Taboo (禁忌 Kinki) is the fourth chapter of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Oni.
Summary[]
Oryou finishes telling her story. By morning, only she and her grandmother Okai were the last surviving members of their family, as Oryou's parents were killed fighting the demon while Yuuki was taken and never came back. Souhei can't believe that Yuuki was actually taken by a demon. He remembers an old conversation he had with Yuuki as a child, where Yuuki promised he could get rid of the demons if they came for Souhei.
Souhei apologizes for losing his cool when he sees how sad Oryou is. He remembers his parents saying a similar thing long ago and expresses disbelief that demons are real. Souhei insists that humans were really responsible for killing their parents and taking Yuuki away. Ritsuka tells him to calm down since he's scaring Oryou, and Seiji ominously mentions that only Ritsuka was pardoned because she's a Furude. Ritsuka and Oryou are shocked to hear this, and Seiji apologizes and goes outside to cool his head.
Oryou remembers that Seiji's mother Chiyoko also disappeared that night. Villagers saw her carrying a bloodied sword with disheveled hair and heading towards Onigafuchi. The men of the village who normally made advances towards Chiyoko and were rejected claimed she incurred Oyashiro-sama's wrath. Souhei takes this to mean they're blaming Chiyoko for the deaths of their parents and Yuuki's disappearance. Ritsuka and Oryou lament Chiyoko's disappearance, but Souhei wonders why even they blame her. Souhei begins to understand why the villagers looked at Seiji coldly and Ritsuka says it's not like that: they still believe in Chiyoko and Seiji, it's just that Seiji decided by himself to be alone and stay away from Ritsuka. She expresses that the human Chiyoko would never do what she did. As Seiji leaves, Oryou and Ritsuka tell Souhei that this is a taboo subject and to not pry any further, otherwise Oyashiro-sama will get angry. Souhei would be next in line for the curse otherwise.
A month later, Souhei has gotten reacquainted with Hinamizawa life. He thinks about the village taboos and figures that Okai must have seen the culprit that night, and is interrupted by Kiichirou's arrival. Kiichirou says he wanted to give Souhei a hand and talk to him about something, but it's not necessary anymore. The two of them talk and reminisce on their childhoods, with Souhei surprised to learn that Oryou is much better than Kiichirou at swordsmanship now.
Souhei begins to ask what happened 15 years ago when he and his grandfather left the village, and Kiichirou interrupts to ask if the villagers are treating him well. Souhei affirms it, and Kiichirou tells him not to worry about the small things. He gets up to leave and Souhei asks if they can meet for drinks later tonight and talk, but Kiichirou says the Three Families are holding a meeting, and he can't skip out on that.
That night, Souhei prepares to attend the Three Families meeting as well. He knows it'll be a problem for Oryou, but this is his only opportunity. Souhei musters up his courage and barges in, being met with glares from the older members. Okai orders him to leave and Oryou shows concern, but Souhei asks to have some time. He takes note of everyone in the room: Ritsuka is with her parents, Oryou is sitting next to Okai, and Kiichirou is with the village leaders, which confuses him. Souhei asks Okai what really happened 15 years ago and wants to hear directly from her, and Okai says his grandfather must've told him then. Souhei says he doesn't believe in the curse of Oyashiro-sama and wants to know the truth. An enraged Okai yells that he's just the son of a family who abandoned the village and has no right to be investigating like this.
Okai and Souhei argue, with Souhei wanting to know why nobody anywhere knows what happened. When he searched in Tokyo, he couldn't find anything, and even the newspapers and police acted like nothing happened. Souhei also wants to know why Seiji is being ostracized, but Okai tells him to shut up. Oryou tells Souhei that Hinamizawa is facing a crisis: due to the recession and war, young people have been leaving the village. Relations with other villages are getting worse, and there are rumors of Hinamizawans having demonic blood. They say people are losing faith in Oyashiro-sama, but Souhei exclaims it's just a superstition from an old era.
Okai says that Souhei entered the ritual storehouse 15 years ago, drawing surprise from Oryou. Souhei once again says there's no curse, but the other village elders get angry at him for getting cursed. They express how they believed it was Chiyoko's fault,, but it was really Souhei. Okai says that Ritsuka, Oryou and Seiji also snuck in due to Souhei's tempting. Okai says she just learned it recently, but Oryou thinks that's a lie since should've known it for a long time.
Okai says it's Souhei's fault that he got cursed by Oyashiro-sama, resulting in the deaths of Oryou's parents and Yuuki and Chiyoko's disappearances. Ritsuka tries to defend Souhei and brings up how weird it is that only Chiyoko became a demon. However, the elders say what Oyashiro-sama does can't be fathomed by humans. Okai is still angry and says they can't have anything happen again that results in people's death.
Meanwhile, Seiji prepares to enter the ritual storehouse.
Characters[]
- Ryou Sonozaki
- Okai Sonozaki
- Souhei Origuchi
- Ritsuka Furude
- Seiji Kimiyoshi
- Kiichirou Kimiyoshi
- Mayor Kimiyoshi
Gallery[]
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