There were a lot of parents picking up their children after school.
...It was just like a kindergarten.
The students whose parents didn't come went home as a group.
We left school with everyone else, following the assigned route.
Even while leaving, nobody said anything funny.
...They all looked like exhausted mountaineers silently marching through the mountains.
...As we went, one left,
and then another,
and in the end it was just Rena and me.
I was supposed to escort Rena all the way to her house, but she declined.
"...Will you be all right?
It's not safe to go alone..."
"It would be just as dangerous for you to go home by yourself after bringing me back, Keiichi-kun.
...It's still light out anyway.
I'll be fine."
"I see.
...Then be careful, okay?"
"Yeah.
...Huh?
...Isn't that a policeman?"
Rena pointed towards my house.
...There was a car stopped in front of it.
From out of that car came Ooishi-san.
...He must have been waiting for my return to ambush me.
Ooishi-san started walking over wearing that annoying grin.
"...Rena, you should go.
If you get involved with him, you'll be here for hours."
"B-But,
what do the police want with you? ...With you?"
............Rena's a good person.
Even when I made a fuss over Rika-chan's disappearance, she never asked me why I did.
...She could have been suspecting me ever since then, and that would have been okay.
Even so, she still hadn't asked me anything.
...She didn't try and pressure me into revealing the truth.
"......I'm not the culprit."
"I know that."
"......That said...
I can't say... that I'm totally uninvolved... with this incident."
Rena simply listened, smiling like she always did.
...Even though I had insinuated I was related to the incident, she didn't look at me as though she were looking at something dirty.
"...I'll tell you next time."
"Okay.
...I'm looking forward to it."
"...Get going, then."
Rena gave me a slight bow and trotted away.
...Leaving me...
alone with Ooishi-san, who walked over.
"Hello, hello.
Welcome home, Maebara-san."
"...Hello."
"It looks like your parents aren't here.
My my, was I in a bit of a spot."
...He came all the way to my house...?
...I could only thank my good fortune that my parents were absent.
...Since neither of them was around at this hour, they would probably be back late.
"...I think Dad got called out on business.
I don't think he'll be back until later."
"I see.
Well, that's convenient, I suppose.
...We can do this without giving your parents any strange ideas."
Ooishi-san pushed my back, prompting me to walk.
...It seemed like he wanted me to get in the car.
"...Are you taking me to the police station?"
...I wasn't the culprit... but I was the cause of everything.
It wouldn't be weird if he wanted to investigate me.
That kind of gave me a resigned feeling...
"No, no, I just don't want to stand around talking—we can just talk in the car, that's all.
Come now, don't be shy."
He opened the back door and urged me inside.
...If I got in, I wouldn't have a very easy time getting out.
...If I said no, however... then this man might really handcuff me and take me away.
...I couldn't refuse—I could only accept in good grace.
The inside of the car had been cooled too much by the air conditioner, and there was a rusty smell coming from the filter, which must have been cleaned only rarely.
"Oh, is it too cold?
I'll turn the car off."
He turned off the engine and it suddenly became quiet—and the voices of the higurashi, with all their cool loneliness, snuck inside.
......Kwakwakwakwakwakwakwa.
It sounded to me like a chorus of voices, lamenting my exorbitant punishment for having harbored such foolish curiosity.
For a few moments... while listening to those voices, I myself lamented... the days that had been twisted and distorted since that night.
Ooishi-san, as if waiting for me to voluntarily begin talking, lit a cigarette and listened to the higurashi...
The silence became deafening... and I was the one who folded first.
"...How is the investigation going?"
"The investigation?
Of what?
There've been so many. Which do you mean? Nfu-fu!"
"All of them."
"...Well, all right then.
They're officially secret investigations, and we're under a media blackout, but I'll let you in on them.
...Then shall we start from the first incident?"
...The freak deaths of Tomitake-san and Takano-san on the night of Watanagashi.
"......On this one, embarrassingly enough... we haven't made any progress at all.
First of all, Tomitake-san.
There are indications on his body that he was assaulted by a group of people, but we have no explanation for him clawing out his own throat and dying.
...We suspect an overdose from a stimulant or something, but we didn't detect anything."
"What about Takano-san...?"
"The same—we're in the dark.
Autopsies for those who are burned to death are reeeeal tough.
We believe she was doused in gasoline after she was strangled.
...That one falls under the Gifu Prefecture's police department.
