The twins stared hard at the screen of their T.V, trying to make out the figure on it, but shook their heads as they couldn't discern anything from the fuzzy image. "Damn, so someone else is going to get thrown into the T.V?" Yu asked, rubbing his eyes.
Souji yawned, nodding his head. "Seems that way. Let's call Yosuke, maybe he saw a better image."
Yu nodded, and grabbed his phone to call the brunette. "Yo, did you guys see anything?" the teen asked as he answered. The twins told him about the image they'd seen, asking if the Junes prince had seen anything different. "
No, my image was extremely blurry; I couldn't tell a damn thing about it."
The teens all sighed, feeling the weight from this latest development fall. "Let's meet up at the usual spot tomorrow." Yosuke said. The twins agreed, and bid their friend goodnight. They settled down into their futons after switching off the lights, and fell asleep quickly.
Souji was dreaming again. He was sitting in darkness atop some sort of platform. He looked around, silver eyes trying to pierce the gloom. He stood up, hoping that something might seem clearer. Slowly, he took a step forward, then recoiled as the darkness covering the platform he was standing on streaked away from the teen. Looking down, he saw that he was on a large circular platform, colored blue and gold. Images of his friends, his family, and himself were all around, appearing as flat images on the floor.
"What the…?" Souji began, but stopped as he heard a deep, almost familiar voice.
"The time nears…soon; your payment to me will be due. The decision you will make will determine the final cost from you. Whatever will you do?" The voice didn't sound malevolent, nor did it seem dangerous. It was almost comforting, sounding very smooth and soft. Souji tried to speak, to ask the voice what it meant, but found that his voice wouldn't work. Suddenly, a dark void appeared around his feet, slowly pulling him into it. Souji began to panic, and reached out to grasp anything that might prevent his slow descent.
"Don't be afraid." He heard the voice speak again. "And don't forget; thou art the one who shall open the door." Souji's eyes widened as the darkness enveloped his head, and suddenly, all went black.
Souji woke up in a cold sweat with a gasp. Yu shuffled in his sleep, shifting a bit as he subconsciously heard the noise from Souji, but otherwise remained asleep. Souji turned to look at his clock; it read 2:30 A.M. He shook his head irritably; he couldn't quite remember what he'd been dreaming about that had woken him up so suddenly, but it had disrupted the teen's precious sleep. He laid back down and closed his eyes, and was soon drifting back into a peaceful slumber.
The team sat at the food court after school, discussing the Midnight Channel from the previous night. Souji fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling a disturbing chill run up his spine. Naoto, sitting next to him, noticed this and placed a concerned hand on her boyfriend's leg underneath the table, and felt her face flush slightly as Souji reached down and gave her hand a squeeze, a silent thank-you for the comforting touch. The two had decided to not reveal their new relationship to the group just yet, as neither really knew how to talk about it, and Naoto felt uncomfortable with the idea of "public affection". This didn't stop subtle expressions, such as the one occurring now, from happening occasionally.
"From what I saw...wasn't the person on TV last night pretty small?" Teddie piped up, looking concerned.
"I dunno...It was too blurry to make out any details, including how tall or short they were. It was probably just a dream or your imagination. Either way, though, did you sense anyone in that world?" Chie looked at the bear questioningly.
"Nope. No one's come so far."
Rise shook her head, leaning against Yu as she did so. "Then we might have to wait one more night and see..." she said worriedly, earning a quick squeeze from the silverette as he attempted to comfort the idol.
Yosuke nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess so...Good thing it looks like the rain'll keep up all night. Don't forget to check again later on." The team nodded, and began discussing the day they'd had at school with each other.
Souji paced in the small room. Yu sat at the table, head down as he tried to relax. The twins had gotten a letter, unsigned, just like a letter they had received in October. Dojima had given it to Souji, who had opened it to reveal another warning, this one much darker than the last. Dojima had become upset, demanding answers. The twins had told him everything, but Dojima had refused to believe them. After telling Nanako not to worry, he'd hauled the boys to the Station.
The police had looked at them questioningly as Souji and Yu were brought in, and Dojima had grabbed Adachi and pulled him and the twins into an interrogation room. Once again, the twins were questioned about the truth, and once again they told their uncle everything. Dojima had sighed. "I guess half a year wasn't long enough for you to trust me like your old man...But I hoped you'd open up to me a little… It's a shame." Souji had leapt up.
"Our old man!? You think I trust you less than him of all people?!" Souji stared hard at his uncle and began yelling again. "Of course I trust you more than him! I trust you more than my mother! You are the only family we have that's ever showed even the slightest bit of interest in us! Our parents are never home! And when they are, they ignore us in favour of their work! Our entire lives have been a chain of hopping from one place to another; and you and Nanako are the only ones we've ever grown close to! Why the hell wouldn't we trust you?! What we just told you was no lie, but it's definitely hard to believe unless you see it for yourself!"
Souji had begun walking toward the T.V when Yu had grabbed him from behind, pulling him into the chair next to him. Dojima looked had looked worn and upset, and told the twins that they'd be staying at the station for the night. Adachi had comforted them slightly, and then left to stand just outside the room.
"What are we gonna do?" Yu asked, looking up at his brother.
Souji shook his head and sat down, placing his head in his hands. "I…don't know…." was all he could say.
Teddie was talking to Nanako on the phone, instinctually comforting the young girl after Yosuke had called her.
