5/9, Monday (Early Morning)

I woke up this morning as my phone beeped. I glanced at the screen and panicked. Midterms! I'm frikin' screwed!

I quickly put on my uniform, grabbed my notebook, and did some last-minute studying as I walked to school… as slowly as possible without being late.

"Morning…" I heard Chie mutter as she jogged up to me.

"Uh… morning," I said absently.

"Exams are finally starting today…" Chie groaned. "Real life's harsh…."

"D'you study for 'em?" I asked her, scanning the page once more.

"Can't you tell?" she cried. "Do I look like I'm ready?"

"I'm not ready, either," I replied. "I'm studying right now."

"Hardworking…" she muttered.

"I forgot to study last night."

"You what!?"

"Yeah." She sighed.

"But, even once exams are over, we're not done with this case," Chie said. "All this depressing stuff's just gonna keep going on and on and on…."

"Yeah," I said, flipping the page over.

(Morning)

The midterms was easier than I expected. I sighed. Did I do all that studying for nothing…?

I read the next question. It asked, "What is it called when muscles grow after exercise?" I filled in the letter B: Overcompensation. Pretty sure that's the right answer.

Next question: "What is the year before 1 A.D. called?" Are you kidding me? That's easy!

I filled in the letter C: 1 B.C.


5/10, Tuesday (Morning)

I glanced at the others. Yukiko looked pretty calm, which wasn't surprising. Chie was tapping her pencil against the table, which was getting really annoying. Yosuke was staring twirling his pencil around, looking stumped.

Well, it's not gonna help me complete this test by looking at them, so I focused on the test.

I looked at the first question on the page: "Which of these types of numbers does not exist?"

Crap! I forgot!

I took an educated guess and chose the letter C: Marriage numbers. I hope this is the right answer….

Seventh question on the page: "Who translated 'I love you' as 'The moon is beautiful, isn't it?'" Crap! I forgot this one, too!

I looked at the answers. Only one of them I vaguely remember, and that's letter A: Soseki Natsume. I sighed and hoped I won't be screwed for the rest of the test.


5/11, Wednesday (Morning)

Yukiko was still as calm as ever, although she seemed stuck on a question. Chie was biting her lip and tapping the floor with her foot. Yosuke was drawing something on a piece of paper. It looked like he'd given up. I sighed and looked at my test.

"Who said, 'As soon as laws are necessary for men, they are no longer fit for freedom'?" Ugh! I can' think!

I shot a glare at King Moron discreetly. He was mumbling something to himself this whole time, and it's getting more annoying than Chie's tapping.

After a few minutes, I chose letter D: Pythagoras.

"Which of the following is the highest mountain in the solar system?"

That's easy. It's Olympus Mons, letter A.


5/12, Thursday (Morning)

It was the last day of the exams. Yes!

The questions were pretty easy. I got stuck a few times, but I pulled through. Yosuke was sleeping on his desk. Chie had her head on the desk, looking exhausted. Yukiko got stuck on a few problems, too, but it seemed that she pulled through, too.

(After School)

"It's finally over," Yosuke said, stretching.

"Yeah…" I sighed, relieved.

"Wheewwww! What a load off! I bet every student feels like this after exams are over!" Yosuke said.

"Hey, quiet down!" Chie snapped. "So what did you write for number seven?" she asked Yukiko. "The one about what 'that' referred to in the sentence."

"Um… I put 'her sorrowful expression,'" Yukiko answered.

"Oh crap, then I got it wrong!" Chie cried. "I put 'the rice cakes on top of the table.'" I sighed.

"Chie, it's literature. It's supposed to be symbolic," I stated, "not… related to food."

"Rice cakes…?" Yukiko muttered. "Wait, was that what the story was about?" I wanted to face-palm.

"Alright, I'm giving up on composition. I'm gonna bet it all on geography!" Chie said. "What did you choose for the tallest mountain in the solar system?" she asked me.

"Olympus Mons, obviously," I answered.

"Oh, seriously!? I chose the wrong one…" Chie sobbed.

"Oh, I put that one, too," Yukiko said.

"Whoa, you too!? Then it's probably the right answer," Yosuke muttered, and then sighed. "Boy, I can't wait for our grades to be posted out in the hall where everyone can see 'em. Geez…" I froze.

"R-Really!?" I yelped.

"What, you didn't know?" he asked.

"I hope I get a good grade…" I muttered.

"Hey, did you hear? A T.V. station's filing here in town," a guy said.

