"Yasoinaba, Yasoinaba" a voice droned on through the station.

Yu stepped of the train, swinging his bag over his shoulder. The ride had gone without a hitch, all that was left was to find his uncle who he'd be staying with for the year. Yu spotted him almost immediately.

"Hey, you must be Dojima." he said walking up and shaking his hand.

Dojima smiled. "You're a lot more handsome in person. Yeah, I'm Dojima, this is my daughter, Nanako."

The girl next to him gave a shy "Hello" before retreating behind him.

"Why so shy, Nanako? I thought you'd want to give your cousin Yu a warm welcome."

Nanako walked back up to Yu. "Um…you're really tall."

Yuu gave a warm smile. "Thanks. I like your dress."

"Th-thank you."

"Well, we should get going." Dojima said. "My car's over here."

They began to walk towards the car when Yu felt like someone was watching him. He looked around and that's when he spotted her. There was a girl dressed somewhat like a punk-rocker staring at him. She averted her eyes when he looked. Weird.

They had stopped at the only gas station in town and Yu had gone to chatting with the attendant.

"If you're interested in some part-time work go ahead and give me a call." she said as she shook his hand. Yu felt a sort of weird feeling as she did. He started feeling a bit dizzy.

"Are you okay?" Nanako asked.

"Uh…I'm fine. Just…give me a minute." He walked off.

As he walked though the small shopping district, getting familiar with the shop, he heard his name being called.

"Hey, Yu!"

He turned to see a girl with her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Uh, hi. Do I know you?"

"Oh, no. I was getting your attention to ask for your name. That's why I said 'Hey, you!'"

"Oh."

"Anyway, I'm Kotone Shiomi."

"Yu Narukami. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise. And," she glanced in Dojima's direction. "Good luck."

Yu thought that was a strange reaction. What exactly did she mean by that? He headed back to the car and tried not to think about it.

As they were sitting down for dinner Dojima's phone went off.

"Yes, this is Dojima. Yeah. Uh-huh. Alright, I'll be there in a bit."

He looked tired. "Sorry, I have some business I need to attend to. You two eat without me." With that he left.

Yu and Nanako sat in silence for a moment before Yu tried making conversation.

"So, what's your dad do?"

"He's a detective. He investigates crime scenes and stuff."

"That's cool. Does he ever tell you about it?"

"Not really. You should eat before it gets cold."

"Oh, right. Sorry."

After dinner, Yu headed to bed.

There was a knock on the bedroom door.

"Breakfast is ready!" Nanako called.

Yu squinted as his eyes adjusted to the morning light. He thought he had been dreaming about something, but he couldn't remember what. All he knew was it had seemed like a nightmare. Oh well.

He headed downstairs to the smell of eggs and toast. He noticed Dojima was nowhere to be found.

"Your dad already leave?" he asked.

"Yeah," Nanako said, putting Yu's plate in front of him, "He got held up last night, so he didn't come home."

"That's a shame." Yu ate his eggs in silence.

"Hey, this is pretty good. You cook this yourself?"

"Uh-huh."

"You're a good cook."

"...Thanks."

Yu had arrived at Yasogami High, but in all honesty he wasn't ready for what happened next.

"Alright, shut yer traps!" the teacher yelled. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from now on. We got a transfer student from the big city. He's been thrown out here like some kind of loser, so I better not see any of you girls wasting your time with him. Tell em your name, kid, and make it quick."

Yu looked at him with with distaste. "Who you calling a loser?" The class collectively gasped.

"Oh, that's it! I've got your name and you're on my shit list, effective immediately! Now siddown!"

Yu went and sat down next to a girl in a green jacket. He heard the other students whispering around him.

"Wow, he's got balls!"

"Tough luck transferring here and getting stuck in King Moron's class."

"You know, he's kinda cute."

The rest of the school day passed by without much else. Yu was just getting up to leave when the two girls who sat close to him approached.

"Hey," the girl in the green jacket said, "I'm Chie Satonaka. You know, the girl who sits next to you?"

"Oh, yeah. Hey."

"This is Yukiko Amagi." She gestured to the girl in the red sweater.

"Oh…hello…" Yukiko stammered shyly.

"Hey," Yu greeted, "I'm Yu Narukami. I just transferred here from the city."

