Yu chuckled and shook his head as he finished cleaning the dishes from dinner. "Are you sure this is all you want as the prize for winning Nanako? You did answer the last question first after all."
"Yeah, and it was fun playing with you." Nanako smiled. "Can we play again sometime?"
"Of course, we can." Yu smiled. "Maybe next time I'll get more questions right."
"You two will have to find out next time." Dojima chuckled. "Though it's getting late so we should all head to sleep."
Yu nodded at that before heading up to his room while Nanako looked down thoughtfully.
"Do you think he had fun dad?" Nanako asked him.
Dojima closed his eyes at that. "Yeah, I think he's lucky to have something to take his mind off of things."
Nanako nodded at that with a smile before going to her own room.
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"Oh, sorry." Yukiko mentioned quickly before running under Yu's umbrella as the two of them walked to Yasogami. "I was thinking about what you and Yosuke said yesterday, did I create that King?"
Yu paused hearing that. "I'm not sure… maybe the Shadows adapt to their location, kind of like animals?"
"That would make sense, and…" Yukiko started only to pause. "Oh… I'm not intruding, am I? I should have probably asked before forcing myself under your umbrella like this."
"It's alright Yukiko, I don't mind, and you don't want to walk all the way in the rain." Yu pointed out.
"Oh, well thank you Yu." Yukiko smiled softly only to look down.
"Yukiko, is something wrong?" Yu asked noticing that.
"Oh, no it's just… It's supposed to rain tonight, and I was just hoping if someone does show up, we're ready to save them." Yukiko explained.
Yu shuddered slightly before nodding. "Yeah."
"Sorry, I just…" Yukiko started only for Yu to shake his head.
"No, you're right." Yu admitted. "We can save people… so that… it doesn't happen again."
"Yeah, we will." Yukiko nodded in agreement.
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"Huh, oh Dojima-san." Adachi mentioned. "Do you think the perp's next victim will show up on that tonight?"
"It's possible, the weather report claims we'll have rain well into the night." Dojima replied before sighing. "Then again with Yukiko Amagi's survival there's no guarantee the perp will try the same method again."
"That's true, then again if the method is a complex as we think it is, they might just try it again anyway." Adachi pointed out. "I mean, the victims appear on that Midnight Channel… and somehow I can…"
"I know Adachi." Dojima told him. "The pieces do add up and if you take into account the location of the bodies that's even more proof but knowing the method in this case doesn't get us any closer to the actual murderer."
"What do you mean, if we know the method that's a huge help in figuring out who…" Adachi started only to pause. "Wait, if the victim shows up after they're already inside it would be too late for us to catch the perp in the act and take him into custody."
"Exactly." Dojima nodded only to close his eyes in thought. "What we need is a way to identify the victim ahead of time. A pattern to the murders that could point us towards the killer's next target before they're put in danger."
"I feel the same way Dojima-san, the only question is what kind of pattern is there between the victims. It just feels like happenstance at this point."" Adachi pointed out only for Dojima to sigh.
"I know, for now we just need to keep our eyes open." he mentioned quietly.
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"It's really coming down." Yosuke mentioned looking out of the classroom window. "Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?"
"Yeah, someone's probably going to show up tonight." Chie agreed.
Yu shuddered slightly hearing that before shaking his head. "Well we managed to rescue Yukiko so we should be able to rescue someone again right?"
"Well, hopefully your uncle can keep anyone else from ending up in the TV." Yukiko admitted. "But if someone does end up there, we'll be able to save them."
"Of course we can, though ideally nobody will end up in there and things will work out." Yosuke pointed out as Yu, Yukiko, and Chie nodded in agreement.
"For now the only thing we can do is keep our eyes on the Midnight Channel and make sure we're prepared." Yu admitted only to slightly flinch.
"It'll work out, I'm sure of it." Chie reassured him with a grin.
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"My apologies for coming in so late today Dojima-san, I had a thought regarding the case and wanted to look into it." Naoto mentioned calmly. "I may have found a possible link between the victims."
"Another link?" Dojima inquired. "What do you have Shirogane?"
"The first victim, Mayumi Yamano appeared on TV after the news report related to her affair with Taro Namatame. The second victim Saki Konishi appeared during an interview due to discovering miss Yamano's body." Naoto answered. "Finally, I checked and there was a short interview with Yukiko Amagi regarding the Amagi Inn which also referenced the death of Mayumi Yamano."
"I get it, you're suggesting that the catalyst for someone showing up on that Midnight Channel and being picked as a potential victim is that they're on TV first." Dojima summarized. "It could be how the perp is deciding his victims but there are still parts of this case we need to figure out."
"I concur, the most pressing is discovering what exactly this Midnight Channel is and how the killer is able to make use of it." Naoto nodded only to frown.
"You have a point, but that's easier said than done." Dojima pointed out. "For now, we just need to keep our eyes open in case any other victims show up."
Naoto nodded at that before closing his eyes in thought. "In that case it may benefit us to head to our respective homes and keep our eyes on the television."
