Young Writers Society

Haruki smiled at seeing the new face. New faces were always good; they offered change into a now stable and boring lifestyle. He wasn't that bad looking, either; he was just the right height, looked like an athlete, and seemed to have a level head on his shoulders. Like Masaru, only...more sober.

Kenta was a different story. She watched him like a hawk as King Moron pointed rather brusquely at the empty desk beside her. What could she expect from this kid? Would he be like every other boy at the school - a dope-headed horn-ball? She hoped not. Really, she hoped he would be a little more like Masaru, but not quite... Masaru's superactivity was enough to handle for a lifetime.

Masaru was just grateful. His life had been spared for another day, all thanks to Kaito's interruption.

And Kaito had no idea as he sat down in front of Masaru.

(I forgot to mention this a while back, but remember when I couldn't log onto YWS from my college's network? When the tech guys fixed it, they told me it was they way YWS was advertising that caused the system to reject it. Weird, huh?)


They sat through Moromasu-sensei's boring lectures for the next few hours. For some people in the class it took them everything they had just to stay awake. It seemed like an eternity before the bell rang for lunch.

Some people went to the cafeteria to get something to eat, while others stayed in the room to eat what they had brought from home. As Kaito was getting his lunch out from his bag, Masaru went to sit at the desk in front of him and said, "Looks like we ended up in the same class after all."

Kaito smiled. "Looks that way."

Haruki turned to Masaru. "Do you know each other?" she asked.

Masaru nodded. "We met on the way to school this morning."

"I see." She smiled at Kaito and said, "Well, my name is Minako Haruki. I'm the class representative."

Kenta was next to introduce herself. "And I'm Ryunosuke Kenta."

Kaito smiled at Kenta and said, "Oh, so you're the mean girl Masaru told me about."

Kenta glared at Masaru, right eye twitching with her temper. "'Mean', huh?"

He sheepishly swallowed and turned around in his desk, hunkering low as if wishing to disappear. Haruki shook her head, reaching over and touching the back of Kenta's hand. Kenta jerked her hand away, but said nothing more.

"Don't mind Masaru," Haruki said consolingly. "He just doesn't know how to handle Kenta."

Kenta growled softly, but it was clear: she would never hurt the tenderhearted girl. But she did open her mouth and address Kaito personally. "My temper is nothing new, as you can probably see, but no I am not 'mean' all the time" - she glared at Masaru's back - "only misunderstood." Her tone softened slightly, and she relaxed even if a bit.

Haruki smiled, giggling awkwardly. "Well, enough about that. Tell us about yourself!"

"Not much to tell," he said. "I'm just a transfer student from Hashimoto City. I came here to live with my uncle because my parents are on an oversea trip for the next year."

"I see," Karuki said. "Were you in any clubs back at your old school?"

"I was in the kendo club for a while, before I transfered here."

Kenta perked up. "Really? Our school has a kendo club, too. The school year just began so club activities won't be starting for a few weeks, but when they do you should total join!"

Kaito smiled. "I might just do that."

Masaru turned back toward the group. "Hey, did you guys hear about that kid from the class next to ours? He claims he saw Tsutsume Natsuru on the Midnight Channel."

"You mean that actress that's been on the news lately?" Haruki asked.

Kenta shook her head. "Come on, guys. Don't tell me you believe that crap. It's just an urban legend."

"What are you guys talking about?" Kaito asked.


(This is where they explain to him about the Midnight Channel. In case you don't remember, the Midnight Channel is when someone looks into the turned off screen of their T.V. on midnight when it's raining. When they do, an image of their soul mate is supposed to appear on the screen.)

Haruki smiled sheepishly. She was guilty of the Midnight Channel herself. "It's where you look into a blank television screen at midnight on a rainy night. The image of your soul mate is supposed to appear on the screen."

Kenta rolled her eyes. "As if. Am I the only person here who even tries to act like a high schooler?"

Masaru shrugged, ignoring Kenta. "But still. We're talking about Tsutsume Natsuru!"

Kenta groaned, standing up. "I'm going for a walk. See you."

Kaito watched as Kenta left the room. "What's wrong with her?" he asked.

"She just doesn't believe in this stuff," Masaru said. "I don't see why not, though. How could a rumor like this float around for so long if it wasn't true?"

"When was the first time you guys heard about it?" Kaito asked.

"I think we first started hearing about it around a month ago," Haruki said. "Some of the upper-classmen were talking about it in the cafeteria."

"Have you ever tried it before?"

Haruki tried to hold back a blush. "Well... only once. I guess it wasn't raining enough at the time, or maybe my clock was off a few minutes, because I didn't see anything."

"Hey, the forecast says it's going to rain in a few days," Masaru said. "We should all stay up until midnight and try it out. If we all do, then at least one of us should see something."

