NOTE: While watching TV a couple days back, I gained some inspiration for the story with a little concert show called "Paul McCartney: Good Evening, New York City". He was pretty good (save for a substandard singing performance of Blackbird), and proves that even today, old people (especially musicians) are still cool.

2ND NOTE: UH OH, MAJOR BOO-BOO! In Chapter 6, I mentioned that Paul had a wife, but as it turns out, she's dead, and he divorced the other one! So, please ignore that, and I'll fix it before this chapter had even come up! I'm ashamed with forgetting such a minor part of Beatles history! *Prepares noose and stool*

5/13 2012

Weather: Rainy

Time: Afternoon

Streaks of clear water hit the glass pane of the kitchen window of the Dojima household. Everyone was home, and would soon leave Nanako to search for Paul. The pitter-patter of the rain against the glass window was drowned out by the cheerful tunes of a cartoon playing on the living room TV. The seven teens were scattered around the room, preparing for the long search for Paul throughout the empty, watered down streets of Inaba. Even the walk down the sidewalk would be frigidly cold, the sting of the needle-like rain hitting their backs, and the haunting threat of pneumonia lingering over every last one of them.

Lack of a sweater? Check. Girls are still wearing skirts? Check. Using an umbrella as the only protection against a life-threatening cold? Perfect!

On the couch sat Nanako and Rise, with Teddie in the middle. Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder erupted from outside, shaking the windows of the house. Nanako, frightened, yelped out in fear, quickly squeezing against Teddie's left arm. At first, Teddie was startled, then as he got used to Nanako's warmth, snuggled closer to the seven-year old girl. Rise looked over at Nanako, still holding Teddie's arm tightly. For some strange reason, seeing Teddie enjoy Nanako's company made her…uncomfortable. Without thinking, Rise hugged Teddie's other arm, resting her head on Teddie's right shoulder.

Feeling Rise grab onto his other arm, Teddie looked at the two very cute girls grasping onto his arms. He felt a mischievous smile curl on his lips.

Yosuke sat at the kitchen table, anxiously waiting for the others to get ready. They had taken 20 minutes to prepare. It wasn't like they were going to put on any extra clothing, so couldn't they have just grabbed their umbrellas by now? Soon, he found himself scratching at the plastic case of the CD in his pocket. He quickly pulled his hand out of his pocket. As his hand left the case, he heard a faint bar of music pass through his brain, and disappear. He peered into his pocket. The CD was the same as ever. If Paul had to tell him something about the CD, he wanted to hear it soon. The music that went through his mind at that moment was…beautiful.

Hey, what about MY tunes?

"I've listened to most of your songs already," replied Yosuke, "I need something new. Besides, what I heard was…different. It wasn't a guitar, it was more twangy and exotic."

Yeah, George sure loved that cheap ol' sitar.

Sitar? Well, whatever it was, he wanted to hear more from it.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Kanji say, "OK, we're ready to go."

Finally. Yosuke got up from the table and grabbed his umbrella, which was leaning to the side of the table. As they were leaving the house, he saw Teddie still snuggling on the couch with Nanako, "What're you doing, Ted? We gotta go!"

Teddie shook his head, "What if Nana-chan gets scared again? I don't think I could bear the thought of Nana-chan frightened in her own home! So, she'll need a Teddie!"

Yosuke heard Rise protest loudly as she stomped over to Teddie, "Oh, no, you're not! You're coming, mister!"

Rise, with a bit of visible jealousy, snatched up Teddie's umbrella, yanked Teddie from his free arm, and practically dragged him outside. Halfway out the door, she said to Nanako sweetly, "Be careful, Nanako-chan!"

Nanako, frightened by Rise's bi-polar attitude, nodded her head shakily.

Rise lifted Teddie off from the floor back to his feet and proceeded out the door, umbrella open. As she past Yosuke on the way out, the brown-haired boy could feel a mix of raging jealousy and preppy cheerfulness.

The group was now in the shopping district, two hours into their search for the old man. They had entered all of the buildings in the northern end, asking if they'd seen an old white man recently. The various shopkeepers had all given them the same answer: No, now buy something or get out. They were all cold, wet, and their feet were sore from walking through the deserted streets. They trudged along the wet sidewalk slowly, keeping their eyes peeled for Paul's brown ahir, wrinkled face, or his British tone. Yosuke took a quick glance at Marukyu Tofu, the place where Paul almost always hung out. Sadly, he was absent from his usual chair.

Yosuke heard Chie speak up, "Yosuke, can we go now? The weather report says it's gonna be sunny tomorrow, so we could check then."

Although he didn't want to admit it, Yosuke also wanted to go home. He was drenched, sore, and could feel a cold coming on. He sighed, "Yeah, sure. We'll check again tomorrow."

