A/N: Sorry for the long wait on an update. Working a 40+ hour week with a whole new schedule in a whole new job has put a wrench in my writing plans and I've found less and less time to write. However, hopefully the updates will come faster. As always, I hope you enjoy and thank you for all your support.
*Chapter 21: The classy wedding of Naoto Shirogane and Kanji Tatsumi*
*April 12, 2017*
"Oh god," Yu said to himself in the bathroom mirror. He was still in a towel and had been staring blankly into it for the past fifteen minutes after getting out of the shower. Yu was extremely nervous because today was the first day of the school year and that meant it was also the first official day of teaching for him, "Oh my god," Yu let out another large sigh.
"Are you okay?" Chie poked her head out of the shower.
"No," Yu confessed, "I can't do this!"
"Stop whining," Chie went back inside the shower, "You'll do fine."
"What if I don't? What if I screw up and I look like a complete idiot in front of the students, like, what if I tell them Japan isn't a country or something?" Yu started to panic, "I'm only 22 Chie, that's so young for a teacher!"
"It's middle school! My teacher was about the same age when I had middle school," Chie comforted him.
"Was he any good?" Yu asked.
"She was a total idiot," Chie laughed.
"…I'm going to fail miserably and do something stupid… like forget my own name!" Yu put his head down on the sink.
"If they thought you were going to do something like that, they wouldn't have hired you in the first place," Chie told him as she came out of the shower and grabbed a towel. She walked over to Yu and gave him a peck on the cheek, "You'll do wonderful, I'm positive." Chie walked off as Yu continued to contemplate his first day of teaching middle school, "Positive thinking Yu!"
"Relax, its fifth grade middle school, it's easy," Yu told himself, "You can do it! You're a winner Yu… and winners get what they want." Yu smiled to himself.
"I tell him that and he ignores it and he tells himself that and he's all happy now," Chie said softly to herself with a smile, "…idiot."
"You say something?" Yu walked into the bedroom as Chie was getting dressed.
"No, just wishing you a good first day again," Chie said as she grabbed her work uniform.
"You really think I'll do good?" Yu asked Chie, still somewhat unconfident in his abilities.
"Like I have told you a million times already, you're going to be perfect," Chie kissed him again, "Now get ready." Chie and Yu continued to get dressed, Yu dressed in a typical dress shirt with a red tie and black dress pants and black dress shoes.
"Coat or no coat?" Yu looked at Chie, holding his coat.
"Hmmm," Chie looked at him over her bowl of cereal, "I wanna say no coat because it makes you kinda look like King Moron, but I'm going to say wear it for formalities sake."
"Heh, I don't look like King Moron… right?" Yu asked Chie who continued to eat in silence, "Chie… this isn't funny!"
"I gotta go, duty calls," Chie grabbed her hat, "Love you!"
"CHIE!" Yu pleaded as she left without another word, "Damn it I look like King Moron." Yu finished off his breakfast and got up to begin the slow walk to the middle school. Yu had never really been to the middle school that many times before getting hired. The only time he could remember was one night back in his third year of high school he and Chie decided to spend some quality time underneath the bleachers and then proceeded to be taken home via cop car.
The walk was about the same as the one to high school, Yu looking around at all the students who were only a few years younger than him and on the same walk he was taking. Yu remembered that first walk alone to high school back when he first arrived in Inaba. It was so scary to him, except the part where Yosuke wiped out on his bike and nearly lost his balls, that part was amusing.
Eventually, he found himself in front of the middle school, students in their school uniforms pouring into the front entrance as Yu looked around. There were a few parents who had shown up with their kids, just to make sure they knew where they were headed. Yu kinda wished his parents were there with him; his dad would be so confident and probably wouldn't be anxious about teaching at all. What would his dad even teach? He would probably teach something like 'Life Lessons 101' or 'Advanced Flirting Techniques'.
Yu walked inside, the layout similar to that of the high school, the shoe lockers at the entrance with the rooming assignments and announcements to the left. Yu walked past the crowd of students looking to see what their home rooms were and towards the offices. Inside, Yu found his desk, mostly empty except for a few small books that the school provided for him on policies, lesson plans, and other formalities. Yu set his leather book case onto the desk, unzipping it and pulling out several other books and his laptop.
"Hey, are you the tech guy?" a woman in her mid-fourties came over to him, "Because my computer has just been freezing up so much lately."
"Sorry, no, I'm the new fifth grade Japanese History teacher," Yu told her.
"Bullshit!" she said, "You're joking how old are you? Like 20?"
"22, 23 in November," he said.
"And they hired someone so young," she looked at him and slid around the desk and right next to him, "My name is Mei, and you are?"
"…Yu Narukami," he said to her, "Nice to meet you."
"Believe me the pleasure is all mine," Mei smiled and let out a soft giggled, "So… you new to Inaba? Because I'd be more than happy to show you a few of my favorite…"
"Knock it off Mei, see the ring on the finger, kids already married," a man came over to her and pushed her away, "Sorry about that, she tends to get very frisky around men since she's just divorced, but you said your name was Yu Narukami."
"Yeah, the new guy," Yu smiled.
"Boy, you are in for it," he laughed, "Our last history guy got fired for coming onto the kids… you're not like that right? Because they'll be eyeing you like a hawk if case you're diddling the kids or something…"
"No!" Yu said, "What makes you think that?"
"Relax man, I'm joking," he laughed, "I'm the 5th grade math teacher, I started when I was 26, so I know the feeling. They like to hire us young guys here because they can keep us around and not have to go through the process of training a new person. Plus, it helps my dad is a teacher too... I just realized that I never introduced myself, I'm Sojuro Yamada."
"Yamada," Yu asked, "The geography teacher?"
"Yeah, did you have him over at high school?" he asked.
"Yeah, guy was… interesting," Yu said.
"I assume by interesting you mean he had a bad habit of saying stupid things at the wrong time," the two laughed, "Good ol' dad. What's your schedule look like?"
"I have the first period off and then I'm in room 1-2," Yu told him.
"Lucky, I don't my break until the middle of the freaking day," he groaned, "Thankfully you aren't a homeroom teacher so today you basically have to read the stupid syllabus for history aloud to a few different classes."
