Chapter Text
4/11 Monday
Taking in the idle chatter of the other people on the train platform, Yu Narukami fixes the collar of his new uniform. Well, “fixes” isn’t really an apt term, he’s more so just popping the collars of his shirt and jacket, but he sees it as fixing it. These collars are a nice touch, now I won’t have to overheat till the summer wearing a turtleneck under my uniform. Plus, this makes me look more… alpha? Doesn’t scream delinquent, but also doesn’t scream honors student either, good first impression.
His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of screeching metal, he turns his attention towards the track to see the train arriving. He finishes readjusting himself and boards the crowded train. His mind drifts back to the dream he had last night, of an old man with a long nose and a beautiful woman in a limo with a deep blue interior. They asked him to sign a contract, then the long nosed man proceeded to tell him his fortune. Must’ve been something I ate. He steps off the train and goes onto another, then onto the train that will take him to the place he’ll be staying for the year, Inaba, some small rural town in the middle of nowhere. He looks forward to the quiet in comparison to the city.
As Yu idly checks his phone, a stoic voice crackles through the train speakers. “Yasoinaba. Yasoinaba.” Yu reaches to grab his belongings as a flash of memory of the dream he had comes over him. He shakes his head and grabs his bag, stepping off the train and down the stairs into Inaba. Stopping to take in his surroundings, he goes and buys a water bottle from a nearby vending machine. As he bends down to pick up his bottle, a gruff voice calls out to him.
“Hey! Over here!” Yu turns, and begins walking towards the duo he sees. A middle-aged man with a head of black hair and a little-past-five o’clock shadow on his face smiles at him, alongside a little girl with brown bangs and pigtails partially hides behind his leg. “Well, you’re more handsome in person than in your photo.” Yu readjusts his bag on his shoulder, smirking at the compliment. “Welcome to Inaba. I’m Ryotaro Dojima, I’ll be looking after you. Let’s see… I’m your mother’s younger brother… and that about sums it up.” Dojima finishes, scratching the back of his neck.
“It’s nice to meet you.” His response comes out quieter than he wanted it to, visibly wincing after he finishes speaking. “Sorry, it’s nice to meet you, Dojima-san” He speaks at a slightly louder volume.
His uncle chuckles at the awkwardness of the interaction, then smiles a bit brighter. “You probably don’t remember, but we’ve met. I’ve changed your diapers before, you know.” The teen raises a brow. Glad to know he’s seen me naked. Dojima gently nudges the girl behind him to be in front of him. “This here’s my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin.”
The girl fidgets a bit and looks to the ground before making a small whine, then murmurs a greeting he can barely hear. She blushes and retreats behind her father once again, this time trying to hide herself as much as physically possible. Dojima laughs warmly, “You’re quieter than he is, and what’re you so shy for?” Nanako’s blush deepens and she slaps her father on his butt. “Ow!” As he continues laughing, she makes another noise of discontent, then he finally composes himself, “Well then, let’s get going. My car’s over there.” Yu nods and the three begin walking towards the car, then a feminine voice comes from behind him.
“Hey.” He turns to see a rather unfriendly-looking girl wearing an outfit that baffles him. “You dropped this.” She holds out to him the note he made for himself about Dojima’s address with a look of complete disinterest, he shakes off his bewilderment at her outfit and takes the paper. He thanks her but she waves her hand, “Whatever, all I did was pick it up.” Then she just walks away. Okay… what a sour attitude. But that was a sign of good things to come, if all the girls in Inaba look anything like her, then I think I’m in for an entertaining year. His uncle calls out to him, snapping him out of his thoughts, and he climbs into the car.
