[Summary: Yosuke takes some initiative in investigating the killer's next target. This goes as well as one would expect.]

[5/08: Sunday]

Dear Mom~

Happy Mother's Day! You thought I'd forget again, didn't you!? Of course not. I'm a good daughter, don't you know it!

I'm sorry I haven't written in a while, but I wanted to give you some good news. The good news didn't happen, so I guess you get sort-of-okay news instead. I found a piano in the music room at school. Good, right? But the not-so-good is that it's hurting and I'm having some trouble fixing it. I'd send you a picture of it, but I can't make you cry on Mother's Day. Still, something's better than nothing, so I'm glad I at least have that! I'll figure it out, though, don't you worry, or I'm not your daughter!

Oh! I made a few more friends. A dorky boy and a princess. They have evil dark sides but I totally made them accept them and I guess they're gonna grow from the experience or something. I'm not sure myself, to be honest. I, on the other hand, don't have an evil dark side. Can you believe it? I'm special!

Mom, you know, I think it's all because of you!

Nanako paused, thinking of Souji... and then began to type furiously into her phone.

Speaking of Souji, he seemed to be holding up well despite the fact that it was Mother's Day and they hadn't seen or even heard from his mother in a week. The new episodes of Loveline and Featherman helped, of course, as well as Foxie. Nanako observed that the stuffed animal moved around the house from time to time. Before school on Friday, it had been on the kitchen counter, apparently helping Souji make breakfast for them, and later that day, she'd found it sitting on the tea table, watching him finish his homework. In fact, it was there right now. He'd turned it to face the TV.

Now that morning television was over, Nanako wasn't sure what she wanted to do. The idea of hitting the books after spending all Friday and all Saturday studying just made her want to hit her head against the table. Before she could, though, her cell phone rang. She was excited for a moment, thinking it might have been her mom, but the ring tone was the default one, not Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.1.

Ah, but it was someone in her contact list: Chie. "Yo," Nanako greeted.

"Hey, Nanako," Chie said. "I was wondering if you wanted to take a break from studying? I'm seriously at my limit!"

"Hell yeah! You wanna come over and watch movies or something? I've got cookies."

"Ohhh, cookies!" Chie sounded wistful. "But actually, I'd rather get some fresh air. We can get some training done together, and I can show you some kicks!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Nanako breathed. Oh, to get out of this house again! To get some exercise!

While Chie told her where they'd meet—the flood plain—Nanako watched Souji as he was absorbed in a commercial advertising a strawberry-flavored candy. "Yeah, sure, I'll be there in about 20."

"Cool! Bring some water because we're gonna work out!" Chie hung up with enthusiasm.

Nanako put her cell phone away and then went to her room to get changed. Her gym clothes seemed to be the best bet. She hardly wore them, anyway. They were a jacket and sweat pants, blue-green in color, just like the boys wore, with Y on the right breast and H on the left. Not stylish at all, but who cared? It was a Sunday!

When she came back downstairs, Souji blinked at her. "Oh... are you going out?"

"Yep, and so are you! Come on, bring along your bug-catching stuff. We're going on a picnic!"

He blinked even more rapidly at her, then began to excitedly grab his things. While he did that, she packed a quick lunch in a duffel bag and soon they were at the riverbank.

Nanako waved at Chie, who was already punching invisible enemies in the air. "Hey, girl!"

Chie smiled with teeth. "Hey! Oh! Who's that?"

Nanako felt Souji hide behind her and grip the fabric of her sweat pants. "This is my little cousin, Souji-kun. He's a little shy." She paused, because that was an understatement. "Souji-kun, this is my friend Chie from school. I'm going to practice P.E. with her. You, lucky boy, can watch, or try to find some bugs, hmm? We should probably let out the ones we found on Wednesday."

"B-bugs!?" said Chie. She stepped back several feet and raised her hands defensively in front of her. "Keep it away from me!"