They haven't been very cooperative, even though it happened in our territory.
...Oh, that's not really relevant, though."
...So the police didn't know anything other than the fact that the victims died inexplicably.
"Nonetheless, the times when the incidents occurred have been generally placed right after the festival ended.
...It's a bit uncertain in Takano-san's case, but the likely prospect is that she was murdered at about the same time as Tomitake-san, then dumped in the mountains in Gifu."
"...Why would they bring a dead body all the way to the mountains?
...They should have just brought Tomitake-san out there too..."
"Oh my... Maebara-san, you're quite sharp, you know that?
Of course, I do believe that is something we need to be attentive of.
...There are a bunch of other suspicious things... but this is about all I can tell you at this point."
"...How about the mayor?
Have there been any clues?"
Having exhausted that topic, I changed the subject... otherwise, he might turn the conversation on me...
"We investigated his movements on the day he disappeared.
...We didn't find anything that could provide any clues, but I'll tell you about it anyway."
The mayor—Kiichirou Kimiyoshi.
...Apparently he was suffering from severe hemorrhoids.
"People who've lived a long time have an unusual amount of pride.
...So the mayor hadn't been telling anyone that he was going to a proctologist at a certain university hospital in Shishibone.
On the day he disappeared, he had an appointment for a checkup, so he went out first thing in the morning."
Even I knew that big hospitals, like university hospitals, had a really long waiting time.
...Apparently people would get in line hours beforehand, even if they had an appointment.
"His exam ended at 1 PM.
After that, he ate a light meal in the hospital restaurant and passed the time reading a magazine.
...We know this because of a receipt we found in his wallet at his house."
...There was nothing suspicious at all about that.
"That day, he had planned to go to a meeting in the assembly hall in the evening.
...He was supposed to return home with plenty of time to spare, but while he was on the train coming back, there was an accident.
Seems it delayed him a bit, and he only got back to his house right before the meeting was scheduled to start.
His family witnessed a very hectic mayor leaving to go to the assembly hall at the shrine."
"...What was the meeting about?
He disappeared on his way back home, right?"
"The Three Families and the essential members of the town assembly were at the meeting.
We think they were discussing how to deal with the serial freak death incidents that had happened again this year."
...So then... on his way home......
The old man, who had treated Shion like his own daughter.
...He was a dependable person who would encourage Shion whenever she felt pressured by anxiety, and yet...
...Shion's painful voice struck me right in the heart...
"Hm?
............
Huh......?"
"What's the matter?"
I was taken aback by how strange my own voice sounded.
...What was it that just... surprised me...?
I squeezed my head with my hands to try and drag back out what I had only realized for a split second.
...Remember, Keiichi Maebara!!
You just realized something!!
...Something important...!!!
The night of Watanagashi.
That was when everything started.
...That night, Takano-san and Tomitake-san died.
...The next morning, word of the incident had spread throughout Hinamizawa.
They planned to talk about it during the evening meeting.
The mayor, however, had an appointment at the hospital, and as planned, he went there without telling his family.
He got a checkup at the hospital,
ate something,
and then there was an unexpected delay on his train ride back.
...When he returned, the meeting was already about to start.
The mayor changed clothes, got on his bicycle, and hurried to the assembly hall at the shrine as fast as he could...
From when he heard about the incident on the night of Watanagashi... until when he showed up at the assembly hall.
......Everything he was doing that day was done in secret.
During that time, nobody found out that...
he went to the hospital alone,
he ate alone,
and he got on the train alone.
...That all meant he had absolutely no contact with anyone else.
You couldn't have even called him on the phone.
...Okay, but what does that mean, Keiichi Maebara...?
Why does that matter, Keiichi Maebara...?
............Ah—
"............Kei-chan, ...What should............ I do..."
"...What's wrong?
...Tell me.
We're not keeping secrets from each other, right...?"
"I............ Old man Kimiyoshi, I... I told him everything."
I told him everything.
I told old man Kimiyoshi everything.
"...That night... I told the mayor... that we snuck into the ritual storehouse.
...Also that someone saw us... and was out to get us."
"...Right.
...What then?"
"...Old man Kimiyoshi... didn't get angry.
......He smiled, then told me that if I was properly sorry about it, there was no way I'd be demoned away...
...He was really... smiling... and he told me to leave it to... him......
...ngh...!!"
Sweat burst out of my body like bullets.
...They became one long strand... and slid down... down from my forehead to my nose...... and fell.
