Persona 4: The Golden Apostle

by sithlorde1988

Adaptation of Persona 4 Golden. Everyone knows the plot of Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden well, or at least the plot of CANON Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden. But what if there was an extra character added into the mix? How will the addition of an extra character to the mix change the plot of Persona 4 Golden? Better summary and more info in the first chapter! Read and enjoy!

5. Bears and Intros! Mystery Begins part 2

A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another chapter of Persona 4- The Golden Apostle! Don't really have a lot else to say at this point, so let's get to the disclaimer while I'm thinking of it!

Disclaimer: I, sithlorde1988, do not own the Persona series in any way, shape, or form (excluding the OCs Gaignun, Marisa, Hikari Kusanagi II, Hikari Kusanagi III, Rosie, Slim, Ace, Kusano, Sage, Lily, Emilio, Jun, and any other OCs/OC Personas that might pop up in the story, all of which were created by and belong to me), while the actual ownership credit for the Persona series belongs to Atlus (and to a point a few other companies like Koei Tecmo and Arc System Works, who were involved with making the various spinoffs of Persona, such as Persona 5 Strikers, Persona 5 Tactica, Persona 4 Arena/Arena Ultimax, the 'Dancing' games, and the 'Q' games, not to mention Persona 5- The Phantom X), so all ownership credit to them!

And there we go, one disclaimer professionally placed and done! And now that that's done, I don't have much else to say, so let's get on with the start of the chapter, yeah? I'll probably have a longer A/N at the start of the chapter, so keep an eye out for that after the chapter. For now, here's chapter 2!

Chapter 2- Fog, Friendships, and the TV World!? The Mystery Begins part 2

(The evening of April 12th, in the lower level of the Dojima residence, with Yu and Nanako)

After thinking about it, Yu decided to see how Nanako was holding up, walking over to her before speaking up.

"You seem to be in good spirits, especially given what we saw on the news." Yu said in what he hoped was a conversational and friendly tone. Nanako nodded and spoke up, an unreadable look on her face as she spoke.

"Eh, I'm used to it. Speaking of things I'm used to, when is Dad coming home from work, I wonder?" Nanako asked, turning her attention towards the TV, though Yu frowned at the worried look he could see on Nanako's face. Not really having an answer to Nanako's question, Yu spoke up.

"I wish I had an acceptable answer to give you, Nanako. However, I just moved here yesterday, so my guess on that is about as good as yours, I'm afraid. But I'm sure he'll be home eventually." Yu said kindly to Nanako, who idly nodded as her attention returned to the TV. Giving up on speaking to her for the time being, Yu decided to go upstairs, finding himself surprisingly tired once he got upstairs, barely managing to shrug off his uniform and change into a loose-fitting dark grey muscle shirt and black and grey plaid pajama bottoms before collapsing onto his bed and falling asleep nearly instantly...

(The next morning, on the way to school, with Yu)

As Yu was walking to school, his instincts sounded a warning bell in his head, prompting him to look behind him, quietly swear, and dive out of the way as a familiar bike came pedaling past him before eventually plowing into the nearby trash can with a 'CRASH!', making Yu wince and run over to check on the person riding the bike. Once he got close enough to see, Yu had to stifle a laugh at the sight of a familiar pair of pant-clad legs flailing around from outside of the trash can, which was currently rolling around on its' side, as a familiar voice spoke from inside it.

"S-Someone, please help!" The voice of the student Yu had seen run into a desk the day before at school called out, making Yu frown, feeling bad for not helping him out either of the times he saw him the day before. Deciding that this was no time for pride, Yu nodded to himself, deciding he should help the guy out of the trash. After Yu managed to help fish the male student out of the trash, the male student gracefully got back onto his bike, gave Yu a roguish wink and spoke up with a sheepish chuckle.

As he spoke, the male kept his eyes on Yu, either being unaware of or pretending to ignore the appraising look Yu was giving him as he took in the male's short brown hair that matched his equally brown eyes, and the uniform that he wore, which was identical for the most part to Yu's, with the main difference that where Yu had a white dress shirt under his dark grey blazer, the male student in front of him had a white t-shirt with red lining on the collar and sleeves, even though the latter was hidden under his blazer. Yu also blinked as he noticed the just-visible hints of a pair of black and orange headphones around the male's neck, having a line going down from the headphones to what Yu figured was a music player of some sort in the male's pocket.

"Whew, you saved me. Thanks! Umm, haven't I seen you before?" The male student asked as Yu chuckled and spoke up after nodding.

"We ran across one another twice yesterday. Once in the morning when you did the same thing you did just now, but without the rolling around inside the trash can, and again in the afternoon with the 'Critical Hit to the Nads' incident, as we'll call your little mishap with the desk, since even if you were probably embarrassed, you have to admit that the words 'Critical Hit to the Nads' are kind of funny to hear." Yu said, making the male student blush in embarrassment before he spoke up.

"Hm? Oh yeah, that's right. You're that transfer student. Yu Narukami, was it? I never introduced myself before, did I? I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya." The now-named Yosuke said as Yu nodded and spoke up.

"Likewise, Hanamura-san. As you already know, my name is Yu Narukami and I just transferred here. Ehh, sorry for not helping you out either time I saw you yesterday. I probably should've at least tried to help you after the second time, since you looked like you were having a rough one at that point." Yu said before he kept speaking.

"But more importantly, are you okay, Hanamura-san? I can't imagine that it was pleasant managing to hurt yourself in the same spot twice in one day. And that's not even mentioning your little mishap just now." Yu asked in concern as Yosuke smirked and spoke up, looking pleased that Yu asked about him, and not his bike.

"Hm? Oh yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Yosuke said as Yu nodded, noting to himself that Yosuke did seem to be all right. After a moment, Yosuke kept speaking.

"Say, did you hear about the incident from yesterday? They found that announcer lady hanging from an antenna!" Yosuke said as Yu nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. It was the talk of the town, plus Satonaka-san, Amagi-san, and myself all happened to be walking through town as the police were cleaning up the crime scene. Pretty creepy to think about, if I'm being honest." Yu said as Yosuke nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"That's fair. I do remember you left school with those two yesterday. But as far as the announcer lady goes, do you think it was some kind of warning? There's no way something that weird could have been an accident. " Yosuke said as Yu thought about it before nodding and spoke up.

"To be honest? I hadn't really had a chance to think about it much, since it was just yesterday, plus I had other things to do after I got home. But now that you mention it, you might be right." Yu said, agreeing with Yosuke's line of thinking. Yosuke nodded approvingly as he spoke up.

"Right!? You get it. Dangling a dead body over a roof like that? I don't care if someone was doing it to make a point, or if it was just for kicks! That's just messed up. Then again, it's pretty messed up to kill someone in the first place." Yosuke said as Yu nodded and spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Hanamura-san. Killing someone is pretty sick and twisted." Yu said as Yosuke nodded his agreement before looking down at his phone to check the time and shocking Yu when he swore and spoke up.

"Son of a-! Oh crap, we're late! You wanna ride? It's a little squeaky, but it should be fine." Yosuke said as Yu winced and spoke up.

"I appreciate the offer, Yosuke. I really do. But don't you think it might raise a few eyebrows if you have another guy squeezing in behind you on a bike ride to school?" Yu asked calmly, making Yosuke think about it before his eyes widened and he spoke up.

"Crap, I didn't even consider that angle! I can ride slow if you want to walk alongside me, but we do need to get to class before we're any later!" Yosuke said as Yu nodded and the two went to school together...

(Later that morning, in Morooka's class, with Yukiko, Chie, Yu, and Yosuke)

After everyone was seated in class, an annoyed-looking Morooka spoke up.

"Be quiet, you idiots! You guys ARE in high school, aren't you? Can't you shut up during class? Don't you have any common sense? First of all, my job is to waste my time teaching you assholes philosophy! And, since I'm so nice and all, I'll straighten up your rotten attitudes while I'm at it! Aren't you honored!?" Morooka snapped, glaring at the class as he kept speaking, somehow not seeing Yu resist the urge to roll his eyes at Morooka calling himself nice as he spoke.

"And I'll be going especially hard on any of you morons that're curious about the murder! Got it!? Now, get your books out!" Morooka said as Yu shrugged, getting his books out before he listened to the lecture intently, feeling as if he learned a good amount from it, netting him an unseen increase to his Knowledge as the class continued from there uneventfully...

(After school, in Morooka's class, with Yukiko, Chie, Yu, and Yosuke)

After school let out for the day, most of the students started filing out of the classroom, notably including Chie, Yosuke stretched before walking over to Yu's desk and speaking up with a smirk on his face.

"So, you getting used to this place?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up.

"You DID hear me this morning when I said I just transferred here two days ago, right? That being said, not quite yet. I mean, I've gotten fairly used to the parts of town I've been to, but I don't think I've come close to exploring all of Inaba just yet." Yu said conversationally. Yosuke nodded understandingly.

"Oh, yeah, you did say that, didn't you? Well, that's fair. I mean, you just got here recently and all. Oh, and don't worry about there being a lot to see still. There's really not. After all, there isn't much to do here compared to the big city, but there is that certain, how do I put this? Ah, that certain 'something' you can't get anywhere else. The air's clean, the food's great, and the town is usually rather peaceful. Oh, you know about the local delicacy?" Yosuke asked as Yu politely shook his head in confusion. Yosuke chuckled and spoke up.

"That's fair. You haven't been here long enough to know that. It's grilled steak, man! Like that's anything special, huh?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up with a nod.

"True. Can't you make grilled steak just about anywhere? That's not that much of a delicacy. Sure, not everyone can grill steak well, but even then, is that really that special?" Yu said agreeably. Yosuke laughed and spoke up with a nod.

"Good point. To be honest, I know a place where you can get it cheap. Wanna come? You helped me out this morning, so it's on me." Yosuke asked Yu. However, before Yu could reply to Yosuke, an annoyed-looking Chie walked over to Yosuke and spoke up.

"What about me, huh? No apologies? My 'Trial of the Dragon'." Chie said irately as Yu winced at the angry look on Chie's face. Yosuke, for his part, sighed and spoke up.

"Urgh, what a surprise. You always come around when I'm talking about food, don't you?" Yosuke said as Chie turned to Yukiko, who'd been quietly sitting at her desk, seemingly immersed in whatever she was doing, and spoke up.

"How about it, Yukiko? Don't you think he should treat us, too?" Chie asked as Yukiko turned to the others and spoke up as she stood up, noting the shocked look Yu was giving Chie for trying to drag Yukiko into her discussion with Yosuke as she spoke.

"I'll pass, Chie. I don't want to gain any more weight. I need to help out at the inn today, anyway." Yukiko said as an impressed Yosuke spoke up.

"Wow, Yukiko-san! You started training to take over the business?" Yosuke said as Yu blinked and spoke up.

"Take over? I know Satonaka-san said yesterday that Amagi-san's family runs the Amagi Inn, but I didn't know she was in line to take it over?" Yu asked in confusion. Yukiko smiled at Yu's confusion and spoke up, though her smile slowly morphed into a frown mid-sentence as she spoke.

"Hm? Oh, no, it's not like that at all, Narukami-san! I'm just helping out whenever it gets busy. Well, I should be on my way." Yukiko said as she left the room. Chie, for her part, shrugged and spoke up.

"Sounds like it'll just be us three, then. Oh well. We should get going." Chie said as Yu frowned and spoke up.

"Isn't that bold of you to assume that Hanamura-san can afford to pay for both of our meals? I know he owes you an apology and all, but I don't think he's made out of money?" Yu said, turning to give a surprised Yosuke a mixed apologetic/uncertain look. Yosuke blinked and spoke up.

