April 11, 2011

At fifteen years old, Nana Adachi had the rest of her life completely mapped out – her remaining time in high school was to be spent divided quite evenly and cleanly between maintaining perfect grades in school, rising in the ranks of a sports club, and attending cram school, so that she'd easily get into the University of Tokyo, where she'd pursue medicine or economics.

After all, she was "special" – good at sports, even better at school, always polite to her elders and superiors, friendly with her peers, and reserved enough that people didn't find her annoying. She was good at cooking and housework, so finding a good husband would be no trouble at all. Independent, but not so strong that men would be put off. Dependable. ("Nothing like that good-for-nothing brother of yours, at any rate.")

At sixteen, all those plans for her future were scrapped, and she found herself practically shoved onto a train by her mother and on her way to the tiny, rural village of Inaba.

Nana knew that it was her own fault, of course – it always was, and there was never any room for argument. In her mother's mind, Inaba was the ideal place for rejects and failures – hell, Nana's brother Tohru was sent there after an incident that got him in trouble, so why not? In a way, it was the ideal time-out corner, in a sit-here-and-think-about-what-you-did sort of way. Yasogami High School, her new high school, was supposedly much lower ranked than her old one ("This school is much better suited to someone of your caliber, I think.") and cram school was out of the question altogether ("If you can't pass a simple final exam, how do you expect to get into Todai?").

In a way, the move was like exile. "What you need right now, Nana, is a safe space," her father had said shortly before she left. "Someplace quiet, where you can think." And yes, Inaba would be quiet and peaceful, given how secluded it was – after all, she was only expected to keep her grades up, now. Never mind clubs and cram school. She couldn't even juggle the three the previous term, so why bother with anything else?

Tohru was late.

He was probably just caught up with work, Nana tried reasoning with herself – but Inaba was cold – much colder than Nagata-cho – and she really didn't want to catch a cold just after arriving. She sat on the steps in front of the train station, running through the text messages on her cell phone (about half of them wished her good luck; the rest expounded on how much she would be missed), and Tohru showed up almost half an hour later. "Sorry, Nana! I got caught up with work. My boss is sort of a slave driver. Have you lost weight?"

And the whole situation felt so familiar and calming and normal that Nana couldn't bring herself to get angry. For the next year, it was to be just the two of them, and maybe Dad was right – maybe she would be able to unwind in Inaba and get her life back in order. At any rate, things would be much easier without Mom constantly breathing down her neck.

"So, what do you think?" Tohru asked as they drove to his home – her new home.

"It's… clean," Nana said lamely.

Tohru just laughed at that. "Way to think positive. But don't worry – I know it's boring and dull. I mean, there's nothing here." He quickly pulled into what Nana would later learn was the shopping district. "I'm just going to fill up on gas, okay?"

The Moel Gas Station looked like any other gas station, and it seemed to stand out amongst all of the small shops and stands that filled the street. "Welcome to Moel!" said the gas station attendant, a man with dark hair pulled into a ponytail and a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. When she looked at the attendant out of the corner of her eye, Nana could see that his hair was the exact same shade of dark brown as hers, and his eyes were as grey as hers – it was almost like looking into a mirror.

"Hey," Tohru said, grinning, and then the illusion was shattered, and Nana could no longer see her face in the gas station attendant's. "Fill 'er up for me, will you? Regular's fine."

The gas station attendant turned his head to regard her. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Tohru chuckled. "No, she's my sister," he replied. "She just moved here from the big city."

"The city, huh?" the attendant asked slowly, his grin widening ever so slightly.

"I'm gonna go for a smoke," Tohru said. "Watch the car for me, will you, Nana?"

Nana sighed as Tohru walked closer to the road, watching him as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. "Are you in high school?" the attendant asked her.

"Yeah, I am," Nana answered a bit reservedly.

The attendant chuckled as he set to work on the car. "I'm surprised a city girl such as yourself decided to move to such a quiet, desolate place. There's so little to do here, you'll probably get bored quickly."

"I'll manage," Nana said dryly, more to herself than to the attendant.

"Well then," the attendant said, wiping his hands on his pants and extending one hand out to her. "Allow me to formally welcome you to Inaba, Nana-san."

She shook his hand more out of politeness than anything. And once the attendant left, there was a sharp pain in her head and a ringing in her ears. "What's wrong?" she heard Tohru ask, as if from far away. "You okay?"