"You're afraid of bugs?" Nanako narrowed her eyes mischievously. "Souuuji, Grasshopper-san is still in your jar, right?"

"Nanako! Do not even think about it!" Chie shouted. "I'm serious!"

"Okay, okay," Nanako relented. "But gosh, you're an entomophobe, eh?"

"I am not!" Chie snapped.

"It means fear of bugs."

Chie huffed. "Do we have to know that for our exam tomorrow?"

"I wish," Nanako replied. "Since I know it already... Anyway, do you wanna have lunch first, or should we work up an appetite? Umm, Sou-chan, I can't really move when you're hugging my legs, could you—thanks."

The two girls practiced punches and kicks together, and Nanako taught her friend some of the aikido she knew. Souji sat on the grass and watched them, the jar of bugs held idly in his hands. When Nanako was winded, she called a time out for lunch, though she was jealous of Chie's stamina. The other girl seemed ready to continue for another half an hour.

Nanako pulled out a blanket from the duffel bag and spread it on the grass and they had a little picnic eating the fried egg sandwiches she'd made for them. Thankfully, Souji didn't seem to be afraid of Chie anymore. He probably just needed to get used to her. In fact, he even answered some of the simple questions the girl asked him.

"Must be fun living with Nanako, huh? I think for her, every day has to be an adventure." Chie smiled before tearing out a bite of her sandwich.

"Y-yeah... It's fun," Souji admitted quietly, his cheeks becoming faintly pink.

Nanako explained that his mom was out of town, so they'd spent Golden Week together.

"Aww!" said Chie. "That's really sweet! I wish I had a cute 'little bro'! The only family like that I have are my twin cousins, and they're both girls. They're bratty, too. Uh, don't tell them I said that!"

When they were done with the sandwiches, Nanako took out the bag of dinosaur cookies she'd packed. "Souji-kun gets dibs on the pterodactyl, but what do you want, Chie?"

Chie marveled at the design of the cookies. "Did you make these yourself? I'll take the tyrannosaurus and the stegosaurus!"

Nanako admitted that she'd used a refrigerated cookie dough package and cookie cutters from Junes, and Chie admitted that she would have done the same.

"I like the tyrannosaurus rex because it ate meat!" Chie said rather predictably. Nanako laughed while Chie pretended to have it attack the stegosaurus to put on a little show for Souji, who had his pterodactyl fly around a bit before he finally ate it.

Bonding over cookies... the only way to bond!

That evening after dinner, Nanako was doing some last-minute studying at the tea table. It wasn't going very well. She had reached that point in the crunch time studying cycle that said, 'you either know it or you don't.' It didn't help that Yosuke had called her in a panic asking if she had the answer to a particular problem in their math class, and when she'd turned to that page in her notes, she couldn't make heads or tails of the question either, dispiriting the both of them.

Fortunately when she was starting to get really frustrated, Souji asked her the meaning of a word in the book he was reading for leisure, and that distracted her for a few minutes as her curiosity took over. She, of course, had to know what he was reading and make him talk about it. It was a picture book about different types of trains.

Before she could get back to her own work, the front door opened and there was Aunt Seta, still dressed in her business clothes and pulling a suitcase behind her. She appeared somewhat frazzled; her dark brown hair was loose and all over the place, and a few of her blouse's top buttons had been loosened.

In a flash, Souji jumped to his feet, raced over to her, and hugged her legs.

"Souji!" Aunt Seta scolded lightly. "Come on, I can't move this when you're—"

"H-happy Mother's Day..." the boy said.

Aunt Seta paused and blinked. "Oh... It is that day, isn't it?" Souji nodded against her legs, and then drew back, his face flushed with emotion. "Well... thank you, dear. Have you been a good boy for Nanako-chan?"

"Y-yes, Mama..."

"Good. You seem to be so happy... Then... I'm happy, too, darling." Aunt Seta smiled at him with a warm but tired smile, and then turned back to her suitcase. "In fact, I have something for you." She unzipped a compartment on the suitcase and pulled out a bag of hard candies and gave it to the boy, who stared at it in absolute wonder.

