Okay, here's the next chapter. This will be longer than the the first, because that was a prologue. Anyway, hope you enjoy.
Ch. 2 Beginning
A girl was playing around in a waterfall, just laughing and having fun, wearing a bikini. She stopped under an umbrella and picked up a soda can, drinking it. "I'm tired of diets, and enough with going to the gym! Good thing there's something that even I can handle!" A bigger version of the can appeared, and a voice said, "Slim down this summer with a refreshing taste of Calorie Magic."
The commercial cut to a news report as the same man said, "And, we're back. Now on to some juicy news: the Mayumi Yamano scandal." It was being broadcast from almost every TV in the city.
A man scoffed. "At first he bags a singer, and then he has an affair with a TV announcer at the side. Do chicks really dig politicians?"
"Isn't it just stuff like money and connections?" A woman suggested. "When you get down to it, financial and political clout is what matters."
"Hey! What was that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think?"
Souji was waiting in the metro station for his train to show up, and overheard this conversation. He had odd gray hair for his age, and wore his new school uniform. Then the train appeared, and he got on.
"Well, I'm sure that you all know already, but at the end of this month, Souji will be transferring to another school." The teacher said. Looks of suprise and sadness came to everyone's face as they looked at him with shock. "Quiet down, guys! I'm not done yet."
The train soon came out of the city, and into the countryside. Souji stared out at the window, no expression on his face. Then he looked at his cellphone. A text read 'Meet us outside Yasoinaba Station at 4PM'.
"WE WILL ARRIVE AT THE YASOGAMI TERMINAL IN A FEW MINUTES." The intercom spoke. "PASSENGERS HEADED FOR INABA CITY AND YASOGAMI STATION, PLEASE GO TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLATFORM."
Souji blinked at the mention of this and grabbed his stuff as the train came to a halt.
"The scandal involves the Enka Star Misuzu Hiiragi preparing to tour overseas." A newswoman said, and a picture of a man and Misuzu appeared. "Taro Namatame, a council secretary in the Inaba region, whom she married just last year, is under suspicion of having an affair."
A man wearing proper attire and a smoke in his mouth and a little girl was watching this news as well. The man turned and looked at the clock. The girl also turned and said, "Oh! Should we go soon?"
"Yeah. It's just about..." The man said.
"The question on everyone's mind is how this love triangle will affect-" The television was turned off.
A table was shown and behind was what appeared to be a woman being pushed by a man.
Souji was already on the other train, looking out and seeing the countryside. Green grass, small houses, a giant mountain. Then they entered into a tunnel.
The woman looked like she was struggling.
He closed his eyes.
The woman was pushed to the wall, a man choked her neck with his hand. A vision of Margaret and Igor appeared as well.
He gasped as he opened his eyes back up. The train was out of the tunnel, and a nice view of the country was shown. He sighed.
Souji got off the train and the station, then looked around. The intercom spoke, "YASOINABA. YASOINABA."
It was a foggy afternoon in Inaba, being April. The sun was barely in view. Souji looked around for who was supposed to find him.
"Hey! Over here!"
He blinked and walked over to the man and girl waiting for him. They shook hands. "Well, you're more handsome in person than you are in photo."
He had a kindly expression on his face, but he also showed a stern, serious look that could be scary. "Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you... Let's see... I'm your mother's younger brother, and that about sums it up."
Souji had a fake smile on his face. "It's nice to meet you."
Dojima smiled, scratching his head. "Heh. You probably don't remember, but we've met. I've changed your diapers before, you know."
Then he looked down, and pulled the girl in front of him. "This here's my daughter. Come on Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin."
She had a hard time speaking, or even looking up. "...'lo." Then she walked behind her dad.
Dojima chuckled. "What're you so shy for?"
Nanako angrily slapped her dad's behind, causing him to laugh even more. "Ow, hahaha!"
"Well then, let's get going." He said. "My car's over there."
Finally the car arrived at the Shopping District of Inaba. But it stopped at the local gas station to fill the car back up.
As the car came into the gas station, a delivery truck drove out of the station. The attendant ran up to the car and said, "Hi! Welcome to Moel!"
Dojima turned to Nanako and asked, "Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?" She nodded. Then they both opened the door and got out.
Nanako looked around nervously. The attendant noticed and said, "It's in the back, to your left. You know which way's left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."
She looked annoyed. "I know... geez..." Then she ran there as Souji got out of the car.
"Are you taking a trip?" The attendant asked.
"No, we just went to pick him up." Dojima answered. "He just moved here from the big city."
"The city, huh?"
"Fill up my car while you're at it. Regular's fine." He said.
The attendant looked attentive again. "Right away, sir!"
Then Dojima walked off, muttering, "Good time as any for a smoke..."
"Are you in high school?" The attendant asked him, then noticing Souji's confused face. "Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs. Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now."
She walked up to Souji and held out her hand. "Give it some thought why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student." He shook hands with her.
As Nanako ran out of the bathroom, the attendant blinked. "Oh, I should get back to work." And she walked away.
Suddenly, Souji felt a strange pang in his head, making him feel dizzy and somewhat in pain.
