Souji and Yu stumbled into the house, groaning. The week had been a long one. They'd found some part time jobs available, and had decided to take on all of them. It had seemed like a good idea, at the time. But in between dealing with argumentative kids, a nurse with an unhealthy need to throw herself at the two silverettes, a hyper-intelligent young boy, and a self-deprecative old lady, the twins were exhausted. Throwing their bags down next to the door, the twins sat gratefully on the couch, glad to be off their feet. Yosuke had needed help at Junes today, and despite having fun, the twins had quickly exhausted the small amount of energy they had left restocking the shelves, not to mention defending Yosuke from two bratty part-timers as his temper got the better of him, boiling over as he chewed out the girls for insulting Saki Konishi.

The twins heard the door open, and Nanako and Dojima came in, holding a bag from Junes. "Hey guys. I got some take-out tonight." Dojima said with a smile, setting the bag of food down as Nanako went to the bathroom to wash up, humming the Junes Jingle as she did so. "Wow, you two look almost as wiped as I feel." Dojima said, a wry smile forming on his face.

Yu nodded, keeping his eyes closed. He didn't think he could move much more today. Souji opened his eyes and grinned at his Uncle. "Yeah, today was a beat-down" he said.

Dojima chuckled. "I think I heard. Something about a bunch of Junes part timers having it out at the food court. Adachi told me." His eyes hardened, thinking about how Adachi had been loitering around Junes recently. "Hey, if you two see Adachi hanging around Junes whenever you're there, tell him off for me. He's been slacking off, I think."

Souji flashed a quick grin. "Okay, Uncle. You sure you don't want my help? I'd be more than happy to do what I can." His eyes glinted mischievously. "Mom wouldn't find out unless someone told her, anyhow."

Dojima laughed in spite of himself, and an amused and thoughtful look crossed his face. "Actually, I think there is something you might be able to help me with, Souji." The teens eyes widened, and his grin broke into a large smile. "You see, with Adachi loafing around and the Central Office running me ragged, a lot of the paperwork at the office has been piling up. I really need some help managing it all." He looked at the teen, who was now leaning forward on the edge of his seat, eyes shining. "I hate to ask you to do paperwork like that, but I actually talked to your mom about it. She said that you'd enjoy working on stuff around the department with me, and to not be afraid to use your brain on cases if I thought you could handle it…" Dojima trailed off, grinning as Souji's jaw dropped.

Yu opened his eyes, smiling as he heard the exchange between the two.

"I've discussed it with the head of my office, and he seemed open to the idea. He's willing to match a part-time salary for you if you do well. What do you say?" Souji leapt up, excitement taking ahold of him

"Of course! When can I start?" he asked. Dojima chuckled.

"After dinner, if you want. I brought back some of the files. We could go through them together." Yu noted the gleam in Dojima's eye; he was as excited about this as Souji was, though he didn't show it. Souji was nodding vigorously, and went to wash up, pulling Yu with him.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he urged, eager to start.

The period after dinner found Yu and Nanako playing in her room while Souji and Dojima sat at the tall table, files piled as the two sipped their coffee, scanning them for evidence related to some minor cases; a reported theft here, minor disturbances there, noise complaints about biker gangs. Souji grinned as he read one, noting a very accurate description of Kanji, who he'd fast become friends with over the past few days, discovering the boy had a soft heart and enjoyed cute things. Dojima sighed; placing another sheet on a pile they had designated "pointless".

Souji looked up as he heard the noise, and saw Dojima was leaning back in his chair, face pointed up and his eyes closed. "Something wrong, Uncle Dojima?" the boy asked.

The elder detective shook his head. "It's nothing." he said, sighing again. Souji reached over and looked at the paper Dojima had just discarded. It detailed information about a white SUV being spotted in the town recently, breaking some traffic laws as it had gone through, an American license plate on the back. The reckless driver had been caught, and was currently at the police station awaiting a rescue from his embassy.

"Something's wrong." Souji said. "Did something about this case upset you?"