"I think I'm going to be sick," she whispered before covering her mouth with one hand and dashing toward the bathroom.

"And now, for the local news. City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter. His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed that she will likely pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to suspend all of announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."

"Tch." Tohru's eyes were narrowed in contempt. "It's people like this that piss me off the most…"

If Nana hadn't been feeling sick to her stomach then, lying on the couch with a wet towel on her forehead, then maybe she would have commented on what Tohru had just said.

April 12, 2011

Nana wasn't at all nervous for her first day of school.

Sure, this was her first time transferring to a different school. Sure, she didn't know anyone and was almost completely lost. Sure, her classmates' faces blended together in her mind, and she couldn't tell a single one apart. Sure, they all stared at her like she was some foreign student, and I might as well dye my hair blonde, because they won't stare any more than they're staring right now.

So, no. Not nervous at all.

The first day was always a short one, and the last bell rang quickly enough. And then, Nana met the three people who were to become her closest friends.

"HiChiethanksforlendingmethisitwasreallyawesomebye!" said a tall, brown-haired boy, thrusting a DVD into the hands of the short-haired girl who sat next to Nana.

"Hold it," the girl Chie said in a deadpan, casually sticking her foot out to trip the boy before he could run away. She opened the case, and the color practically drained from her face as she gasped. "Yosuke, what the hell? It's completely cracked!"

"I'm sorry!" the boy yelped. "I-It was an accident! I fell on my bike this morning, and—"

A girl with long black hair peered at him from behind Chie. "Are you okay?"

"Yukiko, don't sympathize with him!" Chie yelled. "Did you see what he did to my Trial of the Dragon?"

"Yes, but the new girl is also watching us, and we're setting a terrible example," the girl Yukiko said, pointing almost absentmindedly to Nana.

Suddenly, a chiming sound rang throughout the classroom. "Attention," said a voice over the intercom. "There's been an incident on school grounds. Students, please remain calm and head home immediately."

"Wow, I wonder what happened…" Chie mused. "Ugh, now I don't wanna walk home alone… Hey, new girl, wanna walk home with us?"

"Uh…" Nana said uncertainly, twirling a strand of hair self-consciously. "Sure, I guess. I'm Nana, by the way. Nana Adachi."

"I'm Chie Satonaka," Chie said, "and this is Yukiko Amagi."

Yukiko bowed politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Chie groaned. "Yukiko! Don't act so polite! Now you're making me look bad!"

"And I'm Yosuke Hanamura," said the boy on the ground as he struggled to stand up. "Sorry you had to see all of this, Nana-san. Chie's not that good with people in general."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chie shrieked, raising her leg and threatening to kick him.

And all the while, Nana couldn't help but laugh.

"So what made you move?" Chie asked Nana on the way home. "I mean, it's not every day people from the city come all the way here."

"My parents are working abroad," Nana lied, because there was no way she was explaining the whole situation to someone she just met – or to anyone at all. Ever.

"Oh, so that's it," Chie said. "That makes sense."

"Are you staying with relatives while your parents are away?" Yukiko asked.

"Yeah," Nana answered. "My brother lives here, so I'm staying with him. So, um… have you two always lived here?"

"From the day we were born," Yukiko answered sagely.

"Not me!" Chie said triumphantly. "I was born in the hospital in Okina City, so there." Yukiko simply gave Chie a flat stare, and Nana giggled. Through the fog, Nana could see people gathering by one street. "What's going on over there?" Chie wondered as she quickly joined the crowd.

"Ah, Chie, maybe you shouldn't…" Yukiko protested as she ran after her. Nana couldn't deny that her curiosity had been piqued as well, and she didn't so much walk as let her feet carry her there. "It looks like something serious," Yukiko whispered. "Maybe we should…"

Just then, a tall in a grey shirt and red tie walked up to him. He was tall, with greying hair and frown lines prominent on his forehead, and with the way he was glaring at the three of them, Nana wanted to melt into the floor. "Hey, you kids shouldn't be here," he said sternly.

"Oh, uh…" Chie said slowly. "W-We were just… passing through?"

The man sighed. "Should've figured that'd happen…" he grumbled to himself. "That damn principal. We told him not to let them through here…" Before the man could get another word in, someone shoved past him, collapsing to his knees a little ways away and emptying the contents of his stomach. "Adachi!" the man snapped. "How long are you going to act like a rookie? You want to be sent back to the central office?"

