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16:47 | February 12, 2012
The midwinter at Yasoinaba had remained calm, a perfect reprieve from the terrible fogs the town had suffered last year. The team who uncovered the mystery and lifted the fog now enjoyed a nice skiing trip at a popular skiing site nearby.
Dusk drew near, but the team leader, Yu Narukami, had decided to take someone to ski with before the sun set.
Moments later, he bombed down the mountain, descending rapidly with no intention to stop. He remains focused, making sure to avoid any bumps or obstacles on his way down.
Once he reached the bottom, he stopped and looked uphill, seeing a girl with long black hair, white fur jacket and a hairband, bombing downwards like he was.
She stops in front of him, as they make eye contact with each other.
"I win," Yu blunty says.
"That was fun, shall we have another go?" The girl asked. The girl in question was Yukiko Amagi, a rescued victim to the TV world and a member of the investigation team.
Yu takes off his skis and goggles. "We still have time before the sun sets. I'm down."
The two boarded the lift, on their way back up to the slope.
"Thanks for calling me out today," Yukiko says.
"I wanted to ski today with your company," Yu responds. "You love riding down the slope fast, don't you?"
"I do! It's the best!"
"Teddie seems to feel the same way, and speaking of him, did he say anything to you during the race? I think I heard him say something about a date while you two were racing."
"Oh yeah, he said if he wins, I owe him a date."
"Did he win?"
Yukiko pauses to ponder on her answer.
"Well he did reach the bottom first, so maybe," she answers.
Yu squinted his eyes at her answer.
"You were with Rise the entire trip too, you know. What were you two doing?" Yukiko retorts, looking at Yu with the same look.
"She was kinda just there with me since, Kanji was teaching Naoto, Yosuke was snowboarding with Chie, and you were racing with Teddie."
"You do have a point."
"Still, I would have loved to go skiing with you, and thankfully, I got my chance today."
"Are you sure?"
Yu looks around, before leaning in closer and responding. "Of course, my heart's still with you".
Yukiko gets the message and the two share a short kiss on the lift, with not many people around to see them.
"I'm glad," she says, her face a little red but satisfied. The couple read the top of the slope and ready their equipment, exiting their lift afterwards.
"Let's take this a little slowly now, I think I'm getting a bit tired from all the fast skiing," Yu says as he brings down his goggles.
"Skiing slowly this time now? This might be fun," Yukiko says.
The couple take off from the slope to continue their skiing.
The two ski down once again, before stopping at their destination.
"My legs are all wobbly," Yukiko mentions. "Snow Plowing all the time is pretty tiring… This is more exhausting than going all out on a hill."
"Let's take a break then, before we head back up," Yu says.
The two head over to the side to rest up, setting aside their equipment before settling down.
"Are you having fun?" Yu asks.
"Yeah, I think doing downhill runs is the best!" Yukiko answers. "When I'm just focused on skiing, I can forget all these other things and empty my mind."
Yu chuckles. "I kind of feel the same way too. After everything that happened, it's nice to be able to relax and forget about it all."
Yukiko looks over to the horizon, before speaking up again.
"Did I ever tell you this before? How I never liked my name 'Yukiko' from the start?" she says, piquing Yu's interest.
"The name means 'snow girl'... Because of it, everyone gets this impression of a quiet, calm person, something that melts away soon. That kind of image."
But I don't hate it anymore. You and everyone taught me an important lesson: Everyone has different faces… They can look for a new face as well. That's how I think things are.
This is the first time I've ever went on a trip with friends, and I am having so much fun!" Yukiko finishes, prompting Yu to smile at the girl.
"We have to do this again!" she adds.
"Let's make it just the two of us next time," Yu responds.
"Y-yeah," she blushes, "I'd love that… And when we do, could you teach me how to ski slower?"
"If you can keep up at a snail's pace, sure."
"I'll try, but I think bombing down the hill is still the best."
"Just remember to be careful Yukiko, and if you fall; I'll be sure to catch you," Yu says, inching closer to her.
Yukiko chuckles at his advances. "I would love that."
The two enjoy their moments together before they look over to the skies.
"Should we start heading back? It looks like it's about to start snowing again soon," Yukiko asks.
"I agree, we should get going," Yu says.
As the two get up from their spots, Yukiko realizes something.
"Um… Which way is it to the lodge?" Yukiko asks.
Yu looks at the distance, before his face drops.
"I think it's to the left…" he weakly points.
"You're not sure as well?" Yukiko asks, to which Yu responds with a shrug.
The two awkwardly stare at each other at the unfortunate revelation.
