"Oh, you're talking about Kasai-san.

He's Shion's watchdog."

"Her watchdog? Really?"

"Aha ha ha. Yeah, he is!

Shion tends to do crazy things,

so she needs to have someone watch her all the time."

"I think you're as crazy as Shion."

Keiichi-kun cut into the conversation. They ended up making a lot of noise, teasing each other like they always do.

Mion made it sound like that man, Kasai-san, is some sort of territory boss in Okinomiya.

...It wouldn't be easy for me to meet him in person.

But because he's Shii-chan's watchdog, I might be able to find a way.

The problem, though, is that I don't have any connection to Shii-chan either.

We hang around every once in a while whenever she comes to Hinamizawa, but I've never called or visited her.

I have no idea how we can meet.

Even if I could meet Kasai-san, there's no guarantee that he'd help me.

...He seems like the kind of person who doesn't like to gossip about others. He told me about Rina-san at the coffee house only because Shii-chan pushed him to.

......Plus, the situation could grow worse very quickly while I waited for the chance to meet him, so any help he might offer could come too late.

I remember Kasai-san told me that, as her next step, Rina-san usually uses her partner to threaten their catch.

That would signify the end of her performance.

...They were going to take all of my father's money.

I wasn't feeling a sense of crisis yet, but that time might be coming very soon...

Even as I was at school, taking a class peacefully...

That man might already be at the house right at this moment, threatening my father to hand over his bankbooks.

...Once I become anxious, I get more and more anxious. I could feel a big pressure on my chest as if the ceiling had collapsed on me.

"Man... I'm so bored. My life is too peaceful."

Keiichi-kun talks to me, yawning.

"Is that so bad?

I'd love to have a peaceful life that'd bore me..."

"I don't.

I wish some kind of big event would happen, like aliens coming to attack us or something. I'm not saying I'd like to have something like that every week, but at least at the end of every month or so.

Oh, and that doesn't include our monthly test."

"If aliens really did come, destroyed the earth, and burned all of Hinamizawa, would you be satisfied?

...Would you?"

"No, that's not what I mean.

I'm just saying that I want for some kind of excitement because I'm so bored."

...He had no idea of what I've been going through, of course, and that's why he says that.

But I was still irritated by his insensitivity.

I couldn't understand why he wouldn't be satisfied with such a peaceful life. He never has to doubt that today and tomorrow will be as fun as yesterday.

I was all too aware that boring and peaceful days could be destroyed all of a sudden.

I knew that boring and peaceful days could come to an end all of a sudden because your mom wanted to divorce your dad.

I knew that you could feel like you didn't belong anywhere in your own house because your dad had gotten a new girlfriend.

Even so, you had to repeat the same kind of day over and over again.

...That's why I want to live every day happily in order to be prepared when the world comes to its end.

"I'm jealous of you, you know? You look so happy all the time.

I wish I had that kind of skill."

"......You're jealous of me, huh?"

"How do you do it? How do you live every day not being bored, but being happy?

If it really is a skill, I'd love to learn how!"

"Ahahahahaha. That's easy.

......All you need to do is to realize."

"Realize what?"

There's no way he could realize it.

And it was probably better that he didn't, because that meant he was truly happy.

"You just need to realize

that your happy days will one day come to an end."

The three of us walked home from school like we always did.

Mii-chan said goodbye to us at the corner of the street where she took her separate way home. She walked away, waving, but I chased after her.

"Mii-chan...!"

"Nn? What?"

Mii-chan apparently thought she dropped something, and she looked around to see what she dropped.

"Uh, ahaha. I almost forgot to tell you.

I saw Shii-chan and Kasai-san yesterday at a coffee house.

And I picked up something that Kasai-san dropped while he was there."

Of course, he hadn't dropped anything. I was lying.

If I could meet him, I'd just show him whatever, tell him I thought it was his, and apologize for my mistake.

"Oh! Well, thank you, then.

I'll send it over to him, in that case."

"Ah, ah... I'd like to give it back to him in person."

"...Eh?"

Mii-chan looked surprised.

I couldn't blame her.

I'd met him only once.

It's weird to want to give something back in person to someone you barely know.

"Well, that's alright. But why?"

"H-Hau......

He had this kyute beard and these kyute sunglasses......

I'm so crazy about kyute things...