"Wait, Adachi?" Chie interjected, staring wide-eyed at Nana.

"Is that…?" Yukiko asked, gasping.

"Brother…?" It was Tohru, without a doubt, and Nana stepped over to him cautiously.

"Whoa, Nana…" Tohru said groggily. "Didn't expect to run into you here…"

She crouched down by him so that she was closer to eye-level with him. "Are you okay?"

Tohru winced, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "Yeah, j-just… There's a dead body over there, and—"

"A what?" Chie shrieked.

"Adachi!" the man in the dark shirt scolded. "You don't just go around blabbing information like that to random civilians!"

"S-Sorry, Dojima-san!" Tohru yelped.

The man sighed, his expression softening a little. "Just… go wash your face," he instructed before turning to walk back to the crime scene. "We need to collect more information."

"R-Right away, sir!" Nana helped her brother stand up, and he grinned at Chie and Yukiko. "Hey, good for you, little sis! Looks like you made some new friends already!"

"Chie-san, Yukiko-san, this is my brother Tohru," Nana introduced.

"Nice to meet ya!" Adachi said. "Anyway, I gotta go. Uh…" He scratched the back of his head, looking sheepish. "Nana, I think I'll be busy for a while tonight, so… think you can manage on your own?"

Nana just smiled at him. "I'll be fine."

April 13. 2011

"Yosuke, you're never going to get a girlfriend."

"Shut up."

"I mean, you promise someone steak—"

"Shut up."

"—and then take them to the family business instead."

"I get it, Chie!"

"I don't mind," Nana said, leaning back in her chair and sipping on her drink through a straw. "This is nice." Free time, she'd quickly concluded, was absolutely amazing. The school term had just barely started, so there was no reason to worry about schoolwork just yet. She wasn't allowed to join clubs for another week or so, at the very least, so she didn't have to worry about club responsibilities, either. And no cram school.

"Where did you say you were from again, Nana-san?" Yosuke asked.

"Haven't you heard everyone talking?" Chie interjected. "She's from Tokyo!"

"I know that!" Yosuke shot back. "If you haven't exactly noticed, Tokyo's huge. I'm asking where in Tokyo she's—"

"Nagata-cho," Nana answered. "I'm from Nagata-cho."

"Really?" Yosuke asked, looking excited. "I'm from Shinjuku, so that's not too far from where you're from.

"Seriously?" Nana yelled, then promptly covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Sorry, that was really loud."

"Aw, you guys have to take me to all these awesome places," Chie whined.

"Well, since you're already freeloading on food, why not?" Yosuke retorted, grinning. And, as it turned out, people were staring at them, some of them exchanging whispers. Yosuke sighed, looking dejected. "Geez… Did you guys hear about that incident yesterday? It's been such a drag ever since it happened."

"Well, what do you expect?" Chie said. "Someone was found dead, Yosuke, and they still don't know how she died!"

"Who was it, anyway?" Nana asked, a series of unpleasant emotions swirling in her gut. "The person who died."

"Uh…" Chie mumbled. "You might not know much about her, but… it was this announcer on TV. Mayumi Yamano."

"I think I saw something about her the day I came here," Nana mused. "Wasn't she in trouble because she was having an affair with someone important?"

"Something like that…" Yosuke said uncertainly. "I heard she was found hanging upside down on a telephone pole. How'd she even get up there in the first place?"

"The police still can't tell if this is an accident or a murder," Chie pointed out. "And remember that scary detective we met yesterday, Nana? Not your brother, but the other one? He looked really stressed out."

"Oh no, don't tell me you guys are talking about it, too…" Nana hadn't noticed the wavy-haired girl in the Junes employee uniform until she'd spoken up.

Yosuke jumped, and his face turned bright scarlet as he twisted around to look at her. "S-Senpai!"

"Hey, Hana-chan," the girl said tiredly. "I see you're helping the family business."

Yosuke laughed awkwardly, his face turning redder by the second as he grinned at the Junes employee. "Nah, it's nothing like that. We just wanted to officially welcome Nana-san to town."

The girl gave Nana a tired smile. "Oh, so you're the new transfer student?" She chuckled. "If you're wondering how someone like me knows about this, let's just say that Yasogami High doesn't get that many transfer students, usually. I'm Saki, by the way."

