Welcome, to the world of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni ~ Matsuribayashi-hen~.

In this world, you get to see the world being rebuilt from the eyes of Hanyu.

Your goal is to create the best possible outcome for "June 1983." In order make that ideal world a reality, you must collect many pieces.

However, Takano's ideals are also powerful as well. You must endure heavy toils and collect as many pieces together to overturn her resolve.

I must warn you in advance, that this task is both daunting and exhausting. Hanyu has tried this for over a hundred years and at once given up to let fate take its course.

Overthrowing Takano's goals will not be so easy. The task awaiting for you in this world will provide you with the same agony that Hanyu had went through.

As you find yourself being defeated despite the number of pieces you have, you may end up forfeiting yourself into submission just as Hanyu had done once before. Should you submit yourself to surrender, you may quit this game at anytime. If you do so however, that means that you are forever trapped with your friends in the worlds ranging from "Onikakushi-hen" to "Minagoroshi-hen." And you can also uninstall this game to create a complete "death" to the entire story, just like Rika's world.

Your ideal "June 1983" can be made by putting together the fifty pieces that you can find spread out in this world. In order to put the pieces together, you must find the piece that matches with it. ...With fifty pieces in all, you might feel a faint at the tremendous work that you must need to do.

However, this world is not that merciless. In order to relieve a bit of your task, you have a bit of a help to assist you. Should you incorrectly choose a piece that can't be put together, your only friend will put a mark on that piece telling you that you can't do so yet. That mark will then stay there until you are able to put that piece together with the others. Hence, you may start searching for the other pieces while the mark stays there.

As you start putting the pieces together, you will begin to notice that there will be pieces that you once could not align to be enabled to do so once again. She will place a mark on those as well. Once you put that piece together, who knows? Perhaps that might've just unlocked the path to another piece.

And so once you've collected and put all fifty of the pieces together into one giant piece, ...you've created the ideal "June 1983." What lies there is the world that we've been yearning for - "Matsuribayashi-hen."

Rather than peeking through each and every one of the pieces, it might be best to peruse through the titles of the fifty pieces. Besides, since most of the pieces requires you another piece beforehand, there would only be several pieces that you can peek in them to begin with. Let's find one of those pieces to start off with. Other pieces will require prerequisites which you can check when you scroll your mouse over them. So, it is best if you start off with those pieces which require no prerequisites.

...This trial will be long and arduous. I've said it before and I'll say it again but, Hanyu had tried this for over a hundred years and had at once quit doing so.

But if you have the strong feeling to believe in the miracles just as your friends... And if you can believe in what they want to achieve despite you being from a different world where Hanyu lives...

Then welcome.

To the world of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni ~ Matsuribayashi-hen~.


This world will put you to test to see if you believe in the same outcome of the world just like Rika and her friends. Miracles only occur when everyone's power come into unity.

Takano's vision of her June 1983 world is too strong. She has the powerful backing of the government supporting her, and she has many other skills which normal people do not have the privilege of having with them. Even if you roll one hundred dices and they all show up as one, you cannot topple her.

Hence, the only way to win is to have a miracle to occur. And miracles only happen when everyone's power comes together. By everyone, that includes you too.




...So, are you ready?

Of course, I know that I am. The pointer to travelling a long a journey is not to pack things too tightly. So let's just relax and enjoy the long journey, shall we? I'll be helping you along as I drink my favorite wine.

Let's begin, shall we? We have all the time in the world here...

Government official: "So the dam construction will bring in new jobs and re-vitalize the local industry..."

Hinamizawa residents: "That's not the fucking point!!" "We're asking you who the hell gave you the right to build the dam!" "Hey hey hey, you take all of our taxes and this is how you treat us?! Who do you think pays for your salaries!!"

G.O.: "That's what I've been trying to say! So...!"

H.R.: "We don't want to hear your excuses, we want to know when this project is going to be cancelled!!" "We've had enough of you! Bring the big-shot Minister of Construction here from Tokyo and let's settle this one-on-one!!" "Shut yer yap, you yuppie!!" "Besides, who the heck do you think you are talking down to us from the stand! Our taxes pay for your salary, come down and talk to us face to face!!"

The auditorium was filled with roaring angers.

The placard at the front door was read "Hinamizawa Dam Construction Local Project Meeting."

But whenever the government official at the stand was about the say something, the residents shut him up with their roaring angers.

The official gave up and began to continue on his explanation on the pros of the construction as if he couldn't hear their anger. This act further angered the residents as it showed that the government didn't care about the complaints of the locals.

There was a empty no-man's land protected by a police squads between the stand and the residents. If it weren't for this, it was certain that the residents would've jumped onto the stands and started a riot...

...I was looking at this event unfold from everyone's back. I can clearly see from their colors that they are giving into their anger.


...They began to be filled with blood-red rage, ...the anger that was born out of a certain goal, turned into the goal itself, and is starting to create a vicious cycle where anger leads to more anger.

...Anger is not an unneeded emotion. People face hardships as the live their lives. It is anger that forms the basis of people's resolve to fight and conquer such hardships. ...With that in mind, anger is an essential part of life itself. Hence, I'm not going to deny that anger is unnecessary.

However, an over-the-top anger leads people to forget their focus. ...When that happens, it is not about life anymore. Recklessness ensues as the blood rushes to the head, which causes people to forget what they have done.

...Such emotions like these hurts and saddens us deeply. I can see clearly how the villagers who live with us are becoming saturated like they were "demons."

I understand the rules of the human world. There is not much one individual can do in order to fight against the big government. ...In order to fight such an opponent, one needs a larger unified power. But it is difficult to lead such power in the right direction.

...The cycle of anger leads to more anger. By then, anger is not for survival - anger is exposed in order to release anger. ...When that happens, then it's just the same as a demon.

And this anger gives us a rough awakening as we were sleeping peacefully.

Everyone is being immersed into their own anger. We learned to live and sleep in peace with the villagers.

...But we are awakened...to find that the situation where the myths say that the demons began to pour out from the Onigafuchi Marsh was trying to repeat itself once again...

I shout and cry out to everyone to calm down.

But in the intensified roars of anger silences my mute screams and reaches no one... Yet all I could do was to still cry out in hopes that someone would hear my voice.

If it goes on any further....the demons would awaken. ...The demons that went into a deep and long sleep might awaken again with all this commotion...

That's when the atmosphere of the clamor changed.

It seems that the temper exchange between the residents and the stand turned into a civil strife between the residents themselves. ...What...is going on here?


Houjou: "Shut up you old hag!! Those are your own reasons, not ours! Don't pull us into this as the whole!!"

Oryou: "The hell you say you little bastard!!"

Sonozaki family member: "Hey hey hey!! You know you're talking to Oryou-san aren't you! You've got some guts eh?! Who the hell do you think you are!! Huh!!"

Houjou: "Fuck you!! Sonozaki my ass, I'm Houjou. Get your goons away, I'm talking to you bitch!!"

Anti-dam H.R.: "Hey hey, Houjou! How dare you say that in addition for wanting to sink the village!! How much did they pay you, huh?!"

Houjou: "Shut up geezer!! There's a bunch of poor people in Hinamizawa too ya' know! Not everyone is wealthy to own such a huge plot of land like you have in your back mountains!! I was well satisfied with the generous government compensation and they even provided me with public housing!! What else is there to say!! But you had to come in and ruin all of it, you assholes!! Stop dragging us normal folk into all you rich landowner's selfish reasons! If you guys wanna go up against the government so much, why don't you do it by yourself!! Besides, who's gonna pay for this, eh!! You!? We're poor and we also have two kids to look after. It was my plan to start a new life by leaving this place in peace by getting just compensation from the government and finding a new job elsewhere. But you!! Since when did you become the representative for me, eh!! You think you're that of a big shot, huh?!"

Anti-dam H.R.: "Yo, yo, yo Houjou!! You've got some balls eh, you traitor!! Why don't you leave town then!!"

Houjou: "Hell, I'd leave this place immediately! But you're gonna pay me for what I was entitled for, right?! You'd better give me the money that I was about to get from the government, cuz even though I'd like to get the hell out of this place, I don't have the money to do so. So fork it over bitch, and I'll leave!!"

Pro-dam H.R.: "Yeah, yeah Houjou's gotta point there! There are residents here who doesn't mind leaving this place! The gosankes shouldn't get into our own personal matters!"

Anti-dam H.R.: "Hey, hey, who the hell said that? Come out and say your name?!"

Pro-dam H.R.: "If you want to stay, fine!! Leaving here is a right too! Who the hell are you to stomp over our rights eh!!"

Houjou: "That's right, that's right!! Stop representing us as a whole old hag!!"

G.O.: "..Uh, of course we will compensate for the people who are in support of the dam project as this isn't expropiation..."

Anti-dam H.R.: "SHUT UP, YOU ASSHOLE!! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! TRYING TO SPLIT THE VILLAGE BETWEEN ITSELF?!"

Anti-dam H.R.: "Die, Houjou! You have no right to breathe village air. Stop breathing and die now!!"

Houjou: "Screw you!! I'm gonna kill you right now. Step up you old bitch!!! Hey hey, move over you cop!!"

Oryou: "Gooood to hear.... That was the last straw. I, Sonozaki Oryou, haven't been this pissed for ages. You're gonna get what you're gonna deserve. You'd better watch you back....!!!"

Pro-dam H.R.: "Yeah, go go, Houjou!! The government must provide us with new jobs, shelter, and just compensation!!"

Cop: "There there!! Stop this violence!! Cut it out! Quit it!!"

Houjou: "Yeah?! Show me what you got!! Come on, give it to me!!"


More and more people are becoming tainted in red anger...

All I could do is just stand there useless and watch them give in to their ugly side...

The only thing I can do right now, was to continuously apologize for the tragedy that was about to happen starting now...

...I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry....


And this became the vital day...

...After this date, the Houjou family and the Sonozaki family would wage a feud with the other, leading to the isolation of the Houjous within the village. This saw the downward spiral of Satoko and Satoshi's lives of tremendous hardships...

Mom asked me to do some grocery shopping for her, and I was on my way to the supermarket when I ran into Satoko.

Apparantly, Satoko was also asked to do the shoppings, just like me.
Since that was the case, we ending up going together.

Showing off each other's shopping list, it was fun to be able to imagine the dinner menu of the other person's family.

It looks like Satoko's family is having fish and simmered dishes.
By the way, it looks like my family's having hamburger meat steak.

"Oh my, steaks, how lucky...! I don't mind the fish, but I'm a little frightened of the simmered foods, you know? There's still a big chunk left of the pumpkin that we bought the other day."
"......Tonight is going to be a full course of simmered pumpkins for sure. Poor poor Satoko☆"

"Knowing beforehand that it's going to pumpkins is quite depressing too, isn't it? Haa."
"......Mi~☆ Here's a picky Satoko who would be angry even if the pumpkins were a surprise anyway."
"R, Rika must have at least some foods that she doesn't like too, right?! Now that you mention it, Rika, wasn't it true that you disliked sweet foods like bean paste rice cakes or cream cakes?!"
"......I don't really dislike them or anything. I'm just not eating them to be mean. If I wanted to eat them, I could eat as many as I wanted. I can even eat pumpkin pies deliciously too, nipa~☆"
"uUuu, how cheap for Rika to be the only one with no dislikes--!!"

These conversations were so fun to have.

Satoko is my best friend to me.
Just by being with Satoko, even the grocery shopping trip that I thought was bothersome quickly turned into an enjoyable evening walk.

Lined up near the supermarket are some other grocery food shops, making up Hinamizawa's little shopping street.

It's the busiest time of the day right now, with people buying groceries for dinner.
Hinamizawa's housewifes gathered and did their shoppings lively.

Anyway, since Satoko and I had different things to buy, we split up and went off on our own to buy the things we came for.

"Hey, welcome welcome!! Oh, Rika-chama, welcome! You're doing grocery shopping? What a good girl!"
"......Nipa~☆ I am a good girl who can do grocery shoppings."
"I see, I see, Rika-chama sure is a good girl! Here, let's give you this for being such a good girl."

A colander used to carry loose change hangs down from the store eaves, inside it were some candies for the shopkeeper's husband, who has asthma sometimes.

One of them was taken out, and tossed to me.

It's my favorite kind of candy, with a strawberry milk flavor.

I put it into my pocket on purpose without eating it right away, so that I could gloat in front of Satoko later about how I was the only one who got candy.

For me, teasing Satoko and making her feel jealous was a very fun thing to do.

Satoko would always overreact to these kind of things.
She was my best friend, and I never felt bored when I'm with her.

"Well there, what is it for Rika-chama's family today? Minced pork, hmm~"
"......It's hamburger meat steak. You put flower-shaped fried eggs on it and you draw with ketchup."
"O-ho-ho-ho! That sounds nice!"

While enjoying such conversations, my grocery bag slowly filled up.

...At that time, the housewives' murmurs entered my ears.

The contents were... a little cold.

.........They were comments directed towards Satoko, who's here to shop for groceries.

These traitors who tried to sell the village to the government, just how long do they plan to stay in the village anyway?
They should just leave already.
And they don't even have the guts to come out and shop for groceries themselves, making their daughter do all the shopping... *complain complain*, *complain complain*....

Ever since that big fight at the local project meeting for the dam project, which caused the Houjou family and the Sonozaki family to completely oppose each other, Houjou family's isolation within the village has worsened.

In the beginning, there were at least some retreatists who sympathized with the Houjous.
But after the Sonozaki Main House aimed for a complete change in village opinions, and took up a totalitarian stance, the retreatists gradually quieted down.

Also, public displays of harrassment from the influential gosankes such as the Sonozaki and Kimiyoshi family has also had a big effect.

It appears that Sonozaki Main House's strategy is to stop similiar retreatists from appearing by continuing to bully the Houjou family as an example.

To the residents, whose ancestors have been living in this village for generations, with they themselves likely to be buried in this village as well, this was an incredibly powerful harrassment.

Just who was the one who symphathized with the steaming Houjou back at the local project meeting and said something fierce like making them the leader of the retreatists anyway...?
People like that have quieted down completely, and joined in on the cold treatment of the Houjou family, like stepping on a painting they once supported....

The persecution of the Houjou family has now become a form of pressure from the entire village.

Since the Houjous were not a rich family, they have been late with their village council fees for a long time.

Back during the peaceful times, they were let off in the spirit of friendliness, with the council being generous enough to allow them to pay it all off in the future. But now that we're here, the wind suddenly changed direction, and the council demanded the Houjou family to pay off all their late council fees immediately.

Although it was not an amount that the Houjou family could not afford to pay, when a fight was brought to them like this, the Houjou family would end up taking it on.

As if to taunt them, the Houjou family withdrew from the village council.
......However, by doing so, they have only stepped right into the villagers' malicious plan.

To make the village council your enemy means to have underhanded bullying occur to you.

For example, the place where the Houjou family would throw away their garbages was at the temporary garbage dump designated by the health board and the village council.
According to the village council board rules, only families who are in the village council may use the dump site.

...Starting from the day after the Houjou family withdrew from the village council,

before they knew it, all the garbage bags that the Houjou family discarded at the garbage dump were returned to their front door.

Not only that, the bags were all ripped up and their contents spilt out.

Also, a sign board was put up at the hedge path near the Houjou residence.

"Private road, no trespassing. Non-members of the village council are forbidden to pass through".

A stubburn old man stood there day and night, and would not allow anyone from the Houjou family pass through.

...A private road is a private property opened up to the public as a road, its appearance was no different from a normal road.

However, it is still very much a private property, it's not unreasonable to forbid people other than the land owner from passing through.

Et cetera, et cetera...... The bullying from the malicious village groups came one after another.

This ostracism-like horror spread throughout the village, ...creating fear in people, thinking they might end up the same if they sympathize with the Houjou family, ...causing the Houjou family to become more and more isolated.

......The adults did not tell their children about such a dirty fight occuring in the dark, so Satoko was at least not bullied at school... But it's not hard to imagine that she must've had to endure a suffocating level of tension every day....

Right now, the housewives murmuring these malicious comments aren't saying them in Satoko's face either.
......But still, there was no way Satoko would not notice the occasional spilled comments, or the cold looks.

......Since when did this village become so cold towards Satoko? As Satoko's best friend, I was really sad.

Now that I look at her, I can see that Satoko's shopping experience is completely different from my peaceful ones.

If I greet people or shop for groceries, I would get extras or special deals, and yet... Satoko gets none.

No, forget that, ......She would be served last on purpose, shopkeepers would pretend they can't hear her, ......It was clear that people didn't want to have anything to do with Satoko.

...Squeezing in between the stampeding housewives, Satoko kept on saying what she wanted to the fish shop's owner, and yet, she was kept waiting until the very end.
......Satoko made a strong looking smile, and pretended she didn't mind at all, ......but I know.

Just how much of a painful pretense that is....

All of a sudden, Satoko dropped her coins on the ground.
Maybe the returned changes were accidently caught by her fingers as she tried to put them back into the wallet.

Since I was standing at a distance from Satoko, I slid between the housewives to help her pick up the coins.

.........But, there, I realized.

......Satoko dropped a lot of coins, and is running left and right, trying to pick them up, and yet,
.........Nobody's helping her.

No, rather than saying they're not helping, ...It's more like everyone's acting as if Satoko isn't there.

...Since the coins were dropped because of her own miss, Satoko's probably not expecting anyone to help her pick them up either.

............But, ......but still.... ...There's all these people coming and going, .........and yet, not a even single one of them tried to help....

"......Satoko, I'll pick them up too."
"Ah, .........a, i, it's alright, Rika...."
Just from that little movement, I could understand the pain of her wounded heart.

On top of that, ...when I started picking up Satoko's coins, the other housewives began picking them up too.
With an expression on their faces like it's the obvious thing to do.