Hauuu."

Could I fudge my true intentions with my Kyute Mode?

...I tried it anyway.

Mii-chan usually takes words at their face value, and indeed she seemed to buy it.

"Ah ha ha ha!

Please don't pull out his beard and take it home with you!"

"So, d-do you think I can meet him...?"

"...Well... I have no idea if he's busy or not.

I'll ask him when he's coming to Hinamizawa next."

I needed to know when as soon as possible.

...Of course, I wasn't going to say I wanted to meet him today, but at least tomorrow or the day after tomorrow...

"What are you guys doing?"

"Hmm?

Nfu fu fu!

It seems like Rena found a new love."

"N-N-No! Hauuuuuu!!"

"Really? How interesting!

I want to hear about it, too!"

I didn't want her to leave it up in the air, so I told her, "I think I should give it back to him as soon as possible.

I'm sure he's looking for it, too."

Mii-chan said "okay" twice and walked away, waving.

...I hadn't yet thought about how I was going to ask for help when I would meet him.

He seems to be in a higher position than Rina-san and her partner.

If he agreed to help me, it would be very encouraging.

But there was a possibility that he'd tell me he didn't want to interfere in other people's private matters.

He could just say the whole thing was another love triangle between a father, his daughter, and his lover.

"Bye, Rena.

See you tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow!"

I said goodbye to Keiichi-kun, and walked home alone.

After Keiichi-kun was gone, everything went quiet, and my head became clear.

...What I needed at that moment was quiet time to think about what I should do from then on.

I shouldn't depend on Kasai-san to solve my problem.

He'd most likely decline my request, so I'll have to think about some alternatives.

...It's probably better that I just do that.

...A love triangle between a father, his daughter, and his lover. Those words bothered me, because I've seen an unhappy triangle like that before.

That sort of thing...

had happened to Satoshi-kun.

Satoshi-kun experienced it last year.

He fought for his sister in a triangle with his aunt.

It was the same situation as mine. I'm trying to fight to protect my father.

Satoshi-kun fought alone.

Nobody helped him.

All I did for him was give him my sympathy and compassion.

I didn't think I could do anything more than that.

I felt sorry for him, but I didn't really help him out.

Irresponsibly, I tried to cheer him up, and I probably told him something that I thought would make him feel better, but that hurt him instead.

......I recently realized how much I hurt him with my insensitivity, because Keiichi just hurt me the same way.

I'm going down the same path Satoshi-kun went last year.

...I feel like I'm experiencing deja vu,

an unusual repetition.

...Ahaha, would that mean...

that I'd be the one who gets demoned away this year?

I should be okay. I wasn't thinking about running away from Hinamizawa...

......Was I?

I wasn't thinking about running away from Hinamizawa, but I thought about running away from my home many times.

That's why I made the place I could escape to in the garbage dump.

That dump happened to be in Hinamizawa.

But, what if it wasn't?

...Running there would be the same thing as running away from Hinamizawa.

...Ahahahaha. I shouldn't think like that.

Oyashiro-sama will get mad at me...

Oyashiro-sama is... really scary.

...I saw flickering lights in my head...

...Oh, no. Every time I tried to remember that time, my mind would stop working properly.

I remembered the vivid colors of my psychoactive drugs.

The flickering lights and clouds started spreading in my head......

They were so bright and annoying......

Don't try too hard to remember. Don't try too hard to remember...

Ah... No, no, no...

I couldn't stop the flickering lights in my head...

I couldn't have that feeling.

...I had to fill my heart with another feeling...

Yeah, there was no time for these crazy flickering lights in my head.

...I had to think about what I should do when Kasai-san declined my request for help.

I had to protect my father from Rina-san and that bad man.

Wait, why was I still calling her that?

Rina is Rina. Rina. Rina. Rina.

She's a bad person who deceived my father and tried to bring us unhappiness.

Bad people bring bad things into the world without even doing anything.

They're different from the other 90% of people who aren't bad.

If you let them loose, they'll even ruin the people around them.

When you have one bad tangerine in a box, it spreads its fungus to the other tangerines around it.

That's what bad people are like.

...I couldn't remember how Satoshi-kun resolved his triangle last year. Ah, but I could still see the flickering lights in my head...

They're

still

flickering.

