Souji's jaw dropped. He was sure that if he'd been in a cartoon, it would be reaching the floor. As it was, he had to hold his mouth shut with his hand. His eyes were extremely wide, but he shook himself to be rid of the shock. He returned his face to its default setting, but his mind was whirling. The team had decided to meet up after school and find out more about Kanji, try to protect him from being another victim in the case. The twins had entered the shop first, making as if to browse, while the others waited outside for a few moments, planning on coming in a bit after the silverettes had entered.

Shock had taken hold of Souji as he and Yu entered the textile shop; he could scarcely believe his eyes. Standing in front of the owner was a small figure, clad in a blue jacket and blue and black jeans, a blue newspaper boy's cap atop the figures hair, which was such a rich shade of black it too appeared dark blue as one looked at it. Calming down before the others came in and noticed, Souji made to browse some of the textiles, noting the intricate and simple designs littering the showcase area.

Yosuke, Chie, and Yukiko entered, Yukiko calling a greeting to the matron of the store. "Ah, Yuki-chan, it's so nice to see you." The figure turned around, eyeing the group calculatingly. The figure was a young boy, with grey-blue eyes and a small face. He stood with his right hand on his waist, appearing cool and relaxed to the group. Souji fought the flush he felt rising to his face, but calmed down as he looked at the figure. Something seemed…off to him. He couldn't place it, but the air around the boy seemed different. Sighing, he leaned back against the wall of the shop, eyes searching the ground as he thought hard.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me, Ma'am." The boy turned back to the matron, who nodded.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't help more." The matron replied, but the boy shook his head.

"It's all right. You've given me plenty to think about. Thank you." He turned around, hand reaching up to adjust his cap as he left. He nodded towards the group, eyeing each one in turn. His gaze rested on Souji, who in turn opened his eyes and looked up to stare back at the boy. Both pairs of eyes locked, grey-blue meeting silver as each was obviously sizing the other up, calculating factors they noticed about the other. The boy looked away, exiting the shop. Souji allowed his face to flush after he'd left, sighing deeply and shuddering.

As Yukiko, Chie and Yosuke talked with the matron, asking about Kanji, Yu walked over to his brother, noticing the strange attitude he had. "Yo, Souji. Everything alright?" he asked, concerned. Yosuke had found a scarf, and was questioning the matron about it, recognizing it as the same type of scarf from the room in the T.V world.

"Yes and no…I don't know" Souji answered his brother, heart pumping a bit faster than normal. Yu gave his brother a questioning look, but Souji shook his head. "Later" the look said. Yu dropped the subject, still feeling worried that something had fazed Souji this way.

"Hey, we're done here" Yosuke said, walking up to the twins. "Let's head out." The group exited the shop, and noticed Kanji Tatsumi talking to the boy they had just run into. "Quick, hide!" Yosuke exclaimed, and the group hid behind a nearby mailbox, trying to eavesdrop. Souji couldn't help but stare at the boy, the feeling he had from before not leaving so easily. Everything about him seemed normal, though. The pose he took, however, seemed a bit strange, leaning on his right hand as it rested on his waist. It seemed almost effeminate, but then Souji remembered that he himself tended to adopt a similar pose occasionally.

The boy nodded, and turned around, leaving Kanji alone with his thoughts. Kanji turned and noticed the Investigation Team, and started after them. "Scatter!" Chie yelled, and the group took off.

They met up a ways down the street, collecting themselves. "Geez, he's even worse in person than on T.V." Chie gasped, adrenaline and exertion sapping her of her breath.

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, I agree. Did you see that kid he was hanging out with though? He was just inside that shop, too! What was he doing there? I don't recognize him."

Souji spoke up, and Yu noticed he was blushing slightly as he did so.

"That's the Detective Prince…Naoto Shirogane." Souji informed them, looking bashful. "Who?" Chie asked, grinning as she noticed how Souji appeared a bit uncomfortable with the topic. "Naoto Shirogane. He's famous in the world of Criminal Investigation. He's incredible." Souji shifted slightly on his feet. "I guess you could say…he's an inspiration to me, like an idol of sorts."

Yosuke grinned. "Oh? Is that all? You seem to…admire him a lot, Souji-kun"

Souji looked up, eyebrows raised. "And just what are you implying by that, Yosuke-kun" Souji retorted, stressing the honorific at the end.

