Sorry for the really late update...
We got into some arguments as we were writing down this story
Again, We're really sorry for it. End of semester tests in 3 weeks, dang it...
And... sorry if our English is quite... bad _ Sorry if there are any mistypos too
Anyway, enjoy this chapter.
Reviews in Indonesian language are accepted. LOL
Kita orang Indo soalnya :P (sok Inggris bedh...)
Disclaimer : We don't own any of the charas except the story :P
Renewed Contract
Chapter 1
Their Reunion and the Omen
.
.
Kirijo's Headquarter, Director's office
December 28th, 2012
5:35 P.M.
Paintings of famous artists could be seen hanging on the wall, decorating the huge room. Sofas and a table were put in the center of the room. Behind the sofas was a desk. The desk was made of mahogany wood. It has beautiful carvings around it. Piles of papers were organized neatly on the desk. Behind it, a certain red haired woman was working, signing the papers.
The woman sighed, "These stuffs never end. It's really making me tired." complained her as she stretched her hand up. She then picked up another one of the paper from the pile to sign it. In the process, she knocked something down.
A photo frame fell from the desk to the carpeted floor.
"Oh, gosh…" she said while taking the frame from the floor as quickly as possible. "I hope it didn't break."
She looked at the picture in the frame and sighed, "It's been so long... I really missed all of them."
In the picture were 8 people and a dog. One was an old man wearing an eye patch. Next is a boy who looked like he was 10 years old, an albino dog with a wing accessory on its clothes, a young woman with brunette hair wearing a pink cardigan, another young woman with a green colored hair wearing a green cardigan inside her uniform, a red haired woman who looked the woman now when she was still in her younger age, a young man with silver short hair wearing a red vest, an idiot who wore a baseball cap and has a goatee who looked like he was going to fall down, and the last one is a blue haired man with a bang covering his right eye. He has a silver colored earphone hanging around his neck.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
The door was knocked and a woman came in to the room. "It's time for the appointment, Kirijo-sama," said the woman in the white dress. It seemed like she was her secretary.
"Thank you, Ishima-san. I'll go there as soon as I finish this last paper. You may leave now."
The woman then bowed to her and went out of the room. Now she was alone again in there. She then placed the picture on her desk and continued her work for awhile.
"Ah… Now that that's done, I think I should probably get going to the restaurant. I don't want to make them wait for too long or they'll start complaining to me." A chuckle escaped her mouth after saying that.
She then packed up her things first before going out of her room. She closed her door slowly and gently.
A small sound of a crack could be heard coming from the desk after she closed the door of her office. A crack was formed on the right side of the frame, in front of the picture of the blue haired boy. The crack divided the picture of the boy vertically.
.
A restaurant in central Tokyo
December 28th, 2012
6:05 P.M.
"Man… This place looks awesome dude! It's huge! Hey Chidori! Come here quick! Let's take our seats!" said the man with a baseball cap and a goatee to her companion.
She giggled a bit after she heard what his friend had just said.
"You are still like a child you know, Junpei-kun. Don't be too loud or the other customers will get annoyed by your yelling." the red haired woman wearing a gothic lolita costume said.
"Oh, come on Chidori, it's just that I'm too happy to be able to meet our friends again. It's been two years since we have last gathered together. And this place is freaking AWESOME man! Mitsuru-senpai is really good at choosing places like this." Junpei tried to reason himself to Chidori.
"Well, I guess you're right, Junpei-kun. This place looks marvelous. The interior design is really pretty. I like this place." said her while smiling.
The restaurant had a really huge space. It was designed medievally. The walls were covered by golden and silver colored paint. The sources of the light were lantern-like light, hanging on the ceiling and the wall. The ceiling had pictures of angels on it. The pillars were also carved artistically, making the place looked majestic.
"Oh! There you are, Junpei-kun, Chidori-chan. Long time no see." a woman wearing a pink dress said to them.
"Well hello there, Yuka-tan. Seems like you haven't changed at all! How've you been?"
"Stop with the Yuka-tan already, Stupei!"
"Hey! FYI, my name is Junpei! So stop calling me Stupei, Yuka-tan! We're already a University student, ya know!"
"Long time no see, Yukari-san." Chidori bowed to the brunette.
"Hi there, Chidori-chan. Would you mind telling your friend here to keep it down? The other customers seems to be bothered by him right now." Yukari said with a mischievous smile.
"All right, Yukari-san, I'll do just that." She smiled to Yukari before she called Junpei.
"Hey, Junpei-kun! Come here for a bit. I've got something to be discussed. Me and you, right now, okay?" she said while making a gesture. A small smirk could be seen formed on her face.
Junpei looked at Chidori and found out that she was starting to get annoyed by his yelling. She had a creepy grin hanging in her face while calling him. A small vein could be seen on her forehead.
Junpei got goosebumps after seeing her face and he started to beg for his life to her. Chidori couldn't care less about his begging. Junpei now could only wait to be thrown into hell. Finally, he got his ear pulled by Chidori and he got dragged out of the crowd to a quite place inside the restaurant.
Yukari only sweat dropped seeing that and started to wonder. She thought maybe having Chidori as Junpei's girlfriend is the right thing to happen. It seemed like she's the only one who could control Junpei's behavior.
"Well, well, well, it seems like Junpei hasn't changed since the last two years. And neither did you, Takeba."
A man wearing a red vest and a white uniform came into the restaurant and smiled at Yukari and the other two who wasn't paying any attention to the voice of the man. They were too busy discussing something together.
"Hello there, Akihiko-senpai. It's nice to see you again. You haven't changed too, huh? And where's Shinjiro-senpai?" Yukari said with a smile.
"What do you want, Takeba?" the sliding door opened, revealing a man wearing a brown coat and a beanie hat. He gave Yukari a glare and it made her a bit edgy.
"It's nothing, senpai. Glad to see you're doing well." she tried to smile at him.
"Tch." he replied with an annoyed expression on his face.
"By the way, where are the others?" The silverette asked.
"Um… Ken called me last night and said that he and Koro-chan are gonna be a bit late getting here. He said they have something to do first in the dorm this morning. As for Aigis, she's waiting for them in the station right now."
"What about Fuuka?"
"Ah… I don't really know. Try asking Chidori about her. She has been going to the same University as Fuuka since the last 2 years."
