Author's Notes: Okay, I'm gonna try to aim for regular updates, but things are variable. Mainly, it all depends on when I wake up...

~30 MAY 2009~

Minato put his bag down and took his seat. The classroom seemed to be buzzing with a new rumor, but he ignored it as he took out his notebook and pencil. It was only when he heard something interesting that he finally snapped his attention to the gossip.

"Did you hear? About that girl in 2-E…?"

"Yeah, they haven't got a clue…"

"Isn't that bizarre!?"

Girl? 2-E? Minato quickly stood up, surprising Junpei.

"Whoa!" The capped boy steadied himself as he saw Minato turn towards the students gossiping. "Man, can you believe these people…?" Minato turned to him with confusion written all over his face. "So, did you hear the details?" Junpei thought it was strange for Minato to be paying attention to rumors, but the concerned expression on the blue-eyed boy's face told the capped boy the leader was actually curious.

Minato debated with himself whether to listen or not. "I'm not interested," he decided to say as he sat back down.

"Stop acting like you don't care," Junpei shook his head. "You really should hear this…"

"What's going on?" Hamuko noticed the two boys talking.

"The rumors!" Junpei replied, surprised the gossip-savvy girl didn't already know.

Hamuko gave him a quizzical expression. "About what?"

"Well, a girl from 2-E went missing last night. This morning, they found her lying on the ground in front of the school gate! Nobody knows what happened, and supposedly, she's still unconscious."

Yukari came in then. "Morning."

"Yo, Yuka-tan." Junpei smirked. "This is a tough case, even for Junpei Iori, Ace Detective."

"Ace Detective?" Yukari laughed as if the boy had said a joke. "Are you stupid or something? More like Stupei, Ace Defective."

"Hey! I resent that." He frowned though as the girl normally comes to class earlier than him. "Anyway, where've you been?"

"I was talking to the teacher. That girl they found… I saw her yesterday, on my way back from practice. She seemed okay then…"

"Whoa…" Junpei's eyes widened. "Now, that's really strange."

Minato frowned to himself. Yesterday? Did I see a Reaper yesterday on those girls? I can't remember… No, it's not that I can't remember. It's that I wasn't paying attention. Damn it… The girls went to their seats as Minato stared at his notebook in frustration. Now of all times isn't when I should be losing focus!

After spending the afternoon with Yuko, Minato was told another interesting rumor. An interesting man was seen hanging around in Club Escapade on some nights. Taking this as a chance to visit the fortune teller, Minato ended meeting the disillusioned monk Mutatsu. Glad that his sister was not accompanying him, Minato was able to spend a long while talking to the old man.

On his way out, he passed by the Den Mother. "I'm back," he said, hoping this time his fortune will actually help.

Mama smiled at him as he took a seat. "I feel another change…" Her ball remained clear but Minato soon saw a teal flower floating on a breeze. "A strong wind blows across the world, sending a blue flower's petal into the air… How will you interpret this wind…? As a weak and frail breeze," the flower slowly wilted in the dying wind, "or a brave and mighty gust…?" The images stopped as Minato felt a draft in the room.

"A flower blowing in the wind," Minato said to himself as he shivered slightly. Fuuka Yamagishi…

Mama only smiled at him. "You seem to already have an answer."

"Yes," the boy nodded. "Thank you for your help."

"Not at all," Mama waved as he left. "May your future be bright…"

As he came out of the club, he closed his eyes as he recalled the draft he had previously felt. I need to speak with that girl again. I need her to introduce me to Yamagishi. I can't go about this indirectly anymore.

~1 JUNE 2009~

Minato groaned as his revived investigation was put into another halt. "I was hoping to speak with that girl again," he told Hamuko as they walked home together. "I wanted her to introduce me to Yamagishi. I know I was avoiding her all of Saturday, but this is important."

"Well, you did tell her to stay away from you," Hamuko pointed out. "Why did you do that anyway?"

"The Reaper fully appeared," Minato frowned to himself. "I panicked so I pushed her away."

"You must have hurt her feelings, nii-san." Hamuko gave him a disapproving shake of her head.

