"So, it's settled. Midnight tonight, all of us will check it out and see what happens."

Souji Seta was at Junes, with two of his classmates. He had just moved into Inaba a few days ago, and was trying to settle in. He was going to stay for about a year, with his uncle and cousin, due to his parents going on a business trip. One of his classmates, Chie, was talking about something called the Midnight Channel.

"Remember! Rainy night, TV turned off, stare right into it. Got it?"

The other classmate, Yosuke, was leaning back on his chair. "This is stupid."

"Just do it already! You too, new guy!"

Souji nodded. "It's Souji."

"Huh? Oh right, sorry." Chie meekly made a slight slouch. "Make sure you check it out, okay?"

Yosuke's attention was elsewhere. "Saki-senpai?" He got up and went to talk to her.

"Who's that?" asked Souji.

"Oh, her? That's Saki Konishi, she works part-time here. I think Yosuke likes her." Chie was still talking when Saki and Yosuke went up to Souji.

"So, you're from the city, just like Hana-chan? Do you like it here so far?"

Souji could see Yosuke fidgeting behind her. "I'm adjusting."

"Don't let Hana-chan get to you, okay? He can be pretty annoying sometimes."

Yosuke coughed. Chie was snickering to herself. Souji smiled. "No, he's not a bad person."

She looked a bit surprised. "Okay. Well, I'll see you later, Hana-chan."

Yosuke sat back down, sighing. "That Saki-senpai. You know, she says I'm annoying, but you should see how she treats me. But, I'll spare you the stories."

Souji and his classmates went back afterwards. His new room was a mess. He needed to unpack those boxes. He decided to push them around first, get them out of the way. He decided to go downstairs.

Dinnertime. Souji was watching TV with his cousin, Nanako, with his uncle, Inspector Dojima, on the couch behind them. The news was on. They were interviewing a girl who found a body, hanging on a television antenna. The body was Mayumi Yamano's, a newscaster who had an affair with a politician, Taro Namatame. She was found dead, and was said to have been sexually assaulted prior to her death. The girl being interviewed looked confused, and familiar. After watching, he went back upstairs. It was almost midnight.

The black screen of the TV was taunting Souji, who was standing awkwardly while watching it in the dark. All he could hear was the rain, pouring on the streets, battering the roof. Midnight finally arrived.

Nothing appeared on the screen. Midnight arrived five minutes ago. "Hm."

Souji started tapping the screen with his finger. Nothing. He put his palm on it. Still nothing. "Hm."

Tired, he crawled to his futon. He lay down, still facing the TV. He wondered if he was going to have another one of those strange dreams. He couldn't sleep too well for the past few days, since his sleep was occupied by these dreams about a man with a strange nose. All he could remember was that he was in a room of some sort, with the man on a couch, opposite him, fingers forming a steeple. His voice echoed throughout the room.

"Welcome, to the Velvet Room."

He had a calm air of mystery to him, which changed when he inspected Souji a bit more closely. "…Hm, peculiar. If you will… excuse me for a moment. Margaret?"

A tall, blonde woman appeared beside him, he was whispering into her ear, and then she whispered back, with a mixed hint of surprise and embarrassment in her face. The man leaned towards her, trying to speak as softly as possible. Souji could hear the tiniest pieces of their conversation.

"What do you mean? I checked."

"It's fine, it's fine. He should still think it's a dream."

The woman stood up straight beside the man, who sat back in his normal posture and adjusted his collar. "My, my. It would seem that our meeting… is not as it seems. Perhaps our destinies, are not to be intertwined… as they were originally meant to be."

He continued. "However, we can tell you that there will be a mystery imposed upon you. Just, not as… fanciful as we expected. We shall be going now."

Souji was still sitting there. Soon, he felt the corners of his vision blurring, his mind soon slipping into unconsciousness. He heard the man's final muffled words to him.

"Since you are here, we find it to be of good service to you if we offer you a piece of advice. Don't be afraid to connect with other people, to form bonds with them. You may find that your life will be more… meaningful… that way. Farewell, and we both wish you luck."

Souji looked back at the TV. Still blank. It was a quarter past midnight. Maybe those two classmates were playing a trick on him. Soften up the new guy and all that. He turned to face the wall and closed his eyes. Souji drifted off into sleep, thinking about his dream.

It was a weird dream, and an even weirder night.

The next day, there was an assembly at Yasogami High. Yosuke's senpai, Saki, passed away. The principal, who announced the news, didn't give too many details. Souji was standing next to Yosuke. His head was down, staring a deep hole into the floor.

"Saki-senpai's dead?" Yosuke finally spoke, but to no one in particular.

The whole way back to class, Souji and Chie only heard him calling her name from time to time, usually after he had a bout of looking rather deep in thought. Saki, Saki, Saki. It was only at the start of lunch break that he stopped. Chie was next to Souji, calling Yosuke.

"Hey, you going for lunch?"

He turned his attention from his desk to her. "Nah. I'll be laying low for the rest of school. Go with the new guy, show him around or something."

Souji got up and walked to him. "You should eat. Sit down with us, at least."

Yosuke's fists got a bit tighter. He was probably cross, but with his head down, Souji couldn't tell for sure. He loosened his grip eventually, but his head was still down. "Just go. I'm sorry, but I really need to think. By myself."

"…Okay."

Chie whispered. "Hey…" Souji turned to face her, and nodded. She nodded in reply, slower than he did.

The roof. Chie brought her own bento. She gave Souji a bun she bought. The breeze was calm, lightly gliding over Souji's skin, brushing over him with a slow chill. He closed his eyes for a moment, before taking the bun. "Thanks." He opened the packet, the fresh smell reaching his nose before it was carried off by the breeze. "Do you always eat here?"

