"Thank you very much for enjoying Higurashi When They Cry: Watanagashi!

How did you like the story this time?

If you enjoyed it even a little, I'm happy."

"A little, nothing!

Not again!

It was a huge bad ending again, was it not?!

It is enough to make me simply furious!"

"......I'm furious."

"Well, err, good work, everyone~!!

Well, hmm?

That's how it ended, but don't you think this story was kind of like a 'Mion Chapter'?

I'm extremely satisfied with how big a role I played! Nya-ha-ha-ha!!"

"Y-Y-You cannot call such a thing a success!!

Rika and I got killed too, didn't we?!"

"......None of this concerned Satoko at all, either."

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!

I didn't want to die like that~!!"

"Now, now, don't cry!

There was a story centering around Mii-chan, so there will probably be one that centers around Satoko-chan, too.

Look forward to it!"

"I'm sure that in that story, Satoko suffers some terrible demise in some slow, deliberate way~"

"Waaaaaahhhhh!!

I don't want thaaaaat~!!!

Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!"

"Mii~chan.

If you joke around too much, you'll make me angry, too~"

"......Mii has a flat chest.

...Your mind wouldn't understand even if it wanted to be petted."

"Oh, they expanded.

...Your body is so unchaste..."

"Hey, everyone!

Great work!"

"Sorry we're late again. Nfu-fu-fu!"

"Tomitake-san, Ooishi-san!

Yes, you did a great job as well.

Hm?

Where are Takano-san and Shion-chan?"

"They're coming, of course.

Thank you for inviting us today.

...May I sit here?"

"Yes, go right ahead!"

"With all of us here, this is sure to be the best part.

Please, go easy on me."

"Then should we get started?

Is this everyone?"

"...Everyone but Keiichi."

"Which means... Maebara-san is as busy as ever recording the script. Has he already started recording the script for the next story...?"

"How unfortunate.

It doesn't feel right to leave him out."

"Miyo-san, you don't have to worry about that.

At times like these, going all-out is actually a way of showing consideration."

"That's true, isn't it~?!

We're all here for once. Holding a wake would be boring~!!"

"Tahahaha...

Then... sorry, Keiichi-kun... but we'll take things from here!"

"It's decided!!

Okay, everyone, get the cups!

Does anyone not like carbonated drinks~?"

"There's alcohol for the adults, too. Nfu-fu-fu!"

"Rika-chan, what will you have?

Grape juice?

Orange juice?"

"......Meep.

I want what Tomitake's having."

"Hey!

Rika-chan, you're not allowed to drink!"

"Has everyone got their cups~?

If we don't make a toast soon, my juice will get warm~!"

"Who will lead, Mion?"

"Rena should do it.

Okay, Rena, go ahead!"

"Then... ahem!

Everyone, excellent work—the Watanagashi chapter is now over~!!"

"""Thank you~~~!!!!"""

Wahhh~~~~!!! Clap clap clap clap!!!!

"Okay, everybody's here!

Shall we debate the story again?"

"I think so.

Then, let's get some honest opinions.

Does anyone here have something to say~?!"

"What is there to say?... weren't all of the mysteries solved in this chapter?

The criminal was Mion-san!

The root of aaaaall the evil was the Sonozaki family!

Was that not the conclusion?"

"Hmm... I see.

I was so sure... that Mii-chan wasn't the criminal..."

"Too naive!

This was entirely predictable from the previous Onikakushi chapter, was it not?

In fact, it's almost shocking how predictable it was."

"You're right.

It probably did align with most of the predictions made by players of the previous scenario."

"......It's like the story went exactly as everyone expected."

"Then... does that mean... the main Higurashi When They Cry scenario is pretty much over...?

So it's a sure thing... that the root of everything was Mii-chan's family...?"

"I wonder?

In fact... I think that this all means the theory of the Sonozakis being the guilty party has been disproven."

"Oh, you had the same opinion, Miyo-san.

I think the same way.

...Though I still don't believe in curses.

At the very least, however, I think the chances of the Sonozaki family being the true criminals has gone down."

"Huh?

Why is that?

...Didn't Mii-chan confess that she killed everyone...?"

"That's right.

She killed Rika and me, so what do you mean that she isn't the criminal after all that??"

"I'm not trying to confuse you or anything.

It's just that I think there are a lot of things that don't go along with Mion being the one behind everything.

If you think about it a little, you'll get it."

"Huh.

I had believed the truth to be more or less in line with the Sonozaki family theory...

but I'd love to hear your theory, Mion-chan!"

"Then hear me out.

...Near the end, I confessed that I'd participated in the past incidents, right?

I thought something wasn't really right about that, so I guess that's my basis.

I mean, think about it.

If the incidents of the past were caused by the Sonozaki family, that would be crazy!

