It was Wednesday. The ground was still damp from the harsh rain the previous day.

You were walking home after visiting a restaurant. You realized you needed to work somewhere to earn the money for your life in America. You weren't paying much attention to where you were going, but you were in the familiar yet empty campus when-

"SOUJI."

Someone gripped you!

Someone had a hand over your mouth and thin yet firm arm around your waist. You quickly thought of the list of people in this city who knew you... when you felt the cloth of a glove on your lips, you quickly knew who this girl was.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Devil Zukin said, voice hissing. It had a sort of demonic echo. "You have the power to go into the television. You're the one who put Rage-sama in there!"

Your eyes shot open. He was already in the television? How did you miss that? Who knew he was gone? How...

You tried to shake your head and mumble "no." Devil Zukin briefly squeezed the air out of you and then violently threw you onto the ground. Your stomach was in pain, both from the pressure of her arms and from the fear she instilled in you.

But then your Courage came back!

You turned to her and noticed that her eyes glowed a blood red. You could see small fangs on her teeth as she looked back at you with malice. You tried to calm her down and explain what you knew... or rather what you didn't know about Rage just yet.

"Why should I believe you?" she demanded, growling. "How am I to believe that you weren't the real culprit in your story? No one would've believed you had the power, and you probably just came here to escape your crimes there!"

You offered to go inside and save Rage. After all, he was your friend, too.

The half demon lowered her head a little and grumbled. "You had better save him. And I'm going with you."

You tilted your head, and told her how dangerous it was.

"You can take others in the television. There is no reason you can't take me. I would rather die than lay back and let you kill Rage-sama."

You sighed and reminded her that you weren't the culprit. But unlike your powers, hers existed in real life. Those fangs would dig through your skin in a matter of seconds. You told her she could come, but warned her again of the Shadows inside.

But... you also told her you needed to borrow Yuni's TV.

"Fine," she said, "then come with me."

You told her to wait. You had to go home; it was far too late and you were too exhausted from the day to spend hours in the TV.

"But he could die in there!" she screamed.

You knew it wasn't going to rain soon, so you promised her that if Rage were to die, she could take your life as well.

The glow in her eyes faded; they were back to a dark ruby color. "But... your life doesn't guarantee his safety..." She was greatly worried.

You tried your best to explain that you didn't have to worry. A person could survive weeks in the television, so long as fog doesn't form on this side. Your tone was sympathetic, and your sincerity seemed to calm her down.

She finally gave up. "Please... come to Yuni's mansion tomorrow." She turned and flew away quickly.

You were sure she wasn't going to sleep, and you were questioning Rage's status as well. It was already strange that you still couldn't watch the Midnight Channel, and you had no way to learn who the culprit would be. But that was the first rainfall that had come since Emi's friend died on the other side. Did that mean the culprit wasn't sending warnings out anymore...?

You knew that you would need Devil Zukin's help to get to the television. But her relationship with you was rather distant at that point. You would have to do something to be on her good side, or your journey wouldn't be a pleasant one...

Thursday followed. Your classes were done in the early afternoon. Emi offered to go to lunch with you, but you had to decline. She had another class and couldn't come with you to Yuni's mansion... you were thankful for that.

"By the way, have you seen Rage?" she asked. "He wasn't at his takoyaki stand yesterday."

You were tense. You knew exactly where he was, but you didn't want to worry her and you definitely didn't want to get her in any trouble. You made up a story about how Rage may not have wanted to work on a day that was raining, and you didn't think he would be at his stand that day, either.

"Hmm," she said with a frown. "Maybe I'll try calling him."

You hoped to whatever deity you believed in that she would forget to call him...

(I like writing psycho Devil Zukin. I need to make her evil more often. xP

I used a single dash to partition large time gaps in Word, but doesn't like them. I want partitions to differentiate between A/N chunks and time gaps... until I can figure them out, the time gaps will just be funky...)