Midnight

Rain

The screen flickered wildly what agitated John a little since he was sure that he turned his TV off. A little look the left told the teenager that he didn't accidentally pressed the button on the remote control which was about an arm length away from him. Something strange was going on but before he could think more about it the picture took more and more shape – even if only the background changed and an unidentifiable silhouette was blended in. The set looked like a normal news agency. After a few seconds he could hear an artificial and distorted voice whereby he bowed a little to hear every single word:

"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen!...Or more like good morning! Welcome to the Midnight-Channel!", the strange host greeted possibly spectators with an American accent, "This is an important announcement! Today this channel celebrates its official comeback after it came to some incidents and had to be interrupted. The..."complains" became more frequent and forced us to stop it completely. But know the show is back for the happiness of our audience!" Grossed applause and whistling occurred out of the loudspeakers. Until know the young man didn't notice anything special what would make that channel so interesting or mysterious.

"But on the contrary to the past we will not show some third-class series with idiotic people and other stupid stuff. No, our series will be changed to a completely new program! We will show you...something more exciting what will make every single tune on worth the while. Let yourself be surprised! But you will get more information on the next show. Thank you for your interest and until then...Catch me if you can, detective...like always..."

John stared silently on the TV but his eyes widen on the last sentences.

"Damn it, that guy is here...and he knows that I am too. That last sentence in American always appears on the letters. Now he or she switched to TV. I have to assign Joe to find the station that shows this. Oh god, I hope not many have seen that...and if yes...hopefully they aren't smart enough to notice that that guy meant me. Nobody knows about my true identity yet and it should stay like that. But..." I took a while until the student finally calmed down since he was so agitated. Confused thought flew around his head but that event supported his hunch that the channel had to have something to do with the Hanged-Man case. He recollected himself and breathed deep in:

"Fact is that the people of that station can control the TVs with distant control. I can't explain it otherwise...He or she had to be quite certain that I sit in front of the television in this moment and watch it." Until that point he repeated everything the speaker was saying but he didn't reach a new conclusion.

"That channel...", the student mumbled tired, "It was so abnormal like that case one year ago...they have to be connected somehow!" After that he wrote a mail to his adoptive father Joe with a short summary of the channel.

"You won't escape from me anymore..." he was muttering to himself after he went to his bed to sleep.

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Afternoon

After school

Cloudy

John stood impatient in the middle of the second sports hall where the basketball training would occur. He waited that his teacher, Mr. Kondo, would introduce him to the other players. But he noticed a little bit later that a small crowd was gathered before the halls and it waited to get it. Before he could ask himself what that commotion is all about the sports teacher came back.

"Great with that the formalities are done!", he said after he put some documents away, "If you wonder yourself why so many people are coming: Today we want to recruit new team members for the school and for that we organized an exhibition match with an Okina City school." He immediately answered on Johns surprised face:

"But don't worry, you will only be a spectator with the so called "First Years" on the bench and will observe the game. That's what they say in America I heard, ha ha! We don't want to pressure you on your first day in the club." His "English" gave John ear cancer, it was that bad. It seemed he tried to sound relaxed but the teacher was with his thoughts elsewhere. The exchange student got his uniform thrown at and he went on his way to the changing cabins.

John opened the door and the older players observed him skeptical only to ignore him the seconds after. In one corner a group made a circle and were focused on the strategic planning. A few people from his year greeted him instead since they know about him a little. But one of the seniors came at him and talked to him. He had short dark blue hair and was already in his uniform.

"Hey, new guy! Welcome to the club!...literally. I'm Kou Ichijo! Nice to meet you!" He extended his hand motivated, "Well it's quite sad that you can't play with us on your first day here. I wanted to see want you're capable of."

"No problem", John answered indifferent. He wasn't interested in the game at all since he only wanted to stay trained. Suddenly an angry voice came from the background:

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN YOU CAN'T COME?! TODAY IS AN IMPORTANT GAME FOR US!" Everyone looked startled to the source of the shout, a player, who yelled into his phone. The guy then proceeded to throw his cellphone aggressive to the ground and told the others:

"Damn it! Out fifth man won't come today! Said that he had something more important to do!" The players looked at each other bewildered until a loud laughter woke them up.

"What a shame...And the rest of the team are those twats there on the bench, right? Oh, that will be fun!" The glances were directed to the door where the team from Okina is standing. John couldn't stand such a behavior. How arrogant they put themselves over others. He could yet stay unnoticed behind Kou and didn't said anything but not for long.

"I bet not one of you is only close as good as we! Look! We even bested a school from Tokio", they were boasting while pointing to badges on their sports bags. That was enough for the detective to lose his composure. John quickly placed himself in sight and shouted while saying the first sentence in complete American:

"Challenge accepted you bitches! We'll destroy you!"

