(authornotes)

There needs to be more Satoshion in the world. ...Oh, and I'm screwing around with the flashbacks we see in the first half of Meakashi-hen, just a little. Also, this is sort of full of fluff. So if for some reason you do not like fluff, don't read (but do, there isn't nearly enough fluff in the whole Higurashi fanbase, let alone for these two).

(/authornotes)

Met a girl, last night

Didn't know what to do, didn't know why

I could not escape this feeling I had inside...

When Houjo Satoshi first noticed the change, he had tried to stop some thugs from attacking his friend Sonozaki Mion, who had apparently knocked over the thugs' bikes.

Mion had acted strangely. Satoshi had fully been expecting Mion to yell at him, reminding him she had a tazer a could take care of herself. However, Mion's reaction was quite the opposite. She thanked Satoshi quietly, hiding her mouth behind her hand and blushing slightly.

Satoshi smiled akwwardly, patted Mion on the head and walked off to look for part-time jobs. He wrote off Mion's behaviour as her being scared by the thugs, or just having an off day.

The next week, on the following Monday, Mion was acting strange again. It wasn't by nearly as much, and she seemed very clearly to be Mion, but towards Satoshi, at least, she seemed a little... softer than usual.

Satoshi smiled not-so-awkwardly and patted Mion on the head. Her face colored a little, but Satoshi wrote it off as being embarrassed from being saved.

The next day, Mion acted normally. When Satoshi asked what had been wrong the day before, Mion looked at him like he was crazy.

This started to happen often. Usually, the 'Normal' Mion was at school. Sometimes, however, the other Mion, the 'Softer' Mion went to school. Sometimes, Satoshi wondered if there were two of her.

Suddenly, Mion was the manager of the baseball team. Even on the days when 'Normal' Mion came to school, the Mion who showed up to watch the baseball practices was always the 'Softer' one.

This second Mion, who had only showed up recently, wasn't very different from the first, unless you looked. Usually, it took Satoshi a few minutes of talking to figure out which one it was. 'Softer' Mion was just a little less loud, a little more spacey.

Sometimes, Satoshi caught her staring at him.

He wondered why she only acted differently to him, and nobody else. What was wrong with her those days?

...

While all of this was happening, of course, Satoshi's aunt and uncle continued to get more and more harsh towards Satoko. It was becoming much harder to protect his little sister, and sometimes Satoshi wondered what it would be like to run away. To escape this situation, in which he came home from a hard day of school and basketball to a house full of adults yelling at Satoko.

It would be nice, he thought, to be able to sleep without being disturbed by the noise.

...

One day after practice, Satoshi was rubbing a sore shoulder when somebody tapped him on the back.

He turned around, gasping, but it was only Mion (in her 'softer' form).

She flushed. "Um... Satoshi-kun?"

That was different. Usually, Mion wouldn't use the 'kun'-honorific, even when 'softer.'

Satoshi ignored it as best as he could. Besides, for some reason he didn't mind.... "Yes, Mion?"

"Is your shoulder okay?" Mion looked worried. Caring, even.

"It's a little sore," Satoshi said, wincing when he tried to rub it. "Okay, it's a lot sore... it'll probably be better in the morning..."

Mion smiled . "I could massage it for you..."

"Do you know how?" Nervousness could be detected in Satoshi's tone of voice. If it was just tired, he wouldn't mind letting her try, but even when he touched his shoulder gingerly it hurt.

"I took lessons," Mion replied quietly. "If you sleep on a shoulder that sore, it could be bad."

"... Well," Satoshi said slowly, "If that's true... yeah, I guess you could..."

Mion moved closer and softly put her hands on his shoulders.

"This might be a little sore..." she murmured, "But the discomfort from a massage is far less worse than a pulled muscle."

"Right...."

The fingers on the hands stroked Satoshi's shoulders, slowly adding more pressure. And while his sore shoulder did ache a little, he felt like he was holding in a deep breath, and he could feel his muscles loosening.

When Mion let go of Satoshi's shoulder, Satoshi slumped down on the bench and yawned. He felt... immensely relaxed.

"Is that... better?" Mion asked slowly. "Is your shoulder all right?"

"It's fine," Satoshi realized, poking his shoulder with a finger. "I'm.... fantastic. Who knew you could do that?"

"Don't tell anyone," Mion giggled. "I can't do this for everyone..."

Satoshi looked up at her, and realized that Mion was blushing.

'Cute...'

