Afternoon – Aboard the train

It had been an hour since Hamuko had awoken from her bizarre dream, and yet it still had not left her mind. Dreams weren't supposed to be real, but the fortune-telling that the man named Igor had performed seemed like something she simply couldn't ignore. Something bad will happen in Inaba when I get there? Hamuko pondered the thought as she looked outside the window at mountain scenery. What's more, I'm supposed to help? No, no, Hamuko, it was just a dream. It wasn't real. Everyone told me that Inaba was one of the most quiet and peaceful places out there. You're just being paranoid, that's all.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After slowly exhaling, she opened them again. Looking back at her train ticket, then at her watch, she noticed that it would still be awhile before she would reach Inaba, perhaps an hour or so left. Looking around, she noticed that there wasn't a great deal of passengers in her train car either; not a strange thing considering that Inaba was supposed to be an out of the way place.

The few passengers she did see didn't appear out of the ordinary either, with the exception of a silver-haired teenage boy who was wearing a school uniform. Hamuko wasn't sure if it was that of Yasogami High's as she had not seen the male uniform version. Although she briefly considered making an attempt to talk to him, Hamuko quickly decided against it. The prospect of talking to a boy her age that she didn't know was scary enough, and she knew that she lacked the courage to go through with it anyway. Instead she decided to retrieve the music player and headphones from the briefcase that Mitsuru had given her, being extra careful to make sure no one saw the fake gun that was inside.

After putting the headphones on she looked at the device itself, trying to figure out how it worked. Fortunately the ON button was in clear sight, as were the various other functions that was typical of most music players. Still, it confused her as to how it would be possible to listen to any music without a CD. Deciding to try it out anyway, she pressed the play button.

Fear's awake

Anger beats loud

Face reality

Never be charity

The enemy you're fighting

Covers whole society

The music was rather loud, but the pop-style beat was rather enjoyable to her. Apparently Minato had good taste in music. Still, the question of where the music was actually stored on the device was continuing to perplex her. Oh forget it, I'll figure it out later. I guess some things changed since ten years ago, after all. She leaned over to the window and looked out at the mountainous countryside scenery as it passed by her while she continued to listen to the music.

Twenty minutes later...

Hamuko was still listening to her brother's music when she saw that some of the passengers in the train begin to stand up. Taking her headphones off, she heard an announcement being played.

-will arrive at the Yasogami terminal in a few minutes. Passengers headed for Inaba City and Yasoinaba Station please go to the other side of the platform. I repeat-

Hamuko stood up and retrieved her briefcase and handbag. That's right, Mitsuru-san told me that I had to get on a second train for the final part of the trip. Better be sure I don't get on the wrong one...

After the train came to a stop at the terminal and she had gotten off, Hamuko noticed that the silver-haired boy had also left the train and was heading towards the same train that she was. I guess he's heading to Inaba too... After getting on the train that was indeed bound for for her destination, she took a seat a few rows behind the boy. Again she considered talking to him, but once again her courage failed her and so she simply leaned back in her seat and put her headphones back on and went back to listening to music as she waited for the last part of her trip to Inaba to begin...

Afternoon – Yasoinaba Station

Yasoinaba. Yasoinaba.

The announcement over the train had meant that Hamuko's journey to Inaba had finally ended. As the train slowed to a stop, the butterflies in her stomach began to fly just a bit faster.

My new life begins as soon as I leave this train. she thought as she stood up and gathered her briefcase and handbag. You can do this, Hamuko, no prob! She watched the silver-haired boy leave the train before slowly beginning to leave the train herself.

As she departed the train, she remembered that she was supposed to meet with someone named Takao. Only problem was that she had no idea what he was supposed to look like. Hopefully, he would know who she is...

As Hamuko tentatively walked out of the station exit, she noticed that the silver-haired boy was talking to a man with a jacket slung over his shoulder and a small girl next to the stairs in the parking lot . Hmm, so that's probably not Takao so..

"Hamuko-chaaaaaaaan!"

A voice on the opposite side snapped Hamuko's attention to the source. She saw a gray-haired older gentleman with glasses dressed in a suit waving at her. Standing next to him was a brunette young woman in a much more casual attire.

Mitsuru-san didn't mention anything about a lady... Hamuko thought as she hesitantly approached the pair.

"Welcome to Inaba, Hamuko-chan," said the man as Hamuko walked up to him. "I'm Takao Matsuda. Mitsuru's told me all about you."

"Um, i-its nice to meet you Takao-san," said Hamuko nervously as she bowed.

"Hey now, no need to be all scaredy cat-like," chuckled the woman. "We ain't gunna eat ya or anything!"

Takao looked at the woman and sighed. "Please, Ayame, where are your manners?" He looked back to Hamuko. "Er, this is my granddaughter Ayame. She's visiting Inaba for awhile on job-related matters, so she will be staying with us."

