June, 1983.
A string of disappearances occurred in Hinamizawa Village, Shishibone City, ＸＸ Prefecture.
The suspect is Mion Sonozaki (1X years old).
She is suspected to have kidnapped five Hinamizawa residents between June 19 and June 21 (Oryou Sonozaki, Shion Sonozaki, Kiichirou Kimiyoshi, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou), imprisoned them, and killed them.
Preliminary investigations on the incident were delayed at the time due to insufficient evidence, but it was resolved coincidentally and shockingly.
On the morning of the 23rd, a vehicle patrolling the Sonozaki property heard screams from inside and rushed in as an emergency measure.
They secured the suspect's missing younger sister (Shion Sonozaki) and her two missing classmates (Keiichi Maebara and Rena Ryuugu).
The suspect fled the scene.
Deep in the detached basement on the Sonozaki property, which is believed to have been used to kill those who disappeared, we discovered hair, flakes of skin, blood, etc. of the other four missing persons (Oryou Sonozaki, Kiichirou Kimiyoshi, Rika Furude, and Satoko Houjou).
We concluded that the missing persons were tortured in the torture chamber.
However, their remains have still not been found.
At one of her imprisoned classmates' advice, we continued searching the detached basement of the Sonozaki property, which was where they were imprisoned, believing that they were there; however, we still have not located them or the suspect's escape route.
In addition, investigations are continuing as to her participation in the serial freak death incidents of recent years, thinking it would give some clue...
...but no evidence that Mion Sonozaki was involved, either directly or indirectly, has been found.
There are still many unclear points as to the motive behind the incident, and as those of the Sonozaki family and the residents of Hinamizawa have been extremely uncooperative in assisting us, we expect to require a long time to clarify them.
The opinion of a local officer knowledgeable about the region is that this may have been a lynching—an internal form of punishing sacrilegious acts carried out against the beliefs of Hinamizawa Village.
It is clear that these incidents are particularly rooted in this region, and the prefectural police department has ordered a cautious investigation.
We anticipated gaining valuable clues from the missing person believed to have been imprisoned for the longest time, Shion Sonozaki—the suspect's younger sister...
...but her mind was stricken by the grave aftereffects of the incident, and she has not been in a state of mind to properly answer any questions about what she knows.
The psychiatrist concluded that she is in a temporary state of shock, but it doesn't seem hopeful that she will recover today either.
...............Only a few days...
passed since that time.
After that, I was rescued by Ooishi-san and his subordinates, whom Rena had called in.
Aside from my entirely blank state of mind, I had no external injuries.
The most I had was the small burn mark from where the stun gun hit me.
...As I was having a check-up in the hospital... Ooishi-san asked me all sorts of things...
but I don't really remember what he asked, or how I answered him.
From what I heard... surprisingly, Mion still hadn't been captured.
There were apparently a great many hallways and smaller rooms extending out from the depths of the prison.
...It wouldn't be strange if she had fled to one of those and hidden herself.
The one fortunate aspect amidst all the misfortune... was that Shion had been safely secured by the police.
When I last saw Mion... she seemed like she was going to take me with her and then kill me...
...She probably didn't have enough time to, though, since Ooishi-san came running in faster than she predicted.
...That... was the only really fortunate thing to have happened.
Of course... the rescued Shion...... despite having no external wounds... now had a big, deep wound in her heart.
...She was in a severe state of confusion when they rescued her, and apparently she bit the police officers trying to resist.
From what he heard, she was seeing Mion in everyone she saw,
hated not only the hospital, but even her own home,
and had shut herself up somewhere in Shishibone, hiding her location...
...Additionally, in fear that Mion would come for her, she was moving from place to place every day, and even her parents weren't sure where she actually was.
Wherever she was living... even now, Shion was spending her days in fear of Mion's shadow...
The police were investigating the Sonozaki's underground storehouse at this moment.
Since... they couldn't find the remains of the other sacrifices.
...Hadn't Mion...
thrown the corpses into a well...?
I had a feeling I'd said that to him.
That meant a hidden tunnel, vertical like a well, was somewhere in those underground passages.
The secret underground, without any maps or architectural drawings...
which had swallowed up the remains of Rika-chan, Satoko,
and everyone else... was still unwilling to speak the truth...
I was brought back to that basement again too, for an on-the-site inspection or something...
but I didn't remember being of any help.
.........I never wanted to go back there again.
For days afterward, the Sonozakis living in Okinomiya—in other words, Mion and Shion's parents, the big name yakuza—would come to our house to apologize, bringing many of their followers with them.
