"Did something good happen?"
Francis looks at Nanako, who smiles kindly and bashfully at him.
"Uh… Yeah. Something good did." Francis replies awkwardly at first, but gains confidence at the second sentence.
"That's great. Nanako was sad to see you sad." Nanako says kindly.
Francis stares at Nanako with wide eyes for a bit. He then regains his composure. "Thank you, Nanako-chan."
"You know, today at school…" Nanako begins talking to Francis, who listens to her speak attentively.
As the two talk, they hear the door open.
"I am home!" Dojima shouts from the door.
"Daddy!" Nanako says happily seeing Dojima enter.
Behind Dojima stands a young man with short bangs, dressed in a suit.
"Hello there, I am Adachi." Adachi introduces himself, his tone a mixture of fatigue and playfulness.
"Hello." Nanako greets Adachi shyly.
"I am Yamada. Nice to meet you." Francis also greets Aachi.
"Oh, you are the nephew, right?" Adachi says playfully. "Heard you just moved here from Tokyo. I came from another city myself. This place is really the slumps isn't it?"
"You aren't wrong there…" Francis agrees humorously.
"Sorry if this is too sudden." Dojima apologizes. "We got off early so I decided to invite him over for a bit."
"By the way," Dojima turns to Francis, "We managed to find Amagi Yukiko. Just thought you would wanna know since you were with her."
"That's great." Francis says with relief.
"Yamada, I heard you speak English fluently." Adachi speaks. "I happen to know some myself, can't say I am good at it though." Adachi speaks in English.
"You are like, way better than anyone I met in Japan, and even some in the US." Francis replies.
Adachi smiles with embarrassment. "Thank you. Haven't been praised like that in a long time. This sure is embarrassing." He continues in English.
"Well, I definitely can't speak it." Dojima says. "I suppose you can practice with him when you get the chance."
"You know, speaking of the Amagi girl." Adachi goes off in English. "It was actually pretty weird."
"Why so?" Francis asks.
Dojima slaps Adachi by the shoulder, causing Adachi to rub his shoulder.
"You know we are not supposed to talk about cases to civilians." Dojima scolds Adachi sternly.
"I thought you don't speak English?" Francis asks calmly.
"The word Amagi isn't English." Dojima replies in a deadpan manner.
Francis chuckles. "But still, can you tell me more about Yukiko's case?"
"Yukiko?" Dojima says while staring at Francis with wide eyes.
"I get around." Francis says while smiling awkwardly.
"Looks like you will be getting some soon." Adachi jokes in English.
"I hope so." Francis jests accordingly.
"Anyways," Francis switches and continues to talk to Dojima. "Can you please tell me about Yukiko? I am really worried about her."
Dojima sighs. "Very well. We asked Amagi about what happened, but she said she can't remember. We were also unable to track her while she was gone. It's almost as if she vanished completely."
"Maybe it was aliens?" Adachi jests in English.
"That would make this town more interesting." Francis jokes as well.
"What are you two saying?" Nanako asks with a sobby voice.
"Oh, sorry, Nanako-chan." Francis apologizes. "Adachi-san and I were just making some bad jokes."
"You would need some breaks if you work together with somebody like your father. The guy really works me to the core." Adachi jests in Japanese.
"I can work you harder, you know." Dojima says sternly.
"That's a good one." Francis says humorously before chuckling.
"It's not a joke." Dojima replies.
Francis looks over to Adachi and says with encouragement in English. "Hang in there, man."
"I will try." Adachi responds tiredly while grinning.
Adachi has dinner with the family before leaving.
The next day, Francis calls Hanamura to meet up somewhere near Samegawa Riverbank. As they do, Chie, who came with them, waits by the side as the boys talk.
"You feeling better?" Hanamura asks kindly.
"Thanks. You?" Francis replies awkwardly.
"Is something up?" Hanamura asks with concern.
Francis looks to the ground for a bit. He then takes a deep breath and looks back to Hanamura.
"This is about Konishi-san." Francis says sternly. Hanamura looks at him, as if waiting for him to explain.
"I thought you should know, but I was the one who agitated her Shadow. That was what got her killed." Francis says calmly before coming to a pause. He then continues, "I am sorry."
Hanamura looks away for a bit, his arms crossed and his eyes dropping with sadness. He then looks back to Francis, his face still expressing sadness.
"I pretty much thought something like that happened. You did tell me to not put my hands in the TV while someone is on. Truth be told, I think you saved her, or at least helped me save her."
Francis can't help but smile. Realizing what he's doing, Francis apologizes. "Sorry, it's just Izanagi said something similar."
Hanamura and Francis smile at one another.
"Thank you, Hanamura, for forgiving me." Francis says.
"Thank you too, for giving me and Saki a chance to open up to one another." Hanamura then pats Francis on the shoulder, gesturing to Chie as he does.
