"..guide me to the TV world."
Yu woke up abruptly as he felt his phone vibrating through his head. Ah, yeah, last night he fell asleep while holding the phone near his head. Silly.
The silver haired man looked around the room and noticed a certain brunette is not here. Maybe Ken woke up earlier than him. He stretched himself and wincing at the cracking sound on his back. His sleeping posture last night must be very weird, that his bones screaming in agony.
He decided to look at his phone, and the screen showed a new message. With Yosuke Hanamura name and number on it.
06.13 Yosuke Hanamura
Subject : Welcome Back!
Hey, partner! I heard that you already back to Inaba. Welcome home! I already told the team that we will gather at the Junes today. Wanna come? Oh, wait, I demand you to come! Ha ha! It's your welcome home celebration after all. We will be waiting, hope you don't have another plan today at 11. You can bring Nanako-chan as well. See ya later, partner!
Yu smiled at the text and went up to grab his clothes from the duffel bag that he brought. He yawned, confused why the sleepiness doesn't fade away. He remember that he sleep all the way here, and he also sleep pretty early yesterday.
He shrugged it off, maybe it's just the tiredness from his trip. The young man made his way to the bathroom and hopping that a cold bath will wake him up.
"Oh, good morning Onii-chan!" Nanako greeted him cheerfully, her hand rubbing against Koromaru's head, and the shiba inu turned to look at him.
"Arf!"
"Koro-chan said, good morning." Ken smiled and stared at Yu, the eye contact making the older man get a bit nervous. But, he replied anyway.
"Nanako-chan, would you like to come with me to Junes?" He asked, taking a seat next to her to grab the toast and ate it. To his surprises, Nanako shook her head.
She pulled out a backpack and showed him a couple of unfinished homework. "I need to go to my friend's house. Ken-chan helped me, but, I don't want to trouble him. Since he already busy with the investigation. Right, Koro-chan?"
Ah, yeah, what kind of investigation it is? He wonders. His uncle probably won't tell him, since last time they butted in and put their life in dangers even with their personas. "Alright, then." Yu replied with a smile. So that's mean the home will be empty if Ken went outside, too.
"I will walk you there, Nanako-chan. Koro-chan said he want to walk with you." The boy smiled and went to grab his sweater.
"Yaaay! Thank you, Ken-chan!"
"Senpaaaaai~~!"
A familiar, cute and high pitched voice rang through his ears and he smiled at the maroon haired girl. "Long time no see, Rise." He greeted and then he was tackled by her hug.
"Yo, partner! Glad to see you here." Yosuke smiled as he took a seat next to the silver haired man. The brunette looks very mature, knowing few years has passed, Yosuke grew into a very handsome man. Rise looks very cute with her hair down, and she was wearing a tinted glasses. Still fashionable as always.
"Ack! S-sensei! I missed you beary much!" Then another tackle made him strained his legs to hold the chair from falling off to the ground. He stared at the blond and chuckled, muttering a 'I missed you too'. And, Teddie tightened the hug, forcing the breath out of him. Yosuke tried hard to separate them, so Yu won't die on his second day coming here.
"Ne, ne, senpai. Too bad, Yukiko-senpai and Chie-senpai can't come here." Rise pouted, but at the same time was glad since the girl here is only her. "Kanji said he will be here soon since he need to help at the shop-"
"Yo, senpai." A rough voice called to him and he turned to look at the owner. "Wh-why are you looking at me like that!?" Yu didn't realized that his mouth was hanging open and he immediately closed it. Shocked by the complete change on Kanji usually rough appearance. Guess he missed a lot of things few years back, huh. Now he kinda regretted it.
The taller blond wore a black leather jacket and jeans. His hair was a bit longer and now framed his face that already became mature. And, Yu must admit that Kanji also turned into a gorgeous young man.
"Maaan, I'm sure you were surprised at Kanji's sudden change, huh? He's dating with Naoto for a year now, and he tried to look a bit 'decent' for her image." Yosuke grinned from ear to ear, finding it amusing to see the youngest one (aside from Teddie, since they really don't know his age. Seriously) turned beet red at the statement.
The silver haired man chuckled and Kanji went to sit on his other side. "It's been a while since we all gathered here." He said with a bright smile. Ah, it's feels really nice to be with his friends. Sadly, few of them couldn't make it today.
Apparently, Chie went to the town to buy something. And, Yukiko attending a college at the city. Naoto was out to other country because her job as a detective. He can't really put a blame on them. He kinda coming here without noticing them too. Yosuke knew he will be coming because he met Dojima-san at Junes on closing time. That explain the full fridge in the morning.
"Ah, Narukami-san." Ken walked to approach him, and once he get close enough, he bowed to the others.
"Oh! I didn't know you have another sibling, senpai! He is soooooo cute~" Rise smiled at the brunette and the boy gave her a flustered look. A bit embarrassed since he never been called cute before. Well, a few people said that but with a bored expression and tone. He can tell that it's definitely fake, but, not with Rise.
"H-hello." Ken replied with an awkward greeting, and the other brunette laughed.
"Come on now, Rise. Don't tell me you are into a kid, too. Or maybe...someone who is related to Yu." Yosuke said with a smirk, just to get smacked on face with the ex-idol's small hand. "Anyway, partner, who is this?" Yosuke asked, gesturing to the brown haired boy.
