.........

......

"...Papa? Are you there, Papa?"

"...Huh? Oh..."

"Are you all right?

Were you having a scary dream?"

Miyuki was sitting next to me, I quickly patted her head after hearing her say that.

I must have had a bad dream while sleeping in the cabin. ...I was sweating profusely.

"...No, it's nothing.

I guess it's a little hot in here... ahaha."

I tried to wipe away the sweat while answering, and looked around for a handkerchief or towel.

...And then, a cold drop ran down my forehead.

Miyuki turned to me and smiled, then wiped my face with the towel she received at takeoff.

"...Thanks, Miyuki."

"Of course.

Ehehe~"

Thanks to her, I was finally able to shake off my slumber, so I got up from the aisle seat and looked out the window.

I wrapped my arms around Miyuki in the window seat and listened to the noise as the land and sea blew past us before our eyes.

"Wow~, it's Hokkaido.

Hokkaido is so big~♪"

And then the plane gently turned before entering the airport runway...

Arriving at the lobby, I glanced around, looking for Ooishi...

and was met with a familiar gruff voice calling out to me.

"Akasaka-saaaan!!

Na ha ha ha!

How many years has it been~?

It's been a while, hasn't it!!!"

"Ooishi-san!

It really has been a long time."

Ooishi clapped his hand down on my shoulder, celebrating our reunion.

"Akasaka-san, you're looking pretty good.

You look like a bonafide front-line investigator now."

"You're looking quite dapper yourself.

Your posture seems a lot better.

...Is the ballroom dancing paying off?"

"Mfu fu fu!

You should give it a try while you're still young.

You'd be a hit with the ladies.

A real babe magnet!

Nfu fu fu!!"

Ooishi had retired and moved to Sapporo, and of all things, had started taking ballroom dancing lessons.

He had apparently gotten really into it, and had decided to spend the rest of his new life devoted to that hobby.

He was aiming to get his instructor's qualifications before he hit 80, and live out his old age dandily.

"...Oh?

Nfu fu fu, who might this be...?"

Ooishi suddenly turned his attention to Miyuki, who was standing idly next to me. He bent down on his knee to look her in the face.

However, my daughter was frightened and hid behind my back.

"Come on, Miyuki.

Please introduce yourself properly."

"...Oh, uh... Umm..."

She was staring at Ooishi with a dubious expression while tugging at the hem of my shirt.

...She's usually not this shy. I wonder what's wrong.

"...Sorry about that.

She's usually not like this..."

"Oh no, it's no problem.

This old man just has a scary face... If you don't mind, could you tell me your name?"

"...Umm, I'm Miyuki Akasaka.

I'm 7 years old.

N... nice to meet you."

"Great, that was a good introduction.

I'd expect no less from Akasaka-san's daughter... Na ha ha ha."

Ooishi gently stroked Miyuki's head and smiled as though she were his own grandchild.

After finally seeing that, Miyuki smiled in relief.

...Shortly afterwards, Miyuki told me that she was just doing what I had told her to do, "Be careful around strangers."

Ooishi overheard that and let out a hearty "Wa ha ha ha!!" shaking his body while laughing and walking...

I let myself into Ooishi's car, and we headed out towards the hot spring inn.

I had originally intended to crash at Ooishi's place,

but Ooishi was quite obstinate that his home wasn't suitable for that, so it came to this.

At the inn, we relaxed while soaking in the hot springs, then ate a delicious feast until we were full. Miyuki had a little of the mongolian barbecue and was delighted with it.

After our bellies were swollen, Miyuki grew sleepy and went off to bed. Then Ooishi and I reminisced about the time we played mahjong together in Hinamizawa.

It seemed that to celebrate our reunion, Ooishi had looked for people who could play,

but unable to find a suitable candidate, we had to give up on putting together a table.

As we drank together, we excitedly recounted our exploits during the final manhunt...

"...Did they end up catching those two guys?"

"Nooope.

In the end, the search team never found them.

They were probably hidden by the villagers, then sent overseas or somewhere else far away to lay low for a bit."

"Ooishi-san, if I remember correctly, you managed to grab one of their guns, didn't you?

Did you learn anything from that?"

"It was a foreign military pistol.

It's probably from the ones the gangs in Kansai managed to smuggle in a ton of.

We tried to get a match from the rifling, but it didn't show up in any other cases.

...How about on your end?"

"After that, I was removed from the front lines, so I don't know much.

In the end, it seems like everything was settled under the veil of secrecy."

"...Na ha ha ha ha ha..."