"Sounds like fun," Kaito said. He noticed the room had become a little brighter than it had when lunch started. He looked out one of the windows and saw that most of the fog had cleared and the sun was finally shining through.

The school's P.A. system switched on, and a female's voice spoke. "Attention students. The police have begun an investigation near the school. If you see any officers on your way home tonight, please refrain from getting in their way."

Haruki's face fell in terror. What was going on? Why would the police be investigating so near the school? Was it a drug bust? Or a shoot-out? Or a mysterious death, or rape, or robbery? Worst-case scenarios played through her mind. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad, though, and everything would be okay and they'd get home safe without having to worry about anything happening to them...

Masaru and Kenta were both a bit more adventurous with their thoughts. They thought about the cooler aspects, like what you might see in a kick-ass action movie or real television, like World's Wildest Police Videos... Maybe there's some serious fighting going on; that'd be cool to catch on video and post on YouTube or Facebook...

Either way, it would be another three hours before their chance to see what was going on.

And those hours passed slowly. It seemed forever passed before the four teens finally sat through their last class. The clocked ticked closer to the bell, one click at a time. Kenta and Masaru were antsy to be out of their seats, literally tense as they waited for the fateful ringing of the release bell...

RING!

They were out of their seats and at the door by the time Haruki and Kaito got to their feet.

"Kenta?" Haruki called, but she was already out the door with Masaru. She sighed and shook her head. "I can't believe those two."

"They still have to stop at their shoe lockers before they leave," Kaito pointed out. "If we hurry we can catch them before they leave."

Haruki nodded. "Good idea." The two of them grabbed their things and went down to the first floor. They managed to catch the two as they were putting on their outside shoes. "And where do you two think you're going in such a hurry?" she asked.

"To see what the police investigation is all about!" Kenta said.

Masaru nodded. "Yeah, don't you remember the announcement during lunch?"

"Yes, and they specifically told us not to get in the police's way."

Kenta frowned. "Come on, Haruki. Nothing exciting ever happens in this small town. When else are we going to get the chance to see something like this?"

Kaito came up with an idea that would take both their minds off the police investigation. Masaru might not like him for it, but he agreed with Haruki that they shouldn't get in the police's way. Besides, his uncle was the chief detective on the force. He didn't want to cause him any trouble on the job.

Kaito cleared his throat a bit before saying, "Hey Masaru, don't you have a DVD you were going to return to Kenta?"

Masaru's face instantly fell and paled. He stared at Kaito with pure shock and terror on his face. Haruki frowned; this did not spell good news.

Kenta opened her mouth in a realization-gasp. "Oh, yeah... Where's my DVD? You got it?"

Masaru stammered. "I-I...uh, well...um...I..."

"Well? You said you'd bring it today. Where is it?"

He gulped, and, hands shaking, set down his bag. He unzipped it slowly and pulled out the crunched case, handing it hastily to Kenta. He cleared his throat, slinging the bag back onto his back and moving away from her as he waved. "I'll pay you back, I promise! It was a complete accident, I swear!"

Kenta frowned, opening the case. Kaito saw her eyebrow twitch when she saw the shattered disk. What happened next was like watching a movie. She dropped the case and disc and looked up at Masaru, moving in slow motion. Then, in the blink of an eye, she was bolting after him. "You lousy bastard! Get back here!" She continued screaming and cussing at him, murder in her tone, as they took to the street and ran down the sidewalk.

Haruki sighed. "That girl...she does have one heck of a temper."

Kaito nodded. "Sure looks like it. I feel sorry for Masaru."

"He can run faster than her, he'll be fine," Haruki said. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Hold on," Kaito said. "I should probably walk you home."

Haruki blushed a little. "Wh-What?"

"For safety reasons. If a crime really was committed it'll be safer if we don't walk alone."

Haruki hesitated, but nodded. "G-Good idea." They left the school grounds together and made their way down the street. They talked a little about school and what it was like for Kaito when he was living in the city. But when they were about a block or so from Haruki's family's inn they came across a police roadblock.

The intersection was blocked off by officers and police tape. There weren't many officers, but it was a small town so that was to be expected. Despite their numbers they did an excellent job with crowd control. The only people on the scene that weren't officers were two house wives observing everything from outside the yellow tape.

"This must be the investigation we heard about at lunch," Kaito said.

Haruki nodded. "We should leave and let the police do their job."

"Right." Kaito and Haruki were about to turn back and find another street when they overheard the housewives talking.

"I heard they found her on a television antenna," one of them said.

The other said, "Really? How did the killer manage to get her on the roof without anyone seeing?"

As Kaito listened he couldn't help but remember the voice in his dream two nights ago. A great mystery will be placed before you. Your life, as well as the lives of others, will depend on the choices you make.


(Can you have them stick around at the scene for a bit longer in your next post?)

Kaito stopped, lost in thought. Haruki took a couple steps before she noticed he wasn't following, and turned around to look at him.

