashi festival." "Right. It'll serve as proof that we got our happy world back with our own hands." "I agree. I'm sure Satoko wants to see Kei-chan's auction in action!" "Aah! I almost forgot about that...!!" "......Satoko will be coming for sure."SFX: Night Higurashi  They were the same people who came to the child consultation center to support us. They wanted to know if Satoko was safe. Considering her injuries... "safe" might not be the right word. However, she is free from the curse of her uncle now. Her emotional scars will slowly heal. We'll be there for her, as her friends. No, it wasn't just us anymore. The whole village is going to be there for her. The ghost of the dam conflict won't haunt Satoko any longer.  In this one week, we united, we fought, we overcame, and we won. It wasn't an easy victory. However, the price we paid was more than worth it. Tomorrow is the Watanagashi festival. The biggest festival in the village. It's a huge event where we worship the guardian of this village, Oyashiro-sama. Oyashiro-sama is a god who united two enemy peoples. The curse on the Houjou family has disappeared, and Satoko is truly going to be a part of the village. We'll all be playing at the festival together. This is a perfect happy ending. When our ordinary days were taken from us, we all felt so powerless... but now we have everything back. What else can you call that but a miracle?  Miracles can be created when everyone works together. What's impossible to do alone becomes possible when everyone joins forces. With everyone's power, we were able to make impossible things happen. And that's only a natural outcome of everyone doing their best together, so it's not a miracle. In other words, it was inevitable. The old legends in this village tell us that Oyashiro-sama made it possible for humans and demons to live together. I'm not sure what that story really means, but... I'm sure that Oyashiro-sama made something impossible happen. We can be proud of what we did. I'm sure Oyashiro-sama is proud too.  "You pulled it off! It was worth showing up every day!!"My supporters cheered me on. They were all glad that Satoko was finally safe. The sense of accomplishment at saving Satoko finally hit us, and we hugged each other, sharing praises for our struggle… 
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Jul 30, 2022 20:32
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Yay Satoko is saved.
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Jul 30, 2022 23:35
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Now surely there will be no more problems for any of these kids!
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Jul 31, 2022 00:14
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What a great way to end the last chapter of Higura--wait, hold on, I'm seeing in my notes there's still, in fact, one more chapter.
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Jul 31, 2022 01:29
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A nice, short update to round this section off. VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 11 Part 1 BGM: Silence       - - - SFX: Crickets    - - -   BGM: What is Wished  While the injuries on her face (covered with band-aids) looked painful, Satoko seemed to be full of life. It almost looked as though her wounds were from playing too hard or something. "So you stayed at the clinic last night?" "Yes. I told him I was fine, but the coach wanted to keep an eye on me." "If that's what the doctor said, then you should listen to him." "......Satoko can't sleep without me."  SFX: Thump No sooner had Shion finished that sentence than a bucket went flying into her face. Satoko started chasing Shion in circles, like they were playing tag. I really missed this rambunctious fun.  "...I felt the same. But we got it back. We did this." "......I think you did the most. It was your idea to go to the child consultation center, and you were the one who asked everyone for their support." "I agree. I think Kei-chan contributed the most. Most people in Hinamizawa know who Keiichi Maebara is by now!" "Hau. Is Keiichi-kun going to be a popular guy now? Is he?" "I bet he'll be incredibly popular! Popular among old ladies, that is. Ah, I really I envy him!"I'd be fine with that if I could divide their ages by three… - - -  It was still June, but it felt more like it was the middle of summer.  The Furude Shrine was packed with people, leaving the grounds looking nothing like their usual, quiet self. Lanterns of various colors were hung about, and people were swarming the various festival booths, giving the whole place an unorganized yet pleasant atmosphere.  "Everyone comes to this festival. I think at least half of the population of the village is here." "There's more than just them. The neighboring town councils and youth groups are invited too." "I see. We only have a few students in our school. That explains why there are so many kids around today." "Hearing the happy cheers of children is the best part of the festival."She's right. I'm in agreement there.  Booths selling takoyaki, yakisoba, shaved ice, apricot candy, sauce senbei, chocolate bananas... There was a yo-yo game, a goldfish game, a shooting gallery... There were countless booths here. "Those booth runners all came from the city. You can't call it a festival without festival booths!" "So we're going to have a battle in every one of them, huh? I'm not going to lose today!" "Yeah, same here.” ”...Heh heh... let's do it!"  "Of course not!!” ”We're doing it again this year!! This Watanagashi festival, for this six of us... Will be the battle of six evils!!" "......Satoko. There's no reason to hold back this year. Let's enjoy the festival with all our might." "Oh ho ho!! You don't even need to mention it! I, too, declare that I will be the victor!!" "Yeah, Satoko! You go, girl!" "Let's put everything that happened before tonight behind us!" "Let's play with everything we've got! It's been a good week since we all got together!" "Yeah, yeah! Tonight we're all enjoying this festival to its fullest!!"- - - BGM: Afternoon in Paris     SFX: Camera Shutter       SFX: Thud      - - -    "......Akasaka is never there when I need him." "Huh? What are you talking about? Did I do something to make you upset...?" "Na ha ha ha. While you were at the hot springs with your wife, things sure got hectic around here." "Hau, Rika-chan is talking with some strange older guy. I wonder if he's someone she knows. I wonder!" "Who is he? Who is he?!” ”Introduce him to this ol' man, too!" Individuals don’t make miracles. Everyone must come forward to make them happen. That’s why when I thought I could defeat fate as long as I had Akasaka by my side— it was all in my head. Even if he had been there by my side, we probably wouldn’t have been able to do anything and would have only disappointed ourselves. I’m not saying that Akasaka was at fault— that’s not the point at all. I may have considered him “useless” perhaps. …even I’m rather astonished at my foul-mouthedness. Let’s forget about such things tonight. It’s been a couple of decades—why not celebrate our reunion instead? - - -  "I heard about it too! I heard you fought Oryou-san with a sword until she finally gave in! Good on you!" "I-I-I didn't do that...! We just had a peaceful negotiation...!" "Still, I'm proud of you! You led everyone and actually negotiated with the center!" "Hey you, I'll give you some apricot candy! How many do you want?" "...I'm sure Keiichi is into old ladies, too." "I don't know what Rika's trying to say, and I don't even want to know..." Everyone had understood just how much Satoko had been ostracized by the whole village. And they had also understood how unreasonable it was, for it to continue long after the dam war was over. Seeing Keiichi’s efforts to break through that taboo so refreshingly, was a glimpse of a new future ahead for the village And his heroic deeds were praised by all, young and old. With that said, now Keiichi Maebara had become the hot topic amongst the Hinamizawan people. Naturally, everybody wanted a glimpse of this Maebara Keiichi [sic], And hence the bargain auction saw an unprecedent [sic] turnout. Even though he started off red-faced, once he got over his shyness, Keiichi showed his true colors. Eliciting rapturous cheers from the crowd with sheer energy and momentum, The Watanagashi of Shouwa 58 of that day became home to a special fervor that was never before seen. Now Keiichi has the admiration and recognition of the whole village. Even after all this, I’m sure Keiichi will continue to steer the village into new adventures to come. Having such a young leader appear, has made the village elders rather reassured. - - -  "Oh, I should've introduced him to you then. This is my uncle Saburou, who's in the prefectural assembly. This is my other uncle Ken, and he's in the city council." "Sorry that we were late yesterday! We got lost on our way there. Gah ha ha ha ha!" "Well, we're chosen to fight in place of the citizens! Of course we're strong!" "We're glad Satoko-chan is safe. Talk to us again if there's anything you need. We'll be glad to help!"They rubbed Satoko's head while they spoke.   But Keiichi had broken through it all. Having reflected upon their thoughtless insensitivities, I doubt any of these people will discriminate against Satoko again. In fact, they bowed their heads, apologized for their actions, and promised their assistance if anything were to come up jn [sic] the future. There’s an annoying number of typos in these narration screens— possibly due to the fact that the text in them aren’t in the script proper. - - -  "Oh, no, it's not really a big deal...! Hey, Keiichi! We're here too!" "Keiichi-kun's parents are here! Good evening!" "Nice to meet you. My name is Satoko Houjou." "So you're Satoko-chan. Such a poor little girl... look at her face!" "You can make use of Keiichi if anything happens again! In return... what would you think about modeling for me....?!" SFX: Thump  "Sorry... That's just the kind of person he is..." "Still, he seems very nice and fun to be around...!" Keiichi’s father had proudly volunteered to make posters for the town council, if the need ever arose. …I heard from Keiichi the posters his father makes are so good that people steal them. I look forward to seeing just what kind of posters they are. - - -   "Yes... I feel the same way... You've been around a lot longer than me. If it's your best one, then it must be mine too." "...Au au. Still, I think this is most fun and exciting festival we've had since it became known as Watanagashi." "The Watanagashi festival only became like this just a few years ago, didn't it? It used to be just a boring traditional ceremony that the Furude family held.” ”And before that, it used to be something different, more like the things that Takano is interested in..." "......Au au au."  I’m sure that the people who only know this world believe unwaveringly that Hinamizawa was destined to have a happy ending. Only Hanyuu and I know. Only the bystanders know. That here in Hinamizawa, beyond a membrane so thin, that it was even thinner than a goldfish catching-net— there were worlds which had met tragic ends. Which is why, I’m certain that we understand better than anybody else just how much of a blessing this world is. If Keiichi and the others gave in to their temper without fighting side-by-side-, This day would never have come. If Keiichi lost his temper, he would have committed a crime today. The same goes for Shion. She would be a criminal by today. In Rena’s case, she would already be three moves ahead and would have finished the burial by now. …Only Mion never blew her fuse. I’m not sure whether to call it prudent or cowardly, …oops, that was uncalled for. Of course, there was actually a world where I lost it. …… I ended up getting myself killed. How hopeless. Anyway, none of those worlds were any good. We weren’t able to take back our happy world. So I’d given up hope. But nobody else had. We all united to bring about the miracle that needed to happen. A miracle happened, because everyone united.  That’s it. The miracle that couldn’t have happened without everybody coming together. The miracle that wouldn’t have been, If even one of us had given up. It’s thanks to Keiichi who taught me how easy it is to break through fate. I, who had given up from the outset. If everything is fate and there’s a meaning to Keiichi’s existence, Just what is it trying to tell me? I already knew. The meaning of resisting fate and the means to fight it. Never again will I give in to face. Not once more. The mirror opposite o f what Hanyuu told me- Not to hold expectations for anything. Even Hanyuu must be able to cause some sort of miracle if she just believed without giving up. Or so I tried telling her, but she’s stubborn at the oddest times- and evaded me with a simple “au au”.   - - -  TIP 11: A Faded Notebook
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Aug 2, 2022 21:09
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It really is a shame that Mion, at the very least, never spoke up for Satoshi and Satoko, especially after becoming friends with them. Even if she couldn't convince her grandma she could probably sway some of the villagers.
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Aug 3, 2022 17:09
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Next update will be pretty short. Sorry in advance! Tomitake’s sprite is super glitched in this update, not sure why. VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 11 Part 2 BGM: Ancient Times (Inishie)   “Ha ha ha. But, why? Why do you think Takano-san and I will be murdered?" "My, my. Frankly, it would be an honor for us to be the victims of the fifth curse of Oyashiro-sama. Hee hee."...As I'd expected, they didn't really take me telling them that they'd be killed on the night of the festival seriously. They did keep their promise to tighten up my security after I showed them the ritual storehouse... However, they hadn't given one thought to their own safety. Oh well... like I said, I didn't expect them to believe me. If they were willing to take me seriously, I could've easily changed their fate a long time ago.   "I'm going to claw out my throat... like the terminal symptoms of L5? Don't worry. I took the shots. I don't have the disease." "What happens to me is horrible too. I'm going to burn to death on some mountain? ...Did you have a dream about that?" ".........I just want both of you to be careful, at least for tonight. Please listen to me, even if you don't really believe it." "Did you have an ominous vision about some danger befalling us, perhaps? Don't worry. You're under the protection of the Mountain Dogs. You've had eight security guards watching you today." "......Thank you very much. I know I'm being protected. But I want you guys to be careful too." "Thank you for your concern. We'll be fine. I've even been working out. I think I can protect myself."Tomitake flexed his biceps and smiled. He was probably trying to make me feel better. But all he really did was make me feel sadder. ......This is the sad part about being me. I know the future, but I can't tell them. It's as if that was a rule of the world... People tend not to believe what I tell them.  "It sounds like you had a horrible dream. ...Don't worry. Even if we die, the Mountain Dogs will still protect you." "Are you really sure they would? They've never protected me before." "That's not true. They saved you when you got in a fight, remember? They're watching you at all times. Of course they aren't on alert at all times, but just as you requested the other day, the security around you is still extremely strong. You even have a better security team than Dr. Irie." "They'll keep on protecting me even after you die?" "Of course. You're the most important person to us." "Ahahahaha... So you're sure that we're getting killed tonight? That's too bad." My words must have left a mark on his heart. He looked much more serious after I said that to him. "...Good grief. Okay then. I'll be extra careful tonight. I'll take a security guard with me when I'm going back to Okinomiya." "I think someone might attack the two of you if you're alone together. Make sure not to be alone with each other tonight." "Hee hee hee... My my, are you jealous? You're such a precocious girl!"...Like I thought, I can't change their fate. When we saved Satoko, everyone shared the same sense of urgency. That's why we all got together and saved her before it was too late. However, these two have no sense of urgency at all. How can I make them understand? I sighed and gave up.  "Hey wait... Rika-chan...!"I had nothing else to say to them now. Instead, it might be worth talking to someone else. If I could get someone else to protect them, I might be able to change something. I can't give up yet. Fate is as thin as a piece of paper... It's just like the lid on a jar of jam. It's not going to open unless you believe it will. I have to believe that I can change my fate. If I don't, it's not going to change. - - -  I've told Irie about this so many times in the past. Irie tends to listen to me more seriously than Tomitake and Takano do. However, that doesn't mean that he can actually do something about it. "I'm the shrine maiden of Oyashiro-sama, and I have a bad feeling about this... Is that not a good enough reason?" "Ha ha ha ha. ...I understand.” ”It might be a message from Oyashiro-sama. If that really happens tonight, it would be the fifth time in a row. I'll tell the two of them to be cautious too."All Irie would end up doing would be warning the two of them. Which was exactly the same thing as what I did. In other words, it wouldn't matter in the least... Irie is just a researcher, and he has no ability to deal with unexpected trouble. ...That's why Takano works for him, after all. "......Please talk to them. Please." Who would be able to prevent Tomitake and Takano's death? That's right... there's one man who's been fighting the curse of Oyashiro-sama with all his might! - - -  "......I guess he and I are not meant to be." "Na ha ha! You're still upset about last week. Akasaka-san really regrets that he wasn't able to help you. He says he'd love to come back to Hinamizawa again, when he next has vacation. Na ha ha! But his wife took it personally. She's pretty, his wife, but she can be scary too... Nfu fu fu!" "Ooishi... ...I have something important to tell you, but no one else believes me..." "Hmm? What's the matter?"I've spoken to him several times in the past too. He usually takes me pretty seriously. However, after they die, he starts suspecting me. That's why I stopped talking to him.  I told him that I heard someone talking about murdering them in the crowd. That way, he might not be suspicious of me after the murder really happens.  "...Tomitake-san is not from around here... and with Takano-san, that makes two people...... One is going to die and one is going to disappear. ......This could be the fifth year's curse of Oyashiro-sama…” ”I can't take this as anything more than a rumor, you understand. But just in case... We'll keep our eye on the two of them tonight." "I think they were saying that they were going to attack them somewhere between Hinamizawa and Okinomiya."Tomitake's body will be found on the road leading out of the village. ...From what I remember, he's discovered where the concrete road turns to gravel.  He agreed to get involved, and he wasn't suspicious of me either. I'm sure it seems odd to people that Ooishi actually believed this phony-sounding story of mine. The thing about Ooishi is that he strongly believes that there's no smoke when there's no fire. I've learned from experience that he tends to believe my information. However, that personality of his has caused me so much trouble in previous worlds... Of course, there's no question why he's so eager to believe me, either. This is his last chance to expose the curse of Oyashiro-sama before his retirement. Even if it might be fake, he still wanted to believe it. That was convenient for me, since I couldn't show proof.  “.........No, no, it's just a precaution. I heard rumor that something bad might happen around there tonight. Yeah, two officers would be fine. Thank you." "......Thank you. ...No one else believed me, and I didn't know what to do." "It's my job to believe these things. We'll just be glad if nothing happens.” ”Be happy to swing and miss! Well, that's what my late colleague used to say. Besides, it's even worse if you ignore what you're told and don't take precautions, you know?"...I see. That's his way of thinking about things. ...That was why he believed me without question. I hope he won't consider me a suspect after they find their bodies tomorrow...  I can still do more. Who else should I talk to? ...Should I talk to my friends...? I can't give up. I should at least try… - - -  “On the day of the festival? That's so wrong." "Yes. It's happened four years in row. Lots of people think that it's going to happen again tonight too."  "......I already did, but they didn't believe me." "I bet they didn't. ...But it's too late if something really does happen. I think you should talk to Ooishi-san." ".......I already did." “I agree that they should take every precaution. ...Especially tonight." "The series of mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa. Commonly known as 'the curse of Oyashiro-sama.' ...I really don't want them to keep happening every year. Somebody might end up imitating it, and it's bad publicity for the village too." "So if nothing happens tonight, it means the curse is over, right? We should definitely make sure that nothing happens, then." "What can we do? Are you suggesting that we should patrol around the village or something?" "I think patrolling might be even more careless. Do you really think we can do something about this?" "For starters, there's a chance some deviant trying to imitate the serial murders might be within the Watanagashi preparation committee, so let's be wary of any unfamiliar faces." "......But Tomitake and Takano will still be killed." "Rika-chan... ......All right. Let's try to do what we can." "I agree! We can't protect them all night, but let's stay with them at least until the festival is over. As long as we're there, the bad guys won't be able to do anything to them."I couldn't tell if they really believed me or not, but they listened to me, at least. We decided to keep our eyes on Tomitake and Takano and protect them for the rest of the night. I guess I've done everything I can now. ...Though it's hard to believe this is enough to prevent their deaths... "......I just have to hope nothing's happened when I wake up tomorrow morning." "...It might be impossible. Their deaths might be the bell that portends my doom." "............Au au." "But Takano told me earlier that even if they die, the Mountain Dogs are supposed to keep protecting me. They might bring in more squads from Tokyo too...... Even if they die, the situation will be different this time." "............What if it still doesn't work out?" "...Then I will just have to die... Anyway, I'm not going to give up until the very end. I'll struggle to my very limits. I won't give up and spend the rest of my time drinking wine." ".........Do whatever you want to do, Rika." "You still believe that nothing is going to change, Hanyuu?" "I keep getting hurt because I have hope, huh."If I'm an actress trying to get up on the stage, Hanyuu is a real bystander. We have very different opinions when it comes to this.  "That sounds like you're convinced that nothing is going to change. Lately, the things you say have been pissing me off." "......Au au au..."I understand. Hanyuu keeps telling me not to get my hopes up because she cares about me. Because I hope to defeat fate, I get hurt when that hope is betrayed. And the more I get hurt, the closer I get to losing my mind and disappearing. For Hanyuu, that means losing her only friend. Losing me is probably the most unbearable thought for Hanyuu, since she has to live alone, unable to communicate with anyone else.  Even when I didn't have that faith, I still believed that eventually I'd find a way to get out of this maze. Perhaps... Hanyuu knows something I don't. I might just be a goldfish inside of a fish bowl. There might be no way for me to escape my fate. We're stuck alone inside of a fish bowl, yet every day I knock on the glass, believing that I can break it someday. ...Hanyuu keeps telling me that I'm wasting my time. If I get hurt and die, she would have to survive all by herself inside the fish bowl.  Hanyuu has lived for a much longer time than I have. ...Because of that, she understands the laws of this infinitely spanning world better than I do. ...No matter how much I refute Hanyuu... I can never refute the truth. Even so...... I still have to believe in my own faith. I believe in a spear that will pierce the wall of fate. My faith will make that spear sharper than ever. - - -   If they left now, I'd never see them again.  Everyone tried various ways stop them from being alone because the murderer might be around. However, we eventually started to believe that they wanted to be alone for adult reasons... and I wound up suggesting that we shouldn't interrupt the two lovebirds… BGM: Silence SFX: Crickets  "Is that so? If something happens, you'll rescue me, right?" "Ah, ahahahahaha... Th-That's the plan!" "Well, we really should go now. It's getting pretty late." "Thank you for your concern. Hee hee..." "D-Don't make any assumptions!! I'm heading to the clinic because I left something there. Takano-san has the key, so we have to go together!" "Nah, I think he's more into playing gynecologist. Heh heh heh!" Crash, bang, wham!! "Hauuu!! I wonder how they play doctor, I wonder!" "Don't hit them just because you feel embarrassed... And as for you two, stop only getting along when you're making dirty jokes..." "...G-Goodbye, everyone... Ahahaha... I really am just going back there to get what I forgot... Don't follow us, okay...? Ahahahaha..." "Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... Hauuu!" "......Tomitake... please be careful..." Everyone laughed when Satoko yawned. It seemed like a good time to call it a day. ...It doesn't feel like I was able to change their fate. I just hope that they pay attention, and that they're prepared for whatever faces them. ...I still might have a chance. All I can do now is pray.  "Make sure you wear your punishment shirt!!" "Man, I'm so jealous you get to spend a night with a pretty lady! Whoo, whoo!" "Ah, ahahahaha. See you guys again. I guess it'll be in fall." "That's if we don't get killed tonight. Hee hee. Good night, everyone." That was the best I could do on the night of Watanagashi.  - - -  - - - BGM: Ancient Times (Inishie)  "They sure were persistent. Hahaha, I wonder if they really want us dead."  "Please make sure that Dr. Irie examines Rika-chan. Her nightmares might be a symptom of something. If anything happens to her, it would be a disaster."Takano touched Tomitake's hand gently. As he turned bright red, Takano moved in closer and spoke. The way she acts is just too sexy, Tomitake thought. BGM: Silence SFX: Shrine Bells  "Wha, what is it? ...You have something to tell me too? Haha, hahaha... I hope you didn't see me claw out my throat in a dream. Hahahaha."BGM: Gallery of Madness (Kiyouki he no Kairou)  "...Eh......?"Takano stared at him with a mischievous look, as if seducing him... and started whispering into his ear. "...Hee hee. ......I'm really surprised. That girl might have a godlike power after all. Hee hee hee hee." "Umm... ahaha, what does that mean...?"Takano smiled gently and pulled back her hair. ...Even seeing her do that made Tomitake's heart race.  "Th-That's good to know... Ahahahaha..."Takano's fingers curled around Tomitake's chin, stroking, tickling, and caressing it. Her movements were very captivating and seductive.  "...I've dated a lot of guys, but none of them interested me as much as you. I've learned that someone with a personality like yours makes the ideal partner for me.” ”...You're willing to accept everything I stand for. I believe that you understand me completely. ...That's why I can give you everything I have. ......I want you to accept everything about me... Do you understand...?" "............Um. ...Well, Takano-san... What's the matter...?"Her voice didn't really sound that affectionate. ...Tomitake knew from experience that he couldn't grasp what was on her mind when she wore a cold smile like that.  It seemed as though she couldn't wait for something to happen. There was a chilling allure to her stange smile... that made one question if something exciting was really about to happen. "......What... what's almost here?"Tomitake asked, trying hard to resist the temptation. "............The day my dream comes true." "Your........ dream..." "Yes. My dream. ............Didn't I tell you before? Or do you forget about everything we talk about in bed...?" "N-No... I remember, .........your... dream..."Tomitake's response was vague. Either he didn't remember, or he hadn't understood it very well.  "............." "...Jirou-san. Listen. .........I can't be with you anymore." "What...? ...Wh-What do you mean...?" ".........You see, I belong in a different world. ...Hinamizawa is where humans and demons once coexisted. ......That's why we met each other here. ......But all that is going to come to an end soon. ...The eclipse of the sun brought humans and demons together.” ”.........Do you understand what I'm saying? ......Hee hee hee hee." "Takano-san...... did you drink a bit too much at the festival? ...Ahahaha... you're drunk, right?"BGM: Silence SFX: Shrine Bells  “...I'm so sad that we have to say goodbye."She pulled herself away from Tomitake and slowly stepped back. ...As if signaling the time had come for them to part. "...I don't know what you're trying to say... What's this all about, Takano-san...?" "............I want you to make a decision. I want you to decide to stay with me, and abandon the sunlit realm. ......If what you told me was all true............ then I know you have no doubts..."...By that time, Tomitake understood that Takano was asking him to make an important decision. ".........Could it be...... you're........." Tomitake got up from his seat and looked Takano straight in the eyes. ...There was a faint glimmer of hostility within those eyes. ".........Is your work... more important than me...? ...I thought so..." "...I can't believe this... I trusted you...!"Those words were ones of rejection. ...Takano's lips twisted into a cruel smile. BGM: White Mist Peak -Pure White- Takano slowly opened the door. Six men in overalls were standing there at the ready. Tomitake was frozen in shock. The six men walked up to Tomitake with no expressions on their faces. It was immediately obvious that they were going to do something to harm him. "...What is this all about!?" “...However, there are some people in Tokyo who want to see it go off." "No! What good will that do for anyone?" "Nobody ever does anything that isn't beneficial to them. Therefore, if they want that bomb to explode, it must be doing good for someone. Your question just now is a pretty meaningless one." "...I-I can't believe this. There are people who want that to happen? Hinamizawa Syndrome is a very dangerous disease! You know that as well as I do!" "I do. It would be a disaster if it had an outbreak. Tokyo wouldn't be able to cover it up, either." "...D-Did that faction bribe you?" "It was actually my mission from the very start. ...I'm so sorry. We belonged in different worlds from the moment we first met." "......What are you going to do to me...?" "It would be a great help if you came over to our side. Of course, that would mean that you'd have to betray your own people." "...You're expecting me to turn on them...?" “My body will belong to you. You can dominate me to satisfy your needs whenever you like. ......I'm willing to be all yours. ...Hey, don't you want to dye this body of mine in your scent...?"Her words were a kind of assault, directly hammering at the emotions men had difficulty resisting. They were like an evil spell to control his heart. Upon hearing them, Tomitake felt an unknown sensation rush up his spine as his feet froze in place, entranced. ...However, he forced himself to resist the temptation. He sealed the cracks in his wall of reason to stop Takano from forcefully entering his heart... "Ugh..................... I refuse...!" She had known from the start that Tomitake was going to refuse her. Even so, Takano let out a triumphant laugh. It's funny. She thought Tomitake would refuse right away. However, it took him a while to refuse because of how effective she was at seducing him. The time it took him to refuse her was one of victory for Takano. For Tomitake, it was a time of humiliation. Takano continued to laugh. She sounded rather like an evil witch. "......I thought you would say that. That's why I love you so much." "Okonogi-kun... You're betraying me too?" "...I'm sorry, Lieutenant Tomitake." "Are you surprised? The Mountain Dogs work for me. It was us who controlled this clinic all along. You and Dr. Irie are the only people who didn't know... Hee hee hee...""......poo poo...!"Tomitake moved into action, sensing the danger that was about to befall him. His fist thrust out as quick as lightning, knocking one man down before he could even blink. However, the other Mountain Dogs certainly weren't going to just stay there and watch. They all attacked him as one. He tried to strike back with an elbow, but he simply couldn't overcome the difference in numbers. Tomitake tried his best, but soon enough the Mountain Dogs had wrestled him to the ground.  "Stop struggling already!! Waaaaaagh...!!"They pinned him down so that he couldn't move an inch. "Impressive, Jirou-san. You fought pretty well, considering you were up against six people."Takano walked over and smiled while looking down at Tomitake. "............Hey, Jirou-san. I know you're going to refuse, but let me ask you one more time... Will you change your mind and join my side...?" "...N-Never...! I'll never join with you...!! Uuugh...!!" "That's what I wanted to hear. So I could sever all my attachments. Hee hee hee hee."Takano was holding a small case in her hands. She opened it and showed Tomitake what was inside.  "Oh, come now. I'm sure you know what it is. Hee hee." "...No... We destroyed all of them...!!" "Jirou-san... Let me guess what you're thinking. Even if this is what you think it is, you should still have immunity because you took the vaccine. ...Hee hee. Isn't that what you're thinking? That's why you're not scared, right?” ”...Well, let me tell you something nice. That vaccine you took before you came here was fake. You may not have noticed it, but you're already an L3 patient of the Hinamizawa Syndrome.” ”Jirou-san, you have a tendency to look away when you get an injection. That's not very smart. You should always make sure of what you're getting. Hee hee hee hee." "Sh-Shiiiiiiiit!! Let me go!!"Tomitake struggled to get away, but he simply couldn't move. Upon seeing his sorry state, Takano laughed with glee.  “The subject was displaying extreme irritation in the neck and armpit areas. Based on our past studies, patients with L5 suffer from extraordinary irritation in their lymph nodes. It might be an antigen-antibody reaction.” ”...In other words, Jirou-san... If you're lucky, you might be able to die just as Rika-chan predicted. Hee hee hee hee! Are you going to kill yourself, or become disabled for life...? Which would you prefer...? Which one, Jirou-san? Hee hee hee hee!!" "Stop... Stooooop!!" "It's going to be too difficult to give him the injection like this. Put him to sleep, please." He tried to fight it off with all his might, but his strength eventually left him, and he became as quiet as a beached whale. Takano stroked his face to make sure that he couldn't resist. Then she brought the needle toward his throat. She pushed it right into his skin. ...As she squeezed down... on the syringe's plunger, the skin surrounding the tip of the needle swelled up... ...and eventually the contents were absorbed into his body.  The Mountain Dogs finally got off of him. He couldn't even twitch. "Someone put him in my trunk."Two of the men lifted up Tomitake and carried him outside. "...Oh, hold on. I'm sure he'd be happy if I left him his bicycle. That way, he can enjoy cycling in hell too."The Mountain Dogs all quietly laughed at the joke.  They stopped laughing as she began to speak. "Okonogi, you wait for the contact from headquarters. Keep your eyes on Dr. Irie. Also, keep tabs on Rika Furude too. I don't know what kind of power she has... but she predicted how Tomitake was going to die.” ”...Hee hee. I'm very curious about her... but too bad." "Roger. I'll take care of things here. Please be careful on your way." "There's not much to be careful of. By the way, where's Dr. Irie...?" "I'm sure he's attending the festival's afterparty. He's still at the shrine.""I wish I could see the look of panic on that nerd's face. Hee hee."The Mountain Dogs started laughing again too.  It was nearly 10 PM. Most people must have left the festival for home. Those people still there were probably enjoying the afterparty while getting drunk inside the shrine. It was a good time for her to leave without being seen by anyone. BGM: Silence SFX: Crickets  After saying that, she left the clinic alone.