Ooishi smiled wryly as he sipped his chilled drink.

"...What happened after that... sure was tough, huh?

...It has been 7 years now?"

"Yeah.

We held the memorial service a few days ago.

I've become estranged with my father-in-law lately, so it was rough getting everything ready."

"...Na ha ha ha.

That must have been a lot of work..."

It was then that the hostess brought in the extra drinks that we had ordered before.

While the bottles of beer clanked as she brought them in, we halted our conversation.

...What Ooishi meant when he said it must have been tough...

Thinking about that was still hard.. but time had healed the wound.

It was the day after.

When I phoned Ooishi to apologize.

When I did, Ooishi almost immediately handed the phone to one of my colleagues, who happened to be there.

Not only was I injured in the brawl with the suspects, but I'd disappeared to drink late into the night without leaving any sort of contact information, so I thought he'd definitely be mad.

However, all he said was that it was something he couldn't talk about over the phone, and that I should come to the station as soon as possible.

At the time, I could only think that he must have been really pissed off.

But when I arrived at the station, he said this:

"It seems your wife was involved in an accident."

Having no idea what happened, I borrowed the phone to contact the hospital Yukie was staying at.

...After being given the runaround several times,

I was finally able to talk to someone in charge... and after mincing words for quite some time,

they told me.

"Yukie Akasaka...

died in an accident."

The world became a blur as I sat there dumbfounded...

Yukie's death was unbelievably abrupt...

unbelievably sudden.

I could have understood if there was some kind of problem during the birth...

But Yukie's death wasn't anything like that.

On the stairs on the way up to the roof...

she just happened to slip...

and fall.

And she just happened to fall on an unfortunate place at an unfortunate angle.

...That was it.

Wanting to blame Yukie's death on somebody, I began to think that it was an act of revenge by the Guardians, that they killed my wife and made it look like an accident.

What I learned when I flew back to Tokyo, however, was much more cruel than that.

Yukie had a habit of going up to the roof to cool off in the evening.

There was an elevator up to the 7th floor, but from there you had to take the stairs to get to the roof.

...Even late in her pregnancy, when the evening came, she would always head up there.

Her father had always said for her not to push herself,

but Yukie insisted that until the time she had no choice but to stay in bed, she should be allowed to do as she wished.

However, I had never once seen Yukie go up to the roof.

I only heard that from her father and the nurses.

...That was because whenever I visited her, she would spend that time with me instead.

I heard the reason why Yukie went up to the roof from a nurse she had become friendly with.

She had said that her husband was away on business a lot of the time.

And that whenever he called, she was able to cheer him up and give him courage...

but when he didn't call, she couldn't do that.

Her husband might put on a show of bravado, but in reality, he grew lonesome pathetically fast.

...She was probably just the same.

Whenever he left for business, not clear when he'd be back... she felt very lonely.

Whenever she cheered him up, she was actually cheering herself up as well.

That's why... whenever he went far away for an important job...

On the evenings he didn't call...

At the very least, she felt that standing underneath the same sky, her feelings would reach him.

At that moment...

I remembered the words that girl had told me.

That it was best that I go back to Tokyo right away...

otherwise there would be something I'd regret horribly.

...Yes, that's it.

Because I was away on business that day, Yukie had headed up to the roof.

Had I known that this would have been the result... Had I done as the girl had said and dropped everything to head back to Tokyo...

I might have been with Yukie on the day she died.

If I was with her, she wouldn't have gone up to the roof.

The day my wife died... was on the evening of the third day of my trip.

Yes.

It was right before the time I had the sudden urge to hear Yukie's voice, and ran around the village trying to find a phone.

The girl had gone around and cut all the phone cords.

...If she hadn't, and I had made that call.

I would have undoubtedly learned of Yukie's death at that time, and collapsed in tears.

Of course, even though the cords were cut, it had only put me off learning of Yukie's death by that one evening.

In the end, I had learned of it the next morning...

However, when I managed to put my emotions in order, I realized it was that girl's small token of consideration.

"....That's the first I've heard about that."

"...Yeah.

...It's the first time I've talked about it."

"Nahahaha...

...could it have been a coincidence?

She doesn't have any special powers or anything."

"...Aren't you the one who told me, Ooishi-san?

That she might be the reincarnation of the god called Oyashiro-sama."

"Well, yeah.

...The old folks in the village believed that Rika Furude had divine powers."

"...Divine powers?"

Ooishi had originally said it as a kind of joke, but realizing that I was serious, he slumped his shoulders.

"I don't know if it's the truth or not.