"W-Well, wherever we go, there's no way we can get lost. If we take a wrong turn, we can just take the lift back up, right?" Yukiko asks.
"R-right…" Yu answers.
With that being said, the two set off and begin walking to where they think the lodge is.
In their first trek, the couple take a left and end up in the forest. They turn around and take the lift back up.
Upon reaching the top, the snow began to descend rapidly, decreasing their visibility. Yu signals Yukiko to follow him as they make it all the way down.
They take a right turn but are unable to locate anything of value.
"I don't think this is the place, come on," Yu says.
The two attempt to reach back to the lift but are unable to find it?
"Which way is it to lift?" Yu asks Yukiko.
"I.. I can't remember," she responds.
This worries the boy as they might get stranded in this snow. Still, they press on.
Time passes for them to reach nothing once again. They stop dead in their tracks after walking endlessly for what felt like forever. The lodge is nowhere to be seen as the snow poured down hard.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Yukiko shouts. "I don't remember passing by such a deserted place."
Yu could only remain silent, unsure what to say that could defuse the situation.
"I hate to even think about it, but could we be lost?" she asked.
After looking around for the lodge, Yu comes to a conclusion. "Hate to say it as well but I think we are."
The winds of the storm were the only sounds to be heard for some time, the two unsure now of what to do in their current predicament.
"Hey, are you sure you're ok?" Yukiko suddenly asks.
"Huh? Yeah I am, why?" Yu responds.
"I'm thankful you're walking ahead but you must be tired too. Are you sure you're not pushing yourself too hard? Especially after what happened…"
"Yukiko, I've been fine for a while, all better since my sickness, and I did say I would protect you," he reassures her. "Are you holding just fine?"
"I'm pretty ok…" she says, trailing off.
A cold shiver is sent down her spine, before speaking up again. "No… I don't think I am. The snow looks like a big futon to me."
"Hey hey, whatever you do: Don't fall asleep, no matter," Yu ordered, and though his voice had a small break at the start, he kept his calm and composure.
"You're right but… I bet it'd feel nice to lay on the snow. It looks soft…" she hazily says.
"Not good, she's at her limit," Yu thought to himself.
He continues to scan their surroundings, in order to find anything to hide from the snow.
"Any cottages? Caves? Or just a small hut around? Personas are out of the question to fix this mess. Perhaps maybe-"
"Hey, look! There's something over there," Yukiko says, breaking the boy out of his thoughts.
He looks over to where the girl pointed, spotting something large in the midst of the snow. "There's no doubt that's a cottage. Doesn't seem to be the shape of our cabin but it should do us well."
"You think someone's around?" Yukiko asks.
"Only one way to find out. Our best choice so far is to try to get in and rest until the blizzard dies."
"Yeah… You're right, come on," Yukiko says, leading the way instead.
Once they both reach the cottage, Yukiko knocks on the door.
"Excuse me, is anyone there?" she asks.
…
…
…
No response from the inside. She knocks again, hoping this time for another response.
…
…
…
Once again, nothing. Yu twists the doorknob, only for the door to move forward after a small push.
"Unlocked… Come on, let's get in."
He lets Yukiko inside before shutting the door. The inside of the cabin was packed with tools but there was space at the center. Yu looks for a light switch, but it doesn't seem like he can find any, their only light being from the heavy snow outside.
"It's dark in here, I wonder why it wasn't locked," Yukiko ponders.
"Miracles happen. We would have been in real danger if we had to stay outside," Yu responds.
"Yeah…" Yukiko says, looking around the building anxiously.
"You cold?"
"Just a little, but now that we're out of the storm, I should be fine."
Yu nods and reaches into his pocket to grab his cellphone. At the same time, Yukiko speaks up.
"Hey, do you have your cell phone with you? I dropped mine in the snow a couple of times, so I don't want to risk turning it on until it dries."
"Yeah, I was about to grab it to call our friends," Yu responds, opening up his phone. Unfortunately for the two, it reads no signal on the screen.
He pockets his phone, facing Yukiko to report. "No signal, I won't be able to do much with my cell."
"I see… It would've been nice to send a message out, even if we are stuck here." Yukiko says.
"They'll know we're in trouble, I'm sure of it."
"Yeah, you're right."
"There might be something we could use here though, let's try searching the place."
Yukiko nods as the two start searching. Yu looks around the dimly lit shed, hoping to find something useful. He scours around the place, rummaging through tens of rubble, hoping to find anything.