"I hated these things," Yu looked at the paper, "We all know not to cheat…"
"Yeah, speaking of cheating… not in the sense that you are cheating or would cheat, but you're married," he looked at Yu's hand.
"Oh, yeah, I've been married for almost 2 years now," Yu said, "Married a local girl from around here."
"I take it you're not from around here?" he asked Yu.
"No," Yu said, "I came here as a transfer student back when I was 16 in 2011."
"2011? Isn't that back when that police officer was murdering all those people?" he remembered.
"Yeah, I remember that," Yu lied, "My wife and I's best friend's girlfriend was murdered, or rather a girl he liked."
"Who is your wife exactly?" he asked.
"Uh, here names Chie, she's a police officer," Yu said.
"Wait, Chie?" he looked at Yu, "Chie… her last name isn't Satonaka by chance, is it?"
"Yeah," Yu smiled.
"You're lying," he laughed at Yu, "You did not marry Chie Satonaka."
"I did," Yu pulled his phone out and pulled up a picture of Chie, "That's her, do you know her?"
"Wow," he looked at the photo, "Hey Mei! You guys! Come over here!" he motioned towards Mei who followed with a couple of other teachers, "Yu, tell them who you're married to."
"… Chie Satonaka," Yu said.
"He's lying!" Mei said.
"Nope," Sojuro said.
"I don't understand," Yu queerly looked around at them, "What's the big deal about Chie?"
"Nothing, we'll tell you later," Sojuro walked off.
"…Why won't anyone give me a straight freaking answer today," Yu yawned to himself as he continued to eye over the syllabus for the next hour or so, repeating what he was going to say to the class over and over again in his mind. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Yu, the time came for him to head to his first class, in room 1-2, the room wasn't that far from the offices, just down the hall and on the left.
Yu felt an extreme amount of pressure on him as he approached the door, not wanting to head inside at all. Could he really do this? Could he really be a teacher, maybe this was the wrong choice, but it was far too late to back out now. He knew he had to do this, to take the plunge. Yu straightened his back, tightened his tie, and opened the door to the classroom and took that first step inside.
Inside, the classroom was like any other classroom, the students sat in their desks gossiping and goofing around, about as mature as he was back in middle school or, hell, even high school. Yu set his on the desk at the front, turning around to the chalkboard and grabbing a piece of chalk to write his name.
"Okay," Yu took a deep breath, "Alright class, my name is Mr. Narukami! I am your new Japanese History Teacher for the year," Yu proclaimed as he reached into his bag and began to pass out the syllabi, "Today, we are just going over what we will be learning over the year and when you can expect midterms and finals, along with the usual school policy." Yu returned to the front of the class with his own copy.
Over the course of the next fifteen minutes, Yu droned on about everything they would learn and said the typical school bullshit he had heard most of his life. Don't cheat, don't harass, and on and on it went.
"And that's that," Yu told the class, "I'm happy to be teaching you this year, do you have any questions for me about anything?"
"Are you married?" a girl asked aloud as a couple more girls in the back giggled.
"Um, yes," Yu said with a slight blush.
"Damn," a girl coughed in the back to herself with a few other students giggling.
"It looks like our time is up, I'll see you all tomorrow for regular lectures," Yu said as he packed up his things, on the way out of the room, Yu came across his new friend Sojuro on his way into the same classroom.
"Hey man, how did it go?" he asked.
"Pretty good," Yu smiled, "or, at least I think it went well."
"They're all in the classroom still and the building didn't start on fire, so that's a good sign," he joked, "I'll see you later Yu."
"See you man," Yu headed off to room 1-1 for his next lecture. The day went on as normal, Yu continued to give his short little lectures to the few classes, then went back to his office for the rest of the day to prepare the lectures for the next few days. The day flew by pretty quickly for Yu as the school day dismissed.
"You busy?" Sojuro walked back over to him at his desk.
"Just finishing up this paperwork," Yu told him.
"I meant after work," he asked, "All us teachers go out for drinks after the first day… unless you're busy I understand if you got stuff going on… or if Chie would give you a hard time."
"What is it with you guys and Chie?" he asked, "What did she do?"
"I'll tell you all about it over a beer, now come on!" he pulled on Yu as a sign to hurry up and get going.
*The Bar*
Yu arrived with several other teachers from the middle school to a nearby bar. The place was packed thanks to them, however, Yu still felt very out of place. Most of these people were far older than him, and he didn't have much to say to them. They probably weren't interested in talking about work; they came here to get away from work.
"A beer for me and a beer for Mr. Narukami," Sojuro walked over with two large pitchers of beer in hand, handing one over to Yu.
"Okay, I came to the bar with you, can you please tell me about Chie?" Yu asked.
"Dude, relax, you're acting like I dragged you here against my will," he told Yu, "Alright, about Chie… actually, just give me a moment." He ran off somewhere as Yu took a couple of sips of his beer, soon coming back with an older gentleman in his late fifties.
"Yu, I'd like you to meet Hiroshi Takeba," he told Yu, "He's worked at the school for over thirties years, tell Hiroshi who you are married to again."
"Uh… her name is Chie Satonaka," Yu told him as his eyes somewhat widened, "Was she a student of yours."
"Chie Satonaka, now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time," he reminisced, "Chie Satonaka was hands down, the worst student to have ever gone through my class in my entire teaching career."
"What?" Yu asked.
"You gotta see her disciplinary record!" Sojuro said, "Its two huge files! It's insane the stuff she's done."
"Chie can be a handful, but I doubt it was that bad," Yu told them.
"Chie didn't tell you about her little middle school group?" he asked Yu, "'The Vanguards of The Lunch Revolution!'"
"I… recall hearing something like that," Yu thought to himself.
"Let me tell you the story," Hiroshi said.
*A long long time ago in Inaba*
"Sir!" Hiroshi ran into the student office, the principal eating a sandwich at his desk and going over some files on his computer, "We have a problem!"
"What is it now Takeba?" the principal asked.
"It's the students! They're rioting in the lunch room!" he exclaimed.
"Rioting?" he looked up from his egg salad sandwich, "Are you… serious?"
"Sir, I am completely serious," Takeba slammed his fists down on the desk, "Come on! We have to stop them." The two men quickly ran out of the offices towards the lunch room, several teachers in the hall gossiping about what was happening. There was a loud commotion spewing down the hall, originating from the lunch room.