"Yeah, we can tell," Chie said, "Though, you're a lot less awkward then Yosuke was when he first got here."

"Who's Yosuke?"

"He's- uh, never mind. We came over to ask if you wanted to walk home with us. You interested?"

Yu gave a sly smile. "Of course."

"So your parents are overseas, huh? That's rough."

"It's not too bad. I finally got to meet my cousin…and she's a great cook!"

Chie laughed. "You think with your stomach. I like that. Food always comes first."

Yu looked over at Yukiko. She'd barely said a word the entire walk.

"Uh, is she okay? She's awfully quiet."

"Yeah, why? You think she's cute, don't you?"

"I didn't say that."

"Come on, you think she's cute."

Yukiko looked uncomfortable. "Chie…" she warned.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that you have guys practically throwing themselves at you and you don't even notice!"

"Maybe I don't want a boyfriend…" Yukiko mumbled.

"Oh, come on! You- hey what's all the commotion?"

Yu turned to see what she meant. There were a group of women clustered around a police barricade, talking among themselves.

"Can you believe it? In a town like this?"

"I heard it was hanging from an antennae!"

"It's not everyday a dead body is found."

"Dead…body?" Chie stammered.

Dojima came out from behind the barricade followed by a young looking man.

"What are you doing here?" he said.

"You know this guy?" Chie asked.

"Yeah, he's my uncle." Yu answered.

He turned to Dojima. "We were just heading home. Did something happen?"

"You…could say that."

The man behind Dojima spoke up. "Yeah, we found a dead body!"

"Adachi!"

"Oh, I mean…you kids should go home."

"Yeah," Chie said as they began to walk off, "I think we'll just go home…"

The next day, Yu was walking to school when he heard a crash. He looked over to that a boy his age stuck in a trash can, having crashed his bike. Yu went to go help him.

"Hey, thanks!" the boy said, "I was kinda stuck there."

He looked at Yu for a moment. "Oh, you're that transfer student. What was your name? Uh, Yu Narukami, right?"

"Yup, that's me."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Yosuke Hanamura. We're in the same class."

"Oh, cool." Yu paused. "Say, you didn't happen to see anything about the incident yesterday, did you?"

"With the dead body? No, I just heard it was the body of an announcer at the local station." He shuttered. "I'd hate to think that there's some killer on the loose but…it's probably a one time thing."

Yosuke looked at his watch. "Oh crap, we're gonna be late! We better get going."

The school day passed without a hitch. As class ended, Yosuke came up to Yu.

"So, getting used to living out here?"

"Believe it or not, yes."

"Wow, that was fast. You're adjusting way better then I did."

"What do you mean?"

"I moved here from the city, too. It took me a while to adjust. There really isn't much to do out here. Oh, but they do have pretty good steak!"

"I'll have to try it sometime."

"I know a place where you can get it cheap. You helped me out this morning so I'll treat."

Someone cleared their throat behind them. They turned to see Chie scowling at Yosuke.

"You know you still owe me for breaking my copy of Trial of the Dragon. You should treat me too."

Yosuke groaned. "This again? I said I was sorry."

"Sorry isn't gonna fix my DVD! If you know where to get food cheap, I want in. You owe me!"

Yosuke sighed. "Fine."

"This is the place you were talking about? They don't have steak here!"

Yosuke had taken them to the Junes department store's food court.

"Yeah well, you jumped on the freeloader train so I had to change my plans." He turned to Yu. "This is to celebrate your arrival. Go ahead, eat up. You too, Miss Satonaka. It's on me."

"Damn right it is."

They ate and made small talk for a bit, when Yosuke looked over and got up from the table. There was a girl sitting a few tables over.

"Who's that?" Yu asked, "Yosuke's girlfriend?"

Chie laughed. "Yosuke with a girlfriend? No no, that's Saki Konishi. Her family owns a liquor store in the local shopping district. I think she's working here part-time."

Yosuke came back to the table. "Saki-senpai was on break so I went to talk to her. It's nice to see her around."

Chie gave a sly smile. "Ooh, someone's got a crush!"

"What?! No, it's not like that!"

"Oh really? Well, let's see if it's meant to be. You heard of the midnight channel? You look at a TV that's been switched off, at midnight, on a rainy night and they say the person you see is your soulmate!"

