Begin
~Normal POV
9/15 - Thursday
Again, Naoto didn't show up for school. And that image on the Midnight Channel had them on edge now. The gang met up in the second years' classroom to discuss it, minus Teddie who was at work. Rain was still pouring outside today. Yu noticed that Kanji was looking rather pale and had a bit of darkness under his eyes. He must not have gotten much sleep last night...
"About the Midnight Channel last night..." Chie said, worriedly.
"I talked to Teddie, and he says no one's entered the other side." Yosuke said, calmly.
"Well, yeah." Rise said, frowning. "The killer's been caught..."
Yosuke looked at Kanji, raising a confused brow. "Kanji? You ok, man?"
"Huh?" Kanji said, snapping his attention to him. He seemed to have been very distracted by something. "What's up...?"
"You saw the tv, right?" Yosuke asked.
"Yeah..." Kanji looked a little concerned. "It's weird... I mean, the shit Naoto said didn't make any sense either..."
"Huh? Naoto-kun?" Yukiko said, quizzically.
Kanji frowned. "Uh, no, well... how do I put it..."
"What were you out of it cause you were still thinking about what Naoto said?" Yosuke asked, chuckling a little. "You're still hung up on that stuff."
Kanji glared at him. "I ain't hung up on it!"
"It's ok, we all understand." Yosuke replied, smirking. "Just don't go overboard, man. Besides, the killer's been caught. We shouldn't worry about the Midnight Channel anymore. Teddie said it's all good, so it's all good. Right?"
"You little fucking shit-" Kanji said, in a strained voice. "I said that's not it!" He was evidently too fed up with this to even continue explaining, and quickly walked out the door muttering that he had stuff to do.
Chie glared at Yosuke too and said, "Stop bringing that up, Yosuke...! You know he doesn't think it's funny." Unfortunately, Yosuke didn't care to respond.
"What? Did something happen between Kanji and Naoto-kun?" Rise asked, curiously.
"No, Yosuke's just a dick." Yu answered, bluntly, before anyone else could speak up.
"Well, that aside-" Yukiko said, changing the subject. "Is it just me, or does the town seem kind of strange lately? Everyone is in high spirits for some reason... And they all talk about other people, but never themselves."
"Really? I don't think it's anything special." Chie said, "Now that the case is solved, people feel relaxed, that's all."
"That's how society is." Rise said, shrugging. "They all just want to get in on the latest trend. People get excited fast and lose interest faster... It goes round and round. There's no underlying reason for it."
"I don't know..." Yukiko said, frowning. "It still seems a little too weird... It's like... they're all afraid of something... Sorry, I just had this feeling."
Yu could see where she was coming from. It did sound odd. But there wasn't anything they could do about that. The more important issue at hand was the image on the Midnight Channel. He damn near wanted to punch Yosuke for his apparent uncaring attitude. Shouldn't he be at least a little concerned? He sighed quietly. It was supposed to keep raining all night...
Even if it was nothing. Even if Yosuke was right. Yu would never forgive himself if he didn't check it again.
~...
That night, Yu stood in his bedroom waiting anxiously for midnight. That was definitely Naoto on the tv yesterday. Would the same image show up this time? He was afraid to find out. The clock was ticking closer. Just a few more minutes...
In an attempt to partially distract himself, he decided to speculate a little about what Naoto's "world" would look like if the worst came to pass. He didn't know the kid very well, but he picked up on a few things. He recalled how Naoto seemed to be on closer terms with Kanji than the rest of them. (With the added detail that he called him by first name, while referring to the others by surname.) How he made a preference for sitting with him. Plus that vague look of jealousy he gave when Teddie tried to kiss Kanji pretty much told Yu everything he needed to make a solid guess. But with that in mind, he wasn't exactly interested in seeing another realm like Kanji's... Once was enough. Maybe this will be about something different. But how? Naoto was a pretty chill guy. What could possibly make him lose control?
Yu got his answer when he saw the tv turn on at last. He felt his heart jump into his throat. One, the image was crystal clear and looked like a tv show. Confirming what he was afraid to admit, Naoto was indeed already thrown in. But the second thing that shook him to his core was what he saw on the screen. This was unlike anything they'd ever seen. The room it showed resembled a science lab- one straight out of a horror film. There were several bright lights pointed down at a center table. The table looked similar to an experimental work station in a lab. He was even more disturbed to see some strange torture devices hanging over it, one looked like a huge saw... He shuddered at the thought. What in the hell was going through this kid's mind to create a place so terrifying?