......If I, the miko of the Furude family, began picking them up, then it's alright to help out?
We all know that if I didn't pick them up, all of you would've just pretended you didn't see anything until the end....

And, ....the fact that people would help if "I" was the one doing the picking... just how much is Satoko's heart wounded by that....?

I grabbed the coins that the housewives picked up without saying any thanks....... Forget thanking them, I feel like spitting at them.

"th, ......thank you very much, Rika, everyone."

...Probably because if she doesn't express her gratitute here, people might go off somewhere saying something again like "Houjou's daughter has no manners".
Satoko said those words of gratitute bitterly.

In return, the housewives looked down at her with blank, unconcerning expressions, ......I couldn't take it anymore.
...I couldn't, take the pain that Satoko is carrying, in her heart right now....

"......If we're done with shopping, then let's go, Satoko."
"Eh, ......yes...."
I grabbed Satoko's arm, and pulled out from that place.


...How upsetting, sad, painful.

Just what sin did Satoko commit....?
This coldblooded reality is so, vexing and sad.

I'm loved by others like a mascot.
But, I can't provide Satoko with the same thing....

......Right now, ...Satoko must be stunned, wondering why herself and Rika, who are the same age, receive such different treatments....

.........If Satoko had to experience this because of me, then I shouldn't have shopped together with her..., no, wrong. I should've just bought her groceries for her....

"......Satoko."
"...Wh, ......what is it, Rika?"

"......You dropped all your coins, poor Satoko. ...Therefore, here is a consolation prize for you."

Wanting to heal the wound in Satoko's heart, even if only for a little bit, ...I took out the strawberry milk candy I received earlier.
But, ...Satoko did not take it.


"......That candy, wasn't it something given to Rika?"

My hand froze with a jerk...

...Satoko was watching.
She watched me accept the candy.......

"...The person who gave Rika that candy must've gave it out wanting Rika to eat it too. .........So, if I ate it, it would be rude......."

...Satoko then turned her back on me, and stayed that way until we parted....

Without even a parting goodbye, ......Satoko held onto the grocery bags and left in quick steps.

......I, ...I only wanted to heal Satoko's heart, ......and yet, I ended up rubbing salt in it until the very end..........

How can I call myself Satoko's best friend?
If only I had the gripping power, ...I wanted to just crush the candy in my hand..........

Irie: "I'm sorry for being late for the meeting. I was tied up with lots of patients today."

Tomitake: "Thanks for coming, Lieutenant Colonel Irie!

Tomitake suddenly jumped up and saluted as Irie came into the room.

Irie: "Oh no, no, please stop with that Lt. Col. thing...! I'm just a doctor. I can never get used those rank prefixes like the military. Would you mind settling for calling me director (of the clinic) instead...?"

Tomitake: "No problem, Director Irie. Ahahahaha...!"

Tomitake and the rest chuckled as they knew that Irie disliked being called a Lt. Col. On the other hand, Takano was fed up by this lame joke. She grew tired of the same joke over and over again, and she sincerely wanted to snap at Tomitake to quit that Lieutenant Colonel bit. However, she hand a feeling that Tomitake's feelings might get hurt, so she didn't say it all this time.

Also, due to Tomitake's slurred pronounciation, his way of saying "Lt. Col." (pronounced "Nisa" according to Japanese SDF rank), it sounds like he's actually saying "Lisa." Ever since then, all she could hear was Tomitake calling out "Irie Lisa," "Irie Lisa." She once told this to Irie, and he got a great laugh at this...

Anyhow, today was just a formal greeting. The actual meeting was to be held tomorrow. Although Tomitake is here today, more auditors were to arrive from Tokyo tomorrow to attend the meeting where we are to explain the progress of our research in this facility.

Tomitake: "Changing the subject though, it seems the village is all up and arms with this dam construction project."

Irie: "Oh, you've only seen the tip of the iceberg! I attended the local project meeting as a member of this community, and the hall was filled with roars and profanity. It was quite a spectacle."

The residents of Hinamizawa all burst in anger when they first heard about the Hinamizawa Dam Project. The government quickly retracted their compromise and decided to go up against the locals. It seems the government didn't want the locals to take advantage of them by showing signs of weaknesses through compromise.

However, the government underestimated the residents of Hinamizawa. The people are here are historically tied strongly with their land. Such an act by the government only lead to strengthening the bonds between the community to form a league of their own. Both the government and the village were at a complete deadlock as neither wanted to back down.

Takano: "*chuckle chuckle chuckle* The people of Hinamizawa are quite short-tempered. Maybe they do have demon's blood in them."

Irie: "It's nothing to joke about... You should've been at the spot where I had to be in. I stayed at the meeting all night with all the shouting and the bawlings."

Tomitake: "I feel sorry for you. Hahahaha...!"

Irie: "No, this is serious, Tomitake-san. How is the Dam Project going on? Will this village really go underwater beneath the artificial lake from the dam?"

Tomitake: "Well, pressure is being put at Tokyo as we speak. Even though it seems that the project is still intact from the outside, the foundations of the proposal should be starting to crumble by now."

Irie: "...I do hope that pressure works really soon. The village is very raucous night and day, and the villagers themselves are starting to show signs of discontempt. It's not unusual for an elderly person to come into my office for a simple check-up, all in the while I have to subject to listen to their thoughts on the dam project."

Takano: "*chuckle chuckle* Director Irie is just too kind. Why don't you just quit putting up with them then?"

Irie: "I can't do that. Even though I am a researcher, I'm also a doctor to begin with. Listening to them is an essential part of mental care."

Tomitake: "Well said. I hold high respect for that."

Irie: "Even though we know that the people in Tokyo are putting pressure so that this project will be gone away, the villagers don't know that. They live in constant fear that they'll have to relocate leaving behind this beautiful place where they have lived for generations."

Takano: "Even if they are forced to leave, many are old and have no money to do so. Perhaps some of them might've wanted to have the government increase their compensation. ...But the government immediately reversed their stance and became all out war. ...I don't think they are going to resolve this matter easily."

Irie: "There were some people who supported the proposal with the just compensation, but the gosanke Sonozaki family was firm in their cause against it. They took became the de facto leader to fight against the government. Now you see blaring announcement vans everywhere. Poster and flyers even comes attached to the circulation notices."

Tomitake: "Their actions are understandable. It's their homes they are talking about."

Irie: "...Whether or not what everyone's care is about, we sincerely desire to have this dam project withdrawn as soon as possible, for the sake of the residents in this area. As soon as the project is called off, this place will become the peaceful village it once was."

Tomitake: "I understand. We are trying very hard along with Tokyo on this matter, so please let us take care of this."

Takano: "...I heard a rumor from Tokyo that you guys are having some trouble in making connections to place pressure onto the Minister of Construction?"

Tomitake: "Well...hahaha... A low officer like me wouldn't know the details, but I have heard that they are snagged in fine-tuning certain things..."

The people supporting Takano are very powerful indeed, but they do not control all of Japan. There are certain places where they are strong at, yet there are also sections in which they cannot touch as well. ...And it is assumed that they aren't well established in being able to place pressur onto the areas under the Ministry of Construction.

Takano: "This isn't a joke. Are you certain that we're not going to have to relocate because a dam is going to be constructed, right...?"

Tomitake: "Of, of course. You have my word on that. We're just taking a little bit of time, so please don't let any of this bother you and continue with your research. And, if things can't be worked out peacefully, there are also opinions where drastic measures might have to be taken."

Irie: "Drastic measures...? What do you mean by that, Tomitake-san?"

Tomitake: "That is part of our domain. You don't have to a worry a thing, Director Irie. Let us handle this."

Irie: ".......Fine. ...I understand. Thank you for your help."

Takano: "It's okay, Director Irie. The dam project will definitely be withdraw. ...It's already been laid out. ...chuckle chuckle."

Takano chuckled and Tomitake put on a slight smile along with her. ...Only Irie couldn't understand what was funny, and he felt left out.

.......It was only when Irie was called to the outskirts of the town check on the condition of a young boy that he hasn't seen from this area, did he realize what they meant about "drastic treatment."

Even though the weather did forecast that it was to rain this afternoon, I never imagined that it would be such a downpour. We took shelter at an abandoned bus stop and waited for the rain clouds to clear.

Tomitake: "I'm sorry, Takano-san"

Takano: "Oh, that's alright, Jirou-san. I went with you despite knowing that it would pour. *chuckle chuckle*"

Takano-san chuckles.

It is all my fault for dragging her out here despite her cautions that the weather might change all of a sudden. I feel embarrassed as a man who ruined her precious day off.

I have to go back to Tokyo tonight, so I won't be able to come to Hinamizawa anytime soon. Once that thought ran through my mind, I just couldn't waste the day by staying at the cheap hotel in Okinomiya. So, I asked her out.

Tomitake: "Yes...well...hahaha...I'm sorry"

Takano: *chuckle chuckle chuckle*

She made fun of me for a while with her like a cute devil. It's not that I'm enjoying her cornering me with her jabs. I sincerely thought that her style of communication was quite charming.

...I believe...that I had become capitavited by her. However, to her, I'm just an auditor from Tokyo. ...She's just being nice to me because of my position, and I know that she does not like me as an individual. ......And it hurts me to think that I might've forced her to come along with me because of my position.

Perhaps it is best that I should just disregard this slight fever that I feel as nothing more than just an oncoming cold. However, I know that she is also a type of person who says no when she dislikes it. ...Of course, she doesn't bluntly say "no," but she is capable of distinctly saying "no" by using various indirect means and methods. ...So, I hope that she is here with me right now because she might have a little attraction towards me...

Tomitake: "....sigh"

I shake my head as I frown upon my own selfish thoughts. Yet, she quirps a cute chuckle as if she knew what I was thinking. My face blushes at her little actions.

Takano: "Jirou-san, you're such an interesting person. You must be popular with all the ladies back in Tokyo. Why would you want to go out with a queer woman like me...?"

Tomitake: "I, I don't think you're strange... Takano-san is very attractive as you are...! In fact, I feel sorry for having you to spend your precious day off for a guy like me."

Takano: "Yes, while it's true that I vowed to subject my life to research, but life is dry with just only that. It's also important to have fun once in while. ...Besides, engaging in communication with the person of the opposite sex is an excellent way to revitalize brain cells. *chuckle chuckle*"

Tomitake: "Ahahahahaha... I hope that I could be a help making Takano-san feel refreshed..."

Takano: "You...don't feel refreshed with me around...?"

Takano-san made my heart pound as she smiles at me like a cute devil. I immediately try to hide my embarrassment so that she would not notice that my face might be blushing to the ears.

Tomitake: "Oh no...! I too...feel very refreshed with Takano-san around! And, oh yeah, it's also much more interesting for me if Takano-san learns how to do avian photography with me...! Oh, I'll bring my old camera with me the next time. These things are expensive to buy and all...hahahaha..."

Takano: "Thank you. I would be very interested to learn how to take pictures which seems to be your pasttime *chuckle*. I would love to do avian photography with you the next time. So does that mean that I wouldn't need to buy my own camera?"

Tomitake: "Ah, yes, that's right! You should practice with my old camera first. Once you get used to that, you can buy your own if you want! I..I'll send you the camera once I return to Tokyo!"

Takano: "Thank you. I would like to hear your comment on the pictures that I took the next time you come here."

Tomitake: "S...Sure...! Hahaha, I wonder what kind of pictures they're going to be!"

Takano: "*chuckle chuckle* They're not going to come out like Jirou-san's. It really is going to be my first time."

I was blushing bright red and scratching my head. In sharp contrast, she was still her cool self as she smiled. I don't know if I'm being self-confident or not... But I get a feeling that Takano-san doesn't mind having me as her company... If it was just utter social flatter, she wouldn't go along with me this far.

....Ah, no no. What am I thinking? I've always failed for taking a woman's social flatter too seriously. I must not think that she might have some interest in me....

Takano: "....By the way, isn't this the first time we've actually had the time to talk together alone?"

Tomitake: "Y, yes. Usually the director or other researchers were around."

Takano: "I really don't know that much about you. Things like what kind of work do you do back in Tokyo or what your past was like. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do within the SDF...?"

Tomitake: "Aha, hahahaha.... Well, I was an instructor for a while, or at least I thought it was. But I sustained a certain injury to my eye. It wasn't that much of a big deal as I can live life normally. But they decided it was serious enough, so right now all I do is desk work. Ahahaha...."

Takano-san took another jab at me as she chuckled by saying that I must've done something stupid to cause that injury to myself.

Tomitake: "And while I was helping public relations make their own magazine, that was when I first became fascinated with photography! These cameras have the power to capture human happiness. Ahahahaha, you might be thinking I'm nuts, but it's true. I've felt and began enjoying everyday ever since I took up taking photography."

Takano: "...How can a camera make a person so happy...?"

Tomitake: "Well, a camera is able to take a snapshot of a piece of daily life. And if you want to capture that for later view, you'd want to take pictures filled with happiness right? So, as you peek through the finder while wondering where you can find happiness...lo and behold, you realize that the things that you thought were just a part of normal life were actually immersed in so much happiness."

..For example, a dandelion sprouting from the cracks of the asphalt can be overlooked as you walk by in your busy daily life. However, when you look at it through the view finder, you realize that it is a very special present that tell you that spring is approaching. You take that as a picture and leave it in a photo album. And everytime you open that photo album, you remember the joyful feeling that you had when you took the picture.

Takano-san: "Does Jirou-san always feel that way when you take your pictures...?"

Tomitake: "Uh-huh. For me, the ambition to take a Pulitzer winning pictures and the like is not a high priority for me. I believe that the fascinating thing about a camera is that it is able to re-recognize all the little joys that we tend to overlook everyday. That's why it is a very fabulous hobby for me that I can feel that way as I peek through the view finder in Hinamizawa."

Takano-san: ".........hmmm....."

I have a tendency to go overboard when I talk, but Takano-san usually playfully twists my words right back at me. ...So it was very rare to see her listening carefully to what I was saying. Takano-san sat right next to me...and began fiddling with my camera. ...I don't know how much of an impression I gave to her with my ramblings, but it seems that she has begun to show a bit of interest in photography. I assumed that she was going to make fun of me as usual, so this reaction that she showed was blissful to me.

Tomitake: "Do you want to take a try at it?"

Takano-san: "...Do you think I could?"

Tomitake: "Oh, it's easy! All you have to do is get the hang of focusing and pressing the shutter. Here, you can hold it. Oh, don't touch the lens...!"

Takano-san: "Boo. It's not easy as you say..... *chuckle chuckle*"

Since she seemed to have shown some interest in photography, it would be best if we could start taking nature photography in this beautiful place called Hinamizawa. ...Unfortunately, the rain doesn't seem to show signs of clearing anytime soon. However, she was clearly enjoying her new found hobby and began taking many photographs of items that caught her eye inside the rundown bus stop. So the very first pictures that she took happened to be odd things in an around this dank shack.

Ever since then, whenever we get together, both of us would go around the village taking pictures with our cameras...

The village clinic was a perfect cover for our research.

Though restricted to people above a certain age, we have the ability to do health check-ups on the majority of the Hinamizawa residents. ...This was a definite plus for the clinic being the front cover of the research facility. And thanks to connections, we were able to perform autopsy on the villagers' corpses. ...As a person working in the field of medicine, I couldn't have asked for a better place to work.

The continuation of the now-deceased Dr. Takano's work is going smoothly. ...The amount of research data compiled by the previous researcher was astounding. It surprises me again as it showed me how great the man was.

Takano: "Excuse me, director"

Irie: "...Oh, Takano-san, thank you."

Takano: "The final test results came back from Tokyo today. I'll leave them here, okay?"

Irie: "Thank you. ...Now things are starting to get more interesting."

Takano: "*chuckle chuckle* I'm happy to enjoy this excitement along as well."

Takano-san is my right-hand person who was provided to me by the SDF. However, there's something strange about her that doesn't quite fit my perception of a SDF officer. Just as our research is deemed confidential to everyone, ...perhaps her identity might also be confidential as well. I'm pretty certain that her surname, Takano, is also fake.

I am just a doctor and a researcher, nothing more. Without Takano-san's support, I can never manage the place as the director of the Irie Facility. She is a pipeline to her clients in "Tokyo," my right-hand person, and an avid researcher herself on the Hinamizawa Syndrome. ...Her assistance here is a huge benefit for this facility. ...But as I think more and more, I'm beginning to think that this place would rather be fit to be named as the Takano Facility rather than from my name. With her vast credentials and skills, it would make more sense that she was the director of this facility.

However, I do recall the first time they approached me with this offer. ...The client wanted a civilian to head the facility. Hence, they searched for a person who fit the description as mine, and set me up as the director.

...Even I understand I'm just a puppet on the stand. But, I refuse to just sit here and do nothing. I was given the chance to research about a rare disease. And as a researcher, such an opportunity excites my own curiosity. I have no idea what my clients want out of this research, but I do have the desire to enhance my quest for knowledge in order in order to become one of the first people to unravel the mysteries of human body.

Irie: "It is rather disappointing that despite us having all these data that proves the existence of a parasite as the cause for the Hinamizawa Syndrome, ...we still don't have the factual evidence of the culprit microbe itself."

Takano: "Yes. I too had anticipated that we could easily find them with the aid of an electron microscope."

Viruses were too small to be seen by a normal optical microscope. But, the invention of the electron microscope changed all that. It was able to provide a huge advancement in the medical field. However, the equipment is very expensive for a normal doctor to own for him or herself.

The deceased Dr. Takano predicted that the cause of the disease can be found with an electron microscope, but it seems that theory has been proven wrong. Takano-san too was at first optimistic that we can find the cause of the disease with such a machine. Unfortunately for us, cadaver after cadaver revealed no signs of any parasistes...

To be frank, our research seems to have our first snag. For the past couple of weeks, our research was technically stalled because of this. ...Hence we needed to re-assess how to carry out our future research.