That night, he was able to sleep even though there was noise.

...

"Nii-nii?" Satoko quietly asked one day as they walked to school. "Is Mion-san your girlfriend?"

"G-g-girlfriend?" Satoshi spluttered. "No, she's just... my team's manager..."

"You don't have to lie to me to protect my innocence," Satoko sighed. "I've seen the way you look at her, plus you've been spending half an hour longer than before at baseball practice, getting shoulder, neck and forehead massages from her..."

"Mion isn't my girlfriend!" Satoshi gasped, heat rising to his face.

"But you wish she was." Satoko smirked a little.

"I never said that!" Satoshi protested.

Satoko's smirk grew to the malicious grin that can only be seen on a younger sibling in the process of teasing the older. Satoshi unconciously took a step back.

"Nii-nii's got a giiiiirlfriend," Satoko said in a singsong voice.

Satoshi stopped walked. "She's not my girlfriend, I just finished telling you that!"

Satoko proceeded to wave from side to side, chanting, "Nii-nii's got a girlfriend, Nii-nii's got a girlfriend, Nii-nii's got a girlfriend," over and over and over again. Satoshi realized they might be late to school, so he grabbed her by the hand and all but dragged her the rest of the way.

They did end up being late, but Satoshi didn't mind. That smirk was the closest thing to a true smile he'd seen from Satoko in weeks... but Mion, as a girlfriend? Mion was loud, rude and maybe even a bit of a pervert, which was okay as a friend but not something Satoshi saw as a potential girlfriend. The other Mion, though... even though she was loud and rude too, Satoshi always felt better around her, like Mion was carrying part of the huge weight that rested on his mind. Maybe having that part of Mion as a girlfriend wouldn't be so bad, but then he'd also be attached to the first one, who would probably just use her position as "girlfriend" to heighten the level of Satoshi's punishment games.

...

Of course, just because Satoko almost smiled once didn't mean she was getting any better. While Teppei and his wife continued to beat, berate and generally abuse his sister, Satoshi began to plan to go rid of the problem they posed...

Beyond that, at home and on the days when 'normal' Mion was at school, he heard footsteps following him. Whenever he turned around to face the offender, there was no one there. Every day, they seemed louder, more frequent.

He never heard them during or directly after baseball, but he wouldn't be able to go to baseball anymore.

...

"Coach Irie?" Satoshi ventured, walking into the Hinamizawa clinic. "We need to talk."

"Of course," Irie said, pulling Satoshi into the waiting room. "Is this about Satoko-chan?"

Satoshi shrugged. "Sort of... I want to quit the baseball team."

"Why?" Irie asked.

Satoshi explained that he needed to get a part time job, to 'buy a teddy bear for Satoko's birthday'. He asked if he could keep his baseball bat, to 'practice swinging'.

...

Three days later, it was the 'softer' Mion who came to school. She entered as Satoshi and Satoko were putting their shoes into shoe lockers.

"Satoshi... kun?" Mion murmured. "You haven't been coming to practice..."

She seemed genuinely worried. Could this Mion not remember he had told the normal Mion two days ago?

"I already told you," Satoshi sighed. "I quit so I could get a part-time job."

"... Right," Mion said, "I forgot. Later..."

...

That same day, Satoshi got back from the bathroom during lunch to see Mion throwing workbooks at his sister, who was collapsed on the floor and crying helplessly.

... So, the 'softer' Mion wasn't all that soft after all?

Snapping out of his train of thought, Satoshi lunged down to guard his sister from the onslaught of workbooks.

"What did you do to her?!?"

Mion looked strangley shocked. "I thought... for Satoshi... I was teaching her a lesson!"

"She said I'm causing you too much trouble," Satoko whimpered. "Am I, nii-nii?"

"Of course not!" Satoshi said, turning glare at the... other... Mion. "If you ever do anything like this again, Mion, that day marks the end of our friendship."

This made Mion's eyes widen in fear. "I won't do it again!" She promised quickly. "Please stay friends with me!"

Maybe the 'softer' Mion wasn't as soft as he'd thought. It was ironic, though, that she had done what she'd done to Satoko with me in mind... maybe this Mion had me as a first priority?

Satoshi shook his head. That's rediculous....

However, this could only help him. Satoshi knew now, he had someone who could watch Satoko for him during the Watanigashi festival.

...

That night, Satoshi called Mion's house and asked to talk to her about what had happened earlier. It was the original Mion that picked up the phone, but she put Satoshi on hold for about three minutes. When Mion picked up again, she was the other Mion.