They stop at the gas station on their way back, Nanako goes to the bathroom, and after a short conversation with the gas station attendant, Dojima goes to have a smoke a short walk away. Yu stretches as the attendant fills up the car. “So… you in highschool? We need some part-timers here, you interested?” The highschooler in question just shakes his head. Bit early in my stay to start looking for work. “Still tryin’ to get used to how dull it is compared to the big city? You’ll be bored to tears if you don’t have a job or somethin.’” The attendant puts the gas pump back in its holder and turns back to Yu, “Hey look, just give it some thought, sound good?” He holds out his hand.
“Yeah, sure.” After waiting a moment, he’s not entirely sure the man heard him so he just shakes his hand. The attendant nods and heads towards another car that just pulled in as Dojima comes back from his break. He apologizes for making him wait and pats Yu on the shoulder. Yu winces at a sharp pain in his head and stumbles lightly into the back of the car.
Nanako looks at the teenager holding his head with a look of concern, “Are you okay? You look bad, are you carsick-y?” Yu shakes his head, not trusting his voice at the moment.
Dojima looks back through the rear-view mirror, “You must be exhausted after that ride, just relax, we’ll be home in a few minutes.” Yu closes his eyes in a fruitless attempt to speed up the slowly fading migraine.
———
They arrive at the house, a very calming interior greets him and he goes upstairs to begin unpacking. After a few hours pass, along with a short nap, he feels a bit better, and he’s called downstairs for dinner. A delectable assortment of sushi lies on the table before him.
“All right, let’s have a toast.” His uncle raises his glass a bit, so Nanako and Yu follow suit, all clinking together then taking a sip. “So.. your mom and dad are busy as always… They’re working overseas, was it?” Yu nods as he begins eating. “I know it’s only for a year, but getting stuck in a place like this because of your parents… it’s rough being a kid.”
Yu stops eating for a moment. Guess he doesn’t know about all the transfers in the city then, don’t think it’d do much of anything to tell them that I’m used to it though. After shrugging in response, he continues eating.
“Well, it’s just me and Nanako here, so it’ll be nice having someone like you around. As long as you’re here, you’re part of the family, so make yourself at home.” He finishes with a smile, and Yu can’t help but smile and bow in return. “C’mon, there’s no need to be so formal. Look, you’re making Nanako all tense.” He teases, and Nanako jumps slightly at her name, she looks down and continues eating after calming herself.
After about five seconds of silence, Dojima’s phone rings, he groans and answers, “Dojima speaking… yeah? I see, so where is it? Uh-huh, alright, I’m on my way.” He sighs and flips his phone shut after hanging up. “Looks like I made the right choice skipping the booze.” He mutters before looking at the two still eating, “Sorry, but I gotta go and take care of some business. Go ahead and eat without me. I don’t know how late I’ll be, Nanako, you help him out okay?” He’s leaving this late for work? What kind of job drags him out of the house at dinner? He walks over to the front door and puts his shoes on, then grabs his umbrella once he realizes it’s raining. “Nanako it’s raining out, what did you do with the laundry?!” He calls as he’s about to head out the door.
“I already brought it in.” She says with a small sense of pride, but with a frown on her face. Dojima says his goodbyes and closes the front door, leaving the two cousins to sit and eat in silence. After a few minutes of neither of them saying anything, Nanako turns the TV on, which is talking about this week’s weather.
I should strike up a conversation, don’t wanna make her think I don’t wanna talk to her. “It must be tough.” She doesn’t respond, and he assumes that he must’ve been quieter than the TV so he sighs and repeats himself a bit louder, she looks at him and swallows her food.
“...It’s always like this, my dad’s a detective.” She turns to the TV, and he does the same. The news talks about some politician’s affair with a reporter. “This is boring.” Nanako says as she changes the channel, and Yu hums in agreeance. The channel changes to one with an advertisement for some place called Junes, which has an annoyingly catchy jingle that Nanako happily and adorably sings along to, seemingly uplifting her gloomy mood. Yu smiles and finishes eating, still a tad hungry, he walks over to the fridge and spots some fried rice, he eats that, and finds that it has no taste. ...Strange. He then bids Nanako a good night and turns in early.
