Tatariakashi-hen Part 2 (祟明し編 其の弐 Tatariakashi-hen Sononi, Curse-Revealing Chapter Part 2) is the second and final chapter in Tatariakashi-hen and the thirteenth chapter of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Meguri.
Summary[]
The club works to save Satoko by petitioning the village council and Oryou, and soon villagers are gathered in front of the child consultation center. Meanwhile, Satoko cleans her house as she thinks that she's succeeded in preparing Ooishi, getting the club to act, and tricking Teppei. Teppei picks up the phone when it rings and talks to the social worker on the other end, who plans to send someone to the Houjou residence. Teppei thinks he needs to protect Satoko from being bullied and yells at the worker, saying that they can send staff another time. The worker then asks to speak with Satoko herself. Teppei is reluctant, but Satoko takes the phone.
On the other end, Rika pleads to Satoko to ask for help and think about how Satoshi protected her long ago. As she tells Satoko to be strong, Satoko struggles to keep in her laughter. She yells for help and quickly hangs up the phone.
Satoko lies to Teppei that Ooishi's on the way, and so there's nothing to worry about. Satoko says they should have a feast to celebrate, and tells Teppei to clean the bathtub while she goes out for groceries. Satoko says they can start a new life tomorrow, and Teppei happily follows her request. As he cleans the tub, Teppei thinks about how he'll do anything for Satoko to make her happy. Suddenly, Satoko shoots Teppei in the head and kills him, and mockingly asks if he enjoyed playing family.
When Ooishi and Harayama visit later, Satoko tells them that Teppei grabbed the phone and hung up, and ran away when he realized the child consultation center was sending people over. Satoko tells Ooishi that Teppei threatened her and so she had no choice but to act nice in front of him earlier, which confuses Ooishi. He can't believe that Teppei was abusing her and found that he wasn't in any trouble in Okinomiya and doesn't know why he'd come back to Hinamizawa, especially around the time of the Watanagashi. Ooishi brushes the thought aside and voices his relief that Satoko's alright. He asks Harayama to place her into protective custody but Satoko asks if it can wait until after the Watanagashi. Ooishi decides it's fine since the police will watch over her, and so Satoko will have time to play with her friends.
Once the adults leave, Satoko bursts out laughing, having successfully tricked Rika, her friends, and the entire village into playing along with her plan. She even started crying crying to contain her laughter earlier. Satoko then prepares an ink scroll and hands it over to Ooishi at the police station, claiming she found it at the shrine. Ooishi opens it to reveal the names of the dam construction foreman, the Furude couple, the Houjou couple, Tamae Houjou, and Satoshi Houjou; the previous victims of Oyashiro-sama's curse. Satoko points out that hers and Teppei's names are written there too, and wonders aloud if Teppei's already been killed since he still hasn't been found. Satoko pleads for help, and Ooishi determines that, so long as he keeps watch on Satoko, the real culprit behind the curse will appear. Ooishi promises Satoko he'll help.
Ooishi does research and concludes Rika is the culprit behind the curse. According to legend, the Watanagashi was a ritual for sacrificing tainted villagers by cutting out their entrails and offering them to demons, with the Furude family responsible for carrying them out. Ooishi thinks the biggest defilement in Hinamizawa is the Houjou family for leading the pro-dam faction, and determines Rika must be planning to wipe out the rest of the Houjou family. He scratches his neck as he thinks that he needs conclusive evidence to end it all.
Satoko takes a shower and washes down some bloodstains, with Teppei's corpse sitting in the bathtub next to her. She puts on a new outfit and then calls Ooishi, pleading him to come and help her before leaving the phone unhooked. Ooishi is horrified when Satoko doesn't respond to him, with Satoko herself seeing Keiichi on his way to pick her up for the festival and getting excited.
Ooishi rushes over to the Houjou residence and enters the bathroom to find Teppei's corpse, his body beaten and his intestines pulled out of him. He figures Teppei wasn't killed today because of the stench, and determines this really was the curse of Oyashiro-sama because his intestines were pulled out. Seeing Satoko's bloody clothes and a baseball bat nearby, Ooishi thinks Rika's already captured Satoko to sacrifice her. Ooishi determines this is conclusive evidence; he reaches L5 symptoms and declares he'll get revenge for the dam construction foreman as as he grabs the bat and heads off towards the festival.
The club has fun at the Watanagashi Festival. Shion says she's changed her mind about Keiichi after the incident and thanks him for saving Satoko. Satoko herself returns from the bathroom and is given headpats by Keiichi. She reflects on the previous two worlds and is confident that things will go to plan in this world. During Rika's dance, the deranged Ooishi arrives and shoots her in the side, Satoko smirking as this happens. Villagers flee, and Shion and Mion are shot and killed by Ooishi as Keiichi rushes to help Rika. Satoko hugs him and begs her Nii-nii not to go, not allowing him to help Rika. Keiichi breaks off and goes to help Rika anyway.
As Satoko watches, she comments that Keiichi is indeed the kind of person to confront tragedy for the sake of his friends, and that him doing this was within expectations. She really did like this world where Keiichi was her Nii-nii and worried about her, and wants him to keep doing it in the next world.
Rena tries to help Rika but a villager grabs her and says that Rika being killed is good. Rena turns to look at him in horror, and sees the villager also succumbing from terminal symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome and scratching his throat. Another deranged villager goes up to the stage and calls for Rika to die. A regular villager demands to know why he said that, but is beaten to death. Many other villagers start calling for Rika's death or praying to Oyashiro-sama for forgiveness while succumbing from terminal symptoms and scratching their throats to death. Rena looks around in horror as Satoko retrieves her gun from under the stage stairs.
Rena tells Satoko to stop as she goes on stage, but Satoko ignores her. She shoots Ooishi in the head and kills him, then shoots Rika in the head to ensure she’s dead. Looking out at the sight of deranged villagers dead or fighting each other, Satoko looks at Rena, smiles, and shoots herself in the head, dying. Rena wonders why this all happened.
Characters[]
- Rena Ryuugu
- Rika Furude
- Keiichi Maebara
- Mion Sonozaki
- Shion Sonozaki
- Oryou Sonozaki
- Akane Sonozaki
- Tatsuyoshi Kasai
- Satoko Houjou
- Teppei Houjou
- Daiki Tomita
- Suguru Okamura
Notes[]
- The tankobon version uncensors Teppei's corpse and shows his intestines in full.
Gallery[]
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