He finds an old TV, unplugged from its power source. He is reminded of the TV world and all their adventures. The midnight channel, showing them the victims that would be murdered. It was a tough time for the team, but through their journey, they have met one another, forming an unbreakable bond between them all. His reminiscing is broken by a random question from his partner.
"Hey, Yu… Do you think there are others still skiing in this weather?"
"I don't think so, it's easy to get lost in the storm."
"You're right, I wonder when it will calm down. Even with this cabin to shield us from the snow and wind, we might be trapped in by the cold."
"Well there's a sunken hearth in the middle, so we can start a fire to keep up warm. Even if we can't start one, with the both of us in our thick coats, I'm sure we can warm each other up," Yu responds, rummaging through a new shelf, opposite of the TV.
"Yeah… You're right. We can warm each other up if we have too, all we want… It's just the two of us… Alone," Yukiko says softly, a blush hinted at her cheeks.
"What's your plan, Amagi-san?" Yu says condescendingly.
Though she shows restraint, she lets out a few giggles between her speeches. "Nothing much, Narukami-kun."
They both share a cheerful chuckle, before they continue with their search.
"Usually at the inn, we kept some stuff near the shelves, usually some paper or old wood. I might be able to find a match around," Yukiko says, scouring through the dark table. She finds a matchbox, opened but with plenty of spares.
"I found some matches, what about you?" she asks.
"Found some old newspapers, this should be good," he responds.
Yu brings down the newspaper to the bottom of the sunken hearth. Yukiko lights a match and starts burning the newspaper once they're in place. She blows out the match, before setting it aside safely.
The two sit down to bask in the heat of their new campfire.
"mm, It's warm!" Yukiko cheerfully says.
Yu breathes a sigh of relief, enjoying the heat of their campfire, staring into the flames.
"Now that I'm warming up, I'm starting to feel better." Yukiko says.
Yu looks back at Yukiko, his body relaxing upon hearing those words.
"We might as well do this as well to stay warm, right?" Yukiko says, inching closer to her boyfriend, leaning on his free shoulder.
Yu looks over to her, and pulls her closely, ensuring he hugs her comfortably and his jacket would help keep her warm, with Yukiko reciprocating the hug.
"Feeling a lot warmer now, then?" Yu whispers.
"Yeah, whenever you're around, I always feel so warm," she says, melting into the arms of her lover, squeezing him tighter.
"Still, we might be deep in the mountains given how far we walked. I wonder if everyone's worried about us…" she continues.
"I'm sure they're looking for us. We'll be out here soon, I have faith in them," Yu responds.
Yukiko pauses for a moment, before she speaks up again. "This reminds me of the time I was trapped in the TV world. It felt so hopeless, dreadful and lonely. Hearing my shadow reveal my darkest thoughts, and for everyone to see it… I didn't want to admit them at all. But then you, Chie and Yosuke came in, taught me to accept it, that it is indeed a part of me, but not something that defines who I am. Since I was rescued from that terrible situation, I have to stay strong and trust in our friends."
She looks upwards to Yu, both staring into each other's eyes.
"And besides, I'm not all alone right now. Whenever I'm with you, I don't have to worry about anything."
Yu brings his free hand to her nape, which makes the girl yelp and flinch a little from the sudden gesture.
"I feel the same way," Yu says.
"When I first came to Inaba, I was pretty bitter. I honestly felt like I didn't have any kind of feelings when I first got here, except maybe for some desires," he cuts off, remembering the recordings he made of the midnight channels.
"Still, ever since I met you, Yosuke, and Chie, I felt a connection, a genuine bond. With all our other friends, Kanji, Rise and Naoto, while I feel deep bonds with them, nothing comes close to you. When we first started hanging out, I never thought of seeing us like this. But the more we hung out, the more I got to know you better. I understood and respected your resolve, and thought to myself that 'I wanna be closer to you'. That's when my feelings started to develop. I might only have a month left but I won't forget you, or our friends, that's why-" Yu is suddenly interrupted by Yukiko assaulting his lips. Yu, though shocked, is quick to reciprocate. .
"Sorry about interrupting you…I just couldn't help myself," Yukiko says, staring at Yu.
"Would you indulge me again as an apology?" Yu responds, inching closer to her face. The two however jump from the flash of lights and sound from the TV opening.
They both blush and look away awkwardly.
"D-d-did that TV just turn on?" Yukiko asks, still flustered.
"I-I think so, we should check it out," Yu says, standing up from his position to walk to the TV, Yukiko following suit.
The two observe the TV up close. The TV itself is closed, and the midnight channel is gone, so it left them pondering.
Yu shoves some debris out of the way from the TV screen, causing a loud bang. He kneels down and tries to bring his hand in the TV.
