Hamuko stared at the door to the Faculty Office for a full minute before finally holding her breath and knocking on it three times. A few seconds later the door opened and she found herself facing a middle aged man with large protruding front teeth and wearing a blue and white pinstriped suit with a sour look on his face.

"Waddaya want kid? I gotta get to my class soon."

"I, uh, um," Hamuko tried to say what it was she had come for, but the man's increasingly irritated look on his face was shattering what remained of her already fragile courage.

The look on the man's face became more and more irritated as Hamuko failed to answer his question.

"Come on already, spit it out kid, I ain't got all day!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Hamuko. "I need my, um, homeroom assignment."

The teacher scratched his head. "That oughta be posted outside along with everyone elses."

"But I just transferred here, and I was told I was supposed to come here," said Hamuko.

The man sighed. "Another transfer student? Has this school become a dumping ground for city kids all of a sudden? Ugh, fine tell me your name and year and hurry up about it!"

"R-right," said Hamuko, thankful that the man was at least obliging her. "I'm Hamuko Arisato. Third year."

"Third year eh?" the teacher scratched his chin. "Good! That means I ain't gotta deal with your ass at least. Let's see now, Arisato...Arisato... Ah, that's right!"

"?" Hamuko gave the teacher a confused look.

"We just got a new teacher from the city," explained the man. "Said she wanted to have you in her class. And don't ask why, because I don't know! I guess you city types like to stick together or something." Turning around he yelled out, "Hey, Toriumi! Get over here, that girl you wanted in your class is here!"

Hamuko could hear a loud sigh coming from within the Faculty Office followed by, "Coming Mr. Morooka..." A few seconds later a woman wearing a peach colored pantsuit appeared next to Morooka.

"There she is," grumbled Morooka as he turned around and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do..."

The other teacher shook her head as Morooka left and then looked back at Hamuko. "I'm sorry about that. He doesn't seem to like people that aren't from Inaba. Goodness knows he doesn't like me."

"It sounded like it," agreed Hamuko.

"Alright then, let's see if we can't start this over then," said the teacher. "I'm Ms. Toriumi, and if what Mr. Morooka said was true then you must be Hamuko Ari...sato?"

There was something strange about the way Ms. Toriumi paused as she spoke Hamuko's last name to the girl, but she decided to simply nod and smile.

"Yes, that's right."

"I see," Ms. Toriumi looked at the ground for a moment before looking back at Hamuko with a smile. "Well then, that means I'll be your homeroom teacher, Hamuko. I'm about to head to class myself, so you can just follow me, okay?"

Hamuko nodded and watched as Ms. Toriumi went back inside the Faculty Office. A minute later she returned with a folder.

"Okay then, this way Hamuko," said Ms. Toriumi. "I'm pretty sure everyone else is in class by now, so that will make it easier to introduce you to the others; you are the new girl after all, even if it is the first day of school."

Hamuko silently followed Ms. Toriumi to the top floor, where all the third years classes were held.

"Here we are, room 301," said Ms. Toriumi. "Are you ready?"

"I guess so..." answered Hamuko. Of course she was still nervous, but she wanted to get this over with as soon as she could. She followed Ms. Toriumi into the classroom and noticed that everyone else was already inside, just as her teacher had said.

"Alright class, settle down. I'm Ms. Toriumi, your Composition as well as homeroom teacher for the year." As soon as she had finished speaking, the entire class let out a collective sigh.

"Oh, thank god," said one of the students. "We were afraid we'd get King Moron!"

"Yeah, no kidding," said another.

"King Moron?" asked Ms. Toriumi.

"Oh yeah, you're the new teacher so you wouldn't know," answered another student. "That's the name we gave to Mr. Morooka."

"It certainly seems fitting enough..." trailed Ms. Toriumi, drawing a few chuckles from the classroom. "But enough about that. We have a transfer student from the city joining us today. Go on and introduce yourself."

"I'm Hamuko Arisato. Um, it's nice to meet you all," she said with a bow.

"Alright then, go sit over there next to...uh, what's your name?" asked Ms. Toriumi as she pointed to a female student with long curly gray-brown hair that was sitting next to an empty desk.

"Saki," said the student. "Saki Konishi."

"Right then, next to Saki."

Hamuko quickly took the indicated seat, thankful that her introduction ordeal was over with.

"So, you're new here huh?" asked Saki after Hamuko had sat down.

"Yeah," replied Hamuko as Ms. Toriumi began to take attendance. "It's the first time I've ever left my hometown so I'm not really used to being the new girl."

Saki chuckled. "Well, don't worry. Inaba is easy to get used to, and most of us are friendly enough."

"That's what I've heard," agreed Hamuko.

"Well, you're the 'new girl from the city', so expect a little bit of attention from everyone for awhile," explained Saki. "We don't get many transfer students after all."

Being the center of attention wasn't exactly what Hamuko had in mind as far as her school life was concerned but it looked like that's what she was going to have to deal with.

After School

The remainder of the school day basically consisted of the other teachers arriving during their time to do nothing more than tell their students what subject they would be teaching and what was to be expected. Even though there was the occasional student that would come up to talk to her briefly, Hamuko could sum up the day with a single word. Boring. The only unusual thing to happen was that Saki had left early for some reason after lunchtime.