Takano: "...In that case, it could be that the culprit is either smaller than we can see with our available technology, or...perhaps we're looking at the wrong specimen to begin with."

Irie: "A wrong specimen? What do you mean by that?"

Takano: "Well, we know that there are fleas on the bodies of wild mice. However, one cannot find any fleas on a dead mice. This is because as the mice dies, the fleas' habitat dies as well."

Takano: "From the view of the parasite, if the host dies, it is the same as saying the world has ended in our perspective."

Irie: "That's correct. It's the same as saying that one cannot find a living human in a post-apocalyptic world."


Takano: "...So, all one has to do is to look at an Earth before it ends, right? *chuckle chuckle*"

Irie: "Yes... But there's a thing called human rights in an alive Earth. It will not be easy to do such a thing when one's alive..."


Examining a living person's brain. ...This holds a heavy meaning even under closed dicussion. From a medical standpoint, it's easy to say that all one has to do is to study it. ...But human society has its rules and morals. As part of human society, we need to advance medicine bounded to such rules.

I remember the time when I was studying the advancement of psychosurgery for the better of mankind. ...I do not think that I had made a mistake. ...However, I do not know whether the concept of morals would ever forgive me. Despite whether I'm guilty or not, I am certain that my judgment will be handed down by the Enma. ...I am prepared to receive what I deserve.

As I was reflecting upon my past, I suddenly heard a voice.

That voice was Takano-san's. It was a tone that was very clear and simple, yet a one that struck me with surprise.

Takano: "I understand. Then let me prepare you a world before its death."

Irie: "....huh?"

I was dumbfounded. ...Some say that the advancement of medical science requires one to hear a devil's whisper of the word 'sacrifice'." I listened to that devil's voice.

Takano: "*chuckle* It's not so hard. All we need to do is to find a resident of Hinamizawa in his or her terminal stages at one of the hospitals."

Irie: "...But, ...Even if the patient is terminally ill, do you think there would be anyone who would be brave enough to provide his or her own body for research while being alive?"

Takano: "That's not necessary. The person is going to die anyway, why not let it go to sleep a bit early? On paper of course. *chuckle chuckle*"

She's trying to say that patient will be legally declared dead despite having some life left. And we are to perform an "autopsy" on the "corpse," ...while he or she is alive.

Irie: "Y...you've got to be kidding...! B...Besides! Performing neurological surgery means we need to do a circular incision on the cranial area! The families of the deceased is bound to have doubts when they see such marks...!"

Takano: "That's the part where we come in, aren't they? I'll immediately have the Yamainu find a patient that matches the description at the local hospital. Doctor, all you need to do is to wait on the dinner table with your knifes and forks in your hands. I'll bring in the main dish as soon as possible. *chuckle chuckle*"

Irie: "Ha...hahahaha..."

I do not doubt that Takano Miyo-san is my partner. However, there are certain aspects of her that I cannot trust everything about her. ...Probably, it is her extremities as a researcher which contrast largely with mine...

...Yet, how can I say that I am unlike her? Despite what I said, I stand here waiting in front of the dish with my knife and fork. ...Basically, I'm just whitewashing that I don't want to see the fish being prepared before my own eyes. But still, the dinner that she's about to prepare...is the one that I am anxiously awaiting for right now.

What a hypocrite. ...no, not her. I'm the hypocrite.

How can I say that I am different from her from what I have done in the past? I've performed psychosurgery with my own hands without the patient's consent, despite it being a surgery that may affect that person's life for the rest of their lives. How is that any different from what she is about to do now? ...Until today, I've never doubted my past achievements. However...I begin to feel sudden uneasiness when I observe her extremities.

Takano-san is currently calling Okonogi-san from the intercom from my desk. ...She's probably calling him to explain about the idea she has just proposed.


I...sit here blankly without stopping her...


I then begin...to reflect upon my past...to remember why I chose the path to become a doctor in the first place....

I wanted to become a doctor was the usual reasons that most people have.

"If I become a doctor, I can become rich. I'll be looked up to by everyone."...I believe that those were my initial reasons.

So when I played with my friends back when I was little, I acted as if I were the group's doctor. Using what I learned from household medical books, I cleansed the wounds when my friends fell and I put ice-packs when they sprained an ankle. Everyone was saying that Kyousuke-kun will grow up to become a fine doctor one day, and I believed so too.

My family was poor so they highly praised my goal. They told me that in order to become a doctor, I needed to study really hard. I remember them borrowing quackery books from the rent-a-book store for me. However, borrowing such books does not come cheap. So, I speed-read through one book in one day, and my parents would go back to the store to exchange it with another one by faking that they accidentally borrowed a book that they've read before. Because of this, my parents were able to borrow two books for the price of one.

Of course now that I am a doctor, I realize those books were useless quackery. Nevertheless, those books were a highly motivational in leading me to my goal.

The neighbors all touted me as Dr. Kyousuke-kun, and I was always the recommended candidate for the class health officer. Even my teachers consuled me with what courses to take in order to become a doctor.

Of course, becoming a doctor is not as easy as it seems. I had to study diligently, and the path to it was very rough indeed.

In order become a doctor, one definitely has to go to college. But, as my family was poor, they refused to let me go to an expensive private university. With that out of the question, the only option left for me was to become admitted to a national public university. Although my grades were not bad, but the admission rate to such elite universities are very marginal. And if one is talking about getting into the medical school of such universities, the chances are even more smaller.

...But, I didn't give up. I studied my ass off. The dream that I had as a kid was the only driving force behind it.

"I'm gonna be a doctor so that everyone's gonna look up to me."
A cheap and childish dream like that was the only thing that kept me going.

....And lo and behold, I got in. I wasn't at the top of the list, but I still got in. I was finally able to step on the start line to achieve my childhood dream.


My parents were very proud of me. ...Both mom and dad didn't go to college, so they took pride that their son got into a prestigious public med school. They invited all of our relatives and they threw a congratulatory party just for me. Even though a public university is still quite expensive for our family, they still celebrated the largest party they ever had thrown.

My dad is the stern type that doesn't show his emotions. He was always stone-faced, he never expressed his opinions, and he never took the lead. He was supported by mom at his side; being the last to appear and leaving in silence. Basically, he was the typical stern-but-silent Japanese dad at the time. So, it was a quite a surprise to see my dad broke down in tears in happiness, that I cried along with him. He would slap my back in pride as he went around all my relatives saying how proud he was to have son like me. He sat face to face with me understanding all the hard work I did to accomplish such an achievement.

That party later became my going-away party as I was about to leave for Tokyo. At the station, my dad hailed many "banzais" as my train pulled away. I was very embarrassed at the commotion, ...but I distinctly recall that tears began to trickle down as the sight of dad began to disappear along the horizon...



After that, I was immersed in hellish days of studying and exams. There were indeed times in which I wanted to just give up and submit myself into the lavish lifestyle of the urban city. But, letters from home would cheer me up everytime, which revitalized me not to give up what was in reach.

During this time, I set a goal to open up a clinic back home, which lacked an internal medicine and a pediatrician. I would never have imagined that I would become involved in the world of neurology at the time...


One day, I received a letter from home that was bit different than the others. Most of the subject was about local affairs and the usual notes on how I was doing...but the postscript stood out as odd.

"Lately, dad has become extremely violent. In awful days, he'll make a huge mess out of the house."

...I was definitely surprised by this as I could never imagine such a quiet dad like mine in such a rage of fury. I wondered what would make my dad to tick him off so much? ...But my mom ended the letter saying that she had no idea what would make him so violent all of a sudden.

My mom has been with my dad for a long time, long before I was born. ...She could figure out small things about my dad that even I couldn't get.
...Yet here I have my mom who couldn't figure out my dad's sudden rage. .....What the heck happened?

Mom and Dad were viewed by our neighbors as being a lovely couple. When I would make mom sad by doing something stupid, my dad would bonk me on the head with his knuckles. ...Why would my dad suddenly go out against my mom? Maybe there might've been a misunderstanding between the two. ...I should go back home over the New Year's holiday to talk about this face to face with my dad.


...Unfortunately, the circumstances were much severe that I had thought.


One cold winter day...the door to my apartment dangled open. I rushed in thinking that I might've been robbed...but there I saw my mom with all her belongings.

...That's right. My mom couldn't take anymore of dad's beatings so she ran away to my place.

This was back in the days when the proverb "A woman has no place to settle down all her life." still held true. She couldn't go back to her own family being from the same area as dad, so she came all the way to Tokyo where I was.

And that's when I learned of my dad's domestic violence towards her. My mom broke down as she cried how can such a kind man like him change all of a sudden. She boldly struck down that she was never going back to such an awful person like him ever again.

As the only child, what could I do? ...I tried in vain if she could give dad one more chance...but it was futile when she showed me the bruises on her body...

What happened afterwards is difficult to explain even from me...so I'll just be brief.

After my mom escaped to my place, my dad thought that she was cheating and started going to each of the neighbors house in a rage with a wooden sword in hand. ...He was promptly arrested by the police. He was released soon thereafter, but he firmly believed that someone in the neighborhood was hiding mom and repeated the violence time and time again. He eventually went to the point of getting into fights into anyone who "pissed him off," which lead him to pick a fight with a group of punks who beat him to death.

...At least my relatives gave my dad a decent funeral, but my mom refused to show up. It's no use in beating a dead horse, so no one at the funeral bad-mouthed my dad. ...But everyone was indeed puzzled at how such a quiet person like him would suddenly become so violent...

But it was here that I learned that my dad wasn't just all but of rage and violence that my mom had said. ...From what I heard from my relatives, they told me that he would also suddenly be in euphoria and in depression as well. ...Emotions clicked and changed at a moment's notice. The frequency was seen to be as its worse towards his final days. Furthermore, they also told me that he was constantly complaining of a severe headache. ...My dad was a construction worker. One day, he strongly hit is head on a 2x4 and fell unconscious. ...He immediately woke up and started working as if nothing had happened, so everyone just dismissed it as just a simple mishap. ...But his personality and his headaches would occur after that...

I immediately sensed a connection with this accident and my dad's erratic behavior, so I asked my professor as soon as went back to Tokyo.

Professor: "...Hmm. I can't say for certainty, but it seems that your father might've been affected by some kind of psychological impairment. The accident may have caused an injury to the brain, which may have induced some psychiatric disorder similar to organic brain syndrome. The personality disorder and delirium that your father seemed to have is very similar to the symptoms of such patients."

Human behavior is created by the actions of the brain. ...Damage to the brain causes such erratic behavior. So, my dad was not a psychotic, ...he was just a patient suffering from a disorder...

Professor: "If you have a chance to perform an autopsy of your father's body, you should perform a post-mortem brain analysis. ...You might find a tumor."

However, my dad's body has been cremated already. There is no way to prove this hypothesis anymore.


But I deduced that my father was suffering patient from these accounts. It was the only way I could explain the sudden change of dad's personality. ...I tried in vain to explain this to my relatives, but they weren't convinced.

"If something happened to his brain, he would've died. But, he was alive and healthy. So there was no way that the accident caused damage to his brain. It was just your dad's personality, so the brain has nothing to do with it. He was just distressed deep within his heart."

They brushed it off blaming that it was his heart.

...This was the extent of the majority of the populace's perception of the brain. ...They do not think that the inanimate heart they say is just a figment created by the brain.

My relatives refused to believe in my theory. ....But still, I sincerely hoped that one person would hear me out. ...That one person was my mom.


As my mom aged older, she became a bit senile...and started to aggravate about the abuses that she endured by dad. ...By this time, all she did was criticizing my dad. And she always ended her self-pity by breaking down why she had married him in the first place.

...They were such a nice couple together.
...Our family was happy, and it was the best that I could ever have hoped for...

That was why I wanted to reach out to her to make her understand this it was just an unfortunate accident... Dad's behavior was just a symptom of brain damage. ...While I am saddened at what my mom had to go through, but I wanted to tell her it my dad chose to do so. ...I tried explaining to her many times that my dad is not at fault.

...But, ...mom was not convinced either. Before my mom took her last breath, ...I asked her to forgive my dad. Yet, my mom's last word was... "please do not bury my bones next to dad..."

There was no fault to my dad....

...He was just a pitiful patient suffering from an psychological disorder through brain damage. No one is obtuse enough to say shut up to a person coughing from a cold, right? It's a symptom, so people should provide pity and assistance when needed.

In my dad's case, the symptoms weren't as easy to be defined like a cough, ...but it was a something more difficult to ascertain called personality.

If I had studied neurology, I might've been able to convince my mom. ...I might've been able to correct her misunderstanding so that she might've at least been together with dad in heaven.

...When I realized what I could've done...I broke down in tears for being so helpless.


And, that was when it hit me that there are thousands of patients out there in the world just like my dad, who are suffering from this disorder, yet subjected to harsh treatments because of misunderstanding.

And, this was when I found out about a miraculous cure for such disorders called psychosurgery. Since then, ...I spent my days as a doctor learning about the mysteries of the neurological world so that I can help people who are suffering from such mental illnesses. I studied so that if my dad was still alive...I could cure him by performing it myself.

This...was the main reason why I, Irie Kyousuke, is standing here at his present profession.

That night. The priest, who is the head of the Furude family, said there's a family meeting, and called his wife and Rika into the room.

It is Hinamizawa's tradition for the gosanke to gather and discuss about the village's issues.
In addition to that, it's not uncommon for big families like the Sonozaki or Kimiyoshi family to hold relative or family meetings beforehand, in order to sort out opinions among themselves first.

......However, the Furude family has lost all of its family branches, with only a family of 3 left in the main family now.
That's why, up until now, they have never held anything like a family meeting.

"What's the matter? All formal like this...... Is this about the dam?"

The most important problem facing the village right now is the dam problem.
The priest's wife believed that the talk that the priest is about to start right now must be related to that.

...And since he called the whole family together just to say it, there must be a significant decision within it for sure.
......For example, they're going to join the retreatists or something like that. That's the kind of talk the priest's wife was expecting.

"......No, it's not about the dam............ But it's a very, very serious problem that concerns this whole village, no, it concerns even the ancestors of this village too."

The Furude family has served in priesthood and worshipped the village's protector god, Oyashirosama, for generations.

...If the head of this family is making a statement like this, then there is no doubt that it must be a very serious issue.
And yet, if it's not about the dam, just what can it be....?

"...I was married into this family. That's why I want you and Rika, who carry the true bloods of the Furude family, to listen very carefully............... The two of you are not normal human beings."
"......I'm the reincarnation of Oyashirosama, right?"

"Rika, you mustn't say that out loud! ...Honey, let's talk about this later when Rika's not around. It's enough to have the elders from the village hall planting weird ideas into Rika,"

"About that, talk of Rika being the reincarnation of Oyashirosama...... It appears to be true after all."
"Haa...?!"

"......It's going to be a long story. The two of you be quiet for a while and listen to what I have to say."

No idea what the talk is going to be about, a dumbfounded expression appeared on the wife's face. However, Rika was completely calm with her usual carefree expression.

The priest waited until his wife regained calmness, and began to talk....

"There is a type of sickness in this village that has been here since a long time ago...... It's a special kind of sickness that only exists in this area, a local disease, you can say... And everyone who lives in this village has caught it. Not just the people living in this village right now, our ancestors who has lived here in the past, all of them have been living with this sickness all these times as well."
"No way.... But we're all living normally like this, aren't we? A sickness only for this village, I have never heard of anything like that...!"

"Calm down....... This sickness, you see, doesn't cause any problems as long as you're inside this village. However, if you leave this village and go somewhere far away, it'll act out.... Do you understand?"
"H... how do you expect me to understand? I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"......It's the same as Oyashirosama's Curse."
Completely opposite of the flustered wife, Rika said in a calm voice.

"That's right. It's the same thing as the curse that'll befall upon you if you leave this village....... In other words, the Oyashirosama's Curse that our ancestors have feared throughout all these generations is caused by a local disease that exists only within this village."
"That's impossible. Because, we have left the village on occasions ourselves too, haven't we? Same for the other villagers too. There are people who went far way for work, there are even people who went overseas!"

"Yeah. Apparantly, that's because the sickness has gradually weakened over a long period of time. That's why, if we give it even more time, it'll eventually disappear altogether...... However, it seems that this process has been messed up due to the dam war....... Everyone knows that the village is in an excited state right now due to the dam war, almost like having a fever, right? It seems that this state of excitement and emotional instability is making the sickness worse."
"I'm not... really sure what you're saying but... you're suggesting that all the things that were referred to as curses throughout all these times.... are the works of that disease?"
"That's right. All of Oyashirosama's decisions were decisions made to protect the villagers from this sickness."

"......No way...! Then you're saying that Oyashirosama's true identity is not a god... but a disease instead!? Impossible!! How can we explain that to the ancestors of the Furude family!?"

"Calm down. The faith of Oyashirosama isn't going to change. That fact that Oyashirosama is watching over Hinamizawa remains the same....... It's just that a disease that can replicate Oyashirosama's Curse has existed in this village for a long time, that's all."
"I can't accept that!! How can we explain something like that to our ancestors who have passed away?! This is a desecration of Furude family's hundreds of years of tradition, no, it's a desecration of Oyashirosama!! Who planted an idea like this into you? This is completely unacceptable!! First of all, is there even proof that says such a weird sickness actually exists!?"

"............There is!"

"And what kind of proof is that? From who!?"
"It's from someone belonging to the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Infectious Disease Prevention. The pathogen has already been identified, and they're in the middle of researching for a treatment method right now.... Last week, I got to see the documents and samples in person. The person from the Ministry of Health seems to be referring to this disease as the Hinamizawa Syndrome."
".........I don't believe it......!!"

