"-In response to the ongoing case ,detective Shirogane had this to say. "

"While this is only the second occurrence a body has been found in this state, I believe this is the work on a copycat kille-"

"Next station Hasetsu."

"- I urge if anyone sees or hears anything to please call their local police. It is only with the cooperation of the public that we will be able to catch the culprit "

"This concludes today's train news."

Gently a brown book closes as a slightly chubby face peers up at the red scrolling text. A pair of blue rimmed glasses catch the the afternoon glow of light as roasted almond colored eyes glance out the windows. The surrounding landscape passes in a blur of greens and blues. Like gold, the ocean glitters as the high sun beams down.

It only takes a second before the book slides off from his lap to clatter on the floor. Pages splayed and squished under the fanned out cover. The spine leans slightly to the left; its fine black cursive declaring it as 'The Great Thief'.

He's almost startled at the sound before he glances both ways, studying everyone with a wary eye before tentatively picking up the book. Its pages slightly bent and dog-eared as he again places in his lap. Lightly dusting the blank cover, before he slips the book into his tan backpack.

It's late afternoon, a bit after four, when he exits the train. Despite it being mid March it's still relatively cold even with the sun out. A gentle breeze sways the new leaves of the trees as the wheels of his suitcase click over faded tiles. There's a comfortable bubbling murmur on the platform that becomes louder closer to the stairs and escalator. Its a somewhat pleasant sensation, almost like a greeting from an old friend.

"Futaba! Wait a second!" A voice shouts before an olive and orange blur slams into his torso. Hands untwine from behind him as quickly as they snaked him into a crushing hug. The colprate a short girl of bright red hair. Her brown eyes framed by large glasses. They glint mischievously in the sun.

"Futaba?" He asks cautiously. She nods in reply.

"Yep!" The p popping. "Bet you didn't' expect to see us did you?" His eyes grow wide.

"'Us'?"

On cue, an older man walks up. Both of his hands full; a large blue pulling suitcase in one hand while two black dufflebags awkwardly hang from his shoulder. Despite the cold, the man lacks a winter coat, dressed only in a fitting white dress jacket and pastel pink shirt. A white trilby precariously dangles from his head.

"Futaba, you can't just-" He pauses, his eyes crinkling and a smile appearing on his face as he takes in Yuuri. "Ah it's our favorite delinquent turned skater."

Yuuri blanches slightly at the word "delinquent.

"It's been a while Yuuri. How are you? Haven't been causing trouble have you?"

"No sir. I haven't done anything slightly incriminating at all-"

"So says you." Futaba sing songs, her fingers wiggling.

"What does that mean?" The man asks giving yurri a stern side eye.

Yurri sends her an abort mission.

"Its nothing bad Sojiro. Just some great blackmail material is all." She says while a sharp grin appears on her face. A tremor of dread goes down Yuuri's back.

He sends Sojiro a pleading look.

A thick eyebrow raises as if asking 'what he should do?'

He sighs a little at the less than ideal answer. It hasn't been more than two minutes and she already had something on him. Between her and Pichit they could write a book, movie and television series. That was if they met each other. He prayed to the ice skating gods that they never would.

"Since your here Yurri", Sojiro starts "Mind leading us the way? Hiroko and Toshiya were expecting us an hour ago. They're probably worried about us."

Hestiantly he smiles. "Sure."

The escalator ride down is mostly quiet between the three, only the tapping of Futaba's phone breaking the lull of the station.

"It's been a while since I've been here. They even have escalators now." Yuuri absentmindedly says.

The tapping continues but he can tell Futaba is listening and Sojiro hums in agreement.

He's about to say something again when the reach the bottom of the escalator. His mouth turns dry as he spots several large posters of himself stretched along the walls. His initial response is to freeze, panic and then hopefully instantaneously implode or at least completely disappear from reality.

He only makes it to the stage of freezing before being pushed forward by an unsuspecting Futaba. Making them both stumble further out on the platform with Sojiro somehow avoiding the human train wreck.

"Those are some pretty big posters." He idly states as Yuuri and Futaba right themselves again.

"Y-yeah" Yuuri replies, the initial panic disrupted but a sense of nervousness still settles around him. He's not sure if he's more comfortable with or without them there.

"Yuuri!" A voice yells from across the station. He jumps a few feet in the air as it continues. "Stop sulking around!"

Whipping his head to the side he spots a middle aged woman in a tan coat, her face beaming at the sight of him.