Were they not the same person? Split personalities, maybe?

"Satoshi-kun, I'm so sorry..." Mion murmured. And it sounded like she really was.

"It's fine," He said. "But, since I have forgiven you..."

"Yes?" There was hope in her voice. Maybe the priority theory wasn't as rediculous as Satoshi had thought? "Is there something I can do to regain your favor?"

"Yes," He said. Satoshi could swear he heard a delighted gasp from her end of the line. This was starting to be somewhat amusing... "I need to you to take Satoko-chan to the Watanigashi festival."

"Eh?" Mion sounded confused. "I can definitely do that, but... shouldn't Satoshi-kun take her?"

"I should," Satoshi sighed, "But I'm going to work through the festival. Doing that will get me twice the pay as usual."

"Ah, okay." Mion sounded disheartened. "Why are you working so hard, anyway?"

Satoshi smiled. "I'm planning on getting a birthday present for Satoko. There's a toy she wanted... but it's expensive."

"Is your work hard?" Mion wondered. "If you wanted, I could still... m-massage..." her voice trailed off, as if she'd just said something she shouldn't have.

The temperature in Satoshi's room seemed to rise. "Ah... I... I'd like that."

"Great." A wide smile could be detected in Mion's voice. "Where--"

Footsteps were heard in the hallway. "I think I hear my aunt returning home, Mion. See you later."

"... Later," Mion said. Satoshi hung up just as his aunt entered the room.

...

Of course, Satoshi wasn't working the night of the Watanigashi festival. He was killing his aunt with his baseball bat.

... Because we all know how that happened, let's not go over it, if only for Satoshi's sake.

...

Satoshi stood in front of the shop window, staring at the teddy bear therein.

He almost had enough. But the store was having a sale the next week. What if someone took the bear first? It was one-of-a-kind, too...

"Is that what you're getting for Satoko-chan?" Mion's voice asked quietly from behind him. "The teddy bear?"

Even by the voice, Satoshi could tell it was the 'other' Mion.

"...Yeah," Satoshi said. "Muu, I'm afraid someone else could buy it first, though..."

Mion giggled. "Come on." She reached out and grabbed Satoshi's hand, pulling him towards the inside of the shop.

She's holding my hand, sang a childish voice inside Satoshi's head. For a second, he let this sink in, but then snapped back to reality.

"But I haven't gotten my payday yet!" Satoshi protested. "I don't have the money--"

"Excuse me," Mion said to the store owner, "We'd like to reserve that bear in the window."

Oh, reserve. Right. Why hadn't Satoshi thought of that? He blamed Mion for not deciding what her personality was and therefor being both confusing and distracting.

"Are you sure?" the owner asked, looking at Satoshi. "It's quite expensive."

"I know," Satoshi said slowly. "... I should have just enough."

...

"Satoshi-kun, you're such and airhead," Mion giggled. "When normal people see something they want, they put it on reserve."

Satoshi flushed from embarassment. "I suppose you're right. It didn't even occur to me..."

"And that's why I'm here," Mion said. "Because you're kind of spacey, and always looking out for Satoko. Someone... someone should look out for Satoshi-kun."

Mion widened her eyes as if realizing something and turned her head away quickly.

Her tactic didn't work. Satoshi saw that she was blushing.

Mion slowly let go of Satoshi's hand, which she hadn't let go of since gripping earlier. Satoshi felt his hand suddenly grow cold and heavy as it dropped to his side.

"Mion?" Satoshi ventured. "Why is it you act like this consistenly some days at school and always at Baseball, but some days at school you're your usual self?"

"I..." Mion turned towards Satoshi, a regretful expression on her face. "There's.. there's nothing wrong with me! Ahahaha! Satoshi-kun, always spacing out like that and thinking weird things... be careful or Rena will kidnap you."

"Mion, I think we both know that's not what you were going to say," Satoshi sighed. "Also, by saying Rena will kidnap me implies that you think I'm cute..."

Mion blushed again, and opened her mouth to say something, but Satoshi kept talking so he could make his point.

"...And something is definitely going on here that I don't know about. The normal Sonozaki Mion never refers to me with the '-kun' honorific, never blushes when I talk to her and never, if she worries, talks to me about it. What's going on?"

Mion's head hung low. "I'm sorry, Satoshi-kun... I didn't mean for you to figure it out. Truthfully, I'm--"

"Houjo Satoshi. Do you mind if we had a little chat?"

