Onikakushi-hen

From the moment Keiichi had moved to Hinamizawa, he'd known he was different from all the others. They treated him as naturally as any close friend would and even forced him to join in on their goofy, time-wasting games. It had been wonderful and extremely exciting. But the childish fun hadn't lasted as long as he would have liked.

Rena had been the first to change, and it hadn't been for the better. Her cute, adorable, cuddly side would disappear swiftly whenever he pushed his limits, bringing out a side even a monster could compete with. The way she would snarl out Usoda, then appologize a thousand times, "Gomen, Gomen, Gomen... Gomen, Keiichi-kun..."

It was agonizing; too much for him to take. Such a sweet girl with such a gruesome inner demon. Maybe his life just hadn't been meant to live. His life was threatened and when Tomitake died and that woman went missing, the meters of danger had only grown.

That had been the reason for his carrying the bat. It was the perfect thing for protection, and it put a good, thick line between him and Rena. It was Satoshi's, after all.

Satoshi... Satoko's older brother, the one who had gone missing a year before at the Watanagashi festival. The secret that had torn apart the tiny friendship Keiichi had held with Rena, Mion, and even the other girls. The secret of Oyashiro-sama and the curse of Hinamizawa.

Being cornered had never put Keiichi at ease. Rena and Mion had seemed like silent devils, slowly breaking through his mind and cracking it in half as most people do an egg. They'd tortured him to the point where he actually broke.

He hadn't quite known why he'd done it in the end. Maybe it had really been Oyashiro-sama and the curse. Either way, beating those two girls into his bedroom floor had almost been a relief, if not for that tiny moment. Even when they begged, pleaded, tried to help him out, he had still smashed the bat down. With all his strength, all his feelings, and all his anger, he'd killed the two girls that had first become his friends in Hinamizawa.

His entire control was lost with their lives and soon after he'd gone off in a rush, hurrying from the figures that chased.

In the phone booth, dialing Oiishi's number, Keiichi's sanity and hopes had been slautered. As he dug at his throat, tearing deep and feeling the blood goosh and the pain collide with his fingers, Keiichi realized one last thing. Oyashiro-sama had won. In the end of a fancy, torturous game of cat and mouse, three lives were lost.

But it was only the beginning.