They're

still

flickering.

\nThey're

still

flickering.

They're

still

flickering.

\nThey're

still

flickering......

\nThey're

still

flickering......

Just as the swirl of flickering lights were making me dizzy, I saw my house.

...I also saw Rina-san's scooter parked by the side of the gate.

The moment I saw the bike, the flickering lights disappeared, and I regained control of myself.

Rina-san spent the night last night.

She told me she had to work today in the evening, so she should be leaving soon.

But I didn't want to be around her, even for the little while until she left.

I said, "I'm home!" real loud, rushed into the house, pretended that my friends were waiting outside, and rushed out of the house.

But Rina-san stopped me.

"Hey, Reina-chan. You're home."

"Ah, hello..."

This was the first time I thought Rina-san's smile was ugly.

It only stood to reason.

I had realized the scheme she was hiding behind the smile.

"Your father and I went to Gogura for lunch today.

There's a restaurant there that makes delicious Indian curry."

My father poked his head out of the living room, and he says, "I want to go there again next time we go. I really liked that curry."

...I wondered if he meant with me next time or with me and her.

Anyway, I hate it when Rina-san says "your father".

"We bought you some curry home from the restaurant.

Try it later.

It's very good!

Have you heard of that restaurant, Reina-chan?"

I did know the restaurant she was talking about.

I saw it in a magazine. It's a new restaurant that just opened recently.

I also remembered that it was an expensive restaurant.

The amount of money they spent on the take-home curry alone must have been enough to cover the cost of all our dinners for several nights.

...Since I was aware of what was in the bankbooks, it was hard for me to stay calm.

"I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you so much, Rina-san."

"Reina-chan.

Your father and I would like to talk about something with you."

"I'm sorry!

But, my friends are waiting for me, so I have to go.

Hauuu!

We're going to go treasure hunting at the garbage dump again☆!"

"Ahahahahaha!

You really like treasure hunting, huh?

I'd like to go there sometime."

"Well, I've gotta go. Bye!"

Every time Rina-san moved her arms or head, the scent of her perfume struck my nostrils.

I hate the smell of her perfume, so I couldn't stay there a second longer.

I rushed out of the house, and started running to get away from her perfume.

The rubber band inside me, the one called Rena, was stretched all the way to its limit.

I'm pretty sure I'd explode and go crazy if the rubber band broke.

I didn't want to feel like that inside my own house.

My house was supposed to be the place where I could open my heart freely.

I ran away.

I ran away from there.

I ran farther and farther away from there because it was no longer a place I belonged.

It's not that I had a destination in mind. I was just running away.

I was running to escape to a place where I did belong.

...Didn't I decide to fight against that woman?

Didn't I decide to fight against her either by myself or with my father?

But then, once I saw her fake smile, a chill ran up my back.

It was like I picked up a stone, found a carpet of bugs underneath it, and put it back on the ground in a hurry.

I rushed out of the house as fast as I could.

Did I want to fight or did I want to run away?

Was I just choosing to spend a peaceful time at my hideout, believing that tomorrow would be the same as today?

I couldn't do that.

I didn't know when they'd spring their trap!

I couldn't afford to waste any time. I knew that, deep down!

I knew that, but

...I just wanted to run away.

I couldn't stop myself from running away.

And so, I did run away!

...At times like this, the mattress in my hideout would feel so soft. That, I knew.

The cries of the higurashi were soothing to the ears.

They sounded as soft as my mattress.

...They were like music. They didn't force any feelings upon me.

...They cried as if to tell me to just be who I am.

It was always so quiet here that I immediately noticed the purr of an engine coming closer.

People used to come here and make a lot of noise during the dam conflict. But now, nobody really comes here. This is a place forgotten.

...So, it was rare to see somebody come through here at all.

I sat on the roof of an abandoned car and waited for the intruder to go away without looking their way.

But, the purr of the engine stopped.

...I'm not stupid.

If it stopped, I knew exactly who it had to be.

I heard the person calling me, but I ignored it once.

...The person came closer, making it harder for me to ignore her, and she called my name again. I turned around this time.

"............Rina-san."

"Reina-chan, are you hard of hearing?"

"I'm sorry. I guess I couldn't hear you because of the wind.

Ahaha."

She seemed to buy my poor excuse.