"It appears that the Hinamizawa Syndrome is completely harmless as long as you live you life normally. However, if you move far away from Hinamizawa, it can become easy for the disease to break out if you ever become mentally or emotionally unstable. When the disease acts out, you can become possessed by your own delusions. At worst, it's even possible for you to go mad...... They say that this disease was discovered during the war. They say that a great scholar noticed that an abnormal disease occured only in soldiers who came from Hinamizawa, and has been researching it throughout all these years....... They went into details about the research but, ...Sorry, the contents were really difficult to understand so I can't explain any better than this. If you don't believe what I'm saying, you can go and ask them yourself too....... Because in the beginning, I thought they were being ridiculous and trying to desecrate Oyashirosama too, just like you."

".........................."

"They say that the Irie Medical Clinic was created to research this sickness. On the surface, that place is just a clinic, but apparantly it's really a secret research lab built to study the disease."
"Researching in secret, doesn't that sound ridiculous!? If it's something done by the Ministry of Health, why don't they just do it out in the open!?"

"No, it seems that won't do. For example, think about leprosy patients in the past who have been misunderstood and forced into seperation, and how they are still being misunderstood and discriminated even now.... If all of Japan finds out that everyone from Hinamizawa has contracted a weird disease and can go mad at any moment, it'll be chaos, right? The Ministry of Health has taken that into consideration, and is aiming to develop a treatment while keeping this disease under tight lids.

Don't get me wrong, they're not putting us on display or anything. They're trying to eliminate this disease and free this village from the sickness....... It's a different story if this was the past, where we could feed and support outselves. But nowadays you can't make a living without leaving the village. If there's a disease that can be triggered simply by leaving the village, then you realize just how dangerous that will be for the villagers, right?....... I'm repeating myself now, but the recent anti-dam conflicts has put the village itself into a very excited state, which is a very bad state for Hinamizawa Syndrome."

"......If the villagers go crazy and do something terrible, then there will be lots of media here with a splash splash."
"That's right. If something like that happens, it'll be too late."

"............I don't believe it.... I can't believe it even if you tell me all of this right now.... Are they really from the government? Are you sure you're not being tricked by some weird fraud?"
"I don't blame you for not being able to trust me....... The research lab said earlier that we can go take a look anytime we want. I already had a look, and those aren't the level of a fraud...... Even the big hospital at Kokura doen't have such large-scale equipments......... If you can't believe what I said, you should go to the research lab and ask for the details. They can probably explain this better than I can. They also said that if you still can't believe it even with the research lab's explanation, they can explain it to you at the National Research Instutute at Tokyo, or even at the Ministry of Health's central office."

".............................But, besides me believing it or not... what does any of this have to do with us?"
"The Furude family is said to have inherited the blood of Oyashirosama. And they say that if a girl was born for eight continuous generations, then that eighth generation girl would be the reincarnation of Oyashirosama."
"......Mii"

"That's right. I'm the seventh generation. Rika is the eighth generation. But what does that have to do with the disease?"

"Yeah......... This disease called Hinamizawa Syndrome is apparantly caused by a type of parasite. Although we call them parasites, they're incredibly small, so small you can't see them with the naked eye....... And they say that a leader position exist among these parasites."
"It... it can't be, are you saying that it's the Furude family!?"

"It appears that these leader parasites are inherited throug generations only by people with a direct bloodline to the Furude family. In other words... the previous generation is you, and right now, it's Rika."
"......Mii"

"R, ridiculous!! This is crazy talk after all, don't you think?! First of all, why is it something so disgusting like parasites!?"

"Like I said, calm down!! I'm not good at explaining things. Listen to what the experts have to say. In any case, according to them, in order to research for a treatment of this disease, studies into the leader position is required."
"I don't want to!! I have absolutely no intention to participate in such a weird research, and I won't let Rika get involved in this either!!"

"I'm telling you to calm down!! According to their research, it's the seperation from the leader position, not the village, that causes the Hinamizawa Syndrome to act out....... When you were little, there were times where you were told that you have divine powers, right? Elders who went on long trips and got migrains would have their headaches disappear immediately after they came to you for cleansing, that kind of divine power. That's the proof of the leader position right there. Furude's blood has the power to save the people who have acted outl. And that's why they say it's so important to study into it in order to discover a treatment."

"......If they study me, can everyone in the village be saved?"
"That what they're saying."

"......Does everyone have this sickness? Me too? Everyone else too? Satoko too?"
"...Yeah. Not just everyone who lives in this village, people like our relatives who live in Okinomiya are includeed too. The number of infected people are probably in the thousands. It's because this is such a serious disease that the ministry spent all those money to build a specialized research lab."

"I, I object! How can you turn Rika into a sacrifice for such a suspicious research!?"

"......I'm okay with that. If Satoko can be saved with me becoming the sacrifice, then I'm all fine with it."

"Rika, you be quiet!! In any case, I absolutely refuse! I'm going to go see the people who planted such strange ideas into you, and refuse them directly myself. I won't let Rika get killed for some bizzare experiment!! Besides, Rika is the lone-decendant of the Furude family, remember?! If something were to happen to her, Furude family's blood will end up dying here, you know!? And you too, you have to think more about the Furude's position too!! This is why people in the village call you a pacifist...!! After all, don't you think this is weird!? The Ministry of Constructions is trying to sink the village under a dam. And the Ministry of Health is trying to cure a disease. I don't get what's going on anymore!!"

"The Ministry of Health has warned that a change in environment can cause the disease to break out very easily, and they're trying to get the Ministry of Construction to halt the dam project right now... Like I said, you should get them to show you their research lab too. There's no way they would build such a huge facility in a land that could be sunk under a lake."

"......Kuaaaaaa...."

Rika makes a big yawn.
For a little girl like Rika, it must be far beyond her bedtime now.

"......I will go to sleep now...... Daddy, please tell those people that I'm willing to help out anytime."

"R, rika!! You can't make a decision like that on your own without my permission!!! Rika! Wait, Rika!!!"

Regarding to the research of the Hinamizawa Syndrome, there was actually a very important problem that needed to be sorted out first.

And that is, the collapse of the village in the case of something happening to the queen carrier.
In grandfather's article, this was warned to be the most dangerous situation possible.

According to grandfather, if the queen carrier is to die, judging from the average time for acute symptoms to occur, it is believed that all regular infected individuals will reach terminal stage within 48 hours.

This may sound unbelievable at a glance, but deligent researches into the collapse of bizzare local religions and group suicides around the world have revealed some truths too.

Among these bizzare events around the world, you can spot a few incidents that were believed to be caused by parasites controlling whole communities, similiar to the Hinamizawa Syndrome.
...Grandfather went further and picked out cases among these incidents that were very similiar to the Hinamizawa Syndrome, and investigated them even further.

The result confirmed several cases of communities going berserk, triggered by the death of a religious founder or leader, before finally annahilating themselves.
The average time among these cases were within 48 hours.

In reality, there is no doubt that the regular carriers are being affected by the queen carrier in some way. It's also statistically true that the queen carrier's health condition directly affects the whole village.

During the week where Rika fell ill and visited the hospital, it was clear from the statistics that there were also more patients visiting the hospital in general than usual.

If only some cold symptoms in Rika would already yield such significant results...... it's certainly not unreasonable to believe that, if anything were to happen to Rika, we could be faced with a serious situation within 48 hours.

Therefore, the biggest mission for the Irie Institution, just as important as its duty of researching the Hinamizawa Syndrome, was the need to plan for the protection of the queen carrier, Furude Rika.

Although we have already obtained the cooperation from the queen carrier for the research, we must not create situations that could endanger the live of the queen, even by mistake... And we must also protect her from anyone with malicious intents who may try to harm her after learning of her existence. Her life is equal to lives of the two thousand villagers.

Still....... Even then, if, by one mistake or another, a deadly situation has resulted in the death of the queen carrier,

......There's a need for the Irie Institution to have a response plan to deal with that situation.

Because of that, back when Irie Institution was first established, I have created a draft of an emergency manual.

In the case where all regular carriers were to show acute symptoms due to the death of the queen carrier or any other reason,

this is the emergency response plan that must carried out within 48 hours of the mass occurance of acute symptoms.

...........This is the final measure created to prevent casulties from spreading to nearby areas.

And that is the eradication operation using gas disguised as a natural disaster....

My client, the Alphabet Project, has fully accepted the responsibility of working out the details of the actual operation.
They're a controversial project that researches on things like nuclear and biological weapons, so they're actually really used to these kind of things, thankfully.
...Because an amateur like me could not have been able to create a plan to efficiently eradicate a village of two thousands, that's why.

Through a dummy corporation, the Ground SDF has obtained a closed quarry located in the Yagouchi region upstream from Hinamizawa.
That place has been made the secret storage base for the suppression operation equipments.

Dangerous lethal gas equipments that kills people similar to putting them to sleep are stored here. When the emergency manual is activated, the Ground SDF's special forces is meant to use these to suppress the village.

However, equipments for eradicating villagers are being prepared, just the simple fact of that is enough to carry political dangers.

So for me to get our clients to prepare them even then, I have to get them to understand just how dangerous the Hinamizawa Syndrome is, and the importance of the suppression operation.

I had to use data files to prove to them that the suppression operation is needed.
For that purpose, these files that grandfather kept intact all these times could not have been more useful....

The clients read through the copies of grandfather's article, and seemed to have been shocked at just how big of a disaster the Hinamizawa Syndrome can create in a worst-case scenario.

"......In other words, you're saying that if something were to happen to this single girl who's the queen, the entire village of more than two thousand people will go crazy...?"

"Yes. There have been a number of other cases similar to the Hinamizawa Syndrome that resulted in group suicides. However, in Hinamizawa Syndrome's case, it's possible that excessive defensive behaviours can occur from strong paranoia or excessive feeling of crisis, resulting in the casulty rising beyond the two thousand carriers. From there, we may be faced with abnormal situations ranging from lawless violence to bizzare or religious despondence. If we do not prepare a suppression plan against this beforehand, we will not be able to avoid drawing attention from the entire world. Also, we only have window of 48 hours to respond once the incident occurs."

"...Basically, once it happens, nobody will be able to stop it, right?"
"Is it possible to treat all the infected individuals within 48 hours?"

"Probably not. Besides, we don't even have an established treatment method yet, and with the research lab's scale, it's physically impossible to treat all the villagers...!"
"...But, it's hard to believe that such a fearsome and rare disease could actually exist.... The world sure is filled with mysteries."

"To always be prepared for the worst works for National Defense department too, and it is also the belief of us here at Alphabet Project. Also, the objective is not to execute, the important thing is to be prepared."
"That's true. You're absolutely right. There are still a few places I want to discuss about the the rules of application regarding to the strengthening of approval distinctions, but I understand now that there's a need to prepare for a response plan against a worst-case scenario."

"Let's get the urban suppression warfare research team to run a simulation of a suppression war in the Hinamizawa region. I think this needs to be done as soon as possible.... After all, even at this very moment, it's possible for the queen carrier young girl to be run over by a car and killed. Major Takano, thank you. We will continue to ask you questions when we have them, so please have a seat."

Thanks to one of my backers giving me a helping push here, things have been decided without much of a problem.
Although the explanation ended up taking almost the entire day, there were little objections.

Nobody criticized grandfather's article by calling it ridiculous, or tried to rejected it.

......Today, among the files that they're reading, ......also contained the articles that were insulted by those big-shot authorities who left behind their footprints after stepping on them and grandfather's heart on that day.

And yet, nobody here is ridiculing these articles... everyone's carefully holding and reading the things that were once kicked away by others.

At one glance, it's nothing big at all, but...... This is also the moment where grandfather's research is being recongnized for the first time....

I picked up the files that were left behind by grandfather, and looked at these people who continued to discuss among themselves while pointing to and raising these papers now and then, and I could feel my chest becoming fulfilled.

......Ahh, I have worked so hard for this day....
Grandpa in heaven, ......can you see, the scenary here...?

The headquarters for the Onigafuchi Defense League was in the village meeting place within the compounds of the Furude Shrine. The place is usually calm and quiet, but there are now flags and protest boards against the dam project everywhere.

Within the headquarters, there were 30 members that lead the Defense League debating on what to do next. Even though the meeting place is open to the public, it is still a part of the Furude property, it was agreed upon that the use of this meeting place will only be up to 9:00PM. Of course there are times where the meeting may go past that time during a heated debate, but usually the meeting adjourns when the clock strikes nine. And if the meeting adjourns early, the members stay there until nine for the usual village socializing. This is how it works in Hinamizawa.

But since they are in the middle of the dam war, most of the topics during such socializations are about the dam project. One would hear the villagers talking about how they were mistreated at the local government office, how someone was illegally arrested disregarding his or her right to protest, how the dam construction workers piss them off, etc. etc.

And many of these topics also include bad-mouthing about the Houjou family.

“…and she had the nerve to say that she threw away the circulation note! Who the hell does she think is?!”
“That woman has a loose screw on her head. Did ya’ hear about the quarrel she had with Makino-san’s wife at the local trash collection area?!”
“I tell ya, they are just rude and impolite. Especially that husband of hers! I never met an irrational person like him!”
“You didn’t see him how he acted during the project meeting? Oh, man, you should’ve see the nerve of the guy! He went so far to say that, yet the guy has the nerve to stay here! Don’t have the money to move! Ha! Has he no shame?!”
“Irrational, you say? Man, that woman is also irrational more than him! Wahahahaha!”
“I guess it’s hereditary! That little girl of theirs doesn’t have the decency to say hello whenever I meet her at the store! Seeing her ungratefulness, now we just pretend that she doesn’t exist!”
“Speaking of which, that boy of theirs also seemed depressed all the time too! Uhahahaha!”

By this time, the formula that the Houjous were the enemies of the entire village was set. Hence, bad-mouthing the Houjous became a common topic that anyone can jump right into.

…Anyone residing in this village knows how much influence the gosanke, and especially the Sonozakis have in this area. Added with knowing what kind of person Oryou-san is, no one would dare to go up against her.

The Houjou family and the villagers.

Even if they weren’t involved in the village as much as the others, they still would’ve known what kind of person Oryou-san was like. …He would’ve easily imagined what kind of backlash they would expect if he went out against Oryou-san in a public gathering like that. …Yet, he let his anger take over his rationale and spurted out such abusive words against her.

Hence, no one here feels any pity for the Houjous’ being ostracized in the village. Moreso, they all believe that they deserve what they get for bringing it upon themselves.

If they wanted to make a deal with the government to move away, all they had to do was to do it under the rug. Yet he was foolish enough to spill his beans at a place like that. The Sonozakis started to go after the Houjous soon thereafter. Because of this, many who were pro-dam became afraid of becoming a scapegoat like the Houjous and they reluctantly switched sides. …These people also began to hold a grudge against the Houjous for ruining their plans of receiving just compensation from the government.

The Houjous became further isolated as they became the target of hate from both the anti-dam league and the former-pro-dam supporters...

Furthermore, the Houjous were known for being hot-blooded. If they would’ve kept calm and let the wind subside, they might’ve been forgiven much sooner. They get into a heated argument whenever someone challenges them. Because of this, even the few handful that took pity towards the Houjous began to distance themselves from them as well. …By now, there was no one here that took pity towards the Houjou family. It’s pretty apparent just by hearing the conversations in this meeting place…


Rika is helping set aside the teas that were handed out to the guests. I’m sure that she can overhear these traducements. …And the criticisms that fly here include those about her best friend, Satoko-chan. …It tears me to think how hurt she might be when such backbites are said about her best friend…

…As the head priest of the Furude Shrine, I become conflicted whether I should budge in to stop this nonsense. The Oyashiro-sama is also a god that makes peace between enemies. When humans fought against the demons, it descended from the heavens and quelled the war between the two sides. …As the head who oversees this shrine, I must put and end to this before it goes too far…

I sat next to Oryou-san who was spatfully bad-mouthing about the Houjou family.

Oryou: “So that ass shitted out such crap out his mouth!! So the hell with him!! He’ll definitely have the Oyashiro-sama’s curse handed down upon him!!!”

The elderly members all agree as they listened to her. …If I barge in right now, I’m certain it won’t turn out to be a peaceful resolve…

But as the duty of the Furude Shrine’s priest, I must do this for the sake of Rika’s best friend, Satoko-chan.

Rika’s dad: “…Oryou-san. …I think it is best to stop this belittlement towards the Houjou family now. Don’t you think it has gone a bit too far…?”

Oryou: “Whaat?! What the hell you say…!!”

Rika’s dad: “…I’m sure that Houjou-san didn’t mean it as much as he said. The way they are treated looks very pitiful when it lasts this long…”

Oryou: “Shaddup!!! Weren’t you the least bit pissed off when you heard what that shit said?! Shit pissed me off!! Fuck, Fuck!!!”

…Oryou-san is the head of the Sonozaki family. She is the heir of the demon. She never forgives a person that goes up against her. There was no way that my plea to forgive the Houjou family would reach her… My comment only flared up the tempers of Oryou-san and the elderly, and they wouldn’t hear none of it.

I asked the members of this league to cool down when I told them that the dam project would be gone soon. …I said this because I overheard the people working at the Irie Clinic that the government is putting some kind of pressure to halt this project.

But to them, they must’ve taken me for being a pacifist. …And then, criticisms towards me began to become the topic within the group. …From this day forward, I will realize that I have become branded as a pacifist in this dam war…

……If a demon would come to the compromise table to listen, then peace can be achieved. …But how can I make peace with people who refuse to listen in the first place? I’ve destroyed their mood, so all I could do was give up into silence…

But then, a small hand touched my back.

Rika’s dad: “Oh, Rika. ….It’s already past your bedtime. You should go to sleep.”
Rika: “…No matter how much we do, …it is in vain.”

Rika muttered as if she’s looking farther away in the distance.

