As usual they decided to meet up to talk about the previous night, everyone amazed that another person had shown up on the Midnight Channel. Souji had his assumptions about the next victim, guessing that it had to be Naoto from the silhouette he had seen but so far it didn't seem like anyone had seen much to discern the person. They crowded around his desk in a tight group in an attempt to keep their discussion to themselves, but it only seemed to draw more suspicious looks from the other students.

"So . . . about the Midnight Channel last night," Chie said, strumming her fingers on her desk.

Yukiko lowered her eyes as a solemn expression crossed her face, "I wonder who that was."

"I talked to Teddie and he says no one's entered the other side." Yosuke crossed his arms over his chest, glowering as he went through his thoughts on the subject.

"Well, yeah," Rise rolled her eyes. "The killer's been caught.

Yosuke shrugged, "Yeah." His voice trailed off before he continued, turning his attention to Kanji. The others followed his gaze, noticing that the bleached blond seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. Yosuke cleared his throat, causing him to look up with a slightly startled expression.

"Huh . . . ?" Kanji stammered. "What's up?"

"C'mon, get with the program," Yosuke frowned with a shake of his head. "You saw the TV last night, right?"

Kanji furrowed his brow and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "So? 's got nothing to do with us. The killer's behind bars, man. You guys are just over reacting." He paused for a moment, running a hand through his styled hair. "That shit Naoto said didn't make any sense either, so there's no use getting all worked up about it."

"Huh? Naoto-kun . . . ?" Yukiko asked.

"Uh, no, well . . ." Kanji began to stammer again, his cheeks growing rosy with embarrassment. "H-how do I put it . . . ?"

A slight smile danced across Yosuke's face, "What, were you out of it 'cause you were still thinking about what Naoto said?" He laughed softly and his smile grew wider as Kanji's expression began to sour. "So you're still hung up on all that stuff?"

"That's-! I ain't hung up on it!" Kanji growled.

Yosuke shook his head, the smile still on his face. "It's okay," he shrugged, "we all understand. Just don't go overboard, man."

"You little . . . I said it's not like that," Kanji snarled, making a move towards the brunette. Both Rise and Souji moved in-between the boys in an attempt to stop the fight before it happened. Kanji didn't make any further attempts to get closer to Yosuke, glancing at Souji before he frowned again. "I got stuff to do; I'm outta here." He pushed past the group angrily, avoiding eye contact with them as he left.

Souji whipped around, glaring at the still grinning brunette. "Stop bringing that up, Yosuke," he snapped. "You know he doesn't think it's funny."

"Ooh, what? What?" Rise asked with a smile. She looked from student to student, her eyes twinkling slightly. "Did something happen between Kanji and Naoto-kun?"

Yukiko laughed nervously, "W-well, that aside is it me or does the town seem kind of strange lately? Everyone is in high spirits for some reason . . . And they all talk about other people, but never themselves."

"Really? I don't think it's anything special." Chie said with a shrug. "Now that the murder case is solved people feel more relaxed, that's all."

"That's how society is; they all just want to get in on the latest trend." Rise piped in. "People get excited fast and lose interest even faster. It goes 'round and 'round. There's no underlying reason for it."

"I don't know," Yukiko said softly. "It still seems a little too weird. It's like, they're all afraid of something." The others gave her a confused look, causing her to give a nervous chuckle. "Oh, sorry; I just had this feeling."

Yosuke glanced at his watch and then at the window, his mood darkening slightly. "It's gonna rain again tonight," he murmured.

"We should check out the Midnight Channel just in case." Chie pushed her chair back and stood, stretching with a pleased sigh. Glancing at Yukiko and then at Rise she motioned for them to leave, obviously having planned some afternoon activity. They said their good-byes, hurrying away as they whispered to each other.

Yosuke grabbed his bag and strolled out of the room. Souji frowned and retrieved his own things, racing into the nearly empty hall. "You're being such a bastard, you know that Yosuke?" Souji yelled down the hall.

The brunette stopped in mid-step, turning around with a shocked look. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Souji stormed up to the boy, pushing him against the wall as he grabbed him by the collar. "You know what I'm talking about," he snapped. "Why the hell are you still saying this crap about Kanji?"

