Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

June 19th, 1983

The Watanagashi Festival, which was held every third Sunday in June in the idyllic village of Hinamizawa, was up and running. Nearly the whole village had gathered around the Furude Shrine, one of the most holy places in Hinamizawa.

Right that moment, Rika Furude, the head of the Furude family, would hold the ritual dance in honor of the Villages guardian, Oyashiro-sama.

Everyone gathered in front of or near the stage, where she’d perform the Watanagashi ritual.

Everyone, except two people.

Away from the shrine, in front of the ritual warehouse to be exact, a man and a woman were working on getting into the warehouse.

The man was Jirou Tomitake, a freelance photographer who came to Hinamizawa every year around the time of the Watanagashi festival to take pictures of Birds and more. He was fiddling around the lock that prevented him and his partner to get into the warehouse.

The woman was Miyo Takano. She worked as a nurse at the local Irie Clinic in Hinamizawa. She was also really interested in the stuff hidden inside the warehouse and kept an eye to warn Tomitake if someone would come up to them.

Instead of watching the ritual dance with him, she dragged poor Tomitake with her to help her get into the warehouse.

They both knew that what they were doing wasn’t legal at all.

Tomitake was especially nervous about this situation and about getting caught.

Yet, he offered Takano his help.

“Jirou-san, how long do you think it’ll take?”, Takano asked, looking over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

Tomitake always had a Mini Tool Kit with him, and at the moment he tried opening the lock with a screwdriver, which was everything but effective.

“Be patient, Miyo, I am trying my best, but this lock is a pretty hard nut to crack. I am really not sure if any of my tools are useful.”

Takano had a clear expression of annoyance on her face. She grabbed Tomitakes shoulder and squeezed it tightly.

“Jirou-san, I don’t have to remind you about your award for opening this lock, don’t I?” She squeezed his shoulders a tiny bit more aggressively this time.

Tomitake gulped.

“Miyo, I already told you I don’ t want nud-“

*cling*

At that moment, the lock fell onto the ground. The door to the warehouse was open.

Both looked at each other dumbfounded.

The first one to speak was Tomitake.

“How did I-“

But he was immediately interrupted by Takano.

“Ahhhh~ Finally we can go into the ritual warehouse. I never doubted you for one second, Jirou-san~”

Takano spun around in joy. But as she realized that Tomitake was staring at her, smiling and giggling to himself at the sight of Takano's excitement, she quickly got a serious look on her face again.

“C-come on, let’s go in.”, she said with an embarrassed tone in her voice, grabbing Tomitake’s hand and dragging him into the warehouse.

The two didn’t notice that someone else had opened the door for them. But they’d soon find out.

“It’s way too dark in here, I can’t see anything.” Tomitake already complained about going into the warehouse. The air was muddy and dusty, he felt quite uncomfortable walking around in there.

Takano had found a lantern.

“Jirou-san, do you have matches?”

“Y-yeah!” Tomitake handed Takano some matches and she lit the latern.

Now the two of them got to see all the torture devices used back then for the Watanagashi ritual, as well as other rituals and methods of Torture. Takano kept rambling about all the stuff she’d like to do with them, which made Tomitake scratch his head in embarrassment.

He was busy glaring at the door, making sure that no one would find them. He had closed the door after they entered, but everyone would notice the lock laying on the floor and would immediately notice that someone was inside the warehouse.

Tomitake tried to calm himself down by slowly breathing in and out. The dusty air made him sneeze, which made Takano laugh from across the room.

Takano looked at every device and told Tomitake, who wasn’t really listening, every single detail she knew about the devices. Tomitake really didn’t know why she had such an obscure interest, but he didn’t mind asking her about it. He actually thought it was kinda cute.

After a while, Takano came back to Tomitake and, surprisingly, hugged him.

“Thank you so much for helping me getting into the warehouse, I haven’t been this happy in a long time.”

Hearing that made Tomitake smile and he patted Takano’s head.

*crack*

Both of them turned around at the sound of something breaking. When they turned around, they saw that a piece of Oyashiro-sama’s statue had crumbled apart and fell to the floor, alongside some curved object.

“What was that?”, Takano asked, walking towards the statue.

“Did you break it, Miyo?!”

“Of course not, I never even touched it!”

“But you were the closest to it.” Tomitake let out a frustrated sigh. “I know I never should’ve said yes to your crazy plan.”

“I-“

“JUST ADMIT YOU BROKE IT ALREADY! I AM SERIOUSLY DONE WITH THIS! I NEVER WANTED TO BE IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. I AM DOING ALL OF THIS JUST FOR YOU, MIYO! LET'S GO ALREADY!”, Tomitake screamed while grabbing Takano’s hand. He wanted to get out of the warehouse as fast as he could.

“I DIDN’T BREAK IT! JUST LEMME SEE WHAT OYASHIRO-SAMA LEFT THERE FOR US, JIROU-SAN! JUST ONE LOOK!”

Tomitake let out a sigh. "Okay, just one look and then we're out of here. I am sure we've already been caught breaking into the warehouse though."

Takano didn't listen to him, grabbed his hand and walked up towards the statue.

When they arrived, Takano touched the object, which looked like a horn, to inspect it. As soon as her skin came into contact with the horn shaped object, the warehouse illuminated, blending both of their eyes.

When both opened their eyes, they thought they were dreaming. They were no longer inside the warehouse.

Instead, they found themselves standing on a platform in a weird, purple realm with lots of floating crystals all around them. They could even spot the Furude Shrine floating in the air.

But the most bizarre thing was that woman standing, no, floating in the air in front of them. She wore a kimono, had a weird rod in her hand and around her head was some horn shaped headwear.

She looked down on Takano and Tomitake, who both were lost at words at the sight that they were experiencing.

“Miyo, pinch me, I think I am dreaming.”

“Jirou-san… I think you have the same weird dream as me… right?”

“Hahahaha, you two are truly amusing to look at.”, the mysterious woman started laughing.

“I’ve been waiting for you two, Children of Men.”

Chapter Text

“You were waiting for us?! Who are you?! I’ve never seen you in my life and I am sure Jirou-san haven’t as well!”
Takano was visibly angry. This woman kept laughing at her and Tomitake, talking to them as if they already knew each other. Worried, she looked over to Tomitake, who kept spinning around, looking at all the floating crystals.
“I am just so glad to see you, child of men. Or, should I call you Vier instead? Hahaha!”
Takano made a fist with her hand. She was SO angry at this woman. Whoever she was, she was already annoying to Takano.
She walked forward a few steps, striked out with her right arm and tried to hit the floating woman, who was fast enough to avoid her punch.
“What the-“

Tomitake ran over to her, trying to calm Takano down, who was visibly in rage.
“It’s amazing that you try to punch a divine being, Child of Men. Did you really think you could strike me with that tiny fist of yours?”
“Please excuse my wife, she’s just confused at what’s happening, ha ha!”
“We aren’t even officially married yet.”, Takano muttered under her breath.
“Anyways, what Jirou-san said is right though. I am not only confused, I am also mad. How are ever going to marry if we are stuck… Wherever we are right now!”
The floating woman giggled. “You two are in the Sea of Fragments right now, the place only Looping entities can enter.”
“Looping Entities? What are you talking about?”, Tomitake asked while scratching his head.

“Kuhuhuhuhu, Looping Entities are not human. They were given the ability to loop back, to different fragments after their death.”
A loud gulp could be heard from both Takano and Tomitake.
“I think that you two children of men are perfect candidates for this matter. You truly are amusing, the break-in into the ritual warehouse was amusing enough to let me help you open the heavy door, kuhuhu!”
“You mean you opened the door for us to step in?”, Tomitake said in shock. He knew that something was off with the lock, but still, he never would’ve guessed that a strange lady like her opened the door for them.
“I merely opened it for you to find me. And I hope you’ll continue to amuse me.”
The woman’s expression grew colder as she said that, leaving behind an even colder atmosphere in this endless Sea of Fragments.

“I don’t want to stand here with you two until forever, so I shall give you two the power to loop. The mere purpose of this is to help you find the perfect fragment to live in and for me to get entertained.”
“This has to be a joke!! You can’t just decide what we’re going to do, we are Adults.”
Takano became more impatient the more she had to listen to the woman and began shouting. Tomitake layed a hand on her shoulder. He knew how hard it was for her to be conducted by someone else, especially in an odd situation like that.
“Would you leave us alone if we agreed to your plan?”, Tomitake asked the woman with a gentle voice, to help calm Takano down as well.
“Only if you entertain me, child of man.”

Tomitake turned himself and Takano over to talk to her. She was biting her lip and frowning.
“Jirou-san, I don’t like where this is going. I thought that I would finally be free, be without anyone to tell me what to do. But now we’re stuck in some abstract world and this woman wants us to entertain her. Please tell me this is a nightmare and we’ll wake up from it soon.”
Small tears were forming around her eyes, a few already rolled down her cheeks. She was already at her limit.
“Miyo… I’ll save you from this nightmare, I promise.”, Tomitake said as he hugged her tightly.
“Are you two finished? This is already getting boring, hurry up or I’ll change my mind.”, the floating woman said with a huge yawn afterwards.
“You said that you’d help us find the perfect world to live in… Is that the truth? Aren’t you deceiving us?”, Takano suddenly asked.
She had thought about this the moment the woman said it. A perfect world. Would that mean a world without being treated like an animal, who was stuck in a cage; without being deceived by anyone anymore, without being hurt?
In her mind, Takano already saw her perfect world. She and the one who saved her, Jirou Tomitake, living together in a world where she can finally be herself.
Only her and Tomitake.
Only the two of them, ruling the world together.

“If you really help us to find the perfect world… I am willing to accept the powers of yours.”
“Miyo, are you sure?”
Tomitake was shocked to her that his partner had already changed her mind. A few moments ago, she was scared, unable to comprehend the situation. But now, he could see the determination in her eyes.
She already made up her mind and whatever it was, it gave her the strength to accept the floating woman’s power.
He took a deep breath and thought this through for himself. Was he also ready to accept the woman’s power? They both still didn’t know a lot about what the woman told them.
As with everything, there was a high risk of doing something wrong, of failing.
Whatever this mysterious power would be, it could be either their victory or their end.
He took another deep breath, then looked Takano into her eyes.
“Miyo, if you really want to do it… I’ll follow you. Wherever you go, I go to. Whatever you do, I do as well. I just want to let you know that I won’t ever leave you alone again. Choose whether or not you want to accept this power. Whatever you choose, you have my support.”
Takano’s eyes began sparkling. They began sparkling not only because of the joy she felt in the very moment Tomitake promised to never let her be alone again, no, they also sparkled because she started tearing up. Tears of joy, tears of relief rolled down her face.
She already was determined to change her life and to find the perfect world for her and Tomitake to live in.
“Floating woman?”
“Yes?”
The floating woman was still yawning and already bored by their dialogue.
“We want to accept the power you will give us. Under one condition.”
“Hoooh? And what would that condition be?”, the woman asked while leaning down towards them.
“You will lead us to our perfect world. No matter how many years it will take, you will help us to find the world where we can finally be happy. You will help us to finally achieve our happy end, now matter how long it will take.”
“Hm… I hope that condition will hold something entertaining for me. Entertain me throughout the fragments and then I’ll certainly help you, kuhuhu.”

The floating woman spread her arms out. Several of the floating crystals flew towards Takano and Tomitake and circled around them.
“I shall now give you both the power to loop, to travel through the fragments to entertain me and find your happy ending. But you shall not forget the condition you both have to make in order to go to the next fragment. You shall both kill each other at approximately the same time. There can be a few minutes between your deaths. But you shall not commit suicide, you have to kill the other one of you in order to travel. Your method of choice is totally up to you both. Understood?”
“”Yes, we understood.””
“Well then”, the floating woman said with a sadistic grin on her face.
“Entertain me, CHILDREN OF MEN!”

Chapter Text

June 15th, 1984
“What… was that?”
When Takano opened her eyes, she noticed that she lay in her bed. Apparently it was still relatively dark outside. A look at her alarm clock revealed that it was 5 am, way too early for her to get up. With a sigh, she decided that she couldn’t fall asleep after this nightmare and stood up.
Tomitake had already left the bed, which was unusual for him.
“Maybe he’s just in the bathroom.”, Takano thought and grabbed one of Tomitake’s long Tshirts to cover herself and went into the kitchen.

To her surprise, Tomitake already sat at the kitchen table, looking like he was lost in a deep thought. He had his head resting on his hands and stared onto the table. When he noticed Takano coming into the Kitchen, he gave her a tired smile.
“Good Morning Miyo. You are up so early, how unusual!”
“Same goes for you, Jirou-san. You never wake up this early.”
“Oh, I used to get up even earlier years ago when I was bird watching in another region. You know, back then when I was still young, ha ha!”
Even though Tomitake tried to lighten up the mood, Takano was still thinking about that weird dream she had.
She suddenly stood up and shouted:
“J-jirou-san, I don’t know why, but I have the feeling that something isn’t right! We both are up this early, we both seem down for some reason… Could it be… that you also had a weird dream last night?”
Tomitake’s cheerful expression turned serious all of a sudden.
“So, you think it wasn’t a coincidence as well? We both really had the same dream?”
The way both were talking to each other showed that both could potentially read the other one’s mind within seconds. Their bond had strengthened ever since they started a new life away from their old ones, alone, without each other.
“I can’t imagine anything else that would’ve happened. Even though I am quite sure that nothing like this could potentially happen.”
They both stared down at the table, lost in thoughts.

“… ‘I shall now give you both the power to loop, to travel through the fragments to entertain me and find your happy ending. But you shall not forget the condition you both have to make in order to go to the next fragment. You shall both kill each other at approximately the same time. There can be a few minutes between your deaths. But you shall not commit suicide, you have to kill the other one of you in order to travel. Your method of choice is totally up to you both.’… I wonder… if that was some kind of Prophecy or something. Maybe God finally acknowledged my challenge that I made to him years ago when I fled from the orphanage. Maybe that was a sign, maybe he really gave us those powers through the eyes of that weird woman.”
When Takano stopped her monologue, she noticed that Tomitake looked at her with a worried look on his face.
“… Miyo, don’t do anything stupid just because of a dream, okay? We both are sure it was just a dream, right?”
“…Maybe you’re right… But-“
“Listen, I am normally not the serious type of man, but hear me out. We both decided that we would leave the past behind. The horrible things you wanted to do, they’re all in the past now. There is no such power as Looping back in time. If that existed, we both would’ve already known, right?”
The way Tomitake spoke to her made Takano shiver. The Tomitake she knew was indeed an easy-going kind of man, he’d always be silly rather than serious. But for some reason, he now acted so maturely…
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Miyo. Not again.”
Those words of his were enough to make Takano stop thinking about the dream, at least for the time being. They both decided to make coffee and wait until the bakery opened.

“Thank you so much for your purchase!”
A few hours later, both went for a walk after buying some breakfast at the convenience store.
After letting out a big yawn, Tomitake happily began eating his sandwich, while Takano was still lost in thoughts.
“… Miyo, don’t do anything stupid just because of a dream, okay? We both are sure it was just a dream, right?”
“I don’t want you to get hurt, Miyo. Not again.”
Those words that Tomitake said to her this morning were still ringing in his ears. She too didn’t want to lose him anymore, not after all she did to him.

Wait.
What did I do to him?
All I did was using him for my plans back then, but that’s all stuff from the past.
… Right?

Takano’s head began hurting, her ears were ranging. Countless images of her injecting Tomitake with a drug through a syringe flashed before her eyes. Countless reports that Tomitake was successfully killed rang in her ears.
She never killed Tomitake.
She was close to doing it, but she never killed him.
He was there, before her eyes.

“Is everything okay?”
Tomitake looked back after noticing that Takano had stopped walking, clinging onto her head.
With a faint smile, she replied.
“I just think I had a bad daydream, nothing too bad I guess.”
“… You were mumbling something a few seconds ago. You said you’re sorry. Sorry for what exactly?”
“… For killing you back then.”
“…”
“I know I probably sound like an idiot right now, but those daydreams felt like they really happened. Somewhere in those daydreams, I killed you after realizing that I don’t need you anymore. Like a child throws away an old toy, I threw your life away. Jirou-san… I am so sorry for what I did…”
Both of them didn’t knew where exactly these daydreams came from, but ever since this morning they felt an unpleasant feeling that everything would go downhill rapidly. The way both had weird dreams, the way Takano acted strangely and got weird daydreams. Tomitake began to feel worried about both of them.
“Maybe I can cheer you up a bit, Miyo. Would you like to drive to Hinamizawa with me again? Maybe we can see some birds at the shrine!”
“The shrine…”
Takano wasn’t really a fan of heading to the shrine right now, but she also didn’t want to ruin Tomitakes great mood at the moment.

In the car, Tomitake expressed his good mood by singing out loud.
“I WAS MADE FOR LOVING YOU BABY!!”
Takano couldn’t help but laugh at his attempt to sing the whole song while driving.
Actually, she thought that Tomitake was a horrible driver. She’d always mentally prepare herself to go on a trip with him, because she knew that he wouldn’t pay attention to every sign they saw.
But when she saw Tomitake smiling while sitting in the driver’s seat, she felt happy.
Her gaze wandered from Tomitake out of the window.
Hinamizawa.
They both left Hinamizawa last year and went to Okinomiya. Even though they lived only an hour away from Hinamizawa, Takano rarely went to this village. She only went when Tomitake really wanted her to accompany him to his bird watching trips.
A lot of times, Tomitake had to go to Hinamizawa on his own, simply because Takano didn’t feel like it. Sure, she could go and visit her old colleague Dr. Irie at the clinic she used to work at, but that alone wouldn’t feel important enough for her to drive an hour to.