Rika: “…The polluted vice of this town cannot be cleansed by polluted residents like us… But, I will not lose hope. …Soon, …there will be someone who will come and smash this contamination. I believe…no, he must…!”

Her eyes shone as if she was peeking through the future that only the priestess of Furude can see…

Construction worker C: “…huff…huff! ….huff! ….huff…!!!”
Construction worker B: “….Fuck! ….Shit, man, shit…!! Manager…? Manager…? C’mon, we’re not joking… Manager….?”
Construction worker A: “You asshole! Can’t you see that he’s dead already…!?”

Clang. …Everyone snapped out of it. Someone dropped his shovel that he was holding. …That shovel was dripping dark blood… Actually, blood was splattered everywhere. …The six construction workers’ clothes were all tainted in blood. One of the workers was crying out to the corpse previously known as the manager of the site.

CW B: “…Manager….! ….Manager….!!! Sob….!”
CW A: “Shut up…! The dude is dead! …C’mon man! It was fucking self-defense! Right?! Self-Defense…!!”

This whole thing started when they were yelled at by the manager for drinking beer inside the construction office. There were no smoking and no drinking signs plastered all over the place. If people didn’t follow the rules, it was inevitable that the head manager would scold them. It’s probably their fault for disobeying the rules in the first place. But they were also stressed out by the incessant protests and the hate that the villagers throw at them. …So one of them just snapped and yelled back at him to step outside. The rest also went along for the heck of it.

Being a construction worker is a stressful, low-paying blue-collar job. That’s why they instigated a fight with him to relieve some of their stress. At first, it was just a typical fist-fighting brawl. …But it suddenly began to escalate. …Actually, it was the manager who seemed to show an explosion of anger that they’ve never seen before.

…They knew that the manager must’ve been stressed out by those anti-dam protests as well. It’s fair to say that he was stressed out as much or even more than they were.

But the way his personality changed…was out of this world. The manager was cool and calm in the beginning. …Gradually, however, his actions became more aggravating…it was like seeing him transforming into a psychotic right before out their eyes!!! …They became frightened as it seemed like he was being possessed with the devil or some sort…

And then…the manager picked up the shovel lying right next to him and started a mad dash towards one of them to bash his brains out. …It was a miracle that the guy managed to move out of the way in time to not get hurt, but if he didn’t, his head would’ve been split open with the amount of force the manager put into that shovel. But the manager didn’t stop there. The manager continued to pound his shovel towards the guy as he frantically dodged the manager’s blows.

…They realized that the manager’s actions were going too far for just a brawl, so they tried to restrain him. But then, the manager turned towards them with his shovel. One of the guys tried to block the shovel as it came down on him with by crossing his arms. …But there is no way that any man could block a shovel with such a force.

Blood began to drip from the man’s arms as he cried out in pain.

The six instinctively knew that…the manager was not his usual self. The manager that they were up against right now…was a demon who would immediately try to bash their brains out without any remorse…! If they were to ward off this thing who was holding a shovel as its weapon…they also needed some kind of weapon to fend him off as well. One of the guys sub-consciously reached for a hammer nearby. …When the others saw this, they all began to take something into their hands… If they were to restrain it…they’d better arm ourselves against its weapon…!

CW B: “….It wasn’t supposed to be this way…. Oh man!!! uWaaaaaa…!”

It didn’t take that long for the madness to spread from the manager to the six construction workers. …So, it was only time for their goal to become switched from restraining him to lynching him.

When they snapped out of it, there laid a dead body formerly known as the manager… …His face was all swollen, torn shreds of skin and muscle, and one could even seen skull from his head. …Everyone knew that the manager was dead…

CW A: “Fuck, fuck this man…!! We’re the ones that were about to be killed!! If he didn’t strike at us like that in the first place, we wouldn’t have done this!! Right?!”

The leader of the six, the guy who instigated the fight, desperately tried to bring the rest to his side, but everyone else was shocked in horror and just stood there dumbfounded… The leader took the silence in frustration.

…I was the one who started the fight in the first place. The rest just joined in. …So I’m the main perpetrator.

Hence, he was feeling exasperated as he sensed that he was the one at fault.

CW A: “Snap out of it…!! Hey! What’s done is done!! We’re all fucking criminals know!! Take that reality into your guts!! The heck you guys are thinking about, huh!? Don’t tell me you guys are thinking about going to the cops, are you!? Hell no! I ain’t going to jail at this age!! We’re gonna hide it, you hear!? We’re gonna hide this body and act like we know nutthin’!!”

…Everyone here knew that this guy had some trouble with the law in the past and was on probation. So…if he got into trouble with the law again…his punishment would be more severe than they could imagine… That’s why he was making so much fuss about it to figure out away out of this mess.

…If he was the only one here with the body, he wouldn’t have made much ruckus about this. …All he had to do was to hide it himself and acted like nothing had happened. But unfortunately, there are six of them including him at this moment. There are acquaintances in this murder who could turn themselves in and become witnesses. If any one of them break down on their guilt, it is easy to foresee that the majority of the blame was to fall upon him…

CW B: “But…but, even we hid it, someone’s gonna find it sooner or later…”
CW C: “Yeah…Isn’t it better if we just turn ourselves in, explain to them that it was in self-defense…in hope that they’ll give us a lighter sentence…?”
CW A: “Fuck you all!! Can’t you see how far we did!? You think we’ll be let off with self-defense by looking at this!? We’ve fucking bashed him so much that his parents wouldn’t figure out who he is, you dumb ass!!!”
CW B: “But…even if we hid it, how are we gonna explain when he doesn’t show up for work tomorrow…? There’s no way out of this….!”
CW A: “The only way out of this is to get this shit out of your fucking head, asshole!!!”

The leader beat up the guy for being so weak-minded. …Everyone realized that the leader was beginning to turn into a demon himself…

CW A: “Listen up ladies?! We’re fucking murderers now, you hear me?! MURDERERS!! If we don’t do something, it’s five, six years in the slammer!! If one of you betrays, ALL of us are going to jail!! And don’t think ONLY five or six years is a fucking light sentence!! If you all have the guts to turn yourselves in, then have the guts to runaway until this shit passes!! You got that!!”

Even his face seemed to transform into a demon… It was like déjà vu – they all saw it happen to the manager just a while ago. They all started believing that whatever got a hold of the manager was now beginning to take over their leader…

The first thing that came across their minds was how he looked like those villagers protesting in front of the construction site. They seriously began to think about the myths of this area - Onigafuchi village, formerly a place where demons lived with humans, how they sometimes possessed the residents, etc. etc. …Up until this time, they all brushed it off as superstition. But when they see their manager and their leader turning into a demon right before their eyes, they seriously began to contemplate that the myth might be real…

When the manager turned into a demon, he wielded a shovel like a murderer. ….There’s no assurance that their leader won’t act similarly… In fact, he still had a tight grip on his hammer and gleamed his eyes towards the rest. …If anyone said anything about turning themselves in again…he would go after him and bash his head in an instant….

CW A: “….Got it. …..I figured out a way to prevent one of you from turning traitor. …Heh heh heh. It’s an excellent plan…we can securely hide the body at the same time too….”
CW C: “Uh….Okay….wh…what’s your plan…?”

CW A: “Heh heh heh…See this body here…? ….We’re gonna divide it up like friends like we are.”
CW C: “Oh…hahaha….yeah….”

Everyone wanted out of it. They’ve already committed murder. …What he’s asking for is to add corpse mutilation to the charge…

…But the atmosphere possessing their leader inhibited anyone from disagreeing. …If they did, they instinctively knew that it was their turn next…

CW A: “We’re all gonna chop it up. Remember how this old man use to say? It’s TEAMWORK. That’s right, we’re all acquaintances in this murder. And, each one of you is gonna take a piece and hide it. ….See? Just like friends, we help each other out, eh? Heh heh heh…that way, one of you guys won’t be able to turn traitor just cuz your sentence is lighter. …Heh heh heh heh heh heh!!”

CW B~F: “…..ugh…..”

The five started to sense that the demons living in Onigafuchi were starting to crawl into them behind their backs….

I guess being half-asleep causes you to miss an important phone call. It was not until I forced myself to wake up that I realized that the incessant noise was the phone ringing and it had to be very important for it to be ringing for such a long time.

I looked at the clock and it said 2:00 AM. What could it be to call me at this late in the hour?

Irie: “….Hello, this is Irie.”
Takano: “I’m sorry for waking you up, Director Irie.”

It was Takano-san. …She had never once called me for personal reasons. …And she is the de facto head of the Irie Facility and was responsible for all the research that goes on at that place. …If she’s calling me at this late in the night, it must be of extreme urgency that needs immediate attention.




Irie: “….Sorry for being late. You said that there was a patient in his terminal stages?”
Takano: “Yes. And as luck would have it, it’s just when we wanted a living sample too. *chuckle chuckle chuckle chuckle*”

At first, I was suspicious that she forcibly kidnapped a poor patient from somewhere.

The man was put into isolation in the underground research section of the facility. He seemed to be more deranged than putting up a resistance when I saw him on restraints. His speech was slurred and it sounded like he was angry and remorseful at the same time. It was like seeing a child fretting for some candy.

…It was obvious that he was not normal.

Irie: “…Let’s anesthetize him to sleep. He’ll endanger himself in this state. He may end up suffocating himself by swallowing his own tongue.”

Takano: “I wanted to make some more observations, but oh well.”

One of the staff members readied the anesthesia.


It makes sense that any normal person would become agitated when one is suddenly transferred to a strange place like this in restraints. But, this man level of franticness was beyond that. …The people that must’ve captured him was most likely Okonogi and his Yamainu team, and I’m very surprised how they were able to put him down…

According to her, she said that she coincidentally met a terminal-stage patient as on her way home from the clinic. She took him to the clinic for some preliminary tests, and the results showed that there was a high possibility of him being positive.

…Of course, I’m not going to swallow such a story on how she found him. …But it was apparent that this man was showing symptoms of the terminal stages of the syndrome. And, he was indeed what we were looking for in order to advance our research – a living sample…

Irie: “And who is this man…?”
Takano: “*chuckle chuckle* He was holding a package wrapped in old newspapers. …Care to guess what was inside?”


Irie: “…Ugh…., ….What the heck is this…?”

Takano placed the bloodied package wrapped with newspaper on the stainless dish. It was pretty obvious that it wasn’t going to be something to look forward with the blood stains and all. However, Takano had a grin on her face as if she was trying to show me a surprise…

Irie: “Oh god…., Jeez, this is awful….”

It was…a person’s right arm…!

But the man on the restraints has his own right arm, so this isn’t his. …Then who does this arm belong to…?

As a doctor, Irie was used to seeing body parts, so he wasn’t that outraged. It was however, the way it was cut off that sent chills down his spine. …He immediately noticed that this right arm wasn’t amputated surgically. …It clearly showed signs of what kind of brutality went into literally “chopping” it off.

Takano: “Judging by the circumstances, I’m sure that it was him himself that chopped this arm off. *chuckle chuckle chuckle*”
Irie: “…So this man is a possible suspect who must’ve committed a corpse mutilation nearby.”

At this time, we had no idea who this right arm belonged to. But the mystery was solved in the next morning when we learned about the dam construction manager’s murder and that the police was still looking for the right arm…


Takano: “This man seems to have some criminal background and is currently on probation. …Yet he committed this crime so the thought must’ve run through him that he should hide it.”
Irie: “…Circumstances aside, I’m sure it must’ve been something in which he wouldn’t be let off too easily with several years in jail or the like…”
Takano: “*chuckle chuckle* Basically he’s just a shit of society. Wouldn’t that fact relieve your hesitation in dissecting him, Director Irie?”
Irie: “…We don’t know if he was a ‘shit of society’ who built up his criminal past and became ferocious from the Hinamizawa Syndrome, or if he was a person who repented his past but unfortunately became a victim of the syndrome and turned violent again. …If it’s the former, well….but if it’s the latter, then there’s no sin towards this man.”

This is the terrifying part of the Hinamizawa Syndrome. …There is no way to distinguish whether or not if a certain criminal act was caused by that person’s own intentions, or as a byproduct of the symptoms from the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

…Yet, what is the primary cause of defiant social skills in the first place? That was what Irie yearned to learn about. Detest the crime itself, but not towards the criminal. …Is throwing them into jail the right answer? …If the crime was caused subconsciously by an unknown tumor in the brain, then the criminal might be cured from doing such acts again.

In theory then…that there are no sins in this world. There are only poor souls who aren’t recognized by everyone that they are really patients waiting to be treated. In the medieval ages, people who were seen as heretic were tried as being under the influence of witchcraft and were imprisoned or burned at the stake. …Several centuries later, common medical science now acknowledges that they were people who needed proper treatment and care. …People’s perception and understanding changes over time. Criminals of today might be seen as patients requiring medical attention several centuries into the future. Crimes are not committed by evil thoughts; they are caused by some kind of disease. …The search for this was indeed, Irie’s lifework.

And researching about the Hinamizawa Syndrome is an excellent and rare case study. …For Irie, unraveling the mysteries about this disease holds a special meaning to him… But in order to shed some light, ….it requires a live medical sample… That in itself is a tremendous sin…but it cannot advance without doing so either. …The Irie Facility was authorized from the beginning to take such drastic measure if necessary. And they made sure that I had the resolve to do what must be done when I was appointed as the director of this facility.

And…the time has come. This…would be a significant step towards the research of this mysterious disease. But…I was still reluctant and hesitant to carry it out…

Yes, I have opened up patient’s body without consent. …As a matter of fact, what I did was very similar to what I am about to do to this man. ….But, there is one big difference.

The things that I did in the past were done for treating the patient. I did them to help them re-live their lives. And I did it for what I thought was good for the patient. But what I am about to do know is not treating the patient. …In the end, this man will be dead. And his death will be done through inhumane methods. …His life will be prolonged as much as possible by cheating death, …while we perform cranial anatomy on this live patient…

Takano: “Director Irie? Are you listening?”
Irie: “..Huh? …Oh…I’m sorry. Can you repeat it again?”

Takano: “I suggest that we should immediately draft a proposal to Tokyo to perform this anatomy. This is a rare and live test sample that we have on our hands that’s in its terminal stage of the syndrome. It will need prudent attention if we are to handle this procedure in a delicate manner.”
Irie: “….Right. I understand. Let’s do it right away.”

Takano: “Since it’s bureaucracy we’re talking about, it will take several days for our draft to go through. Hence, I would like to do some observational tests on the subject by relieving it from anesthesia.”
Irie: “….Isn’t that a bit dangerous? Even if the person is restrained, we don’t know what might happen.”

Takano: “It’s a live sample. Just opening up his brain and looking inside it is no fun. *chuckle chuckle chuckle chuckle….*”

Takano-san’s unusual anxiousness gives me the creeps… …But, as a person of science and medicine, Takano-san reaction is correct. …Perhaps I am the one that is wrong to be thinking like this… I am here to do research. So, the correct reaction for a person in my shoes would be to be in full excitement of the tests that are to come. …Yet I am still hesitating.

Was this the limit of my level of commitment? My predecessors who unraveled the mysteries of medical science underwent very courageous methods that were unheard of in their time. And those were the men and women that established modern medicine that we know of today.

…I saw and performed surgeries on numerous brains. …And some of my patients did in fact die. But, I firmly believed that what I was doing was for the better of the patient, so I never had any feelings of guilt or remorse for what I did. …That was even after the law changed saying that what I was doing was unethical.

If I had the time to feel guilt and remorse, it was my duty as a doctor to advance medical science and research so that their deaths would not have been in vain. That is how my predecessors have done to advance medicine.

Yet, changing the word from “treatment” to “anatomy” brings down weight this big to me. Am I just a wimp who is only capable of sidetracking my predecessors and not being able to create my own path for advancement of medicine?
Takano: “…Oh, what’s wrong, director? Are you still feeling grumpy for being awakened at such an hour…?”

Takano-san pretended to worry about me using such words…but she knows. She clearly discerned about the hesitation that I am having right now. …And she’s saying that while mocking me for being naïve against the big step that needs to be taken.

………I shake my head to get rid of whatever drowsiness that I had left.

C’mon Irie, remember what my resolve was. Remind myself on why I am here today. …My hands are already tainted with blood. But if I don’t do anything now, those blood stains would have been in vain. …The only way I can repay my patients is to move forward for this grand research that I am embarking on…

…I shake my head once more in order to awaken my spirit as a researcher.

Irie: “I’m sorry, I had something on my mind. …Takano-san, please prepare the draft for Tokyo. Please let me know on which dates to begin the procedure.”
Takano: “Oh, of course. No problem. …chuckle chuckle chuckle! Drowsiness must’ve ran away for something this exciting!”

My duty is to perform the highest level of work that I am capable of so that this man’s death would not be in vain. …If more blood needs to be shed, every drop must be used sparingly for research.

I scold the staff members for their unusual excitement in being able to perform an anatomy, and immediately returned to my office….

Oishi: "........................"

...I am at a lost of words. ...I can't think of anything that I want to say, ...so I can only sigh in disbelief...

Kuma-chan: "Ah,...Oishi-san! I've been looking all over for you!! The section chief asked me about this wanted poster..."
Coroner: "Quiet! Can't you tell that this isn't the right place to talk so loudly!?"

The old coroner quickly snapped back at Kumatani as he barged in.

Kuma-chan: "...I...I'm sorry. Uh, the section chief wanted to inquire about the accused's wanted poster..."
Oishi: "...Ah...Well, can you discuss that with Komiyama-kun? I'm a bit tied up since I need to have a talk with this old man. Let him know that I'll be there shortly."
Kuma-chan: "Huh? ...Oh, yes, of course!"

Kumatani ran out the autopsy room in the same haste that he came in.