"M-Minako sensei!"

"Welcome back from five long years!" She cheerily shouts, spinning in a circle with her foot landing in the air. A white banner with pink wording printed on it between her outstretched hands.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"Yeesh. Stand up straight will you?" She spins again.

As if suddenly noticing his two companions she gives another smile before asking in a teasing manner. "Aw is that your girlfriend?"

His face feels like it's burning. He wishes that he had combusted a few seconds ago.

Sojiro's laugh rings out as Futaba face grows red as well as she sputters.

"What? Yuuri's like my brother!" She huffs before grumpily returning to tapping her phone.

Minako laugh chimes in the air.

"Hey isn't that Yuuri?"

"Yeah it's him."

"I haven't heard any news about him lately. What's he been up to?"

"Remember he lost a big competition last year?"

"Wasn't that Nationals?"

After a few seconds he sighs before slipping his ticket into the reader before passing through the gate. Sojiro and Futaba repeating the same action as well. Her phones down when she gently nudges their shoulders, sending a supportive smile when he glances at her. He tries to send one back but it falls slightly flat.

An elderly man in a purple outfit and a white fishing vest quietly approaches the small group. There's a gentle smile as he addresses both Yuuri and Sojiro. "May I shake your son's hand?"

"Oh. He isn't act-"

"S-sorry we're in a hurry." Yuuri quickly over lapped as he hid his face behind a face mask.

"Don't be rude. Shake the man's hand." Sojiro replied cooly. His face unimpressed.

"Viktor Nikiforov is always nice to his fans." Minako added when he tired to turn to her for help.

Accepting his fate, he shook several people's hands including the old fisherman and a old woman who didn't know who he was. It was a little while after as Minako dragged him behind her when he finally got to tell her about needing to take both Futaba and Sojiro to the inn.

"Alright but afterwards we should go around town and great everyone."

He dug his heels in, jerkily stopping them. His head and voice downcasted.

"I-I'm sorry but I'm tired..."

"Oh. Everyone was really excited to see you again."

"I'm Home."

"Hiroko! I brougth Yuuri home and a few stragglers as well!"

There's a quiet thumping of feet a short plump woman speeds her way over to the main door. Her short hair flies behind her as she haults a few feet in front of them. Her demeanor is upbeat and pleasant as she takes them in. "Thank you Minako-senpai for getting him. And thank you for helping Sojiro-san and Futaba." After a beat she continues "Welcome home Yuuri."

"Thanks... I'm sorry it's been five years..." A slight meloncoly in his voice.

"It's alright." She shakes her hands as if no offense taken. "I'm sorry that I couldn't make it to your graduation too. Want a pork cutlet bowl?"

Before he can answer there's a crash from the other room and a string of curses. It sounds almost as a few things are hastily thrown onto something of hard plastic before the sound of someone thundering over the wooden floor. A flash of yellow rounds the corner before skidding beside Hiroko. Unlike Hiroko though he nearly goes over the steps and only fails to when two hands grip his shoulders.

"Thanks man, I haven't seen you in forever." The blond grins, his brown eyes bright as gives a tight hug.

"Ryuji?" Yuuri questions in disbelief.

"The one and only. We were going to throw a surprise party but everyone's running late." He sends a look at Fukawa. She replies with a shrug.

"Not all of us were late." Another voice states. Unlike Ryuji, he walks in the room with a type of grace that Ryuji lacks. Though like Ryuji, his dark eyes are vivid as he takes in Yuuri.

"You're here too Yusuke?"

"Of course. Neither of us have seen our best friend for several years. We both wanted to see you when you came back." His eyes close as if pleased. He opens them again a smile gracing his pale face as his shiny black hair catches the light. "Come. I believe your mother has a room set up for us to hang out in.

"Hell right she did! It's going to be like that sleep over during Hawaii except this time I'm not sleeping on the floor." Ryuji's voice ecstatic again.

"We're all going to be sleeping on tami mats. It's almost the same thing."

"Well at least this time it won't only be me."

A bell tingled before Yuuri felt claws in the back of his leg, and something crawling up his back til a black cat with a white muzzle perched itself on top of his shoulder. "Hey. Finally decided to come back?"

"Hey Morgona." He replied. "I see you're wearing the bell collar mom bought for you."

"Well she keeps putting it back on me every time I managed to get it off. So better to keep it on." The cat sighed as Yuuri's other three friends bickered almost like a family. "Defiantly would've preferred the handkerchief over it."

