"...Kei-chan, are you serious?

I'm going to get really mad if this is a joke."

I scolded Keiichi for suspecting that Rika had disappeared.

"Mii-chan.

If it really is a joke, don't get mad, smile.

It would be a joke, after all.

...We need to go make sure whether it's a joke or not."

"......You're right.

...Sorry for getting upset."

Rena rebuked me.

While she looked quiet, I felt that she could be very terrifying under her skin.

I had no basis for that impression, but I still felt that way...

I just didn't like her. I had disliked her ever since that rainy day at the bus stop.

It wasn't that we didn't get along, though.

How should I put it?

...I was at a loss for how to explain.

Ah...

that was it.

I found a good example.

When I was little, I always wanted to play tennis.

I had my relatives take me to a tennis court, and they all praised my skill.

I was doing nothing more than hitting a ball with a racket.

But they told me I was talented, and that made me happy.

When I went to school, I told my classmates I played tennis, and they told me that I was talented too.

Then...

one of my classmates, who was usually very quiet, said she also played tennis.

Not only did she play, but she took lessons.

Although I'd bragged about my serve, I was no match for her.

I felt lonely and insulted that everyone was paying attention to her and not me.

She was usually very quiet

but suddenly, I realized that she knew more and had a lot more experience than me.

Rena at the bus stop was just like that.

I thought of myself as a demon now.

I'd awakened a part of me that was half human and half demon, the part that lived in Onigafuchi Village.

In fact, I'd already stepped into a world where normal humans couldn't go.

I'd already surpassed my human limits.

I genuinely thought of myself as a superior being, having transcended the realm of mortals.

But... when my eyes met with Rena Ryuugu's,

I felt what I did long ago, with tennis.

...Why?

Why did I feel that way with Rena?

I'd heard that in the animal world, during battle, animals glare at each other to display their strength.

Only humans have to punch or kick each other to feel superiority or inferiority.

Most animals can tell just by glaring at each other.

In that case...

Could it be the same with Rena...?

"Mii-chan, are you okay?"

"Hmm?

Ah, ah, yeah, sorry!

I haven't slept since yesterday, y'know... Sorry..."

Keiichi climbed up a ladder and tried to peek into the window on the second floor where Rika and Satoko lived.

It was my job to hold down the ladder.

Rena cautioned me to hold onto it tightly.

"Mii-chan, I'm going to go check the main house just to be sure, okay?

I'll be right back!"

"A-Ah, okay.

Be careful!"

Rena ran off after that.

When I looked up, I saw Keiichi trying to open a window, but all of them were locked.

"...What did Rena mean by 'main house'?"

Keiichi asked me from the top of the ladder.

"It's the Furude family's actual house.

After her parents passed away, I think it's been left like that."

"....Ah... right.

...Rika-chan's parents... they passed away, huh?"

"Satoko's also an orphan.

...Her parents fell from a cliff because of Oyashiro-sama's curse.

...Then her older brother, Satoshi-kun... he disappeared..."

"...Satoshi... I've heard that name before."

He'd heard the name before?

I felt anger growing inside of me.

Don't you know whose desk you're using every day? You act as if it belongs to you.

You drop food on it while eating lunch.

You drool on it while taking a nap... Don't you know who it really belongs to?

....Why am I acting this way? I'm Mion.

Satoshi-kun doesn't even exist anymore.

...He was demoned away. It's hardly Keiichi's fault that he didn't know.

It really isn't his fault...

"Satoko and Rika-chan have been living in this shack ever since.

Neither of them has any family, but at least they're together.

...They help each other out."

"...Didn't Rena say there was a main house?

Wouldn't it be easier to live there...?"

"I think she tried that at first.

...She said it was hard, though, because it reminded her of her parents."

After everyone in Satoko's family died, she started living with Rika.

It only made sense.

Satoko and Rika were best friends.

They didn't care about the Houjou family or the Furude family. They had been best friends since before the dam conflict.

The reason why the curse never fell upon Satoko...

