Ai's Past

Ai was a normal seven-year-old girl living in a small village many, many years ago. There are stories of the Jigoku Shoujo since the Sengoku Era (1467-1603) in Japan, so sometime before that is when she was alive. Though she was just an average girl, she had a hard time fitting in. Strange things seemed to happen whenever she was around, so most believed that she was a monster. For example, she was accused of making a dead butterfly come back to life after putting it in her hand. Unfortunately, the butterfly wasn't actually dead. No one believed her, though. The only people who cared for her were her parents and her cousin, Sentarou. The village kids were always mean to her, but Sentarou came to her aid. He wouldn't tolerate people picking on her and was willing to fistfight in order to defend her. Ai felt very guilty that he got hurt on her account, but Sentarou didn't seem to mind.

The people in Ai's village believed in a mountain god that controlled what happened to them and as a result, upheld the tradition of the "Seven Sendings." Every seven years, a seven-year-old girl was sacrificed to the moutains in order to protect the village and its crops. Seven is a lucky number and represents the yang in yin-yang. Therefore, they believed the numbers brings good fortune.

Ai was chosen to be the seven-year-old sacrifice, and it was no secret that it was because no one in the village liked her. Ai's parents pleaded with Sentarou to save Ai even though they feared making the mountain god angry. The ceremony of purification and sending continued and Ai was sent to the mountains. Instead of dying, however, Ai lived in a small shrine located somewhere on the mountain. Each night, Sentarou went to her with clothes and food in secret. It was not much of a life, but at least she was still alive.

Four years passed and somehow Sentarou avoided being caught. As if there was a god to be angered, the village's crops did extremely poorly. Everyone in the village was starving, and their food stores had to go to tax collectors due to not having enough harvest. Despite everyone suffering, Sentarou still went to visit Ai nightly and bring her food.

One night, Sentarou said it was okay for Ai to come out and bathe in a nearby lake despite there being a full moon. Unfortunately, there was a rumor going around that he was sneaking out at night to go to the mountain. On this night in particular, he was followed by some villagers and his father. Seeing Ai, they automatically believed her going against the rules was the reason their harvest was so poor. Sentarou tried to allow her to escape, but it was a lost cause. She was captured and brought back to the village.

Thinking the only way to appease the god's anger was to sacrifice the girl that made him so angry, the villagers beat Ai and her parents to death, threw them in a hole and buried them. Sentarou struggles and attempted to save Ai, but because he made his way toward the hole they are thrown into, he was forced to be the first one to fill the hole. Though her parents are dead, Ai was somehow still alive. She begged him to save her. Even though the last thing he wanted to do was bury Ai alive, Sentarou succumbs to peer pressure and pushes a small amount of dirt into the hole. Ai fell to the ground; her last tiny ray of hope gone. The villagers all cheered and everyone shoveled dirt on top of them. As blood ran down from her now deep-red eyes, she screamed at them that she would always hate them, even if she died. Then, everything was dark.

b a c k   .   c l e a r   .   f o r w a r d    Heaven's a Lie and its contents are © Samantha, however Ai and Jigoku Shoujo are © Aniplex, Studio Deen and other rightful owners. Heaven's a Lie is a part of AFTER-DEATH.ORG.