She smiled and said, "yeah, it happens sometimes."

"Are you here alone?

Where's your friend?"

"I'm playing here alone."

"Well.

It's rare for a girl your age to play alone."

Rina-san stretched and looked across the huge garbage dump.

"I can't believe people throw so much scrap out here.

Did you know?

There used to be a place near Hirasaka where people threw tons of abandoned cars without wheels."

I wasn't interested in Rina-san's old story, but I pretended to listen and nodded.

She doesn't take this road to go back to Okinomiya.

I guess she knew I'd be here and came by to see me.

...What did she want?

It was obvious that she was just trying to make conversation.

...She probably took it personally when I avoided her earlier, which must be why she was here to butter me up.

It would be better for her not to have any conflicts with the daughter of the man she's seeing, no matter what the intention of seeing him is.

In that sense, it was a reasonable action for her to take.

While I listened to her old story, all I could think about was when she was going to leave.

...Didn't I have to fight against her?

Didn't I decide to fight against her?

Didn't I find out her plot at the coffee house in Okinomiya?

Didn't I find out that this woman is squeezing money out of my father when I looked inside his cash box?

...I know who you are.

Please leave my father alone.

How easy it would be if those two sentences could solve the problem.

...She'd probably deny it.

Even if I told her about what I heard at the coffee house, I have no evidence of her plot.

If she said she did it because the vulgar man was threatening her, there would be nothing I could do.

...But I know this woman is a bad person!

I know something horrible will happen in the near future if I waste time like this...!

A strange, tense feeling started coming over me.

...But I didn't know how to let it out.

As the feeling started running high, I became unable to stand the smell of her perfume...

...I wanted to put a certain distance between me and her, so I climbed down the slope of the scrap heap.

I kept going down and down

the slopes of the garbage dump.

When I turned around, I saw her coming down as well, muttering.

...Was she following me?

In order to run away from her, I started running down the slope all the way to the bottom, went around behind some trash piles, and arrived at the front of my hideout.

...My escape was meaningless.

Not only was she going to catch up with me eventually...

All I did was let her know the way to my hideout that nobody is supposed to know about.

I wanted to make sure she never saw my precious hideout.

...I was about to leave, but then she appeared.

"...Wow.

This is cool. It's like a secret base!"

"Ahahaha.

This is my secret hideout.

Nobody comes here, and nobody can HEAR us."

...I felt strange, hearing myself say that.

"So, this is your secret hideout, huh?

Ahahahaha!

I'm honored to be invited here."

She must've thought I told her my secret because she was worth sharing it with. She looked happy.

She found the station wagon, looked inside of it through the window, and went all 'ooh' and 'ahh' excitedly.

This is a sEcRET place that NOBODY ELSE knows. I FeLt like my ConscIousNess wAs seParatiNg fRom my bODy, LikE I WaS fLoATING.

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

But it didn't feel good, like when I drink amazake. It was more like being carsick.

I felt like I was going to throw up.

My brain was probably secreting some chemical in order to avoid facing the reality that I'd have to stay with this woman, that I couldn't run away from her.

...But, even if my brain tried to avoid recognizing it, the reality in front of me wouldn't change...!

"Reina-chan."

"...Yes?"

"...What's wrong?

Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes... I'm fine."

I inhaled fresh air and pulled my consciousness back to reality.

...I didn't feel like throwing up anymore, but I still felt off balance. I leaned onto a scrap of garbage to keep my balance.

"I like you, Reina-chan.

Do you like me?"

"Ahahahaha... What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

I said that because I didn't want to say that I like her.

"I've been seeing your father for quite a long time now,

and... we've been talking about many things, you know?"

...I needed to stop feeling like this. Get up, Rena.

I'd heard something like this before.

A part of me was trying to understand what this woman was trying to say, but another part of me was trying not to.

I felt as if her words were bouncing around in my head, and I started having a headache.

"We had a serious talk about our future the other day.

You know, about our life together and so on."

...What?

"You like Uncle Akihito, don't you, Reina?

So, your father and I are..."

...What's going on?

...Mother?

What are you thinking about, Rena Ryuugu?!

This is an important moment! You're about to have a one-on-one battle with Rina-san...!!

No, Mom. What about my dad?

What about me?

I don't want you to divorce him. I don't want you to get remarried to anybody else.