"They're probably just doing more stuff about that hanging corpse case," his friend said.

"No, it's not that. You know the highway nearby? They're gonna cover those biker gangs that hang around there," the first guy said. "A friend of mine goes to the biker meetings sometimes. I heard it from him."

"Dude what're you doing hanging out with a guy in a biker gang?" the friend asked.

Simple. It's for gossip and info, I thought.

"Well, anyways…. Whaddya think about tomorrow's group blind date?" the friend continued. "We were gonna meet outside, but…. It's gonna rain soon, right? Won't it be better to play it safe tomorrow, too?"

"Biker gang?" Yukiko asked.

"Oh yeah…. They raise a ruckus from time to time. I guess your place is too far away to hear 'em," Chie told her.

"We live right by the road. The noise can drive you insane," Yosuke added, shaking his head.

"I hear some guys at this school are part of it, too," Chie said.

"Huh," I said.

"Yeah, I know there are some rumors about a first-year student here who's a total hellraiser," Yosuke said. "One of the guys working at Junes said the dude's been a legend ever since middle school. Although…. Was he in a biker gang?"

"Wow," I said. "Is he that bad?"

"D-Did you say he was a legend?" Yukiko asked. I swore I could see some flowers popping out of her head. Everyone else sweat-dropped.

"Uhhhh, it's not what you think, Yukiko," Chie muttered.

Everyone went out of the classroom a few minutes later, calling out excuses as they went out. I sighed and went outside as well. I looked up and found the girl that put the love letter in my box.

"Oh! Hey you, listen!" she said. "The confession! It worked!" She was grinning from ear to ear. "I can't believe it! I'm so happy!"

"Good for you," I told her with a slight nod.

"I'm glad I got his shoe box confused with yours," the girl continued. "Oh, that's right! I need to give my thanks to the Tatsuhime Shrine! My wish came true! I'll make a big offering!" She ran off. I should report to the fox… later.

Hmm…. I still need to talk to the boy on the roof.

"Huh? What's the matter?" the boy meekly asked me.

"Uh… what are your hobbies?" I asked.

"Hobbies besides animals?" he mused. "Well, I also like reading. When you read a book, it's like a whole world opens up just for you. I get so excited the first time I open a book!"

"I totally agree with you, man!" I agreed, giving him a thumbs up. He didn't say anything else, though. He just resumed looking out over the city.

This guy likes to give me the cold shoulder, huh…?

I went into town to do some stuff before heading back to school.

"Hey, Misaki-chan. You're going to practice, right?" Kou asked me.

"Of course!" I replied.

"Sweet! Let's give it our best shot!" he said, grinning at me.

We practiced layups, something I was not good at. Kou helped me. He showed me the correct form and had me mimic it. To be honest, it felt awkward, but I felt like I did do a bit better.

"Okay! The balls've been polished, the floor's been mopped…. Let's grab some grub!" Kou yelled after practice.

"Sure!" I agreed.

"I'm down for some Aiya," Daisuke said, walking up to us.

"How do you always pop up when we start talking about food?" Kou sighed. I smirked. Reminds me of someone….

"Alright, let's get changed, then head over to Aiya," Kou said. "Oh damn! I forgot, I can't!"

"What are you arguing with yourself about?" Daisuke asked.

"Sorry, I just remembered some personal stuff I've gottta take care of," Kou replied. "Oh, and before I forget, I've been meaning to ask you something, Misaki-chan."

"Yes?" I said.

"How did you get into the boys' basketball club? I mean… I'm pretty sure we have a girls' team," he said.

"Oh, that?" I chuckled. "I went to see how the girls did… and they were all dicks. Told me I was too unathletic and fat or something." I shook my head. "So, I went to the office and asked King Moron to join the boys' team. Told him there was no rule against a girl playing on a boys' team. Soooo, he let me join this basketball team." I gave them a big smile. I remembered that well… too well, in fact.

I nervously pushed open the door and found King Moron there. I swore to myself and muttered, "Um… excuse me…?"

"Whaddya want, kid!?" the "King" snapped.

"I want to join the boys' basketball team," I answered, shrinking away.

"What!?" he yelled. "You just want the guys, don't you!?" He started lecturing me. It was painful. "Besides, you can't join the boys' team," he finally finished.

"I'm pretty sure I can…" I muttered. "I-I mean… there's no rule about it." He glared at me.

"Fine! You win!" he finally shouted. "But you better not think of abusing the guys there, got it!?"