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Aug 5, 2022 02:13
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Aaaaaaaand now we know why she showed up once after her death, I suppose.
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Aug 5, 2022 13:58
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Interesting. Tomitake never survives, and I doubt this is the first time Takano has given him the option to join her. So that means he will never choose to betray Rika.
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Aug 5, 2022 21:25
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VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 11 Part 3 She left amid the moonlight, the singing of insects, and the sound of a river... It was a typical night in Hinamizawa. ...While enjoying all these sensations, Takano got inside her car. Tomitake was sleeping inside the trunk. His bicycle, on the other hand, was loaded into her back seat. ...Hee hee. How ironic. Your bicycle has a better seat than you. I'll let you out of there soon.  Takano found a good place to drop him off, but she gave up on it, as there was a police cruiser parked in the area. ...She figured that they were probably patrolling to make sure the fifth year's curse didn't happen. Good job, officers. No one would ever suspect that there's a curse packed in my trunk right now.  Eventually the mountain road ended, and she was surrounded by darkness. There were rice fields nearby. She could tell by the sound of the croaking frogs. Takano parked her car by the pitch black roadside. She had to stop here, otherwise she'd be too close to a residential area. Indeed, she was nearly in Okinomiya. She would have dumped him earlier, but the police cruiser had foiled that plan. Takano pulled Tomitake out of the trunk and left him by the road. She also left him his bicycle. Tomitake let out a small groan. ...It probably wouldn't be long until he woke up.  “After a futile struggle, you'll meet with a miserable demise. I wonder if you really are going to claw out your throat and die... I wish I could be here to see it. Hee hee.” “Your mysterious death and my disappearance will complete the fifth year's curse of Oyashiro-sama. The story of the curse of Oyashiro-sama will be firmly established.” ”You should feel honored... Jirou-san. You're going to be part of history! You might be losing your life here, but in a way, you're going to live for eternity. ............Hee hee hee hee."That was her last farewell to Tomitake. SFX: Car  She could see the place she left Tomitake in her rearview mirror, but it was already shrouded in darkness.   It had been a while since she left Hinamizawa. It was almost midnight. She might have already made it to the neighbouring prefecture. ...It was difficult to tell because she couldn't really see anything in the darkness. Takano stopped her car in the middle of all that. SFX: Night Higurashi After turning off both the engine and the headlights, there really was nothing but darkness surrounding her. It was as if time itself had stopped. Takano wasn't sure how long she waited, but eventually she saw the headlights of a car blinking twice. She blinked her own headlights back at it. Soon, she saw several people walking toward her. Two men wearing blue overalls knocked on the window of Takano's car. Obligingly, she opened it. They looked over her face and the paperwork they had in their hands.  After confirming her identification, they called someone over the radio. BGM: White Mist Peak -Pure White-   "Nobody's following us. Your work is much appreciated. Please come with us to the command vehicle. I'll take your paperwork." "The paperwork is inside the trunk. Here's the key. I do need some coffee. Could you get me some?" The light of the electric equipment shone beautifully in the dark. "Here's your coffee, Major."Another man in blue overalls offered her a paper cup.  "They've finished setting it up in Gifu Prefecture." "Gifu? Did I burn to death in the mountains of Gifu?" "I'm not sure about the cause of death... I'll confirm it with someone." That was the name of their mission. The goal of the operation's first stage was Takano's escape from Hinamizawa and the extraction of eighteen specific classified documents. That goal had been completed.  That one had also been completed in the way Takano had planned. He was not killed that way just because Takano had wanted to see it. It was intentionally planned that way, so that the office in Tokyo would be suspicious of the Irie Institute.  Tomitake's mysterious death would be a suitable way to persuade people. Tomitake was not the only one who was expected to die. Takano was expected to do so as well. However, Takano didn't really need to die herself. They had acquired a substitute body for her, so she didn't have to actually die. Takano had no idea how they got the body. According to what she heard, a team in Gifu took care of everything. Once Tomitake and Takano were dead, Tokyo would definitely grow suspicious of the Irie Institute. The main purpose of this mission was to make the Institute look reckless...  "...A problem? What sort of problem?" "They made a mistake with the corpse. The body has already been dead for twenty-four hours..." "...I see. And what's that supposed to mean?" "It means that you were already dead yesterday."Takano's body was supposed to be selected from the corpses of people who had died the same day. The plan was to then burn the body and make identification of the corpse more difficult. They'd found a suitable body for the plan... However, they just found out that it had been dead for over a day. ...That would create a hole in their plans. "They're going to collect another body to use instead..." "Huh...? But that would mean..." "The messenger of Oyashiro-sama was long dead, but came to the festival regardless......” ”Hee hee... that's a good one. That's a very, very good one. ...Heh heh heh heh...!"Takano laughed with satisfaction for a while. The other people in the vehicle couldn't understand why Takano was laughing so much. Takano continued to laugh as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.  "...Are you sure? Shouldn't you be more cautious...?" "Don't worry. Everyone saw Miyo Takano walking around at the Watanagashi festival. Even if the forensics lab does find out that the body's been dead for more than a day, they'll just think that the test results were wrong. Hee hee hee hee!"Takano almost seemed to be enjoying the risk. "...R-Roger. I'll notify them." "By the way... Was my body burned inside of an oil drum?" "Yes. It seems someone already discovered it on the mountain near the freeway." Then she started laughing strangely again. Nobody could figure out why she was laughing like that.  “.........I have to admit, she has a supernatural power that defies explanation. ...Tell the Mountain Dogs in Hinamizawa to tighten up security on R." "Roger." "Major... The Okinomiya police department has discovered the body of Tomitake." "...They have, huh? The show is about to begin. Hee hee hee hee!"- - - This section follows Tsumihoroboshi-hen Day 8 almost line-for-line, aside from the location and, oddly enough, Irie’s clothes. Did he take the time to change his clothes after the festival, or is this an inconsistency issue? You decide! BGM: Silence SFX: Crickets   “So, what do you think, Dr. Irie?"Ooishi entered the area enclosed by a blue tarp. In there, people from forensics were taking pictures of the dead body from various angles. Irie was squatting down next to the dead body of Jirou Tomitake. ...When he stood up, he was white as a sheet.  "...Yup. I can't believe it, either. As far as I see... he clawed out his throat with his bare hands. This isn't a normal way to die. Most likely, some kind of dangerous drug must have caused it." "...Are you saying that he was a drug addict?" "I don't know, was he? It's going to be my job to find that out." "............Ooishi-san, what's this two-by-four doing here?" "I think... he was swinging it around. And then, he threw it away, and he had more fun clawing out his throat, I guess." "......Why was he swinging the two-by-four around?" "He probably did it in self-defense. ...Did you notice there are several external injuries on his body?" "...Yes. I can see some bruises." "The easiest explanation I can think of is this......... He was attacked by someone on his way home to Okinomiya after the festival. He was seized by the culprit, given a shot of some kind of dangerous drug, went crazy, and died." "I'm not an expert on it, either... but they say self-harm is one of the terminal symptoms for drug addicts, right? Well, I'm sure the old man in forensics will take care of the investigation." "Oh, is that so. Thank you. Did you find anything on it?" "Not yet. They're investigating it right now." "So, that means ...the place where the bicycle was found is most likely the place he was attacked. ...And he ran away from the culprit and came here... ...Hummmm."Ooishi frowned, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Irie was looking at the miserable corpse of Tomitake, and he kept saying the same thing.   He hadn't swung the two-by-four at a real person, but probably saw some kind of hallucination due to the L5 symptoms. Violent reactions to hallucinations is one of the clearest characteristics of the terminal stage. However, Tomitake supposedly took a vaccine before he came to the village. There was no way he could reach L5 symptoms in such a short period of time. Irie didn't want to believe it... but it was obvious that someone intentionally injected him with the pathogen. The pathogen must have been strong enough to give him L5 symptoms immediately.  A chemical weapon that induces an acute onset of symptoms. It makes people hallucinate, which inevitably leads to a horrible death... It's the absolute worst kind of demon. However, they had destroyed all of it due to its dangerous nature. All that was left were helpful chemicals, such as vaccines and treatment drugs... ...Tomitake was their liaison from Tokyo. Whoever killed him must have had full knowledge about him and this drug. ...How would that person know he was their liaison?!  Takano is also a watchdog from Tokyo. She's something like a superintendent. ...It was quite posssible that something bad had happened to her too.  "What? Oh, are you talking about your nurse?" "I think she was with him. Is she okay?!" "...Do you know her phone number?" "Of course." "Kuma-chan. Get her phone number from Dr. Irie and have someone at the station call her home." "Understood! Doctor, can I have the number?" "Yes, ummm... Here it is."Kumagai got the phone number, repeated it to make sure he got it right, and dashed out of the blue tent.  "Yes." "...Have you heard about any troubles between them?" "No. ......Not even once. They were very close friends." They were coworkers sent from Tokyo. They had access to information that even Irie didn't. There's no way there was trouble between them.  "...We don't have any drugs like that at my clinic. Even if we did, we'd store them with extra care. There's no way Takano-san could smuggle out a drug from my clinic..." "But it's easier for nurses to do it than for regular people, right?""Like I said, I've never heard of a drug like that, and I don't have anything like that in my clinic...!"Irie made clumsy excuses while he tried to piece together what was going on. ...However, Irie had no means of knowing the state of affairs in Tokyo, and he couldn't reach any further conclusions. So it was easy to laugh at him, as though he's a frog trapped in a well.  “Doctor, can you give me her address?” “Kuma-chan, can you also check if the police headquarters has found any unidentified female bodies tonight? ...Maybe we should check with the other prefectures, too. Get the section manager to call all the nearby prefectural headquarters and ask if they have any unidentified female bodies." "Yes sir!"- - -  "Are you sure about this, Major...?" 
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Aug 7, 2022 07:07
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I really gotta wonder what trying to piece together the mystery in real time was like back then 
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Aug 7, 2022 23:23
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VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Days 12 to 14 BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi  It isn't uncommon for Ooishi to show up here today. Interestingly, he always asks to see the most key person in that world. He asks for Keiichi in the world where he gets sick. He asks for Rena in the world where she gets sick. In this world, he asked for me.   "...I couldn't prevent it."There's nothing I can do now. I knew this was going to happen. I'm sure Takano is dead too... "......And Takano?" "I have bad news about her too. She was found burned to death in the mountains over in Gifu Prefecture. Based on the condition of the body, she was choked to death before her body was burned. It's a tragic story no matter how you look at it." "......I know what you're thinking. You think I know something about what happened to them." "...You think, I'm involved in this murder?" "Well, I wanted to suspect you, but I don't.” ”If you were responsible in some way, you wouldn't have given me the hints you did. At the very least, I'm sure you're not involved with the people who killed them." "......I'm glad you're not suspicious of me." "Please let us solve the mystery of Hinamizawa this year!" "......Are you trying to get me involved in your investigation?" "Na ha ha ha... I was just talking to Oyashiro-sama."Ooishi is well aware that people call me the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama. ...That must have been his attempt at a joke.  "Oh, that means we both want the same thing." "......I made a prediction about where you might find Tomitake's body. Didn't you have a police cruiser nearby?" "Yeah, I listened to your prediction, and had a cruiser patrol the area.” ”The place where the concrete and gravel roads meet... It's on the very border of the village. It gets very dark there at night. It always seems like if something bad were to happen, it could happen there." ".........So where did you find Tomitake's body?" "We found him dead by the rice fields near Okinomiya."BGM: Gallery of Madness (Kiyouki he no Kairou) That's not where his body is usually found... If he was fated to hallucinate and die, he would die in exactly the same spot, whether the cruiser was there or not. Just because the cruiser was placed there... Tomitake's body was found in a totally different spot. ...In other words, the existence of the police cruiser disrupted that fate.  “As it turns out, one of the cars that headed toward Okinomiya after the festival was over was Takano's."Takano lives in Okinomiya. It wouldn't be strange for her to head back home after the festival. "However, she was the only one inside the car. Tomitake wasn't with her." "......Tomitake always comes to Hinamizawa on his bike." "Then she could've loaded his bike in the trunk and given him a ride. But he was not with her. However, his body was found among the rice fields near Okinomiya, past where the police cruiser was patrolling in Hinamizawa..." "............What are you saying...?" "There's no way he could have biked through the dark woods to avoid the police cruiser. He somehow took the road without being noticed by us. .........Furude-san. Can you tell me what you know about the relationship between Tomitake and Takano?" ".........They're dating. ...That's all I know." “but because the cruiser was in that area, she had no choice but to pass by... and dump him on the side of the road."Both Tomitake and Takano were sent here from Tokyo. I have no idea what their real identities are. I can't say that Takano had no reason to kill Tomitake. However... I've never considered that possibility before in my life... Takano killing Tomitake...? ...But why?? I can't think of any reason. Nothing comes to mind, and it's hard to imagine Takano was cornered to the point she had to kill him. ...In fact, it was more plausible to think she was enraged when the lovesick Tomitake acted cold towards her, and she strangled his neck.  “Have you heard of any rumors that she was trying to use him for anything...?" "...None. But I can ask around. I'll let you know if I find out something." "Thank you very much. I'm just glad that the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama is on my side."But even the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama couldn't solve this mystery for over a hundred years... "But... you said Takano was killed too... How can she be the culprit?" "Well, it's because you leaked me the information, I mean, the prophecy. Without that, I'm sure I would've just believed that both Takano and Tomitake were the victims of the fifth year's curse of Oyashiro-sama. I feel like it's different this time. Maybe as though this is someone trying to make the curse of Oyashiro-sama happen." ".........So you really think... that Takano-san is the culprit...?"Basically, this is what Ooishi is trying to say. They're not both victims. The culprit is also pretending to be a victim.  ...I can't think of any reason why Takano would do something like this. Ooishi only feels the way he does because he doesn't know her as well as I do. For another thing, how can he explain that Takano's body was found? Didn't the police in Gifu Prefecture identify the body? "For a charred corpse, the easiest way to identify them is by their dental records. Although, according to the old man in forensics, they're still not 100% sure. ...And besides, there's a contradiction with the estimated time of death. It just doesn't make sense." "What do you mean......?" "Well... The test results show that she was dead on the night before the festival. Apparently they inspected the contents of her stomach and such. But at the time of testing, they already had information about Takano. They knew that she was at the festival that night, and realized that the test results didn't match up. So they just dumped the results and decided to take the dental records alone." "These things do happen every once in a while... However, if Takano really is the culprit, this body might belong to someone else." "......Is it possible to do something like that?" “If they were skillfully forged, we could have the wrong ID.” ”...Anyway, the Gifu police department has made up their mind that the body belongs to Takano. Within police departments, we sometimes have issues with false test results. That's how most false charges are made. ......It feels to me like this is one of those times." "...So you think Takano is alive?" "Since last night, both Miyo Takano and her car have gone missing. If that body found in Gifu isn't Takano... this is going to be very interesting indeed." - - - BGM: Silence SFX: Night Higurashi    It seemed like both the clinic and the office in Tokyo had flown into a panic over it. ...It's funny how they make such a big fuss about their own people when they don't care about what happens to other people's lives if it would get in the way of their research.  