"Hey, it's not my fault that he has a thing for Naoto-kun," Yosuke stammered, squirming in his teammate's grasp.

"I just want you to quit messing with him, okay?" Souji replied, releasing Yosuke from his grasp. The brunette still seemed shocked by the whole experience, preferring not to move. "Besides, I don't have to worry about Kanji's crush on Naoto-kun; he doesn't seem to like guys."

Yosuke shrugged, "Still seems like Kanji gets hung about him. If I had a girlfriend doing the same thing I'd be upset or at least jealous."

"I'll see you later," Souji muttered.

**********

Souji couldn't stop thinking about what Yosuke had said; he wasn't upset by the whole thing but he had to admit that he was jealous of Kanji's slight obsession with Naoto. He thought knowing that the young detective was more interested in Chie would ease it but Kanji's thought still seemed occupied with him from time to time. To ease his nerves Souji decided to wander through the shopping district, picking up a new book to start whenever he could find the time to read. He decided against eating at Aiya, instead heading towards Tatsumi Textiles in hopes that Kanji was there and in the mood to talk.

The store was closed; there wasn't a sign saying that the owner was away but the entire building seemed to be locked tight. Souji bit his lip, gripping the handle of his umbrella for courage as he knocked on the door. He strained his hearing in an attempt to notice any sort of movement from inside but there was nothing. "Please be home," Souji whispered as he knocked louder on the door.

A moment of silence passed before Souji heard something from beyond the door. "Damnit, can't you take a hint? Store's closed."

Souji sighed heavily, "I don't care. Just let me in."

The door slid open after a few moment of silence and Souji knew he had to be blushing; Kanji stood before him with a towel draped over his bare shoulders, wearing only a pair of tattered jeans. The bleached blond looked at him without much of an expression, taking the towel and running it over his damp hair.

"What do ya want?" Kanji mumbled.

"I guess I wanted to make sure you were okay." Souji replied, a little less than happy with the boy's attitude.

Kanji shrugged, "I'm fine." He turned and disappeared into the house, leaving the door open as his way of telling the older boy to enter. Souji followed him through the house, quickly taking off his shoes and leaving his things at the door to catch up with him. They ended up in the kitchen with a tense silence between them and Souji trying his hardest not to stare at the younger boy.

"It doesn't seem like you're 'fine.'" Souji said once he regained his voice.

"Look," Kanji sighed, "I just needed to get away from Yosuke-senpai before I hit 'em. Ma is out of town right now so I came here to vent." He opened the refrigerator and tossed Souji a drink, deciding to keep the alcohol to himself instead of sharing it a with a detective's nephew. "So, what else did you want?"

Souji nodded and took a swig of the drink he had been handed, deciding that he didn't much like the taste of the energy drink. "Well, I-I wanted to talk to you about Naoto."

"What about him?" Kanji muttered.

"I guess I just wanted to know if I had to be worried," Souji replied. The bleached blond looked at him with a mixture of confusion and worry, turning his eyes to his drink as he went through his thoughts. "You get nervous around him and you try to avoid him, but I think we both know that you have a crush on him."

Kanji nodded his head slightly, "I guess you're right."

Souji put the energy drink down and crossed over to Kanji, kissing him softly on the cheek. "I . . . I think we should take a break," he whispered. He could feel a lump forming in his throat as Kanji looked at him with wide, pained eyes. Souji looked away, not really believing that he was doing this but knowing that he had to.

"Why?" Kanji's asked, his voice cracking slightly. He wrapped his arms around Souji and held him close; he tried to fight back the tears that were starting to form but to no avail. "Why would that be better?"

"I think one distraction is enough," Souji replied, returning the embrace. "When you get things figured out let me know." He kissed Kanji, his heart aching as he felt the younger boy's body convulse as he tried to hold back a sob. Souji pulled away quickly and hurried out of the house, trying no to hear Kanji's sobs. He didn't bother to use his umbrella on the way home, opting to let the rain hide his his tears.


Author's Note: Oh the drama. T^T I swear that things get better, so don't expect anything too emo.