Dojima looked down, noting the paper held in Souji's hands. He allowed himself a wry smile. "Nothing slips past you, huh?" he asked. Souji shook his head, explaining he was just concerned. Dojima nodded. "Yeah. Well, that driver there; I've been questioning him, asking if he'd ever been to Inaba before." Souji looked at his uncle, head cocked to one side as he questioned him with his gaze. Dojima chuckled; Souji had picked up on a trait Dojima used often.

"It's…about Nanako's mother, my wife." He said, a pained expression on his face. Souji placed his mug down and put the paper back on the pile.

"Uncle…?" he asked concernedly.

Dojima shook his head. "I need to talk about this at some point." he said. "She…was killed in a car accident years ago…a hit-and-run." A tear fell from Dojima's face as he relayed the story to his nephew, Souji nodding every once in a while as he felt his heart ache as the man he'd come to respect above all others over the past few weeks poured out his soul.

When he'd finished, a look of sorrowful contentment crossed his face, and he let out a shaky breath. "I…haven't told Nanako about this. It would hurt her too much. I guess I haven't really been a father to her, huh?" he said quietly.

Souji shook his head. "You've been doing as good a job as you can right now." He smiled wryly. "Admittedly, you could do more, but it sounds like this has been holding you back, huh?"

Dojima let out a short bark of laughter. "Yeah, I guess you're right." he said, looking up. He shook his head, smiling. "Honestly, in the short time you two have been here, you've improved our lives greatly. It feels…homey again." He gazed at Souji warmly. "I'm already tired of hearing 'Big bro' this and 'big bro' that. Hell, you yourself are more like a younger brother to me than my nephew."

Souji's eyes glinted as he spoke. "Should I start calling you big bro then?" he asked mischievously.

Dojima laughed. "God no! Geez, that's a scary thought!" The two laughed, and passed the time together, finishing up the files that were left.

Miles away

"Right! You got it! Okay, I'll be counting on you!" a man said, hanging up his phone. He looked towards the team of make-up artists surrounding a girl with red-brown hair, her face hidden from view. The man turned to an attendant, holding a tablet with a schedule pulled up. "Put in an interview with a magazine tomorrow at 11:30 P.M, at our office." He said, his voice taking the tone of business. "It's been crazy since she got the lead role for that movie…What's in two days? Oh, a costume check for the movie at 2:00, a recording for a radio talk show at 5:00, filming for a commercial at 8:00, and we're done at 4:00 A.M." The make-up artists had been adjusting the girls outfit and hair, aligning it to look perfect. Everyone left the room, and the girl sat alone, staring at herself in the mirror.

She got up and left the room, heading to the entrance to a stage. The crowd outside could be heard chanting her stage name as she waited for the attendant to give her the go-ahead. The man from before came up behind her; he was her manager.

"I quit." the girl said.

Her manager looked taken aback. "Huh?" he said.

"I'm going to resign." The girl stated dully.

"Huh? Wha-wait, Rise!"

Rise didn't wait to hear an answer, and ran out onto the stage, putting on a smile for the crowd. "Here I go!" she said into the microphone, earning a raucous cheer and applause from the crowd.

Yu's chopsticks fell from his hand as he stared at the T.V, unsure if he had heard correctly. "What?" he asked, his voice pitched higher than normal.

Souji looked at his twin as if he were a strange creature to be observed. "What do you mean, 'what'?" he asked; he hadn't really been paying attention to the T.V, and was lost as to why his brother sat dumbfounded. Nanako giggled.

Dojima sighed. "You know, one of the perks about this town was that it was relatively quiet…" he murmured, shaking his head.

Yu jumped up, fist pumping in the air. "WOOHOOOOO!" he shouted, startling everyone else.

"Will you sit down and explain what's gotten you so excited?" Souji demanded, eyes widened a bit in shock. Even for Yu, this was strange. Nanako burst into a fit of laughter; she knew why Big Bro Yu was so excited. Dojima simply shook his head, deciding to explain to Souji what he'd missed, as Yu had run upstairs to call Yosuke.