However much my parents refused it, they piled up many hundred thousand yen bills, calling it consolation money, every day.
The amount of money grew each day, and after it had passed two million yen, they were then given an envelope containing a letter.
...I don't know what was written in the letter.
My parents talked about it by themselves for two whole nights............
and decided to move away.
"...I see.
...You're moving, huh?
...When?"
"At the end of next month.
......I won't even have been in Hinamizawa for half a year."
"............
I'll be lonely.
...I'm the only one...
left."
Rena smiled sadly...
If I had just said "yeah"... I thought it would make her even more lonely, so I changed the subject.
"............Here's something to think about."
That's how I broached it.
Mion hadn't actually fled......
but had been demoned away in the truest sense of the term...
Where she went after she disappeared...
that, we didn't know.
What was there... where she had disappeared to?
.........I hoped there was a hobby shop dealing in imports—the kind Mion liked.
In that place... she would definitely be free from the burdensome fetters of her family...
...and live not as Mion Sonozaki,
but as just Mion, and enjoy herself...
...Maybe she's already met up with Satoko and Rika-chan.
They must also... have been waiting for the day Rena and I would join them...
......spending all their time doing club activities...
as lively as they always were...
When I told Rena that, she smiled and nodded to me...
The incidents the Sonozaki family had been trying so hard to hide, too, were exposed to the magazines from this single tiny seam.
The serial incidents of recent years were all pulled up like a long vine in the ground, one by one... and for many days, news of it was brought up on talk and variety shows.
The shows, which were comedic and silly, never once tried to touch upon the grim... heavy history that Mion had been bearing.
......It made me mad to see them bringing this stuff up in jest... but there was nothing I could do about it now.
How big an impression...
would these short few weeks I spent in Hinamizawa...
have on my life?
...During these few weeks,
I met my best friends,
and had the best experiences of my life.
...I would probably...
never forget it for as long as I lived.
As for the distorted image of Mion that the media created...
...After the masses got tired of treating her like a plaything,
they would ball her up, throw her in the trash,
and then she would fade from their memories.
As somebody... as one of the few people who knew the real Mion... I must always make sure I remember her.
...Beyond any doubt... that will surely become my offering to her.
...The sky reached so far up... and towering cumulonimbus clouds floated through it.
The real summer... was just before our eyes.
Even now... whenever 10 PM came around... I would expect a phone call from Shion—or Mion, rather.
Now that everything was over, of course, she...
would never call me.
...But it was precisely because she wouldn't call me...
that I was scared...
of who would call me...
this time.
...Plus... Mion still hadn't been caught.
...I couldn't say for sure... that everything was completely over.
On the other side of that fear, though... were my prayers that Mion was safe.
...When I thought like that, I was able to sleep, even with such terrifying thoughts.
The lights were off.
...Before, her attacking when the lights were off... was something that scared me.
...However, that feeling changed to regret within two days.
The moonlight filtering through the gap in the curtains shone onto the desk... and illuminated a doll.
......That's right.
......The doll,
......
that I should have given to Mion that day.
She said it was an import from England or something, and was all the rage, didn't she?
......From what Shion said, the most popular among them were the ones wearing the fluffy dress.
After being released from the incident... the first place I went to was that toy store.
Everything was apparently sold out besides the things on the storefront displays.
...I was refused once when they said they wouldn't sell the display products... but when they realized I was Survivor A from 'that incident,' they immediately consented.
...Of course, even if I bought it... I might never have the chance to give it to her again.
Even knowing that...... I waited for the opportunity to give it to her.
I waited like this... for the opportunity... with it on the desk, so I could give it to her at any time.
Plonk.
...There was a weird noise.
...It was a noise I wasn't used to hearing.
It was too... big to be raindrops... and it was completely different from the sound lost bugs make when they ram into fluorescent lights.
I figured I must have misheard, and nestled back into my futon...
Plonk.
...The noise happened again.
I wasn't hearing things.
...I definitely heard it.
Where was it coming from?
I got up and turned on the light.
...If there was a second, there would be a third.
...From where, though...
I listened carefully...
Plonk.
The window.
...Some sort of pebbles... were colliding with my window.
When I realized they weren't being blown there by the wind, but rather being thrown by a person, I gave a start.
I looked at the clock... It was 2 AM.
...Who would it be... at a time like this...
...I quietly peek out front... through the gap in the curtains.
In the light at the gate... despite it being so late, I saw someone.
They picked up a piece of gravel... and threw it at this window.
...It hit the window and made a plonking noise.
Who was it............
