June 22nd, 2012

The sound of the front door opening and quickly closing brought a smile to my face.

"So, how was work baby?" I got up off my couch to meet my girlfriend by the door. "It was the same as always, why don't you join me sometime?" She had just taken her shoes off and she was looking at me with a smile. I walked up to her and embraced her.

The scent of her perfume flooded my sinuses. "Maybe. Hey why don't we head to Inaba, I heard everyone is meeting up soon." She looked up at me and nuzzled her head on my shoulder. "That sounds lovely, we can talk about the old times." My smile faded. I bit my bottom lip, I had to tell her about something.

"Yu called. Something bad happened with the Shadow Operatives." The room grew silent. Looks like I was sleeping on the couch tonight.

April 11th, 2011

"Alright! Inaba here I come!"

I flipped my black hair out of my eyes and observed the scenery out of the train window. It was almost dusk and there only a few other people on the train. In all honest, it was weird being the only American on a train heading toward small town in Japan.

I had entered an exchange program at my old school in Florida. Out of everyone in the school, I was chosen to go to Japan for the next school year. My Junior year of High School to be exact. According to Japan's education system, I was a second year student though. Something about there only being three years of high school.

Regardless, I was to be staying at an Inn near the school until the schools could work out living arrangements for me. I pulled my new cell phone out of my pocket and began to fill in all my old numbers. My old carrier didn't have service in Japan, so I had to get a new phone with a new provider. This new phone was amazing though!

Apparently if you touched phones with someone who had the same model it would register the contact information automatically! "Man Japan has the coolest shit." I kicked my feet up and kept entering all the old numbers. Eventually an announcement came on, "Last call for YasoInaba." I sighed and grabbed my luggage.

Only one other person appeared to be getting off the train. He looked pretty weird because of his odd hair color. It was either silver or gray, I couldn't really tell because of the glare from the sun going down. "Hey guy!" I yelled out to him and he stopped to turn around. "I'm Lucas Keep, what's your name?" He smiled and held out his hand, which I took.

"Yu Narukami. Are you moving to Inaba as well?"

I nodded and forced myself not to laugh at how formal he sounded. "Where are you from?" I could tell he noticed I wasn't Japanese, and he seemed to be trying to ask in the most politically correct way possible. "I'm from the states man. Florida, if they teach that here." Narukami smiled and nodded. "Yeah they teach some stuff about America."

I nodded myself and headed out of the train station, the town looked dead. "Man, this place is smaller than I expected." Narukami chuckled and pulled out his phone. It was the same model as mine!

"Dude we have the same phone! I want to try out that touch thingy!" Narukami stared at me like I was crazy, but he held it out to indulge me. I pulled my own phone out and touched the back, in seconds I had all of his contact information. "This is so sweet, I wish we had that in the States!" Narukami chuckled before walking off in the direction of two people.

A man and a little girl, I assumed they were his family. "Later Narukami, maybe I'll see you around!" I pulled out the documents my old school had provided for me and made my way to the 'Amagi Inn.'

Eventually, I weaved my way through downtown and found myself at a somewhat secluded Inn. "This place looks sweet!" I headed in and walked up to the desk. "Hello, I'm Lucas Keep and I have a reservation." The lady at the desk looked as if she couldn't understand me.

It suddenly dawned on me that not everyone here would be able to speak English. "Well this is awkward."

I seemed to be in a tough spot until a girl with black hair, around my age, walked over. She seemed to translate my message to the desk lady. I deduced this because I heard Lucas Keep come out of her mouth. "Thank you so much, I thought that was going to get pretty bad." I smiled and the girl returned it before bowing.

"It was no trouble, Lucas-San. I hope you enjoy your stay." I tilted my head in confusion. "San? And what's your name?" Her eyes got a little wide, I'm not entirely sure why either. "Oh sorry, San is a way of addressing someone equal to you, and my name is Yukiko Amagi." Nodding, I put my hands behind my head.

"Well, Yukiko-San, I'm pleased to meet your acquaintance." She smiled and bowed again.

"You're welcome Lucas-San, I suggest you look up honorifics to make your stay in Inaba a little easier." I nodded and grabbed my room key that was sitting on the counter. "Have a good night Yukiko." I headed up a set of stairs, and it wasn't until I got to my room that I realized I forgot the 'San'. "Man, I'm bad at this."