Wh-Why would I do that!? I thought. He gave me a piece of paper and sent me off.

As I walked down the hall, I tried to read what he wrote, but to no avail. It was all jagged and messy. He didn't even write in a straight line!

I shuddered. "He was scary…" I muttered. The two of them looked at me with impressed looks.

"I'd never thought of that," Kou said. "Anyway, I gotta go. See ya!" He jogged towards the changing room. Daisuke looked at me.

"That's pretty impressive, Misaki-chan," he said. "I never woulda thought of that… and to face King Moron…." He shook his head then sighed. "Ah…. Today's the day he goes before the almighty 'House of Ichijo,'" he said after seeing my curious look.

"'House of Ichijo'?" I repeated.

"Hm, well, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I told you," he finally said. "In fact, I could use your help." He looked serious. I headed to Aiya to listen to what Daisuke had to say.

We sat down in the bustling restaurant.

"About Kou…" Daisuke muttered. "I don't like talking behind his back like this, but… I want you to help him out."

"Just tell me how," I said seriously.

"Yeah, thanks," he said with a nod. "It's about Kou's family. He lives by himself, but his parents's place is like, right next door. Once a week or so, he drops by there, like he did today. His family is—what's the word I'm looking for—distinguished? Very traditional, very strict. You'd never know just by looking at 'em though…. The head of the Ichijo family is Kou's grandma. They follow her orders like she's the law. Problem is, the old crone doesn't approve of him playing basketball. She calls it 'barbaric.'"

"…. 'Barbaric'?" I repeated. "But it's just a sport…."

"Well, according to her, there are sports that are 'proper,' and those that… aren't," he continued with a sigh. "He's been forced to quit a lot of things since he was a kid. But not basketball. He can't give this up. So… I want you to help him out." I gave him a smile.

"Leave it to me," I said, pointed to my chest with my thumb.

"Okay… I'm glad I came to you." He looked relieved. "I'm glad I can rely on you." He… really trusts me…. "This one's on me, so eat up, man," he said.

"N-No, I can pay for it," I protested.

"Huh? What're you talking about?" he asked. "It's my duty as a gentleman to pay for a girl's meal."

"I-It's fine, really!" I tried to protest. He took out his wallet and looked defeated.

"I-I used up my allowance…" he muttered. "H-Hey, how 'bout some zha cai? Those are good."

I smirked and said, "So I'm paying for myself, right?" He sighed.

"Y-Yeah…"

"Ha! I win!"

"You don't have to rub it in, Misaki-chan!"

We chatted for a while before heading home.

(Evening)

"I went shopping today. The fridge is full of food," Nanako said.

"Oh! Great!" I said. "Thanks, Nanako-chan!"

I immediately went into the kitchen.

"Hey, can I have a word with you?" Dojima asked. I tensed and turned around.

"Y-Yes?" I said.

"You go to Junes a lot?" he inquired.

"Yeah…" I answered nervously.

"That ass Adachi keeps vanishing every now and again. I figured he's probably slacking off around Junes whenever he does…. If you see him hanging around when you're at Junes, he's probably goofing around. So if you see Adachi at Junes, tell him off for me, okay?"

Hmm… I did see him a few times over there….

"Sure, no problem," I replied.

I opened the refrigerator. There's a variety of food inside. I could make lunch for tomorrow, so I decided to do just that.

Hmm… I have enough to make meat stew. I laid out the ingredients and started to make it.

Almost done… now I just have to simmer it. How should I do that…? I decided to do it with a drop lid.

There! Done! It came out perfectly! Hell yeah! I didn't screw it up!

I packed it up and put it on the table behind me so that I could bring it to school tomorrow.


5/13, Friday (Lunchtime)

I brought out my lunch. Who should I eat with…? I know! I'll eat with Yosuke!

Yosuke and I sat on the rooftop. I shared my lunch with him.

"Wow, this is sooo good!" Yosuke exclaimed. "Is this your recipe, Misaki? I only know how to boil eggs, myself…."

"Well, that's better than nothing," I replied.

We continued to eat lunch together

(After School)

I went to the roof to talk to the boy again. I asked him about his hobbies.

"What kind of books do I read?" he mused. "I read a lot of different genres, but I admit I have a lot of animal-related books. Stories and novels are good, but what I really like are picture books and books with animal facts." This guy's like a girl! Well… I guess it matches his looks. "It's fun to look at them, isn't it?" he continued. He then began to talk about her goals for the future. I listened intently and heard something useful. I should report to his admirer.

