Welcome to another story by yours truly! I don't know how many of you will remember this, but I actually used to have a Persona story, one that I ended up deleting. Well, this isn't so much a rewrite as it is a … second attempt, shall we say. I've read a lot of the other stories in this category, and they all have me in awe of how the authors can come up with so much original stuff to go into the storyline; I'm not confident in my ability to do what they did, but I'm going to try my best. God knows I want this to be good …

The pairings have already been decided. They are as follows: Yu/Yukiko; Yosuke/Chie; OC/Rise; Kanji/Naoto. I was going to go with the pairing I had in my old story – that being OC/Naoto – but I thought better of it. As much as I love Naoto as a character, I found it easier to think about the story as an OC/Rise story. I might still do an OC/Naoto story, but it would have to be based exclusively on the animé since I'm not confident in my ability to write two stories of this length while still keeping things fresh.

I also plan on doing a story for Persona 3, but I doubt that'll be for quite a while.

Credit where credit is due, I've not played Persona 4: The Golden, so I've been basing this on a let's play on YouTube – the guy I've been watching is SuperJeenius.

Oh, and since the game was so inconsistent with the use of honorifics, I've simply removed them to make things easier on myself.

Well, that's basically all I have to say, so without further ado, let's begin!

(Update 30/06/2017: I've gone back and added on all the honorifics to this chapter, as well as adding a few details here and there.)

Monday, 11 April 2011

Afternoon

Cloudy

I spent that rather gloomy night in April eating ramen in the shopping district of my home town Yasoinaba – or just Inaba to us locals. I ate alone, as I always did. I find that eating alone allows one time to think that they wouldn't get when eating with other people, so I tended to eat on my own whenever possible. I stuffed the last bit of noodles and beef into my mouth and then got my wallet out and sorted out the money for the food.

"Wonderful food as usual, Aika-san," I said to the girl who came over to get my dish and collect my money. "My evenings will be forever pleasant as long as this place stays open."

"Glad you liked it," said Aika-san in her deadpan voice, but there was a slight smile on her face. I only every saw her smile in here; I guess she just really liked her work. She was short for her age, sixteen, with pale skin, brown eyes, and navy blue hair that didn't even come down to her shoulders. She was in her work clothes, which consisted of a short-sleeved white shirt, a matching white skirt, a red apron, white headscarf. She worked at this place, "Aia's," because her family ran the joint. "Will that be all, or would you like something else before we close for the night?"

"I'm stuffed full, I'm afraid," I said, grinning. I stood from the stool I was seated on and turned to leave. "I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Yasuhide-san," she said.

As I exited the shop I took in the darkness of the shopping district. It wasn't so late that it should be this dark, but the weather had been rather unpleasant as of late, so it didn't really come as a surprise. I could tell from the greyness of the sky that it was going to rain very soon, so it would probably be best to take the bus home rather than taking a leisurely stroll through the town as I was so accustomed to doing. I still walked slow, though, as I rather enjoyed this time to myself. The bus stop was only about five minutes down the road, anyhow. I took off down the street at a leisurely pace.

As I walked down the street, I reflected in sadness upon all the closed-down stores I passed along the way. The stores had started to close down a couple of months beforehand, when the superstore Junes opened up in town. The place had everything the shopping district had and more, so it made sense that people would start to do their shopping there, but still … the stores in the shopping district were mostly family-run businesses and they relied on their customers to give their family a livelihood. A lot of them had to close when Junes showed up because, due to the loss of customers, they could no longer afford to keep their stores open, and that saddened me greatly. These stores held real historical significance for some of these families, and they had to close them down, just like that. It had lead to a real hatred of Junes in the locals and it was easy to see why.

While I didn't hate Junes for all this – the store was a lot more convenient to most people and it was easy to see why they'd rather shop there – I was still saddened by what its existence was doing to my home town. I tried to get what I needed from the shopping district whenever I could in hopes that I could help keep a few businesses afloat.

I reached the bus stop, checked the schedule, and cursed under my breath. I had been in the ramen shop a lot longer than I thought – the buses had stopped for the night.

Now what? I thought. I looked up at the sky and saw that the rain was not far off. I enjoyed the rain and found it comforting, but that was normally when I was inside and listening to its pitter-patter against the windows. I really didn't want to go home soaking wet – my mother would kill me, for one thing. And then my asshole little brother would rub my face in the trouble I would get into when I left wet footprints on the hallway carpet. I really couldn't be bothered with all the fuss tonight, but what could I do? Run home? I doubted I'd make it even then. There's no point … I'm fucked …

But fucked I was not. Apparently fate was on my side that day, something that would come to be quite a rarity in the year that followed …

An old-looking grey SUV pulled into the gas station just across the street from the bus stop and was greeted by the attendant before the occupants had even gotten out of the car – not that I needed them to get out to know whose car it was. The guy was my next door neighbour, for Christ's sake. Thinking back on something I'd heard him say a few days beforehand, I thought he was probably going back home after picking up his nephew from the train station. Seeing as I lived just next door, I figured I'd try my luck asking him for a ride. I didn't think he would be very likely to say no.

As I was making my way across the street, the door on the driver's side of the car opened and the driver stepped out. His name was Ryotaro Dojima. He was a middle-aged Caucasian man with a fair amount of stubble growing on the bottom half of his slightly rough-looking face. His hair was relatively short, dark, and greying. His eyes were black, too. He wore a grey shirt with the two top buttons undone and a loose red tie. His bottom half was clothed in black trousers, held up by a belt, and black shoes.

The door on the other side of the car opened and out stepped Ryotaro-san's daughter, Nanako Dojima. She was a small girl of six years old. Her Caucasian skin was of the paler sort, and her brown hair was tied in a pigtail on either side of her head. Her brown eyes matched her hair. She wore a pink and red dress over a white turtle-neck. On her feet were a pair of white socks and pink shoes.

"It's on the left," the attendant said to Nanako-chan as I approached. "You know which way is left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in." The attendant, despite blatantly being male, had a rather feminine voice quality.

"I know, I know," said Nanako-chan irritably. "Jeez …" She wondered around the back of the building and to the left.

"You guys going on a trip?" the attendant asked Ryotaro-san.

"No, we just went to pick him up," said Ryotaro-san. "He just moved here from the big city."

It was around this point that the back door of the car opened and out stepped a third individual, this one I didn't recognise. He was around my age – sixteen – and was rather tall for a teenager. He had Caucasian skin and a bowl-cut hairstyle; his hair was grey, somewhat giving him the appearance of an old man. His eyes were as grey as his hair. He was wearing a black jacket over a grey turtle-neck, along with black trousers and trainers.

It didn't take long for me to figure out that this was Ryotaro-san's nephew.

"Hey, Ryotaro-san," I said as I stopped walking just next to the gathered group.

"Hey, Yasuhide, what are you doing here?" asked Ryotaro-san.