Rika Furude probably had a lot to do with it.

That made more sense than anything else, at least.

Satoko was pardoned from the curse of the Houjou family.

All thanks to Rika Furude's arrangements!

Satoko had never been a victim on the night of Watanagashi.

According to the curse system I'd uncovered,

the last survivor of the Houjou family still living in Hinamizawa would be the perfect target for this year's curse.

Therefore, whoever was responsible for executing the curse must have tried to take her life.

However, nothing happened to her...

Proving that Satoko had escaped from the curse.

......That was really and truly infuriating.

She might have been the head of the Furude family, but I still couldn't accept that such a little girl had enough power to protect her best friend.

Mion, no, actually Shion... Shion must have had the same power, then!!

Just like Rika protected Satoko, Shion could have protected Satoshi!!

Damn it, damn it...

"...Rika-chan

......

and Satoko-chan...

they have it hard, huh."

"She's cursed."

"...Huh?"

"...Mion...

what...

did you

just say?"

"I said, she's cursed."

"...Mi... Mion, you... Why are you making that face...?"

"Satoko Houjou...

...She's been cursed by Oyashiro-sama."

I can't accept that Satoko was pardoned from the curse although she was a member of the cursed Houjou family.

She was one of the cursed Houjous!!

Satoshi-kun wasn't pardoned, but Satoko was!!

She was cursed, but she got away!!

She escaped the curse, but Satoshi-kun didn't... I can't accept that!!

In fact, Satoko should have been the one to be cursed the most!!

She cornered Satoshi-kun physically and emotionally!

That was why things got weirder and weirder, and in the end, everything went crazy.

When I think back on it, it was Satoko who I hated most of all!!

She cornered Satoshi-kun,

*****************************

and as a result,

Satoshi-kun disappeared!!

She started it.

She caused it!!

If only she hadn't been there!!

Just as Rika Furude and Satoko had lived happily... maybe there had been a happy future for me too.

Maybe Satoshi-kun and I could have started our lives together in Okinomiya!!

Yes, if I look at both the beginning and the end, it's so obvious!

Satoko's existence caused everything.

Satoshi-kun had to kill his aunt because of Satoko, the Three Families used that need to create the curse, and then they killed him!!!

...The police were convinced he just ran away, but he'd never do that.

He was the type of person who always did his best at everything...

All by himself.

He was doing the very best he could for his only sister, yet he was forced to vanish.

He worked so hard for Satoko!

And though he was living just for her, he was erased.

Poor Satoshi-kun.

He was so underappreciated.

That girl knew no gratitude.

...She was cursed.

If you got near her, you'd meet the same fate.

You'd be cursed to die

or disappear.

That really was it: she was the main cause behind it all.

She wormed her way into Rika Furude's good graces, and that was why the curse fell upon Satoshi-kun.

She should have died first.

Then Satoshi-kun would be still alive.

If he was alive, I could have done something for him!!

I can't forgive her.

I can't forgive Satoko.

I can't forgive that girl.

There can be no peace with her,

there can be no peace...

She was the perfect target for the curse of 1983.

The curse of Oyashiro-sama.

...Rika Furude, the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama.

Rika was dead.

The reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama had died.

There was no more god in Hinamizawa to deliver the curse.

I'm the one who has to deliver it now!

I am Mion Sonozaki, the head of the Sonozaki family, one of the Three Families of Onigafuchi!!

Now that all the heads of the three families are gone, there is nobody to surpass me.

I will deliver the curse of Oyashiro-sama, and nobody else!

I'll deliver it.

I am the curse.

I have become Oyashiro-sama!!

I felt hot bubbles boiling over deep inside of me.

I could tell the demon inside of me wanted to roar.

...I noticed Keiichi was looking down at me.

Calm down, Mion.

He can't tell what you're thinking.

Calm down, calm down.

At that point, I heard footsteps coming closer.

I saw four or five adults, accompanied by Rena, running toward us with flashlights in their hands.

