Okay, I'm working pretty fast on chapters because I have time. But soon I'll have to slow down on my work. Still, I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Ch. 3 First Day At School

April 12, 2011

There was a knock on the door. "Breakfast's ready!" Nanako called from outside.

It's time to get up, huh? Souji thought as he got up from his futon. That was a pretty bad nightmare though. I wonder what is was about...

He put his school uniform on, same as yesterday's clothes. I start school today...

Souji walked down stairs to the living room to see eggs and bread on the table, with glasses of water on each side. Nanako was bringing her plate of food up to the table.

"Good morning." She said.

They both sat down as more toast popped out of the toaster. "Okay." She said. "Let's eat."

As they took a few bites, Souji asked, "Do you do the cooking?"

Nanako nodded. "I can toast bread... and cook sunny-side up eggs in the morning. Dad can't cook though, so I buy dinner."

Then she decided to change the subject. "You're starting school today, right? My school's on the way, so let's go together."

The walk to school wasn't that far, and soon they reached the Samegawa flood plain. It was a long road with some grass to the side with some trees. There were some steps leading to a small lake, and a rest area as well. Souji and Nanako had their umbrellas out because it continued to rain.

Soon, she stopped and pointed in front of them. "You keep going straight from here." She turned around. "My school's this way. Bye." Then she walked off.

Then he got to the intersection right in front of the school. Suddenly, a person from behind zoomed past him on a yellow bike, although it looked very shaky! "Whoaaaaa!" He screamed and crashed into a pole!

No one really cared though. They just took one look at him, then walked away. He grabbed his leg and groaned in pain.

That looked painful. Souji winced. I should leave him be.

Then he continued on, leaving the poor man.

Souji finally got to Yasogami High after walking up a small hill. The cherry blossoms were still in bloom and the kids were still lively, despite the rain. It was a nice, small three-story building, and it looked pretty comfortable too.

So this is Yasogami, huh? He thought. What kind of student life awaits me...?

The classroom was pretty lively, with a lot of chatter inside. People walking around or sitting, and doing a bunch of stuff. They were just reminiscing about old times and gossip and stuff.

One student groaned. "Talk about bad luck. The homeroom teacher here is Morooka, isn't it?"

"Yeah it's King Moron alright." A student said. "We get to enjoy his long sermons every day for a whole year."

"Hey you guys." A girl said. "I hear there's going to be a transfer student from the city in this class."

"Huh? Really? A guy or a girl?"

Three other students were listening into their conversation.

One was the person who crashed into the pole, lying on his desk. He had neck-length brown hair with headphones around his neck, and the regular school uniform.

Another was a girl with short brown hair. She had a pretty physical body for her age, as if she was one who worked out everyday. She wore a green jacket over her uniform and tights under her skirt.

The last was another girl who had long black hair and a fragile-looking body. She wore a red cardigan over her uniform and a red headband.

"A transfer student from the city." The short haired girl muttered. "Just like you, huh, Yosuke?"

The guy known as Yosuke didn't reply.

"Huh? You look dead today."

"Yeah, um..." He groaned again. "I don't wanna talk about it..."

She turned to the girl in front of her, the one with red on. "What's with him?"

The girl shrugged. "Who knows?"

The door suddenly opened with the teacher and another kid coming in. Everyone immediately went to their seats as soon as they saw him.

The teacher was kind of creepy looking, with graying hair and a blue striped suit. He also had buck teeth coming out from the top side of his mouth. The boy standing next to him was Souji.

"Awright, shut your traps!" The teacher yelled, causing everyone to be quiet. He had a cracky voice, which could cause anybody to hate him. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!"

Then he immediately changed topic. "First things first! Just 'cause it's spring doesn't means you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons. Long as I'm around, you students are going to be as pure as the driven snow!" Everyone's sweat dropped (except for Yosuke who was still bummed out).

"Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student." He pointed to Souji. "This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage. And he's just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get ideas about hitting on him! Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Souji Seta." He said with his nervous smile.