The older twin turned to her with a confused expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't notice?" Hamuko blinked at the boy. "I think she likes you."

"You're not joking?" Minato stared at Hamuko's face, looking for any trace that she was teasing him. "No… I don't even know her name. There's no way… We've only met a few times and even then, it usually ended with you interrupting or me running away."

"Nii-san… She wanted to speak to you over me."

Minato tilted his head to the side. "What are you getting at?"

Frustrated by her brother's obliviousness, Hamuko groaned. "Never mind! You're completely hopeless. The point is, you probably chased her away for good. Even if you did see her again, it'll be hard for you to get as close to her as you did before."

"Yeah," Minato seemed a bit disappointed. "I guess my honest attempt at making a friend on my own accord completely blew up in my face."

Hamuko felt bad for her brother. He seemed to genuinely like this girl too and it hurt Hamuko to see how much he was beating himself up over this. "Hey, it's okay, nii-san. I'm sure if you speak to her again and actually show her that you're sorry, she'll forgive you."

"I still doubt it," Minato said. That was the last they had of that conversation because as they entered the dorm, it appeared that the rest of SEES were gathered around the table. It was rather rare to see everyone together for dinner so the twins joined them.

Junpei smiled at them before turning to Yukari. "Hey Yuka-tan, have you seen the posts on the student message board? You know how last week, that girl was found by the front gate? Well, there's this rumor that it was an angry spirit from this one ghost story."

Yukari sat up, fear gleaming in her eyes. "H-hey! C'mon… Nobody believes that stuff!? R-right?" She looked to everyone else.

Mitsuru looked up from her papers. "So, what is this ghost story about?" she asked curiously.

The brunette was rather surprised the senior took Junpei's bait. "Wha—!? It-it's probably made-up… so why bother!?"

Akihiko nodded towards Junpei. "I'm interested. Go ahead and tell us."

"Oh, sweet!" Hamuko happily pulled up a chair and took a seat while Minato curiously leaned back against the wall behind her. "Nii-san and I love ghost stories!"

Seeing as nobody was with her on this, Yukari frowned. "Uh…"

Happy he got to tell his story, Junpei suddenly took out a flashlight and stuck it under his chin. Minato and Hamuko smirked at the boy's theatrics as he began. "Good evening. Welcome to 'Junpei's Believe It, or Don't'. There are many strange things in this world… According to one story… if you get caught at school late at night, you'll be devoured by a maniacal ghost that roams the halls! The other day, this friend of mine—let's call him Shu… He said to me, 'Junpei, I saw something strange.' He sounded serious, so I asked him what he'd seen. He said it was about the girl in 2-E… He claims he saw her go into the school on the night of the incident. I couldn't believe it. She's not the kind of girl to be out at night… But Shu was as white as a sheet. He insisted it was true… Then, it hit me… That ghost must've tried to make her its dinner! And that's why they found her lying on the ground by the gate! I felt a chill run down my spine, and I broke into a cold sweat… Yes, there are strange things in this world… Believe it… or don't."

Mitsuru turned to the other senior. "What do you think, Akihiko?"

Junpei knit his eyebrows that the redhead. "Huh…? Not one word about my frankly amazing performance just now…?"

Akihiko smirked back at Mitsuru as they ignored him. "I think it's worth investigating."

The white-haired boy's response resulted in a low whine from Yukari. Junpei smirked at the brunette. "Wow, I didn't know you were afraid of ghosts, Yuka-tan. That's kinda funny."

"Hey, watch it!" Yukari glared at him. "F-fine, then let's investigate. We'll each ask around for the rest of the week. I'll prove to you that this ghost story is just an urban legend!"

"I appreciate that," Mitsuru nodded. "The story is a bit unnerving."

Yukari was unable to tell if the senior was joking or not. "Huh…?"

Akihiko nodded his head as he agreed with the redhead. "Then, I'll let you guys handle it. Just make sure you sleep with one eye open…" he smirked to the four juniors.

"Whaaat…?" Yukari realized that she fell straight for the seniors' trap. The four juniors were now stuck with investigating the rumors. "Can you believe this?" She asked Hamuko.

