"I kind of taught myself," Chie said while they were walking down to the shoe lockers. "I love martial arts, so I practiced the moves I've seen in movies. It's not easy doing it from memory, though... I used to train in my room but my mom got upset when I kicked through the fusuma."

"Parents, right?" Nanako said sympathetically while putting on her walking shoes. "They'll never understand."

"Too true," Yukiko murmured her assent.

They walked out of the school's front doors, and Chie explained that the boy she had kicked had broken one of her favorite DVDs. "He'd better buy me a replacement. My Trial of the Dragon! It was the special edition, too!"

"It's like no one has respect for property anymore!" Nanako agreed.

"I know, right?"

When they were passing the front gate, a boy approached them. He wasn't from Yasogami—he wore a suit with a private school's logo on the breast. The boy had large, dark eyes that reminded Nanako of fish. "Yuki," he said. "Y-you want to go hang out?"

Yukiko didn't seem to even know who he was. "Um, excuse me?"

"H-hang out, Yuki. Just you and me." The kid licked his lips nervously.

"Her name is Yukiko-SAN to you, cumbag!"

The fish-eyed kid drew back warily when Nanako stepped forward. "I wasn't talking to you," he said.

"Hey, Chie," Nanako continued. "Maybe you'll get a demonstration on how well I can kick, if a certain creepy guy doesn't get out of my sight!"

"You'll regret that!" the kid said, but he scampered off anyway.

Nanako turned to find Yukiko in stitches of laughter. "N-Nanako," she gasped, "it's supposed to be scumbag!"

"I said exactly what I meant."

"Aha, well, that was creepy, wasn't it?" Chie said.

"This whole town is full of creeps," Nanako commented. "Uh, present company excepted!"

"Yo, Yukiko-san!" The boy whom Chie had kicked earlier was walking his bike to the front gate. Apparently he had survived. Nanako realized he was the same boy she'd seen crash his bike before school. He had floppy brown hair, brown eyes, and wore orange headphones around his neck. She decided he must be more resilient than he looked. "Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" he said, sounding amused.

"Speaking of creeps," said Chie, then she laughed at the boy's expression.

"You're both cruel…" he said. "I think I'll quit while I'm ahead… But hey, you're the transfer student, Nanako-san, right? I'm a transfer student, too!"

"If you want to quit while you're ahead, that's not how you do it," Nanako said critically, her hands on her hips.

"People are staring," Chie said. "Let's get going."

They started walking down the road, completely ignoring the bicycle kid. Nanako slowed for a moment, calculating. Their classroom was on the second floor, the windows were facing south, and the police sirens had been heading towards the back of the classroom, meaning they had been heading… this way. She tried to subtly steer her two new friends in that direction. Fortunately, it seemed to be the same way she had come into school, anyway, so she had an excuse.

They passed by a field growing some sort of produce in neat little rows. The rain had stopped, but the sky was blanketed by clouds of varying gray hues. They reminded her of her little cousin… She hoped his school wasn't affected by the incident...

"There really is nothing here, huh?" Chie said, interrupting her thoughts. "I think it's nice, but it might be boring to outsiders." She admitted that she and Yukiko had lived in Inaba their whole lives. "Yukiko's family owns the Amagi Inn. It's the pride of the town!"

Yukiko looked away. "It's just an old inn…"

Chie went on about how important the inn was to the little town, but all Nanako heard was hot springs. She'd have to plan a trip. Maybe Souji-kun would like that?

"So, uh, if the yakuza thing was a joke… Why did you transfer here, Nanako?" Chie asked.

"Family," Nanako replied. "Well, my mom's overseas. She plays the piano professionally, and my dad's really busy. He's a detective with the police. So… I'm staying with my aunt and little cousin for the year until my mom's concert tour is done."

"A whole year, huh? I couldn't imagine being so far away from my parents," Chie admitted.

Nanako didn't answer, though she felt Yukiko's interested gaze on her. She had mixed feelings on the move and didn't want to delve into them right then. Not until she'd been here a few more days, at least.