Coroner: "Lively young man, ain't he?"
Oishi: "The old man would've beat him for making such a russ."
Coroner: "...You should give yourself a break too. The air in this place isn't for people who ain't used to it."
Oishi: "...Yeah. The old man would probably beat me in the head for slacking off as well."
Coroner: "...Kakakaka. You're the most feared man out of all the gangs around here, yet this man was the only person in all of Shishibone who had the right to beat you up..."

Oishi: "He really was a merciless man... I think I've received more beatings from the old man than my own father."
Coroner: "There's no false to it. ...If you truly believed that you looked up to him as your father, then this man really was your father."
Oishi: "............"



My real father died in Nagoya.

...All I could say was that he was just unlucky.

If he wasn't given the order to go work at a plant in Nagoya, he wouldn't have died in an air raid. ..If he could've some how rided out for a few more months, the war would've been over.

Of course I was saddened by the news. But since I was already grown-up by then, I didn't cry down onto the ground like my mother. ...I believe people have different ways of feeling sadness. There are some who breakdown in an instant, while others have their sadness come through in gradual stages. ...I was the latter.

I hated my father when he was alive. At the time, I thought he was annoying and unfair. I lashed out inside on why he was passed over in the draft." And I thought that my hate for him would never change.

But then, the war suddenly came to and end. As I saw families and friends being reunited with joy as they came home from the fronts, that's when I first realized it. I've truly lost my dad forever and that I was sad.

At the same time, there were many people all across Japan who were saddened and undergoing hardships in their lives as well. I knew that I wasn't the only one whose life was in despair, so I didn't selfishly try to lash out as being the unluckiest person in the world. ...But what I remember that I felt truly saddened as his death finally came to me.


This country changed dramatically as soon as the war was over. As a police officer, my working environment drastically changed as well. All I could do was to focus myself in my work in order to forget my sadness.


Oishi: "...Back then, I was in charge of busting people for buying illegal rice. I went around searching travelers at each train station. And lo and behold, people after people were getting caught. There was this black market in Kokukura, so there were lots of people from in and around the Osaka region making their way to buy stuff there."

One of the most immediate effect in post-war Japan was the chronic shortage of the food supply. This affected all of the nation, and the government implemented an food rationing program called the "Food Control Law."

However, the rations that the government provided was clearly not enough to feed families, so people had to resort to buying food and supplies at the black market. Illegal trade was rampant, as people paid unlawful amounts of money in order to obtain rice.

Ironically, the government had a short supply on the food that they rationed, but one can find an abundance of groceries at the black market. The dealers and brokers would sell these at outrageous prices. Many brokers and dealers would make their wealth through these black markets. ...The Sonozaki family would make their wealth from such black markets as well, but that's another story.

However, the government decided not to go after these illegal brokers. These brokers were able to buy off corrupt officials and top members of the police department with their money. ...Instead, they decided to go after the people who bought them. And, we had to do the shitty job of confiscating the illegal rice that the people bought by selling off all of their belongings.

Coroner: "Oh yeah, I remember that time... Wasn't there a prosector who starved himself to death because of this?"

Oishi: "Yes there was.... There was a prosector who rejected buying any illegal rice, yet was later found dead due to malnutrition. What year was that...1947? Ironic wasn't it? A public prosector, a figure of justice and law, proved with his own death that people cannot survive by adhering to the law."

Prosecutor Yamaguchi felt the dillemma of being a part of the government which prosecuted people whose only charge were doign whatever they could to survive. He tried to set an example by proclaiming that he was never going to buy black market rice anymore. ...But in 1947, he died of extreme malnutrition and passed away at the young age of 33.

The law prohibits people from buying rice illegally at the black markets. Yet, people cannot survive unless they buy illegal rice. Then isn't this "Food Control Law" unjust in itself? The death of prosecutor Yamaguchi was seen as a desperate effort by him to state his message to the government about the unjustness of this law.


Oishi: "...We rounded up the people with their bags of rice, and lined them up at the checkpoint next to the station. It was like a military tribunal. We inspectedtheir bags, confiscated everything that they bought at the black market, and set them up for prosecution. ...The women all cried when we did this. They sold off everything that they owned in order to buy these rice. They pleaded to us that if we confiscate them, they don't have anything to feed their children."

Coroner: "Unreasonable wasn't it? Yet, they forbid you from going after the black market dealers, so the whole ordeal must've been unfair from the view of the people."

Oishi: "The people also became sensitive in noticing such things as well. When they hear that a police checkpoint lies ahead at the next station, they begin to jump off the trains and start to run. ...We were aware of these too, so we've set up several officers near and around such ideal "jump track" spots in order to capture them.

...I remember running to capture such women desperately tried to evade capture with several kilos of rice on their backs..."

That was when I first met the old man.

Oishi: "...I was struck in surprise. ...He looked exactly like me father! The first thought that ran through me was that he somehow survived the air raid of Nagoya and came back alive."

I was chasing after a person who started to make a dash from the checkpoint. There was no way that the person could evade capture while holding such a heavy bag of rice. So the only option left for such people was to be arrested and have his or her rice confiscated, or evade capture by ditching the precious rice that the person bought by selling his or her belongings.

...Basically in either way, if a person is unlucky enough to be chased by the police, that person is unable to provide his or her family with any rice to eat.

I knew that what I was doing was a shitty job. I knew that people have to buy black market rice in order to survive. ...So, there was this tacit understanding among the police officers to let people go if they chose to ditch the rice as they ran.

Whenever I chased after such people, I pleaded in my heart to the person 'I don't want to arrest you...please just ditch that rice...." I couldn't bear to hear people's cries and plights of despair anymore.

That was when he showed up. ...I was dumbfounded as I saw the man who looked exactly like my father...!

All of sudden, that man punched me in my face.

It is a child's part to droop your head down in apology when your father disciplines you. But I was just too happy to see my father alive, so I felt a sense of joy welding up inside me.

The man then said to let the person go.

I realized that the man was not my father when I heard his voice. Joy quickly turned into anger and I tried to arrested him on the charges of assaulting a police officer. But of course, I was just this young scrawny guy at the time, so I was no match for a man who was so used to brawls. Basically, he beat the shit outta me.

Oishi: "...Yeah and he certainly taught me a lesson. I laid there in the middle of street all beat up, and he gave me a good scolding. Nahaha, you would think that a young punk like me would never listen to some man who just beat me up right? But something struck me then. All I could see was that man superimposed with my father. So I listened, like any child would do when they were given a teaching by his dad."

Coroner: "Yep, he wasn't just a plain ruffian, but he showed guts like a real man. That's what made him such a great person. You don't see men like him these days, he was truly an example of a man from the good old times."

It's a little embarrassing, but it seemed that I still need a father figure despite being an adult. I need a man to look up to, to show me what makes a man a man. I needed a father who I could spend time drinking alcohol with me as I asked for advice.

Hence, I can say with confidence...that I had two fathers in my life.

The old man was indeed, my dad, my older brother...and my best friend.

....And now he lies here with his head, body, and his limbs dismembered...with his right arm still missing...!

The same right arm which taught me how to be a man, how to drink alcohol, how to play mahjong, and gave me a good beating when I did something wrong...is still missing...!

Coroner: "...Got any suspects?"

Oishi: "Yes I do. ....I vow to retrieve his right arm...and payback for what they've done to the old man."

It has to be them - the ones who controlled Hinamizawa with a tight clench and the main perpetrators of illegal activities of this dam construction war...The Sonozaki family.

I make a declaration of war to myself.

...I already knew who the enemy was.

Irie: "Thank you for waiting, Furude-san. We've just finished the last of today's exam. She should be back shortly."

Rika's dad: "Do you really think that my daughter can be of any help for the village...?"

Irie: "Of course, sir! Not only that, Rika-san's cooperation will make her the savior of this village. Thanks to her, we're finally able to find a way to treat this disease. We're currently trying to figure out how the system works. Just as we had expected, we did find data that Rika-san is indeed a vital existence to the villagers. Right now, it is very difficult to stabilize a patient who've reached the highest stage of the disease. However, whenever the main carrier approaches a patient, certain chemicals are transmitted within the cerebral cortex. These chemicals are able to stabilize that patient's symptoms, and may even provide a possible treatment to control such stages' symptoms toward recovery."

Rika's dad: "Really. ...Rika really has that power..."

Takano: "*chuckle chuckle* I don't think you should be that surprised, sir. The local mythology says that the Furude priestesses has divine powers enabling them to calm the hearts and souls of the devils. Even if we didn't try to clarify this scientifically, the long village history shows that such was the case."

Irie: "Yes. ...There are times that I become very impressed at the wiseness of some people back then."

Rika: "....Mi--. I'm finished with all the tests."

Rika's dad: "Good job, Rika. You must be tired. Here, why don't you go buy something to drink for yourself with this."

Rika: "....Mi~! They took so much blood from me so I need to refill"

Rika received a hundred-yen coin from the priest and dashed into the hallway.

Irie: "...This is all thanks to Rika-san's cooperation. All of this would never have been possible without her devoted support."

Rika's dad: "Rika was really worried that her best friend might be infected with this disease, so she insisted in cooperating to help her. ...I implore to you, please help this village for her sake."

Irie: "Of course. We are honored to have you two come here every Sunday despite your valuable time. We promise you that we will find an effective result from all of this. ...We may need to have Rika-san undergo some further intensive tests, so it is us that must bow our heads for your permission."

Takano: "We vow that we will not cause any harm to her. She is a very valuable person. ...*chuckle*...I mean, she's the reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama, isn't she?"

Rika's dad: "....I wonder how the ancient residents of this village came to know about this disease, and find out that the Furude family had the main carrier's blood to control this... It further reinforced how we should respect our ancestors..."

Irie: "...And, this is very hard to say but...we want to ask for your permission to conduct a very difficult test. ...We need to extract some of her cerebrospinal fluid. And...based on results from that test...we may need to trepanate her in order to conduct some test on her cerebral cortex..."

Rika's dad: "....Y...You want to drill a hole in her skull to check on her brain..?"

Irie: "Of course, we'll conduct this with the maximum level of safety. Rika-san is the sole living main carrier. We promise that we will not cause any harm to her, and we will submit an extensive proposal on how to carry this test with the highest level of medical safety."

Takano: "And Rika-chan is a girl. We'll carefully set her hair aside where the trepanation will take place, so her head doesn't need to be shaved bald. However, we will need to have her stay in the hospital for a few weeks to check up on her post-surgery effects."

Irie: "And of course, we will not deny you from visiting her too. In fact, we would like to ask you to be at her side during the operation. Rika-san would feel much more relax if she knows that her dad is nearby."

Rika's dad: "..........Is this inspection, really necessary...and is it absolutely safe?"

Irie: "Unfortunately we cannot say for certain that both the cerebral spinal fluid extraction and trepanation process is 100% safe. There is always at least a 1% chance of danger. And Rika-san might experience some physical and mental pain as a result of this. ....Even if these tests are very important...we cannot carry them out without parental consent."

Rika's dad: ".............."

Takano: "I've already explained these to Rika-chan."

Rika's dad: "...And what did Rika say?"

Takano: "She simply just said, 'I don't mind' *chuckle chuckle*"

Irie: "...We've explained to her the dangers and the pains that may come out of these procedures. However, we still need to ask the permission of her parents before we are allowed to move foward with this."

Rika's dad: "....Rika sometimes tend to believe that she really is the reincarnation of the Oyashiro-sama. ...Hence, she might have a sense of duty that if something in her body has the cure to save the village, she's willing to submit her own body in order to do so."

Irie: "....We sincerely believe she is a very noble child."

Rika's dad: "Can I have a couple of days to discuss this with my wife? I'm certain that she'll allow the procedure, but...the tests are rather intensive so I can't keep her out of the loop on this."

Irie: "Yes, of course. We also believe that both parental consent is necessary for such an operation. Please discuss these matters carefully and thoroughly."

Rika's dad: "And these test have a very vital role in eradicating this disease, right...?"

Irie: "Yes. It will undoubtebly be significant in unveiling the mystery about the Hinamizawa Syndrome"

Takano: "A very significant step."

Takano: "...As stated before, ...should something happen to the main carrier, there is a very high possibilty that an extremely disasterous effect will over run the affected community. ...To say it bluntly, the entire village will succumb to the terminal stages of the syndrome."

Irie: "That's right. The mean span time of the acute symptoms to arise shows us that all the infected populace will yield into the terminal stages within 48 hours of the main carrier's death. We must take extra precaution in order to prevent such a thing from happenning."

Rika's Dad: "...Should Rika die, ...all the villagers would start to go mad, unleashing unspeakable horror..."

Irie: "Exactly. And it is our duty to prevent that. It is ironic that we have to do such a dangerous stunt to do so but, ...it is a unavoidable path that we must take if we are to eradicate this disease."

Rika's Dad: "...Dr. Irie. ...Will you promise me to carry this exam successfully...?"

Takano: "Like he said, there is no 100% in medical.."

Irie: "Yes I promise"

Irie said in a serious tone as he interrupted Takano's ambiguous explanation.

Irie: "I, Irie Kyosuke swear to my own life that I will certainly save Rika-san and the entire village."

Rika's Dad: "...Thank you. Please let me explain this to my wife. ...I will bring you our answer as soon as possible."

Irie: "Yes. Thank you for your understanding."





Takano: "*chuckle chuckle chuckle* Ahahahahahahaha...."

As soon as Rika and her father left, Takano suddenly burst into eerie laughter.

Irie: "What happened? Did something funny just happen...?"

Takano: "*chuckle chuckle*... Oh no, no. ...It was just so amusing to see you asking permission to the patient and her parents."

Irie: "...We've been subjecting Rika-chan to much emotional pain because of all this. We must provide them with at least such a courtesy for doing so. ...If I had a chance and he had normal consciousness, I would've also seeked permission to that man we've operated on last year."

Takano: "Director Irie, I think you are trying to repent your past guilts ever since you started this whole reasearch."

Irie: "....What do you mean by that?"
Takano's skepticism isn't all that unusual...Irie felt an unusual sense of unease by her remark.

Takano: "The research of the Hinamizawa Syndrome requires us to dissect and analyze a living patient. Yet, even though you know that, you feel a stronger sense of guilt as you advance your research."

Irie: "...Guilt is necessary. Whether it is murder or by dissection, we essentially put the person to a premature eternal sleep. It is our duty to carry that guilt on our backs and do everything that we can, so that his death was not in vain."

Takano: "What a speech. *chuckle chuckle*. ....Then may I ask, Director Irie? Can you tell me, in the past, how many patients have you asked consent before you cut off a piece of their brain?"

Irie: ".......u."
...Irie was taken aback since he thought his past was undisclosed to Takano.

Takano: "You blindly believed that the cause of human crimes were all due to a disease in the prefrontal cortex. So tell me, how many patients did you ask for consent before you performed lobotomy on them? *chuckle chuckle*"

Irie: "....that was,"

Takano: "Common sense changes with time. Back then, doctors did not have to provide their patients the nature of their treatments, and asking for consent was practically unheard of. So why bother to feel any guilt? Sure, it's this huge moral thing right now, but back then it wasn't a big deal. So who cares? *chuckle chuckle* ...But still, you felt guilt so you wanted to ask for consent to Rika, and even that murderer?"

Irie: "That is not true...Besides, treatment and dissection is different..."

Takano: "Hey, boy. All you want is an indulgence called "consent." Am I right? You desire to get an indulgence so that you can deceive your past by repenting your wrong-doings. If you feel a least bit of remorse, the answer is simple - leave the field of neurology. Yet, you repent and repent but still cannot give up the world dealing with brains. If you really felt guilty, why did you agree to take on the role of heading this place? I'm talking to you, boy?"

Irie: "....I am very frustrated. May I be excused?"

Takano: "Listen. The world of medicine is built upon through fighting against morals and views of their respective eras. Back when Dr. Takano hypothesized the existence of the Hinamizawa Syndrome, the men in power laughed at him without seeing the potential of his research. He, however, continued to conduct his own research alone to the very end. He believed strongly that his work will one day be appreciated! Such an achievement can only be accomplished through faithful conviction and a will strong as steel. Without them, Dr. Takano would've succumbed to the unsympathetic age he lived in. Research is built with strong will. Only the strongest of those will present results! But you, lack that. You are just a coward who can't even decide whether your own achievements are to be proud of or to be ashamed of. And to think how dare you agree to becoming the director of this facility...! You knew from the start that this research requires you to sink your blood-stained hands into a much deeper pool of blood!!"

Irie: "........I do not deny it. I guess I'm just half-hearted."

Takano: "Then why not resign from your post as director? Sure you may have to continue vow secrecy, but at least you won't have such guilty feelings running around inside your head anymore. From my standpoint, you being my partner is just a sham. You're nothing but my pawn to carry out my research that my clients requested. With this facility up and running, your existence here is not that important. ...And if you don't have the guts to carry out the research and if you are useless as my partner, then heck you are needed here anymore. On the other hand, I'll continue to do this research all by myself. I'm not scared of any guilt or repent. Only the strongest of the will prevents such a future. ...Just like Dr. Takano built his achievements through his will, I vow to carry this out to the very end...!"

Irie: "....I admire your resolve. ...However, even if I am not to your expectations, I still have my own resolve in being here. ...And as you stated, my hands have been already stained in blood. Those hands were further stained since I came to Hinamizawa. ...Hence I will not back down until I have finished my responsibility. ...Yes I may still be bogged down with guilt as time passes. But, I will not run away. ...I will finish my research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome. I believe that doing so is the only way I can repay those who have lost their lives in the name of research."

A sign of strong resolve was shown on Irie's expression, in stark contrast to the confusion that was seen just a few moments ago.

After a moment of silence, Irie countered back.

Irie: "...I'm sure that Rika-chan's exam will be approved. Please get the test ready."

Takano: "Sure. ....Director."

The approval consent was given by next week.

Dr. Irie finished his explanation with the final slide. As soon the lights in the meeting turned back on, he was applauded by every auditor in the conference room.