"Waiting for the bus," I told him. I made a show of looking at the rapidly greying sky. "But it looks like the weather's not gonna let me wait in peace. Do you mind if I catch a ride home with you guys?"

Ryotaro-san sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. I got the feeling that this had more to do with tiredness than it did my request. "Yeah, sure," he said. "You just get acquainted with my nephew here until I get back. Good a time as any for a smoke … Fill up my car while you're at it," he said to the attendant. "Regular's fine."

"Right away, sir!" said the attendant with a strange enthusiasm.

I turned to face Ryotaro-san's nephew. His face was strangely blank, vacant, but it was also a face I could picture the girls at school going crazy over. It took little more than a glance in order for me to peg him as the strong, silent type.

"Hi," I said friendlily. I put on my best smile. "I'm Kusuhara Yasuhide. I live next door to your uncle."

He gave me a barely visible nod. "I'm Narukami Yu," he said.

"Are you in high school?" asked the attendant. He was looking at Narukami-san while filling up the car.

"… Yeah," said Narukami-san. The sudden start of a conversation with the attendant seemed to have caught him off guard somewhat.

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here?" the attendant continued to probe. "There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends," he threw a brief nod at me, "or doing part-time jobs. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now." He stepped away from the filling car and approached Yu. "Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student." He held out his hand for a handshake.

"… Sure," Narukami-san said. His hesitation was understandable – he had only just got into town and already he was being offered a part-time job at the local gas station. Nevertheless, he accepted the handshake.

There were footsteps nearby and Nanako-chan turned the corner to rejoin us.

"Oh, I should get back to work," said the attendant. He moved to continue filling up the car.

"Hey there, Nanako-chan," I greeted the young girl as she approached. I smiled widely at her, and it was probably the closest to a real smile most people got from me – she had that effect on people. "I'll be hitching a ride home with you guys, 'kay?"

"… Okay," she said. She was staring tentatively at Narukami-san. It probably had something to do with the fact that she'd never met the guy, and he was just suddenly moving into her house.

I went to speak to Narukami-san again, but stopped short when I noticed him stumbling slightly and holding his head in apparent pain. "You okay?" I asked in concern.

"Did you get carsick?" Nanako-chan asked. "You don't look too good …"

He was silent for a moment in apparent thought. "Now that you mention it," he said, "I do feel a little dizzy …"

"I think we've got pills for carsickness in the medicine cabinet at home," I said helpfully. "I can drop some around to you when we get there, if you want."

"Sure, thanks," he said. He gave a barely visible smile.

It was a strange feeling that overcame me then. I hadn't even known the guy for ten minutes, and he didn't exactly strike me as a social butterfly, but … I can honestly say that I think I liked him from the very beginning. He just had this … air about him, like you could trust him with anything. Despite his lack of contribution to conversation, he just had a feeling about him of being an incredibly open person. I knew then and there that I wanted to make friends with him.

Ryotaro-san came back from his smoke and stopped short upon seeing Narukami-san. "What's wrong?" he asked. "You okay?"

"It's nothing," Narukami-san said.

I wanted to call bullshit on him. He was looking so queasy that Ryotaro-san had noticed something was wrong the second he'd gotten back. I kept my mouth shut, though. I had said I would drop in some pills for the carsickness when we got to the house, and that was what I was going to do. Come to think of it, it was probably the fact that he knew the solution to the problem was right around the corner that made him lie to Ryotaro-san like he had.

"It must've been a long trip for you," said Ryotaro-san. "Why not take a little walk, get some fresh air? Just let me know when you're ready to go." He nodded at me. "Why don't you go with him, Yasuhide? You're gonna be going to school together, so you might as well get to know each other."

I shrugged. "I see no problem with that," I conceded.

Narukami-san wandered in a particular direction just up the street; he seemed to being heading towards something specific. It was then that I noticed he was walking towards a girl. She had pale Caucasian skin, chin-length hair that went from brown to black, and grey eyes. She had a small amount of make-up on, with her shadowed eyes and bright pink lipstick. She was wearing a sleeveless white shirt and red protective sleeves with a pattern of black stripes; she also sported a short black neck tie with various safety pins. Her bottom half was clothed with a red chequered skirt and a black belt with a fancy golden buckle that resembled a heart with wings; there were also white stockings with black stripes. Her boots were long and black with dark grey heels.

Narukami-san approached her and she looked up at him. "Hm …? Have we met before?" she asked.

"I met you just now," said Narukami-san.

"Just now …?" said the girl. "Hmm, okay." She seemed to just go off into her own little world after that.

Narukami-san and I walked a little more down the street together – I did a double-take at one point because I thought I saw a glowing blue butterfly – and I took note of how Narukami-san seemed to observe everything, even if it didn't seem all that special. He took notice of the book store and the local metalworks before I finally decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, what was all that about?" I asked. "No offence or anything, but walking up to random girls in the street isn't something people usually do around here."

"We met at the train station," he said absent-mindedly. "I dropped something and she gave it back."

"Huh," I said, and clicked my tongue. "Well, she must be a bit of an airhead, then. She didn't seem to remember you." Come to think of it, I added in my mind, I don't recognise her … that's weird. In a small town like Inaba, even if you didn't know them all, you came to recognise the faces of pretty much everyone in town sooner or later. But I had never seen that girl before …

Narukami-san had absently wandered near an old man. I once again took note of something strange about him. His movements seemed absent, but he always seemed to know exactly where he was going at the same time …

"You have something to do in this shopping district?" the old man asked Narukami-san. That's the thing with old people – they always seemed eager to impart knowledge onto the younger generation. "It's a bit run down, but we have everything here. It used to be a lot more prosperous back in the day, but we only see regulars nowadays. If only Junes hadn't come into town … It's convenient, but it's still a little sad."

The old man's speech became mumbling from then on. Narukami-san and I began walking down the street again at a leisurely pace.

"I kinda like doing this," I said. I didn't know why I started talking, but I just felt like it. "Walking, I mean. Just a casual stroll through town. I find it relaxing. What about you?"

He nodded in apparent agreement. "It's okay," he said. "I just like seeing what I can find when I'm out for a walk."

"… Okay." I couldn't really relate to that. Having grown up in such a small town, I had gotten so used to the surroundings over the years that anything truly new to be found – whether I'm out for a walk or not – would probably boggle my mind. What can I say? I like Inaba; the sense of familiarity comforts me. And believe me, there are some days when I truly need the comfort.

The next place Narukami-san decided to stop and observe was the Marukyu tofu shop. I liked the tofu, and I stopped in there at least once a week to stock up on it, but … even after all these years I felt a twinge in my heart as I looked at the place, and for a brief moment I'd have given anything to be somewhere else. The old lady who ran the place – she was probably preparing to close up for the night – saw me through the window and waved, a huge smile on her face. I waved back and smiled, too, but mine was more forced.

"The tofu here's good," I said to Narukami-san in an attempt to get my mind off the depressed tangent it was about to go on. "I stop in every week. I'll buy you some sometime, if you want? Think of it as a 'welcome to town' present."

