Thunder was crashing as we made our way through the streets of Inaba, eventually coming to the shopping district, which we needed to go through on our way to Namatame's apartment complex. Kanji-kun, Yosuke-san, Yu-san and I had run ahead of the others. As we ran, I ran beside Yu-san, and he accidentally brushed his arm up against mine.

"Sorry," he said through his huffing breath.

"Oh," I said, "It's quite alright… Er…" I wanted to congratulate him for deducing that the culprit's vehicle must have been a delivery truck, but I assumed that now was not the best time. We were about to take a turn out of the shopping district, when suddenly I heard a massive crash ring out and echo in the distance. The air seemed to vibrate with a small shockwave. Whatever it was that caused the impact, I knew that it could not be a good thing. We all stopped in our tracks and looked out over the buildings in the direction where the sound had come from, and lo and behold, smoke was rising out over the rooftops.

"What the…?" Kanji-kun said as he squinted at the sky. "Hey, is that smoke!?"

"An accident…?" I stared at the fog as well, and then I noticed that it was in the direction that Namatame's apartment was in. Surely, Dojima-san had driven that way as well. Could it have been…? My eyes widened and I gasped in panic.

Yu-san took off first up the road, a desperate look on his face. We all sprinted after him. The smoke grew bigger and I soon began to smell burning rubber. Eventually, we neared the northernmost part of the shopping district, and my heart dropped when I took in the source of the smoke. A large white van which I had become familiar with as Dojima-san's car was halted on the side of the road, the front portion of it completely wrecked. Smoke was billowing out of the desecrated hood, and the windshield was shattered.

"My god…" I whispered in shock.

When Yu-senpai first laid eyes on the wreckage, he was completely mortified. "Dojima-san!" He took off toward the wrecked car. Adachi-san was frantically prying open the driver's seat, proceeding to drag an unconscious Dojima-san out of the car and lay him down on the concrete. He seemed just as shocked as all of us at the sight of his partner's limp body. It seemed that what happened was that Namatame's delivery truck came to a swerve, skidding sideways down the road and causing Dojima-san's car to crash straight into it. I was worried that the crash could have been fatal.

"Dojima-san!" Adachi yelled, "A-are you alright!?" Yu-senpai kneeled down over Dojima, a look of panic on his face.

To my relief, Dojima-san weakly lifted his head and grunted in pain. "Wh-where's Nanako…?"

I rifled through my pocket for my phone, and quickly whipped it out, nearly dropping it due to the shaking of my hands. Frantically, I dialed 119.

"119, what is your emergency?" an operator said from the other line.

"Hello?" I tried to remain calm through the rush of the moment. "We need an ambulance, quickly. One adult male is injured…"

"That's right," I heard Adachi-san say, "I should call backup, too! We gotta find Namatame!"

"Nanako…" Dojima-san groaned, "Where's Nanako…?"

"What is your location?" the operator asked.

I heard the others finally catch up to us. Chie-san gasped. "What happened...!?"

"Uh," my eyes darted around the scenery. "We're in the northern shopping district, just off Route 12 to the highway."

"…Was on my way to Namatame's house…" Dojima-san said weakly, raising himself up to look at Yu, "When I saw him… Drive past me… I… I gave chase… And he… Dammit… Where's Nanako…? And Namatame…?

Find them… Please…!"

"Okay, hold on," the operator said, "An ambulance has been dispatched to your location. It should take only a few minutes."

"Thank you," I told the operator. before hanging up.

"But, how?" Yosuke-san said to Dojima. "Oh yeah, maybe there's clues in the truck!"

"Wait, you can't!" Adachi-san said, standing up. "We need to preserve the scene!"

"Then allow me," I said. I may not have been on the case anymore, but I was still a part of the Inaba Police Department sent by the prefectural police, and I was licensed to search crime scenes. "If it rains again while we wait, the information we need will be lost regardless." That being said, I took out the pair of white vinyl gloves I often carried around in my pocket in case of emergencies. It may seem unnecessary, but one would be surprised how many times I have ended up needing them.

Slipping each glove over my hands, I briefly poked my head into the back of the truck. Sitting there, as expected, was a large flat-screen TV of a generous enough size for any sized person to fit through. I proceeded to the front of the delivery truck to inspect it. As I opened the door on the driver's side, I peered around the seats of the truck, and smirking as if I had found treasure, I reached for a small, black journal that was resting on the driver's seat. When I opened it up to inspect its contents, what I found was surely thrilling, as well as fitting with the case. "I learned the existence of a new world. Thus, I must save people."

"Look, there really is a TV in here!" Chie-san said excitedly as she looked into the back of the truck.

I closed the diary and carried it with me to the back of the truck to speak to the others. "Yes, large enough for persons of any size to fit through. I also recovered a diary from the driver's seat… Most likely kept by Namatame himself." I opened the diary and read aloud the phrase I had seen on the front page. "I learned the existence of a new world. Thus, I must save people."

"'Save'?" Kanji-kun said, "The hell's he mean by that?"