It was Ooishi, the Chief of Police. He had two other policemen with him, who surrounded the two teenagers quickly.

Mion stepped closer to Satoshi and whispered, "Do you have an alibi for the night of the festival?"

So Mion knew. Or, at least, this Mion knew. But... she was letting Satoshi get away with it? Why?

Someone... someone should look out for Satoshi-kun.

Satoshi discreetly shook his head, he didn't have an alibi and Mion clearly had an idea.

"He was with me," Mion said, "At a family restaurant. The Cafe Angel Morte."

"Ha! Nice try," Ooishi said darkly. "Sonozaki Mion. You were seen at the festival escorting his little sister."

"But I'm not Sonozaki Mion," Mion, who apparently was not Mion at all, announced. "I'm Sonozaki Shion. Her younger twin sister."

... What?

Ooishi raised an eyebrow. "You seriously expect me to believe that."

"You can check with my older sister if you don't believe me. Will you? If we stand side by side?"

Identical twins... that explains a lot, Satoshi thought. So Shion is the other Mion.

"... We'll have to check on that," Ooishi said slowly. "Stay here, you two."

The policemen stepped a few yards away for a whispered conference.

"I'm sorry for deceiving you," Shion murmured. "Please don't be angry with me..."

Satoshi smiled, and laughed good-naturedly. "I'm not! If anything, this explains why Mion's been acting so strange. There were times when Mion acted like she was somebody else altogether, times when Mion and I didn't get along quite the same as we used to."

Shion nodded.

"... I guess I shouldn't say, 'nice to meet you,' huh?" Satoshi said.

"Ummm..." Shion frowned. "I suppose not."

"... But why would a restaurant owned by the Sonozaki family be open during Watanigashi?" Satoshi asked.

"It wasn't," Shion said. "Obviously, I was asked to watch the building during the festival. I asked you to watch with me because that place gets a little creepy at night."

"Two teenagers alone in a building..." Satoshi frowned. "Isn't that a little..."

"I-- I didn't mean it that way when I asked!" Shion gasped, her face gaining the hue of a ripe tomato. "I... didn't want to be by myself..."

"It's all right," Satoshi said. "That place is pretty creepy after dark. I can see why you asked me to stay with you."

He winked, and Shion smiled.

"I have never had so much fun restaurant-sitting," Satoshi elaborated.

"All we did was talk and watch The Brady Bunch," Shion giggled.

"Yes..." Satoshi said slowly, "Until the show ended and I turned the television off..."

Shion looked nervous. "What happened then?"

"I asked you why you've been masquerading as your sister." Satoshi's voice gained a stern tone, and he frowned a little. "It really confused me until I found out... I thought it was split personalities or something."

"Oh." Shion turned her gaze downward. "And I told you... I ran away from the boarding school the Sonozaki family shipped me off to."

Satoshi nodded, then thought for a moment and said, "And that made sense, but I still didn't understand why only Shion managed the baseball team. And why Shion's disguise as Mion was only different in the way she look at me."

Shion blushed again. "Th... that's because I... well, as I said then, I..."

She struggled and tried to open her mouth a few times, but no words came out. Her blush intensified every time she tried to say whatever it was she had 'said yesterday'.

Of course, this only made Satoshi more curious.

"Yes, Shion? What did you say?"

Shion stuttered unintelligibly.

"If it's embarassing..." Satoshi stepped towards Shion so that less than half a foot lay between them. "... You can whisper."

Shion was shaking now, as she leaned over to put her mouth by Satoshi's ear, close enough for him to feel her breath. Satoshi found the blood rushing to his face.

"W-well? What was it?" If it was this important, such a secret, Satoshi needed to know.

"B-because..."

Shion shut her eyes, gulped, took a huge breath, and finally spoke.

"I ... love... you."

Satoshi froze. "Love..."

"Yes," Shion sighed, still whispering in Satoshi's ear. "...Since the day we met. I was attacked--"

"-- By some thugs," Satoshi finished. "That was the first time I'd thought Mion was acting strangely. I guess... I could tell you apart from the beginning?"

"In a way," Shion said. "... How could you tell?"

Satoshi suddenly felt somewhat akward. "Shion is the one looks at me differently, Shion is the one who manages the baseball team... Shion is the one who gives me shoulder massages, Shion is the one who makes me forget my problems, Shion is the one who I'm starting to realize goes out of her way for me... but all of those things are because you love me, I think. So I suppose... I can tell Shion apart from Mion because Shion loves me?"