"Huh? Wait don't!" Yukiko says. Yu is able to bring his hand in the TV, and then tries to fit his head in, though Yukiko tries to stop him, causing the TV to move and make more noise.
"Y-you shouldn't do that now! This just isn't the place!" she says.
Yu looks back at the worried girl before attempting to bring himself inside the TV.
"The midnight channel's supposed to be gone, right? We have to make sure it is, especially since this TV might be connected," Yu says.
"O-ok. Just please be careful."
"I will, don't wo-" Yu is interrupted by the sound of the door swinging open. The two look over to see the voices yelling.
The rest of the investigation team set out to find the lost couple. They had been worried for the past hour on what had happened to them, with no contact with the two whatsoever.
"Have we checked here?" Yosuke asked, pointing towards the cabin behind the lodge they stayed in.
"No, not yet," Chie responds, hopping into the front of the cabin.
"I say we go check it out, maybe Sensei and Yuki-chan are safe inside!" Teddie exclaims.
"What would they be doing out here though?" Kanji asks.
"We don't know for sure. I remember Yu-Senpai stayed behind from the cliff. Perhaps he wanted to continue skiing and brought Yukiko-Senpai with him," Naoto deduced.
"Doesn't explain how they would end up here, since it is right behind where we're staying," Rise adds.
"Well either way, let's check it out," Yosuke says, heading towards the door. Before opening the door, they hear two voices inside.
"Feeling warmer yet, then?" a male voice said.
"Yeah, whenever you're around, I always feel so warm," a female voice replied with.
"Wait, are those… Yukiko and Yu's voices?" Yosuke asks.
"Sensei? What's he doing to Yuki-chan?" Teddie asks
"Hey, don't just jump to conclusions!" Chie scolds.
"Still, we might be deep in the mountains given how far we walked. I wonder if everyone's worried about us…" Yukiko's voice spoke out.
"I'm sure they're looking for us. We'll be out here soon, I have faith in them," Yu's voice responded.
"Wait, so, are they actually lost?" Yosuke asks
"Yeah obviously," Chie says.
"But how?"
"I don't know, let's get in and help them!"
As the team prepares to enter, they overhear more of the conversation, with the two having a heart to heart. The entire team freezes up and chooses to just stay silent. Kanji breaks it moments later.
"Shouldn't we go in or something?"
"We did come with the intent to rescue them," Naoto says.
"Maybe Sensei and Yuki-chan are enjoying their cabin time together. Since Yuki-chan helps run an inn, maybe she lured sensei to a private room," Teddie says, with the team staring at Teddie.
"Let's not-" before Yosuke could finish, they overhear this part:
"And besides, I'm not all alone right now. Whenever I'm with you, I don't have to worry about anything," Yukiko says.
Moments later, they hear a small yelp.
"Wha…" Chie mutters.
"Huh?" Rise says, staring with confusion and surprise.
"I feel the same way," the voice of Yu says.
"Are Sensei and Yuki-chan dating?" Teddie asks.
"What are those two doing? We went out to look for them and turns out they just snuck behind our backs for this?" Yosuke says.
"Why? What's up with them?" Kanji asks.
"They're totally gonna start making out inside here!" Yosuke responds, but not yelling to interrupt those inside.
"Hey, didn't you hear the first part? It sounded like they were waiting for us!" Chie responds.
"Well maybe they are just worried we might suddenly barge in while they have their moment. I didn't think Yu would even get a girlfriend at all after what he said," Yosuke says.
"What he said…?" Chie asks.
Yosuke's eyes widened. "Wait, no! Not what I mean."
"What did he say and what were you two talking about?" Chie interrogates. The investigation team watched as the two began another one of their arguments.
"We weren't talking about anything important at all. "
"Why do you keep trying to hide it, then? Is it something about her!?"
"We talk about the rest of the team all the time, what's got you so fired up?"
The two continued to bicker on for a while.
"I wonder what Yu-Senpai and Yukiko-Senpai are up to," Rise ponders.
"I bet Sensei is having the time of his life with her inside," Teddie responds.
"Huh? Really?" Rise asks.
Before anything else, they all hear a loud bang inside, causing Chie and Yosuke to stop their argument.
"The hell was that?" Kanji asks.
The team heads over to the door, and then another bang.
"Huh? Wait, don't!" a female voice shouted inside.
"Y-you shouldn't do that now! This just isn't the place!" the voice continued.
"Wait wait wait, the hell are they doing now?" Yosuke says.
"Oh my, Sensei and Yuki-chan? Are they-" Teddie says.