Auditor A: “Marvelous, absolutely marvelous! To tell you the truth, I had my doubts on this Hinamizawa Syndrome research. I expected that even if there was progress, it would be one of painstaking ones which take ten years for it advance three steps forward and yet two steps back later.”

Auditor B: “Yet, you managed to uncover this much in such a short time! This is all due to Director Irie’s diligence and leadership!”

Irie: “No, no. I could never have done this without the help of my brilliant staff members and Takano-san.”

Takano: “Don’t flatter yourself. *chuckle chuckle* Director Irie is a genius in the field of neurology. His past accomplishments and achievements shows that he was the leading doctor in that medical field.”

Auditor A: “You’ve got that right! Not many doctors as young as you have such vast experience in operating on human brains as you do!”

Tomitake: “Congratulations, Lieutenant Colonel Irie. Thanks to you, I can go back to tell Tokyo with my head held up high.”

Irie: “I am very happy that I am able to give you such a great gift to take back to Tokyo. Oh and…please refrain from calling me ‘Lt. Col.’ I still can’t get used to it. …Well, to say it bluntly, they way you pronounce it sounds like you are calling me ‘Lisa’”

Tomitake: “Ahahaha! Yeah, it does sound like a girl’s name, doesn’t it?”

Takano: “*chuckle chuckle* But Jirou-san, you were also a big help too. Jirou-san was able to secure funding for our research during the time we couldn’t produce much feasible results. Without that, we would never have had the results we have in front of us today.”

Tomitake: “Oh, …Hahahahaha…! But, the results shown today are spectacular indeed. Not only did you find the culprit causing the Hinamizawa Syndrome, but you also provided a clear path how to conduct future research. We will definitely be eager to hear the progress of this research when we come here on the next audits. And armed with these results, Tokyo will never be so stingy about cutting back on funding.”

Takano: “*chuckle chuckle* The coffee that everyone is drinking right now was in danger of being scrapped due to lack of funds, right Jirou-san?”

All: “Dwa-hahahahahaha!”

Auditor A: “Tomitake-kun, make sure you tell Tokyo about the progress we have seen and heard today. These guys need to get funding to hold their own achievement party.”

Auditor B: “They’ve been whipped all these times. Now they need to be showered with candy.”

Irie: “Hahahahaha, It would be best if those candies were in the form funds.”

All: “Uwa-hahahahahaha!”


The routine audit soon dispersed amidst a cheerful mood. Some of the auditors were members from the National Institute. They eagerly began to ask questions to Irie about his accomplishments.


Tomitake: “Congratulations, Takano-san. While I can’t say it in front of everyone, all these achievements are all thanks to your efforts.”

Takano: “*chuckle* Thank you, Jirou-san.”

Only Takano and Tomitake were the only ones present in this room that new that men pulled strings to select puppets to create the Irie Research Facility. …Hence, Tomitake was the only one who knew about the hardships that Takano had to go through for this achievement.

Takano: “But this is just the start line. The enemy that I’ve been looking for has come up to the same stage as mine, that’s all. It’s what we do from here that’s critical. And I can already foresee the fun and excitement that lies ahead.”

Tomitake: “Ahahahaha. And, I’ve just received a message where it seems that Manager Nakagawa wants you to come over to Tokyo to give them a personal presentation on this accomplishment. The Alphabet Board also would like you to come and meet them as well. Everyone wants to hear about this directly from you.”

Takano: “Oh my, perhaps they assumed that Jirou-san won’t be able to provide a detailed explanation?”

Tomitake: “Oh, ahahahaha! I, I don’t think so…! I...I’m sure they just wanted to see if the rumor about a beautiful young researcher is true or not. Ahahahaha…!”

Takano: “Oh, Jirou-san. *chuckle chuckle chuckle*”

Staff: “Excuse me, Major Takano. Theirs is a phone call for you from Tokyo.”

Takano: “Hello. This is Takano speaking.”

Koizumi: “Hey-, how are you doing-?!”

Takano: “M...Mr. Koizumi!! I am very honored to receive a call from you…!”

Koizumi: “Wahahaha! I heard that my Miyo-chan was able to make a significant breakthrough, so I just had to call!”

Takano: “Thank you…!! Yes, thanks to your help sir, we’ve been able to accomplish the first step in identifying the microbe that causes the Hinamizawa Syndrome.”

Koizumi: “Umm-hmm, umm-hmm! That’s great, really great-!! You did it Miyo-chan. Takano-kun must be definitely proud of you up from heaven!”

Takano: “No, no sir. My grandfather was researching this beyond the scope of finding the cause of the Hinamizawa Syndrome. My grandfather’s work was to show that human thoughts, religions, and instincts are actually controlled by parasitic agents in our body. Only when that is proven shall my grandfather’s work be looked back as a grand achievement. *chuckle chuckle* Can you just imagine how the world will react once they find out that all human thought, religion, and instincts are all caused by a parasite! *chuckle chuckle* The world will be in chaos!”

Koizumi: “Wahahahaha. That’ll show them-!! I can already see how those religious big shots will react when they learn that what they’ve told for thousands of years were all because of a parasite!! Please show me that dream Miyo-chan! I will refuse my entry to heaven until I’ve seen you accomplish that my dear.”

Takano: “Oh don’t say such a thing, sir. But please look forward to it. I will definitely spread shock throughout the world with this research. And when that happens, everyone in the world will acknowledge how great my grandfather was as they read through his work that he left behind. …Only then will I can say that I have repaid my duty to my grandfather.”

Koizumi: “…I’m so envious of Takano-kun. To tell you that truth dear, I didn’t want all this money. I’m more than willing to throw half of these things away. I always wanted a grandchild like you who is willing to carry on the legacy of his or her grandparents.”

Takano: “Thank you very much. Those words means a lot to me.”

Koizumi: “Oh, and grandpa Koizumi has a present for you, my dear. I sent a nice bottle of wine to you, Miyo-chan, to celebrate this occasion. I didn’t know your address, so I had it addressed to the clinic. However, it seems there’s some difficulty importing that over here, but when it does arrive, I want you to gather all the people that have helped you in this accomplishment and throw a nice party for yourselves.”

Takano: “A wine, sir? Gee, seeing that it’s coming from grandpa Koizumi, I wonder what kind of expensive wine you bought for me!”

Koizumi: “Oh, it’s not that kind of expensive wine. Don’t you remember Miyo-chan? Takano-kun used to keep a bottle of wine that he wouldn’t never dare to open.”

…Takano realizes it immediately…

That’s right. My grandfather kept one bottle of wine that he never opened. I don’t know if he bought that or someone gave him that bottle, but he always kept it safe, vowing never to open it until his research was acknowledged. I was too young to remember what kind of wine that was, but Mr. Koizumi would know which brand it was…

…He went through all the lengths to find the same bottle of wine on this special occasion.
…Takano felt a warmness in her heart which she had not felt in a very long time.

Takano: “Thank you…. Grandpa Koizumi.”

Koizumi: “Umm-hmm! Yep, hearing you call me grandpa makes me feel better again-! I could never get used to Miyo-chan calling me Mr. Koizumi like a politician! Wahahahaha!”

I almost laughed too as I recalled Tomitake and Irie going over a similar exchange a few moments ago.

Takano: “Well, if you prefer me calling you ‘grandpa,’ I won’t mind calling you that with the exception of when people are around. *chuckle chuckle*”

Koizumi: “Oh, I want Miyo-chan to call me that way in front of everyone instead! Wahahaha”

I wonder how old he will be this year. Well, so long as he can laugh so heartedly, I’m sure his passing has yet to come. …I guess the old saying of something has longevity is true.

Koizumi: “Both me and Takano-kun really wished that such a child like Miyo-chan was really a part of our family. We really do…”

…My grandfather had his own family, of course. But as he put all of his life’s work into research, he became estranged from his wife and children. Even though their marriage was intact, they lived apart and technically “separated.” I never saw his family when I was a child growing up under him. …I only met them when my grandfather committed suicide.

During his latter years, my grandfather was in psychological despair, and began to look at his own life in cynicism. His condition grew worse over time, and was shocked to learn his own dementia. He lived in constant fear that his conscious would degrade into oblivion. Hence…he killed himself by jumping off the roof of the hospital. Only my name was written on his suicide note. None was written for his own family.

But, only after his death, did his own family come over to collect his belongings and fortune. They despised me as the thought that I was going to get his estate. They began to assemble a legal team to prove that they were the rightful heirs to his fortune. Just looking at how beastly these people are disgusted me, and I quickly backed down. All I asked for in exchange was to get everything that he left behind in his study room.

Those idiots do not understand the value of my grandfather’s work. So they were happy to strike a deal out of court. They were able to get rid of “useless papers” and “disgusting jars of human organs.” At the same time they got what they wanted – my forfeiture of my right to his estate.

These disgusting creatures never came to my grandfather’s aid when he was alive. Yet they came like hyenas after his death ransacking his estate. I would never let them put their hands on my grandfather’s research. Hence, I was able to protect my grandfather’s soul from their tainted hands….

Koizumi: “Okay. Well I don’t want to bother you by talking too long on the phone, so I’d better go now. If you have anything you need, just remember to call your ol’ grandpa Koizumi. I’d do anything for my dear Miyo-chan!”

Takano: “Thank you grandpa Koizumi. Miyo’s gonna work more harder!”

When I asked Rika-chan, she said that she might be in the back hills. That place is Satoko’s favorite playground.

The looming trees, the entangled vines, fallen dead wood, and edible akebia, it is no wonder why she loves that place. Every child has a dream to create a secret base. …For Satoko, the back hills were her secret base.

However, the hills are a dangerous place because it has never been scouted before. It is rather easy to get lost here, and it worries me as her older brother. …But it is more likely that I would get lost in these woods when compared to Satoko since she plays here all the time.

The woods already began to get dark by sundown. If I can’t find her here, it’s probably best to quit and search elsewhere.

Satoshi: “Satoko-!! Satoko-!!”

I called out to her, but sound does not travel that well in the woods.

According to Rika-chan, it seems that the area around here is known as Satoko’s secret base and she often goes into these woods alone to set up booby-traps to increase her territory. I wonder what she meant when she said “increasing her territory?” Well, if it’s a secret base, then she probably doesn’t want anyone coming close to her area. Then does that mean she’s setting up traps to ward off intruders…?

…If I already guessed it up to that, I should’ve realized what kinds of traps Satoko would place in these hills.

Satoshi: “Wha-what the..?!”

I suddenly lost my balance as my foot got stuck in a hole, which pulled on a rope hidden underneath some fallen leaves. Rustles were heard from the treetops and a giant ball of twigs dropped right beside me.

…It must’ve been one of Satoko’s booby-traps. If it worked according to plan, that ball of twigs would’ve struck my head.

Satoko: “…Oh my my. I wondered who got caught, but I didn’t expect Nii-Nii.”

Satoshi: “Satoko…!! That was dangerous! You should stop playing setting booby-traps…!”

Satoko: “Didn’t you read the sign by the Forestry Preserve? It clearly states that it’s dangerous to come into these woods. If that person doesn’t follow what it says, then my beautiful traps will be sure to welcome them? Ohohoho!”

…I should probably tell her to stop doing such a dangerous activity. …But I haven’t seen Satoko in such a cheerful mood in a while, so I didn’t say anything further.

Satoshi: “Anyway, Satoko. We’re all gonna go out and eat today so we’ve better hurry home.”

Satoko: “…I don’t want to go out and eat. Mom and dad can go by themselves. If you want Nii-nii can go with the three of you.”

Satoshi: “…Are you still angry at dad?”

Satoko: “….He threw his ashtray at me.”

Satoshi: “…No… That was our previous dad. Our current dad never did that to you.”

Satoko: “…He locked me outside in the veranda. He refused to give me lunch. He yelled at me that I bought the wrong cigarette brand, he slapped me saying that I should eat everything! And and…!!”

…All these abuses were not by done by our current father-in-law. Furthermore, she’s getting her abuses mixed with our past father-in-laws.


Our mother married numerous of times, and everytime, we had to call the new person as our new dad.

…But the word “dad” is not to be taken too lightly. …If you do not really consider the person as your dad from the bottom of your heart, then you can never call that person “my dad” even as a joke. That is how heavy that word is.

However, I did my part to make the frail family life to go along as smoothly as possible. Hence, I was able to say that word in order to keep the family from falling apart. …But to expect the same from Satoko at an age like her is a different story.

Satoko was subject to repeated abuse by our past father-in-laws, it has come to point where she never trusts a being called a “father-in-law.” Hence she has refused to open her heart to our current father.


Yes, it is true that our current father has no past experience in raising children. So it is true that there was a time where his anger just exploded. But ever since Satoko called the child abuse hotline, our current dad regretted his mistake deeply. I can tell that he is trying very hard to make communication with Satoko little by little. …Mom also finally realized what psychological suffering she had put through her child, and is doing her part of the job on how to bring Satoko back into the family.

…But Satoko refuses. …Considering her past abuses, it is understandable. Her early childhood was full of sadness and despair that no child should ever go through…

The only person that Satoko has her heart open is probably…me. So I am the only person that she has left that she recognizes as her own family member. …If not, Satoko will be left all alone in this world without a family…

However, two siblings cannot make up a family. No matter how rough our current family relationship maybe, each progress is vital in creating a stable family. And once that happens, we can truly call ourselves to be a real family.

Satoshi: “Satoko…Our current dad is getting nicer everyday. …He really wants to make up with Satoko.”

Satoko: “…I’ve never heard of him saying that.”

Satoshi: “That’s because you always run away from him when he tries to have a discussion with you… Dad really wants to have communication with Satoko. …He said he’ll never force you to eat squash again?”

Satoko: “…That’s a lie. He tied me up to the chair saying that he won’t let me leave the dinner table unless I eat all the squash.”

…Again, that’s not our current dad…

Satoshi: “Satoko. C’mon. At least come how with Nii-nii, okay? Mom won tickets for family dinner and it’ll be a waste if we didn’t go. It’s already reserved, so if we don’t go today, it’ll expire.”

Satoko: “……………Then why don’t you go along with them? I’m perfectly fine staying at the house alone.”

Satoko never goes out to play this late into the hour. …She knew that we were all going out to eat as a family, so she purposely stayed outside in these hills until this late. Just when I was about to explode for Satoko’s selfishness, I repress my short temper as usual. …I am the only person that Satoko has left. …I must not scare Satoko…

Satoshi: “C’mon Satoko, let’s go home? You can decide if you want to go or not once we reach home, okay? …And….if you don’t guide me outta here…I can’t go home either.”

Satoko: “…..Nii-nii… I’ve brought you along many times already, but you still can’t remember through these woods? Alright, let’s go Nii-nii. I’ll show you the way.”

Satoko holds out her hand. She says its embarrassing to hold hands with Nii-nii in front of people, but she held out her hand.

I take her hand.

Satoko’s hand is so frail. ….I must continue to protect her as her brother.

Satoshi: “Let’s go home, Satoko.”

Satoko: “…..Okay.”

I am called Houjou Satoko.
However, the family name Houjou is from my current father. I was also once known as Hata Satoko, Yoshizawa Satoko, and Matsuura Satoko depending on my previous fathers. Because of this, I still am not used to people referring me as Houjou-san. If they call me Satoko, I realize that they are addressing me.

I do not understand why my mother periodically marries and divorces every now and then.
If she’s going to divorce, then she shouldn’t have married in the first place.
If she’s going to marry again, then she shouldn’t have divorced in the first place.

I’ve asked her this question several times, but her reaction was different depending on the time.

When I asked her when she was married, she got angry at me.
When I asked her when she was divorced, she broke down and cried.

I do not understand the meaning of marriage. I have no interest in it like the other kids who draw pictures of a newly wed bride and wedding dresses. I probably won’t marry either. If I have my own child, I don’t want to put my child situation where he or she has to change his or her name all the time.

My teacher asked me if I loved my mother. This was when I was going to kindergarten in Okinomiya. This was a very difficult question to me. I couldn’t decide because there were times I really loved my mother and other times where I really hated my mother.

When my mother is kind, she is always has a smile on her face. She makes us happy. She says that I was the best gift that she could ever have.

But when my mother is not kind, she is always irritated. She harshly quibbles us. She says that I should’ve never been born.


My teacher also asked me if I loved my father. This was a really easy question for me. There were times I hated my father and other times where I really hated my father, so in either case I really hated him.

My new fathers always treated me kindly at first; right after my mother marries him. They always tell me that I can refer to them like my real father. However, there is no way that they can be my real father. Besides, I don’t even remember how my real father looked like. How the hell then can I call them to be my real father? How? It just disgusts me.

Right before divorce, my fathers were irritated all the time. They treat me like a cockroach. They throw objects at me while yelling that they don’t bring home the money to feed me and shut me outside from the veranda as I go hungry.

However, my teachers tell me that that was all in the past, so you can go ahead and just forget about it. I believe it was a different teacher by this time.

Maybe that’s true. Ever since Houjou became my father, my mother is always in a great mood. I haven’t seen them get into a large argument as I have seen happen just before a divorce. …There a little quarrels here and there, but those don’t lead up to a divorce as it did before. They just make up and become friends again.

But I’m sure the talk of divorce will come up again sooner or later. Then, it’s all the usual stuff about family court, arbitration for divorce settlements, shooting the moon, child support, and the like. Hence, I don’t know how long Houjou will be my father, so I don’t dare call him that.

He too, was very kind to me at first. But since I didn’t call him “dad” like he wanted me to, he became irritated. See? Then it’s all divorce again. If my father gets into that irritated mode, it sets the stage for divorce. And if it comes down to divorce, it is now my mother’s turn to start getting irritated. And it’s the same thing over again; she yells at me saying things like “I should’ve aborted you” and that it’s “All your fault that I can never be happy.”