“I feel like I don’t really deserve to be here…”
“Don’t say that, Miyo. Everything is in the past now, remember? Please, just enjoy the view today, alright?”
“Hm-hm.”
Takano still wasn’t pleased. Last time she went here, she actually got bad looks from the residents, deserved, as she thought for herself.

An hour later, they made their way towards the Furude Shrine. They could see a few new houses that were being build, as well as some shops. Apparently, new people decided to move to Hinamizawa.

The way towards the Shrine felt long and heavy for Takano. She could feel anxiety rising up inside of her, for no apparent reason.
The closer they got to the shrine, the worse her condition got.
Her head hurt again, and her ears were ringing.
The closer they got to the shrine, the more images she saw in front of her eyes.
When they finally arrived at the shrine, Takano fell onto her knees.

Images of her cutting open Rika Furude’s stomach where flashing before her eyes.
“…. Blurgh….. WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH”
Takano puked on the floor and started crying while crouching and holding her arms.
“This can’t be… Haah… haah… I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I didn’t kill her, I DIDN’T KILL HER!!”
“MIYO!”
Tomitake rushed over towards Takano and crouched down next to her, telling her to breathe in and out together with him to calm down and tell him every bird name she could come up with for distraction.
Takano did calm down a bit, but she was still shaking.
Tomitake helped her to get up again, when he saw Takano pointing towards the shrine with shaking hands.
“Jirou-san… There, right there I sliced open Rika Furude’s stomach… while she was still conscious. “
“Miyo, Rika-chan is still alive. Are you having bad daydreams agai-“
“THEY AREN’T DAYDREAMS! IT ALL REALLY HAPPENED!”
Everything got silent after Takano’s scream.
“Everything I think is a daydreamed feels way too real to be just a daydream. The daydreams about me using you for my research and killing you, the daydreams of me killing Rika-chan in front of the shrine. I am sure this is all real and not made up by me.………………. Hahahahaha……… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes, I am not freaking out, this is all real!! The dream we had probably was real too! That means I can reset this dream, right? RIGHT, MYSTERIOUS WOMAN? You think you are a god, but we are meant to be the ones that write our own tale! I don’t care about this god awful dream anymore, you know?”
Tomitake saw how Takano got a knife out of her handbag.
“This woman said we could turn back time by dying, right? You know, I have nothing to lose now…”
Tomitake’s eyes grew with fear.
“MIYO STOP-“

Tomitake couldn’t respond anymore. Takano had rammed the knife into his throat, making him fall to the ground immediately afterwards.
Takano giggled, but also, she shad tears at the sight of her partner laying down on the floor, dead.
She took the knife and put it into Tomitakes hand.
With a smile, she took the arm which held the knife…
“See you later, Jirou-san.”
… and sliced open her own throat with it.

In the Sea of Fragments, the mysterious woman was watching the whole scene, giggling to herself.
“How truly amusing you are, child of man. You’d really go this far, huh? Let’s see how much pain you can still endure until you lose your mind. Kuhuhuhuhuhu~”

Chapter Text

“Nghhh…. Ouch.”

“Tommy!”

“Tomitake!”

Tomitake’s head hurt and he felt like he heard voices calling out to him. The sound of the Higurashi also rang in his ears, getting louder, the more consciousness he got. He struggled to open his eyes at first, but when he did, he noticed Keiichi and Rika standing in front of him.

“… Tomitake, are you alright?”, Rika asked while patting his head. It felt soothing, almost as if this simple pat could relief all the pain he felt at the moment.

“I am fine I guess, thank you, Rika-chan. But Miyo-“

“Mion and Rena are taking care of her, don’t worry.”, Keiichi replied to him with a smile.

From the corner of his eyes, Tomitake could see how Rena and Mion were sitting next to Takano, who was also holding her head.

That’s when he noticed that both of them had slight bruises and scratches on their bodies and clothes, as if they’d fallen from the stairs of the shrine…

When he turned around, his guess turned out to be right. Both of them lay in front of the stairs that lead towards the Furude Shrine.

Tomitake sat right up and thought to himself. How did they fell off the stairs?

“Mii, you two are lucky that we had our picnic at the shrine so we could hear you scream. Takano was falling and you wanted to save her, right?”, Rika replied, as if she could read his mind.

How creepy, Tomitake thought and looked over to Miyo.

“… Miyo fell?”

“I guess she tripped and fell, mii.”

“This woman said we could turn back time by dying, right? You know, I have nothing to lose now…”

“MIYO STOP-“

“…. Nghhhh….”

Tomitake’s head began hurting again, it seemed like the cries of the Higurashi grew louder and louder with every second.

He saw an image of Takano holding a knife in front of his eyes.

He could feel tears forming up in his eyes.

“It… it was all just a bad dream, right?”

“… Tomitake?”

Rika was confused as to what Tomitake was mumbling about and pat his head again.

“I am sure it was all just a bad dream, Nipah~”

“But…. She…. Killed me… with a Knife….. uwahhhhh.”

Tomitake didn’t know why, but he began crying. It felt as if he remembered something that happened and wasn’t a bad dream at all.

“… Who killed you, Tomitake?”

“… Miyo…”

“….”

The expression on Rika’s face turned serious. She looked like she was thinking about something.

“Are you remembering past worlds, Tomitake-san?”

“… Huh?”

Tomitake looked at Rika like he’d seen a ghost.

“I never heard of a fragment where Takano kills you with a knife. It was always the injection of H-173 that made you scratch your throat open. This really is curious…”

“You know about her using me for her goals back then?”

“… It’s weird that you know about it and talk about it like you don’t care at all, Tomitake.”, Rika replied with a grin, as if she found it amusing.

“She killed you in so many fragments, you remember those fragments and you don’t care about the fact that you basically killed yourself because of her actions? Yet, you do care about the fact that she killed you with a knife by herself in a previous fragment… You must really love her, huh?”

“… Who are you?”

“… I am Rika Furude, Nipah~”

Tomitake looked dumbfounded at the sudden change of Rika’s expression. A moment ago, she was talking like an adult, about something that only he and Takano could know about.

Maybe she really was the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama after all, he thought and looked over to Takano.

The cries of the Higurashi grew louder and louder again.

“I hope Miyo is doing alright…”

Keiichi decided to go to Rena and Mion and leave both of them alone, as he sensed a weird aura floating in the air.

Meanwhile, Rena and Mion where also asking Takano what happened. She also didn’t seem to recall tripping and falling off the stairs, but instead, she mumbled something.

“Killed him… with a Knife… and myself… Why…. Why?”

“Kei-chan, is everything okay with Tomitake-san?”, Mion asked when Keiichi came over to them.

“Well… he was mumbling some weird stuff about Takano-san killing him-“

“Shhhh, please don’t say it too loudly.”, Rena said to him and pointed towards the now crouching and crying Takano.

“She’s also acting weird since a few minutes, saying to herself that it was all just a bad dream and whatnot.”, Mion explained and looked at Takano with a worried expression.

“I don’t know what happened to them, but this is definitely not normal at all…”

“Should we ask the Coach to take a look at them? They seem to have bruises over them after all.”, Keiichi suggested and Mion and Rena both nodded.

“That would be the best solution. Should we call him over? Maybe he can pick them up.”, Rena said and looked over to Takano and Tomitake.

“I go find a payphone and come back as soon as I called the coach!”, Mion said and just wanted to go, when…

“It’s fine, we don’t need Irie-san to look after us.”

Takano had managed to stand up and brushed some dust off her clothes.

“But you are injur-“

“I said it’s FINE! Geez…”

That’s when Tomitake and Rika came around. Tomitake had a worried look on his face, but he tried to smile anyways.

“Maybe we should talk to Iri, just to be safe.”, he suggested and gave Takano a warm smile.

After a few moments of silence, Takano finally gave in.

“Okay, we go and see him… But I really don’t need help, I am fine.”

Tomitake looked at Mion and gave her a nod. She then went to a payphone to call the Irie Clinic.

A few minutes later, Mion arrived.

“The coach said he could make you an emergency appointment, you just need to go to his clinic as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Mion-chan.”, replied Tomitake with a smile.

The two decided to walk towards Irie’s clinic, since there weren’t really any Taxis driving around Hinamizawa and it would take way more time to call one, than walking there by foot.

Takano was still in a bad mood and kept clutching her arms. Despite her saying she was alright, she looked troubled and lost in thoughts.

Tomitake kept looking at her from time to time, making sure she was alright. He also prepared himself in case Takano stumbled and fell.

“I am sorry, Jirou-san.”

“It’s okay, you don’t need to apologize.”

From the corner of his eye, Tomitake could see that Takano had a few tears running down her cheeks, which she quickly swiped away with her hand.

“It’s just… I don’t think Irie-san could help us out in this situation. How could he? He will most likely think we’ve both gone crazy and took drugs or something.”

Takano led out a small giggle. It warmed Tomitake’s heart to see her laugh again, at least for a few seconds.

The higurashi were still singing as they arrived at Irie’s clinic. As they arrived, the sun had gone down a little, tinting the clinic in a warm, orange tone.

“We should go in.”, Tomitake said, opened the door and held it open for Takano to step in.

Chapter Text

“Oh, it’s you two. Come right in.”
The first one to greet Tomitake and Takano was Dr. Irie. He had just finished writing down something on his clipboard and lead the two into his doctor’s room. It was way past his opening times now, but for a former colleague of his and a friend, he’d gladly examine them even at this time of day.
He sat down in front of his computer and asked them both several questions, to be sure they didn’t suffer from memory lost.
In fact, both of them did remember lots of things, so Dr. Irie was certain that they didn’t suffer from memory lost. Yet, another thing caught his eye.
“Tommy- I mean, Tomitake-san, you said you remembered something from a ‘different world’. And Takano-san claimed the same. Could you two please describe those worlds for me?”

“Well…”
It took Tomitake some courage to actually talk about this. When he looked over to Takano, she was lost in thoughts, staring at the floor, only occasionally nodding at a few questions that were given to both of them.
“Irie-san, I can totally understand if you think we both are crazy, but what we, or rather I, will tell you is the truth. I wish it wasn’t, but please… Listen and don’t laugh at what I am about to say.”

Tomitake then proceeded to tell Irie everything he could remember. Even the floating woman, which made Irie pause him for a moment.
“You said you saw a floating woman in your… not-dream? You both saw her?”
Tomitake nodded.
“… I am terribly sorry if this sounds rude, but did you both land on your head or anything? Do you want me to check if you have a bump there?”
Tomitake got visibly angry, shaking a bit, but he diidn’t lose his cool.
“I am sure we didn’t land on our heads, we only got a few scrapes here and there. Look, we really saw that woman, we both had the same dream. I don’t expect you to trust us 100%, but at least… a tiny bit.”
Irie scratched his head, then he turned around towards Takano.
“Takano-san, do you remember anything Tomitake-san just said?”
“A bit… I also remember the woman… and the knife…”
She paused and looked down to her feet.
Irie quickly wrote something down, then he stood up.
“I want to check on Takano-san first, if its alright for you, Tomitake-san.”
Tomitake nodded and went out of the room, sat down on a chair in the waiting room and waited.

Was all he and Takano experienced real?
Or just a dream?
Was he overreacting?

Those thoughts kept him busy while he fidgeted with his fingers, nervously waiting for Irie to finish examining Takano.

20 Minutes later he could come into the room as well, while Takano waited outside.
Tomitake took a deep breath when he sat down at the edge of the hospital bed.
“No need to be nervous, I’ll just check your body and especially your head.”, said Irie to him with a smile and asked him to put off his shirt.
“I am just worried about us. What I told you felt so real and even Miyo remembered parts of it. Maybe I am just confused after all, huh?”, Tomitake said and chuckled, yet, the chuckle sounded sad and not cheery at all.
“Also… There’s someone else who’s kind of bothering me.”
Irie looked Tomitake in his eyes.
“What do you exactly mean by that?“

“Rika Furude. Do you know anything about her that’s… Supernatural, by any means?”

Irie stopped examining him and thought for a moment, as if he had to carefully choose his words.
“Well, she’s the shrine maiden of Hinamizawa. And an important member of my baseball team-“
“She’s the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama, right? Does that mean she has supernatural powers or not?”
Tomitakes voice grew louder as he spoke about Rika Furude. He couldn’t believe that what she said to him was a mere coincidence. No one besides him and Takano could know about these strange daydreams of the other worlds…

“… Right?”
“Tomitake-san?”
“There’s no way she has to do anything with this, right? She’s just a little girl, nothing more, nothing less. Why would she have anything to do with our daydreams? But she knew about them….”

Tomitake grabbed his shirt, put it on quickly and went out of the room.
“WAIT, TOMITAKE-SAN!”
“I am finished with the examination, Irie-san!”
He walked over to Takano, grabbed her by the hand and went out the door with her.

“Jirou-san, what do you think you’re doing?!”
“I’m taking you home. We need to talk about someone when we are at home.”
“Who is that someone you are talking about? You don’t make any sense-“
“I am talking about Rika Furude. She knows about our daydreams something no one besides us can know. Now come on, let’s go home, Miyo.”

“She talked about past Fragments? Was she talking about our daydreams?”
Takano asked Tomitake this question while pouring a cup of tea for him and herself. Tomitake calmed down again, yet, he was completely different from how he used to be.
“She definitely knows something that we don’t know. It’s so strange. I feel… not safe around her. I know that sounds silly, Miyo. But I really think it’s not safe around Rika-chan. I know she’s just a little girl, but she knows too much for a little girl. Maybe we should avoid Hinamizawa for a while.”
“… Coming from the person who visits Hinamizawa regularly now since we moved to Okinomiya to take pictures of Birds. Jirou-san… You are so different, is everything okay?”
Tomitake looked outside the window, lost in thoughts.
Then he took a big sip from his tea and stood up.
“Everything’s alright. Thanks for the tea.”, he said, gave Takano a kiss on her cheek, put on his jacket and went outside again.
The sun already began to go down. The cicadas started to quiet down as well.
“Jirou-san… what is going on in your head right now?”

It was a bit fresh when Tomitake went outside their apartment. He took a deep breath and then headed down the streets.
Since here in Okinomiya he couldn’t watch wild birds as freely as he could in Hinamizawa, he decided to just stroll through the neighborhood.
He aimlessly walked through the streets and ended up at the Toy Store Mion Sonozaki worked at. It was her uncle’s shop and he remembered that the kids held tournaments there from time to time.

Thoughts were going through his head. Many thoughts were rushing through his head, giving him a slight headache.
He had to ask Rika Furude why she knew so much. He had to… Stop her from haunting his thoughts.

A big Poster on the shop window caught his attention:
“You are bored and don’t know what to do on this upcoming Sunday morning? No problem! On Sunday the XX.07.1984, we hold another Game Tournament at 10 am! Children and Teenagers from years 5 to 18 are welcome to play many different Card- and Boardgames for amazing prices! Adults are also welcome to cheer their kids on! We are happy to see you around! ”

That’s it, he thought to himself.
Tomorrow is Sunday, I can ask her tomorrow what the heck all of this is about.
Maybe…

Tomitake’s cheery smile twisted into a somewhat demonic grin, as he began chuckle to himself.

Maybe I need to be a bit rougher to get her to tell the truth.
I have to protect Miyo and me from her. Rika Furude gives off a really strange Aura… Maybe she really is the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama after all.
I will stop her.
No matter what it takes.

I am doing this for us, Miyo.

Chapter Text

When Tomitake arrived home again from his stroll, Takano sat in front of the TV.

“There you are. Did you take a walk?”

“Yes. It was really refreshing. I am sorry for suddenly leaving, but I really needed to clear my mind for a bit.”, Tomitake said and sat down next to Takano on the sofa.

Takano was currently watching a new Anime called “Umineko no naku koro ni” and told Tomitake what happened next every time he happened to sit next to her while the show was running.

“Jirou-san, who do you like the most? I have to say that Eva Ushiromiya is quite like me, hee hee~”

“Hmmm…”

Tomitake looked at the TV Screen.

“I think I like this guy a lot!”, he said and pointed at a guy with glasses.

“Oh, his name is George Ushiromiya. He is Eva’s son, hee hee~ Jirou-saaaaan, could it be that you have mommy issues?~”

“W-what?!”

Tomitake blushed and Takano giggled. For a moment, the world seemed to be perfectly fine again.

“Miyo, I came across the Toy Store on my walk. There was a poster and it says that tomorrow they will hold a game tournament. Do you want to go and watch it with me?”

“But… Didn’t you just say today that you wanted to avoid being near Rika Furude? She and her friends will definitely be there, you know.”

“I know. But I just wanted to… talk to her.”

For a moment, Takano thought she saw a rather… scary grin on Tomitake’s face as he said that.

But as soon as he looked over to her, it was gone and he smiled at her like he always did.

Takano was really confused, by decided to not question it any further.

“Alright, I’ll go to the tournament with you tomorrow.”, she said and hugged Tomitake tightly.

That’s right, Miyo. We both go there tomorrow and I’ll end this nightmare once and for all.

At around 9:30 am, the Toy Store was already filled, even before the tournament began. Lots of Children, Teenagers and Adults stood outside and inside the Store, children were playing tag to entertain themselves. The overall atmosphere was quite cheerful.

