Heart no Kuni no Rika (reupload)

Chapter One: The Voices of the Chord ~I

Chapter One: The Voices of the Chord ~I

"I turned the page to drown you out. You were the only thing I still cared about."

~Voices of the Chord ~ SawanoHiroyuki/Gemie

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Once again, I ask myself, "What is the fucking point?" I laid there on the floor motionless as my supposed best friend, Satoko raked out my intestines. She kept going on about how I was "being punished by Oyashiro-sama for leaving Hinamizawa." How the fuck is that fair? Was it too much to ask to be free from this hell? I do not think that is such an unreasonable request, do you? How am I going to get out of this? Do I even care if I survive this sadistic Wataganashi festival that Satoko was performing on me? I did not know and for the moment, I did not care. I just wanted it to end. Whether I lived or died seemed of little consequence at this point.

Satoko stood over my bloody and immobile form with tears in her eyes, the rake aimed high, preparing to strike on my insides and "cleanse" them once more. I tried to protest but words failed to cross my lips. Tears fell upon my cheeks as I looked up at her, somebody I thought I could trust which made this all the crueler. She struck me once more, dragging the rake over my innards in a cruel, efficient manner. The anesthesia she had drugged me with was wearing off.

With every painful stroke from the weapon, I felt like my insides were being torn apart. I wanted to shout, "Just fucking kill me all ready!" but my words came out as incoherent painful groans. Why was she doing this? What have I done to deserve such a cruel fate? She stopped after a few moments and took my torn bloodied body into her arms, crying. It almost seemed superficial, as if it was all an act. I half expected somebody to come out of the shadows and say, "Good show" but nobody ever did. This was reality, a sadistic, cruel and manipulative fate that had brought upon me for some unknown reason. I did not respond as she talked to me. I was fading in and out of consciousness. To be honest, I did not want to hear her treacherous words anyways. Just let me die with what fucking dignity I have left. I blacked out from the loss of blood.

I woke up with a cold start, sweat dripping down my face. My indigo-colored hair was matted and disheveled from sleeping on the ground. As my blurry vision cleared, I noticed I was in a dark forest. I shivered as the cold wind blew through my thin green sundress, causing goosebumps to appear on my pale skin. This appeared to be the forest outside the shrine. I did not make a sound, I heard voices of unknown origin coming this way. Despite being only half awake, I ran for it, daring not to look back.

My name is Rika Furude, I'm eleven years old, and I am supposedly the reincarnation of Oyashiro-sama. Oyashiro-sama is the guardian deity that guarded Hinamizawa. Hanyuu used to watch over me, but she disappeared before all this crazy shit started happening. One day, I woke up suddenly back in the small house that Satoko and I shared a few weeks ago and I had looked up in the calendar in dismay. I was back in June 1983. How I got there I still have not figured out yet.

Of course, right now I do not care. I was running for my life as fast as my small child sized legs would carry me. "Please Oyashiro-sama or whatever god is listening, please allow me to escape this fucking hell! Allow me to live life where I don't have to look over my shoulder all the time, allow me to grow big breasts and just live! Please, just LET ME LIVE!" I called out to the universe. As if something had heard my plea, without noticing I had run out of ground. I found myself freefalling down a cavernous hole. I clamored to try to grab a hold of the sides to no avail. I kept falling further down with an unknown fate awaiting me. Will I die again? I really hoped not. I really wanted to live.

My seemingly endless freefalling continued. It was if my life had flashed before my eyes, seeing myself in all those damned loops: being disemboweled by my former best friend, being bashed in the head by Keiichi, literally drowning in the swamp of shit, the list goes on. Tears fell from my eyes as each of these horrid events entered my mind, crippling me mentally. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I screamed, putting my hands over my ears. I did not know how, if I survived this damned freefall, I would live somehow. I would heal and make something of myself. I did not know how.

My mind then drifted to my friends. "Sorry I could not save you this time around. I failed," I whispered, looking up to where my world of Hinamizawa disappeared. Would the Mountain Dogs find me? I did not know. Before I knew it, I landed suddenly on the ground in a field of grass. "Ouch," I had mumbled aloud as I sat up, rubbing the back of my head in pain. I stood up on shaky legs, examining the terrain I now found myself in. I felt tears still cascading down my face. I hurriedly rubbed them away as I set out to figure out where the hell I was.

I had to be careful of where I was stepping as I had lost my sandals while I was being chased through the forest. Adrenaline still coursed through me as I have yet to fully feel the pain from the wounds I had obtained from the previous loop. Was this a cruel joke? Was I in another loop? "Rena, Keiichi, Mion, where are you!?" I called out desperately. I heard no reply. I ran ahead to further explore my surroundings. I found myself once again inside a forest. The sunlight had cascaded down through the trees. It was daylight here at least. If I had to guess, it would be about midafternoon. I ran faster incase any of the Mountain Dog factions or blood thirsty villagers wanted to kill me.

I traveled as fast as my legs would carry me. Being stuck at the cursed height of not even five feet lead to disadvantages. I was short for my age, clocking in at around four foot five or so. I did hope someday I would get taller and grow as well as bloom in other areas as well. My thoughts were so preoccupied as I kept running, my indigo-colored curtain of hair racing behind me as I ran. I suddenly crashed into something big and red or rather someone judging by the grunt noises.

He sounded male, probably in his late teens or early twenties. He had short, light brown hair almost like my friend Keiichi. Instead of dark purple eyes, crimson red ones stared into my own violet-colored orbs. I blushed out of embarrassment. He blinked twice as if he could not believe his eyes, as if he could not believe a small eleven-year-old girl had crashed into him. I struggled to get off him but was not able to move due to soreness in my tired limbs. I profusely apologized to the strange guy.

He sat up after a bit, scratching the back of his head, taking me with him. He grinned widely as if nothing had happened. "Forgive me sir," I said once again, apologizing once more.

"It's ok, I probably should have been watching where I was going as well. Name's Ace, Knight of Hearts at your service. Now what is a young girl like yourself doing out here in these woods?" he asked me. He had effortlessly picked me up in his long arms. I was currently sitting in the crook of his left arm, observing the red eyed fellow known as Ace. Upon further observation, I noticed he wore a long buttoned up red coat over a black turtleneck shirt. He wore red boots that contrasted with his black pants. He was dressed quite spiffy in my opinion.

"I'm Rika Furude sir. I don't know how I got here. I appeared in a field not far from these very woods. I was running in a forest like this one, except it was night and I was afraid they followed me, so I was running to throw them off. I did not mean to bump into you, Mr. Knight," I sheepishly replied after a bit. He still grinned at me.

"Like I said, no worries Rika. Say are you an outsider? I don't think I have seen you around these parts before," he said. My eyes widened, so I had fallen into another world entirely. I was shocked to hear that.

"Where am I then, pray tell?" I asked him once more.

"Wonderland. You have fallen into Wonderland. If you'd like, I could take you to Julius, he probably could help ya," he replied without missing a beat. I nodded, liking that idea. Maybe this Julius person could help me? I did not know. I had to get answers on my new surroundings. Without another word. He carried me off to wherever this Julius person resided. I had a feeling he had no bloody idea where he was going. To be honest, neither did I for the time being...