"Narukami-san has a point." Yosuke said before his eyes widened mid-sentence as the implications of Yu's previous remark sank in and he spoke up.

"Huh? Are you serious!? Do I seriously have to treat two people now, instead of just one? I didn't mind treating Narukami-san, since I owe him a thank-you for helping me out today. But I wasn't planning on having to treat a second person. Then again, I do owe you an apology for your DVD, don't I, Satonaka? Ugh, fiiiine. Let's go." Yosuke said as the trio of Yu, Yosuke, and Chie left the classroom together, eventually making their way to a giant three-story building which had the word 'JUNES' on the top in big red lettering.

After a bit, Yosuke led Yu and Chie up to the rooftop, where there was a food court with plenty of tables and seating in an outdoor setting, and even a covered section for when it was raining. As Yosuke brought over a plate and sat it down after placing the orders for him and the others, Chie huffed and spoke up in irritation.

"THIS is the cheap place you were talking about, Hanamura-san? They don't have grilled steak here." Chie said as Yu spoke up.

"To be fair, you were the one who invited yourself along. So I'm not surprised that Hanamura-san here had to change his plans to accommodate you." Yu pointed out calmly as Yosuke nodded and spoke up after sitting down.

"Narukami-san has a point. And, well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.

"That's impressive you were able to think on your feet like that, Hanamura-san." Yu said conversationally, getting an embarrassed chuckle from Yosuke as Chie spoke up with a huff.

"Fair. Still, that's no reason to take us to your place." Chie said as Yu blinked at that before speaking up.

"His place?" Yu asked in surprise, though when he saw the word 'JUNES', he'd recalled a conversation he had when he arrived in Inaba with an elderly person about a store called Junes seemingly affecting the shopping district's business. Before he could muse more on this, Yosuke spoke up with a sheepish smile.

"Eheh, pay Chie no mind. She's prone to exaggeration." Yosuke said before turning to Chie and speaking up.

"Dude, this isn't 'my' place or anything." Yosuke said as Yu aimed a confused look at Yosuke, who turned to smile sheepishly at Yu as he kept speaking.

"Oh, right. I haven't told you yet, huh? I moved here from another city about six months back. This location just opened up, and my dad was assigned to manage it. So our entire family came out here." Yosuke said as Yu blinked at that and spoke up.

"Huh, imagine that. At least your family seems to stick together for the most part." Yu said off-handedly, making Chie and Yosuke exchange confused looks before the latter spoke up.

"What do you-? Ehh, never mind. I won't pry into your business. Here, this is to welcome you to town." Yosuke said, revealing that the plate he had set down had three drinks on it, which Yu accepted one of, sipping from it and finding the flavor quite enjoyable. As Yu enjoyed his drink, Yosuke turned to Chie and spoke up.

"Satonaka, yours is on me too. Consider it a partial apology for what I did to your DVD. It's not the whole thing, but it's a start." Yosuke said as Chie frowned and spoke up in a dry tone of voice.

"Yeah, I know." Chie said as Yu, Yosuke, and Chie toasted each other with their drinks, the conversation eventually becoming rather animated over small talk. Chie spoke up at that point with an unreadable look on her face.

"To be honest? It's only been half a year since this place opened up, but I haven't been to the local shopping district much since. A lot of stores there started closing, and a lot of the residents blame it on-Oh. Uh, this is awkward." Chie said as Yu spoke up with a look on his face that clearly seemed to scream 'glad it was you who said it, and not me'.

"No kidding. I get what you were going for, but sometimes there are things that are better left unsaid. Besides, is it really Hanamura-san's fault that those businesses are having rough times? That's a bit unfair to blame him for what Junes did." Yu said rebukingly, feeling the need to come to Yosuke's defense. Yosuke smiled at Yu and spoke up.

"You're not wrong, Narukami-san. And you have a good point." Yosuke said before turning to Chie as he kept speaking.

"And I agree with him. Sure, it sucks that the local shopping district is suffering from lack of business, but you can't blame it all solely on Junes, can you? Ugh." Yosuke said with a sigh as an awkward silence filled the air for a bit before it was broken by the sight of a blonde-haired teen girl walking up to the food court. Yu blinked as he realized this was the same girl he'd accidentally overheard bickering with a male student when he was looking around the shopping district the day he moved to Inaba. Yosuke looked up and smiled at the sight of the new arrival and spoke up.

"Hey, what do ya know? It's Saki-senpai! Sorry, be right back." Yosuke said as Yu arched an eyebrow, turning to face Chie as he spoke up since Yosuke had walked off by that point.

"Who's that?" Yu asked Chie, who smirked and spoke up, knowing that Yosuke had a crush on the girl who'd just walked into the food court.

"That's Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district. I think she's working here part-time, though." Chie said as Yu spoke up with a nod.

"I see. Does she have a brother? I'm pretty sure I walked past her and another guy arguing when I first moved to Inaba. I had to take a walk after arriving since I was feeling lightheaded at the time, and I happened upon them while walking around the shopping district." Yu said as Chie blinked at that. At that point, the camera panned over to Yosuke as he approached the girl who he'd identified as 'Saki-senpai' and spoke up.

"Hey, how's it going? You look beat." Yosuke said as the apparently named 'Saki' spoke up, her head snapping up to look at Yosuke, her piercing brown eyes seemingly sizing him up.

"Heeey! I'm finally on break for a bit. What's up, Hana-chan? Boosting the family business by bringing your friends here?" The apparently-named Saki said as both Chie and Yu exchanged shocked looks on hearing her call Yosuke 'Hana-chan'. For his part, Yosuke shrugged the remark off easily enough as he spoke up with what he figured to be a coy/roguish wink.

"Oh? Madam, you wound me! Kidding aside for a moment, you look down. Did something happen?" Yosuke said as Saki sighed and spoke up.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just a little tired." Saki said as Yosuke spoke up, looking a bit flustered as he spoke.

"Hey, if you need to talk, I'm always willing to listen. I'm here for you if you need anything." Yosuke said as Saki chuckled, seemingly flattered and amused by Yosuke's gesture as she spoke up.

"Heh, I'm okay. Thanks, though. Ugh, why'd I leave school early yesterday, though?" Saki said, mostly to herself. Once she saw the confused look on Yosuke's face, Saki looked for a change of topic, blinking as she saw Yu at a nearby table with Chie as she grasped onto that as a change of subject while she spoke up.

"Hey, Hana-chan. Is he the kid who transferred here?" Saki asked, heading over to where Yu and Chie were sitting, Yosuke following close behind. Once she reached the table, Saki turned to Yu and spoke up.

"Are you the transfer student? Oh, did you hear about me already?" Saki asked as Yu spoke up.

"All I know about you is that Hanamura-san apparently refers to you as 'Saki-senpai'. But yes, I'm the transfer student. My name is Yu Narukami." Yu said as the apparently-named Saki chuckled and spoke up.

"I thought so. And yes, that's correct. I'm Saki Konishi. But anyways, it must be nice to have someone else from the big city to talk to, huh?" The now-named Saki said as Yu spoke up.

"Eh, it helps. Granted, I'm pretty sure Hanamura-san and I transferred in from different cities. I transferred in from a city called Kichijoji over in Tokyo." Yu said as Yosuke spoke up.

"I transferred in from Yongen-Jaya, so we lived in the same part of Japan for a time, at least." Yosuke said as Yu nodded his understanding before Saki giggled and spoke up.

"To be fair, I don't see Hana-chan hanging out with the other guys much." Saki said as an embarrassed Yosuke spoke up.

"Uh, what? Not necessarily, Saki-senpai." Yosuke said as Saki kept speaking as if Yosuke hadn't spoken up.

"He doesn't have too many friends, so I hope you two get along well." Saki said as Yu smiled kindly and spoke up.

"I'm sure he and I will get along well enough. But I can relate to not having that many friends. Despite the surprisingly emotional send-off I got from my former school, I didn't have that many friends to speak of back in Kichijoji, so I can relate to how that feels." Yu said, surprising Yosuke with the level of understanding in his tone. Saki spoke up with a nod before Yosuke could reply to what Yu had said.

"That's fair. Still, Hana-chan's a good guy, but he can get nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face when he starts to annoy you." Saki said as Yu spoke up.

"Perhaps, but from what little I've seen of Hanamura-san, he seems like a pretty great guy to me." Yu said conversationally. Saki chuckled at Yu's words and spoke up.

"Ahaha, I know, I know. I'm just kidding." Saki said as an embarrassed Yosuke spoke up.

"C-C'mon, Senpai. There's no need to worry about something like that." Yosuke said as Saki shrugged and spoke up.

"If you say so, Hana-chan. Well, my break's just about over. Back to work I go for now. Laters!" Saki said as she started to walk off while Yosuke spoke up.

"Oh, uh Senpai? Laters!" Yosuke said with a lopsided grin as he sat back down, making Yu give Yosuke a knowing smirk, but say nothing, knowing Yosuke very likely was at least smitten with Saki. After a moment, Yu spoke up.

"So, that's your senpai, huh? I suppose she looks to be the right age to go to the same school as us." Yu said with a shrug. Yosuke chuckled nervously and spoke up.

"Hahah, true. Saki-senpai says I'm annoying, but she's even nosier than me. She has a younger brother, and she treats me pretty much the same way she treats him." Yosuke said as Yu blinked and spoke up.

"Oh? So it was her I saw in the shopping district the day I moved to Inaba." Yu said, getting a confused look from Yosuke, prompting Yu to recap how he'd felt lightheaded when arriving in Inaba, and how his uncle advised walking around the shopping district, before explaining how he'd accidentally overheard Saki bickering with what he figured to be her younger brother. Yosuke nodded and spoke up.

"I see. Yep, that sounds like Saki-senpai and Naoki-san, all right. Those two bicker a lot." Yosuke said as Chie chuckled and spoke up.

"Ohh, is that right? Hanamura-san doesn't want Konishi-senpai treating him like a younger brother, huh? Haha, I get it now. So that's how it is, eh? Hanamura-san and Konishi-senpai, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G! Eheh, but all jokes aside, that's pretty cool. The daughter of a local family-run liquor store and the scion of the invading chain, falling for one another. Hoho, the flames of forbidden love!" Chie said teasingly as a flustered Yosuke spoke up.

"Wh-What!? Dude, it's not like that." Yosuke said in protest as Chie smirked and spoke up.

"Oh reaaaally, is that right? Well, I know just the thing to cheer up that lovesick heart. You ever hear of the Midnight Channel?" Chie asked. When both Yosuke and Yu gave her confused but intrigued looks, Chie kept speaking.

"I thought not. Supposedly, 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 out of nowhere. And they say that person's your soulmate." Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a scoff.

"What? For a second, I thought you were actually going to say something useful, Satonaka-san. But still, how can you get excited over such a childish urban legend like that?" Yosuke asked as Chie spoke up with a frown on her face.

"Childish, huh? You don't believe it, do you!?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a frown.

"Of course I don't!" Yosuke said as Chie smirked and spoke up.

"Well, it's raining tonight! Let's all try it out! And then you'll see!" Chie said as Yosuke scoffed and spoke up.

"Try it out, you say? Wait, you haven't even tried it yourself!? Wow, I'm trying to remember the last time I heard something this stupid come from someone's mouth." Yosuke said as Yu frowned and spoke up.

"Stupid or not, what's the harm in at least trying it? Worst case, nothing comes of it, and we know Satonaka-san's wrong. Best case, she's proven right. We have nothing to lose, right?" Yu said as Chie and Yosuke nodded before the latter spoke up.

