Rain pattered against the lit windows of the second floor of a humble wooden house. Inside, was a young man lying on his bed, playing on his PSP. He was dressed in a beige shirt and slightly long black shorts. It was a relatively small room. The bed was in the middle of the place and pressed against the wall. At the foot of the bed was a TV placed atop a stand, and at the other end of the room was a wooden table with a couple of shelves containing textbooks. The window was on the side of the room, opposite of the bed. A single lightbulb shone from the middle of ceiling.

The TV was turned on and displaying a news story about the recent disappearances, and the boy simply listened to it as he played with his PSP on silent. The reports of disappearances had his family worried, but he himself was not as concerned. Being from the capital, he knew crimes and criminals always existed, but as long as they stayed out of it and remained cautious during night hours, there wouldn't be any problems. At least, that's what he thought. Another thing that made him brush off the report was when the speakers said that a cult might be involved. [i]"What a load of nonsense... I thought Media sources were more professional than that. A cult is their main theory? Really?"[i] He thought in disbelief.

A feminine voice from outside the room called out. "Naganori. Don't forget classes start tomorrow. you should get some sleep. I'm sure you're tired from exploring Hirameki today." The voice said. "Yeah, mom. I'll be asleep in a few minutes." Naganori replied. "And don't forget your umbrella tomorrow. The rain doesn't look like it will be letting up." His mother continued. "Got it." Naganori replied. He then saved his Monster Hunter game and turned off the device. He knew he could stay up and play it longer, since his parents were very loose with him about things. But the reason behind that was that they trusted him to be responsible, and responsible he was. Besides, he knew it would look bad to other students if he was late on the first day.

He sat up, and placed his PSP next to the TV, and shut it off as well. He reached up to the switch of the light on the wall just above his bed, and flicked it, shrouding his room in darkness. With that, he fell down on the bed and covered himself up with the blanket. He thought about his new school, and what it would be like. He then thought that this time, his brother wouldn't be there to walk him through how everything worked in school. The thought made him sad, but not much more than that. His grieving phase was over. Besides, he had to stay strong, for his family, and maybe even his brother if ever he was watching him somehow.

On that somber note, Naganori shut his eyes and drifted to sleep.