Yosuke grinned devilishly. "I think you know exactly what I'm talking about." he said, a glint in his eyes.

Souji simply shook his head in response. "If you're implying what I think you're implying, you're dead wrong." Souji's eyes began to sparkle, taking on a similar look as Yosuke's. "Or maybe you'd like me to tell everyone about what happened inside the Konishi Liquor Store?"

It was Souji's turn to grin now, as he watched the color drain from his friends face. Yu snorted with barely contained laughter. "You wouldn't" Yosuke said, alarmed.

Souji beamed at his friend. "Then I suggest you drop the subject, Yosuke-kun." he said, continuing to tease Yosuke with the honorific.

"What? I wanna know what happened! Is this about Yosuke's shadow?" Chie asked, eyes shining.

Souji turned, a playful grin on his face. "Bingo!" he said. "You're pretty good at this, Chie. You'd make a good detective."Chie grinned back, catching on to what Souji was doing.

Yosuke began to beg. "Please, don't do this, I take it back, all of it, I swear!" he rambled, looking pleadingly at Souji.

"Well…I guess I can forgive you. Who can refuse such a sincere apology?" Souji said, smiling at the relief that washed over his partners face. "Let's head home for now. It's getting late". The team said their goodbyes to each other, and headed home.

"The Detective Prince, huh?" Yu asked, sitting at the table back home. Nanako was out with her friends still, and Dojima wouldn't be back till late anyways. Souji mumbled a retort from behind his newspaper, and Yu's smile widened. "In all seriousness though, what's he doing in Inaba?" Yu turned to look at Souji, legitimately curious. Souji looked thoughtful, setting the newspaper down and leaned forward on the table, covering his mouth with his hands as he thought.

"A few ideas come to mind, none of them good." he said, looking at Yu.

"Well, what might those be?" his brother asked, staring back. Souji closed his eyes, deep in thought. "Well, he could be here of his own volition. It definitely wouldn't be the first time." He opened his eyes, gaze serious. "If that's true, we might be okay. He wouldn't go report it to the police, as he'd want to keep his presence unknown for a while, thus he might not look too deeply into us." Souji closed his eyes again, thinking about the other possibility.

"The other idea is that the Prefectural Police sent him. The central office might be getting fed up with the lack of results on the murders." Yu looked at Souji inquisitively, trying to follow his train of thought.

"So, would that mean Uncle's getting replaced?" he asked, concerned. Souji shook his head.

"Possible, but unlikely. He's the best on that force. They'd probably pair him and Naoto up; redirect the Inaba PD's resources to him. No, if this possibility is true, Naoto will have full access to all the data in that department. Which means if he suspects us being involved, we may end up with a tail."

Yu raised his eyebrows, a look of shock on his face. "Well, which is it, do you think?" he asked simply. Souji thought for a few moments, and then answered.

"I think…he was indeed hired by the central office. However, as we haven't heard a thing about him from Dojima, nor have any of the police around town said anything about his presence, it's safe to assume he's here currently on his own. Probably doing a preliminary search to gather his own information before his presence is known. Once that happens, information wouldn't flow as freely, I think."

Yu nodded, looking impressed. "Wow." He stated simply. "That's a pretty complicated answer. I assume this to mean we have some leeway still, then?"

Souji nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Yu turned back to the T.V. "Well then, we should hurry up and keep Kanji from getting kidnapped, yeah?" Souji grinned, enjoying the simplicity from his brother, who always saw to the heart of problems, rather than beating around a bush like Souji himself tended to do.

"I agree" he said.

A knock on the door caught his attention. "Delivery for Mr. Narukami!" they heard a voice outside say.

Yu leapt up, grinning from ear to ear as he went to accept the package. It was a long and relatively thin. "What's that?" Souji asked, curiosity piqued.

Yu flashed him a grin as he opened the package, revealing two fishing sturdy fishing rods. "They were on Tanaka's a while back." he said, handing one to Souji. "I figured that, while we were here, we could go fishing together sometime." Souji grinned, remembering how he and Yu would fish some days to pass the time.

