Investigation
The assembly came to an end soon after, and most of the students left the school, with only a handful of them still inside, including Fuutarou and Yotsuba. As the pair walked across the empty halls, they overheard a conversation between two girls, the same ones that were first talking inside the auditorium.
"She died the same way as that announcer, right? That's so creepy…" -
"Last time it was from an antenna, but this time she was hanging from a telephone pole. It's gotta be some serial murder case" -
"There's people saying the cause of death was some unknown poison" -
"Really? C'mon now, this isn't some sci-fi drama. Oh, by the way did you hear? Someone saw a girl that looked like Saki in the Midnight Channel! They said she totally looked like she was in pain. Isn't that scary?" -
"Sounds like someone was just having a nightmare. Her face has been plastered all over the media, so they probably just got Saki on their heads" -
Yotsuba simply scoffed at their conversation without them noticing - "Easy enough to make rumors when it's not someone you cared about" -
After Yotsuba said that, the pair heard the sound of footsteps coming behind them. They turned around, and saw Nino approaching them. However, this time she looked worried.
"Um… Did any of you check the TV last night?" -
"Oh come on Nino, this is not the time to…" -
"Let me explain! I felt curious after what happened, so I went to check and… I think the girl was Saki" -
"I hope you're not joking because…" -
"I'm not! There's no mistaking it, the girl was Saki" - Nino interrupted Yotsuba in the middle of her sentence - "She looked like she was in pain. Then she screamed and disappeared from the screen" -
"That's…" -
"They said her body was found in a similar position to the announcer's, right? Well, remember that guy we saw that was all excited about the announcer being his soulmate?" - Nino said while turning her gaze to her sister - "I'm not sure if this is related, but maybe… What if she was on the Midnight Channel before dying as well?" -
"That… That can't be a coincidence" - Fuutarou followed afterwards.
"You're saying that… Whoever appears on the Midnight Channel dies?" -
"I'm not sure. Like he said it can't be a coincidence" -
The three fell silent for a few seconds, contemplating this new revelation and what might come as a result.
"Besides, and I can't believe I'm actually saying this, remember what that bear told us? That it was dangerous, and it was very insistent about us leaving too" - Nino broke the silence.
"Now that I remember, it also told us about someone throwing people inside…" - Fuutarou followed…
"And that room with the posters all over. Had to be related to the announcer's death" - and Yotsuba finished.
"Seems like there's some sort of weird connection here. Could it be that that world on the TV had something to do with both of the deaths?" - Fuutarou asked himself.
"In any other situation, that would be a stupid thing to say, but with everything considered…" -
"If there's a connection, then it's probable both of them were inside that world before dying. Certainly would explain the posters in that room…" -
"It does but… What can we do?" - Nino asked.
"Well, we could return and look around to see if there's anything relating to Saki as well, like the posters were for the announcer" - Yotsuba suggested.
"Wait… You're saying we should go back inside?" -
"She has a point" - Fuutarou said - "Could be a good place to look for clues" -
Nino then remembered how she felt both inside and out once they returned to the real world. That place gave her the creeps, but she couldn't allow Saki's death to go unpunished, and she knew the police couldn't help in this instance.
"You're right… But we can't go all 3 of us" - Nino said - "Yotsuba, I need you to stay here and go with Itsuki and the others, they'll need you to cheer them up" -
"Right, I'll do my best" -
"As for you" - she said while looking at Fuutarou - "You'll be coming with me. I'll be waiting for you at Junes. Yotsuba, if we don't come out after an hour, come searching for us" -
And with that, Nino left.
"She became a leader faster than I expected" - Yotsuba said once Nino was out of earshot - "But there's no guarantee you'll be able to leave safely again" -
"I know, but she can't go back there alone" -
"She's really something when she gets her mind on something" - Yotsuba said while shaking her head - "Well, I have to get going. Take care of her while I'm gone" -
"Of course" - Fuutarou then left, all while thinking to himself that, when he first arrived to this little town, he expected to simply have a regular time.
And how much he wished he was right back then.
A few minutes later, the boy arrived at Junes, where Nino was eagerly waiting for him, sitting in the chairs outside.
"Good, I was starting to get bored" - the girl said as she got up and walked towards him - "Ready to do this?" -
"I'm ready, how about you?" -
"Ugh, I feel weirded out by having to return to that place, but I need to get to the bottom of this, and if any clues are down there, then I'm going to find them" -
"Alright then, after you" -
The two of them went inside Junes and towards the TV they went to yesterday. Once standing in front of it, Fuutarou and Nino walked towards the TV and prepared to enter, stopping once he noticed the girl trembling
"Come on, come on, COME ON! Not now…!" - she said to herself.
"If you want to stay outside it's fine, I'll just…" -
"NO! I have to do this! I just need…!" - yet before she could finish, they lost balance, and went tumbling down inside the TV.
Like before, it was a long fall, and after they finally touched land, they both opened their eyes to find themselves on the same platform as yesterday.
"We're here again…" - Nino said to herself as she looked around - "The fog's still dense" -
"We better start moving if we want to…" -
"Y-You guys… Why'd you come back?" -
Suddenly interrupted, both turned their eyes towards the source of the voice, seeing the silhouette of the bear walk across the fog and towards them.
"Oh, I get it! You're the ones behind it!" -