The team walked off the train, happy to finally stretch their legs after the long trip. The girls were looking over the schedule while the boys stood nearby, discussing what they would be doing during the small amount of free time they'd been allotted.
"I'd like to see if a pen-pal of mine is still hanging around." Yu said, thinking back to a few days ago.
"Wow, that's both cool and lame at the same time. Who has pen-pals anymore?" Yosuke quipped, earning a reproachful look from his friend.
Kanji shook his head. "Personally, I'd like to see what kinds of cloth they sell around here. I haven't seen a whole lot of machine-made material."
Souji nodded. "Honestly, I'm not sure what I'd want to do. This is a bit new to me. I think I may go with you, Kanji. I'd like to see what you think of big-city clothing." Souji smiled as Kanji's face flushed.
With more of Yu's guidance (and a lot of reading material his twin had provided), Souji had become as understanding and expressive as his brother, who in turn had gotten more diligent as he'd taught Souji the art of social tact.
"Hey, could we ask Naoto-kun to join us if we go out?" Yukiko asked suddenly as the girls approached. The group turned, looking at the sleuth as he stood by himself by the stations vending machines. Souji grinned, a plan formulating in his mind. Yu looked at him, sensing something from his brother.
The two turned and looked at each other, an unspoken message passing between them for the first time in a long while. "Well, I don't see why not." Yu said, looking back at the detective.
Souji nodded. "Let's see if he wants to go anywhere after school today" he said, much to the Teams pleasure.
"Woah, so this is a club!"
The team had come into Club Escapade at Rise's request, and was amazed to see the high energy atmosphere. Yu and Souji snickered; the twins were used to this, though Yu felt more at home than Souji did. Teddie gasped, amazed at all the sights and sounds of the club. The bear had followed them all the way to Port Island after swearing off topsicles to save money for a train ticket, much to Yosuke's chagrin.
"Wow, this place feels so…alive!" said the brunette, looking around and nodding his head to the beat of the music; it had been a long time since he'd experienced this feeling.
"There's nothing like this back home…" Yukiko said, gazing around in wonder. The group turned to walk around and ran into Naoto, causing Kanji to turn around in embarrassment. The sleuth seemed surprised to see them.
"Is it permitted for high school students such as yourselves to be here?" he asked, eyeing the team suspiciously.
Yosuke looked annoyed. "Look who's talking! You were here before us!" The twins grinned amusedly; they hadn't expected to run into Naoto here of all places.
"Though now that I think about it, we don't really know anything about Naoto…not to mention this place is covered in the color blue." Souji grinned. "Naoto would probably love the Velvet Room."
Naoto shook his head. "The clientele here seems above-board, so I don't expect there'll be any problems." The detective made as if to go, but Chie stood in front of him, smiling mischievously as she did so.
"Huh? You're leaving?" she asked. Yukiko smiled warmly at the sleuth.
"Why don't you join us?" she asked, earning a surprised look from Naoto.
"Are you…asking me to stay?" he asked.
"Uh-huh. We didn't get to chat last time."
Naoto blushed, making Souji smile as he did so. "Now there's something that you don't see every day" he thought.
"Ah…I…I-It's just that I had some matters to attend to that day."
Rise looked at her classmate. "Well, you're free now, right?" she asked. "I was really eager to talk to you. I was curious how someone my age is working as a detective."
Yukiko followed Rise up. "How about it?"
Naoto looked down at the ground, pulling his hat down a bit so as to hide his face, which continued to hold a healthy shade of pink. "Very well…if you insist" Naoto responded. The girls look pleased. Rise stated she would go and book a private room using her connections, earning a surprised response from Yosuke. Souji walked back to find Kanji, who was leaning on a wall, hiding from sight as best he could.
"You okay, man?" Souji asked his friend as he approached. Kanji looked up. "Y-Yeah, I'm just…" he trailed of, looking up at Naoto. Souji followed his gaze.
"You wanna talk about it?" he asked, turning back to face the ex-punk. "No…not really…I'm just…I don't know."
Souji placed a hand on the taller teens shoulder. "Relax. No one here would judge you for anything you feel. Why don't you talk to Yukiko about it later?"
Kanji nodded; face brightening as he thought about what Souji said. "Yeah, I think that would help. Thanks, Senpai!" Souji nodded, glad he could help his friend this time.
Souji sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He loved his friends, he really did. He'd faced down giant shadows with them, watched as they'd overcome themselves to grow stronger, and he'd gladly give his time or life should one of them need it. But sitting here in the private room Rise had reserved, he felt as if each and every one of them, Kanji excluded, was a bonafide moron.
"Number 1, my lap is yours!"
Yu smiled, swaying slightly in his seat. Rise stood up, squealing in victory as she walked over to her boyfriend, laying her head on his lap as she lied down next to him. The group had been sitting around, having a good time, when they'd begun to feel…off. Yukiko and Rise had been the first to fall victim, swaying and acting very open all of a sudden. Teddie had begun muttering strange things about Kanji, and Yosuke and Chie were feeling a little hot under the collar. Rise had "Kanjectured" that the drinks had been alcoholic, causing everyone to rapidly determine just how many refills they'd had. Yu had begun acting similar to Rise, and the whole thing had fallen apart there.
