"Mion-saaaaan!

Your friend is here!!"

I heard the housekeeper's voice.

Our house and the front yard are huge, so unlike normal houses, ringing a doorbell, or

yelling

my

name

repeatedly

asking to play won't work.

"Okay, thank you.

Who is it?"

"Rika Furude-chama."

"Oh, finally.

Can you tell Granny that Rika-chama is here?

I think she's on the porch.

I'll get the watermelon."

Granny received many beautiful watermelons from somebody, so she wanted to share.

I just called the Furude house a short time ago, and Rika-chan is here to pick one up.

...Did she come on her bicycle?

I can't remember if it has a big enough basket.

I pulled the watermelon from the well while thinking about that.

The cold water in the well has refrigerated the watermelon, and the condensation makes it look delicious.

The three members of the Furude family will enjoy it for at least two nights.

"......Meep?

Am I supposed to take it home?

I thought..."

"What?

Didn't your dad tell you?!"

The priest answered the phone and I thought I told him to come pick it up...

Maybe I wasn't clear enough, or maybe he misunderstood me completely,

but she's here to eat the watermelon, not to take it home.

Besides, the small basket on Rika-chan's bicycle won't hold the watermelon

and it's too dangerous for her to ride while holding it in her hands.

"Mion, why don't you help Rika-chama take the watermelon?

There's no way she can ride her bicycle while carrying it."

"......Meep.

I can hold the watermelon."

"No, no, that's too dangerous!

If something happened to you, I wouldn't know what to say to Oyashiro-sama.

Mion will help you."

"Okay, okay, I will.

I'll go say hello to the priest too."

No matter whether she rides or pushes her bicycle, Rika-chan's hands will be occupied.

So I'm going to carry the watermelon.

The sky is turning auburn in the sunset.

The cool breeze feels good on my sandaled feet.

The plastic bag I'm carrying contains the watermelon

and also some small bags of rock candy.

If her mother finds them she'll take them away, so we decided to eat them before we got to her home. We opened the bags and enjoyed the rock candy.

Rika-chan isn't an exception.

Whenever kids from our neighborhood come to our house for errands, Granny gives them some treats.

Actually, that's a pretty common rule here in Hinamizawa.

It's funny, but sometimes when parents aren't watching, siblings will fight over who gets to take the circular notice to the next house over.

...So these bags of rock candy are like tips for them.

Of course, she doesn't normally give out this much.

Usually it's just a little piece of it.

...Granny is being extra nice to Rika-chama.

"......I feel bad getting all this candy."

"Don't worry.

Granny loves you.

You should just thank her and put a big smile on your face, that's all."

"...Do you get lots of treats?"

"Hmm, I used to!

But at this age, they don't give me any.

If they did though, I would probably feel I was being treated like a little kid."

"......Meep.

I'm being treated like a child then."

"Ahahahahaha, that's okay!

Enjoy it while you can.

When you become as old as me, you won't get any even if you wanted some."

As we talked about ordinary things, I noticed Rika-chan seemed a little sad.

"What's wrong?"

"............Whenever I run errands,

I get candy as a treat.

But Satoko doesn't get any even if she comes with me."

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

I can think of so many reasons why.

Not only Satoko, but everyone in the Houjou family is being treated poorly in Hinamizawa.

And the Sonozaki family are the ones who instigated that.

The two dam supporters have died in an accident already.

But the malice against the Houjou family is still going.

It's directed against Satoko and Satoshi, their children,

and the aunt and uncle who are taking care of them.

The big fight between the Houjou family and the Sonozaki family at the explanatory meeting started all this.

But that was the Houjou couple, and it shouldn't have anything to do with the children and their aunt and uncle.

But the idea that "the Houjou family are traitors" evolved on its own. Therefore, anyone bearing the Houjou name is to be treated poorly.

The aunt and uncle weren't dam supporters.

So over time, the attacks towards them should have stopped.

...But they're rather odd

and they keep having trouble with their neighbors.

They don't follow the community rules, they don't do their community duties, and they spray pesticide while their neighbors' laundry is still hanging outside.

They often get into fights with the other villagers. They'd be hated even without the dam.

Therefore, the Houjou family continues to be treated poorly.

But none of that should have anything to do with Satoko and Satoshi.

Satoko and Satoshi are often depressed at school.

I tried to leave the conflict between the two families aside

but I wonder how they really feel about that.

From their point of view, I'm just another member of the family that keeps harassing them.

"I don't want any of that at school.

That's why I try to be their friend while we're there."

"...How can we get that to extend outside too, instead of staying in the school?"

......That'd be pretty difficult.

The Houjou family made enemies of the Three Families.

They were branded as traitors, and that's still considered the truth.

It wouldn't mean anything if one person suggested an end to the hostilities just because the events around the dam are history now.

On the contrary, that would just put them in the same position.

Unfortunately for Satoko and Satoshi,

the only thing they can do is to wait patiently until the issue withers away.

All I can do for them is provide an oasis until that day comes.

"......So how long do they have to wait?"

"I don't know.

The dam conflict lasted for several years.

They were branded back then,

so it might take years to clear up too."

"......Do you mean

they won't be forgiven until they become adults?

Will Satoko have to live out her childhood going through that?"

"That's

pretty miserable, isn't it..."

"......Mii,

we are their friends, aren't we?"

"Sure,

they're my friends.

We're all buddies."

"......Then isn't there something we can do to help our friends?"

"......What

exactly can we do?"

Even if the Sonozaki family declares that the dam conflict is over, so the Houjou family are no longer outcasts, that won't solve the problem.

It's not that simple.

In the first place, Granny hates the Houjou family and won't suffer their name to be mentioned in her presence.

It's not a matter of someone forgiving another.

It's a matter of very complicated ties between the people in this village.

It's absolutely terrifying to have them as your enemies.

Everyone knows that very well and that's why they maintain good relationships with their neighbors.

However if you make enemies out of them, you'll have to face the consequences.

That's the unwritten law of the Japanese community.

And the Sonozaki family is a part of this unwritten law.

Now that the Houjou family are outcasts, not even the Sonozaki family can overturn the situation.

"......So even if it's an issue of Hinamizawa, we can't do anything about it as Hinamizawa residents?"

".........Unfortunately... that's probably so, yeah.

If there's someone who can help Satoko,

that person must be someone who has nothing to do with the village.

But there's no one like that here."

"...Are you saying someone from the outside has to come help her?"

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

Like Rika-chan says, would a knight in shining armor from the outside world ever come here?

Would that person bring in a new wind into this village that has been filled with stale air for hundreds of years?

No way.

That's just wishful thinking.

Time will solve the problem someday...

Until then, I have to be their ally.

I can't think of anything else I can do for them.

As Rika-chan and I crunched on our rock candy, we can only pray that people will forgive Satoko and her family sooner rather than later...

Rika-chan gently broke the heavy silence.

"......I know."

"Eh?"

"......I know someone who has absolutely nothing to do with the village will come here from the outside."

"That's right.

The dam conflict is over, so it'd be great if more people moved into those lots that are for sale.

Wouldn't it be fun if a family with a kid our age moved in?"

"......He will come.

I know.

And we'll break this evil practice alongside him.

That will be the first key to one of the three locks that have us trapped in the past."

"......Eh?

What's this?

Are you talking about a novel or something?"

Rika-chan says some odd things sometimes.

When she talks that way, she seems so mature... I even start to doubt she's really younger than I am.

The unreasonable antagonism towards the Houjou family...

Will there really be someone from the outside who will shatter our old traditions?