———
4/12 Tuesday
He wakes up the next morning in a cold sweat. What the fuck was that?! What was in that fog? That pressure… my power, that thing that appeared behind me?! I bet it was the fried rice, shit that’s completely tasteless just can’t be good for you. Yu changes out of his pajamas into his uniform and heads downstairs to see that Nanako cooked a whole breakfast for both of them.
She sits down, kicking her legs back and forth at the kitchen table, “Okay, let’s eat.” After the two of them eat their breakfast, Nanako happily proposes that they walk to school together, since her school is on the way to his, to which he smiles and happily agrees to. They grab their umbrellas and head out, after reaching Samegawa flood plain, she stops and tells him to keep going straight from here, and she walks back in the opposite direction towards her school. He waves and heads toward his destination.
Upon reaching an intersection, he hears squeaking coming from behind him, followed by “Shit, watch out!” After turning to the voice and backstepping a bit, he sees a boy with light brown hair swivel and crash into a telephone pole, upon which the bike bounced up and hit the teen right in the baby banks. He grunts in agony and jumps around, trying to dull the pain.
Ouch, that hurts just seeing it. Think I’ll just let him deal with this on his own. Yu pats the boy on the back before continuing his walk, and the boy seemed to be in too much pain to even notice. He arrives at the front gate of Yasogami High, taking in the sight. He looks in a puddle and adjusts his collars once again. Here we go, first impression, loud and stoic, but cool and confident. He walks into the school, ready to begin his second year.
———
*Chie POV*
Chie Satonaka sits at her desk, talking to her best friend since childhood, Yukiko Amagi, a beautiful girl with long black hair. The students in the class are talking about some cute transfer student joining them this year, alongside the titular Mr. Morooka being their homeroom teacher. Chie tries her best to ignore that she’ll be stuck with King Moron for an entire year and instead focuses on the transfer student from the city. “Just like you, huh, Yosuke?” She turns to look at the other transfer student from the city, only from the year prior, Yosuke Hanamura, who has his upper body sprawled across his desk. “Woah, you look dead today.” He doesn’t even look up and only grunts in response. His uniform is kinda wet too, what the hell happened to him? “What’s with him?” She turns back to Yukiko, who shrugs.
“Who knows?” The conversation ends there since the door to the classroom opens, and in walks his royal highness, King Moron, alongside a tall and handsome boy with silver hair and gray eyes. Huh, he is kinda cute, guess those girls were right.
“Awright, shut yer traps! I’m Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward. First things first! Just cuz it’s spring doesn’t mean you can swoon over each other like love struck baboons. Long as I’m around, you students are gonna be pure as snow!” The entire class sighs at the first tirade of the year. “Now I hate wasting my time, but I’d better introduce this transfer student.” The student in question shifts his eyes in King Moron’s direction, rather than the back of the classroom where they have been. “This sad sack’s been thrown away from the big city out to the middle of nowhere like yesterday’s garbage, and he’s just as much of a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him!” The student now turns his head towards the teacher, and narrows his eyes. “Go on kid, tell em’ your name.” Morooka says without even looking at him.
He looks toward the class again, “...I’m Yu Narukami.” Narukami speaks quietly and shakily, visibly wincing at something after he finished speaking. Then returning his glare to the teacher, “...You calling me a loser?” The student still speaks quietly, but menacingly. Geez, he said that so quiet that the rain hitting the window was almost louder than him from over here.