"Did anybody call me?" Chidori said. She had finished scolding Junpei and she now had a really satisfied look on her face. Junpei was following her from behind. He had red ears and his face was telling that he had just experience hell on earth.
"Oh, there you are Chidori-chan. Do you know about when will Fuuka get here? It's almost time for Mitsuru-senpai to come up." Yukari asked.
As she said that, the restaurant's door was opened, revealing a panting green haired girl.
She was sweating and she looked really tired. It seemed like she had just run from somewhere to the restaurant.
"Phew. I thought I was gonna be late. Good thing I arrived just in time." she said to herself after catching up her breath.
"Fuuka-chan! Long time no see!" the brunette said to the green haired girl.
"Hello there, Yukari-san. I'm so glad to see you again." the woman named Fuuka responded. "You haven't changed that much, Yukari-san. You're still as beautiful as ever. Akihiko-senpai and Shinjiro-senpai! It's nice to meet you guys again. Oh, and Junpei-kun and Chidori-chan too. I really missed you guys."
"Thank you, Fuuka-chan. By the way, are you still as timid as you were in high school now that you're in University?" Yukari replied.
"Oh, about that, I'm not really that timid as I used to be back then. I've got a lot of friends in my University now. Especially Chidori-chan, she's one of my best friends I have got now. She has been hanging around with me since we started studying at the University."
"I guess that means that you've been enjoying your university life, huh, Fuuka?" the brunette said to her companion. "Well, I'm glad that you are enjoying it."
"Yes I do! I'm really enjoying it. Oh, that reminds me, where are Ken-kun, Aigis-san and Koro-chan? And, is Koro-chan allowed to get in here? … He's a dog afterall." Fuuka asked them.
"Ken and Koromaru are going to be a bit late, Yamagishi. Takeba told us earlier about it. As for Aigis, she is waiting for them at the station right now. And Koromaru is allowed to get in here. Mitsuru had already arranged it." Akihiko answered.
"Anyway, Junpei-kun, why didn't you just date Chidori-chan already?" Yukari teased.
"Wha…? Hey!" Junpei's face reddened.
"Have you told her about what happened?" Fuuka whispered to Junpei.
"Well, no I haven't… It's just that, I don't want her to know about her painful past. I don't want to her to be hurt by it." Junpei uttered with a sad face. "And I want her to like me because of who I am now, not because of the past." he continued.
"Oh… That's so sweet." Fuuka and Yukari said together.
"Hey, that's embarrassing!" Junpei's face reddened. "What about you, Akihiko-senpai? Have you found any girl you're interested in?"
"He-hey! Th-that's private you know!" Akihiko blushed as he said that.
"Okay, Senpai!" Junpei grinned. "Yuka-tan! Have you found any guy you like yet?"
Yukari's face suddenly became sad.
"… No, not yet." she stuttered.
"It's just that… I… I still can't …"
"Way to go, Junpei." Akihiko sighed.
Shinji only gave him a deathglare, threatening Junpei.
"Uh… I'm sorry, Yuka-tan." Junpei cut her off.
"I think we should stop talking about it. We're supposed to be happy that we got to meet again. I don't want us to be gloomy in our reunion today, and talking about 'him' will make the situation really gloomy." Junpei said to her with a goofy smile, trying to cheer her up.
"Okay, thanks Junpei-kun." Yukari said with a shaken voice.
The green haired girl sighed and said, "Yeah, Junpei is right. So, shall we go to our table and wait for the others? The other customers are starting to look at us. It's kind of embarrassing."
They all seemed to agree to Fuuka as they went to their designated table which Mitsuru had reserved for all of them.
.
Inaba, Dojima's Residence
December 28th, 2012
10:20 A.M.
The sound of birds chirping could be heard from the outside of Souji's room. It awoke him from his deep slumber. He was very tired from the trip and yesterday's gathering with his friends that as soon as he hit the pillow he fell asleep.
"It's morning already? I'm still tired…" Souji thought while yawning.
The morning sunlight shone brightly, making Souji completely awoken. He decided to go down and have his breakfast before he goes out of the house.
As he went down, he spotted his nephew, Nanako, watching the TV about the weather report.
"Ohayou, Nanako-chan." greeted him.
"Ohayou, Onii-san." she replied his big brother with a smile but it faded after she saw her brother's face. "Onii-san, you look tired… Are you okay?"
Souji had a panda eyes on his face. His hairs look messy too. He looked miserable. "Oh, I'm okay, Nanako-chan. I… just feel sleepy, that's all." he fake yawned.
"I see… Onii-san please take care of your body properly. I don't want to see you sick." she said with a concerned face. "Your breakfast is on the table. You can eat it now if you want, or do you want to skip it?"
"Nah, I'll eat it now. I'm really hungry. Last night I didn't eat much at the party."
"Oh, okay then, Onii-san" Nanako said as she continued to watch the TV.
Yesterday, his friends came over to the house to greet him. They all missed him so much that it made such a ruckus in the neighborhood. Souji had to apologize to the neighbors because of it. And last night, his friends came over to the house and made a welcoming party. The girls cooked them the 'Mystery Food X', which Souji decided not to eat. Yosuke and Kanji, on the other hand, were forced to eat them. Of course, they were knocked out after one bite. The girls sweat dropped as they saw how Yosuke and Kanji got knocked out.
He was lucky enough the girls didn't force him to eat it but Naoto's cooking wasn't that bad, he thought to himself while eating the breakfast that Nanako had prepared for him.
.
What happened yesterday~
.
Dojima's Residence
December 27th, 2012
9:20 A.M.
Souji woke up from his sleep. He opened his eyes to see the ceiling of his room. He sat back on his bed, trying to regain his power. After a while, he got up to his feet and did some stretching. He changed to his casual clothes before going out of his room.
He yawned again when he was going down the stairs. He then heard some commotion coming from the living room.
'This voices… It can't be. I haven't even told them about when I'm coming back.' he thought to himself as he entered the living room.
All of a sudden, Souji was thrown away to the floor by an unknown force. 'Ouch, that hurts… It seems like I hit my head a bit.' he rubbed his head that was knocked to the wall behind him. He heard some sobbing as he felt some weight on his body.
"*Sob* *Sob* Sensei… I really missed you!" A blonde haired boy was hugging Souji.
"*Sob* Me too, senpai! I missed you a lot!" A curly haired brunette girl said while crying, making Souji's clothes wet with her tears.