I turned the page. On the next set of pages, there was a peculiar list of names and numbers that made me gasp. "This… It's a list of the victims' home addresses! Mayumi Yamano, Saki Konishi… Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa…" I saw my own name and Nanako's as well. "Even the victims who survived and were never released to the public are written here. I note that Mr. Morooka's address is absent from the list…"

"Wow…" Adachi-san said, "Then that settles it."

I glanced at him briefly, not understanding what he meant by that. I hadn't thought that he had guessed that the recent kidnappings were related to the murder cases. Also, from what I had been told, the case was settled with Mitsuo Kubo as the murderer of all three victims. I didn't understand how this evidence could settle anything on the police's terms. As far as the police knew, the murders and the kidnappings were separate cases.

Nonetheless, I flipped the page again, reading past a vast collection of notes which Namatame had written in the diary. "The last date is today's… 'I can't believe such a small child appeared on it. I must save this child, no matter what.'"

"Is that… About Nanako-chan!?" Chie-san said.

I continued. "'I managed to take her to safety. The police have been active lately… This will probably be the last time I write in this diary. I've done everything I can…'"

"It's clear now…" Yosuke-san said with a tone full of hate. "He used the same trick on all the victims. He'd just ring the bell, like he was making a normal delivery, then throw the victim into the TV in his truck… Namatame is the killer!"

Chie-san looked enraged. "We need to go save Nanako-chan! Here, let's use this TV and-"

"W-wait a sec!" Teddie stopped her. "We don't know where we'll enter through this one! What if we end up somewhere dangerous? It doesn't seem like it's going to be foggy tomorrow, so we should go in tomorrow, the same way as usual!"

"But…!" Kanji-kun stammered.

"If we fail, who's going to save Nanako-chan!?" Rise-san said, raising a good point.

"Saving her will be our top priority from tomorrow forward," I said, hoping to calm everyone down and organize our thoughts and feelings. "We'll leave Namatame's whereabouts to the police." My eyes fell upon Dojima-san, who was sitting up against the back of his car, barely conscious. I saw that he had multiple wounds on his head and chest from the crash. I wondered to myself if it had really come to this. It seemed that this case was beginning to get too far out of hand. Sometimes, I felt as if I was disappointed to watch cases come to a close. However, when the people I cared about were threatened, I definitely could not stand to watch it happen. "Dojima-san…" The sound of sirens soon arrived in a crescendo, and the lights of an ambulance and two police cruisers began to approach us from the highway.

When the ambulance arrived, two paramedics hurriedly rushed to Dojima-san's side from the vehicle, carrying a stretcher. As they began to lift him onto the stretcher, the two police officers who had arrived in the cruisers exited their vehicles and approached Adachi-san and myself.

"Detectives Adachi and Shirogane," said one of them, a burly man whom I had recognized as Officer Fujitaka Saito of the Inaba Police Department. He tipped his hat to the two of us before continuing. "I didn't expect to see either of you here."

"Officer Saito," Adachi-san said, bowing his head slightly and still bearing a wavering quality in his voice, "Er… It seems that Dojima-san got into a nasty crash. You see, his daughter was just kidnapped, sir. He went out all frantic to try and find her, but…" He looked at the wreckage of Namatame's truck, as if anxious to tell the police about what we had discovered. "Boy, have I got a lot to tell you folks back at the station… Anyway, I followed him here and found him like this. Shirogane showed up not too long after with Dojima-san's nephew and his friends."

Saito-san looked around at the site of the accident, and then at Dojima-san as he was being loaded into the ambulance. Then, he looked at me. "Shirogane, what is the meaning of your presence here? I thought you were no longer working with Dojima and Adachi."

I looked him straight in the eye. Then, I looked back at Yu-san, who was approaching us. "That may be so, but I happen to be close friends with Dojima-san's nephew."

Yu-san took a step in front of me and held out his hand to Saito-san, who grasped and shook it. "My name is Yu Narukami. I'm his nephew, and I've been living with him since April while my parents are overseas." He looked at me, as if trying to come up with an excuse as to why he was here. "We were all hanging out in the shopping district, and when we heard the crash and saw the smoke, Naoto wanted to check it out. She is a detective on the police force, after all…"

Saito-san eyed him before nodding once. "I see. I am Officer Fujikata Saito. I have worked with your uncle and Shirogane on various cases. And this is Officer Kazuki Hamasaki, my partner. He only recently joined the force and is apprenticing me currently."

Hamasaki-san bowed slightly. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Narukami-san." He turned and bowed to me as well. "Shirogane-san."

"Greetings aside," Saito-san said, "Adachi, you said you had information for us back at the station?"

Adachi-san nodded eagerly. "Yes, I do."

"In that case," said Saito, "I want you to come with us back to the station. Shirogane, would you mind escorting Narukami to the hospital with Dojima? I assume he would like to be by his side."

Yu-san nodded fervently with a look of worry burned into his face. I nodded as well in agreement. "Most definitely."