King Moron must’ve not even heard him because he thinks that Narukami was looking at one of the girls by the window, and he’s already started the second tirade of the year. Wow, I can’t tell if that’s good luck or terrible luck. He talked back to King Moron and didn't get called out! But he’s getting yelled at for something completely different that he didn't even do. Transfer student’s got some guts! I should probably help him out though…
Chie raises her hand and interrupts King Moron’s rant, “Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?” The cute transfer student looks at Chie and raises his eyebrows, or maybe he’s looking at Yukiko, kinda difficult to tell. King Moron yells at him to sit down, and he saunters his way over to the open desk next to Chie. She leans over to him and whispers, “He’s the worst, huh? Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class... we’ll just need to hold on for a year.” He nods in response, and mutters a barely audible thank you. “Don’t mention it.” She flashes him a toothy grin, and begins listening in on what the other students are talking about as King Moron keeps rambling. She turns back to the transfer student, Narukami-kun, I think? Ooo maybe me and Yukiko should talk to him after school! I wanna hear if he has any cool stories about the city. Oh haha, I could do my wingman routine! She smirks mischievously, and quickly looks away when he notices her stare. Watch out, kinda hot new guy, you’re gonna get an amazing first impression of us!
———
*Yu POV*
God fucking damn it, I don’t even think anyone heard me! Amazing first impression Narukami, now everyone thinks you’re some mute jackass who got yelled at by a teacher for no reason. There was nothing stoic about that, nothing cool, nothing confident, you radiate beta energy, not alpha! Yu’s self-deprecation is stopped by the PA system announcing that there is a meeting for teachers and that students must stay in class until further notice. Sirens sound in the distance and Morooka leaves the room, a few students get up and walk over to the window, and complain that they can’t see anything because of the fog. You know, now that I think about, this is the first time I haven’t sat by the window in one of my classes.
He looks over to see that some boy was talking to the cute girl in a red sweater who sits in front of the cute girl in a green jacket. That girl at the train station was a good sign after all. Every girl I’ve seen so far is incredibly attractive, and they seem friendly to boot. Shitty impressions aside, things are looking up. The boy walks away and the girl in green walks over and leans on the girl in red’s desk, he’s still kinda mad at himself for botching his introduction, so he only manages to hear something about rainy nights and something about an announcer soulmate? Their conversation is interrupted by the PA system once again blaring and announcing that there was an incident in the school district, telling the students to leave the premises.
As he gets up to leave, he’s approached by the christmas colored duo. “Hey, are you going home by yourself?” He nods, “Why don’t you come with us?” The light brown haired girl offers with a smile, his eyes widen and he can’t help but smile a little bit. This is the first time anybody approached me with such kindness so early on. “Oh, nearly forgot! I’m Chie Satonaka, I sit next to you.”
Yu clears his throat and speaks, “Of course.” He closes his eyes in frustration.
“Well, nice to meet you!” His eyes shoot open, and he hopes he doesn’t look too surprised, if he does, they don’t say anything. “This is Yukiko Amagi.” Chie introduces the cute red clad girl.
“Oh, nice to meet you… I’m sorry that this is so sudden.” Yukiko apologizes for their introductions on behalf of her friend, a gesture that Yu sees as unnecessary, as he was kinda happy about it.
“Oh c’mon, don’t apologize like that. It makes me look like I got no upbringing.” Yu stifles a laugh at that. “I just wanted to ask some stuff. Really, that’s all. Well come on, let’s get going, I wanna hear about the city!” Not really much to say honestly, or rather, nothing I’d really wanna talk about. Oh hey, it’s the bike guy. The possibly infertile student walks up to the trio and seems visibly nervous for some reason. He reaches into his bag and pulls out what looks like a movie case.
“Uh, umm, Miss Satonaka?” He stutters nervously, and a bit of sweat forms on his forehead. Miss Satonaka? This guy looks like he’s about to piss his pants, why is he so scared of her? “This was really awesome. Like, the way they moved was just amazing to see… so… thanksforlettingmeborrowitseeya!” He speaks absurdly fast, puts the case in her hands and proceeds to try and leave the class as fast as possible, only to be grabbed at the collar.
“Hold it!” She lets go and he doesn’t try to run again, she opens the case and gasps. “What the?! My Trial of the Dragon, it’s completely cracked! What did you do?!” She glares and he withers under her gaze.
