"What?" Yosuke asked in confusion. "The Midnight Channel? Have you heard of it Yu?"

Well… technically I have thanks to the game but… Yu thought only to frown. "No, I've never heard of it."

"You're supposed to look into a TV that's switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night. While you're staring at your own image, another person will appear on the screen…" Chie explained to Yu and Yosuke. "And they say that person's your soulmate."

Yosuke stared at her for a few seconds before sighing. "What? For a second I actually thought you were going to say something useful… How can you get all excited over a childish urban legend like that?"

"Childish huh?" Chie questioned angrily. "You don't believe it, do you!?"

"Of course I don't!" Yosuke answered bluntly causing Chie to frown.

"Well, it's raining tonight! Let's all try it out - - Then you'll see!" she suggested causing Yosuke to blink.

"Try it out…? Wait, you haven't even tried it yourself!?" Yosuke questioned only to roll his eyes. "Wow, I'm trying to remember the last time I heard something this stupid…"

"I don't know, it doesn't sound that stupid… what's the harm in giving it a shot?" Yu pointed out getting their attention. "Worst case scenario nothing happens but it won't hurt anything to give it a try."

"Exactly!" Chie grinned in agreement. "Unless you're afraid to find out who your soulmate really is Yosuke."

"What? I'm not afraid…" Yosuke argued closing his eyes in defeat. "Fine, I'll try it out but you two better watch too."

Yu and Chie both nodded in agreement as they continued eating their food. After a moment though Yosuke paused again.

"Yosuke, what is it?" Chie asked seeing that. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm just thinking about something more real than some rumor… the incident from the other day with that dead body in the shopping district." Yosuke admitted looking up in thought. "Do you two think that was a murder?"

"Huh?" Chie asked nervously. "Did you say murder?"

"It's possible, isn't it?" Yosuke pointed out. "Maybe the culprit is still in Inaba looking around for another victim?"

"Don't joke about something like that!" Chie snapped trembling slightly. "Sheesh, and you called the Midnight Channel stupid."

"That's because it is… and after tonight you'll see that it was just a childish rumor." Yosuke pointed out before shrugging as the three of them continued talking.

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"Oh, you're back." Nanako smiled as the door opened and Yu walked in only to pause seeing his expression. "Is everything ok?"

"I think so." Yu nodded only to notice Dojima wasn't there. "Is your dad not going to join us today?"

"Dad has to work late… but he wanted to ask if you heard about the Midnight Channel today." Nanako answered causing Yu's eyes to widen slightly. "It was part of the game too."

Yu just nodded slowly. "Yeah… Chie mentioned it when we went to Junes… she said it was a rumor where you see your soulmate, I promised to try it out tonight."

"That's just like what happened in the game." Nanako explained as she turned it on. "Dad will try and play with us when he can, but he needs to work to try and figure out what's different."

"Well, I can tell you if anything in the game is different from what happens to me." Yu admitted as they turned it on. "We just saved after Chie, Yukiko, and I found the body, right?"

"Yeah." Nanako nodded as the two of them started playing and Yu frowned slightly seeing the same events that had happened to him earlier that day play out on the screen, Yosuke crashing and getting stuck in the trash can before the video game interpretation of himself help Yosuke as they talked about the body being discovered and his offer to give him a lift on his bike.

As he was watching the characters on the screen go through the same events he went through earlier that day Yu suddenly paused as a thought occurred to him. "Nanako, this is a single player game… but it doesn't matter how many people play together right?"

Nanako blinked turning to Yu before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh… do you think that can help solve the mystery and figure out what's different?"

"I think so." Yu confirmed watching the in-game version of Saki approach the in-game versions of himself, Yosuke, and Chie as he watched his conversation from earlier that day. "We should probably talk with your dad about that first though."

Nanako nodded in agreement as the game mentioned how the in-game Yu promised to check the Midnight Channel that night though when it transitioned to the Dojima household after asking the in-game Nanako if Dojima had called he walked back in and asked the in-game Nanako to turn on the news where a report about the dead body was on the TV as they mentioned they were interviewing the student who found the body.

"The student who found… the body." Yu repeated before pausing. "Wait, is that Saki Konishi? So that's what she meant when she complained about leaving early…"

As the interviewer continued asking stranger and stranger questions Yu frowned while the reporters noted how strange the case was and how nobody had taken credit while the in-game Dojima complained about prank calls. Eventually the in-game Dojima fell asleep as an advertisement for Junes played and the in-game Nanako asked if they could go only to notice her dad was asleep.

"Oh… this is when you're supposed to go and try the Midnight Channel. Should we save the game and wait or do you want to see if what happens is different?" Nanako asked him.

Looking at the screen Yu frowned. "Why don't we save and then check if there are any differences?"

"Ok." Nanako nodded at that as she had the in-game Yu walk over to save before heading up as a cutscene started to play.

(Chie has revealed the rumor of the Midnight Channel to Yu and Yosuke and Nanako revealed it is in fact connected to the mysterious game she and Dojima received. Next chapter the Midnight Channel will air in the game and in the real world. As always any reviews or critique is appreciated.)