"Hmm, I think that about covers what needs to be said for the day," said Ms. Toriumi. "The normal lessons and lectures will start tomorrow. You are all dis-" Suddenly the school intercom activated, interrupting her.

"Attention all teachers. Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school until further notice."

"?" Ms. Toriumi scratched her head. "This doesn't seem normal. Well, you all heard the announcement; stay here until you're told otherwise." She then walked out of the classroom.

A few seconds after she had left, Hamuko could hear what sounded like sirens going off somewhere in town.

"I wonder if something happened," said a student. "Those sirens don't sound very far away."

"Eh, even so, this fog would make it impossible to see anything from here..."

"Yeah that's true. Funny how it gets foggy after it rains nowadays."

Hamuko sighed and remained in her seat as she listened to the other students gossip about various things. Ten minutes later the intercom came back on.

"Attention all students. There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the school zone. Please leave quickly or contact your parents or guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home." The announcement repeated one more time.

"Whoa something happened?" said a student. "Let's go see!"

"Yeah!" agreed another student.

Didn't the announcement just say not to do that? Wondered Hamuko as she got up from her seat. Well, it doesn't matter I guess. I guess I'll head to the school gates and wait for Chie and Yukiko.

As it turned out, she only had to go the main entrance of the school before running into the two girls. As she approached them, she noticed they weren't alone. The silver-haired boy that was on the train with her was standing with them. Now the she had a better look at him she noticed he wore his school jacket open and his shirt untucked. It was more of a casual look than anything else.

"Hey senpai, over here!" waved Chie as Hamuko walked over to them. "Guess what? It looks like you're not the only transfer student we got today."

The boy nodded. "That's right. I'm Souji Seta."

"Oh, hi," said Hamuko. "I'm, uh, Hamuko Arisato."

Souji tilted his head. "That's funny. You look kind of familiar."

"Oh, um, I think we rode on the same train yesterday," explained Hamuko. "A-at least I think it was you?"

"Yes, that's right," nodded Souji. "So you're new to this place as well huh?"

"Yeah..." trailed Hamuko. "It's a little intimidating to me still."

"Ah, don't worry about it senpai," said Chie as she gave Hamuko a thumbs up. "Yukiko and I will help you out whenever you need it, just ask! Right Yukiko?"

"Oh, yes!" said Yukiko as she looked around. "Um, shouldn't we get going? We don't want to make the teachers mad by hanging around here."

The others agreed and left the building. They had reached the school gate when a boy wearing a different school uniform approached them.

"Uh, hey Yuki," he said. "You wanna go hang out somewhere?"

Yukiko gave him a confused look. "Huh? Who are you?"

Hamuko saw that a few students had gathered nearby and were snickering about what was taking place.

"S-so are you coming or not?" asked the boy.

"No, I'm not going..." said Yukiko, clearly unnerved by this sudden request from someone she didn't even know.

"Fine!" fumed the student as he stormed off.

"What did he want with me?" asked Yukiko as she watched him leave.

Chie shot her a confused glance. "What do you mean, 'what did he want?' He was asking you out!"

Souji nodded. "Sounded like that to me too."

Yukiko clearly looked surprised. "Really?"

Chie sighed and shook her head. "You really had no idea? Whatever, it's good that you turned him down. The way he went about it was all wrong, and it was so creepy when he called you 'Yuki'."

The sound of a creaking bike turned Hamuko's attention toward another boy approaching them. "So, Yukiko-san, turned down another one huh? That's the same way you got me last year you know?"

"I don't remember that..." trailed Yukiko.

"Really?" asked the boy. "Then-"

"No," interrupted Yukiko.

"Ouch. So much for that," sighed the boy as he got on his bike. "Anyway, don't pick on the new guy too much!"

"We're just curious that's all!" fumed Chie as the boy rode away. "Besides senpai's new too."

"Um," Hamuko looked around and noticed the small group that had gathered behind them was growing. "Everyone's staring..."

"Yeah, let's go," agreed Chie. "It turns out that Souji here lives close to me, so we're pretty much all heading in the same direction. That's okay with you right senpai?"

"Oh, uh sure," said Hamuko as the four began to leave the school grounds.

After a few minutes of walking Chie gave a loud sigh.

"I can't believe Yosuke broke my DVD," she groaned. "It really was my favorite one..."

"?" That particular word was rather odd sounding to Hamuko. "What's a 'DVD'?"

The other three stopped and gave looks of disbelief at her. Uh, oh.

"What do you mean, 'what's a DVD'?" asked Chie with a chuckle. "Everyone knows what that is! You been asleep for the past ten years or something?"

"Well, you see the thing is.." Hamuko hesitantly explained to the others about her coma, and the events that led up to her arrival in Inaba.

"Chie..." trailed Yukiko.

"I didn't know!" protested the girl, the pitch in her voice rising slightly. "I wouldn't knowingly joke about something like that! I'm really sorry senpai, I didn't mean anything bad, honestly!"

"It's okay," said Hamuko. "I know you were just joking."