The red-eyed girl shrugged. "Well, it gives us something to do, at least. Right, nii-san?"

"It makes no difference to me," Minato frowned as he found a few things odd about Junpei's story.

"I know that look," Hamuko smiled as she saw the gears turning in her brother's head. "You figured something out."

"What? Already?" Junpei watched the blue-haired junior in disbelief. "It took me forever to get my friend to spill and you're saying you already know what exactly happened?"

Minato shook his head. "Not exactly. I have an idea though." He stood from the table and sighed. "There are a few things I'm missing before I can actually say with certainty what happened so I'm going to bed."

"He's kidding, right?" Junpei turned to Hamuko.

The girl shook her head as she proudly smiled at her brother. "Nope. Your story probably gave him most of the clues he needed to figure out his own investigation."

"Is he still looking into Yamagishi?" Mitsuru asked.

Junpei brightened at that. "So he wants her to join after all?"

Yukari shook her head the capped boy. "He's probably worried that she has the Potential and is dealing with the Dark Hour alone."

"O-oh," Junpei frowned as he remembered how he had been when he discovered the Dark Hour. "But if she is experiencing it, she'll have to join, right?"

"Maybe," Akihiko replied with a shrug. "It all depends on what she can do."

"Nii-san will come up with something," Hamuko said with certainty. "He hasn't let us down yet."

Minato opened his eyes when he felt a familiar presence in his room. He sat up to see a familiar little boy staring at him. "Good evening. I came to see you again, as I promised. How are you?"

"It's you…" Minato really wanted to go back to sleep.

"I'm glad you remembered me," the boy smiled.

"Yeah, well get out of here." Minato lay back down and pulled his covers up but the boy shook his head and frowned at him.

"That isn't very nice; show a little courtesy." He came a bit closer to the older boy and began whispering into Minato's ear. "Now… In another week, the moon will be full again. And the next ordeal will be upon you. So, be careful." He slowly disappeared but the smile never vanished from his face. "I'll come again."

~5 June 2009~

For most of that week, Minato watched as Yukari and Hamuko hectically asked people for any information regarding the rumors. Junpei didn't seem to care much for the investigation and had told the leader that he would leave it all to Yukari. As for Minato himself, an investigation like this needed to be handled efficiently so he let the girls do the legwork as he sat back and pieced together what he currently knew. Minato took out a pencil as he began drawing a thought map to help with his deductions.

So I'm currently dealing with two cases. One regards the rumors of one Fuuka Yamagishi and the other on the fainting girls… Now from an outsider's perspective, they may seem like two separate cases, but what if it's just one big interconnected case?

In that case, let's start with the basics. Fuuka Yamagishi is a girl from Class 2-E. According to rumor, she doesn't attend class much because of her health. Given her student health records, I can confirm that much to be true, but somehow I doubt the records Sanada-senpai initially handed to me. It doesn't quite match the hospital files I asked Kirijo-senpai to pull for me. Now I can dismiss the school files or the hospital files so for the basis of all of my next assumptions, I will disregard the school files as I feel they have been tampered with.

Following this decision, this is where the rumor diverges from the truth. Fuuka Yamagishi's attendance records show no signs of extended absences, furthering my suspicions on her school health records. In fact, her attendance is near perfect except for the past week. Now, besides having regular checkups, nothing in her hospital files indicated she was sickly, but there is still the chance that she became ill this week. So this discrepancy leads me to a question. Where did this rumor come from?

To answer that, I must look at the rumor itself. Yukari said there were rumors of her being 'weak'. As I noted before, it had been an interesting rumor. Hamuko noted that it was plain and I agreed, but my 'instinct' disagreed on that front. Something about it stuck with me and I believe I now know why. Before, I had taken 'weak' and 'sickly' to be interchangeable but what if I turned my way of thinking around? If 'weak' does not equate to 'sickly' then I must use another definition for the word 'weak'.

Here is where it gets difficult. I do not know Fuuka Yamagishi. It's impossible for me to decide which definition of 'weak' to apply in this situation. Any assumption past this point would merely be conjecture and as this would result in an infinite amount of theories, I will have to stop this line of reasoning for now.

