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A girl wearing the Yasogami school unifrom has been following them down the grocery aisle for several minutes now.
"You gonna take care of that?" Adachi whispers, thumbing behind his shoulder un-subtly. Yu sighs, and turns around.
"Good afternoon!"
"Ack!" The girl jolts. "H-hello, senpai!"
"Can I help you with something?" Yu asks. "I don't work here, but if you need anything, I'm happy to point you in the right direction." He plasters an easy smile on his face. At this, she relaxes, mimicking his expression back.
"Er, well," she says, smoothing out her skirt. "My friend dared me to come over. To talk to you."
"I see," he says.
A few moments pass. Several feet away, Adachi throws two prepackaged onigiri into his basket a little too hard. The plastic wrap crunches noisily against the empty container.
Their visitor doesn't even flinch at the sound. Fixated on Yu, she's flushed and unresponsive, so he prods further:
"Well, it's always good to see a classmate. What do you need from me?"
"I - I mean, she - wanted to check if you had plans for the holiday coming up," she says, fidgeting with her hair. "Do you, senpai?"
"Not yet," Yu says. Even turned away from them, he can sense Adachi's eyes rolling back into his head.
"Oh," squeaks the girl. "Well. That's good to know! I'll let my, uh, friend know." She hops from foot to foot. "I should get back - see you at school!"
"Okay. See you -"
Before he can even finish his sentence, she's fled back toward the store entrance. Yu waves as she departs, and Adachi slouches back over to his side. He's scowling, eyes scanning up and down the girl's fleeing form.
"God, you're annoying."
Yu furrows his brows. "What did I do?"
"It's what you don't do. You just get to exist, and shit like that happens." Adachi sighs, indiscriminately lashes a hand out sideways to grab another to-go container from the deli. "Well, at least it proves my point."
"What point?"
The off-duty policeman turns to him, head cocked - maybe Yu is imagining it, but the refrigeration from the nearby display seems to billow out around him.
"That you're the only interesting thing in this dump, and everyone knows it."
"I sincerely doubt that, Adachi-san."
"Why the hell else would I willingly hang out with a high school kid?"
He opens his mouth to reply, but finds he doesn't have an answer.
The thought haunts him as he walks from Junes to the Dojima's house. Inaba has taken Yu in like nowhere else. No matter where in town he goes, or who he sees, he's home. And with the murders to solve, he and his friends have a purpose.
Girls like that have always had crushes on Yu - what just happened is nothing new. But he's never lived like this before.
So why does Adachi feel so differently about this place? The closer he gets to the detective, the more curious he becomes. Why is Yu the only one who sees this cynical side, dopey mask off? And why does he keep choosing to tag along for grocery shopping, when the man is (frankly) starting to make him anxious?
Yu strolls past storefronts, some shuttered, some gleaming with wares. There's handmade kitchen utensils arranged on a street rack, their crafting methods passed down through generations. Textiles, tofu, anything a person could need is on this street.
Well, not quite everything. That's how Junes has gutted the town to its current point. There's something to be said for that, trading convenience for humanity. He wouldn't tell Yosuke his true feelings about it.
"Good afternoon, Yu-kun!" The bookshop owner waves, his eyes crinkled kindly. "Heading home?"
"Yes," Yu says, giving a polite nod. "I've got a report to type up."
The shopkeeper leans toward Yu, one hand pressed to the side of his mouth conspiritorially. "Well. If you need some research materials, let me know!"
"I will, thank you."
Golden autumn light shines down, suffused by sparse clouds. Yu draws his jacket close and keeps his pace brisk, his blood warm. In clear definition, Yu lets the surrounding scenery wash over him.
A fisherman has parked his chair on the bank of the Samegawa river. From his vantage point as he passes, Yu can just barely make out the clicking and zipping of the line as he reels it in. Hoping to tantalize a fish just enough to bite.
There's wonder in this town. Yu stops for a moment, closes his eyes.
Air breezes past, pungent with irritated silt from the river, sweetness from slow-dying leaves. A few young children giggle at the park nearby, their footsteps sticking in the muck as they run. It's cool out. Comforting and full of opportunity. The promise of a turning season, spring to follow the inevitable winter.
"You're the only interesting thing in this dump"
That can't possibly be true.
Back home the air was never this clear. Exhaust fumes, sweat, too many bodies in one place at the same time. Adrift in the clamor of concrete and crowds, Yu walked alone.