Yet, one adult at the scene wasn’t really enjoying anything, His face was rather dull looking. His eyes were targeting around, trying to find her.

Takano, who was clinging onto Tomitake’s arm, was sensing that he was extremely different from how he used to be.

“If you don’t want to be here after all, we can just leave, you know?”, she told him and tried her best to talk to him in a calm voice.

“It’s alright, I am just tired..”

“So you DID enjoy last night a lot, huh, Jirou-saaan?~”

“Nghh, yes…”

His mood still didn’t seem to change, but then…

“So you two had lots of fun last night?~ I hope Tomitake-san really delivered-”

“Mion, don’t be mean to Tommy!”

“But it’s so much fun to tease him!”

“Sis, you really should stop teasing this poor man. Tease Kei-chan instead~”

“YOU TWO ARE SO MEAAAN!”

Tomitake ignored Mion, Shion and Keiichi and instead stared at Rika, who was walking behind them, talking to Rena and Satoko.

He wanted to step in front of her, but then Mion’s Uncle announced that they would start the Tournament earlier today, due to the huge numbers of visitors.

Dammit… that would’ve been a chance to talk to her…

All of them then proceeded to walk into the Store, where the children and Teenagers where gathered around Mion.

Then, Mion got a box and in it where different numbers.

The children and Teenagers would play the games on pairs of two.

While all of this happened, Tomitake leaned onto a wall, looking bored.

He sensed something cold on his cheek.

“Here, something to drink!”

Takano held a can of Soda against his cheek and smiled. Tomitake took the can and opened it up.

“You really are lost in thoughts at the moment, am I right?”, Takano asked him while opening her can as well.

“I know that those dreams haunt you. They haunt me as well. But I really don’t know why Rika-chan would give us both bad dreams. ”

She took a sip and then looked at Tomitake with a serious expression.

“I’ve already done terrible things to Rika-chan in those past worlds. I don’t want to fall back into this bad mindset again. I know you are scared, but maybe you should just talk to her normally, okay?”

Tomitake faintly smiled when Takano gave him a kiss on his cheek.

Maybe Takano was right after all and he shouldn’t overthink all of this.

They both proceeded to watch the games, when Tomitake spotted Keiichi and Rika talking.

“Wow, you were right again, Rika-chan! Can you really see the future?”

Apparently, Rika was telling Keiichi the results of the game.

Amazed by that, Keiichi kept screaming “Amazing!” and “Woah!!” through the whole room, which was already quite noisy, but for some reason it really seemed to bother Tomitake, who walked over to them.

“Could you please be amazed a bit more quietly?”

“T-tommy, you really talk like a tough guy right now, don’t scare me like that, haha!”

“I am serious.”, Tomitake said, he glared at Rika and slowly walked towards her.

“And you…”

“Aghh-“

Tomitake grabbed Rika by the collar and lifted her up. His face darkened, as well as the mood of the whole Store.

Everyone went quiet and looked at Tomitake.

“You will now tell me why you know so much about Miyo and me. Why you know about our bad dreams and the fact that Miyo killed me over and over in these past worlds! Are you really Rika Furude? Or are you someone who’s just here to mess with us?”

“Tomitake-”

“Don’t you dare lie to me!”

“”Tomitake-san!””

“”Rika!””

Rika was dangling in the air, trying to free herself from Tomitakes grip.

“I… don’t understand… Tomitake… why-”

“JUST TELL THE TRUTH ALREADY!”

Keiichi and Shion tried to tackle Tomitake, but he was simply too strong for them to tackle over.

Takano also tried to calm him down, but he only said “It’s alright, I’ll protect you, Miyo. Just let me handle this, okay?”, to her.

Rika tried to kick his arm, but then Tomitake tossed her into a shelf full of Toys, which scattered around after Rika fell into it.

The crowd of people stood there as if they were frozen. No one dared to even try and escape the scene.

Tomitake was breathing heavily and stomped over to Rika, you could visibly see the rage in his eyes.

“Why won’t you talk? Are you afraid of me? Are you afraid of what I am capable of? TALK, RIKA FURUDEEE!”

“… Ha ha ha… I never thought I’d see you under the effects of H-137 live and in colour, Tomitake.”

Rika, who layed on the ground in front of the shelf had chuckled to herself and proceeded to slowly stand up.

She looked at Tomitake, her eyes glowed red.

“Takano is still holding onto her dream to become a god, isn’t she? And you still proceed to help her? She’ll let you kill yourself again, Tomitake. Don’t listen to her.”

Tomitake only put a hand into his camera bag…

… and held a Gun in his hand.

Everyone at the scene was shocked, even Takano.

Tomitake just smirked and pointed the Gun at Rika’s head.

“If you refuse to tell me the truth, I may try and force it out of you. You clearly don’t want to die, hmmm?~”

“Tommy, leave her alone-“

*bang*

Keiichi, who had jumped in front of Tomitake to protect Rika, sank to the Ground, a bullet in his head.

Blooded poured out of his head.

“Sorry, K1, but you were simply in my way.”, said Tomitake, keeping a straight face throughout this.

Children began screaming and crying, a few started to run towards the Door.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”, Tomitake screamed, pointing his Gun towards the people in front of the Door.

“You can’t leave right now, I want everyone to witness the liar called Rika Furude to confess her evil plans! And if someone dares to call the police they’re next!”

He then turned around to Rika again, who had a terrified look on her face.

“Now… tell me why you keep haunting us or else…”

Tomitake pointed a gun towards Mion.

“I-“

*bang*

Even before Rika could say something, Mion fell to the ground.

She also got a bullet right into her head.

Shion, who stood next to Mion, fell down, crying.

But even before she could stand up to tackle Tomitake, she also received a bullet.

“Jirou-san, sto-”

*bang*

Blood splattered onto Tomitake’s face.

It wasn’t his blood, nor Rika’s blood.

It was Takano’s blood.

He had shot her.

Right into her head.

She fell down besides him.

“… What?”

Tomitake began shivering.

“… that wasn’t supposed to happen. I wanted to… end it together with you… Miyo… MIYO! UWAAAAHHHHH”

Tomitake fell on his knees, crying.

He had planned to commit suicide with her together to get to the next Fragment.

He never intended to shoot her.

“Haahhh….. Haaaahh… It’s all YOUR fault, RIKA FURUDE!! IF YOU HAVEN’T HAUNTED US, IF YOU HAVE NEVER TALKED ABOUT THE OTHER WORLDS, THIS WOULD’VE NEVER HAPPENED!”

Tomitake completely lost control over himself and shoot all around him. Several Children, Teenagers and Adults were hurt, panic began to spread in the Toy Store.

A few actually managed to escape through the door, the Police had already surrounded the Toy Club.

While he shot around himself, he had shot Rena as well. Satoko, who had managed to hide behind the counter tried to sneak up to Rika to help her. But she never got close to Rika.

That’s when police sirens from the outside could be heard.

“Tomitake-san, we’ve surrounded the Toy Store. Come out with your hands over your head or we may have to get you out of there ourselves!”

It was Ooishi’s voice that could be heard through the speaker.

“Tsk, they won’t get me alive. Neither will they get you alive, Rika Furude.”

Tomitake slowly walked over to Rika, kneeled down in front of her and put the Gun against her forehead.

“I have exactly 2 shots left to fire. One for you and one for me.”

His smile was the creepiest smile Rika had ever seen.

She could feel tears running down her cheeks.

“Who…?”

“Hm?”

“Who are you really? Are you really Jirou Tomitake, the freelance Photographer who visits Hinamizawa every years to take pictures of birds? Who are you?!”

“Haha, I could ask you the same question, Rika Furude.”

“You’ll never know who I really am. Only over my dead body.”

“Hooh really? Then let’s see who you really are, RIKA FURUDE!”

*bang*

Rika was killed with a shot inside her head. Her eyes looked soulless.

“Hmm… looks like you were just an ordinary human after all… What a waste of time and resources.”

Tomitake stood up and went towards Miyo’s corpse.

That moment, the police made their way into the store.

Tomitake faced Ooishi.

“I am going to see Miyo again. See you next time, Officer.”

*bang*

The only sound that could be heard now was the cry of the Higurashi, mixed with the cries of the citizens.

“Tommy… I never thought you would be like that…”

Ooishi looked at the dead body of his friend.

He knew he had to be professional, so he proceeded to check for survivers.

“Ooishi-san, I found someone!”

Kumagai came back from behind the counter, Satoko was clinging onto him, crying and shouting.

“Houjou-san… I am so sorry.”

Meanwhile, in the Sea of Fragments, the mysterious woman was laughing hysterically, being amused by Tomitake’s outburst.

She grabbed a cup of Tea and drank it.

She clearly hasn’t been amused like this for hundreds of years.

“I am curious to see what you two will do next, kukuku~”

Chapter Text

“Haah… haah… UWAAAHHH!”

Rika started crying, right after she woke up in the Sea of Fragments. She was shivering, clutching her head.

Hanyuu, who was floating above her and looked down at her with a sad expression on her face.

"Rika, calm down..."

"T-tomitake... TOMITAKE WAS THE ONE WHO KILLED ME?! And he killed Keiichi and the others too?! Hanyuu, what does this mean? He never killed anyone in past Fragments, what is going on?! Was it Takano's influence?"

"Auauau... He killed you by his own will, Rika"

"...What? N-no... this can't be. You're lying, yes, you are lying! It can't be by his own will, he'd never-"

"Rika."

Hanyuu’s tone of voice got more serious.

"H-huh?"

Rika wiped a few tears away and slowly stood up.

Hanyuu came closer to her and put a hand on Rika’s shoulder.

"I don't know what caused him to do that, but it looks like he really did it by his own will. I am so sorry..."

Rika walked over to another Fragment. She could see Tomitake and Takano clearly in it.

“I need to be careful. Tomitake could’ve been injected with H-137 by Takano and that caused him to kill me. I may need to warn the others of Tomitake as well. As for Takano, she seemed… quiet in that past Fragment. She was even scared of Tomitake herself… Who knows what she’s up to next.”

Rika turned around to Hanyuu.

“Takano settled down with Tomitake after the summer of 1983, right? She swore to never ever get involved in her studies again, right? How could this happen? What is the sudden cause of Tomitake killing me and the others? I need to find out as soon as possible.”

Rika reached out for a Fragment, which lit up.

“Let’s go Hanyuu. Let’s uncover the mystery of Jirou Tomitake’s sudden outburst.”

“Auauauau…”

The world around her and Hanyuu lit up.

It was time to travel to a new fragment.

Chapter Text

“Doctor, she’s awake!”

“… Nghh…”

When Takano opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was a ceiling. A white ceiling, like the one in a hospital.

Besides her bed stood a nurse, with a worried look on her face.

“Is everything okay, Takano-san?”

“Am I… At a hospital?”

“That’s right. You don’t need to remember what happened. I’ll send the doctor over to you immediately. Please, don’t overstress yourself and rest.”

The nurse gently put the blanket over Takano’s upper body and also filled a glass with water and put it on the table next to her bed.

She then exited the room quickly.

On said table, Takano could also spot a vase with a flower bouquet inside.

I wonder how long I have been at the hospital now…

The door opened and a Doctor, who Takano didn’t knew, came inside her room, followed by the nurse from before.

“Takano-san, it’s good to see you awake. Does anything hurt?”

“My head hurts a bit, but otherwise I think I’m okay.”

“That’s good to hear.”

The doctor looked down on his clipboard.

“Takano-san, do you know why you are at the hospital?”

Takano began thinking…

And saw Tomitake with a gun…

“… uhhhhhh….. UWAAHHHH…”

Takano began crying and shaking.

Tomitake had accidentally shot her in the last fragment.

He didn’t mean to do that…

Right, Jirou-san? You would never just go ahead and shoot me…

“Is Jirou-san here as well?”, asked Takano while wiping her tears away.

“He is in a different room. His injuries are a bit more fatal than yours, you managed to get away quite safely.”

“What exactly happened to us?”

“So you don’t remember what happened? But you do remember anything else…”

The doctor wrote a few notes onto his clipboard.

“You two were involved in a car accident.”

“… what?”

“You two were hit by a car. The driver was boozed and… Actually, I wanna spare you the details.”

The door opened and Irie came through the door. He wasn’t wearing his coat, instead, he was casually clothed.

“Ah, Dr. Irie, you’re here to see both of them, right?”

“Indeed. I wanted to talk to Takano-san alone for a bit, if that’s okay.”

“Sure, I think we are finished so far. Takano-san, if you need anything, there’s a button that will ring a bell for one of the nurses and they’ll come to you as soon as possible.”

With those words, the doctor and the nurse went out of the room.

Only Irie remained and sat down on a chair in front of Takano’s bed.

“I already went to see him.”

“You saw Jirou-san? How is he? I need to know what really happened!”

“Please, calm down, Takano-san.”

Takano took a sip of her water.

“Tommy-, I mean Tomitake-san is awake, just like you. He actually was the one with more fatal wounds, but he recovered quite well. Both of you… were in a comatose state for a few days.”

“A few days you say…”

Takano held her head. The accident was a few days back? And they were knocked out for so long? She couldn’t quite believe it.

“I am sorry.”

“…Huh?”

“That’s what I should tell you from him. I am not sure what exactly he means, but it seems he’s sorry for something.”

Takano looked down at her hands, they were shaking. Was it because of the shock over hearing what had happened?

Was it because she was scared of seeing Tomitake again after what happened in that past Fragment?

She really couldn’t tell that by herself and just sighed.

“Irie-san, I just really want to see Jirou-san right now. If you excuse me.”

She stood up and went towards the door, but Irie tried to stop her by grabbing her hand.

“He is also not in a really good condition, you should give him some res-”

“I NEED TO SEE HIM!”

Takano’s sudden scream scared Irie. He could see tears which build up in her eyes. Tears of anger and angst.

“Alright, go see him. He is in room 173”, he said softly and let go of Takano’s hand.

“But promise me you’ll be back soon.”

Takano nodded and went out of her room, on her way to find Tomitake.

A couple of doors away she could finally spot Room 173.

The door was already wide open, apparently so that the nurses and doctors could have a better look inside.

Takano slowly went towards the door, leaned on the door frame and looked into the room.

The room was spacious. Tomitake was the only one in the room, despite 2 other beds standing in the same room. Both were empty. Normally, there were up to four beds in one room, but one bed was missing.

Tomitake sat upright in his bed, mindlessly staring at his hands, which he held over his blanket.

The window, which was half opened, let a breeze of fresh air into the room, which made Takano’s hair move around and make a rustling sound.

Tomitake moved his head towards the door.

When he saw Takano, he smiled faintly and said something, but Takano couldn’t hear what it was.

A nurse came by, talked to her in a loud tone and escorted her back to her room.

Takano tried to free herself from the nurse’s grip, but she couldn’t.

She hadn’t heard what Tomitake whispered to her.

But reading his lips was enough to understand.

“I am sorry for killing you, Miyo.”

Takano broke out in tears, right in the hospital hallway.

She felt awful.

Was it her fault?

Was she the one at fault?

She looked up to the ceiling.

A determined thought rushed through her head.

She had to save both of them…

In this next fragment I’ll save us both, I promise you, Jirou-san.

Chapter Text

For the past hours, Takano sat in her bed and thought about how to approach the situation. Seeing Tomitake like this and knowing he was sorry just broke her heart.

But she couldn’t tell anyone about her feelings at the moment.

She was actually forbidden to enter Tomitake’s room again, for unknown reasons.

I need to find a way to contact Jirou-san about this situation. And also, I need to ask him what happened in that past Fragment, even if it hurts him. Should I ask Irie? No, I can’t tell Irie about this… it didn’t even work in the past Fragment, so it won’t work here…

Then, she heard a knock on the door. The doctor came in, accompanied by the nurse who dragged Takano back to her room.

“Takano-san, you know why we are here, don’t you?”

“Let me guess… It was because I wanted to see my partner and went to see him? I still don’t get why I got dragged back in here!”

“Please, calm down and listen to what I have to say.”, the doctor said, grabbed a nearby chair and sat next to Takano’s bed.

“We don’t know why, but Tomitake-san keeps mumbling apologies to himself and acts really strange. We don’t know what exactly is going on with him, but for your own safety, we think it’s better you wait a few days until you can see him again. It was a mistake on our side that his room door was opened and I really want to apologize that we had to get you out of there this way.”

He looked over to the nurse.

She nodded and went over to Takano’s side as well.

“I am sorry for being so harsh to you, Takano-san.”

She bowed, but Takano looked at her in disgust.

“You two no nothing about what Jirou-san and I went through. You’ll never understand how much you have broken my heart by not letting me see him.”

She turned her head and tried to hold back tears. Tears of anger.

“I just wanted to tell you that we may dismiss both of you in a few days, together, if that’s what you want.”

The doctor checked something on his clipboard again.

“We wanted to dismiss you way earlier than Tomitake-san, but I can see that you really want to be by his side, so that’s the best we could do. Normally we would dismiss of you earlier than him but-“

“Great, now leave me alone.”

Takano had interrupted the doctor, her tone of voice was shaky, it sounded like she waws trying to hold back her tears a lot.

“Alright…”

The doctor signalized his nurse to go out of the room with him.

Silence.

Takano’s room was covered in silence.

That’s right.

No one but her was in this room.

Just like in Tomitake’s room.

