"You don't need to get remarried."

That was the first thing I said after I got home. My father looked stunned.

He noticed the sad tone in my voice, and realizing that I didn't agree with the idea of his remarriage, he looked down.

"......I understand.

...I know how you feel, Reina.

I should've talked about it with you first and..."

"That woman is lying to you about her pregnancy."

"Don't talk like that.

Rina-san is..."

"I'll tell you the truth.

That woman and a guy called 'Tecchan' are a team of bad people.

She went out with you only because she was trying to get our money."

My father didn't get it right away, of course. He looked upset instead because I called her "that woman".

I should've chosen my words a little more carefully, but I think I told him the truth clearly enough.

I told him everything I heard and saw at the coffee house.

...As I expected, he defended Rina anyway.

I was upset, but at the same time, it made me certain that there was no other way than to kill her. I felt the pressure on my shoulders lessen for some reason.

My father thought he needed my approval for his remarriage, so he held back his anger and put a fake smile on his face instead.

"Hey, Reina... Let's sit down with a cup of tea and talk.

I'm sure you'll understand once you hear me out."

...A tamed animal

is still tamed

even after the owner is dead.

That's okay.

I'll open the gate anyway.

...Even a tamed animal will notice one day that he's no longer in captivity.

That's not something that I could teach him.

He had to realize it on his own.

I couldn't stand his fake smile anymore, so I left the living room.

Time healed the pain from the divorce.

...Time heals any kind of pain, just like how dripping water will eventually bore a hole through solid rock.

I did what I could do.

Now, I'd have to wait.

But the day I was going to wait for came earlier than I expected.

At midnight of the following day,

we had a visitor.

It was that "Tecchan" man.

Teppei Houjou.

Teppei didn't even knock on the door to get in. He broke into the house by smashing the window.

At first, I thought he came here to ask us about Rina's whereabouts, but I was wrong.

The real reason why Teppei came here was because... it was their plan.

It was the last stage of their badger game.

Rina was probably supposed to be in bed with my father at that time tonight.

Teppei must've wanted to show up and catch them sleeping together.

Teppei looked around the house, but he couldn't find Rina.

He didn't change the plan, though. He grabbed my father by his collar and started yelling threats.

He showed my father a certificate of marriage to Rina, and shouted at him saying, "you got my wife pregnant! How are you going to take responsibility?"

My father had no idea she was married. He looked shocked.

My father is a short guy who is faint of heart.

He just let Teppei do and say whatever he wanted from beginning to end.

I looked at them from a distance coldly.

...The more Teppei yelled and threatened my father, the faster he'd wake up from his bad dream.

This was a medicine for him.

Teppei was cutting out the cancer that I was going to depend on time to do, and he was doing a great job of it.

I waited to help my father until I was sure that he had finally awakened from his bad dream.

I told Teppei that I had something very important to tell him and took him outside.

"So,

whaddya want?"

"Has Rina-san...

come back to Okinomiya

since yesterday?"

"......Nnn?"

"As a matter of fact... she's hiding somewhere."

"What?!

I don't get it!!"

"Rina-san told me to take you to her when you came to my house."

"...Hah??

The fuck is Ritsuko thinkin'...?"

Teppei followed me without hesitation.

We walked in the dark with a flashlight

to the place where

nobody comes

and nobody can hear us,

the place forgotten.

He asked me many things on the way, but I couldn't answer any of them.

I just told him to ask Rina.

The way I said it seemed to make him think that Rina was going to betray him and get married to my father for real.

Even though he was breathing heavily in a rage, he walked right behind me without any suspicions.

I knew this day was going to come very soon, so I was well prepared for it.

We reached the place where I originally planned to bring him, and I turned off the flashlight all of a sudden.

"Oh...!

What's goin' on...?"

Everyone gets nervous when the only light in the dark goes off.

...But this is my territory.

I didn't need any light.

I could feel my surroundings even better with my eyes closed.

I grabbed the big hatchet I'd hidden in a bush, and lifted it up high.