At first, Souji didn't know of what to do. He was clueless about the situation. He finally sighed and patted their heads. "There, there, don't cry."
They finally released their hold and got back up to their feet. Souji then looked at everyone and smiled. "Hello guys, sorry I didn't tell you all about when I'm coming here."
"It's okay, Souji. Nanako here told us about it this morning." Yosuke patted Nanako's head and it made her smile.
"Yeah, it's alright Souji-kun." Chie added.
"We missed you, you know." Yukiko, who was almost crying, walked towards him and hugged him with all her might.
Souji was stunned as she hugged him. He then replied her hug by hugging her too, making her tears flowing from her eyes.
"It's alright, Yukiko." he said to her as he placed his head on hers.
Everyone was awed by the scenery. Yosuke started whistling at them, making the two conscious of what they were doing. Both of them let go of the hug and blushed madly, making the crowd grew wilder as they teased them.
After the event, they talked together about what they're going to do for Souji's welcoming party. Chie suggested them to eat at Junes, with Yosuke paying the bills. Yosuke rejected the idea because he didn't want to have to pay for these guys. He didn't really have much money anyway. Rise then proposed to have a cooking party for dinner. It received a well response from the female part, but the guys didn't really want to do it. Chie forced them and they finally agreed to do it.
They decided to went to Junes first and do some shopping for the ingredients they would need for tonight. Souji decided to stay at the house as he was still tired from his trip. He played with Nanako until the evening.
When Nanako was watching the TV, Souji thought about his meeting with a suspicious person last night. Yosuke opened the house abruptly, snapping Souji from his thoughts.
"Hey, partner! Whatcha doin there? And Hello there Nanako-chan!" the brunette said cheerfully.
"It's nothing, Yosuke. I'm just thinking of something." Souji replied with a smile on his face.
"Hi there Yosuke Onii-san." Nanako replied Yosuke's greeting.
"So… Where are the girls and the other two?" Souji continued.
"Kanji and Teddie are still in Junes, escorting our ladies. They're still shopping to make dinner tonight. A…haha…" Yosuke answered and continued with a nervous laugh. "I hope they won't make what I think they are gonna make tonight… Urgh…"
Souji imagined what the girls are going to make tonight. He shivered as he imagined the 'Mystery Food X' that the girls made the last time they cooked together. It haunted him again and again whenever he thought of it.
Souji and Yosuke decided to wait for the others as they watched the TV together with Nanako. An hour later, they arrived, bringing a lot of plastic bags full of ingredients for the girls to cook their dinner.
"Hi there everyone!" Nanako greeted them.
"Ooohh! Hello there, Nanako-chan!" A brunette girl answered. "You look cute today! Anyway, Yosuke didn't do anything weird to you while we weren't here, did he? Because I swear, if he ever did anything weird to you, Nanako-chan, I'll beat him to death!" the green dressed girl exclaimed while clenching her fist.
"WHAT? I didn't do anything to her, Chie! Don't accuse me of doing anything weird! Souji was here too all this time. You can ask him if you want the proof. I swear I didn't do anything weird, okay Chie!" Yosuke, the man in charged, retorted.
"Alright, alright. Everyone please calm down and wait inside the living room! We, the girls, are going to make our dinner. So just wait patiently, okay!" the woman with the red hair band instructed them.
"Why do I have to do this too?" a small young woman with a blue hair said to herself and groaned.
"Oh, come on, Naoto-chan. It's going to be fun, you know!" said the girl with a wavy brunette hair to the blue haired woman, named Naoto.
"I'm not so sure about this, Rise-san." Naoto said with a doubtful voice.
"Oh, stop using honorifics for my name, okay Naoto-chan! We are at the same age you know. Anyways, it'll be a lot of fun I tell ya." the girl replied with a huge grin.
"Okay okay, I give up, Rise-chan. Let's start helping them in the kitchen."
Rise then smiled after she heard what Naoto had just said. She then grabbed Naoto's hand and pulled her (okay now you know what's her gender : P) to the kitchen.
"I'll help them too in the kitchen, okay Onii-san?" Nanako asked her so called brother, Souji.
Souji just nodded at that and she left to the kitchen.
The boys were left in the living room with nothing to do except watching the TV. Soon, they got bored with it. Souji then told the boys to get to his room to wait there while playing cards or reading magazines he had. They all agreed and went to his room. Before going up, he told Nanako to call them once the food was done. Nanako nodded and smiled to his Onii-san. She then went back to the kitchen to help the girls a bit.
.
At Souji's room
"Now, what should we do? I don't want to eat their food ya know, I don't want to be hospitalized because eating the 'Mystery Food X'." Yosuke uttered.
"Well me neither, senpai. But what can we do?" Kanji asked.
"I suppose we should just wait and see what they're gonna make. Maybe it won't be that dangerous to eat. It has been more than half a year since they last cooked for us anyway. I hope they have gotten better at cooking." Souji replied with a slight worry in his voice.
"I don't care of what they're gonna cook. I'll eat all of them-kuma." Teddie said with a carefree tone.
"Then Teddie, would you eat my share of the meal?" Yosuke asked with a grin.
"I don't know… I'll eat your share if I'm still hungry after finishing my share first, okay Yosuke-kun?" he answered.
Yosuke then sighed a bit and hoped that Teddie would be able to eat his share. Suddenly, Yosuke's face became bright as he gets an idea.
"Hey, why don't we play jan-ken-pon to decide who's gonna get the first bite of the food?" he asked, grinning.
"That's… a good idea, Yosuke." Souji said smiling.
"Yeah, the loser will have to eat them first. No backing down!" announced Kanji who had stands up.
"I'm okay with that-kuma."
"Okay then, let's do this!" pumped his fist into the air.
"Jan! Ken! Pon!" Everyone said together. Souji was the lucky guy. He won the first round with a rock. The others were scissors. So he will be the last one to eat the food.
"Jan! Ken! Pon!" Teddie won the second round, leaving Kanji and Yosuke to battle for their life. Teddie will the third one to taste the food.
"Just let me win, Kanji-kun. I beg you! Please please please please please let me win! I don't want to be the first one to be dead." Begged Yosuke to Kanji, but Kanji didn't seem to bother with his begging and just did the jan ken pon. Both of them were shaking, afraid that they'll lose and has to be the first one to be sacrificed.