Chie gave a small smile before reaching for an egg roll. "Yep. I like it here. Don't know why there's barely anyone else here. Just that umbrella girl over there.

Souji glanced towards where Chie pointed. That's right, a girl with an umbrella was standing by the door, under the vast, dropless sky. "That's right," Souji said. "She asked me if I wanted to know about the weather, when I came out that door."

Out of that same door, Yosuke came out, dragging his feet along the floor. Surprised, Souji and Chie went to him.

"I heard some rumours in class," said Yosuke, who went over to sit with them. "They said Saki-senpai was found on a television antenna, just like that Yamano lady. If that's true…"

"They're just rumours, Yosuke." Chie put away her bento.

"I know that, but- Saki-senpai found that announcer's body, and if she's found the same way, that means-" He sat down and ran his hand through his hair a few times. "A-And that announcer. They said she was raped before she died. Saki-senpai could've-" His head was on his lap, and kept running his hands through his hair.

School was over for the day. Souji was walking with Yosuke when Chie walked up and talked to Souji. "Hey. Sorry, I've got to run, quick. Make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, okay?"

Souji nodded, and Chie walked past. The two boys walked up to Yosuke's bicycle. "I'm good from here, thanks." He took his bike and rode off. Watching him, Souji knew two things: First, he remembered had to pull Yosuke out of a trashcan because of his bike a few days ago. Second, just seconds after Yosuke said goodbye and left the school compound, he had nearly scraped into a wall twice and almost ran over a dog. Souji decided to run after him.

Fortunately, he wasn't cycling very fast. Souji was tailing him through the shopping district, when the bike passed by the Konishi liquor store. A stout man was outside. "You, Junes boy! What do you think you're doing here?!"

Yosuke stopped. "What? M-Mr. Konishi! I'm just cycling-"

"Have you come here to mourn my daughter? Huh? Your precious employee?"

"Mr. Konishi-"

"It's because of your Junes that we're going out of business! I never knew why Saki would work at Junes, she never told me. What did you say to her?" Yosuke just stood there. He awkwardly gripped the handlebars of his bike and was about to get back on, but Mr. Konishi grabbed hold of the handlebars. "Answer me!"

Souji went and held Yosuke's shoulder, which surprised him. "Sir, perhaps you should calm down-"

"Stay out of this!" He pointed at Yosuke. "Get out of my sight!" By now, Souji saw a woman, most likely Mr. Konishi's wife, pulling him back into the shop. When Souji turned around, Yosuke was already frantically cycling down the shopping district, his bike wobbling back and forth.

Souji ran after him, calling him. Yosuke's bike was leaning too far to the left. There was the sound of screeching. The bike dragged Yosuke along with it onto the coarse ground.

Souji quickened his pace. An old lady from the shop near where he crashed knelt down to pick him up. Souji ran up to them and grabbed his arm. "Are you okay?"

A voice was heard from inside the old lady's shop. "Dammit, Ma! Don't leave me taking care of the shop alone!" A tall, burly boy came out of the shop, scratching his bleached hair. "Crap! What happened?"

The old lady was holding Yosuke's other arm. "Oh, Kanji! Come here, this poor boy's crashed his bike!"

"What?!" He was stuck there for a second before throwing his arms up and went to get the bike. "Watch it, you could've hit her! What're you, blind?"

"Kanji!" the lady snapped at him, silencing him. Yosuke shook his head before standing up. "I'm okay. Thanks," he said, with a voice so shaky it wasn't convincing at all. His eyes looked red, but he kept his head down. He stumbled a bit before taking his bike. The old lady took a few steps towards him.

"Are you sure, young man?"

The tall boy slouched down, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Go inside, Ma. I'll handle it." Hesitant, she went back inside. He seemed to be waiting for her to be out of earshot, because when he saw that she did, he quickly turned to Souji and Yosuke. "What's your damn problem, huh?"

Souji interjected. "Sorry. He's just a bit shaken up."

He turned to look at Yosuke's condition, then calmed down somewhat afterwards, falling silent for a while before speaking up. "…Yeah, he looks pretty banged up."

"We'll be going on our way now," Souji added. "We're really sorry."

"Yeah, yeah..." said the tall boy. He looked a bit concerned now. "Get those scratches looked that… and watch it next time."

"Noted. Thank you." Both of them walked away from the shop, which appeared to be selling textiles. He told Yosuke to put one hand on his shoulder while he pushed the bike. "Do you want to sit down?"

"No." Yosuke's hand was weakly gripping Souji's shirt, his voice a bit clearer now. "First the trashcan, now this. I have a lot to owe you."

Souji smiled. Both of them walked further down the shopping district. Yosuke was limping the whole way. "You know, you can't blame the guy. His daughter's… you know."

"He thought rather unreasonably of you." Souji was watching his legs so they didn't hit the pedals.

"…It doesn't matter. I'll just go home, take a shower, and think about it."

"Don't think too much. You should sleep on it so you can look at it more objectively." Souji caught himself after saying those words. "Sorry. I don't usually pry so much into people's matters. I..."

"No, it's okay." Yosuke weakly waved. "I don't like it, but I gotta face the facts. You're right. Thanks."

They both finally reached the end of the shopping district. "I can go from here. For real this time."

"Okay."

"Hey, new guy?" Yosuke turned to Souji.

"Yes?"

Yosuke managed a smile. "You're really something, you know that? Thanks for the help."

"No problem." Souji passed the bike to Yosuke.

"If you ever feel like saying more, like just now and at lunch break, don't hesitate to do it. I'd be pretty lost otherwise."

"Got it."

Yosuke smiled again, wider this time, before getting onto his bike and cycling off. A few feet of cycling later, he got off and just walked with it instead.

Souji smiled to himself before he felt it was safe to go his own way, laughing a bit when he saw Yosuke walking instead. "Smart."