My next line of reasoning will start from the ghost stories that have been rapidly spreading. Now the first victim of this so-called ghost was found Saturday morning, yet just the afternoon before, Yukari, Hamuko and I saw her completely fine. I regret to say that I missed a chance to look for a Reaper, but it was due to personal negligence that I failed to check this point. That said, I am unsure whether this Reaper is related to the Reaper I saw on my unnamed friend who I will henceforth refer to as…

Minato frowned as he became stumped. "Er…" He looked around the classroom before he found his sister. "Hamuko, if I ever had a child, what would be a good name for them?"

"Makoto!" the girl replied. "Makoto Yuki! That way the 'harbor of courage' gives rise to 'true courage'!"

"Oh… That's pretty clever. Okay, thanks."

Minato returned to his diagram. Where was I?

Oh, right. 'Makoto'. So I sensed the Reaper on her. This was partly my fault for my needless meddling, but if I assume the Reaper on 'Makoto' is the same as the one on the first victim, it would mean all girls associated with Fuuka Yamagishi would be in danger. This coincides with the fact that I have not seen 'Makoto' present in class for the past week. It is quite possible that she became a victim of the 'ghost'. If not, then she's just very good at avoiding me due to my blunder. For her sake as well as mine, I hope it is the latter.

Actually, it must be the latter considering Junpei's story brought up an interesting point. Yukari, Hamuko and I saw the first victim Friday afternoon. Yet this friend of Junpei's, 'Shu', saw the victim Friday night. Now why would the victim return to campus in the middle of the night? The victim knows nothing of the Dark Hour or Tartarus, so there must have been something at the school that drew her here.

If that's the case, then a stakeout of the school during the night would have revealed something to us. However, we have visited Tartarus twice this week, but nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Hamuko told me she was hearing more voices of the Lost, but I believe that it is because there is a Full Moon approaching.

That's right… A Full Moon means another Ordeal. If we do not solve this case soon, I fear another incident will be added on top of this investigation. That being said, there is also a chance for the ghost of this case to be a Shadow. If it is, I predict it will be like the previous two large Shadows we have fought. It is strange that the victims of this case do not become one of The Lost, however. They do have Apathy Syndrome, but they aren't showing the regular symptoms that The Lost usually display in the streets of Iwatodai. This could be unique to the Shadow, but I feel that this hypothesis is rather weak.

This is all I have for now. When the team meets up tonight, I will try to add Yukari's information to what I have. Hamuko has been consistently giving me a daily report of what she's learned so I have nothing to worry about there. Junpei, on the other hand, dropped out of the investigation entirely, but it is thanks to him I was able to question the validity of Fuuka Yamagishi's health report.

As a closing, I shall list all of my remaining questions here. What is the true form of the rumor 'Fuuka Yamagishi is weak'? Why has her student health record been tampered with and by whom? Just who is Fuuka Yamagishi? What is the true nature of the ghost stories? Just what exactly happened to the victims? Why did the first victim return to campus in the middle of Friday night? What is the next Ordeal and is it related to the ghosts? And as a personal mystery of my own, what is the true name of 'Makoto'?

Minato stared at the list of questions he wrote down. "Yeah… That should do it."

Yukari came into the classroom then, satisfied with the new information she just uncovered. She saw Minato staring at a paper with a bunch of scribbles and lines all over it and raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you really investigating?"

The boy shrugged. "I'm merely synthesizing information. Whether you consider that investigating or not is up to your discretion."

"Why are you talking like that?" Junpei asked.

Minato's face warmed a little. "Sorry. It's a habit I picked up from my parents."

Hamuko lightly laughed. "They were detectives so the two of us used to pretend we were them on a case."

"Anyway," Minato shifted the conversation away from their childhood as he looked to Yukari, "What's up?"

Yukari looked at the three of them seriously. "Well, today's Friday. Did you two ask around, like we said?" She eyed the two boys sternly.

