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Yu spent the last few hours of Dojima’s life at school.
To him, it seemed like any other day in Inaba. Although he had been here for a little while, the town didn’t welcome him. It was nothing like the bustling city life of Tokyo, the first place he loved. In Tokyo, you were unknown. You could be anything he wanted, anything he pleased, and not be bothered. You could do the thing Yu loved most: Minding your own business.
In Inaba, though, it was the opposite. Rumors spread like wildfire through the shopping district streets, and soon enough, everyone knew Yu’s name and grade and how he came here from the city and how special he was to be from somewhere so alien to them. It made his skin crawl. It felt like he was being broadcast against his will to a live studio audience where every member wanted to ask him horribly personal questions. In other words, his worst nightmare.
But here he was, and here he would stay. It wasn’t like he had much choice in the matter, anyway; as long as his parents were gone he had no means of financing himself. Yu also kind of liked his life with the Dojimas. Nanako was a sweet girl, and he got along with his uncle surprisingly well, even if he was out most of the time. Plus, he was grateful to live somewhere for free, even if it was in a town out in the boonies. If he got his hopes up, maybe he could even make some friends.
Speaking of friends…
“Hey, Yu!”
Yosuke Hanamura walks up to him with a wave. The boy was cheerful, friendly, and absolutely terrible with women, the exact opposite of who he would talk to back at home. He could imagine his mother’s face if she saw him hanging out with someone like Yosuke. If she met him, he couldn’t imagine it going well.
But that was one of the reasons he was drawn to Yosuke. Although he was also technically from the city, he seemed so strange, so different than Yu. talking to him felt like he was talking to the complete opposite of himself. Maybe he was who Yu would become once he lived in Inaba for a while. He scoffed at the thought.
“Chie and I are gonna go to Aiya and the book store to look at what movies they have. Wanna come?”
Yu nods. “Sure.”
“Awesome.” Yosuke cracks a grin and slings his bag over his shoulder. “We gotta hurry. Technically I have a shift at Junes, but I got someone else to cover, at least for an hour or two. But if I’m late, my dad’s gonna be pretty pissed…”
“Skipping work?” Says Chie, who sits backwards on her chair. “Jeez. Setting a bad example for the new guy already, huh?”
“You shut up. You don’t even have a job.” Yosuke scoffs. “Right now, you’re destined to live in your parents basement forever.”
“Just ignore him, Yu. I promise our town is full of nice people. He’s just, well, not one of em.”
“Um, sure.” Yu murmurs. He feels guilty about how alone their banter makes him feel.
Yosuke groans and walks towards the door. “Can we go already? I don’t need to listen to you brainwash him anymore.”
“Hey, I’m just telling the truth. But if you want me to stop, there’s a pretty good way to shut my mouth…”
“Ugh, I’m not buying you anymore beef bowls! You’ve drained half my paycheck already!”
“Oh, c’mon!” Chie trots out the door, trailing Yosuke close behind. She unconsciously turns the lights off and shuts the door, leaving Yu alone.
He can’t bring himself to leave. Instead, he lets himself be swallowed by the dark room, the edges of his form illuminated by the pale glow of outside. The rain from yesterday had faded into a thin fog, making the world seem hazy. Unnatural, he thought, like the buzz from TV static.
He feels like a ghost in this place. He’s both here and not, existing as a murmur spread between townsfolk. He’s an idea, an outline of a man. Someone for others to fill in. It was strange, feeling this alone among so many people. He wondered if something was wrong with him.
Yu stares. He finds his face in the reflection of a television Mr. Morooka forgot to put away, white in the misty light. There, he looks unreal. Like a character in a show. Yu finds himself thinking about what that life would be, to live as a person entirely scripted. To have your destiny known, from the very moment you were born. He wished he could escape into a world like that. There, he wouldn’t care how people molded him. He would live in blissful ignorance, living out whatever part he was born to play.
The television flickers to life. Yu still stands in front of it, staring, ignoring the sudden throb of pain in his head. Just one touch, one press of his hand and he would be happy. He would get away from here, from the gossip, from the eyes, from that ghost of himself. His knuckles brush against the screen, and he feels them go inside. Its warm, like watching cartoons on a rainy Saturday morning, huddled under a blanket and sipping hot cocoa. He wondered what it would feel like to let that warmth consume him…
“Yu!”
He jumps and flinches his hand back. The lights flicker back on, and Chie and Yosuke stand in the doorway, their faces twisted in a frown. He flinches as he notices the headache blaring in his skull.
“Dude, are you okay? Why are you in here by yourself in the dark?” Yosuke steps in, and for some reason, Yu wants to step back. To hide in that warmth again.