A short silence occurred and he thought in that moment:

"Damn it not again! Kiss my ass, Ego! I should better shut up in those kinds of situations! Ah whatever...now it's too late anyways. Maybe I have luck and this will strengthen my disguise as a free-time sports loving American." The Okina-Team nearly exploded from laughter and broke the silence with it.

"What's that for a clown? Always funny, those country guys! Ha ha ha ha!" After the commotion the players finally went back to their cabin and John sprinted to Mr. Kondo.

"Sir! Here! I'm going to play to!" A bit relieved that he doesn't have to change to organization plan that much he nicked to him.

"Well, we need a fifth man anyways so we don't have that much of a choice. But don't bit off more than you can chew. I don't expect master results." The boy had to grin at that comment since nobody knows that he has the necessary experience already. Kou smirked on that and laid his hand on John's shoulder.

"I like your attitude! Let's give our best!"

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"Why are we here again?", asked Yosuke while he was sitting on the grand stand and always slid to the outside since always more people came in. Since last year the hall got extended because more and more people came into the club and the school wanted to play on tournament level. But the son of the Junes-Manager didn't liked it at all to be there since all the good spots were taken and he was squeezed between the people. He totally hated that.

"Because we don't have anything better to do? Besides we don't have a clue where "he" could be and the rest won't be at the meeting today", replied Chie who just helped herself with a juicy piece of steak. Like always she couldn't fill her stomach in the break. Either that or it was simply because it's steak. She, Ysouke and Naoto came together to the game and the boy turned to the gender trap:

"Say, don't you have a case at the moment?" The detective, whose gender John didn't knew yet, pulled her cap up a bit and gave him an answer even though it was slightly stingy:

"The only case I have is the one we have at the moment. Anyways...Oh, that's a surprise." She looked to the compilation of the team while talking and the other two also faced in that direction. They saw John warming up and a mumbling made its round:

"Since when is this guy part of the club?"

"Where is the usual fifth man?"

"I heard he only joined today!"

"Man, our team is practically screwed! Look how he always peers over to the other team! He is already too nervous for the game!" Suddenly they could observe how the new guy took Kou with a basketball under the arm to the outside. The amazement took its course and the interjections have gotten louder.

"He seriously won't need Kou for peeing? What a wuss!"

"I can't believe we had the hots for him until now!"

The trio on the grand stand looked at each other a little disturbed by the noise but Naoto ignored all that and made clear:

"I don't have to mention that we have to follow him after the game, right? If our assumptions are right then he should be the "Detective" the figure from yesterday was talking about."

"Hang on! Won't we look like stalker then?" Yosuke objected immediately a little creeped out but Chie stomped on his foot as a result so that he would shut up.

The mic was turned on and initiated the beginning of the exhibition match. The principal stood up and took the microphone into his hand.

"Greetings colleagues and students of both schools! I thank you that so many people came and I hope that this match between the Yasogami High and the Okina-City Highschool will be enjoyable! And don't forget that you also train and play for the provincial tournament! To add to that both team will represent and protect the honor of their school! Show us your abilities and needless to say: Have fun! I declare the game hereby as open!"

Mr. Kondo knew about the importance of the game but still let John believe that he didn't have to contribute much for it. Had he so little confidence in him? After the old man was done with his speech the players went to their positions. John took the shooting guard positions while Kou went to the small forward position. With his one hundred and seventy centimeters John was in the average putting Kou aside. For his first game on Japanese ground it was okay for him to stay a little behind but he already talked with his sports teacher that he could change positions with somebody anytime if something went sour. The signal for the start occurred and the ball got to John who caught it with ease and looked around while passing the ball to Kou before running through the field: The Okina Team was quite relaxed, even bored since they thought their enemy was weak. That passivity was a big mistake; the exchange student grinned malicious and bended his knee – ready to throw. He immediately jumped into the sky and threw a perfect three-pointer that went directly through the basket. Loud cheering filled the hall and the enemy team stood stunned around because they basically got run over with the interjections. The American then came closer to them and ordered them:

"And that's only the beginning! Come one, be serious! Otherwise it won't be fun to crush you into the ground! Did you played against an elementary school of Tokio?!"

After he said that a satanic grin appeared on his face because he looked down at them with a provocative gaze.

From the spectators a bunch of overwhelmed girls were screaming around like fan girls:

"Oh my gosh, I take everything back! That guy is awesome!"

"JOHN-SAMA!"

Yosuke held his ears with an annoyed expression and complained:

"Man, he makes one throw, makes a lucky hit and the whole school his licking his shoes...And there is also..." Suddenly the buzzer sounded anew. Kou threw a basket this time and even more girls were screaming as hell. The guy with the headphones sighted while Chie gave him a smirk:

"So...jealous?"