"Huh?" Junpei raised an eyebrow at Yukari. "We had something planned for today?" His attempt at a joke resulted in the girl glaring at him. "I know, I know! I'm just kidding! Man, you have such a short temper…"

Ignoring him, Yukari turned to the twins. "Then, we'll meet in the lounge after school. Don't forget!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Junpei sighed as he sank into his seat. He turned to Minato and shook his head. "Jeez, if I knew Yuka-tan would get so wound up, I'd never have told the seniors that story."

"It's fine," the boy replied as he studied his map once more. "Thanks to you I got some good information. Besides, it's her own fault for being afraid of ghosts."

"You don't believe in ghosts?" Junpei smirked.

"Oh, we do," Hamuko chuckled. "We're just not afraid of them."

"After all," her brother shrugged, "the dead can't hurt the living." They're dead, he wryly thought.

When the juniors finally returned, Yukari directed everyone to the dinner table as she called the meeting to order. "Okay, as we agreed on Monday, we'll now hold a meeting to discuss what we learned."

"Wow," Junpei was surprised at the girl's demeanor. "You're really into this."

"Of course," Yukari crossed her arms and smirked. "I got lots of good info. It turns out no angry ghost was involved."

Junpei frowned at Yukari. "Oh, so that's what's important, huh?"

"Yeah," Minato rolled his eyes. "That much should have been obvious from the start."

"Hmph," Yukari frowned as the two boys gave her a look as if they were unsure whether to take her seriously. "First off, let's talk about how this rumor got started…" At this Minato finally sat up to pay attention. "Since the girl was found on school grounds, there's at least one similarity to the ghost story. But, why did the rumor spread so fast, if this was the first time anything happened?"

Junpei smiled. "The ghost did it!"

Yukari groaned. "Please… Let it go."

Minato smirked as he gave a joke of his own. "Her dying message," he nodded with a serious expression on his face.

"Dying message?" Yukari sighed at the boys. "Um, the victim isn't dead."

Hamuko shook her head as she answered seriously. "It was the third time!"

"Correct!" Yukari pointed at her with a smile on her face. "But yeah," her light brown eyes widened a little. "I was surprised when I found out the reason… Over the next few days, there were two more similar incidents. All three victims had to be hospitalized. No wonder people were talking."

Minato nodded in understanding as he took out his thought map and began making adjustments to it. This makes it more likely that 'Makoto' is indeed a victim. But this introduces the question of what drew her to campus in the middle of the night. She doesn't seem like that type of person… Although according to Junpei's story, the first victim wasn't either…

Yukari continued with her findings. "Next, the victims are in different classes, and they don't seem to be connected. However, they did have one thing in common. What was it?"

Junpei frowned at Yukari. "What is this, a quiz show?" He turned to Hamuko. "Do YOU know?"

"They went to our school!" Hamuko guessed.

Yukari and Minato both sighed as the archer gave the red-eyed girl a wry smile. "HELLO… We already KNOW that."

Junpei shrugged as he tried giving an answer of his own. "Maybe they ate out a lot."

"Ate out a lot...?" Yukari gave him a look of disbelief. "Are you crazy? What's that got to do with anything?"

The capped boy shrugged again. "Well, some families never eat out."

"You be quiet!" Yukari glared at him.

Minato knit his eyebrows together as he became serious. "The girls hung out together," he ended up answering, much to Hamuko and Junpei's surprise.

"Yup, that's right!" Yukari became relieved when the boy finally gave her a reasonable response. "Not just once or twice, either. They got in with a bad crowd, and were always out late. It can't be just a coincidence… So, to find out what happened, we're gonna do some field research."

"Field research?" Junpei looked at her in surprise. "Are you kidding?"

"Yeah, there's this one place where the three victims were regulars."

"Wait," the tallest junior's face went pale. "You're not talkin' about that place behind Port Island Station, are you…?"

"Oh, you're familiar with it?"

The boy stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "You can't go there! I've heard some nasty rumors about that place!"

"Is that so?" Yukari crossed her arms as she didn't seem to be afraid. "Well then, we should all go together." She turned to the twins. "You'll come, right?"

"Maybe next time!" Hamuko nervously replied.

"C'mon, where's your spirit of adventure?" Yukari looked over to Minato.

The boy studied the air around Yukari but didn't see anything too alarming. "I don't mind."

