At St. Lucia Academy, the body of a male teacher has been discovered in the pool. The girl who found him, Mizuho Kousaka, is a shy bullied student who seems relatively unaffected by her discovery. After all, this isn't the first time she has seen a corpse. 55k3x

In order to teach Mizuho to stand up for herself, a girl named Shion Sonozaki befriends her and the two become inseparable, as they both share traumatic pasts. But when another body is found, Mizuho comes under suspicion for murder. It's up to Shion to protect her new friend in Utsutsukowashi-hen, a side arc to the main Higurashi storyline that explains some of Shion's time at St. Lucia Academy.

The story of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is divided into a total of eight chapters: four "Question" arcs and four "Answer" arcs. Each chapter keeps the same main characters, but ends in a different way. However, each chapter gives valuable answers, hints, and clues to the previous one, while at the same time bringing forth even more mysteries.

The question arcs are:

1. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Onikakushi Hen
2. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Watanagashi Hen
3. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Tatarigoroshi Hen
4. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Himatsubushi Hen

The answer arcs are:
5. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai - Matsuribayashi Hen

The side story arcs are:

• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Onisarashi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Yoigoshi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Kataribanashi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai - Utsutsukowashi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Kokoro Iyashi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - Hirukowashi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jan - Tsubamegaeshi Hen
• Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei - Saikoroshi Hen