"Oh, you two are back early." Dojima noted. "Was Junes busy tonight?"
"No, there was a problem so they had to close early." Yu explained. "Though one of the employees said he'd let us know when things were working again so we could head back."
"I see, well that's disappointing." Dojima mentioned thoughtfully. "Then again there's plenty of time for you two to go to Junes together this year."
"Yeah, you promise we'll go?" Nanako asked.
"Of course, we're definitely going to Junes together." Yu answered with a smile. "Well, good night."
"Good night Yu." Dojima said quietly as Yu walked up to his room. Still with everything he's been through I only hope this year turns out better, he thought.
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"Yes miss Yamano, please feel free to stay for as long as you'd like." said a woman in a kimono.
"I appreciate that Mrs. Amagi, though I would suggest you pay more attention to your employees, I caught one of them rummaging through my belongings earlier." miss Yamano stated. "A young girl."
"Are you absolutely certain?" Mrs. Amagi inquired. "I'm certain there must have been a misunderstanding."
"I assure you there was no misunderstanding." miss Yamano insisted. "Someone was looking through my personal belongings. Now, I'll be returning to my room but I trust this matter will be taken care of?"
"I'll speak with her." Mrs. Amagi replied before miss Yamano walked off. "I understand her situation but we're doing all that we can to help her."
"Mother, are you alright?" Yukiko inquired. "You look pale."
"I'm alright, just a littleā¦" Mrs. Amagi started to say before collapsing.
"Mother?" Yukiko asked nervously. "Someone help me get her to her room."
"Of course." replied another woman in a kimono.
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"Oh Nanako, did your dad go to work today?" Yu inquired.
"Yeah, dad goes to work early a lot." Nanako explained. "Are you going out again?"
"I want to get a bit more used to Inaba." Yu replied. "I'll be back later tonight."
"Ok." Nanako mentioned before turning on the TV.
Maybe I'll head back to the shopping district and see if I can learn anything, Yu thought walking out of the house.
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"Huh, oh do I know you?" asked a man in a suit. "Wait, do you know Dojima-san?"
"Yeah, he's my uncle." Yu answered. "Do you know him?"
"You could say that, I'm his partner." the man explained. "My name's Adachi."
"Well it's nice to meet you Adachi-san." Yu said.
"The same, well I need to get back to work." Adachi mentioned. "Maybe I'll see you around town."
"Maybe." Yu agreed before Adachi walked off. Huh, isn't that Yukiko?
"I hope this will help her." Yukiko said thoughtfully. "Oh Yu-kun."
"Is everything alright Yukiko?" Yu asked.
"Not entirely, my mother collapsed earlier today and so I was picking up some things for her." Yukiko mentioned.
"Oh I'm sorry to hear that." Yu mentioned. "Is she going to be alright?"
"I hope so, and thanks for saying that." Yukiko replied. "Well I should head back."
"Alright, tell your mom I hope she feels better." Yu said.
"I will, thank you." Yukiko said before walking off.
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"There you are, what were you doing Adachi?" Dojima questioned.
"Sorry about that Dojima-san." Adachi apologized. "On yeah, I thought your nephew was coming tomorrow."
"There was a change of plans." Dojima explained quickly.
"Do you mind if I ask what happened?" Adachi inquired.
"Yu was nearly killed when he was younger, his best friend wasn't so lucky though." Dojima mentioned. "The experience was bad and I'd rather not get into it. Long story short, five people were found murdered near his home a few days ago and an X marked with their blood was on his door. He came early for his own safety."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." Adachi said quietly. "Did they ever find out who the culprit was?"
"For the first crime yeah, and he's in jail now. As for the new one I haven't heard anything about it, but I plan on making sure he doesn't have to relive that again." Dojima answered thoughtfully. "Still, I hope things this year are calmer for him."
"Yeah, so do I." Adachi agreed quietly. "Maybe he'll make friends and it can take his mind off of it."
"Maybe, well for now we're heading out." Dojima said calmly.
"Right behind you Dojima-san." Adachi mentioned as the two of them left the station.
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"Look you punks, didn't you learn last time?" snapped a blonde boy as a group rode off on motorcycles. "Stay down this time. Huh, what are you looking at?"
"Kanji, what are you doing now?" asked an old lady before she walked up next to him. "Oh, and who are you young man?"
"My name's Yu Narukami. I just moved to town yesterday." Yu explained.
"Well it's very nice to meet you Yu." the woman said. "This is my son Kanji."
"Huh, don't just go introducing me to total strangers like that." Kanji snapped.
"I'm sorry for his behavior, would you like to come in for a minute?" Kanji's mother asked politely.
"No thank you, I'm just trying to get used to Inaba." Yu mentioned. "Well it was nice meeting you two."
Just as Yu said that a gunshot sounded in the distance and he immediately started shaking.
"What the, who's shooting here?" Kanji questioned. "Hey are you alright?"
"Huh, isn't that your nephew Dojima-san?" Adachi questioned as the two of them ran up.
"Yeah, it is. Come on Yu let's get back home." Dojima reassured him. "Adachi, see if you can find out anything about those three that got away."
"Right, I'll let you know if we get any leads Dojima-san." Adachi stated calmly.
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"Nanako, we're back." Dojima called.
"Oh dad." Nanako answered with a smile before noticing Yu was still shaking. "What's wrong?"
"Thieves, they stole a weapon." Dojima explained. "Nobody was injured and we'll catch them soon enough. You remember what I said before right?"