"M-Mama...!"

"I missed Children's Day, after all." Aunt Seta patted his head, and then turned away from him to resume her struggle with pulling the suitcase into her room. A wheel caught on the corner of the wall, and she swore at it until it cooperated.

"Uh, how was your trip, Aunt Seta?" Nanako asked, more out of courtesy than curiosity.

"We closed the deal," the woman reported with obvious pride, "though it took longer than we thought. Weather was nice out there, rained a bit, but wasn't too hot. The hotel was adequate. I'm exhausted... I'll probably change and then go straight to bed."

"Oh, all right," Nanako said hesitantly. The woman was true to her word. Once she'd reached her room, she closed the door behind her and didn't come back out.

Nanako looked at her cousin. The boy was still staring at the candy bag. She had a feeling that he wouldn't open it. He'd keep it as a souvenir. God, what a terrible thought... Still, Nanako was surprised her aunt had remembered to get him something—but it was just a bag of candy, probably she'd bought it right at the train station as an afterthought...

"Uh, umm, big sis..." Souji had broken out of his trance to look at her. "The flowers..."

At school, Souji had made red flowers out of paper as a project for Mother's Day. It included a handmade card, too. The words, "I LOVE YOU" filled up most of the card, surrounded by a number of multicolored hearts. Souji had planned to give them to his mother. "We'll put them on the fridge," Nanako told him, and proceeded to do just that.

[5/13: Friday]

Exams were the source of all evil. Really, Nanako had spent quite a long time studying and wasn't sure it had done her any good. She considered herself smart, but maybe not exactly book smart. Her least favorite subjects were math and literature. It wasn't that she was bad at math—she just didn't have the patience to deal with the more abstract problems. When they had real-world applications she could get motivated, but otherwise she simply had no interest. And literature... she liked reading, but hated being forced to read. She knew what she liked—adventure stories and hard mysteries—the sorts of books that were almost never assigned.

Still, she was pretty sure she did better than Yosuke and Chie, heh heh... They were both looking pretty down by the time Friday and the freedom it represented came around.

"I need some comfort food," Chie whined. "Let's go get some steak!"

"To Junes!" Nanako raised a fist. They were still at school at the moment.

"But the steak there sucks," Chie protested. "I want a skewer from Souzai Daigaku. Nanako! Have you been there?"

"Nope."

"They don't have enough seating for all of us," Yosuke pointed out. "I'm not in the mood to stand around and watch you eat, you carnivore."

"You're just upset you can't use your discount there." Chie crossed her arms, absently mimicking his current pose.

"I was going to suggest getting takeout there," Yosuke said, "bringing it to Junes, and then eating it at the food court."

"All right!" Chie opened her purse and handed some bills out to Yosuke. "Pick me up three—no, four—skewers. Yukiko, do you want any? Nanako, oh, get another for Nanako. It's on me. So that's... five."

Yosuke stared at the money suddenly in front of him. "Wait, what?"

"Souzai Daigaku is on the other side of town from Junes!" Chie said. "You have a bike, so it'll be way faster if you went and got the food for us. We'll meet you at Junes."

He looked to Nanako for rescue, but she just shrugged. "Sounds good to me. I don't wanna walk all the way there. But I'm not sure that he can carry all that and steer the bike at—"

Before she could finish, Yosuke scowled, pocketed the money, and headed out of the classroom. "I'll see you at the food court."

The girls watched him leave. "That wasn't a challenge," Nanako said. "But okay."

The three girls had been chatting for about half an hour when Yosuke finally arrived at the food court. He didn't say a word, just kind of threw the plastic bag carrying the takeout boxes onto the table and then took a seat far away from Nanako.

"Uh, thanks, Yosuke!" Chie called to him before diving right into the food. "Oh, but where's my change?"

Yosuke silently produced some coins and slid them across the table to her. Then he put on his headphones and rested his head on the table.