Sighing, I opened the door to the room and saw a pretty spacious place in front of me. There was only one problem. Instead of a bed, there was a mat.

"Maybe, coming to Japan was a bad idea." My poor back would be dead by the time living arrangements would be made. Feeling drained from the long travel, I dug through my bag and pulled out my school uniform. "Yasogami huh?" Already dreading the thought of a uniform, I plopped down on the mat and began to ease myself into sleep.

April 12th, 2011

"Jesus christ, my back is killing me."

I opened my eyes around 6:00 am, way too early. In one, not so swift, motion I stood up off the mat and walked to the nearest wall. Placing my right arm on the wall, I twisted my body towards my arm.

I felt every single joint on my back crack. "Oh sweet baby Jesus, that was amazing." I continued to stretch and soon made my way to the room's bathroom to conduct my morning routine. You have no idea how great a hot shower is after a intense back cracking. After taking care of all my hygienic needs, I walked to my new school uniform and began to get dressed.

"This is going to be terrible." I could hardly breathe in the uniform, and it looked goofy on me. The weird faded black, grayish uniform didn't appear to flattering on me. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I made my way over and opened it. It was Yukiko. "Oh! I came to ask if you were attending Yasogami, but your uniform seems to have answered my question."

I smiled and nodded, I took the time to observe her appearance. She appeared to be wearing the school uniform, but the top was totally covered with a red jacket type article of clothing. "Would you mind showing me the way to school? I have no idea where it is." Yukiko nodded and left the doorway.

Before I headed down the stairs, I took the time to grab my wallet, phone, and iPod. Slipping my ear buds in, I browsed my music until I found exactly what I was looking for. I cleared my throat and began to sing as I went to meet up with Yukiko.

Shove me under you again
I can't wait for this to end
Sober, empty in the head
I know I can never win
Why should I have to wait
I'll just look the other way

We left this land of shiny lights
I wish I may, I wish I might
When all these dreams have come to end
You wish you were, you're not my friend

I noticed her staring at me, and I felt my face get a little redder than it normally does. "Sorry, I just start singing sometimes." She shook her head and gave me a flustered look of her own. "You sing very nicely." I smiled and grabbed her hand.

"Come on, I don't want to be late on my first day!" Dragging her out of the Inn was easy enough and soon we began the walk to Yasogami high school. It was raining, it sucked. "So, this is the place?" We had made it to what looked like a school, and I was only partially drenched! The school's outer wall had a gate that reminded me of a prison.

"I wonder what kind of student life awaits me here?" I looked around and spotted Narukami walking inside. "Hey Narukami!" I ran over to him and jumped on his back, leaving Yukiko behind. "Hello Lucas, I didn't know you were transferring here. We should go to the office together." I nodded and followed Narukami to wherever it was he was taking me.

After what seemed like endless waiting for my schedule and sitting through a pseudo lecture from a teacher, it turned out that Narukami and I had the same class.

"Class 2-2 huh? Looks like we get to hang out together in class!" I was pretty pumped to have someone I kind of knew in my class. We headed to our designated room and saw possibly the ugliest man I've ever seen standing outside the door. "Who is that? Why does he have horse teeth?" Narukami elbowed me in the side, as if to punish me for bad talking a walking deformation.

"Listen you American punk, you better show respect to our culture and don't even think about getting the girls infested with your American diseases!" My mouth detached from my head, there was no way this asshole could have a job here. "Get in my classroom now!" Narukami and I looked at each other.

"Yeah, should've stayed in Florida."

We followed the horse in and stood in front of the class. "Awright, shut your traps!" God this was going to be bad. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!" I faceplamed, this year was going to be an utter shitstorm. "First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't mean you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons." Was this guy really serious?

"Long as I'm around, you students are going to be pure as the driven snow!" Why does this have to be a thing? Just kill me now! "Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce the transfer students. This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage. And the other's an American clown shipped away from home."

Clown? This guy was going to get a healthy serving of my foot, in his ass! "And they're just as much of a loser here as they were there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on them!" I snorted and looked at Narukami. "Tell 'em your names, and make it quick."