"No, not at all. Who wants to be loved by all girls-of course I'm jealous!" Her grin faded away and she replied to his reaction:

"Oh really? If you had a girlfriend then she would be jealous for you being jealous."

"Ahem. Maybe we should concentrate on the game." Naoto had no motivation for their usual quarrels.

While they were talking the Okina-Team got more and more aggressive. One of the players yelled:

"Cover those two guys who threw those hoops! The rest isn't a problem!"

"Oh great...", was John thinking before he vehemently tries to get the ball back. The walls always got denser but he still managed to get through sometimes with skilled feints and duped the orange ball with incredible speed. But they fell back since the key players speak Kou and John often took way too long getting the ball because of the interceptions and the non-stop covering. After a few more attack tries the commentator nobody cared about signaled for the first break.

"And stop! 2-Minute-Break! It's twelve to twenty-four for the Yasogami High!" John immediately snatched Kou and put their heads together.

"Okay, I sure hope that will work", the blue-haired guy mentioned to the American while leaving the benches.

"Don't worry", Connor assured him after he gave the teacher the sign what they were planning, "the plan could work for idiots. And we have luck that those retards aren't the best what Japan has to offer. They have a lot of weaknesses."

The signal for the next part was given and the commentator with the colorful Afro announced:

"Ladies and gentlemen! The second quarter begins! Everything is possible yet." The new student now stood as a power forward. The curious students were surprised to see that.

"What the hell...?!"

"No! Stick to your sniper shots!"

"That's not what they are called!"

"I don't care! What is he planning?!"

After a few plays John finally got the ball from the point guard and the enemy realized that this was his actual forte. His dribbling was good enough to often get trough. He even barely grazed the ball so that it would fly into another directions. He sometimes even managed an ankle break since their movements got worse. With his teamwork with Kou they managed to catch up and the crowd was mostly cheering for the two of them. The other teammates had an asking expression but John noticed and explained to them:

"Streetball. Learn that in America." A short nod to each other raised their morale to the maximum and the American wanted to give the spectators a bit more entertainment. After the enemy team got a goal John immediately punched the ball with a straight to Kou who threw another basket after he caught it. Nevertheless he shook his hands a little from the pain.

"Wow, he's good!" Chie called out excited while she was following the match with tension. But Naoto corrected her statement:

"He may be good but in comparison to other Americans he is maybe over average. Also his opponents are pretty weak and he has Kou as a competent support. I assume that he does martial arts since the punch just now showed knowledge about boxing." Her eyes got narrowed when she observed the spiky haired boy.

"What intrigues me however is his ability in analyzing. He perceived the weaknesses of the opposing team even though he sees them for the first time today – and he uses that mercilessly. He is also extremely adaptive since he can work together with Kou perfectly and fits into every role that needs to be filled at the moment since he changed positions here and there. If my presumptions are correct then he may be even better than me in detective work..." A short silence occurred between the trio and the other two students looked at masculine girl with a confused look.

"So, a Mary Sue, only manly? And besides that last play looked like it was stolen from "Kuroko no Basket", wasn't it?" Yosuke finally raised his voice to break the silence. But that comment failed miserably and the two girls stomped on his feet yet again.

"OUCH! Why always the feet?! I still need them!"

"Shut up over there!", a few spectators in front of them yelled annoyed and they looked to the game again.

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"3...2...1...AND THE GAME IS OVER! THE YASOGAMI-TEAM WON SEVENTY-SIX TO FIFTY!"

John gave Kou a powerful High-Five and went after a cheering explosion with the team into the team cabin. Naoto made a hand sign and pointed to the gate where all students had to walk through if they want to leave the school ground. There they waited a few minutes until the Japanese American with his hood on got into their sight. They followed him unobtrusive from a distant until they arrived at an alley. The exchange student already noticed them since it was quite obvious that none of the three of them walked this way usually. He turned around like a gentleman and walked directly at his pursuers. He then talked directly to Naoto:

"So we meet again, Mr. Detective...and another two people." Before Naoto could say anything Chie intervened:

"Uhm, yeah, about that. Because he obviously didn't noticed yet: NAOTO SHIROGANE IS A GIRL! Everyone knows that at school!" John had to collect his mind for a few moments and observed her a bit more in detail. But for the gender trap it got slowly a bit unpleasant and asked a bit uncomfortable:

"Err...is something wrong?" Then the exchange student softly his his hand with his fist.

"Ahhhhh...Bandages", he said evident. In that moment Naoto's face got red like a tomato and she stuttered a lot before she got out a sentence. Suddenly a loud shoot was heard.