............At first, I thought it was a dream.

...I was staring at this strange sheet... not really understanding what it was.

...That was all.

I didn't go after it, nor did I ridicule it.

The fact was that the boring view was the ceiling of my own room... but I didn't realize that for a fairly long time.

...Yes.

...I thought I had been dreaming... but I had actually been staring at the ceiling... the whole time.

Lethargy induced by the voices of the cicadas.

...Even after I realized I was awake, I couldn't draw forth the energy to sit up...

......Everything I could see, everything I could hear—everything was like a television broadcast that had already ended.

...It was hot.

...So hot I could choke on the heat.

...My back was moist with night sweats... and it felt gross.

...Unable to endure it any longer, I tossed in my futon... and finally, blood started coursing through my brain...

I lazily recalled... the long day... I had yesterday.

The reality... as I lay here listening to the voices of the cicadas... and yesterday, so different from it.

...In order to kill Satoko's uncle... I had rehearsed, formulated a plan... and dug a hole.

...It was... very hot, and I was tired, wasn't I...?

...And when evening came... I went to school and called him out on the phone.

...I panicked for a moment when he asked where the police station was... but it worked out.

...And then I awaited him... and swooped down.

...I couldn't remember anymore what sort of emotions I'd let control my body.

...In any case... it didn't go smoothly...... but I did it.

...It was very hard to dig the hole for the body.

...That feel of the rain pelting down on me... I don't think I'll ever forget it.

...The rain, the mud, and the sprays of blood.

...The sensation of floundering in a swamp.

......When I met Takano-san on the way home... that wasn't good, no matter how I interpreted it.

...It was the most misfortunate and uncalculated thing that had happened that night.

Everything would have been perfect... if only I hadn't encountered her.

...............Haa...

I was just riding my bike, with my shovel in one hand, through the downpour, utterly soaked.

......There was no way someone could surmise I was a murderer burying a body just from that information.

...Now that I was thinking calmly, napping under the morning sun, that's what I thought.

Still... the more I think about Takano-san's eyes...

...It seemed like she understood.

...Takano-san... s h e k n e w.

...That I'd killed someone...

buried them...

and that I'd been on my way home,

exhausted.

...Takano-san wouldn't gain anything from selling me out to the police.

...But that didn't mean I could feel at ease.

"......I should... have killed her........."

I had crossed such a bridge... to get my tranquil life back...

And I'd finally achieved it as a result...

...But now, for the rest of my life... for all the tranquil days starting today... I'd have to live in fear of when they could suddenly end.

I may have twisted my ankle, dulled from total exhaustion...

The fact that I couldn't make the snap judgment I needed to... I regretted it more and more as time went on...

...You didn't have a choice, Keiichi Maebara.

...You didn't have any choice at the time.

You were tired.

You were a mess.

...Even if you had made the decision... you might not have even been able to kill her.

...She might have just beaten you instead.

In that sense, parting ways uneventfully could have been the safer option.

...No matter how sharp Takano-san's intuition was, she had no proof.

...Her suspecting me didn't amount to evidence by itself.

".........Logically, I know that.

...But... that doesn't mean I have nothing to worry about, does it...?"

...Just worry about it when the time comes.

...Now isn't the time to be worrying.

...It's the time to be smiling, right?

You accomplished so much, just to gain a new life starting today, didn't you?

...Then you should be happy at this new morning.

...If remembering the past is too hard for you... then just consider everything up to yesterday as having never happened.

You said so yourself.

...You'd bury it all like it never happened.

Well, your wish came true.

Everything before yesterday never happened.

...So be happy, Keiichi Maebara.

"............Yay."

I stuck up my hands lazily.

...It felt a little silly for me to be the one doing it.

I heaved a sigh from deep in my belly.

...That sigh got my lungs moving.

It felt like I hadn't been breathing until just now.

...It wasn't enough to admonish myself over.

All the dice that could be thrown already had been.

...And the numbers that turned up... weren't bad at all.

...If I lost with those numbers... then I'd just have to give up, I guess.

...I grabbed the chest of my pajamas and flapped it back and forth.

...Cool air flowed over my sweating body.

Okay.

...Nothing before yesterday... happened.

Nothing.

Nothing at all.

...I'd forget it all. Yesterday was all a dream!

What time was it?

...About midday?

...Getting myself up and going to school this late seemed kind of absurd.

...But I needed to go.

I felt like going to school would be the first step into my peaceful new life.

...I didn't care how late it was; I would go.

...I'd go to school right now and get back to the life I had retaken as soon as I could.

My lazy body immediately became lighter at the thought.

I rolled up out of the futon, bounced onto my knees, then leaped upright.

"Nice. Stuck the landing!"

I stuck out my chest with pride at my gymnast-like pose, then took a deep breath of fresh air.

...The brisk morning air had been gone for a while, replaced by the crisp air of summer.

Downstairs, I got a stern talking to by my mother—where were you last night? When did you get back? You need to tell me when you won't be home for dinner—things like that.

...But considering the importance of what I'd accomplished yesterday, a little scolding was no problem.

...In fact, it even felt like the sort of thing that would happen in such a peaceful life.

I listened with an irresponsible smile... and stepped out into the sun high overhead.

It was around the time lunch break would be ending.

...Everyone... would probably be worrying about me.

I didn't go to the festival, and now I wasn't at school.

...Well... Maybe they weren't too worried about it.

Since... they would have gotten a small piece of news, but a happy one, from Satoko today.

...Yes, the small piece of news... that her uncle hadn't come home last night.

Satoko would probably live her days in nervous tension for a while... thinking he might still come home.

...But eventually, those days would end.

And finally, Satoko, too... would realize her uncle was never coming back.

And then... Rika-chan would quietly invite her.

...She would say, "you can live with me again."

And everything would be back to normal.

...Our lives would go back to how they were before that man appeared.

Satoko would start wearing that extraordinary smile, complete with those protruding canines... and fool everyone with those traps she was so proud of.

...I'd probably be her first target out of everyone... but I wouldn't be mad.

In fact, I might actually shed tears of joy at the return of something so normal.

Satoko... She'd gradually grow back into that meddlesome personality of hers.

...I mean, my lack of useful life skills was already completely exposed.

...I wondered if I'd ever be a match for Satoko.

...But that would be such a pleasant thing to see too.

And with such warm, fuzzy predictions... I didn't feel bad for going to school so late.

...In fact, I wanted to run there now to get there as soon as I could.

Instead, I decided to savor the peacefulness of just going to school like normal, without running.

...The world I'd obtained for myself... that gave me joy just by walking like this.

Yes.

...The world beginning on this very day was something I had won.

Without that monumental feat yesterday, I would never have been able to come to school so cheerfully today.

...The school gate came into sight.

Just then, I heard the principal ringing the bell to mark the end of lunch break.

It was a clear, refreshing sound.

...I stopped despite myself... and let myself take it in.

...Tap.

I had stopped suddenly.

......So there was an extra footstep.

........................

With a noise... the blessedness I was feeling... throughout my whole body... withdrew into any pore it could find.

...And as if to replace it... I felt like... hundreds of hairy caterpillars were climbing up my feet.

I turned back, but of course, nobody was there.

...A single footstep could have easily been my imagination.

...But... the footstep... felt so ominous.

That extra footstep I had heard... after seeing Takano-san off last night.

With everything that happened on that insane night... I didn't mind something like that happening once.

...It had been a hell of a night, after all.

...In fact, having just one hallucination was pretty fortunate.

But... those footsteps should have ended with yesterday, so if I heard them again today...?

...There was really...

...

...

only one thing it could have meant.

...Last night still wasn't over.

...It was still going.

...Still.

That insane night—forever.

The step I heard.

Just that one extra footstep... was quietly, quietly ridiculing the nonsensical notion...

that the world starting today was completely different from the one that ended yesterday...

My classmates playing in the schoolyard all vanished inside like the tide going out.

...When I approached the school... it felt like that warm, fuzzy scene had ended... and it didn't feel good.

At the entrance... I took a quick look in everyone's shoe boxes.

...Satoko Houjou...

She was here.

...Mion was here too.

And Rena, of course.

...Even Rika-chan was here.

...Tomita-kun and Okamura-kun were here... In fact, I didn't see any missing classmates.

If there were shoes missing... they would have to be my own.

I took my shoes off and stuck them in... then took out some slippers.

There wasn't a single pair left in the shoe boxes anymore.

......With that, they returned to their rightful state.

...But as I stepped up onto the wooden floor... I noticed there was just one pair of slippers left.

...Huh...... Whose...?

".........Satoshi

...Houjou..."

Satoshi, who had never been to school since... disappearing last year.

...Until now, we had committed the exact same act of violence... but I guess in the very end, it went differently.

You couldn't make it to school... but here I am.

I didn't repeat the same mistake you made.

...I wasn't about to let myself feel superior about that.

...In fact, I felt... an odd sense of familiarity with him.

...A misfortunate bond...

with someone I'd never met, due to following the same fate.

I headed down the hallway... towards the usual classroom.

It felt like... it had been a whole year since coming here.

.........Hey.

...Did you forget, Keiichi Maebara?

...Satoshi Houjou... didn't really disappear on the night of Watanagashi, did he...?

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

...Satoshi Houjou... disappeared a few days later.

...On Satoko's birthday, if I was right.

I didn't know what day it was...

but I couldn't say for sure I'd avoided Satoshi's failure... unless I remained here past that day.

...I was still... living in that night of insanity...

The teacher still hadn't come to the classroom.

The other door clattered open, the one the teacher wouldn't use, so everyone turned at once to see who had arrived.

...Everyone looked pretty vacant.

...Mm.

Suppose I'll greet them.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

I do thank you for coming all the way out here today.

Mfu-fu-fu-fu!"

...Silence.

...When I started to think I'd fallen flat, someone finally started laughing for me.

"Ah-hahahahaha!

Good morning, Kei-chan.

You're pretty energetic today~!"

"Yeah, energetic!

Maybe you haven't gotten out of the festive mood yet. Hau!"