When the two men made it inside, the place was a complete wreck utter wreck. All the lunch tables were rolled over on their sides in makeshift barricades, a couple of the tables turned over and broken into pieces. Food was splattered all over the walls, some more chunks being flung towards other kids who were fleeing from the kids manning the fort.
"What in the hell!" the principal screamed out as the kids stopped in their place, "Who is responsible for this?"
"I am," a small high pitched voice boomed out as a student on top of the barricade with a wad of mash potatoes in her hand, "I'm in charge here!"
"What is your name?" the principal asked starting to approach to girl.
"I'm Chie Satonaka!" she wound up and chucked the potatoes right into the principal's face, followed by a volley of cheers from the students in the fort, "And this is our land! WE ARE THE VANGUARDS OF THE LUNCH REVOLUTION! VIA LA REVOLUTION! VIA REVOLUTION! VIA!" Next, the students launched another volley at the principal, except it was with food rather than cheers. Soon, the principal and Takeba were covered in a thick paste of crushed food as then began to run out of the lunch room.
"Notify her parents!" the principal barked as he continued to wipe away all the goop on his suit, "I'm calling the police!"
"Sir, she's only 11 years old," Takeba said, "I don't think that calling the police will…" as Takeba continued to plead for mercy on Chie's case, but as he did a giant alarm rang out through the halls, indicating a fire.
"BURN IT DOWN! VIA!" Chie could be heard screaming through the halls.
"Oh god she's started a fire!" the principal ran off, "Evacuate the school!"
*Back at the bar*
"…Chie started a fire?" Yu asked.
"She burned down half the cafeteria, wasted thousands of dollars in food and labor, and nearly got expelled," Takeba explained.
"Why wasn't she expelled?" Yu asked, "Any other school would've expelled her."
"Because she cried like a baby in front of the police and the teachers and her parents," Takeba continued on, "She helped pay us back and got after school detention for an entire year where she had to help rebuild the cafeteria."
"Chie never told me this," Yu finished off the rest of his beer.
"Why would she, it's probably the most embarrassing thing to ever happen to her," Sojuro laughed, "Now come on, I'll get you another beer."
"Damn," Yu said, "… So Chie was really your worst student?"
"By a long shot," Takeba said, "But, I'm sure she's matured since then."
"Any chance I can get a look at that permanent record of hers?" Yu asked.
"Probably," Sojuro came back, "It's against the rules… but rules are made to be broken. We have a lot of fun around here, not as much fun as the high school teachers and their shenanigans."
"Shenanigans?" Yu asked.
"Sure, like their drinking binges whenever they take the class on a trip or for the school campout or that ridiculous dating pool they've set up," he droned on.
"Dating pool?" Yu looked over at him.
"Oh, you didn't know? Since like the fifties the teachers at the high school have had a tradition of creating this big spreadsheet of the odds of every student hooking up with the other and they bet on whose going to date who," Sojuro explained excitedly.
"…Any chance I could see that?" Yu asked, "I wanna see my year."
"You'd have to ask the high school… or I could just take you over there now and get the file for your year, doubt they've looked at it since," Sojuro smiled with Yu.
*Back at home*
"Chie, I'm home!" Yu walked into the house, two large files labeled 'The Class of 2013' and 'The Class of 2014' in his hand, "Chie?"
"I'm in the bedroom!" Chie yelled out, "I actually need some help!"
"Okay," Yu set his bag down and put the files hidden away in the back of a drawer and walked into their bedroom. Inside, the lights were all off as he looked around for Chie, "Chie?"
"Hey there… Mr. Narukami," Chie walked into the bedroom behind Yu. She was wearing nothing but lime green underwear and had a rose in her hair, "I've been a very naughty girl in class today… and I need to be punished to teach me a lesson."
"What did you do?" Yu asked, playing along.
"You don't know?" Chie walked over and put her hands on Yu's chest, beginning to undo his tie, "Don't you remember how disruptive I was and mean to the other girls. Spreading nasty rumors about people…" She loosened his tie.
"I remember," Yu smiled, "In fact, I remember one other thing you did."
"What?" Chie pulled his tie off and began to unbutton his shirt.
"You burned down the cafeteria," Yu kissed Chie.
"Yeah I- WAIT WHAT?" Chie broke the kiss, "What did you say?"
"You know Mrs. Vanguard of The Lunch Revolutionaries… oh, and Chie, it's Viva… not via," Yu laughed. Chie's eyes widened as she pushed Yu away and gave him a swift slap across the face.
"Damn it, Chie, that's borderline spousal abuse," Yu rubbed his face.
"How do you know about that?" Chie gasped.
"All the teachers were talking about it, it's kinda an urban legend among them," Yu told her.
"Oh my god," Chie's eyes began to water as she ran off out of the bedroom, crying.
"In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have done that…" Yu thought to himself, "Chie…"
"I HATE YOU!" Chie screamed through the bathroom.
"Chie, I'm sorry," Yu leaned up against the door.
"No you're not!" Chie mocked him through the door.
"No, really, I'm sorry," Yu said, "Listen, I know saying that was a dick move… but… damn it Chie, just tell me what to say to make it better."
"No!" Chie said, "All those teachers laughing at me and talking about me every day!"
"It's not every day, it only came up because I said I was married to you, they probably never even think about it," Yu told her, "Chie, come on, it was middle school, so you did something stupid? Big deal! Imagine what Yosuke has done."
"Yosuke never burned down the cafeteria!" Chie was still slightly crying.
"Sure, but…" Yu said, "Chie, I'm sorry. Isn't that enough?"
"No!" Chie said.
"This is pointless," Yu whispered to himself, "Fine, I'll just give you some time alone. Like I said, I'm sorry." Yu said. This wasn't the first time Yu had upset Chie like that, however, Yu knew exactly what to do to make it all better. All Yu had to do was give Chie time to calm down as usual and make her dinner with his special 'forgive me!' steak. He whipped everything up, lighting candles and making sure the smell of fresh steak wafted towards Chie.
"Steak?" Chie walked into the room and saw a big steak with a glass of red wine, "Ohhhh… Steak!"