......So then...
What does it mean...?
Hey, Keiichi Maebara... No more playing dumb.........
When did she tell him?
Shion said she learned of the incident from a phone call her father had made that morning.
The mayor had left the house first thing in the morning for his appointment at the hospital.
He didn't tell anybody where he was going.
...Nobody knew about him going to the university hospital.
Furthermore... his train ride back to his house was delayed by an accident—as soon as he got home, he rushed out to the assembly hall.
Then the meeting at the assembly hall began...
...and continued until it was dark out.
...Then, everyone left.
...Nobody saw him after the meeting was over.
...He just disappeared.
Which meant...
...Which meant...
......Which meant...
............Umm......
"Maebara-san?
Are you all right?
If you're too hot, I can turn on the air conditioner, mm?"
"............"
Another part of me was messing with my thoughts, demanding that I didn't think any further than that.
My head was pounding violently... and the fluids packed inside it... all blended together until nothing made sense.
It was just about to settle, yet it had been smashed and melted in the blink of an eye, no longer able to retain its shape...
"...Maebara-san?
Are you in there?"
"............Ah...
............yeah."
Ooishi-san lit yet another cigarette.
...There was yet another cigarette butt placed in the ashtray.
...Was it displaying the passage of time?
...Had I... had my thoughts been frozen over for that long...?
"I've tried to tell you everything I know.
...In return, feel free to tell me anything you want, Maebara-san."
"............"
My mind had become... a gigantic, oozing mess.
...My brain felt like it had been totally minced by the blades of a blender...... and I couldn't think.
"Now, now, don't clam up again.
...If there are any misunderstandings, I'd like to clear them up first.
...I don't think you're the culprit here or anything."
Ooishi-san gave his best attempt at an adult smile.
"...I know the four of you snuck into the ritual storehouse that night.
Everyone in the village heard rumors about it by the next day.
...That in itself means we should take you in for trespassing, but that isn't the problem.
......It's what was inside.
...What was inside that made the people who snuck in there end up as sacrifices?"
"............There...
......There wasn't anything."
As soon as I said it, I regretted confirming my presence there... but I knew it didn't matter anymore.
"...Was there really nothing in there?
I mean, everyone who went in is being sacrificed one by one, you know?
Even the mayor and Rika-san, who switched the lock on the door, were sacrificed.
...What was inside that could have caused such terrible things to happen?"
I was far too tired of keeping quiet about this...
...Perhaps that was Ooishi-san's goal all along... but again, that didn't matter anymore.
"...There were just a lot of torture devices that were used a long time ago.
...I looked around at them with everyone."
"Was that really all?"
"...That was really all."
"There was nothing terrible in there that would make you keep silent?
...Like a pile of psychoactive drugs?
Maybe a secret poppy workshop?
Perhaps there were mountains of Soviet or Chinese handguns.
There weren't any suspicious wooden boxes or containers packed in there?"
There was nothing... as exaggerated as what Ooishi-san was hoping for, but...
...I felt like in a way, there were plenty of terrible things hidden in there.
From the perspective of someone who viewed the storehouse as sacred... whether or not I thought I had seen some crazy things didn't matter in the slightest.
......The four of us broke the taboo.
Punish us.
.........That should have been what happened.
"...We put in a request for a search warrant thinking that there might have been some secrets hidden in that storehouse.
...Agh, it's been the sabotage of the century.
They said it would be an insult to religious figures, and something about the right to free religion in the constitution...
Ahh, geez!
...That's why I really didn't have any other recourse but to ask you, since you went in there."
"......There really was just... old, rusty, dusty torture equipment.
...Nothing else stood out."
"...Hmm.
......Then Tomitake-san and Takano-san were only killed as a punishment for having broken the taboo?"
...I didn't have an answer for the 'only' part.
"...I suppose I won't bother hiding it anymore.
...You're the only one to escape harm so far.
Everyone but you has disappeared,
and yet you alone are safe.
...What's the difference between you and them that would protect you, but bring harm to the others?
That's what I want to know."
...There was something wrong with what Ooishi-san was saying.
...You alone...
You alone.
...What...?
"Wait... Wait a second.
What do you mean by... 'you alone'?"
"Na-ha-ha-ha.
...I'm saying,
that you alone
have been left alive, right?
Out of the four people who tiptoed into the storehouse for ritual implements, I mean."
...The only one left alive?
...Hold on.
...Shion was still...