"Whoa, look at that!" Chie exclaimed. Ahead was a group of police cars blocking a side road complete with flashing lights.

Yesss, thought Nanako. They had gone in the right direction! She began to walk faster, and the two girls followed her lead.

Drawing closer to the makeshift barricade, Nanako spied the cop being hassled by a bunch of housewives and used her somewhat short stature to her advantage to sneak behind a police car and past him.

Where she wished she had been more observant because someone had barfed over here and she'd almost stepped right in it. Geez, where is that rain when you need it?

"Uh, Nanako, I don't think we—" she heard Chie whisper too loudly some distance behind her. Nanako waved a hand back at her, indicating that Chie should stay behind. She tiptoed forward until the crime scene was in sight.

Orange cones and police barricades had been placed haphazardly around a utility pole. A photographer was setting up a tripod and aiming the camera up at the top of the pole. There was nothing up there, just a tangle of utility lines. Some of the wires had been cut down.

On the ground were a couple of blue tarps and some boxes probably unrelated to the crime. A trio of officers who had yet to notice her were gathered around a conspicuous black bag...

And then she was caught.

"Hey... Hey!" shouted one of the three officers. He appeared to be a lieutenant. "What are you... Adachi! I told you not to let any civvies past here!" He waddled towards Nanako. "Excuse me, miss, but this area is off limits for the time being. If you need to get through, please use the next street over."

"Y-yeah," she said. "Who died?"

"We aren't prepared to release a statement," the lieutenant recited smoothly. Damn, he had played this game before. Well, he did look old. Experienced, rather. He had some years on Nanako's father, even. "Dammit, Adachi!"

"S-sir...?" a resigned voice behind her said. She turned to see a young policeman looking rather green about the gills approaching. His black hair was a little scruffy; he'd probably been rained on earlier. His eyes flickered to the body bag and then he began to have dry heaves. "S-sorry!" He covered his mouth and ran off suddenly.

The lieutenant shook his head. "Still a rookie... His old partner, may he rest in peace, would be giving him hell right about now. Anyway, miss. Allow me to escort you back..."

"Someone died," Nanako reported to the girls once she rejoined them on the proper side of the barricade.

"Oh my god!"

"How awful..."

"I didn't get a good look," Nanako went on. "It was already in a body bag. Too bad."

"I'm not sure I'd want to see that," Chie admitted. "You must be naturally curious, huh? You didn't think twice about going past the barricade..."

"Hey, I said my dad's a detective!" Nanako said. "So... yeah! Crime is fascinating. I wonder who died, and how... It could be murder, or suicide, or just an accident, or..." She noticed the somewhat horrified look on Chie's face and added, "or maybe it was the yakuza!"

That did the trick. Chie chuckled, although a little nervously. "Y-yeah... Nothing like murder has ever happened around here. I hope it's nothing too horrible."

"I guess I'll have to watch the news tonight!" Nanako said loudly, still a little overexcited by the prospect of a death in the small town. "Hey, Chie, Yukiko, will you show me around town?"

"Yukiko and I were heading to Junes," Chie said, "but after this, I'm not sure I feel like shopping..."

"They told us to head home," Yukiko added. "Perhaps we should...?"

Nanako got a little lost on the way home, to her own private shame—come on, it's not that big a town! It was almost dark by the time she arrived at the Seta residence. Inside, she was happy to discover that her little cousin had made it there safely. Souji was at the tea table, hard at work at something.

She glanced at it while taking the spot across from him. "Man, homework on the first day? That's so not fair!" she declared. "We only had an assembly, and I'm in high school."

"It's cram school work..." the boy murmured.

"You go to cram school? You're only six!"

Souji looked down at his work.

"You're only six," she repeated. Besides that, there was only one middle school out here, and it was public, so it wasn't like he had to pass some crazy entrance exam for it.

"…I like cram school..."

Unless Aunt Seta enrolled him just to keep him busy. She wasn't home yet, anyway, if that was any indication. If she often worked late, cram school acted like daycare. She wouldn't be the last mother to do such a thing.

