EDIT: (APRIL 21ST, 2016) hello to anyone who happened to click on this story. its been about five or so years since i wrote this fanfic (what the hell?). i would like to let all of you know that this is a fanfiction i wrote when i was thirteen. i will repeat that, i wrote this when i was THIRTEEN. honestly, five years more of experience and i look back on this fanfiction and it's nothing short of a total embarrassment. i have been told by people that they like it very much so i am leaving it up for people who care to read it, but i honestly HATE this fanfiction. if anything, it was a good learning experience.

so be aware to new readers: expect writing and ideas from the mind of a thirteen year old, my own fantasies mixed in with higurashi canon, OCs that i didn't care enough to write well, and whatever the hell else is in this that i have forgotten. i apologize if im dampening your image of this fanfiction, but its just BAD in my own opinion. i hope you can still enjoy it, but i'd like to point out that this is definitely something i wrote when i was THIRTEEN.

with that, lets get back to whatever i wrote five years ago...

...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Higurashi no naku koro ni or any of it's characters. Higurashi belongs to the 07th Expansion. Sorry about the title of the story, apparently Fanfiction doesn't allow -s.

Darkness spread throughout Hinamizawa, only lit up by the bright moon in the pitch-black sky. The clouds covered most of the sky, blocking the light of the stars, giving the whole village an ominous feel. A young girl who couldn't be more then ten-years-old sat on the windowsill, a cup in her hand full of purple wine. She had sapphire blue hair and purple eyes, which were staring at nothing. She swirled the cup full of the alcoholic beverage in her hand, but did not take a sip.

Another young girl with light purple hair and horns, probably about the same age in terms of appearance, stirred in her futon and opened her eyes. She slowly got up and tiptoed towards the other girl, clearly worried.

"Rika… You shouldn't be awake at this hour. I thought we decided to go asleep at a regular time from now on," spoke the horned girl. The girl on the windowsill's head suddenly snapped to the other girl's face.

"I'm sorry, Hanyuu. I was thinking," she murmured ever so silently. Hanyuu tilted her head, confused by the actions of the other girl. She had believed that this behavior was a thing of the past.

"What were you thinking about Rika?" Hanyuu asked her friend. Rika sighed and turned towards the window, looking into the silver moon's dull rays.

Rika looked back up at the glistening moon. "The Watanagashi is only a month from now," she spoke sounding solemn, "I fear for our safety. I don't want to be stuck again for another hundred years, or perhaps even another thousand."

"Rika!" cried Hanyuu, clearly shocked by the other's words. Rika responded by putting a finger to her lips and shushing her.

"Shh, Hanyuu!" she responded in a voice no louder than a whisper, "you'll wake Satoko!" Hanyuu's head whipped towards the young yellow-haired girl lying under the covers of her warm futon. She let out a startled cry at her mistake before covering her mouth once again, realizing that she was just causing even more noise.

A small fidgeting noise came from the other side of the room as well as a small voice. "I swear, I can tell them apart…!" muttered a sleeping Satoko as she rolled over. Rika let out a sigh when she realized her friend was simply talking in her sleep while Hanyuu giggled slightly.

"In any case, Rika… what were you saying about the Watanagashi festival?" Hanyuu reminded her friend, urging her to carry on with their previous discussion. The blue-haired girl sighed and started morosely at her.

"Watanagashi is exactly a month from now. I have a really bad feeling, Hanyuu." The worry and grave fear in her voice was obvious. Hanyuu looked down at the wooden floor, having mixed feelings about the subject that was just brought up.

"Rika, please do not worry. There isn't a chance of any of those situations happening now. I thought we fixed them all," The horned girl tried to sound optimistic, but the fear in her tone did not go unnoticed by the other.

"Don't lie to me, Hanyuu! You're worried too, aren't you? Anything could go wrong at this point! The Watanagashi is the perfect chance to commit a murder, that's why all the previous murders happened then!" Rika snapped back. The blue-haired girl's voice and emotions were slowly spiraling out of her control. She felt the cup of wine she was holding drop the floor, spilling its alcoholic contents. However, both girls pretended not to notice as the conversation at hand was much more important than the spilt drink.

"Rika… please, don't be so loud…" Hanyuu said, nervously eyeing the sleeping Satoko.

"Don't try to change the subject, Hanyuu! This is important!" cried Rika. The other girl jumped slightly upon hearing the young girl's ferocious tone.