"I think it looks good."

"It appears that we've talked too long. All the adults have left." Yusuke smoothly states. With a quick glance around, it defiantly appeared that the adults had left them at the front entrance.

"We're adults too Inari"

"Some of us are."

"Why you-"

"-Then we should stop standing around and getting partying." Ryuji interjects before Futaba can continue. He waves them over before stopping a little when he notices Yuuri not moving. "Hey aren't you coming?"

"Uh well..." He begins nervously.

"Actually I have something to talk with him about. We'll join you soon enough." Morgona adds glancing at the confused group. "Don't worry we'll join up soon."

They take the reasoning leaving only Yuuri and Morgona himself in the entrance hall. His eyes watch as they leave before turning to Morgona.

"So uh. What did you want to talk about?"

"You wanted to go see Vic-chan right?" His little bell clambers as he drops to the floor, his face peering up, "I'll cover for you."

"Thank you." Yuuri quietly answers.

It's an hour later when Yuuri finally makes it to the closed off room where the rest of his friends are. Ryjui and Futaba deep in a conversation while Yusuke seems extremely focused on something in his sketchbook. His hand gently scratching Morgona's back. As the door slides open with a hiss, they all glance up at Yuuri as he sits down beside Ryjui.

"Hey you're back. We almost sent a search party out for you." The blond jokes.

"Sorry Mari wanted to talk with me. She suggested we all go to the baths."

"A bath does sound pleasant." Yusuke nonchalantly agrees. His attention now set on the group instead of the messy sketch.

"We should probably wait a little bit though. Mishima and Ann are running late. Plus I don't want to go to the bath by myself." Futaba slightly frowns.

"Makoto and Haru aren't coming?"

"Makoto said something came up at work and that she'll met up with us tomorrow. And Haru's out of the country for some meeting." Ryuji sighs. "Man, it was way easier to met back in high school."

"We lived fairly close to each other at the time" Yusuke states. His attention again on the sketch.

"I know but still. This sucks."

"What's their ETA?" Futaba asks.

"I don't know let me ask." He pulls out his phone, scrolling through a few things before clumsily typing into the screens keyboard. There's two swoosh sounds. An automatic chime comes through as he pads through what must be a list.

"Ughhh." He aggravatingly moans. "Mishima took the wrong train. He's not going to be here for another hour."

"And what about Ann?"

He glances back at the phone. "She still hasn't replied yet. She did say she was in Fukuoka two hours ago."

"She should be here soon then." Yuuri shoots a comforting smile at Futaba who slightly eases her shoulders.

A knock comes from outside the sliding door, before a sojiro's face pops in. "There's food out here for you guys if your'e hungry."

"Thank you but we're waiting till Ann gets here." Yuuri supplied.

"Alright then suit your selves then." He gently closes the door leaving a thin sliver of the door open. Only for Morgona to bolt up towards the door, scrambling onto Yuuri's lap before launching on to the table to the door.

"M-Morgana?" Yuuri surprisingly yells.

"Sorry. There's something I need to check." He hurriedly asserts before leaving the room.

"What was that about?" Ryuji sending the door a questionable look.

"I don't know."

"We should turn on the television." Futaba suddenly demands. Her phone now to the side as he stares at the two boys across from her.

"Why?" Ryuji's face slightly twisting in confusion.

"Because they're going to be spectating on the World Figure Skating Championship soon right? Bet Yuuri would like to watch it."

"What?"

"That's in a few hours though." Ryuji groans.

"I wouldn't mind watching some of the preliminary skating and practice skate." Yusuke chimes in. "They would make excellent sketches."

"It's settled then. Three against one." She motions to her hand holding three fingers up. Both Yuuri and Ryuji share twin shocked faces as Futaba snatches the remote, clicking on the large television. A triumphant grin on her face. Yusuke and Futaba agreeing to something without some type of bickering is almost short of a miracle.

Gibberish fills the room as the channels flash by in a blur. It finally stops on a Tokyo news station which seems to be talking about the traffic earlier that day. A few non fatal crashes and a construction making the traffic slow. After a short black screen appears before a loud music number comes from the television shortly followed by two woman dressed in suits seated in front of a fancy blue background.

"It's a special day for ice skating fans in Japan today isn't it Mari?"

"Indeed it is Maya. Later today is the start of the worlds. And hopefully new beginnings and journeys for the skaters of today."