Hearing Mion and Rena's cheerful voices made me realize how dumb those dark feelings I'd been having at the entrance really were.

"...Hey, now... Festive mood? ...I wasn't..."

At the festival at all, remember?

...Before I could say that, Rika-chan smiled at me.

"...Keiichi, did you make sure to watch my dance?"

"Yep!

He saw it just fine.

Didn't you see how big an applause he gave you?"

"And he ignored it when that troublemaker Shion came up and made a pass at him~!

Ah-ha-ha-ha!

Take that, Shion!

Wow, that felt good!"

...Mion starts laughing at the memory as she slaps me a few times on the back.

"So... How did that target practice contest turn out in the end?"

Tomita-kun was facing me and talking.

...There was nobody behind me.

...That meant he was talking to me...?

"...Tomitake turned up dead last.

Everyone had a good time with his punishment game."

"Ah-ha-ha-ha!

Weren't you supposed to be the one in last place, Rika-chan?

It was such a turnaround when you pulled off getting that chewing gum... I should have expected that from a member of my club!

It was fantastic!!"

"Crying at a time like that is a feat only Furude would be allowed to do!"

said Okamura-kun, breathing heavily from his nose.

...In my direction.

Everyone laughed—if anyone but Rika-chan had done it, it would have been against the rules.

...Rika-chan gave one of her nipah~ smiles as she listened to it.

...In my direction.

Rena, too, turned to me... no, turned towards me.

And then, with a somewhat embarrassed smile, she whispered to me so only I could hear.

"But really... thanks.

Keiichi-kun."

"............For what?"

"That giant stuffed animal.

...I was really happy.

It's nice and safe right at my bedside.

...And I made sure to give it a good night kiss before bed, too.

...Hau~☆."

The class laughed at that, cheering and jeering.

...This whole time...

the conversation had been a little bit off...

I wasn't quite getting it.

"......What's this...

about a stuffed animal...?"

"What's this...?

Come on, we all worked really hard at the festival yesterday to get it down, remember?

The gigantic stuffed animal.

...The gigantic...

stuffed animal."

Rena seemed taken aback, but when she answered she did it with a smile.

"We were having a hard time knocking it over, so we tried aiming at the forehead, and rapid-fire shooting and stuff.

And then, Keiichi-kun, you got a whole bunch of guns ready beforehand and shot them all!

It was so cool... Hau~!"

...Wait...

Who was this?

"All the people in the neighborhood association, including the chairman, were praising you so much at the party afterwards.

One of them said he'd fallen in love with your way with words—Tokuzou Kimiyoshi, the chairman of the children's committee, I think?

He said he wanted to entrust you with a few of the stalls at the next festival!"

"...Tokuzou is the chair of the refreshment booths. He's on the festival executive committee."

"Maebara-san is great at making things sound good, isn't he~!"

"Yep, whenever he talks about something, it seems a lot better than it actually is!"

"Ahahahahaha, you can't say that!

Ahahahahahaha...!"

"Keiichi-kun, you'd make a great salesman!

I bet you'd do great auctioning off overripe bananas or something~"

".........What have you been talking about?

...I mean, I..."

...Didn't go to the festival in the first place.

...I swallowed those words.

...I didn't know exactly why......

but in Hinamizawa...

this is what had happened.

...Yesterday, during the Watanagashi festival... "Keiichi Maebara" had appeared.

And he had romped about with all the usual members of his club.

He made a big scene at a few of the stalls, snatched a few sticks of takoyaki and okonomiyaki in his glee, rating each of them as delicious or terrible to get everyone excited.

And they'd seen a gigantic stuffed animal at the target practice game... and everyone went after it.

...And then I got a whole bunch of the cork guns, firing them in rapid succession, throwing each one away after using it,

and admirably,

I shot down the biggest stuffed animal there...

And then, I gave the stuffed animal, the proof of my victory, to Rena as a gift...

Then our fun came to a close as we had to go see Rika-chan's offertory dance.

There was a ton of people squeezed in there, and we all got separated, but we each managed to get into good positions to cheer Rika-chan on from.

Then, in the middle, when Shion came up and asked me to go hang out with her instead of watching the dedication dance,

I refused...

and stayed put, watching the dance until the very end...

...But who?

...Who was that?

......Well, everyone's been saying it, haven't they?

...Keiichi Maebara...

I had an urge to yell in anger at my classmates for having so much fun talking about the festival yesterday with "Keiichi Maebara."

...What the hell... are you guys even talking about?

Far stronger than that feeling, though... was the sheer uncanny nature of this reality I couldn't understand.

A "Keiichi Maebara" who wasn't me... was...

in Hinamizawa yesterday.

...As I threw away my humanity...

turned into a demon...

and was busy beating Satoko's uncle to death...

I was having a great time at the festival last night.

...What...

the hell?

...I had... to suffer through so much...

Desperately holding back tears...

getting so worn out... in that downpour...

digging holes, chasing, beating, killing,

dragging, and burying...

Who was this "Keiichi Maebara" who had ignored me so and spent such a fun, carefree time at the festival, damn it?!

Who the hell... stood in for me... as I put my life on the line working so hard to achieve this treasure-like everyday life?!

If there was another Keiichi Maebara besides me... then what was I?

...On the night of Watanagashi... where one died and one disappeared, in accordance with Oyashiro-sama's curse... there was only a demon... who had killed someone.

...Dumbfounded... as I succumbed to a horrifying possibility, I looked around at my classmates.

...To make sure... there was nobody extra I didn't recognize among them.

...To make sure... I wasn't among them.

...It was a horrifying thought...

That the real Keiichi Maebara hadn't overslept, and had come to school on time...

And that I, who was no longer Keiichi Maebara... had just waltzed in here...

...But... no matter how much I checked... the only people here were ones I knew.

...The man I met every time I looked in a bathroom mirror...

was not here.

"Okay, everyone!

Time to start afternoon classes!

Please take your seats.

President, please lead the class!"

The teacher entered and everyone hurried back to their seats.

...Upon finding me, who was so stupidly late, she gave me a stern talking to...... but I wasn't listening to it.

...Wasn't... our old life supposed to start today...?

...Something... wasn't right.

...It was just strange.

I was supposed to go back to my old, fun life after yesterday.

...I had set foot in an incomparably mysterious world... that was completely different from both my old life and my recent one.

Yes...

This was... without a doubt... a different world... than the one I'd been living in until now.

...There was no way such an absurd thing could be possible.

...But... unless it was true... I couldn't explain... anything that just happened.

In this classroom, I was surrounded by so many faces I knew... and yet I felt isolated.

The cicadas sounded no different than they had before now... but they seemed somehow false.

...The air was parched and dry, too... making me think... was the air in Hinamizawa always this uncomfortable?

"......Hey, Rena."

"What is it?

We're in class."

"...About the festival yesterday.

...About... when would you say I got there...?"

"Huh?"

...To be honest, I was pretty excited afterwards... and I gobbled down some cans of beer...

I mean... it's kind of embarrassing, but... I don't quite remember... some things...

...For random babbling, it wasn't a bad excuse.

"Keiichi-kun, you said you couldn't come at first, didn't you?

You called Mii-chan's house about it, right?"

......That matched.

...I called Mion... and told her to take Satoko in my place, since I wouldn't be able to meet up with them due to things I had to do.

"We all decided while we were setting up for the festival that we'd invite Satoko-chan.

...We wanted to bring her out someplace where she couldn't see her uncle for a little while."

...That was the same too.

...Mion said that when I called her.

That everyone had already decided to invite her.

"And then we all went, me, Mii-chan, and Rika-chan, to Satoko-chan's house, and brought her out.

...Satoko-chan's uncle seems like a really mean person."

...That part didn't matter.

...What I was trying to ask was...

"...I... well...... When did I meet up with you...?"

"...How could you forget that?

...Keiichi-kun, this is why I said to get a good night's sleep before the festival..."

"Whatever!

When did I meet up with you...?!"

"Uh! ......Um... well..."

At my sudden, threatening demand, Rena was at a loss for words.

...Oops, I shouldn't have rushed that...

...I told her I was sorry.

"It was at the shrine grounds.

It was unexpected.

You were talking to Rika-chan, weren't you?"

"Yep.

You were having a fun talk with Rika-chan in her shrine maiden outfit.

And then Rena came up and said, 'Hau~~ I'm taking you home~'"

"...I was talking... to Rika-chan..."

"And I asked, 'Kei-chan, didn't you have something to do today?'

Then you pounded your chest and said it yourself.

That letting loose at a festival was more important than some silly errand."

...I didn't say that.

I never said anything like that.

...I never even went to the shrine grounds yesterday to begin with.

...I never had the time to stop by a place like that.

I went to dig the hole as soon as I woke up.

...I had a pretty hard time doing it.

...After that, I snuck into the school and made a call.

...I called him out and lay in wait.

...And then it started raining really hard.

With that kind of downpour, the festival should have come to a halt.

...In other words, it ended then.

...From the time the festival started to when it ended...

It would have been impossible for me to have swung by the shrine grounds.

...I was already there when Mion and the others dragged Satoko out and brought her to the shrine, and I was talking to Rika-chan.

...Then... where would Rika-chan say we met...?

The teacher went out to wash her hands, so I ran over to Rika-chan's desk and asked her directly.

"...With you?"

"Yeah.

...We were talking to each other before Mion and the others got there, right?

...When did we see each other?

When... and where...?"

"...I don't know what you're trying to ask."

"You know, yesterday I didn't really get enough sleep and my head's a bit fuzzy...

I don't remember a thing.

...Hehehehe..."

It looked like Rika-chan bought into my babbling.

"...We saw each other when the mayor and the others came out of the assembly hall.

You were in front of the ritual implement storehouse."

"...Huh?

What...?

...The ritual implement storehouse?"

...I'd never heard a building called that before.

...Or maybe I have, but... At the very least, I wouldn't know where on the shrine grounds it was.

"...The mayor got real angry at you, since you shouldn't go near holy places without authority, remember...?

...Keiichi, did you forget that too...?"

...I was too scared to ask any more.

The more I asked...