"............Ah............!"
I caught my breath in surprise...
If my eyes weren't deceiving me... that person was...
...Mion.
I threw open the window and looked at the figure again.
M... My eyes certainly weren't deceiving me.
...It was Mion!
...It was Mion!!
She was... alive!!
Mion pressed her index finger to her lips and made a 'shhhh' motion so I wouldn't shout.
If she hadn't... well, I was nearly about to cry out.
...Mion was in... a very delicate position right now.
...Even if it was the middle of the night, I shouldn't call out her name.
I waved to her, gesturing that I'd be right over, flung on my coat atop my pajamas, and flew out the door.
.........I quickly hit the brakes just before going down the stairs.
...Although happiness was sprouting within me...
I had the sad feeling...
that this would be our final parting.
So I went back to my room again...... and grabbed the doll.
If there was a god...... I don't think I would have ever thanked him as much as today.
...Even if it would be... the last time we ever saw each other......
...I was so grateful... for this one chance to give it to her...!!
I slipped into my sandals,
unlocked the door,
unhooked the chain...
and leaped out of the house.
"...Hah...
Hah......
Mion...!"
"Ahahahaha, it's been a while~
...How are you?
Been doing all right?"
It was like... how we used to meet every morning... Mion waved to me and responded like she always did.
It was doubtlessly... Mion.
...It was the real Mion...
"...Are you...
all right... hanging around this place...?!"
".........I really shouldn't be.
...Ehehehe."
...She certainly... wasn't acting like she knew the police were following her.
It was almost like... she was a patient who had gotten tired of staying in the hospital and had snuck out...
Her speech was relaxed enough to make me think that... and I couldn't help but be surprised.
...That relaxation, I thought, was more like Mion... and I was happy for it.
"Anyway... what's wrong?
What do you need at this hour?"
"...I wanted to talk to you one last time."
That was when I noticed them...
On Mion's forehead... were big droplets of sweat.
...Her expression, too, which I had thought to be a satisfied smile... was, upon closer inspection, trembling slightly... and I realized that she was forcing it.
"......Well, I...
ehehehe...
I can't...
stay for any longer..."
A pained note was beginning to enter her words as well...
As if just smiling... was a feat for her.
"A-Are you all right...?
Are you not feeling well...?"
"...I tried... s-s... so hard until now...
Ahahaha...
but I can tell.
...I'm done... this is my limit...
They're...
...
about to come up behind me to take me away...
Ahahaha......"
Mion's smile... crumbled... and started to stiffen.
...Did she... push herself this much... to come all this way for me......?
"Ah... hahaha...
haha... ha...
hah......
hah......
hah...!"
Her laughter cut off... and changed into rough breathing.
I reached out to rub her back, but she knocked me away.
"Are you okay...?!
Don't force yourself...
Oh... that's right.
...I had something—"
To give you, Mion.
...This doll......
...I had wanted to do this one last thing...
because I knew how little time you had left.
...But this last thing, it
............obgh...
............Gh...
guh
............
...My stomach...
is burning.
......Mion...
...took a... meat... cleaver-like knife...
and stabbed me...
...And pushed it... in tight... and took it...
and twisted...
it...
Mi...on...?
...Hey...
wha...
t...
it......
hurts...
"Hee.....
heeheehee...
heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee
...!
I made it...
...I made it...!
...
Huheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee
!!!"
I cowered... on the ground.
...My stomach was so hot... it was almost spewing fire...
Mion watched it, then took a few steps back... and cackled.
"Geegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegee!!
I've done it! I've done it all!
That's everyone... I wanted to kill...!!!
Gegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegeegee!!"
...The last words Mion left me with that day... came back to me.
"...After today, Mion will never come back."
From today on, even if my body is here,
a body is all it will be.
...By then, the demon will have taken it over.
The demon.
...The demon.
......The demon.
"...Mi......
Mi...............
on............"
...This can't...........
I thought we had.........
finally been able to meet...
...This...
can't...............
Mion.........
...In a pool of blood of my own design...
is the doll I bought for Mion...
dyed...
in red......
so red...............
............Mion............
The good fortune of having been allowed to meet Mion once more...
and the misfortune of that meeting being torn apart before my eyes.
...Should I be grateful, or curse it?
...My emotions were neither of those... as my consciousness sunk deep into a black swamp......
The doll I bought for Mion...... the blood...
had ruined it......
No matter how I scrubbed and scrubbed... it had needlessly
...
been...
ruined
...
ruin...
ed..........
The
sad
moon
was
so
white
it
looked
frozen
.