They said she did things like prophesize the future, or talk about things she should have no way of knowing.

That she was clairvoyant, that it was divine revelation.

Well, all sorts of things.

Of course they couldn't give specific examples, though.

Nahahaha..."

"...She prophesized Yukie's accident."

Ooishi tried to laugh it off, but out of respect to my deceased wife, he kept it restrained.

"Does that mean an active and capable investigator from the Metropolitan Police Department believes in divine powers and curses?"

...Having him say that so bluntly, I couldn't respond.

Of course I had no intention of believing such odd things.

But... he could only say that because he didn't know what I did.

Since I met that other girl, who both was and wasn't Rika Furude...

...I couldn't deny the existence of any otherworldly entity.

"Of course I can't deny that it might not have been prescience, but rather a warning."

Not prescience, but a warning.

...If what that girl has said was a warning about Yukie's accident, then things became much easier to understand.

Basically the line of thinking became that it was a threat... because I didn't go back to Tokyo, my wife was killed in a way that made it look like an accident.

"...Not satisfied with the investigation into your wife's accident?"

"Of course, I suspected foul play.

I pored over the results, and even carried out my own personal investigation."

There weren't any witnesses to Yukie's fall.

There was the possibility that somebody had hidden, waiting to push Yukie down the stairs.

However, the cleaning ladies frequented the roof to hang laundry, and the security cameras on each floor hadn't recorded anything out the ordinary.

There wasn't anything set up on the stairs, and I was unable to find anything suspicious.

"...In the end, even after my personal investigation, I can't think that anything else happened other than a simple accident."

"..."

"Well, of course...

These were the guys that took the Minister's grandson hostage.

It wouldn't be impossible for them to push a lone pregnant woman down the stairs without leaving any evidence."

Ooishi's expression had completely sobered up.

"They...

murdered...

your wife?"

...When Yukie died, I thought that as well.

More precisely, I wanted to blame somebody, so I created the most viable scapegoat.

But without any clear evidence, that violent notion faded along with the wounds in my heart.

"Did that girl know beforehand about my wife's death and was threatening me,

or did she prophesize that death and was offering me a road to salvation?

...If I had to choose between the two, I would tend towards the latter."

"....Na ha ha ha."

Ooishi smiled slightly in disbelief as he poured more beer from his bottle.

"...Then if I may?

If what you say is true, then Rika Furude was a prophet who knew the future.

If so, why didn't she predict that disaster?

If she knew that the gas eruption was going to happen, why did she remain silent?

Even a few hours beforehand would have been enough.

If the village knew, then most of the people would have escaped without dying."

It was near the end of June 1983.

Volcanic gases from the Onigafuchi Swamp erupted and hit the village in the middle of the night.

It was an unprecedented disaster where the whole populace was wiped out.

It caused a wave of panic about volcanic gas across the country, causing people to overreact over any reports of odd smells.

I hadn't heard of the blockade on the Hinamizawa area being lifted, so it should still be cordoned off.

"...That's...

hm."

It was my turn to be lost for a response.

"Well...

If Rika Furude, the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama, was killed, then the village might have incurred the god's wrath, making him call forth the miasma from the swamp to kill everyone.

That explanation is what the survivors are whispering about..."

"Sorry, Ooishi-san.

...Did you just say she was killed?"

"Huh?

....Ah, yeah.

...Well, I don't think it would be a problem if I told you..."

When I saw the news about the gas disaster, I remembered that girl.

I then found her name in the list of victims.

That's why, at the time, I thought her own death she had predicted was due to the gas.

It was after that I learned from the tabloids of the series of mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa during the five years leading up to the disaster that became known as the "curse of Oyashiro-sama."

And that string of mysterious deaths lined up exactly with what that girl had predicted, so I had always thought to ask Ooishi about it, as he had been involved in the investigation.

That's right.

That was the reason for our reunion...

But right now, Ooishi had said:

Rika Furude didn't die in the disaster...

but was killed!?

"...Can I ask you about the last year of the curse?"

"Hmmm... I may be retired, but I still have to keep things confidential, ya know?

Nfu fu fu!"

"Excuse me, madam?

Do you have anything cold that's brewed locally? High-grade, if there is.

I'll leave the selection to you."

"Na ha ha ha!!

Oh my... I didn't mean it that way!"

Ooishi laughed loudly, not wholly unsatisfied, and stopped the hostess to tell her that the cheap booze was fine.

"I know as much as was written in those magazines.

But I don't know anything about the curse that happened the year of the disaster."