...the more it became clear without any doubt...

that "Keiichi Maebara" was present at the Furude Shrine grounds during the Watanagashi festival.

The clearer that became...

The more doubts—no, fears—I had... Who on earth was I yesterday?

Whoever that was... he had a good time in my place... and managed to go the entire day without letting them notice I wasn't there...

...Oh, right.

...When... did that person leave everyone?

This morning, my mother got mad at me for having stayed out so late last night.

...Which meant at the very least... that "Keiichi Maebara" hadn't come home while my mother was still awake...

The festival would have been closed because of the downpour.

...If I recall right... when I went back to the house's storage room to get another shovel... I think the clock said seven.

Since it was already raining hard by then... the festival would have had to close down before seven.

If I'd returned that early... I would have definitely run into my parents.

...Or, at the very least... they wouldn't have asked me when I got back last night.

So the "Keiichi Maebara" from yesterday... that meant...

he never went home.

That meant... the downpour happened, the festival was broken up... everyone left.

...But... he didn't go back to the house.

...Umm...... that means...?

...When I arrived at the natural conclusion...

a wicked chill... suddenly froze my spine... and climbed up to my brain...

...That meant...

"Keiichi Maebara"...

was the same as Satoshi.

...One day... he never went home.

On the night of Watanagashi... he never went home.

...The downpour interrupted the festival... and on the way home... he suddenly disappeared...

And... I, who was dealing with the corpse... went home without a problem.

I was so tired I wasn't even hungry, so... I went up to my room without a sound... and crawled into my futon......

...Who... was I?

That much was obvious.

Keiichi Maebara.

...Keiichi Maebara was me.

There may have been another one, but that doesn't negate the fact that I was Keiichi Maebara.

...Then... that other Keiichi Maebara... was... what...?

The voices of the cicadas, steadily filling the classroom, were beginning to bother me...

Suddenly... I laid eyes on Satoko.

...Satoko's expression was dark as always... She seemed completely exhausted... at a life of agony she couldn't even imagine an ending to.

...What had last night been like for Satoko?

Did she have fun with everyone and feel a little happier, if even for a moment?

And... when she went home.

The end of her dream.

She'd probably gone to sleep afraid of when her uncle would return.

And then... this morning.

...Her uncle hadn't come home.

...And then she went to school.

Right now... she must have been still trapped by the rotten idea from which she couldn't be saved... that her uncle would need her when she got back.

But you can... rest easy, Satoko.

...Your uncle won't ever be coming back.

I couldn't tell her it was because I'd killed him.

...When Satoko realized on her own... that her uncle would never return... then that would truly be the end of the long, insane night.

That's right.

...I didn't do anything wrong.

...I did the best possible thing I could have as Satoko's Nii-nii.

Not an atom in my body regretted it.

And look...

Calm down and think, Keiichi Maebara.

...From a certain point of view... isn't it convenient there was another "Keiichi Maebara"?

I buried the corpse perfectly.

A "beginning" wouldn't happen.

...But... if worst came to worst, and it got out, and the investigation got to me...

I now had a strong alibi, able to profess the "fact" that I'd been at the Watanagashi Festival.

...But accepting something so creepy... and using it as an alibi...

Still... if I proved I hadn't gone to the festival yesterday, it would do no good and a whole lot of harm.

...That... was what left the really, actually bad aftertaste.

...You'll forget about it, Keiichi Maebara.

Everything that happened before today.

...So just forget... about the Keiichi Maebara who was there yesterday, too.

Instead, let's watch gently over Satoko... for the day her smile returns.

And the day...

that would mark the end of that insane, all-too-long night.

"That's all for today, class.

Please go straight back to your homes, everyone!

President, if you would."

"Everybody stand up! At attention!

Bow."

"""Good-bye!!"""

I thought about many things... and saw my thoughts dispersed by many other things.

...I didn't know whether or not that time had been spent worrying or daydreaming, but either way, it came to an end along with the class.

Cheerfully, our classmates got their things and ran for the hallway.

Mion, Rena, and Rika-chan were packing up as well.

...What about Satoko...?

This whole day... she's seemed deflated.

Well, her uncle may not have returned last night... but she wouldn't have known he'd never return.

...How much I wanted to express that fact to her...

Satoko packed up her pencil box and math workbook messily... and after a dark glance at the clock... heaved a sigh.

...Then went to leave the classroom.

Then... suddenly, somebody placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

".........What is it...?

...I watered the plants like I was supposed to, and got all the print-outs done..."

...Her words, possessed by a persecution complex, hurt...

I spoke loudly so everyone could hear.

"Hey, everyone!

Why don't... why don't we have club today?

It's been a while!"

Satoko always had to tend to her uncle... so club has been on hiatus.

...In our minds, our club was proof of a calm, peaceful life.

By enjoying being together... I wanted to make Satoko realize her days of darkness were over.

"I'm... okay.

I'll do it."

"......Meep."

"...Well, I mean.

I don't mind.

...If it's okay with Satoko."

Under a condition.

...That was important.

...With everything up to her, Satoko gave a worried look.

"Come on, Satoko, it's been a long time!

Let's go crazy!!"

"...Well... I'm happy you feel that way, but..."

My uncle might already be home.

...Thus spoke her darkened eyes, her mouth unmoving.

"You've been choking on life every day for a while. You must be about to suffocate.

It's not good for your mind or body!

Once in a while, you've gotta have some fun!!"

"......Please, leave it alone.

...It's not like I... don't want to do club again..."

With one word, "but..."

She looked down...

"Satoko, you know as well as anyone that it's more fun being with everyone, right?

We're friends!

That means we can spend time with each other!

I mean, you had a great time at the festival yesterday with everyone, didn't you?"

...Rena nearly said something... but she was too late.

"......Keiichi-san... what are you saying...?"

My arm on her shoulder seemed to weigh her down... and she threw it off.

"...When exactly... was I playing and having fun at the festival?

The only one having fun... was you, Keiichi-san."

".........Huh......"

I looked over to Mion for help.

...But now everyone was looking down.

...My instincts told me...

That Satoko... hadn't gone to the festival.

But... Rena said it herself.

That she went with Mion to Satoko's house to invite her...

"......Satoko-chan... left on the way there.

...She didn't go to the shrine."

"...Wh... Why...!?"

I realized the absurdity of what I'd just said with Satoko in front of me.

"...She said her uncle was waiting at home... and she couldn't have fun by herself.

...When we were in front of the shrine."

"We... we tried to stop her too.

We told her her uncle said it was okay, and that he wouldn't get mad if she had a good time..."

At some point... tears had begun welling up in Satoko's eyes.

...Satoko... was so afraid of her uncle...

that she couldn't even allow herself time with her friends...

and went home.

...No... she was even afraid...

of letting herself have a good time with her friends.

"...Keiichi-san, you must have it nice...

having a blast at the festival all night.

...They told me you went all-out, didn't you?

...I'm very envious."

Smiling to herself, her tears began to fall.

"...I... must provide for my uncle.

It's completely different from you... with how you let your parents do everything...!"

"......Satoko..."

"...I'm so glad you enjoyed yourself at the festival...!

I'm so glad you had enough fun for me too!!

I mean... I want to participate in the club too!!

Making such a racket with everyone... is so much fun...!!!

But... right now... I can't... I can't!!"

Unable to withstand such violent emotion... a few teardrops slid down her cheek.

...But even though she was having such a terrible time... not once did she ever say that it was hard for her.

...It was a sad... obstinate bravery.

But... the days when Satoko had to feel like that were over.

Satoko didn't need to... to endure it, to bear it anymore!

She could forget all about it now... and smile...!

I was so frustrated at not being able to tell her that directly.

Instead... I said something...

that I'm not sure I should have said, before I thought twice about it.

"......He didn't...

come home, did he?"

The words were deeply meaningful to me... but I didn't know if Satoko understood them.

"...Didn't come home... Who...?!"

"...He didn't come home last night, did he...?

...Your uncle?"

"What are you talking about, Keiichi-san...!!"

Satoko shouted... with all her might.

"When has he not been there?!

When?!

When?!?"

"...C-Calm down...

I mean... He didn't... come home yesterday... did he?"

"I don't understand... what you're trying to say, Keiichi-san!!"

"S-Satoko... what are you talking about...?!

I mean... that man, I..."

I killed him.

Killed him yesterday.

Killed him for sure.

And I buried him.

Buried him whole.

He could never have returned to his house.

"Even yesterday... he was torturing me so much...!!

He yelled at me!

He shouted at me!!

He found fault with everything I did!!

He threw the dinner I made him on the floor!!

He dumped his bowl of miso soup on me, too!!

It was hot!

It was messy!!

And I cleaned all of it up!!

I cleaned!!

All of it!!!

Fuwaaaaaaahhhhhn...!! Waahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

...What......?

Our stories... weren't matching up.

"...He...

...ba...

...night...?"

"And this morning... When he woke me up to make him breakfast... he got so mad at me!!

He would have gotten mad at me whether I'd gotten up or not...!!

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!"

"...Satoko..."

Rika-chan went over to Satoko and said a few words of consolation.

...But Satoko angrily refused those words and thrust Rika-chan away.

"...Nii-nii!!

Nii-niiii!!

Come back... Come baaaack! Waahhhhhhh!!!"

Crying, Satoko slowly walked out into the hallway.

After a moment, Rika-chan went after her...

I couldn't stop thinking... about the words Satoko had spoken while crying.

...I buried her uncle last night.

...But she said... this morning...

That was impossible.

I buried him last night... so she couldn't have seen her uncle this morning...!

...What was... what was Satoko......

At that point... I heard Mion's cold voice.

"...Hey, Kei-chan.

...What did you mean...

about Satoko's uncle?"

Gulp.

...I said too much... I let my emotions get the better of me...

"Rena heard it too.

...You said Satoko-chan's uncle didn't come home."

"Why?

Why didn't he come home...?"

"That's strange.

Satoko-chan's uncle was right there this morning, wasn't he?

So why would you say he didn't come back? Come back...?"

"...Kei-chan, you've been saying weird things for a while~"

...Suddenly, Mion and Rena... started to speak in strange and creepy voices.