There's a slight nudge on Yuuri's left shoulder as the blond's face appears in his perifial vision. He turns slightly, his eyes on his firend while his faces the television in mock interest. He's sure there's going to be a comment about him not being at the worlds.

"I thought she didn't like ice skating."

He shrugs unsure exactly what to tell him. "I did too but I guess she does."

At that, the subject drops as if it's the end of the conversation. He would rather be distracted with talking with Ryuji than watching but Ryuji seems to lost the interest at the weirdness Futaba displayed. His eyes glazed and idly following with the new casters.

"-a's on the scene to tell us more."

"Ah hello! We're live at the National Stadium in Yoygoi, only a few hours from the Worlds." An overly cheery man in a black suit stands a little ways from the stadium. A few random people mill about on the pale walkway and steep steps. Sun bounces off the curved metallic roof with a bright blue sky and cotton-candy-like clouds framing the upper part of the shot.

"Several skaters have already arrived such as Christophe Giacometti, Otabeck Atlin, Seung Gil Lee, and Viktor Nikiforov. Competition is expected to be fierce here today with Nikiforov in first place by a thirty point lead. Everyone is wondering if this will be his fifth consecutive win for the Russian skater or if Giacometti or even Atlin will be able to take the title from him. E-"

"Not if Viktor has anything to say about it." Futaba overlays. A smug look is on her face as hands rapidly tap the keyboard, her eyes staring down at her phone but occasionally peering up at the screen.

"You act as if you know that for a fact." The blond mumbles.

"I do know it for a fact" she shoots back. "I've got my sources." She replies to the unspoken rebuttal.

"-king like a promising win. This is-" A piercing scream startles the anchor, his body whipping behind as to spot the threat. But to anyone watching to screen its obvious. A limp black haired figure barely swinging from a silver pole.

There's more screams as more people spot the body, as well as shouts and yells. The anchor seems stunned as the camera slightly zooms in to the front of the building as several official looking people come flooding out the doors.

The body swings a little more before suddenly dropping. Another shrill rings out as it falls, the camera pulling away before the impact. A chorus of cacophony signaling the end of the fall.

"Holy shit" a voice beside Yuuri exclaims.

"Was it my imagination or ?" Yusuke starts before turning to Yuuri wide eyed.

"I don't think so. Futaba rewind the television."

She he gives Yuuri a bewildered look as she grabs the remote. The television spins with multiple colors as it reverses.

"Wait! Stop right there. Play it."

There's a momentary shock as the footage plays back. Nothing for seconds, then suddenly a body hanging from an intricate metal beam. It's legs twisted around the support bars in unnatural shapes.

"N-No way."

"It just phased into reality."

"Like a ghost."

"..."

The four of them nervously glance at each other. The easy going atmosphere in the room plummeting in quiet tenseness.

"The feed wasn't tempered with." Futaba states, glancing down at her phone before frowning. " The feed was live."

"How would you know that?", Ryuj gestures at the TV. "Couldn't this be a publicity stunt?"

"I don't see how this could be fake." Yusuke stated, his eyebrows knitted in thought.

"It's kinda hard to make a body suddenly appear out of thin air Ryuji." She glances up from the phone to Ryuji.

"It's not easy to photoshop something on video much less one that's live."

"Ugh I don't need your help proving I'm right Inari"

"Just trying to help"

"Well stop."

"If it's not fake then how did it get there?"

"No idea"

"There isn't a clear indication-"

"Then how do we know it's fake? It could've came from anywhere right?"

"We both just stated it's not fake."

"Then where did it come from then? This is seriously freaking me out"

"What if..." Yuuri says quietly, mostly to himself. It's only a few ticks of the clock before he realizes the room has gone quiet and three others look expectantly at him. Waiting for him to finish. He swallows before continuing "What if we already knew where it came from? What if it came from... "

"...the metaverse." he finishes lamely. At first the idea seemed feasible when he first thought of it, but now with three pairs of eyes on him, he felt silly for bringing it up.

"The metaverse disappeared though didn't it?"

"I mean we could always ask Morgana if he's seen anything going on."

"Yeah we could always ask him, but didn't he go wondering off with Sojiro?"

"Isn't there an easier way to check?"

As if that sentence was the signal, an unusual ring came from the phone only a few inches from Yuuri's fingers. The room fell eerily silent as the forgotten television buzzed in the background. All eyes set on the little black phone. His voice quivering and distant as he picked up his phone.

"I suppose there's a way to find out, right?"