"It seems Rise Kujikawa is coming to Inaba. It appears that she's decided to take a break from being an idol." Souji's eyes returned to their normal state, though his eyebrows remained raised as he nodded his head.

"I see. No wonder Yu was acting like he'd just won the lottery."

Dojima chuckled. "I can understand why he's excited. That song he's been listening to has managed to get stuck in my head for days now." Dojima shuddered, hearing the lyrics surface once more.

Souji laughed lightly. "He can't help it. He's been a fan of Rise ever since she appeared. Most others couldn't say the same." The two shared a laugh as they heard the door knock. Yu ran down, throwing on his shoes as he did so.

"I'm gonna go hang out with Yosuke! Be back later!" he said, leaving the house before anyone could speak. Nanako finally managed to get her laughter under control.

"Big Bro's acting funny!" she said, smiling.

Dojima nodded. "You're right, he really is." he said, sharing a smile with his daughter as she began to laugh once more.

Yosuke and Yu were chattering non-stop before school, excitement at the news from last night bubbling over. Souji was talking with Chie, Kanji, and Yukiko nearby, grinning as he noticed Chie shooting dirty looks at her new boyfriend; Yosuke had finally asked her on a date a while back, which ended well despite the fact that Yu, Souji, Marie and Yukiko had run into them, dragging them along as Yukiko and Chie decided to take Marie shopping.

"But why's she coming here? She was starting to really hit it big." Yu wondered, drawing the groups attention.

Yosuke nodded sagely. "Just goes to prove that being an Idol's tough work." he answered, Yu nodding a vehement agreement.

"Rise's great." he sighed, drifting a bit into a daydream.

Souji, who hadn't really followed Rise unless Yu had forced him to watch her with him as payment for forcing him to watch Souji's crime shows, looked at Yosuke questioningly. "Is she really that popular?" he asked, earning a surprised look from the turned to look at him, jaw dropping a bit.

"Huh? You don't know her?" Yosuke asked. "Dude, what's wrong with you? She's all over the media!" Yosuke looked flabbergasted. "It hasn't been that long since her debut, but at this rate, she'll be a top class idol in no time!" Yosuke grinned sheepishly. "To be honest, I'm a fan too. She's such a cutie-pie."

This was the wrong thing to say. Chie grabbed him in chokehold from behind. "Cutie-pie?" she yelled, pulling Yosuke out of his chair. "What are you, 80?! I'm standing right here! You know, your girlfriend!?" Yosuke struggled to breathe, begging Chie to stop and apologizing repeatedly. Kanji,began laughing heartily, and Souji had to lean on his friend as he did the same, both boys doubling over at the sight. Yu had fallen out of his chair in laughter, and one of Yukiko's now-infamous laughing fits had taken her over.

The laughter eventually subsided, and Chie let Yosuke go after he promised to take her to Aiya's after school. "Aren't we getting sidetracked here?" Yukiko asked, still snorting somewhat.

"What do you mean?" Kanji asked, looking at the innkeeper.

"Well, didn't we say the connection to the victims might be the T.V? Rise was just on it."

Souji nodded, thinking about the connections in the case.

"But Rise's been on T.V for a long time. This isn't the first time, you know." Yosuke said.

Chie shook her head. "Yeah, but she's coming here."

Yukiko nodded. "And Ms. Yamano showed up on T.V with her a couple of times as well."

Yosuke nodded. "I see…" he said, looking thoughtful.

"I still don't think the cases necessarily have to do with Yamano, but I do agree about the T.V." Souji said, looking at his friends. "Rise may have shown up on T.V before, but it'll be the first time anything related to Inaba has come up, and she is coming here. That's what the report said last night." Not that he'd heard it firsthand.

"Then, by that logic, Rise fits the pattern." Yu and Yosuke said at the same time. Souji sighed; if Rise Kujikawa was involved, these two were incorrigible.

"Let's keep an eye out on the Midnight Channel. It's supposed to rain tomorrow." The team nodded, and headed to their respective seats (Kanji to his class) as the bell rang.