Hoshiwatashi-hen Chapter 8 (第8話 Dai Hachi-wa) is the eighth chapter of Hoshiwatashi-hen.
Summary[]
A crying Satoko calls Keiichi and tells him that Rika was murdered at her hospital, plus Kisaku still hasn't come home. Mayor Kimiyoshi also calls some people and says that nobody, not even Irie, saw Kisaku anywhere. Satoko realizes that with Kisaku's disappearance and Rika's death, they must have been the target of Oyashiro-sama's curse and can't believe it.
Keitarou can hardly believe Rika was killed either. Sakiko explains that her mom was listed as Rika's emergency contact, and that the police said Rika was stabbed to death. Old memories with Rika flash by as Keitarou wonders just who would kill her, and why. Sakiko asks the same thing and crudely suggests Polaris was behind it, since Keitarou sympathizes with them. Keitarou has a moment of realization and asks Sakiko where she is and who's with her.
Sakiko is with a mob of angry villagers. She tells Keitarou she already knows that Polaris was behind these incidents and believes they got rid of Kisaku and Rika to break the villagers' spirits. Sakiko says she should've realized sooner what they were doing and that they need right away to get rid of Polaris. Sakiko ends the call and rallies the other villagers to follow her to Polaris's village.
Keitarou opens his window to see many other houses in the village lit up, and the flickering of flashlights; the villagers are indeed heading towards Polaris. Keitarou gets dressed, checks to see his mom still sleeping, and gets onto his bike. Keitarou wonders how the villagers could possibly suspect Polaris in all of this. Suddenly, he gets a call from Tamaki. Tamaki already knows what's going on and Keitarou asks her to make the Sonozakis do something, but Tamaki sadly says that's not possible. The Sonozakis or the Kimiyoshis didn't organize the villagers, yet they still took up arms. Tamaki thinks the Sonozakis have little influence now because of the times. Keitarou says she can still do something since the Kimiyoshis are dealing with Kisaku's disappearance. Tamaki says she was told not to leave her room until morning, and that even if a Sonozaki tried to stand up to the villagers now, they might not be safe. Keitarou doesn't understand.
Tamaki asks where he is right now, and Keitarou demands to know why she asked that, worrying that she'll turn him over to the villagers. Tamaki explains that everyone already knows he went to the Polaris festival and consider him a traitor, and that he's in real danger now. She says not to get involved with Polaris anymore and Keitarou calls her a coward, saying that he wants to help Polaris since they're members of the village. He wants the villagers to understand that Polaris is afraid to open up to others and ends the call. Keitarou intensifies his pedaling and wishes for Kururu and Inori to be safe.
As Sakiko and the villagers march, Irie walks up to them and tries to stop them. Sakiko tells him all about Kisaku and Rika, and some villagers profess how they want to make Polaris pay. Irie yells at them to stop and asks if they have any proof, and that if they were involved then it's the courts' job to bring justice. Someone points out that Irie treats Polaris people at the clinic, and others ask if he's on their side. Many of the villagers scratch their heads. Irie doesn't reply and instead says that the police will arrest everyone if they do this, and lose their shot at Hinamizawa becoming a World Heritage site.
Irie asks Sakiko if Satoko knows she's out late, and Sakiko says he never told her. She couldn't possibly talk to her mom when she's grieving over Kisaku and Rika, and she has no choice if she;s to protect Hinamizawa. Sakiko scratches her head as she goes on about driving Polaris out. The other villagers join her, and Irie notes that with how everyone looks and is acting, his prediction was right. There's nothing he can do now at this point.
At the Polaris village, Inori is woken up by her mom speaking to Kururu at the front door. Kururu says they need to get to the Holy Mother right away. She says a mob of Hinamizawans is coming, and Canopus and the Ring of Stars are handling it. Kururu's father Canopus and other Polaris members meet the Hinamizawa mob and ask if they're here n Mayor Kimiyoshi's orders. Canopus takes note of all the weapons everyone brought and says he's willing to talk, and he's prepared to deal with any threats. Canopus pulls out a voice recorder as proof, but Sakiko smacks it out of his hands and crushes it with her foot. Sakiko demands to know where he's keeping Kisaku and if they killed him like they did Rika, and Canopus is shocked. He had no idea Rika was killed, but the villagers don't believe him. Canopus orders the Hinamizawans to leave immediately, but Sakiko grabs a pitchfork and hits him in the head with it, knocking him to the ground. Sakiko asks to see the Holy Mother so she can ask her herself about Kisaku. Keitarou keeps pedaling.
Characters[]
- Satoko Houjou
- Mayor Kimiyoshi
- Rika Furude
- Keitarou Maebara
- Sakiko Kimiyoshi
- Tamaki Sonozaki
- Kyousuke Irie
- Kururu's father
- Inori Mikazuki
- Kururu Isshiki
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