Sorry for the late chapter, I got busy with work and life!
3
13, April, 2011
Yuri let out a yawn as she slowly stirred a pan full of egg. She was making Omurice for breakfast, something quick and easy for the three of them. Dojima had headed out earlier that morning, how he was able to function with such little sleep she'd never know. It didn't bother her as much as it did her cousin.
"Wow! You know how to cook Omurice?" Nanako exclaimed as she came into the kitchen.
"I do, would you like to help make yours?" Yuri gently asked, "I know what Yu and I like in ours, but I don't know what vegetables or sauces you like."
Yuri had worried that she'd overstep a boundary, but the bright smile sent her way by a happy Nanako made it all worth it. The girl found a foot stool and placed it next to the small stove. Yuri started to talk about the steps she took to get the egg the right consistency and the pan the right temperature. Nanako intensely listened and seemed to nod whenever Yuri said something that had answered a mental question she had. The small girl hopped off her stool to bring the plate of rice closer for her cousin, missing the sad expression on the taller girl's face. Yuri wondered if that was what it was like to have a younger sibling. She quickly forced the expression away and placed Nanako's egg on top of her rice, just as Yu was coming down the stairs. He looked half awake, for once he understood how his sister needed a few minutes to just wake up in the mornings.
Breakfast was a quiet affair, Nanako not really knowing what to say to the older teens and them being naturally quiet. They headed their separate ways for school that morning and Yu let out a yawn as they walked down the main road with the other students.
"Usually I'm the night owl," Yuri quietly teased, and he gently elbowed her side.
They blinked when the student from the day before crashed his bike, falling headfirst into a trash can. Yuri was thankful for their poker faces because it had been funny to watch. Even as the other student cried out for help, it was a bit humorous. Yu stepped forward and pulled the trash can off the other students form and the teen let out a sound of relief before one of slight disgust.
"Thanks! You're a real life saviour," The student thanked before looking at the two of them, "that's right, you two are the transfer students."
"Are you okay?" Yuri asked.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine," The student said, a wide grin on his face. "I'm Hanamura Yosuke, nice to meet ya."
"Nice to meet you," Yuri and Yu said in unison.
"Do you two practice that?" Yosuke questioned, slightly creeped out.
It was made worse when they tilted their heads in unison. They had the exact same blank look. He found it so weird, but also a little cool. They began to slowly walk to school, the bike making a horrible clicking sound as Yosuke pushed it. Yuri wondered if he knew that the chain needed replacing.
"Did you hear about the incident from yesterday?" He asked them, "They found the body of that announcer lady hanging from an antenna. You think it's some kinda warning? There's no way something that weird could've been an accident."
"You might be right," Yu agreed.
"The strength needed to do that to a human body is nearly impossible to come by," Yuri muttered, her brows furrowed in thought.
"Dangling a dead body over a roof like that is just messed up," Yosuke commented not hearing Yuri's statement, "then again, it's pretty messed up to kill someone in the first place."
Yuri looked over to the side at a few of their fellow students, and noticed that some of them were running. She dug around in her skirt pocket for her phone and flipped it open. They were going to be late!
"Oh crap! We're gonna be late!" Yosuke exclaimed as he realised it as well, he turned towards the two with a serious expression, "You wanna ride? It's a little squeaky but it should be fine."
"We're better off running," Yu bluntly stated, he turned towards his twin, and she nodded her agreement.
The three broke out into a sprint and hurried to school. They made it before Morooka started his lecture. Yuri sat at her desk, holding a hand to her chest as she tried to get her breath back. A move that wasn't missed by her brother or their new friends. It caused worry amongst them.
"Be quiet, idiots!" Morooka snapped at the class, "You guys are in high school, aren't you?! Can't you shut up during class? Do you have no common sense? First, my job is to waste my precious time teaching you assholes philosophy! And since I'm so nice, I'll straighten your rotten attitudes while I'm at it, aren't you honoured?"