Naoto's Shadow stepped into frame. He was surprised at how similar this one looked to the real kid. The Shadow was completely identical- right down to the hat. The only difference was that he was wearing a white lab coat over his clothes. The coat was also a few sizes too big for him, so the bottom reached well past his knees and the sleeves covered his hands entirely. When he spoke, he did so with a strange tone, it was... weirdly high and overdramatic. It didn't sound like Naoto at all...
"Good evening, everyone. I am the Detective Prince, Naoto Shirogane. Welcome to 'Experiment of the Century: The Genome Project.' I will be experimenter and experimentee both, in a forbidden yet wonderful bodily alteration process! You shall witness my departure into a new realm... The moment of a new birth! From the chosen day forth, I shall walk a completely different path in life...! And I shall share this glorious occasion, this memorable day, with all of you! Do stay tuned!"
"Fuck... fuck..." Yu whispered to himself as the tv turned back off again. He put a hand to his head, feeling extremely stupid now...
They were wrong. They were all wrong. Naoto proved it: the culprit was still out there.
He felt his phone buzz. He didn't even look at his caller ID and answered. "Hey-"
"Hey! Is that you, senpai?!" Kanji said, frantically. "N-Naoto was just... H-He..."
Yu blinked in surprise. He wasn't expecting the call to be from Kanji, but he was quick to get over it. "Yeah, I saw it too, Kanji..."
Kanji was breathing hard and his voice was shaking. "So... does this mean he was kidnapped...? You said people only show up clearly on tv once they're thrown into that other world, right?"
Yu sighed, "Yeah... Naoto was kidnapped."
This didn't help Kanji calm down, he only sounded more frantic. "The hell's going on!? I thought we caught the damn killer!"
"K-Kanji, Kanji-" Yu said, calmly. "Deep breaths, man. Just breathe for a second. Listen, I'm scared too, but we'll save Naoto. Ok? Just like we always do. Try to get some rest tonight and we'll talk more at Junes."
Kanji was quiet for a moment before saying, "Y-You're right- you're right... sorry, I called you out of the blue..."
"It's ok, you're allowed to freak out. This is stressful for all of us..."
"Yeah... Being a detective, solving cases... It ain't worth shit if he gets himself kidnapped..." Kanji said, "Damn, that idiot pisses me off!"
But Yu could tell by the tone of his voice, that Kanji was far from pissed off. That was the same tone he used when he cared. It sounded angry, at first, but it was different from anger. It was less forceful. Kanji was a very caring person, and he spoke that way to show it. Kanji then said goodbye and hung up.
Yu glanced back at his tv worriedly. But worry was not the only thing on his mind. There was something else. Something he couldn't quite place...
Something about Naoto's Shadow bothered him.
~...
9/16 - Friday
When everyone showed up at Junes the next day, there was noticeable stress between all of them. Yu noticed Kanji looked like he'd barely slept at all. The girls looked miserable too, along with Teddie. And Yosuke looked a bit sick to his stomach.
"Last night... that was Naoto-kun for sure..." Yukiko started, quietly.
"What's the verdict, Teddie," Chie asked. "Is he really in there?"
Teddie nodded. "I do smell someone..."
"Then it is just like before..." Yosuke said, "Nothing's changed..."
"Maybe now ya give a fuck," Kanji said, firmly.
Yosuke frowned seeing them all give him stern looks. He nodded a little and quietly replied, "Y-Yeah... I understand... I'm sorry..."
That was enough for them. Yosuke finally looked like he actually meant it. He seemed genuinely upset about this too. Kanji looked satisfied to hear this answer and didn't harp on it further.
"I was wondering why Naoto appeared on the news," Yu said, getting back to the point. "It didn't seem like his thing. But now I can see it clear as day. He said he wasn't convinced about the case. Said that King Moron's death was too different to fit the pattern. And he said straight up that he noticed the tv connection too. That kid figured it all out- probably way before we did... And that's why he stopped coming to school, and why he showed up on the Midnight Channel so soon..."
"But what about Kubo?!" Chie screamed, "He's already in jail! He did kill King Moron, right?!"
"Yes," Yu answered firmly. "But that's all he did. Remember how he kept saying he did it for the attention? He did kill King Moron, but that was just a copycat murder to get famous... That's why King Moron never showed up on the Midnight Channel: because a different person did it. And Kubo confessing to killing Ms. Yamano and Saki was just his insane ramblings trying to keep up a fake charade. That's also why Naoto talked to us before about the case. Left us clues to figure it out. If he was really that desperate to prove his theory, and the police weren't listening, then there's only one explanation..."
Kanji was surprisingly quick to catch on to Yu's theory.
"THAT LITTLE FUCKING DUMBASS IS USING HIMSELF AS LIVE BAIT?!"
~End of Chapter