Okonogi is the leader of the Mountain Dogs. I came here to make sure he's still willing to protect me. Based on past experience, they tend to lose interest in protecting me after Takano dies. "......Okonogi. Takano is dead, but am I still safe...?" "Don't worry Rika-san. We'll still keep up the tight security around you. You don't have to call the police."...I guess this is part of that tight security? They must have been listening to my conversation with Ooishi. "......Ooishi told me something. Is it true that Takano isn't really dead?" “You shouldn't pay attention to anything he says."...Well, he's not wrong. This year is Ooishi's last chance. Because he's so desperate, he's developed a bad habit of listening to every rumor he hears. "......What's your opinion about this, Okonogi?" "Right now, they're still investigating, so I can't say anything. Knowing the relationship between those two... I think it's clear that this was done by someone within the organization."I glanced over at Irie as I listened to Okonogi speak. ...It seemed that whoever he was talking to over the phone was accusing him of killing them. Irie was frantically trying to prove his innocence. Soon enough, he hung up the phone. Irie looked upset that he was under suspicion after working so hard for the organization.  "......It seems like you're in big trouble." "Just as you heard. ...It sounds like there's some big conspiracy behind their deaths. People in Tokyo think that I'm the one who's pulling the strings. ...Good grief, I have a lot of questions as to how they figure that!"I rarely ever saw Irie get so emotional. He must be feeling as though all his effort is being repaid with injustice. However, it's a fact that Irie was trying to fight against the budget cuts and downsizing of his research team. Tokyo is thinking that could be his motive for killing them. ...In any case, everyone in the organization is suspicious.  "We got the order to tighten up your security. Don't worry." "...I'm very relieved to hear that,"This was the first time the Mountain Dogs had ever tightened up my security. They usually become so busy keeping tabs on Irie after Tomitake and Takano's deaths that they end up ignoring me. Even though they're dead, I'm still in a pretty favorable situation.  "People in Tokyo are investigating that now. Based on the situation, it's clear that this was done by someone within the organization. ...Ha ha ha ha, I guess I'm their prime suspect." "...You're the only one who could kill Tomitake like that." "Th-That's not true. The people in Tokyo are discussing the possible use of H173. But that drug was destroyed when the research was cancelled. It's impossible...!" "However... They have no choice but to suspect you in this case. Mr. Tomitake even took a vaccine before he came here. But he still got infected." "It must just be an extremely unlikely coincidence... Anyway, it's just impossible...!"...Irie is usually a very calm person... but once the people in Tokyo start suspecting him, he often loses his mind.  "Takano-san....? N-No way..."But as he spoke, Irie also started to realize that everything could be explained if Takano was the culprit. ......But I don't know how to persuade him that it's the truth. More than anything, people want to hear a motive. Not who did something, but why. ...Knowing that probably isn't as important as it sounds. After all, you never know the motive unless the suspect talks. Guessing about the motive is just a waste of time. In other words, it's stupid to assume that Takano isn't the culprit just because I don't know what her motive is.  Upon hearing me be ungrateful towards his boss, Okonogi flashed me an unpleasant smile. "..........."It's true that Takano was very nice to me. It might be disrespectful of me to suspect her. However... I still can't trust her completely yet. Perhaps I've developed the same bad habit as Ooishi. Am I believing every crazy theory I hear just because I'm desperate to escape from my fate...? BGM: Ancient Times (Inishie)  "Don't worry. We've received an order to tighten up your security too..."Irie smiled bitterly. ...For him, their protection wouldn't be too different from stalking. "Rika-san, make sure that you don't give up too much information to the police. I think you understand, but you could create a problem if you talked to them about our secrets."He was implying that he'd have to kill anyone I talked to. ...This isn't the first time they've warned me about this.  If she is, then Okonogi is almost certainly involved too. ...Then it'd make sense that he wouldn't want me to suspect Takano. But that would be horrifying. If Takano was my enemy, then the Mountain Dogs were too. ...This whole clinic is a lion's den. Irie is just a researcher, so he probably wouldn't know what's really going on.  Why would Takano do something like this? I thought I'd just convinced myself that the motive shouldn't even matter, but I can't stop thinking about it... Is Takano really behind it all? Am I going as crazy as Ooishi just because of how badly I want to solve this mystery? Perhaps... the Mountain Dogs are more like wolves looking after a flock of sheep.  I never once found out who killed me, and I stayed close to the Irie Institute so that they'd protect me. ...What if that was my big mistake...? ......Well... I'm sure that Irie has no bad intentions. In many lives, I got to see just how genuine his feelings are. I can trust him. ...However, he's not really reliable.  He smiled and told me not to worry, but I noticed an evil glint in his eyes. ......It's possible that I have Hinamizawa Syndrome, and that was just a hallucination. I don't understand anything. I don't even know who my enemies are anymore. ...There's no point in thinking about this any longer. I have to only trust who I know I can trust for sure. There are only a few of those people, though. ...... Irie, Ooishi... and my friends.  If I started accusing Takano of anything, who knows what they'd do to me. .........When this world first began, I thought I had no time left. ...But that wasn't true. ...The number of things that happened in just two weeks was immense. I probably only have a few more days left until the day of my death. What can I do? How can I change this? Am I supposed to just take Hanyuu's advice and resign this time?  - - - BGM: Silence SFX: Birds  SFX: Higurashi SFX: Bell      Hinamizawa is a small village. Rumors spread fast here. Besides, she's Mion Sonozaki. She would've found out about this yesterday even if the police were trying to hide it.  People in this village are very superstitious. No matter what happens, they conclude that everything is the curse of Oyashiro-sama. The past incidents don't matter to me either way. All I'm interested in is the current one. ...The culprit of this case will probably kill me, too.  Today is Tuesday, June 21st, 1983. At the earliest, I'll get killed on the night of the 22nd. That is, tomorrow night. The day of my death is always different. I always end up getting killed, but the day when it happens varies. I guess the culprit has their own reasons for that. There's only one thing I'm sure about. Based on my experiences, I'll live for sure until tomorrow night. After then, I'll have to live with the fear of getting murdered at any moment. ...Still, there's no real reason to be afraid. ...When I wake up, I'll be in a brand new world again. I can never remember how I'm killed. That's why I'm not that afraid of the killing itself. ...I'm just frustrated that my life is about repeating the same things over and over like a broken record...  However, at present, I'm frustrated. My classmates just expect that their peaceful days will continue forever. But I couldn't feel that way. I feel frustrated and full of sorrow...... as I really don't want to die. BGM: Conviction   "...How foolish of you to even ask... ......What makes it look like I am...?"Hanyuu was trying to warn me that I might get killed tomorrow night. As though she already knew it was going to happen for sure.  "......You worked very hard, Rika. This life's Watanagashi was the best festival I've ever had. ...Didn't you feel that way too?"It was fun. It really was fun. Satoko had band-aids all over her face, but everyone was there together, and we kicked up a storm. I want this world to continue forever... I can't accept that this world is going to end tomorrow at the earliest, and within one or two weeks at the latest.  "............So this world is over and done with...? This is such a happy world... but... it's just going to end like that...?"All of my friends are alive and happy. Keiichi doesn't feel alone, and Rena's family is happy too. Mion and Shion are getting along, as well as Shion and Satoko. The issue of Satoko's uncle is resolved, and she's no longer treated coldly by the other villagers. This is the best world I've ever experienced. But this world is...... going to end.  “That's why children always wish for their enjoyable moments to continue for all time. But that doesn't mean they'll grieve over a party that's ended. Once they sleep, another day will come for them. Something wonderful will happen again. No one disappears like Cinderella once the party is over." "......What a way for you to describe my view on life." "You're like a child who's crying because she doesn't want to leave the party. ...But there's no need to feel that sad, is there? There'll be another party again soon. You still hate to go through another death, but it's only like sleeping for a while, isn't it?" "Hanyuu...... don't you want to see what lies beyond June of 1983?" "I would be lying if I said I didn't. But I'm more concerned about you being consumed by that thought and getting hurt because of it. .........You just don't understand.”  “No one will be able to hear me or talk to me either. Do you have any idea how miserable and lonely that will be?” “...But I finally found you, Rika. ...I can't survive without you anymore. But I can't just die like you can, either. I'll have to live alone until the end of time. I'll have to be alone until someone like you shows up again. ...I don't want that. I... I can't stand the thought of it...!" "...Hanyuu......" "Rika... Please take back that heartbreaking promise you made...! I don't want you to give up if this world doesn't work out for you...!!" "...............Hanyuu. ...I'm sorry. I'll have to think about it for a while." When that happens, I can decide what to do. If I think there's still some hope, I can go on living, but if I feel desperate enough, I can just give up. It might not ultimately be a bad thing to repeat June of 1983 over and over. Perhaps I might be blessed with another fortunate life someday.  - - - BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi   ".........I don't know. She might still be tired from doing the dedication dance at the festival." I'd said she might still be tired from the festival, but that wasn't really how it looked... "Satoko-chan is free now, so I thought she'd have a spring in her step, but she's been acting weird since yesterday. I wonder if something's going on...." "...Satoko's issues are all settled now. There shouldn't be anything that's troubling her anymore..."We'd thought Satoko and Rika-chan might not be able to live together if they found a new guardian for Satoko. But that problem is almost solved. Either the Sonozaki family or the Kimiyoshi family will become her guardian. Mayor Kimiyoshi is already Rika's guardian. If the Sonozaki family gets custody, Satoko will officially become Shion's little sister. Anyway, I had no idea why Rika-chan was acting so upset.  "...Hmm. But I don't want her to think that we're insensitive…” “But I guess you can ask her, I guess." "So you're saying that it's okay for me to be insensitive...?"Rena laughed and stuck her tongue out at me.  Perhaps something is still troubling Satoko, and we just don't know about it. If that's the case, we need to help her. "You don't look so good... ...Is anything weird going on?" "............ Oh, Keiichi......"Rika-chan had been daydreaming, and it took her a while to realize that I was talking to her. "...Do I look upset, or something?" "Kind of. ...Is anything the matter?"It took her a while to answer. ...Such a long silence had to mean "yes".  "...All right. Let me hear it, then."Rika-chan closed her eyes and recited a short poem. It went something like this… BGM: Soul Scour  Yet it's so hard to receive. Everyone has the right to be happy. Yet it's so hard to fulfill. I have the right to be happy. Yet it's so hard to compromise. "That's a pretty interesting poem. Did you write it? Oh... I'm not supposed to ask that, huh?" "......No, you're not. What did you think after hearing it?""Everyone has the right to be happy. Yet it's so hard to receive." I understand that. Everyone does have the right to be happy. But that doesn't mean that everyone can receive that happiness. "Everyone has the right to be happy. Yet it's so hard to fulfill." ...This one is a little harder to understand, but exercising that right probably refers to the process of finding happiness. Everyone has the right to work hard for their happiness. But it's not that easy for that work to bear fruit. "I have the right to be happy. Yet it's so hard to compromise." I guess she's trying to talk about compromising your happiness? There's no limit to human desires. You can never stop wanting more. That's why people need to make compromises on their happiness... ...At least, that's how I understand it. If she was trying to say that we should be satisfied with what we have, it sounds like a positive statement... But there's also a negative tone to the way it's presented.   "...I think so too. So what else did you think...?"She wouldn't admit it, but I'm sure Rika-chan is the one who made that poem, and it's reflecting on how she's feeling. I'm not that smart, but even I can understand that. "I thought it was a sad poem." "Sad...?" “But the last line is different. Making compromises is the same thing as giving up... The writer of this poem has given up on their happiness, compromised with reality, and trying to convince themselves they're happy. "...Trying to convince themselves they're happy, you say?" "With plenty of regrets, too. Everyone can become happy with enough effort, but she thinks that she can't. The poem reflects her hopelessness. It's very sad." "Then, Keiichi. ...What do you think she should do...?" "...She shouldn't give up?" "The writer of this poem already knows how she can be happy. It's something that she deserves. She's been thinking about how to become happy for a long time." "........." "If she really wants to be happy, she shouldn't give up. Remember, we overcame a desperate situation in only a few days. If we all work together, we can make a miracle happen. You saw it with your own eyes, didn't you? What's troubling you? Talk to me." “Happiness for me would be to see what's beyond June of 1983, together with all of you. It wouldn't mean anything if I lived beyond this June without you." "We won't be able to live in Hinamizawa anymore...? Why is that?" "......They'll kill you if they find out that I talked to you. That's why I can't say anything." "What do you mean... they'll kill us...? ...Are you being threatened by someone...?!"The word "kill" is not something that most people use casually. I was shocked to hear it coming from her mouth. That's why I couldn't help but raise my voice.  "W-Wait, Rika-chan... Talk to me. What the hell is going on...?"Is Teppei threatening her? No, that isn't possible. The police arrested him, and besides that the Sonozaki family told him to never come back to the village. There's no way he could contact Rika-chan in order to threaten her. And even if that somehow was the case, Rika-chan could just talk to Mion and everything would be taken care of. But based on her expression, it seems like this is way deeper than that.  "I don't understand what you're trying to say... But you sound just like Satoko did a few days ago..." "Like Satoko...?" "Yeah. You're thinking it's better to be patient. You forgot the courage needed to fight. You sound like that. Weren't you the one who told Satoko to be brave over the phone?"My words had clearly hurt Rika-chan's feelings. She bit her lip and went quiet for a moment.  "Well, I don't want that. But if we don't do anything, you're going to get killed, right? We don't want a future without you either, Rika-chan." "......What...?" "You may not want to get us involved, but likewise, we don't want to lose you either. We welcome the struggle. Besides, you know how powerful we can be together. I'm sure we can solve anything if we all work as one." ".........Not even our combined strength... can solve this problem..."BGM: Soul Scour  "........................I guess that's what I'm saying." "Don't think that being patient is the same as being brave. Remember the courage to fight.” ”You can talk to me anytime, once you organize your feelings. We'll help you. You can count on us." "......Thank you..."Rika-chan was wearing a sorrowful smile. I could tell that she appreciated my sympathy. I don't know why, but Rika-chan is troubled by something. It's a matter of life and death for her. She can't even talk to us about it. At the very least, she won't talk to me...   ".........Satoko. This is going to sound strange... but is there any chance that someone is threatening Rika-chan's life...?"  Shion’s not wearing her uniform here, for some reason. "What's this...? What are you guys talking about?!"The more I talked to my friends, the stranger it seemed that someone would try to kill Rika-chan. Everyone was even more confused than I felt... "Rika-chan didn't talk to me about what's troubling her... But I'm sure there's something very serious going on with her. ...If she really trusts us, I'm sure she'll talk to us soon. Let's believe everything she tells us if she opens her heart. Okay...?!"  - - -  TIP 12: Faded Notebook II ∙ III
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Aug 10, 2022 04:04
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I have to wonder why Rika never seemed to suspect Takano or the Mountain dogs (and Tomitake for that matter), she knows very well she is not a normal nurse, and no matter who you claim to be or who sent you, having a personal Mercenary squad at your command is pretty wild, if she had undercover military or police special agents backing her that would be something but having what is pretty clearly hired goons and what even Rika can surmise are likely capable of killing and this has not made her investigate her or the Mountain dogs in detail seems really strange. With how long she has "lived" and how cynical she is now she should have had the inclination to distrust and look into basically everybody she knows regardless of their actions or kindness by now. And most certainly a group of people who 1. Are involved with her directly or indirectly in many timelines. 2. Are already known to have secrets that are being kept from her and/or others. 3. Are likely operating illegally and willing to use force, at least as far as the Mountain dogs are concerned.