"Dibs on the shower!" cried Rise, skipping back down the street to the house.

The others all turned around and walked back, relieved to finally leave the cold streets. However, Yosuke wanted to find Paul as soon as possible. He was curious what Paul wanted to tell him about the CD, and the suspense was killing him. Everyone wanted to leave, though- even Chie, who's nerves were usually as hard as steel. Thinking of the girl made Yosuke's cheeks heat up. Luckily, the rest of the group was ahead of him, so they couldn't see him.

He walked slowly, not minding the patter of rain hitting his umbrella or the freezing cold around him. Instead, he focused on…something else.

He was thinking of the first song he'd heard from John, Good Day Sunshine. From thinking it, he heard the low piano intro to the song play in his mind. He quickly told John to stop playing. He wanted to remember this song the normal way, the way where he could barely remember the tunes in his head, and whistle them out off-key. He heard himself whistle out the melody of the verses, surprisingly on tune. It was kind of ironic, thinking of sunshine on such a wet day.

Even though he hadn't heard the song for more than a week, the lyrics were still fresh in his mind:

I need to laugh, and when the sun is out

I've got something I can laugh about

Suddenly, Yosuke let out a laugh. Surprised, he covered his mouth with his hand. Kanji and Yukiko turned towards him, each giving him a skeptical look. Yosuke wondered about his sudden laughter. John wasn't even playing the song. Yosuke was just thinking of the lyrics.

I feel good, in a special way

I'm in love and it's a sunny day

A flash of yellow light from where the sun would be behind the clouds hit Yosuke's eyes. He covered the light with his hand, and as soon as he lifted his hand, the flash of light was gone. That was weird. Again, John wasn't playing the song. Yosuke decided to just stop thinking of the lyrics and continue on his way home.

Yosuke then realized the group was far ahead of him, appearing as a dot on the stretch of sidewalk leading out of the district. He quickly ran up to them, trying to catch up. Suddenly, his foot hit a puddle and he slid forward, crashing into a conveniently placed trash can.

CRASH!

Chie suddenly heard a loud metallic crash behind her. "What the heck?" she turned around and saw a very familiar sight: a trash can rolling around on the sidewalk. She then watched as the can rolled off the sidewalk and into the street. Yosuke was flailing his legs like a mad man.

Tomoe: Oh my god, you're in love with an idiot.

It was dark and smelly in the can. Desperately, Yosuke swung his feet around, trying to shimmy out of the metal cylinder. He heard the metallic clink of rain drops hitting the trash can. He could also hear running footsteps rapidly growing louder. There was also the embarrassing thunder of Kanji and Yukiko's laughter. If only he had a gun, or at least some earplugs.

From outside the can, he heard Chie's voice, "Yosuke, you need any help in there?"

"Yes please," he strained out.

He felt two pairs of hands pull him from the stinky depths of the trash can. He got up off the wet floor, dusting himself off. Around him, Kanji, Teddie, and (most of all) Yukiko were holding their sides as they laughed at Yosuke's misfortune. Naoto and Rise were trying their best to not laugh too, but instead smiled at him. Chie, however, had a mixed look of irritation and concern on her face.

"You're an idiot," she sighed, shaking her head. Suddenly, her face scrunched up. She pinched her nose and waved the air," Aw, and you stink, too!"

Yosuke looked at his shoulder and saw a banana peel resting on it. He flicked it off and looked on at it as it fell to the sidewalk behind him. As he lifted his head to look back at the group, he noticed a building behind him he'd never seen before.

"Hm?" he turned around and looked at the building. It was painted a simple light shade of orange. It had large glass shopping windows, the interior showing a couple of people eating pizza and a young white boy cleaning the counter. On the front was a banner that read 'Hard Day's Pizzeria Grand Opening!' A neon sign on the window flickered the words 'Open Eight Days a Week!'.

Yosuke looked at the others, "Should we give it a try?"

The bell at the top of the door rang as the seven entered the shop. People glanced at Yosuke, who smelled of yesterday's garbage. Several of them scrunched up their faces and yelled at him to leave. Yosuke, unfazed by the staring people, went to the counter.

The boy at the counter looked up at him. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to mind the fact Yosuke smelled like a walking garbage truck, "May I help you?"

"Have you seen an old man with brown hair and a British accent?" asked Yosuke, "I'm friends with him."

The boy gave Yosuke a skeptical look, "Oh, really?" He turned his head and yelled into the kitchen behind the counter, "Grandpa, some smelly kid's here to see you!"

Smelly? Yosuke sniffed his jacket, and pulled his head back from the scent. From the kitchen came an old man with brown hair and a stained smock. His face was very wrinkled, and a curious look was upon his face. It was Paul.