Is it all really my fault for being born that caused such troubles for my mom?

I asked my brother that, and he told me this. Chances of re-marrying are very difficult if she has a child. And since marriage is the most important job that mom has, I understood that it is very tough when having kids at her side. I think I finally understood the reason why I am a nuisance to her.

So, I asked my brother another question. Why are such children hated by their new fathers? He answered it very simply. It’s all because his role in the family is different. Mom’s job is to love her children. A father’s job is to love mom. So basically, I’m just a nuisance to both my mom and my father.

My brother is much more mature than me, so he isn’t looked down as a nuisance than I am. But, I think, no, I’m certain, no, I am a nuisance to them.

So I finally have it all figured out. Mom and my father wishes that I were dead. But if they kill me, the police will come after them, so they don’t kill me off that easily. But, that doesn’t mean that stops them from trying sooner or later.

If I were to peek down on a cliff, and if no one was watching, my mom and my father would definitely push me off the cliff from the behind.

My father suddenly became abnormally kind to me these days. He started acting out that way ever since I faked that call to the child abuse hotline. It disgusts me. I’m certain it’s all part of a plot to kill me. So, I do my best to not let my guard down.

Hanyu? “…I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry….”

These days, I’m beginning to hear someone continuously apologizing. I’m sure that kid is the same as me – an unwanted child who was told by her mom that she should’ve been aborted.

Hanyu?: ““…I’m so sorry!, I’m so sorry!, I’m so sorry!, I’m so sorry!….”

But, I’m not going to apologize like that child. I vow to live. And I’m going to strike back. I’ll kill them first before they get to me.

Hanyu? “…I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry….”

The Houjou family is well known in this area as the house that went against the entire village during the Dam Construction War.

Both the husband and wife were known for their tempers, and fought a fierce war against the Sonozaki family. While they were ostracized by everyone in the village, they refused to budge and lived their lives quite belligerently amidst all the cold eyes. In many ways, they were strong-willed in their resolve.

However, the same cannot be said to be hold true to their children. Because of their parents’ stance, both Satoko-chan and Satoshi-kun were given the cold shoulder as well. In addition, they have their inter-family problems between their father-in-law and Satoko-chan. It is apparent that the children’s psychological stress level is at their maximum.

If I had the arrogance that I had back then, one can say that I am a respected member of society within this village for being the head of this clinic. But because of this role in society, I was able to listen to many rumors from the residents of this area. …Hence I already knew what kind of pressure these two kids were under before I met them in person.

My first contact with the Houjou siblings was Satoshi-kun. He came to the clinic when he lost his health from heavy stress. He at first thought he had a just a simple cold, and he even told me so in person. …But his heavy sighs and weary eyes revealed otherwise. I immediately recognized that Satoshi-kun’s health deterioration could not be passed off simply as a cold. Sure, I can provide him some medication for his current symptoms, but that’s only a temporary solution. In order to treat him fully, he needed to change his living environment.

But saying so is easier said that done.

…His level of stress is not a one that I can write off with a remark by saying, “you’ll start to feel better in about three days if you take this medicine.” Due to complicated matters in the village, the atmosphere and environment that Satoshi-kun has to live is not what I consider to be an ideal place for his to recovery.

Only time will heal the rift between the Houjou family and the rest of the village. Even then, it will take many years and months for such to happen.

…That is why I needed to help him from being ostracized by the village. I wanted to become a person that he could trust, the only one in the village that would come to his aid. If I can’t fix the environment that is causing his stress, so I had to figure out a way to reduce them through something else. So I told him the best way for him to let out his stress. There is nothing better than sports to relieve a person’s daily stress. So I asked him to join the youth baseball team that I was managing.

Yes, I am an avid researcher unlocking the mysteries of the Hinamizawa Syndrome. You can say that I practically gave my life to this research. But even I would get tired if I were to be conducting research all day.

I used to play in the little leagues as a kid, so I started to coach the local youth baseball team on my spare time. …By the time I realized it, the children of Hinamizawa started their own baseball team and I became their team manager.

Doctors cannot provide healthy bodies by prescribing medication. Healthy bodies are made through healthy spirits. And sports are a great way to maintain both of them. So, being a manager of a youth baseball team is another way of me helping kids in maintaining their health. But, since we were new, we had a lack of members to play in the team. So, I decided to bring Satoshi-kun into baseball.

Satoshi-kun was not the athletic type, and he even said that he’d rather be reading books than playing sports. At the time, he wasn’t so sure what him joining youth baseball had anything to do with relieving his own stress. But I didn’t want to just explain how sports contribute to creating a healthy mind and body, nor did I try to explain to him about athletic medicine. I wanted him to experience it first hand how great it feels to perspire so that he could figure out what I meant.

I’m certain that he began to feel the difference very quickly. …At first, he grudgingly agreed to come, but as time passed, he always came to play in the game. I was happy to see that my plan worked as I saw him regaining his strength and becoming healthy once again.

But if Satoshi-kun had so much stress on his shoulders, Satoko-chan too must’ve been under the same situation as she lived under the same family environment. Regrettably though, I didn’t think about Satoko-chan’s circumstances at the time.

…So when Satoko-chan was hauled into the clinic as a critical patient, I was shocked in despair to see the state Satoko-chan was in. Even as Satoshi-kun began to regain his health through baseball, Satoko-chan’s stress just continued to pile up as she was left all alone. Furthermore, there was an incident that occurred just prior to her loss of consciousness which contributed to her stress to peak to such a state.

That incident was…the death of her parents.

For the Houjou family, the annual village festival was not a time they felt comfortable in the community, as it also commemorated the victory of the Dam Construction War. So I understood their decision to go on a family trip together outside of the village.

But Satoko-chan’s parents fell to their death at the park they were visiting. It was just a very unlucky incident. …Since it happened on the day of Watanagashi, this began the rumor this was the cause of the Oyashiro-sama’s curse. And it also created unfound rumors that the Houjou family was chosen by the Oyashiro-sama due to their pro-dam cause…

It was their parents that were really given the cold shoulder by the villagers. If the parents died, such cold shoulders should wither away. …Unfortunately, since this occurred on the day of Watanagashi…the members of the Houjou family continued to be shunned…



The only witness to the accident was Satoko-chan. (Satoshi-kun was playing in the baseball game that day, so he didn’t go along with them on their day-trip). As a result, all the police interrogation was thrust upon her. …Especially the officer named Oishi seemed to have strong determination that some kind of group within the village was responsible, so he began to pester Satoko-chan with many difficult questions.

Satoko-chan had more stress repressed within her than Satoshi-kun. Considering everything that had happened to her, it was obvious that she would break down. While being interrogated, she suddenly began to wheeze and gasp for air. She was showing signs of breathing difficulties, and suddenly collapsed.

It was disheartening to see Satoko-chan’s emotions of anguish on her face as she was carried into the emergency room. It broke my heart to even think what she had to go through with such a frail body.

Satoshi: “….Kantoku, Is Satoko all right…!”

Irie: “Yes, you can calm down. She was just had a mild case of confusion, that’s all.”

Satoshi: “Can I go and see her?”

Irie: “We’ve just given her some medication, and she’s resting right now. I wouldn’t want to wake her up right now. Let’s give her some rest for now. I think it’s best to let her stay in the hospital for a few days to check up on her. …Don’t worry. Leave it up to me.”

Satoshi: “…Th…Thank you.”

I knew that Satoshi-kun was a very noble brother who always looked after his little sister. And I also knew that he was strong sensibility to feel his little sister’s pain. …So all the stress that Satoshi-kun had in him, is a mirror of Satoko-chan’s stress.

While I didn’t say this because of indiscretion …I think Satoshi-kun was sad yet at the same time, some what relieved at his parents’ accident. He believed that she wouldn't have to repress psychological pain and suffering anymore.

Considering her past, Satoko-chan had absolutely no social skills to get along with her father-in-law; a man who had no blood relation to her. So, despite the tragedy, the main cause of Satoko-chan’s stress was removed from her life. It was some what safe to say that this will create a change in her social environment.

And, at the time, I was slightly relieved that whatever change happens after this, it will be a better social environment for the two siblings.


…But the world works in a cruel way.

…After this accident, the two were taken under foster care to their scumbag uncle and aunt…

Sonozaki housekeeper: “Mion-san---, you’re friend is here---“

I heard the housekeeper calling out my name. My house is very big, so I can’t hear my friends ringing the doorbell or calling out “He-y Mion-chan, wanna go out and play-?!”

Mion: “Okay, okay. Thank you. Who is it?”

Housekeeper: “It’s Furude’s Rika-chama.”

Mion: “Oh, I see, I see. Can you tell grandma that Rika-chama is here? She’s probably on the porch over there. I’ll bring the watermelons.”

Grandma received a bunch of watermelons, so she decided to have them shared with my friends. So, I called the Furude family a little while ago, and Rika-chan came here to pick them up.

…I wonder if she came with her bicycle. Did her bike have a frontal holder big enough to fit a watermelon? I pondered about how she was going to take them home as I plucked one watermelon from the well in the backyard. The cold water in the well acted like a refrigerator for the watermelon. The condensation on the watermelon is cool to the touch, and it looks to be very delicious. The three members of the Furude family would be able to have nice dessert for at least two nights with this.

Rika: “…Mi-? It’s to take home? I thought…”

Mion: “Huh? Didn’t this ojisan tell you?!”

I told the priest that we like to share some watermelons but… I guess there was miscommunication somewhere. Somehow the word was changed from “come and have (pick up) a watermelon” to “come and have (eat over here) a watermelon.”

There was no way such a plump watermelon was going to fit in the small frontal holder on her bike, and its too dangerous for her to ride that bike on one hand while holding such a heavy thing on the other.

Oryou: “Mion, you go and help carry that watermelon to Rika-chama’s home. She can’t ride a bike holding a watermelon on the other hand”

Rika: “….Mi-. I sure can hold a watermelon.”

Oryou: “No, no! That’s too dangerous! If something happens to Rika-chama, we’’ never redeem ourselves to the Oyashiro-sama. Our Mion will carry it. Let’er handle it.”

Mion: “Yeah yeah, lemme handle it. I’ll also go and have a chat with the priest as well.”

Even if Rika-chan was able to do it by herself, her hands would be tied up in either way. So, I helped her carry it back to her house.



The sky is turning auburn from the sunset. …The cool wind began to billow, and the bare feet in my sandals feels soothing. Inside the plastic bag were the watermelon and several small bags of kompeitou candies as a token for coming all the way to the Sonozaki main house.
Rika-chan however, told me that if her mom found out about it, she would take away that candy. So, we opened them right now and plopped the sweet tastes of kompeito candies into our mouths as we trotted to her home…

It is one of grandma’s rules to give out candy to all children that came to the Sonozaki family as a token of appreciation. Let me rephrase that – it’s like a custom in Hinamizawa not particular to just the Sonozaki family. So, I hear funny stories where kids fight with their siblings on who is going to take the circulation note to their neighbor in hopes of getting candy, even though no one in their house has read that note yet.

…This kompeito is one of those rewards to children.

However, she does not usually give this much kompeito normally. The usual exchange rate was one piece of candy. …So this shows how much my grandma has a special sweet spot for Rika-chama.

Rika: “…I feel bad for getting all these candies all the time.”

Mion: “I don’t think you should think so much about it. These rewards are like a token of how much they love you. I think its best to just say thank you and put on a big smile on your face like a child than trying to refuse them.”

Rika: “…Does Mii get rewards too?”

Mion: “Oh, in the past yeah! But I’m too old now to get any rewards. Besides, even if I got them, I’d probably get a bit pissed for trying to treat me like a little kid.”

Rika: “….Mi-. So I’m treated like a little kid.”

Mion: “Ahahahaha. What’s wrong about that! You should take them when you still can. When you grow up to my age, I can’t get stuff that I want anymore.”

I thought that we were talking the usual stuff, until I realized that Rika-chan showed the emotions of sadness.

Mion: “What’s wrong?”

Rika: “….Even though I get lots of candy when I go out for chores, ….Satoko never receives any even if she’s with me.”

Mion: “…………..”

If I start to think about why she said that to me, I could go on forever… Everyone around here knows that not only Satoko, but the Houjou family in general, are given the cold shoulder in Hinamizawa. …And the main instigator of that is the Sonozaki main household. The two main targets of the ostracism had died when they fell to their deaths in that tragic accident. Yet, the cold taunting towards the Houjou family still continues towards their children, Satoko and Satoshi, …and to their foster parents as well.

It is true that this all began with the big argument that the Houjou family had with the Sonozaki family at the local project meeting for the dam proposal. …The ones that should be shunned were the husband and his wife, but their children or their uncle and aunt had nothing to do with this whole issue. …Still, the equation of “village traitor = the Houjou family” seems to have evolved on its own, …and that policy set the atmosphere to ostracize anyone with the surname of Houjou.

Their uncle and his wife was not a part of the pro-dam group. So, given time, the ostracism towards them should’ve subsided. …However, they weren’t what I call a “socially acceptable” type to begin with. …They were clearly not getting along with their neighbors and were a bit of a nuisance in the village.

The refused to follow the rules of taking out the trash on the appropriate days, they ditch their pre-arranged community duties, they spray pesticides in their backyard without regards to their neighbors’ laundry times. …I often hear tales of them getting into a heated argument with their neighbors and the council. Practically, they were just looked as an annoyance with or without their ties to the dam proposal. …Hence, the banishment towards the Houjou family still continues to this day.

But, still, Satoko and Satoshi have nothing to do with all of this…

I always see Satoko and Satoshi depressed whenever they come to school. …I leave all the things about Sonozaki family and Houjou family aside at school…but I don’t know how Satoko and Satoshi really feel about that. …From their point of view, I’m certain they see me just as another member of the Sonozaki family…

Mion: “…I don’t want to bring in such bullying into the school. So I do my best to be a regular friend at school, so that the atmosphere there will be protected from the harshness of the outside world…”

Rika: “…But how do you spread that atmosphere to the entire village…?”

…That’s a very difficult task to accomplish.

The Houjou family made enemies of the three gosankes. They were branded as traitors of the village, and its wound has yet to heal. Even if one family steps up to say “…the dam war is finished. Let’s become friends again,” it’s like putting water over hot coal. …No one wants to become a target of ostracism themselves for taking the side of the Houjou family.

It hurts my heart to even think about it, but…the only answer that I can come up with is for them to wait out patiently until this whole matter cools and withers away. And the only thing that I can provide to them is an oasis which they can use until the whole thing is over.

Rika: “…Then how long do they have to hold out…?”

Mion: “………I don’t know. The whole dam war itself took several years. Since they were branded at that time…it might take just as well.”

Rika: “…Then does that mean that Satoko and Satoshi won’t be forgiven until they become adults? Satoko will then have to live her childhood here amidst all the cold shoulders?”

Mion: “…That’s…very harsh….”

Rika: “….Mii. We are friends with Satoko and Satoshi, right?”

Mion: “Of course. Both of them are my special friends. They are a part of our team.”

Rika: “…Then, isn’t there anything we can do to help out our friends in distress…?”

Mion: “….I really wish…I really wonder what we could do…”


Let’s say even if the Sonozaki main house announces that “the dam war was finished, let’s be friendly to the Houjous once again,” it’s not as simple as that. …Besides, grandma seems to despise the Houjou family from her guts, and even the notion of Houjou is considered a taboo around her.

It’s not just about one person forgiving them. …The problem lies with the complicated social interactions between people…it is the community called the village itself. …And to turn such a powerhouse like that into your enemy is very intimidating. Everyone knows this, so that is why they maintain good relationships with their neighbors. …If you dare to turn that into your enemy, you learn of the consequences. …This is the dark side of community relationships that exists not only in Hinamizawa, but in anywhere in Japan.

The Sonozaki family is not an exception to this rule. When the labeling of the Houjou family has come this far, even the Sonozaki family cannot overturn this conviction so easily.

Rika: “…So even if this is about our Hinamizawa, …no one living in Hinamizawa can do anything about it?”

Mion: “….Sadly, …but I guess you’re right. …If there will be a person capable of saving Satoko, than that person must be someone who isn’t bound to such unsaid policies of Hinamizawa. ….Unfortunately, there isn’t anyone in Hinamizawa like that.”

Rika: “….Are you saying that, …someone from the outside of Hinamizawa must come here and save her…?”

Mion: “………………”

Would there ever be a knight in shining armor from the outside world just like Rika-chan says? Would that person be able to smash through the closed space of centuries old customs and bring in a new wave of fresh air into this village?

I don’t think so. It’s all wishful thinking. Basically, nothing is going to change. ….Time is the only factor to help heal this wound.

Hence, I decided to be their friends. I could not think of anything beyond that.

As both of us started biting on the kompeito in our mouths…all we could do was to hope that everyone could forgive Satoko and Satoshi as quickly as possible....

Rika then broke the heavy silence between us.

Rika: “…There will be”

Mion: “Huh…?”

Rika: “….There will be, …someone from the outside of this village, a person not bound to these customs, will come here soon.”

Mion: “Sure. The dam war is over now, so I’m sure someone would start to move here to those areas that are marked for sale. It’ll be fun if such family has a kid close to our age and he or she decides to transfer to our school.”

Rika: “….He will come. And, all of us will unite and defeat the evil practice that causes such ostracism in this village. …That will be the first key in opening the three locks that traps us from the future.”

Mion: “….Huh? What’s that? Is that some kind of book or some sort??”

Rika-chan is known for occasionally rambling peculiar things. Whenever I see her in that mode, she looks as if she’s much older than her age, …and I begin to doubt whether I am the one younger than her.

The unreasonable ostracism towards the Houjou family…

…Will there ever really be a hero from the outside who isn’t bound to our customs, that can shatter our old ways and introduce a brighter future for us…?