Was that normal?

No.

It couldn’t be normal…

Was that really the new Fragment she landed in?

Takano began to feel uneasy, being all alone in this silent room.

Shivers ran down her spine.

This fragment felt like a dream. Like it wasn’t real at all.

“I need to talk to Jirou-san… Quickly.”

She looked at the table next to her. Aside from a water bottle, a glass and a vase there was nothing.

Not even a piece of paper or a pen.

Are they trying to prevent me from contacting Jirou-san?

Takano heard the sound of the door being opened. A nurse came in, smiled at her and asked, if she needed any medication.

Takano politely declined, but then got curious.

“Tell me, which medication are you giving me?”

“Ma’am, its forbidden for me to talk about it-

“Please, from nurse to nurse?”

Takano put on her puppy eyes. A move she almost exclusively used on Tomitake.

“… I am sorry. I can’t do that.” Said the nurse and got a glass of water for Takano to take the medication with.

Takano bit her lip. That would’ve been her chance to find out more about the whole situation…

What if I cause a tragedy within this hospital?

So that Jirou-san and I can flee?

… H-173… is it still in the Irie Clinic? If so, I have no chance to obtain it… dammit.

… We have to go to the next Fragment as soon as possible. But that would mean I have to kill both of us.

Am I even able to do it?

No… But I also can’t tell Jirou-san to kill me… again…

Takano got lost in thoughts, then, she came to an answer.

“I have to do it… There’s no other way for us to go to the next Fragment.”

That’s when she heard a doctor talking to another one on the hallway.

“We got the wrong medicine? Are you sure about that?”

“I am absolutely sure. There’s no way we should have a medicine called H-173 here.”

“Who brought it here?”

“Dr. Irie brought a suitcase with him, I think that was it.”

Did she hear that right?

They were talking about H-173…

Irie brought it into the hospital?

Why?

How?

The vaccine should be a secret to the public.

What was going on in this fragment?

“Hahahaha…. Hahaha…. That’s it. I just need to find the medicine, get Jirou-san to L5 and let him kill himself… He should still be on L3 after all the shots I already gave him in past fragments-”

She stopped.

Was that okay?

Was it okay to do that to Tomitake?

After all they’ve been through, was that the right way?

To do it all over again?

“…. It should be okay. I’ll just take care of it myself.”, Takano whispered and made her hand into a fist.

At night, Takano made sure to be extremely careful of her surroundings, of who was following her and whatnot.

She walked around the hallway only in socks, to avoid any footsteps that could be heard.

She grew anxious with every step she took, but she knew that she had to do it.

A few times, she nearly got caught by a nurse or night watchman, but every time she spied one, she pressed herself against the wall she was next to.

She still couldn’t believe that Irie would casually carry the H-173 with him. That just wasn’t like him at all.

The vaccine was never made public. Just in what kind of Fragment did she and Tomitake land in this time?

After a few more minutes, she found the room where they stored the medicine.

Takano looked around once more, then she walked to the desk.

She couldn’t believe that they were so reckless and would just leave the suitcase unsupervised.

Fortunately, Takano still remembered the code and opened the suitcase with ease.

She actually took a couple of syringes with her, just to be sure.

She also saw a box of sleeping pills in the medicine shelf. She self itself was locked, but Takano found a hairpin laying around that helped her open it at ease.

“With them, my trip to the next fragment will be a lot more bearable…”, she whispered to herself.

With those, she walked towards Tomitake’s room.

As expected, Tomitake was sleeping. He was in such a deep slumber, not even the creaking door woke him up.

Takano walked towards him and for a moment, just stood there and looked at him.

She always thought that Tomitake was good looking.

He was like a big teddy bear, that you just wanted to hug forever.

The syringe in her hand, she walked over to him and softly lifted up his arm.

“I’m sorry…”, she whispered…. And injected H-173 into his vein.

“Once you wake up, you’ll most likely kill yourself again. But I just can’t bring myself to kill you by my own hand… I hope you understand that.”, she whispered and gave him a kiss on his cheek. To her, Tomitake looked the sweetest when he was sleeping.

But she already knew that he would wake up and kill himself, which was his personal nightmare.

Takano kind of regretted her decision, but she didn’t have another choice.

She silently made her way back into her room and waited for the nurses to announce the death of Tomitake.

The next morning, Takano woke up from several voices and police sirens outside of the building screeching.

“Tomitake-san clawed his throat open? My my…”

Takano could hear the voice of Kuraudo Ooishi outside on the hallway, accompanied by Irie.

“We shouldn’t tell her immediately, not in her current state. It would just shake her up too much.”

That was enough for Takano to hear.

She took the sleeping pills, a handful of them and chugged them down with water.

“See you later, Jirou-san.”

Kuraudo Ooishi walked towards Takano’s room. He actually didn’t want to tell her the news just now, but he didn’t have another choice.

He asked a nurse to go look after her.

“Ooishi-san, she… she doesn’t wake up.”

“… What did you say?”

Ooishi stormed into room, Irie followed him.

A smiling Takano was found on the bed.

On the floor lay a box of sleeping pills.

The case was clear.

Ooishi and Irie stood there, speechless.

“Rest well, Takano-san…”

Chapter Text

“W-what…”

When Tomitake woke up, his whole body was covered in sweat. He felt awful, it was way too hot in his room, despite the window being fully opened.

He woke up from a nightmare. A terrible nightmare, where he woke up in a hospital and clawed his throat open again.

Nervously, he reached out for his throat.

No claw marks were on there.

Tomitake breathed out. It really just was a bad dream.

Next to him lay Takano, peacefully sleeping. Tomitake looked at her. Just laying next to her in a bed, making sure she was safe, that meant everything to him, after all they went through.

He stood up to go to the kitchen….

…. And found himself standing in the Sea of Fragments. Alone. Without Takano next to him.

No, he wasn’t right there at this moment. This rather felt like something that happened before he woke up.

The floating woman smirked at him.

She was surrounded by fragments, which were swirling around her in a playful manner.

“Are you surprised you’re here with me?”

“Indeed I am! Why am I the only one here? Where is Miyo?”

“Fufufu, I figured that you don’t want to see her right now, not after what happened in the last fragment.”

A fragment came flying into their direction and stopped right in front of Tomitake.

What he then saw made his heart almost stop beating.

His fist was shaking, tears where already forming up in his eyes.

“This… this has to be a joke, a forgery, this cannot be what happened in the last fragment! You have to be kidding! Takano swore to me that she would never ever inject me with H-173 again!”

“But you see it with your own two eyes, Child of Men. People tend to fall back into their old habits if they can’t find another way out.”

“So… You are telling me that she is now playing against me? Using the same old tactics to get rid of me again? This is a joke. Stop telling me sick jokes!!”

The floating woman yawned.

Then, she swung her Shakujou and pointed it at another fragment, which revealed another angle of the situation at him.

He could clearly hear Takano’s voice. Tears were forming up in his eyes, as he watched the fragment in front of him.

“Hahahaha…. Hahaha…. That’s it. I just need to find the medicine, get Jirou-san to L5 and let him kill himself… He should still be on L3 after all the shots I already gave him in past fragments-”

“YOU ARE LYING!! SHE NEVER SAID THAT! IT HAS TO BE FORGED IN SOME KIND OF WAY!”

“You are doubting the fragments? Curious…” The floating woman pointed at Tomitake, holding the Shakujou close to his face.

“You are saying that all of this is impossible? That it doesn’t exist? Who was the one who was having so much fun in the fragment before that, hm? Ooh right, it was you, Jirou Tomitake who used the Looping Power to his advantage!! You still think all of this is one big dream? Sorry, but you are merely a piece on my gameboard, nothing more, nothing less. To be honest, I even think that you are a way more interesting piece than Takano. You entertain me more. She has become useless to me, yet I still let her loop, because its more fun this way, fufufu.”

The floating woman sat down on a chair. Tomitake squeezed his fist.

“Don’t you dare call Miyo useless, you monster!”

He ran up towards the floating woman and tried to hit her, but same as Takano, he couldn’t hit the floating woman.

“Hahhh…. Haahhhh.”

“My my, so you also think you could hit me? Pathetic.”

“Haah… You’ll see… I will become a god. I will throw you off your throne. Even if it means I have to get Takano out of the way. I will become the one who will laugh at you, look down on you and get my feet kissed by you.”

“I will become god!!!”

Tomitake quietly walked into the Kitchen. He had to think about what to do next.

Takano betrayed him. She lied to him. He believed her words and thought they could find their perfect world together.

“What if… I scare her? I make her feel like what she did truly was the wrong thing to do? If I can make her be stuck in this nightmare… hahahahahaha!”

The next morning, Tomitake went to the bedroom to wake up Takano.

“Good morning, my little bird~”

“Jirou-san, this is so cheesy, stop it~” Takano chuckled and got out of her bed.

That’s when Tomitake proposed his first Idea to her.

“Miyo, do you think we should meet up with Irie again? To talk about our dreams?”

He could clearly see Takano sweating and nervously holding her coffee cup.

“I don’t think that’s necessary anymore, or do you want to meet him that badly?”

“You know… I was just thinking about the last fragment…” He could hear her gulp.

“Is something the matter?”, Tomitake asked and glared at Takano, who quickly turned away.

“N-no, it’s nothing, the coffee is just a bit bitter.”

Tomitake fully knew that that was a lie. He had cornered her. He knew that Takano was still thinking about the last fragment. Yet, he made sure to not let her know that he saw what she did to him.

“Alright then, let’s go!”

Tomitake turned on the engine of his car. He and Takano drove to Hinamizawa again. Takano had a really bad feeling that accompanied her throughout the whole ride, which she addressed to Tomitake, but he didn’t really listened to her.

He had other things to worry about.

I hope everything goes as planned. Getting Irie to L5 will be one of the many steps I’ll take to make Miyo suffer and make her feel defeated.

I have to somehow get the syringe.

Hehehe, I am so glad I got to look at the previous fragment. Miyo really did a great job showing me the code for the suitcase.

But another obstacle may be Irie himself. But if everything goes as planned, I’ll inject him at a time where he, Miyo and I are together. He’ll then notice that the syringes are gone. And since Miyo is the only one besides him who knows the combination, he’ll be even more cautious of her.

But how do I trigger the stages in him?

…. The Angel Mort. That’s right, he has a fetish for maids, isn’t that so?

What if… someone where to close down the Angel Mort?

Ohhh, wouldn’t that be awful?

Surely, Irie would flip…

“Hmm-hm, okay… Yeah, we are on our way to the clinic already. See you!”

Takano had just finished a phone call with Irie to inform him that they would arrive soon.

“I am actually kind of nervous to see Irie again…”

Takano looked out of the window. They’d soon arrive in Hinamizawa again.

Tomitake put a hand onto her leg.

“It’ll be alright, I promise.”

Takano smiled and put her hand onto Tomitakes.

She couldn’t see the scary grin that Tomitake made while driving.

At Irie’s clinic, they had to wait for another 30 minutes, until Irie had a break for 2 hours, where the clinic normally was completely closed and could talk to them in peace.

Irie led both of them into his examination room, sat down in front of his PC and smiled at Tomitake and Takano.

“So… I guess you both are not here to talk about any illness of yours, am I right? Otherwise you wouldn’t have wanted to interrupt my precious break. Heh heh, just kidding of course.”

Irie chuckled, then he turned towards his PC, searched for something and then began to start asking questions.

That’s when Tomitake stepped in.

“Listen, Iri, this may sound like we hit our head or something, but actually….”

Tomitake told Irie about the weird dreams they’ve experienced. This time, even Takano could add to it.

This worlds Irie also didn’t quite believe them, but he still offered to listen carefully. It seemed like he was interested in the topic as a whole.

“I can’t specifically offer you help in that matter, only some medication to help you sleep better, but this certainly seems… Unusual. Especially because you both claim to have the same exact dream…”

That’s when Tomitake had to act quickly and somehow get him and Takano out of the room.

“Maybe we should really get some more sleep, haha!”

“Jirou-san?”

Tomitake acted as if he really thought that just a bit of sleep would solve the problem. He thanked Irie and went out of the room with Takano.

“Jirou-san, what was that just now?” Takano looked at him confused.

“Everything’s alright, Miyo. Maybe it’s better if we make him believe it’s only a dream after all. He already thinks we have some screws loose.”

“But he could be the only person we can rely on. Please, think about it some more, okay?” Takano smiled and took Tomitake’s hand, but he suddenly pulled it away.

“I forgot something in the examination room. Could you come with me?”

“O-okay… What did you forget?”

“Something important.”

Tomitake opened the door towards the examination room. Irie still sat in there and looked at both of them in confusion.

“Did you forget something?”

“Well, I totally forgot that Miyo and I wanted to invite you to go to the Angel Mort with us together-”

“The Angel Mort?! You two want to go there with me? Haaaahhh, what a wonderful surprise!”

Irie spun around on his chair in joy.

Tomitake walked up to Irie, who looked at him in confusion… And hugged him.

“T-tommy-”

“I am so glad you are going to the Angel Mort with us, Iri. We truly are Soul Brothers!”

Tomitake then walked back towards Takano, who then whispered something to Tomitake.

“Did you really just invite Irie-san to Angel Mort? And hug him? Since when are you so touchy around your friends?”

“Yes, I did. Miyo… I want to make up for wasting Iri’s time with our dreams. Well… with our realities, so to speak. Also, this way, we may find out if he is the right one to entrust with our secret. Just simply ask him when we should meet, what he wants to eat. Oh, and tell him that I’ll pay for everything. He is my Soul Brother after all, ha ha!”

“We aren’t that rich, who knows how much he’ll order just to see the maids close to him?”

“I’ll find a way to repay you, don’t worry.”

Tomitake winked at her.

She let out a sigh, then she took a chair and sat across Irie.

“I have to go to the bathroom, please talk to Miyo about when we should meet up and everything.”, Tomitake said and went out of the room.

He had planned to find the underground laboratory. He knew from past fragments that he viewed, that the H-173 syringes were stored there.

Vary of his surroundings, he sneaked across the hallways. Luckily for him, all the employees were having lunch break.

His biggest obstacle would be the way into the secret laboratory.

Before, he demonstrated how poor his breaking in skills were when they tried to break into the warehouse in multiple Fragments. Here, he couldn’t afford to mess up. If he did, it’d be found out immediately.

“Tsk. As if that would stop me from my genius plan.”, Tomitake muttered to himself.

He closed his eyes, breathed in and out. He then reached into his pocket.

“Heh… Iri really should pay more attention to his surroundings and also take more care of his belongings.”

Tomitake got hold of Irie’s key card when he hugged him. This card gained him access into the secret laboratory.

He chuckled as he opened the door. He turned around to make sure no one was following him, then he made his way down the stairs.

The secret laboratory was underground, it was rather dusty inside and the doors were all locked, so Tomitake had to use the key card multiple times.

At the end of the hallway, he finally came across a room. A suspicious looking room. Inside, there were only a drawer and an operation table.

On sat table, he found the desired suitcase.

Quickly, Tomitake opened the suitcase and took a syringe from it.

“Haah… I’ve finally got it… H-173… hihihihihihihi…. Hahahahaha.”

He slipped it into his camera bag and made his way towards the waiting room.

Takano was waiting for Tomitake in the waiting room. She nervously looked at her watch, soon they had to leave because Irie’s patients would be here soon.

That’s when Tomitake sprinted towards her.

“Where have you been? Are you sick? Should I leave you here with Irie-san so that he can check your stomach?”, Takano asked in a fairly harsh tone.

She hated it to wait for Tomitake all the time.

“Sorry Miyo, everything’s alright. I guess I was laying a bit too much on my phone, haha!”

“No but really, you look awful. You are pale and sweating. Are you sure we should go home now?”

Takano layed the back of her hand onto Tomitake’s forehead, to check if it was hot.

Tomitake blushed. “I-it’s alright, really!”

“If you say so. You do remember I was working as a nurse, do you?”, said Takano with a grin on her face. She knew if someone was faking an illness. When she was still working at Irie’s clinic, lots of students from the branch school came to get diagnosed with the flu or the like, just so that they didn’t have to go to class.

She was sensing that Tomitake was lying to her, but she decided to keep quiet about it until they were home.

She won’t know about my plan. No, I have to keep quiet and let Irie do all the dirty work for me. That’s the only way I can get her into the next fragment without her knowing about my vengefulness towards her…

Chapter Text

“Please tell me what you are really scheming, Jirou-san. You were clearly faking your illness at the clinic. You can talk to me if something bothers you.”

When they arrived back at home, Takano began questioning Tomitake.

Tomitake sighed. Takano began to get on his nerves. He couldn’t tell her about his genius plan to get Irie to L5, especially not because he wanted to use Irie against her.

“I was just nervous. I don’t know how well this world’s Irie will take our words and if he believes us or not.”

Tomitake walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Takano opened a window and sat next to him.

“This Irie doesn’t remember what we told him in this previous Fragment. Maybe he is more cooperative in this world, who knows?”

Takano layed her head onto Tomitake’s shoulder.

“I wish you would just trust the process more. We’ve come this far already. Irie-san might even help us out. We’d never give u to find our perfect world, right?”

“Hm-hm.”

Tomitake was lost in thoughts. Maybe Takano was right. Maybe Irie could become their ally without him having to drug Irie and make him his marionette.

Yet, Tomitake felt uneasy. He already made a step towards becoming a god, towards becoming someone who controls their surroundings and make everyone move around like game pieces, by his own will. He bit his lip. He wouldn’t just back off now and stop his plan.

