Into the TV.
"I hope you're ready for this, don't chicken out now Fuutarou Kun" - Yotsuba said as she sat down on the couch at Dojima's house.
It was raining outside, and they were merely minutes away from midnight. Ready to see what the Midnight Channel had in store for them, the pair sat together on the couch.
"Come on, can't you be a bit more excited?" - she said as she gave him a slight punch in the arm.
"I'm more sleepy than anything, let's just get this over with so you can go back home and I can go to sleep" -
The TV was turned on with static, and the rain got stronger and stronger. The clock hit midnight and… Nothing happened.
"... Do we have to wait?" -
"Yes, last time it took a while, just bear with it" -
"You better not be lying to me" -
The sound of the rain hitting the roof of the house was becoming louder and louder by the second, joined by the loud sound of thunder passing through the night sky. Suddenly, the static on the TV slowly started to disappear, giving small flashes of a human figure in what seemed to be a hallway.
"No way, it's actually real!" - Yotsuba yelled with excitement before Fuutarou calmed her down - "Sorry, sorry…" -
Despite this, nothing was clear just yet. They could only see the figure in small flashes as the TV returned to static rather quickly. Yotsuba was intrigued, while Fuutarou was mostly confused, which only got worse when…
"I am thou… Thou art I…" -
He started to hear a voice in his head, and it started to hurt him. He stumbled around the living room, catching the attention of Yotsuba.
"H-Hey! What's happening?" - she said in a panic, not knowing what to do..
"Thou art the one… Who opens the door…" -
A sudden flash of light. The boy ended up on his knees on the ground, with Yotsuba by his side trying to help him in any way she could, even if she didn't know much of what was happening to him. The TV died, only showing a black screen.
Fuutarou got up, and looked at it. He could see his reflection on it, but something was… Off.
"Are you alright? What happened to you?" - Yotsuba asked him, but he didn't answer, he was too focused on the TV to say anything.
He walked towards it and extended his hand, touching it. His fingers made contact with the screen, and formed… Waves, like when one dives into water. He touched again, this time his whole hand got it, but as he was going to pull it out…
"Wait, agh! Aaagh!" - he yelled, something was trying to drag him into the TV.
Yotsuba quickly reacted and grabbed Fuutarou by the waist, pulling him out of it, yet the strength of whatever was trying to drag him was too much. He would've been lost, if it wasn't because the TV was way too small.
With one final push, Yotsuba pulled him out, and the 2 fell backwards, landing on the table. It was a miracle it didn't break right then and there.
"Big bro… What's going on?" - Nanako said from the entrance to her room, having been woken up by the sound of the fall.
"Nanako… Everything's fine, I just hit my toe on the table…" - Fuutarou quickly lied to cover up what had truly happened - "Go to sleep, I'll be fine" -
"Alright… Good night big brother" - she then went back to her room and closed the door.
"That was… Very close" - Yotsuba said as she got up and allowed Fuutarou to do the same - "Are you alright?" -
"I think… What the hell was that?" -
The pair didn't know what was going on, and it was already getting too late, so they agreed that it was best to talk about it later during the day. Yotsuba said goodbye and left for her house.
Fuutarou went to bed and slept, not being able to forget what happened at that moment. Why was he almost sucked into the TV? Something was clearly pulling him into it but he didn't know what.
Just what happened then…
It was a rainy morning, and Fuutarou was making his way towards school, mind lost in thought over last night. From behind him, he could hear a number of footsteps and voices approaching, before one of them quickly made a rush for him.
"Make space for me!" -
It was Yotsuba.