"Yeah." Dojima whispered only to sigh. "This case just gets more complicated by the minute. Hopefully we'll be able to make some headway in solving it soon."
"I feel the same way Dojima-san." Naoto mentioned calmly.
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Yu frowned before glancing up at the rain before walking into the Dojima residence only for his eyes to widen slightly seeing Nanako and Dojima sitting together. "Uncle?"
"Dad came home early today." Nanako explained with a smile only to pause. "He said he might have to do some more police work though."
"Just a bit of paperwork, I should be able to do it at home and honestly having a decent meal with you two and getting some sleep might help clear my head." Dojima explained.
"That makes sense." Yu nodded before sitting with them only to turn to the TV.
"Young men recklessly riding their motorcycles, disturbing the peace of a quiet rural town." a male voice reported. "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?" questioned a distorted figure only for Yu's eyes to widen.
"Huh, isn't that… Kanji Tatsumi?" Yu asked in shock.
"That's right." Dojima nodded thoughtfully only to frown. "I thought he was starting to go to school."
"This ain't a show! Get bent!" Kanji snapped at the reporter as Dojima sighed.
"I have a feeling that's not even close to the whole story, the media can really affect how you see people." Dojima pointed out.
"What does that mean dad?" Nanako asked him curiously.
"They're making him out to be a member of the motorcycle gang that was keeping everyone up, you probably heard about the noise at school." Dojima answered. "Though if I'm remembering right, the reason he gets in trouble is because he keeps picking fights with them for keeping his poor mother up all night."
"He sounds like a nice person." Nanako smiled.
"Well, when you put it that way I would agree, he just takes things too far. His heart is in the right place but he's too violent in how he tries to solve things." Dojima explained before stretching. "I'll be back in a bit, anything special you two want from Aiya? I figured something other than sushi might be a nice change for today."
"That sounds great, thanks uncle." Yu said calmly.
Dojima just smiled before walking out of the house to get the food.
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"Dinner was really good dad." Nanako smiled.
"She's right, it tasted amazing." Yu agreed.
Dojima chuckled at that. "If you both liked it that much maybe we should consider having it more often."
"Yeah." Nanako nodded happily.
"What do you think, is it worth having Aiya over sushi on occasion?" Dojima inquired turning to Yu.
"I think so." Yu nodded before getting up. "I'll see you two tomorrow, good night."
"Night." Nanako mentioned before Yu walked back up to his room.
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Naoto frowned before glancing at a nearby clock. "11:58, if there is any truth to this Midnight Channel rumor, I'll find out soon."
He closed his eyes before gently shaking his head as he sat in a chair and turned to the TV as the minutes passed. Eventually to his shock the screen appeared to turn itself on and a silhouette of what appeared to be a young man was clearly visible.
"What in the world? Wait, that posture and build… I see, so the individuals who appear on this Midnight Channel are the ones who…" he started before his phone started to ring. "Yes, Shirogane speaking."
"I know, and I'm guessing you saw it then?" Dojima inquired. "The silhouette that appeared on the screen?"
"Yes, and I have to admit this is unlike anything I've ever witnessed before." Naoto replied thoughtfully. "Still, and this may just be meaningless conjecture due to his appearance on TV earlier today, but I believe the individual we saw was Kanji Tatsumi."
"Now that you mention it, there was definitely a resemblance. Then again it might be us projecting something we saw earlier onto the image that appeared on the screen." Dojima admitted. "Still, it wouldn't hurt to have someone talk with him and see if anything unusual happened recently."
"I concur, I should be able to talk with him tomorrow." Naoto mentioned calmly. "Good night."
"Night." Dojima replied as the two of them hung up the phones.
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Yu was frowning having just seen someone appear on the Midnight Channel as his phone started to ring. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." Yosuke mentioned. "You saw it just now, right?"
"Yeah, someone definitely was on the Midnight Channel." Yu replied.
"Yeah, a guy this time… but I couldn't tell who it was." Yosuke admitted. "What about you?"
Yu closed his eyes at that trying to picture the image he had just seen. "I'm not sure, it was a really blurry image."
"It was the same for me." Yosuke sighed. "Well, someone definitely did show up. The four of us should meet up at Junes tomorrow and figure out what we should do."
"That makes sense." Yu nodded only to frown. "Yosuke, do you think that…"
"Don't even think about something like that partner, we pulled it off once and with the four of us working together we'll do it again." Yosuke interjected.
Hearing that Yu just smiled. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Yosuke."
"Don't mention it, but we should both get some rest." Yosuke mentioned. "See you tomorrow."
"See you." Yu replied before hanging up only to frown and turn towards the TV again only to shake his head before heading to get some sleep.
(Someone new has appeared on the Midnight Channel and Naoto has his suspicions as to who that individual might have been, while the members of the Investigation Team are planning on trying to figure it out for themselves. Next chapter Naoto will speak with Kanji and the members of the Investigation Team will begin trying to get one step ahead of the mysterious killer. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)