What were... they... doing...?

What... were they saying...?

"...Kei-chan... is it somehow inconvenient for you for Satoko's uncle to be around...?"

"You... No, what are you talking about...?

Of course it would be better if Satoko's uncle wasn't here...!"

"Yep.

That's true, of course. If only he weren't here. Right?

...Ahahahahaha."

...Something... something wasn't right.

...The next thing I knew... Mion and Rena... were smiling thinly... and their eyes were dark and muddy, in a way that I'd never seen before.

...And as our eyes met... that mud even seemed to fill the air...

"Satoko's uncle is an awful person, no doubt.

I think we'd all be better off with him gone just as much as you do.

But he's here.

There's nothing we can do, right...?"

Nothing we can... do...

...Something's wrong. Something's clearly wrong here.

...What the hell... was happening...

After a moment... a chilly, liquid-like feeling, as though my blood had been mixed with sherbet, crawled up my spine...

"No choice... I mean... of course there isn't, but...!!

But... then Satoko will never...!"

"If there's no choice... what would you do...?"

...Urgh...

......Rena... was trying to prompt me to say more.

There really was no choice, so I killed him.

...I killed him to protect Satoko.

"......That's............ mgh......"

"Leave him alone.

I think things will resolve themselves soon enough."

"Satoko-chan said her uncle was here, so he's here.

He was here yesterday, and he's here today.

She said so, so it's fine, right? Right?"

...Mion and Rena were speaking unbelievably dismissively.

...How could they... be talking like that...?

Mion and Rena... they were my friends, and were seriously worried about Satoko's abuse, weren't they?

...They would never... blurt out... something like this...!!

And...... I definitely killed Satoko's uncle.

No matter what Satoko or anyone else says... I wouldn't acknowledge it, because him being alive was impossible.

There is no way he was alive.

...It was impossible.

...And yet... since Satoko herself said he was here... then he was alive.

I didn't know why or how... but suddenly, Mion and Rena were at my sides, standing there silently.

"...Let's go home, Kei-chan."

"...After we leave, Rena wants to go treasure hunting for the first time in a while.

Mii-chan is coming too."

"Kei-chan, you should come along.

...Of course... you're not allowed to refuse."

If words could freeze blood...

...then there was no doubt... that they would have frozen me solid.

...I could hear it... a strained sound, like a layer of thin ice spreading... emanating from every joint in my body.

And with them closely at my sides... we left the school, as if they were police officers taking me away...

They talked about silly things the entire way home, like they always did... but they always stood at my sides... as if to prevent me from escaping.

...This was strange.

...Everything about this day was strange.

Actually... it had been strange ever since the previous night.

Yes, thinking back... it'd been strange ever since killing Satoko's uncle.

That creepy meeting with Takano-san... was only the beginning.

That insane night... was still continuing.

......Yes. It still hadn't ended.

"...What?

What's wrong, Kei-chan, why did you suddenly stop...?"

"Ah... Sorry... It's nothing..."

When I stopped... it was distant, but I definitely heard them.

...An extra set of footsteps.

...That was proof.

...Proof that insane night hadn't ended...

Mion left where she usually did... and finally we came to my house.

"...Okay, Keiichi-kun.

Wait here for me.

Rena will come to pick you up soon."

What was it—she was inviting me along on one of her oversized garbage 'treasure hunts' at the dam site, right?

But... why now?

...Mion coming along was strange too.

...Mion may have accepted Rena's little hobby, but she hated fishing through garbage, so she'd never come with her before.

And the location specifically being the dam site... was a little creepy.

The dam construction site was completely outside the flow of everyday life... It was so remote that no one ever went there unless they thought to in particular.

...Nobody lived there, and there were no lights, so at night it got dark very quickly.

...I was being forcibly invited there.

...There was no reason I had to fear Rena and Mion.

...Besides, wouldn't the trouble I'd make by refusing them be a pain to deal with...?

...In that way, it didn't seem like going treasure hunting with them was a bad idea.

......But... that insane night was continuing.

Haven't the sirens of instinct been wailing in my mind for a while now...?

Warning me that Rena and Mion... were strange.

...That I needed... to be cautious.

...The warning sirens were so freaking loud it felt like my head would split in two.

"...Ah... Rena.

...I... I actually have something to do."

"Something to do?

Like what?"

"Like what...? It's... I just have something to do, okay?"

"If you had something to do, why didn't you say it while Mii-chan was here?

I already told her to meet us at the dam site before we split up."

Rena was smiling... but her words made her discomfort clear.

"...S...Sorry.

I just... kind of missed the opportunity to say so..."

"Really...?"

...You're lying, aren't you?

You just made that up now, you liar.

...That's what Rena's eyes said to me.

"...Umm... I... my, er, head hurts.

I might have a cold.

...So I wanted to go get it checked out and get some medicine."

"Really...?"

...That... wasn't really a lie...

My head did hurt a little bit... so I wasn't lying.

...Rena... she couldn't figure out if my head hurt or not... just by looking at it...!

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

Then...

I guess that's that."

After staring me in the eyes for a few moments... she fired a sharp, needle-like stare at me.

...The tension in my body loosened, and I felt like my knees might buckle.

"...If you're going to the clinic, then you should go soon.

Sometimes they close early."

"...Thanks.

...I'll do that."

"Make sure you go, okay?

To the hospital."

"...I... I will..."

"Go, for real."

"...I will..."

It seemed liked Rena had realized that I was going to refuse her invitation for a while now.

With how serious she looks... she might actually call the clinic later to make sure I went...

...I couldn't say anything careless...

...Lying about getting checked out was just an excuse to decline her request in the first place.

...It didn't matter... whether I actually went.

"...Yeah... I'll go.

...If you want, I can bring you the bill tomorrow..."

"...Oh, that would be good.

Be sure to bring it, okay?

Rena will look at it then."

......Another tingle... started crawling up my back.

...There was no ignoring it... Rena and Mion must have been monitoring my movements.

That wasn't normal.

Far from it.

...All of it was... insane.

I did what I did... because I wanted my peaceful life back.

But... what... what on earth was all this?

...It was far from peaceful... Something had gone mad... leaving the world out of order.

With the other... 'Keiichi Maebara'...

With those creepy footsteps I've been hearing...

With Rena and Mion acting so curious...

...And above all...

with him being alive.

...Where was I?

...Hinamizawa Village, Shishibone.

...I knew that much.

...Was this really the Hinamizawa I knew?

"...Hey, 'Keiichi Maebara'... Where... is this?"

I asked, whipping around before the front door... to face the one who has been following in my wake all day.

......Nobody would have been there, of course.

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

..."Keiichi Maebara," huh.

...That's what I just called him... called the one who had been trailing behind me this whole time.

...That shadowy presence... always clinging to me... like it was constantly watching for the opportunity to change places.

Footsteps always following me... was another impossibility.

...It couldn't have been a ghost... so it was just impossible.

So the strangeness must have been

my ears, my head,

or Hinamizawa.

...Everything I could see was the same exact Hinamizawa I knew so well... and that gave me the creeps.

...Eventually I decided to actually go to the clinic.

I really didn't want to go outside...

but a stronger feeling than that desire was the fear Rena might actually be keeping an eye on me to see if I went to the hospital.

But... before I went to the clinic... there was something I wanted to make sure of.

It was... at school.

I pretended I'd forgotten something...

And was going back to the classroom to pick it up.

...As soon as the thought crossed my mind... I was overwhelmed by paranoia.

...I was just going to the classroom... but I hated it so much... having to be so careful to fake it.

After carefully verifying once more that nobody was watching... I went over to the locker.

...Yes, Satoshi's locker.

...I committed the crime with the bat I found in this locker—Satoshi's bat.

And then... I had thrown the bat into the swamp.

Which meant... the bat shouldn't have been inside.

...But...

but...

what if...

The bat... was still in here...?

...It was a very dreadful... incomprehensible idea...... But if it was true... it would explain a lot.

...If... the bat was in here...

yesterday's events...

would have all been a delusion... no, an illusion.

I hadn't killed anyone... and I'd gone to the festival.

I had a great time rampaging about with everyone.

It would prove that... 'Keiichi Maebara'... was really me.

Proof that I was only under some strange assumption that I had killed Satoko's uncle.

...Proof that it had all been a wild fantasy.

...That would explain everything.

...Nothing happened yesterday.

...I had just gone mad, unable to separate my shocking, uncle-killing dream from reality.

...That would explain everything.

...If the bat was here... would I be able to accept that reality?

If it was here... nothing will have changed.

...If it was here... it would just mean... I'd gone crazy...

Preparing myself for the worst... I opened the locker door.

...I was actually scared of opening it slowly, so I threw it open with a bang!

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

And just like the first time... the choking scent of smell and sweat, like a stale towel, came flowing out.

...There was a baseball uniform... and some miscellaneous other things, like notebooks.

...There was also a shoe pouch...

...And as for the bat,

it wasn't here.

...It was how I left it when I took the bat out.

...There was no doubt: yesterday really happened.

...Now that I knew I wasn't a lunatic, I felt relieved.

...But at the same time... if I wasn't the crazy one... then Hinamizawa was...

and that was evidence of a reality I found just as difficult to accept.

...There was noise, somehow, creeping into everything I saw, and the world was losing a tiny bit of color.

...So, what did I know about last night now?

Now that I'd made sure the bat wasn't there... I didn't need to be here anymore.

...Shall I go?

For real... to the hospital.

It was my first time going to the hospital, but from what I'd heard, it wasn't far from school.

My mom had told me where it was—a big, easy-to-see road went straight there.

I went past the shopping street... made a turn...

It wasn't overly hard to spot the sign with "Irie Clinic" written on it.

There was one other person, an older man, there in the air-conditioned waiting room.

I went up to the counter and told them it was my first time here.

...The man behind the counter glanced at the clock and said there would be a short wait.

...It was almost five.

Clinic hours would be ending soon.

...As I sat in this unfamiliar waiting room, isolated from everyone... and let myself feel the cool air... I actually felt relieved.

