April 24th

Sunday had come which meant that school was out. Michael had just finished getting dressed when his phone rang.
"This is Michael." He said.
"Hey Michael, it's Kou!" Came Kou's voice from the speaker.
"What's up buckaroo?"
"Hey, if you aren't doing anything today, Narukami, Daisuke, and I were gonna go hang out. You wanna tag along?"
"Yeah sure, where at?"
"We were gonna meet up outside Yomenaido Bookstore, southern shopping district. You know the way?"
Michael recalled it was the same bookstore he and Yukiko had visited a couple days prior.
"Yeah I know the way."
"Cool, see you there in about half an hour or so?"
"Capital, see you then."
Michael hung up and pulled his blue iPod and headphones out of his nightstand drawer. He spun through the selection until he landed on the song titled "Your Affection", a new piece he had been introduced to since his arrival in Japan.
Nothing like a little happy music to accompany a tiptoe through the proverbial tulips, he mused.
He stepped into the lobby and waved a hand at Mrs. Amagi.
"Good morning, Mrs. Amagi. I'm going to go meet up with a few friends from the basketball team, want me to get anything while I'm out?"
Mrs. Amagi smiled and shook her head, "No thank you, Michael-kun. Just be careful out there."
With that, Michael stepped out into the street.

He arrived outside the bookstore and found Narukami was standing outside already, but no sign of Kou or Daisuke.
"Morning," Michael said to Narukami.
"Hey, how are you feeling?"
"Better every day. I'm kind of embarrassed that the stuff from the..." Michael looked around and leaned in, "...other side would have such a lasting adverse effect."
Narukami nodded, "Yeah, the glasses will help with that."
"I never got a chance to properly thank you for coming to save us, and for letting me tag along for the final stretch."
Narukami smiled, "You were a big help."
Despite the smile and even tone in his voice, Michael noticed Narukami looked haggard and kept glancing nervously at his phone.
"Uh, something wrong?" Michael asked.
"No, I just-" Suddenly, Narukami's phone blared to life and Michael noted the custom ringtone was a familiar piece of classical music that instilled in him a sense of impending doom. Narukami stood frozen in place staring at the phone in his hand as if the name on the screen was the equivalent of Medusa's gaze. Michael glanced at him, then the phone, then him again.
"You gonna get that?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure." Narukami said as if in a daze.
Finally, he picked it up.
"H-Hello?" He said slowly.
Even from where he was standing, Michael could hear the feminine shrill, yet inarticulate, yelling on the other end. Narukami, without responding, hung up the call and stuffed his phone back into his pocket, sweat beading on his forehead.
"Why not just tell her to piss off?" Michael asked simply.
Narukami's eyes widened as if the suggestion meant certain death, "You don't understand."
"Look, it's obvious you're going out with that Ebihara girl. If you were happy, I wouldn't judge, but-"
Narukami cut him off, "No, what I mean is you don't understand how this girl handles rejection. Last time someone rejected her she-"
"-tried to kill herself, I was there." Michael finished for him.
Narukami sighed, "Yeah, and now she's threatening to try again if I break up with her."
Michael shrugged, "Who cares? Just do it."
Narukami looked at him in shock, "Michael-kun!"
Michael threw his hands up defensively, "I'm just saying, when folks say they're gonna kill themselves, that's usually a pretty solid indication that they aren't actually planning on doing it."
"But she actually climbed the fence!"
"Yeah, when you were within reach to pull her off of it. Even so, you can't save everyone, bud. She's got some serious emotional issues she's working through and she's trying to pawn that shit off on you."
Narukami's expression hardened, "I have to at least try," he said bitterly.
Maybe I'm pressing him too hard, Michael thought, but his mouth was not listening.
"Look, there's someone going around and killing people here in Inaba, and nine-to-one odds says that they're somehow connected to that world inside the TV and I can't help but feel you've been putting that on the back burner. If Ebihara wants to off herself, fine, let her be a statistic. But we've got people in danger who have every desire to keep on living and yet we're doing jack-shit to stop it."
Narukami looked hard upon him. His expression was dark and disappointed. To Michael's surprise, almost by reflex, he felt shame.
"You're starting to sound like your Shadow," Narukami said quietly.
Michael hung his head and there was silence between them.
"I didn't mean all that," Michael said finally.
Narukami nodded, "You've been through a lot. It's normal to be angry."
Michael looked him in the eye, "I now see why you were so quickly appointed leader."
Narukami smiled warmly, but the smile vanished as phone went off again.
"Oh God, how long has it been since I called her?" He asked in a panic.
"Uh, she called you last and as I recall, you hung up on her," Michael explained.
Narukami's expression was pure terror, "Oh man that's right! She's really gonna lay into me!"
He answered the phone and rushed off to put a few meters between him and Michael.
We're doomed, Michael nodded to himself.
"Hey, Michael!"
Michael turned and saw Kou and Daisuke waving at him. Michael waved back.
"Sorry we're late, this guy takes forever to do his hair," Kou said, throwing a thumb at Daisuke.
"And that's why I get all the girls," Daisuke teased, running a hand across his hair.
Narukami returned to the group, looking incredibly tired.
"Hey guys," he said weakly.
"Hey man, you alright?" Kou asked, concerned.
Narukami simply nodded.
"Whatever, let's get this show on the road, yeah?" Daisuke said, walking into the bookstore and the rest followed.

They spent some time shopping around before finally meeting up outside the store, their purchases in hand.
"So, what did you buy, Daisuke?" Kou asked.
"A comic book. I was feeling kinda nostalgic when I saw it, 'cause I used to love it."
"How about you, Michael?" Kou asked, turning to him.
"Japanese History for Dummies," Michael said with a smirk.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Daisuke cried, looking at the cover of the comic book he bought, "this isn't what I...Dammit, I got the wrong one."
"What do you mean?" Narukami asked.
"Instead of 'Rubber-Armed Pitcher Hero', I bought 'Lovely Witch Detective'." Daisuke groaned.
"How would you even mix those two up?" Michael asked incredulously.
"They were right next to each other, okay?!" Daisuke said defensively before thrusting the comic at Narukami.
"Here, you can have it."
Narukami was taken aback, "Uh, thanks but-" he began to protest, but the comic was already in his hands.
"Huh, I didn't know you guys were into those kinds of books. You some kind of comic snobs?" Kou joked.
"I'm pissed man, their covers looked almost exactly alike," Daisuke continued his lamentations.
"Hey, you three!" A voice called out.
The group turned and saw Chie dressed in her casual attire. She wore her standard green sweater adorned with many different graphical buttons that she usually wears over her Yasogami 'sailor' style uniform, but this time it was open and revealed a standard light gray top just underneath.
"Now this is a weird little group. I didn't expect you all to hit it off so quick." Chie said, approaching them.
Michael and Narukami glanced at each other and then at Kou, who wasted no time in blushing.
"Ch-Chie-san." Kou stammered, "S-So what are you doing here?"
Kou 'Smooth McGroove' Ichijo, Michael quipped to himself as he could see the perspiration on Kou's forehead begin to gleam in the sunlight.
"Training," She said simply.
"Uh...training?" Kou asked, confused.
Daisuke pumped his fist, "You're the man, Chie!"
" Hell no, you did NOT just say that to a girl!" She cried, soliciting a laugh from Daisuke.
"Well, this promises to be an entertaining day," Narukami said to Michael.
"Copy that."