"Jirou Tomitake-san and Miyo Takano-san died that night,
and Shion Sonozaki disappeared the next day.
...Only you are still safe and sound at this point.
...Why only you?
I'm saying that's what I want to know."
"S-Shion disappeared?!
That's impossible!!!"
I unintentionally raised my voice...
...but I didn't care about that.
Tomitake-san died,
Takano-san died,
...and Shion disappeared?!
When did she disappear...?!?!
What is this guy talking about?!?!
"...Oh, well now... I thought you were long since aware of this."
"...Th-This is the first I've heard of it!
Shion disappeared? When?!?"
"Well, going back a bit, she disappeared the day after Watanagashi."
...Going back a bit?!
Stop saying stuff I don't understand...!!
"Shion Sonozaki spends the night at relatives' houses depending on her mood on any given day, so no one thought much of not knowing where she was.
She frequently takes days off from school, too.
Her teacher has been pretty troubled by it."
"I didn't ask about any of that!!
I'm asking you when Shion disappeared!!"
"I told you, it was the day after Watanagashi."
...The fluids in my body all reversed direction...
...I lost my sense of balance... and everything I could see started to warp and twist out of shape.
...I simply couldn't endure it...
Hang on,
hang on.
......Shion had already disappeared...?
Then, then...
That night, that call, that phone call... Who was that...?
She called me every night.
She encouraged me.
...We vowed that we would do our best to live on and not be erased.
...Yes, that should have been a phone call with Shion,
should have been a phone call with Shion,
should have been a phone call with Shion...
"She took breaks from class like it was nothing, and her family wouldn't listen when the school told them, so they mostly don't bother calling anymore.
...So it ended up taking quite a while before we realized she'd disappeared."
I felt a stabbing pain like needles were being pushed into every pore of my body.
...It started on my back... and began spreading throughout the rest of me.
...When it had completely covered the surface of my skin... it began to worm its way inside my stomach as well......
"Don't you remember?
We talked at the library the day after Watanagashi.
Shion-san was there then.
...That was the last we saw of her.
No one knows where she's been since."
".........That's...
............That can't be......"
That day, Ooishi-san had only caught me... and Shion bounded away, lying that she needed to go to work.
...Didn't she call me that night...?!
"Her job was at a restaurant called Angel Mort, right?
She hasn't been there since that day.
...She's been completely absent ever since.
The person at the restaurant couldn't get in touch with her. He was really worried."
"......That can't be...
.........It can't be..."
"It's only circumstantial evidence, but...
after she left us at the library, but before she made it to work...
I think it's appropriate to consider her having disappeared during that time."
...Right after Shion...
ran away without me...?!
"It seems that you didn't know.
...Maybe if you had said something earlier, this would have gone more quickly.
Now you understand, right?
...You're the only one left.
You're the only survivor of the four who slipped into the ritual storehouse."
......It couldn't be...
.........It just couldn't be...
"If something else happens, it would happen to you.
I need you to understand that, Maebara-san."
...It can't be,
it can't be,
it can't be...
...Shion had already disappeared...?!?!
That couldn't be. It couldn't be.
...I talked to her the day before yesterday.
I talked to her last night.
She was going to call me again today.
That was Shion on the phone—Shion on the phone.
...It was from Shion, from Shion.
"Shion has long since disappeared.
...Next will be you."
Then... who was on the phone those past nights?
Who was on the phone those past nights?
Who was on the phone those past nights...!!?
"That's...
It can't beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"
...I lay down on the couch... and stayed there dazed for a while.
My mind was completely blank... I couldn't think about anything for more than a few seconds.
There was a note in my house saying that Mom and Dad would be home late and that I should have some ramen or something for dinner.
I could make it whenever I got hungry... but I had no appetite... so I just stared blankly at the ceiling without eating anything.
The hands of the clock... were already pointing at ten.
...Would I get... another phone call like that today?
...Even though Shion had already disappeared...
...Would she still call me?
Where were they calling from... and who were they...?
The more I thought about it... the more I started to tremble...
I even thought about just disconnecting the phone line.
...If I had been thinking a little less logically, I really would have done it, too.
...Hold on, Keiichi Maebara.
...Ooishi-san admitted it himself, didn't he?
That Shion went missing a lot?
Couldn't she have just gone to relatives that Ooishi-san didn't know about and have been there ever since?