"…Weird letter….?" Yosuke murmured as Teddie hung up. His eyes widened as realization struck him. "Wait, was it a second warning letter!? Did he get a second one!? And Dojima-san saw that, so...he took him to the station? Teddie, gimme the phone back! I need to call the others!" The brunette snatched his phone from the blonde youth and called the group all at once.
"You've got to let us out! Adachi! Let us out, now!"
Yu was pounding on the door, screaming to be heard. Souji was looking around the room, hoping to see anything that might help them escape, but saw nothing. He closed his eyes as his face contorted in pain; that had been Nanako's figure on the Midnight Channel. Yu stepped back and sat on the bed nearby, crying and shuddering. Souji sat next to him and hugged his brother close, feeling his own eyes stinging as tears streamed down his face. They sat in silence, listening only to the patter of rain and Yu's quiet sobs.
A commotion outside brought them out of their silence. Dojima was yelling something, and suddenly the door to the room was thrown open as Yosuke, Teddie, and Kanji ran in. "Nanako-chan's missing!" said Yosuke, looking at the twins.
"Wha-!? What do you mean!?" Dojima stood in the doorway, surprise.
"Naoto's on the phone, calling from Nanako-chan's...I mean, your house." Yosuke said, and handed Dojima his cell. Dojima held it up and demanded an answer from the sleuth on the other end.
"Shirogane!? You there? What the hell's going on!?"
"I'm at your house right now. The front door's open and there's no one inside...I'm afraid that Nanako-chan has been kidnapped by our serial killer. Surely you must've known, Dojima-san!? The case isn't over yet!"
Dojima looked pained, and threw the brunettes phone down as he pulled his own phone out to call Nanako's phone, but the number had been disconnected. He stalked over to the local receiver, and began stationing men to blockade the highways and town exits, yelling impatiently as they questioned his actions. Adachi tried to stop him, but was pushed out of the way as Dojima moved past him to his car. Adachi came back into the room, worrying about his boss. The door was thrown open yet again, startling the worried detective as the rest of the team ran in; Naoto and Rise moving to their boyfriend's sides while Chie and Yukiko questioned the others.
"What's going on?" Chie asked. The team updated the girls on the situation, and made to leave.
Adachi blocked their way. "If I let you guys go, Dojima will kill me. Besides, I don't even understand what all is going on!"
Naoto nodded. "Ah, so you agree to release them once we explain the situation? Very well, then." Adachi stuttered, but Naoto cut him off.
"In any case, if we run out blindly, we'll have no idea where to begin. Let's all take a moment to stop and sort out the situation. Perhaps this will help Adachi-san understand as well. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a kidnapping by the same culprit who was behind the others. Now. Consider that the front door at Nanako-chan's house was open. I examined it, and found no trace that entry had been forced..." The team began discussing possibilities and similarities. "We know for certain that the culprit must be using a large-screen TV." Naoto said.
Adachi shook his head. "Huh...? TV? What?" he stammered. Yosuke nodded his head. Naoto continued on, following her logic to the end.
"Each victim was taken at a different scene, yet was thrown into a TV almost immediately after being kidnapped...I would go as far as to say that it took place in front of their houses…Therefore, the culprit must be taking a TV with him as he goes."
Souji stood up, nodding as he brought himself out of his misery. "He'd have to be using a large vehicle, but no one in town's ever reported any suspicious vehicles in town at all. He's using a car that no one would notice, then."
The team pondered this silently. "So it's someone Nanako-chan knows, who has a car...But it's a car that can't be seen?" Rise murmured, thinking hard.
"I think we can rule out the possibility that no one happened to see the vehicle...Especially since it's happened so many times now." Yukiko said, shaking her head a bit as she did so.
"A car no one would notice...? Is there such a thing? What would it be...?" Chie fidgeted slightly, worry on her face.
Yu looked up suddenly, staring at his brother intently. Souji had turned to look at him at the same time, and the twins spoke silently, reaching the same conclusion. "A moving truck." they said, and the team turned to look at them.
"That's right...Now I remember... A delivery came! It was a delivery truck!" Kanji swore as he remembered what had happened to him.
Rise nodded. "No one looks twice at a delivery truck, no matter where it's parked..." she said.
"And if it were a local company, it'd be the same deliveryman every time so he's not a "stranger" to Nanako-chan…" Naoto was thinking fast now. "She must've received packages from him during the times she was home alone, meaning we wouldn't know his face... Adachi-san! Is there anyone who fits this profile!?"
The sleuth turned to Adachi, who was startled at the sudden question. "A profile formed by a bunch of kids talking it over...? Let's see...A delivery company, huh? I dunno, take it from a detective...I think this is gonna be...a lot more difficult than—" he paused as he looked down the list of suspects he'd pulled out. "Hey...! Maybe you're not too far off base...Dojima-san put this stuff together to reinvestigate the first case-the murder of that announcer. And there's a deliveryman mentioned right here...I better go tell Dojima-san!"
Adachi ran off to call Dojima, running out the door to his car as he did so. The team looked at the list he'd left behind, and found the name of the culprit. "Taro Namatame!" Naoto said, a look of disgust crossing her face. Adachi came back, and the team begged him to allow the twins to leave.
Adachi looked at the ground, turning around to the door again as he did so. "...If there's been a break in the case, I'd better hurry to the scene. I'll just have to hope nothing happens here while I'm gone...I didn't see anything." The detective hurried out to his readied car and drove off, siren wailing. The twins silently thanked Adachi for his decision, and the team ran off to find Namatame and, hopefully, Nanako.