Shion's eyes widened, and she blushed for what must have been the hundredth time that day. "Satoshi-kun, yesterday... when-- when I said... you know..."

"Yes, Shion?"

"W-what was it again, Satoshi-kun's response to that?"

"I was a little surprised," Satoshi turned his head to whisper, "So I froze for a second..."

"... And then?" Satoshi could feel heat radiating off of Shion like cookies just taken out of the oven. He felt the urge to wrap his arms around her a soak in that warmth, but he kept his hands firmly clapped to his side.

"Then I told you, in essence," Satoshi murmured, "That I think you're amazing. That sometimes, I'm tempted to reach out and hold you. That when, before I knew that Mion and Shion are different people, I wished they were. I wanted them to be, because..."

"Because?" Shion inquired.

"... Because, to me, Shion is the most helpful, most wonderful person in my life," Satoshi said quickly. "Then, before I knew, there were two Mions, and the normal one, the old one, was still a friend, but the second Mion, who was Shion, I sometimes wanted... wished I could be more than a friend to this other 'Mion' without being more than a friend to the first 'Mion'."

Shion's voice suddenly became choked up with emotion. "Satoshi-kun...!" She threw her arms around him, shaking.

She was so soft. It was like... being hugged by a down blanket.

"Just like yesterday," Satoshi said, returning the hug in kind. She stopped shaking, but held him tighter and blushed harder (which Satoshi had doubted was physically possible).

"And I told Satoshi-kun..." Shion's voice was muffled; she had buried her face in Satoshi's shoulder. "... That if he wanted to be 'more than friends' with me... he could. Because I love Satoshi-kun so much... if I said no to that, I'd be denying myself."

"Well, as I said yesterday evening..." Satoshi held Shion a little tighter. "I wouldn't want to make Shion deny herself..."

"... But... does Satoshi-kun honestly think of me that way?" Shion wondered, half to herself. "I threw those books at Satoko, after all... and he literally only just found out I existed..."

Satoshi unlatched one of his arms from around Shion to pat her gently on the head. "Even if I thought they were another part of someone else... a girl who always looked out for me, always relaxed me when I felt stressed... how could I not like her, if even just a little?"

Shion hugged Satoshi just a little closer. "For me, though, this is like a dream..." She looked up at Satoshi and smiled...

Satoshi hadn't realized how close her face was to his. How very close her li--

His train of thought was broken by a voice.

"Satoshi-kun, are you... blushing?" Shion asked, somehow amazed by this fact.

Satoshi blinked. "Probably."

Shion got on her tiptoes and pressed her cheek against his. "Satoshi-kun blushed... for me..." And Satoshi knew that Shion had just cracked a smile, because the cheek muscle he was in contact with shifted upwards and the very corner of her lip brushed against his face. "That's... incredible. I never thought I would be so lucky..."

When she spoke, the small portion of lip touching Satoshi rubbed against his cheek.

It drove him crazy. Was she doing this by accident? Or did she secretly know, how much right now Satoshi wanted to...

"Sh-Shion? Yesterday, after we said all that..."

"Yes?" The lip brushed over again.

"Did-- did we kiss?"

Shion stood absolutely still, but Satoshi could feel her heart beating against his chest, the pounding of a gong.

"Yes." It wasn't an answer, it was a plea; Shion was begging. She removed her cheek from his, facing him. "Please..."

Satoshi bent his head forward, and his lips met with the only thing Satoshi had ever encountered that was softer than Shion's embrace. They hovered there, enjoying the feeling, neither moving but standing like statues with their lips pressed together.

"Hem-hem." Ooishi tapped Satoshi on the shoulder, causing Satoshi to freeze and Shion to hurriedly break off the kiss.

"Sorry to interrupt," Ooishi chuckled, "But I need you two to come to the station and answer a few questions. Shion-san, I called your family. Your sister answered the phone, so I think at least that part of the story is credible."

Shion nodded slowly.

"Well then, if you two will get into my car we can take you two lovebirds to the station..."

...

Love and hate and gravity

Could not use their forces to intimidate me

While I was awake...

...........................

(authornotes)

there are only lyrics in this chapter because I want to put lyrics from another song in the next one (song is Should Have, Could have by Corner Street Light), but now that song makes me think of those two. Then again, half the songs I hear do these days...

well, tell me what you thought?

(/authornotes)