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Aug 11, 2022 02:17
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Koboje posted:I have to wonder why Rika never seemed to suspect Takano or the Mountain dogs (and Tomitake for that matter), she knows very well she is not a normal nurse, and no matter who you claim to be or who sent you, having a personal Mercenary squad at your command is pretty wild, if she had undercover military or police special agents backing her that would be something but having what is pretty clearly hired goons and what even Rika can surmise are likely capable of killing and this has not made her investigate her or the Mountain dogs in detail seems really strange. With how long she has "lived" and how cynical she is now she should have had the inclination to distrust and look into basically everybody she knows regardless of their actions or kindness by now. And most certainly a group of people who 1. Are involved with her directly or indirectly in many timelines. 2. Are already known to have secrets that are being kept from her and/or others. 3. Are likely operating illegally and willing to use force, at least as far as the Mountain dogs are concerned. I was just thinking how frustrating it is for the audience to know the murderer but have the protagonist stumble around the obvious answer. But then I remembered, despite living for over 100 years, Rika is nine. An adult would have solved this over a year or two. Rika just doesn't have the experience or developmental capacity to effectively solve this problem. The parallel to Satako is very fitting. We still have the gas leak and Satoshi mysteries to solve though. I'm guessing the government killed the townspeople to prevent the virus variant from spreading. No clue on Satoshi. He's only been gone a year though.
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Aug 11, 2022 05:53
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Koboje posted:I have to wonder why Rika never seemed to suspect Takano or the Mountain dogs (and Tomitake for that matter), she knows very well she is not a normal nurse, and no matter who you claim to be or who sent you, having a personal Mercenary squad at your command is pretty wild, if she had undercover military or police special agents backing her that would be something but having what is pretty clearly hired goons and what even Rika can surmise are likely capable of killing and this has not made her investigate her or the Mountain dogs in detail seems really strange. With how long she has "lived" and how cynical she is now she should have had the inclination to distrust and look into basically everybody she knows regardless of their actions or kindness by now. And most certainly a group of people who 1. Are involved with her directly or indirectly in many timelines. 2. Are already known to have secrets that are being kept from her and/or others. 3. Are likely operating illegally and willing to use force, at least as far as the Mountain dogs are concerned. Even more egregious is the fact that she has her own personal ghost buddy that could spy on anyone in town unnoticed, and in a century worth of loops where she noticed that Tomitake and Takano seem to always die, it never occured to her to send Hanyuu to check on them during the night of the festival to identify their killer. Even taken into account that Rika is still immature in many ways in spite of her mental age, this is strecthing the willing suspension of disbelief quite a bit. It's by no mean a dealbreaker on the whole mystery, but it's still kind of a plot hole.
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Aug 11, 2022 10:05
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G Cyrus posted:Even more egregious is the fact that she has her own personal ghost buddy that could spy on anyone in town unnoticed, and in a century worth of loops where she noticed that Tomitake and Takano seem to always die, it never occured to her to send Hanyuu to check on them during the night of the festival to identify their killer. Even taken into account that Rika is still immature in many ways in spite of her mental age, this is strecthing the willing suspension of disbelief quite a bit. It's by no mean a dealbreaker on the whole mystery, but it's still kind of a plot hole. its a common sentiment. people have wondered why hanyuu never followed takano or tomitake to find out what happened to them. Even if it was directly unrelated to rikas death it could be something that could help her navigate her friends issues since both of those deaths always exacerbated their issues. However there is a chance that just like the other curse deaths rika felt any suspicion about their deaths is unrelated since its just the 5th year of the curse. we do know however that rika is aware of the fact that tomitake was killed via a syringe filled with a drug (she says so as much when she meets Rena in tsumihoroboshihen when offering her the treatment injection and promising that its different from the one that killed tomitake). Personally my headcanon is that hanyuu had followed them before but didnt want to see their "couple time" since takano goes kinda seductive on tomitake before she reveals her plan and hanyuu left without hearing the important parts. Only reappearing when tomitake awakes in a L5 state and seeing him hallucinate and swing at imaginary enemies before scratching his throat out (and takanos long gone by that point). Still a big plot hole not to follow them both. there is also the chance that takanos ambushing tomitake goes differently enough if rika doesnt inform them about the deaths.
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Aug 11, 2022 12:53
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VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 15 Part 1 BGM: Silence SFX: Birds  The first one to wake up is supposed to tear yesterday's date off the calendar. Sometimes, we both tear the calendar by mistake, so the date ends up two days ahead. Satoko likes to tear the calendar, and that makes her wake up early every morning. That would usually make me smile, but I felt devastated as soon as I saw the 22 on the calendar. BGM: Amber    ".........Hm. ...Morning, you two..." "You two?? Are you still asleep?" "......Meep. There's someone else living in this house other than you and I. I just said good morning to that person as well." "H-Hey!! Do not try and spook me like that!" "...Hee hee... Satoko won't be able to sleep without holding my hand tonight. ......Hee hee hee hee."Sometimes I feel like Satoko can see Hanyuu, and it's as if the three of us are living together. ...That would be a lot of fun. It was time to go to school, but my body felt heavy. Today, I was going to die. Knowing that, I didn't even feel like going to school. The more I've repeated the same life, the more precisely I can detect my day of death. ...I always die on the day I feel this way.  "......... I'm taking the day off today." ".........Rika... ...I heard from Keiichi-san... Are you troubled by something?" "......Kind of, but not really." ".........??"What else is there left to do? Today is the day. It's too late now. But part of me still feels like doing something. I've been in this world only a few days. My emotions went up and down like a rollercoaster. Sometimes I felt motivated to fight, and other times I felt desperate and gave up. Even though Keiichi and everyone else showed me such strength, I lacked the iron will to fight against my fate. The most confidence I ever felt was when the dice all came up six, a fortunate coincidence that was just handed to me. I was hoping to gain the courage to fight against my fate, but here I am today, conceding to destiny.  He didn't teach me how to believe in that. If I don't believe that I can make a miracle happen, I won't be able to make even a crack in the wall of fate. It seems so simple, yet it's so difficult. I couldn't even decide whether I should be on the stage, or stay off it and remain as a spectator. I told Hanyuu that I haven't decided what to do after this world is over. But that's the spectator's point of view. For the people on the stage, this world is the only one. For them, the end of the world means the end of their lives. That's why they'd do anything to change their fate. That's why they can make a miracle happen. I never worked hard enough, because I always knew that I could reset my life. I thought I was just one pathetic girl who couldn't change her own fate. ...That's why I ended up here again today.  What should I do? Should I not work on my assignment, knowing that I'm not going to make it on time anyway? Or should I do whatever I can, even though I may still get in big trouble...? .........Perhaps, a miracle will happen. Perhaps the homework will be done overnight. ......Miracles don't happen to homework. I have to do the homework on my own. Without effort, nothing will ever get done. Without effort, not even one question will be solved.  "You're suggesting that I shouldn't do anything since I know I'll get in trouble anyway?"For Hanyuu, it's not about the homework. It's more about the vacation itself. The vacation will be over, no matter how much I want it to continue. In her eyes, it's pathetic for me to make a big deal out of not completing my homework, and contemplating whether I should still work on it or not. On top of that, I'm saying that I might as well die if my vacation is going to be over. If I was in her situation, I'd be laughing hysterically. Keiichi told me to seek everyone's help in order to finish my homework. But I'm not taking that offer, not only because I don't want to cause them trouble, but also because I don't want the teacher to know that I got help from them. If I was going to have regrets, I should've worked on it from the beginning. If I had no intention of working on it, I should've just relaxed without stressing so much. If I didn't care what other people thought, I should've asked for their help in the first place. Those are the three options I talked about with Hanyuu yesterday. I didn't choose any of them. I've been living for over a hundred years, but I still can't decide. My hundred years were wasted... "......Satoko. I'm not going to school today, because I have a cold." "......I need to rest today. Could you tell Chie that I'm not coming because I'm sick?" "Rika... Are you really sick? Keiichi-san told me that you're worried someone is trying to kill you... I'm very concerned, you realize?" "......Thank you. You should go now. You'll be late."Satoko looked at the clock, then looked back at me again.   ”I'm happy that I'm back with everyone, and that I'm living with you again. .........So... if I lose you... I'll be living in a very sad world... ...Just think about that." ".........The world without me." "Yes. ...The world without you… would be a very sad world."I've never thought about that. I thought that the world ended when I died. I've never thought about the world after my death. That was never my concern...  "............Satoko..." "Rika... I'll leave you alone for today, but please talk to me if you have something on your mind. It's kind of upsetting how you won't talk to me..."Satoko seemed like she wanted to say more, but she looked at the floor instead. I know what she's trying to say. ...I realize how selfishly I've been living. It was wrong for me to look at this world as a stage play. But it's too late... It's too late now.  Hanyuu and I were left alone inside the house. ".........Thank you." "You're still yourself, even after a hundred years. You're not a hundred-year-old transcendant. You deserve to think about your life as a young girl. I don't want to force you to think like a grownup." "It's not your fault, Hanyuu. ...I was just being arrogant." "...Call me if you want to talk." "You're not crying anymore? You're not going to beg me not to give up on my life?" "You're a stubborn person... I know it's better to not be too persistent with you." "Hee hee. ...After all these years, you know me very well." ".........." "No matter what you do or don't do, this world is going to end today. But if you wish for it, you'll see a brand new day, just like when morning comes. You might find yourself back in June of this year again... but it'll still be a brand new day." "......When I was younger, every day seemed so boring. Every morning, I thought the same things would happen again after I woke up. ...This just means that'll end up being true." "Let me just tell you to live this day productively. I'm not going to say anything else to you." "I knew today was the day... ......But it's still difficult to hear that from you. ...It's going to come to an end again, huh?" Hanyuu disappeared, and it went completely quiet inside the house.  How should I end this day? Should I work on my homework, knowing that I'm not going to make it on time? I only have half a day left. I have to do my best. I should think about what I can do. This world is supposed to be a happy place. People are enjoying their lives. I should've enjoyed my life more, too. I don't mean in that I should've lived my life in blind optimism. It means that I should've enjoyed my life by fully experiencing both happiness and sadness. If I did that, I wouldn't be as worried about what to do after my death. I should've simply lived with all my might. When the time comes, it'll be over.  That's a very important phrase. ...But it sounds meaningless when I say it, because I can repeat this meaningless life as many times as I wish… - - - BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi   Hanyuu would usually stay with me when Satoko wasn't around. But she's not here right now. It's been a while since I was all by myself. I never thought anyone could feel so lonely while washing the dishes. I'm going to die today anyway. This world is ending today. Why should I wash these dishes? BGM: Gray  I will encounter a new Satoko in the next world. But I realized something after hearing what Satoko told me earlier. After I'm dead... I wonder how Satoko will move on with her life. The worlds that I've left in the past all went on without me. I wonder if Satoko will be able to cook without me. I wonder if she can go shopping on her own. I wonder if she can wash her clothes by herself. I've been avoiding thinking about this, but Satoko and my other friends must've been overcome by sadness. It's too late for me to think about this, but I started feeling like I want to cry... I'm feeling like this... because I don't want to leave this world.  It's my hope that I can continue to live in this world beyond June 1983. After a long journey, I finally ended up in this world. But I was able to truly live in this ideal world for only one night. The night of Watanagashi... This world will be shattered again after I die tonight. We finally saved Satoko, and all our friends assume that our happy life has returned. However... I'm going to die tonight. They will mourn for me. We worked so hard to make a miracle happen, but they're going to lose their happy world in just one day. Am I going to start a new life in the next world, as if nothing happened...? I'd live three days in my new world, but three sad days were going to pass in this world... ...That's no good. ...I can't think straight anymore. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing from my eyes.  I could smell her scent. ......After I die, Satoko will probably hug my pillow and cry just like this. Is everyone else going to cry for me too...? I'm sure they will... And... ...And? They'll be sad. Not about my death.  I wonder if they're going to feel regret. Will they wonder what they could've done to open up my heart, what they could've done to help me in my time of trouble? Will they wonder what they could've done to save me...? I felt miserable and frustrated. I held Satoko's pillow and continued to cry... SFX: Phone  I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop ringing. ...I picked up the phone, hoping that my friends would call to check on me. However, I heard a weird guy's voice coming from the receiver.  "Okonogi......"It was Okonogi from the Mountain Dogs. ...It was the first time I'd received a phone call from him. "I'm calling because I have something urgent to ask you. I called the school, but they told me that you're sick today. Are you feeling alright?"I'm not alright. This is the day I die. I knew he had no idea, but I still couldn't help but feel upset. "......It's only a cold. I just want to rest today." "Really? Well, that's a very fortunate coincidence." "...What?"I had no idea what made him say that he was glad I was sick... "Why is it a [sic] fortunate for you if I'm home?" "What do you mean?" "Tokyo was investigating the murder of Tomitake-san and Takano-san. Their investigation concluded that there's a high possibility Dr. Irie is pulling the strings." ".........Irie is behind everything?"This is the first time I've heard something like this. This isn't something that happens at random. It's the very first time. ...That means it's not just a coincidence. I'm hearing this now because of something that I did differently in this world. I've done many things differently in this world, though. I can't tell which decision led me to this result. However, maybe this is something that could change my life drastically...  There had been budget cuts to their research, and they were scheduled to be shut down within a few years. Irie was strongly against that, because he was embezzling their research money by requesting bigger and bigger budgets. Because they were going to cancel their research, he tried to sell the research data and make a lot money [sic] off of it... "......Is that... really true...?" "I know it's hard to believe, but it is. I always thought that he was kind of suspicious myself." I've been around him for years, and as far as I know, he's not a bad guy. He doesn't even have the guts to be one. He pretends to be cold-hearted for the sake of his research, but he can't shake his regrets. ...He's simply a nice person. It's hard to believe that he was embezzling money from Tokyo. ...I'm starting to be suspicious of Takano, but she's actually a nice person too. She seemed mean at times, but she could also act as innocent as a child. However, I'm starting to suspect her because Ooishi told me that the body they found in Gifu might not be Takano's body. Okonogi works for Takano. That means I can't trust Okonogi. In other words, I can trust Irie, because Okonogi is clearly just trying to set him up. On the other hand, if Takano isn't guilty, I could be making a huge mistake. Yet, it always seemed to me as though Tomitake and Irie were good friends. If Tokyo had suspected that Irie was embezzling money from them, Tomitake would've treated him far more coldly. Anyway, at the very least, Tomitake of Tokyo didn't have such a bad impression of Irie...  ...Tomitake of Tokyo and Takano of Tokyo were good friends. ...Takano of Tokyo and Okonogi of Tokyo were superior and subordinate. ...But Okonogi of Tokyo says that Tokyo is suspicious of Irie. This doesn't make sense. Everyone seems to be good friends at first glance... ...but the links don't connect from start to finish. Irie thinks he has a positive relationship with Tokyo, but Tokyo is suspicious of Irie...? That's just odd. The chain should be connected, but one of the links is twisted out of order. ...It's breaking the loop.  “That's why I'm glad that you're at home right now. There are twenty security guards patrolling the Furude shrine in three shifts. You may not notice, but they're there for you." "......That's a lot of security. How long are you going to guard me like that...?" "Until Tokyo feels you're no longer in danger. Until this whole case is resolved."That should have been good news for me, since today was the day I was supposed to die. This is exactly the kind of security I wanted. That's why I let Takano into the ritual storehouse. ...However, I have a bad feeling about this. Tokyo should be my ally. But that arrangement is just like Irie's relationship with Tokyo-- everything seems in order from my end, ...But when you trace it the other way, it feels like something's off at some point. I have this uncomfortable feeling because I have a few uncertainties about Tokyo. Tokyo and Irie have strong ties... but they're suspicious of him? ...Is Irie actually a bad guy? ...Is Takano still alive, and is she the one who killed Tomitake? ...Those questions and more made me uncertain about accepting help from Tokyo.  ...But in reality... they have multiple, different intentions. In other words, there must be multiple... what's the word...? I see it in the political section of newspapers all the time... ...Ah, right. Factions. Are there two factions in Tokyo? One that wants to remain friendly with Irie, and one that looks down on him...? That would explain the irregularities I'm sensing. ...Maybe I've been talking to Ooishi too much? If he hadn't told me that he was suspicious of Takano, would I have believed Okonogi without a doubt...?  Even without Ooishi's theory, Okonogi still sounded very suspicious. Irie was loyal to his research on Hinamizawa Syndrome. Tokyo understood this, so his relationship with Tomitake wasn't particularly strained. Plus, Irie isn't the type of person who would commit embezzlement. He's a law-abiding citizen with a good moral character. ...Of course he has some ambition as a researcher. But that only goes as far as common sense expects any researcher to. It's nothing like the criminal aspirations that would lead to major embezzlement. A great number of the Mountain Dogs were going to be guarding me. This is what I'd been wanting in my previous lives. But... for some reason, I couldn't be happy about it. I couldn't help but feel depressed. If this house is like an empty birdcage, then they'd be the fox with feathers stuck to its face. I don't know if I can really trust the people who are protecting me.  The Mountain Dogs have been protecting me for years. Okonogi proved his skills in many of my other lives. To them, I'm something of a special existence. If something happens to me, it would be a disaster. The Irie Institute is there to keep Hinamizawa Syndrome under control, and the Mountain Dogs are there to protect me from evildoers. So why would they try to betray me now...? ......I thought about it for a while, but I had no idea...... I just know one thing for sure. I can't feel comfortable with the protection of the Mountain Dogs alone... I want someone other than Tokyo protecting me. ...But I bet such a person wouldn't believe me.  I've been keeping in touch with Ooishi since the other day. He still thinks that the mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa are all plotted by the village authorities. If he believes that, then he might believe that my life is in danger... For him, I'm a special person with lots of useful information. The Mountain Dogs hate the police, though... When I asked them to assassinate Satoko's uncle, they refused because he was being watched by the police. I would feel relieved if the police were guarding me along with the Mountain Dogs. That way, the Dogs wouldn't be able to harm me, even if they were working for an evil faction of Tokyo. Besides that, if my suspicions toward them turned out to be baseless, more protection couldn't hurt. I'm sure that double security will keep me safe.   "Yes, please do. And please don't go out into the city and try to pick a fight with delinquents..." "......Meep. Sorry about that..." "Ha ha ha ha... Anyway, please take care of yourself." "I have a cold, so may I at least go to the clinic...?" "You never know what might happen, so please don't go near there for a while. I don't want them to inject you with anything suspicious." ".........Irie would never do anything like that." "That's what we want to believe... But you need to be careful of him until things are cleared up." "......So, I have no choice, huh...?" "No? Hahahahaha..." "...You've totally picked up the local dialect, Okonogi. You used to have a Tokyo accent before." "I like to think I can fix it if asked, though. But it's my job to blend in with the local culture."BGM: Silence I finished speaking with him.  SFX: Night Higurashi  ...It felt like the pages of the phone book were sticking to my skin. I must have been in a hurry. I really don't want to die... I want to stay in this world. I don't want to leave this perfect world. I'm trying to do something, because I don't want to die. I'm trying to live with all my might. I'm trying to enjoy my life. .........For the first time, I was spending my last day positively, without drinking wine until I was drunk. - - - BGM: Ancient Times (Inishie) SFX: Silence  "......Gifu. You're talking about Takano's body?" "Yeah. My colleagues are convinced that the body is Takano, but I'm still not satisfied. That's why I'm going there myself. If that body isn't Takano, this is going to be a whole different story. We can put out a search for her as a material witness, see.” ”Fortunately, I have a lots [sic] of connections in the Gifu police department. I'll go have a nice, long talk with them. Nfu fu fu!"It looked like Ooishi was proactively moving forward with the investigation. If that body is really is Takano, that would be sad for her, but it would give me reason to trust the Mountain Dogs. If that's not Takano, then it would tell me that she's part of this whole incident... No matter what the result is, it will give me some kind of hint. But only if I'm still alive... ...But really, it's unfortunate... Ooishi is leaving for Gifu. He can't be around to protect me.  "He didn't tell you who he was...? Hmm, I see. Please, go on. What did he tell you?" "He told me that someone is going to kill me. He said they'd kill me tonight at the earliest." "Is that true...?! I see. That's not outside the realm of possibility... Hmmmm! ...I see.” ”I have to leave soon, but I'll send some officers over there. I'll tell them to keep you safe. You're home right now, right? Do you have a cold or something?" "............" - - -  SFX: Higurashi  ".......I just got a call from Rika Furude. Someone called to warn her that she was going to be murdered." "Someone is trying kill [sic] Rika Furude?! But why?! I thought she was like the village mascot?" "It might be a warning for contacting me about the incidents in the village. I don't know if they're really trying to kill her, but she's just a young girl. I'm sure she's very frightened right about now.” ”Plus, if we lose her trust now, that might hurt our relationship in the future. Two or three officers are enough, but please send them over at once. Also, get a hold of her local officer and have them reassure her some." "Yes sir!!"Rika Furude might have some kind of hint regarding the mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa. Ooishi couldn't let her die.   "Hahahaha, this'll be a piece of cake!"- - - BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi  "Roger. Continue observation." "Encountering R. She let the officer inside." "R called the Okinomiya police department. She requested protection on her own." "Did she tell them about us...?" "She told them that she got an anonymous call. I'm sure that's made up. The Okinomiya police department is sending a few more officers to her location." "What? Doesn't she trust the Mountain Dogs...?" "This is trouble. it's going to prove more difficult to continue the mission." "Roger. HQ to all units. There are police officers around the Furude shrine. Please be mindful of them." "We may have to postpone tonight's mission..." "I'll call her, but I'm sure the major will order a go anyway. Everything's already set up for R to be discovered dead tomorrow morning so we can move to the next stage. But we don't want the police to suspect us. If they start suspecting you, just leave quietly."- - - BGM: Ancient Times (Inishie)  The officer who was in the area arrived within ten minutes after I spoke with him. He asked me what kind of phone call I received today. ...I decided to make up a whole story. It'll all be over if they check my call history, but I'm sure Ooishi won't bother doing anything like that. He thinks I'm worth protecting, because I have information about the incidents in Hinamizawa. The policeman is one of the villagers, so I know him very well. More officers are coming here from the Okinomiya department. The officer told me to relax, because he'd stay with me until then. Ooishi must have thought I was frightened half to death after getting a threatening phone call.  The local officer returned to his police box.  I was relieved to learn that Ooishi would be coming here. "......Thank you very much." "At least one person will be downstairs. I'm sorry, but is it okay if we use your restroom? Also, will you give us one of your spare keys, just in case?" "......Sure. You can use the restroom too."SFX: Higurashi  The first floor contains emergency supplies for the village. I'm happy to know that at least one police officer will be there for me. The officers confirmed their positions on the map of the shrine. One will be in the storage building, and two more will walk around the shrine property. Also, one more officer will be standing in front of the stairs that lead to the shrine.  In my other lives, Ooishi tended to look at me as his enemy. However, in this world, he thinks I'm on his side. ......I'm sure it's because we all became friendly with him around the time we saved Satoko. It was unfortunate at the time, but perhaps the return of Satoko's uncle was a necessary event. If Okonogi was right about Irie, he wouldn't be able to come near me with twenty Mountain Dogs and four police officers protecting me. If Okonogi is the bad guy, they'd be discouraged from acting by the presence of the police. ...Not too different from giving garlic to a vampire. This is the best protection I've had in a hundred years. ...Even so, am I still going to be killed tonight...? I need to do whatever I can. I should struggle, as hard as possible. I won't give up. I won't even think about my next life. This is what enjoying life is all about. This is what living seriously is all about.   BGM: Silence SFX: Night Higurashi "What do you think? About all this." "......I have to admit, I've never seen anything like this before." "Is it still wrong... for me to expect something different this time?" ".........I'm not going to hope for anything. I'll just have to accept whatever the result is."BGM: Conviction  I knew she was going to say something like that, but part of me was hoping she would say something more positive. Upon hearing her say what she did, I felt a little disappointed, and wondered why Hanyuu refused to be anything but an onlooker. I always thought it was normal for her to be that way, because she's a special existence. I also convinced myself I had to be an onlooker too, since I was a similar being. However, I can't just let go of everything and become a bystander. I can't become like her. I can't stop hoping for a better life for Rika Furude. That hope was betrayed so many times, and my heart was crushed countless more. That's why I stopped expecting anything to turn out the way I wanted. So, is Hanyuu the same way...?  I've only lived for one hundred years, but I know how frightening it is to have high expectations. Hanyuu should also be aware of that, since she's lived far longer than me. I always thought that Hanyuu was a special existence. But, except for the fact that she's invisible, everything about us is the same. She has the same thoughts and feelings as everyone else, yet I still saw her as a special existence. That's why I just assumed that her mind worked in a different way.  "So you're not expecting anything from this world either...? I still have hope that this world might be different.......But you think I'll just be killed again?" "...Au... That's not what I'm thinking..."Hanyuu looked uncomfortable. She had no doubts that I'd be killed again that night. That's what it means to not have hope. But she just can't own up to it, because she doesn't want to hurt my feelings.  "..........." "You're waiting for some stroke of luck or some miracle to come and help you. You're afraid of fighting. You think that being patient is the same as being strong. .........That's how I was until just a little while ago."Hanyuu looked down and bit her lip. She couldn't deny what I said. "I know that you've heard it over and over. Miracles will not happen unless everyone works together. That means you have to believe, too. A miracle will never happen unless everyone believes in it."What I just said sounded as though I was blaming her for the miracle not happening. Maybe I was too harsh to her. I stayed quiet, and Hanyuu continued to look at the floor, shaking. Then she looked up at me and spoke. I noticed sadness, but also a little bit of anger in her eyes.  There was a slight severity in the tail end of Hanyuu's speech. Except for me, she can't communicate with anyone in this world. She hates to be reminded of that. "............I'm sorry. Let's stop this. I don't want to have a fight with you. I don't want to spend the rest of the time I'm alive in an argument..." "...I don't want to argue with you, either." "But let me just say one thing. You're my friend... I don't want my friend to tell me not to expect too much out of my life." She can be very stubborn sometimes. Hanyuu seems weak on the outside, but she actually has a very strong moral code, one that she wouldn't bend for anything. She apologized to me, but she wasn't being honest. She still wasn't expecting anything good to come from this world. She still thinks that I'm going to die pitifully. That's why she refuses to believe in miracles. ......I've been living with her long enough to read her mind... I feel bad for her in a sense. She's been living too long, and lost all of her hope...  ...I'm sure she's still around. She's probably still watching me, as if she's watching a TV show. The time of my death is slowly approaching. Will I be able to survive this time? It's been a long time since I faced this fear without drinking wine...... 
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Aug 12, 2022 00:03
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HUGE exposition dump this update. …I had to split the update thanks to it. Strap in. VIDEO: Minagoroshi-hen | Day 15 Part 2 BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi  The Mountain Dogs and police were protecting me. Just in case, I figured I should leave something behind for Satoko. Should I write down some recipes for her in the notebook...? Will she be happy if I leave a will for her...? ...I laughed at my own foolishness. ...No one would be happy to read a will. If I die, they'll be devastated, and wonder why I didn't talk to them. That's exactly how I felt when Satoko didn't ask for any help when her uncle was abusing her.  My memories of these days are never very clear. The day I die is always vague in my recollections. It's fine if I'm murdered before Satoko gets home... but if I'm murdered after, then... Would they kill her along with me...? I don't want that to happen. It's bad enough already that I end up killed. If Satoko's murdered along with me each time, that would be too much bear [sic]. Just how much have I ignored other people's sadness with that rash idea that the world ends when I die? ...Thinking about that made me feel truly ashamed of myself.  ...Worse, not only did the TV not help with my fears, it felt like it symbolized Hanyuu and my allies, making me feel even more unpleasant. It was past lunchtime. Nearly 3 PM. School should be out soon. I'm not there today, so they probably won't do a club activity. Satoko should be home shortly. It seems I'm going to survive until she gets home after all. If she comes home and asks me what's troubling me... .........I might end up telling her the truth.  That's why I've never spoken to anyone about it. I didn't want my friends to get into danger. But... ...if Satoko was also murdered likewise in every world because she was involved with me, then we're doomed to share the same fate. It's better to know the truth than to be killed without knowing what's going on... But... I'm under very strict security right now. I might be able to survive in this world. If that's the case, I shouldn't talk to Satoko about it. ......It won't be so easy to talk to my friends after all.  She'd returned. It sounded like she was scared to see a stranger in our home. I'd have to tell her that the police were here. ...That would be tantamount to telling her that someone is out to kill me. ...I don't know how to explain it her, or how much I should tell her. However, my thoughts were soon interrupted by the noise of a crowd. ...Satoko hadn't come home alone. BGM: Shadow (Kage)    “What happened to you, Rika-chan...?!"  ".........Ah...Ahahahahahahahahahaha."I couldn't stop laughing upon seeing everyone rush into my house all asking the same questions. It made me feel as though being depressed all day had just been a waste of time. "...Rika. What on earth is so funny!? You need to explain to us what is going on...!" "......There's nothing to explain. I'm getting murdered today." Everyone already knew that I'd been telling people about how I was going to be killed, but they were surprised to hear it from my own mouth. "H-Hey, Rika-chan...! I heard that from you yesterday. You told me that you think someone is trying to kill you... ...But I thought that was one of your jokes then. Now though, you're not fooling me anymore. “You have to talk to your friends!"Keiichi spoke with a harsh tone, as though I'd made him upset. ...As my friend, he must think that it's unforgivable that I didn't talk to him about it. He wasn't the only one feeling that way, though. Every single one of them was looking at me with worried expressions on their faces.  "......I'm glad to hear that." "Remember what you told me! You told me to have the courage to fight! But just look at you! You're not even fighting yourself!" ".............."Satoko pointed out something that I've already realized. I had no way to argue back.  "That's right. We're your friends! If you're in danger, all of us are in danger too! When Satoko was in danger, we all fought for her, remember? It's the same thing!" "If your life is in danger, then I think it's time for the Sonozaki family to step in. We're way more reliable than the police. Isn't that right, Sis?" "That's right! You have to talk to us! What kind of trouble are you in?! Who the hell is threatening to kill you?!" "Based on how you're acting, I assume you don't even know who it is. If you did know, it wouldn't be as big of a problem."  "This is not a time for jokes, Rika! You must talk to us!! What's happened?! What's this all about?! You don't call the police unless you're really in danger, no?! How dare you talk to the police before talking to us!" "......Is the cause something you're uncomfortable talking to us about?" "...R-Rika would never have any issue that would be uncomfortable to talk about!!" "Calm down, Satoko! Rika-chan is the leader of the Furude family. She's worshipped as the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama in this village! She might have been in trouble for a long time, even though we didn't know about it. ...Maybe she just didn't want to talk to us about such trouble because we're all trying to have a fun life here in this village. ...That's probably what it was, right?" "...So it must have something to do with the curse of Oyashiro-sama... I know. I bet it's related to what happened to Tomitake-san and Takano-san." "Why would Tomitake-san's murder cause Rika-chan's life to be in danger?! That's too big a leap!" "It's crazy just to think that someone is trying to kill her, anyway. ...Rika-chan is bound by more obligations than we know, and she probably couldn't talk about them.” ”...I'm right, aren't I? It's not a very fun topic, which is why you couldn't tell your friends, right...?" "......I cannot believe this. ...Is it really true, Rika? Is it really true that you're involved in Tomitake-san's murder case?" ...I hadn't answered any of their questions, but they continued to ask, and had eventually hit the nail on the head. It was more surprising than anything. ...But then again, these are, after all, my beloved club mates. I laughed once more. My issues and my secrets are so devastating to me, but they stopped sounding like such a big deal when everyone talked about them together. ...They knew exactly what was going on without me saying a word. In that moment, I realized just how powerless I am. I had to tip my hat to them. Everything seemed so foolish now. And so, I decided to just tell them everything. "If you want me to talk, I will. But I'm sure you won't believe me." "We will. As long as you tell us the truth, we'll never doubt it!"Everyone's expressions turned grave as they vowed not to make light of anything I told them. And so... I'm going to tell them everything. I want to see if they really will believe me or not.  "Then... are they the true culprit behind the series of mysterious deaths?!" "......I don't know about that. But it is possible." "...I don't understand... Why would Tomitake-san and Takano-san's murderer also want to kill Rika?"Ooishi thinks Takano is the culprit. Okonogi thinks that Irie is the culprit. Either way, it sounds like someone from Tokyo is trying to kill me. I can't tell if it's Takano or Irie, but I do know that to them, I'm like a trump card. In order to explain everything, I'd need to talk to them about the relationship between Hinamizawa, Tokyo, and the Irie clinic. I don't think they'll believe me. It's such a ridiculous story. But who would ever believe it, if not my friends?  "Of course! If you're in danger, we're in danger."Everyone nodded at Keiichi's words. "......Well then."BGM: Silence I'm going to see how everyone reacts. I'm going to ascertain what friendship is all about. With a nod of my own, I opened my mouth and began to explain. BGM: Bellflower  Everyone glanced back and forth at each other when I mentioned the term. ...They'd never heard of it before. The name "Hinamizawa Syndrome" has actually been around since before the war. It's the general term for the severe homesickness and mental instability that people from Hinamizawa experience when outside of the village. People in Hinamizawa have refused to leave the village since the era of Onigafuchi. The villagers believed that they'd be cursed by Oyashiro-sama if they left, and people who did often came back because of that curse.  But during the war, soldiers from Hinamizawa became mentally deranged in faraway places. That does sometimes happen in war. What was unique about the soldiers from Hinamizawa was the way that they killed their own comrades and committed suicide at the end. One doctor became curious about these cases and studied those soldiers. That's when they found out that it was actually a disease only found in Hinamizawa.  A mental disease with an external cause is different from a psychological illness. It's the result of some kind of physical disorder, and it causes people to become mentally unstable when something triggers it. There are three categories of externally caused mental diseases: traumatically induced, substance abuse induced, and chemical imbalance induced. Traumatically induced disorders are cases resulting from damage to the brain from trauma or infection that influences the mind. This is the reason personalities can change as a result of head injuries. Substance abuse, as the name suggests, refers to cases where drugs, especially alcohol or stimulants, have influenced the mind.  These are cases where some ailment in the patient's body causes abnormal secretions of bodily chemicals which then influence the brain's functions. This may sound odd, but it's been said that people tend to become depressed when they have a cold. We've all experienced the ways in which physical sickness can cause a buildup of negative emotions. However, with chemical imbalances, the cause is more direct. People's emotions aren't born from our hearts. Everyone should know, logically, that they're the result of chemicals secreted by the organs in our body as necessary. So when the organs operating the secretion of those emotional controllers malfunction, it causes them to secrete abnormal amounts. The thyroid gland, for example, secretes hormones that regulate emotions. When that gland is defective, the balance of those hormones becomes unstable. This can cause people to have not only a physical sickness, but also a mental sickness such as depression. People don't get mentally ill just because of mental problems. Human beings are made out of meat. We get mentally ill when that meat is defective.  He suggested that there is a pathogen endemic to Hinamizawa that, if its hosts stray too far from home, affects the chemicals in their brain and causes them to hallucinate. The villagers' belief in Oyashiro-sama is certainly related to this endemic disease. People in Onigafuchi Village knew about this syndrome.  They took this disease as a curse, not a sickness. The most significant symptoms of this disease are antisocial behavior and an extreme persecution complex. The eventual suicide caused by defects in the lymph nodes are also another unique characteristic. The unusual behavior of terminal patients is what inspired the legend of the demons coming out of the swamp and attacking the villagers. Basically, sick villagers developed severe persecution complexes and wound up killing other villagers. After a long time, survivors of the disease started to comprehend its "rules".  That's why they started barring outsiders from entering the village. Also, once you become ill, you will begin developing a persecution complex. This can happen to anyone in the village. The doctrine of Oyashiro-sama says that the blood of humans and demons was mixed together, and that Oyashiro-sama has control over the violent blood of the demons.  This is what was meant by the scripture in Oyashiro-sama's legend that said they appeared, unified the humans and demons, and made them live together in this village. Then there was the most important part-- the rules to prevent symptoms from appearing. Those rules are the taboos, and people were strictly taught that Oyashiro-sama would curse them if they broke those rules. ...The horrible, bloody traditions of the village were probably performed in order to force people to respect these taboos. There are several ways to keep the disease under control, but there are two main conditions for doing so.   That's why they made sure to have such a tightly-knit community, so that people wouldn't suspect each other. Since the terror of Oyashiro-sama's curse is emphasized, many don't know this, but she's also a god of marriage and neighborly love. However, this condition is not as important as the other one. Indeed, Oyashiro-sama isn't even recognized as a god of friendship in Hinamizawa anymore, and is only worshipped as such in Okinomiya's Hirasaka District. Now, for the other condition. This one is much clearer, and was practiced more strictly.  Villagers nowadays will not get sick as rapidly, even if they leave town or even go out of the country for a long time. However, long ago, they would fall ill as soon as they left the village.  It was also very unfortunate that he got sick just because he left the village for a few days to go to his relative's funeral in that one world. That's why Hanyuu felt so bad for him that time, and kept on apologizing over and over. ...Although, no matter how much she apologized, he never heard her voice. This turned into a long discussion, but... these rules etched around Oyashiro-sama's curse represent the ancient wisdom of how to cope with the Hinamizawa Syndrome.  The aforementioned doctor insisted there was, but the military didn't listen to him at all at the time. They were interested in developing a weapon that could make a dramatic change to the war efforts. They didn't have any money to spare for the research of this strange disease. In this way, research on Hinamizawa Syndrome was abandoned... Then the war ended. Japan started its reconstruction under American leadership. However, some powerful people in the political world didn't want to accept the American way of thinking. Some of them were fired by the GHQ, but they still stayed on as advisors to the government, since Japan has a culture of respecting the elderly. BGM: Sheep Counts  In the beginning, this organization was a very small group. It was just a gathering of two or three individuals who shared the same ideals blowing hot air at a restaurant. Those two or three hit it off with each other and grew to the size of a class reunion. That group became a rather sizeable organization... Eventually becoming a political one. Well, it would be more accurate to call them a secret society.  There are many mysteries about Tokyo. One thing I knew for sure is that it was composed of old men from Japan's political stage, ones with strong power to indirectly influence the government and vast assets that meant they could work from the shadows. They were also connected to various corporations, and their goal was to return Japan to the way it was before the war. Of course, that was a pretty ridiculous goal. It was nothing more than an idea in their minds immediately after the war, back when they were still bowing their heads to the occupation forces of those white barbarians.  ...But it didn't totally become a shell; it culled the fat. Japan regained its peace, and years passed. However, some people still continued to believe that Japan had been better before the war, and they were determined to return the country to those times. So this "Tokyo" plotted how to restore pre-war Japan from many angles. They approached the problem economically, internationally, and militarily as well. Japan has no nuclear armaments due to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. In other words, this country has to brown-nose America as long as they hold nuclear weapons. The number one priority of Tokyo is to be independent from America. They want this country to be on equal footing, and to obtain a weapon of mass destruction that isn't nuclear in nature.  However, they couldn't study this disease openly. In order to utilize it for military purposes, they had to hide the existence of the disease itself.  I need to make it clear that Irie isn't some far-right supporter of this secret society. He's just a young, capable doctor and an earnest researcher. He published an innovative thesis, but other academics thought he was too radical. However, that convinced Tokyo that he was the only researcher suitable to study Hinamizawa Syndrome.  Irie was thrilled to take on the project of studying this rare disease with a large budget, a large staff, and his own facility.  No one would want to take on such dangerous research. ...He really was too young. With his other option being wearing down his youth working hard at the night shift for a local practice, he wanted to answer the expectations of the sponsor who carefully selected him. In the end, Irie was able to uncover that, as hypothesized, the Hinamizawa Syndrome was a unique infectious disease, and he developed both a treatment and a vaccine. Irie was extremely talented.  Irie was nominally the head of the organization, but Tokyo still sent out a supervisor, because when all was said and done, he was just a researcher.  Takano's job at the Institute was to act as a go-between for Tokyo and Irie, manage the research progress, and preserve its secrecy. The latter was the most important part of her job. She had to do her best to prevent people from finding out that Irie was researching the disease, or even that the disease exists at all.  They were under Takano's command, and their job is to prevent the Institute's secrets from being discovered. The Mountain Dogs are one special forces unit specializing in unconventional warfare and owned by Tokyo with its vast influence on the SDF. Tokyo had set their eyes on the likelihood that a small, elite squad of covert operatives would be a trump card in the anti-nuke era. So they vigorously investigated those options. This was a worldwide trend, since the Cold War, everyone avoided sending troops directly to their enemy's doorstep. Japan was also trying to be part of that world.  Prefectural Police Squad 2, the ones who intervened when Rena laid seige to her school, changed their name to Zero Company, and grew into an anti-terrorism squad that handled hijackings around the Kansai airport area. The National Police Agency's Squad 6 was formed as a counter-terrorism squad for Narita Airport too, and they later changed their name to Seventh Company as well. They theorized that in a world where nations possessed nukes they can't use, small, elite special forces disrupting metropolitan areas would be the new way of waging war, so in 1977, they developed the SAT's predecesor, the special task force SAP, to serve as the National Police Agency's trump card in securing the peace. Likewise, the Japan Coast Guard established their special task force, the SST, in anticipation of unconventional warfare on the coast. There are several known special forces units in Japan. When they hear a phrase like "special forces," most people tend to think of a movie or a comic book. However, these units actually exist, and are protecting Japan in secret. Here and here are the Wikipedia pages about them. During the famous incident of suspicious boats off the coast of Noto penninsula, the news reported that "the boats sank before the helicopter squad trained in gun battles, so the squad was recalled", but that was because the Coast Guard's SST acted. However, the news never mentions the SST or any other special forces unit...  Researching military tactics under the name of peace and order worked perfectly for Tokyo. But since the mid-century anti-war movement made people resent those forces, these special units have been kept secret as of 1983. Furthermore, these units are not all formed under the jurisdiction of the police. There are still many other military units that are kept secret from the average citizen. The Mountain Dogs are actually one of those special units. They specialize in kidnapping, espionage, and preserving secrecy. You might as well call them an assassination unit. They were around during the dam conflict as well. Tokyo worked to put an end to the dam project because of the impact it would have on Irie's research.  Most people believe that the Sonozaki family was at the center of the movement, but in reality, the Mountain Dogs were responsible for many of the things the Sonozakis were accused of. In that sense, the existence of the Sonozaki family was an advantage to the Dogs.  With the spread of information networks in the modern age, the media jumped onto any unusual incident and quickly aired it to the whole nation. Tokyo doesn't want the disease to be known nationwide, since they're trying to utilize it for their own purposes. The main task of the Mountain Dogs is to kidnap people suffering from Hinamizawa Syndrome. They pose as gardeners, but in actuality, they patrol the village to make sure nothing strange happens. They're the ones who demon away people who go missing. ...They're probably also involved in some of the mysterious deaths, too.  He was an auditor who was sent from Tokyo four times a year. He came to check on the progress of the research, and outlined requests from Tokyo. He discussed the research budget with Irie, too. He also got the observation report on Irie from Takano. That was his purpose.  In 1979, the Mountain Dogs kidnapped the culprit behind the murder of the construction chief, who was a terminal patient of Hinamizawa Syndrome. The nature of the disease was dramatically clarified. Their research made rapid progress after that, and they discovered a vaccine, medication, and other methods of treatment for the disease. ...At the same time, they continued to investigate how to utilize it for military purposes.  On top of that, they couldn't detect the presence of the pathogen at all unless they used a certain inhumane method. In other words, it's virtually impossible to detect the pathogen by normal means. It left almost no trace, and the unusual symptoms it produced seemed like voluntary behavior, so they concluded that the disease could be used to their advantage. However... ...Tokyo has been going through some changes.  The leaders in shadows behind Japan's government who ruled from the center of "Tokyo" began growing infirm and opening up seats, steadily passing their leadership to the new generation. The whole organization has started to shift. Of course, the purpose of "Tokyo" has stayed the same. It's still a secret society of ultra-nationalists who want Japan to be at the top of the world. However, their ambition to start a war with America and take over the world has diminished. Tokyo has directed its priorities towards the economy, international affairs, and education. That doesn't mean that those ambitions are gone entirely, however. Several seniors still alive retain those ambitions. Tokyo continues to finance military research... But for the present-day Tokyo, Irie's research is actually something of an embarrassment. The new Tokyo is no longer interested in his project, and they announced that they're going to cut their budget as soon as those seniors pass away.  He strongly appealed for the continuation of his research. This is what Okonogi was talking about. Irie is in disagreement with Tokyo.  They've discovered various treatment and testing methods, and he's even starting to develop a treatment plan for the whole village. If they cut his funding, Irie's research would end without any results. Tokyo had a discussion with Irie through Tomitake, and they decided to shut down his research partially, but not fully. However, they told him to immediately stop researching military applications of the disease, and destroy all the research data related to that. He had little interest in weaponizing the disease anyway, so Irie accepted those terms right away. Tokyo probably believed that it was better to let him find a cure for the disease than to terminate the project entirely.  Perhaps exterminating the disease infecting the villagers without their knowledge is his way of atoning for using the village to advance his research and reputation. Both Tokyo and Irie agreed to fully terminate his research as soon as he discovered a way to completely eradicate Hinamizawa Syndrome. Irie made a plan for the next three years, and he promised them that he would find a resolution by 1986 at the latest. The meeting they had this June was to discuss the plan and budget for the next three years.    BGM: Silence I suppose I need to explain why Rika Furude can be a trump card. BGM: Pros  Supposedly, members of Furude family have the blood of Oyashiro-sama in their veins. I explained earlier that Oyashiro-sama was made up as a method for having people cope with the disease. However, that's actually not true... ...For the demons, the pathogens, to survive, a certain being must be present. That being is the successor of the Furude family line. The truth behind the advent of Oyashiro-sama, and the coexistence of humans and demons... is that Oyashiro-sama was actually the queen of the village. According to Irie's research, Rika is adored by the whole village not only because she's a charming little girl, but because she's the queen carrier. Infected patients are unconsciously driven to protect their queen. Irie says that this is done with pheromones.  However, as soon as she gave birth, people's attention quickly shifted to Rika. Irie calls it the succession of the throne. The queen is a precious existence to people in this village. There are theories that carriers of the disease are actually unable to survive when away from the queen, not from the village itself. Irie's research indicates that the queen can only survive in Hinamizawa, and infected patients can only stay alive when they're around her. But this is just a theory. ...Surprisingly, however, the doctor who first discovered the syndrome was also aware of the existence of the queen.  He theorized that the queen lying in the Furude bloodline might have the power to manipulate the whole village. The truth is still unknown, but perhaps the Furude family really has held such power since ancient times, miraculous power that would make them perfect for serving in the priesthood. Although the only thing Rika can do is be doted upon by the villagers.  During the war, a doctor prophesized that if the queen were to die, then all the infected would show terminal symptoms, and the whole village would be wiped out. He advocated for strict preservation of the queen's host.  If Rika Furude dies, the two thousand people in Hinamizawa will turn into demons. It would happen too fast for people to even realize that they're getting sick. They will each be overcome with a violent persecution complex, and start killing each other out of fear... This is why the Mountain Dogs are protecting the queen, Rika Furude. Her death spells the end of the whole village.   Our tale begins in June, 1983.  On the same night, Takano was also kidnapped and murdered. ...Though I don't know for sure if she's really dead or not... Rika Furude is also going to be murdered soon enough. ...While I've suspected Irie and Takano, this was my first time doubting Tokyo. I always thought that they were on my side. They had to be. My death would lead to nothing but disaster. At the same time, there might be people within Tokyo who could use my death as a trump card. ......I never considered that there were opposing factions within Tokyo. I guess I was naive enough to not realize that Tokyo had internal problems due to the generation gap... Anyway, I wouldn't be feeling this way if I didn't suspect that Takano might still be alive...  It's possible too that Takano is the victim, and Irie is the bad guy. The Mountain Dogs might be on my side, or they might be assassins who are trying to kill me... ...I was too scared to choose a wine that might be at risk of having something poisonous mixed in. In which case, I could rest assured with a fresh, unopened bottle, even if it was a little bad...  I'm really dumb. ...I thought I was thinking so hard, but I never actually understood anything. After all this time, I made things clear just by talking about them with my friends. ...I'd never have thought it would make such a big difference… limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 15:22 on Aug 14, 2022 |