"What's got into him?" Chie wondered.

"I'm gonna guess... he crashed his bike," Nanako said. "Maybe you should buy him a soda. He looks like he could use one."

"Y-yeah," said Chie. She stood up and went to the food counter.

While she was ordering, Nanako was left with Yukiko, but couldn't think of anything to talk about, so she focused on eating her steak skewer. It was okay, as steak went. It wasn't that much better than the Junes steak, in her opinion, but she wasn't a connoisseur.

She was trying to identify the song Yosuke was listening to, since he'd put the volume up too high, when she spied Detective Adachi walking by the food counter. She excused herself from Yukiko to intercept him. "Adachi-san!"

"Eh?" The man seemed surprised at being addressed. "Oh, Nanako-kun. Hanging out with your friends, huh? I'm, uh, on break." He turned a sheepish grin on her.

He wasn't fooling Nanako, though he probably knew it. She ignored it and got to the point. "You left something the last time you visited." She handed him the lighter.

Adachi's shoulders slumped in obvious relief. "God, I was wondering where that went. It was driving me half mad! I tore my apartment apart looking for it..."

"I'm sorry," Nanako said softly, stricken by his words. "I should have returned it to you sooner."

"Hey, it's okay! I'm just glad to have it back." Adachi had on a reminiscent smile as he traced the etching on the lighter with his thumb. "It was a gift from your uncle. Well, not really a gift, haha... He made me light his cigarettes with it." He looked at Nanako's face. "Thank you. It's kind of important to me."

"Y-yeah." Nanako watched him stow it safely away in his pocket, and then pat it as if to make sure that it was really there. She thought carefully on how to word what she wanted to say next. "Hey, umm, Adachi-san... You didn't visit on Wednesday."

Aunt Seta had actually cooked on Wednesday, and to Nanako's shock, she was actually good at it. It had been tonkatsu with homemade sauce and rice. Then Aunt Seta had checked her phone and found out that Adachi wasn't coming over. Nanako tried her damnedest to read her aunt's expression; it appeared to have been mostly annoyance. Nanako knew she shouldn't get in her aunt's business, but she was just too curious about her relationship with the detective.

"Ehh..." Adachi said. "I can't help it when I have to work overtime. You understand that, right?" He shrugged.

"Yeah," she replied. "Maybe I'll let you go so you won't have to work any today, huh?"

"You're a good kid," he said. He waved at her in a friendly manner as he turned back into the store.

Nanako returned to her friends at the table in the food court to find that everyone had been watching her speak with Adachi. Even Yosuke had stopped sulking to watch—or maybe the root beer float Chie had given him had cheered him up. Chie asked Nanako who he was and what she had talked with him about, and Nanako explained that Adachi used to be her uncle's partner in the force.

"'Used to be?' Did he get promoted, or demoted, or something?" Chie asked.

"I probably worded that poorly," said Nanako. "My uncle, Sachio Seta, passed away. That's why they're ex-partners."

Chie covered her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Nanako shrugged. "I never met the guy." She further explained her living situation. "It's a bit awkward in that house. I'm always afraid of triggering memories with my aunt."

"Sachio Seta," Yosuke mused. "I've heard that name before."

"It was big news when he died," Yukiko murmured. "Such a tragedy..."

"Oh, was he the cop that..." Yosuke trailed off, looking sick all of a sudden. "Oh, crap!"

"Y-yeah," Nanako confirmed.

"Wait, so your cousin Souji-kun... doesn't have a father?" Chie said. "That's why you spent Golden Week with him..."

"No wonder you blew me off," Yosuke muttered. "I don't blame you at all."

"Souji-kun is adorable," Nanako said, "but he's so... introverted, and sometimes he feels so broken... I can't tell if it's because of what happened with his dad, or if he was always like this. I'm afraid to ask." Honestly, she wasn't sure Aunt Seta would even understand what she was talking about if she did ask. "I'm trying my best to reach out to him, and, on the bright side, he is reaching back. He likes me."