Shion and I were both being targeted by somebody... so it wouldn't be strange to think she went somewhere she usually didn't in order to hide...
...That must have been why Ooishi-san couldn't locate her—and why he labeled her a disappearance.
...Yeah, that had to be it!
Shion hadn't disappeared at all...!!
Then, my right hand moved of its own volition and slapped me on the cheek.
Its cold sting let me calm down a little...
"............Don't just convince yourself of the most convenient possibility, Keiichi Maebara..."
...I knew I didn't want to admit she had disappeared.
...Admitting it... would mean that something terrifying was definitely happening.
...I just needed... to figure out whether Shion was the one on the phone or not.
......Would I ask her if she was actually Shion...?
...That seemed like an incredibly absurd thing to do.
"...Still... don't run from this, Keiichi."
If the person on the other end still believed that I thought she was Shion... then that gave me a tiny advantage.
Casually... completely casually...
...I would listen to what she had to say...
and fend
her off.
...I would tear the skin off the monster...
It would definitely be really scary for me...
However... as the last survivor... of the people who went into the storehouse that night... this was my duty to perform.
Still...... then who...... Who would call me and pretend to be Shion......?
I may have only heard her over the phone... but her voice shouldn't be that easy to replicate.
...That was definitely Shion's voice.
...It sounded just like her.
...It could have only been Shion...
............There was someone, though, wasn't there?
...Someone who sounded just like Shion.
...Mion.
............Mion.
......Who else... could have done this............?
At this point... Seriously, after all this time......
...All those little things that didn't quite make sense about Mion until now... overwhelmed my mind...
Like being questioned about sneaking into the ritual storehouse...... and how she shook the ladder while spouting curses.
...Who else... who else could have............
Why, though... why would Mion...?
I thought back to the things about the Sonozaki family that I had heard from Ooishi-san and Shion...
...Mion was always entangled in the incidents... in a position where she was omnipotent...
...Some of that information included things that 'Shion' had told me after she disappeared.
I madly scratched at my head...!
Courage... Give me the courage...
...Just a little bit of courage to pick up the phone—I know it will ring tonight...!
It would be so easy to run away...
That, though... would be the same as making it easy for them to erase me...
I cannot run...
I must stand up and face it...
After all, the next sacrifice...... would definitely be me.
...I was sure 'Shion' would use tricky words to try and trap me.
......Be careful, be careful...
...I'm scared I'm scared I'm scared...
...I don't want to do this I don't want to do this I don't want to do this I don't want to do this...
............At that point...
it rang.
The phone rang... and I didn't know where the call was coming from.
...Shion had disappeared.
...Disappeared a long time ago.
...Disappeared the night after Watanagashi.
Yet...
until today...
she had been calling me like nothing happened.
...Now again, tonight...
......The people that had disappeared... their corpses simply haven't been found... I really didn't think they were alive.
...So if it really was Shion on the other end...
then did that mean she was calling me from another world...?
Of course, that couldn't be.
...A living being was calling me, pretending to be Shion.
...Shion was long gone... and yet, as though she were alive and well...
the phone continued its incessant ringing.
I... didn't want to pick up if I didn't have to.
...I had just concluded, though, that not doing so wouldn't solve anything.
Then... what would I do after I answered it...?
Would I immediately declare she wasn't Shion and ask who she was...?
Alternatively, would I pretend I was still fooled... and try to grab her by the tail...?
"............That... would probably be the safest thing to do..."
What I was most afraid of was what the person on the phone would do when she realized I knew she wasn't Shion.
...However, as long as I continued to let her think I was fooled, she wouldn't do anything extreme, right...?
If I just make sure to be careful, that should be the safest option......
...I've made up my mind.
...I'll answer the phone.
...Once I do that... I'll talk to her as if nothing happened.
...That wasn't all I'd do this time, though.
...I'd scope her out.
Who was she...
what was she thinking...
and what was she after?
...Why was she doing this?
Was she really the one who killed Tomitake-san and Takano-san?
What happened to the mayor?
...What happened to Rika-chan and Satoko...?!
I reached out for the receiver, my arm trembling...
There were too many things I wanted to know... too many things I wanted to ask...
...I was scared.
I should start by picking up the phone.
...Pick it up, Keiichi.
Pick it up, Keiichi!!
"...H-Hello?"
...Oh, how relieved I would have been if it hadn't been a call from Shion......
"Ah, Kei-chan?
It's me.
It's Shion."