"Thanks," he said, and that was it.

As we walked down the street together, not only was I trying to find some way to start up a conversation, but we ended up overhearing a conversation between two students from my school – I didn't recognise either of them, but it was evident from their conversation that they were siblings. It was something about the guy's sister stealing a snack of his from the fridge, I think; I wasn't really listening. I was more confused by the fact that they were wearing their uniforms when we didn't go back to school until the next day.

"There's not really a lot to the shopping district," I said as we reached the end of the street. "It's like that old guy said, there hasn't been nearly as much here since Junes got moved in."

"Junes?" asked Narukami-san.

"They're this big superstore that sell food, electronics, toys, and an abundance of other shit," I explained to him. "It's convenient and relatively cheap. The downside is that it's putting a lot of stores down here out of business, so most of the locals aren't too fond of the place."

"What about you?"

"Me? I could give or take it, to tell you the truth. I come down here for anything I need, but if they don't have it I go to Junes instead. But let me tell you, there's one thing that Junes will never be able to beat: the local food. Seriously, if you want to eat well, come down here to the shopping district, the food down here's way better in quality than that fast food crap they serve at the Junes food court."

"… I see," Narukami-san said.

We were walking back down the street and to the gas station now. The entire walk had taken little more than five minutes, which came as a surprise. The entire time I couldn't stop thinking about Yu's rather charming oddness; he was the only person I'd ever met who seemed to want to take in every little detail of his surroundings. So far, he had spoken only when directly spoken to, and that told me he was probably a much better listener than he was a speaker. And that strangely friendly air he gave off …

"How're you feeling?" Ryotaro-san asked Narukami-san. I did a double-take; I had apparently been so deep in thought that we'd walked all the way back and I hadn't noticed. "Ready to get back in the car?"

"I'm ready," said Narukami-san.

"All right," said Ryotaro-san, "let's hit the road, then."

We got in the car – Nanako-chan in the front next to her father, Narukami-san and I sat in the back. There was a fair amount of leg room, even with Narukami-san's bag of luggage, so I was able to get relatively comfortable.

"So," said Ryotaro-san once he'd started driving, "you two getting along okay?" The question was directed at Narukami-san and I.

"Yeah," said Narukami-san.

"Uh-huh," I said, nodding. "I get the feeling we'll be getting along just fine."

"Good," said Ryotaro-san. There was a pause. "Will your okaa-san be home when we get there, Yasuhide?"

"Should be," I told him. "She gets off work at about five-thirty, so she should've gotten home about half an hour ago."

"Okay," he said.

There was no more conversation for the rest of the drive.

We arrived at the residential street, and Ryotaro-san parked the car just outside of his house. It was a rather tightly packed street, with a lot of houses crammed together. Not many of the houses had front gardens, and those that did had really small ones. It wasn't a bad place to live, mind you, just a little tightly packed in.

I opened the car door and stepped out. "I'll be over with the carsickness pills in a minute," I said to Narukami-san, leaning into the car.

I walked into the house just next door to the Dojima residence. My house looked much the same as theirs did: bland and greying. I walked into the house and down the very short corridor into the living room, where my okaa-san was sat watching TV.

Her skin was a slightly darker shade of Caucasian, and her hair was a long, wavy, greying red – she was middle-aged. Her eyes were brown and a little smaller than usual, but her face as a whole was still considered quite beautiful. She was a little taller than most women and had a slightly narrow build. She was wearing a blue sweater and a knee-length brown skirt; on her feet were a pair of yellow and green trainers. Her name was Takara Kusuhara.

"Hey, okaa-san, I'm home," I said as I got in, moving towards the stairs. "Ryotaro-san is outside with his nephew, just in case you wanted to say hi. Oh, and I'm going to be giving Narukami-san – Ryotaro-san's nephew – some of the carsickness medicine, if that's all right?"

"That's fine, Yasu," said okaa-san. She got up from the sofa and moved to the front door. "What's he like? Is he a nice kid?"

"From what I can tell, yes," I said. Okaa-san nodded and then moved out the door.

I walked up the stairs and crossed the landing to the bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet and rooted around for the pills I was looking for. I found them without trouble and left the bathroom to go back downstairs.

It was at this point that my little brother decided to exit his bedroom and mingle with us mortals. He was slightly pale Caucasian, with bright rose-coloured hair and turquoise eyes that were the same shape as our okaa-san's. He, also like okaa-san, was a little tall for his age, and he had a narrow build. He took after our okaa-san quite a lot more than I did. He was wearing a red and black set of pyjamas with the crest of some football team or another embroidered on the front. We were Irish twins – born a year apart on the same date.

"Hey, Yasu," he greeted me with that large grin of his. He was holding an Xbox 360 controller. "You should check out this goal I scored on Fifa 10. It was fucking awesome!"

"In a little while," I said, grinning back, though mine was more forced – I couldn't stand those damn soccer games. I held up the pill bottle. "I've got to deliver some meds to our new neighbour first."

"Oh, Ryotaro-san's nephew is here?" he asked. He briefly disappeared back into his room, then came out in his slippers without the controller in his hands. "I'll come meet him."

The two of us went downstairs and exited the house. Next door, the others – now including my okaa-san – were idly chatting just outside. Nanako-chan looked both happy and uncomfortable as her eyes darted between Ryotaro-san and my okaa-san. I knew why that was. Narukami-san stood there with his blank face still as it had been from the moment I'd met him, though his eyes portrayed his interest. They were sort of darting back and forth between everyone, observing them with curiosity.

"Hey, Narukami-san," I said as my brother and I approached. "Here they are, as promised." I handed him the pills.

"Thanks," he said, accepting them. "And Yu is fine."

"So, you're Ryotaro-san's nephew, huh?" said my brother, eyeing Yu-san up and down. He smirked. "Nice to meet you. I'm Baiko. Kusuhara Baiko."

"Narukami Yu," said Yu-san. "Same."

"What's the city like?" asked Baiko eagerly. Like me, he had never been out of Inaba, but he had a much larger appreciation of the outside world than I did. "Is it much different to here?"

"… It's louder," said Yu-san after thinking for a moment.

Baiko's face fell a little, as if in disappointment. "Louder?" he asked. "Okay, okay … what about the atmosphere, does it feel any different?"

"You know, Baiko," I said, cutting off any response Yu-san might have had, "it's kind of ironic that you're so interested in the outside world. Don't you spend every waking hour tucked away in your room playing video games?"

"Oh, fuck you," said Baiko, but he was laughing.

I was quite surprised to see Yu-san smiling a little at our antics.

"In all seriousness, though," said Baiko, "what was it like out there?"

Yu-san thought about it. "Much more crowded," he said. "And a lot more drivers threatening to kill each other in the roads."

Baiko and I both got a bit of a laugh out of that, and Yu-san kept that small smile on his face. It was good to see definite proof that the guy had emotions; it would make making friends with him that much easier.