Yuri stared at him in disbelief and wondered how the man had kept his job for so long. He had to be on tenure to be able to say such things. She flinched when he snapped at them to open their books. Yuri hated to admit it, but he was a decent teacher. That was just their luck he was good at his job, but a shit person. She looked to the side for a few seconds and wondered if that made any sense.
Yuri yawned slightly as classes ended and Yu poked the back of her head with his pen. She sent him a slight pout before rubbing the spot. Yosuke walked up to them and smiled.
"So, you guys getting used to this place?" He asked them.
"Yeah," They answered in unison.
"Wow, that was fast," He commented before wryly smiling, "then again, there isn't much to do here compared to the big city, but there is that certain…something you can't get anywhere else. The air's clean, the food's great, and the local delicacy? It's grilled steak, man! Like that's anything special, huh? I know a place where you can get it cheap, wanna come? You helped me out this morning, so it's on me."
Yuri sometimes forgot that people could speak for so long. She felt her shoulder's slump slightly and did the mental math to figure out if she had enough money to buy some takoyakii. Octopus sounded better than steak, then again, she wasn't the biggest fan of red meat. Yu did like to joke that she was a pescatarian.
"What about me, huh?" Chie asked as she placed an arm around Yosuke's shoulders, "My "Trial of the Dragon"?"
"How is it you always come around when I'm talking about food?" Yosuke questioned with a sigh.
"How about it, Yukiko?" Chie asked as she turned towards her best friend, "Don't you think he should treat us, too?"
"I'll pass," Yukiko answered as she put her things away in her book bag before standing up, "I don't want to gain any more weight. I need to help out at the inn today, anyway."
"It's the busy season right now, right?" Yuri asked and Yukiko gave a nod of confirmation.
"How do you know that?" Yosuke questioned with a surprised expression.
"I follow travel blogs," Yuri muttered in embarrassment.
"Yuri has a blog about crocheting and sewing," Yu explained, "she follows mainly travel and cooking blogs."
He got a jab to the side for that and smiled at his sister. Her face was a bright red due to embarrassment. Yukiko tilted her head to the side as Chie grinned. It was completely obvious to her with was the twin that was easiest to tease.
"Hey, no need to be so embarrassed," Chie teased.
"Hey, are we still going to get food?" Yuri questioned, hoping to move the conversation away from herself.
"Do I seriously have to treat three people?" Yosuke grumbled.
Yosuke had taken them to Junes. He was a bit surprised when Yuri quietly handed him some money due to wanting something a little different. He had almost waved it off, but had relented. It was nice of her to do. He looked over to where the others were sitting and watched as Chie said something that caused the twins to give identical looks of disbelief. The food finished and Yosuke picked up the tray before heading over.
"This is the cheap place you were talking about?" Chie questioned him as he set the tray down, "They don't have grilled steak here."
"Yeah, well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans," Yosuke huffed as they all grabbed their orders from the tray.
"Still, that's no reason to take us to your place," Chie pointed out.
"Your place?" Yu asked.
"Dude, this isn't my place," Yosuke sighed before turning to the twins, "I moved here from another city about six months back, this location just opened up and my dad was assigned to manage it so our entire family came out here."
"Makes sense," Yuri commented, nodding her head.
"Let's move past me, this food is to welcome you guys into town," Yosuke grinned at the twins, "Satonaka, yours is on me too."
"Yeah, I know," Chie huffed.
"This place is pretty big, is there a grocery here?" Yuri asked after taking a bite of her takoyakii.
"Yep, the grocery department is towards the front on the first floor," Yosuke informed her.
"You might see me around here more often then," Yuri muttered frowning slightly before tucking into her food.
"I can't believe that it's only been half a year since this place opened up," Chie commented, "I haven't been to the local shopping district much since, a lot of stores there started closing, and…oh…uh."
"You can't blame it all on Junes, can you?" Yosuke grouched, he looked to the side and his features lit up, "Hey, it's Saki-Senpai! Sorry, be right back."
"Saki-Senpai?" Yuri asked.
"Is she Yosuke's girlfriend?" Yu questioned and Chie snorted in response.
"He wishes," Chie answered before frowning, "that's Konishi Saki, her family runs the liquor store in the shopping district…I think she's working here part-time, though."