No, he already went that far… He would totally pursue this plan and make Irie into a bloody murderer.

Late at night, Tomitake sneaked out of the apartment. He wanted to get rid of the key card that he stole from Irie.

Tomitake carefully looked at the key card. His fingerprints were probably still on it.

He grinded his teeth together.

The best way to get rid of it was probably to burn it.

“Just like Miyo used a burned fake body to fake her death… I shall use fire to get rid of my evidence as well.”

Walking through Okinomiya at night was quite scary. Not only were there a lot of drunk people, but the police were also going around.

Tomitake eventually found a dark alley where there were several empty oil barrels.

It was risky to light a fire there, but he had no other choice.

He took the map key, placed it in the empty oil barrel, along with some trash he had picked up on the side of the road, and finally lit the barrel.

The fire crackled loudly. Tomitake looked into the fire and grinneed. His triumph was within reach.

A few days later, Tomitake and Takano met up with Irie at the Angel Mort. It was fairly empty, so they had free choice of where to sit.

Irie arrived later than anticipated. He hurried to the table, sat down and ordered a coffee.

“Thanks for waiting. At the moment I have lots of stress at work.”

“Oh, that’s normal when you’re the only doctor in the village.”, relied Takano and took a sip from her coffee, after stirring it for a bit.

“Ah, no, not the actual work is stressful, its rather that I lost my key card. We don’t really have duplicates of them, everyone only gets one and has to look after it as if it was their own life. Ah, thank you!”

Irie’s coffee arrived, he put some cream into it, stirred it and took a sip.

“Haahh, nothing beats a freshly made coffee served by some attractive Maids~”

Meanwhile, Tomitake just stared into his tea cup. If Irie found out that he was the one who took his key card…

“Tommy, is everything alright? You look so pale today.”

“When we were visiting you last time, Jirou-san was pale as well. That was because… We actually met up with you to talk about something. We have to add some things to what we’#ve said last time.”

Takano led the conversation into the right direction. She told this worlds Irie about their experiences with their “dreams” and everything else. Every now and then, Irie would nod and say “Hm-hm.” And “I see.” And write down a few notes onto a piece of paper.

Tomitake just sat there and listened to them.

He was thinking about when he would be able to drug Irie with the syringe.

“Hey, want to take a group photo together?” Tomitake asked and got his camera out of his bag.

If I ask an employee to take a picture of us, Irie will be distracted for a bit. I hope he is distracted enough to not notice me injecting him…

Tomitake looked for an Angel Mort employee and asked her to take a picture of the three with his camera.

As expected, Irie was in Maid Heaven, he was completely focused on the maid in front of him.

Thus, he didn’t notice that Tomitake had injected him in his neck. It was risky, since the maid could always spot Tomitake injecting Irie, but he somehow managed to do it.

“Hm? I think something stung me.”

“I guess it’s just a mosquito, don’t worry about it Iri! And now, let’s dig into the desserts!”

“Did you hear that someone asked if he could buy the Angel Mort to make a shopping mall out of it?”

“Yes, I heard that as well. Apparently that guy is rich and wants to buy the whole terrain in this street!”

“Where should I work then? I don’t want to get a new Job, I love the Angel Mort!”

Hearing those conversations from the employees, Irie stopped eating and gulped.

“They….. want to close the Angel Mort?”

Tomitake grinned slightly. He fully knew what was happening. He had spread the rumor anonymously that some rich guy wanted to get rid of the Angel Mort and make the place, no, the whole street into a mall. That would also include the apartments around the Angel Mort.

Of course, no one was really going to buy the Angel Mort. But he wanted to make sure that Irie gets stressed out.

Irie clenched onto his fork. He was even shaking a bit. But then, all of a sudden, he smiled and continued to eat his cake.

Takano looked quite worried, but also continued to drink her milk shake.

Tomitake smiled. Then, he also ate his parfait.

“That was really delicious, thank you so much for inviting me!”, said Irie and patted his stomach. He somehow ate three big cake slices. He sure was hungry that day.

“And regarding your… dreams. I want you to come by my clinic next week. As In said, I still not only have a huge amount of costumers coming in, but also the whole story with my missing key card… Hahhh, it’s all so stressful.”

Irie sighed.

“And then there’s the shut down of the Angel Mort….”, he muttered.

The three parted ways. Takano looked after Irie, concerned, she turned around to Tomitake.

“Do you think he’ll be alright?”

“I guess he will be alright. I mean, he got to spend a day with his beloved maids, who wouldn’t be happy afterwards?”

They started walking home. Still, Takano was really concerned about her former boss.

“You’re right, but… Will the Angel Mort really shut down? Irie-san will be devastated if that was going to happen.”

“Right, He would surely go on a murdering spree if that was going to happen….”

A few streets away, Irie nervously scratched his neck. The supposed mosquito bite was quite itchy. He looked back at the Angel Mort.

His favourite café… would shut down?

Irie gritted his teeth.

He couldn’t let this happen.

Chapter Text

“It itches… haahhh”

Irie kept scratching at his neck. Since the day he met up with Takano and Tomitake, which was a few days ago, the itch on his neck wouldn’t faint.  In fact, it has gotten worse than before. He was already starting to scratch it too hard…

He knew that something was off. But he also didn’t want to think about the possibility of it happening to him.

“The only one who could’ve known about H-173 was Takano…. So… she did that to me?”

No, it couldn’t be. Why would Takano give him a shot? This didn’t make any sense…

Irie continued to scratch his neck. For now, he’d just believe what Tomitake told him. It was a normal, harmless mosquito bite.

That’s when he got a call from a police officer. They had found the burned remainings of his key card, that was lost a few days ago in Okinomiya.

Irie sighed. At least he now knew what happened to it. He thanked the police officer and hung up. He then went to ask one of his closest colleagues, who also had a key card, to lend it to him and went into the underground lab.

“They found the key card in Okinomiya, huh…”

Slightly trembling, Irie opened the suitcase.

What he then saw shocked him.

One of the syringes containing H-173 was missing.

“Takano… you…”

“Jirou-san, are you ready? We’ll be too late if you don’t hurry up!”

“Just wait a minute, Miyo, I’m getting a phone call from Iri!”

Takano and Tomitake wanted to go to a new restaurant that was going to open that day. Tomitake figured that it would take Irie some time until he developed the symptoms of L5, so he agreed to going there.

Tomitake answered the phone. Irie was breathing quite heavily through the speaker.

“Tommy… Is Takano near you?”

“Uhm, yes, she is. We wanted to go to this new restaurant that opened-”

“Good… good. Well, you see, I need your help. I think it was Takano who stole my key card. And let’s just say, she may have done something… awful with it.”

Tomitake grinned. He really managed it to lead all the false evidence into Takano’s direction.

“Miyo stole the key card? Oh my, that is awful.”

“Indeed. Listen… I’m going to close my clinic for a few days. Do you think we could meet up at the Angel Mort tomorrow?”

“But the Angel Mort will close tomorrow.”

“T-tomorrow, you say?”

Tomitake had lied again. Of course, the Angel Mort wasn’t closing down. But he had to push Irie even further to the limit.

“I think today would be the last day you could see your beloved maids.”

“Then we’ll meet up today… Yeah… See you.”

Irie hung up.

“Okay, change of plan, we go to eat some bloody delicious meal at the Angel Mort with Irie, Miyo!”

Takano pouted. She was really looking forward to go to the fancy restaurant with Tomitake.

Irie hung up and sighed. It would be the last day he could see the maids.

He looked at a picture frame on top of his desk. On the photo were him and the Hinamizawa Fighters, the baseball club he was the coach for.

Irie scratched his neck.

He had to not only protect the maids, but also confront Takano.

When Tomitake and Takano arrived at the Angel Mort, Irie already sat at the table, nervously looking around him.

When he saw Takano, he didn’t greet her in a friendly manner, he grabbed her collar and screamed at her.

“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME? YOU MADE ME INTO A MONSTER!”

“Irie, what-”

“Haahhhh, you are the worst person.  To inject your own friend and former colleague…”

“I don’t know what you are talking about!!”

Takano tried to free herself from Irie’s grip. When she did, she fell backwards, but was picked up by Tomitake almost immediately.

“It itches, IT ITCHES!!! HOW DARE YOU MAKE ME INTO A MONSTER, MIYO TAKANOOOO!!”

Suddenly, Irie grabbed a baseball bat from under the table. His eyes were bloodshot, he was drooling. He looked completely insane

“I know. You are here to take my beloved maids away from me. But I won’t let this happen!!”

*splash*

Irie had smashed the head of an employee. Blood was flushing out of her head as she sunk to the ground.

Everyone in the Angel Mort screamed.

“Irie, I did nothing at all! Please, you have to believe me, calm down-”

“NOOOOO!”

Irie ran towards Takano and tried to hit her as well.

Takano could avoid the hit with the baseball bat. Scared, she tried to hide behind Tomitake. Then, she took his hand and tried to flee with him.

“Jirou-san, let’s get out of here!!”

But Tomitake was just standing there. He held her hand tightly.

“Everything is going just as planned. And now you want to ruin this moment for me?”

“Jirou-san, what are you talking about? Let’s get out of here!”

In the meantime, Irie had already made a bloody mess inside the Angel Mort. Lot’s of maids lay on the ground, their heads smashed.

"You wanted to take my dear maids from me, isn't that so? Well, that doesn't matter anymore. I sent them to an even better place than the Angel Mort now. My maids shall live forever and ever in heaven! As Maids in Heaven!"

“Jirou-san,  come on!” Takano was still trying to get Tomitake and her out of the Angel Mort together. But Tomitake just didn’t wanna move a muscle.

Tomitake turned around to Irie and said in a pretty annoyed tone:

“Hey, Kyousuke. Could you please come here and finish your job?”

Irie spun around and walked towards Tomitake, while furiously scratching his neck.

“You just need to smash her into unconsciousness, I have to do the rest myself.”

“JIROU-SAN-”

It was too late for Takano to finish her sentence.

Irie had smashed her head. Tomitake took Irie’s baseball bat away and smashed Takano’s head multiple times himself as well.

“If only you wouldn’t have used me for your own good again… then I wouldn’t have to do this to Irie! Miyooo!”

Afterwards, Tomitake then looked Irie into his eyes, grabbed the baseball bat tightly...

“Goodbye Iri. See you in Heaven.”

And smashed his own head with it.

When the police arrived, all they saw were countless corpses of maids. Irie had crawled his neck open. Takano and Tomitake both had their heads split open.

Meanwhile, in the Sea of Fragments, the floating Woman laughed.

She was quite amused by Tomitake’s tactics by now.

Smiling, she layed back and watched as the story unfolded.

Chapter Text

“Nggg… hmm?”

When Takano opened her eyes, she was inside the van. She had her military clothes on and must’ve fallen asleep in them. She could hear the mountain dogs talking outside. A heavy headache spread out throughout her head.

“It must be a fragment where I am still involved on the Alphabet Project… This is horrible…”, she mumbled to herself.

“Good morning, my sweet bird.”, a voice next to her called out to her.

That’s when Takano realized that she was handcuffed to bed.

Something cold touched her forehead.

It was the nozzle of a gun.

The person holding the gun was Tomitake, who kneeled next to the bed and smirked at her.

“Jirou-san, wha-”

“Pshhh, don’t say anything anymore. You are a sick liar, but you now that already, don’t you?”

Tomitake chuckled and pressed the nozzle of the gun harder against Takano’s forehead.

“Remember what you said back then? That we would rule the world together? But I am sure you just meant yourself, right? Miyo~”

Takano shivered when she heard the cheerful, yet anxiety inducing voice of Tomitake.

What did he mean? What was happening to him?

Could it be…?

“The hospital… But that was a few fragments ago-”

“We both remember the past fragments pretty clearly, don’t we? Did you really think I wouldn’t get reminded of you drugging me yet again, just for your own stupid goals?”

Tomitake’s voice sounded rougher now and was full of rage. His voice was shaking, as much as his hand, which held the gun in front of Takano’s forehead

“You really thought you could just move on like that in the past few fragments? After drugging me yet again? Miyo, when I accidentally shot you at the toy store, I cried so much because I never intended to do that. Yet, you just thought about yourself again and broke this promise you made to me...”

“Jirou-san, I didn’t want this to happen to you-”

“LIAR!!”

Tomitake quickly looked behind him. He was sure that the mountain dogs would come check on them, if he kept yelling at Takano. He then sighed and turned around to Takano again.

Takano was completely scared of him. This Tomitake right in front of her was so much different than the person who saved her, whom she had fallen in love with.

Was she at fault?

Was she really using him again after all without realizing it?

“I am such a bad girlfriend, aren’t I?”

Tears were streaming down Takano’s face.

“I really didn’t realize I was doing it all for my own good again.”

Tomitake just stared at her.

It was the coldest stare Takano ever saw on his face.

“We’ll atone for Miyo Takano’s sins, together. Well… what a Lie that was.”

He then looked down and smirked.

“I shall never atone for your sins, Miyo Takano. You aren’t meant to be a god after all. But I, Jirou Tomitake, are in fact the one who will become a god instead of you!”

“Jirou-san, please… don’t do this!! We will find a way to settle thi-”

“Miyo Takano. From this day onwards, I shall hunt you down in every fragment there is. I will rip you apart, take your heart out and smash it with my feet. I will rip that future you wanted so badly apart. From now on, I will be your enemy. I will become a god, just like I wanted. I will become your worst nightmare.”

He pressed the nozzle of the gun even tighter onto Takano’s forehead.

“See you in the next fragment, my beloved Miyo.”

“JIROU-SAN, STO-”

*gunshot*

Blood stained the bed inside the van. The walls, the bed Takano layed on. Everything was covered in a beautiful, deep red shade.

Even Tomitake’s cheek had a few splashes of her blood on him.

Tomitake coldly stared at Takano’s corpse in front of him.

“Well then. Let’s see how much I can make her suffer until she finally acknowledges that I am the one who will become a god, not her.”

With that being said, Tomitake put the gun into his mouth.

Before he pulled the trigger, a mountain dog opened the door and looked at Tomitake.

Tomitake winked at the mountain dog one last time.

*snap*

*gunshot*

… and ended his life in this Fragment.

Chapter Text

The sound of the cicadas grew louder and louder. A cool breeze woke Takano up. She was lying on a picinic blanket near the Furude Shrine, next to her was a basket that was still untouched. Lots of delicious things lay in the basket next to her, yet no one had eaten anything of it.

Startled, she stood up and looked around.

Tomitake was not to be seen.

Takano was trembling. She remembered the Fragment before she woke up. Tomitake was now her enemy. He no longer wanted to find a perfect world together with her.... He wanted to find a perfect world for himself alone and become a god.

“Didn’t you enjoy the picnic, Takano?”

Takano nervously turned around. Rika Furude stood behind her, smiling.

“Don’t let all this good food go to waste, Nipah~”

Rika Furude. The person Tomitake was so suspicious of. Should Takano also be cautious of her?

No.

I don’t want to think of Rika Furude as an enemy anymore. I swore to Jirou-san that I would leave my past behind…

“Actually…”, Takano took her basket and folded the blanket together, “I was just wondering if you wouldn’t like to eat some of the food with me, Furude-san. It’s too much for me anyways.”

Rika just nodded and after a few minutes, they sat on the stairs that lead towards the shrine.

Rika was happily eating some sandwiches that Takano made. Yet, Takano was still confused.

“You just ate them without being suspicious of me?”

“Should I be suspicious of you, Takano?”

“Who knows, I could’ve put some sleeping aid into them and then break into the warehouse…”

“… I don’t think you would try to break into the warehouse without Tomitake’s help. He is so strong, he could tear the whole lock off with his bare hands, Nipah~”

“That’s… right, actually…”

An awkward Silence followed.

Then, Takano spoke up.

“Furude-san?”

“Mii?”

“Hypothetically... let’s imagine there were two cats who loved each other a lot. A yellow cat and a brown cat. They both always were together somehow. They went hunting together, they were eating together, sleeping together… but then, the yellow Cat makes a big mistake and the brown cat is deeply hurt by that and won’t believe the yellow cat anything they say anymore. The brown cat starts to work against the yellow cat, steals their food, their place to sleep… and then everything the yellow cat wanted to achieve together with the brown cat. Do you think that the two cats could find together again? Even if one cat hates the other a lot?”

The cicadas suddenly stopped crying.

Rika suddenly put her sandwich away, stood up and laughed.

“Hahahaha, not you too… Those cat metaphors really begin to get on my nerves. Just say it’s about you and Tomitake.”

“So Jirou-san was right about you after all… you know something about us!”

Takano stood up as well. Her expression got more serious as she looked down on Rika.

But then… She started crying.

“If you know what is going on with us, can’t you help Jirou-san? I am not sure what I can do, he is so different from before… Please… Help Jirou-san……...”

Takano sunk to her knees.

Rika stood in front of her with a rather cold look on her face.

Then Takano felt a tiny hand on her head.

“Pain, pain, go away~”

Rika was patting her head, as if she wanted to comfort her.

Sniffling, Takano stood up and looked down at Rika.

“Takano, so both of you remember past worlds, is that correct?”

Takano nodded.

“How are you so sure that Tomitake changed forever?”

“What…”

“Look at it this way. Maybe he just had a bad day, most people have good days and bad days. He won’t be mad at you anymore-”

Takano brushed Rika’s hand off her head. Her expression changed into a serious, somewhat angry stare.

