Chapter Two: Fortune! Rank eight: Social Link Go!

Immediately after school, Yu headed to Tatsuhime Shrine to meet up with Naoto. He usually visited the shrine once a day after school, so this wasn't altering his schedule much, anyway. "Hmmm," he mused. He might as well catch a few more bugs while they were there as well…

"Ah, Senpai, you've arrived." The young prodigy in question stood near the shrine's entrance. She looked over past the gates. "I've been trailing a suspicious figure who may very well be our thief. He's just entered the shrine, as I anticipated. We may be able to catch him in the act."

Yu nodded firmly. "I'll ready the net."

"Affirmative. Then I shall… wait, excuse me? What net?" Naoto furrowed her brows in confusion. She watched as Narukami brandished a long butterfly net. From where, she could hardly imagine. "Ahh… I'm sure that we won't be needing that for this particular task, Yu-senpai…"

Narukami's grip only tightened around the net's handle as he looked on with a rather serious expression. The air was now tenser for some reason.

"P-Perhaps we should go in now." Naoto honestly had no idea what it was that possessed her senpai to do such peculiar things.

"Yes," was all she got for a reply. Once they entered, Yu headed straight for a group of trees to the west of the gate and quickly crouched down in the shade.

"…Senpai, what on earth are you doing? Should we not be searching for—?"

"The amount of shade in this spot causes the ground to retain moisture…"

"W-What?"

He slowly raised the net into the air and waited. "Chisato-san, bring me luck."

"Who? Senpai, we really do not have time for this. If we don't make haste we could lose the trail."

Narukami said nothing, his form unmoving as he waited for the chance to strike. Just one! One was all he needed…

Naoto was at a total loss. They would be easily noticed if he did not stop this foolishness. She really hoped that no one was watching—

"There!" Yu swiftly brought the net onto the ground. Naoto peered over his shoulder as he scooped up several captured bugs. He picked a particular one out from the others and held it up to the air. "Naoto…" he suddenly exclaimed with his back turned to her.

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you see this?" He flipped around and placed the bug in her face.

"An insect," she noted. "What of it?" She really had no idea where this was going.

"This…" he flipped it over in his hand, "is a Genji Beetle. Look at it." Naoto did as he asked and watched as the bug desperately squirmed around on its back. "The timing was perfect. I've finally caught one." His face reddened with what she assumed must have been pride. She was losing her patience however, and wanted to get on with her assignment.

"Congratulations, Senpai. Now may we please return to the task at hand? I am surprised we haven't been discovered."

"Yes. Let us catch this assassin thief," Yu replied with a straight face as he swung the net over his shoulder. Naoto huffed slightly as she pulled her hat farther down over her face.

After a rather lively encounter with the mystery man from the shrine, Yu walked toward the floodplains along with an agitated Detective Prince.

"Your compulsive actions were highly unnecessary, Yu-senpai. What if the knife he had been holding had turned out to be real instead of some cheap toy?"

"But I caught him."

Naoto was having a hard time keeping herself composed. "You attacked the man and placed a butterfly net over his head."

"He was going to stab you."

"That knife was a toy, Senpai! How many times must I say it?"

"You should be more careful next time."

"…"

Yu gazed forlornly over at his empty net. Most of his bugs had been lost in the process. However…

He brought out a box from within his jacket and opened it to check on its contents. Naoto glanced over and recognized the container. "Is that…?"

"At least the Genji Beetle is safe," Yu exclaimed as he probed the container's interior with his fingertips.

"You've placed it in that box with the Unidentified Object from earlier today?"

The silver-haired boy nodded as he put the box away. "Genji should stay warm and cozy in there until I need it."

Naoto sighed and decided not to question what use Narukami would have with the probably-terrified bug. "Regardless," she stated as she removed her cap to run a hand through her short-blue hair. "That man's appearance raised some warning bells…" She placed her hat back in its original position. "There is something that I must look into, Senpai."

Yu could feel that something had changed due to the day's events. He felt that he understood Naoto much better than he did before…

"This case has certainly taken an unexpected turn today," Naoto declared with another sigh.

Yu clutched one of his fists tightly and closed his eyes. "Rank…"

"Once I have obtained another lead, I will notify you so that—"

"…Up."

After an extended silence, the young detective decided that there wasn't much more of this that she could take. "I-I'm sorry?"

Yu stared unblinkingly into the shorter girl's eyes for several seconds before asking, "How was your sleepover with Rise?"

"Wha… sleepover? I…" Naoto's face flushed a bright red, as the question had caught her completely off guard. "I-I wouldn't exactly call it… ahh, well it was more of a…" She fumbled with her collar as Yu nodded.

"So it was good then," he said emotionlessly.

"Ah, y-yes it was very g—" she averted her gaze. "Senpai, I have to go now. Something's just come to my attention so…" Naoto tried her best not to look too flustered. "I will take my leave. Good day." She tipped her hat to him and hurriedly retreated in the opposite direction. Narukami watched her go until she rounded a corner. He then quickly pulled a small notebook and pencil from a back pocket and flipped through it until he came across the particular page concerning the Fortune Arcana. He erased the bold number seven situated at the top and swiftly replaced it with an eight. After nodding his head in satisfaction, Yu pocketed the items and headed home, ignoring the small box that had started to beat against his chest.

The sound of a door opening before quickly sliding shut could be heard from her spot in the family room.

"Oh!" Nanako turned her head towards the entrance. "Welcome home, big bro!"

Narukami nodded his head in greeting as he stiffly strode over to the kitchen. Nanako noticed him jump slightly before he removed something from his jacket and stuffed it into the fridge. She tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

"Did you bring something from Junes?" Her countenance brightened tremendously.

Yu, either choosing to ignore the question or simply not hearing it asked, "How was school today?"

Nanako broke into a wide smile as she began to tell him of her day. Narukami listened intently as she told him what she'd learned that day and how much fun she had. Then her words were interrupted with a loud thud that could be heard from the kitchen. They both glanced back at the fridge, where the sound had obviously come from.

"What was that?" Nanako asked, looking over at her big bro, who silently stared at the fridge for a few seconds before answering, "Probably nothing. Or maybe something just fell." He looked back to Nanako, who had a concerned expression on her face as she stood.

"Maybe it made a mess." She began walking towards the kitchen. "I should probably clean it."

Yu opened his mouth to protest, but his words were drowned out by a catchy tune that loudly drifted over from the television.

At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day!

Nanako stopped in her tracks, turning from the kitchen to immediately sit in front of the TV as she listened to the commercial attentively. She grinned happily as she began to sing along:

"Every day's great~

at your Junes!"

She cheerfully swayed from side to side as she sang to herself, apparently forgetting about the thud and everything else around her.

Narukami blinked as he watched his younger cousin, both amazed and grateful for Junes' hypnotic powers. He didn't feel he'd become much closer to Nanako just yet, but he did enjoy spending this evening with her…

Hours later, Detective Ryotaro Dojima silently entered the house, trying his best not to disturb the other occupants' sleep. He quietly turned on the kitchen light and laid his jacket over one of the dining chairs, then nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud thumping noise. He quickly turned around and faced the fridge.

"The hell…?"