It had been a month since Narukami had left Inaba and with each passing day he felt himself slip further into regret. His mind was spending each passing moment on the "what ifs" of last winter if he had turned Adachi in, exposed everything he had done instead of covering it up. The boy hadn't been studying as much and it showed. He had lost weight, and losing sleep. Narukami would just be spending minutes, if not hours a day just staring at his phone for a phone he'd never dare to ignore.

Rain hammered all around the city and the sky so dark and gray that the high schooler's vision was rendered useless until a crackling beckon flashed across the heavens and vanished with an echoing boom. Light filled his room for another moment and he shuddered, curled up in of his futon and hugging a pillow. He was staring at his phone. The device had been nothing but an alarm clock for several weeks now, save the occasional message from Yosuke and the others attempting to say hi. He'd never respond. Guilt had seeped into his conscience down to his core. Now he couldn't even look at their old photos, let alone call or text them without feeling as though he'd break down.

Narukami risked a glance at the clock on his desk. 4:00am. Though he had been sitting there for hours, it felt as though time had been standing still, tormenting him. Surely it'd be safe to go to bed at this hour. He had to or risk missing Saturday classes. Thankfully it'd be the last day before a holiday weekend. He'd have 2 two days to try and relax, maybe even have fun and catch up on his sleep. Narukami pulled off his shirt and forced his stiffened body to lay down and place the pillow where it belonged behind his head. He sighed as he shut his eyes, feeling sleep taking over his whole body rapidly. Within seconds it felt like nothing else existed but himself and the warmth of the futon blankets wrapped tightly around his body. The storm was light years away, the thunder was mute, and his fear evaporating into the darkness.

Just as slumber was shutting out Narukami's final distraction his heart jumped! He sprung up and his eye looked at his phone which was now vibrating violently next time him. He grabbed it and opened it without hesitation. He hadn't even time to look at the screen before he held it to his ear. "…hello?" he whispered. The voice was soft, gentle and tired.

"Y-Yu-kun?!" a familiar voice chimed, shocked. "You really answered! Oh wow um…h-hi there!" Her voice was shaking. It was Chie. Yu wanted to hang up immediately. He couldn't bare to hear his friend's voice right now in his emotionally drained state. Yet…he couldn't do it. The sound of hearing her brought back too many happy memories, ones he couldn't let go, ones he wished had lasted longer with everyone.

"…hi," he muttered again. "What is it?"

Chie hesitated with everyone word. "I just…I wanted to make sure you were okay is all. Yosuke and the others…we're all really worried about you when we saw the weather report for Tokyo…." She was lieing. Why would she be calling to make sure he was okay in the middle of a thunderstorm. He lived in an apartment tower that was structured to survive an earthquake. A storm would be nothing, and she knew it.

"I'm fine," he answered, quickly putting an end to the conversation. "Is…that all?"

Another pause. The silence dragged on for a moment to which Narukami thought he could get away with hanging up and calling it bad cell service. "No!" she finally barked. "L-listen, Yu…we miss you. You've been acting really strange ever since we dropped you off at the train last month! Something's wrong and we know it. Kanji's been worried sick, trying to save up money to come visit you! Yosuke and Naoto have gone crazy, burying themselves in the remains of the case to try and solve it, even now! Rise…she's not even the same person anymore. We went back into the TV World to try and find Teddie and she couldn't even find a single trace of him despite everything we've been through wit him!" She was pouring her heart out and working into a huff. Narukami could hear her choking while fighting back tears through the phone. He could imagine her image, rubbing her eyes now and looking at the last photo they took together or something similar.

"Yu…you don't…h-have to talk right now, b-but please…don't push us away when we're trying to help you. We l-love you very much and hate knowing you're depressed."

Yet another drawn out silence. "…then I'll be sure to not let you guys know in the future." With that, Narukami hung up. He rubbed his eyes as he lay back down, dismissing everything Chie had said. It was for their own good. He was protecting them by distancing themselves from them all. The sooner the investigation was closed the sooner it meant freedom from Adachi and then he could face his friends again.

His phone vibrated again. This time, Yu was angry. He couldn't take this and would put a stop to Chie the hard way if he had to. He grabbed the device and once again, opened it without so much as a glance at the screen. "Leave me alone!" he barked. His voice almost cracked, having not much of a chance to warm up. "I thought I told you-"

"Is that anyway to talk to your master, Narukami-kun?"

The fool was silent, realizing whom he was speaking too, now. His sadistic, malicious tone of voice echoed with the sharpness of a katana and stung without mercy. "Really, you should pay more attention to who's calling. You wouldn't want to say the wrong thing and an…accident to occur, would you?"

He gulped while gripping his phone tighter. "I'm sorry," he hushed, humbling himself.

"How long has it been since you left? Only a month, right?" Adachi took a short pause, knowing the other wouldn't answer the question. "But hey, let's just get down to business. I need you to do something for me this weekend and it'd be wise for you to listen…"

"I…I am…"

"Good! Now then, I'll get right to the point. There's been a little disturbance out here in Inaba, one that might compromise our little secret. I want you to come out here. Don't worry about a thing. I've already paid for your train ticket! Just pick it up at the station for the 10am bullet train to Inaba. You'll be staying in my apartment while you're here. Oh and…don't even think about skipping out on me. If you do…it'd be a shame if Nanako didn't make it out of hospital. She's so close to a full recovery, now!"

Lighting flashed again, lighting up Narukami's entire room for a moment as he heart jumped. It pounded in his chest as his mind raced. That was right. The day he left, Dojima-san had mentioned Nanako was still in the hospital. He thought she would have recovered by now, at least! He gulped and exhaled, not realizing until now that he was holding his breath. His hand was clinging so hard to his phone now that he felt like he could crush it completely. "I…understand," he finally muttered faintly.

"I'm glad to hear that," Adachi snickered. Yu could just imagine his mad, crooked, smile and his narrowing eyes as he heard him chuckle. "I'll give you more detail on what you'll be doing when you arrive. For now, get some rest. Oh, and don't forget to text me you're arrival time. I'll be sure to pick you up from the station."

"…yes sir."

Adachi laughed again. "I'll see you tomorrow, Narukami-kun."

Yu continued to hold his phone to his ear even as it clicked, indicating the call had ended. His heavy breathing almost filled what little room there was for extra noise that a thunderstorm couldn't drown out and his body was trembling. He cursed under his breath, grunting. He knew that everyone had regrets, made mistakes, but did everyone make one like this? Did everyone make one that screwed up a dozen lives, a whole town, and jeopardize their family and friends? He couldn't handle it anymore. Yu whimpered, hushing himself before burring his face in his pillow and crying out. Tears finally escaped his eyes and stained the fabric underneath him.

It would be several minutes before Narukami had finally found peace in the dark sanctuary of sleep.

Tomorrow, Narukami would return to Inaba.