"Fair. All that aside for now, though, let's change the subject. You guys remember that 'incident' yesterday? You guys think it was murder? Ooh, what if the culprit behind it was still lurking around somewhere? Heehee, scary to think about, right?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up with a frown.

"I'm not scared of it, but I hope they're not lurking around. If nothing else, I live with my uncle and my six-and-a-half year old cousin. And even though the latter of those two is surprisingly mature and strong for her age, I still think the idea of a murderer lurking around would be quite frightening for her to think about. And I can't exactly shield her from it either, since she often watches the local news by herself." Yu said as Chie gave Yu a sympathetic nod before glaring at Yosuke as she spoke up.

"Well, at least you're trying to be responsible, Narukami-san. Sheesh, Hanamura-san! You shouldn't joke about stuff like that. Now who's the childish one here?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up.

"Obviously, I was joking. But I respect your caution, Narukami-san." Yosuke said as Yu nodded before Chie spoke up.

"Look, all I am saying here is this. You guys better try it out tonight. As Narukami-san said, you've got nothing to lose by trying it." Chie said as Yu spoke up.

"Fair. I think I can agree with that, but I'll have to take a few precautions beforehand, just in case this is real. After all, if what you say is real, it'd be pretty awkward for a six-and-a-half-year old little girl to come in and see someone on TV if the Midnight Channel is real, and then think they're her soulmate. Not to mention her dad would probably try to blame me for being irresponsible around her. But you have a point that we have nothing to lose, Satonaka-san." Yu said, getting a nod of agreement from Yosuke as the trio resolved to try out the Midnight Channel that night...

(That evening, in the living room of the Dojima house, with Nanako and Yu)

As Yu and Nanako sat down to have dinner together, Yu heard Nanako sigh softly. Yu idly noted this was shaping up to be another dinner alone with Nanako. Fortunately, Yu had figured that this would be a common occurrence after Ryotaro had left in the middle of a meal the night Yu moved into the Dojima house. After turning to look at Nanako, he saw the anxiety in her eyes and gave her his kindest smile as he spoke up.

"Don't worry, Nanako. I know you're probably not that used to me, but I won't let anything happen to you if I can help it. We are family, after all." Yu said reassuringly as Nanako blinked at this and spoke up.

"Hm!? Oh, yeah. That's true." Nanako said. Before the awkward silence that ensued could last too long, the door opened, and Nanako blinked in shock as she spoke up.

"Oh! He's home!" Nanako said as a weary-looking Ryotaro walked in and stood by Yu as he spoke up.

"What a day I've had. Well, I'm back. Did anything happen while I was out?" Ryotaro asked as Nanako frowned at him and spoke up with a pout on her face.

"No. You're late again, Dad!" Nanako rebuked Ryotaro, who winced and spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Nanako. I've been busy at work." Ryotaro said before he had a seat on the couch and spoke up while looking at Nanako.

"Can you put the news on for me, Nanako?" Ryotaro asked Nanako, who pouted but nodded as she sat down and turned the news on as the newscaster spoke up.

"Next, more details in the developing story on the incident in foggy Inaba. Announcer Mayumi Yamano's dead body was found hanging above a house in this isolated rural town. It is confirmed that Miss Yamano had been involved in an affair with Taro Namatame, husband of enka singer Misuzu Hiiragi." The newscaster said as Yu frowned at the story, which he noted seemed to be a follow-up report about the incident from yesterday. Yu frowned as he mentally noted what the newscaster had said about the deceased announcer having had an affair with a councilman's secretary while she was alive, feeling like this wasn't something suitable for a six-and-a-half year old girl to be watching, but not commenting as he was a guest of the house.

As it turns out, the man who the deceased announcer had been in an affair with was the husband of one Misuzu Hiiragi, who was apparently an enka ballad singer, which surprised Yu, who hadn't heard a lot of enka music in his life. Yu then wondered idly if this incident could've been tied to the apparent lovers' quarrel between Namatame and Hiiragi. As he thought about it, the newscaster kept speaking.

"The police plan to investigate this relationship and question any personnel involved with them. In addition, we now bring you an exclusive interview with the local student who found Miss Yamano's body." The newscaster said as Ryotaro sighed and spoke up around a yawn.

"Ugh, an interview with the kid who found the body? Where the hell did they find her?" Ryotaro asked as the TV cut to a shot of a female student. Even though her face was partially blurred out, her features and outfit were easily recognizable to a wide-eyed Yu, who realized this was one Saki Konishi, or the girl that Yosuke clearly had a crush on. Before he could react to this realization, the interviewer looked at the girl and spoke up.

"What went through your mind when you saw it? Could you tell she was dead? Did you see her face?" The interviewer asked eagerly as the girl, whose voice was distorted like her face, spoke up.

"U-Umm, what? No, all I saw was the body hanging from the antenna. I didn't get a good look at the particulars of it." The girl said as the interviewer spoke up.

"Don't you think it's scary that someone was killed on a foggy day?" The interviewer asked as the girl blinked and spoke up.

"Huh!? Are you serious? She was killed?" The girl asked as the interviewer winced at this and spoke up.

"Oh, errr, oops. I'll take that as a no?" The interviewer said, deciding to change tracks to try to cover up his mistake as he kept speaking.

"So, did you see anyone suspicious around here?" The interviewer asked as the girl shook her head and spoke up.

"Huh? Err, no, not really. I just found the body while I was walking past to go home, that's all." The girl said as Yu frowned at the questions the interviewer was asking, privately wondering how this man still had a job with how clearly unprofessional he was acting. At that point, the interviewer spoke up again.

"We heard that you found it when you left school early. Did you have some personal business to take care of?" The interviewer asked as the girl spoke up.

"Huh? That's none of your business, to be honest." The girl said, making Yu frown, as he could clearly see how much the interviewer's enthusiasm was perplexing the girl, who Yu knew was Saki, even if her identity was being hidden, albeit very poorly. The voice of the newscaster speaking brought Yu out of his musings, oblivious to the skeptical look Ryotaro had aimed at him, seeing the contemplative look on Yu's face.

"And this was an interview with the girl who found the body of Mayumi Yamano. Truly, this was a tragedy that occurred near the local shopping district. Many storeowners are raising concerns about losing customers as a result of this incident." The newscaster said as Ryotaro scoffed and spoke up.

"Hmph. If they lose more customers, it'll be because you're making such a stink about it, you fool." Ryotaro said as Yu nodded his agreement as a commentator spoke up on the TV.

"It really is a bizarre case, isn't it? I mean, hanging someone upside down from an antenna like that is just sick and wrong. In my professional opinion, I'd have to say that it's a warning or a sign from the culprit." The commentator said as the newscaster spoke up with a nod.

"Yes, but so far, no one has come forward to take credit for the crime." The newscaster said as Ryotaro spoke up around another yawn.

"True. Loads of prank calls, though, that's for sure." Ryotaro said as the commentator spoke up again.

"So the cause of death is still unknown? And they don't have a single suspect yet? Taxpayers' funds are going to a police force who can't even figure out if this is an accident or a homicide?" The commentator said, getting a annoyed sigh from Ryotaro as the newscaster spoke up again.

"And we'll be right back after these messages." The newscaster said as the TV cut to a familiar, at least to Nanako, commercial.

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day. Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our products!" The commercial announcer said as a jingle that Yu had heard at least twice since he had moved to Inaba was sang.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" The jingle sang as Nanako smiled and sang along.

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Nanako sang, not seeing Yu give her an amused smile, torn between being annoyed at how often that same jingle was on TV, and pleased at how much it seemed to cheer up Nanako when she heard it play. While Yu was immersed in his musings, Nanako turned to Ryotaro and spoke up.

"Hey Dad, if you don't mind, can we go to Junes together sometime?" Nanako asked, blinking when Ryotaro didn't reply right away, before she and Yu both blinked on hearing a snore, turning to see Ryotaro sleeping, having fallen asleep sitting up. Nanako blinked at the lack of response and kept speaking.

"No?" Nanako said as Yu spoke up kindly after realizing what was going on.

"I think he's asleep, Nanako. Maybe if he's still here when you wake up, you can ask him then. But if nothing else, I don't mind taking you to Junes at some point if you want." Yu said kindly to Nanako after noticing that Ryotaro seemed to be asleep. Nanako sighed at this and spoke up.

"Ugh, geez. He always does this. And I appreciate the offer, Yu, but I don't think Dad would let the two of us go to Junes without him, if only because he's protective of me." Nanako said to Yu, who nodded understandingly as he spoke up.

"That's fair. I just figured I'd ask, that's all." Yu said understandingly as Nanako nodded before the rest of the meal proceeded without incident. After Yu took the dishes to the sink and did them, he noticed it was raining outside, just as Chie said it would, and decided to go to his room early to prepare for the Midnight Channel that Chie had suggested Yu and Yosuke check out. After he recalled his promise to Chie, Yu shrugged and headed upstairs to get ready. Once he was upstairs, Yu got comfortable on the sofa and waited with the lights out, as Chie had said to do.

As he did so, Yu idly noted he could hear the sounds of rain, and even thunder, outside. Yu looked at the clock and idly noted that it was almost midnight. He then recalled what Chie had said about the Midnight Channel. Apparently, one's soulmate appears if they look into a TV on a rainy night at midnight. Not for the first time, Yu idly wondered if Chie's story could be true after all? As Yu sat there staring at the shut-off TV, he heard the clock ticking near him to indicate that it was about to be midnight. Had Yu looked out the window behind him at that moment, he'd have seen a trio of glowing lights through it, one each in blue, yellow, and red.

When nothing happened initially after the clock struck midnight, Yu scoffed and made to look away. And as he turned away, Yu saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye, turning around in time to see a staticky image on the TV of what appeared to be a woman writhing around on-screen, looking to be in immense pain. As Yu looked on, he swore the girl on the screen looked familiar to him. Before he could really think about why she was familiar, a loud thunderclap behind him drew Yu's attention away from the TV as he heard an ominous voice echo in his head.

"I am thou, and thou art I. If you can hear my voice, then listen well. Thou art the one that fate has chosen to shoulder a tremendous fate. The one who opens the door to destiny." Yu heard as he started groaning as he felt a headache coming on as he writhed around for a bit, before a second thunderclap outside preceded the sound of a quiet explosion nearby, after which Yu ended up on his knees in a darkened room, the only lighting coming from the window outside that was unblocked by the open curtain. After Yu managed to get his headache under control, just as the clock struck 12:01, Yu got to his feet and looked at the TV. As he did so, a thought ran through his mind.

"What was that? 'The one fate has chosen'? 'The one who opens the door to destiny'? I wonder..." Yu said before he approached the TV on a whim, tapping the screen with a finger before gasping as he saw a series of white ripples flicker across the screen from the spot his finger had touched. Blinking in surprise, Yu decided to try sticking his hand into the TV, gasping as it went right through as if the TV screen was non-existent. But then he felt his arm being tugged into the TV and spoke out in shock.

"What the-!? Whoa, agh! Aaaagh!" Yu said, managing to pull his arm free, but not before taking a backwards tumble and smacking the back of his head on the nearby table. As Yu got to his feet, he rubbed the back of his head and spoke up, his muffled curses of pain and groans muting the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Gah! What the frickin' hell? That hurt like a son of a whore! Agh, fu-!" Yu said before cutting his cussing off mid-sentence when he heard someone speak up outside of his door.

"Are you okay, Yu? I heard some loud noises." Nanako called through the door. Yu blinked and spoke up.