I mean, wouldn't they all be perfect crimes?

They were all attributed to other criminals or simple accidents, after all."

"Well, that's right.

The Sonozaki family is very powerful, and they were acting behind the scenes.

Wouldn't pulling off perfect crimes be child's play for them?"

"That's just it. That's the weird thing!

The Sonozaki family had been killing and erasing people so well for the last four years they didn't even let out a hint that they were behind it, right?

But the incident in the fifth year, now that was really cheap.

They were killing and erasing people at random.

Any idiot could have seen the connection with the Sonozaki family."

"Now that I think about it, you're right.

The incidents in the past were all mysterious, and nobody could tell if they were because of the curse or just simple crimes.

But then, on the fifth year, they suddenly got really violent."

"I do not understand what you are saying.

...Rika, do you?"

"......She means that if the Sonozaki family were the real criminals, then they would have done a much, much better job with the incident on the fifth year."

"So... what does that mean?

Mion-san wasn't the one who killed Rika and me, but it was the work of the demon who possessed Mion-san?"

"Come, now!!

Just like I thought last time, Mion-san wasn't a bad person after all, was she~?!"

"That's right.

Satoko-chan and I both thought that she was doing bad things because she was possessed by something.

Then... does that mean our theory was right?!"

"I've been supporting the curse theory since the last after party, and the story this time makes me all the more convinced it's true.

...That fact revealed at the very end,

the information regarding how Mion-san and Takano-san had died days before, despite being witnessed, seems to indeed support that theory."

"Oh, my...

I see the curse believers, who seemed unconfident last time, have grown quite a bit more self-assured.

Do any of those who think it was a human have any objections?"

"Last time, Mii-chan and Rika-chan were the ones who thought it was the work of a person.

Tomitake-san did too, didn't he?

Okay, let's hear what you've got then!"

"Hmm... You've got me there.

I can't quite find the right words..."

"One of the pieces of evidence for the curse theory is the mismatching times of death, right?

So if I could disprove that theory, it would prove that a human did it, wouldn't it?"

"Oh! Shion, do you have a good objection?"

"Well, I suppose.

I have the same opinion as you, Mion, that it was a human... but I don't think the Sonozaki family were the main culprits either.

If it's okay with you, I'll offer my objections."

"Woh-ho-ho-ho!

Show us what you've got!

If you say it wasn't the curse, then let's hear your evidence~!!"

"Okay, Shion-chan.

That last trick we've been talking about.

Despite Mion-chan having died the day of the incident from falling into the well, how did she appear days later to kill you and Keiichi-kun?"

"Here it is: my Sonozaki sisters conspiracy theory.

My reason is simple.

If Mion was dead by that time, then the only one who could have stabbed Kei-chan was me. I disguised myself as Mion and stabbed him!

Then I went back to my room, pretended to have a tussle with a ghost, then jumped right down and killed myself."

"So when you get down to it, Mion-chan, in this case, would be the one to take the blame.

She would take care of the mayor in person, and Shion-chan would be made into merely a victim.

If she hid herself in the well, the disguised Shion-chan could show up where she pleased and murder whoever she wanted—all planned from the start."

"I get it.

...Then Mion-san made two mistakes.

First was that her corpse was found, and second was dying when she only planned to hide.

That's what it would mean."

"...Oh, well now...

...You're right... There is something logical about that..."

"However... I'm still not convinced!

It was too different from the magnificent, perfect crimes in the past.

...Even if their plan went well, Mion would end up the bad guy, wouldn't she?

She would either have to hide the rest of her life, or live pretending to be Shion, wouldn't she?

That would be too constrained!

You can't call that a perfect crime!"

"......In other words, whether by dying or disappearing, Mii would have to go away."

"Rika-chama, that's a good thought.

That means we should consider that Mion Sonozaki leaving the stage was part of their plan.

That's why, at the end, Mion took the blame for all the incidents in the past.

She took responsibility for all of them herself, then left!"

"By doing that, she could cover up the true culprit behind the past incidents.

...Which means that this incident wasn't shabby... its purpose was to cement all the past incidents as perfect crimes.

...I suppose that's what it comes down to...?"

"The young leader of the Sonozaki family, who was the biggest suspect, confessed to everything and disappeared.

......For her, or perhaps for the non-Sonozaki true culprit, there likely was no more favorable outcome."

"............I don't understand even an inch of your conversation.

What do you mean by Mion-san taking the blame?

Is she not the culprit...??"

"Let me put it this way.

The true culprit behind the serial freak death incidents was somebody else.

Mii-chan gave a fake confession that she caused all the previous incidents to protect that person... or so everyone's saying."

"My, my... I said this during the story... but it seems we have an incredible detective on our hands!

Yes... it does seem a bit persuasive!"

"An incident started to throw the scent off the true criminal.