"Because the entire area around Hinamizawa was sealed off, you see?

There wasn't much of an investigation that could be done on the last year of the curse.

Even if after several years the quarantine is lifted, the villagers are mostly dead, and what few survivors there were mostly went to stay with relatives, their whereabouts mostly unknown.

...It's a complete dead end."

Ooishi seemed to postulate to himself as he stared at the ceiling, as if trying to work out a memory from the rusty cogs in his head.

And then, he said in a completely sober voice:

"...The magazines made it seem like the curse of the fifth year was that disaster.

...But the actual curse really happened on the day of the Watanagashi festival.

A photographer by the name of Jirou Tomitake.

He was the victim."

Ooishi gestured about how the victim tore out his own throat with his fingernails as he talked.

"And the burnt corpse of the woman Tomitake was in a relationship with was found in the mountains in Gifu.

The Gifu Prefectural Police weren't very cooperative, so I don't know much about it, though."

"...There were two victims in one night?"

"...Hmmm, actually, see.

It wasn't just those two.

...You see, the next day...

...Kumagai-kun, one of my subordinates, disappeared along with his car in the middle of his investigation."

Kumagai was a younger detective that was going to be partnered with Ooishi after we first met.

"He was going around the village to question people about the incident with Tomitake.

...He might have gotten caught up in something.

...If he was with me, he might have been safe... even now it still stings.

That day, for some reason, I did a real number on my stomach.

...I had to pass on going around outside."

"...He got too close to the truth... and was made to disappear?"

"...That's what I think.

Kuma-chan was young and had a promising future ahead of him, but he still didn't have enough experience on the scene...

He wasn't used to dealing with any complications."

Ooishi lamented the fact that he wasn't with his subordinate that day.

"And then, the next day, see.

...Ah, you know him as well, Akasaka-san.

You know, Dr. Irie.

You remember him?"

"...Ahh, that young doctor from the hospital?

I vaguely remember."

"For whatever reason, he committed suicide with sleeping pills.

...No suicide note or anything.

The autopsy confirmed that it was the sleeping pills.

Nothing was in doubt except for the motive."

"....It isn't that hard to make it look like somebody died from taking sleeping pills, is it?

Any possibility it was a murder?"

"He was single, no prior marriages.

It didn't seem like he was going out with anybody in particular.

He was the coach of the local junior baseball team, and was on good terms with the villagers. He was liked by everybody.

...I couldn't find anybody who would want to do him harm.

...Well, any chances to investigate were ruined by the disaster, though.

There's no way to find out anything about him now."

"...

Then, what about Rika Furude's death?"

"It was that day.

Around noon, some of the old folks who were visiting the shrine

discovered the corpse of Rika Furude."

"...Murder?"

"...Before we continue, you should probably stop eating that squid soumen."

"...That bad?"

Ooishi nodded firmly...

"The corpse was found on the shrine grounds, next to the donation box.

...Although she was probably killed somewhere else.

That's because while she was completely naked,

there wasn't any dirt on the soles of her feet."

"...Any sign it was some sort of sexual assault?"

"According to the autopsy, there wasn't any indication of that.

...What we know is that she was rendered unconscious by some sort of drug, carried to that place, then had her abdomen sliced wide open.

Her organs were deliberately removed and scattered about."

"...Unconscious?

...Then, she wasn't cut open after her death?"

"..."

"...That's...

horrible."

That girl's prediction... was right on the mark.

...I'm pretty sure she was more detailed about the other deaths that lead up to her own.

...For example, I think she said that the housewife that was beaten to death on the fourth year had her head split open.

...Then in that case... did she know that her own death would be so terrible...?

There must have been some moments where she wanted to doubt the validity of her own predictions.

But... as people died exactly as prophesized... as the years passed, that prophecy would only come closer to fruition.

And then, facing the final year... unable to struggle against her own destiny... her all-too-young life was snuffed out.

...And in...

...such a cruel way.

Knowing that her days were numbered... and unable to fight the tide of events heralding her end... my heart ached at her helplessness.

"...About the way she died... it seems like it wasn't just somebody's sick tastes.

...What I'm saying is... I've told you before about how Hinamizawa used to be home to demons, didn't I?"

"Yeah... I think I remember..."

"The festival in Hinamizawa village--Watanagashi... the 'Cotton Drifting,' seems to stem from the drifting of entrails.

...It seems that it came from the man-eating demons ripping apart their victims and throwing their organs into the river."

"...In other words... in Hinamizawa, pulling out entrails had some sort of religious meaning?"