I went first, "I'm Lucas Keep, and I'm the American." I grinned and looked to Narukami again. "Yu Narukami." I clapped sarcastically at his emotionless response. "He's a talkative guy, ladies."

Morooka growled at me and got in my face. "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!" I couldn't keep my laughter in any longer, I cracked up in his face. Me, abuse a girl? That is downright foolish son!

He began ranting about technology or something. I thought I was going to die by lecture until a girl in a green jacket got his attention. "Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?" Narukami and I booked it, fearing more lectures.

Narukami took the seat next to her and I grabbed the one behind her and next to some brown haired guy. I leaned back in the desk and looked around the room, I spotted Yukiko just two seats ahead of me. The girl in green managed to get both Narukami and I's attention. "He's the worst, huh?" I nodded and rested my head against my arm.

"Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class, We'll just have to hang in there for a year." I groaned and started to block people out. "So my life at this new school has begun, will I be able to fit in here?"

Narukami looked at me in confusion. As if I was reading his mind. Which I wasn't, that would be freaking sweet though! I took that as my chance to sleep. Only to be woken up by the intercom going off.

"-all teachers, please report immediately to the faculty office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice."

I stretched back and tuned out more of Morooka's bullshit. I looked around the class again and I noticed some guy talking to Yukiko. "Mind if I ask you something?" I was curious and began to eavesdrop ever so slightly. "Is it true that announcer's staying at your family's Inn?" I regarded the information as useless and turned my attention elsewhere.

The girl in green grabbed my attention as she walked around my desk to Yukiko's. She began to strike up conversation with her. Sighing, I plopped my head back down on my desk.

"Attention, all students, 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-"

Man the lady over the intercoms was annoying. The levels were terrible too. "That was an uneventful first day." Everybody else seemed to disagree though. They all started freaking out. I let people start to clear out before grabbing my possessions.

"Hey are you going home by yourself? Why don't you come with us?"

I looked up to see Narukami, the green jacket girl and Yukiko by my desk. "Maybe?" She seemed to flip out all of a sudden, surprising me. "Oh, nearly forgot! I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit in front of you right?" I nodded and waved awkwardly. "Howdy Miss Satonaka. Howdy Narukami and Amagi." I got up and we all began to walk when we were interrupted by the brown haired kid I sat next to.

"Uh, Miss Satonaka?" I sighed, seems someone already beat me to the 'Miss' schtick. "This was really awesome. Like the way they moved was just amazing to see. And I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!" Seems he broke whatever it was he was holding out for Chie. A DVD by the sounds of it.

"Seeya, thanks!" He began to take off, only to be stopped by Miss Satonaka. "Stop right there, what did you do to my DVD?"

I heard a cry of pain and looked to see the guy grabbing his crotch in pain. "That's just wrong." My comment seemed to go unnoticed by everyone though. "What the!? I can't believe this! It's completely cracked. My Trial of the Dragon!" That was literally one of the worst reasons to hit a guy below the belt. "I think mine's cracked too... C-Critical hit to the nads." I winced in pain.

"Not even a Curaga spell could fix that one dude."

It seemed no one caught my reference though. "A-Are you all right?" I'm glad at least Yukiko was showing concern for a dying manhood! "Oh, Yukiko-San are you worried about me?" And there went all sympathy for him. I patted him on the back and followed everyone else out of the classroom. "Invest in a cup yeah?"

He looked at me in despair and I left him to his own devices. "Hold on guys, I have to pee. I'll see you by the gates!" I took the moment to slip into the bathroom and relieve myself. Seems my bladder had all of a sudden decided that it was time to cause me pain. After washing my hands I ran down the stairs, grabbed my shoes, and headed out to the gate.

The brown haired guy from before was looking dejected. I surprised him by patting his back and saying, "Once again, nut cup." He looked disturbed and it seems I had killed the moment. He took off and left a flustered Chie behind. "Let's go, everybody is staring!" Slowly, we all filed out of the school grounds.

"What exactly did I miss?" Narukami sighed, and I took it as a sign to let it go.

"Ah so you cam here because of your parents' job. Haha,I thought it was something way more serious. And I didn't even know our school had a transfer program." Chie had spent most of the walk from the school interrogating us about our reasons for moving.