“I-it was a total accident, a-and I’ll pay for it the s-second I get my next paycheck! So please don’t ki-” He’s interrupted by a flash of movement, as something he couldn’t see coming hits him right in the balls. Yu winces as the now definitely infertile student crumples onto the floor. Oh. That’s why he was terrified.
“Come on guys, let’s go.” The cute girl with kicks that break men icily commands the two who aren’t mourning their conceptual children. Chie leaves without looking back, and Yukiko follows suit without question. Yu looks at the boy on the floor, reaches a hand out and hesitates. Twice in one day, sucks to suck man. Eh, he managed to bounce back from the first time, bet he can do it again and better. I’ll just leave him be.
———
*Chie POV*
I can’t believe how terrible of a mood I’m in. Damn it, stupid Yosuke, breaking my Trial of the Dragon. Now there’s this creepy guy hitting on Yukiko and he doesn’t even go to school here! The creep in question is a boy with short black hair and black eyes that seem to lack life, accompanied by an outfit that seems more like funeral attire than a school uniform. “You’re Yuki, right? Y-you wanna go hang out somewhere?” He says in a voice that matches the lifelessness in his eyes.
“What…? W-who are you?” Yukiko questions as a small crowd begins to gather around them.
Utterances of that stupid Amagi challenge fill the tense air until the creepy suitor decides to speak again, “Um… so are you coming or not?” He asks in an almost irritated tone.
Chie turns to look at Narukami-kun, who says something she can’t hear, but his lips said “Amagi challenge,” and he quirked an eyebrow so she knew it was a question. “It’s some dumb thing about asking Yukiko out.” He “ahh’s” in response, and gives a nod. At some point during this interaction, the creep stormed off.
“Wh-what’d he want from me?” Yukiko asks with confusion filling her voice.
Chie’s eyes widen at her friend's cluelessness, “What’d he want? Uh, obviously he was asking you out on a date.” Yukiko gasps softly and covers her mouth, Chie rolls her eyes, what would she do without her? “You really had no clue? Sheesh… But then again, that was way over the top. It was creepy how he called you ‘Yuki’ all of a sudden. ‘Hey Yuki, wanna go out with me?’” She drops her voice as deep as she can to do a funny impression of the creep. Yukiko chuckles softly and rolls her eyes, and Chie turns to look at Narukami-kun, who has a smile on his face looking at her, which causes her heart to skip a beat.Woah, he’s pretty handsome when he smiles, almost makes me forget that I just saw a guy who made my skin crawl. She looks away to bite down the burning sensation flowing up to her cheeks, and sees Yukiko doing the same thing! Jackpot! A squeaking noise interrupts her internal victory, as Yosuke (somehow) walks over to the trio while pushing his bike.
“Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh? Man, you’re cruel… you got me the same way last year.”
Yukiko tilts her head up in thought with a contemplative look on her face, she then tilts her head back down with a neutral expression. “I don’t remember doing that.” Normally, this would hurt a guy who was rejected, not even being remembered.
But Yosuke isn’t a normal guy. His expression turns hopeful, and he smirks as he asks, “Whoa, you serious? So then, you wanna hang out sometime?!”
“I’d rather not.” Yukiko immediately replies.
“That’ll teach me get my hopes up…” He sighs dejectedly. “Anyways, you two better not pick on the transfer student too much.” He hops on his bike and speeds away.
“We’re just curious, is all!” Chie yells after him in defense.
Yukiko looks to Narukami-kun to apologize for involving him in all this nonsense, but he speaks before she can. “He has to be wearing a cup, there’s no way he could be riding his bike otherwise, he couldn't even be walking.” His quiet statement is so unexpected that Chie bursts out laughing, and Yukiko turns away and covers her mouth while her body shakes. Oh man, he made her go into one of her laughing fits without even knowing her! He’s perfect for her! She ignored the unpleasant feeling in her stomach as she finished that thought and began walking home, the other two quickly following.