"I'm sorry. I guess the battery went out...

Hold on a second..."

"'Kay. Hurry it up."

I purposely sounded weak and helpless

while I raised the hatchet into the air.

"...Oh, I got a lighter.

I'll just fire this baby up..."

Teppei found a lighter in his pocket and lit it up.

He probably couldn't understand the sight illuminated by that small light.

He saw a girl lifting up a big hatchet right in front of him.

".........!!!!"

Teppei's eyes went wide.

He didn't understand what was going on, but he understood that his life was in danger.

And yet, he must not have been able to think fast enough to deal with it even though he understood what he should do.

Even if he could think fast enough and blocked his head with his arms, it wouldn't have meant anything.

I knew Teppei would come to my house eventually!

That's why I prepared for that day.

I just didn't think that preparation was going to bear fruit tonight.

I chose my weapon very carefully.

I planned when, where, and how I was going to attack him.

And so, there can only be one result!

The hatchet cut deeply into his forehead.

I felt an indescribable vibration through the hatchet when it hit him, and this told me that I broke his skull.

He bragged about how good he was at fighting at the coffee house, but he sure went down quickly when faced with a murderous weapon.

He was done in by a single blow.

Teppei slowly fell to his side with the hatchet in his forehead.

He looked like a victim in a B movie.

I killed this big guy with just one hatchet.

...He was probably quite experienced in the world of violence.

But, I was better than him when it came to killing.

Why? Because I've killed someone before.

It's all done now.

The bad people who deceived my father and tried to rob him blind are all gone.

I did what I had to do in order to protect my life.

...If I had this much courage and determination when my mom told me about the divorce, I might've killed Akihito.

If I did, I would've taken the life of only one.

...Because I couldn't do it back then, I've had to kill two people in the last two days.

Rena.

Let's finish it up.

There's already a place to hide his body.

I took care of everything.

My hands were wet, so I shone the flashlight at them.

...I thought it was blood, but it was just sweat.

Even so, I still felt uncomfortable, and shone the flashlight at my hands several times.

I did all this... in order to be happy.

I did all this, so I should be happy now.

I tried so hard that I got blood on my hands.

I wanted to get credit for that from him.

Oyashiro-sama.

Let me ask you a question. I can finally rewind the time back to the day everything started to go wrong, can't I?

I'm going to stay in Hinamizawa.

I'm going to live happily

with my father forever.

It's rare to see Rena sleep in class.

She isn't the kind of girl who sleeps in class because of staying up so late.

She had to be tired from doing housework or something.

Everybody seemed to be thinking the same thing. Nobody tried to wake her up, not even Chie-sensei.

She got up for a few seconds and went back to sleep.

She swayed back and forth like she was rowing a boat.

But... she's in class, so I should wake her up... right?

I was about to wake her up, but before my hand touched her, Mion gave me a sign not to.

"Let her sleep.

She must be really tired today."

"...Ah.

You're right."

I heard a few days ago that Rena lives with her father.

She studies during the day, plays a lot after school, and does things around the house after that.

...I didn't know that.

...I also didn't know her mother had divorced her father.

Mion told me that, and she also told me not to talk about it because Rena is still hurt by the divorce.

"...I didn't even notice that she's been through such a tough time."

"Rena is the kind of girl who doesn't show her pain to others.

She always looks happy and cheerful, but she might be acting that way on purpose."

Rena told me that happy days will one day come to an end.

She told me she knew that firsthand... what could she have been through?

I had no idea.

That's probably why she tried to spend as much time as peacefully and cheerfully as she could.

I must've hurt her feelings when I said I was bored of having happy days.

...When I thought about it, I felt bad for living off my parents, who are both healthy and happy.

For that matter... Satoko and Rika-chan lost their parents, too.

Mion lives with her grandmother, away from her parents, because she needs to learn to be the head of the Sonozaki family in the future.

When I realized all that... I felt bad about my situation.