Paul turned to the boy at the counter, "Thank you, Arthur." The boy went back into the kitchen and Paul turned to Yosuke, his face turning sour, "Dear lord, boy, where've you been?"

Yosuke grumbled out, "Trash can." he then said in a louder tone, "Paul, I was just wanted to ask you some questions."

Paul replied, "Oh, sure boy, anything. Now what is it?"

Yosuke, looking left and right, leaned closer to Paul and whispered, "Why were you at Maxwell's house?"

Paul, hearing Yosuke's question, raised his eyebrows, "Oh, that question. Come with me, and bring your friends."

Yosuke beckoned over his friends to come with him. Paul lifted the countertop and led the group to a staircase. They went up and found that they were in a living room.

This pizzeria was also Paul's home.

Paul led the group to a long leather couch in the center of the room," Make yourselves at home."

They left their umbrellas outside of the living room and sat down on the couch. Just as Yosuke was about to sit though, Paul wagged his finger. Yosuke asked, "What?"

Paul walked to a cupboard and opened it, searching, "I can handle my couch being wet, but that scent's gonna stick. Here we go!" Paul came out of the cupboard with a can of Febreze.

The man walked back to Yosuke and sprayed him all over. Paul waved his fingers, "The other side, now."

Yosuke heard Yukiko snicker on the couch. He hesitantly turned around and let Paul spray him all over.

"Armpits, too," said Paul.

"Oh, come on!" argued Yosuke.

Paul glared at Yosuke menacingly. The young brunette rolled his eyes as he lifted his arms. With a quick spray to each arm, Paul welcomed Yosuke to sit back down on the couch.

Yosuke finally fell onto the couch next to Chie. Paul sat at an armchair diagonal of the leather couch. He asked them, "So, what's on your minds?"

Naoto, sitting nearest to the armchair, asked," What was your purpose for coming to Maxwell's house, Mr.…"

"Smith," Paul answered. Yosuke could tell he was lying, as he almost let out a snicker after saying it. Also, he had heard the last name somewhere before recently. Surprisingly, Naoto accepted this.

"Paul Smith," continued Naoto skeptically," What was your purpose at the household of Maxwell Smith?"

John: Worst fake name EVER.

Paul answered Naoto, saying nonchalantly," Oh, I just wanted to ask him some questions. Also, I had to comfort him, seeing as that's the kind of man I am."

Naoto, taking out the notepad from Maxwell's interrogation, scribbled into it. She then asked," And how did you comfort Maxwell?"

Paul pointed to the back of the room. Yosuke and the others looked towards the back and saw an acoustic guitar on a stand. Paul explained," I played him something. I played…Yesterday, if I remember clearly."

"Did it help him?" asked Naoto.

Paul laughed," I think I just made him even more depressed. He was crying like a baby. I guess you shouldn't play a song about heartbreak and breakups to a guy coping with a lover's death."

John: This is why I stuck to psychedelic rock…

Naoto continued her interrogation," What did you ask Maxwell about the murder?"

Paul shrugged, "I guess stuff like 'How're you doing?'' Are you sad?' I mean, what else do I ask him?"

Yosuke said to Paul," He told us you wanted to know if he owned a 'silver hammer'."

Paul was visibly startled by Yosuke's statement," H-he said that?" the brown-haired man laughed awkwardly, "Well, it's a common joke amongst us whities. You know, something you Asian folk wouldn't understand." Paul started to sweat, and wiped off a bead of sweat on his forehead," Especially those Filipinos, you know. I mean, you forget to have breakfast with the queen, and next thing you know, they try to throw you off the escalator at the airport!"

"Don't change the subject, Paul." sighed Naoto," We could clearly see you were troubled by Yosuke's statement. Now, why don't you tell us the truth?"

Paul sunk in the chair. He darted his head to the left and right. He looked back at the closed front door leading to the pizzeria below. He exhaled deeply and said to the group, "What time do you kids have to go home, cause this'll take a while."

Paul had moved the seven into the kitchen of the home. Beforehand, he had locked all the windows, put chairs on all of the doors, and nailed the bathroom door shut. After he was done with all of this, he took a seat at the crowded table.

"Listen," he said," Do you wanna know a secret? Promise not to tell?"

"We promise," assured Naoto, "Now please, tell us."

"Okay," Paul took a deep breath, then added," You might not all believe me, so I'm gonna start at the beginning. The year was 1966..."

I'm not sure if this counts as a cliffhanger, but hey, at least this chapter's done! Next time, we learn (might) learn the mystery behind Paul's mysterious music magic. Wait, what am I saying? ALL music's magic! (Most of the time…)