"Kind of. I'm sorry if I woke you up at all, Nanako." Yu called back, hoping Nanako hadn't heard him swearing just now. Nanako spoke up, though her tone of voice made it hard for Yu to tell if she accepted his response or not.

"Okay, if you say so. And the thunder woke me, if anything. Well, if you're not hurt, I'm going back to bed. Good night." Nanako said as she headed back to her room, as evidenced by the sound of retreating footsteps. Yu breathed a sigh of relief, glad Nanako hadn't opened the door, since he wasn't sure how he'd have explained it if she'd seen what had happened. After all, how does one tell their six-and-a-half year old cousin that they smacked their head on a table trying to pull their arm back out of the TV!? Even Yu knew that sounded farfetched, and he lived through it. Yu then frowned, wondering what had just happened. After rubbing his sore head once more, Yu decided to get some sleep and compare notes with Yu and Chie tomorrow...

(The following morning, on the way to Yasogami High, in the 'School Zone' of the Samegawa Flood Plain, with Yu and Chie)

As Yu was walking to school, he heard footsteps run up behind him as a familiar voice spoke up.

"Perfect timing! Sorry, Narukami-san, but move over!" Chie said as she ran up and forced herself under the umbrella of a surprised and perplexed Yu, who gave Chie a very confused look that had her sheepishly chuckle and speak up.

"Eheh, I know what you're thinking. 'Where's your umbrella, Satonaka-san?' The truth is, I did have my own, but I saw this kung fu movie where they used an umbrella to pull off some sweet moves recently, and to be honest? I accidentally broke mine trying to mimic the movie." Chie said as Yu sweatdropped and spoke up.

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest, Satonaka-san. But I guess I don't mind sharing with you until we get to school." Yu said as Chie spoke up.

"Thanks. By the way, I meant to ask you. Did you see it!?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up.

"The Midnight Channel? Yeah, I did see it." Yu said honestly. Chie smirked and spoke up.

"Aha, do tell. But the person it showed on the TV was odd." Chie said as Yu spoke up.

"Oh? Odd in what way, exactly?" Yu said as Chie spoke up.

"Ehh, never mind. I'll save it for when the others are around. We're gonna be late for school." Chie said as Yu nodded and the two started walking. After a bit, Chie spoke up nervously.

"Oh, eheh. Uhh, this is awkward. To be honest, Narukami-san? I-It's kinda awkward to only bring this up now, but truth be told? We're pretty close here, standing like this." Chie said as Yu spoke up.

"Weren't you the one who forced yourself under here, Satonaka-san? I don't mind sharing, but you could've asked, and I'd have tried to make it so there was enough room for both of us under here without having to stand too close to one another." Yu said kindly as Chie spoke up in embarrassment.

"Eheh, good point. U-Um, I'm gonna just go ahead and run the rest of the way!" Chie said as Yu smiled at her and spoke up.

"If you're embarrassed about us being seen together under here when we're a boy and a girl, don't worry about it. We're just friends, if even that, right? And the last time I checked, sharing an umbrella with someone didn't have any sort of romantic or intimate implications that I know of. So you can relax, Satonaka-san." Yu said kindly. Chie blinked at this and spoke up.

"Huh? Are you serious, Narukami-san? Are you sure?" Chie asked as Yu nodded kindly, making Chie smile at him as she spoke up.

"If you say so, then I'm not that worried anymore. I guess it's okay. Thanks. Alright, c'mon! Let's go." Chie said as Yu nodded and the two walked to school together...

(Later that morning, in History class, with Yukiko, Chie, Yu, and Yosuke)

As Yu sat in class, he blinked at the sight of his history teacher, who was clearly a woman with a giant Egyptian headdress. The history teacher then spoke up.

"Hello, everyone. My name is Kimiko Sofue, and I don't know how much you know about world history, but I'm an expert. First, a little about me. I love to use my dowser to look for lost items, and there's nothing quite like a romance. In fact, world history is a magnificent romance. History is like a river, it was born in the past and flows ever forward. I hope we can all enjoy the profundity of history together. Hohoho." The now-named Sofue said as Yu made himself pay attention, even though he privately thought history was a bit boring. At that point, Sofue kept speaking, oblivious to the fact that she was losing the attention of some of the class.

"And since this is my first lecture, I'll start with an easy question. Let's have our transferee, Mister Narukami, please stand up." Sofue said as Yu blinked and got to his feet as Sofue kept speaking.

"The western calendar is based on Anno Domini, the traditionally believed year of Jesus Christ's birth. What is the year before 1 AD called?" Sofue asked Yu, who almost blinked, but instead smiled, as he recalled having to help a friend with this exact question before transferring, so he knew the answer readily.

"The answer is 1 BC, Miss Sofue." Yu said confidently as he gave the answer he knew to be correct. Sofue, for her part, smiled approvingly as she spoke up.

"Ah, you seem to understand this well. If you think history is like math, 0 AD would be the natural assumption, but world history is much more complicated. The Gregorian calendar we use today is based on the Julian calendar, which was made while there was no concept of the zero as a number. That's why, when counting backwards, we go from 1 AD straight to 1 BC. Hopefully that was a nice introduction to world history for all of you." Sofue said as Yu smirked to himself for giving the correct answer in class, letting him feel as if he was getting smarter, netting him an unseen increase to his Knowledge. From there, the rest of class passed uneventfully...

(After school, in a classroom with Yukiko, Yu, Yosuke, and Chie)

As class let out, Yu got ready to leave class, only to pause as he heard a pair of girls gossiping near his desk, to which he got curious and listened in.

"What's up with the body being hung upside-down? That's so freaky!" The shorter of the girls said as the other girl spoke up after having a seat.

"Is it supposed to be like, mimicking an execution? It's messed up, if you think about it." The sitting girl said as the short girl spoke up.

"My senpai told me it was a third-year named Saki who found the body recently." Yu heard as his attention was grabbed by the sound of footsteps, turning to see Yosuke approach his desk and speak up.

"Y-Yo. Um, what's up?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up in confusion.

"What's up, Hanamura-san?" Yu asked as Yosuke spoke up nervously.

"It's, uh, it's not really that important, but to be honest? Well, yesterday on TV, I-" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.

"Yes?" Yu asked politely as Yosuke spoke up in embarrassment.

"Oh, uhh, you know what? Never mind. Look, I'll tell you later. Ahaha, my bad." Yosuke said as Chie walked over and spoke up.

"Yosuke, did you hear the rumor? Saki-senpai's supposedly the one who discovered that body." Chie said as Yosuke frowned and spoke up.

"Huh. I wonder if that's why she looked so down recently. She doesn't seem to be at school today, either." Yosuke said as Yukiko drew the group's attention by standing up to leave, causing Chie to look at her and speak up.

"Huh? Hey, Yukiko, are you helping out at the inn today too?" Chie said, causing Yukiko to turn around and speak up with an apologetic nod.

"That's right. Things are really out of hand right now, and I'm needed at the inn. I'm sorry." Yukiko said as she walked off, after which Yosuke looked at Chie and spoke up.

"Is it me, or does Yukiko-san seem really stressed out today?" Yosuke asked as Chie spoke up.

"Not sure, to be honest. I guess they're running her ragged at the Amagi Inn." Chie said, noticing the surprised looks on Yu and Yosuke's faces and speaking up before either one could answer her question.

"By the way, did you see, you know, IT, on TV last night?" Chie asked as Yosuke blinked and spoke up.

"Huh? IT? Uh, well, that's a good question. What about you?" Yosuke said as Chie spoke up with an unreadable look on her face.

"I did! I seriously saw a girl!" Chie said as Yu arched an eyebrow and spoke up.

"Wait, you saw a girl? You're a girl, and you're trying to say that by the logic of what you told us, your soulmate is also a girl? You do realize the implications of something like that, right Satonaka-san?" Yu asked politely as Chie blinked and spoke up.

"I-wha? That's a good point, Narukami-san. But, wait. I'm a girl, and my soulmate's a girl? What's that supposed to mean?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up.

'You're sure it was a girl?" Yu asked as Chie nodded and spoke up.

"Uh-huh! I couldn't quite tell who it was, but it was a girl for sure! I know that for a fact! Her hair was brown, about shoulder length. She was wearing our school uniform, and that was about all I could clearly make out." Chie said as Yosuke blinked at that and spoke up.

"Hey, if that's true, that's wild. I think that's the same person I saw. I couldn't make out that much detail, though. The image I saw was much blurrier than I expected." Yosuke said as Chie gasped and spoke up.

"Wait, so you saw it too!? And we saw the same girl as one another? Does that mean, if we both saw the same girl, that we have the same soulmate?" Chie asked as Yosuke spoke up.

"How should I know?" Yosuke asked Chie before turning to Yu as he kept speaking.

"How 'bout you? Did you see it?" Yosuke said as Yu nodded and spoke up.

"I did. It's a bit of a long story, but the gist is I saw the same girl you two saw, so if that's the case, we all have the same soulmate, assuming that we didn't just prove that that part of the myth about the 'Midnight Channel' is wrong. Also, I may or may not have tried to put my hand into the TV after hearing an odd voice in my head telling me things like 'you are the one chosen by fate' and 'The one to open the door of destiny', gotten sucked into the TV, got stuck while doing so, and had to pull my arm out. It was wild." Yu said, getting sweatdrops in response from Yosuke and Chie as the former of the two spoke up.

"Hmm. It sounds like we all saw the same person last night. But weird voices aside, what was that about getting sucked into your TV last night? Were you that tired last night? You must've just fallen asleep in front of the TV." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.

"If that was the case, why would I dream about smacking the back of my head on my bedroom table after, having it hurt like a son of a whore, and then having Nanako come running to check on me in time to stop me from cussing in front of her out of pain? Seems like that would be an odd sort of thing to dream about, don't you think?" Yu said bluntly as Chie giggled and spoke up.

"True. However, if it was a dream? That'd be one interesting dream, though. I like the part where you got stuck 'cause your TV was so small. That's pretty realistic. If it had been bigger-" Chie said before gasping as she cut herself off mid-sentence and kept speaking as she changed the subject.

"Ohhh, that reminds me. Our family's been talking about buying a bigger TV." Chie said as Yosuke smirked at that and spoke up.

"Oh yeah? Well, flatscreen TVs are definitely in these days. Wanna go check 'em out on the way back? We're beefing up our electronics department this month." Yosuke said as Chie smirked and spoke up.

"Oh, definitely! My parents don't know anything about electronics, and I've just gotta see my kung-fu movies on the big screen! Hwa-taaaa!" Chie said as Yosuke turned to Yu and spoke up, chuckling as he spoke.

"We've got some pretty big ones in stock. I bet they'd be big enough for you to fit into, hehe." Yosuke said as Yu spoke up while giving Yosuke an annoyed look that was a cross of a pout and a frown, ignoring the smirk on Yosuke's face and Chie's struggle to not giggle at the sight of Yu pouting while he spoke.

"Very funny. But I suppose if nothing else, I can use one of those to see if I was dreaming about everything that happened last night, which I doubt I was." Yu said agreeably, giving both Yosuke and Chie a half-hearted glare for teasing him about being stuck in his TV. Yu then realized that neither Yosuke or Chie believed what he'd told them, which he had to reluctantly admit was an understandable reaction, since it would be farfetched for anyone who hadn't been there to see it for themselves. Shaking his head, Yu decided to not be mad at Yosuke and Chie and go to Junes with them...