...No, please don't divorce him. I'm not going to let you do that.

I'm not going to let you get remarried...

"I'm not going to let you get married to my father."

".........What?"

"I don't care if you go out with him,

but... I'm not going to let you get married to my father."

She must've not thought that I'd say it straight out like that.

She looked stunned.

...After a while, she broke the silence with her laughter.

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

Ah...

Ah ha ha ha!

...I thought you might reject me, but I didn't think you'd say it straight out like that."

"You thought I might reject you?

I'm surprised you even noticed that I was doing it."

"Of course I did.

You always ran away whenever you saw me.

You thought I didn't know?

That's why I hate kids."

She frowned, revealing her ugly self.

...It should have been the first time I saw her face like that, but I wasn't surprised at all.

Her face had looked like that to me from the beginning.

"I wanted to get along with you if I could, at least on the surface, but I guess it's hard to do that now since you hate me so much.

...What do you hate about me?

I'd like to know for future reference."

"Everything.

I hate everything about you.

I hate your smell, too."

One vicious word came out from my mouth after another.

...I didn't have wings, but I felt as if I was flying up to the sky. I felt weird and uncomfortable, but also exhilarated.

I felt as if I was letting another me use my body.

I was in the middle of a disastrous battlefield, but I felt like it wasn't even my business.

"That's just fine with me.

Because I hate you, too. I guess we're even.

Kyahahahahaha!

You little fucking brat! You better shut your fucking mouth or I'll make you!"

"Never come to my house again.

I'll never let you get married to my father."

"Kya ha hahahahahahahaha!

I don't need your permission, you know?

Well, why don't you try and stop your father from remarrying? Let's see what happens.

I think you're wasting your time, though."

...She didn't look intimidated by me at all, and that made me feel a little intimidated in return.

Why was she so confident of her absolute control over my father?

...She had to have more than confidence to be able to act as fearless as this.

She must have something tangible...

Before I asked her what it was, she told me herself.

"I'm pregnant."

"You're lying!!!!!!"

"I... I'm not lying.

It's true."

It's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie... It's a big lie...!!

She has to divorce because she got pregnant. She has to get married because she got pregnant.

That's a lie!

That's a big lie...!!

"I'm a Christian, so I can't get an abortion.

He'll just have to accept it.

Plus, we had sex with marriage in mind.

He made me pregnant. If he changes his mind and takes no responsibility, it's going to be a big mess, you know?"

"That was your plan, wasn't it?!!

I overheard it!

I heard the conversation you had with that man, 'Tecchan', at the coffee house!!

I know you started seeing my father for his money!!

I know you call him your 'husband in Hinamizawa'. I know he's just a big catch for you!

I know everything because I heard it from Kasai-san.

I know you do badger games, too!!!"

"...Oh, you knew?

Well, well, well."

Before I knew it, Rina was standing right in front of me.

We glared at each other with our faces almost touching.

"So?

Reina-chan, you know everything, and what are you thinking you're going to do?"

"...Don't come near my father ever again...!"

"What if I refuse?"

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

"You wanted to talk to me at your secret hideout, right?

I kind of knew what you wanted to talk to me about.

You brought me to your secret hideout

where nobody knows, and nobody can hear us, right?"

"Yeah, you're right.

...Nobody knows about this place, and nobody can hear us here.

...Nobody comes here because it's a place forgotten..."

...Our faces were so close to each other that our noses could almost touch.

I knew what I was talking about.

...But, I didn't know what would happen next.

I couldn't back down now that I'd come to this point.

...But, I didn't know

what to do. I didn't know

what I should do.

"Kya hahahahaha!

Come on. Let's not do this.

Let's be friends again."

Rina started laughing and slapped me on the back.

...My expression didn't change, and I kept staring at Rina.

But I didn't notice her real intention of putting both of her arms around my neck.

The tension broke, already stretched thin, and Rina squeezed my neck hard!

I was openly hostile, but I didn't realize Rina's evil intentions until she started choking me.

"...............Ah.........

Ggg........."

"You little brat!!

I'm so close to getting millions of yen.

If you at least pretended to get along with me, I would've given you a good allowance!!

But, you just can't keep your fucking mouth shut, can you? You got some fucking nerve!!

A brat like you should die!!!"