One of them opened the lock on the cabin door, and we all went inside.

Of course, there was nobody there.

Satoko and Rika lived alone.

I doubted Satoko would have left a note saying she was going over to the Sonozaki house when Rika was there already.

But it wouldn't be fun if she had.

Because of that, I hurried into the room ahead of Rena to make sure there was nothing left behind.

The rumor of Rika and Satoko's disappearance spread around the village quickly. More and more villagers gathered at the Furude Shrine.

Acting in place of the head of the Sonozaki family, I commanded them to search the village.

The villagers nodded and scattered.

How long had it been since the last time I was truly Mion?

I felt so pleased that my body almost went numb...

Lots of villagers went in and out of the shrine.

They yelled at each other that she was nowhere to be found.

Some suggested other places to look

and they all left.

They made a lot of noise with their comings and goings.

Members of the women's association brought out huge pots and gas cookers from the storage and got ready to cook for the men.

That was when I noticed Keiichi unsteadily walking toward a copse of dark pine trees.

What was he thinking? How stupid of him to be alone on a night like this.

If a person responsible for executing the curse was nearby, he wouldn't come back safely...

"Mion-chan, we went all around Ojaga Lake, but didn't find anything.

We tried to light up the pond, but we're going to have to wait until the sun is up."

"Okay, thanks for your hard work.

The women are making some miso soup, so please rest up and have some."

"Mion-chan, do you know where they usually park their bicycles?"

"No...

They probably parked them at the bottom of the stairs leading up here.

I don't think they'd come up while carrying them."

"We can't find their bicycles.

Where did they go...?"

"If they left on their bikes,

they could have gone pretty far...

Maybe even as far as the town..."

"In that case, we'll have to look outside of Hinamizawa..."

"By the way, who first noticed that Rika-chama was gone?"

"Hmm?

Ah, it was Kei-chan.

He suddenly had a hunch...."

"Oh, that Maebara kid, huh?

Mmmm, he's a little suspicious."

"Speaking of which, why hasn't the Maebara family shown up when we're in a crisis like this?"

"The Maebaras still haven't joined the town council, so they're not in the youth group's phone directory."

"Really? Well, ain't no helping it then."

"Huh?

They joined, didn't they?

I think it's just that their name isn't in the directory yet...

The last time we updated it was at the beginning of the year.

They just moved here, so that's why they aren't on it."

"That Maebara kid's hunch is still suspicious."

"They do say the first one on the scene is the most suspicious."

"Where did he go?"

"I saw him walking toward the pine trees.

Can someone go get him?"

Conveniently, I saw Keiichi and Rena walking back toward us.

"...Kei-chan, where did you go?

I was worried you'd disappeared too!"

".........Sorry..."

It looked like nothing had happened to Keiichi.

If so, that's fine.

That means I took care of all of my enemies.

"...Oh, my, my, my...!

I knew I smelled something good coming from over here.

I'd be much obliged if you'd allow me to have some."

I heard the loud, sticky voice of a middle-aged man.

It was Ooishi.

He must be confused about this year's incident.

The scale of the curse this time is nothing like the previous ones.

Ooishi's information network is about equal to or better than that of the elders on the town council.

In other words, he could easily uncover a rumor that was circulating through the underside of the village.

He must've came here to see if the disappearances of Kimiyoshi and Rika had something to do with the changing of the lock on the ritual storehouse's door.

The police will come for me sooner or later.

I am Mion Sonozaki.

By removing all of the heads of the Three Families, my enemies, I have become the head in their place.

I can't allow Mion Sonozaki to continue existing.

I'll have to destroy the existence of the head of the Sonozaki family.

When I destroy my own position, that is when my revenge will come to an end.

More than likely, I'll have Ooishi witness my final moments.

My eyes and Ooishi's met.

...Damn it, he thinks I'm suspicious already.

You're right, Ooishi.

I did it.

Mion Sonozaki, the head of the Sonozaki family, is the culprit.

...Heh, heh, heh!!