(A short time later, in the Electronics department of Junes, with Yu, Chie, and Yosuke)

After reaching the Electronics section of Junes with Chie and Yosuke, Yu looked around at all the TVs, noting that a couple were on what appeared to be a rotating image of flowers by a windowsill. As he was looking around, Yu heard Chie speak up excitedly, though her tone started getting more and more subdued as she spoke.

"Wow, this is huge! And, for real!? Holy crap, it's expensive! Who buys something like this?" Chie asked as Yosuke shrugged and spoke up.

"I dunno. Maybe rich folks? Honestly, not many people shop for TVs here. That's why we don't have clerks around." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up.

"Huh, I see. Well, it's not worth trying then, I guess. Well, at least looking's free." Chie said as she and Yosuke shrugged, both heading towards the TV and trying to put their hands in, only to have no success. Yosuke chuckled as he spoke up.

"Ehh, nope, we can't get in. Figures." Yosuke said as Chie chuckled and spoke up.

"Haha, this proves it. It was all just a dream." Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a smirk.

"Besides, even if it wasn't a dream, these flat-screen TVs are so thin, you'd just end up on the other side if you could go in. Argh, what am I saying!?" Yosuke said before turning to Chie and speaking up.

"So, Chie. What kind of TV are you guys in the market for?" Yosuke asked as Chie spoke up with a shrug.

"I dunno. All they said was they wanted one that's cheap. Got any suggestions?" Chie asked as Yosuke walked over to one of the nearby TVs and spoke up in his best showman's voice.

"Well, Miss, might I suggest this one over here? It's the newest model, just released this spring and all." Yosuke said as Chie took one look at the price tag and gasped as she spoke up.

"Wha-!? That's not cheap at all! There's way too many zeroes!" Chie said as Yosuke winced and spoke up.

"That's my fault, I suppose. I should've asked what you meant by 'cheap' right off the bat." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up while Yu was partially listening to the conversation, his eyes looking around the Electronics section, frowning at cutouts of a black-haired woman with a red and pink kimono that Yu felt like he'd seen before, but couldn't put his finger on where.

"You've got connections, right? C'mon, hook me up!" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a wince.

"You know I can't do that. I'd probably get fired if I did that, to say the very least." Yosuke said before turning to another TV as he kept speaking.

"Hey, how about this one over here? It's a display unit. It's a little old, but I'm sure we can get you a good price on it." Yosuke said, and as he led Chie towards the TV in question, Yu's focus turned back to the big-screen TV as a thought occurred to him. Maybe only he could enter the TV? And with a TV this big in front of him, if that is true, he might really be able to go inside and prove Chie and Yosuke wrong.

Mind made up, Yu shoved his hand into the big flat-screen TV as he approached it, and to his shock, it went right in, all the way up to his wrist. At that same time, Yosuke happened to glance over towards Yu as he spoke up, his eyes widening mid-sentence as he saw Yu's arm in the TV.

"Oh yeah, Yu, what kind of TV do you-?" Yosuke said, cutting himself off mid-sentence in horror as he processed what he was seeing. Chie blinked in confusion and spoke up.

"Huh? Something wrong, Yosuke?" Chie asked before turning towards Yu and being surprised when her eyes widened in shock as she realized what Yosuke had been shocked by as she saw Yu's arm in the TV. Eventually, a shocked Yosuke spoke up.

"Are we both losing it, or i-is his arm actually in the TV right now?" Yosuke asked Chie, who blinked and spoke up in surprise.

"Whoa. It looks like Narukami-kun wasn't lying. That, and he's the only one who can go in the TV for some reason. Odd." Chie said before turning to Yosuke as she kept speaking, oblivious to Yu's realization that it might have to do with the voice he'd heard before his arm went into the TV.

"Uhhh, Yosuke? Is that some kinda super high-tech new model? L-Like with a new function?" Chie asked as Yosuke frowned and spoke up.

"Hell no!" Yosuke said as he and Chie rushed over to Yu, at which point Chie looked at Yu and spoke up in shock.

"You've gotta be kidding me, Narukami-kun. Did you really stick your hand through the screen?" Chie said as Yu spoke up with a smirk on his face, even as he had a look of surprise at his hunch being right.

"I'm not usually one to say 'I told you so', but I did tell you guys so. Now do you believe me?" Yu asked bluntly as Yosuke nodded and spoke up in shock.

"Oh man, that's pretty crazy! This is for real, isn't it? That's some magic trick, man! So how's it work, huh!? What's the magician's secret!?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up after registering that both Chie and Yosuke were staring at him in astonishment.

"I honestly have no idea. All I know is that, impossible as it might seem, I can enter TVs for some reason. Perhaps it's related to what I heard about being chosen by fate to have a tremendous fate and open some door of destiny, or whatever it said." Yu said before realizing that if this much worked, maybe he could put more than just his arm into the TV. That thought in mind, Yu removed his arm and stuck his head into the TV, being surprised when both it and part of his shoulders went right through. Yosuke gasped at this in horror and spoke up.

"H-Hey, don't do that! What're you doing!?" Yosuke said as Chie gasped and spoke up.

"Oh my God!" Chie said as Yu looked around, noting that there was lots of empty space inside of the TV as he did so, which he found odd. He then relayed his findings to Chie and Yosuke, the latter of which spoke up in horror.

"Wh-What do you mean, 'inside'!?" Yosuke asked as Chie spoke up in horror.

"Never mind that! Wh-What do you mean, 'empty space'!?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up.

"Exactly what I said, you guys. It seems to be very spacious inside of here, from what I can tell." Yu said as Yosuke spoke up in horror.

"Wh-What do you mean, 'spacious'!?" Yosuke asked as Chie spoke up in disbelief.

"I mean, what's going on!?" Chie said as Yosuke started dancing up and down in a mix of fear and discomfort.

"Holy crap, of course this happens now! I-I think this is all too much for my bladder, you guys!" Yosuke said as Chie pulled a disgusted face and spoke up.

"Wh-What the-? Are you gonna pee your pants!?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up.

"I've been holding it in all day! I-I haven't had a chance to go to a bathroom this entire day!" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up from inside the TV.

"Do they not have bathrooms at Yasogami High?" Yu asked as Yosuke spoke up.

"Yeah, but no one wants to use a public bathroom like that. Not to mention, it's usually got at least one other person in it." Yosuke said before grunting as he spoke up.

"Aaarrgh! Can't do it! I'm not able to hold it in anymore, you guys!" Yosuke said as he ran off before running back and speaking up.

"Shit! Customers! They're coming!" Yosuke said as Chie gasped and spoke up.

"What!? But we've got a guy half-stuck in the TV here! Wh-What're we gonna do!?" Chie said as she and Yosuke started frantically running around, eventually slamming head-on into one another, knocking the both of them, along with a shocked Yu, who had been right behind Chie and Yosuke at the time of their collision, into the TV, sending them falling into the TV...

(A bit later, inside of an unknown location inside of the TV that had been fallen into, with Yu, Yosuke, and Chie)

As the visibility returned to the group, they found themselves falling for a long time until landing abruptly on solid ground with a series of pained grunts as Yu, Yosuke, and Chie tumbled to the ground, in that order. After the trio got to their feet, Yosuke groaned and spoke up.

"Oww, that hurt like a bitch. And I think I landed right on my wallet when I hit the ground." Yosuke said as he rubbed his lower back before Chie spoke up in shock as she looked around.

"Maaan, where the heck are we, you guys?" Chie said as Yu got to his feet and tried a joke.

"Well, one thing's for sure. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Yu joked, getting a pair of unimpressed glares from Yosuke and Chie for his attempt at humor as the latter spoke up.

"Can it, Narukami-san. This is all because YOU panicked both myself and Yosuke when you stuck your whole damn HEAD AND SHOULDERS into A FREAKING FLAT-SCREEN TV! But still, what is this place, anyways? Someplace inside Junes?" Chie said as Yosuke shook his head and spoke up with a scoff.

"Hell no, it isn't. I mean, we fell through a TV, didn't we? Actually, uh, how did we fall into here? I mean, I know it's partly Narukami-san's fault, as the only one who can go into a TV, but still!" Yosuke said as Yu frowned and spoke up.

"Yeah, yeah. I screwed up. Sorry. I just was caught up in wanting to be sure I wasn't going crazy. But I will accept the bulk of the blame here, since this is on me." Yu said honestly as Chie and Yosuke smiled at Yu and the latter spoke up.

"Eh, it's fine. I'm more shocked than angry, anyways. That being said, what is going on here, anyways?" Yosuke asked. Yu shrugged and spoke up.

"Good question. I suppose there's only one way to find out the answer to it, isn't there?" Yu said as Yosuke and Chie nodded before they looked around, realizing that their visibility was limited due to being inside of a TV. After a bit, Chie spoke up.

"So, all complaints aside, I have to wonder. Uh, are we inside of a TV!? And, we're still alive despite that, right?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up.

"I think so. Again, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. That being said, are you guys okay?" Yu said, noting that he felt as if he'd gained a bit of compassion and tolerance in that moment, leading to an unseen increase to his Understanding. At that point, Yosuke groaned and spoke up.

"Ugh, I think my butt's cracked now, you guys." Yosuke said as Chie blanched at that and spoke up.

"Uhh, of course it is!" Chie said as Yosuke looked over and spoke up in shock at what he saw.

"Whoa!" Yosuke said in shock as Chie frowned and spoke up, ignoring the identical pair of grimaces on Yu and Yosuke's faces from what she said next.

"Wh-What now!? Did you wet your pants!?" Chie said as Yu spoke up while looking at Chie with an eyebrow raised.

"Is that really something for you to call him out on, Satonaka-san?" Yu said dryly to Chie as Yosuke nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Exactly, Narukami-san! And Chie? No, stupid! Look around!" Yosuke said as the group looked around at their surroundings, and Chie spoke up to voice what Yu had also realized.

"Is this place supposed to be some sort of a studio? All this fog is everywhere. Or is it smoke? Either way, one thing's for sure. There's no place like this in Inaba, is there, you guys?" Chie asked as Yosuke spoke up.

"Hell no there's not. I think we'd remember it if there was such a place as this in town." Yosuke pointed out as Yu spoke up rather sheepishly.

"Or at least those of us who've been here longer than a couple of days would probably remember it. I, on the other hand, have only been here for about 3 days at this point, so I would say I know Inaba considerably less than you two do." Yu pointed out. Yosuke nodded and spoke up.

"That's a fair point, Narukami-san. But man, look around! This place is huge, isn't it?" Yosuke said as Chie spoke up after a moment.

"What're we gonna do, you guys?" Chie said as Yu spoke up after a brief pause to think about it.

"Let's look around. Odds are there'll be an exit to this place around here somewhere. And if nothing else, we're not gonna achieve much standing around, are we?" Yu said firmly but honestly. Chie spoke up at that point with a decidedly uneasy tone of voice.

"Huh, B-But what if we get lost, or even worse, separated from one another?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up.

"Obviously, we stick together while we're in here. If we run into a situation where we need to relieve ourselves, whoever needs it can have the other two stand nearby, but still far enough away to give that person privacy to do their business. Otherwise, we're not splitting up for anything. As for getting lost, as long as we stay together, we shouldn't have to fear that." Yu said as Yosuke nodded his agreement before Chie spoke up.

"Fair. But look, we need to get home and-!" Chie said before blinking as she looked around.

"H-Huh, where's the exit?" Chie asked in shock. Yu spoke up with an understanding and kindly nod.

"I don't think there's one that's readily visible, if there is one at all. But that's all the more reason to look around." Yu said as Chie spoke up.

"That's fair. Wait a minute, though. Which way did we come in from?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up.

"Pretty sure we fell in from above?" Yu said as Yosuke nodded his agreement before Chie spoke up in a slightly fearful sounding voice.

