Akarigurashi-hen Chapter 5 (明暮し編 其の伍 Akarigurashi-hen Sono Go, Light-Inhabiting Chapter Part 5) is the fifth and final chapter in Akarigurashi and the nineteenth and final chapter of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Meguri.
Summary[]
The club members look down at the despairing Satoko. Rika doesn't understand what she's talking about, but she knows that she's been screaming about the future. She doesn't know what happened to her, but she does understand that Satoko was alone and unable to reach out to anyone, and that Rika might've betrayed her and gone away. The rest of the club members might not have been able to be there for her either. Rika still sees herself as Satoko's friend and doesn't want to hear her ask to kill her.
The silence is broken by Shion and someone else suddenly entering the classroom, and addressing Satoko. In a flashback, Rika talks to Irie at the clinic and hears that the Hinamizawa Syndrome pathogen has changed in nature and adapted to Satoshi's body, and has been cured. Though he went L5 last year, there's been steady signs of recovery, and so Irie is sure Satoshi will wake up someday. Although research in Hinamizawa Syndrome has been discontinued and the Irie Institute was dissolved, the doctor wants to do everything in his power to wake up Satoshi. Rika asks Irie for a favor, and later Shion shows up to see Satoshi. Shion cries upon seeing him alive, and Irie assures her that Satoshi will come back. He asks Rika and Shion to keep Satoshi's condition secret from Satoko, as she would be happier if Satoshi came back while he was in good health and was carrying the big teddy bear present. Shion wants to bring Satoshi to her personally when that day comes, and wants to keep visitng him every day.
Shion and Rika affirm their intent to keep this a secret, as she and Satoko are both waiting for Satoshi. Just then, Shion recalls memories of the Watadamashi/Wataakashi world, of killing Mion and Satoko holding a gun and dying. Shion starts crying and Rika asks what's wrong. Shion explains that she had a daydream of Satoko holding a gun and explains, and feels that Satoshi's trying to tell her that something's awoken inside Satoko. Shion asserts that she wants Satoko to keep smiling for when Satoshi comes back.
Shion asks Rika if Satoko's doing anything strange. Rika thinks that this is the 127th loop, and is sure that Shion got Fragment memories just like Keiichi and Takano, and so she might believe her. Rika states that Satoko's trying to kill her, which shocks Shion. Shion asks to hear everything.
The flashback continues over the next few days as Shion hangs out with Satoko. Shion and Rika drag Mion into the woods, confusing her. Shion has already been told Rika's plan, and asks if she can be demoned away alongside Mion. Mion doesn't know if that's a good idea, but Shion says she wants to be with Satoshi, surprising Mion that she was able to see him. Mion hugs her cries, and accepts her idea and says to leave things to her.
Rika thinks that as a looper, it's difficult to believe in something when anything can turn a friend into an enemy. However, there are things to be learned and recognized, and moments where human thoughts overcome fate are what's known as miracles.
In the present, it's shown that Satoshi has woken up and come with Shion to the classroom. Satoko sheds a tear and can hardly believe that her Nii-nii has come home. The club is shocked that Satoshi is here, and he stumbles onto the floor. Satoshi regrets that he kept Satoko waiting for so long, and tells her to come to his side as Satoko can hardly believe what she's seeing. She starts claiming that Satoshi is just an impostor and thinks Rika did something to give her terminal symptoms. Satoko starts crying and Satoshi breaks out of Shion's grasp and falls, and starts crawling towards her. The club watches as Satoshi successfully reaches Satoko and pats her head, apologizing for taking so long to come home. He says he was having a long dream where he was having fun with Satoko every day and saw her and Shion come to cheer him on in a baseball game, but Satoko was all alone in the end and went far away. When Satoshi woke up, he worried that something had happened to her, and is thankful that she's still alive. Satoshi adds that he can finally give her the big teddy bear she wanted for her birthday, and Satoko cries even harder since she was practicing how to be happy when she received it.
Satoko is released from her restraints, and admits that she was planning to kill the club. Rika says that in all of her 100 years of looping, she never saw Satoshi wake up once, and attributes this to Satoko's own loops. Satoko remembers Eua telling her that looping would cause accumulations in other people. Rika says that Satoko has done some unforgivable things, but she still wishes for a world where everyone can be happy, and that she overcame a fate that's never been changed before. Rika asserts that this is a miracle that Satoko grasped with her own hands, and wants her to accept it and live on. Rika says that she also did nothing while letting her friends die for years, and doesn't expect to be forgiven nor does she know what she should've done. All she and Satoko can do is keep facing the June 1983 that repeated, forever.
Time passes. Rena recovers in the clinic, Satoshi starts regaining his ability to walk with Irie's help, and the club enters the next year of school. In March 1984, the club is having a picnic at the Furude Shrine and playing card games, ending in Satoshi beating Keiichi and making him do a punishment game. Mion and Shion have entered high school now, with Mion thanking Keiichi for teaching her how to study. Shion teases her for wanting to spend more time with Keiichi. Satoshi mentions how surprised he was when he woke up and saw Shion crying, and thanks her for keeping her promise. The group looks over at Satoko and Rika at the observation platform. Satoko hands Rika a St. Lucia guide, reminding her of her promise with Hanyuu. Rika asks Satoko what she's going to do, and she replies that she'll stay in Hinamizawa and live with Satoshi. Every day is fun like a festival here, which were the days she always wished for. Satoko is reminded of the weakness in her heart when she sees everyone being kind to her, and considers it the natural price for looping. She wonders how she can go on like this, and doesn't know if her looping powers are gone; Satoko worries about waking up in 1983 again without "this" Rika and going on alone. Rika says that they both are continuing to abandon their friends to their fate, and though they arrived in 1983, they may still live without finding happiness. Even so, Rika and Satoko will live on bearing the weight of that karma. Satoko smiles and takes her hand.
In the Sea of Fragments, Eua watches and concludes that things are finished, and nothing else will happen. She laments that she did so much work to drive Satoko to despair and rob her future to make her a piece, but is now bored. Eua decides she's done playing with "this one" and goes off to find the next one, and commends Satoko for giving her some enjoyment. Time continues to pass in Hinamizawa, with the rest of the club seemingly adults and Rika and Satoko going to reunite with them in the school, hand in hand.
Characters[]
- Mion Sonozaki
- Rena Ryuugu
- Keiichi Maebara
- Satoko Houjou
- Rika Furude
- Shion Sonozaki
- Kyousuke Irie
- Miyo Takano (memory)
- Satoshi Houjou
- Kyousuke Irie
- Hanyuu (memory)
- Eua
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