Divide and Conquer (A Higurashi When They Cry FanFic)

Chapter 1: Bonds

"Ohohohohoho... this is gonna be great.." thought the blond-haired girl as she sat alone at her desk. She made sure to come to school early because she did NOT want to miss out on the spectacle she had planned out for this morning. She, Hojo Satoko, was an absolute genius.

Yesterday, after school and the club meetings, she had told everyone to go ahead and go home, as she had some stuff to do before she left school. Which was true in a sense, but not in the way she led them to believe. Which was definitely good. She didn't want to spoil anything. She had something special planned for Maebara Keiichi in the morning... Her best work yet. An elaborate maze of traps so devious that it was sure to get Keiichi. There was no way he could get out of this. Because for every inch past the door, there were at least one trap ready to be triggered.

As she snickered to herself, she failed to hear the opening of the door behind her. Someone tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump out of her skin.

"EEEEK!" She spun around quickly, only to see her friends Furude Rika and Furude Hanyuu standing behind her. Rika smiled and gave a cute "niipa!" while Hanyuu merely gave Satoko a cute pout.

"So this is where you ran off to so early..." She whined. "I knew you were gonna do something to Keiichi... why are you so mean to him all the time?"

Satoko waved a hand dismissively. "He's a man! Keiichi-san can handle this kind of thing no problem!" She laughed again.

"But that's no excuse, nano desu!" Hanyuu cried. "You brute! He needs a break!"

Rika watched her two friends as they bickered back and forth, and smiled. As she closed her eyes, she thought about how nice it was that she didn't have to worry about fate, and how she was gonna try and break free anymore. She was finally free of that endless cycle, and could now focus on what she'd been dreaming about for ages.

Being the ten year old she really was, and having fun with her friends.

She looked at Satoko, and wondered why, out of all the people in the club, she decided to pick on Keiichi the most. The two of them seemed particularly close, even though neither would admit so. She even called Keiichi her Nii-nii, albeit she rarely called him that. And even if he didn't remember, Keiichi became very protective of Satoko in previous worlds, when her uncle returned and began hurting her again. Both worlds ended very differently though. In one world, Keiichi ended up killing Satoko's uncle, and Satoko rejected him. In another, though, Keiichi gained the support of the entire village to appeal to the Child protective services, and encouraged Satoko to give up her stubborn lies and admit that she needed help and that Hojo Teppei was abusive and violent.

She chuckled. Not to mention, Satoko wasn't the only one Keiichi was extremely protective of...

But, everything aside, if there was one person anyone could rely on, it would have to be Keiichi. He had a way of getting things done, and his talent with words could have people rising up and coming together in a matter of minutes. He wasn't called the "Magician of Words" for nothing.

Satoko tensed up. "Quick!" She whispered urgently, "he's coming!"

Sensing their friend's intentions, the girls quickly ran to sit at their respective desks. They waited for the arrival of the unsuspecting boy, and the chaos that would quickly ensue. Hanyuu sat at her desk, silently whining, "au, au, auauau..." as she usually did, while Satoko and Rika sat quietly, barely able to hold in their devious grins.

"Hey," Satoko whispered. "Did you read my note?"

Rika grinned and nodded ever so slightly.

"Great. So did you bring them?"