"Huh?" Nanako asked. "Is he ok?" (1)
"I think so." Dojima said helping Yu to the couch. "Everything's alright now, you're safe at home Yu."
"Uncle?" Yu asked quietly.
"You've had a long day, you should head back and get some sleep." Dojima explained calmly.
"Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks uncle." Yu noted before going up to his own room.
"I'll be back in a little bit Nanako, I want to make sure things are alright at the station. I'll be back in a little bit." Dojima mentioned.
"Oh, ok." Nanako acknowledged sadly as Dojima walked out of the house.
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"Look, I already told you I won't sell them out." snapped a teenager.
"There's no reason for you to keep protecting them, you're already in enough trouble and you saw that one of them had a weapon. What would you do an innocent bystander was injured?" Adachi questioned.
"That won't happen, trust me on that." the teenager stated calmly as Dojima walked into the room. "What's this, the old man decided to come back?"
"Sorry Dojima-san, he's being stubborn." Adachi admitted. "I haven't been able to get anything out of him yet."
"What about the evidence we found at the scene?" Dojima inquired.
"Evidence, what evidence?" the teenager questioned nervously.
"Oh that, it's being processed right now." Adachi mentioned. "We should have something in an hour or so Dojima-san."
"I see." Dojima noted. "Let me know if anything comes up."
"Of course Dojima-san." Adachi mentioned.
"Ok, ok I'll tell you who they are." the teenager shouted nervously.
"Alright, we're listening." Dojima replied calmly.
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"Thank you very much, this should be perfect." Yukiko stated calmly. "Oh, where's Kanji-kun?"
"Huh, oh its you." Kanji mentioned walking past her.
"Is everything alright?" Yukiko asked. "There were a lot of police officers earlier, Kanji-kun didn't get in trouble did he?"
"No, there was a robbery and someone fired a gun. I think the detectives are investigating it." Kanji's mother explained politely.
"A gunshot, well I'm glad you two weren't hurt." Yukiko noted.
"Thank you, and be careful on your way home." Kanji's mother said as Yukiko walked out of the shop.
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"Oh hey miss Satonaka do you mind if I ask you something?" Yosuke asked walking up to Chie.
"Huh, what do you want Yosuke?" Chie inquired.
"Well it's just you were so adamant about the Trial of the Dragon movies I was wondering if I could borrow it to see for myself." Yosuke admitted.
"Hold on you're not just taking it so you can make fun of me are you?" Chie questioned.
"What, of course not." Yosuke stated. "I'm serious about watching the movie. You make it sound like it's the greatest thing in the world and so I figure why not take a look for myself."
"Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I'll lend it to you tomorrow and you can give it back after class." Chie suggested.
"Sure, that sounds great." Yosuke agreed. "Thanks."
"Yeah, well see you tomorrow Yosuke." Chie said before the two of them walked off.
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"Oh, good morning." Nanako said. "Are you feeling any better today?"
"I think so, where's your father?" Yu inquired.
"Dad left already." Nanako explained before turning on the TV.
"In other news, enka singer Misuzu Hiiragi recently filed for a divorce. Her husband, council secretary Taro Namatame was apparently having an affair with reporter Mayumi Yamano." stated a reporter. "Until this matter is resolved the network will be canceling all of Mayumi Yamano's television appearances."
"This is boring." Nanako mentioned before changing the channel. "Oh, what are you going to do?"
"I thought we could talk for a while and then maybe I'll head out after that." Yu said.
"Oh, ok." Nanako replied with a small smile. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Actually, do you mind if I ask you something?" Yu asked.
"I don't think so, what is it?" Nanako asked.
"Well it's just, I've been here for two days and haven't seen your mom." Yu mentioned before Nanako looked down sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry I shouldn't have brought it up."
"It's ok." Nanako mentioned before the phone started to ring. "I'll get it, hello Dojima-residence."
"Nanako, is Yu there?" Dojima inquired.
"Yeah." Nanako answered before handing Yu the phone. "It's dad."
"Yu, are you feeling any better today?" Dojima asked.
"I think so, thanks uncle." Yu replied.
"Alright, just let me know it you need anything." Dojima said.
"I will." Yu agreed.
"Alright, well I'll see you as soon as I can get home." Dojima mentioned before hanging up the phone.
"I really appreciate everything you and your father are doing Nanako." Yu thanked her.
"You're welcome." Nanako said thoughtfully. "Oh yeah, do you want to play cards?"
"Sure, that sounds like a great idea." Yu mentioned with a smile.
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"I'm glad your nephew is feeling better Dojima-san, hopefully we can catch those guys before anyone else gets hurt." Adachi noted.
"Yeah, I wish we had more than just nicknames to use but it's better than nothing." Dojima said.
"You have a point there." Adachi admitted. "Oh by the way, on my way into work I overheard someone mention that the announcer Mayumi Yamano was staying at the Amagi Inn, do you think those three might try to attack her?"
"I can't be certain, but it's definitely a possibility." Dojima acknowledged.
"In that case I could go keep an eye out for her." Adachi offered. "If anything happens I can let you know."
"Right." Dojima said before Adachi walked out of the station.
(Yu is continuing to meet people in Inaba, and Dojima is chasing a group of teenage criminals. Next chapter Yu will arrive at Yasogami and meet his homeroom teacher. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)
(1) (Yu's mother called Dojima to tell him about what had happened and why Yu was going to be arriving earlier than they had expected. Nanako overheard part of the conversation so she asked what happened and Dojima told her which is why she knows about Yu's fear.)