I tried to pry her hands off my neck, but I didn't have the strength to do so.

"............Ugg...... Ghh......!!"

"I didn't want to kill you.

But, I'll probably never get as big a catch as your father again!!

So, I don't mind killing you for millions of yen!

I was going to disappear after I got that money anyway!

This is what you get for talking back to me!!!"

The world around me got darker and darker.

...I had never known an evil intention like this, namely the intention to kill me.

It didn't scare me, though.

...That's because being scared is a feeling that people use to express how they feel when they see wildfire on the other side of a river.

People on the island with the wildfire, with their deaths right in front of them... they don't get scared.

If I loosened my grip on her hands even a little bit, she'd crush my throat. This was a simple competition to see who was stronger.

Rina wanted to get into the most advantageous position, so she tried to push me down to the ground so that she could mount me.

If I let her do that, I wouldn't stand a chance.

I tried to keep my current position, but I was losing a lot of energy by being choked. It was only a matter of time before Rina could push me down.

I lost my balance on purpose.

I tried to fall backwards in order to put her off balance.

I couldn't hold my breath long enough to keep up that strength competition.

So I had no choice but to take that chance!

We fell on the ground, tangled together.

But as Rina was strongly determined to kill me, she didn't even take her hands away from my neck after she fell.

However, my action made Rina loosen her grip on my throat.

It wasn't loose enough for me to break free from her grip, but it gave me a few moments to use my hands for something other than stopping her from crushing my throat.

If I hadn't taken the chance, I would've been done for.

That's why I tried to literally seize my chance. I moved both of my hands on the ground.

To seize that chance!

I felt a piece of broken glass on my right hand.

That was truly my chance to literally save myself from the brink of death.

I cut Rina's wrist deep with the piece of glass!!

"...Gyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!"

Rina tried to endure the pain for a few seconds.

But pain that severe, from someone so cornered, soon broke her will.

She let go of my throat to cling to her bloody wrist.

I used that moment to roll away from her.

"......Uggg...!!!

It fucking hurts...!!"

She screamed, both in pain and also to try and intimidate me again.

It didn't work anymore, though.

Intimidation only works on the opponent when the opponent is hesitant to fight.

When you're already in a fight, screaming like that means nothing more than letting the opponent know how badly you're hurt!

I no longer had any hesitation.

I had learned from Rina.

She taught me what I have to do in a situation like this!

That's right. This is my secret hideout.

I know every single piece of junk in here!

Maybe I knew that a day like this was coming.

Was it just a coincidence that it was there?

I had pulled out a meter-long lead pipe, not at all surprised to see it there.

I raised it up high and brought it back down!!

There was no way Rina could block this hard and heavy lead pipe with just her arms.

She'd probably tried to block it with the palms of her hands in order to take it from me.

But, her long nails wouldn't let that happen.

Unable to catch it the way she wanted, she broke her fingers and some of her nails came off too.

"Gyaaaah!"

Her scream made me realize that I had the advantage.

An advantage I would have to keep!!

If I didn't, she'd turn the tables just like I did, and then she'd choke me to death for sure!!

"Gya!!

Ugg!!!

Stop!

...!

Stop it!

...Wait!!!"

Rina shielded her head with her arms, but it didn't help.

All that would change is that I'd break her arms before I broke her face.

"I-I'm serious! Stop it right now...!!

Ugg!!

Gya!!"

I'm serious too.

Die! Die! Die!

You should die...!

Yeah, that's right.

I should've done this a long time ago.

I didn't need proof. I didn't have to talk to anybody.

That's stupid.

That's nonsense!!

I should've done this a long time ago!!

If I had done it a long time ago,

my father wouldn't have been deceived.

I could've protected him.

I could've protected my family.

I could've protected my life.

I could've been myself.

My mother wouldn't have divorced my father.

I could've stayed happy.

I wouldn't have had to be unhappy.

I'm going to recapture my happiness.

At this moment, I'm going to win back my happiness.

I'm not going to cry for misfortune.

I'm not going to give in to a fate of unhappiness.

I'm going to be happy.

I'm going to seize my happiness...

right now...

with my own...

two hands!!!!

Rina tried to run away from me.

But as she no longer had the use of her hands, it made it difficult for her to stand up to escape, especially since there were scraps of junk everywhere on the ground.