"Good," Saito said as he retreated to his cruiser, "Take him to the hospital on the ambulance. Adachi, come with us to the station and meet us in the conference room. We'll contact the chief. Tell us about that kidnapping, as well."

Yu-senpai and I turned to face the others, who all bore expressions of worry on their faces. "Don't worry," I said to them, "Everyone meet up at Junes tomorrow, and we will search for Nanako post-haste. For now, go back to your homes and get some rest."

Everyone nodded slowly. Yu-san was looking down at me with a distraught look on his face. I looked up at him and nodded reassuringly. "Come on, Senpai."

"Right," he said quietly before following me into the ambulance.

We sat by Dojima-san's side in the ambulance as one of the paramedics quickly wrapped bandages around his wounds to stop the profuse bleeding. Dojima-san lost consciousness early in the ride, and when we arrived at the hospital and he was situated in a room in the ER, he remained unconscious for a long time.

The two of us stood and watched Dojima-san for a long while in complete silence. After some time, I glanced up at Yu-san, seeing the intense grief and concern shown in his eyes. It was quite an alien situation for me, having never seen Yu-san show any kind of intense emotion. I felt a twinge in my heart when I realized this. He must have really been hurting.

"So," he said, almost making me jump as he abruptly broke the silence of the room, "Have you had any progress with the Phantom Thief?"

The randomness of his words made me dumbstruck. Why in hell would he be talking about this at this time? "...What?"

"You know, the Phantom Thief," he repeated, "Or that card, for that matter?"

"Why in the world are you bringing that up at this time?" I questioned.

He shrugged. "I've been worried about you."

"That's what you're thinking about right now? Of all things?" I was furious with his system of priorities, but I felt my face go hot for some confusing reason. "Why are you concerned with me? You should be worried about your uncle!"

"I worry about everyone," Yu-san uttered. "It's my job."

I stared at him. "You are one very confusing individual." I put a hand on my hip and looked off to the side. "Don't worry about me. I'm not weak or useless. I can do fine on my own."

"I know you can," he said, "But that doesn't mean I can't be worried about a friend."

I shook off his words. "It's a pointless effort. There is no reason to be worried for me. We should be worried for Dojima-san at the moment…" I looked down at him.

Yu-san looked at him too. "And Nanako…"

"She will be okay for now," I said, "It has stopped raining outside. The rainwater should dry up before sunrise and there shouldn't be any fog tomorrow. The weather reports have been saying that there won't be much rain for a while, either. We have time to save her before the fog sets in."

"But, if Namatame is in there with her…"

I thought for a while. "I understand your concern. But remember, we really have no choice in the matter until Junes opens in the morning." I quickly pulled out my phone to look at the time. "It's just about 1:30 AM now, so we only have a few more hours. It's Sunday, too, so we won't be missing school."

Yu-san nodded uneasily.

"It's going to be okay," I said as sincerely as possible. I looked down at my hand, and then to his. For a moment, my hand fidgeted, and I lifted it to softly touch his in reassurance, but before it could reach his, it froze in place, as if blocked by a barrier. I flexed and curled my fingers, uneasily bringing my hand back by my side. He hadn't noticed me move my hand.

"We'll just have to hope so," he said.

After another drawn-out moment of silence, Dojima-san's eyes gradually opened. He weakly looked around the room, and it seemed that he had regained consciousness. Yu-senpai's eyes widened, and he intently watched his uncle. His eyes fell upon the two of us, and when he saw us, he turned his head toward us and began to utter weak words.

"You guys…" he groaned.

"Are you all right…?" I asked him.

"I must look like hell right now," Dojima grunted.

I exhaled, looking over him in empathy. He did look rather battered up.

"Nanako…" Dojima-san muttered, "She's… My reason for living… If I lose her… I might as well be dead…" He grunted in pain. It seemed to take a lot of effort for him to speak. "She must be so scared right now… Waiting for someone to save her… And here I am…" He suddenly began to cough from the momentum of the pain. "When she needs me most… I'm helpless…" He was practically in tears. "What kind of a father am I…? I can't even protect my own daughter…!"

I felt so bad for him that hot tears began to well up behind my own eyes as well. I felt a lump emerge in my throat. "Dojima-san…"

"If anything happens to Nanako…" Dojima-san grunted with the murderous intent of an angry father, "I'll make Namatame pay…!" He looked up at Yu-san, beginning to weakly raise his hand to him. "You can save Nanako, right…? I trust you… Please… Save her for me…!" His eyes darted to me. "You're the only ones I can turn to right now… Please…"

Yu-san looked into his eyes, his own eyes glazed over with tears. He grasped his uncle's hand firmly, yet gently enough not to hurt him in his pained state. "We'll do everything we can."

"We will rescue Nanako-chan at any cost," I agreed, "It may take some time, but you must put your faith in us and wait for us to return with her."

This was it. I was fully a part of the team as of now. I swore to myself not to ever back down. It was not simply a murder or kidnapping case anymore. Now, it was personal for me. I didn't care if I was off the case. I would rescue Nanako-chan if it killed me.