What should I tell the doctor when he comes?

...I could tell him I had a cold, but I was the very picture of health.

...Actually, I wanted him to check my head.

...I wanted someone to confirm for me... whether I was really sane or not...

"Keiichi Maebara-san?

Please come into the examination room."

Huh?

The voice, from the other side of the examination curtain... I thought I'd heard it somewhere before.

"Hello.

This is the first time we've seen each other here."

"...Coach!

...Coach, you... You were a doctor...!?"

Now that you mention it... he did seem to know his way around when he was looking at my shoulder in the nurse's office...

...It would make sense... if he was actually a doctor.

Come to think of it, our teacher called him 'Irie-sensei,' didn't she?

"Well yes, I'm more or less a doctor here.

...Doctors have it really good, you know?

You get to see and touch all that young, silky smooth skin~☆.

I could steal their agency with a suspicious injection, and have them be my personal maids~~...☆"

"Thank you very much.

Just seeing that made my cold go away.

I'll be leaving now.

Polite bow."

"Whoa, wait, wait!

Maebara-saaan!

A joke—it was a joke!

Come, come—sit down and let me take a look at you.

I'll need to use my stethoscope, so show me your silky-smooth chest, Maebara-san~"

For some reason... I felt really relieved.

...After that insane night... as much as I thought everything had gone crazy, Coach was here doing the same thing he always did—I was very happy for that.

"Hmm, you don't seem to have a cold.

...Actually, those scrapes and cuts all over you seem to be the painful thing.

Don't tell me you were playing in the bushes with short sleeves and shorts?

I mean, I can't say for sure you haven't been infected with tetanus..."

As I was chasing that man last night, I'd kept being scraped by bits of trees.

I didn't realize I had so many cuts...

"You went a little too crazy at the festival yesterday.

Enjoy that while you're young."

...And once again, I apparently went to the festival.

"...Coach...

Did you go too?

...To the festival."

"Yes.

Of course I did.

I may be a doctor, but I'm also on the Watanagashi executive committee."

"...Did you... see me there?"

This Coach was the same Coach that I'd always known, and I felt like I could trust him more than my weird friends... so I asked.

"Well, actually...

I was drinking in the main tent with the chairman and the others the whole time... I didn't go out to see the festival at all.

I don't think I saw you."

"...Oh."

"That was a strange question.

Perhaps you didn't sleep well last night?

You can't do that. You have to sleep and eat well to grow up fine."

Coach let out a laugh.

...He didn't laugh in an unnatural way, like Mion and Rena did.

...Coach was okay.

...He was the Coach from the world I knew.

He wasn't someone from this abnormal world...

"...Well...

This all...

might seem a little weird to you, but...

I want you to hear me out without laughing."

"Yes, go ahead.

I greatly welcome any shy, bashful worries you might have as you come into puberty~☆."

"............Could it...

be possible...

that I have... an identical twin?"

Coach hadn't expected that question at all, and couldn't say anything for a moment.

But then... he smiled calmly and quietly answered.

"This is just superstition... but I've heard before that everyone has two other people in the world who look just like them.

...If there was, I'd certainly like to meet him, though.

Also, there are plenty of fairy tales where a person's double appears.

The German ones about doppelgangers are probably the most famous."

"'Doppelgangers'?"

"Yes.

They look exactly like another person.

Apparently they herald misfortune, and if you meet one, you're sure to die soon... I think that's how it went."

...When you meet them...

you're sure...

to die soon.

...The story ended directly in death, plain and simple... and it made my spine tingle.

...Coach wasn't saying it to scare me, though—he was just offering a casual anecdote, but that made it feel all the more real.

"...Have you ever heard of... one of those things... showing up in Hinamizawa?"

"What?!

......Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!

Well, I can't say that I have.

Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Coach must have thought he was being teased, so he laughed in an exaggerated way.

But... when I didn't smile along with him, his laughter steadily grew fainter.

"...I'm sorry... well... I was sort of being serious."

"...No... I apologize for laughing.

...Was there something you were worried about?"

...I wondered if I should tell him... then, after resolving myself one final time... I slowly spoke.

"...I... I didn't go to the festival yesterday."

"Is that right?

...Well, there will be one next year.

And then you can—"

"That's not what I meant!!!

......I didn't go to the festival... but according to everyone else... I was there.

...Could that... even be possible?!"

After blinking his eyes in amazement... Coach thought seriously about what I was trying to say.

...And he answered, choosing his words carefully.

"...Let me make sure I have this straight.

...Maebara-kun, you went to the Watanagashi Festival, but don't remember it... Am I right?"

...I was trying to say something completely different... but I suppose any sane person would come to that conclusion.

...That night, Keiichi Maebara was actually at the festival, but I was saying I didn't go.

...That obviously meant my memories of going there had failed me.

...But... that was absolutely impossible.

...That vivid act I had committed during the downpour couldn't possibly have been an illusion.

All these scrapes on my body prove it, as does the fact the bat wasn't in the locker.

"...No... That's not it, Coach.

...I really didn't go to the festival."

"Please don't take offense, Maebara-san.

...Have you ever had an experience where you were suddenly somewhere unfamiliar, and you couldn't remember why?"

"No.

And I didn't lose my memories or anything.

...Because while the festival was going on... I was definitely doing something else.

It wasn't like I was asleep and unconscious or anything."

"...You're certain you were doing something else?

...I know I'm being awfully rude, but... Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"I know I'm not.

My memories are clear as day... and they were real."

"...During the festival, you weren't at the shrine, and you were doing something somewhere else.

...Can you definitely prove that?"

"............Um..."

That's right.

...Thinking it through... brought me to this.

There was only one way to prove that I really wasn't at the festival yesterday.

...And that was... to show that there was no doubt I had killed her uncle.

Coach saw me struggling to answer... and his eyes looked a little cold.

...I guess they would.

...After all, from Coach's perspective... I was just a weirdo sputtering nonsense.

"......Would you like to lay down?

Maybe you should relax and take it easy for a bit."

"Sorry.

I didn't really come here to lay down."

"...You seem to be a little worked up.

Why don't I give you a sedative that'll let you sleep for a bit?

That way—"

"I'm not being strange!!!"

I realized coach was treating me like a deviant, so I raised my voice.

"......I apologize if I've offended you.

So please... calm down..."

"I definitely didn't go to the festival!

That's the truth!!"

"...I understand.

I understand, so please, calm down, take a deep breath—"

"No, you don't understand at all!!!"

Coach was stunned... and stared in stupefaction.

"I do understand, Maebara-san.

You didn't go to the festival yesterday.

...Is that right?

I believe you.

I believe you..."

Coach jotted down a brief note in his records.

...He was writing it in German.

...So that his patient wouldn't know what it said.

...But I could make a good guess as to what he wrote.

"You won't believe me until I tell you everything I was doing at the time, will you?"

"......No, I believe you.

Please, sit down..."

Before I sat... I tilted my head back a little.

...The blood in my face... all drained out... and I quieted down.

...After taking a deep breath... I made sure that I was calm now.

"...It would have been impossible for me to be at the festival.

...Because... at the time, I was...

......"

...Should I tell him, or not...?

...I really... didn't want to go on living like this... feeling this horrible...

...And... I said them... the final, fatal words.

"...Because I was...

killing Satoko's uncle at the time."

I could smell the concrete in the room... I could feel the air around us sharpen.

Nobody moved.

...Only the sound of the clock ticking told us time hadn't stopped.

With his mouth wide open... Coach even forgot to blink for a little while.

"...You... killed Satoko-chan's... uncle...?"

...Yeah.

...It's fine now, Keiichi Maebara.

...Don't hesitate.

...Admit it... with all your strength!

"...Yes.

Last night... I did it.

I killed him."

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

I spoke clearly and fluidly.

I could easily tell that Coach's mind had gone completely blank...

"...Why... would you...

...No!

...That... was a foolish question..."

"I believed it was the most direct method of saving Satoko, so I carried it out.

I don't have any regrets."

"......I... I see.

......Heh........."

Coach smiled thinly... and nodded a bit.

"...So I couldn't have been at the festival."

I left the brightness of my house for the darkness of the outside.

After that, I dug holes, made phone calls... I had my hands full.

...And then I attacked him...

killed him...

and buried him.

It was pouring hard at the time.

The festival started that evening, but was suspended due to the rain.

...There were no gaps in my memories.

From the late afternoon until it started to rain,

there was no time for me to possibly have gone to the festival.

"...And those wounds... are they from that...?"

"Yes.

There's a road through the forest near Satoko's house.

I attacked him there... he ran, but I chased him... and finally killed him near the road that leads to town."

"......Is that... true...?"

Killing her uncle—it wasn't some wild fantasy?

I could tell that Coach didn't believe me.

...So I spoke slowly, not letting myself grow excited.

"It's true.

I killed him with Satoshi's bat.

I threw it and the uncle's motorbike into the swamp.

I dug a hole, killed him, and buried him.

...I did it all by myself."

"Satoko-chan's uncle drove past you on a motorbike, did he...?

Then you... predicted he'd do that and just... waited?"

"I assumed he wouldn't be leaving his house that day.

...So I lied to him over the phone to get him out."

"You called him?

But your house is so far away from Satoko-chan's.

I wouldn't think you'd be able to make it there so soon after calling him."

"I used a phone closer to where I was going to attack him—the one at school."

"But, Maebara-san...

It was Sunday.

Wouldn't the school have been locked up?"

"A forest ranger happened to go inside for a bit.

I slipped in when I had the chance."

...After that, Coach grilled me on a few different things regarding the incident.

He made sure to question me carefully... looking for any contradictions in my account.

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

I'll believe you.

...What you did yesterday... doesn't seem like a dream."

I explained everything, including minor details that only someone who had actually committed the act could explain.

...I could, of course.

...It was only yesterday.

Coach realized... that my story had no expedient coincidences or too-convenient details that would have existed in a daydream or a delusion... and finally seemed to want to believe me.

"...So... do you still think I went to the festival and lost my memory...?"

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

Coach slowly shook his head.

"...But everyone in class... They said I was at the festival yesterday.