After all...

this is my hideout.

This is my territory.

...Nobody can run away from me here.

She tried to climb up the slope of garbage, slipped, fell, and rolled all the way back down.

She didn't stand up or move.

Her eyes were open, and her neck was bent at an unnatural angle.

...I didn't know how to make sure she was dead, so I kept looking at her opened eyes for a while.

She could be faking it for all I know.

But she didn't close her eyes no matter how long I waited.

I scooped up a handful of sand and threw it on her face.

She still didn't close her eyes.

Thud.

...The lead pipe slipped out of my hand and hit the ground.

When I tried to pick it up, I realized how heavy it was, and I was surprised that I was wielding it as though it was a knife.

I was sweating all over. The cold wind felt good on my skin.

The cries of the higurashi were calming me down and healing my soul.

Rina was just like a broken dummy now.

...She had become a piece of junk.

I am the owner of this land of junk, and I've defended it from her intrusion. Now she was a resident of this junkyard.

I didn't feel bad about killing her.

In fact, I felt rather fulfilled that I defeated the evil woman who had deceived my father.

I started breathing slowly and calmly... and I regained enough energy to analyze the situation.

...I'd have to hide her body.

First, I had to get rid of her scooter.

I climbed up the slope and kicked her scooter down the hill.

It rolled down the slope, making a lot of noise, and blended in with all the junk as it stopped, like it was there from the beginning.

I went back down the slope and started dragging her body to my hideout.

It should have taken as much effort as dragging a 50kg sandbag, but it felt lighter than that.

...It was just a sandbag, yet it brought disaster to my family.

I didn't lure her here in order to kill her.

...Or did I? Maybe I just didn't notice that I had that intention deep down in my heart.

But even so, I felt like this was the best and most expedient solution.

There was no better solution than killing her.

How wasteful to depend on someone to help me, to wait for the day to come when they will.

...I remembered the murder of Satoshi-kun's aunt that happened last year.

I had no doubt that Satoshi-kun murdered her,

but I've never been as convinced as I am right at this moment.

How could he have saved Satoko-chan

other than by killing his aunt last year, at that time, in that circumstance?

My situation was much the same as his.

How could I have saved my father other than by killing her?

If I was planning a murder, I would've been under a lot of pressure and stress.

...But, for better or for worse, the moment came to me out of nowhere.

That's why

I believe I solved my problem with as little trouble as possible.

...Now that she's gone, will anyone become suspicious about her disappearance?

She was an irresponsible person who skipped work at her own convenience.

So, I didn't think anybody would get suspicious when she'd disappear one day.

She was a big mess from the start.

People will think she went into hiding because she got into deep trouble with someone.

I didn't need to fabricate an alibi.

All I needed to do was to get rid of her body.

It took me a while to figure out how to do that last part.

Hiding her body would be very risky.

...But my brain had become so calm that it did some calculations and came up with an answer right away.

Yes... this place is still the safest.

This is a place forgotten.

Nobody comes here.

Nobody knows this place is here.

I knew that because I'd been spending a lot of time here.

Compared to taking the risk of carrying her body to some other place, it was a lot safer to just hide it here.

But it wasn't perfect yet.

This place wouldn't remain a secret forever.

...I could hide it here for now, but I'd have to come up with the perfect way to make it completely disappear.

It's a lot easier to think about that than thinking about how to make Rina break up with my father.

I stuffed her corpse into a broken refrigerator in a trash pile.

I wanted to cover the refrigerator with dirt and bury it.

...But that was too easy.

I had to chop the corpse into pieces and make them completely disappear.

I felt like it got dark all of a sudden.

No, it didn't get dark all of a sudden.

I just didn't realize

it was getting dark until just then.

I could hear thunder from a distance. It might rain soon.

I could use some rain.

It'd wash Rina's dirty blood into the ground.

I should go home.

I should think about what I'd do tomorrow.

I was going to stay right beside my father until he forgets about her.

He might be hurt at first.

But... we're going to recapture our happiness for sure.

Our happy, peaceful life.

My body was heavy with exhaustion.

But I also felt fulfilled, because I took a very important first step today.

I'll keep taking one step after another.

I'm not going to cry anymore.

I'm not going to cry until I win back my happiness.

I'm not going to cry again.