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Aug 14, 2022 15:12
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BGM: Silence SFX: Higurashi As I thought, everyone was staring at me with their mouths open in shock. ...Even Ooishi wouldn't believe a story like this. That's only normal. I'm sure I sound like a crazy person... "......Satoko. We go to the clinic every week to help with Irie's research, right? We're actually not just helping him. We go there so you can get treatment." BGM: Confession   “Hoho, ho ho ho ho! As you said, it's not only me, but the whole village that is infected with this disease...!” ”Why would I have to take the shot every day and not everyone else? I thought it was just a new type of vitamin that the coach is developing!" "......At one point you were a terminal patient, Satoko. That's why you need two shots every day to keep your symptoms under control. Irie is very passionate about saving you, but he still can't find a better treatment than that. Don't think he's not still working hard to find a cure, though." "D-Don't you joke around! I thought we were getting financial support by aiding his research! I don't want to get those shots every day for the rest of my life!!"Satoko looked upset that she had been completely ignorant of all this; she also didn't want to accept the reality of having to manage her condition. Her fake laughter sadly echoed in everyone's ears. ...Keiichi opened his mouth to speak.  There was a day where she forgot to take her shot. ...She convinced herself that the principal was her uncle. Her fear escalated, and she thought her uncle came inside the school to take her back home. Once she feels that way, there's no turning back for her.   "I don't, I don't believe you...!! What do you mean, I'm a terminal patient?!” ”Why me, exactly!? I refuse to believe it! When did I even become so sick?"...Satoko's face contorted as tears began to flow from her eyes. ...I shouldn't have said this. ...Satoko is starting to remember something she's not supposed to... "I'm sorry, Satoko... You don't have to remember. That was just an accident. ...It wasn't your fault......" "......Ghhk, ugh!! No, this is a lie...! You're just lying to us...! Ugh... ugh...!!"...The others probably had no idea what Satoko was talking about. ......They don't need to know. They don't want to know about it, because they're her friends...  ...She gently touched mine, too. "...We believe your story, Rika-chan." "......Thank you." ".........And... you've been carrying such a heavy burden for a long time... I'm proud of you. You've been struggling all alone to this day..." ".........."I never thought Rena would say something like that to me. ...My eyes were filling up with tears.   "You're all going to believe my story...?" "Of course. We said we'd believe you. It's a bit of a relief, since a lot of my questions about this village are answered now." "So... Is everyone in this village infected by that disease, that Hinamizawa Syndrome...?" "...Yes. Everyone is infected. But unlike hundreds of years ago, this disease is much weaker now. That's why people can survive even if they move far away, or go somewhere far for a trip." "But some people still get sick, right?” ”...I'll never leave this village again. Hahahahaha!" "......Even if you do get sick, you can still control the illness yourself. It's very simple... yet very difficult." When you become too suspicious of someone, that suspicion will degenerate into a persecution complex, and it will be too late. ...So long as everyone stays friendly and united, we will never have to worry about this disease. This disease starts with anxiety. Modern people don't believe in curses the way people long ago did. That might be why we're more tolerant to the disease.  "Yup! We're friends, and we're family! We would never suspect each other!” ”I'm going to believe everything that you said today. You couldn't talk because you were afraid that the Mountain Dogs would hurt us, right?"I nodded quietly. I don't want to think that the Mountain Dogs have bugged this room... But if Okonogi overhears this conversation, they will definitely kill not only me, but all of my friends tonight. ...That's true no matter who my enemy is. BGM: Pros  “Let's sum up the story. Someone might come and kill you, knowing that your death will cause chaos and destruction in the village. Is that correct...?" "......They'll definitely come for me." "Are you sure? Will they get rid of their trump card that easily?" "...Sh-She's quite right. A trump card is like a pile of gold. Isn't it better to keep your hands on it?"Satoko's eyes were still swollen, but she had stopped crying. "......But think about it, Satoko. If you have more than one trump card, you'd want to play one of them right away..." "That's true. It's more effective to have more than one hostage. One hostage is not as valuable as many of them." "Anyway, we don't know anything for sure, and that means we can't be too optimistic."Everyone nodded in unison.  "That's not even a question. They're like wolves trying to watch after the sheep." "Just think of all suspicious people as bad guys. We need to seek help from someone who has nothing to do with Tokyo." "I agree. I think you made a good choice by seeking help from the police. Ooishi-san is on our side, right?" "......Yes. Ooishi doesn't know everything yet, so he thinks that the culprit behind of the [sic] curse of Oyashiro-sama is targeting me." "I think you should talk to Ooishi-san too. We need help from some adults." "......But that's pretty risky. What if they don't believe her and step away from the investigation?" "We should still talk to him. ...He said that he's going to retire this year, and that it's his last chance to avenge his old friend. I'm sure he will believe any story, no matter how wild." "Yeah. He helped us when we were trying to save Satoko-chan, too. I think he'll remain on our side." "......He's out in Gifu prefecture. He went to check on Takano's body." "Oh... She was found in Gifu, right? Burned to death inside an oil drum. ...Why does he have to go there directly to check on her?" "......There's a possibility that it might not be Takano's body. But the Gifu police department isn't being very cooperative." "You said that the Mountain Dogs specialize in preserving secrets and manipulating information, right...?” ”That corpse is pretty suspicious. I don't think she's the kind of person who would die just from being burnt a little, ah ha ha!" "......It's still possible that Irie is the bad guy and that he killed Takano. That's what Okonogi tried to make me believe." "I kinda doubt that the Coach is the mastermind. ...He's just not that kind of person." "I do agree. He's very nice as long as you don't let him talk about maids." "As the manager of the Hinamizawa Fighters, I also think the coach is innocent.” ”He's more like someone who could be easily used. Maybe he's too good of a guy." "...Hau... seems like everyone suspects Takano-san~" "Well... We're just saying... if we compare the coach and Takano-san......... you know...?" "Takano-san would be pretty upset to hear that..." Everyone laughed, as though we were in the middle of a club activity. If they're after my life, they'll kill everyone here. It's very possible that they'll all get involved in this mess, and they know that. That they could still laugh... is really significant, I think. I started laughing along too.  “Burning her body in the middle of the woods is like begging people to come across it." "Yeah. That makes sense.” ”It's like they're trying to force an unidentified body to be Takano-san, just because it was found outside the prefecture and the police here can't investigate further. ...That's the specialty of the Mountain Dogs, right?" "I think it's pretty obvious at this point.” ”The Mountain Dogs are working for Takano-san, right? And the leader of the Dogs is saying that the manager is pulling the strings... I bet Takano-san and them are working together." "Tomitake-san died the way he did so that Coach would be suspected.” ”...But Tokyo is the only organization who would suspect the coach. They also found the body of the true mastermind, Takano-san... Tokyo will suspect that the manager killed both of them... I see... This is a well-planned setup... Though it's not perfect." "It sounds like the Mountain Dogs are setting the coach up." "That's a good idea. I can tell if he's telling the truth or not... just by looking into his eyes." "Ah, yeah... you're good at that, Rena-san..." "......The Mountain Dogs are also running security on Irie right now. He might not be able to get on the phone..." "What?! That sounds even more suspicious! I hope the coach isn't in danger right now." "......Me too. If I was a member of the Mountain Dogs, and I was going to set him up... I'd kill him before he said something I didn't want him to say..." "A dead person can't say anything, huh?" "......Ooishi will return as soon as he takes care of business in Gifu. I don't know what time that will be, but he'll be here for sure." It was already past 6:30 PM, and starting to get dark. "No wonder I'm so hungry..."We'd usually call it here if this was a normal day. But everyone decided to stay until Ooishi came back and discuss what to do.  "I need to call my mom too." "I have to call Granny and tell her to order something for dinner tonight." "Heh heh heh! You'll be in big trouble later." "We have to get something to eat for those officers, too. We can order some sushi."Everyone had a sensitive reaction to the word "sushi". Their stomachs were empty, after all. ...The same should be true of those officers too.  "......Satoko. Why don't you cook a stir fry for everyone?" "What? I can't! I've never cooked for this many people!" "Satoko's stir fry? I'd love to try it, as long as there're no fingers inside!" "Ahahahaha. Satoko-chan, I want to eat your food too, I want to!"At that point, the phone rang.  "Oh, glad to hear you [sic] still alive! It's Ooishi. I've finished up everything in Gifu, and I'm heading toward Okinomiya right now. I'm calling from the gas station." "What about Takano's body...?" "Nfu fu fu fu! We did it! We were right! Gifu made one incredible, easy mistake on their paperwork. What a stubborn bunch! I really had to let them have it, let me tell you!” ”Takano and her vehicle are still missing! She may have some information regarding Tomitake's murder, so I've just issued a search warrant for her! I'm getting close to revealing the secret of the curse of Oyashiro-sama! I'm going to solve this case!"Ooishi sounded so motivated. He'd finally found the hint he'd so desperately wanted. ...Could he actually solve the case, though...? "......I'm looking forward to hearing your story." "......Yes. I'm ready to tell you about everything." "Oh my! I look forward to hearing it. Nfu fu! I should be there in about an hour. ......It sounds crowded over there. Are your friends there with you...?" "......Yes. Everyone came here to offer their help." "I see. You've got some wonderful friends. It's probably better for you to stay with them. Good way to keep the criminals at bay. ...Right, we're heading out! I'll see you soon!" "......Yes. He's heading this way with that other detective." "Hau, this is the first time this room will have so many people inside it. How many people will it be?" "There's six of us here... so eight people?! I do hope our floor won't break!" "Hanyuu. Were you listening to us? This is turning out to be... very interesting." "...Do you think it'll be different this time...?" "Yes. I'm sure. This time is different." "Don't say that you're sure. It would devastate you if nothing ended up changing." "......So, Hanyuu... you still think that I'm dying today?" ".........I don't want you to die." You just stay there and watch like the bystander you are!" "...Yes. ...I'm just a bystander. ...But I'm still rooting for you." "Rooting for me? Thanks. But are you sure you want to root for me? Are you sure you won't be hurt if I lose?" "Au... au... au... Don't be mean, Rika..."We had a rather harmonious mood going. However, a feeling of unease was beginning to settle over us… 
limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 21:05 on Apr 13, 2023 |
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Aug 14, 2022 15:12
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Well thats wild. Rika knew exactly what kind of people the Doggos, Irie, Takano, Tomitake, and who their sponsors are and STILL never really suspected them. And Irie agreed to research military applications for the disease, nevermind that he also developed cures and vaccines and did not really want to, he was very effectively performing biological weapons research knowing it likely would be used if he found anything, I feel that overrules almost every other good action he has taken, same with Tomitake, altough he was just always more a mystery than supposed good guy. That a disease would have a "queen host" that causes disaster if it goes away also sounds insane, but then again there is a supernatural/ghost thingy standing right there so 
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Aug 14, 2022 18:31
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Sorry, sorry. I was pretty busy Tuesday. Update on Thursday. EDIT: I am a lying liar who lies! For the record, I was busy Thursday because of something that was scheduled quite literally Wednesday night. And...I'll probably be busy for the rest of the week, besides. Next update will be pushed to sometime early next week.
limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Aug 19, 2022 |
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Aug 17, 2022 15:54
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It sure has been three weeks! You all are used to it though, I bet. For real, update is all written out and will be posted tomorrow.
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Sep 7, 2022 19:30
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limeicebreakers posted:It sure has been three weeks! You all are used to it though, I bet. For real, update is all written out and will be posted tomorrow. Looking forward
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Sep 7, 2022 21:45
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limeicebreakers posted:It sure has been three weeks! You all are used to it though, I bet. For real, update is all written out and will be posted tomorrow. Looking forward to it, I was behind an update or two, but I'm all caught up now. Koboje posted:That a disease would have a "queen host" that causes disaster if it goes away also sounds insane, but then again there is a supernatural/ghost thingy standing right there so We've had an ancient spirit and timeloop being part of the main plot for long enough at this point, the host thing barely phased me we're in supernatural zone now Part of me wishes that what we just learned about Tokyo could've come out a bit more organically, I guess? Kind of a sudden text dump there.
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Sep 7, 2022 22:04
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Odd Wilson posted:Part of me wishes that what we just learned about Tokyo could've come out a bit more organically, I guess? Kind of a sudden text dump there. Yeah, I agree with this, it's pretty sudden. Like, obviously Takano was sketchy in some way and there was *something* going on in the background, but they just kinda drop this on you here without much fanfare or time to let you absorb it.
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Sep 7, 2022 23:49
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Admiral H. Curtiss posted:Yeah, I agree with this, it's pretty sudden. Like, obviously Takano was sketchy in some way and there was *something* going on in the background, but they just kinda drop this on you here without much fanfare or time to let you absorb it. Honestly, also agree with the both of you. I've heard plenty of valid criticism about the final acts of Higurashi, and the buckwild pacing/escalation of information is definitely one of the more common ones that crop up. Chalk it up to Ryukishi's relative inexperience as a writer, I suppose - he gets much better at this in Umineko, and, uh... we only have one chapter of Ciconia out at the moment, but from what we've seen so far I don't think anyone will be able to accuse it of keeping the exposition close to its chest by the time that gets finished. I believe two more replies after this will get us to the next page! limeicebreakers fucked around with this message at 00:15 on Sep 9, 2022 |
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Sep 9, 2022 00:04
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Honestly, Hanyuu is a pretty big oversite--the fact that she can go pretty much anywhere I'm not sure why she didn't try to follow Tomitake and Takano as some point, since their deaths are definitely the common link. Or even having Hinamizawa Syndrome introduced an arc earlier, or something. Higurashi is still pretty great for someone's first big writing project and the strengths definitely outweigh it's weaknesses.
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Sep 9, 2022 00:13
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Or the fact that Satoko also has a severe case of Hinamizawa syndrome that she was actively treating maybe could have come in to play sooner (that's two, right?)
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Sep 9, 2022 00:17
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