A thought occurred to him. "Hey, I heard a rumor about a massive fish that lives in the Samegawa. We should try catching it sometime." Yu beamed at his brother, happy pleasure radiating from him.

"Sounds like a plan!" he said, and the twins laughed as they went upstairs to put away their new tools. Souji came back down a while later to prepare dinner, and Yu came in behind him to make their lunches for the next day.

The investigation team sat outside the gate to school, waiting for Kanji to arrive. "Has the target arrived at school?" Chie asked, peering around the pillar, close to the ground.

Yosuke inched around the corner, looking at the school from above Chie. "Yes Ma'am, visual ID confirmed."

The twins and Yukiko chuckled; these two were having fun with this. "They really are made for each other." Souji thought, looking at the two with a small smile.

Yosuke continued with his information relay, Chie nodding as she gained new information. "Target arrived in-zone near the end of his mess break, with mother-issued rations in hand. Current Status; in the bathroom, fixing his hair."

Chie looked up. "Why?" she asked. Yosuke looked down at her, a slight shrug giving his extent of that knowledge.

Chie turned back to look, and flinched. "Oh! He's here!" The group huddled around in a circle, starting to act as if they were a group of friends just hanging out. Kanji walked past them, not even registering their presence. Naoto Shirogane walked up a few moments later.

"I didn't keep you waiting, I hope?" he asked, noticing the group of teens standing around the entrance, laughing. The two silver haired boys stood there, the one he had inspected seeming to stand in the center of the group.

Kanji shook his head. "N-no, I just got here too." He responded, voice faltering slightly. Naoto nodded and turned, walking off. Kanji followed suit a moment after, confusion on his face.

The team broke apart, observing the pair as they walked. "They're headed for the floodplain." Souji noted.

Yosuke nodded, a strange look on his face. "What in the world was that?" he asked, shaking his head. Chie looked at him, a slight flush rising in her cheeks as she did so; they still weren't over that.

"Anyways, we gotta hurry after them, or we'll lose them!" she said. Yosuke nodded, turning to Souji. "We'll need to split up" he said, and Souji nodded in agreement. But how to split the five of them?

Yu helped answer that question with his next statement. "Yukiko and I can go stakeout the textile shop, make sure it's safe for when Kanji gets back." Souji grinned; they had discussed that a bit the night before, but hadn't anticipated the need to split up. It was good thinking.

"Okay, that leaves me, Yosuke, and Chie." He said, a small, devilish grin once again surfacing as an idea struck him. He turned to Yu; Naoto and Kanji were still within sight, walking fairly slowly. "I think I can make it back to the house and reach the floodplains before they get there." He said, noting the direction the pair were traveling. "I'll grab my fishing rod, and go fish at the river. Should be fairly inconspicuous."

Yu nodded, smiling. "Yeah, the two of us probably shouldn't walk around together. We do tend to stand out." Yukiko nodded, agreeing that the silverette twins definitely looked striking enough to last in memory. Yosuke began stammering, seeing the only pairing left.

"W-w-wait, that leaves me and Chie! What are we supposed to do?"

Souji turned, face stoic except for raised eyebrows. "Why, you're gonna follow them, of course." he said, as if it were the most obvious of answers.

"B-But…" Yosuke began again, but Yu cut him off.

"Sounds like we have our tasks then" he said with a chipper tone, and offered his arm to Yukiko. "We should get going." He said, and Yukiko cheerfully took the teens arm as they walked towards Kanji's home.

Souji grinned at the two brunettes. "Good luck" he mouthed at Yosuke, taking off like a bullet towards the Dojima residence. Yosuke and Chie were left behind, looking at each other, faces flushed.

"Let's go…" Yosuke mumbled, and started walking towards the direction of Naoto and Kanji, Chie following behind, face down as she tried to hide her cheeks.

"This is weird" Chie whispered from under Yosuke. They were hiding behind a tree as they observed Kanji and Naoto, Chie kneeling down, Yosuke standing.

"Y-Yeah" the other teen stuttered, feeling his cheeks flush once again. "We definitely stand out…" he trailed off, suddenly very self-conscious.

"Not us!" Chie just about yelled, embarrassment making her voice louder than she wanted. The two teens ducked behind the tree as Kanji looked around. "I meant them! I get this weird feeling…" She stopped suddenly as she heard footsteps approaching.