Morooka instantly glared at him. "What's with that look you're giving that girl back there by the window!? You think I wouldn't notice!?" He began talking harsh more and more. "Now, listen up! This city is miles away from your big city of perverts, in more ways than one! You better not even think of getting involved with the girls here, let alone abusing them! But what do I know... it's not like the old days. Even here, kids grow up so darn fast. Every time I turn my back, you're fooling around on those darn phones, checking your live-journals and your my-places..." And he kept on going on and on.

"Excuse me!" The girl with the green jacket called with an upraised hand. "Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"

"Huh?" Morooka snapped out of his lecture. "Yeah sure. Hear that. Your seat's over there. So hurry up and siddown already!"

Souji fast-walked his way over to the seat next to her, taking a deep breath from the lecture.

"He's the worse huh?" The girl whispered. "Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class... well, we'll just have to hang in there for a year."

"Sucks to be the transfer student, ending up in King Moron's class on the first morning here..." A boy whispered to him.

"Yeah, he won't think twice about suspending you if you get on his bad side." A girl said. "Then again, we're all in the same boat."

"Shut your traps!" Morooka yelled. "I'm taking roll, and a darn well expect you to respond in an orderly manner!"

So this is school in the country... Souji thought sadly. Will I be able to fit here?

Some time later...

"That's all for today." Morooka said. "Normal lectures will start tomorrow."

Everyone was getting out of their seat, when suddenly the intercom began to speak. "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 UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE."

Morooka groaned. "You heard the announcement. Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise." Then he left, with the kids talking again.

"He's seriously getting on my nerves." A girl said.

Then a siren could be heard outside. Some kids rushed over to the windows to look.

"Did something happen?" A guy asked. "Don't those sirens sound really close?...Ugh, I can't see a darn thing. Freakin' fog..."

"Yeah, like every time it rains, it gets all foggy."

Then a kid decided to change the subject. "Hey, did you hear? I hear the paparazzi's looking all over for that announcer."

"Oh yeah. You mean Mayumi Yamano right?" The other guy asked. "I hear some guys spotted her at the shopping district."

"Actually, I heard that..." And that teenager's voice turned into a whisper, to not let anyone hear him.

The other guy gasped. "Are you serious?!"

Then he walked over to the girl wearing the red jacket. "H-Hey Yukiko-san. Mind if I ask you something? Is it true that announcer's staying at your family's inn?"

That girl called Yukiko replied, "I can't discuss such things."

"Y-Yeah, I guess not." Then he walked away.

The girl with the green jacket came over to Yukiko and sighed. "Sheesh, how much longer is this gonna take?"

"There's no telling." Yukiko said.

The girl sighed again. "I shoulda left before the announcement came on..." Then she changed the subject. "By the way, didja try what I told you the other day?"

Yukiko looked at her confused.

"You know... that thing about rainy nights..."

"Oh... No, not yet, sorry."

"Ahhh, that's okay." She grinned. "Well... it's just, I heard a guy in the class next door to us yell something like, 'My soul mate is Yamano, the announcer!'"

The intercom went on again. "ATTENTION, ALL STUDENTS. THERE HAS BEEN AN INCIDENT INSIDE THE SCHOOL DISTRICT. POLICE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED AROUND THE SCHOOL ZONE. PLEASE STAY CALM, AND CONTACT YOUR PARENTS OF GUARDIANS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, AND QUICKLY LEAVE THE SCHOOL GROUNDS. DO NOT DISTURB THE POLICE OFFICERS. HEAD DIRECTLY HOME."

"Incident?!" A boy wondered, then started running at fast as he could out the door.

"What, something actually happened?" A girl asked.

"C'mon, let's go take a look!"

Souji got up as well, when Yukiko and the girl with the green jacket walked up to him.

"Hey, are you going home by yourself? Why don't you come with us?" The girl with the green jacket asked. "Oh, nearly forgot! I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit next to you, right?"

"Of course." Souji relied.

"Well, nice to meet you."

She referred to her friend. "This is Yukiko Amagi."

"Oh, nice to meet you..." She said with a shy voice. "I'm sorry this is so sudden..."

"C'mon, don't apologize like that." Chie whined. "It makes me look like I got no upbringing. I just wanted to ask some stuff. Really, that's all."

The three began walking to the door when Yosuke stepped in front of them, although he was shaking very nervously.

"Uh, umm, Miss Satonaka...?" He said while taking a DVD out of his backpack. "This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see..."