My momentary, convenient, and above all fleeting prediction was ripped into a thousand pieces.
...I couldn't help shaking at this point...
Get ready for this............
"You took a long time to pick up. I thought you weren't home, and I was about to hang up."
"Ah... ah, sorry...
I was just... in the bath."
"...Did your family not pick up for you?
Could... your parents be out right now, Kei-chan?"
I failed...
I let her in on a fatal piece of information—that I was currently the only one at my house...
"Well, no... They're not really...
A-A-A-Anyway!!
Have you heard?!
About Rika-chan and Satoko?"
"No.
...What happened after that?
Were they found?"
"............Nah.
...They weren't found."
"......Kei-chan, please don't lose hope..."
............
...If... If Ooishi-san hadn't let me know...
...then I might have allowed myself to shed a tear or two at Shion's considerate words.
...Instead, now that it had come to this... I couldn't take her words at face value...
...This person on the other end of the receiver...
The more perfect a Shion they were...
the more my blood curdled in fear...
"............Rika-chan and Satoko...
...They were kidnapped, weren't they..."
"...Yes.
I don't think there's much doubt..."
......Just how cruel and grave a meaning did those words hold...?
Their weight... astonished me... and then a moment later... I was overcome with numbness and felt like I would pass out.
...I had asked if Rika-chan and Satoko had been kidnapped.
...'Shion,' in turn, had answered that there "wasn't much doubt."
...That cruel meaning... behind her words......
"............Rika-chan and Satoko were...
Ah, no... I mean... I'm sorry.
...Umm....... About the mayor...
...What do you think happened... after he was kidnapped...?
Do you think... he's still alive...?"
What happened to Rika-chan and Satoko after they were kidnapped...?
That's what I wanted to ask, but I frantically caught myself.
What if she had given that question... a terrifying response, in such a way to sound like it had nothing to do with her...?
...I was scared of that, so I immediately brought up the mayor.
...That said, however much I talked about the mayor, Ri—
"I think he was killed."
"...He
......Hey, wait...
...That was quick..."
"...I think it must be really hard to kidnap someone and keep them like they are.
...As long as they're not hostages, it would be most practical to kill them once you were done with them."
............The world started to bend so much I almost lost my balance.
...The scenery in my eyes whirled around and around like the hands of a clock... and tried to swallow me whole from below.
...I frantically put a hand on the wall to support myself.
...A moment later, a severe nausea welled up within me.
How was she...
saying such things...
so lightly...?!?!
"K-K-K-Kill them... So readily...
I-I mean, what's a human life or two, anyway...?!?!"
".........It's a horrible thing, but...
I think that's probably what happened."
If the mayor was killed... then did that mean the same had happened... to Rika-chan and Satoko...?!?!
...N-No... That couldn't... They weren't some random old man!!
It was Rika-chan!!
It was Satoko!!
Th-They couldn't... They couldn't kill them so readily......!
"It's probably better to think that Rika-chan and Satoko-chan ended up the same way."
"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...!!!!"
Those were the words I wanted to hear the least... and I fought them back with a scream of my own.
...Even though it wouldn't change anything...
Still...
I still...
couldn't help but scream.
"Aaahhhh... aahh... ah... ah..."
This time...... the tears flowed.
I'd been confronted with the most horrific outcome... that I'd been trying to avoid considering ever since last night... and I cried.
...There was no longer... any doubt... that it was my fault.
...I killed them.
...I killed Rika-chan and Satoko.
...I... succumbed to the weakness of my own heart... and confessed everything to Rika-chan.
...That's why they were killed.
...That meant I killed them.
...When Rika-chan looked at me with those innocent eyes... if only I hadn't given in!!
I...
I......
I......!!!
......Ah... ah... ah............
Even my voice gave out... and yet still... I cried...
......................and cried.
"......Kei-chan.
.........Please, just try and calm down..."
............Rika-chan and Satoko......... They've been killed.
.........We couldn't even find their remains.
...I would never be allowed... to even apologize... to their faces.
.........If that was to be my punishment... then... how brutal a punishment it was...
......I think Shion tried to comfort me... but I didn't hear any of it...
"What are you going to gain by doing that...?!
They're... definitely going to target you and me next!!
Please, I'm asking you... get a hold of yourself!!
...Please.
...Please...!"
Shion was shouting, imploring me with a voice that sounded like tears were in her eyes.
However... I was coming to hate the sound of that voice more and more...