"H-huh? Nii-san!?" Hamuko blinked at her brother in surprise.

"I'll take that as a yes," Yukari nodded in satisfaction.

"Forget it," Junpei looked to the two reckless juniors. "That place is bad news. I mean, don't you think we're getting in over our heads?"

Yukari looked down in slight disappointment. "Up until now, all we've done is take orders. Even Minato has to report back to Mitsuru-senpai despite being leader. Does that feel right to you?"

"I know what you mean, but…" Junpei frowned. "Man, did you have to say it like that? I guess I don't have a choice, do I?" He looked over to Hamuko. "So are you in too?"

"Someone has to take care of nii-san," Hamuko relented.

Yukari brightened at that. "Okay, we'll go tomorrow night, then."

~6 JUNE 2009~

Minato leaned against the reception counter as he kept an eye on the three other juniors. Yukari finally nodded when everyone gathered around the front door. "Alright, let's get going."

"What's your hurry?" Junpei frowned. "I still think this is a bad idea. How could you be afraid of ghosts, but not be scared of this..?"

"It's easy to get freaked out by something you can't see, don'tcha think?"

Hamuko and Minato looked to each other before the older twin shrugged. Junpei on the other hand shook his head. "Actually, I'm more worried about things I CAN see… like bats and knives!"

"Junpei's got a point," Hamuko shrugged, hoping she could dissuade both her friend and brother from going. "Come on, nii-san," she frowned at her usually overprotective and paranoid brother. "You can't really think this is a good idea, right?"

Minato shook his head as he recalled something their father once told him. "A good detective is undaunted by the dangers of investigation," he unwavering stated with his blue eyes ablaze.

"Really? You're quoting Dad at a time like this?" Hamuko sighed at his response. "And here I thought you inherited Mom's sensibility... I mean, you practically just admitted that this is dangerous too..."

Yukari sighed. "Big deal, so it's a little 'dangerous'… Come on, it'll be an adventure!" She opened the door and led the way.

"More like a suicide mission," Junpei muttered.

"But I guess we have no choice," Hamuko shook her head before looked to the capped boy expectantly. "You'll protect us, right?"

This made the boy muster up as much bravado as he could. "H-huh? Hey, you know it! Leave it to me! C'mon, let's go!"

"No, wait! I didn't mean it like that, Junpei!" The red-eyed girl groaned to herself as the tall boy allowed himself to get carried away by her words. Before following after him, she looked back at her brother as he calmly locked the door behind them.

"Relax, Hamuko," Minato shrugged as he stood at her side. "If anything happens, I'll take care of it," he seriously reassured his younger sister.

As the four arrived in the back alley, all eyes turned to them. Minato remained calm as he scanned the teens hanging out. One punk stood up to get a better look at them. "The hell?"

His friend pointed at the emblem on Minato's uniform. "Check out those rags… They're from Gekkou High."

"Oh man, this is worse than I thought…" Junpei nervously took a step back, but Yukari stopped him.

The first teen sized up both Gekkoukan boys before singling out the trembling Junpei standing behind the girls. "Hey, you. I think you're in the wrong place."

"Uh," Junpei gulped. "Well, I…"

"You don't belong here… Get it?" The punk glared at the capped boy. "Beat it, Goatee…"

"G-goatee?" Junpei's eyes widened. "Oh, y-you mean me…" He shrunk back but Yukari glared at the punk.

"We don't need your permission to be here," she defiantly said.

"H-hey!" Junpei pulled on her arm. "Are you nuts!? Take a look around you!"

"I'm not blind, ya know. Come on, don't be intimidated by these scum!"

Minato's eyes narrowed as he tensed his body, prepared to take out anyone who would come close to them. The punk glared at Yukari. "What was that?"

A girl behind him rolled her eyes. "She just called us 'scum'. We'll post some picture that will make her daddy cry!" Hamuko noticed Yukari tense up. "She'll wish she was never born!" The girl began laughing. "Oh, that's so clever!"