Chie frowned at his attitude.

He held out the DVD. "And... I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy on me until my next paycheck!" He handed it to her really fast and said, "Seeya thanks!"

Then he began to hurry to the door, but Chie followed after him. "Stop right there! What did you do to my DVD?!" She leaped into the air and hit with with a flying kick, causing him to slam into a desk!

"Argh!" He yelled as he grabbed his knee, the same area where he was hurting when he crashed into the pole.

Chie opened the DVD case, and gasped. "What the?! I can't believe this! It is completely cracked... My 'Trial of the Dragon'...!"

"I think mine's cracked too..." Yosuke groaned. "C-critical hit to the nads..."

"A-are you all right?" Yukiko asked.

Yosuke smiled a little from hearing her voice. "Oh, Yukiko-san... are you worried about me...?"

"He's fine, Yukiko." Chie said angrily. "Let's ditch him and go home."

Wow, he looks like he's in a lot of pain. Souji thought. I should leave him be.

And the three walked out of the room, leaving the poor man.

As they walked out of the school gates, they saw someone coming up to them. He had grayish hair, and wore a uniform from another school. But the thing odd about him was his eyes that were shaped like a fish's. And he had a mole to the right side of his face.

"You're Yuki, right?" He asked referring to Yukiko. "Y-You want to go hang out somewhere?"

"What...?" She asked, confused. "Wh-who are you?"

Two kids came up and watched from afar. "What's up with him? What school's he from?"

"Never mind that, he's going for Yukiko-san?" The other kid said. "Man, you'd think he'd at least wait until she's alone to make his move..."

"I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out."

"No bet. Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?"

"Um, s-so... are you coming or not?" He asked.

"I-I'm not going..." She stuttered.

"...Fine!" He said angrily and ran off.

Yukiko's sweat dropped. "Wh-What did he want from me...?"

"What did he want...?" Chie said surprised. "Obviously, he was asking you out on a date."

"Huh? Really...?"

"You really had no clue? Sheesh..." Chie sighed. "But then again, that was way over the top. It was creepy how he called you Yuki all of a sudden."

Then Yosuke showed up coming out of the school gates, walking his bike. "Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh? Man, you're cruel... You got me the same way last year."

"I don't recall doing that." She said confused.

"Whoa, you serious?!" Yosuke grinned. "So then, you wanna hang around sometime?!"

"...I'd rather not."

Yosuke sighed. "That'll teach me to get my hopes up... Anyways, you two better not pick on the transfer student too much."

Then he began biking down the hill, with Chie shouting, "We're just curious, is all!"

Yukiko turned to Souji. "U-Um, I'm sorry for dragging you into this..."

More kids began to gather around them from the commotion they started. "C'mon, let's go." Chie said. "Everybody is staring."

Chie began walking down the hill. Souji and Yukiko looked at each other for a second, before Yukiko blushed and quickly followed aftter Chie. Souji followed as well.

They soon made it to the neighborhood as they walked. Souji was telling them about the reasons for moving to Inaba.

"Ah... so you came here because of your parents' job." Chie said. "Haha, I thought it was something way more serious."

She looked out to the green grass and the crops planted there. The outskirts were a few trees and a lot of fog. "There really is nothing here, huh? That is what makes it nice, but there's nothing much we can show to people from outside." Chie explained. "Oh! Though, there is something from Mt. Yasogami... I think our dyed clothes or pottery is kinda famous... Oh, wait, there's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!"

"Huh?" Yukiko said. "It's... just an old inn."

"Oh, no way, it's been in all sorta magazines as a hidden treasure." Chie grinned. "It's a great inn! It's been going for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over someday. The inn actually attracts a lot of visitors to Inaba. It pretty much keeps this town going."

"...I don't think that's entirely true." Yukiko said nervously.

"So, tell me." Chie said to Souji with a glint in her eye. "You think Yukiko's cute, huh?"

Souji blinked, but said, "I think so, yeah."

Chie giggled. "I knew it!"

"Come on..." Yukiko complained. "Don't start this again..."

"She's really popular at school, but she's never had a boyfriend." She explained. "Kinda wierd, huh?"

Yukiko blushed. "C-Come on, stop it."