What was that? Yu could feel his entire body buzzing with energy. Something had just happened to him, right? Something strange and terrific and horrifying all at once. It’s like he’s been given a secret, but one he doesn’t quite understand. Like he brushed hands with a god.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry.” Yu tries to loosen his posture. “Let's go.”
Yosuke frowns but doesn’t say anything in protest. “You could’ve said something. I was halfway down the hall once we noticed you were gone.”
“Yeah, and this idiot looked everywhere but this classroom. He even checked the bathroom twice!” Chie grins despite the slight worry in her eyes. Yu laughs, if only to lighten the mood.
“He doesn’t need to know that!” Yosuke hissed. “But we really need to go. I’m definitely going to be late..”
They leave again, this time with Yu in tow. It takes all his brain power to ignore the thoughts rushing through his head as they walk through the foggy streets. As he idly talks to Chie and Yosuke, he convinces himself to return to normalcy. Slowly, as he wanders through his day, it works. Yu becomes himself again, a transfer student, spending the afternoon with his friends.
But no matter what he does, he can’t ignore the buzzing in his hand, nor the deep feeling of dread pooling in his stomach.
***
Adachi spent the last few hours of Dojima’s life drunk.
It was kinda embarrassing, honestly, to waste so much time day-drinking. He wasn’t an alcoholic or anything, so it was weird to come here so often. He felt like he was giving up his life sometimes when he sat in Shiroku, downing bottle after bottle. He was only 27, after all. Didn’t he have better things to do?
Well, not really. Adachi didn’t really have any friends or hobbies. Mostly he just went to work, went home, and went to bed, sometimes eating a shitty meal or two in between. It was a pretty miserable cycle.
So, in the end, he was here. Sitting at a busted up bar in the middle of Nowheresville, right next to his wasted boss.
“Adachi,” Dojima said, his words slurred beyond recognition.
“Um, yes, sir?”
“Did you get the um… the, uhh… paper… thingy. You know- hic - the one?”
“Could you be more specific..?” He winced prematurely. Adachi definitely didn’t get any “paper thing” today. He was in for a pretty big scolding if he couldn’t weasel his way out.
“The one about the case. With the…the… You know. That girl…”
Oh, he actually knew a little about that one. Adachi felt his shoulders relax a bit.
“Umm… the news reporter, miss Yamano? We have all of her paperwork and stuff at the office. Its a bit unorganized, though, haha…”
That Yamano girl… She had been all over the news lately, some sort of affair. That kind of shit always pissed him off. A bunch of stupid celebrities and their stupid drama, and they just had to make it Adachi’s problem by moving their asses to Inaba. God, people who got popular were so useless. What good is it when your entire life revolves around people watching you?
But still, he was kinda grateful. At least he had something to do now, even if it was stupid gossip. And Yamano was pretty. Maybe if he asked real politely, he could get her attention…
Dojima’s rough hand slammed down onto his shoulder, nearly causing Adachi to fall off of his barstool. Great, he was really in for an earful now. He just had to sit and wait for it to be over, like always. His eyes instinctively shot to the TV sitting in the corner. Not now, he thought. Later.
“Did y’ put it on my desk…?”
“Um, yes, sir,” Adachi lied. It didn’t matter what he said to him now, anyway, he wouldn’t remember it the next day. Didn’t he have kids at home, too? That little 6 year old and some nephew that transferred to live with him. Man, what kind of a loser was he, spending his weekday completely blasted with his coworker instead of at home with family?
“Good. M’ gonna… go home now. You’re hic… dismissed.” Dojima took his hand off of Adachi and slung his jacket over his shoulder. “Good job today, Adachi.”
“...Thanks.”
Adachi was surprised he didn’t get scolded. Usually their nights together ended with pretty potent threats, no matter if Dojima was sober or not. It always felt weird when he complimented him. He knew it was mostly the alcohol talking, but Adachi couldn’t help but feel disappointed whenever Dojima’s nicer side came out. It felt like they were too close. He preferred a nice, comfortable wall in all of his relationships.
He watched as his boss staggered out the door. What a guy, wrecked before 6 o clock. He wondered how he was gonna get home.
…
That was probably Adachi’s responsibility too, huh?
“Wait, Dojima,” Adachi rose to his feet too, throwing his raincoat over himself. Although it hadn’t rained yet today, he thought it might be nice in case it did. Plus, the fog today was so dense. It would help if he was dressed in bright yellow to avoid getting hit by some stupid kid on a bike, or something.
“What.”
“Do you need any help getting home? You’re kinda… uh…”
“Psh,” Dojima scoffs. “You don’t trust me? S’like, 5 minute walk. Mfine.”
“Are you sure, sir? I need to walk to the bus station anyway, I can at least walk you there-”
“Adachi.” Dojima slams his briefcase down on the ground. “If you even try to walk me home, I’ll kick your ass so bad you won’t be able to come in tomorrow.”