Yukari's face beginning to grow red from anger. "These guys are the worst…"

"You oughta learn to shut that trap of yours," the first punk told her as he approached them. Junpei quickly got in front of Yukari and stopped the guy from getting any closer. "Man, I feel sorry for you, Goatee. This bitch is a pain in the ass…" He suddenly punched Junpei in the stomach.

"Urgh!" Junpei bowled over.

"Junpei…!" Yukari knelt at his side.

The four of them were surrounded now and Minato tensed up, ready for a brawl. The punk noticed the scrawny junior's stance and sneered at him. "What? You looking for a fight?"

"Are you?" The SEES field leader's eyes flashed dangerously, resulting in the teens flinching back a bit.

"Minato!" Hamuko quickly grabbed her brother and held him back before the blue-haired boy got them into even more trouble.

"That's enough," a voice called out from deep within the alley. Hamuko turned to see the familiar silhouette of a tall boy, coming out of the darkness. "They didn't know what they were getting into. I'll make sure they leave. Alright?"

"Who do you think you are, dumbass?" the punk spat. "You want some too!?"

The brunet sighed. "Do I have a choice?"

"That's it, you're goin' down!" He punched the tall boy but it was easily dodged. In return, the taller boy rammed his head into the punk, knocking him backwards. The punk let out a gasp as the air was knocked out of his lungs. "Shit…"

His friend helped him up and glared at the boy in the maroon peacoat. "Damn you, Shinjiro… That's right… You're from Gekko High too, aren't ya!? I thought you were one of us…"

"What gave you that idea?" Shinjiro asked, annoyance clear in his tone. "I don't remember swearing a blood oath."

The first boy collected himself and was ready for another round. "You son of a bitch! You just crossed the line! You think you're going home alive!?"

"Sure do. Wanna give it a try?" the cloaked boy didn't back down.

"Uh…" the delinquent shivered as the older boy glared at him. "S-screw this…"

Another girl began laughing. "What a loser!"

The first boy shot back some parting words as he ran away with his tail between his legs. "You better grow eyes in the back of your head!"

Junpei smiled at the older boy. "Oh man, Senpai, that was awesome!" He paused when Shinjiro turned to glare at them.

"Hey, I remember you… You clowns were in Aki's room at the hospital." The four looked to each other nervously. "You idiots! Get outta here. This place isn't for you."

Yukari called out after him. "Wait! We came here for a reason!"

The boy turned to her. "Did Aki tell you to come here?"

Hamuko shook her head as the ghostly girl from before appeared behind him. "No."

"Hmph," Shinjiro studied the red-eyed girl but decided she was telling the truth. "What do you wanna know? About that ghost story?"

"Um, yeah," Yukari gave the older boy a confused look. "How'd you know?"

The older boy turned away. "It's a rumor. Those girls who wound up in the hospital were here talkin' shit every night… About all the things they'd done to some girl named Fuuka."

Minato's eyes went wide as Junpei spoke up. "Fuuka…? You mean Fuuka Yamagishi, from 2-E? They were picking on her?"

Shinjiro nodded. "That's why people are saying it's Fuuka's spirit that did it."

"Fuuka's spirit…?" Yukari frowned. "Wait, what do you mean by that!?"

"You guys don't know?" Shinjiro looked to the blue-haired boy. "This Fuuka girl might be dead." He noticed as Minato went pale. "She hasn't been home in over a week." He kept his steel eyes carefully trained on the junior and noticed how the younger boy's blue eyes slowly grew unfocused.

Dead...? Minato brought his right hand up to his forehead, covering his eye and forcing his bangs back. That can't be possible! He shifted his left eye towards the Reaper standing behind Shinjiro. Did I miss something!?

Yeah, this kid knows… Shinjiro mentally sighed before he shifted his gaze over to the red-eyed girl staring at him intently. I don't know 'bout her, but somethin' ain't right about the way she's looking at me.

Junpei shook his head in disbelief. "Are you serious!? I thought she was out sick… But, she's missing!?"

"So much for the ghost story," Yukari frowned. "Mr. Ekoda is the homeroom teacher for 2-E, right? Does he know about this?"

Shinjiro looked off into the distance. "I get it, Aki… Still trying to make up for the past. It's you who can't let go…"

Hamuko watched as the ghost girl shook her head and was trying to tug at the boy's sleeve. "That's not it, Shinji-nii! They need your help! Aki-nii needs you, too!"