'Think, Yosuke! Think! What should I do to win this round? Come on… Come on…' Yosuke's suddenly had an imaginary light bulb floating on his head as he smiled mischievously.
"Jan! Ken! Pon!"
"LOOK! A UFO!" Yosuke shouted suddenly, making Kanji distracted and looked at the window behind him.
"What? Where? Where is it? Where's the UFO?" Kanji panicked, not aware that he was cheated by Yosuke.
"YESSSSSSS!" Yosuke jumped into the air as he won the last round, but with a cheap trick.
Souji just shooked his head, bemused by what he had just seen. How could Kanji fell for such a cheap trick?
'Well, whatever.' he thought to himself.
"Wait a second, senpai! You tricked me! I want a rematch!" Kanji said feeling irritated.
"No way! I won't do the rematch. I won it. You'll be the first one to try the food, Kanji!" Yosuke refused.
Kanji then got up to his feet and stand in front of Yosuke. "Let's do a rematch!" his voice getting louder.
"No way!" Yosuke still refused.
Kanji then moved to Souji's desk and grabbed a chair. He brought it up to his head, ready to hit it to Yosuke's head. "R-E-M-A-T-C-H!" he said to Yosuke with a killing intent.
"W-w-w-wait! Don't hit me with that!" Yosuke begged Kanji. "Okay okay! I'll do the rematch, Kanji-kun!" Yosuke gave up as he saw Kanji's face. (Try to imagine Kanji's face was dark with a glowing pair of golden eyes, like a shadow and some kind of smokes coming out from his mouth)
Both of them then stood up and redo the jan ken pon.
"Jan! Ken! Pon!"
It looked like that luck was not on Kanji's side today. Yosuke had won the game. 'It's a miracle' Souji thought as he sweat dropped.
"I won?" Yosuke said with a disbelieved face. "I really won? Yeah, baby!" Yosuke pumped his fists into the air.
"Great. Now I'm gonna be the first one to be dead by their food." Kanji grumbled. "Guess this is not my lucky day, huh."
"Now Kanji-kun, you better stick to the deal we have made or something bad will happen to you." Yosuke grinned evilly to Kanji. Now it was Kanji's turn to be frightened by Yosuke's face. He just nodded to his senpai.
…
Forty minutes passed and there was no call from Nanako. The boys were starting to get anxious as to what were the girls making.
"Remember our deal, okay guys?" Yosuke reminded them. Everyone just nodded, except Kanji, who was sitting in the corner of the room, consulting
All of a sudden, the door was knocked quite loud that Yosuke jumped into Kanji's hand. Nanako peered into the room and giggled when she saw Yosuke clinging onto Kanji. The other soon started to laugh as well. Kanji then threw Yosuke to the floor. A sound of 'thud' could be heard.
Nanako told them to come down because dinner was ready. She then left the room with the boys following her from behind. They were heading to the living room where they're going to have their dinner.
When they were walking down the stairs, Yosuke started to smell something. "It… smells here." Yosuke said as he coughed.
"Um… You're right Senpai, It really does smells. Could it be… ?" Kanji's eyes were widened when he was thinking about where the smell came from.
"No. Way." Yosuke uttered with disbelief when he saw the foods that were prepared on the table.
"Excuse me, Yukiko-san, but… what did you guys make?" Kanji asked the woman in red.
"We made curry, omelet, salad, and pudding for us. I hope you guys will like it." Yukiko smiled to the boys.
"Okay…" Souji said while staring at the food on the table. He was shocked when he saw the so called 'curry' that the girls made. It looked nothing like what curry should be. A black smoke could be seen forming above it. Yosuke gulped as he saw it. Kanji's face darkened whilst smelling the bad odor in the room. On the other hand, Teddie was… drooling (?). Teddie's head was facing down.
"Um… Teddie, are you okay?" Kanji asked the blonde haired boy.
No response.
Suddenly a weird noise was came out of nowhere, surprising everyone as they heard it.
"What's that sound?" Chie asked looking confused.
The sound could be heard again.
"I think it's the sound of a snore." Naoto replied quickly.
"Where did it come from?" Yosuke tried to look for the source of the sound.
"It's coming from… Teddie?" Rise said aloud.
Teddie was asleep! Everyone stared at each other and then laughed together, waking Teddie up from his short nap.
"What are you guys laughing at?" Teddie asked while yawning.
"It's … nothing, Teddie." Naoto smiled. She has regained her composure while the others were still laughing a bit.
"Oh, okay then." Teddie shook it off and said, "I'm really hungry right now! It's making me losing my energy and it makes me really sleepy." Teddie explained to them.
Now the others had stopped laughing and started to calm themselves down.
"Okay guys, come sit over here so we can start eating! I'm hungry too." Rise called the boys.
"Right…" Kanji looked unwilling to seat there, but he finally gave up and sat beside Rise. The other boys followed him and seated themselves in their comfortable position. Teddie sat besides Naoto, Yosuke besides Chie, and Souji between Nanako and Yukiko.
"Let's eat! Itadakimasu!" Nanako said, readying her spoon.
"WAIT!" Kanji yelled, surprising everyone, except the boys. It was just like their deal. The first loser will have to get the first bite of the food.
"What's wrong Kanji onii-san?" Nanako asked with a frown.
"I'm sorry Nanako, but we don't want anything bad happened to you. Let me check if these are safe for you to eat first. We don't want you to be hospitalized again because of food *cough* poisoning." Kanji answered.
"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?" The girls replied angrily.
"Sorry, senpais" Kanji bowed his head and started to taste the curry. He took a spoonful of it and smelled it. His stomach growled as he did.
"Um… Okay, wish me luck guys." Kanji closed his eyes. "Here goes nothing."
Before Kanji could put it in his mouth, Teddie quickly snatched his spoon and eat it.
"Hey, Teddie! Why did you do that?" Kanji asked the blonde.
"I'm really hungryyy. By the way, it tastes delicious!" the blonde said to them.
"Really? I'll try it then…" Kanji took another spoon of the curry.
Kanji put it in his mouth and started to munch it.
"Wow, it's not so bad afterall. How bout you guys try some of it t…" he suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong Kanji?" Yosuke asked his kouhai.
All of a sudden, Kanji spurted out the food in his mouth into Yosuke's face.
