Chapter One

(Ryoutarou)

"Wanna come by and watch TV?" Adachi asks me one day when we're packing up.

I'd love to. What with the stress of the murders lately, it'd be nice to relax with a friend. Adachi is...

Well I'm fairly certain nothing bad will happen hanging around with him. He makes me feel at ease.

I have a sinking feeling I shouldn't trust him, but I want to so badly.

"Doooojima-san!" he exclaims, waving a hand in front of my face.

"What?" I blink, snapping out of my daze.

Adachi beams at me, looking like a perfect picture of friendliness. "Come over for drinks today, okay? I just bought more beer," he cheerfully invites me to come by.

Why not? What do I have to do?

Nanako's got Yuu, and they'll both be in bed by the time we leave, anyhow.

"Why not?" I snort. "Should I get anything?"

"Don't worry about anything~" Adachi assures me. "Just give me a lift home. We can order food or have something out of my freezer. There's something I wanna catch on television, so we should head straight there."

"Yeah, okay."

When we've finally finished all the paperwork and filing, Adachi and I pile into my car. It's a short drive from the station to his small apartment—He does usually walk to work.

I haven't been here in some time. Adachi usually comes to my place these days...

Nanako likes having him around. I feel a smile creep onto my face at the thought. It's nice having someone who gets along with my family.

Adachi pulls frozen gyoza out of the freezer and beer from the fridge. He passes me a can and tells me to go take a seat. I do just that, popping open the beer and chugging it.

"Another?" Adachi calls in a cheery voice.

I grunt, searching for the remote. Where the hell is it?

"Oh," I hear him coming closer. "I couldn't find the remote this morning. Just use the button on the unit." He walks the second beer over to me while I fiddle with his gigantic television.

I nod and walk towards it. The remote—

It's right on the side of damn thing! Forgetful frigging—

Suddenly I feel a nudge from behind and then my foot catches on another foot. I'm tumbling right into the television!

I throw out my hands to catch myself on the stupidly large thing, expecting the TV to go tumbling backwards...

...But I meet no resistance.