"I don't see a way to have come in around here, or a way out!" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up in shock once he realized Chie was right.

"What? That can't be right! H-How could that be!?" Yosuke asked in annoyance as Chie frowned at him and spoke up in an equally irate voice.

"I don't know! Don't ask me! I can't take this anymore! I wanna go home!" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up angrily.

"Okay, that's fair. So how do we do that!?" Yosuke asked as Yu spoke up after a moment.

"I think this comes back to what I suggested before. Let's look around for a way out. I doubt that whoever made this place did so without having an exit from here put in." Yu said calmly yet reassuringly. Yosuke and Chie both seemed to take slight comfort in Yu's idea as the former spoke up in relief.

"Y-Yeah, an exit! We need to find one! Let's calm down and think about this. All right, so we need to find a way out." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up, her anxiety plan to hear in her voice with what she said next.

"Is there really a way outta here, though?" Chie asked as Yu spoke up with a reassuring nod.

"I'm sure there is. Why would someone make a place like this and not have it come with at least one way to get out?" Yu said. Yosuke nodded his agreement.

"Narukami-san has a point. We got in here, after all, so by that logic, we must also be able to get out somehow." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up.

"That's true. But why does a place like this even exist inside of a TV in the first place?" Chie asked as both Yu and Yosuke shrugged, unsure of the answer to Chie's question. The latter of the two spoke up at that point.

"That's a good question. However, I think we need to stick to the more pressing problem, namely our present lack of a visible exit. I trust Narukami-san when he says there's probably an exit around here. Besides, if there's no exit, we're trapped, so let's cross our fingers and look around." Yosuke said as Yu and Chie nodded their agreement and started walking around the area together. Eventually, they came to what appeared to be the balcony of an apartment complex, with an open doorway at the end of the hall giving off an extremely ominious red and black swirling light. Chie saw it, winced, and spoke up.

"What is this place, you guys? It feels different from where we were before, somehow." Chie said as Yosuke spoke up with a frown.

"Good question, Chie. It looks like we're in some kinda building, but I can't really tell if it's an apartment complex or possibly some sort of school? Either way, it's definitely ominous." Yosuke said before swearing as he looked around and kept speaking.

"Damn! This fog's so thick, I can hardly see." Yosuke said as Chie spoke up nervously.

"Are you sure we're not wandering farther away?" Chie asked uneasily as Yu spoke up.

"As long as we stick together, we have a good shot at finding a way out. So no matter what, let's not split up unless we absolutely have to." Yu said as Yosuke nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"Exactly. That's a good idea, Narukami-san. Also, I can't be positive, but we've gotta trust our instincts a little." Yosuke said as Chie frowned and spoke up.

"I know, but this place is still creepy." Chie said as Yu spoke up.

"You're not wrong. But at this point, I dunno if we can see well enough to find the path back to where we were before. As such, our best, and really only, choice for now is to continue onward." Yu said calmly yet wisely. Yosuke nodded his agreement and fell into step with Yu as the two led the way into the doorway, Chie eventually following once she realized the other two had walked off.

A short time later, Yosuke and Yu had walked through the doorway into what appeared to be a bedroom, albeit a very simple bedroom with green curtains, a sliding window with a screen, a shelf with posters on the wall above it of a female wearing a red and pink kimono with no face that Yu swore looked familiar somehow, and an odd box of some sort in the shelf itself. Apart from that and the wooden flooring and the hints of what appeared to be a floor-mounted fridge, the only other object in the bedroom appeared to be a futon mattress with a thick fluffy white blanket on it. After a bit, Yosuke spoke up.

"Hey, is it me, or is the fog lighter here?" Yosuke said before pulling out his phone to try using it, only to frown as he had no reception, looking up in time to see Yu nod to his earlier question before he kept speaking.

"No service. What a surprise that my phone isn't working here, wherever 'here' is." Yosuke said as Chie caught up to Yosuke and Yu at that point and spoke up with a look on her face that was a mix of annoyed and anxious.

"Can't you guys slow down a little? It's hard enough to see where you're going in all this fog." Chie asked as she registered the surroundings and gasped before she kept speaking after looking around.

"Huh? What the hell is this place!?" Chie said as the camera panned out to show more of the same pictures as were above the shelf from before, but a lot of these were marred with ominous red splats on various parts of the wall and the lockers that Yu and Yosuke hadn't seen when they first walked in. Yu blinked as he looked up and saw what looked eerily like a red strip of cloth tied to a rope in the shape of a noose hanging from the ceiling, with a chair scooted away not far from where the noose hung down. Before Yu could comment on what he'd seen, Chie spoke up once again.

"It's a dead end! There's no exit!" Chie said as Yosuke frowned and spoke up.

"That's not good! And it keeps getting creepier and creepier the further we go into this place, it seems like." Yosuke said before groaning in pain as he started clutching his bladder as he kept speaking.

"Aargh! I can't hold it any longer, you guys! My bladder's gonna explode!" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up quietly but firmly, giving Yosuke an understanding look as he spoke.

"Hanamura-san, if you need to go, go out there and relieve yourself over that balcony. I'll keep Satonaka-san in here with me so you have some privacy while you do that. But try to be quick about it. The longer we're separated for, the likelier it becomes that that person could end up lost if they're not careful.

But if you just go outside, whip it out, and relieve yourself, you should be able to find us again easily. Also, I don't think Satonaka-san wants you to use the bathroom in front of her, since she is a lady." Yu said simply as Yosuke nodded and ran outside, where all you could hear was a zipper unzipping, clothes hitting the ground, and what sounded like a stream of liquid going over the side of the balcony in a downward stream, prompting Chie to walk towards the door to see if it was Yosuke, only for Yu to put a hand on her shoulder and shake his head before speaking up.

"You know what he's doing out there, Satonaka-san. Do you really think that Hanamura-san wants people to watch him while he does it?" Yu said as Chie grimaced and spoke up.

"Eww! I don't want to be near Yosuke if he's dropping his pants to take a piss!" Chie said in disgust, after which Yosuke yelled from outside.

"Shut up, Satonaka! I gotta let this out before I piss my pants!" Yosuke said as Chie winced and spoke up.

"Then do it! Don't just talk about it!" Chie said as Yosuke nodded, returning to emptying out his bladder over the side of the balcony. Because of how loud his sigh of relief was, none of the trio currently looking for an exit heard the sound of someone crying out in shock, followed by what sounded like grossed-out sounds as the liquid stream could be heard hitting something below. Chie frowned as she spoke up after she and Yu heard the liquid hitting something.

"Did Hanamura's piss actually hit something below!? Ugh, you have GOT to be kidding me!" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up from outside.

"S-Shut up! I can't go if it sounds like people are watching!" Yosuke yelled from outside. After a bit, the sound of running liquids ceased, and Yosuke sighed in relief once more before the group heard something get shaken around, followed by clothes being pulled up, topped off by the sound of a zipper going up as Yosuke fixed his belt outside before walking back in as Yu pulled out the bottle of hand sanitizer he kept on him for emergencies, opening up the lid as he spoke to Yosuke.

"You look like you could use some of this to wash your hands, or at least clean them, Hanamura-san." Yu said as Yosuke gratefully accepted a squirt of the sanitizer on each hand, rubbing his hands together as he spoke up.

"Ahh, there we go. Much better. If I hadn't let that out, I think my bladder might have burst." Yosuke said as Yu laughed and spoke up after accepting the sanitizer back, which he used a bit of on his own hands before tucking the sanitizer bottle back into his pocket while he spoke.

"That's fair. Sometimes, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do. Though I think next time I should probably keep Satonaka-san further from the door so she can't be traumatized by the sounds you were making out there, Hanamura-san." Yu said as Chie frowned at Yu and spoke up.

"Like I care about that! Is that something that a guy should say around a girl!?" Chie pointed out as Yu and Yosuke apologized, which Chie forgave as she kept speaking.

"Anyways, changing the subject from how disgusting guys can be, what's with this room? Check out these posters on the walls! Their faces are all cut out and stuff! Someone must really hate this person if they're destroying pictures of them." Chie said as Yu spoke up.

"I noticed that when we got in here, but I didn't really have a chance to mention it before Hanamura-san needed to do his thing." Yu said as Yosuke chuckled at Yu's nonchalant reference to him having to race out of the room to empty his bladder over the balcony, only for his chuckles to quickly subside as he saw the chair in the middle of the room, looking up to go wide-eyed as he spotted the noose hanging from the ceiling and spoke up.

"Dude, look at this! The way this chair and rope are set up? That kind of arrangement is never good to see. And that rope's tied in a noose with that red cloth-like thing. Actually, is that cloth-like thing a scarf?" Yosuke asked as a fearful Chie spoke up.

"C'mon, you guys! Let's go back to where we came from and look somewhere else for an exit, please!" Chie said as Yu and Yosuke nodded their assent as the trio started to leave the room, only to stop as Yosuke frowned at one of the posters and spoke up.

"Hey, wait a second. I think I've seen this poster before somewhere." Yosuke said as a fearful and slightly irate Chie spoke up.

"Who CARES!? Let's go! I am sick of this place! And I'm not feeling so good, if I'm being honest with you guys." Chie said as Yosuke winced and spoke up.

"Crap. Now that you mention it, me too. How about you, Narukami-san?" Yosuke said to Yu, who spoke up.

"I do feel a bit off too, now that you mention it." Yu said honestly, noting that his body felt heavy in that moment. Yu then kept speaking to voice a thought he'd had.

"I wonder if the reason we're feeling off is because of this place's seemingly oppressive atmosphere? Or am I imagining that?" Yu asked. Chie and Yosuke shrugged as the latter spoke up.

"You could be right, Narukami-san. All right, let's go back. I'm seriously starting to feel sick all of a sudden." Yosuke said as the trio made their way back the way they came. After a bit, they found their way back to the studio-like area they'd first landed in after falling in the TV, at which point Chie sighed in relief and spoke up.

"Whew, that's a relief. We finally made it back here to where we started." Chie said before blinking as she noticed something in the distance and kept speaking.

"Wait a minute. What's that over there?" Chie said, pointing towards what she'd seen, and both Yu and Yosuke gave visible starts as they looked where she'd pointed, the latter speaking up in shock.

"Th-There's something over there!" Yosuke said as an indistinct figure started approaching them, eventually entering the group's field of view and revealing itself as what appeared to be a walking red and white bear suit with blue fur on its' head, hands and feet. Chie winced at the bear-like figure before scrunching her nose in disgust as she spoke up while looking at Yu and Yosuke.

"What is this thing? A monkey? A bear? Or maybe something else? And why does it reek like a urinal?" Chie said as Yu saw the faint hints of discolored spots on the bear-like figure's head, wincing as he turned to Yosuke.

"Uhh, Hanamura-san? I think that I just figured out what you hit earlier when we heard something get hit while you were emptying your bladder." Yu said while subtly pointing at the bear-like figure as he spoke so Yosuke could see who he meant, getting a confused look from Yosuke as he looked from Yu, to the bear-like figure that had visible wet spots on its head, and back to Yu before his eyes went wide in realization mid-sentence as he spoke up.

"What in the world is... OH CRAP! You mean to tell me that when I took that piss before, it landed on-!?" Yosuke said to Yu, who simply nodded once to Yosuke, who had a look of horror spread over his face before turning a fearful look onto the figure as he spoke up.

"I am SO sorry about that! I had no idea anyone was down there, and I really needed to go! Please don't be angry at me! It was an accident!" Yosuke said as the bear-like figure shocked Chie, Yosuke, and even Yu by speaking up.