Is that even... possible?"

"No, it's not...

...Your classmates probably mistook you for someone who looked very similar.

Then, given how group psychology works, everyone just assumed that you had been at the festival."

......They couldn't have mistaken me.

...Mion and all the rest said they were spending time with 'Keiichi Maebara.'

It was much more than just having mistaken someone else for me.

But... saying that out loud... would just confuse Coach...

He spoke to me in whispered tones.

"...Do you feel... guilty at all?"

It didn't sound like he was criticizing me.

...And even if he had, I would have flatly said the same thing.

"I don't.

...I did it so that I could return the peaceful days that he'd stolen from us.

So I plan to forget all about having killed him and live my life as usual.

Once Satoko's regular smile returns, the one from before he showed up... everything will finally be over."

"............Any chance that someone witnessed the crime...?"

"I don't think so.

...If someone had seen me, I would have been arrested already."

"......I am a doctor.

My job is to save lives.

...So I cannot make any statements to the effect of condoning the taking of another's life.

...So instead, I will say this."

Coach... slowly rose... and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"...For saving Satoko-chan...

I thank you."

...Coach's eyes... started shedding warm tears.

...When I looked at him... I started to feel some tears of my own...

"......Mgh......... hic.........!"

I didn't know... what I was crying for.

...And so, for a little while... the two men in the room fought back their tears.

"...But... it's strange."

"What is...?"

"I'm sure I killed him... and yet... he seems to have returned home alive."

Coach's expression immediately sharpened.

"...Depending on the situation, there are many ways that mere unconsciousness can look like real death to a layperson.

Do you think it's possible he was just knocked out?"

"I didn't check for a pulse... but I'm pretty sure I did him in."

"...Can I ask you to reproduce the situation in which you attacked him, Maebara-san?"

Coach rolled up a health and fitness week poster nearby and offered it to me—to represent the bat.

...Though I may have been lost to the emotions of a beast that night, I remembered in detail the number of times I swung the bat, the angles I had swung from, and the force I had applied.

Using Coach as a stand-in for the uncle, I reproduced them over, one by one...

"And when he tripped and fell... I bashed him in the top of the head, like this.

When I did, it felt different from the other strikes.

...I thought I'd cracked his skull."

...Coach was calmly analyzing this information, using the places I'd struck and the situation at hand, to find out what state the uncle's body had been in.

"I wasn't totally sure he was dead, so I hit him a few more times after he fell."

"Did he react at all?"

"At first, I sort of felt his body jolting with every hit, but eventually that stopped too, and he didn't react at all."

"...............Hmm..."

Coach folded his arms and said "hmm" a few times.

...And then he spoke.

"...He's dead.

There's not much doubt about it."

"He didn't just look like he was...?"

"...I can't say very much from just your story, Maebara-san, but I think it's almost certain.

...Besides, you buried the corpse in the mud, and that took you quite a bit of time, right?

Let's say it took you thirty minutes.

...That would mean he was buried under the muddy water for those thirty minutes.

...If you don't breathe for that long, your brain will die no matter what."

"...You mean, even ignoring how hard I hit him, he would definitely have died while I was burying him...?"

"That's right.

It's impossible to stay alive buried underground for thirty minutes."

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

But!

Satoko... she says he's alive!!"

Coach, a doctor, just gave his stamp of approval... that he was dead for sure...

...That made it seem all the more unfair that he could still be among the living...

"...Maebara-san.

...This... is a really horrible idea, but...

Is it possible that the person you killed... wasn't actually her uncle...?"

"...Huh?!"

...He's right... that could be why...

It cleared up the inconsistency of my definitely having killed someone, but him still being alive.

"There's no way...!!

I mean, we were both at Satoko's house when she was bringing his alcohol inside, and there was a man who stuck his face out the window to look!

It was him, right?!

That was Satoko's uncle, right?!"

"......Yes.

You're not wrong.

It was that man."

"...Could she have had more than one uncle or something?!"

"Not one that I've ever heard of.

It's just him."

"Could you tell me... what he looked like?"

"...Well... his height, first.

...He was... about 175 centimeters, maybe a little taller."

In order to eliminate the worst possibility—that I'd killed someone else, Coach began to thoroughly compare what the man in his mind looked like with what I told him the person I killed looked like.

But... no matter how in-depth my description went, none of the characteristics differed.

...The uncle's traits, according to Coach, were all exactly the same as the person I'd killed.

But those traits were all extremely vague... and they weren't particularly distinct, at a glance.

"...Could you, well... Is there anything else about him that would let us identify him for sure?"

"...Now that you mention it... I've never seen it, but...

I believe Satoko-chan once said a long time ago that he had a tattoo of... a tiger or something, on his back."

"A tattoo...?!"

...That was... really important.

...Not everyone had a tattoo.

...If I found a tiger tattoo on the back of the man's corpse... it would be proof I'd killed the right one.

At the moment, though... there was one other thing that would verify this.

To go to Satoko's house... and see for myself the uncle that had returned home despite having died.

...But... that was far more terrifying than digging up the body and looking at its back...

Without even looking at the tattoo... I knew for sure the one I'd killed had been Satoko's uncle.

...I cracked his head open and killed him.

...And yet... he'd gone back home.

...There wasn't any misunderstanding, or even the shadow of a doubt in my mind about having killed him.

And yet...

It was impossible for him to exist.

...Kind of like how "Keiichi Maebara" had been at the festival, despite it being impossible.

...That small commonality... made me feel as though a faint but bizarre force was permeating this insane Hinamizawa...

"......I wonder...

what on earth could have happened.

...Despite you not going to the festival and killing Satoko-chan's uncle...

...You were at the festival, and the uncle you killed is alive..."

"...None of this... makes any sense.

...When I look at everything that way... it's almost like I'm just having a nightmare... and there's no killer at all.

...But... it's the truth.

The sensation as I used my own hands, and that bat, to bash him again and again... It was no illusion or dream...!"

Coach let out a slow sigh, then after looking at the clock, got up.

"...Let's... go over this all a little more seriously.

If you'll excuse me, I'll go put on some tea.

...Clinic's about to close, after all.

I need to let the other employees leave."

Coach stood up and went out into the hallway.

...Leaving me alone.

The clock was about to strike six.

...I was at the festival... and the uncle I'd killed was alive.

Had I... really... committed murder yesterday...?

The only whisper of a fact that proved it happened... was the absence of that bat from Satoshi's locker...

...In any case... I was glad that Coach had taken my nonsense seriously.

I just confessed to murder.

...Normally that would frighten a person away.

...But Coach didn't run—he cried with me.

...I was glad he did.

Like so, my tension smoothly melted away, and I suddenly realized I really had to urinate.

...I thought to use the restroom while Coach had stepped out.

There was one across from the waiting room...

As soon as I left the room... I saw Coach and two male doctors wearing white clothing standing in the shadows of the hallway nearby.

...I didn't particularly intend to eavesdrop or anything... but I was quite surprised upon noticing how uneasy they seemed.

...I hid behind the wall... and quietly listened in...

It seemed like Coach was giving directions to the two doctors.

"Black tea?

I'll make some."

"Mix in the sedative you think best for the occasion.

Cover the taste with milk and sugar."

"He may grow suspicious at the sudden onset of drowsiness.

It's possible he may get agitated and become violent..."

"We will handle that.

How many male staff are still here?"

"One Mountain Dog.

Including us, three."

...What... what was all this...?!

I think... I was already agitated, despite what Coach said.

...Was that it? Was it a just casual conversation... and it was only sounding unbelievable to me?!

Coach said he would bring some black tea and left the room.

And then... in the shadows, he was telling his subordinates to put some kind of sleeping powder in the tea??

Plus... they were getting extra help... in case I thought the sudden sleepiness was suspicious and started getting violent?!

...Hey, wait, Keiichi Maebara...!!

Calm down, calm down...!!

There's no way... something this stupid could be happening!!

I mean... he was genuinely listening... to my story... and he even cried with me!!

I thought... I thought he was the one person in Hinamizawa who would... understand...

This... this was... no, this was...!!

"There are signs of fabrications or falsehoods, and his memories of yesterday in particular are completely confused.

He can no longer tell truth from falsehood.

It's quite similar to multiple personality disorder.

...But as for how quickly this mental disorder emerged... It's just not normal...

Maybe it's inborn, or perhaps there were signs of it before he moved here.

...I'd like to take a look at any records of him staying at a mental hospital before he moved here.

...In any case, I want him to take a quiet nap."

The two doctors nodded deeply.

"...I should probably contact Maebara-kun's parents, too.

...Though I can't think of what to tell them...

...Please find his home phone number for me."

...My eyes, still moist... began to shed tears once more.

This was... too cruel...!

I really thought... he had actually understood... and had believed what I'd told him...!

But now, from the other side of that wall... he was bluntly treating me like a crazy person...!!

I believed you... I believed you!!

I had let down my guard... because I thought you were the only ally I had left after that insane night...!!

Was that a lie?!

All that... about thanking me on Satoko's behalf... Were you just... pretending in order to keep me placated?!

...Uurrrrghhh...!!!

My tears... fell to the floor... in frustration...!

...I was an idiot...!

I was an idiot...!!

I was such an idiot... for believing that bastard...!!

I heard footsteps approaching the doctors.

...A man in a dress shirt with no tie came running up.

"Dr. Irie...!

It's terrible...!!

They... they found Takano-san!"

"Takano-san?

Wait, where?"

"W-Well...!

Apparently they discovered her burned corpse in the mountains in Gifu..."

"She's dead?!

Takano-san...?!"

The men, all surprised, exchanged glances.

...Dead...?

Takano-san...?

......Hey, wait... so then... does that mean when I cursed her, wishing for her death, that wish was granted...?!

"What do you mean, burned corpse?

Was it an accident?"

"...According to the statement from the prefectural police department, the possibility is extremely high that she was murdered..."

...Huhuhu... ahahaha...

...As I cried... I laughed quietly.

...Serves you right... Serves you right...!

If I hadn't run into that woman, my murder would have been perfect.