".... Well... this is according to the old tales in Hinamizawa, you see.

...To act as an arbitrator so that the humans and the man-eating demons could live together peacefully, a god known as 'Oyashiro-sama' descended from the heavens."

"...If I recall... Rika Furude was said to be the living incarnation of that Oyashiro-sama, wasn't she?"

"Yeah.

So... cutting open Rika Furude, who was a living god, would be to the village nothing less than absolute sacrilege."

"...Absolute sacrilege.

...In other words, you mean sacrilege towards Oyashiro-sama?"

"...The rest you should know, Akasaka-san.

'The Wrath of Oyashiro-sama' would occur that same night."

"The Great Hinamizawa Disaster."

The official explanation was that some swamp upstream erupted with toxic volcanic gas which enveloped the village.

"The swamp where it erupted was called Onigafuchi Swamp.

It was the origin of Hinamizawa's old name, Onigafuchi Village.

According to village lore, the depths of the swamp apparently lead to Hell, where the man-eating demons came from."

"...That almost seems too perfect."

"Oh no no no. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

There was another bit of folklore in the village--if Oyashiro-sama became angry, the cauldron of Hell would open up and miasma would flow out... or so they say."

"...To the villagers, Hell was at the bottom of the swamp.

So basically, the miasma poured out, smothering the village...?"

"Yeah.

Basically: due to the sacrilegious way that Rika Furude--the living incarnation of Oyashiro-sama--was killed, the village incurred the wrath of Oyashiro-sama, in the form of that disaster.

...That seems to be their explanation."

"...So what you're saying is that the disaster wasn't a natural one!?"

"Hmmm... Well everything does seem to fit together a little too well.

If Oyashiro-sama's curse doesn't really exist, and everything really was just a matter of coincidence... I would doubt it."

A wry smile formed on Ooishi's face as he listened to my absurd take on things.

...He wore an expression as though even if it were absurd, there was a time he had thought the same thing as well.

"...In regards to the religious beliefs of the villagers... suppose there was a more fanatical group among them...

...and that group created a situation that would incur 'Oyashiro-sama's wrath,' and enacted the Disaster to make it seem like the truth..."

"...Of course, I won't laugh.

I've wandered down that line of reasoning more than once myself.

However... even though Hinamizawa is a small village, it still has a population of over 1000 people.

To murder that many people in a single night doesn't seem realistic, no matter how you think about it."

The gas eruption was believed to have happened around 2 AM.

Several hours before dawn.

In that short amount of time, going around and killing all the villagers in a way that made it look like poison gas... didn't seem feasible at all.

"...The swamp the gas erupted from still had some religious significance, didn't it?

...If that's the case... then maybe there was something set up in the swamp. Something that could be activated whenever a divine verdict was rendered..."

"According to the JSDF press release, the swamp was declared the source of the eruption.

This was after everything was thoroughly looked over by their investigative team.

If anything like that was set up, I think they would have found it..."

"It wouldn't necessarily have to be in the swamp itself.

...Come on, haven't you ever heard about it?

The old story about how when a faraway spring dried up, the village spring dried up as well."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Many waterways are connected by underground aquifers.

Swamps and springs are only the parts that manage to pop above the surface."

"...Na ha ha ha.

So what you're saying, is that Onigafuchi Swamp is connected to another swamp or spring,

and there's something the villagers rigged up there long ago, something that changes the pressure of Onigafuchi Swamp, causing it to erupt with poison gas?

...Is that what you're getting at?"

Ooishi laughed heartily, commending the fact that the young'uns have a nice flexible way of thinking. That was the former detective in him.

...Even though it was a hypothesis that he didn't come up with, he still had the presence of mind to not dismiss it right away.

"...That's an interesting theory.

...If that proves to be true, then it would be, unprecedentedly, the largest mass murder in the history of Japan."

"Once the quarantine on Hinamizawa Village is lifted, I think it should definitely be investigated.

...Ooishi-san, do you still have any connections with the XX Prefectural Police?"

"Somewhat.

...I'm an honorary advisor for their judo classes, so even now I pop by during summer training camps and such."

"...I don't know when the quarantine on Hinamizawa Village will be lifted... but please, let me help investigate."

"...Got it."

"...Ooishi-san, how do you feel about the string of mysterious deaths in Hinamizawa they call the curse of Oyashiro-sama?"

"...At the time, the villagers were putting a lot of pressure on the station.

The official stance on things was that the cases were unrelated.

That each case was separate, each with its own resolution."

"...That couldn't be.