This 'Shion' killed them...
...I had no doubts that this person killed them.
......Why?
...Why?!
"Why?!
Why... Why kidnap someone and then kill them...?!?!
Screw curses! Are people's lives really that cheap?!
Erasing them and killing them without a second thought like this!!"
"......You're right.
...You're absolutely right.
...It would take a demon..."
I felt like crushing the receiver in my hand.
...How long... did this person plan on acting like it was someone else's problem...!!
There was magma in the pit of my stomach, and it felt like it was going to erupt at any moment.
"Hey, Shion.
...Please, tell me.
...Why did Hinamizawa start needing someone to die on the night of Watanagashi?"
"......That's what I'd like to know."
"The fighting over the dam project is already over and done with!!
...Haven't enough people been cursed already?!
Why is it? Why?!?
If there's a reason, then say it, now!!!"
...I was incoherent at this point.
...My emotions had broken through the dam inside of me, rushing forth, and I couldn't stop them.
These were not simple questions—this was an interrogation.
...'Shion' herself hadn't realized it yet... It was just too funny.
...It was so funny... that I couldn't stop crying.
"...I understand how you feel, Kei-chan, I really do.
...The dam wars ended a long time ago.
Yet, murders and disappearances keep happening every year under the guise of Oyashiro-sama's curse.
...Why?!
Why is it happening?!
Some of them had nothing to do with this, and some of them didn't deserve to be cursed, so why?
...Why?!?!"
"That's what I'm asking yooouuuuu!!!!"
"I want to know that as much as anyone!!!!"
Hah, hah...!!
Both our ragged breaths could be heard over the phone.
"Listen.
...Oyashiro-sama's curse never existed. It's too unrealistic.
Just like you said, someone in the village is using the grand name of 'Oyashiro-sama's curse' as a justification for continuing these murders and disappearances every Watanagashi!!!
...They were cunning.
They've been using the curse as a convenient tool, and made a system where they would get rid of two enemies in the village every year...
and this year, that system killed Takano-san and Tomitake-san!!"
"Then why wasn't that enough?!
Why did the mayor and Rika-chan and Satoko have to get killed too?!
I don't give a shit about the past!!
The only thing I care about is why Rika-chan and Satoko needed to be killed!!
Why is that?!
I didn't say a word to Satoko, you know!!!
Why even her...
Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?!?!"
......A silence fell between us.
...Shion didn't answer for a while.
".........Kei-chan,
......please
......stop being mean...
...hic..."
...A sob.
...Was Shion crying...?
"............I don't have any idea what's going on either...
Everything changed... when we went into the ritual storehouse that night......"
"............"
...It was the same for me.
......As I listened to Shion's bitter weeping... I could feel my agitation subsiding...
"......When I heard... that Takano-san and Tomitake-san had been killed that night, I doubted my ears.
...Then... I realized it instantly.
...I realized...
what sort of a position I was in now...
The four of us snuck in there.
...Kei-chan, you and I won't be so conveniently forgiven...
...When I thought about that, it made my chest so tight... It was so terrifying... You know that feeling, Kei-chan, don't you...?"
............There was nothing fake about her words.
...She'd even understood how I felt.
"...That's why I...
confessed everything to old man Kimiyoshi...
...All of us entered the forbidden storehouse—it was just a little bit of fun.
...We knew we shouldn't have done it...
but it really had just been for fun...
It was only a bit of exploration, that was all......
...Takano-san and Tomitake-san, who went in with us, were killed shortly afterward...
They met such... miserable ends......
Since that day... I've been living in fear... of when I would be attacked...
...There was nobody except old man Kimiyoshi who would help me...
...So I...
I asked him to save me......
...Old man Kimiyoshi... he wasn't mad.
...He smiled, and said, 'if you're really sorry, Shion-chan, then you'd never be demoned away'...
...He really did... smile at me...
and told me... to leave it to him......
...*sob*...!!"
Shion... cried bitterly, recalling the beloved mayor's death.
...It was such a sad voice... that none who heard it could prevent it from twisting their hearts...
...A-Again, I... did I let my emotions take over... and go off at her...?
...Shion was in the same situation as me... She should have been my one and only comrade...
...Thump.
My heart pounded.
......My other self... deep within my mind...
whispered to me.
...Don't forget, Keiichi Maebara.
...Don't forget about the mayor... on the morning after Watanagashi.
He was told of Takano-san and Tomitake-san's deaths over the phone and committed to a meeting that evening.
