"See you at home, Francis-san." Nanako says to Francis as the two say their goodbyes.
Francis looks up into the sky, staring into what seems to be countless streams of clouds. He wonders about the dreams that he had in the last two nights.
"It will be fine." He mumbles in English.
As he walks to school, Francis hears someone coming from behind him. "Get outta the way!"
As Francis turns around, he sees a male student riding a bike. The bike passes through him and falls flat onto the floor. The rider manages to jump off, and roll for a bit before coming to a halt.
As the rider groans in pain, two male students walk past Francis and chatter.
"Hanamura fell off his bike again?"
"Should we help him?"
"Nah, it keeps happening anyway."
Seeing the rider struggling to get up, Francis walks up to him. As he looks down on the rider, he thinks with humor. "That is a misfortune…"
"You okay?" Francis asks.
"I am good. Thank you." The rider responds as he slowly gets up. From his tone, Francis almost hears a hint of surprise.
"I see." Francis looks over to his bag. "I am just gonna help you out."
"Really?" The rider, who is a teenager with brown hair, looks at Francis with surprise.
After Francis helps him out, the rider introduces himself.
"Hanamura." "Yamada."
Hanamura… looks average, with brown hair as his only distinct feature. His hair does go down pretty low, past his ears and above his chin.
"You wanna walk together?"
With Hanamura offering, Francis decides to accept.
As they walk, Hanamura complains. "I guess this is karma for the abuse I put this bike through.
He then talks to Francis with a pleasing tone. "Kinda rare for a total stranger to help me though."
Francis asks Hanamura curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Well, people in town have been weird lately. Most people seem to not bother helping others, even when they are not strangers."
Francis arrives at school soon enough. After parting with Hanamura, Francis follows the instructions he was given prior and goes over to the faculty office. There, he meets his homeroom teacher.
"So you are the transfer student?" A middle-aged man with a slim build and a balding hairline scowls at Francis. He then gets up and makes his way out of the office. "Well, what are you waiting for, let's go!"
Francis looks around nervously as he follows the teacher. He looks outside to see a soccer field and several other buildings.
As he follows the teacher into the class, he takes a moment to look at his new classmates. To his surprise, he sees a familiar face.
"All right, shut your traps!" As the teacher shouts, the students quiet down and get back to their seats.
"I am your teacher, Mooroka Kinshiro!"
Mr. Mooroka proceeds to blabber on about purity or something before moving on to Francis.
"This sad sack here has been thrown here from the big city." Mooroka says as he turns to Francis, whose eyes widen.
Mooroka then continues shouting. "He's just as much a loser there as he is here, so none of you girls better try to hit on him! Tell your name, and make it quick!"
Francis takes a deep breath. He then speaks humorously. "That hurts."
"I am Yamada Francis, by the way."
"Sensei!" Chie, who is dressed in what seems to be the same green tracksuit from Daidara, calls out as she raises her hand. "Can he sit next to me?"
"You heard her, hurry up!" Mooroka shouts.
As Francis gets closer to her seat, Chie greets him playfully, "Hello, Francis-san."
"Hello, Chie-san." Francis then proceeds to sit down. "Lovely teacher you got there." He says playfully.
"Nah, he's the worst." Chie grumbles.
"That was sarcasm." Francis says awkwardly.
"What's that?" Chie looks at him with a confused face.
"Nothing. Western humor." Francis says awkwardly.
"Anyways, we just have to hang through the year, and then we could get a better teacher." Chie continues speaking with enthusiasm.
"Better than him might not be much of an improvement." Francis replies while gesturing to Mooroka.
Chie chuckles. "You aren't wrong there."
School passes by slowly as always. During lunchtime, everybody goes off on their own. As Francis makes his way to the cafeteria, someone calls out to him from behind.
"Yo!" He turns over to see the biker, Hanamura, he helped in the morning. "Since you are alone, wanna go with me?"
Seeing no other options, Francis accepts. As they have lunch in the cafeteria, Francis learns that Hanamura transferred last year, and that his father manages Junes, a major supermarket in town.
Meanwhile, Francis tells him about Dojima and Nanako, and about his time in America.
"Sen Ho-Se?" Hanamura struggles to pronounce the city.
"Close enough." Francis replies.
As school goes on, an announcement for the faculty to gather plays.
"All students please stay in class until told otherwise."
"Ya hear that? Stay here until told otherwise!" Mooroka says before leaving.
"This is gonna get old soon." Francis says with humor.
As Francis sits alone in class, police sirens can be heard coming from outside. Students gather round the window to take a look at what happened.
As students chatter, Francis remembers about the great misfortune Igor told him about.
"Just great." Francis talks to himself in English.
"Francis-san." Hearing the familiar voice, Francis responds by turning over. As his eyes match the talker, Chie keeps speaking.
"Moroo-kin said you were from the big city, but you said you were from the US?"
"Moroo-kin?" Francis asks humorously. "I take it he's popular."
"Nah, a lot of students complain about him." After Chie says that, she looks at Francis for a bit before what he said clicks. "Oh, meat!"