"Yeah pretty much! So what's fun around here?" Chie thought it over a good minute before answering, "I think our dyed clohtes or pottery or something is kinda famous. Oh wait, it there's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!" I nodded and crossed my arms, the wind was starting to pick up.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. I'm just not used to the lack of bed's over here." Yukiko looked panicked, as if her country's culture was making my stay unpleasant. Which it wasn't, well maybe my back was unpleasant. "It's been in all sorts of magazines as a hidden treasure! Yukiko here is going to take over someday." I gave a 'hmm' in interest and looked at Yukiko. She seemed pretty uncomfortable about all of this.

"So, tell me. You think Yukiko's cute, huh?" Of course, I should've known that things were headed down this track. I nodded curtly and observed Narukami. He was blushing like a madman, causing Chie to giggle at him. Yukiko was not amused however. "Come on, Don't start this again."

I knew that feeling very well. Back in the States I had a friend who would try to set me up with girl's like that all the time. Yukiko seemed to be getting pretty flustered over something that I must've missed while reminiscing. "Sorry but this is our chance to talk to somebody from the big city and you barely said a word!" I smiled, I wasn't even from some huge city like Miami or whatever.

Once again I missed something as everybody was a good twenty paces ahead of me.

I sighed and jogged to catch up with them. "-Could imagine THAT hanging from an antenna?" Some soccer moms were talking about something I wasn't sure I wanted to know about. "You got here too late, The police and fire department took it down just a moment ago." I froze as I started to piece together what could've been up there.

Soon one of the mom's confirmed my fear. A dead body was on an antenna.

"A dead body? Strange things are afoot at the Circle K." It wasn't the time for jokes, but I didn't know what else to say. It was as if someone took all the life out of our gaggle of schoolmates.

A fairly young man approached us. "What're you doing here?" The question was directed at Narukami. I think he was the guy who picked him up at the station last night. "We're just passing by." The man nodded and the other three of us were confused. "I should have figured that would happen. That damn principal. We told him not to let them through here."

I looked at Narukami and heard Chie voice my thoughts. "You know this guy?" Let's be honest, this guy was sketchy as fuck. "I'm detective Dojima, his guardian. I hope you get along with him." Well that made more sense, but he was still sketchy. "You four should really head straight home." I was about to say a smartass remark, but a guy ran by me and proceeded to puke on the side of the road.

"Charming." The two men left the four of us standing in the middle of the street. "Well Yukiko, let's bail!" I sprinted off in probably the wrong direction, only to look back and see Yukiko walking after me. I stopped and waited for her to catch up. When she caught up to me, we embarked towards the Inn. It was so silent, I could've died.

Which if you were keeping count, would've been my third near death experience today.

We entered the Inn and Yukiko rushed off to do whatever it is she does to help out. I however, went to my room and dug out the items pertaining to my hobby. Yugioh cards. My deck was all sleeved up, pristine condition. "I wonder if anyone duels around town?" I examined every card in my deck four times over. "I really wish Dragonfly didn't get limited to one. Takes so much away from the deck."

Eventually I decided to get ready for bed. Before I could get settled on the mat, I heard a knock. Yukiko was on the other side of the door. "I wanted to inform you that a guest here has passed away." She was looking at the ground, a very unsure and startled tone in her voice. "Was the guest the dead body everyone was talking about on the way here?"

She nodded and brought her head up. "It was the announcer, Miss Yamano." I looked at her with a blank stare. "I don't have any idea who that is." Once again, my joking tone didn't help anything. "Thanks for telling me though. Go relax Yukiko-San, you look like you need the rest." I smiled and waved her off. She looked fairly relieved.

"You remembered the honorific this time." She smiled back and headed away to wherever it is she goes. "I mispronounced it didn't I?" I said "S-an" instead of "Sawn" I can't catch a break today.

I groaned and went to bed.

SO this was totally unplanned and continuing it really depends on the reaction I get. If its positive enough, I'll keep it going when I have time to play through the game. If you liked it and want to see more of it, all you have to do is drop a little review in that box down below. Also let me know how the OC is coming across, I tried to make him someone relatable without being too cookie cutter.

I may see you folks next time, if you so desire it.