Even though it was blatantly obvious that the cases were connected, based on the village's religious beliefs?"

"Akasaka-san, we can only say that now because of the rather grandiose way things ended after five years.

...At the time, those coincidental incidents just happened to coincidently occur on the day of Watanagashi.

Just a 'it would be nice if nothing happened this year' kind of feel to it."

"Coincidence?

...The girl predicted everything from the beginning."

"...Girl?"

"Rika Furude.

...That child warned me about all the incidents that would happen afterwards."

"...Akasaka-san,

is that true!?"

"Yes.

...The girl said as much.

That the next year, the dam foreman would be killed, and his corpse dismembered.

Not only that, she warned me of all the events that would transpire in the following years."

"...Akasaka-san, when she told you all of that, what year was it!?"

"When I met the girl, I was investigating the kidnapping incident... so June of 1978."

"...The year before the dismemberment murder."

Wrinkles formed between Ooishi's eyebrows as he closed his eyes and began to digest what I had just told him...

"...Akasaka-san.

If you're wrong about Rika Furude knowing the future through some divine medium... This is getting ridiculous."

"...Yup."

"...If you're just trying to shock me, I'm going to be really angry, you know?"

"I'm... speaking the truth.

...Then the script behind the chain of mysterious deaths was written a year before it even started.

...And, just as predicted, Rika Furude was killed.

...At first, I thought she meant that she would be killed in the disaster.

However... now I know that her death wasn't due to that, but rather an atrocious one at the hands of a murderer.

...She said she would be killed.

...At that point in time, she knew more or less how her own death would occur."

"...Then, why didn't Rika Furude try and run away?"

"..."

"Even if her death was already spelled out for her...

Knowing that, she still had a grace period of several years, didn't she?

She had plenty of time to try and run away or consult the police.

...Why did she just accept her death with no resistance?"

"...I don't know."

"...Even though Rika Furude was doted upon by the older folks in the village, you see...

After she lost her parents, she had no living relatives, and lived a fairly solitary life other than hanging around with some close friends.

...It might have been she didn't have any power to fight or anybody to rely on."

"...She must have tried signaling somebody for help in regards to her own death, though?"

"You know very well that the village and the police weren't very amicable with one another, Akasaka-san.

...At the very least, I never heard anything about Rika Furude seeking protection from anybody."

"..."

"....Or... it could be that she simply resigned herself to being a religious sacrifice...

It could have been something like that."

"There's no way that was the case."

I spoke decisively.

At that time, she said it.

She had definitely said that she wanted to live happily. That she wanted to spend her time surrounded by her dear friends.

She hadn't given up on life. She had hoped to keep on living.

Ah...

At that moment, I became dumbstruck.

"...What's the matter?

Akasaka-san?"

"...No... It's nothing."

I fell into silence.

...Ooishi folded his arms and began murmuring in contemplation again.

Eventually, he stood up and headed towards the hallway to find the hostess, yelling that he wanted a pen and paper.

When Ooishi--noisy even though he was just thinking--left... the room immediately fell into a chilled silence.

I stood up. It was then I realized that I was drunk enough to be unsteady on my feet.

When I slid open the window... a beautiful yet somehow ephemeral moon drifted across the night sky.

It was just now... that I realized.

She hadn't accepted her own death.

She wanted to keep living.

Happily and joyously.

...She had said that quite clearly to me.

But I was a fool.

I hadn't been asked explicitly... so I hadn't realized it.

She had made it clear as day that she didn't want to die.

Wasn't that her cry for help?

She didn't say as much that she wanted help.

But, even given that, it wasn't as though she wasn't looking for salvation.

Without any family and unable to trust the police... she instead told somebody without any relation to the village, somebody from a faraway place... me.

Help me.

She had gone around and cut the phone cords.

If I had made that phone call and learned of Yukie's death, I probably would have fallen into despair.

...If I was in that state, even if she was looking for help, her cries would have fallen on deaf ears.

That's why.

...Knowing everything, she had cut the phone cords.

She wanted even a little time to seek help from me.

Ooishi, just before now... had lamented that one of the younger officers gotten mixed up in a case, having been erased because he wasn't there.

...I was feeling the same way.

If only...

I was there in June of 1983.

I could have protected her.

In 1983, it would have been five years since the kidnapping took place.

While raising the only daughter Yukie had left me, putting all my youth and passion into my work, honing my wits and courage wrestling with difficult cases...

Nothing like my failings during the kidnapping incident would have occurred.