"Ken Amada. I'm Dojima-san's acquaintance, and temporarily living here." Ken bowed and introduced himself. "I look forward for your guidance."
"Whoa- hey dude, relax. Geez, I'm not good with this kinda formality. I'm Yosuke, nice to meet ya!"
"Come to think of it, I saw you couple of times at the shrine. Did you see the tofu shop across it?" The maroon haired girl interrupted, shoving Yosuke's face away roughly, still angry from his previous joke.
The younger brunette seem to be thinking hard, recalling the layout of the shopping district, and then he nodded. "I bought tofu few times but... I can't remember if I saw you. I'm so sorry."
"Heh, chill out kiddo. This girl is always out and rarely at shop aside from weekend. So, you don't have to worry about not meeting her." Kanji butted in and Rise pouted in anger.
They talked for few more hours after Ken joined them. Yu was informed about the case of missing person in Inaba lately. Mostly foreigner or tourist, or more like people who are not a local. They disappeared in the night, usually after they went out to have a dinner. Yosuke said that no one in the midnightchannel, since it can't be accessed anymore. So, they thinking about the case being a regular kidnapping. That's why Dojima-san was very busy.
I guess he doesn't need to be involved with cases anymore. Their job in the TV already done, and the kidnapping doesn't really involve anything like shadows or personas. It's not like he can butt into his uncle's job anymore.
As the sky started turned darker red, they decided to end their conversation here and will gather at Junes again tomorrow, if they have any spare times. With that, Yu went home with Ken after they bid farewell.
Unknown to them, a dark figure followed them to Dojima's residence.
KNOCK
"I will get it!" Nanako raised from her sitting position and run to open the door. She unlocked the door and slide it a bit. Confused when she saw nothing. "Hm..weird." she mumbled and decided to close the door. Ken eyed her with curious eyes and glanced at Koromaru, who obediently move to the entrance. The dog sat there, waiting for another knock.
KNOCK KNOCK
In a swift movement, Koromaru went to the door and pushed it open with his paws. Yu was surprised at the dog's strength. But, he moved who was outside and saw an empty space. No one there.
The brunette tensed as Koromaru whimpered, then barked to the side of the door. "Please wait here." He said then went to get the dog. Ken peeked outside and saw the bushes moving. He gestured Koromaru to get inside, and he went outside, closing his door behind him. "Who's there?" He called out. The movements on the bushes became aggressive and a moment after, a man lunged towards him.
"Koromaru!"
Yu tensed as he heard the scream and ran to get the door. He tried to slide it open but something held it in place. The shiba inu barked and paced worriedly. Nanako hid behind the table, fear clearly showed on her face. "Dammit!" Yu noticed few noises outside and Ken's choking voice, and he banged the door.
Finally, after pushing and pulling the sliding door open, he managed to get rid of whatever blocked it earlier. He dashed outside and saw the boy coughed on the ground, kneeling while holding his neck. He can see a clear and fresh bruises there. The culprit already ran away to god know where.
He need to tell Dojima about this. Nanako's life might be in danger too.
"I'm fine, Koro-chan." Ken snuggled the warm body of Koromaru, sighing as he felt a comfort there. "Did I scare you? Sorry. But, I managed to kick the culprit's ass. So, you don't need to take revenge for me." He was rewarded with a lick on his cheeks and he laughed. The boy heard his (he and Yu) room knocked, and the older male went inside with a dinner on the wooden tray. Ah, Ken doesn't have a chance to eat dinner because of the attacker.
"How's your neck?" The silver haired man asked, noticing the bruises became darker, and he think it will be better to put some ointment on it.
Ken took the dinner from the tray and placed it on wooden desk at the center of the room, giving Koromaru a piece of meat, which the dog gladly accepted it. "It's just a bit bruised. The attacker seems empty handed since he didn't pull out any knives or guns. I guess I'm just lucky." He ate the rice along with the meat, but he already lost his appetite. Even though he's hungry.
"I should have acted faster, I'm sorry." Yu gave him an apologetic look and the brunette chuckled at it. Well, seems like Ken knew something more than him. "So...is this keeps happening? I mean, I'm sure the culprit didn't randomly targeting one person to another, right?" The man asked, trying to not look like he's interrogating the younger one.
"Well, I guess I need to tell you." Ken placed down his chopsticks and glanced at the shiba inu. The dog gave him a nudge at his waist before going outside to watch the door. "This happens for two weeks. Not everyday. But, only at Tuesday after dinner. And, also thursday when Nanako came home early." Yu's heart clenched painfully at the thought someone tried to kidnap his little sister, again. He had enough of what happened last years, and he doesn't want it to happen again.
"Don't worry, this is the first time the culprit went out to attack. Usually, he only disturbed us with knocks on the door, and taps on the windows. Well, he tried to sneak inside your room, too. But, he ran away once I went to check what noises it is."
"Now, wait. Why would he go to my room?" Yu crossed his hands on his chest, and closed his eyes to think. "It's on second floor and nothing's valuable here." He explained and Ken shook his head, a gesture that he doesn't have any idea about it.
Just when Ken opened his mouth to talk, the lights turned off and a static sound appeared after the unplugged TV screen starting to light up.
"Now, let the adult hunt began."
The figure on TV smirked, and Yu's vision went completely dark.