"Kyaah!" the girls shrieked.
"AHHH! My eyes! My eyes are burning! Someone help!" Yosuke screamed like a little girl as he ran to the kitchen.
Kanji then fell to the floor. "On second thought… Don't- eat-it, senpai." he stated before he became unconscious.
"I'll move Kanji to my room and could someone please bring in a glass of water!" Souji announced quickly.
Souji then placed Kanji on his back and carried him to his room. Nanako brought him a glass of water for Kanji to drink when he has regained his consciousness. After that, they left Kanji sleeping inside Souji's room and headed back to the living room.
After the floor had been cleaned and Yosuke's eyes return to normal, they gathered again in the living room to continue their dinner.
"Okay, so now the curry is out of the questions. It's not edible enough for Nanako and us to eat. What did you girls put in there anyway?" Yosuke asked the girls.
"Um… We put in carrot, potato, an extra hot curry powder, chocolates, wasabi, red and green pepper, some mint leafs, flour, a cough syrup, and..."
"Right, you can stop explaining now, Chie-chan." Yosuke cut Chie off. "Are you trying to kill us by putting all those things, even a cough syrup in there?"
"I am not! I just think that it needs to be spicier, so I just added the peppers, and wasabi. I thought that putting the cough syrup will make it taste better. The cough syrup also contains mint flavor, you know!" Chie defended herself against Yosuke.
"Well, it is not right to put in medicine on food, okay Chie-chan?" Souji said to Chie. 'How did Teddie survive it anyway? That's… quite a stomach he has.' Souji thought.
"All right, Souji-kun." Chie nodded.
"Is it my turn now?" Yosuke said feeling depressed.
"Well, that's the deal. So just do it quickly Yosuke." Souji smiled.
"What deal?" Naoto asked her senpai.
"Oh, it's nothing, Naoto-chan." Yosuke tried to shrug it off.
The second dish was the Omelet.
"So… who made this?" asked Yosuke to the girls.
"It's me who made it! I bet it would be tasty!" the idol, Rise, chirped.
Yosuke got goose bumps when he heard that it was Rise who made the Omelet. He remembered how bad Rise's omelet was. Yukiko's cooking was fine, but Rise's? He knew that he won't survive and would be in the same state as Kanji. But a deal is a deal. He grabbed his spoon and quickly got a bite of it.
Instead of the food, he felt nothing when he put the spoon in his mouth. It turned out that this time Teddie also snatched Yosuke's spoon and ate it, just like how he did it to Kanji.
"Mm… It's tasty." Teddie said with a happy face.
"You sure, Teddie?" asked Yosuke with a slight hesitation on his face.
"Yep! 100% sure." Teddie assured him.
"All right then. I'll try it too." Yosuke then got another spoon of the omelet and put it in his mouth.
"It's… okay, I guess…" Yosuke said as he munched.
Something suddenly hit Yosuke. "Ugh, what's wrong with this? It's too salty! Could someone get me a glass of water and some sweets please?" Yosuke pleaded.
Nanako ran into the kitchen and got him a glass of water. She also brought some of the sweets that she had saved since she was a kindergartener.
"That's my saving, Yosuke onii-san. You better repay me for the candies, okay!" Nanako grinned to Yosuke. He then guzzled down the water and ate the candies that Nanako brought.
"All right all right. Thanks Nanako-chan." he thanked her. "Why is the omelet so salty?" Yosuke turned to the girls.
"Um, I thought that it would be tastier if it's saltier, so I added a lot of salt into it." Rise answered him. "I also added soy sauce into it."
"Wha…? There's no way that Nanako would be able to eat that. It's too salty!" Yosuke complained. Nanako looked at Rise who seemed really down and tried to taste her omelet.
She got a bite of it and her face turned a bit green. "It's… quite tasty, Rise onee-san" she noted.
"Really? Oh, thank you, Nanako-chan! You're a really good girl." Rise's face brightened again.
"You shouldn't have eaten the omelet, Nanako-chan." Souji told her as he removed the plate from the table. Again, Souji thought, 'Teddie sure has got a steel like stomach.' as he went to the kitchen to clean the plate.
The omelet and curry had now been cleared out of the table, leaving only the salad and the pudding.
"It looks edible enough." Yosuke said while he checked the color and the smell of the salad.
"My turn!" Teddie chirped. He then grabbed his spoon and dug into the salad.
"Oh, wow! It's really good." Teddie commented.
Yosuke stared at Teddie, doubting his statement. He had learned his lesson as to not believe what Teddie said. He thought that Teddie's stomach was like Songoku's (from Dragon Ball :P) stomach.
"Are you really, Really, REALLY sure about that, Teddie?" Souji asked.
"Uh-huh. You'll like it, sensei." Teddie replied.
"Maybe Yosuke should try it first…" Souji said while looking to Yosuke who was shocked to hear that statement coming from his partner.
"Wait a minute, I have already done my part. It's your turn now partner." Yosuke countered.
"Oh, come on Yosuke, I still feel tired from the trip to here. I don't want to spend the new years in my bed." Souji defended.
Yosuke thought of it for a minute and he finally gave up. "Alright, alright. I'll try it first. But you owe me one, you got that, Souji."
"Yeah, thanks, Yosuke." he smiled to his partner.
"Bring it on, Teddie!"
"Okay! Here you go, Yosuke-kun." Teddie gave Yosuke the plate. Yosuke quickly ate the salad but as soon as he put it in his mouth, he felt something terrible.
"Urgh, it tastes bitter." Yosuke criticized. "You lied to me, Teddie! Why did you tell me that it was good? It's really bitter!"
"Really, Yosuke-kun? I thought the bitter taste is quite nice." Teddie grinned.
'The hell, Teddie's tongue and stomach are really made of steel' Souji sweat dropped as he thought that. 'Maybe it's because he's a shadow?'
Nanako suddenly grab a bite of the salad, and once more, her face turned green.
"I think… i-i-it's quite delicious, Yukiko onee-san." Nanako complimented.
"Why, thank you, Nanako-chan. I guess these guys don't know how good food tastes." Yukiko smiled then glared to the boys.
"I'll finish the salad!" Teddie stated as he started chomping down the salad.
Everyone sweat dropped when they see how Teddie ate it all without choking one bit.
Now it was only the pudding that's left. It was still in the fridge, waiting to be eaten.