I wouldn't have been slow to react in a one-on-one fight, and by that point I'd jumped into foreign mafia-run gambling parlors where I'd learned to deal with automatic weapons, let alone handguns.

I had grown so much that in 1983 I couldn't have been even compared to how I was in 1978.

That's why...

If I was by her side, I should have been able to save her life.

No matter what conspiracy or foul plots drew near, I definitely would have protected her!

She, even though sounding resigned, should have still been able to ask me for help.

I just didn't realize it. I couldn't realize it.

Just as I wouldn't have realized it if I was told of Yukie's accident, I wasn't able to realize it.

I wanted to cry.

If I had taken her words to heart, I would have prevented Yukie's accident.

And I would have been able to protect the girl to whom I owed a debt from even a predetermined death.

She must have been expecting that from me!!

I learned about the disaster while watching television in my house.

Until I learned about that, I had forgotten about Hinamizawa.

In order to recover from the shock of Yukie's death, I had tried to remove everything about the place from my memory.

What an ungrateful fool I was!

Even though in exchange for saving her, the girl had told me of a way to save Yukie?

I was unable to accept her gratitude, and now here we were...!

...She hadn't died in her sleep due to a natural disaster.

...She was split open while still alive, killed while suffering the disgrace of having her organs torn out.

She must have known beforehand, that on that day on that year, she would be killed in such a terrifying way.

But even knowing what end awaited her, she was all too weak.

A lone girl, without anybody to rely upon, unable to seek help, had to swallow her own predetermined death,

and left this mortal coil.

She said she wanted to live.

She said she just wanted to live happily.

That's all she wanted.

She didn't ask for anything extravagant!

For any person that was ever born, it was the very basest of desires!!

She never said a peep about wanting money or that she wished she was in somebody else's situation!!

She had said it.

That if all deaths were pre-ordained, then hers was probably also all according to plan.

She might have been a lone, frail girl, but I don't think she would have accepted it all without at least putting up a fight.

There must have been... in some small way...

...some form of resistance that she mustered.

And with what she could muster... seeking my help was part of that!!

"Goddammit!!!"

I howled.

I stomped the floor.

Why did I become a police officer in the first place?

How could I call myself an officer if I couldn't save a single girl from the misfortune that was awaiting her!?

Was it because there was so much going on at that time I couldn't process the fact that she was asking for help?

Yeah, that's right. I was still green!

If I was in that situation now, I would have definitely been able to help her!!

But... it was already all over.

Even if I wanted to settle the regrets she left behind, Hinamizawa, as a dangerous area, was still quarantined.

Most of the people involved were already dead, with the few that did remain spread around the country, unable to be traced.

The stage of that tragedy was still off limits as well.

The police investigation was put on hold, the case slowly being buried in the sands of time.

...Just like how I wouldn't have known unless Ooishi had asked me about it!!

"...Akasaka-san.

...Are you okay?"

At some point Ooishi had returned with a notebook in hand.

Until I saw the expression on Ooishi's face, I didn't realize that I was in tears.

"...I... never realized!!

I never realized... she wanted help!!"

"...Akasaka-san.

...Calm down."

"But... it's all too late now!!

She was killed!!

In such an atrocious manner!!

She was counting on me... but I couldn't save her!

I couldn't save her!!!"

"...I might also be at fault for not building up an amicable relationship with the village.

...If Rika Furude had told me about it, I might have been able to extend a helping hand.

...I wasn't able to build up enough trust for that.

...That's something I regret."

When Ooishi said the word "trust," it weighed on me even more.

Yes.

She had given me her trust.

She trusted me.

Meaning that she thought that I would have been able to ward off the fate of her foreseen death.

She believed in that!

I cried. I fell to my hands and knees as I began to bawl.

...Eventually, Ooishi spoke quietly.

"Akasaka-san.

...Does it upset you?"

"...It does!!!"

"Then...

...there's only one way worth mentioning for Rika Furude to have her revenge."

"Is there really?

Is there a way to do that!?"

Ooishi showed me the pen and notebook.

"...In order to properly mourn the death of Rika Furude, we have to at least find out the truth."

"...The truth..."

"Yes. And not just Rika Furude.

Lots of people died.

Their lament must be immeasurable.

But their deaths were left unsettled because of the disaster, and now we can't even investigate them, as their memory fades into oblivion.

Many people died!!

The ol' man was killed, Kuma-chan was erased. Everybody was a victim!!

But the police can't even investigate it!!

Who's going to take care of their parting regrets?

Only we can!!

Akasaka-san!!"

"...We find... the truth..."

"Yeah!!