"Forgive me?" Yu asked.
"I mean, I'm still mad… but I can't be mad with this thing in front of me!" Chie sat down and began to devour the steak as fast as she could, "I forgive you…idiot."
"I'm sorry too, I never should have brought it up," Yu apologized to Chie.
"It's okay, it just kinda bugs me that the teachers talk about me like that," Chie said with a mouthful of chewed up beef.
"They really don't, it only came up because I married you," Yu told her, "… They also told me you had to help rebuild the Cafeteria as punishment?"
"They made me haul lumber and mix cement!" Chie whined, "I ruined all my clothes!"
"Was Yukiko in on the 'revolution'?" Yu asked.
"No, she was too innocent to partake in our fun," Chie sighed as she finished the last of her steak, "Speaking of fun… I believe that I still need to be punished." She grabbed her glass and walked backwards, seductively calling Yu into the bedroom.
"Of course," Yu smiled as he followed, grabbing Chie's waist and shutting the door behind him with his foot, "I still got it!" Yu cheered himself on with his victory of Chie's anger yet again.
*13 minutes later*
"…" Yu sat in bed as Chie lay next to him, her arms crossed and pissed, "I…I'm sorry Chie… I didn't think that…"
"OH!" Chie yelled out sarcastically, "LOOK AT ME, I'M YU NARUKAMI! AND I CAN'T LAST MORE THAN A MINUTE IN BED WITH MY WIFE!"
"I didn't choose to end it that quick Chie! Just, give me like five minutes and I swear that I can…!" Yu was trying to defend himself, "I mean, it should be a compliment that after all these years together I still find you attractive enough to lose control like that!" Chie rolled over, still mad, "Look Chie, I'm already ready for another round. Give me one more chance!"
"Fine, but I swear that if you…" Chie rolled back over ontop of Yu.
"It won't," Yu kissed her.
*37 seconds later*
"UNBELIEVABLE!" Chie stormed out of the room and into the bedroom.
"I swear this has never happened to me!" Yu yelled, but Chie gave no response, "Chie… CHIE! Do you want another steak?" Yu still got no answer, "Goddamn it, I gotta stop drinking so much beer, it relaxes me way too much…"
"Chie… give me like ten minutes and I swear I'll…" Yu made the same argument again before letting out a huge yawn, "Make you… so…sleepy that…" Yu collapsed backwards and fell right to sleep.
"Alright, ONE MORE CHANCE AND I…" Chie came back in to find Yu passed out, "Good god Yu… typical guy, fine! Guess I'll just have to take care of myself…" Chie slumped back into bed.
*Next Sunday*
"So… how goes the teaching business?" Yosuke asked Yu. The entire gang was over at Yu and Chie's house for a house warming party. They weren't doing anything too extravagant, just a few drinks and some food they whipped up. Chie and Yu spend the past couple of days cleaning to make sure the place was in tip top shape in order to show their friends.
"Going great, the kids all love me," Yu smiled, "Especially all the girls."
"Wow, a bunch of middle school girls are attracted to you," Kanji laughed, "Be careful, Chie looks a little jealous.
"I don't think I have to worry about some 14 year old girls stealing away my husband," Chie proclaimed.
"Isn't Nanako in middle school now?" Yukiko asked, "Are you teaching her class?"
"No, she's a few grades above me, but I see her in the hall all the time, she doesn't go all 'big bro' with me anymore…" Yu sighed.
"You're like her second dad, it'd be embarrassing. God knows all the embarrassing stuff my parents did back at my old middle school," Yosuke said.
"Like the time you peed yourself in gym class and your mom had to walk in with a fresh pack of underwear and pants for you?" Yukiko asked.
"What?"Rise laughed.
"I knew you pissed your pants in school!" Chie laughed as Yosuke's face turned completely red, "I knew it in my heart."
"W-What? That's not true!" Yosuke said.
"You're mom told me…" Yukiko pondered, "She wouldn't lie about that."
"Stop talking to my mom!" Yosuke yelled, "It's so unnatural for a daughter-in-law to get along with her mother-in-law!"
"I get along with Yu's mom pretty well and Naoto gets along with Kanji's mom and Rise… well, I guess we're all kind Teddie's mom," Chie smiled.
"Because he comes from the television world which is a combination of all of humanities feelings including ours?" Naoto asked.
"No, because we had to baby him so much," Chie said.
"I love bearbies!" Teddie leapt into Chie's arms, "I like to be swaddled and held and I love you all beary much!"
"We know Ted, and we love you too… beary much," Kanji grabbed the nearby remote and turned on the television, flipping through the channels, "Hey, isn't that those investigators that tried to do a piece about how The Amagi Inn was haunted."
"I think so… those jerks," Yukiko frowned, "Turn it off."
"No! I wanna see what case they are doing now!" Kanji was fixated on the television now.
"Now… our next case takes us to the far away land of Tatsumi Port Island… where a strange occurrence has been reported by multiple credible sources about a strange phenomenon plagued the city for some time before… disappearing, "the deep voiced announcer said in a showmanship-like voice, "An imaginary hour as the clock strikes midnight exactly, a different world caught between the time of our world."
"What?" Yu laughed. On the television popped up a shadowy figure, the name hidden and the figure hidden too in order to prevent any identity from being deduced.
"I saw the world first hand," the voice said in a deep modulated tone to help further hide the identity, "The streetlights would go out, cars completely stopped in their tracks, everything powered by electricity stopped working, and only the moonlight was there to illuminate the city." The television showed a cheesy re-enactment of what it must have been like for the man, "There were monsters everywhere! They tried to eat people and turn us into black goop. Nobody notices this place but a few select people because they are transformed into stone coffins to protect themselves from the big monsters!"
"And just as soon as the mysterious missing hour arrived…it disappeared from everyone's knowledge!" the announcer continued on, "Or did it? Today, we investigate with the latest of tech to determine if this world is still among us!"
"Dude… Scary!" Kanji said.
"Kanji, I really hope you don't believe this stupidity," Naoto sighed.
"Well, with the Midnight Channel, who knows what's really out there, maybe this thing existed like the guy said," Kanji argued with Naoto.