"That…sounds really stupid."

"Oh, so you don't believe it? Well, I'll prove it! Let's all try it tonight!"

"You can't be serious…"

"I'll try it." Yu said.

"Wha- seriously?" Yosuke said back.

"I'd like to see something like that. It sounds cool."

"See?" Chie said, "If he's gonna do it, you should too!"

"Ugh, fine."

Dinner with Nanako was short. They watched the news while they ate. There was an interview with the girl who found the dead body. She looked suspiciously like Saki Konishi, though her face was blurred out.

"Augh, what a day." a voice came from the doorway.

"Dad!" Nanako exclaimed.

"When did you get here?" Yu asked.

"Just now." He sat on the couch and yawned. "It's been hell at work."

A moment later, he had fallen asleep.

"I'll get a blanket…" Nanako said dejectedly.

After dinner, Yu went up to his room. He studied for a bit, read a book, waiting until it was close to midnight, the rain pouring down on the window all the while. Finally midnight came.

He stared at the TV for a minute or so.

"Hmm, guess not." he said, turning away. That's when the static started.

Yu turned back toward the TV in surprise. It was feint, but he could have sworn he saw a girl through all that static. It was almost like she was reaching out to him, begging him to get her out. He could almost reach out and-

Against his better judgement Yu actually went to touch the TV. And then…

Yu pulled back in surprise, but there was no stopping it. Somehow, his entire arm was now stuck and the rest was being sucked in.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" he cried and pulled with all his might. He had finally wretched himself free…and then proceeded to bang his head on the desk behind him.

"Oww."

"Are you okay?" he heard Nanako call from outside the door.

"Uh, yeah. I just fell out of bed." Yu lied.

"Oh, okay. Well, goodnight."

Yu stared up at the TV from the floor. It was blank again. Had he imagined it? No, that felt too real.

He quickly climbed into bed. He'd have to tell the others about this tomorrow.

"Hey, uh," Yosuke got Yu's attention after school the next day. "You didn't happen to see, uh, last night…"

Chie came running up. "Guys! Did you see last night-"

"That's what I just said…"

Chie frowned. "Last night, on the TV, there was this girl! But…does that mean my soulmate's a girl? That's weird."

"What did she look like?" Yosuke asked.

"I dunno, brown hair, wearing our school uniform? I couldn't really make her out that well."

"Yeah, I think I saw her too."

"Really? Does that mean we have the same soulmate? That's even weirder."

Yosuke turned to Yu. "What about you?"

"Yeah, I saw her. Got my damn hand stuck in the TV, too."

They stared at him.

"What do you mean 'stuck in the TV'?" Yosuke asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like. I went to touch it and I started getting sucked in."

There stares lingered.

"I know it sounds crazy but I swear that's what happened!"

"Uh," Chie began. "What did you eat last night? That sounds like a pretty lucid dream."

"Yeah, you probably fell asleep in front of your TV." Yosuke said.

"Oh, speaking of TVs, my family was thinking of buying a bigger one." Chie said, changing the subject.

"Oh, really?" Yosuke asked. "I could help you find one in our electronics department. You wanna go soon?" He turned to Yu again. "We might even find one big enough to fit in!" They laughed as Yu grumbled.

Yosuke and Chie pressed their hands to the TV screen.

"See?" Yosuke said. "I guess you just dreamed it."

He turned to Chie. "So what kind of TV are you looking for?"

"Oh, just uuuuuuhhhhhh…"

"What are you staring at?" He turned to where she was looking. "Ah! How are you doing that?"

Yu blinked. "I stuck my hand in to see if it would work. It did."

"Wha- how?!"

"I bet I can stick my head in, too. Watch." He stuck his head into the TV. "Huh, it's surprisingly roomy in here."

"How can you be so nonchalant about this?!"

"I think you should get out before someone sees you!" Chie exclaimed.

"Alright, hang on." Yu grunted as he tried to pull himself out. "Uh, bad news. I'm stuck. Can you pull me out?"

"Oh, for the love of- Chie, help me pull him out." Yosuke huffed.

They each grabbed a leg and started to pull.

"Guys, you might wanna hurry. My hands are-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence, as his hands slipped. The three were pulled into the TV.