As they’ve been walking, Chie was asking questions about Narukami-kun’s old schools and why he transferred to Inaba, she was kinda disappointed with the few answers she got honestly. “Ah… so you moved here because of your parents’ job? I thought it was something way more serious.” She turns to look at their surroundings, taking in the familiar sights and lack of anything eye-catching. Well, except for him and Yukiko. “There really is nothing here, huh? That’s what makes it nice, but there’s nothing much we can show to people from outside. Except the dyed clothes from Mt. Yasogami, or was it pottery? Oh wait! There’s the Amagi Inn! Yukiko’s family runs it, it’s the pride of Inaba!” Chie proudly declares.
Yukiko chimes in, after being oddly quiet on this walk, “I-it’s just an old inn.” Yukiko frowns ever so slightly.
Chie turns to her with a smile, “No way, it’s been featured in all kinds of magazines as a hidden treasure." She turns back to Narukami-kun, “It’s a great inn! It’s been going for generations, and Yukiko’s gonna run it someday. Their inn tracks a lot of visitors to Inaba, it pretty much keeps the town going.”
Yukiko flusters a bit, and her frown fades to neutrality, “I don’t think that’s entirely true.”
Chie looks at her, then back to the boy. A smirk appears on her face, “So, tell me. You think Yukiko’s cute, huh?”
His eyes widen, and he stays silent for a moment, as if considering his options, then he speaks softly, “I think so, yeah.” Hook, line and sinker, baby!
“Hohohoho I knew it!” Chie boasts triumphantly.
Yukiko’s frown returns, in full force this time, “Come on, don’t start this again...”
Chie ignores her plea, “She’s really popular at school, but she’s never had a boyfriend. Kinda weird, huh?” Chie continues her devious teasing.
Yukiko blushes and attempts to defend herself, “C-Come on, stop it.” She turns to Narukami-kun, blush still hot on her cheeks, “Y-you shouldn’t believe that, okay? It’s not true that I’m popular, or that I’ve never had a boyfriend! N-no w-wait, what I meant to say was that I don’t need a boyfriend!” She speaks frantically, before scowling at Chie, who’s laughing at her awkwardness.
“Sorry, I’m sorry, but this is our chance to talk to someone from the big city, and you’ve hardly said a word! Oh, right speaking of hardly saying anything, Narukami-kun, why do you talk so- huh? Hey, what’s that?” Is that a police barricade? What happened here?
Chie manages to pick bits and pieces of conversation around the barricade, something hanging from an antenna, and something about a dead body? “Wait a dead body?!” Chie nearly yells.
“Hey, what’re you doing here?” A gruff voice calls out to all of them, wait not all of them, just Narukami-kun?
“Oh, Dojima-san. Did something happen?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Well… you could say that.” The man awkwardly scratches the back of his head.
Chie turns to the boy with a confused expression, “You know this guy?”
Narukami-kun nods, and he leans in close so she can hear him when he says “He’s my uncle, I’m staying with him while I’m here.” Chie blushes at having his voice so close to her ear.
“I’m Detective Dojima, his guardian… Uhh well, how should I say this, I hope you get along with him. But you three really oughta stop wandering around and head home." My cheeks won’t cool off, my skin should be feeling tingly because of the dead body, not because some hot guy just whispered in my ear! Okay, I think thinking about the dead body is cooling me off. Gah! Now I’m getting creeped out because there was a dead body close to where we live!
Then, at that moment, three people thought the exact same thing. One, a quiet loner who has a horrible feeling that his stay here isn’t going to be as calm as he thought it was. Two, an energetic tomboy who is completely overwhelmed by everything that’s happened today. And three, a person that transferred here recently, who didn’t expect the outcome of what they did to be so grotesque, that they can’t hold down their bile, and vomit all over the sidewalk.
What a horrible start to the year…