But she just had to come driving up to me... and tried to coerce me like that.

...I regretted not having killed her on the spot... but now she was dead anyway.

My curse, my wish for her demise—it was fulfilled...!!

Serves you right...!

Serves you right!!

"...Risa-san died, and Takano-san died.

...What on earth could be happening in Hinamizawa?

...Don't tell me... that this was all Oyashiro-sama's curse for this year...?!"

Like hell I'll let the curse be real, Coach said.

Everyone present just nodded as Coach cursed at no one in particular...

Ku-ku-ku-ku...!!

Yes, maybe it wasn't Oyashiro-sama, but this was definitely a spell, a curse...!

I wished for her to die.

So she did!!

...If this wasn't just a coincidence... and she died because I wished for it...

Then you'll die next, Coach!!

You... betrayed me.

You pretended to believe me, but deep down you thought I was a madman...!!

You looked down on me with all that pity in your eyes!!

"For now, get the black tea ready.

...I'll bring it inside. I don't think he'd let anyone besides me be alone with him."

Shit... shit... shit!!!

What do I do?!

What do I do, Keiichi Maebara?!

This time I heard the voice of a nurse.

"Dr. Irie?

Oh, there you are.

You have a phone call."

"I'm a little busy at the moment, so please tell them I'll call back.

...Who is it from?"

"A Mr. Ooishi from the Okinomiya Police Department."

"Ah... sheesh, what bad timing.

...All right, I'll answer it."

Coach left to go answer the phone.

The other men headed towards the room with the teapot to make the black tea, like Coach had ordered them to.

...Fortunately, Coach having to take that phone call meant there would be extra time for me to act.

I had to decide what to do now...

Would I let him make me drink the sedative-infused tea... or be held down and thrown into a mental hospital?!

Nothing would come from starting a brawl here.

...They had more people anyway, and they were all bigger than me.

If it came to a fight, I didn't stand a chance in hell.

...If I couldn't win against them... then there was only one thing left to do:

run...

Adrenaline suddenly rushed into my brain, and my body... started to move with keen instinct, like it had on that night.

My surface temperature quickly cooled, and the transmission routes between my cells enlarged.

Using 360-degree visual information, I searched for an escape route.

...I would open the window behind me.

Outside was a parking lot.

There were no cars.

...A little beyond there was the bicycle I had taken to get here.

...I determined that this would be the quickest method of escape.

I approached the window swiftly, but with little sound, to raise as little suspicion as I could.

With the speed and silence of a shadow, like I'd had on that night I chased her uncle.

...I unlocked the window and opened it up.

...A cool evening breeze wafted in...

I stuck my head out and looked over the parking lot again.

...Nobody in sight.

No need to hesitate.

I quietly crawled outside and closed the window behind me.

...I held my breath and listened carefully.

...Nobody seemed to have realized I'd run...

I looked around.

Then... I jumped onto my bicycle... and zoomed away.

The pedals clattered under the force.

Had my bike always creaked like this?

Did the pedals always whine every time I pushed down on them?

...My bike wasn't the only one crying, though.

My tears fell as the wind cut through them.

They rode the breeze and scattered behind me.

Uurghhh...!!

......I hate this... I hate this...!!

I'm not the crazy one... Hinamizawa is...!!

How... how dare you treat me like a madman...!!

Die!

Die!!

Just fucking die already!!!

I believed you! I believed you...!!!

Uwaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

...I'd gone to the hospital in order to escape Rena and Mion's invitation...

but the reality that was waiting for me... had been too cruel.

...Who was insane—me, or Hinamizawa?

Or... was the answer something else?

I started having trouble breathing.

...I didn't... have any clue what was happening anymore.

The loud chirps of the higurashi were irritating me.

...Ah... Were even the Hinamizawa higurashi I knew so well calling into the wind...?

No, that wasn't quite it.

They weren't calling.

...They were crying.

The pained wailing... of those lost in some kind of rhythm... in another world... no longer able to return to their own sunlight.

I didn't... do all that to end up in a world like that...!!

And actually... at about this time... I might have been having fun with everyone else...!!

Satoko would have gotten her smile back after realizing her uncle wouldn't ever come home... and she might have shown it to us at our first club meeting in a while.

That was the kind of world... I wished for...!

So... what was this?!

Why... did I end up... in such a strange, ghastly world?!

Someone I'd killed was living like normal... and I had enjoyed myself at the festival despite not being there.

...I don't want it... I don't want this strange world!!!

When did it start to go wrong?!

When?!

When?!?

No matter how much I thought about it... I never understood.

I rode swiftly... and returned to my home.

It had begun to rain during my journey back, and just like yesterday, I was now soaked.

...But I didn't care about something so trivial right now.

...The pain I felt in my heart that Coach, the one person I trusted, was acting so cruelly... was far worse.

Did I have no allies in Hinamizawa anymore...?

With the naive thought... that I at least wanted my parents to side with me, I stepped up to the front door...

Wait... Keiichi.

...It'll be dark soon... There's something you want to check, right...?

Yes.

...I wanted to dig up the man's corpse... and get a look... at his back.

If there was a tiger tattoo there, I would know beyond a doubt he was Satoko's uncle.

...That long night... wouldn't end until I was certain...

If this insane world... was all reparation, all a divine punishment...

then I needed to make certain... whether I had been successful enough to even deserve to pay that price.

I went to the storage room again... and got the shovel.

...It had been washed in the rain, but the paint was peeling, making it look unsightly.

...I never, ever wanted to touch this thing again.

The sensation of it in my hands was totally different from the night before... There was a ruthless coldness about it.

...Yeah.

...It would be dark soon... so I'd need the lantern too...

There would be a little bit of light from the street lights... but it would get extremely dark.

"..................Uh."

I thought I'd put the lantern here, but I suddenly noticed it wasn't anywhere to be found.

...Then it hit me like a bolt of lightning.

......Of course.

...On that night... I hadn't brought the lantern back with me.

I'd left it at the place I buried the body.

...If I didn't go to get it soon, it would get very dark.

And then, not only would I be unable to find the spot I'd buried the corpse, but I wouldn't even be able to find the lantern itself.

If that happened... it was all over.

"...I need to hurry."

In order to fit the shovel in the basket on the front of my bike, I'd need to twist it and disassemble it.

But... it looked like there was dirt in the joints, and no matter how hard I pushed... it didn't want to come apart.

...After a strenuous effort, I realized I couldn't get it apart... so I decided to hold it in one hand and ride my bike with the other.

With the downpour soaking me through... and a shovel in one hand.

And riding one-handed.

...It was as if... I'd returned to that night.

...No, 'return' was the wrong word.

...It was more like... that night had never ended.

The pain of the raindrops striking me... were no different from then.

The thing that was different...... was Hinamizawa.

...The world, and nothing else.

The rain clouds were already making it dark, and now was about time for the sun to set.

I could tell it would only get rapidly darker.

The straight road leading to town.

...In the middle of it.

......That... should be where I buried it...

......Yes.

...It was near that street light...

On that night too... the water from the downpour was splashing down from the street light's overhang like a waterfall...

The pouring rain was exactly the same as it had been that night, and thus it brought my memories into focus.

I left my bike in the brush and stepped into the forest, the ground already soaked with mud.

...Where had I... buried him?

...Think...

The darkness,

the shadows,

the water,

the mud.

...Everything was the same.

...Think...!

And then... I spotted the lantern by a fallen, moss-covered tree.

...That's right, I left it right there.

If I left the lantern here, then...

I would have buried him... over here.

With the sensation of standing in the sludge, my feet remembered the spot better than my eyes did.

I plunged my shovel into the ground.

...Ngh... it's hard.

...It wasn't here.

...I just dug it up, so it should have been softer.

I stick my shovel down in a few spots... to test what they feel like...

One of them...... clearly felt deeper.

...I recalled where the lantern was, where the trees and things were in relation to each other... and knew that it had to be here...

...Under here... slept that man's corpse.

There would definitely be... the tattoo of a tiger on his back.

...But... if it wasn't there...

Then I... had made a horrible mistake... and killed someone completely unrelated instead.

...I would be more dazed at the fact that Satoko's uncle wasn't dead... than I would regret having gotten someone else mixed up in this...

If this insane world was punishment for the sin of committing murder...

I wouldn't be able to accept it until I'd killed Satoko's uncle for good.

And then... without any fear... I'd attack him again.

...And that time... I would kill him for sure.

But what... if the tattoo was there?

......That would mean I'd killed Satoko's uncle.

But... that would be terribly strange.

...If I'd killed him for sure... then who was the "uncle" at Satoko's house this very moment...?

......Impossible.

...I didn't even know anymore what I was using the word "impossible" to refer to.

I've used the word quite a few times today.

...If I had to make the words "impossible" fit just one thing... what would it be...?

...That much was obvious to me.

"...It would be impossible... for this crazy world to be real...!!"

I shouted, then turned behind me.

...There was nobody there, of course.

...It hadn't been bothering me for a while... but those footsteps had followed me this entire day.

Even just now, an extra set of footsteps had splashed behind me.

No one was actually there—no indications of anyone, even.

...But... they were there.

"......Who are you?

...You've been following me ever since I came to this world."

That's right.

Thinking back... the first time I heard those footsteps was after Takano-san and I had parted.

...Those footsteps... were my welcome into this strange, inside-out world.

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

No one could be there.

I'd get no response.

...Whoever it was, they just kept staring at me.

...It wasn't ominous, just unpleasant.

...After staring into empty space for a bit, as I bathed in the rain, my illogical anger slipped away...

My tension loosened... and a tired feeling reared its head.

...I tasted this feeling that night too.

...The sudden exhaustion I felt as the tension in my brain loosened.

My vision quickly narrowed, and I felt like everything around me had suddenly gotten darker.

...I couldn't... give into this sensation.

I would light what little explosives were left in my brain and force myself to keep going.

I needed to dig that man up... before my stamina ran out.

...I needed to see the tattoo on his back......

I caught my suddenly ragged breath and calmed down.

...Then, I stuck the shovel into the soft, muddy ground again.

It felt exactly the same as that night.