"Where's the pudding?" Nanako asked. "Is it still in the fridge?"
"I'll bring it out." Naoto answered as she got up and went to the kitchen.
A few seconds after that, she came back to the living room with the pudding on her hand.
"There you go. I made this myself, but… I'm not really confidence with the taste." she stated as her face blushed.
"I'll try it first then." Souji grabbed a spoon from the table but before he could eat it, the blue haired girl cut him. "Oh, I almost forgot. Don't eat it yet senpai. You'll need the dressing if you want to eat it, or it will taste plain. "
Souji stopped and Naoto ran back into the kitchen to get the dressing in the fridge.
"Here you go." She said while giving the dressing to the pudding. It looked tempting now. Yosuke was drooling over it. Teddie was… still like before, calm, but full of ominous on his face. Before Nanako was allowed to eat it, Souji had to try it first, to make sure it wasn't *cough* poisoned *cough*.
He brought up his spoon and put the pudding in his mouth. He felt his tongue dancing as the pudding melted in his mouth.
"Deeelicious!" he stated to them. "You should try it Nanako-chan."
"All right!" Nanako ate the pudding heartily. "This tastes great! You're really good, Naoto Onee-san.
"Let me try it." Chie tried a bit of it. She then smiled widely when she had finally tasted the sweetness of it. "It really is good! Naoto-chan you should teach us, girls, sometimes."
"Gosh! This is tasty, Naoto-chan." Rise chirped as she tasted the pudding. "Please teach me how to make this, Naoto-chan."
"You're right. It's melting in my mouth. It tastes great!" Yukiko added.
Naoto blushed as they praised her. "Thank you, every one."
"Souji, you ass! You decided to be the last one to taste the meal because you know this was going to happen? Damn it! That's not fair!" Yosuke complained to Souji, who was grinning to him. "Me and Kanji have suffered from the others 'Mysterious Food X'. But you, you got to enjoy the best meal they made. That makes my heart ache."
"Oh, come on Yosuke. It wasn't that bad, or is it?" Souji responded.
"Darn it. I had better get more of the pudding before it's cleaned by the girls. And you owe me one Souji!" the brunette said as he moved to the table to eat more of the pudding that Naoto made.
Souji smiled as he saw the scenery in front of him. He really missed this since he left the town, 9 months ago. But now, he had come back and gathered with them. He thought that something was missing but he shrugged it off and ate the pudding with his friends.
Meanwhile in Souji's room….
Kanji was having a nightmare. He was screaming in his sleep.
"No! Not that! Please! Anything but that! Don't do it! Stop! No! NO! NOOOOO!"he clutched his chest.
What happened in his dream? Well we will leave it to your imagination.
…
After the party ended, Souji went back to his room to get some rest. It was already 11 P.M. by the time they had finally finished. Kanji was sent home along with Yosuke. The girls walked together, accompanied by Teddie, because it's already late at night.
Souji changed his clothes into his pajamas. He then grabbed his jacket that he wore when he arrived here a day ago to look for his ID card and the picture of him and his friends.
He looked at them in his pocket. He didn't find it in the first pocket, or the second pocket, not even in the fifth pocket. He started getting panicked as he couldn't find them. He ended up looking for it in his belongings all night, until 4 A.M. He finally gave up and decided to rest for the day. He had a depressed face.
Present
"Where's Dojima-san? Did he get a call again?" Souji asked while chewing his food.
"Dad got a call this morning. He told me that he has to finish some crummy works. He said he'll be back before evening." the young girl said. "Are you going to go out after you finish your breakfast? If you do, then you can just leave the house to me. I don't have any plans for today so I'll just stay here. You can go and have fun with your friends, onii-san." she said with a grin.
Souji couldn't help but to be bemused by what she had just said. He decided to take her up on her offer and went out to the shopping district after he finished eating. He changed into his winter clothes before going out.
.
Inaba, Shopping District
December 28th, 2012
10:50 P.M
The silver haired young man was strolling down the Inaba's shopping district. He walked pass the stores that were lined there and greeted everyone he met. All of the people in Inaba had known him since his arrival last year. He was quite popular because of his kindness to the people around there and also, his handsomeness that has made some of the old ladies admired him. They would sometime tease him and make him blushes madly when he was walking alone along the shopping district with his 'girl' friend. Despite all of that, they're pretty nice to him, and Souji likes them too.
He walked pass the shopping district and saw a shrine. He remembered that one of his friend, Kitsune the fox, is living in the shrine. He decided to pray and visit the fox. As he climbed up the stairs, he could feel the afternoon breeze blowing through his skin.
He finally reached the shrine and quickly went to pray to the gods. After the prayer, he put some money to the offering box. The clattering sound of the coins he threw made the fox awoken from its' sleep. It quickly jumped down from the roof as soon as it smelled Souji's smell. It then howled happily and started nuzzling his feet. Souji smiled and patted its head. He decided to chat with it for a few moments before he left the shrine to his old school.
Souji strolled down the Samegawa flood plain as he went to Yasogami High. He met the oldman who gave him the fishing rod and advices on how to fish in the river. He also met the cat that he used to feed. The cat seemed to be very healthy now. It ran around in circle near a big tree that grew in the plain.
After walking for awhile, he arrived in front of the school gate.
'Heh… It hasn't changed a bit since the last time I was here. But of course, it hasn't even been a year since I left this place. What am I thinking…' he thought as he checked the buildings from the outside.
His cell phone rand suddenly and startled him. He quickly grabbed it from his pocket. There was a message from Yosuke.
It said, "Hey, Souji! Come to our old head quarter. We're going to have some talking. Everyone has already arrived here. We're waiting for you."
'What is it they want to talk about? I wonder…' Souji shook his head and started walking to Junes to meet with his friends there.
.
.
A restaurant in central Tokyo
December 28th, 2012
6:34 P.M.
A red haired woman came into the restaurant. She wore a sleeveless white turtle neck shirt and a dark brown pair of pants. Her crimson hair was loosened and gleaming brightly as he the room's lighting shone on her. She was searching for a certain someone inside the restaurant.
"Hey, that's Mitsuru-senpai! Over here, senpai!" Junpei yelled while standing up and waving his hand to the woman.
She smiled when she saw her friends had already gathered on the table she had reserved. She walked to the table and seated herself on a vacant chair.