"Meat?" Francis looks at Chie with confusion. "Skin meat. Sarcasm. Right."
"Sorry. I am just a meat lover." Chie says bashfully.
"You are going to love the US then." Francis replies playfully. "We have all types of meats there."
Chie looks at Francis for a bit.
"What?" Francis blurts out as his heart races.
"Is that skin meat?" Chie asks.
Francis chuckles. "No it's not."
"Sorry. I am not particularly bright." Chie says nervously.
"No worries. I actually…" Francis takes a quick gulp, not wanting to have Chie notice his pause. "Find it quite cute."
Chie's face turns red as she says bashfully. "Thank you."
"Attention all students," The announcement cuts the conversation short. It goes into how there are police officers around the school area right now, and that students should inform their parents and head home early.
"Well, I think we better get going then. See you tomorrow, Francis-san." Chie says before preparing to leave. WIth no other choice, Francis greets her farewell.
As Francis walks out the school, he thinks to himself in English. "Is this the great misfortune?"
As he arrives at the school entrance, he sees Chie and another girl approached by a male student. The male student calls out to Chie's partner and asks her out.
"Gonna give the guy credit for balls." Francis thinks to himself.
As the guy runs away, Francis hears students around him talk about some challenge. Ignoring them, Francis keeps on walking.
As he keeps on walking, Francis notices Chie and a group of students, mostly boys and a single girl, walking together. The boys then say goodbye to the girl before leaving.
Chie and the other girl continue walking in front of Francis. The words Igor said to him prior come back to him all of a sudden.
"Ponder your feelings and make your decisions wisely."
Deciding it would be weirder if they turn around and see him following them, Francis makes a brave call.
"Oh, Francis-san. So you are going the same way." Chie says in surprise as Francis walks up to her and her friend.
"I don't think we met." Francis asks the other girl.
"I am Amagi. Yamada, correct?"
Amagi is a beautiful girl with long silky hair and fair white skin, very much like a princess out of a fairytale. She also wears a unique design of the school uniform, which is red rather than the usual black. Her hair is also held back by a pink-colored hairband.
After introducing herself, Amagi looks over to Chie, "Are you two already on a first name basis?" She asks curiously.
"Nah, Francis-san is just from the US and he's more used to the first name basis so I decided to call him that way." Chie says playfully.
As the trio continues walking, Chie looks back to Francis. "Oh ya, you never did answer my question about where you are from."
"I was born in the US. I lived there for a couple of years before moving to Tokyo for about a year and then to Inaba."
"A few days ago." Chie says playfully.
"A few days ago. What about you, are you from Inaba, Chie-san?"
"Born here, lived here. Yukiko too." Chie says as she looks over to Amagi. "Say, Francis-san, Don't you think Yukiko's cute?" Chie asks Francis with an energetic tone.
"Chie!" Amagi says bashfully.
"She is." Francis replies with as much confidence as he can muster.
"I know, right! Yet she never had a boyfriend before. So weird."
"Chie!" Amagi shouts bashfully. "I just never met anyone I am interested in, that's all."
"I am pretty sure guys will line up to be with you, Amagi-san." Francis compliments her.
"Thank you. I am very busy, unfortunately." Amagi replies calmly.
"Oh ya, I don't know if you know or heard of the Amagi inn?" Chie asks, her tone as energetic as usual.
"I assume Amagi's family runs it?" Francis replies.
"That's right. It's one of the main attractions in Inaba. Not that there's a lot of attractions here." Chie continues.
"I can see that." Francis says. "Well, you guys do have a smithy in the middle of town. I would say that's pretty interesting."
"I know right!" Chie says with enthusiasm, her energy somehow perking up. "So few people appreciate martial arts nowadays. There's nothing more satisfying than overcoming a difficult trial with your own power and becoming stronger." As Chie says that, she makes a stance resembling a famous American martial artist.
"I would love to practice with you. I am a lover of martial arts myself." Francis takes the chance to say.
"Really?" Chie looks over with a surprised face. "Well, we might want to get some safety gear, and I am definitely up for some training."
"After that, we can go to Aiya, the beef bowls there are superb!" Chie keeps on going with energy. "Yukiko can join us too!"
"Uh, I am afraid beef bowls are too heavy for me." Yukiko responds gloomily.
As Amagi talks, Francis notices indistinct chatter coming from ahead.
"What's going on?" Chie looks at the crowd curiously.
"Did you hear? They found a dead body hanging over the antenna!"
"A dead body?" Chie says nervously.
"Mystery…" Francis mumbles in English.
"Francis!" A familiar voice calls out. Dojima approaches the trio and starts asking about Francis' situation.
"Your school should have told you to get home as soon as possible." Dojima stresses the statement.
"Yes. My place is over there." Francis says awkwardly as he points past the crime scene the police have set up.
Dojima sighs. "Stay safe, okay?"
Dojima then turns back to the crime scene as he calls out for somebody.
"Right. Like I said, I am going over there." Francis turns over to Chie and Amagi.
"Yeah, Yukiko and I are heading in the opposite direction. See you at school." The trio say their goodbyes and go their separate ways.