"Ditching your sisters to talk to me?" -
"Well they don't know what happened last night, and that's exactly what I need to talk about right now. You should be as nervous as I am, you're the one who almost got sucked into the TV!" -
"I'm more intrigued than anything. I probably would've been able to enter had the TV been a little bit bigger" -
"Wait… You're telling me you're actually going to try and get inside one again? You're crazy" -
"I'm curious" -
"Right now, that's basically the same thing. And how do you plan to do it anyways genius?" -
"Well, if I remember, the TVs at Junes are pretty big, right?" -
Yotsuba looked at Fuutarou, rather shocked at this change in his attitude. Previously he was barely interested in finding out anything about the Midnight Channel, now after almost getting swallowed by the TV, he wanted to try it again.
"If you're going to go through with this, I'm going to be there" -
"What? Why?" -
"You need someone to pull you out of the TV in case you get stuck again, and someone who can pay for a broken TV, just in case things go wrong" -
"I'll take that deal. Should we meet at the entrance after school?" -
"Deal, let's get to the bottom of this" -
Unknown to the pair, Nino, the girl that Fuutarou crashed into during his first day of school in Inaba, overheard their conversation… Or well, the last part of it at least. She was convinced that he had bad intentions with his sisters, and now she could prove it.
She would just have to follow him after school to Junes, there she would surely get evidence to show her sisters.
That day at school was rather quick for Fuutarou, as his mind wandered to what happened last night, the figure they saw in the Midnight Channel. He saw it a bit clearer this time, but still nothing that could give him any clues.
That day went by rather quickly for him, and even though he tried his best to pay attention and answer every question correctly, by the end he couldn't remember much, outside of seeing the rather… Quirky, history teacher, who came with small details meant to resemble a pharaoh.
As he was getting ready to leave, he overheard a conversation between two other students from his class, talking about a dead body being discovered in a strange position. 'Like an execution', one of the girls said. He'd have to ask Dojima later what they were talking about. Not only that, he heard that it was a girl named Saki who found the body.
"Saki… She's one of Itsuki's friends, there's a rumor that she's the one who found the body. She didn't come to school today so people are going wild" - Yotsuba said as she sat down next to Fuutarou - "Ready to do this?" -
"Of course, couldn't stop thinking about it all day long" -
"Neither could I, so let's hurry" -
It was weird for Fuutarou to see Yotsuba so serious like that, but the situation was weirder yet, so it was justified. The two left the school, with Nino following from behind, just always out of sight of the pair.
"What happened to the rest of your sisters? They rushed home just as classes ended" -
"The Inn is in some trouble right now, and we need all the help we could get. I had to lie that I was going to do some club activities to be able to stay" -
"They're going to be mad when they find out" -
"That's why we're not going to let them find out. Besides, who would believe two high schoolers are going to Junes to search for a bigger TV because they want to try and get inside?" -
"... You know what? Fair enough" -
With that, the rest of the way was silent, arriving soon enough at Junes.
"You know our family owns Junes?" - she said out of nowhere.
"Really?" -
"Yeah, dad bought it when we moved in here years ago, a few weeks after the Inn was built, that's why I know that no one buys TVs here, and that part is unsupervised" -
"Well, good to know" -
The pair made their way towards the TV section and stared at the biggest one they could find. After checking that there was no one close (Nino had to hide behind a large box), Yotsuba made the first attempt, poking the screen. Nothing happened.
"Let me do it" - Fuutarou said as he extended his hand and touched it, only for…
"AHA! I knew that you didn't have any club activities for today!" - Nino jumped from behind the box while pointing her finger at both of them.
"Nino? Why aren't you with the others?" - Yotsuba asked.
"Because I knew there was something fishy ever since I saw you yesterday eating with him, and earlier today running up to him and leaving us behind. What's this deal anyways? What are you doing with him" -
As both siblings argued, Fuutarou tried to pull his hand out and explain as best he could, but once again he felt something pulling him in.
"H-Help!" - he yelled, and got the attention of both as his upper body started to be dragged inside.
"What is going on!?" - Nino yelled in a panic.
"Help me get him out!" - Yotsuba yelled as well, and she and her sister grabbed Fuutarou by the waist and tried to pull him out, but it was to no avail.
Not only did he fell inside, the two girls were dragged together with him.