"Au au au… Rika, please don't worry!" Hanyuu spoke, attempting to calm the girl filled with fear.

"Hanyuu, if you really think nothing bad is going to happen, then promise me this! Promise me that nothing will go wrong and we'll be able to spend this summer in peace!" Rika no longer cared about accidently waking Satoko, or perhaps she had forgotten about it.

A moment of silence followed, only to be broken a few seconds later by Hanyuu. "I cannot promise you that, Rika," The goddess spoke in an honest and stern tone, "To be honest, I fear for a different reason."

"Hanyuu?" The young girl was taken aback by the other's words and sudden change of tone. Hanyuu sighed and climbed onto the windowsill. She stood on it, staring into the darkened sky littered with gray clouds. She took a deep breath, and turned to face the confused girl.

"Rika, this is something I've been keeping to myself for a long time now since I didn't want you to worry about me, but I think it's about time I tell you the truth," her voice was serious and cold with a touch of anxiety mixed in. Her expression mirrored her tone. Rika did not respond, fearing for whatever news was to come.

Hanyuu's expression did not change as she took another deep breath and began to speak, "Rika… I cannot stay in a psychical form for much longer. Come Watanagashi, I won't be able to maintain it anymore and I'll revert back to my spirit form. I will no longer be able to join in on club activities or speak to anyone besides you."

Rika's eyes grew wider than Hanyuu had ever seen before; she opened her mouth to respond but Hanyuu cut off whatever words were to come. "Rika, you will still be able to talk and see me, just not anyone else. So please do not worry, it will be like it was for a thousands of years. It's nothing that I'm not used to."

"But Hanyuu…! Isn't there a way to maintain your form?" Rika protested. The goddess simply shook her head.

"No. I'm running out of power, Rika. People's belief in Oyashiro-sama has been weakening since last Watanagashi as the so-called curse did not occur for the first time in many years," Hanyuu explained.

"Won't you fade all together in time, then? What if people just stop believing all together?" Rika asked.

"This is Hinamizawa we're talking about. For hundreds of years the villagers have worshiped me. There will always be someone who believes. Oyashiro-sama will never die." Hanyuu sounded completely confident that her idea was correct, and this seemed to calm Rika a little bit.

"How are you going to tell this to the club?" asked Rika. Hanyuu put a finger to her chin and looked at the ceiling in deep thought. That hadn't occurred to her.

"You could say that I randomly had to transfer out because I missed my old town?" Hanyuu suggested, sounding unsure. Rika slapped her face and shook her head. Hanyuu sighed, realizing that her plan wouldn't work.

"You could say that the transfer was only for a year and my house was being renovated?" The horned girl suggested again.

"No, that won't work either. That's too random. We never said anything about your house being renovated or that you were only transferring in for a bit. It wouldn't make sense," The miko pointed out.

"Au au au!" Hanyuu cried out. It was obvious that she had no clue whatsoever and never even considered the subject before. "Urm… I'll come up with something Rika! I promise, I promise!"

"How about if we tell them that something suddenly came up back at your town and you have to return?" Rika scratched her head, thinking hard about the subject.

Hanyuu climbed down from the windowsill slowly, careful not to hurt herself or fall off accidently. She bit down on her fingernails and looked back up at the contemplative girl who was now higher up than she was. "Rika, I'll figure something out. I promise you! But for now, I think we should drop the subject, it's not good for us," she spoke. Rika sighed and looked back out towards the gleaming moon, it's rays beginning to fade away as the somber clouds drifted over it. She said absolutely nothing in response to the goddesses promise, as she thought nothing of it. It didn't really matter anyways. How the club would find out was the least of her concerns at the moment. She pushed the subject away in her mind and began to contemplate more serious matters. Hanyuu, unsure of what she should do, ran and got a mop from the kitchen to clean up the purple mess that had been long forgotten about. Rika was focused on the moon, which was now completely covered by the clouds, and darkness prevailed.

Unknown to the goddess, who was currently preoccupied with the spilt drink, Rika let out a small voice in a tone quieter than a whisper, "Bring it on, fate. I'll fight whatever you throw at me. I'm ready this time."

AN: I've been wanting to write this for a loooong time, but I've been sooo busy. Plus I don't trust my writing skills one bit. This story will be pretty long. Around 15-20 chapters perhaps depending on the amount of reviews. So please review, it honestly helps me write more. Also please let me know if you find any grammatical errors so I can correct them. I am terrible at punctuating dialogue.