I did some stuff in the shopping district before deciding to go find Adachi.

Just as I suspected, he was in Junes.

"Huh? Oh, it's you," Adachi said. "What's the matter? Can I help you?"

"Uh… what are you doing?" I asked.

"What's it look like? I'm working," he replied unconvincingly. "It's easy to investigate here with all the people around. It's cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. It's a pretty good place, to…. Yeah, I think I've said enough!"

"I'll hang out with you too," I said.

"Oh? That's a little strange," he said. "What are you doing here? Killing time? Tough to do out here in the sticks, isn't it? There's nothing here. It's not like the city at all."

"It's not that bad," I replied.

"Oh? But you're from the city too, right? You'll find out soon enough…. This town really is dead. Get this—my first assignment here was tracking down a cat."

"Pff, a cat!?" I laughed.

"My suit got so dirty… and they wouldn't let me expense the dry cleaning bill! Next, I played peacemaker in a spat some married couple was having. I can't believe they've got the police doing that stuff," he continued. It's pretty obvious he doesn't like country life. "But it's been more dangerous lately, so I can't kick back. There's that one case, you know? It's still not solved yet." The T.V. murder thing…. "The higher-ups don't know what to do. They keep changing procedure on the fly…. Oops! I hope I'm not making you nervous." I was about to say, "No, not at all!" but that would've sounded suspicious, so I kept my mouth shut. "You guys have nothing to worry about, you know. Us policed are on the job!" I guess it seemed like he kinda cares for me….

Everything froze, and a card appeared.

There was a jester dancing in the middle of a circle. Inside the circle was a tannish background with four animals on the… corners. It had the number 0 on it. Wait…. Z-Zero!? B-But the card looks different! Don't tell me he's a Fool…. No. It's different. Suddenly I realized something. It's the card of the Jester! I've seen that online somewhere

Everything came back to life, and I tried to keep a straight face.

"Well, time for me to get back to work," he said just as an old woman walked past us. He quickly hid behind me. "Phew, that was close…" he sighed in relief. I glanced at him. Why didn't he want to see that nice old woman? "I'd better go. You hurry on home, too," he told me. "Don't tell Dojima-san I was in Junes, okay?" he pleaded. I hesitated. Dojima just told me to tell Adachi off, not report to him….

"Okay," I said. He briskly walked out of Junes, and I went home.

(Evening)

"Young men recklessly riding their motorcycles, disturbing the peace of a quiet, rural town…" the narrator on T.V. said. I was sitting at the coffee table in front of Nanako. Dojima was sitting on the couch, reading a newspaper. "Our special report took a turn for the violent when one of the apparent leaders attacked the camera crew!"

"The hell are you punks doing here!?" a guy yelled. His face was blurred.

"That voice…" Dojima muttered.

"This ain't a show! Get bent!" the guy continued to shout.

"Still up to the same old tricks…?" Dojima muttered.

"Do you know him, Dad?" Nanako asked.

"Mmm, well, I know him through work," he answered. "His name's Kanji Tatsumi…. He's quite a handful. He's been crushing biker gangs in the area since middle school."

"Man, what a guy!" I commented. Crushing biker gangs!?

"But I thought he got into a high school and started attending class," he continued.

"Huh," Nanako said. We looked at the T.V.

"Man, that blur sure is pointless. It's completely obvious who it is," Dojima muttered. "The guy's family runs a historic textile shop. I think what happened was, he crushed the local bikers all by himself because the noise kept his mother up."

"At least the motive's kinda… nice," I said. "But… but… he crushed the gang ALL BY HIMSELF!?" My uncle nodded.

"It's a nice gesture, but he's way too violent…. At this rate, his mother'll have to apologize again," Dojima said.

"Oh, the weather report's showing on the bottom. It's going to rain tomorrow," Nanako said.

I'm pretty sure who's gonna show up on the Midnight Channel… and that's this Kanji Tatsumi guy.

I'll make sure to hang the laundry inside the house," Nanako said.


A/N: I've seen some nice suggestions regarding the stuff I put in my last update! ^_^

Anyway, regarding Adachi, I probably won't have him narrate like Yosuke did.

I still haven't decided what to do with Rise yet. If I'm going to make her like Yosuke I'm thinking of making her look up to Misaki more in the beginning, then slowly starts to like Yosuke... maybe. As for Ryoji-Rise... well... I dunno yet. I'm going to have to do some research because I forgot what he's like. XP

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please tell me what you think! ^_^