Nanako watched the boy work for several minutes then decided she should probably unpack. She excused herself to her room and spent a long time going through all the boxes.

The room had a three-tiered shelf, and she placed her entire collection of Loveline manga on the top shelf for prominent display. Under that shelf she set her stuffed animals after speaking a few words to each of them. Sure, she was sixteen years old, but hey, Chan-chan the bunny had been with her for all of them!

The most boring and longest part was hanging up her clothes in the closet. She didn't have too much variety, really—she'd mostly be wearing the school uniform every day anyway. But on her few days out of school, she had some nice blouses and skirts ready to wear. And some shorts and slacks for when she wasn't in the mood for skirts.

"U-umm..."

She turned while holding a hanger and a maroon pleated skirt. "Souji-kun?" The little boy was standing in the doorway. She hadn't closed the door.

"I got dinner..."

He got dinner? She gave him an odd look, unsure what he meant, and then finished hanging up the skirt and followed him down to the kitchen.

There were three takeout boxes waiting for them on the table. Nanako stared. "Wait, did you leave the house to buy this?"

The little boy nodded, then climbed up into the chair, opened his box, and began to eat.

She was trying to imagine the boy—six years old!—going up to a food stall, ordering from the menu, and paying for it, too. Considering what she knew of the boy so far—he could cook—it was distressingly easy. The hardest part to imagine was him actually speaking loudly enough to tell the vendor what he wanted.

"Wh-what about your mom? Is she home yet?" Maybe she'd come home while Nanako had been unpacking.

He paused with his chopsticks full of rice halfway to his mouth. "She's working late."

Nanako nodded to herself. She was starting to get a bigger picture of how the Seta residence worked. It wasn't a pleasant picture, but there wasn't much helping it. A single-parent family with the only parent working long hours...

After they finished eating, Souji put the third box in the refrigerator, saving it for his mom to re-heat later when she finally got home. Then they returned to their earlier spots at the tea table. Souji seemed to have finished his cram school work since the table was now bare aside from a juice box.

"Mind if I watch the news?" Nanako asked.

Souji didn't answer, but he had already turned his body to face the TV.

As she expected, the mysterious death was top news. The police had identified the victim now—Mayumi Yamano, local TV announcer, who was involved in some scandal. The cause of death was uncertain, and the police were still investigating. The newscasters went on to speculate about both suicide and murder since the state of the body was so unusual—strung up on a television antenna on someone's roof like it was on display.

I almost saw the body, Nanako thought. She'd seen the antenna, at least...

Across from her, Souji released a small whimper, and Nanako realized her curiosity had caused her to make a terrible mistake. The boy was trembling in response to the news. "Hey, Souji-kun," she crooned. "Come over here, sit by me." She patted the empty space next to her.

He blinked at her and hesitated for a long moment before scooting over to her side. She hugged the boy close before he could escape. "I'm sorry... My dad's a detective so I wanted to know more about this case."

The boy stared at her hand around his waist. "My dad was a detective..." he said, no more than a whisper.

Nanako stiffened and then hugged him even closer. She'd known this, and yet she'd still made such a thoughtless mistake. Uncle Seta hadn't even been killed in the line of duty or anything, he'd—

A weird sound derailed her thoughts. Souji was humming.

He was humming... the Junes theme? Oh, yeah, the news had gone to a commercial break.

She rubbed his back and then turned off the television. That was enough of that for tonight.

That night, right before bed, Nanako spent some time on the Internet using her cell phone to learn about Mayumi Yamano. Apparently a man named Taro Namatame had been having an affair with her. Disgraced by the scandal, Namatame had moved back to his hometown—which happened to be Inaba. Yamano had also been in town. She had been staying at the Amagi Inn.

Nanako thought it over. Not enough details yet. The police still hadn't decided the cause of death, anyway.

It was probably murder, though, she decided. If it was suicide, how'd the woman get on top of the roof like that? Nanako hadn't seen a ladder, and she doubted the police would have moved it if one had been there. Not when the cameraman was still taking pictures.