Nanako walked up to him. "Are you okay? Did you get carsick? You don't look too good..."
Could it be exhaustion from the long trip? Souji wondered. Now that she mentions it, I do feel a little dizzy...
Soon, they finally arrived at the Dojima residence. As the two walked inside the house, Souji stared at the house. It looked nice from outside, two-story and wooden.
For the next year, this place will be my home. Souji thought, then walked inside the house.
At evening, the three sat around a small table. They had drinks in their hand, and small instant lunches in front of them. Dojima raised up his glass and said, "All right, let's have a toast." The rest held their's up as well, then took a drink.
"So, you're mom and dad are busy as always. They're working overseas, was it?" Dojima said. "I know it's only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents... it's rough being a kid. Well, it's just me and Nanako here, so it'll be nice having someone like you around. So long as you're here, you're part of the family, so make yourself at home."
"Thank you for your kindness." Souji said, but with the same fake, nervous smile he had last time.
Dojima just laughed. "C'mon, there's no need to be so formal." He turned to his daughter. "Look, you're making Nanako all tense."
Nanako blinked, then looked down at her food nervously.
"Well anyway... let's eat." Dojima said.
They all went down to grabbed their chopsticks, when suddenly, Dojima's cellphone rang. He grunted. "Uh... who's calling at this hour?"
He answered it. "Dojima speaking... mmm-hmm." He got up and walked a little bit back. "Yeah? I see... so where is it?... Uh-huh. All right I'm on my way." Then he turned it off and muttered, "Looks like I made the right choice to skip the booze..."
He turned around. "Sorry, but I gotta go take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me." Nanako stood up as he continued to speak. "I don't know how late I'll be. Nanako, you help him out, okay?"
"...Okay." She said, with a sad face.
Dojima walked out the door and noticed the rain. "Nanako, it's raining out. What did you do with the laundry?!"
"I already brought it in!"
"...All right. Well, I'm off." He shut the door behind him. The sound of the car could be heard as it was driven.
Nanako sat back down and turned on the TV. The weather announcer was speaking. "-for this week. Now, let's take a look at the hourly breakdown of tomorrow's weather. With storm clouds moving in from the west, expect rains throughout the day tomorrow in most areas.
Nanako looked at her food. "...Let's eat."
As they ate, Souji decided to talk. "What does your dad do?"
"He... investigates stuff." She replied. "Like crime scenes. My dad's a detective." This surprised Souji a little.
Another music began to play on the news. The announcer was speaking. "And now for the local news. City council secretary Taro Namatame is under fire for an alleged relationship with a female reporter. His wife, enka ballad sensation Misuzu Hiiragi, revealed to this station that she will like pursue damages. In response, Eye Television has decided to cancel all of announcer Mayumi Yamano's televised appearances. Until allegations of an affair with Mr. Namatame are resolved, she'll remain off the air and out of the public eye."
"...This is boring." Nanako said. She changed the channel.
This time, there was a commercial. "At Junes, everyday is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!" A song played as it said, "Every day's great at your Junes."
Nanako began to sing it too. "Every day's great at your Junes." Souji was surprised as this as well.
She looked at Souji. "...Aren't you going to eat?"
He blinked and began stuffing his mouth with food.
After dinner, he walked up to his room. There were still a lot of boxes left to unpack, but there was a couch, a TV, a closet, a desk, and a futon laid out for him.
This is my room, huh? He thought. He walked to his futon, and fell asleep really fast.
However, as soon as he fell asleep, he found himself in a foggy area kneeling down. There was really nothing in sight, except for the bridge he was standing on. Not knowing what to do, he began running across the bridge. It seemed like it kept going though, because of the fog.
When he got to a certain distance though, he heard a voice. "Do you seek the truth?" He frowned and kept going.
He heard it again. "If it's the truth you desire, come and find me..."
Soon, he came across a door. Not knowing what to do, he touched it and it opened for him...
He found himself in another foggy area, stretching out to nowhere. He even had a katana in his hand!
There was a figure in front of him, but because of the fog, he could not see. It said, "So... you are the one pursuing me..."
It laughed. "Try all you like."
Souji took that as an insult and tried to cut it down with his sword. It made contact, though it didn't seem like it was in pain. "Hmm... it seems that you can see a little, despite the fog."
He slashed again. "I see... indeed, you possess an interesting quality."
Getting angry, an interesting figure hidden by fog appeared behind him and let out a lightning bolt on the enemy. This also didn't strike it. "But... you will not catch me so easily. If you seek what is 'truth', then your search will be even harder..."
Red aura appeared as the enemy muttered, "Bewildering fog..." The aura turned into a bigger fog, with Souji not being able to see.
He tried to strike again, but actually missed. "Everyone sees what they want to... and the fog only deepens..."
One more uncontrolled slash, and he fell down, panting from swinging the heavy blade.
"...Will we meet again? At a place other than here...?" It chuckled. "I look forward to it."
What the? Am I fainting? Souji wondered as his head got worse and worse...
And that's the second chapter. Next one, we move on to school. The murders begin as well.