Chapter 113: An Ued Visitor at Night

  “Huh?”

  Standing in front of Alex was a girl who looked about the same age as Rika and the others. However, her outfit was distinct—a red and white shrine maiden’s attire. Her round eyes were wide as she looked at him, as if utterly surprised to have been noticed. Most strikihe horn-like structures on her head—no, they were indeed horns.

  Alex knew who this girl was, of course. The adorable yet delicate girl before him was her than the fabled Oyashiro-sama from Hinamizawa's lore, said to be the mastermind behind several mysterious "disappearahough that was clearly nonsense.

  It was odd, really. Despite the entire world of Higurashi practically breaking from endless loops, it still felt rooted in sce. The protagonists had faced challeer challehout relying on supernatural powers; everything was solved with sheer grit and reasoning. Still, these main characters, managing to outwit specialized forces, seemed either like prodigies or those soldiers were incredibly inpetent.

  But Alex couldn't fathom why she was in front of him now. By all logic, this Oyashiro-sama should be sharing perception with Rika, and typically only appears to those who reach L3 her of the Hinamizawa Syndrome... Wait a minute—he’d been here only a day, and already at Stage 3? Is this some kind of joke?

  While Alex cursed inwardly, Hanyu looked equally bewildered, clearly stuhat this man could actually see her.

  “Are you a studeoo? Either way, e in,” Alex said, curious now. He was fident that he wouldn’t show signs of Hinamizawa Syndrome but was indeed seeing Hanyu quite clearly. Pying along, he opehe door and invited her inside.

  “Oh, thank you… sorry to intrude…”

  Hanyu, not fully processing that someone could see her so clearly, instinctively bowed to Alex before walking in and taking a seat.

  “Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?”

  “N-no, thank you!!”

  At this, Hanyu hurriedly waved her hands. Seeing this, Alex didn’t press further, knowing that Hanyu was merely a spectral form and probably couldn’t drink anything even if she wao. Still, he pyed along with the se.

  “Alright then… by the way, I don’t believe I caught your name?”

  “My name is…”

  Hanyu seemed nervous, hesitating for a moment before quietly replying, “Hanyu Furude.”

  “Oh? You’re reted to Rika…”

  “Yes, we’re… retives…”

  The cssic Japarope—introdug mysterious girls as “retives.” The girl who fell from the sky? A “retive.” A visitor from another world? Also a “retive.” Now even a spectral deity? Of course, a “retive.”

  Well, in this case, she was teically reted. Just that the geional gap was a bit rge.

  “o meet you, Hanyu.”

  As he mused inwardly, Alex nodded iing.

  “You may have already heard from Rika, but I’m Alex. I just arrived as a teacher a couple of days ago. Pleased to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is all mine,” Hanyu replied, a bit stiffly. She quickly stood up and respectfully bowed.

  “So, what brings you here so te?” Alex asked.

  “...Well…”

  It was obvious Hanyu wasn’t great at lying. She still seemed thrown off by the fact that she, a spirit, was being so casually addressed by a human.

  “I heard from Rika that there was a eacher, so I wao see for myself… au au…”

  Her voice trailed off as she looked away, face flushed with embarrassment.

  Her rea was a clear giveaway that something .

  “Isn’t it dangerous to e here alohis te? Why not e by the school if you wao see me? I haven’t seen you there.”

  “It’s… plicated…”

  Hanyu seemed on the verge of tears. She khat the times she could appear outside Rika’s side usually involved people who had reached advaages of the syndrome. Initially, she had been curious, but it seemed highly uhat Alex had reached such a state after only a day. Yet, here he was, appearing pletely ued—and still able to see her clearly!

  After all, even those with severe L5 cases could usually only hear her faintly.

  e to think of it, doesn’t stantly apologizing around those in advaages only make them more paranoid, Hanyu?

  "Uh, um, I'm really sorry for disturbing you! I have to go now—please don't tell ahat I was here!"

  After saying this, Hanyu couldn't sit still any longer. She quickly stood up and hurried out. Watg her leave, Alex raised an eyebrow but ultimately did nothing to stop her.

  Truthfully, Hanyu’s appearance was a surprise for Alex, though a pleasant one. He had hoped to find a ce to talk with Rika. However, if he approached her directly, Rika would likely be suspicious. She might wonder about his iions and proceed cautiously rather than ing forward openly.

  Rika could tolerate one failure, but Alex didn’t have that luxury. He uood the fual differeween Rika’s power and, say, Tom Cruise’s from Edge of Tomorrow. While Tom’s resets would rewind the world, Rika’s power wasly time-travel; it was more like parallel-world hopping. If she failed here, Rika would simply shift to aimeline and start over.

  But while Rika could travel through worlds, Alex couldn’t. His power involved maniputing time, not parallel worlds. Furthermore, Rika’s ability came from Hanyu, a "single-user lise" of sorts. He had no guarahat he’d go with her if she reset, should they fail.

  Now, however, with Hanyu as a possible messenger, Rika might take some other course of a.

  Alex reached for his coffee mug, took a sip, and then turo gaze out at the pitch-bight sky. The cicadas chirped faintly in the darkness.

  "Rika! Rika! Rika!!"

  "What's wrong, Hanyu?"

  Rika frowned, gng at Satoko, who was already fast asleep nearby. She turo face Hanyu, displeased.

  "Where did you go? I was calling for you, and you didn’t answer."

  "It’s bad… really bad this time! Au au au!"

  "What happened?"

  Seeing Hanyu so flustered, Rika grew curious.

  "I... I was seen!"

  "What?!"

  Rika’s face filled with shock.

  “What do you mean, ‘you were seen’? Do you mean someone could actually see you?”

  “Yes! It was the eacher who came today. I went to che him tonight, but he noticed me! He even invited me in for a chat!"

  "Did he act strange?"

  Rika’s expression grew more serious. She khe ditions for Hanyu to be visible to someone.

  "Is he already at L3?"

  "No, no! He seemed pletely normal, which is the strange part. He looked at me so clearly, like he could see me without any problem. And he just treated me like a normal student, asking me a bunch of questions…”

  Hanyu bit her lip, then looked at Rika.

  "Rika… I think this Alex might be the hope we o escape this fate."

  “…”

  But Rika didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she lowered her head, sat down against the wall, and looked thoughtfully out the window. Hanyu tilted her head, curious at Rika’s unusual rea.

  “...Rika?”

  "I don’t know..."

  Rika murmured, curling up as her body shook—not with fear, but with anticipation. This was someoirely new, someone she hadn’t entered in all her cycles. Someone who, like her, could talk to Hanyu. Perhaps, as Hanyu said, this man might be her way out of this torment.

  But would he really help her? Rika knew from tless cycles that high hopes ofteo deeper disappois.

  What if he refused to help? Or even if he wao, would he end up like Akasaka...?

  She lowered her head and closed her eyes.

  This time… should she take the ce?

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