"That's good, at least. Well, as long as you aren't ordering him around," Yosuke said.

"You have to be cruel to be kind," Nanako replied. "He'll never break out of his shell if I leave him be, so, yeah, I do have to push him at least a little."

"He got over his shyness with me pretty fast," Chie said. "There's hope for him!"

They spoke more about the quirks of family before parting ways for the day.

[5/14: Saturday]

It was finally raining, and raining so heavily that it promised to last all night. Nanako kept her excitement on the down low, but in truth she'd been hella bored lately. All throughout exam week she occasionally caught herself daydreaming of throwing some of her acquaintances into the TV just so she could fight another Shadow. Maybe Kou, or that fat girl, or even Morooka...

But that would violate Rule #1, and she wasn't going to break any of her rules just yet, though she was almost bored enough to break Rule #2 and get some solo training in. Working with her squad was great, but with them to fall back on, she didn't feel like she was pulling her own weight. She also felt like she wasn't learning how to get the most out of her wild card ability. Switching Personas on the fly for any sort of situation they'd run into, that was her goal.

It was just... the Shadows in Yukiko's Castle weren't a challenge anymore. Nanako had asked Teddie if there was anywhere else they could go, and he'd said no. She reminded him of that foggy place with the red floor tiles that they went to their very first time in the TV World—where they'd almost died. He said he couldn't find it again, and Nanako figured he probably wasn't capable of lying to her. There had been something about that place... It was probably hidden from him.

Regardless, there wasn't much to be done while waiting for night to come, and Nanako felt restless. The outlet for some of her pent-up energy was working at the daycare. It would have been better if it hadn't been raining, though. The kids were all stuck inside the building, and the daycare manager had them watching a movie. On the bright side, with all the kids in front of the TV, it was easier for Nanako to be near Souji. He'd situated himself at the edge of the group, and she sat right next to him. Soon enough, other kids scooted themselves to sit around her, and Souji found himself in the center of a crowd. When he seemed uncomfortable by this turn of events, Nanako gently squeezed his shoulder, assuring him that she was there for him, and he calmed down with a little smile.

That night, she was in the middle of an exciting dream about fighting a giant mecha when her cell phone rang. It was Yosuke. She interrupted him before he could say much of anything and told him to shut up and never call after midnight again. Anything he'd seen on the Midnight Channel could be dealt with in the morning. He was still protesting when she hung up and powered down her cell phone to prevent further calls.

Then she returned to her dream, but unfortunately couldn't recapture it.

[5/15: Sunday]

They met up at what Yukiko now called their 'Secret Headquarters.' It was just the Junes food court, but Nanako was amused by the name. She was glad her friends were getting into their assigned roles. Yosuke, for one, seemed really happy to be able to contribute what he'd discovered, despite Nanako's reaction last night. As it turned out, only he and Chie had managed to watch the Midnight Channel. Chie didn't recognize the guy at all, but Yosuke said that the silhouette he'd seen looked kinda like the guy who had been on a recent news segment about biker gangs.

"So he might be in a biker gang," Nanako mused. Their next party member was going to be a badass. She was looking forward to it already. Well, technically she supposed they should try to prevent the guy from being kidnapped and try to catch the culprit in the act, but...

Unfortunately, the news segment hadn't revealed the guy's name. Yosuke said he had an idea who it might be, but wanted to confirm it first before they pursued a wrong avenue. He excused himself to do that, and the three girls then went to the electronics section to speak with Teddie through the big TV there. The bear confirmed that no one had been thrown into the TV World. Teddie also whined about being bored since they hadn't visited him in a while, and Nanako told him it probably wouldn't be much longer. "Get another pair of glasses ready," she told him, and he seemed happy to be of service.

"So it seems people show up blurry on the Midnight Channel before they're kidnapped, and then when they're thrown in, their Shadow comes out and that weird show airs," Chie remarked.