Maybe the culprit was Namatame's wife? The police were probably investigating that already.

Still, it was something to talk about!

Dear Daddy,

I'm in my room in Auntie's house. She seems to be a busy woman. Her son is cute, but don't worry he's way too young for me, tee hee.

School's fun. I made a friend who told me she can kick through walls! (well, only fusuma)

Oh, and someone died and it's only my first day here! Don't worry I didn't do it. Neither did my friend, I promise!

What's that smell? It's my excitement! (evil laugh)

Hugs & Kisses
Love
Nanako

She sent the same email to her mom, too. She'd probably get a kick out of her sense of humor. She usually did.

That done, she changed into her pajamas—a pink one-piece with patterns of yellow and purple flowers—and then went to bed. Though her mind was active after that exciting day, her sleep was somehow dreamless.

[4/13: Wednesday]

When she woke up the next morning, she wondered if she might be in a time loop, because the day was starting out almost exactly the same as the previous day. She found Souji cooking eggs in the kitchen, and while he was flipping them, toast popped out of the toaster with a ding. She watched him once again move the stool to collect the toast...

To change the routine slightly, she let Souji cook the eggs while she poured the drinks. Spending time with him like this made her feel a little bit better after her mistake last night.

And it was drizzling again outside. "Here, Souji-kun," she said. She handed the boy her umbrella. It was a little larger than his own, but he should still be able to carry it.

"I already have one..." he murmured. He turned to the umbrella rack, but Nanako beat him to it.

"I want to use yours," she declared, taking it out with a flourish. "So you'll have to use mine!"

"But it's pink..." he said with a pout.

"Oh, you don't like pink? What color do you like?"

He blinked at her and didn't answer.

"Come on!" Nanako said. "You have to have a favorite color!"

"Favorite color...?" He frowned at the floor.

"Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple," she sang in tune to something she'd learned in grade school. "It's a rainbow~"

Souji made an unhappy sound.

"Oh well." Nanako sighed. "You can tell me later. We gotta get to school!"

The boy opened the pink umbrella, though he looked very put out about it. He stared at the gray umbrella Nanako was holding during the entire walk to the intersection. She felt guilty for stealing it, now. She was just trying to have some fun with him!

At the intersection, instead of continuing on her own way, she watched him go until he was out of sight. Really, she hoped gray wasn't his favorite color...

Using an umbrella meant for a child wasn't the best idea she'd had. She walked faster in an attempt to get to school before she got too wet. Other students, too, were moving quickly, trying to get out of the rain.

A sense of deja vu enveloped her when bicycle boy went careening past her, again struggling with an umbrella. "Watch out!" she shouted, and then sighed as she watched the boy crash right into a trash can.

He was still in the trash can, trying rather unsuccessfully to get out, when she walked by. She paused for a moment to watch, and something told her she should help him... but he was a boy, so she didn't.

This was their first day of actual class, if yesterday didn't count. Morooka actually lectured. He turned out to be their philosophy teacher. Other teachers rotated in throughout the day: Ms. Sofue, a history nut complete with Egyptian headdress, Mr. Kondo, who was the phys. ed. teacher and also doubled as the English teacher, and Mrs. Nakayama, the large-eyed math teacher who spent more time complaining about her husband than actually teaching.

After class, Nanako checked her phone and found that she had an email from Dad!

Stay out of trouble.

She chuckled to herself. He knew her so well.

Oh, there was more.

Be sensitive to your family. You know what I mean.

She swallowed. Y-yeah... She wished she didn't need that reminder but, hah, yeah, her dad really did know her well. And she'd already failed last night...

"Hey, umm, Nanako-san."

The boy who sat behind her was addressing her. She turned in her seat to face him. He was standing in the aisle between desks with his arms crossed.

"You tried to warn me when I crashed my bike this morning, didn't you?" he said. "I recognized your voice."

Ah, yes, floppy brown hair and orange headphones, this was bicycle boy all right. Nanako saw no reason to deny it. "Yeah, that was me." That was also me not helping you get out of that mess, she thought somewhat guiltily.

