Hinamizawa Bus Stop

Hinamizawa Bus Stop ; 雛見沢停留所
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chronology

Hinamizawa Bus Stop (雛見沢停留所, Hinamizawa Teiryūjo) is a stage play that served as the first incarnation of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, written by Ryukishi07 when he was in college. The story follows Rika Furude and Mion Sonozaki as they wait for a bus at the Hinamizawa Bus Stop. During their wait, the two encounter a number of bizarre individuals and a learn a terrifying truth about Hinamizawa. The story is considered non-canon.

Development

Ryukishi07 decided to write Hinamizawa Bus Stop after being inspired by an acquaintance's stage play. He submitted it to a scenario contest, though it was rejected.

Plot

Rika Furude and her underclassman, Mion Sonozaki, skip school together on a Wednesday to hang out. At the end of the night, the pair go to the Hinamizawa Bus Stop to return home. While they are waiting, a heavy rain starts to pour.

Katsumi Tonegawa and Kazuya Arakawa appear at the bus stop in an attempt to take shelter from the rain. Rika is immediately hostile towards Tonegawa and Arakawa as the pair are from the River Bureau Urban River office at the Ministry of Construction, meaning that they are a part of the dam project that would lead to Hinamizawa's destruction. While Rika argues with the two about the consequences of the dam project, they are joined by Mitsuru Yoshimura, a freelance writer also taking shelter from the rain. Yoshimura reveals that he is in Hinamizawa to research the curse of Oyashiro, an urban legend alleging that outsiders who endanger Hinamizawa or villagers who try to leave Hinamizawa are fated to die tragically. Yoshimura claims that this "curse" is the reason for a string of deaths at the Ministry of Construction. Tonegawa is surprised by this as he was only aware of one death at the Ministry. Arakawa, however, is aware of the fact that four deaths have occurred so far and becomes enraged at the notion that Oyashiro is the reason for the deaths. Yoshimura tells Rika, Mion, and Tonegawa of the circumstances regarding the deaths at the Ministry, causing Arakawa to become increasingly distressed. Through flashbacks, Arakawa reveals that he was around for all four of the deaths and witnessed a trend among them; each victim would claim to have insomnia and would eventually begin speaking often about meeting "it" just before death. Furthermore, Arakawa has recently been experiencing insomnia and increasingly severe headaches. Tonegawa, Arakawa, and Rika head to the bathroom to help Arakawa with his headache, leaving Mion and Yoshimura at the bus stop. Yoshimura begins talking to Mion about his time visiting Tokyo, including the hotel he stayed at and different things he did while he was there. Mion initially enjoys hearing his story but slowly realizes that Yoshimura is recounting Mion's exact experience when she visited Tokyo herself. Before Yoshimura can continue, however, Rika, Tonegawa, and Arakawa return.

As the group begins to question why the bus is running late, they are joined by two detectives, Daisuke Okano and Yuri Hoshino, who explain to the group that the bus won't be coming as the police have cordoned off the area. The detectives claim that a slasher murder occurred in town and they believe the culprit is hiding out nearby. They ask for I.D. from each of the group members. Tonegawa and Arakawa provide their I.D., however Mion, Rika, and Yoshimura don't have any I.D. on them. While the detectives talk to the group, Arakawa begins to have a mental breakdown. He hallucinates that Yoshimura is taunting him about his embarrassing school life and the violent outbursts he had as a result. He hallucinates that Tonegawa, Mion, Rika, Okano, and Hoshino are all laughing at him, causing him to become extremely angry. He takes an umbrella and attempts to attack the group before collapsing and clawing out his throat. Distraught, Tonegawa attempts to find help. Mion panics when Yoshimura turns to her and claims that, not only is he responsible for Arakawa's death, but he is also the slasher murderer the detectives are looking for.