"What weird show?" Yukiko asked. "Did I have one...?"

Chie and Nanako exchanged glances. "Don't worry about it," Nanako said. "It was just your Shadow talking about being a princess. Because your dungeon was a castle." Out of the corner of her eye, Chie passed a grateful nod at her for the vague description.

"Something about lacy—Ow!" Nanako punched Teddie through the TV. "Bossss! What was that for?"

"Ahem. Anyway," said Nanako, "I guess we have to wait for Yosuke to make progress on identifying that guy." A peal of thunder rumbled through the store, prompting her to finish with, "We should get home before it starts raining."

[5/16: Monday]

"Here," Yosuke said in class the next morning. He showed Nanako the screen on his cell phone. "I took a picture of the Midnight Channel! I wasn't sure it would show up, but it did. I'm pretty sure I know who it is. I'm gonna check it out after school, and then I'll call you, okay?"

"Can your phone record video, too?" she asked. "That could be useful."

"Well, maybe, but my SD card is kinda small. I'll try it tonight, if it rains again," he promised.

Yosuke was restless all day in class. Nanako could tell because his foot kept tapping the leg of her desk, and he wasn't trying to get her attention or anything. He just wanted to get moving. She wondered why he was so intent on figuring out the guy's identity on his own. She figured it had to do with the fact that he was the only boy on the team. Maybe he was having his own doubts about pulling his weight. Well, let him prove himself. What was the worst that could happen?

...She recalled the last time she'd asked herself that. It had been when she'd first pushed him into the TV.

Yeah...

She decided it would be a good opportunity to work on her tailing skills, so she followed Yosuke out of class. Unfortunately, when he headed to the school's side lot, she realized she'd totally forgotten that he had a bike. While she watched him curse and struggle to get it free from its chain, she considered 'borrowing' someone else's bike, but probably all of them were locked, and she wouldn't have enough time to jimmy one free, anyway. Just moments later, Yosuke was on his bike and on the move.

She should've just asked to come with him, really, but where was the fun in that?

Yukiko and Chie were loitering at the school gates, so she asked them which way he went. "East," said Chie. "Towards the flood plain or the shopping district, I guess. But, uh, you could just call him, right?"

Nanako imagined Yosuke trying to answer his phone while biking, and although the visual was amusing, she didn't need him to get hurt.

While walking towards the shopping district, she spotted Saki Konishi heading in the same direction. "Saki-senpai!" she called, and the older girl waited for her.

"You should wear your hair down," Saki chided gently upon her approach. "If you keep it in a ponytail, it's like you permed it for nothing."

"Y-yeah... I know," Nanako answered. "I see yours didn't stay straight for very long."

Saki sighed. "It never does."

They began to walk down the road together. "So... how are you?" Nanako asked.

"Please don't ask that every time we meet," Saki said, rubbing her nose. "It's tiresome, and everyone else does it, too."

"Ah, sorry—"

"And don't apologize, either. I don't... I don't want sympathy." Saki's expression softened when Nanako looked chastised. "I'm sorry. Most people treat me like a time bomb, or else a sick animal. I'm not me anymore. I'm Naoki's sister."

"Do people try to pretend that Naoki-kun never existed?" Nanako asked, thinking of her uncle. "Or do their best to avoid mentioning him at all?"

Saki nodded, and her hair danced with the action. Nanako noticed it because her wavy hair was still so dazzling to her. "My parents act like he's just gone out with his friends and forgot to call home. It's sickening. I try to stay away from there, but... I have to help out. I have to do Naoki's chores around the store now. It's where I'm heading, actually."

"Do you still work at Junes? I haven't seen you there in a while. Well, not that I visit every day."

"I had my hours reduced. Parents want me to quit, but, well, they've always wanted me to quit. They hate Junes, and they hate that I work there, and... I don't know, maybe a part of me wants to be hated by them. It's better than being forgotten, like the shopping district is, slowly but surely."