"Well, I've gotta head inside now, Ryo-kun," okaa-san told Ryotaro-san. She jerked her head in our direction. "Can't let Baiko waste away, he barely has any meat on his bones as it is."

"Hey!" Baiko complained, though he was still laughing.

"Can I assume you've already eaten, Yasu?" okaa-san asked me.

"Yep," I said.

She sighed, turning to Ryotaro-san with a roll of her eyes. "I swear, this kid thinks my cooking is going to kill him." She laughed. "See you later."

Then she and Ryotaro-san shared a soft kiss between them. I looked at Nanako-chan and mimed puking, something she giggled at.

My okaa-san and Ryotaro-san had been in a relationship for a few months now. They were both single parents, and they lived right next door to one another, so it worked out quite well. The only real hitch was Ryotaro-san's job – a detective for the local police force – which sometimes took him away from any plans the two of them may have had. Baiko had mixed feelings at first, but he was slowly warming up to the idea of our okaa-san in a relationship. Nanako-chan took it surprisingly well, and even seemed quite happy for her otou-san on occasion. I was never really all that bothered – my okaa-san has a life of her own, why should I be bothered by who she dates? The fact that I quite liked Ryotaro-san and Nanako-chan probably helped me come to that conclusion.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Yu-san," I said, then looked down. "And you, too, Nanako-chan. Try not to overdose on those things," I added to Yu-san. "Wouldn't want to lose you the day you moved in."

"I'm sure that would be awful," he said in a deadpan. I was fairly sure he was being sarcastic, but due to his tone I couldn't be sure.

"Bye, guys!" said Baiko loudly. Then he, my mother and I went back inside.

I decided to take a quick shower before sitting down to watch the news. I went upstairs and into the bathroom once again. I realised I had left the medicine cabinet open, so I rectified my mistake. I took the opportunity to look myself up and down in the mirror to try and determine how much washing I'd need to do.

I had faintly tanned Caucasian skin. My hair was short and black, and my eyes were the same shade of brown as my mother's and slightly wider than usual. I took mostly after my otou-sama, the bastard. I was wearing a plain red shirt and a pair of dark blue tracksuit bottoms. I stripped off the clothes and tossed them into the hamper. Then I turned on the shower and stepped under the scalding hot water, just the way I liked it.

After showering, I wrapped my lower half in a towel. Then I walked to my bedroom, where I picked out a new pair of socks and boxer shorts. I then sat down on my bed, half naked, and used the remote to turn the TV to the news. I briefly noted the sounds of heavy rain coming from outside.

"—for this week," the female news anchor said as the TV came on. "Next, let's take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow's weather. With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rain throughout the day tomorrow in most areas."

The screen changed, accompanied by what they probably thought was a catchy tune, and a male news anchor appeared on screen.

"And now for the local news," he said. "City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter." An image of the man in question appeared on the side of the screen – he had short black hair and blue eyes. "His wife," an image of a beautiful woman in a kimono appeared on screen, "enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances."

The image of another woman, this one younger and with shoulder-length brown hair, appeared on screen.

"Until allegations of an affair with Mr Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."

Hard to tell who's more guilty, I thought as I watched. Him for cheating on his wife, or her for getting involved with a married man. Either way, it's hard to feel sorry for them. Adultery disgusts me. Whatever came of this, in my eyes, they both had it coming to them.

… I found myself regretting that thought process the next day …

After that the news grew dull, so I flipped through the channels until I found one that was playing the movie The Warriors. I watched it and then went to sleep.

Tuesday, 12 April 2011

Early Morning

Rainy

I sat up in bed groggily as my alarm went off at 06:30a.m. the next morning. I groaned as I reached my hand over to silence it. Technically speaking, I didn't have to get up this early, but my okaa-san had to work so I would be in charge of getting Baiko's breakfast ready. My okaa-san had left about half an hour ago, and the only reason I got up as early as I did was to get a cup of coffee in me before I had to wake my otouto up. I wasn't all that interested in the things he talked about at the best of times, in the morning he would just put me back to sleep.

I got out of bed and put my school uniform on. I opened the curtains of my bedroom to let in what little light there was at this early hour. After rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I exited my room and made my way quietly down the stairs. I got into the kitchen and put the kettle on, then, as it was boiling, I noticed a note my okaa-san had left on the counter.

Left some crumpets in the top left cupboard for your breakfasts. See you later. :)

My okaa-san worked two jobs, both as a cleaner. She cleaned at the local pub in the morning – a job which she tended to despise after the more exciting drinking sessions – and the local elementary school in the afternoon. Nanako-chan sometimes passed messages on to my brother and I that okaa-san had given her on the way out of school. She worked hard and I greatly appreciated it. More than once I had considered getting a part-time job in order to help her with our finances, but there weren't any jobs at the moment that really appealed to me. I know I'm making myself sound fussy, but if I'm not doing something I enjoy, I tend to get snappy, and that's not good for anyone involved.

I got my coffee and turned on the toaster ready for when I would be making the breakfast.

It was at around this point that I noticed it was still raining from the night before.

Sure enough, at 07:00a.m. the sound of Baiko's alarm sounded loud enough for me to hear from downstairs. I took that as my cue and went back into the kitchen to toast the crumpets. I poured Baiko a cup of coffee, and I poured myself another one, too. A full fifteen minutes after his alarm went off, Baiko made his way downstairs to find that breakfast and coffee were already on the table.

"You know, you really should work on your early rising skills," I said. "Crumpets tend to cool down pretty quickly, and God knows I'd hate to saddle you with cold food."

"Screw you," he mumbled weakly. He picked up his coffee and took a long gulp, his face appearing to wake up a little as he drank. "Ah, that's good coffee," he sighed.

"I do my best," I said. I took a large bite out of one of my crumpets. I chewed, swallowed, then said, "We'll probably end up walking with Yu-san and Nanako-chan today." We always walked part of the way with Nanako-chan – her school was relatively close to ours – but I felt the need to warn Baiko that we might have an extra person today.

"I figured," said Baiko. He sounded a little more awake now. He glanced at the window. "This fucking weather, man … where the hell's the sun at?"

"Fuck if I know," I said. "All I know is that we're going to need umbrellas today. Now eat up, we're leaving in an hour."

There was surprisingly little chatter on Baiko's part that morning. Sometimes he was like that, he needed to do some waking up before he got in the mood to talk. We didn't share many interests, which meant that other than the morning and occasionally late at night we didn't really speak all that much. I found that rather sad – I didn't have anything to talk to my own brother about.

The news was just more about that secretary/announcer affair bullshit. That didn't interest me.

At 08:10a.m we left the house. Sure enough, Nanako-chan and Yu-san were just leaving the Dojima residence as we were leaving. They both had umbrellas, as did we.

"Hey, guys," I greeted as our two groups met up. "How are you on this fine morning? Does the weather not reflect the joyfulness of the day?"