"She looks annoyed by him," Yuri muttered, and Yu gave a nod of agreement.
"Yeah, he's not that bad really," Chie stated, "I think she's taking her frustrations out on him, mainly through passive aggressive behavior."
"Hey, are you okay?" Yosuke asked the slightly older girl with long tan hair, "You look beat."
"Hey!" Saki greeted him, a strained expression on her face, "It's my first break in a while…What's up, Hana-Chan? Boosting the family business by bringing your friends here?"
Yuri looked to the side. Well, Konishi wasn't completely wrong by saying that. At the same time, it was incredibly rude. She found herself disliking the Konishi girl and a frown started to appear on her face. Yu joined her as he felt dislike towards the teen as well. Chie was just wondering how in sync their emotions were to pull off a synchronized frown like that.
"Madam, you sound me!" Yosuke joked with Saki before becoming serious, "Kidding aside, you look down. Did something happen?"
"…it's nothing," Saki answered, "I'm just a little tired."
"Hey, if you need to talk, I'm always willing to listen," Yosuke informed her.
"I'm okay, thanks though," Saki said with a slight chuckle, she then let out a tired sigh, "why'd I leave school early yesterday? Hey, are those the kids who transferred here?"
Yosuke watched as the Narukami twins gained apprehensive expressions and shared a look. Saki got up and walked over to them. He followed and gave them an apologetic smile. There were no hard feelings from the twins, they gathered that they'd be treated as a spectacle for a while. That's just how it was when someone new came, no matter where it was.
"Are you the transfer students?" Saki asked them.
"Yes," Yu confirmed with a nod of his head.
"It's nice to meet you, Konishi-san," Yuri said, nodding as well.
"Oh, did you hear about me already?" Saki questioned narrowing her eyes slightly at Yosuke, "It must be nice to have someone else from the big city to talk to, huh? I don't see Hana-Chan hanging out with the other guys much."
"Uh…not necessarily," Yosuke mumbled.
"He doesn't have too many friends, so I hope you all get along well," Saki continued, not picking up on Yosuke's discomfort, "Hana-Chan's a good guy, but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face when he starts to annoy you."
"Nah, he's a great guy," Yu coldly informed her as Yuri gave her a calculating look that startled her.
"I know," Saki let out a light laugh, "I'm just kidding, well, my break's just about over. Back to work I go."
"C-C'mon Senpai, there's no need to worry about something like that," Yosuke muttered.
"Well, back to work I go…laters!" Saki chirped hurrying away from them.
It was quiet for a few seconds before Yuri looked at Yosuke. She felt bad for him, he really seemed to like her. She picked up another Takoyakii and happily bit into it before reaching for her soda. Yu rested his cheek in his palm while frowning.
"She keeps treating me like she does her little brother," Yosuke groans.
"She's that passive aggressive to her own brother?" Yuri mumbled in surprise.
"Haha, I get it," Chie teased him, "the daughter of a local family-run liquor store and the scion of the invading chain. Hoho, the flame of forbidden love!"
"It's not like that!" Yosuke defended, his cheeks darkening.
"It's almost like a soap opera that the Obaa-chans like to watch," Yuri chuckled, teasing the boy as well.
"Not you too!" Yosuke sighed.
Yuri let out a soft laugh before sending him an apologetic smile. Yu couldn't help smiling as well, it was nice to see his sister laughing and smiling. She didn't do that often enough. He picked up one of her Takoyakii and she gave him a sad look before he placed one of his beef skewers on her plate.
"I know just the thing to cheer up that lovesick heart of yours!" Chie exclaimed and a grin appeared on her face, "Have you ever heard of the Midnight Channel?"
Yuri paused at that as she felt a slight pain echo through her skull. She blinked for a few seconds as it quickly vanished. It had been the strangest sensation. She picked up the beef skewer her brother traded her for the Takoyakii and started to bite into it.
"You're supposed to look into a TV that's switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night," Chie continued knowing she had all their attention, "while you're staring at your own image another person will appear on the screen, and they say that person's your soulmate."