That's my reasoning.

Though if I go further, I think the true culprit isn't part of the Sonozaki family."

"So it was Mion-chan disrupting the incident to further protect the mystery person who pulled off perfect crimes four years running, then?"

"That's right.

The director who only appeared by name in the last story is pretty suspicious, if you ask me!"

"......Amazing.

It really does all add up."

Clap clap clap.

"I still think the Sonozaki family and the sisters are the culprits, though.

An incident caused by the sisters to sever their old fetters to the Three Families—to clear away the past...

That's my theory."

"Clearing away the past...

You mean that they placed the blame for the Three Families' crimes on their final leader, Mion, to put an end to a dark history—and then the two of them left."

"That's right.

It would make it a sad story, where we sisters finally choose to end it after a lot of worry.

Aha, we went a little too far!"

"......Amazing.

It really does all add up."

Clap clap clap.

"Wait, what?

It looks like Rika-chan has an opinion too.

Go ahead, Rika-chan!"

"......I have a question for you all.

...Why did Keiichi need to get stabbed?"

"...We already know why that is, Rika.

It's obviously because he went in the forbidden storehouse without asking."

"Thinking back on it now, Tomitake-kun and Takano-san probably died in the previous story because they snuck into that storehouse, eh?

............Hmm?"

"......*giggle*

That is rather strange indeed."

"Huh?

What is it that's strange...?"

"...Ah!!

Rena-san, that's right!

Won't you think back, please?!"

"...That's right.

...In the previous scenario, they were after Keiichi's life even though he didn't sneak into the ritual storehouse."

...Murmur murmur murmur!

"Well, that's because...

Yeah!

Hinamizawa hates outsiders, right?

That's why they tried to kill Keiichi-kun...!"

"That would be strange, though.

...They should have attacked Kei-chan's parents too, in that case.

No matter how you look at it, though, his parents never seemed to be in much danger.

Either this time or the last."

"Hear that, everyone who thinks it was a human's doing~?!

Unless you can properly explain the reason Keiichi-san's life was threatened, you can't definitely prove the criminal was human, can you~?!?!"

"Nah-ha-ha-ha.

Even with the curse theory, however, we don't know why Maebara-san was attacked this time or last time."

"With a little more, we would have had it...

There are still a lot of mysteries remaining..."

"*giggle*......

We can find some kind of reason for everyone but Keiichi-kun to die... but for some reason, Keiichi-kun's death is always vague.

...Both this time and last time.

He was being targeted regardless of whether he went into the ritual storehouse."

"...Then does that not mean he was doing something that got him killed both last time and this time...?"

"...I see...

If we can find something in common about Maebara-kun's actions between last time and this time... it seems like it would be the key to unraveling all the incidents..."

"I skimmed through the stories again... but I think he's going about his life in his own way.

...Though aside from the part with the storehouse, I didn't spot anything suspicious about his daily lifestyle!"

"Hmm...

...Keiichi-kun... What did you do both last time and this time...?

Something bad that would cause you to be killed!"

"...It's best to ask the person himself when you're unsure."

"......Hohoh.

...So while I was reading the script for the next game all by myself, you were all talking about me behind my back, huh?

I see..."

"Well, that's that.

Anyway, Keiichi-kun, you should try asking your own heart..."

"Kei-chan, so what kind of bad thing did you do that would get you killed?"

"It must surely be all the violent things he does towards me~!!"

"The way he sometimes directs a dangerous gaze my way and makes strange deluded expressions is surely a criminal act."

"Yeah, yeah!

Being happy all day, surrounded by girls around his age, is kind of like a crime in the first place."

"Nah-ha-ha-ha-ha!!

A grave crime indeed!

Maebara-san is truly an envious main character, isn't he?

Switch out with me once in a while, would you?"

"Ku-ku-ku...!

Well, with all those perks, getting stabbed at the end really isn't much of a price to pay."

"Well, there you go, Keiichi-san.

Have you remembered the crimes you've committed?"

"Mgaaahhhhhh!!!!

Both this time and last time...

I live a proper and just life, and I always meet a terrible fate in the end!!

What was that about 'ask my own heart'?!

I'm the one who wants to know! This is bullying!!!!"

".........How sad, how sad.

I'll pet your head next time for you."

"I wonder if we should go back and read Onikakushi again after reading this one...?"

"I'm going to put myself in Mion's shoes and read back over Watanagashi.

Maybe I'll find something different compared to when I read it from Kei-chan's point of view."

"I will always think it was the doing of a demon!!

All of the events and tricks can be explained with a demon!!!"

"......It's kind of like plasma."

"What did you, the readers, think about it?

We'd certainly like to hear your thoughts and opinions!"

"There's still a way to go, but do your best~!"

"With that, please look forward to the rest of the Higurashi series."