"Well, I just wanted to say... Thanks for trying." He was giving her a somewhat-shy smile.

"Ah, well, you really shouldn't try to bike with an umbrella in your hand!" she advised. "That's just asking for trouble."

"I live too far to walk to school."

"Maybe you should get up earlier."

He chuckled lightly. "You got me there. Say, this might seem sudden, but... Wanna grab some lunch with me? Ah, ah, I don't mean anything by it! You know, just as thanks. For trying."

Nanako considered it. Going anywhere with any boy might not be a good idea. But on the other hand... free lunch!

"Yosuke-kun! Are you flirting with the new girl already!?"

Nanako turned her head to see Chie stalking swiftly forward.

"Asking her out to lunch when you haven't paid up for my broken DVD! Honestly!" Chie had her hands on her hips.

"H-hey!" said the boy apparently named Yosuke. "Satonaka... I'll buy you lunch, too. How's that? A happy compromise, right?"

"Don't think you can make a satisfied customer out of me that easily!"

"I'll buy you steak," Yosuke added.

That was apparently what Chie was waiting for. "All right!" she declared. "Come on, Nanako! Let's go!"

Junes, huh? Well, Nanako had wanted to see more of the town, anyway, and she hadn't been this way at all.

The Junes building dwarfed those around it. It was two stories high but seemed taller due to its massive neon sign. She could hear the theme music playing even from several buildings away.

"Aww, come on, the steak here probably isn't even real beef!" Chie complained when they were walking through the automatic doors at the entrance.

"Look, if I'm paying," Yosuke said, "we're going to use my store discount."

"So you can save 25 yen? Sheesh. Talk about a cheapskate, huh, Nanako?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah."

Nanako wasn't quite paying attention because Junes. There were several things she needed to acquire that she hadn't sent over from Tokyo. Nothing really important—a mini flashlight, batteries, some extra school supplies, etc.—and oh! That skirt on display looked nice! Now that she was at the megastore, she kind of wanted to go shopping.

But it would have to wait. With a sigh, she let them lead her to the elevators and then the food court. They sat at a small round table and waited for Yosuke to bring them the steaks, which Chie continued to complain about even as she was stuffing her mouth.

Yosuke made some small talk about how he was also a transfer student from the city. His dad managed this particular branch of Junes, and as a result, Yosuke was sort of forced to work there part-time. Chie added that people had mixed feelings towards Junes because it competed with local business.

It was starting to get rather depressing, honestly, so Nanako decided she might as well segue it into something equally depressing but far more interesting to her. "So, about that announcer's death..."

"They say a student found the body," Yosuke contributed. "It was hanging from an antenna! Do you think maybe it was a warning?"

"What, like 'don't have affairs with married people or this happens'?" Nanako scoffed. She almost made an, 'It was the yakuza!' joke, but she had decided earlier in the morning to stop with that before it got old and she sounded like a broken record.

"You make it sound like an angry spirit did it or something. That's what my grandma thinks, anyway," said Chie through a mouthful of steak.

Nanako hmm'd. "Actually, you make it sound like it was murder."

"W-well, I don't know," Yosuke said, holding up his hands. "I'm just saying. There's no way something that weird could've been an accident. I mean, what was she even doing on the roof like that?"

"Maybe she was trying to fix the reception?" Chie suggested.

"In the middle of the night?"

"That wasn't even her house," Nanako added. "She was staying at the Amagi Inn."

"Oh! That's right!" Chie said. "No wonder Yukiko went right home from school. She probably has to help her family fend off a bunch of reporters."

"H-hey, it's Saki-senpai. Umm, I'll be back," Yosuke said. He stood up from the table and moved across the food court to another table, where he began to speak with a girl who had wavy light brown hair. She wore a Junes apron and seemed to be on her break.

"That's Saki Konishi. She goes to Yasogami, too. She's our senpai," Chie explained.

Umm, yeah. That might be why he'd called her 'senpai.'

They watched him speak with her for a bit. Then Chie commented, "I think Yosuke-kun likes her."