“You never had the experience of your partner killing you over and over, how would you know how I feel? He changed drastically, he won’t be the lovely, bird obsessed photographer I fell in love with anymore. He became the scariest person I’ve ever seen in my whole life. All because I saw no other way than to drug him with H-173 again, for his own sake…”

“… He killed you multiple times?”

Panting, Takano sat down on the stairs again, her hands shaking.

“In one fragment, I killed him by ramming a knife into his throat. In another, he accidentally killed me with a gunshot in the toy store…”

“The toy store… You mean-”

Takano cut Rika off, who seemed to finally understand what was going on.

“In one of the fragments, I saw no other way than drugging him, so that I wouldn’t have to kill him with my own hands. Which Jirou-san completely misunderstood. I never intended to go back to my old plans. I did this for us. He also drugged Irie-san and let him kill me. And finally…”

Takano took Rika’s hand in hers, made a gun gesture with her tiny fingers, held them against her own forehead.

“Bang. He murdered me in the van in the mountains.”

Rika quickly drew her hand back and stepped a few steps back.

“How do you remember all of this, Takano?”

“I bet you won’t believe me, but I guess I’ll tell you nonetheless. It may be the case that Jirou-san finds and murders me, so… This is going to be our little secret, promise?”

Takano winked at Rika. Then, she turned towards the shrine.

The wind twirled her hair around.

She looked back at Rika. Her eyes were glowing red.

And Rika finally began to understand what was going on…

“Jirou-san and I are so-called Loopers. We have the ability to travel through different Fragments in order to find our perfect world.”

Rika took a few steps back.

“What did you just say?”

“I said that Jirou-san and I have the ability to travel through different Fragments. I don’t expect you to understand this… I am just glad you’re hearing me out.”

Rika’s head began hurting.

“This can’t be… This is impossible… How did you gain those powers, Takano??”

Rika’s voice was trembling as she said this. Another Looper, no, another pair of Loopers appeared seemingly out of nowhere…

Takano led out a relieved sigh. She looked towards the warehouse.

“You know, I am just so glad I finally get to tell this to someone who seems to understand what Jirou-san and I went through. What seemed like a few hundred Fragments ago, Jirou-san and I broke into the ritual warehouse. Inside, we found a strange object that looked like a horn or something. We went towards it to inspect it…” Takano gritted her teeth. “We were teleported into a weird, purple realm with flying crystals around us. And… This weird, floating Woman gave us the powers to loop through Fragments in order to find our perfect world. Or well… that was our intention at first.”

“A floating woman, huh…” Rika got curious about that Woman that Takano and Tomitake saw in the Sea of Fragments. It couldn’t be Hanyuu… but who was it then?

“Jirou-san will hunt me down. I will try and hide for the time being until I find a solution to all of this. I may get killed after all, but at least I got to talk to someone about this without being declared a psychopath. Thank you for listening to me, Rika-chan.”, said Takano with a slight smile on her face. After that, she went to pack her picnic together and disappeared.

When Rika arrived at Home, it already was dark outside. She had wandered around the shrine, her thoughts were gathering around the things Takano said to her.

She sneaked around the room, to avoid waking Satoko, who was already sleeping, grabbed a glass and poured some Wine into it.

“You should stop drinking when you’re lost in thoughts, Rika.”

It was Hanyuu’s voice. Hanyuu appeared next to Rika, who sat down on the window ledge and took a sip of her wine.

“Did you know anything about that floating Woman, Hanyuu? Anything ringing a bell?”

“Au… nothing…”

“Haahh… Tomitake could not only become dangerous to Takano, but also to me and everyone else. He could be the one who executes Takano’s plan this time, but by his own will.”

Rika looked into her glass of wine.

“The only way to stop Tomitake would be…”

“Auau, Rika, we can’t just give it to Takano, out of all people-”

“I know that. But Tomitake will continue to murder her and eventually everyone else. They won’t be able to find their perfect world, I guess they were both doomed from the start.”

Rika looked at the stars.

“Takano has changed. She isn’t the same Takano from before. She is on our side now. The roles have changed between Takano and Tomitake. They’re the main actors now, we are simply the side characters.

Rika drank the last sip of her wine. She had to figure out how to end this all.

The next morning, Rika got woken up by Satoko, who was practically shaking her awake.

“Rika, Rika, wake up!! Something happened at the shrine!”

“No… no no no no no-”

Rika quickly changed her clothes, grabbed Satoko’s hand and they ran towards the shrine.

There, both were greeted with a gruesome sight.

On the ground, just in front of the shrine laid Takano. Her stomach was sliced open, her eyes were still wide open, as if she was still conscious during this procedure.

Next to her laid Tomitake. His wrist was sliced open. An unsettling grin could be seen on his face.

“This… this can’t be. Why are they here? I thought Takano was hiding from him?”, Rika asked Hanyuu, who appeared next to her.

“Auau…. I don’t know, Rika. It seems like they were meeting up-”

“Wait, could it be… The mountain dogs? Tomitake may have worked together with the mountain dogs to locate Takano’s hideout.”

“Auau…”

“Rika, is everything okay? Maybe we should go home-”, said Satoko to Rika, but Rika suddenly ran forward.

Rika ran towards Ooishi, who was just finished with writing some things down.

“Ooishi-san? Could I ask you something?”

“My my, Furude-san, you and Houjou-san shouldn’t be here, go home-”

“Not until you finished my questions.”

Rika looked into Ooishi’s eyes with a serious stare.

Ooishi then sighed, lit up a cigarette and nodded.

“Okay. Ooishii, are there any signs that Takano was struggling? That she maybe got into a fight? Is there anything unusual, maybe she got drugged first or-”

“Listen, Furude-san, we are still in the middle of the investigations. All I can say is that the time of death for both of them is around the same, approximately 5 hours ago. That’s it. And now, please leave us alone and go home.”

Rika was unsatisfied. Ooishi couldn’t help her find out the exact cause of death for both of them. But it looked like Tomitake sliced Takano’s stomach open and afterwards, he ended his life.

“Its useless. I have to move on and help Takano…”

Rika ran home. She knew that the only way for her to help Takano know was to Loop again herself, to travel to the next fragment.

“Well then.” She said when she arrived at home and grabbed a kitchen knife.

“Never guessed I’d say this, but let’s help Takano, Hanyuu.”

Satoko, who ran after Rika found her lifeless body on the ground, next to her a bloody kitchen knife. Crying, Satoko kneeled down next to Rika.

“I will find a way to help Takano stop Tomitake. Even if it means that they have to fight each other until the end.”

Chapter Text

After Takano was talking to Rika, she went towards the mountains. She didn’t know why, but she thought that she might find a way through the forest towards somewhere safe.

Walking through the dark, cold forest, she couldn’t help but feel like she was being watched.

A flashback crossed her mind. Back then, when she fled from the orphanage, she also got chased by someone.

Was she being chased right now?

Takano didn’t know for sure, but she kept walking nonetheless.

The clouds got greyer and soon it started raining.

Takano ran. She ran forward, never looked back.

She still had the felling of being chased by something, or someone.

After a few meters, Takano tripped over a root and fell into the mud.

Panting, she tried to get back up, but her ankle was twisted.

“Dammit…”

That’s when she finally met her pursuers.

2 Mountain Dogs stood in front of her, weapons aimed at her.

One of the Mountain Dogs got his walkie-talkie out and talked to someone.

“Major, we have located Miyo Takano. We will bring her to the hideout. Over.”

Major? Is Nomura now acting as the major of the operation in this world herself?

Or is it… No… Please no-

Takano couldn’t finish her thought, as she lost her consciousness shortly after getting hit on her head.

“Nghhh… Ah-”

Takano woke up later at night. She was laying outside… Outside the shrine. Her hands were tied together over her head and her feet were tied together as well. Her body hurt like crazy and she had a hard time breathing.

The area around the shrine was carefully watched by the Mountain Dogs.

Suddenly, she heard a voice from behind her.

“Oh, the princess woke up from her Slumber, good morning~”

Takano knew the voice too well.

It was none other than Tomitake.

He walked past her, stood in front of her wearing a green yukata and holding the ritual hoe in his hands.

A sly grin formed on his lips.

“Hey Miyo… Are you freezing by any chance? You know, it’s not really healthy to be outside when it’s this cold with your stomach sliced open like this.”

That’s when Takano finally realized it.

Slowly, she looked down on her body.

Her jacket was open like always, but her t-shirt had been sliced up…

Her sliced up stomach was exposed, making her bleed all over the floor.

That’s were the immense pain came from….

Tomitake walked around her, holding his hands and the ritual hoe behind his back while carefully watching her.

“Wasn’t it your dream to be there when someone performs the watanagashi ritual on a real person? Congratulations, Miyo, you are the one who’s going to be the main attraction of the ritual! Hahahahaha!!! Isn’t that amusing?”

“Your heart really filled with darkness when I injected you, right, Jirou-san?”, asked Takano him while trying to hold tears back.

“I merely moved up to the next stage.”

Tomitake made a halt next to Takano and lifted the hoe up, his eyes fixated on Takano’s eyes.

“In order to become a god, I had to leave behind everything about me that’s still human. Even my love for you.”

Tomitake now looked a bit sad and gripped the ritual hoe tighter.

“Jirou-san, we can still find a way to settle this. You don’t have to kill me-”

“SHUT UP!”

“AGHHHHH”

Tomitake rammed the ritual hoe into Takano’s stomach. Takano began drooling, screaming, crying. It was the worst pain she ever felt in her life.

“You make me do this, remember? YOU were the one who wanted to get this looping power in the first place. Yet, you never even thought of all the possibilities that come with it! Remember the fateful night of June 1983? Where you lost against the game club? Miyo… together, we could’ve become the gods you wanted to be. We could’ve… become the most powerful couple on the entire planet.”

Tomitake lifted the ritual hoe up again…

“But you decided against that!!”

… and rammed it into Takano’s stomach again.

Takano couldn’t respond. The pain in her stomach was too painful.

All she could do is shed tears and scream in pain, hoping that Tomitake would stop...

“You were the one who awakened the demon inside of me, Miyo Takano. My love for you made me into a murderer. You are the reason I am doing all of this. Because of your egoistic dreams, I became a demon!”

“You… you were wrong, Jirou… san.”

“Hm? About what?”

Tomitake lifted the ritual hoe back down and leaned against its handle while listening to Takano’s weakened voice that called out to him.

“I wanted to use the looping power as I originally intended. To find our perfect world. A world where we wouldn’t have to commit crimes. Where we wouldn’t have to worry about anything.”

Takano stretched her hand out to Tomitake.

“Please, Jirou-san… This isn’t the real you. Please, come back to me.”

“Oh Miyo…”

Tomitake took Takano’s hand into his own hand. It felt warm. It felt… like home.

“I can’t believe you are trying to deceive me yet again.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHH-”

Tomitake let Takano’s hand go and proceeded to ram the ritual hoe into her stomach again.

Over and over, he pushed it onto her body.

“You are a Liar… Liar, Liar, Liar, Liar, Liar, Liar, LIAR!!!”

After a while, all he saw was Takano’s dead body on front of him. Her stomach was brutally stabbed by the hoe, her eyes were still wide open.

Tomitake was panting. He threw the ritual hoe to the side and kneeled down next to Takano.

“You’re dead, right? Hah… I never thought that would work so well. At least I got to grant one wish of yours.”

He walked towards one of the mountain dogs, who were watching the whole, gruesome torture scene in front of them and asked him for a knife.

“Hehehehe… I am so curious to see what you’re going to do in the next fragment. No one believes what happened to us. You have no ally. Well… I was your ally, until you used me.”

Tomitake grinned.

“Time to chase my prey again. My prey called Miyo Takano.”

*snap*

Chapter Text

I don’t want to be alone.

Please… don’t leave me…

I am scared…

Help me…

“…aka…o… an”

“Nghhh…”

“Takano-san… wake up, Takano-san.”

Takano slowly opened her eyes. She laid down on a desk, her head rested on her arms.

It was Irie, who called her name.

“I know you are tired, but the lunch break is already over.”

Takano slowly lifted her body up and stretched. Across the desk laid a few papers, as well as her half eaten lunch. Looking at the food, and thus remembering the past fragment, she almost puked.

Irie walked towards a drawer and handed her a handkerchief.

“… were you crying, Takano-san? Did something happen?”

“I just… had an awful nightmare. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Irie grabbed a chair and sat down across her.

“The divorce process really robs all of your sleep lately, hm?”

In that Fragment, Takano seemed to be going through a divorce process with Tomitake.

Tears ran down from Takano’s eyes as she heard what Irie said.

“A divorce, huh? I never… wanted it to end that way… we weren’t even…. Uwaaahhh.”

Irie laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

Of course, he didn’t know that this Takano was from a previous fragment and didn’t remember divorcing Tomitake, nor even getting married to him.

All he could do now was sit there with her and stay silent.

“You should take the day off, you know? You really don’t look good at all.”

“It’s fine, I promise.”

Takano stood up, but immediately sat back down on the chair.

What was she even doing?

What even was she supposed to do know in this fragment?

“I don’t know where to go now…”

*knock knock*

“Ah, come in!”, said Irie and immediately stood up.

Before them stood Rika, seemingly out of breath.

“Takano, finally, I found you!”

“You were looking for me?”, asked Takano while wiping the tears away with the handkerchief.

Rika walked towards Takano and grabbed her hand.

“Rika-chan, wha-”

“We don’t have time. He could be here any second.”

Takano had no other choice than to go with Rika.

After a while, they arrived at the Sonozaki residence.

“What are we doing here?”

“I know that you have no connection to the Sonozaki’s at all, but Mion and Shion are willing to keep you shelter for a while. I told them that you have a nasty stalker who’s behind you. I didn’t tell them about Tomitake.”

Takano let go of Rika’s hand.

“Why are you doing this for me? Why do you remember Tomitake being my enemy now?”

Rika sighed.

“You still didn’t notice it? I am the same as you and Tomitake. I am able to travel through the fragments. I am a Looper.”

Takano was speechless, but at the moment, both had other problems than to think about their new found similarities.

“Takano… Tomitake could not only become dangerous to you, but to me as well. You already know why…”

Rika looked Takano into her eyes.

She then grabbed Takano’s hand again and they went into the residence.

In a room deep inside the residence, Rika and Takano sat down.

“Takano… There is a way to stop Tomitake, but… You wouldn’t like this Option, I am sure of that. I too don’t want you to suffer because of what this option causes…”

“You know how to stop him? Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“Because I don’t want you to kill him again.”

“… ah… What?”

Takano was speechless. The only way to stop Tomitake… was to kill him?

“There is no way to kill him, he’ll just get thrown into the next Fragment!!”

“That’s true. Yet, there is a way to ultimately kill him. The Onigari-no-ryuuou. A sacred sword that has the power to kill Loopers, once and for all.”

Rika looked into Takano’s eyes. Her own eyes were glowing red.

“I want you to wield it, if necessary, Takano. That’s the only way to stop Tomitake once and for all.”

Some time earlier, in the Sea of Fragments.

“You mean there is a way to kill Takano? Interesting…”

Tomitake sat on a throne, playing with some of the fragments around him.

He looked bored, but when the floating woman mentioned a way to defeat Takano once and for all, he suddenly showed lots of interest in it.

“In order to kill her, you need a sacred weapon that’s sealed away in the warehousee. I bet you can go in there with no effort, Child of Men.”

“Hooh? So… it was in front of me the whole time? Interesting, really interesting…”

“I just happened to stumble across it while looking for something. I bet it will help you and keeps the whole story more interesting. The world you are now trying to achieve… Does it even feature Takano? Or is she just an obstacle in your way now?”

Tomitake leaned forward and thought about it for a few moments.

“She’s… an obstacle.”

He could hear the floating woman laugh hysterically.

Tomitake made a sad face for a second. Was that really how he felt? Did he really think that Takano was just an obstacle for him?

He grabbed the Fragment that showed Takano injecting him. He tightly grabbed it and threw it far into the Sea of Fragments.

Of course she’s in my way. Now more than ever. Getting rid of her will be the final step of me becoming a god. Watch out Miyo… I’ll get a nice, deadly surprise for you.

Takano, Rika, Mion and Shion sat inside the room Rika brought Takano to. They were all drinking Tea, yet Takano was looking down into her tea cup all the time.

“Don’t worry, Takano-san, if the stalker even tries to come near our residence, Kasai will show them some manners!”

“That’s good to hear, Shion-chan… Thanks to you two, I feel a bit safer again.”

“There is a way to kill him. The Onigari-no-ryuuou.”

“I want you to wield it, if necessary, Takano. That’s the only way to stop Tomitake.”

Rika’s words wouldn’t leave Takano’s mind. She didn’t know what to do. On one side, she loved Tomitake more than anyone else, he was the one who showed her what true love felt like.

But ever since they started looping together, they grew more and more distant towards each other.

Did she really need to kill him to feel… free again?

“Mii, do you have some leftover tea for Takano-san? I think hers is cold already…”, said Rika to get Mion out of the room.

“Of course! Oh, Shion, could you help me quickly?”

Shion nodded and the twins disappeared through the door, teapot in hand.

“Takano, I know this is a very scary decision you have to make. We can try and talk Tomitake out of it, but I am sure you already tried that, right?”

Takano simply nodded.