"Don't worry about it. Accidents happen. A little heads-up would be great next time, though! But never mind that! That girl over there asked a question, didn't she? And to that, this is my answer. Th-That's what I wanna know! Who are you guys, and how did you get here?" The bear-like figure said as Chie gasped and spoke up.

"No way! It talked!" Chie said as Yu spoke up, not seeing Yosuke and Chie's eyes widening in shock at what he said next.

"Is this some sort of living bear suit, I wonder?" Yu mused before Chie turned to the bear-like figure and speaking up while trying to sound braver than she felt.

"W-What are you!? Y-You wanna fight!?" Chie said as the bear-like figure proceeded to cower in fear as he spoke up in terror.

"D-Don't yell at me like that, miss! It's bad enough I had all this golden liquid rain down and hit me in the head earlier!" The bear-like figure said, making Yu wince as he saw that it was cowering in fear, almost as if it was afraid of Yu, Yosuke, and Chie. Reconsidering his initial plan, Yu wondered if it would be better to ask the bear-like figure nicely about where they were. Yu then decided that was too rude and spoke up.

"Excuse me, whoever you are? Would I be too rude if I asked what you are?" Yu asked. Almost as if sensing the underlying intention of warmth and reassurance in Yu's words, the bear-like figure stood up and spoke up.

"I'm a bear. Can't you tell? I live here by myself. I've always lived in this place. However, it doesn't have a name." The bear, as it identified itself, said as a shocked Yosuke spoke up.

"Are you serious? You actually live here?" Yosuke asked as the bear nodded and spoke up.

"Yep. If I was you guys, I'd hurry back to the other side. Someone's been throwing people in here. It's a big headache." The bear said as Yu and Yosuke exchanged shocked looks at this before the latter spoke up.

"Huh? Throwing people in? What're you talking about?" Yosuke said as the bear stamped his foot on the ground angrily and spoke up.

"I dunno who's doing it! I just want them to think before they go doing things like that!" The bear said as an irate Chie spoke up in a loud voice.

"Hey, what's your problem? What gives YOU the right to yell at us like that!?" Chie said as Yu winced and spoke up.

"To be fair, this is the bear's place, and we're the ones who technically trespassed by falling in here. Also, we can't really be too mad at it since Hanamura-san may have managed to unwittingly compound our current situation by accidentally pissing on its head." Yu said bluntly as Chie cringed and spoke up in disgust.

"First of all, EW! Can we not talk about that!? Secondly, I know that!" Chie said to Yu before turning to the bear, who started cringing in fear as she kept speaking.

"What ARE you!? Where are we!? What the heck is going on here!?" Chie said as the terrified bear ran to hide behind a shocked Yu, who looked down at it and raised an eyebrow in a questioning way, but made no move to push the bear away, figuring the bear was just scared and not minding if it needed a bit of comfort. The bear then looked at Chie as it spoke up warily.

"I already told you where you are, and what I am. A-Anyways, you should hurry back." The bear said as Yosuke spoke up in a tone that was a mix of skeptical, annoyed, and unsure.

"So, what it comes down to is that you want us to get outta here, right? Well, so do we! We just don't know how, dammit!" Yosuke said as the bear glared at Yosuke and spoke up.

"Urrrrgh! That's why I'm saying I'll let you out!" The bear pointed out as Yosuke frowned and spoke up in irritation.

"Like I keep saying, we don't know where the frickin' exit...Wait, hold up. What?" Yosuke said, his eyes widening mid-sentence as the bear tapped his foot on the ground and a trio of old-looking TVs seemingly sprouted out of the ground in a tower-shaped formation, to Yu and Chie's surprise. At that point, Yu arched an eyebrow and spoke up.

"Since when do TVs grow from the ground?" Yu asked as Yosuke spoke up.

"Good point. What the hell!?" Yosuke said as a shocked Chie spoke up.

"Wh-Where did those TVs come from!?" Chie asked as she, Yu, and Yosuke crowded around to look at the TVs, unaware of Teddie sneaking around behind them as he spoke up.

"Okay, now go, go, get outta here! I'm a busy bear!" The bear said as Yu frowned and spoke up.

"Busy? What could you be busy with if you live here alone?" Yu asked as Chie spoke up after feeling the bear pushing her, Yu, and Yosuke from behind.

"What's going on now!? Whoa! Hey, what're you doing!?" Chie said as Yosuke spoke up after realizing what the bear was doing.

"Hey! S-Stop pushing!" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up at that point while the bear shoved the trio into the TV.

"I think he's trying to get us out of heeeeeere!" Yu said, his sentence being changed into a scream as he, Yosuke, and Chie all fell into the TV once again...

(Back in the Electronics section of Junes, with Yu, Chie, and Yosuke)

Eventually, the trio of Yu, Chie, and Yosuke all tumbled out of the TV they'd fallen into, landing on the ground in the Electronics section of Junes. Eventually, Chie spoke up after the trio looked around to see where they were.

"Huh? Is this where I think it is!?" Chie said as Yu spoke up with a nod.

"I think it is where we think it is, Satonaka-san." Yu said as Yosuke spoke up with a look of shock on his face.

"Did we actually make it back?" Yosuke asked, and as if to answer his question, a voice came on over the store PA system.

"Attention, shoppers. Our daily limited-time sale will now begin at the side dish area on the first floor. Why not try the delicious, fresh produce Junes picked for you this morning as your side dish for dinner tonight? All ages are invited to take advantage of this incredible bargain!" Yu, Yosuke, and Chie heard over the intercom as Yosuke blinked and spoke up.

"Crap, it's already that late!?" Yosuke asked as Chie sighed and spoke up.

"Good, we made it back safely. Looks like we were in there for quite a while, weren't we?" Chie said as Yu winced and spoke up.

"Yeah, we really were. And again, I'm sorry for being at least a partial cause of that by wanting to prove I could put my body into the TV. If I hadn't done that, you two wouldn't have gotten scared, ran into each other, and knocked all three of us into the TV." Yu said apologetically as Yosuke smiled and spoke up.

"That's fine, Narukami-san. I forgive you. That's right, though. Now I remember where I saw that poster before that was in that creepy room. Look over there! That's the poster we saw!" Yosuke said as he pointed a finger towards some nearby posters. Yu gasped as he looked where Yosuke was pointing, as he was correct. Yu had seen these same posters while looking around the Electronics section as Yosuke was showing Chie TVs to try and make a sale. Chie then spoke up.

"Hey, you're right, Yosuke. They're the same. I couldn't tell before without the face, but it was Misuzu Hiiragi who was on those posters in that room. She's been all over the news lately." Chie said as Yu nodded his agreement and spoke up.

"You're right. It was a big story on the news the night I moved in with my uncle and cousin." Yu said as Chie nodded and spoke up.

"Right. Something about a scandal that erupted after she caught her husband having an affair with that announcer lady who died the other day." Chie said as Yosuke blinked and spoke up.

"Hey, so does that mean what I think it does? That weird room we saw earlier seems way more suspect now. Could it be related to that Yamano lady's death somehow?" Yosuke said as Yu spoke up.

"It's not impossible for that to be the case, Hanamura-san." Yu said agreeably as Yosuke spoke up.

"True. And now that I think about it some more, there was that creepy noose hanging from the ceiling in that room." Yosuke said as Yu and Chie gave him attentive looks, making him shudder and wince as he spoke up.

"Yaaargh, stop! No more! We gotta stop talking about this. I'm gonna wipe what happened today from my brain. I don't think my poor heart can take anymore." Yosuke said as Chie nodded her agreement and spoke up.

"That's fair. I'm feeling a chill too, to be honest. Let's go home for now. I wanna lie down and rest." Chie said as Yu and Yosuke nodded their agreement as the group parted ways for the evening on that note...

(That evening, at the Dojima house, with Yu, Ryotaro, and Nanako)

As Yu walked into the Dojima house, he was surprised to see Ryotaro already at home and sitting with Nanako, both having meals in front of them. Ryotaro looked at Yu and spoke up.

"Hey, welcome home." Ryotaro said as Yu sat down and nodded, still feeling a bit sluggish from what he'd been through that afternoon with Yosuke and Chie. Ryotaro then turned to Yu and kept speaking, an unreadable look on his face as he spoke.

"Uh, hmm, how to put this? Well, I doubt you'd know anything about it, but have you heard anything about a student named Saki Konishi?" Ryotaro asked as Yu spoke up with a nod.

"Yeah. She goes to Yasogami High, from what I hear. Apparently, she wasn't at school today from what I heard some students saying." Yu said as Ryotaro blinked at this and spoke up.

"Oh, is that so? I see. That's interesting." Ryotaro said before sighing as he kept speaking, taking advantage of Nanako being distracted by the TV to be honest with Yu.

"To be honest with you, we got a call from her family. Apparently, she's disappeared. We've got people looking for her, but she hasn't been found yet, surprisingly." Ryotaro said as Yu gave Ryotaro a shocked look as Ryotaro kept speaking.

"Ugh, work just keeps piling up for me, doesn't it?" Ryotaro said as the newscaster spoke up before Nanako could even begin to question what she'd heard.

"And now, more on the case still casting a shadow over the foggy town of Inaba. Not long ago, television announcer Mayumi Yamano was found dead in the small town. Up until now, her whereabouts prior to her death had been unknown. But the police investigation has found that she had been staying in the region's famous Amagi Inn." The announcer said as Yu blinked at this, recalling that Chie had told him the previous day that the Amagi Inn was the name of the inn that Yukiko's family had run for generations. Before Yu could continue his musings, the newscaster kept speaking.

"She had apparently been staying there alone. Perhaps she was taking a vacation to recover from her ordeal involving the affair she was accused of having with Taro Namatame?" The newscaster said as the commentator chuckled and spoke up.

"Oh yes, the Amagi Inn! Their hot springs are first-rate. The manager's teenage daughter also works there, and it's rumored that she'll take over there this spring. If that happens, she'll be one of the youngest managers on record! I should book another trip there!" The commentator said as both Yu and Ryotaro had appalled looks on their faces, the former thinking that this was entirely unprofessional behavior for a commentator, much less a full-grown adult male, to be displaying on the air. Even the newscaster seemed appalled given what he said next.

"Uhhh, if you say so? I-I see how you feel. Moving along, it's time for the weather report. The rain has begun to subside. From now until morning, heavy fog warnings will be in effect in the Inaba region. Visibility will be severely reduced, so please be careful if you plan on driving in the area of Inaba at this time." The newscaster said as the news kept going, though Yu tuned it out to mull over what he'd heard recently about the incident.

Apparently, just before the announcer was found dead, she was rumored to be staying at the Amagi Inn, which is run by Yukiko's family according to Chie. Furthermore, it appears as if Saki Konishi, who had discovered the body of the dead announcer, was now nowhere to be found. At that point, Nanako drew Yu out of his train of thought by speaking up as she looked at Ryotaro.

"Is the ramen ready now?" Nanako asked Ryotaro, who spoke up.

"Give it some more time. Also, isn't it kind of rude for us to be eating in front of your cousin?" Ryotaro said as Nanako spoke up.

"He's the one who chose to come home late, though. But I suppose you're right." Nanako said reluctantly, giving Yu an apologetic look, which he waved off with a reassuring smile, trying to reassure Nanako that he wasn't offended by her words in the slightest. And then, right as Yu was trying to reassure Nanako, he ruined the effect by suddenly sneezing, which caused a chill to run through his body. Ryotaro blinked as he heard the sneeze and turned to Yu as he spoke up in concern.