"Probably. He's got that 'I'm too nervous to make eye contact' thing going, doesn't he?" Nanako said.

Chie laughed. "Yeah, he does! It's kind of sweet though, isn't it?"

"I guess... Do they have anything in common besides working at Junes?"

"Uhh... I don't know," Chie admitted. "But you don't have to have much in common to like each other, right?"

Nanako thought of her own parents and decided that maybe she was right.

She eyed Saki warily—the upperclassman had stood up and was heading over to their table.

"So, you're Hana-chan's new friend, huh?" Saki said while taking in Nanako's appearance.

"Hana-chan?" Nanako asked.

"Oh, uh, umm, my family name is Hanamura, so..." Yosuke was blushing.

"He can be a bit of a pain, but you'll discover that he's a good guy once you get to know him," Saki said. "He doesn't have many friends, so I hope you'll get along."

Nanako puzzled that over. Something was off about the way she had said that. Umm... Are you hoping that I'll try to steal him from you or something...?

Nanako realized Saki was expecting a reply. "Well, I only met him today. I guess he sits behind me? I didn't really notice until he started talking to me."

"Yeah, he's like that." Saki laughed, a surprisingly merry sound.

"What does that even mean?" Yosuke asked, sounding a little sour at being talked about.

They ignored him. "By the way, Saki, how did you get your hair to be so wavy? It looks so soft, too...!" Nanako said, reaching out her hands but stopping herself before she went too far.

Saki fluffed up her hair with her fingers. She had nice long nails painted a light pink. "It's natural! My little brother has wavy hair, too. It runs in the family, I suppose! But... I wish it was straight like yours."

"Ah," said Nanako. "I think it's fate that we always hate the hair we have."

"Too true," said Chie. "I keep mine short because I don't like to deal with it, honestly."

"Whenever I want it straightened," Saki said, "I go to this place in Okina City. I'm sure they could do perms, too. It's called 'Uphairval' and it's behind the movie theater."

"Ooh, maybe I'll check it out!" Nanako said. She didn't know where exactly Okina City was, but she was sure she could find it on the Internet. Or ask Chie later.

"Mind if I...?" Saki said, reaching out for Nanako's hair. Nanako nodded, and Saki ran her fingers through it. "I think what you could use is a big ribbon. You need a bright color to emphasize the darkness of your hair."

"How about this?" Nanako said. She untied the school uniform's scarf from her wrist and handed it to her.

"Perfect," Saki purred. She tied it into Nanako's hair and then showed her how it looked in a compact mirror. "Yes?"

"Yes," Nanako agreed. "Thanks!"

"You know," Saki said conversationally, "I've always wondered what Hana-chan looks like with his hair natural."

"Dude, Senpai, no, it looks awful," Yosuke protested. "Especially when the roots come in."

"You dye your hair?" Chie exclaimed.

"What, like you don't bleach yours." Yosuke shook his head. "Come on, Chie!"

Saki stood up from her position behind Nanako. "Well, it was nice meeting you! But my break's over now. Back to the grind." She rolled her eyes and then sauntered back into the store.

Yosuke sighed as she walked away.

"Hey, Yosuke! Speaking of love," said Chie. "I heard this rumor..."

Because of how long she'd stayed out with Chie and Yosuke, plus her shopping trip after the two had left, Nanako was home even later than she had been yesterday.

To her surprise, Aunt Seta was home, still in her business suit, and she was entertaining a guest at the kitchen table. He was a man in a somewhat worn-out suit and red tie. He sat across from her at the table.

"Oh, Nanako-chan," her aunt said upon seeing her. "There you are. How was school? I see you went to Junes. Did you go shopping with a friend?"

Nanako glanced down at the Junes bag in her hand, and then returned her gaze to the stranger at the table. "Y-yeah, actually..."

...Who's that?

Aunt Seta noticed her curiosity. "This is Tohru Adachi, a friend of my late husband's. This is Nanako Dojima, my niece whom I've told you about."

"It's nice to meet you," Adachi said, smiling faintly. "I hear your dad's a detective. So am I. I've been in the force for almost a year now..."