“I am not telling you to kill him. I am only saying it’s… an option, if it really gets out of hand with him. Whoever gave you two your looping powers is manipulating him. You aren’t at fault here, Takano.”

“I know… I tried to talk to him multiple times throughout the fragments, but he wouldn’t listen. Strangely enough, I’ve haven’t been in contact with the floating woman since a few fragments now.”

“So, before both of you could talk to that… floating woman?”

“Exactly.”

Takano exhaled.

“You know, it’s like there’s a barrier that keeps me from entering the Sea of Fragments again. I am pretty sure that at this point, she is only cooperating with Jirou-san and that’s why I wasn’t there for a long time.”

Hanyuu appeared behind Rika.

“The Sea of Fragments? Tomitake and Takano can go there as well?”

“Well, they are looping beings as well, so I figured they must’ve been there as well. Hanyuu, did you sense anything? Or rather, anyone?”

Hanyuu gave Rika a serious look.

“I sensed someone, far away. I don’t know if I can reach them.”

Rika looked down on her hands and made them into fists.

“Hanyuu… Please, if you can reach them, try to find out who they are and what their motives are. Not only for my sake, but this time also for Takano’s and Tomitake’s sake. If we can save Tomitake this way, we won’t have to let Takano kill him.”

“Auau… I try my best.”, said Hanyuu and disappeared.

“Takano?”

Rika turned towards Takano and smiled.

“We will find a way to get the old Tomitake back. Nipah~”

“Ni- Nipah…”

Now Takano had a faint smile on her face as well. Rika may be a Looper just as her and Tomitake, but deep down in her heart, she still seemed to be a little girl after all.

Nighttime arrived quickly.

Takano kept talking to Rika and the Sonozaki twins for hours, ate dinner with the Sonozakis. For the first time since a few fragments, she felt like she had a home again.

Takano laid down on her futon and stared at the ceiling. This worlds version of her was in the process of divorcing Tomitake.

“… a Divorce, huh…”

Suddenly, Images appeared as soon as she closed her eyes.

It was as if she saw what this worlds version of her went through before she took control over the body.

“Miyoko…. Do you want to marry me?”

“Miyoko Tomitake… That sounds… pretty nice.”

“… You never even cared about my feelings too, huh? I am fed up with you!!”

“You really want a divorce? And you want to change your name back to Miyo Takano? Didn’t you forget who saved you from your former self? It was me. You are doing a huge mistake by trying to go back to your former self, Miyoko-”

“SHUT UP!! …..haah… haah….”

Takano opened her eyes and screamed. Her face was wet. She had cried in her sleep.

Shivering and sobbing, she hugged her pillow tightly.

“Jirou-san… please… come back to me…”

Chapter Text

That night, Takano couldn’t sleep. Her thoughts were all over the place. How could she bring back the old Tomitake? How could she solve all of this without having to ultimately kill him?

“Is there even a way… to bring back the man I fell in love with all those fragments ago?”

She sighed. She just wished that all of this was one big dream and that if she opened her eyes in the morning, Tomitake would lay next to her and gave her a big smile.

Thinking about that, Takano got teary eyes.

Why did all of that have to happen?

Was she at fault?

… Yes, I was the one who accepted the floating woman’s powers… I wish… I never had accepted those powers. Because of me, Jirou-san, no… Jirou got manipulated and is being used by that witch. Can I even save him? It seems impossible at this point.

Takano stood up and changed into her casual clothes.

She knew it would be risky, but going towards the shrine at this time would be the best option for her to go and find the sword.

The shrine at night was creepy. Chills ran down Takano’s spine as she walked towards the warehouse.

Normally, Tomitake had a tool kit on his hand to break through locks like this. But this time, Takano needed to get in there herself.

To her surprise, just like on the day they got their looping powers, the lock was easy to break through.

But that just made Takano feel more uneasy. What if Tomitake was already a step ahead of her?

Takano breathed in and out and tried to calm herself down.

“I need to go in there, no matter what.”

She entered the dusty shrine and tried her best to keep quiet. She made her way across the warehouse and found the statue.

Even in this world, the statue’s head was crumbled and opened up.

Takano took a ladder that leaned against a wall and positioned it in front of the statue.

Shaking, she made her way up the ladder.

But as she looked into it, her heart skipped a beat.

“It’s not here… the sword is not here…”

Takano could feel tears running down her cheeks. It seemed like Tomitake had already found out about the sword himself.

Carefully, she climbed down the ladder.

“Are you looking for something?”

Takano quickly turned around. She couldn’t see anyone. But she was sure she heard… his voice.

Her breathing started to get heavier, her heartbeat got faster, when…

“Mii, I thought you’d come here eventually. Takano… I suppose the sword is missing, right?”

It was only Rika’s voice. Takano let out a relieved sigh. But she could’ve sworn that she heard his voice for a brief second.

“I must be really tired, I am hearing voices, even though no one’s there besides the two of us… haha…”, she said and wiped her tears away with her hand.

“Takano…”

Rika suddenly grabbed Takano by her sleeve. Her expression got a lot more serious again.

“I am sure he already was here and got the sword.”

“… I thought so… that means I don’t have a chance to get it anymore, huh?”, said Takano and gave Rika a painful smile.

Takano walked around and began thinking. Was there even a chance to get the sword?

“What if I… no, for that both of us have to die in order to loop… But what if… no, that’s stupid…”

“Auauau…”

“I thought you would never appear again. Hanyuu, did you find anything?”

Hanyuu had appeared next to Rika and watched as Takano walked cycles in the Warehouse.

“There definetely is someone besides us roaming through the Sea of Fragments. But… I am actually not sure if I am the one who can defeat them.”

“Wait… aren’t they a god like you?”

“At least some kind of being way above a human. Rika… I think this is Takano’s fight. If she can defeat them, then-”

Takano suddenly came back to Rika and Hanyuu disappeared.

“Rika-chan, I’ve got a plan-”

“Takano.”

Takano froze in place as Rika said her name in an even more serious tone than before. The air inside the warehouse seemed to be even colder than it was before.

The atmosphere around them had drastically changed.

“I need to ask you a favor. If you somehow get the sword… try to go back to the sea of Fragments to kill this other entity. I know it’s all too much for you to handle at the moment, but this woman is the reason Tomitake got manipulated into being your enemy. If we, no, if you kill her, I am sure the original Tomitake will be… free again.”

Hearing Rika’s words made Takano feel… anxious, but also kind of relieved, knowing that there might be a way to save her partner from being manipulated.

“I can’t promise anything as well, Rika-chan. What if the sword doesn’t kill her? What if Jirou-san continues to be my enemy? What if… this woman ends up killing me?”

Rika looked down. She didn’t really know how to respond. It was risky leaving all of this to Takano, but it was Takano’s fight after all.

The two left the warehouse, not knowing that someone was watching them from afar.

Tomitake was hiding nearby between some bushes. In his right hand, he tightly held the Onigari-no-ryuuou that he stole from the warehouse way before Takano and Rika got into it.

He looked after Takano, then he looked at the sword in his hand. Was it really the right choice? Wasn’t he overdoing it at this point?

But then, he remembered the things Takano did to him so many Fragments ago. How many times had she driven him into suicide? How many times had she injected him by now?

Thinking about that made him think that his throat was itching again.

“Miyo… You are the reason I am doing all of this. Only you are at fault here. I am not the bad guy, you are.”

Takano woke up pretty much sleep deprived the next morning. She had spent way too much time thinking about the things Rika told her, as well as how she’d even be able to kill the woman in the Sea of Fragments.

To Takano, this task seemed impossible. She hadn’t been there for such a long time, would the floating woman even let her go back into the Sea of Fragments?

“Takano-san, are you awake?”

It was Shion’s voice calling out to Takano.

Takano slowly stood up.

That’s when she found a letter next to her futon.

It was addressed at her.

She immediately recognized the handwriting.

“… This is Jirou-sans… handwriting…”

Quickly, Takano opened the letter.

It was indeed Tomitake’s handwriting.

With shivering hands, Takano began reading the letter.

“My dear Miyo,

I see you’ve arrived safely in this fragment as well.

As you may have seen, the holy weapon from the Furude Shrine, the Onigari-no-ryuuou is missing.

You are a clever woman, so I bet you already know it was me who is now in possession of it.

You see, I want to talk to you. It’s urgent. I know you don’t trust me anymore, which was to be expected, but this time I really just want to talk.

Meet me at the river, where we went to on Watanagashi those many, many fragments ago, at night.

And if you are going to meet up with me, make sure that Rika Furude doesn’t know about it.”

Takano grabbed the letter tightly, it crinkled up in her hand.

She didn’t know how to feel right away.

The original Jirou-san I fell in love with…. He really would just talk to me. But this isn’t the original Jirou-san. This is the Jirou-san I failed to protect. He became corrupted by that floating woman, that witch…

I really can’t trust this version of Jirou-san. But… what if…. The Original Jirou-san was still somewhere deep inside him, sealed away by his raging emotions against me?

Takano could feel that she was shaking. The thought of the original Tomitake still being inside that awful version of Tomitake made her feel determined to do something.

“….. but what if… he doesn’t want to go back to the old days?”

Takano could feel tears forming up in her eyes.

“He saved me back then, without him, I am not complete. Please… please come back to me, Jirou-san.”

Tomitake waited at the river and looked around him every few seconds. Next to him on the ground laid a long, thin suitcase.

He nervously tapped his foot on the ground, waiting for Takano to show up.

“Jirou-san…”

“Miyo…”

Takano came up to him. Tomitake didn’t notice her coming, so he was a bit surprised to see her.

Both looked at each other with faint smiles. The moon was shining bright, which illuminated both of their eyes.

“You have the sword with you in that suitcase, I assume? Are you here to struck me down with it?”

“Wait… I really just want to talk. I just need to protect this sword, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Hm-hm…”

Takano crossed her arms and seemed to scan Tomitake’s body and clothes for additional weapons.

“Haha, I don’t have anything else with me, don’t worry.”

For a split second, it felt like Takano was talking to the original Tomitake. His way of laughing at her stare… it felt… familiar.

“Jirou… I know you are in there, inside that corrupted version I stand in front of right now. If you can hear me… I want to say, I am sorry for what I am about to do.”

“What are you talking abou-”

Takano took a tazer gun out of her jacket. She ran up to Tomitake, who was confused at her speech…

“I am sorry…”

and aimed the tazer gun at his throat.

“Nghghhhhghghhhghghghhhhhh……………….”

Takano had tazered Tomitake and quickly grabbed the suitcase. The sword was indeed inside it.

She tightly grabbed the suitcase and aimed the tazer gun at her own throat.

“Let’s go Witch hunting.”

*snap*

Chapter Text

When Takano opened her eyes, she finally didn’t see a hospital ceiling, or the ceiling of her apartment. Instead, she saw Fragments floating above her.

Next to her layed the Onigari-no-ryuuou.

“… I did it… I am back in the Sea of Fragments.”

Slowly, Takano stood up and picked up the sword.

That’s when she noticed that Tomitake was nowhere to be found.

Was he the one who couldn’t enter the Sea of Fragments, now that she was here?

“You have nerves to show up, child of men.”

The floating woman appeared in front of her, with a disgusted look on her face.

“You!! You are the one who ruined our lives! Who even are you? And where is Jirou right now? Answer me!!”

“Kukukukuku… I am the one who ruined your lives? Miyo Takano… You were the one who immediately saw the potential of using the looping Powers. You are the one responsible for poor Tomitake’s mental state.”

The woman flew closer towards Takano and suddenly stood behind her. Takano got chills running down her spine, as she felt the shakujou laying on her Shoulder… And noticed she couldn’t move anymore. It was like the floating Woman had put a spell on her.

“Tomitake is an easy human to break. He risked everything for you. And what did you do? Right… you used that to your advantage, trying to reach the stage of being a god yet again.”

“That’s not true! I mean… Yes, at one point I thought about going back to my original plan using the powers you gave us. But that wouldn’t be the world we hoped for. Not at all.”

“Then, child of men, what would be the perfect world for you and Tomitake?”

Takano looked down. Really, what would be the perfect world to her?

She closed her eyes and began thinking about a fragment where her sins would’ve been forgiven. Maybe a world where all the things she did wouldn’t occur at all.

A world where she met Tomitake under… normal circumstances.

A world where both of them could… be happy together.

“… All of this is impossible, right?”

“…”

“There’s no way my sins will ever be forgiven. Yes, Jirou forgave me, helped me to become Miyoko Tanashi again. But I threw all of that away. The world where we got your damned Looping Powers from… It was after I got saved by him. Meaning I died before that…”

Takano could finally move again and spun around towards the woman.

“You threw us back into a world where I wanted to execute all of my horrible actions. Only to use us like marionettes in the end! But I am fed up with this! Yes, I am accepting that Tomitake being my enemy is all my fault. But you know what? I’m bringing the old Tomitake back! He is still somewhere inside that corrupted Version, waiting to be freed. This time, I will save the person who saved my life.”

Takano grabbed the sword tightly. She was shaking, but also determined to save her partner.

“I WILL NOT LET YOU USE JIROU TOMITAKE ANY LONGERRRRR!”

Takano dashed forward, trying to hit the floating woman in her stomach.

But as expected, the woman was too fast and avoided her attack flawlessly.

“You know you tried to hit me before, right, Child of men? It’s useless to try and attack me like that.”

Takano smirked. She grabbed into her jacket and pulled out a gun.

“You know, I had a few fragments worth of training to aim with my gun. I hope it pays off, heh.”

Takano aimed at the woman, but as expected, the woman could even dodge her bullets.

“You start to look miserable, trying to hit a god-like entity.”, the woman said and grinned. It was as if she was playing with Takano.

Takano just grinned herself and slowly walked towards one of the fragments.

It showed her and Tomitake being in the Sea of Fragments for the first time.

“Theoretically… If I destroy one of those fragments, it’ll be like none of this ever happened, right?~”

“Don’t you dare-”

Takano aimed her gun at the Fragment and shot a bullet onto it.

It shattered into thousands of pieces.

The floating woman somehow looked like she was weakened.

She was cowering on the ground, holding onto her shakujou as if it was a pole to lean onto.

Takano slowly walked forward. Her eyes were filled with rage.

“I have two last questions for you before I end this nightmare once and for all.”

Takano held the sword under the floating womans throat, ready to slice into it.

“First… Did you fall in love with Jirou and thus manipulated him into doing all of this? And second… If I kill you, will Jirou be the old Jirou I fell in love with again?”

The woman laughed at Takanos questions.

“Hahahahaha, HAHAHAHA! Me? Falling in love with this idiot? Are you joking, Child of Men? I bet that the version I created of him may have feelings for me, but I won’t ever except them. You don’t fall in love with a tool of yours. You, Miyo Takano, should know it best.”

Takano looked to the ground. All those Fragments ago, Tomitake really just was like a tool to her to reach her goals, but over time, she really fell in love with him.

“You may see Jirou as a tool, but I see him as a human.”

Takano tightly grabbed the sword again.

“Now… for the last question. See for yourself, Child of Men.”

Takano grabbed the Sword and sliced the throat of the woman open, which made her body faint and disappear.

Heavily breathing, Takano closed her eyes.

This nightmare seemed to be over.

Or so she thought.

When she opened her eyes again, she and Tomitake stood in front of the shrine. It was nighttime.

Takano still held the sword tightly in her hand.

“There you are. It was about time you showed up.”

Tomitake was the first one to speak.  He looked up towards the sky.

“I’ve been thinking about our situation. It’s ironic how we even ended up here, hm? We swore to never leave each other’s side… and now one of us has to leave the stage.”

The way Tomitake said that made Takano shiver.

That’s when she spotted something.

When Tomitake turned his head towards her again, one of his eyes was normal, while the other clearly showed the eye of a Looper.

“You were right Miyo… He is still inside of me, he is still a part of me. But once I get the sword and struck you down, not only will he finally leave. No, then I will finally be free! I won’t be your tool anymore, nor your lover. I will be the one who will claim the position of a god instead of you! Hahahahaha, HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Suddenly, Tomitakes head turned to the side. The other half of his face, which showed his normal eye, was now talking to Takano.

“Miyoko… I wish it would’ve never gotten so far. If you need to, struck me down. I won’t be mad or anything. I still love you… nghhh-”

“Don’t listen to him, Miyooooo!!”

The other half of Tomitake spun around and looked at Takano.

He put a hand inside his camera pocket and pulled a gun out of it. With a big grin on his face, he aimed it at Takano.

“I’ll shoot you, get the sword and end your miserable life forever. Sounds like a nice plan, huh? HUH?!”

Takano raised the sword and aimed it at Tomitake.

She was shivering, but could still somewhat control her emotions.

"Evil” Tomitake giggled. It was an evil giggle.

“Miyoooo~… let us dance one last time, shall we? But this time, with our weapons at hand. Let’s show the gods the deadliest dance of all time.”

Chapter Text

Tomitake and Takano stood in front of each other, each one had their weapon at hand. Evil Tomitake was carefully aiming at Takano, sometimes you could see his head twitching due to the original Tomitake trying to take over the body.

Takano herself tried to stay calm, yet seeing her Partner being so torn broke her heart.

She grabbed the sword a bit tighter with both hands and carefully and slowly walked sideways. Tomitake did the same, they were walking in a cycle, constantly facing each other.