...He went to a hospital appointment.
He didn't tell his family.
...He'd only made it back just in time for the meeting.
...He went straight to the assembly hall.
...That's what Ooishi-san said..........
"............When...
did you let the mayor know...?"
"...Hic...
...Huh...?"
"............I'm sorry... Shion.
......It must seem like I'm kicking you while you're down, but...
...Shion, you... told him, right?
You told old man Kimiyoshi... the mayor?"
"...Yes...
........hic..........."
"............When... did you let him know?"
"...............Eh..."
...I'd begun to get scared... of saying it aloud after hearing her sad voice.
......I wasn't saying it was contradictory, though...
...Besides, if there was a contradiction...... then I wanted Shion to explain it to me......
"...Did you know that the mayor had a severe case of hemorrhoids and had gone to the hospital for treatment...?"
".........Umm.........
Kei-chan...?
...What does that... have to...?"
"...Please, answer me.
If you didn't know, then just say so."
There was a momentary silence.
...Then, after stammering a few times, she replied.
"......I knew that...
he had hemorrhoids...
...It looked like sitting down was really hard for him..."
"He was going to the hospital.
...You know which hospital, right?"
"............
I'm sorry,
I don't know that much, but...
......Kei-chan...
What does that have to do with..."
Shion... didn't know what hospital the mayor went to.
...That meant it was impossible for her to have gone all the way to the hospital to confess everything.
...Since she didn't know his destination, then she obviously couldn't have seen him on the train, either.
...If there was any other chance for her to contact him, it would have been after he came to Hinamizawa.
...The train, however, had been delayed, and he only got back right before the meeting was about to start.
...He didn't have time.
...There wouldn't have been enough time for him to listen to Shion spill the beans...
"......I want to ask you straight.
...Shion... when did you tell the mayor about everything?
When and where?
...Your answer doesn't have to be precise... but please, give me one."
"............Kei-chan... Why are you asking that...
...hic..."
Her sob pierced into my ears.
...I was taken by the illusion that I was bullying her...
Even so... I'll say it.
If I'm wrong, then please correct me...
...Please, prove to me... that you're the real Shion.........
"...It was impossible.
...The day the mayor disappeared.
From dawn until he vanished.
...There was no opportunity for you to contact him."
"............Eh...
Th......
That's..."
"The mayor left first thing in the morning for his examination at the university hospital all by himself, without telling anyone.
...Shion, you just said you don't know what hospital he went to.
...So you couldn't have contacted the mayor until he got back.
...Isn't that right...?"
"............Hic..."
"His train back was delayed by an accident, and he didn't return to his house until the meeting was about to start.
...So there was no time for you to have told him before the meeting started, either."
...I heard Shion... repeating her weak sobs.
...That sort of feminine voice... automatically ripped into my heart......
...It was so... painful for me to say it......
"Shion, did you go to the meeting too......?
Did you attend it... and tell him there?
If you didn't...
then there wouldn't have been any time left.
The mayor disappeared on his way home."
...Shion went to the meeting, didn't she...?
Did she, or didn't she?
The question was so simple to answer... but she didn't give me an immediate response.
".........Umm......
Actually, with the meeting, I..."
"You didn't even go to the part-time job you said you went to that day.
...I'll say it more directly.
...You haven't... been seen since we were at the library together."
"............Kei-chan...
I, well..."
"...Shion Sonozaki...
...disappeared the day after Watanagashi."
The other end... fell silent as the grave.
...It was so quiet that it was like the phone cord had been cut... I couldn't sense anyone there.
"...Ooishi-san says you've been missing.
...Despite that... you've been calling me every night like this, haven't you...?"
"......Hic......
......hic......
...hic...
......hic......"
Shion's sobs were torturing me.
...Still... I'm pretty sure I haven't said anything wrong...!
"......Please, Shion.
...If something I said was wrong... please say so.
Shion, I'm begging you..."
".........Hic......
hic......
hic......"
"Shion, there's no way you could have seen the mayor, but...
if you did see him......"
......If Shion ever did have the chance to meet with the mayor on that day... then that meant...
"...then you saw him after the meeting.
...In other words!
...It could have only been right before he disappeared, or else... afterward!!!!"
"......Hic...... hic......
...
Hu...
Hee
hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee"
...Beep...
beep...
went the dial tone.
I stood there dazed for a while until I realized she had hung up on me.