We'll find it!

I've been around every one of the string of mysterious deaths, and know all of the inner workings of the village. You were told an important truth the year before they happened by Rika Furude!! We can do it!"

"...But ...they're already dead... ooh...!!"

"That's right.

Rika Furude died.

You were too inexperienced, so you couldn't save her!!"

"Wahhhhhhhhh!!!!"

Ooishi grabbed me, who was a wreck, and lifted me firmly by the lapels.

"That's why!!!

To atone for that, we reveal the truth!!!

If what you say is true, then all the incidents were part of some greater design!

If that's the case, then how we investigate needs to change completely!!

...I intend to spend tonight summarizing all the information you and I have, and then get in contact with one of my former subordinates first thing in the morning.

...We're not going to let the case go cold!!

We're definitely going to crack it wide open!!"

"...Crack it open.

...Crack it open!!"

"We will.

Several years have passed, but it's not beyond the statute of limitations.

Even if the case has been postponed, it's not closed.

It's still going.

We're going to keep it going!!"

"Yeah... you're right!!

Let's do it, Ooishi-san!

I won't let it end like this!!

I'm certain... we will uncover the truth!!

We absolutely will!!!"

I demonstrated my resolve to Ooishi... by crying out those words.

And just then,

"...Papa?"

The sliding door behind me opened... and Miyuki revealed herself while sleepily rubbing her eyes. My shouting must have awoken her. Then she rushed over to me.

"What's wrong, Papa?

...Papa, why are you crying?"

"Ah... Oh.

It's nothing, Miyuki. It's nothing..."

I tried hard to smile while wiping away my tears. And though Miyuki looked like she was about to cry herself, she extended her little hand to me.

"Are you all right?

...Did you have another scary dream?

Don't cry, Papa..."

"......"

And when she makes that gesture toward me... I saw the figure of another girl overlapping with her.

And her... innocent gaze and innocent expression felt frustratingly nostalgic, filling me with painful torment.

A girl who couldn't be here because I didn't reach out to her.

She borrowed my daughter's body to offer me words of comfort...

"...Akasaka.

Please don't cry."

It might be a hallucination.

Maybe a convenient illusion formed from my selfish dreams.

However.

That was her voice... I'm certain I heard it.

Rather than blaming me for my mistake... she was compassionate.

(...Aah, why am I crying?

After all, I have something more important to do than crying!!)

"...Miyuki.

Before you were born... Papa met a girl in Hinamizawa who was like an angel."

"An angel? Really?!"

"Yeah, she was cute, and kind...

I wanted her to meet you, Miyuki..."

Right... that's already an impossible wish.

That future is already gone.

"Hee~!

Then I want to be friends with that girl!"

"Eh...?"

"Ehehe... I'm looking forward to it!

Next time you go, take me with you!

To Hinamizawa...!"

Even so... there's still something I can do...!!

"...

Ah, of course...

We'll meet her together, someday.

...I'm sure of it...!!"

"Yep♪."

Some day, I'm sure.

We will see her again.

That summer,

the higurashi cried

in Hinamizawa...

Ooishi and I vowed to bring the truth of the case to light, and stood up.

Everything ended in 1985.

I, at least wanting to apologize, had searched for her grave.

After the state autopsy, her remains were entrusted to one of the shrine's followers.

In the future, when the quarantine on the Hinamizawa area was lifted, they would be returned to her family grave.

However, unsure who exactly took the remains of Rika Furude, until today I couldn't even apologize to her.

In the future, when the quarantine on Hinamizawa is lifted...

all I could do then was wait until whoever that person is returned to the grave.

What I could do right now was not apologize to her.

Instead, until I was able to meet her again... I would reveal the truth and dispel her regrets.

Even now, sporadic eruptions of gas in the Hinamizawa area meant that the prospect of the quarantine being lifted wasn't happening anytime soon.

Most likely... it seemed that she had no intention of meeting me again until I found the truth.

That's why the quarantine wouldn't be lifted, or so I thought.

Until the day I grasped the truth.

It was the following year.

Ooishi and I co-authored a book on the string of mysterious deaths leading up to the Great Hinamizawa Disaster.

I decided on the title.

"Higurashi - When They Cry"

That was because for those few days I was in Hinamizawa, the sound that I remembered the most was the cry of the higurashi.

I could only wish that based on this book, those people involved with that incident could refresh their memories, and bring to light a new truth.

And more importantly: that nothing like this ever happens again.

I wrote this in the afterword:

This year, the quarantine on Hinamizawa still hasn't been lifted.