"Ayame Kawatake," said the woman as she gave Hamuko a wink and a thumbs up. "Just call me Iris though, I prefer that name as it's my pen name that I use for work."

"Iris-san then?" asked Hamuko. It was a rather unusual name to want to be called, at least to her it was.

"Just Iris," said the woman as she adjusted the sunglasses on her head. "I don't really like all that formal stuff."

"Ayame is a reporter," explained Takao as he shook his head. "Although I think paparazzi is a more accurate term..."

"Hey, that's mean gramps!" fumed Iris. "Anyway, now that she's here, shouldn't we get her to the house? I got stuff to do, ya know."

Takao nodded. "I suppose we should. Come, Hamuko-chan, the car is this way."

Hamuko nodded and followed the pair to a nearby white car. Takao opened the back door for Hamuko and she got in, while Iris occupied the front passenger seat. Well, Takao-san seems nice enough, thought Hamuko as Takao started the car and began to drive out of the parking lot. Iris is a little bit on the wild side, but she seems pretty cool.

"Aw shoot!" cried Iris as they had just pulled out of the parking lot. "Gramps, can you swing by the gas station? The batteries in my camera about about to die..." She held up the camera that was around her neck to emphasize the point.

Takao thought for a moment. "I suppose we could. The car does needs gas now that I think about it."

A minute later Takao pulled up to a small gas station called Moel. As they were pulling in, Hamuko noticed the silver-haired boy again, this time talking with the station attendant, who was putting gas into the vehicle they were standing next to. I'm seeing a lot of him today...

"I won't take too long guys!" said Iris as she walked toward the convenience store.

Hamuko watched as the station attendant finished his task and then as the boy entered the vehicle and left with the girl and man she had seen him with earlier.

"Sorry about the wait," said the station attendant. "What do you need?"

"Fill it up if you don't mind young man," said Takao with a smile. "Regular will do."

"Sure thing!" said the attendant. As he began the task he looked at Hamuko. "Hmm, I don't think I've seen you around before..."

"Oh, she just moved here from one of the cities," explained Takao.

"Is that so?" mused the attendant. "The guy that was just here a second ago also just moved here from the city. Small world huh?"

"I guess so," agreed Hamuko as she looked around.

"Not a whole lot here is there?" asked the attendant. "Ah, but don't worry, you'll make friends soon enough here, so I'm sure you won't be bored."

"He's right about that," chuckled Takao. "This town is small, but there are a lot kids your age too."

"You could also get a part-time job if you really get bored," added the attendant as he finished filling up the tank. "This place is hiring, you know; we don't care if you're a student, so give it some thought okay?" He extended his hand towards Hamuko.

A handshake? Hamuko tilted her head. That particular type of greeting was rather rare, but she dismissed the thought. He's just being nice... She smiled and shook the attendant's hand. As she did she couldn't help but notice the smile on the attendant's face. It was a rather cold and satisfied looking smile to her.

"Hey guys, I'm back," said Iris as she walked back to the car.

"Ah good timing," said Takao as he paid the attendant. "We're just finishing up here."

"Thank you very much!" said the attendant as another car pulled up. "Well, off to the next customer!"

Hamuko watched as he ran off to tend to the customer. A moment later she suddenly felt dizzy and took a step back.

"Hey girl, you okay?" asked Iris as she put a hand on Hamuko's shoulder.

"Y-yeah, just a bit of a dizzy spell," said Hamuko as her vision returned to normal. "Maybe I'm getting tired or something."

"Probably just the gasoline fumes," sighed Iris. "Anyway, let's get you home."

Hamuko nodded and entered the car. What was that all about?

Evening – Matsuda Residence

"Well, here we are!" announced Iris as the car pulled up to a rather large house. "Not bad huh?"

"Y-yeah," said Hamuko as she looked up at the house. Three stories! Wow!

"Mitsuru would use this house sometimes when she went on vacation," explained Takao as everyone exited the car. "Of course, now that she's taking over the Kirijo Group, I don't think she'll be visiting for awhile."

"Blah, she's got a bunch of houses everywhere in Japan," said Iris as she began walking away towards the roadway. "Anyway, I'm off to get some leads! I'll be back later tonight!"

Takao sighed as he watched her walk away. "She could have at least eaten dinner with us... Oh, well let's go inside, shall we?"

Hamuko nodded and followed Takao inside.

"Your room is on the second floor, all the way on the right," explained Takao. "Go ahead and take a look."

"Okay," replied Hamuko, walking to the set of stairs the led to the second floor. All the way to the right huh? Okay, this should be it...Wow!"

The room that she would be staying in much, much larger than she had expected. It was nearly twice as big as her hospital room! Mitsuru-san really did go all-out for me huh?

Setting her briefcase on the desk that overlooked the outside she went over to the futon and laid down on it. Another dizzy spell... What's going on? She put her hand on top of her her forehead. Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a little while... Before she knew it, she had lost consciousness.