"You don't have to feel bad about living with your parents."

Mion seemed to have read my mind.

She said it with a cool expression on her face.

"A family is the most common community for kids like us to live in.

But it's not the only community we have."

"...You mean friends?"

"You're right."

"Do you think we're as good as family to Rena...?"

"Rena does cleaning, laundry, cooking, and shopping, so she must be tired every day.

She could spend her afternoon taking naps.

But she doesn't do that.

She spends her afternoons playing with us.

That means... how should I put it...?

...That means we're her best friends."

"So you're saying... we're friends with as much value as family to her?"

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

Mion looked stunned.

As if she didn't understand what I was talking about.

"Ah... I didn't know what friends meant for you until today.

...But I believe friends are just as important and valuable as family."

"......It's actually very easy to understand."

Rika-chan joined our conversation.

"The important thing is to have people around whom you can feel comfortable.

Sometimes you call them family or sometimes you call them friends. It's just a matter of the word you use."

"...Are friends the same as family to you, Rika-chan?"

"...Yes, they are.

I believe they are to Satoko, Mii, and Rena, too."

"I guess that's why we always try to stay together."

"Do you ever feel lonely when you're with your friends?"

"......They're my family.

So, I'm not lonely."

Mion nodded in agreement.

Satoko was talking with her other classmates, but I'm sure she would nod as well.

...Rena would, too.

"I'm... a little embarrassed."

"Why?"

"I've been using the word, 'friends'.

...But I don't think I understood its true meaning until today.

Friends are... more important and irreplaceable than I thought they were."

"That's like...... common sense.

So, you should take this opportunity to remember that."

"Yeah.

...I will."

"I also recommend that you don't say that again!

Kei-chan, you just said something very embarrassing, you know?"

After all that, Mion still made fun of me.

I think I understand a little better why Rena was always so serious about having fun.

I want to be her best friend, and I want to do my best to be deserving of her effort.

"......Zzz......"

Rena snored. It sounded cute.

Chie-sensei let her sleep in class, but she couldn't let her get away with snoring.

"Class president, wake her up, please."

"Rena, get up."

"Hwwaaaa..."

Rena was still half asleep and made a strange noise. Everybody in the class laughed.

Rena noticed they were laughing at her, woke up right away, and acted like she wasn't sleeping at all.

It looked really funny, and I burst into a fit of laughter.

Outside the window, the sky was blue, and the clouds were pure white. It was still June, but it looked like the middle of summer.

This perfect weather wouldn't last forever.

It could get cloudy and rain all of a sudden.

That's why we had to play and raise a ruckus while we still had this perfect weather.

The cries of the cicadas sound as if they're laughing at us because we still have some classes left.

Ahh, damn it. I can't wait for school to finish.

"Keiichi-kun,

you look very happy. Did something special happen today?"

"Nothing.

Today is today. Tomorrow is tomorrow, right?"

"......Yeah..."

"I'm just happy that we have perfect weather today.

I don't care about the weather tomorrow.

I want to enjoy today as much as I can.

When the weather changes, I don't want to regret that I didn't."

I learned that from Rena.

I learned that peaceful days are the happiest days you can have and that they're irreplaceable.

"Mion, what are we doing today for club activities?

We need something very exciting for the punishment, too."

"Heh heh heh!

That's the spirit I like, Kei-chan.

Because you insist, I'll put you through a living hell...!"

"K-Keiichi-kun, don't provoke her too much..."

"Hey, are you scared, Rena?

I know you're better than that!

Let's show her our true power again!

Remember, we haven't brought an end to our last battle."

I grinned at her, and she grinned back.

"Ahaha, I do remember that.

Okay, let's do it, then!"

"Rena-san, you certainly got me last time!

For that, I must pay you back with interest!"

"This is getting very interesting.

It's going to be a blast! Heh heh heh!"

"......I can't wait for school to finish."

I couldn't wait either, but...

That time we spend just talking together is also very precious.

"Yeah.

It would be nice if school ended soon."