"Now, I believe your dear Chie has something to say to you." He jests, prompting Francis to smile awkwardly.
As Hanamura walks away, he mocks Chie as well. "Don't scare him off now."
Chie ignores Hanamura and walks up to Francis.
"What's up?" Francis says with a tone combined with awkwardness and humor.
Chie looks to the ground for a bit before looking back to Francis.
"Let's take a walk."
Chie and Francis take a walk around town, with Chie looking forward as they do.
"Hanamura forgave you?" Chie looks back to Francis and asks with concern.
"Looks so." Francis says. "I can't blame him if he's angry though."
"He's nice. Annoying, but nice." Chie says kindly.
"You two get along well." Francis jests.
"Are you…" Chie pauses, looking down as she does. She then looks up again, revealing a playful smile and blushing cheeks. "Are you jealous?"
Francis pauses, staring at Chie with surprise.
"Never mind. Don't answer that." Chie says quickly before looking back to the road.
The two continue to walk as silence hangs between them.
"Is Yukiko feeling better?" Francis asks with concern.
"Why? What's it to you?" Chis replies with annoyance, coming to a halt as she does.
Francis stares at her with wide eyes.
As if realizing what she just said, Chie turns around to face Francis, her cheeks flushing red. "Sorry, I am still... you know…." She says meekly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to annoy you with the question. It's just…"
"It's pretty awkward, isn't it? The silence." Chie cuts Francis off. She looks at the ground for a bit with wide eyes, blushing as she does.
"Sorry. I know you care for her." Chie apologizes while looking at Francis.
"Yukiko's fine. Don't worry. Need a while to recover, but fine." Chie says calmly, although her eyes look away from Francis.
Chie then turns around again.
"You okay, Chie?" Francis asks with concern.
No response.
"Is this about what happened in the TV?" Francis keeps asking. "Did I make you uncomfortable somehow?" Francis asks anxiously.
Chie turns around to face Francis. She then takes a deep breath.
"I wanna talk about us."
Chie pauses for a long while, looking away from Francis as she does. At the side, Francis can make out that her cheeks are beet red. Francis looks away after a while as well, crossing his arms as he does.
"Chie, I am sorry if I scared you somehow. I just…"
"Of course you scared me!" Chie shouts anxiously, cutting Francis off. Francis stares at Chie, fear and worry in his eyes.
"I held you as you slowly went cold in front of me! You almost died, in order to protect me! You stood in front of me while my Shadow was ready to blast you with some ice laser or something! You were so scared, and yet you went back into TV for my sake! Not to mention, even after protecting me, I betrayed you and left you alone!"
As Chie goes on, Francis can see fear and worry in her eyes, emotions that are also apparent in her voice. After shouting, Chie comes to a pause.
"And then you decided to risk your life to save Yukiko too. Do you just have a hero complex or something?" Chie asks with slight anger apparent in her voice.
"Well, I do. But that only applies for…"
"Wait." Chie cuts Francis off. "I don't need to hear the rest." She pauses, looking away and blushing. A small smile appears on her face. "My heart can't take it…" She says weakly.
"I wanted to be a hero too, you know." Chie says fondly while looking at the sky. "To protect the weak and punish evil. But I wasn't ready to die for that."
"I suppose that's another common thing we share, huh?" Chie asks while smiling kindly at Francis, who smiles back while his eyes droop.
"But." Chie pauses, smiling as she does. "Enough about other people. Let's talk about us."
Francis smiles rigidly, with arms crossed and his hands fumbling his jacket.
"I think it's no secret what we… you know… when it comes to each other." Chie says bashfully.
"But I don't think I can… you know… with you." Chie goes on.
Francis stares at Chie. As he does, he feels lightheaded.
"I am not rejecting you, Francis." Chie goes on. "I am just not ready to have a… you know…"
Francis simply listens to Chie, with no words coming to his mind.
"Can I see you more often?" Chie says cheerfully while smiling.
Francis feels as if he is alive again. He takes a quick breath, trying to collect himself.
'Yes. Yes. Of course you can." Francis answers Chie awkwardly.
"I want to know more about you. Not just the heroic you that protects people in the TV. But the you who goes to school everyday to study. The you that likes kungfu training. The you that makes bad jokes."
Chie pauses. As she does, Francis can feel himself burn hotter than when he was trying to save Yukiko. Chie then keeps on going, her voice confident
"I want you to know me as well. The me that struggles at school. The me who trains by herself at the riverbank. The me that likes kungfu movies and meat. I want to show you everything."
Chie pauses and takes a breath. She then walks closer to Francis and matches her gaze with his. As their gazes match, Francis burns up. As he does, he sees Chie smiling happily, while her cheeks have been blushing red for quite a while now.
"Francis, ai ravu yu."