"That would explain some things though senpai," mused Chie. "You didn't really seem like someone from the city. You have more of a deer-in-headlights type of personality. Oh, not that that's a bad thing or anything!"

"Well, compared to you, senpai, my reason for being here sounds pretty lame I guess," said Souji.

"Oh, that's right, you said your parents were working overseas right?" asked Yukiko.

"Really?" asked Hamuko. "It must be hard to be without them for so long."

Souji shook his head. "I'm used to it. I'm usually bouncing from school to school anyway. I'm only in Inaba until the end of the school year anyway."

"Oh, really?" asked Chie as they passed by a rice field. "Well that kinda sucks... Well hopefully Inaba will treat you well while you're here. Even though there's really nothing here..."

"Well, there's a few things, but Chie's pretty much spot on," said Yukiko.

"Well, there's the Amagi Inn," offered Chie. "Yukiko's family runs it! It's the pride of Inaba you know."

Yukiko shook her head. "No, it's...just an old inn."

"Come on, Yukiko, you know that's not true!" countered Chie. "It's been in a lot of magazines as a sort of hidden treasure. Or something like that. Even Iris did a story on it! A lot of people visit it, and it pretty much keeps Inaba going. It really is a great inn, and Yukiko's going to take over someday!"

"I think Chie's embellishing the truth there a little bit," sighed Yukiko.

The four continued to walk as Chie began to tease Yukiko about never dating anyone, and what Souji thought of her, who, of course, said she was cute. This brought more embarrassment to Yukiko, but before they could continue the conversation, they suddenly found themselves at a street corner that was filled with people.

"Hm? I wonder what's going on?" asked Yukiko as she looked around.

"Look! There's police everywhere," added Chie as she noted the officers and barricades.

"Could this be where the 'incident' happened?" asked Souji. "You know, the one announced at school?"

Hamuko remained silent as she looked around. Is it a crime scene? What's going on? Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone calling to them.

"Hey, what are you guys doing here?" Hamuko looked to see Iris approaching the group.

"Oh, you're here too Ayame-san?" asked Yukiko. "Did...something happen here?"

Iris was hesitant to respond. "You could say that," she finally said. "From what I've gathered so far, a high school girl passed by here not too long ago and, well.."

"Don't leave us in suspense Iris," Chie urged. "Come on, tell us!"

Iris sighed and shook her head. "She, uh, found a dead body...hanging from a TV antennae..."

"What?" gasped Yukiko. "Are you serious?"

"Well, that's what I've heard and-" Iris was interrupted by yet another person approaching them, this time by what appeared to be a detective.

"Souji, what are you guys doing here?" he sighed. "We told the principal not to let you guys through here..."

"Huh, you know this guy Souji-kun?" asked Chie.

Souji nodded. "Yeah, he's my uncle, the one I'm staying with."

"Just as he said," said the man. "I'm Detective Dojima, his guardian. I don't want sound like a jerk or anything, but this is a crime scene, so you four really ought to go straight home."

"I'd do what he says," said Iris. "Let the police do their jobs. That being said..."

Dojima let out a sigh. "You know I can't give any official statements just yet Ayame. Not until all the facts are known, which they aren't."

"Ugh, don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, Ryo-kun," fumed Iris.

"Ryo-kun?" asked Chie as she looked at Souji, who in turn shrugged.

Dojima shot Iris an annoyed look. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that, Ayame, at least when I'm on the job?"

"Whoops, sorry," said Iris. "Anyway-" Once again she was interrupted by another detective, but this detective simply ran past them and began throwing up in a trash can. "?"

"Adachi!" shouted Dojima. "Stop acting like a rookie! You wanna get sent back to the Central Office?"

"S-sorry..." trailed Adachi, after wiping his mouth on his sleeve.

Dojima sighed and shook his head. "Go wash your face. We're going to look for more information. I'll tell you what I've found out later Ayame, just stay out of the way for now."

Iris nodded as the two detectives left. "Fair enough."

Chie looked at the others. "Do you guys think this is what the announcement at school was about?"

"Maybe," said Hamuko. "But a dead body hanging from an antennae?"

"Hey Yukiko, maybe we should just go home," said Chie. "We can go to Junes tomorrow right?"

Yukiko nodded. "Yeah, good idea."

"Well, my house is actually just ahead a little more," said Souji. "So, I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow then?"

"Sure thing Souji-kun!" said Chie as she waved goodbye to Souji. "We'll see you later!"

"Um, it was nice to meet you Souji-kun!" said Hamuko as he left.

Yukiko looked around at the scene once more. "C'mon guys let's go. This place is starting to give me the chills..."

"Careful on your way home girls!" said Iris as the three of them left. "I'll see you later tonight Hamuko!"

The walk back to Hamuko's house was eerily silent, as none of the girls really wanted to say anything after learning what had just happened. After a quick goodbye to Yukiko and Chie at the road to the Amagi Inn, Hamuko found herself alone as she made her way back to her house.

Was there really a murder? She wondered. You know, that dream I had said that there was going to be a catastrophe upon coming here. Is this what it meant? What's going to happen now? Hopefully Iris will shed some light on what really happened when I see her later tonight...