She turned to Souji. "Y-You shouldn't believe that, okay? It's not true that I'm popular, or that I've never had a boyfriend!" She paused a second to realize what she just said. "Wait, no! Wh-what I mean to say was, I don't need a boyfriend!" Then she muttered, "Geez... Chie!"

Chie laughed. "Sorry, sorry. But this is our chance to talk to someone from the big city, and you barely said a word!" She looked up ahead and blinked. "Hey, what's that?"

The trio walked ahead to see some people in front of a road block, with some policeman guarding the area. It seemed like something bad happened, with all the commotion and the stuff around the area.

"So that high schooler left school early, and as she was walking down the street..." One woman began.

"Wow." Another woman said. "Who could imagine THAT hanging from an antenna?"

"I wanted to see it too."

"Uh, you got here too late..." A woman groaned. "The police and fire department took it down just a moment ago."

"Well, I think it's terrifying." The other woman shuddered. "I can't believe a dead body showed up around here..."

The three gasped.

"Wait... what did she just say?" Chie said. "A dead body?!"

Then they saw Dojima walking around the crime scene. He turned and got surprised when he saw Souji and friends, then walked towards them.

"Hey, what're you doing here?" He asked with a grave, serious tone.

"We're just passing by." Souji responded truthfully.

"Huh... I should've figured that'd happen." Dojima said. "That darn principle. We told him not to let them through here..."

"...You know this guy?" Chie asked.

Souji nodded.

"I'm Detective Dojima, his guardian." He introduced himself. "Uhh... Well, how should I say this... I hope you get along with him. But you three really ought to stop wandering around and head straight home."

Dojima began walking back to the scene when a man rushed past him with a sick look on his face. He wore a suit as well, but he had messy hair and a unconfident face. He ran to the corner of the street and threw up heavily!

"Adachi! How long are you going to act like a rookie?" Dojima scolded. "You want to be sent back to the central office?!"

"I-I'm sorry..." Adachi groaned.

Dojima sighed. "Go wash your face. We're gonna go around and gather information!" And he walked away as Adachi followed after.

"Was this what that announcement was about...?" Chie realized.

"What do they mean... it was hanging from an antenna...?" Yukiko wondered.

The two looked at each other, then Chie said, "Hey, Yukiko...? Why don't we go to Junes some other time?"

"Good idea..." Yukiko agreed.

Chie turned to Souji. "Alright then, we're taking off. Starting tomorrow, neighbor, let's do our best!"

Souji nodded, then the two started off for home.

I'd better get home too. He thought.

Back at the house, Souji and Nanako were watching television. Nanako looked at the clock, then looked down at the table.

"I wonder if Dad's not coming home again tonight..." She muttered.

The commercial that was on finished and moved onto the news. "Our top story this evening concerns a bizarre case in a quiet suburb. Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samagawa River in Inaba."

Souji blinked as the school zone was shown on television. Is this the incident...?

"The deceased has been identified as Ms. Mayumi Yamano, a 27-year-old announcer at the local television station. The initial results of the Inaba Police Department's investigation have revealed..."

Nanako gasped. "The Inaba Police Department! Th-That's where Dad works!" Then she groaned.

"Are you worried about him?" Souji asked.

She shook her head. "...Uh-uh. It's his job, so things like this happen."

The news continued. "The body was found hanging from a large television antenna atop a local resident's roof. Authorities are uncertain as to why the body was found in a state. With the cause of death also uncertain, police continue to investigate whether the death is an accident or a homicide. A thick fog common to the area has slowed their progress, and plans to fully canvass the area are delayed until tomorrow."

So that announcer was found dead near the school...Souji thought. Mayumi Yamano... And her affair with the local councilman's secretary was on the news just the other day.

"They found her on the roof?" Nanako asked. "That's scary..."

She blinked as the news changed to a commercial. "Oh, it's Junes!"

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!" Then that same music began. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

Nanako began singing as well. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

Souji smiled. "You're a good singer."

Nanako giggled. "I'm the best one in my class!" Then she continued to sing.

Good. At least she forgot about that scary story... Souji thought.

And that was the third chapter. It was nice and long, so please review. And I wasn't able to post this yesterday, but Happy New Years!