"For a second, I thought you were going to say something useful," Yosuke sighed, "how can you get all excited over such a childish urban legend like that?"
"Childish, huh?" Chie snapped as Yuri took out her phone and texted Nanako if there was anything she wanted for dinner seeing as they could get the ingredients for it, "You don't believe it do you?! Well, it's raining tonight! Let's all try it out-then you'll see!"
"Wow, I'm trying to remember the last time I heard something this stupid," Yosuke sighed before grinning slightly, "what if the culprit behind it was still lurking around?"
Yuri blinked as Nanako came back with home made sushi for dinner that night. She was happy to know that they had a shared like of Eel. Yuri turned towards Yu and gave him a slightly smile before nudging him with her arm to show him her phone to let him know that they needed to stay a little longer to get ingredients for dinner.
"You shouldn't joke about stuff like that," Chie stated, giving Yosuke a glare, "now who's the childish one? All I'm saying is that you guys better try it out tonight."
Yuri and Yu nodded at that before excusing themselves so they could get their shopping done. Yosuke and Chie waved at them before going back to bickering. Yuri couldn't help but think they argued like an old married couple.
"What do you think of them?" Yu questioned.
"I like them," Yuri answered, and he blinked in surprise before smiling, "it's nice to meet someone who doesn't judge everything we do."
"I know," Yu agreed, "I feel bad for Hanamura, Konishi really is passive aggressive towards him."
She nodded her agreement at that before they quickly grabbed what they needed for dinner. It looked like it was going to rain, and they didn't want to get stuck out in it.
Yuri was quietly walking Nanako through making sushi when Ryotaro came home. He seemed surprised by the two cooking and got a shy smile out of his niece as Nanako happily greeted him before showing off the food they had made. They just needed to make the last few rolls. He rubbed the back of his neck in thought.
"It looks good you two," He complimented as he was handed a drink by his niece, "Did anything happen while I was out?"
"Nothing really," Yuri said before looking towards Nanako.
"I made sure to close all the windows," Nanako stated, "it looks like it's going to rain again tonight."
"The weather's been weird this year," Ryotaro muttered, and Yuri took note of that, "I'm putting on the news."
He sat down at the tea table and placed his drink on a coaster before turning the TV on and switching to the news. It was on a commercial and he gave it an annoyed look. Nanako and Yuri finished the last rolls and they started to bring everything to the table. Nanako headed up the stairs to get Yu. When he sat down the news report started.
"Now we have more details for the developing story on the incident in foggy Inaba," The male announcer stated as he stared at the camera, "Yamano Mayumi's dead body was found hanging above a house in this isolated rural town. It is confirmed that Yamano-San had been involved in an affair with Namatame Taro, husband of Enka singer Hiiragi Misuzu."
"Sounds like a follow-up," Yuri mumbled as she grabbed a few rolls of sushi and bit into one, pleased that it tasted good.
"The police plan to investigate this relationship and question any personnel involved with them," The announcer continued, "in addition, we now bring you an exclusive interview with the local student who found Yamano-san's body."
"An interview with the kid?" Ryotaro grumbled before letting out an annoyed sigh, "Where the hell did they find her?"
"What went through your mind when you saw it?" A reporter questioned a female student, it was obviously from earlier that day and Yuri knew immediately who it was, "Could you tell she was dead? Did you see her face?"
"Isn't that Konishi Saki?" Yuri questioned.
Ryotaro grunted before running a hand through his hair. He was annoyed by the news station for getting a hold of the teenager and cornering her into an interview. The girl was already traumatised by what she saw.
"Don't you think it's scary that someone was killed on a foggy day?" The reporter asked, pushing for Saki to say something.
"She was killed?" Saki questioned; her voice was full of horror.
"Did you see anyone suspicious around here?" The reporter pushed, "We heard that you found it when you left school early. Did you have some personal business to take care of?"
"H-huh?" Saki questioned and Yuri felt horrible for her.
She had judged the other girl too quickly. Yuri should've known better, having had it done to herself. A small part of her promised to be better next time, she couldn't afford to become like those who had judged her and her brother. She just couldn't.