...The sense of digging a hole in the beach, with water coming into it with every wave.

...What day was today?

Had I... gone back to the night of Watanagashi...?

...Every strange thought that came to mind tormented me.

...Given my exhaustion, I didn't think I could manage to hold those thoughts back.

Once the hole was deep... all illumination finally faded, blanketing my vision in jet black.

...It was probably the moment the sun had fully set, too.

That night, I had feared the worst, and gone without using much light.

...My senses were so strained that I could see even in that darkness.

...But now... I didn't have that kind of strength left.

...I drained everything I had last night, and now the darkness would be lethal...

...I decided to turn on the lantern.

...Putting it on the first setting would make it give off a faint light.

Even with how little there was, it was enough... and people wouldn't be able to see it from far away in this rain...

I grabbed the chilled lantern, turned the dial with a click, set it to the weakest light setting... and turned it on.

An uncanny world of silhouettes... appeared before me.

...A complex and strange shadowy world, created by the intricate entanglement of trees and branches.

I had only turned on a light... and it was like... that was all it took to make the world into something else.

...I let out a quick, tired breath, and wiped the liquid, neither rain nor sweat, from my brow...

Then I raised the shovel into the air... and slammed it into the mud.

That moment.

......The silhouettes surrounding me... ominously all moved at once...

"...........Uh............"

Inside my head... something packed in there, something coarse but not hot or cold... was loudly rushing about.

The silhouettes were all around me... looking down at me.

And one of them, a silhouette bigger than the others... stepped forward.

".........Good evening.

......Nfu-fu-fu-fu, the moon sure is beautiful tonight."

The coarseness in my brain shot through my whole spine... and left me at my waist.

...The strength in my body all left me through my hips... and I crouched down with a splash... into the sea of mud I'd dug myself...

".........O...... Ooishi........."

"...Is that really how you address your elders?

...You'll have a rough time of it once you become an adult.

...Nfu-fu-fu...!"

It wasn't only Ooishi, but five or six of them in a row... men wearing raincoats..

I had no inkling... that this many people had gotten so close.

It was like... once I turned on the lantern... they just appeared there... sliding out of the shadows...

"...Please, don't mind us.

Just think of us as... trees in the forest, perhaps."

...............Don't mind... them...?

"Yes.

Pay no attention to us—please, continue digging your hole."

"......Uh..............."

"It's very late, and raining very hard.

And you're working pretty fervently.

We won't get in your way!

Please, dig to your heart's content.

...Nfu-fu-fu."

No thank you, I said...

When I tried to get up and turn around, two men blocked that route.

...They stood on either side of me and lifted me up with amazing strength... then threw me into the sea of mud.

As I... soaked in the mud bath I'd dug for myself... I looked up at the silhouettes looking down at me...

Ooishi squatted, picked up my shovel, and threw it at my feet for me.

...It bounced loudly off the mud and hit me in the face.

"...Come.

...Please, continue.

Continue."

I couldn't bear the oppressiveness of the silhouettes surrounding me... and slowly, I stuck the shovel into the mud again.

...I felt like I was... digging my own grave.

If I kept digging... it wouldn't matter whether there was a tattoo or not... because that man's corpse would appear eventually.

...It was... all over.

...Surrounded on all sides, and nowhere to go.

But... I just couldn't figure it out, no matter how much I thought about it.

...Why... were they here?

............Was it Takano-san...?

There was only one person... who could have made the connection between me and this place.

...Shit...... I knew it... She deserved to die...!!

"...Stopping so soon?"

"...Agh...!!"

Bam!

...Ooishi kicked me in the back, which took me by surprise, sending me flying into the mud...

"...Hurry up and dig, please.

You really should consider the fact that some of us are standing out here in the rain."

".........Fuck you...

If you don't like the rain... then just go home...

...Grah!"

Ooishi kicks some mud into my face.

"...Use your hands, please, not your mouth.

Only stage actors do both at once.

...Isn't that right, boys?"

...The men around him didn't react, not knowing quite whether they should laugh... but when Ooishi glared at them... they started mumbling out pained chuckles.

...Just who... who was this guy...

I knew the world had changed after that night...

But if I went even further back... didn't it start when this guy showed up?

...That was when our peaceful days had been taken from us.

...Ever since he showed up in Hinamizawa...... things had been odd.

...Everyone stopped smiling... and the world went crazy...

".........Hah...... hah...... ngh..."

The ground under my feet gradually got harder and heavier.

...At this point... even I started to think something was odd.

...I hadn't... buried him this deep on that night, had I...?

My exhaustion peaked... and I sat down on the spot.

"...How long... do you want me to dig......"

"...Kids these days have no stamina.

......Hey, you."

At Ooishi's gesture, the men all pulled out their own sinister-looking shovels.

As I watched adaze, one of them grabbed my collar, dragged me out of the hole, and threw me to the ground.

The rest of the men stepped into the hole I dug and started shoveling themselves...

...As I stared at them, dumbfounded, Ooishi sauntered over... and squatted down to look at me directly.

"...Keiichi Maebara-san.

Is this a hobby of yours—digging holes on rainy nights?"

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

When I didn't respond, Ooishi took one of the tin buckets they were using to bail out the muddy water, scooped up some of it... and splashed the whole thing in my face.

"......*cough*... *cough*... *cough*...!!"

"...The rain's heavy today, too.

No matter how wet I get, I still don't understand the appeal!"

Ooishi smiled to himself, then scooped up another bucketful of muddy water.

"...I'll ask you again.

Is digging holes on rainy nights your hobby?"

"......Who the hell... would have a hobby like that?"

Splash!!

Ooishi hit me with another bucketful of muddy water.

...The pebbles in it stung.

"Will there be something in that hole?

I've always liked that story, you know—about the old man who could make plants bloom, and the puppy digging in his yard for gold."

As he spoke, he ran the bucket through the muddy water again.

...To splash it in my face again.

"...What kind of treasure is buried down there, hmm?

Can't you at least give me a hint?

...Nfu-fu-fu-fu-fu...!"

...If you want to know... then dig on your own time.

...You... fucking pig...!!

I wasn't saying that out loud... but Ooishi mercilessly drenched me in muddy water again anyway.

...Shit... shit... shit...!!

If only... if only you hadn't shown up, the world wouldn't have gone wrong...!!

Ever since you showed up... things have been strange.

Satoko got abused by her uncle... I ended up killing him... and the world went crazy...

He was how it all began.

...Because of this culprit...!

He splashed another bucket of mud in my face.

...My insides were seething with anger.

...Die... You... You die too!!

If I have some strange power to kill someone by cursing them, like with Takano-san... then you're dead!!

And it won't be Oyashiro-sama's curse, it'll be mine... I'll curse you and kill you...!!

"What a rebellious look you're wearing.

Why don't we use this opportunity to teach you a thing or two in that regard?

We really do live in peace these days.

When I was about your age, corporal punishment was the norm for everything—"

"...Ooishi-san."

One of the digging men in raincoats wiped some sweat off and called Ooishi over.

Ooishi tossed the bucket away, then turned around with an evil grin on his face.

"...Yes, what is it?"

"Please, look at this..."

.........

...Acceptance, or maybe resignation.

...I wanted to say to them... "So you blockheads finally found it."

Yeah... That's right, I'm the one who killed him.

...But you're the police, so it's your own job to figure out who he is, right...?

Come on, prove to me that he's really Satoko's uncle...

"...What on earth?"

"We think it's an old drain pipe.

...It seems to be connected to the irrigation channel over there."

"...Let's smash the thing.

It's not being used, is it?"

The men all exchanged glances... then hesitantly broached another topic.

"Ooishi-san...

The ground down there is pretty hard.

I don't think anything could be deeper than this."

"...Did we get the location wrong?"

"...No... At first, it definitely felt like the place had been dug up before.

But after digging so far, the ground suddenly hardened.

...We think we've gone down further than the hole that was originally dug."

"...So... what does that mean?

There was a hole here, and someone filled it back up?

...Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

.....................What...?

...What were they... talking about......?

"Nah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha...

Well, well... I'm at a loss.

Aren't you?

Maebara-san?"

Ooishi grabbed my collar and dragged me to the huge hole they dug...

The mud inside was like an ocean, and I couldn't see any drain pipe down there.

One of the men stirred it with a shovel, letting me hear it clang against something hard.

...There was no doubt I'd buried him right here.

But I hadn't buried him this deep.

...I didn't dig deep enough to unearth an entire drain pipe.

...So...

......then.........

this man, his corpse...... where was it...

Proof... proof that I'd been successful on that night.........

was gone.

...Gone.

Gone.

Then... what...... what on earth was I...

...Was I actually crazy after all... and just possessed by the delusion that I'd killed someone...?

That couldn't be.

...It was the unmistakable truth.

It couldn't have been a hallucination.

But now...... the most important evidence... that it hadn't been an illusion... was gone.

I killed him.

I buried him.

...I had... absolute, unwavering confidence in that fact.

...Then...... did I fail to kill him......?

After I left here... had he started breathing again... crawled out... and gone back to Satoko's house? Was that it?

......I had come here to see...

Whether he had a tattoo or not.

...And yet... the truth I unearthed... was far more than that.

I... yesterday... what was I...

I killed him.

I buried him!!

There was no doubt...!!

But... for some reason he lived, and crawled back out!

And that... was... impossible too!!

Agh, I'm so tired of hearing the word "impossible" over and over...

I get it, I get it...!

Dead people don't like to play by the rules here in Hinamizawa.

...Then... I'll kill you as many times as I need to...

I'll keep killing you... until you never show your face to Satoko again...!!

Ooishi and the others were muttering to each other.

...Eventually, their conversation ended, and Ooishi came towards me.

...What did he want to say?

...What did he want to do?

...I stiffened, tensing up...... and then, Ooishi just ignored me like I wasn't even there, and passed right by me.

The other men, too... they ignored me and shuffled away.

Eventually... there was no longer a sign that anyone was around... and I returned to my quiet world of silhouettes.

The only one left there was me.

...Only the sound of the pouring rain filled up the silence...