Nanako-chan giggled. "Hi, Yasu-oniichan. Hi, Bai-oniichan," she greeted me and my brother warmly.

"Well, hello to you, too, little lady," said Baiko, leaning down to be level with Nanako-chan. She giggled once more at his antics. I'll say what I will about Baiko, but he had a way with children I'd probably never be able to replicate – I think he'd make a brilliant father one day.

"Hey, Yu-san," I said, "you ready for your first day in paradise?"

"Sure thing," said Yu-san.

"Sweet!" I said. "Then let's get our butts in gear, shall we? Wouldn't want you to be late on your first day." Especially if you end up in our class, I added in my head, then shuddered at the thought of what King Moron would say if that happened.

We started walking, idly chatting to pass the time (except for Yu-san, who only spoke when directly addressed). We were laughing at each other's jokes, listening intently to each other's stories, and it was just a really good time for everybody. This went on until we entered the School Zone – the part of town where all the schools are situated – and came upon a fork in the path when we reached the Samegawa flood plain.

"You keep going straight from here," said Nanako-chan, pointing Yu-san down the direction of the path on the left. "I'm sure Bai-oniichan and Yasu-oniichan will show you the way." She turned down the direction of the other path. "My school's this way. Bye, guys!"

"Have a good day, Nanako-chan," Baiko called after her as she left.

Very little happened after she left. We kept up the chatter as much as we could, but with Yu-san's lack of contribution unless directly spoken to it wasn't easy. I was on the verge of giving up any attempts when we reached an intersection just before we reached the school.

We were walking down the street, me trying to come up with some topic of conversation, when a distressed yell came from behind us. We all turned just in time to see a bike speeding past us way faster than it should probably have been going, and veering from left to right as it went. I had the strange feeling I knew who the rider was but I didn't get a good look at him as he sped past and crashed into a lamppost a little way ahead of us.

By the time we got over there he was holding his abdomen in pain, and I saw that it was exactly who I thought it was. He had Caucasian skin and lightly coloured, unkempt brown hair that reached his shoulders, and eyes of the same colour. He was wearing the Yasogami High School boys' uniform, but beneath he was wearing a white V-neck with long sleeves, and a pair of orange headphones around his neck. His bike, despite having just crashed, looked like it was still rideable … not that I'd ever ride it to put that to the test.

"… Okay, then," said Baiko, then we started moving again.

"Bad luck, Yosuke-san," I said, patting Yosuke-san on the shoulder as we walked past.

"Sc-Screw you …" he said weakly.

It was only a few minutes later that we finally came upon the school building. It was large and imposing and I always thought it looked kind of old, especially with the massive gates. But I had a strange fondness for it that I couldn't quite explain, especially when my homeroom teacher made everyone's lives a misery.

"Welcome to your new school, Yu-san," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'll show you where the faculty office is so they can take you to your class, okay?"

"Thanks," he said to me. Then he smiled a little. "I've been saying that a lot to you, haven't I?"

I laughed. "Yeah," I agreed. "But don't worry. You probably won't need my help as much when you've gotten used to the place."

"Okay, guys, you can get friendly later," said Baiko, checking his watch. "We've got five minutes till school starts."

I found myself rushing after he'd told me that. I didn't want to be late, not to the class I was in … King Moron would've killed me …

The classroom was alive with the chattering of the other students. I was keeping to myself, as usual. From the way I acted one would think I was quite sociable and friendly, but in truth I wasn't exactly a social butterfly. There were people I spoke to on occasion – three of them (four if you counted Aika-san), and all in this classroom – and even then it wasn't often. I really only jumped into the conversation when something interesting was going on. None of them made much of an effort to get to know me, so I did much the same.

My seat was located just beside Yosuke Hanamura's – he was the guy from the bike crash earlier. He was one of the three people I spoke to.

In front of me sat Chie Satonaka, another of the people I spoke to. She was a little shorter than average, with Caucasian skin and light brown, bowl-shaped hair which the colour of her eyes matched. She wore a modified version of the Yasogami High School girls' uniform. Rather than the usual blazer, hers consisted of a bright green tracksuit jacket with yellow highlights and several decorative pins. Like all the other girls in the school, she wore a miniskirt, but with a pair of black shorts underneath.

In the seat directly in front of Chie-san sat her best friend – and one of the most popular girls in school – Yukiko Amagi, the third of the people I spoke to. She had Caucasian skin so pale it was like snow. Her eyes were a deep, dark black, as was her long, straight hair, which she kept neat with a red hairband. She, like Chie-san, wore her uniform differently to how it was supposed to be worn. It consisted of a red, button-up sweater with a yellow ribbon; also included was a black opaque pantyhose. She was considered to be the most beautiful girl in school, and pretty much every male student in the place had asked her out at least once – including me.

I didn't ask her out because of any romantic interest, though. I found that I took very little interest in the idea of a teenage romance or the idea of "getting laid." I knew that it was normal for a teenage boy such as myself to want these things, and I'm pretty damn sure I'm not asexual, yet I had never been all that motivated to get myself a girlfriend or anything of the sort. When I asked Yukiko-san to go out with me, it was more for the sake of friendship than anything – I realised a while back that my social life was severely lacking, so in order to fix that, I attempted to spend time with one of the most genuinely nice people I could think of. Yukiko-san was a very nice, polite girl, so I thought I would try to make friends with her.

She turned me down. Probably thought I was another one of those "Amagi Challengers" or something. I didn't begrudge her that, though, there were some really sick perverts at this school.

"Hey, you guys," said one of those gossiping girls near the windows. She was talking rather loudly to a gathered group of students. "I heard there's going to be a transfer student from the city in this class."

"Huh? Really?" one of the guys in the group asked. "A guy or a girl?"

Unless Yu-san was hiding a pair of tits under that turtle-neck of his, I'm pretty sure it's a guy, I thought to myself in vague amusement.

"A transfer student from the city …" said Chie-san. She took a glance back at Yosuke. "Just like you, huh, Yosuke-san?" She saw how he was slumped over his desk. "… Huh? You look dead today."

"Yeah, um …" said Yosuke-san, groaning. "I don't wanna talk about it …"

"He had an unfortunate biking accident," I said. I could feel the smirk growing on my face without even meaning it to. "Very painful, but also very fun to watch."

"Screw you, Yasuhide-san …" groaned Yosuke-san.

"You couldn't afford it," I shot back.

Before any more conversation could take place, the door of the classroom opened and everyone went silent. In walked our sensei – a man with a really shitty haircut and teeth that could probably be removed and sold as novelty bottle openers – who was accompanied by Yu-san.

"Awright, shut your traps!" yelled Morooka-sensei, aka, King Moron, as he reached the podium at the front of the class. "I'm Morooka Kinshiro, your homeroom teacher from today forward! First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. Long as I'm around, you students are going to be as pure as the driven snow!

"Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student. This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage. And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him! Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."