He always had books to escape into while his parents were gone. Cooking helped him make friends, and keeping his appearence presentable even more so - but then he'd inevitably have to move schools again. Start from zero.
Here, he's forced to be different. To be something more, to mean something to the people of this town. Nothing special about him, really, except the ability to adapt.
A known quantity to combat the unknown danger, someplace grounded in the dark - that's what Inaba is to him. It's the place where his friends are. Where the truth lives.
He opens his eyes and walks the rest of the way home.
Dojima's not here tonight, so dinner with Nanako is quiet and easy. She's disappointed, of course, but he tries his best to cheer her up. Yu knows the feeling well.
But he's still restless. He emerges back out into the night, and stars unravel above him, framing the mountains in the distance like a glittering blanket. Wind whips past him, and he shivers.
Without thinking, he slides his phone out of his pocket and opens it with a snap.
"Free 2night?" he taps out, but something stops him from pressing send. He hasn't picked a recipient. After a moment, he closes his phone.
Clouds roll in the further he walks, and by the time he reaches main street, the stars are half-obscured. Goosebumps erupt up his arms as he notices a light layer of fog begin to skate along the ground.
This wasn't in the weather report. Suddenly he's nervous - he shouldn't be here tonight. He takes a deep breath, the cool moisture almost sharp in his nose and throat.
The fog caresses the land with a wisp of intent. Even this is beautiful, in its own way, as it twines up the streetlights. After all, it's not the fog's fault that it's dangerous.
He keeps walking, until he can make out a lone figure in the darkness. Standing on the sidewalk in a yellow coat, it raises an arm in greeting. Yu can't even make out who it is from this distance. Then —
"Hey, kid," the man's voice says.
"Adachi-san." Yu walks closer. "I thought you'd be working late tonight. Dojima's not home."
"He doesn't need my help," Adachi waves off the concern, and Yu notices a cigarette in his hand. That's… new. "Anyway. What are you doing out so late?"
"Couldn't sleep," Yu lies.
"That so? You don't have another cute girl to run off and see?"
"Not tonight."
"Pah. You're no fun, Narukami."
The smoke from Adachi's cigarette trails up, joining the fog swirling around them both. Yu hadn't realized it, but the clouds had arrived in earnest. The sky is completely dark, bulky and suddenly claustrophobic
It smothers all sound until Adachi coughs, noisily. It seems to be swallowed up into the night.
"Not a regular smoker?" Yu asks.
"Special occasion," Adachi says.
They're standing closer together. He can smell the clamminess of dew forming on Adachi's coat.
"This town is interesting, you know."
Adachi chuckles, which causes him to cough again. "You're still on about that?" He takes another drag.
"You just need to take a look around," Yu says, "didn't you come from the city, too? It's different here. Can't you feel it?"
"It is different," Adachi agrees. "It's empty and boring. Outside of the case, of course."
And me, apparently.
"You can't see the stars as well in Tokyo." Yu is mumbling now, like he's trying to convince himself as much as the man next to him.
"Can't see them here, either," Adachi says, pointing up.
Of course, he's right. Hardly anything is visible now, except the two of the them and the street light.
Adachi holds out the butt of the cigarette. "Want some?"
"No, thank you."
The policeman shrugs. "Suit yourself." He takes one last puff, rasps out a cough, then tosses it on the ground. "Just accept that I was right today, and we'll call it even."
"I should go," Yu says, instead of an answer, and Adachi nods like he expected it.
"You should. It's late, for a school night."
"Do you want to walk back together?"
Adachi claps him on the shoulder. "Nah. I kind of like this weather. Nights like these," he licks his lips, "they make you feel alive. Y'know?"
His touch feels cold, even through his coat. Yu stiffens. "The murders happened on foggy days, you know."
That wins him a lopsided smile. "Oh, I'm aware. I'm fairly sure it's worth the risk."
Does he have a death wish?
"Well. Just stay safe, okay?"
Adachi's eyes flash open, his brows scrunched together. "What are y… I should be telling you that, Narukami-kun. I'm the cop, here." He releases him and gestures away. "Whatever. Just go."
Yu opens his mouth, then closes it. He clenches his fists and turns away. "Goodnight, Adachi-san."
"Yeah, yeah. Night."
Yu walks back the way he came, pulling out his phone's pathetic flash to light his path. He really should've gone home earlier. The mist is starting to smell like Shadows. Eerie green light pollution suffuses the air.
Something is wrong.
He glances back one last time over his shoulder, to see if Adachi followed him after all.
The street is empty.