"Okay then, explain this to me," Naoto cleared her throat, "If electronics stopped working, like cars. Then it's safe to assume planes also stopped working, since they too are electronically powered. Then they would just fall to earth and crash, and when the hour disappeared every flight in the air would have mysteriously crashed, something like that would no doubt make the news…."
"I mean… maybe…" Kanji was trying to come up with an excuse.
"And are we to assume this phenomenon was isolated at Tatsumi Port Island? Does the island simply disappear off the face of the planet? If time continues to flow normally here and just stop there or does the whole world experience this missing hour? And if so, does it follow the point on the earth when it exactly strikes midnight? Meaning that while they are experience a missing hour in Tatsumi Port Island, they are fine over in Europe until it turns midnight there, or does the world experience it at the same time, but only when midnight here?" Naoto continued on with her logic.
"Okay, we get it! They made up a stupid story to spook people!" Yosuke said, "… Would be kinda cool to have an extra hour in the day… I could get a lot more done at Junes."
"We could plan our wedding a lot faster too," Kanji sighed as Naoto looked down at the floor.
"How is that coming along for you two? We all can't wait for this summer!" Yu smiled.
"Well… we might have to delay it to next year," Kanji said.
"Why?" Chie asked.
"A few reasons, I have a large case I will be working on the next few months and it will take me far away from here unfortunately. That and a lot of the things we need for the wedding won't be available until then, such as my wedding dress."
"The wedding dress?" Yukiko asked, "Wedding dresses are easy to buy! There are tons of them, unless the one you really want isn't available."
"I'm making here one… and it hasn't gone very… well," Kanji sighed.
"You're making her a wedding dress!" Rise gasped, "Oh, Kanji, that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard! It's so romantic… I wanna cry just thinking about it."
"Don't, it's a disaster. Wedding dresses are a lot harder to make then I first though, but the design I have is so intricate and hard and the materials are so expensive and one mistake and the whole dress is ruined!"
"Is the master truly out-matched?" Yu asked, "Are you giving up?"
"Hell no! I'm going to make that dress even if it kills me, you'll see!" Kanji said, "It just, is hard because I need Naoto there to model in it for me because it's gotta be defined to her body type."
"You can't buy a mannequin?" Yu asked again.
"I mean… yeah, but they don't make them in that height that accurate capture Naoto's…uh… bust?"
"They just assume people Naoto's size don't have large cans!" Yosuke looked at Naoto, "Wow! I mean, they are pretty big now… have they grown? Can I just get a quick…" Yosuke reached his hand out towards Naoto.
"Yosuke!" Naoto crossed her arms over her chest as Yosuke received a few slaps from Yukiko.
"Ow! OW! OW!" Yosuke was looking at Yu for mercy, "Partner, can you change the subject please?"
"Sure, I have just the thing!" Yu ran over to the counter and opened the drawer, pulling out two very large files and walking back over to the group.
"What are those?" Yukiko asked as He sat back down, stopping her barrage on Yosuke.
"I learned something very interesting a few days ago about our teachers back in high school," Yu looked at the group, "It seems that as a hobby… they liked to gamble on something."
"Something?" Kanji asked, "Like… blackjack or slots or bingo?"
"No, this is a bigger game of chance… the game of love!" Yu set the files down on the table, "They bet on which students were going to hook up with each other! And I have both of our years!"
"What!?" Chie gasped.
"That's… incredibly immoral," Naoto said.
"Yeah, I have to agree with Naoto here, that is pretty sleezy," Yosuke said, "Maybe we should report this or something…"
"You're kidding right?" Yu looked at Yosuke.
"… a little, but it's still weird and wrong," Yosuke smiled, "… BUT, you piqued my interest! Open it up; I wanna see who they thought people were going to hook up with!" Yu opened the file, revealing a large thick spread sheet that Yu began to unfold. The entire thing covered up a whole wall of the house, Chie grabbing some tape to hold it up. There were also a bunch of papers with the odds listed for every pairing in alphabetical order with the guys first.
"Alright, so the names are listed both the vertical and horizontal side and the teachers initialed each spot would hook up with, both straight and gay..." Yu said. He had not looked at the files himself, wanting the true nature of their teachers to be revealed to everyone at the same time, "This is my column!" Yu smiled as he pointed to the row and column in which almost all of the boxes were filled, "As you can see a lot of people felt…"
"We get it Yu," Yosuke said, "You are an attractive man and they thought that… wait… why is my row completely empty!" Yosuke was looking at his row, "This can't be right, I swear… AH, two marks, and they are… Yu Narukami," Yosuke sighed.
"You two were a little too comfortable with each other," Chie and the rest of the girls laughed.
"Ha ha," Yosuke let out another familiar sigh, "And the last one was with…. No way! It's with Yukiko!"
"Really?" Yu went over to look at the chart, "Wow, someone really thought you two would hook up… what are the odds they gave for that?" Yu asked Naoto who was pouring over the odd's list.
"This is very detailed, they based it on attractiveness, who hung out with who, romantic experience," Naoto went on, "Right here, it states that the odds of 'Yosuke X Yukiko' were '1 in 1000000000000'… ironically, the chances of Yukiko hooking up with Yu are only 1 in 10 while they are 1 in 5 for Yukiko and Chie…"
"A TRILLION?" Yosuke yelled, "So, wait, hold on, if the person put one yen down on it they won a trillion yen! I must have bankrupted all the teachers! Who was the lucky man who won all that sweet moola!"
"I highly doubt that they pain him a trillion yen Yosuke, they probably just gave him the entire pot or something…" Naoto continued to read the chart.
"No thy didn't," Yu said, "Because the man who bet on the two of you hooking up was none other than the beloved King Moron."
"W-What? YOU LIAR!" Yukiko ran over, "Kind Moron thought the two of us would date… that can't be right… why of all people would he be betting on me and YOSUKE?"
"Actually, now some things are starting to make sense," Yosuke thought back to a long time ago.
*1-1, First Year, 2010*
"OKAY CLASS, SIT DOWN," King Moron yelled, "It's bad enough I have to give you freshmen a lecture, but I will not have you acting like animals while I am in this room! Understand!"
"Yes, Mr. Morooka! The class said in unison like soldiers.
