Chase The Truth

Chapter 13: Visiting Tatsumi Textiles

Begin!

~Normal POV

5/15 - Sunday

It had been unanimously decided that the Junes food court was going to serve as their loose definition of "special headquarters" for their team meetings. They couldn't use anyone's houses, lest their families overhear their discussions. And making a hideout somewhere would have looked more suspicious if it were found. Nobody looked twice at a bunch of teens in a food court. Plus, their headquarters being at Junes worked out since they needed to go into the electronics department to enter the tv world. (They wouldn't dare try it from any other tv, they had no idea where it would take them.)

"Ok, to start- everyone saw that figure on the tv last night, right," Yu asked. They all nodded. "Good. And I hate to say it, but we have two major problems now. One, that somebody showed up at all, obviously. And two: it definitely looked like a man. That basically shoots a hole in our assumption that this bastard is only targeting women. Another thing is, he looked like a high schooler. Meaning it's another student on the radar."

"So, that's how I looked on tv..." Yukiko muttered. "The image on the channel changed after I was kidnapped, right?"

"Yeah, the screen got clear all of a sudden and the program looked like some low budget tv show," Yosuke answered.

"Since we couldn't see who it was, that means he hasn't been thrown into the tv yet," Yukiko said, "If so, then..."

"You're right, he's safe for now," Yu finished.

"Mhmm! And if we can figure out who he is, maybe we could prevent him from getting kidnapped!" Yukiko suggested, eagerly.

"Ohh, that's a good idea!" Chie said, "We could watch over him, and make sure nothing happens!"

"It is a good plan," Yu complimented, smiling. "It's supposed to rain again tonight, once we see the image again, we'll know who to look for."

For all they knew, they might actually be able to stop the culprit before they can try anything this time.

~...

That night, Yu checked on the Midnight Channel again. There it was. The same figure as yesterday. Only this time the figure was moving, like he was punching something invisible. The image was still unfocused but there was no mistaking the physical build. As the tv switched off again, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

He answered Yosuke's call. "Hey-"

"Did you see that?" Yosuke said, immediately.

"I did," Yu said, "And I know who it is. That's Kanji Tatsumi."

"I think so too." Yosuke replied, "I knew I saw him somewhere. He was on that news report! He's one scary dude."

"Scary or not, he doesn't deserve to get targeted by a murderer..."

~...

5/16 - Monday

After school, the gang hung back in their classroom to talk about last night. Yu confirmed for them that it was indeed Kanji on the Midnight Channel. And made sure to add that he'd been on the news too.

"He's pretty scary," Yosuke commented.

"He wasn't like that when he was younger though," Yukiko replied.

This got their attention. "You know him, Yukiko?!" Chie shouted.

Yukiko nodded. "We haven't talked to each other in a long time. His family runs a textile shop and we've been a customer of theirs for many years. So I speak with Kanji-kun's mother from time to time. I never see him when he's at the shop, though- I think he usually works in the back." She then smiled and added. "Actually, why don't we just go over there now? We might be able to talk to him!"