"I buy pretty much everything from Junes," Nanako admitted quietly. "I guess I'm part of the problem, huh?"

Saki waved her hand and made a dismissive sound. "I'm not judging you, and no one should. It's the future. Really, even the megastores will eventually be replaced by online shopping. Hah, you have King Moron for homeroom, right? He rants and raves about technology because he can't handle how different the world is becoming from what he's familiar with. That's everyone over a certain age, it really is."

Nanako remembered how her dad had complained and complained and complained when he'd been given a smartphone for work and had been forced to learn how to use the email function on it. Now he couldn't live a day without it. Nanako primarily communicated with both her parents through email, actually. "Well, mostly he raves about morality, or rather, immorality, but I know what you mean," she said. "If it wasn't Junes, it'd be a Nanjo or Kirijo chain or something else."

"Exactly," Saki said emphatically. "People in Inaba think with a small town mentality, but sooner than they expect, it's going to become a big town, and they're gonna have to get with the times. It's not like they're saints or anything anyway. Look at the shrine in the shopping district. It's so dingy! Even the gods are being left behind!"

Izanami stirred in the back of Nanako's mind, and she wondered for a moment how much the average person knew about Japanese mythology outside of popular anime. "Don't let your grandma catch you saying that," Nanako warned with a somewhat desperate laugh. "Uh, by the way, how'd you know I'm in Morooka's class?"

"Oh, Hana-chan told me he sits behind you," Saki said. "He's mentioned you more than once, Nanako."

"Yosuke? You know, I was going to ask if you saw him go by this way. I'm kind of following hi—umm..." Nanako cut off her own words because she became aware that Saki was looking at her slyly. "Uh, no. It's not like that. He's just a friend."

"Hana-chan is a good guy," Saki said lightly. "He deserves a good girl."

Oh god, thought Nanako. Please don't point him in that direction. But the more she denied it, the more Saki would probably think it was true, so she turned the tables instead. "I don't fit that description. And, well, you were supposed to be that good girl, you know."

Saki hissed as she sharply took in air. Then she laughed ruefully. "I never said I was a saint, either," she admitted. "I never told him that I already have a boyfriend, but I think he's finally realized I'm not interested in him. Our shifts at Junes haven't overlapped in quite a while, at least. I wonder if that's his doing. As for your question... He did go by, and he asked me if I recognized someone in a picture. It looked kind of like Kanji Tatsumi. He didn't explain what it was about. He just nodded, thanked me, and headed off on his bike. Maybe he's going to see Kanji-kun. His mother owns the textiles shop down the road from the liquor store. We're almost there, anyway. If you don't know it, I could point it out to you."

In fact, they'd walked all the way to the central shopping district together. There was that gas station, and there was the bookstore, and there was the Velvet Room door, and there was Yosuke, hauling ass towards them, his bike nowhere in sight. "Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease don't kill me!" he was shouting.

Nanako blinked, and then saw what he was running from: a tall, bleached-blond guy wearing a purple shirt with a skull on it. He wore a Yasogami High jacket over his shoulders, and it fluttered in the wind behind him. The man's large hands were balled into fists, and with his quick, determined stride, he was totally gaining on Yosuke.

"Oh, speaking of the devil, that's Kanji-kun now," Saki said mildly.

"GET YOUR PUNK ASS BACK HERE AND GET BENT!" Kanji shouted. He slowed for a second to nod and say, "Hello, Senpai," to Saki and then resumed the chase.

Nanako watched Yosuke run—he'd crossed the road and was now doubling back the way he'd come—for a long moment because, hey, it was entertaining, but then decided to intervene because it was clear he'd be caught soon. Kanji's strides were just too long. When Kanji passed by her, Nanako tripped him. To her surprise, instead of face-planting right into the sidewalk, the man caught himself. He turned a glare on her, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Tch, what wassat for?"

"Sorry," Nanako said. "I kind of need Yosuke in one piece." She pointedly ignored Saki's significant look.