Yosuke risked a quick peek, seeing Kanji headed in their direction, looking around. "Crap, he's coming this way!" he whispered hurriedly.

Chie stood up. "Oh no! What are we going to do!" she squeaked quietly, remembering the day before. Yosuke's mind raced, a plan forming.

"Chie, unzip your jacket a bit and pull it off of one shoulder!" Chie looked at Yosuke quizzically, but stared in horror as he took off his jacket and tousled his hair, messing it up.

"What on Earth?" she said, but Yosuke hushed her.

"Trust me, this is worlds better than getting stomped on by Kanji!" he said, and rubbed her hair to mess it up. Chie started to argue again.

"No way, Yosuke! I know what you're thinking, and…" Chie began to ramble, and Kanji was getting closer, beginning to focus on the tree they were hiding behind.

Yosuke began to panic. "Chie, just please, listen to me on this!" he begged, but Chie didn't hear him, continuing to ramble, voice slowly rising in volume, cheeks flushing. Yosuke's cheeks flushed. "I can't believe I'm about to do this. I really hope she forgives me!" he thought.

The brunette grabbed Chie by the arms, stopping her speech. "Wha-?" she began, but didn't get to finish. Yosuke thrust his face towards her, eyes closed, lips meeting as he kissed her. Chie tensed up for a few moments, but relaxed and closed her own eyes as she raised her hands to hold Yosuke's waist. Kanji rounded the corner, but immediately turned back around as he saw what was going on. His face was red as he returned to Naoto.

"Something amiss?" the detective asked, looking in the direction he'd come from.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Kanji replied, walking past Naoto. The detective shrugged, and caught up with Kanji, questioning him yet again. Yosuke pulled away, breathing a bit heavier than before, face completely red. Chie looked the same, feeling her heart pound.

"I'm sorry, Chie!" he began "I was panicking. Kanji was getting closer, and I didn't know what to do, an-urf!" Yosuke felt the air leave his lungs as Chie punched him in the gut. He started to bend over, but Chie raised him back up to meet her face.

"Yosuke Hanamura." She said, looking the hapless teen directly in his eyes. "If you ever do that again without warning like that, you will not wake up for days." Yosuke nodded slightly. "Good." Chie said, and then leaned forward, meeting his lips with her own once again.

Yosuke's eyes widened this time, but closed as he pulled Chie in closer. "Thank god" he thought to himself, savoring the moment for as long as he could.

What met Souji, Yu, and Yukiko was an embarrassed-looking pair of brunettes. Souji raised his eyebrows, noting that he seemed to be using this expression a lot recently. "Have fun, you two?" the teen asked, silver eyes gazing at them kindly. Souji had seen them from afar, and had turned around to give them privacy as Yosuke had made his move.

"Let's not tell them that" he decided as the pair shook their heads, cheeks darkening.

"Well…" Yu said, looking at his brother, "No one showed up to Kanji's place, and it doesn't seem like we got anything from spying on him and Naoto."

Souji nodded, looking troubled. Yeah, that's true. For now, we-" he cut himself short. Kanji was walking towards them.

"Hey! You're those two lovebirds from earlier! Are you stalking me?!" Chie and Yosuke squeaked in unison and took off, heading far away from Kanji Tatsumi. The three who were left behind took one look at each other.

"Time to run!" Souji said, and took off. Yu pulled Yukiko up onto his back, and followed after his brother. Yukiko laughed; she felt no attraction to the two twins, but enjoyed their antics and their company. This was definitely a first for her.

"Hey, get back here!" they heard behind them, but neither boy stopped to look backwards, a mischievous grin on one's face, a look of satisfaction on the other.

I know I'm gonna get complaints about this one, so I'm going to address what I see being the main issue. As far as the story's concerned, Yosuke and Chie may have seemed a little rushed, but keep in mind they've known each other for at least seven months by now. This scene to me provided a good opportunity to cement the YosukexChie pairing, as it could have worked in the game itself. Don't worry, though. They're not going to suddenly go over-the-top with this. It's a budding flower, so to speak. They still need more time to figure out how things stand. As that's what I think the problem could be, I'm just going to leave it there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and 12 will be out soon!