"Good evening, everyone." she said with a smile. "I'm really happy that you guys are able to make it here. I hope you guys are not angry at me for doing this so suddenly."
"No way, senpai! We should be thankful for you. We haven't seen each other since almost three years ago. I really missed you guys." Junpei replied.
"Well, yeah. Me too, senpai. This is really fun you know." Yukari said to the red haired woman.
"We should do this more often, senpai." Fuuka continued.
"I agree with that idea." Aigis, who had arrived with Ken and Koromaru 10 minutes ago, said to them.
"Woof! Woof!" Koromaru barked. "He said he agrees too." Aigis translated it.
"Me too!" Ken, the youngest of them, said.
"They're right Mitsuru." Akihiko smiled.
"I don't really care about this and I don't really want to do this stuff." Shinji commented.
"All right, all right. I'll do something about it for next year. As for you, Shinji, you MUST come with us even if you don't want to." Mitsuru answered and smiled.
"Ngh…" he groaned.
"I have a proposal for you guys right now. How about we spend our new years in a hot spring?"
"A hot spring? Really, senpai? Oh, man! That's cool!" Junpei jumped out of his chair and do a weird dance in front of them.
"Knock it off, Junpei!" Yukari yelled at him. "Chidori, stop him please."
Chidori nodded and said to Junpei, "Stop it now, Junpei-kun. Or else…"
"W-w-w-wait! I'll stop!" Junpei said as sweat was forming on his forehead.
"Wow, Chidori-san, you really know how to control Junpei-san." Ken praised her.
"Why, thank you, Ken-kun." she smiled to him.
"I would really love to go to a hot spring, senpai!" Fuuka uttered. "The last time I went to a hot spring was when we're on our trip to Kyoto."
"I guess that's not a bad idea. Do you have any place in mind, Mitsuru?" asked the silverette.
"Yes, I do. I've been thinking that maybe we should go to the Amagi inn. It's located in Yasoinaba. People called it the treasure of Inaba." Mitsuru answered.
"Oooh, I've heard about that place before." Ken cut in. "I heard that it has got a really nice hot spring."
"Tch! I'm not going there." Shinji said.
"Oh no you don't, you'll be coming with us, Shinji, whether you like it or not." Mitsuru said, releasing a killing aura from her back.
"Dang…" he said in defeat as he saw Mitsuru's face.
"So, when are we leaving?" Yukari asked.
"Tomorrow afternoon. It will be a 5 days and 4 night trip. I hope you guys could be ready before ten tomorrow. The train will be leaving at 10:45. You guys should get ready as soon as you came back home from here." Mitsuru suggested them. Everyone nodded after she said that.
"Here comes our food." she said as she saw the foods coming from the kitchen. "Let's finish our dinner quickly and go back to get ready for tomorrow's trip."
"All right!" Junpei grinned merrily.
After they finished their dinner, they chatted a little while before they went home to their own residence.
"Bye everyone!" Yukari waved at them and walked off with Aigis.
"Bye! See you guys tomorrow!" Ken said as he walked to the train station with Koromaru.
"Good night everyone. See you tomorrow morning!" Junpei left with Chidori.
"Night, guys." Akihiko walked quietly with Shinjiro and left the restaurant.
"Good bye everyone." Fuuka said to them and made her way to her apartment.
"Good night everyone. Have a nice rest." Mitsuru waved her hand and walked to her limousine. They all left with a smile on their face after they bid their farewells. They were excited because of tomorrow's trip and decided to pack quickly as soon as they arrived at their home. Tomorrow is going to be a pleasant day, they thought. The moon was shining its eerie light when they went to their separate ways.
.
.
Inaba, Junes Dept. Store
December 28th, 2012
1:15 P.M.
Seven people and a fox could be seen hanging around in Junes' food court. It seemed like they were waiting for someone to show up.
"Where's sensei-kuma?" the blonde boy said to the group.
"I've messaged him earlier, but he didn't reply to me yet." the boy wearing an orange headphone replied.
"Maybe… something bad happened to him?"
"No way, Rise-chan. He is a strong man. He's our leader. He should be okay by himself." the girl dressed in green athletic jacket commented.
They were arguing when Souji arrived there. He was speechless after he saw that they were quarreling with quite a loud voice.
"There he is!" Kanji shouted, making everyone turned their head to the direction he pointed his finger.
"Hi, guys." Souji replied and walked up to them.
"Sensei! I miss you!" Teddie ran towards him hugged him tightly.
"Ooof. I-can't-breath-Teddie." he muttered as he was crushed by Teddie's hug.
"Ooops, sorry sensei." Teddie grinned.
"So, what do you want to talk about, Yosuke-kun?" Souji asked the brunette boy.
"Okay guys, attention please!" Yosuke said to his friends. "Do you guys have any plans for this new year?"
"Um… I don't think I have anything to do at home." Chie answered.
"Me too." Yukiko replied.
"I think I'm gonna stay at home and help my mom a bit." Kanji explained.
"I don't have any plans for this new year yet." Naoto uttered.
"Me neither." Souji said.
"I don't have any work to do at new years, so I think I'm free to do anything at that day." Rise said and smiled to them.
"Teddie is going to stay in the TV world-kuma!" Teddie exclaimed.
"So, if you guys don't have anything to do, how about we go for a picnic in the TV world?" Yosuke suggested to them. Everyone thought about it for a second and started to smile.
"That's a good idea, Yosuke-senpai!" Rise chirped.
"Of course! After all, I'm a genius." he grinned.
The fox howled, as if it agreed to go with them to the TV world.
"All right then. That settles it. We're going to the TV world on January 1st after we visited the shrine in the afternoon." Souji said to the group.
"Okay, sensei! I'll find a good place for us to have a picnic there-kuma!" Teddie smiled widely.
"So, what should we do now?" Chie asked.
"How about we go to Souji's house and play with Nanako?" Yukiko offered.
"Well, I'm okay with that. As long as Nanako's happy." Souji responded.
"Okay then. Let's go to senpai's house!" Rise squealed.
The group left the food court and went to Souji's house. They played together with Nanako until the night had fallen. They bid their farewells and went to their home, leaving Souji and Nanako in their house alone.
Inaba, Dojima's Residence
.
.
December 28th, 2012
7:10 P.M.
"Dinner's ready, Onii-san!" Nanako called her brother.