Souji sighed as he thought back to a few moments prior. Rise had pulled out chopsticks seemingly from nowhere and demanded that the group play the Kings Game. Teddie and Kanji were the first to fall out, and now Yu was King, and had ordered Rise to rest her head on his lap.
Souji had sniffed his drink, and the taste was perfectly normal. He wasn't feeling anything other than a headache at his friend's antics, and that admittedly had begun back at Gekkoukan as he'd learned about the story of Izanagi and Izanami. The drinks were perfectly fine; his friends were most likely drunk off of the atmosphere, allowing their vacation and pent-up stress to override their better sense.
Naoto sat between Souji and Yukiko, and had remained very quiet throughout the entire ordeal. Yukiko turned to him, proclaiming that she was now the King, and demanded Naoto to tell them about his past.
Naoto complied, informing the team about his family's history as a line of detectives, explaining how his parents had died when he was young, leaving his grandfather to care for him as he grew. Yukiko giggled, believing to have heard something embarrassing, and the group started questioning how they were to deal with the drunkards around them.
"You aren't drunk…" Souji said, looking hard at his brother. Yu just smiled lazily and waved at Souji, as if seeing him for the first time that night.
Naoto shook his head. "Are you a pack of imbeciles?" he asked. The night wore on as the group headed back to the hotel.
Back home after the trip.
Souji shook his head, looked back at the T.V, and then shook his head once more, as if that would change what he was seeing. Naoto was on the news, giving a report that directly questioned the closure of the Yamano case. This wasn't like the sleuth at all, thrusting himself into the spotlight. "What on earth is he doing?" Souji muttered.
Yu looked at his brother, who was fidgeting nervously with his chopsticks. "What gives? Why would Naoto be on T.V like this?"
Souji shook his head. "I'm not sure. This is completely abnormal."
Yu looked back at the T.V, a thought forming in his head. "Hmmm…" he hummed, deciding to think about it more later.
Yu and Souji were walking to school with most of the team, excluding Kanji and, of course, Teddie. The group was discussing what they'd seen the night before. "I didn't think he was the type to go after the spotlight" Chie remarked, causing the rest of the team to nod in agreement.
"Good morning."
A voice behind them made them jump, and the group turned around to see Naoto walking away from the school, dressed in his casual wear. Souji stared at the boy, astonished. "I've been waiting for you all. There's something I need to discuss with you regarding the case." The sleuth was avoiding Souji's eyes, instead looking past him at the others. "Could you please indulge my current theory on the matter?" The Team looked at each other, confused.
Yu nodded, seeing his brother not making a move. Naoto cracked a small smile, but it disappeared as fast as it had come. "What is it…?" Yosuke asked, moving a bit closer to Chie. Naoto turned away, and began to speak.
"First, as regards commonalities between the victims, all of them were kidnapped before they were murdered. The victims were all locals who had been the focus of recent media attention, becoming suddenly well-known...That is the most likely scenario. I don't believe there's anything intrinsically unique about the victims themselves...Haven't you all come to the same conclusion?"
The group nodded, affirming Naoto's words. "Yes, we did." Souji said quietly; something in his gut was churning.
"Then, allow me to state my point. Will you admit that a number of you fit these identical circumstances? There was a long interval between the second and third deaths in this case. But after I applied the aforementioned criteria, I discovered several similar disappearances had taken place. Yukiko Amagi. Kanji Tatsumi. Rise Kujikawa. All of you disappeared shortly after being shown on TV...Either you escaped death somehow, or you faked your own disappearances in order to divert attention from yourselves...Since some of you had ties to the victims, there came a point where I suspected one of you must be the culprit."
Chie gasped. "You thought one of us was the killer!? You can't be serious!" Yosuke placed an arm around her back, providing some comfort.
"This was a prior theory, since discarded. Putting together everything I've learned until this moment, I believe exactly the opposite. You aren't the culprits. You may, in fact, be the only ones with the means to pursue the true perpetrator...Seen as a joining of forces between the rescued, everything falls into place...Of course, this is all speculation. There is in fact a flaw in the theory. It doesn't account for the third incident...Mr. Morooka's murder. He has never been broadcast on television, and neither did he ever disappear. We must also consider the condition of his corpse. The first two victims are still listed with an unknown cause of death...But Mr. Morooka died of an easily identifiable blunt force trauma to the occipital cranium. The police have not satisfactorily resolved this discrepancy, yet they are desperate to close the case. Further action will be necessary to obtain some sort of decisive evidence."
Yu frowned. "What do you mean, further action?" Souji looked up.
Naoto glanced to him, then immediately turned his head. He was definitely avoiding Souji, and the silverette knew why. "You're a damned fool, Naoto!" he thought, watching the detective walk away. Naoto stopped, turning his head a bit so that he could see the Team out of the corner of his eye.
"You all said something to me long ago…This is not a game to me either." He reached up and pulled the brim of his cap down, and walked down the road, away from the group.
Souji watched him go, fists balled, fighting back the urge to run after the young boy and stop him from what he was about to do. "Let's get to class…" he said quietly, turning away from the group and walking towards the school, head bowed.