"A tragedy that occurred near the local shopping district," the reporter was back on the Tv, and Yuri wondered just how long she'd been thinking to miss him, "many store owners are raising concerns about losing customers as a result."
"If they lose more customers, it'll be because you're making such a stink of it all," Ryotaro grumbled as he picked up some sushi and ate it.
"Sensationalising a tragedy seems to be what the news is best at these days," Yuri sighed before leaning back from the table, her appetite had completely vanished.
"You're a little young to be saying such things," her uncle responded, he gained a slightly amused look to his face before it vanished as the story continued.
"It really is a bizarre case, isn't it?" A commentator said, "I mean, hanging someone upside down from an antenna, I'd have to say it's a warning or a sign from the culprit."
"Yes, but so far, no one has come forward to take credit for the crime," the announcer said.
"Loads of prank calls, though," Ryotaro muttered as he sipped at his drink.
That sounded right. Yuri didn't doubt that some of the younger citizens of Inaba would find the situation to be humorous enough to prank call the police. She placed her hands into her lap as Ryotaro slowly began to nod off. She spared him a quick glance and started to worry slightly. He looked exhausted.
"So, the cause of death is still unknown?" The commentator questioned, "And they don't have a circle suspect yet? Taxpayers' funds are going to a police force who can't even figure out if this is an accident or a homicide?"
"We'll be right back after these messages," The announcer stated, his face showing some of his discomfort towards the commentator.
A commercial for Junes came on and Yuri smiled slightly at Nanako as she sang the theme song. It was impossible to not do so. She turned to ask her dad if they could go one day, and her expression dropped upon seeing him asleep. Yuri sent her a sad look before standing up and picking up all the empty plates. She needed to clean up the items for dinner before heading upstairs to change into pyjamas and crochet for the rest of the night. She had a robe on over her pyjamas as she sat on the old couch and worked on the blanket.
All she could hear was the sound of rain hitting the glass window. It was pouring outside, something she hadn't expected. Yu came into the room and started to get the futon's ready. Not that they'd be going to sleep at a decent hour. They still had to stay up and check out the midnight channel. Neither sibling wanted to see what Chie would do to them if she found out that they hadn't. A crack of thunder echoed through the small town of Inaba, and Yuri looked out the window to see lightning racing across the sky.
"It's time," Yu commented.
Yuri put her projects away and they turned off the lights to stare into the tv screen. Nothing happened for a few minutes and the two shared an amused smile before turning to head to sleep. The high-pitched sound of the TV turning on caught their attention and they looked back to it. It was filled with a yellowish static and a figure was moving around as though being attacked. The two brought a hand to their heads as the high-pitched sound got worse and a headache started to form.
"I am thou…Thou art I…Thou art the one, who opens the door…"
Yuri blinked when the headache disappeared after hearing those words. She rubbed at her temple and frowned in thought. Just what kind of door had opened? She shook her head before turning towards her brother. He was in front of the now off TV, and he lifted a hand to touch the screen. She looked at him in disbelief as his hand went through it. His body pitched forwards as something grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him further in. He wasn't able to go very far due to how small the TV was. Yuri rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his waist and tugged him back. Whatever had a hold of his wrist released him and they both fell onto the ground with a loud thump. It was quiet for a few minutes as they digested what had happened.
"Are you okay?" Nanako's voice startled them, and Yuri held a hand to her chest.
"We're okay," Yu answered.
"Okay…well, good night," Nanako stated, before yawning quietly.
"We need to talk to the others," Yu commented.
"Yeah," Yuri agreed, "I can't believe you almost got sucked into the TV…do you think my hand will go through as well?"
"I'll be there to pull you back if something grabs you," He said, and she nodded her thanks.
Yuri got up from the floor and placed her hand against the TV screen. It was warm and she easily pushed through the glass. She felt a jolt go through her body. Her eyes widened as she felt oddly energised. She pulled her hand back and sent the TV a strange look before nodding to her brother.
It would be best to talk to the others before investigating further.