"I'm not crazy! The TV really did turn on by itself!"

"Sure it did, Minako-san." Ken mumbled into his cereal. Koromaru simply yawned and curled himself into a ball on his bed.

Why did nobody believe her? The TV really turned on by itself, though nobody showed up on the screen. So the whole 'you will see your soulmate' as a big fat lie, but there was some truth to the mystery of the Midnight Channel. She just had to prove to Ken that something was up.

"You don't believe me, do you?" Ken simply shook his head. Minako pouted in response. "Fine then, I'll show you! The next time it rains, you'll see the truth!"

.

It didn't rain again until after exams. Minako sighed out of annoyance. She cursed Mitsuru for making her go to high school again. Why did she have to exams when she already passed high school with flying colors?

Minako had assimilated herself into the school quite well, especially with Yu Narukami and company. She, Kanji, and now Rise Kujikawa were all in the same class so they spent their lunchtime together, sometimes with the upperclassmen as well. In terms of friendships, Minako has built quite a few of them here in Inaba. However, she still felt like her new friends were holding back on her. There was some kind of secret they all shared, and it almost certainly had something to do with the murder cases. She remembered a conversation they had in Junes a couples ago, the day the third body was found. They were talking about the deceased and what kind of motive the killer might have. Perhaps… they were trying to solve the case themselves?

But what reason would they have? And what was the connection between the murders and the disappearing students that were added to that one group of friends? There was still a large chunk of information that was missing. Once Minako got ahold of it, maybe she could be able to piece this mystery together.

For now, all she had to do was live her incognito life as normally as she could.

"Hey! Minako-chan!" Chie called out to her in the middle of the Junes food court. When did she arrive at Junes? Minako made a mental note not to walk around aimlessly while thinking about the investigation. Who knows where her legs would take her? "Over here!"

Chie, Yosuke, Yukiko and Kanji were surrounding what appeared to be a bear. Maybe it was Junes' new mascot or something.

"We have someone who's been itching to meet you."

Oh? Someone new?

Yosuke pulled the bear mascot to the front of the crowd. "This is Teddie."

"…. The bear mascot's name is Teddie?" They couldn't think of anything original at Junes?

"Haha, no…" He laughed as he unzipped the costume's head, revealing a rather adorable androgynous boy with blonde hair. "…this is Teddie."

….Duh. Of course there was a person in the bear suit. Why didn't she think of it before?

"Teddie is a friend of ours. We told him about you, and lately he's been begging for us to bring you here." Chie explained. "What a coincidence you came here, huh?"

"Yeah…" Minako replied uneasily. There was something about Teddie that unnerved her. Probably something to do with the way he was staring at her.

"Oh..! Minako-chan! Words do you no justice!" Teddie cried out whimsically. "….Can I try scoring with you?"

The expression on Minako's face was indescribable. A mixture of anger, disgust, embarrassment and tiniest bit of flattery.

"Dude!" Yosuke yelled out, hitting the blonde on top of his head. "You don't say that to a girl you just met! I'm sorry, Minako-chan. Teddie is ….untrainable." He apologized for him as if Teddie was his pet. Which he may as well be.

"….. it's okay… I think." Minako wasn't exactly sure what to say. Teddie looked and acted like a child who didn't know any better. Maybe he just had a bad influence….. Yosuke.

.

"Ahh, we're finally free!" Yosuke stretched his arms once school was over. Minako and the freshman were in the second-years' classroom, hanging out with the senpai. "Hey, why don't we go somewhere during summer vacation? My motorcycle's back from the shop."

"You guys have motorcycles?" Minako asked curiously. She considered taking the test to get a license in the past, but the city was so crowded and the traffic alone would drive her nuts, so she opted out. But now, with the open roads of Inaba, her interest sparked again.

"Only me and Yu. Yu's is more of a scooter but… same thing. Anyways, we should totally go to the beach! A train would be a pain to ride, but a motorcycle…"

"But wouldn't everyone need a motorcycle to ride? If that's the case, we need to take the test." Minako brought up logically.

"We can't. We're too young." Kanji argued, pointing to himself, Rise and apparently Minako. If only they knew….

"Aw, sorry Kanji, but my birthday was last month. I'm sixteen now!" Rise fought Kanji's logic. In a last-ditch effort to hide her age, Minako jumped on Rise's bandwagon with a simple "me too".

"Hey, that's cheating!" Kanji yelled out. He was just upset because he was too young.

"I think it's a good idea to take the test. It only takes a week."

Hm…. A motorcycle license. She would need something to ride, of course. Maybe she could talk Mitsuru into lending her the one she rode as a teenager. Ken and Koromaru would definitely enjoy a day at the beach, too….. Oh right!

"Is it okay if Ken-kun and Koro-chan come with us?" Minako asked, hoping for a yes.

Yu smiled. "Of course it is."

Yay, beach time! All she had to do was pass the test.

.

Later the next night, it rained. Minako knew what it meant. Time to show Ken the Midnight Channel.

"Alright, the clock reads 11:59. The TV is unplugged. Everything is set up." Minako announced as she, Ken and Koromaru sat in the living room, staring at the television.

"This is crazy." Ken muttered skeptically.

"Sh." She shushed him. "Ten more seconds until midnight."

"It's not gonna work."

"Shut up."

5.

4.

3.

2.

1.

The tell-tale static was all she needed to hear. The screen lit up, enveloping the room in light. Ken's eyes widened.

"See I told ya!" Minako bragged, not looking at the screen.

"There's someone on the screen."

Minako moved her head quickly, almost snapping her neck. The picture on the screen was undeniable. This didn't happen last time. She ran up to the TV, as if looking for further proof. But the picture was extremely vivid. It showed a gawky, lonely looking boy, with dead black eyes. He just stood there, backed up against a wall that looked like it came out of a 90s video game. Finally, he spoke.

"You all think you can see me? You all think you know everything about me?" He forced a laugh from his throat.

"Then try and catch me."

The screen then faded to black.

"What….was that?" Ken asked, as if not believing what he just witnessed with his own eyes. Minako simply shook her head.

"I don't know…." She got closer to the glass of the screen, the image still imprinted in her brain. She touched the warm screen. It felt soft, almost gooey…..

And then her hand went through the screen.

"Ahhh…!"

"Minako-san!"

"Woof!"

The TV turned into some kind of wormhole, trying to suck her in. And with the size of that screen, it probably could have if Ken didn't pull her out. Minako panted on the floor.

"The TV friggin tried to eat me!" She screamed.

"Minako-san…."

"I mean, what the hell?!"

"Minako-san…"

"I'm not dreaming, am I? That just happened, right?"

"Minako-san!" Ken yelled out, breaking her insane train of thought.

"What?!" She spat back angrily.

"I think we found our source of Shadow activity."

.