"Are you sick? You're probably still adjusting to the new environment." Ryotaro said kindly to Yu before turning to Nanako as he kept speaking.

"Nanako, could you go get him some cold medicine?" Ryotaro said as Nanako merely nodded and went to get the requested medicine. Once she left the room, Ryotaro spoke up.

"You should get to bed once you take it, Yu." Ryotaro said as Yu nodded and waited for Nanako to get back with the cold medicine, at which point he thanked her, to her surprise and amusement, to which Nanako replied by shyly smiling at Yu before giving him a simple 'You're welcome.' in response before having a seat and digging into her meal with Yu. After Yu took the cold medicine he'd been given, Yu decided to go head up to bed as Ryotaro had advised, figuring he needed the chance to mull over the events of that day...

(Meanwhile, back in the States around that same time, at the Kusanagi residence with Gaignun, Marisa, Slim, and Lily)

As Gaignun and his friends dug into their dinner, which was one of Gaignun's personal specialties that he'd taken to calling 'Nacho-Yolk Surprise', which was basically an egg omelette with bacon bits and nacho cheese mixed in, and was something he was surprisingly good at making. Ironically, it was one of the few recipes he'd gotten to practice at length with his grandmother before her sudden passing a few years prior in a car accident that had taken out both his grandmother and his mother's cousin Rosie, who had originally put Gaignun's mother and grandmother up.

After the accident had happened and claimed the lives of Rosie and Hikari Kusanagi II, Hikari Kusanagi III had inherited the house, which was now occupied by herself, Gaignun, and Marisa, and often had some combination of Slim, Kusano, Ace, Sage, and Lily hanging out as well. At this point, Gaignun looked across at Slim and Lily, who happened to have shown up for dinner, and smiled at the clearly happy expressions on their faces as they dug into Gaignun's handiwork. As Gaignun helped himself to his cooking, Marisa frowned at him and spoke up.

"Big Bro, when are you going to let me go with you to visit Mom in the hospital? You promised I could go with you this last time, and then you went ahead and decided to go and see her without me! Why would you break a promise to me like that!?" Marisa said angrily as Gaignun winced at the question and spoke up.

"I wasn't planning on it, but you were in school at the time, and Mom doesn't stay awake for that long nowadays. When she is up, she's usually only up for like 30-45 minutes at the most, if that. And I don't think that's enough time to have run down, picked you up, and brought you with me. But I promise you can come the next time, if you're not in school. How's that? I just want to be sure she won't fall asleep while you're talking to her or anything like that. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings by going without you, but I didn't really have a choice in the matter, Mari. Please understand." Gaignun said as Marisa sighed but nodded as she spoke up.

"It's fine. I forgive you, Gaignun. But still, I'd like to see Mom at least once in the hospital. After all, we both know she's on borrowed time at this point." Marisa said as Lily frowned and spoke up.

"And you're sure you can see your mom in a hospital bed, probably hooked to a lot of machines that are keeping her stabilized? Because I doubt Gaignun's been able to not have at least some scarring from what he's seen so far." Lily said as Slim nodded and spoke up.

"True. And I know you love your mom a lot, but maybe it's better that you be able to remember her as she was before the hospital, rather than as she is now. However, it's Gaignun's call in the end if he lets you see her or not, Marisa. Surely you're mature enough to accept that?" Slim said as Gaignun spoke up.

"I'm not saying I don't want Marisa to go, because she deserves to see our mother if that's what she wants. I'm just trying to make sure that Mom will actually be able to appreciate having us both there before I bring Mari along. After all, Mom has to conserve her energy so she can stay awake for long periods of time nowadays. And I know Mom would love to be able to see Marisa at least once before the end." Gaignun said wisely, getting understanding nods from Slim, Lily, and Marisa, the latter of which spoke up with a sigh.

"I'm sorry if I came off like a brat earlier, Gaignun. I'm just upset that Mom's having to deal with this, that's all." Marisa said as Gaignun smiled before getting up to gently hug his sister and speak up.

"I understand, Mari. But you know I'll always be here for you to the best of my ability, right?" Gaignun said as Marisa smiled and spoke up.

"I know, Big Bro. I would just really hate it if I didn't at least get to see Mom once more before she leaves us, even if it's only to tell her goodbye and that I love her." Mari said, looking like she was trying not to cry at that point, which Gaignun understood perfectly. Slim then spoke up.

"Rather than talk about depressing stuff, can we talk about how much of an amazing cook Gaignun is!? Who knew he could make such a good omelette?" Slim said as Gaignun chuckled and spoke up after letting go of Marisa and setting her in her seat before resuming his previous seat.

"Eh, what can I say? It's a God-given talent. The fact that Mom and Grandma helped to hone it with me is just an added bonus. Actually, this omelette we're eating is an improvement I accidentally made on one of Grandma's recipes. But I'm glad to hear that you guys like it." Gaignun said happily as Lily spoke up.

"Like it!? We love it! This is amazing." Lily said as Gaignun smirked and spoke up.

"Glad to hear it, Lily. Though maybe I should cut back on how often I cook, lest I get you too reliant on my cooking and accidentally make Kusano jealous if the day ever comes that you decide to be with him." Gaignun said as Lily laughed and spoke up.

"You say that like I wouldn't rather be with you, though." Lily said teasingly as Marisa giggled and spoke up.

"You and Gaignun would be cute together. But I don't think Gaignun likes you that way, Lily." Marisa said as both Gaignun and Lily spoke up.

"MARISA!" Gaignun and Lily rebuked Marisa as the former kept speaking.

"Behave, little sis! And besides, it's not Lily's fault that I think of her and Sage as being like sisters to me. After all, we both know Mom practically raised them after a certain point, along with Slim, Kusano, and Ace. So it's not that shocking that I view those five as being like family to the both of us, Marisa." Gaignun said as Lily smiled and spoke up.

"And I respect that you're honest about that, Gaignun. At least you're not the type to lead girls on. That'll be points in your favor for when and if the day ever comes that you do end up getting a crush on some lucky woman." Lily said with a smile as Slim snorted and spoke up.

"Gaignun!? Finding a girlfriend!? Good one! The way he's moving, I think Marisa's likelier to get a girlfriend than Gaignun is, or possibly even a boyfriend. But I think I'll leave it at that, both out of not wanting to embarrass Mari more than I already have, and out of not wanting Gaignun to go try and find Ace to read him the riot act like the overprotective big bro that he tends to be." Slim said as Marisa blushed in embarrassment and spoke up.

"S-Slim! Shut up!" Marisa said with a pout while Gaignun blinked and spoke up in shock once Slim's joking remark about Marisa and Ace registered to him.

"Wait, hold up a second, Slim. Are you suggesting that my 12-year-old little sister might have herself a crush on Ace!? I mean, it makes sense, but why would she pick the one of you guys most apt to unintentionally break her heart and make me have to kick his butt for making her cry!? But if that's her choice, I respect and support it. I just hope she outgrows those feelings, so she doesn't end up brokenhearted down the line if she tries to make a play for Ace, only to find him with a girl closer to his age." Gaignun said honestly as Marisa sighed and spoke up.

"I know, I know! I'm too young for Ace to like me that way. You've told me that before, Gaignun." Marisa said irritably, deciding to busy herself with her meal rather than yelling at both Gaignun and Slim. Lily, for her part, laughed and spoke up.

"How cute. Looks like Mari might have her first crush going on. It's a shame she's wasting it on the likes of Ace, when she could've done so much better and went for either Kusano or Slim, or even either myself or Sage, if she happens to swing both ways. But she's still young, so she has plenty of time to learn about love and relationships. Let's not rush it, yeah?" Lily said as Gaignun nodded gratefully and spoke up.

"I agree. Thank you, Lily." Gaignun said as Slim smirked and spoke up.

"In any case, Mari's growing up to be quite the knockout. Give it a few years, and she'll have all the boys, and probably even the girls, falling at their feet to make her notice them. And I don't envy being Gaignun when that happens." Slim said as Gaignun frowned at Slim and spoke up while giving Slim his best side-glare so that Marisa and Lily didn't see.

"Can it, wise guy! I'd rather NOT think about Mari being old enough to date for a bit longer if it's at all possible. I understand that you're trying to do it as a distraction, but I'd rather enjoy spending time with Mari while she's still young, adorable, and an innocent little cuddlebug. After all, she'll be at that awkward teenage angst stage where she doesn't want to spend time with her mom and Big Bro soon enough, I'm sure. I'd rather enjoy having her want to spend time with us while I still can, thank you." Gaignun said dryly to Slim before turning to Marisa as he kept speaking.

"You know that Mom loves us both a lot, right Marisa?" Gaignun asked Marisa, who nodded but said nothing as Gaignun kept speaking.

"Good. So then, you'll believe me when I say she's not mad at you for not coming to visit yet. She's just happy you're not letting her situation get you down too much. But I promise I'll bring you to see her soon, since I agree you deserve to see her at least once more while she's still alive. I'm just being overprotective and worrying about you too much because I care about you, that's all." Gaignun said as Marisa smiled, got up, and hugged Gaignun as she spoke up.

"Thank you, Gaignun. That's all I wanted to hear, you know. I love you, Big Bro." Marisa said as Gaignun blushed in embarrassment and spoke up while patting Marisa on the head, trying not to look at what he was sure were a mix of amused and teasing looks on the faces of Slim and Lily, the latter of whom was openly giggling at the look currently on Gaignun's face as Gaignun spoke.

"You're welcome, Marisa. I love you too, little one. You're lucky we're only in front of Slim and Lily, so I don't care if they see us comforting one another. Now let's eat, since it's getting late, and someone has school tomorrow." Gaignun said bluntly to Marisa, who nodded as the rest of the meal ended in silence, Gaignun trying not to think about the thought that the day that he was going to have to put his own grief aside to prop Marisa up as the two suffered through losing their sickly mother to her illness was drawing ever closer...

END OF CHAPTER

A/N: And boom, there we go! Another chapter, done and dusted! I won't lie though, I thought I was going to get through at least a bit more in this chapter, but it is what it is. At this point, the first foray into the TV is in the books, with a few change-ups I decided to make for the sake of humor. As far as the cutaway at the end to Gaignun and the others, I wasn't planning to do it at first, but then I saw an opportunity to keep that side of the plot relevant, and took it. But don't get too used to seeing a lot of those, since the plan is to try and not have those in every chapter.

I plan to have those cutaways only in certain, pre-selected points in the story, which will gradually get more and more frequent the closer we get to Gaignun's plotline linking up with the main plotline of Golden (which is still a ways off, since I plan to deal with it around mid-game, in place of a certain other well-known dungeon focused around a mostly irrelevant character whose only main plot relevance is a scene early on that he appears in that he gets shot down by Yukiko, and a certain area of the game involving a mostly 'filler' based section of the game that only seemed to serve as a filler dungeon as far as I could tell.), so be patient for now if you're a fan of Gaignun.

That being said, as a preview, next chapter should be when the mystery starts to intensify, and some of the first big twists of the story become apparent (and when I say that, I don't just mean the bear that was in this chapter, either!). Will we see the first bits of actual gameplay? Will the fact that Yu, Yosuke, and Chie landed in a TV together be important at all? You'll have to wait for next chapter to find out!

And with that out of the way, let me take this chance to thank everyone who's been reading this far into the story, as the support is crazy and is much appreciated! Feel free to keep reading the chapters, and even leaving reviews below (or just PMing me if preferred) with any thoughts/feedback/suggestions/constructive criticism on the story, since I enjoy hearing from my readers. And until the next chapter, sithlorde1988 out!