"Now, first off, I'm going to assign a pre-test to get an understanding of how dumb you all really are," he slammed a stack of papers on the table, "You're going to work on them in pairs I will pick at random! Now let's see… AMAGI! YOU'RE WITH THE NEW KID!" Yukiko looked back at Yosuke, who was sitting in the far back across the aisle, giving a slight nod and smile to her.
"SATONAKA! YOU'RE WITH KONISHI!" he continued to yelled out pairings.
"Oh man Yosuke, she's freakin hot as tits! This is your chance to slip in and charm your way into those panties! And goodbye virginity!" Yosuke daydreamed like any normal teenage boy of sleeping with the hot chick in class.
"Alright, you got your pairings, I'll be back in ten minutes, and I want every question answered dammit!" King Moron scolded the group once again and walked out of the room as the students began to pair up. King Moron walked out of the room, and stormed into the teacher's office where another teacher was getting some coffee.
"How'd it go?" he asked.
"I paired them up for a stupid test, that'll get them nice and acquainted," he began to pour some coffee for himself.
"You really think the new kid has a shot? He asked, "You're choices are all very… bad. You haven't won the contest once in your entire career."
"This is my year goddamn it!" he began to shake in his place from anger, "I don't care if I have to die to bring those two closer together! I'm going to win all that money. You know the deal!"
"He's an outsider, and he's a total dork!" the teacher explained, "There's no way it'll happened. If it happens, I'll be more than happy to clear out my bank account for you. I'll be happy to see you win for once, get that stick out of your ass."
"I'm only strict because I want what's best for those kids! They need discipline! I may be the bad guy now, but twenty years down the line they'll regret all the names they called me and realized that I only did what was best for them," King Moron glared at him.
"I know, you're a good man Morooka…" as Morooka walked away from the coffee pot and back to class,"… You're an alright dude deep down… a least when you're drunk."
*Back in reality*
"Oh my god, that's why you two were always partners!" Chie gasped, "King Moron was trying to get you two to date!"
"And it worked… and he died before he could see it happen," Yu sighed.
"Poor guy… if there's one guy I wish we could've saved it was him… I mean, not that SAKI wasn't worth saving!" Kanji quickly realized what he was saying.
"I know what you mean… he wasn't even murdered by Adachi… he was a total dick to us, but he never deserved what Kubo gave to him, poor guy… and that wife and kid of his… man, it's just can't believe…"
"All alone in this world," Chie said.
"His kid use to go to that daycare I worked at for a little bit," Yu told him, "He was a brat… but now he doesn't even have a dad… it's very… sad." Yu looked at the chart.
"At least Kubo got what was coming to him, there's no escaping that fate," Yosuke let out a slight smile, "He won't end up like Adachi."
"Have any of you heard anything from Adachi?" Rise asked.
"Nope, last I heard from my contacts he walked into the airport in Tokyo and asked for the cheapest one way flight out of Japan and… left," Naoto told them.
"Damn, well… I guess he's out of our lives now," Yosuke continued to eye the chart.
"Okay, we had a enough of this," Chie said, "Let's look at next year's!" Chie opened up that file.
*Summer of 2018*
"You got everything packed Yu?" Chie asked Yu who was finishing folding his dress shirt.
"Almost!" Yu replied. The two were headed out on their way to The Shirogane Estate, a place none of them had ever been other than Naoto and Kanji. The two were holding their wedding there and everyone was excited to go visit for the night and the wedding tomorrow. It was a few hours out from Inaba, Naoto giving out instructions to everyone so they could find it, "Okay, let's roll." Yu walked with a suitcase in hand out of the house, tossing it in the back of the car. Chie was already in the driver's seat, eager to head out, "Excited?" Yu asked as he took his seat.
"Yeah! I can't wait to see what it looks like!" Chie pulled out of the driveway.
"I doubt it's much of an estate," Yu chuckled, "I think Naoto is over exaggerating a bit."
*The Shirogane Estate*
The Shirogane estate was about as fancy as it got. The place was pretty large, with a sprawling grass year out front and an even bigger one in the back. The place was very well maintained, Yu pulling into the long paved gravel driveway that lead to the front of the building.
"Over exaggerating a bit," Chie laughed, "This place is even bigger than that cabin we stayed at back in high school!"
"Yeah… damn it Naoto! Why the hell didn't you tell us about this place!?" Yu complained to no one, "This place is so beautiful!"
"I doubt Naoto's grandfather would want his house to become a hangout spot for teenagers," Chie said as she parked the car. The two got out, a butler meeting them out front. He was an older gentleman, mid-sixties or so.
"I presume you are Mr. and Mrs. Narukami?" he bowed to them.
"Uh, yeah," Yu said.
"I shall escort you to the den," he proclaimed, leading them inside the estate. Inside, the place was even more gorgeous than outside. The place had a calm elegance to it, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. A large staircase with a velvet carpet stood in the middle, several doors placed around it leading to various parts of the mansion. Inside, the den was a large fireplace as the rest of the group sat around in large chairs, enjoying the company.
"Naoto, this place is amazing!" Chie said, "It's so beautiful… you really grew up here?"
"I did," Naoto said, "This place holds a lot of memories. I used to snuggle up next to a roaring fire with a mystery novel. Listening to my radio plays on a Friday night…"
"So classy… and your grandfather approves of Kanji?" Yu asked.
"Indeed, The Shirogane Line must continue and while he might not be an… intelligent man…" Naoto said.
"HEY!" Kanji said.
"Well… she is kind of right Kanji," Yosuke said.
"Doesn't mean she has to say it!" Kanji said.
"BUT! Kanji is a master at his craft and he was very impressed with the wedding dress and I vouched for him. I love him and he approves," Naoto smiled at Kanji who smiled back, "Despite his low marks." Kanji frowned again.
"Low… marks?" Yukiko asked.
"He made Kanji take the same exam I took to earn my detective license as a test of Kanji's intelligence, Kanji failed immensely," Naoto slightly laughed.
"I bet it's not even that hard," Chie said, "I passed my police exam on the first try, and that was super easy"
"It's much harder than that Chie," Naoto said, "Most don't pass on their first attempt like I did and even fewer get a perfect score."
"Most people aren't geniuses Naoto," Kanji told her.
"I could pass it," Chie boasted, "Give me the test Naoto!"