There it was. The Dojima he knew and, well, tolerated. “Sorry, sir.” Adachi meekly stepped away from him. At least now he couldn’t get in trouble if anything happened. But, for some reason, he felt kinda bad. Like letting him walk home was a mistake somehow.
Oh well, he didn’t really want his ass kicked. Even if not having to come in tomorrow sounded nice…
Dojima nods. “Good. Now, where’d I put my case…”
“Uh, right here, sir…”
***
Nanako spent the last few hours of her dad’s life at home.
She knew the routine. Every day she would wake up, go to school, and then she would go back home and watch TV. She watched a lot of TV, even though her dad didn’t really like it. He always said silly stuff about how it would rot her brain and hurt her eyes if she kept sitting too close. One time he even said her eyeballs would come out! That was scary. She stopped watching TV a little bit after that.
But Nanako still loved her dad, even if he said some scary things. She loved him even if he always came home late, or smelled like sake, or didn’t want to play with her. She loved him even when she could hear him crying on the couch, late at night, like a ghost.
Now, Nanako didn’t have to worry too much anymore. Now she had her big bro. He was shy when they first met, and she was too, but now they’re getting to be friends. He always talks to her after school and shows her magic tricks. So now, Nanako is really happy. She has the best dad and the best big bro in the world!
But today, both big bro and dad were late. At first she was a little bit sad, but then she remembered that big bro was new to his school. When she was new to school, she made a lot of friends right away, and would always ask to go play with them. Big bro was really cool, so he must have made a lot of friends and went after school to play with them. She was so jealous. She wished she was cool like him, and could play with her friends without asking dad first.
So now she waited for them both. She was a little hungry, but since she was too small to use the stove or the rice cooker, she had to find something in the fridge. There wasn’t much except for some leftovers and apples, and she only liked her apples cut up. It was okay, though. When big bro got home, she would ask him to make her apple bunnies!
Nanako watched the cartoons play on TV with interest. She was the only one who really liked cartoons. Dad only watched the boring real life people shows, and big bro liked to read more than watch TV. Sometimes she was happy when they were both gone so she could watch all of the new episodes. Only sometimes, though. She liked it better when they were here.
Nanako waited, and waited, and waited. She waited until the sun got lower in the sky and turned everything into pretty shades of yellow and pink. Eventually, her show got boring, and instead, she thought about what her family was doing. She wondered if dad was with that other detective guy, Adachi. She really liked Adachi. He always helped dad get home, and when he stayed for dinner, he would talk to her and play with her all the time. If dad was out with him, it was okay, because they were friends. And friends are always fun to hang out with.
She wondered who big bro was out with. One time, she saw him with that boy from Junes, and she got really excited. If she asked nicely, maybe she could go with them sometime and look around! Dad didn’t take her to Junes that much anymore. He always said, “maybe next time”. Nanako wasn’t sure next time existed.
She even wondered about mom, although she wasn’t supposed to. She wondered if she was happy in heaven without her. Was she happier there than here?
Soon, it was dark, and Nanako was really hungry. She wanted those apple bunnies that her big bro could make. For a terrifying moment, she thought about what would happen if big bro and dad never came home. What would happen if she got left here all by herself? Would she finally be a grown up? She would have to do all the cooking, and put herself to bed, and pay all of the bills…
No, that wouldn’t happen. One time, dad didn’t come home for a night. She got really scared, and had to wake up and get ready for school all by herself. She was sure that dad left her, like mom, so she cried and cried. But when she opened her eyes after that, dad was home, giving her a hug and saying sorry. It would be like that again. Dad and big bro would come home, and say that they’re sorry, and give her a big hug!
She wondered if something happened at dad’s work. He was a detective, a really important one. Maybe she could check one of the shows dad watches and find out if there was a crime. Sometimes the things on there were kind of scary, but Nanako watched a lot of scary things on TV by accident, and only got nightmares a little bit. She was brave! She could look at crimes!
Nanako switched the channel to the news, which had a woman in a suit who stood behind big red letters that said “BREAKING”. That usually meant something super big happened. Dad was probably working hard on the case.
“A murder has struck the foggy Inaba region,” The suit woman said in a serious voice. “Police detective Ryotaro Dojima, age 42, was found hanging from the telephone wires outside of Shiroku, a neighborhood bar. He was found by the newly transferred high school student Yu Narukami, aged 16, who was walking home with his friends that night.”
What? That wasn’t right. That was dad and big bro’s name. Nanako thought they messed up. Dad was never in the crimes, silly, he solved them.
“We have some footage from the scene itself. Be warned, this may be disturbing to some viewers.”
The screen flickered to outside of Shiroku. Big bro and two of his friends stood, shivering, as a newsperson asked them questions. And, right above them…was…
Nanako turned off the TV and started to cry.