"Dude's a friggin' asshole," Kanji complained. "Got up in my business, showing me some damn photo when I was busy talkin' to, uh, t-talkin' to..." Kanji's face became flushed. "D-dammit, I never got his name... Oh, shit, there he is!"

A slender figure wearing a blue double-breasted cardigan coat, a matching boy's cap, and plaid blue pants was walking down the road towards them. As the boy approached, Nanako had to stop her jaw from dropping. Bluish hair, gray eyes, that signature cap, yes, she recognized him. "Detective Prince!?" she shouted.

The blue-clad boy stopped and eyed her. "Hello, ma'am. Forgive the intrusion, but I must have a word with Tatsumi-san—"

Oh my god, he called me 'ma'am.' He is so adorable! Nanako thought. Souji- kun, you now have competition! "Naoto Shirogane! Are you investigating the murders?"

The boy's eyes widened. "I am making such inquiries, yes... May I ask how you know of me?"

"Detective Prince," Nanako repeated. When the boy looked tired by that answer, she added, "My dad's a detective with the Tokyo PD."

"My fame precedes me," Naoto said with a small sigh. "I must admit that I did not expect that here... However, misfortune can be turned to advantage. Might I know your name?"

"Oh, I'm Nanako Dojima! And Kanji-kun doesn't know anything, but I do, so let's uh, let's go somewhere and talk!" She wanted so much to grab the young detective by the shoulder and steer him into Aiya or something and start talking shop. The Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane! Here in Inaba, talking to her! She could die happy!

Naoto raised an eyebrow at Kanji, who looked conflicted. "I have made plans to speak with Tatsumi-san after school tomorrow, as I currently do not have the time. I see you are also a student at Yasogami High, Dojima-san. Perhaps you could join us."

"Wh-what," said Kanji. "You're a d-detective? Shit! You think I'm the killer or something?" He looked ready to punch a wall. "Goddamn cops! I got nothin' to do with it!"

"Calm down, Kanji-kun," said Nanako. "I know you're not the killer. Why would the killer target himself? That's just dumb."

Now Naoto's raised eyebrow was directed at Nanako. "Target himself...?" he mused. "Well, are we in agreement, then? We will meet at the gates to Yasogami High after school lets out tomorrow."

I will sooo be there, Nanako thought. She nodded instead. Kanji looked reluctant, but then let out a, "Tch, yeah..." Naoto nodded, satisfied, and then walked away.

"Haven't been to school in weeks," Kanji mumbled, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"I thought for sure that boy would question me," Saki remarked. She sounded relieved that he hadn't.

"Maybe he didn't recognize you as Naoki-kun's sister," Nanako said. "He'll probably come by and bother you later."

"Probably." Saki sighed. "He seemed polite enough, anyway, unlike some of the police who've talked to me."

Nanako turned to Kanji and addressed him. "I want to give you a warning. Someone might try to kidnap you."

"Kidnap me? Uh, Senpai... You sure about that?" The bleached-blond boy's brow knit together. "Come to think of it, that idiot kid I was chasin' said something like that..."

"Yosuke's heart is in the right place, even if his brain isn't. Really, Kanji-kun. I know you don't know me, but please be careful if you answer the door at night for strangers. Better yet, ask the person's name before answering, or answer with one eye closed."

"They'd have to be an idiot to pick a fight with me," he said, cracking his knuckles, "but thanks for the warning, I guess."

Her job done, Nanako parted ways with Kanji and Saki and headed home, where she retired early in her utter excitement for the day to come.

[Author's notes: Saki ships Yosuke/Nanako. Oh dear. It's not my intention to make this a shipfic, honest!

Naoto Shirogane is supposed to be a well-known detective. Even if most of Inaba has never really heard of him, someone like Nanako, who's so proud to be a detective's daughter, definitely would have.

Next Chapter: The Prince and the Punk, Part 2

Nanako does her best to ingratiate herself with the Detective Prince.]