Higurashi no naku koro ni - Emerging new self

Chapter 2

A week passed and luckily Rika quickly recovered from the shock. I've been stabbed with daggers and all kinds of tools for a hundred years. Period blood is nothing! She thought. I'll get used to this too.

Before long, the summer holidays were over, and unlike the Western world, a new school year was not starting but continuing in Japan. The school year changed every April when the cherry blossoms made their spectacular appearance.

Rika already had plans for the rest of the school year. There was a luxurious High School in Okinomiya called St Lucia and wanted to study there for a long time. For that reason, she had to take the necessary actions so that with her good grades she'll get would be accepted. As much as she loved Hinamizawa, that humble little village, she couldn't stand the memories it had caused.

She hated there was divine blood in her family. She hated there was this legend, this tradition of the god Oyashiro. According to it, if generations continued to be born a first-born girl, the eighth generation would become the reincarnation of the god Oyashiro. She was the reincarnation of this god, and she had to suffer all this for a divine century! But at the same time, she felt guilty feeling this way, so she thought it would be best to forget what happened even for a little bit. To move away for a while from her familiar environment in order to find her identity elsewhere. She didn't know who she was. But she certainly didn't want to be just the reincarnation of a god!

As for the new functions of her body, she thought she had them under control, especially with Hanyuu's help since it was a brand experience for her. But that was until she entered the 7th grade.

It was June of 1985 and she was going to Okinomiya with Satoko to buy new clothes and swimwear. Not only were their bodies growing, but the weather had warmed up enough for them to start their first baths in the sea and pool. —Hinamizawa didn't have clothing stores so most of the residents went to Okinomiya—

"Well? What do you think?" Rika asked her friend as she came out of the fitting room. The swimsuit she wore was a turquoise bikini with stars on the bottom and on the breast area. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. At least she didn't have a child's body anymore. Buttocks had formed and breasts had grown considerably compared to the previous year.

"You're so cute Rika!! You've got a model's body!" Satoko hugged her as if she was a stuffed animal. As if she was a puppy who had been dressed up in clothes for a dog beauty pageant. Rika blushed slightly. "Not to the slightest, haha... I'd say I have the average girl's body."

"You do have the average girl's body. I have one too. But what makes it so special is the clothes you wear. Bikinis always suited you because it highlights your femininity. And your hips got wider and sexier than last year! I mean... It does look like you've grown into a young miss! Just don't let your breasts get any bigger and you take the boys away from me."

Both girls giggled at Satoko's joke and she waited for Rika to change while paying for their swimsuits. Soon, her eyes fell on two familiar faces for both Satoko and Rika. It was a woman in her late twenties with a little girl next to her around six.

"Well, well if it isn't Satoko, Rika's roommate!" Satoko was embarrassed to tell the woman she couldn't remember her, so she simply greeted her with an Asian bow.

"Is Rika with you or you're by yourself?"

"Yes, we came to buy new swimsuits as the previous ones don't fit us anymore." 

"Makes sense. You're growing up after all."

Rika hearing the conversation rushed to get dressed out of curiosity to see who Satoko was talking to. As soon as she came out of the dressing room she immediately realized it was the wife of her good friend and "partner in crime" Akasaka, and their daughter Miyuki. Her name was after her mother's name Yukie.