Mion attempts to explain this confession to the detectives, however the detectives maintain that Yoshimura is innocent. The detectives reveal that there never was a slasher murder and that they aren't detectives. Rika, panicking for an unknown reason, gives Mion a bottle of pills and urges her to run away. Before she can explain, three more "detectives" arrive; Hiroaki Nitta, Kasumi Hotoda, and Teruhiko Oda. The "detectives" reveal that they are from the Ministry of Health and Welfare Insurance Medical Station Measures Against Infectious Diseases Department. They explain that 90% of the residents of Hinamizawa are infected with a bizarre disease resulting from a parasite known as Hinamizawaari that lives in the brain. When a Hinamizawaari is too far away from the "parent insect", then they aggravate the symptoms of the disease, leading to insomnia, extreme paranoia, and death. The "parent insect" resided inside Rika's brain, which is an issue because Rika is frail and would die within a few years with the parasite in her brain. If Rika dies, then the all of the Hinamizawaari will aggravate their symptoms, leading to the entirety of Hinamizawa falling into chaos. To counteract this, the health department intends on transplanting the parasite from Rika's brain to Mion's as Mion would be a much healthier host. However, the health department has a limited time to transplant the parasite because Mion's trip to Tokyo aggravated her parasite. Rika reveals to Mion that she had been working with the health department to make the transplant happen and chose Mion as the new host herself. However, Rika had a change of heart as she and Mion had become best friends. Rika fights with the health department members and refuses to allow them to take Mion. She even takes out a knife and threatens to kill Mion if they come closer. After a long argument, Nitta determines that Rika knows too much. Oda shoots Rika in the chest, killing her instantly. Enraged, Mion takes Rika's knife and attacks the health department members. Hoshino and Nitta attempts to tell Mion that Rika isn't hurt and that Mion is hallucinating. Mion ignores their pleas and stabs Oda, Nitta, Okano, Hotoda, and finally Hoshino, killing all of them. Suddenly, Mion wakes up, lying on Rika's knee. Rika tells Mion that she's been asleep for some time, long enough that the two missed the bus. Rika then suggests that the two walk home. Mion, relieved to find that Rika is alive, accepts. The story ends with radio chatter from Okano, Hoshino, Nitta, Hotoda, and Oda about how the "targets" didn't board the bus. Nitta, angered that they've lost track of the targets, demands that the group capture them alive.

Characters

Villagers

Outsiders

Mentioned

Kondo Yoshiyuki
Kakinuma
Kato
Mori

Deaths and Disappearances

All deaths and disappearances are listed only as they are told in Hinamizawa Bus Stop.

Deaths

Kondo Yoshiyuki, slit his own throat after stabbing his family to death on November 20, one year before the story.
Kakinuma, hit by a dump truck while clawing out his throat and driving on the wrong side of the road.
Kato, committed suicide by jumping in front of a train at Nishi-Funabashi Station.
Mori, stabbed himself in the throat after stabbing three coworkers with an awl.
Kazuya Arakawa, clawed out his own throat.

Differences from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Rika Furude is significantly older than she appears in the canon story and is Mion Sonozaki's upperclassman.
Rika is more violent and confrontational than she appears in the canon story.
Mion is much more subdued and passive than she is in the canon story.
Other than Mion, Rika doesn't have any friends.
The Sonozaki family is poor.
Mion's grandmother is dead.
Mion supports the dam project.
Hinamizawa is said to have "tens of thousands" of villagers, compared to the 2,000 villagers in the canon story.
The teacher at the Hinamizawa school is named Fujishima, instead of Rumiko Chie.
Hinamizawa Syndrome is caused by an ant-like parasite called a Hinamizawaari that lives in the brain, which is much more specific than the explanation given in the canon story.
- Symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome are aggravated by being separated from the "parent insect" as opposed to a "queen carrier", though both version of the parasite are found in Rika.
- The "parent insect" can be transplanted from one person to another.
Besides Rika and Mion, none of the characters in Hinamizawa Bus Stop appear in the canon story.