"… You calling me a loser?" Yu-san asked him. There was a slight hint of aggressiveness added on to that usually stoic demeanour of his. Pretty much the entire class went wide-eyed when it happened, but I simply appreciated the fact that someone had finally talked back to King Moron.

"That's it," said King Moron, "you're on my shit list, effective immediately."

Not a big shock there. Everyone's on your shit list.

"Now listen up!" King Moron yelled at Yu-san. "This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. You better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them! But what do I know … it's not like the old days. Even here, kids grow up so damn fast. Every time I turn my back, you're fooling around on those damn phones, checking your life-journals and your my-places …"

He just went on and on from there. As big an asshole was Morooka-sensei was, I actually found the rants he went on vastly entertaining. Mostly because, in the end, it was basically one big "Back in my day …" old man speech.

At some point during King Moron's rant, Chie-san put her hand up. "Excuse me!" she said. "Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"

"Huh?" said Morooka-sensei. He seemed surprised that somebody had cut off his rant. "Yeah, sure." He turned to Yu-san with a glare. "Ya hear that? Your seat's over there. So hurry up and siddown already!"

Yu-san didn't really react all that much to the shouting. He simply made his way over to the empty seat just beside Chie-san – and just in front of Yosuke-san – and sat down. Immediately, Chie-san leaned over and began speaking.

"He's the worst, huh?" she whispered. "Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class … Well, we just have to hang in there for a year."

"Hey, Yu-san, how's it going?" I whispered, leaning forward. Yu-san looked back at me. "Welcome to hell, man, it's good to have you here."

"Wait, you know him, Yasuhide-san?" Chie-san asked me.

"He moved in next door to me yesterday," I explained.

Apparently, the other students in class had been gossiping quietly, as well. Morooka-sensei's glare faced all of us, growing in hatred with every passing second.

"Shut your traps!" he shouted at us. "I'm taking roll, and I damn well expect you to respond in an orderly manner!"

As Morooka-sensei was taking roll, I couldn't help but reflect on what an odd coincidence it was that, not only had Yu-san moved in next door to me, but he'd also ended up in the same class. Not that it mattered. Knowing me, we'd only end up talking to each other whilst in school, anyway, and maybe on the walk to and from the place if we left at the same time. As I've said, I'm not exactly a social butterfly, and I very rarely spoke to people from school when we weren't in school (with the exception of Aika-san, who I spoke to when I ate at her family's restaurant).

Though, yet again, Yu-san's air of friendliness compelled me to make friends with him. I didn't know what it was about him that made me want to be his friend, and I didn't really care. All I knew was that he was a guy I felt like spending time with.

We spent the rest of the day being lectured by King Moron on subjects I suspect have nothing to do with the school curriculum.

After School

Cloudy

The bell went, and I felt relief wash through me. As entertaining as I found King Moron's rants, the first day back was always a bitch simply because we had to listen to them all damn day! I also wanted to be getting home before the weather took another nose dive. It was clearing up now, but the fog that had rolled in about halfway through the day was so thick I couldn't see two feet out of the classroom window. It was insane, it was like something out of Silent Hill or The Mist.

"That's all for today," said Morooka-sensei. He sounded just as relieved to be rid of us as we were to be rid of him. "Normal lectures will start tomorrow."

As everyone got up and prepared to leave – myself included – our joy at being free was interrupted when the school intercom system sprang to life.

"Attention, all teachers," said the woman over the intercom. "Please report immediately to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and not leave the school until further notice."

The intercom system died without saying any more.

Morooka-sensei groaned, though it was full of both surprise and annoyance. "You heard the announcement," he said to us. "Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise." Then he walked out of the classroom.

This was strange … this was really fucking strange. They had never kept the entire school behind before, and the way that they had called all of the teachers for a meeting implied that this was something serious, but for some reason they wanted to avoid telling us. Now what could it be …? I had no idea. But I didn't like it, no sir, not one bit. I felt a wave of paranoia wash over me that I didn't want. I just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong happening here.

As if to emphasise my thoughts, the unmistakable sound of sirens began to resound from outside. My head snapped up and, through the still-thick fog, I could just barely see the flashing red and blue lights of police cars.

What in the hell is going on …? I thought.

"H-Hey, Yukiko-san … mind if I ask you something?" said a male student who was standing near Yukiko-san's desk. I had been so deep in thought that I hadn't noticed him. "Is it true that announcer's staying at your family's inn?"

Announcer? I thought, curious. He doesn't mean that Mayumi Yamano, does he?

"I can't discuss such things," said Yukiko-san, frowning.

That'll be a big "yes," then.

"Y-Yeah, I guess not," the other student conceded, rubbing his neck sheepishly. He then walked off to rejoin the group gathered by the window.

I let my mind wander again, and I found my eyes landing on Yu-san, sat just in front of me and to the left. I stood up and walked around Yosuke-san's desk, coming to a stop just by the side of Yu-san's.

"An awful lot of excitement for the first day of school, isn't it?" I asked rhetorically. I glanced out the window at the slowly clearing fog. "What do you think's going on? They're making an awful lot of fuss for it to just be something small."

"I don't know," said Yu-san. "But I'm curious."

"Yeah …" I found myself shivering as I felt my gaze return to the fog outside. "Just the right weather for a mystery, huh? It's giving me the God damned chills …"

"You should wrap up warmer." He had that small smile on his face again.

The display of humour caught me off guard slightly, but it also eased my mind a little. I found that the chilly feeling had gone away. I chuckled as I realised Yu-san had eased my mind in one short sentence. This guy's something else.

It was then that the intercom system blared to life once more.

"Attention, all students," said the woman over the intercom. "There has been an incident inside the school district. Police Officers have been dispatched around the School Zone. Please stay calm and contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat …"

The classroom was so abuzz with noise after that that I couldn't hear the repeat. Do not disturb the police officers. That one sentence was enough to tell me that something big was going down. Whatever it was, it was something serious and they didn't want anybody getting in the way. I felt my stomach churn as a feeling of foreboding rose in my chest. I took a deep breath and turned back to Yu-san.

"Come on," I said. "We should probably get going."

He rose from his seat and we were just about to leave when Chie-san and Yukiko-san approached us.

"Hey, are you two going home together?" Chie-san asked, looking between the two of us. "Mind if we tag along? Oh," she said, turning her full attention to Yu-san, "nearly forgot! I'm Satonaka Chie. You know I sit next to you, right?"

"Of course," said Yu-san. I thought it was a pretty obvious question.

"Well, nice to meet you!" Chie-san said enthusiastically. "This is Yukiko Amagi." She gestured to Yukiko-san, who was standing just behind her, a little timidly.

"Oh, nice to meet you …" said Yukiko-san with a small smile. "I'm sorry that this is so sudden …"

"C'mon, don't apologise like that," Chie-san said to her. "It makes me look like I got no upbringing. I just wanted to ask some stuff. Really, that's all."