"This isn't the time to mess around! We can't just allow it!" Yosuke says.
"I-I suppose we should stop them," Naoto says.
"Uh, I agree with Naoto-kun, we should!" Chie adds.
"What are we doing?" Kanji asks.
"We're busting in!" Yosuke says.
"Wait but, I thought we weren't?".
"No time to explain, let's go!" Yosuke says. He bursts in through the door, spotting the lost couple next to a TV.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? I won't allow it!" Yosuke yells to the two.
"Stoop! You shouldn't just give 'inn' to your passions! Eh?" Teddie adds.
The rest of the team arrive inside the hut.
"Yosuke?" Yu says, bewildered by their entrance.
"Teddie? Everybody?" Yukiko adds.
"They're still dressed," Rise points out, to which Yu looks over to her bewildered, responding with a "huh?".
"Why would they take their clothes off in this freezing weather?" Kanji asks. "And dude, what is everyone so flustered about?"
“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Naoto replies.
“Did you come to rescue us?” Yukiko asks, to which the party responds with awkward and flustered looks.
"I have a feeling they weren't," Yu says.
Teddie speaks up in response. "Sensei, were you waiting for an audience? What daring lovers! How shameless."
His tone then shifts drastically. "But ok, I'll take a front row seat and-"
Yukiko cuts the bear off. "W-What are you talking about?"
"Hold on, were you guys just waiting outside this entire time?" Yu adds on.
Chie speaks up. "No we just got here, really! We just… didn't know when to make our move."
"That's so mean! So you were listening to us? Our lives were at stake you know!" Yukiko retorts.
"No, no! We really did come because we were worried!"
"Whatever… What were you two doing shoving each other around here?" Rise asks.
"We were checking the TV," Yukiko asks, prompting Naoto to ask her a question.
"Why? What happened?"
"It just turned on suddenly," Yu replies.
"Oh come on! 'It was the TV' " Yosuke blurts out.
"What are you talking about? We just tried to check it out,"
"What was with the shoving then?"
Yu had to pause for a moment since he began to finally start catching on to what the team thought he and Yukiko were doing.
"I-I was trying to check it and she didn't want me to!"
"It was dangerous! Something bad could have happened to you," Yukiko retorts.
"Really?" Yosuke asks.
"I-it's true! You're all misunderstanding things!" Yukiko defends. The group continue on to stare at the couple, Yu feeling some sharp daggers pointed to him.
It took a desperate Yu explaining and clarifying on what had transpired to calm everyone down.
"Huh… So you got lost, found this building and things started 'heating up'?" Rise points out.
"Well to put it bluntly: yes," Yu responds.
"I can't believe this! We were so worried, and here you are sneaking behind our backs!" Yosuke scolds.
"We didn't do anything like that!" Yu defends.
"Our lives were at stake, you know!" Yukiko adds.
Yu sighs and explains once again. "Like I said: The TV, that's not even plugged in, just turned on all of a sudden, pretty suspicious right?"
"Plus, why would we come out to a cottage out in the woods if we weren't lost?" Yukiko adds.
"Uh, this place is behind the lodge," Chie points out.
"Wait… You can't be serious," Yu responds, dumbfounded.
"It's a storage shed. They don't bother locking it when there's nothing inside."
"And it's not like there's a blizzard or anything," Kanji adds on.
"This situation really is not in our favor," Yu thought to himself, looking over at his girlfriend who also has about the same expression as him.
Yosuke adds on. "And why would the TV turn itself on? The whole case is over."
"That's what we wanted to find out," Yu says.
"Maybe you just saw a reflection from the ski lights or something."
"Impossible, not with how far we are and how isolated this place is,"
"I highly doubt that."
Yu makes a big groan at how his best friend refuses to believe him. Yukiko also seems upset that her friends don't believe any of them.
"Then again, I don't think Yukiko is one to lie about something like this. We should check it out," Chie says, approaching the TV.
"H-hey, wait!" Yosuke shouts, rushing to her. Seems he doesn't fully disbelieve his partner.
Chie brings her hand to the TV. The moment she touches it, the Television lights up. The gang has no time to react when something grabs onto Chie's arm to pull her in. The team all move in to prevent the girl from getting pulled into the TV.
"Chie!"
"Don't let go!"
"The hell's going on?"
"What is this power…?"
The team did their best to make sure she isn’t pulled by the mysterious figure, but it was all for naught, as not only is she pulled in, but so is the rest of the team.
What lies ahead of the investigation team is up for them to discover and uncover the truth behind the mysterious TV in the cabin.