"…Very well," Naoto walked off to get the test.
"This I got to see!" Yosuke said, "Chie's going to do worse than Kanji."
"Have you taken the test Yosuke?" Chie asked angrily.
"Nope," Yosuke said, "But Kanji was telling us about it and… let's hope you've brushed up on your Latin."
"Latin? Who speaks Latin… and where?" Chie was worried now, "Latin…pan?"
"It's the basis of all western languages," Naoto walked back into the room with a test booklet, an answer sheet, and a couple of sharp pencils, "You have one hour."
"One hour?" Chie said as she took the stuff from Naoto.
"Starting… "Chie sat down at a desk in the corner of the room, "Now." Chie opened the book and began to read, "We should leave, give her room and privacy to think." The rest of the group walked out of the room as Chie was rubbing her head in confusion.
"What the hell…" Chie grunted looking at the first question, "I guess maybe A… or B! Definitely B! Or it could be C…. or perhaps D… It's one of those 4 choices…" Upstairs, the four men where goofing around on a balcony, overlooking the front lawn.
"Wow, what a view," Yosuke said.
"Beary pretty," Teddie said.
"You guys wanna smoke a few cigars, have some drinks… Naoto's grandfather and I shared a smoke and a drink," Kanji told them, "He's… failing in health and he might not be around in a few months… so he wanted to have a talk with me about continuing on the Shirogane detectives and making sure Naoto was happy."
"Sure," Yu smiled. Kanji nodded and headed off inside to grab four large cigars and four glasses of scotch as he handed them each to the guys, "The key is to keep the smoke from the cigar in the mouth and not inhale it because you could vomit!"
"ARGH!" Teddie begin to nearly hack up his lungs as his cigar fell out of his mouth. Teddie collapsed into Yu's arms, still having a coughing fit, "My chest hurts… beary bad!" Teddie was still coughing.
"Just breathe, don't force it," Yu was petting his head as Teddie calmed down.
"He's not a smoker," Yosuke took a swig of alcohol with the cigar still in the side of his mouth, "He's like a girl, you'd never find Yukiko or any of the girls drinking a fine vintage scotch and smoking cigars." Meanwhile on the exact opposite side of the house, on a balcony overlooking the back of the estate, the girls were doing just that.
"This is kinda weird," Chie said looking at the cigar, "Do people really smoke these?"
"Indeed they do," Naoto came out with Chie's test in her hand, "I have your results…"
"Did I pass?" Chie asked in anticipation. The test was far harder than she had expected, even with all of the warnings.
"No," Naoto said, "You're final score was 2/100."
"Only 2?!" Chie groaned as she drank the rest of her scotch in disappointment, "I'm an idiot."
"If it makes you feel any better, it's two more than Kanji got," Naoto told her.
"Kanji got a zero? And your grandfather still approves of him?" Yukiko gasped, coughing slightly on her cigar from the smoke.
"You're parents approved of Yosuke somehow," Naoto shot back at Yukiko.
"I did have to sell it pretty hard… especially after the whole hot springs incident," Yukiko took another puff.
"They found out that?" Rise asked.
"No… it's this whole other… thing… I don't really wanna talk about it," Yukiko blushed, "I just had to sell it very hard… and they ultimately just want me to be happy and Yosuke makes me happy."
"The same goes for my grandfather, he approves of Kanji, despite his flaws," Naoto smiled, "He's a wonderful man."
"This might be the last wedding we go to for a while now that I think of it," Rise said, "I got married, Chie's married, Yukiko's married, and finally Naoto will get married tomorrow."
"Well… maybe our kids will get married to each other or something!" Chie let out a nervous laugh, "Right?" the rest of the girls giving him no response.
*The next day*
"What do you think?" Naoto walked into the room that the girls were all getting changed into their dresses for the wedding. Naoto's wedding dress was the most beautiful dress any of them had ever seen, with elegant designs and pure white silk that flowed over the curves of her body with a elegant veil on her head. Her long blue hair poured down the back of the dress, almost reaching the floor. Naoto had been growing her hair out and taking very extreme care of it every day for almost an entire hour.
"Naoto… it's so… amazing!" Chie gasped.
"Really?" Naoto smiled.
"You look like a goddess, you're so beautiful. Kanji did a wonderful job!" Rise went over to feel her dress. Meanwhile, outside a large crowd was gathering for the wedding, including Naoto's grandfather who made his first appearance since they arrived at the estate.
He was a frail looking man, probably in his mid-nineties about now, a maid, who also was his nurse, helping him out of the house. He had a long thick white beard, and combed over white hair. He was dressed in a suit, barely able to walk, even with his large wooden cane. Kanji giving him a slight nod, which he failed to acknowledge, busy as others were trying to talk to him.
"Poor guy, he probably doesn't even know where he is right now," Yosuke looked at him.
"He's not senile Yosuke, just old," Kanji said, "Like I said, he might not be here in a few months so we should be nice to him."
"Out of curiosity what happens to all of this?" Yu threw his arms out to the estate, "Are you and Naoto going to live here?"
"We could, me and Naoto talked about it and Naoto has many memories of this place, but she wants to stay in Inaba with all of us," Kanji explained to all of them, "I mean, she'll still travel a lot for work, but Naoto has other relatives who can afford a place like this. And the two of us are always invited to come and visit."
"Damn, turning away all this, I love Inaba, but if Yukiko and I got to live in a mansion! I think we'd have to leave Inaba," Yosuke chuckled.
"You haven't seen the bill to live in a place like this," Kanji said, "Besides, her grandfather worked with some very influential and rich people who happened to be his friends… so if anything, I guess I have you people to blame for not being rich."
"But, Rise is rich and so is Teddie from all the songs and…" Yosuke said, "Wait… where's Teddie?"
"He's over there…" Yosuke looked over at Teddie who was swaying back and forth, "Wait… he's not…"
"Oh no Ted's drunk!" Kanji gasped, "We can't have a drunken guy shouting bear puns at the actual wedding ceremony! He's going to vomit on Naoto or something!"
"I have an idea," Yu ran over to Teddie and pulled him aside to one of the sides of the mansion that was away from everyone. After a few minutes, Yu returned with a passed out Teddie, carrying him in a way to make him look as if he was walking.