“I always wanted the best for you, you know? I always wanted to make sure you had a good life. And then, hah… You threw all of that away. You became such a nuisance at some point. Oh Miyo… If only you cooperated with me. We could’ve become such a powerful couple! Everyone would’ve feared us! But no… You wanted to do a solo show again!!”

Tomitake was shouting at her. Takano tried to not listen to him, but she couldn’t fully avoid it.

“You are such a self-centered bitch, Miyo Takano. God, I learned to hate you so much during those many, many months or even years we’ve been traveling through the fragments now. Maybe I should’ve just hooked up with that woman from the Sea of Fragments instea-”

“SHUT UP!!! JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!!”

Takano yelled her heart out, hearing those words.

She yelled so loudly that the Higurashi stopped crying.

That’s when Tomitake’s head twitched again, his facial expression changed, as well as his eye colour.

He looked like the normal, original Tomitake again.

“Miyoko, I promise, that’s not what I think, it’s what he thinks. I promise everything will get- Worse from here! Hahahaha, HAHAHAAHAHAHA!”

His expression and eye colour changed again.

Tomitake sadistically licked the top of his gun.

“Now Miyo, show me how good your reflexes are~”

Tomitake shot at Takano, who could just avoid getting hit.

Panting, Takano tried to focus on Tomitakes moves.

He walked a few steps towards her, she walked a few steps back.

He then tried to aim the gun at her again…

Yet, his hand aimed the gun at his own head instead.

One eye red, one eye brown.

It looked like the original Tomitake could control the hand holding the gun.

“MIYOKO, RUN!”

Takano stood still for a few seconds, but after she realized it was the old Tomitake talking to her, she ran a few meters into the forest.

Then she heard a gun shot.

Takano fell down onto her knees and leaned against the sword.

Did the original Tomitake really kill himself so that Takano could run away?

Even if he did that, he wasn’t dead forever.

Takano just had to somehow be killed and she’d go through this nightmare again.

“I… What should I do now? Hahh… haahh…”

She heard Footsteps approaching her, the rustling of leaves from the bushes around her.

“MIYOOOO~ WHERE ARE YOUUUU?~”

… and then she heard Tomitake calling out her name.

She knew by the tone of voice that it was evil Tomitake. For some reason, he either survived the gun shot or he simply gained control over the arm again.

A few moments later, Tomitake walked towards her. He didn’t have any wounds on him.

“I was lucky enough to avoid other me’s gun shot. This idiot can’t even properly aim with one hand. Not like… me.”

Tomitake aimed his gun at Takano again, but soon afterwards he felt a sharp pain in his leg.

Takano had gotten a gun out of her jacket and fired a gun shot at his leg.

“YOU BITCH!”, yelled Tomitake and dashed forward, trying to tackle Takano. Takano could step aside quickly enough, but then she tripped over a root and fell.

The Onigari-no-ryuuou flew a few meters in front of her.

“… fuck… nghhh.”

Takano tried to get up again, but her ankle was hurting like crazy.

From the corner of her eye, she saw how Tomitake walked towards the sword and picked it up.

With a sly grin he inspected the sword and gave Takano a dark smile.

He then turned around, rose the Sword up into the sky…

“Goodbye, Miyo!”

A big thunder could be heard. It started raining.

At the same time, Tomitake began screaming.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Takano had shot into Tomitakes leg again.

Takano quickly dashed forward to grab the sword and tried to use it to help her stand up.

Rain was pouring down, making the ground all muddy and slippery.

“I understand it now… I do have to kill you. There is no way to get the original Tomitake back even by killing this corrupted version. No… this story has no happy end, huh? At least not for one of us.”

Takano grabbed the sword, when Tomitake jumped up and rammed a knife into her leg. Takano screamed and both fell to the ground.

After that, they both noticed they were no longer in the forest. They now layed inside of the warehouse.

Blood was dripping from Tomitakes foot and Takanos leg.

Both were panting, trying to stand up.

“Oh hey, finally we are at a place I like.”, Takano said and let out a giggle while searching for the sword.

It was at the other end of the warehouse.

She and Tomitake threw quick glances at each other, then they both rushed towards the sword.

But as they reached it, they changed locations again.

This time, they were in Irie’s clinic, in one of the examination rooms to be exact.

Takano immediately ran towards the desk with the medical equipment and grabbed a scalpel.

“Haahh, just try to beat me here, this here is my special field!”, she exclaimed and held the scalpel in front of her.

Tomitake stood across her and nervously looked out for the sword. It couldn’t be far away from them, but it was certainly not in this room.

“Dammit…”, he said and grabbed into his camera bag again.

Another gun came into view.

“I am actually surprised you can still aim that well, even with your eye injury, Jirou-san!”, Takano said with a big grin on her face to tease him.

“You’ll be surprised how well I can aim, my dear Miyo!”, red eyed Tomitake exclaimed with a grin himself and shot at her right shoulder.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

Takano let out a sharp scream.

Panting, she leaned against the desk.

“Haaahh… Not bad for a former sniper with an eye injury…”

Takano held up the scalpel with her other arm and threw it at Tomitake, but Tomitake could easily avoid being hit.

“You, on the other hand, still need to practice aiming and throwing. Heh.”, he said and for a split second, Takano thought she saw the original Tomitake again.

Then, both heard the sound of a metallic object falling to the ground.

Without a doubt it had to be the Onigari-no-ryuuou.

Takano and Tomitake glanced at each other.

Then both, still pretty much injured, walked towards the waiting room where the sound came from.

There it was, the sword.

It layed there on the desk in the waiting room.

The door was locked. Takano tried her best to open the door, but it stayed locked.

Tomitake threw himself against the door, it gave in and fell right out of the doorframe, with Takano and Tomitake on top.

But as soon as both tried to reach out for the sword, their position had changed again.

This time, they were in the toy store.

“What the…”

Takano was surrounded by Teddy Bears, while Tomitake stood in front of a shelf full of various board games.

Immediately, Tomitake, now having red eyes again, chased after Takano through the store shooting at her multiple times.

“Come on Miyo, stay still for once!!”

“As if I’d ever do that!”, replied Takano and threw Teddy Bears around to distract Tomitake.

“Maybe we really are just pieces on a game board and someone makes us do all of this? Crazy thought, right?”

“So, you think this floating woman still isn’t dead? Hah, I killed her myself, she has to be dead!”

“I meant a higher being, but sure, she could’ve faked her death, like you did all those fragments ago.”

“Heh…”

Takano carefully looked in every shelf she came across, if the sword was laying in there, while Tomitake slowly followed her, firing a shot from time to time.

Her gaze constantly wandered from the shelves back to Tomitake, to make sure he wasn’t in possession of the sword already.

“Why don’t you give up already, Miyo? We both know I am stronger than you in every aspect.”

Takano ran across the toy store and spotted the sword on a mahjong table.

She dashed towards the table, when a sharp pain ran through her leg again.

“Nghhhhhhhhhhhhhh-”

Tomitake had shot her into her leg, making her unable to ran towards the sword again.

“That’s what you get for disobeying, Miyo~”, Tomitake said and walked towards the mahjong table.

But as soon as he reached out for the sword, their positions switched again.

This time, they were inside the hospital. In Tomitake’s room, to be exact.

“So, this is the bed you let me kill myself, huh? You are so cruel, Miyo…”

Tomitake looked at the bed, his expression saddened.

“I didn’t have a choice. I wanted to bring you to the next fragment, but I simply couldn’t bear the thought of killing you with my own hands again. Please, believe me for once, Jirou.”

Takano could see how Tomitake clenched his fist.

“You really think I’d forgive you like that, huh? HUH?”

Tomitake spun around to face her, his eyes looked watery.

“Do you have ANY Idea how I felt after that? You never cared about how I would feel! Imagine I suddenly made you kill yourself. Imagine going through all this shit again! How many times have you been doing this until now? A few hundred times? Oh, pardon me, I remember crawling my throat out at least a thousand times by now! Do you REALLY think I’d forgive you for being so selfish?”

He then reached out and grabbed Takano by the collar, burying his face into her chest.

“I thought you loved me… And then you’re doing something like that…”

“Jirou-….. Nghhhh-”

Takano felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Tomitake had stabbed her with a knife while she wasn’t paying attention.

He withdrew from her and cleaned the knife with a handkerchief.

“I started Looping and chasing you because I wanted you to feel as much pain as I had to endure throughout all those years. Yet, I still couldn’t fully break you.”

He walked towards the door and spotted the sword laying in the hallway.

“Sorry Miyo, but I have to do all of this to feel free from the shackles that you laid on me all those years ago.”

Takano dashed forward and managed it to grab Tomitake’s hand.

“Jirou, please, you don’t have to do this. Do you really want to erase me from this world?”

“It’s the only way for me to live a normal life again.”

Both of them now stood in the hallway.

The atmosphere became colder with every second they stood there.

“I am sorry.”

“Huh? Jirou? Is that you, Jirou?”

Tomitake turned around, his eyes were normal again.

“I am sorry, but I have to get the sword now.”

He dashed forward, reached his hand out…

The scenery changed again.

This time, they stood inside of the Angel Mort, around them a pool of blood and corpses.

“This is the Angel Mort after… Irie became a victim of H-173…”

Takano was fighting against the urge to puke. Seeing this once lively place in such a state made her feel ill.

“I still can’t believe you drugged Irie…”

She spun around and saw Tomitake holding the baseball bat that Irie used in the previous fragment.

“You have no Idea how easy it was to get him to the last stage. Just tell him his beloved maids would never be able to work near his place again and boom, paranoia~”

Tomitake slowly walked towards Takano, playfully swinging the bat around while grinning at her.

“You have no idea how much fun it was to bring Irie aaaall the way up to the final stage. It truly was amusing, hehe~”

“You… you turned into such a monster… I still can’t believe this…”

Takano walked past a few tables which had an awful amount of blood and guts spread out onto them.

She held her hand in front of her mouth while trying to hold her urge to puke back.

“This is absolutely disgusting…”

A metallic sound made her snap out of her discovery.

“The sword…”

Immediately, Takano ran towards the origin of the sound.

Tomitake followed her.

And again, as soon as they reached the sword, the scenery changed and they stood in front of the stairs towards the Furude shrine.

Both had their eyes fixated on the sword that laid on the top of the stairs, shimmering in the moonlight.

Their expressions told enough:

They were both desperate to get the sword, no matter what.

Within a split second, Takano dashed forward and ran up the stairs.

Tomitake looked after her, then he giggled and drew his gun, aiming at Takano’s feet to make her slow down.

Takano obviously couldn’t look behind her, but she was way too fixated on the sword anyways.

Loosing a limb or two won’t stop me. No, I have to end this nightmare soon, that’s the only thing I can do know.

Panting, Takano reached the top pf the stairs and stood in front of the shrine, which got illuminated by the bright shine of the moon.

Takano grabbed the sword, which laid before her and held it tightly.

“There’s no turning back now. I have to kill the Looper called Jirou Tomitake now…”

Takano closed her eyes. Her breathing got faster, tears were forming up in her eyes. Her body was shaking.

With a stuttering voice, she spoke up.

“I don’t want to do this, but I have to. I am sorry, Jirou, but this’ll be our last dance!”

Tomitake calmly walked up the stairs, a gun in hand, his head constantly twitching and his personality switching every few seconds.

It horrified Takano to see him like that, but this time, she had to stay strong, for herself and the trapped original Tomitake.

“I’ll free you from this prison, Jirou. I promise.”, she said with a faint smile and grabbed the sword tightly.

Both stood in front of each other again, ready to attack.

Tomitake moved forwards.

“You know what, Miyo?”

“What, Jirou?”

Takano also moved forwards.

“We both may be thinking the same thing after all.”

“Heh, are you so sure about that?”, asked Takano in a playful voice.

“”I wish…””

Both dashed forward, Takano raised her sword, while Tomitake aimed the gun at her chest.

“”I NEVER WOULD’VE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH YOUUUUUUUUU!””

Takano felt a sharp pain in her chest. Tomitake had shot her. But she quickly ignored the pain and tried to stab Tomitake, which only resulted in her giving him a small scar in his bare forearm.

“You’re sooo bad at handling swords Miyo, come one, give me the sword alreadyyyy~”

Tomitake tried to snatch the sword from her hands, but Takano quickly evaded.

Tomitake managed it to bruise Takano badly by slamming the back of the gun on her arm in order to defend himself.

Takano was holding her arm and leaned against the sword, trying to catch a breath.

Takano just managed to dodge another attack from Tomitake.

Exhausted, she reached into her jacket pocket. She had a syringe with anesthetic in it. She didn't know if it would do any good, but she had no choice but to try it.

Takano got up and rushed toward Tomitake.

However, he was able to dodge and grabbed her arm.

The sword flew away, making it unable for Takano to attack him now.

"Don't think I'm just going to let you go like that, my dear~"

Takano struggled to free herself from his grab. Then, she quickly reached into her jacket pocket and injected the anesthetic into Tomitake’s arm.

However, the anesthetic only seemed to numb him for a few seconds…

Tomitake held Takano by her shoulders and violently shook her, shouting at her in disbelief.

“What did you inject into me?? Was it H-173 again? Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!”

Tomitake’s eyes were both glowing red.

“I only injected some anesthetic into your arm, but it didn’t seem to work. You’re one lucky guy.”, said Takano and tried to free herself from his grab again, successfully, and rushed towards the sword, which laid pretty closely to the stairs.

With shaking hands, she grabbed the sword again.

She could just avoid a punch from Tomitake, who came after her.

Takano closed her eyes. The anesthetic didn’t work…

I am sorry, Jirou… But this is my only chance to win this battle.

Takano grabbed into her pocket again and got a taser gun out of it.

She avoided Tomitakes punch with an elegant swirl around him and quickly aimed the taser gun at his legs.

A harsh pain went through Tomitakes legs, he screamed in pain and fell to the ground.

He was wriggling on the floor, laying on his back, holding his legs.

“IT HURTS!!! AAAAHHHHH!!”

Tears were forming up in his eyes. Takano looked at him with a cold expression on her face.

Then, she slowly walked up to him, dragging the sword behind her.

Takano managed it to position herself on top of Tomitake, who now laid on the floor, unable to move. She held him down with her thighs, breathing heavily as she raised up the sword above her head.

Tomitake opened his eyes and looked at her. His eyes were watery and a few tears were running down his cheeks.

Yet, it weren’t his real eyes, it were still his Looper eyes, which made Takano feel anger inside of her.

“Go ahead, Miyo. Strike me down. Or… are you being too sentimental to even do that right now, hmmmm?~”

“Shut up. You’re making everything worse right now.”

“Naaaww, that’s too cute, Miyo~”

Takano tried to concentrate, but her thoughts were going everywhere. What would happen if she struck down Tomitake?

“You don’t have to worry about me, Miyo. Everything will be okay, even if you kill me for good now.”

Takano saw Tomitakes real, brown eyes looking at her.

“Where is he? Is he gone for good now?”

“I guess not. He still probably lives inside me, but he seemed pretty impressed with your skills, just like me. You were incredible, Miyoko.”, Tomitake said and gave her a faint smile.

Takano couldn’t hold back her feelings any longer.

She threw the sword to the side and broke down, laying her head onto Tomitakes chest.

“I don’t know if I have the strength to kill you for good now. What am I supposed to do when you’re not with me any longer? YOU are the reason I could start a new life, you saved me… SO WHY CAN’T I SAVE YOU AS WELL? UUUWAAAAAHHHHHH”

Takano broke down in tears while Tomitake laid a hand on top her head, comforting her.

The sound of a thunder made Takano jump a little.

It began to rain.

The rain got mixed with the mud on their clothes and skin, as well as the blood that was dripping from them.

“Miyoko, you have to be strong now. I don’t know how much longer I can hold him back. He may be ready to attack you again.”

He gently stroke Takanos cheek, smiling at her.

“If me dying now means that I saved you again, I gladly die for you again.”

The sound of rain got mixed with Takanos cries.

Was all of that really worth it?

Traveling through so many different fragments, only to kill the person who means more to you than anyone else in this world?

Takano whipped her tears away.

She looked into Tomitakes eyes and put a hand on his cheek.

Tomitake blushed and looked to the side.

Yes, it was indeed the Tomitake she fell in love with all that time ago.

She held his face with both of her hands.

A faint smile could be seen on both of their faces.

“I love you, Jirou. I’ll always love you.”

“I love you too, Miyoko. I am so glad I can save you again.”

Then, Takano kissed Tomitake one last time.

It was a long kiss. A kiss that could’ve gone on and on for one hundred years.

Yet, they both knew the time was coming.

Takano grabbed the sword with shaking hands.

Tears were running down her cheeks as she rose the sword up high above her head.

One last kiss.

One last smile.

One last goodbye.

“See you again, when the cicadas cry and the birds sing.”

The sky cleared up.

The only person standing in front of the shrine now was Takano.

In front of her laid a camera as well as a cap and dog tags.

She gently picked the items up, put on the cap and dog tags and looked at the camera.

The camera strap had something written on it.

“Property of Jirou Tomitake”

“I’ll be the only one who remembers you now, huh? I promise, I treasure you deep in my heart, Jirou.”, Takano said while looking up to the sky, crying as she spoke.

No one but her would remember the existence of a man called Jirou Tomitake.

No one would remember the man who saved her.

No one but her knew what he went through in order to save her again.

Takano noticed a bird who landed in front of her.

It was a brown bird.

Takano whiped the tears away, took a picture of the bird and smiled.

“There you are, Jirou. Hey… let’s go home together, shall we?”