The three of us made to leave the classroom, but Yosuke-san walked into our path. Good God, I thought, slightly exasperated. He's a new kid in town, not a fucking parade! Where are all these people coming from?

"Ah, um … Satonaka-sama …?" he said, clearly addressing Chie-san, as he pulled what looked like a DVD case out of his pocket. He sounded nervous, a fact that was only reinforced by the formal way he referred to her. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see …" He bowed his head and held the DVD out in front of him. "And … I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until I get my next paycheck!" Chie-san took the DVD from his hands and Yosuke-san looked relieved. "See ya! Thanks!" He made a run for the classroom door.

"Stop right there!" Chie-san yelled, giving chase. "What did you do to my DVD!?"

And before he could escape, Yosuke-san was treated to a kick right to the manly parts courtesy of Chie Satonaka. Both Yu-san and I flinched for him as he went down, grasping his crotch and writhing in pain. He rolled around on the floor in rather pathetic fashion, and I felt my sympathy for him grow. My balls felt a little uncomfortable as I witnessed the spectacle, too, and I found myself unconsciously bringing my thighs together as a means of protection.

Chie-san, apparently satisfied that Yosuke-san wouldn't be running anywhere, opened up the DVD case and visibly recoiled at what she saw inside. I saw it, too, and I can safely say that Yosuke-san at least partially deserved the pain he was suffering.

"What the—!?" Chie-san said as she looked at the broken remnants of her DVD. "I can't believe this! It's completely cracked … My Trial of the Dragon …!"

"How does one even do that much damage to a DVD?" I asked, looking in wonder at the large amount of cracks on the disk. "Either that was intentional, or there were multiple accidents instead of just one."

"I think mine's cracked, too …" Yosuke-san said weakly as he cradled his damaged crotch. "C-Critical hit to the nads …"

"A-are you all right?" Yukiko-san asked.

Yosuke-san, despite his pain, gained an expression of hope. "Oh, Yukiko-san … are you worried about me …?" Even in spite of his pain, he still jumped at the chance to try and get with Yukiko-san …

"He's fine, Yukiko," said Chie-san coldly. "Let's ditch him and go home."

Chie-san walked swiftly out of the room, followed closely by Yukiko-san. Yu-san lingered for a moment, staring at Yosuke-san, before following those two.

I moved to walk past Yosuke-san but stopped before I got to the door. "You might wanna put some ice on that," I advised him. "And you have my greatest sympathies. May your balls rest in peace."

Then I left and followed the others.

We didn't say much of anything as we left school. It was mostly just casual conversation about the school day and which of King Moron's rants we found the most hilarious. It was an enjoyable conversation, all things considered, and I once again found myself wondering why I could never bring myself to hang out with people outside of school. I wanted to, I really wanted to, but something in my mind would just never let me. It was like some kind of barrier that wouldn't let me get close to people.

Our enjoyable conversation came to an abrupt end as we got to the school gate. Out from behind it stepped a male student I had never seen before – it was no wonder, really, since he was wearing a completely different uniform to us. He was a pale Caucasian, and I mean really pale, almost like a vampire. His hair was black and parted down the middle, and his eyes were black and a little too round, almost reminding me of a fish. He was looking at Yukiko-san.

"You're Yuki-chan, right?" he said to her. "Y-You want to go hang out somewhere?"

Okay, I thought as alarm bells rang in my head, at least the guys from our school made an attempt at conversation before hitting on her, this guy's just fucking creepy. I had never seen him before, and, judging by the confused and slightly frightened look on Yukiko-san's face, she hadn't, either. That allowed me to automatically label him as a creep, and I prepared myself to step in if things got out of hand. Friend or not, if anyone thinks they can be creepy with a girl when I'm around, they've got another thing coming.

"What …?" Yukiko-san asked. "Wh-Who are you?"

A few students gathered behind us, apparently to watch what was happening. I ignored them.

"Um, s-so … are you coming or not?" He sounded almost awkward when he said that. It gave me the impression that he was the shut-in type and wasn't really used to talking to girls.

"I-I'm not going …" Yukiko-san told him.

"Fine!" the creep snapped, then ran away.

"W-What did he want from me?" Yukiko-san asked after he had gone.

Chie-san looked exasperated. " 'What did he want'?" she said. "Obviously, he was asking you out on a date."

"Really?" Yukiko-san looked genuinely surprised.

"You know, I sincerely doubt dating is what's on his mind," I said. "Unless, of course, you define dating as that thing that leads little boys to pointing to the spot on the doll where the bad man touched him."

"… Okay, I see your point," Chie-san said. "I wouldn't have put it quite like that, though. But it was so creepy, how he called you 'Yuki-chan' all of a sudden, Yukiko."

"Yo, Yukiko-san," said Yosuke-san as he rounded the corner with his incredibly squeaky bike. "Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh? Man, you're cruel … You got me the same way last year."

"I don't recall doing that," said Yukiko-san.

"Whoa, you serious?" Yosuke-san's voice was suddenly very upbeat. "So then, you wanna hang out sometime!?"

"I'd rather not," said Yukiko-san.

"… That'll teach me to get my hopes up," Yosuke-san said in a pained voice.

"Hey, guys!" came a voice from behind us. It was Baiko. He looked at Yukiko-san. "Turned down another one, huh?" He looked at me. "Didn't she do the same thing to you once?"

"Not the same circumstances, but pretty much the same result, yeah," I said. Yukiko-san actually looked kind of annoyed by this point. "So how was your day, Baiko?"

"Pretty boring," he told me. "If I'd known the first day of high school was gonna be this dull I'd have pretended to be sick."

Or pretend you slept funny so you'd get the week off, I thought bitterly. That had happened once – Baiko had woken up one morning with an aching neck, and okaa-san had let him take the rest of the week off school. She was ridiculously lenient when it came to my brother – if I had tried something like that she would have kicked my ass out of the door naked if she had to.

Rather than saying any of this out loud, however, I simply feigned a laugh.

"You four better not pick on the transfer student too much," said Yosuke-san, eyeing Chie-san, Yukiko-san, Baiko and myself in distrust. He then swiftly got on his bike and started pedaling.

"We're just curious, is all!" Chie-san yelled after him.

"U-Um, I'm sorry for dragging all of you into this …" said Yukiko-san, looking at all of us.

"Hey, anything that can make this place more exciting," I said with a smile.

"What the hell happened over here, anyway?" asked Baiko. "I get that Amagi turned a guy down – I saw that much from a distance – but you all looked really freaked out by him. What's the deal?"

"He was the creepy stalker type," I told him. "We're talking Jim Carrey from The Cable Guy, but less ridiculous."

"Oh," said Baiko, nodding in understanding.

"C'mon, let's go," said Chie-san. She looked around at all the people who had gathered. "Everyone's staring."

We left the school, with Baiko now in our group, and continued our previous discussion. Eventually, the conversation turned to why Yu-san had come to town, and he explained to Chie-san and Yukiko-san that he had been sent here by his parents to live with his uncle while they worked overseas. Hearing his tone of voice made me feel sorry for him … it sounded like this happened a lot.