"What the hell…" Kanji looked at Teddie.
"He'll sober up as soon as he wakes up, I've seen it before, Teddie burns off all the alcohol in his system after he passes out, it's weird," Yu said.
"How did you get him to pass out?" Kanji asked.
"I… bonked him on the head…" Yu said as all of a sudden Teddie began to come to.
"Yu… where am I… is this bear-heaven?" Teddie was still half asleep.
"No, it's Kanji and Naoto's wedding," Yu shook him a little more, "Now wake up."
"Hey Yu, that blonde chick is checking us out… "Yosuke was looking at a younger blonde hair chick that had just arrived at the wedding. She was waving towards them and began to walk their way.
"Huh… she looks kinda familiar… you know her Yu? She's not one of your students?" Kanji sked.
"No… I don't… wait, no, it can't be," Yu's eyes widened as he realized that the blonde haired woman in a black dress was Nanako. She had cut her hair short, in a manner similar to Chie's in high school, but not as neat. Her hair was dyed a dirty blonde, wearing light pink lipstick and makeup. She was thirteen, but look like a highschooler, and worse of all, all the kinds kinda found her attractive.
"BIG BRO!" she ran over to Yu.
"N-Nanako, you've… changed," Yu was in shock, he hadn't seen her since a few weeks before summer break at school. She looked so different since then, literally changing everything about her appearance in such short time.
"Do you like it?" she brushed her hands through her head, "They say blondes have more fun!" she let out a innocent yet seductive giggle.
"Uhhh…. Yeah… sure," Yu was about to vomit from the feelings he felt. Nanako was like a sister to him, he remember all those moments they had together. Now, a he felt was a disgusting perverted lust in his loins.
"We'll talk to you after the wedding Nananko!" Yosuke gasped, "The wedding is about to start! Better go take your seat!" Nanako hugged all of them one last time before skipping off, "Oh my god!"
"Nanako is beary… beary…" Teddie was blushing, "I feel funny. What's wrong with Teddie?"
"Teddie… that's shame… loads of shame… and hormones…" Yu was trying not to vomit. The guys quickly flushed Nanako out of their minds and got ready for the wedding.
Needless to say, the wedding started and everything went according to plan. Naoto came out in a wedding dress that stunned everyone, including Kanji who was still doubtful of how it would look on Naoto. They did all the normal wedding traditions and pretty soon were Mr. and Mrs. Shirogane, Kanji taking her name as a way to please Naoto's grandfather that their line would continue. Kanji didn't much care, Tatsumi Textiles would still be Tatsumi Textiles, just run by a different family name, besides, who else could do the magic Kanji did with cloth?
"I love wedding receptions," Yu smiled as he was drinking his fifth glass of champagne.
"A good excuse for embracing your alcoholism," Yosuke joked.
"I'm not an alcoholic," Yu said with another glass of champagne to his lips, "I just embrace the idea of an open bar… like my father… god, I'm literally becoming my dad."
"You're dad's a pretty cool dude," Yosuke said, "I'd rather be him than my dad… or Yukiko's dad… where the hell is Yukiko? And Chie?" Kanji walked away from mingling with a couple of Naoto's relatives and to the guys.
"Hey, where's Naoto? I thought she was with you?" Kanji asked as he looked around, "Never mind, there over there with one of Naoto's cousins." The four girls were talking with the cousin, who was holding her year old son who was almost passed out from the events of the day.
"Hey…" Yu's dad came out of nowhere, "…Are those your wives over there with that lady… playing with that baby?"
"Uh, yeah," Yu said, "Did you need something dad?"
"Did you just let them freaking go and play with a baby?" he was shocked.
"What are you talking about dad?" Yu was looking at his dad who was almost in a panicked state.
"Son… Chie is getting baby crazy! You gotta go over there and get her away from that baby. Get her so drunk she can't remember anything that is going on!" Yu's dad grabbed his son by the wrist, "GO!"
"No, what the hell are you talking about dad, you're drunk!" Yu said.
"I'm not drunk kid, but I need the three of you to listen to my very closely and take what I say to heart," Yu's dad pushed Yu back, "You're wives are starting to go through a change… they are around a newborn baby and pretty quick they are going to realize how cute and fun it is to play with a baby and they'll want one of their own, and then GAME OVER!"
"What?... Are you saying you never wanted me?" Yu was in shock.
"No! No no no! You are my son, I love you, you're a gift from god, but I had you when I was ready to have you and from what I know from all of you three is that the lifestyle you live right now is not compatible with a baby."
"Naoto and I wanna have kids in a few years, after we do some traveling and have some fun," Kanji told him, "The same can be said for your son and Yosuke over here."
"You are so naïve! You think those girls are going to think logically about the decision to have kids right now?" Yu's dad was pleading, "Right now they are running on pure estrogen and emotion and their biological clock is ticking away," he held his finger up to them and began to imitate a pendulum, "tick…tick..tick…have…a…baby…now…"
"Dad, you don't know what you're talking about," Yu scoffed, "Chie isn't like that, nor is Naoto or Rise or Yukiko."
"Son ,I have more life experience than all of you combined. I've seen it happen with my friends and their kids, and it'll happen to you… just do not do it! You are not mature enough to handle raising a kid. None of you are!"
"Really?" Yosuke was buying into it now, "It couldn't be that hard!"
"It's so much harder than you could think," Yu's dad said, "For what it's worth, you'll make great parents when the time comes, but please please please wait! Don't make the same mistakes I've seen others your age make!" Yu's dad walked away.
"He is so full of shit!" Yu scoffed at him again.
"I don't know… I mean… as much as I like kids, I don't really want one right NOW," the guys continued to watch their wives play with the kid, Teddie quickly joining in the play himself, "At least Teddie seems happy with a baby."
"But Teddie isn't human… he can do things we can't… and hell… he doesn't really even age…" Yosuke said, "He'll still be the way he is when we are Naoto's grandfather's age."
"Dad can't be right… can he?" Yu wondered. Even if his dad was right, he and Chie talked about it and a baby would not be in their lives until their early thirties. The same with Yosuke and Naoto and, hell even Rise didn't want kids just yet from what Yu knew. In the end, hopefully logic would prevail and none of them would be parents before the mid 2020's.