"Okay, Nanako-chan." he replied.
Souji got up to his feet and went to the table. As he sat on the chair, the front door opened, revealing a man wearing a blue uniform and a tie.
"I'm home, Nanako-chan, Souji-kun." he greeted them.
"Welcome home, Dad!" Nanako replied as she hugged him.
"Hello there, Dojima-san." Souji smiled. "Why don't you join us for dinner? Nanako made these by herself."
"All right, I'm already starving too anyway. Let's eat Nanako." he said and pushed Nanako to the table.
They ate their dinner happily, chatting as they did. Dojima asked Souji about how is his new school in Tokyo like. Souji explained what happened in his new school. They laughed together when Souji told them the funny things.
After finishing their dinner, Souji offered his help to Nanako, who was cleaning the table, to wash the dishes. Nanako accepted it and went straight to the living room after she finished wiping the table off and talked to her dad.
Souji stayed in the kitchen and washed the dishes while thinking about what he should make to be brought to the picnic. He thought that maybe bringing Nanako along would be a good idea.
He finished all of the dishes in 10 minutes and then he went to the living room to talk about bringing Nanako along to Dojima and Nanako. Dojima agreed about it and so did Nanako. She was very happy when his dad allowed her to go with Souji and his friends to the picnic. Although Souji didn't mention where he and his friends were going to have their picnic, Dojima seemed to have trusted him a lot that he didn't even asked where they are going. Souji just shrugged it off and told them his plan about the picnic.
It was getting late, Nanako was already sleepy. Dojima sent her of to her room and he went to take a bath, leaving Souji alone in the living room. He watched the TV for a few minutes before he decided to head back to his room and get some sleep.
.
Souji's room
9:30 P.M
'I should really get some rest' thought him.
Souji changed into his pajamas before he went to his bed and slept. He was tired. As soon as his head touched the pillow, he fell asleep.
.
.
Velvet room
Unknown time
"Welcome back, my dear guest." a voice that was familiar to Souji could be heard, waking Souji up from his sleep.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a long nosed man, sitting in front of him. He was quite surprised because he didn't expect to see his old friend again, Igor. "Long time no see, Igor. What business do you have with me now?" he said with a straight face.
"And what's with this room? Why is it different from the one I was in a couple of months ago?"
The velvet room has changed its' form. It's different than the limousine that Souji was in 9 months ago. It's now a room filled with mirrors, fractured mirrors to be exact. They were scattered around the room that was shaped like a pentagon. They were projecting the image of the silver haired man, Souji himself.
In the middle was the desk that Igor used. To the left and in front of it were a velvet blue colored sofas. A huge coffin was hanging behind above Igor's chair. It's… floating and it was glowing with a blue greenish light. A soothing aura emanates from it, calming Souji's mind.
'Is that… a coffin?' his thought with a face full of curiosity.
Igor chuckled "You really are interesting, my boy. It seems that there's an ordeal waiting for you and you'll require my help again in the near future. Margareth will be taking care of you again." Igor smirked.
'An ordeal? First, my dream, and now this?'
Margareth then appeared from behind Igor's seat.
"It's nice to see you again, Seta-san." she bowed to him.
"Good to see you again too, Margareth." Souji replied. "So Igor, what kind of ordeal is it that's waiting for me?"
"You'll see them soon enough, my boy." Igor smirked again. "It will be a one tough ordeal. You should prepare yourself. Your friends might be helpful to you again, so treasure them."
'…. He didn't want to answer my question...'
"Here's your new contract. The content is the same as the one that you had first signed almost a year ago." A paper appeared on the table across where Souji was sitting.
Before he signed the contract, he remembered about his dream a few days ago. He recalled about the boy with the striped shirt talking about Nyx. He decided to ask it to Igor.
"Igor, I have a question for you." he said.
"Go on." Igor smirked.
"Do you know something about… Nyx?"
Igor's smile grew wider. "Of course, I know about it. But I can't tell you regarding it now. You'll have to find out about it yourself."
Souji could only sigh and then signed the contract. The paper vanished as Igor motioned his hand.
"Oh, I almost forgot. Here's the key to the velvet room." Igor gave Souji the key. "Make sure you don't lose it. Until then, farewell"
Souji nodded as flashes of light started to blinding him. Before his consciousness faded away from the room, he heard Igor said something, "Beware of the full moon, my boy."
.
.
Souji's Room
December 29th, 2012
8:07 A.M.
The silver haired man was still sleeping peacefully until he suddenly opened his eyes, revealing his silver eyes.
Souji looked at the clock in his desk. It showed 8:10 A.M. '10 more minutes…' Souji turned around in his bed, but something happened.
*THUMP*
Souji fell from his bed with face flat first. He didn't move for a few minutes. Souji finally rolled around as he was starting to suffocate from his position. He stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before he realized that something was in his hand. He raised his hand to only see the velvet key. He then rubbed his head and yawned.
'So that wasn't just a dream… Tch, why me? Of all the people around, why am I chosen to do this? I don't want to involve my friends in this ordeal." he thought while remembering what happened when they fought Izanami."And what did Igor means when he told me to be aware of the full moon?' he then put the velvet key on his table.
'Guess it can wait. What should I do now… I still haven't find my ID Card and the picture they gave me' Souji got up from the floor and went to check his belongings again. He tried to search for his ID card and the picture of him and his friends that were taken before he went back to the city. The picture was his treasured item. It reminds him of when they had finally uncovered the mystery of the serial killing that had happened in Inaba almost a year ago.
"Where the hell is it." he grumbled as he unpacked his belongings to find his items that were lost. As he got up to his feet and walked to the desk, he slipped on his own under wear that was lying on the floor and hit the tatami floor face first (again). A sound of 'thud' was heard from the outside of his room, startling Nanako who was watching the TV downstairs. She went upstairs to his room and asked him what happened. He shrugged it off by saying it was his bag that fell to the floor while rubbing his nose. Nanako believed him and left the room. She went back to the living room and continued watching the TV.
'Phew, it wouldn't be funny if she knows what made the sound just now. It'll be too embarrassing for me.' Souji thought as he quickly grabbed the under wear that's lying on the floor and threw it to the corner of the room.
'Man, I really need to clean up my room. It's so untidy.' he then started to clean every corner of his room in that entire day.
.
.
Thanks for reading guys...
Reviews please
hohoho ^o^