The red-eyed brunette bit her bottom lip as she attempted to approach the older boy. "What's wrong, Shinjiro-san?"

Surprised he was being addressed so directly, Shinjiro stared at Hamuko for a while before noticing her expectant gaze. After a while, he looked away before shaking his head. "Nothing… That's all I know. Satisfied?"

Hamuko was a bit dissatisfied with that answer but looking at her brother and friends, she figured they managed to gather quite a lot of information. Turning back towards the intimidating boy, Hamuko gave him a smile and politely bowed. "Thank you very much."

"I didn't do nothin'," Shinjiro turned away, slightly embarrassed. What's with this girl?

He's a bit like nii-san, Hamuko giggled as she turned to Junpei expectantly.

Her capped friend quizzically stared at her before he quickly followed suit in her actions. "Y-Yeah!" He exclaimed with a bow. "Thanks, Senpai!" He looked to Minato who seemed to have lost focus. "C'mon, show some appreciation."

Minato quickly snapped out of it and as he lowered his hand from his face, he looked to Yukari. The two finally bowed to the senior and Yukari gratefully thanked him. "Thanks! You totally helped us out! You even gave us a hint… You're very kind."

"Huh?" Shinjiro glared at the junior.

"I, um…" Yukari shook her head. "Never mind."

"Tch…" Shinjiro retreated towards the dark alley. "Don't come here again."

Hamuko saw the little girl disappear once again as she turned towards her brother. "Minato?"

The boy responded by looking at her. "H-huh?"

She saw a strange dull glow in his eyes and became worried. "Hey, is something on your mind?"

He shook his head while training to regain his composure. "We learned a lot tonight," he finally answered, turning away from her. He addressed the other two as he passed them. "Let's get back before something actually happens."

"Right," Hamuko agreed.

Minato frowned to himself as he led the way. Fuuka Yamagishi might be dead? This makes no sense, given the facts I have. He took a deep breath. I need to calm down. I'll have to go over this tomorrow.

~B*O*N*U*S~S*C*E*N*E~

Hamuko woke up when she sensed someone in her room. "Nii-san, is that you?" She rubbed her eyes and found herself staring into glowing blue eyes. "Oh, it's you!"

The mysterious boy seemed sad. "Your brother ignored me."

"Oh, well, he's probably got a lot on his mind," Hamuko nodded in understanding. "It's okay though. You can speak with me."

The boy smiled as he sat on her bed. "How are you?"

"Pretty good, I guess?" Hamuko didn't really know how else to answer the young boy.

He seemed happy with her response though. "I'm glad you remembered me. I passed on a message to your brother of another Ordeal during the next Full Moon."

"That's nice of you," Hamuko smiled. "I hope he thanked you."

"No," the boy shook his head. "He went back to sleep… He's not very nice," he noticed.

"He's only nice when he has to be," the younger twin explained.

"But he's always so grumpy…"

"That's how he is. It's mainly because he's too kind but also hopelessly awkward. Just make sure you don't grow up to be like him."

The boy smiled brightly at her. "I'll try. This was rather fun. I'll come visit you again."

"I look forward to it," Hamuko nodded as he vanished. "Nii-san, you're such a bad influence on little kids," she muttered to himself as she went back to sleep.

Final Notes: I had a lot of fun playing detective this chapter. It's kinda hard to make it so Minato is close to the truth but not completely there. I mean... By now, it should be easy to figure out that Fuuka is his nameless friend. I can probably attribute it to denial though, like during the whole Odaiba Vamdemon arc in Digimon Adventure. It was obvious that Hikari was the eighth child, but Taichi probably didn't want to acknowledge the truth that a powerful evil Digimon was targeting his little sister. Hrm... I never did give the definition of Hamuko's name... It's kinda weird because the way her name is derived is actually an improper reading of part of the kanji for 'protagonist'. As for Arisato, it's nothing special since I think it only means 'village'. So she's the 'village protagonist'? Well... she's more of a protagonist than Minato sometimes so it fits.