"I'm Nana," Nana replied. "It's nice to meet you, uh… Senpai?"

"Hey, Senpai, she's from the city, too!" Chie interjected.

Saki raised one eyebrow, looking impressed. "Really? Then I hope you'll get along with Hana-chan. He's a little lacking in the friend department, if you haven't noticed."

"Wait, no," Yosuke said hurriedly. "Senpai, I—"

"But you've got to let him know right to his face when he starts bothering you," Saki continued. "He tends to stick his foot in his mouth a lot. You're pretty cute, so he probably tried bringing you here on a date, huh?"

"Jump to something like that so quickly?" Yosuke asked. "No way."

Saki chuckled. "I'm just kidding," she said. "Anyway, I need to get back to work. See you guys later!"

"Uh, S-Senpai!" Yosuke called as he scrambled out of his chair and stumbled after her.

"So…" Nana said as soon as he was gone, resting her elbow on the table and her head in her hand. "She's his sort of girlfriend, but not yet?"

"Exactly," Chie said flatly. "Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. I don't know why she'd be working here, of all places, though."

"Why?"

Chie leaned in close. "Don't you know?" she whispered. "Shopping district people hate Junes because they think it's stealing away business."

Nana's eyes widened. "Seriously? But wouldn't it make more sense if they all worked together?"

"Yeah, try telling them that," Chie retorted. "A lot of those shops in the shopping district have been open for generations."

Yosuke interrupted the conversation by slumping back into his seat and giving a dreamy sigh. "She says I'm annoying, huh?" he said, smiling. "She has a younger brother, and she pretty much treats me the same way."

Chie smirked. "Oh, so you don't want her treating you like a brother, huh?"

Nana sighed happily. "It's like something straight out of a shoujo manga."

"I hate you both," Yosuke grumbled.

"Oh, come on," Chie said. Without warning, she grabbed his face and pulled up the corners of his mouth. "Time to turn that frown upside down, Yosuke! I have just the solution for you." Yosuke jerked out of Chie's grasp, and Nana giggled. "Have you guys heard of the Midnight Channel? Supposedly, if you stare into a blank TV screen at midnight when it rains, you'll see your soulmate."

"Seriously?" Nana asked.

"Seriously," Chie replied, nodding.

"Chie, have you ever seen this thing actually work?" Yosuke asked.

"Well, no, but—" Chie started.

"Then it's just a stupid rumor!" Yosuke shot back.

"Well, it's supposed to rain tonight," Nana said. "Maybe we could try it out and see for ourselves?"

Nana yawned as she stared at the blank TV screen. She'd only left some of the lights on in her brother's home, so it was still rather dim, and the sound of the rain falling outside made her feel calm. Nana was alone in the flat – Tohru had called earlier, saying that he was going to be late – and she wouldn't have had it any other way.

Then the clocks struck midnight, and the screen whirred to life. There was something that sounded like static coming from the TV as an image appeared on the screen – a girl with long hair. Actually, she looked quite a bit like the girl that had appeared earlier on the news – the high school girl who'd found Mayumi Yamano's body. But there was something else there – the girl seemed to be in pain, and she was convulsing as she flitted across the flickering screen.

And then Nana received the worst headache of her life. It felt like her head was, quite literally, splitting open, and her ears were ringing incessantly. A woman's voice sounded in her mind – warm, yet somehow simultaneously bone-chilling.

Take… my hand…

Nana collapsed to her knees, putting her head in her hands. The headache was only growing worse, and the ringing was growing louder.

Do not fear me… Thou art I… and I am thou…

And then it was over, and Nana was left feeling dizzy and sick to her stomach. She leaned against the stand that supported the TV to stand…

… and then she was falling, and it was only because she managed to grab the side of the TV at the last second that she didn't fall entirely. Once the initial shock had worn off, she noticed that her legs were banging against the stand, and she was dangling precariously at the edge of what appeared to be a dark abyss. She screamed as she jerked her body toward where her feet were, and she tumbled onto the floor in front of the TV.

She barely even registered the front door opening. "I'm home! Oh, Nana, you're still awake?"

Nana pressed a shaking hand to her forehead. Wh-What the hell just happened?

So… I published this earlier, then took it down, and then edited it some. And now I'm posting it back up. I kind of sort of know where I'm going with this?

Please review!