"Kaito?" That's when she saw his face. Bewilderment, realization, even hints of shock. "What's wrong?"

He swallowed, looking up at her. He shook his head. "It's going to sound really crazy."

She returned to his side, looking him in the eye. She was half tempted to give him a friendly, comforting hug, but restrained herself. "You can tell me anything."

He nodded. "Two nights ago...I heard a voice in a dream. It said...A great mystery will be placed before you. Your life, as well as the lives of others, will depend on the choices you make." He paused, glancing away from her. "What if that wasn't a dream? What if this is that mystery?"

The moment Kaito said it even he thought it sounded stupid. He immediately shook his head and said, "Nevermind, forget what I said."

Haruki was about to say something when a young looking detective ran by. They couldn't get a good look at his face before he started blowing chunks behind a couple of garbage cans. Ryotaro, Kaito's uncle, came into view, and he didn't look at all pleased. "Dammit, Yusuke! You can't throw up at a crime scene, it makes the rest of us look unprofessional!"

When the rookie finished expelling whatever was left in his stomach he said, "S-Sorry, Dojima, Sir..."

Ryotaro shook his head and muttered, "Christ..." That's when he noticed Kaito and Haruki standing at the yellow tape. As he approached them he said, "Kaito, what are you doing here?"

"School just finished so I was on my way home," he said.

Haruki looked at Kaito and asked, "You know Detective Dojima?"

He nodded. "He's my uncle."

Ryotaro looked at Haruki and asked, "Is she a friend of yours?"

"We met at school today. We heard an announcement at lunch about the investigation, so I thought I should escort her home just to be safe since her friends are...preoccupied." Kaito held back a smirk as he remembered Kenta chasing after Masaru screaming bloody murder.

"You're Haruki, aren't you? The daughter of the Minako Inn?" Ryotaro asked.

She nodded. "That's right."

"This really isn't the place for you kids to be hanging around right now, you should both get going." He looked at Kaito one last time before adding. "Kaito, lock the front door once you get home."

"Sure." With that, Kaito's uncle went back to the investigation while Kaito and Haruki turned and went back the way they came.

Haruki looked at Kaito, at awe of his connection within the police force. The more she got to know him, the more she began to like him. He was well-mannered, shared many of her likes, and was all around pleasant. Not to mention the fact he was a detective's nephew!

He finally looked at her and caught her smiling at him. "What?"

She blushed, looking away. "N-Nothing."

He chuckled. "It's something. You're blushing."

She rolled her eyes, pretending to ignore him. He played off her emotion, staring at her and moving to tickle her. She squirmed, squeaking when he touched her. That made him laugh even more, and she leapt away from him.

The rest of the walk was peaceful and pleasing; they talked about school and Kaito's former home, and her life as the innkeeper's daughter. When they finally stopped in front of the Minako Inn, she sighed, not ready to part from his company.

"Thank you for walking me home," she smiled softly.

He nodded. "My pleasure."

At that moment, Haruki's mother stepped into the doorway, looking down welcomingly at her daughter. Her eyes widened a little, cocking inquiringly at the sight of Kaito. "Who's your friend?"

Haruki smiled at her. "Oh, this is Kaito. He's new at school; Detective Dojima is his uncle!"

She relaxed at Dojima's name. "Oh, really? Why don't you invite him in for dinner, then? We have plenty."

Kaito smiled but shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, Mrs. Minako, but I should be getting home. My uncle is probably going to be coming home late tonight, so I should be there to watch my cousin until he does."

"Oh that's right, Detective Dojima's daughter, Nanako. She's such a dear, it's a shame what happened to her mother."

That made Kaito stop. "Her mother?" he asked, worried.

Kaito spotted a pained look in the woman's eyes before she smiled warmly and said, "Nevermind, you should get going now. Tell Nanako I said hi."

Kaito nodded hesitantly. "Right. It was nice meeting you. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Haruki." He waved good-bye and left.

(Just so you know, Dojima's wife was killed a couple of years ago when she got hit by a car on her way to pick up Nanako from nursery school. It doesn't have anything to do with the plot, just a little something to make some of the characters more three-dimensional.)

Haruki looked at her mother, frowning worriedly. The girl's mother? What had happened to her? "Mama?" she asked as she turned to enter the house.

"Yes, dear?"

Haruki followed her mother inside. "What happened to her? Dojima's wife?"

-----

Kenta leaned against a tree in the park. Masaru had managed to escape her, but not before apologizing earnestly and receiving a firm smack across the face from her. Still fuming but satisfied by his pleas, she had let him go. She had no doubt he was locked in his room, cowering under the bed of fear of her.

She snorted, pushing away from the tree trunk and beginning the long round-about walk home. Maybe the old man would be asleep by the time she got there.


***There's something I'd like to do with Kenta before we finish with this particular night; it would just have the same 3D-affect for our characters and help Kaito understand Kenta more.***