Ahhh. Nanako thought she'd recognized him. The cop who'd gotten sick at the crime scene yesterday.

Adachi scratched the back of his head. "Ah, well, I was only stopping by to make sure the Setas are doing okay... I should be heading out now." He stood up from the table.

"You know you are always welcome here," Aunt Seta said warmly.

Adachi chuckled and inched his way out.

Huh, thought Nanako. Was... Aunt Seta husband-hunting? Well, she could do worse than a policeman. Uncle Seta had died near the end of last year, though, so Nanako thought it might be a little bit too soon, really. It was only April, after all.

However, little Souji probably needed a father figure of some sort...

"A friend of your husband's?" Nanako asked, curiosity too much to bear.

"Yes, his partner on the force, actually. When Adachi-san was transferred here, he was assigned under him."

Be sensitive to your family. Dad's warning rang in her mind. It wasn't time to ask about it. She could tell by the reminiscent look on her aunt's face. It was slowly morphing into sadness. Nanako thought fast on what she could do to change the subject, and then realized she was still holding the Junes bag. "Oh, Aunt Seta! Look what I found on sale today!" She brought out a set of colorful hair clips. "And I got this for Souji-kun!" It was a coloring book and set of crayons. The point of this was actually to see what color Souji favored, but her aunt didn't have to know that.

"That's very nice of you, dear. I'm afraid Souji has retreated to his room. He gets nervous when Adachi-san is around. Seeing him reminds him of..." The woman cut herself off abruptly and her face looked ashen.

"Y-yeah, I understand," Nanako said quickly. "Uh, I think I'll put these things in my room..."

Aunt Seta nodded.

However... Nanako didn't go to her room. She went to her cousin's room. The door was closed and she paused for a moment before it.

What would Souji be doing alone in his room? Sleeping already? Cram school work? Or just sort of sitting there, hugging a toy? Man, all of those options sounded sad...

Without further consideration, she opened the door without knocking and stepped inside.

Souji was sitting on the floor, holding the closed Loveline umbrella in his hands. Startled by her entrance, he dropped it and it rolled towards her. She picked it up and idly turned it over in her hands.

He opened and closed his mouth, silently asking what she was doing here.

She dropped to the ground in front of him. "Souji-kun! I went shopping and I got something for you!" She pressed the coloring book into his hands. The theme was dinosaurs because all kids love dinosaurs, right? "Here, I got crayons, too!" She opened up the crayon box and showed it to him.

He looked overwhelmed.

"Here," she said. "What's your favorite dinosaur?" She flipped through the pages in the book and showed him each one. "T-rex, right? Or maybe the long-neck one? Uh, I forget the name! Let's color one together, okay? Pick one, pick one!"

"Uh, umm... I like..." He lowered his gaze. "The ptero..."

"Ptero... oh! The flying one?"

He nodded.

"I think I saw one!" She flipped through the book and found the page with a pterodactyl on it. She tore out the page and handed it to him. "Hey, do you mind if I take the stegosaurus? I always liked that one because it has spikes on its tail!"

Souji didn't answer, so she went ahead and tore that one out for herself. Now the boy was sort of just looking at the paper in his hands. She sighed and then carefully pushed him over to his short work table, put the paper on it, and then placed the crayon box next to him. When he still made no move, she took out a crayon at random—forest green—and put it in his hand and started making him color until he finally began to work on his own.

Then she took a seat across from him and started coloring her stegosaurus.

"You know, Souji-kun," she began conversationally while coloring the spines a vibrant purple, "dinosaurs aren't around anymore. What's the word for that...?" She pretended to think.

"Eh...exti...nct," the boy mumbled.

"Yeah! That's it. I forget what happened to them, though."

"M-meteor... It was a meteor."

Nanako looked surprised. "Oh, yeah! Isn't that sad? A great big rock from space, and then no more dinosaurs?"

Souji didn't answer—he was too preoccupied by coloring his pterodactyl. He'd even switched colors without Nanako's prompting and was now using a dark red.

