Misfortune (禍事 Magakoto) is the third chapter of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Oni.
Summary[]
A young Souhei is told a story of Hinamizawa's past by his parents Souji and Itsumi, back when it was still called Onigafuchi. Long ago, demons emerged from Onigafuchi Swamp and attacked the villagers. The god Oyashiro-sama then appeared and fostered peace between the humans and demons and helped then coexist; Hinamizawa's inhabitants inherited the blood of demons. Souhei is excited at hearing how benevolent Oyashiro-sama is, but his mom tells him that anyone who violates his rules will be cursed. Doubting Oyashiro-sama, leaving the village, and defiling his holy ground are all forbidden, but he will protect you if you follow the rules. If you break the rules, then everyone in Hinamizawa will be dragged into the swamp and eaten by demons.
The adult souhei wakes up from his dream of reminiscence. He greets Oryou, Seiji, and Ritsuka and sits them down to have some ohagi that Oryou brought. After having some fun talking and eating, the mood turns grim as Souhei asks if anything happened in the village that night they snuck into the storehouse. He'd come back to Hinamizawa to find out what happened.
Souhei recalls what happened back then: after splitting with the others, Souhei suddenly got scared and felt like getting away, so he quickly went home and slept. He was suddenly woken up by his grandfather, who was covered in blood and had an ear missing, and had a bag placed over his head. Souhei caught a glimpse of something happening to his parents, being warned that it was "the demon". Souhei and his grandfather went to a house in Tokyo, where Souhei was told his parents were dead; he was to forget about them and be raised by Grandfather now. Grandfather never said anything else about Hinamizawa since then.
As Souhei grew up he started working and made a good living as a peddler. Grandfather was getting old and looked like he was always afraid of something, and one day he started praying to Oyashiro-sama for forgiveness. On his deathbed, he told Souhei to go back to Hinamizawa and learn everything about his parents.
Souhei relays to his friends about how he wants to learn the truth and forgive himself for ruining his family. Oryou explains that after Souhei left that night, the others lingered in the area because of that mysterious feeling, and they were caught by Mayor Kimiyoshi. The friends deny going into the ritual storehouse and claim they were playing games instead, and the mayor ominously says that if they did go into the storehouse, then Oyashiro-sama would've followed them.
Oryou hid under her covers that night, worrying about what the mayor said. She starts hearing footsteps and her brother Yuuki panicking, with Oryou wondering if Oyashiro-sama really followed her home. She hears a scream and then hears Yuuki profusely apologizing to Oyashiro-sama for angering him. Oryou's grandmother Okai tells him to run away. Oryou gets up to peek and sees blood covering a screen. Okai tells her to stay in her room no matter what and starts apologizing as well. The frightened Oryou joins them.
Characters[]
- Souhei Origuchi
- Souhei's parents
- Seiji Kimiyoshi
- Ritsuka Furude
- Ryou Sonozaki
- Souhei's grandfather (flashback)
- Mayor Kimiyoshi (flashback)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Souhei's parents resemble Zel and Oliver from Rose Guns Days.
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