"Ah … so you came here because of your parents' job," said Chie-san in understanding. She laughed awkwardly. "I thought it was something way more serious. There really is nothing here, huh?" she added, looking around. On one side of the path we were walking on was a residential area, but on the other there was a large amount of near-empty farmland. "That's what makes it nice, but there is nothing we can show to people from outside. Though there is something from Mt. Yasogami … I think our dyed clothes or pottery or something is kinda famous." Her eyes lit up in realisation. "Oh wait, and there's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!"

"Huh?" said Yukiko-san, blushing a little. "It's … just an old inn."

"No way," argued Chie-san, "it's been in all sortsa magazines as a hidden treasure."

"Yeah, okaa-san took us up there once," recalled Baiko. "I don't remember all that much, 'cause it was only the once, but I remember enjoying it."

"Oh yeah," I said, remembering with fondness the weekend we had spent at the inn as a sort of mini-vacation. "Let me tell you, those hot springs are the best. I could've stayed in there all day if there weren't allocated times for each gender."

"I hear ya, man," Chie-san said to me. "It's a great inn! It's been going for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over someday. Their inn actually attracts a lot of visitors to Inaba. It pretty much keeps this town going."

"… I don't think that's entirely true," said Yukiko-san. She was quite clearly embarrassed now.

And it was about to get even worse.

"So, tell me," Chie-san said to Yu-san, grinning. "You think Yukiko's cute, huh?"

That took even me by surprise. "Good God, you encourage it …" I said, feigning horror. "It's no wonder guys don't leave her alone, if you keep asking them shit like this."

Baiko laughed, and Chie-san glared at us both. "Shut up," she said. She turned back to Yu-san. "Come on, you do, right?"

"I think so, yeah," Yu-san said without hesitating. There was a very light hint of red on his cheeks.

Chie-san laughed loudly. "I knew it!"

"Come on … don't start this again …" Yukiko-san said, looking down at the floor.

"She's really popular at school," Chie-san continued without listening, "but she's never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?"

"C-come on, stop it," Yukiko-san pleaded with her. Then she turned to Yu-san. "Y-you shouldn't believe that, okay? It's not true that I'm popular or that I've never had a boyfriend!" She froze and shook her head. "Wait, n-no! What I meant to say was, I-I don't need a boyfriend. Jeez … Chie!"

Chie-san laughed again. "Sorry, I'm sorry. But this is our chance to talk to someone from the big city, and you hardly said a word!"

"Still kind of a dick move, though," said Baiko. He shook his head in disapproval. "Putting her on the spot like that … Seriously, I think Yasu has better friendship skills than you."

"Yeah, I—" I stopped mid-speech, then turned to Baiko with a glare. The shit-eating grin on his face only served to piss me off more. "The hell's that supposed to mean, you little shitbag?"

"Figure it out," Baiko said. "Your brain does have the ability to reason, right?"

"Hey, what's that?" Chie-san said, cutting off the witty retort I most definitely had prepared.

I looked to where she was pointing and saw a large gathering of people and … police cars? We walked over to that part of the residential area and found an entire road had been blocked off, police guards on duty and everything. The looks of fear, curiosity, and excitement on the faces of everybody in the crowd made me even more curious as to what was going on.

Luckily, eavesdropping on the conversations of the gathered people was more than enough to tell me what I wanted to know.

"So that high schooler left school early," said one woman, "and as she came down this street …"

"Wow," said another woman in wonder. "Who could imagine that hanging from an antenna?"

"I wanted to see it, too."

"Uh, you got here too late … The police and fire department took it down just a moment ago."

"Well, I think it's terrifying. I can't believe a dead body turned up around here …"

A dead body …

Those three words were like the final pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. All of the minor details I had gotten since the announcement was first made at school now fit together perfectly. And it all made one horrible image.

"Wait … what did she just say?" asked Chie-san. Apparently she had been listening to their conversation, too. "A dead body!?"

I was trying to look past the gathered crowd when a familiar face made itself known. Ryotaro-san saw me, too, and made his way past the police barricade and to our little group.

"Hey, what're you guys doing here?" he asked when he reached us.

"We're just passing by," said Yu-san.

"Huh … I should've figured that'd happen," said Ryotaro-san with a sigh. "That damn principal. We told him not to let them through here …" He seemed to be talking more to himself than to us.

"You know this guy …?" Chie-san said, looking between Yu-san and I.

"I'm Detective Dojima," said Ryotaro-san, "his guardian," he gestured to Yu-san, "and their next-door neighbour." He gestured to Baiko and I. "Well, how should I say this … I hope you get along with them. But you five really ought to stop wandering around and head straight home."

He seemed like he was about to walk away when the other detective ran past. He was a young guy – somewhere in his early twenties – with Caucasian skin and shaggy black hair. He wore a ragged black suit. He ran past us and began loudly puking behind some bushes.

"Adachi!" Ryotaro-san yelled in irritation. "How long are you going to act like a rookie? You want to be sent back to the central office!?"

"I-I'm sorry," mumbled Adachi. His face was still slightly green and there were remnants of puke on his suit. He coughed a little to clear his throat.

Ryotaro-san sighed. "Go wash you face," he ordered. "We're gonna go around and gather information!"

He walked away, and Adachi hurried after him. I felt a pang of pity for Adachi. It was clear that this was the first time he'd seen a corpse, and he clearly wasn't handling it well.

"Was this what that announcement was about …?" Chie-san said.

"No shit, Sherlock," I muttered. I couldn't bring myself to say it any louder. The situation was just too gruesome at the moment for sarcasm.

"What do they mean … it was hanging from the antenna …?" asked Yukiko-san.

"I think …" said Baiko in a shaky voice, "… that we'd all benefit from just going home. I don't see how staying out is going to help calm any of us down …"

"Good idea," said Yu-san.

"Yeah, it's a damn good idea," I said. I licked my lips, which had gone abnormally dry. "See you guys later."

After saying our goodbyes to Chie-san and Yukiko-san, Yu-san, Baiko and I walked home together, and I told Yu-san I would see him in class tomorrow as we entered our separate houses.

I ate with my family that night. I really wasn't in the mood to go out.

Not when there was quite possibly a killer on the loose.

This took my three days of work to get through, and it feels damn good to get this out! I've noticed a trend where I start rushing slightly as I near the end of a chapter, but I think I've corrected all of my mistakes … if you find any, do me a favour and tell me, would you? It'd be a huge help.

I've kind of surprise myself with this. When I started writing it, I had Baiko as more of a background character, just sort of there as a family member to Yasuhide. But as I wrote this out, not only did a personality for him form in my head, but an entire character arc for him to go through throughout the course of the story. Honestly, I've got so much planned for the future for pretty much all of the characters, and I'm looking forward to writing it all!

Leave me your thoughts, if you would be so kind, and I will see you all next time!