Nanako's dinosaur was a bit bigger, so she colored it quickly to keep pace with the boy. He still beat her, though, because she began to combine colors to shade the body. It was probably the ugliest stegosaurus ever—its back spines were alternating pink, purple and yellow, and the body was both pink and green, but she didn't really care as she put on the finishing touch by giving it a big smile.

While she was still working, she hadn't quite noticed that the boy was staring rather wistfully at his pterodactyl. "I wish the dinosaurs were still around," he suddenly whispered.

She paused, and then she put her hand over his. "Me too."

When Nanako returned to the living room later, she found that her aunt was watching the news from the couch. Nanako took a spot at the tea table and watched the end of the segment with her.

A boy was being interviewed, but his face was blurred and his voice distorted so that he sounded kind of like an otherworldly demon. It made Nanako hunch her shoulders. "I dunno," he was saying, "when I saw her hanging there, I figured it was suicide. That scandal, you know."

"Ah, so you recognized the body as soon as you saw it?"

"Who wouldn't? She's all over the news..."

Aunt Seta sighed. "Do you want to keep watching this, Nanako-chan? It's so... morbid."

Nanako told her she could turn it off.

She expected her aunt to try and make some small talk, but she didn't. Instead, she flipped open her phone and sighed again. Not long after, she told Nanako that she was going to retire early since tomorrow was going to be another busy day for her at the office.

Nanako nodded. She expected this would soon become a theme.

Alone in her room, Nanako put on her pajamas, got into her futon, and sighed because she knew she wasn't going to fall asleep very easily. She knew Chie was going to ask her about whether she'd tried it out or not...

'They say that if you're alone and watch a turned-off TV at midnight on a rainy night, you'll see your soulmate on the screen!'

She considered just going to sleep and lying about it in the morning, but she didn't enjoy lying all that much except when she was feeling vindictive or when she was in real trouble. Loveline's catchphrase was Truth and Justice, anyway...

She checked her phone's clock, shading her eyes against the blinding light the screen produced. Well, by the time she'd finished her homework this evening, it was already a little past eleven, so...

She set her alarm for 11:55 just in case and rolled over in her futon, but she didn't need it. A few minutes before midnight, she shuffled herself out of bed and in front of the TV and waited rather impatiently. Yep, nothing happening. It was probably just people seeing their own reflection. Were people that dumb? Or that desperate for love?

She turned away and cursed herself for not being logical about this when suddenly the TV turned on, accompanied by the sound of static. A silhouette appeared on it—and it wasn't her own reflection. It seemed to be male. The hair was short, somewhat wavy. She squinted and then the TV turned off before she could draw any further conclusions.

Huh, she actually had a soulmate? That was—

She hissed and clutched her head as pain suddenly shot through it.

I am thou...

Nanako moaned and twisted her body.

Thou art I...

She pounded her feet, but it wouldn't stop.

Thou art the one who opens the door...

The pain faded, but... what door, what the hell...?

The TV was off. It was off. She'd never once turned it on, and...

She reached out to touch the screen, not knowing what possessed her to do so. The screen rippled at the touch, and she felt less resistance than should be there. It was supposed to be solid glass...! Her hand went right through the screen. Something on the other side grabbed her hand and tried pulling her in.

Instinctively she fought against it, flailing her free hand around the TV's frame so that she couldn't be pulled in—at least, not without her arm snapping off. She worried that was going to happen when, suddenly, whatever it was gave up, and she went flying backwards onto her work table.

She rubbed her head where it had hit the table and winced. Damn, she was going to have a goose egg tomorrow.

She stared at the TV. As if mocking her, it now only showed her reflection.

Her mind was trying to tell her that hadn't just happened, but she knew better than to believe it. It was just that her mind had come up with absolutely no logical explanation, so it had simply given up altogether.

She... had a lot of trouble getting to sleep. She kept wanting to touch the screen to see if it would happen again...

I'm the one who opens the door? What door? And what's with that 'ye olde' language...?

[Next Chapter: Rule #1

Nanako's new friends learn the hard way that she should be taken seriously.]