"Man...summer homework sucks." Minako whined as she went through her math problems easily. "Not that it's hard or anything, but it's annoying..."

"Yeah..." Minato said, writing an essay.

"That one year we spent in America had to be the best. Only 5 days a week of school, 2 weeks of Christmas break, 2-3 months of homework-free summer vacation..." Minako said before sighing. "Lots of 3 day and 4 day weekends, and March Break!"

"Yes, but here in Japan, we have more singular holidays spread throughout the year." Minato pointed out. "And we have more field trips."

"I guess that's true." Minako sighed.

After a few more hours, Minako had finished her Math and History homework, successfully finishing her summer homework.

"Okay! Time for a topsicle!" Minako said before rushing to the freezer.

While Minako was away, Minato received a call.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Minato-sempai! Souji says that there's going to be a watermelon party at his house. Want to come?"

"Yeah sure, we'll be right over."

"Sweet, see you there."

Minato then hung up the phone. "Hey Minako, what do you say to a little watermelon?"

When the two seniors had arrived, everyone else including Nanako was already there.

"Um, Dad got a watermelon from someone, so he said we should call everyone." Nanako explained.

"Man, a watermelon!" Kanji said with awe. "'Cause of all the stuff that's gone down this summer, I completely missed out. So where is it? The fridge?"

"Gee, Kanji. They invited us over... At lease show some manners." Rise scolded.

"We gotta smack it open first!" Yosuke smiled.

"Huh? Are we seriously gonna do that? We can't eat it if it gets all crushed!" Chie said, worried.

"But, but... doesn't it sound like fun?" Yukiko asked, excited.

"I wanna do it too!" Nanako cheered.

"Sounds good, but where are we going to get a blindfold and bat?" Minako asked.

"I'll swing at it with everything I got!" Teddie said. "The splattering fruit juice! Bursts of joy! One night of love... The bitter sweetness of those days in the essence of youth!"

'Where does he come up with this stuff?' Souji, Minako, and Minato mentally asked.

'The splattering fruit juice! Bursts of joy! One night of love... Why does that sound so wrong to me?' Minato thought.

"That makes no sense at all." Yosuke sighed. "And dude, will you cut out those commercial lines of yours?!"

"That's the essence of youth!" Nanako repeated happily.

Everyone turned their heads when the door suddenly opened.

"I'm home-whoa, that's a lot of shoes. How many people are here?" Dojima asked.

"Welcome home!" Nanako smiled, running to her father. "Um, let's split the watermelon open!"

"Say what?! ...Uh, well, you see..." Dojima sighed.

The watermelon was already cut and shared with the neighbours. After everyone had a slice, Dojima sat behind his daughter.

"C'mon Nanako, don't pout. Everyone came to hang out, right?" Dojima asked, trying to calm his upset daughter. "...I'm really sorry. It never occurred to me that you'd want to do that..."

Nanako nodded sullenly before Chie caught her attention.

"Hey, Nanako-chan. Let's do it again sometime." Chie said. "Next time, we'll do it right-at the beach!"

"Seconded!" Rise said, suddenly popping into the conversation.

"Thirded!" Minako said, jumping in as well.

"Whoa... Does that mean we get to see you guys in swimsuits?!" Yosuke asked, his eyes sparkling slightly. "Oh... but there probably aren't enough days left. We'll have to do it next year..."

"Next year...?" Nanako asked, still downcast. She then turned to Souji. "Will you play with me next year too?"

"Of course we will!" Chie smiled.

"You betcha!" Kanji said.

"You betcha!" Yukiko repeated happily.

"Definitely." Minako said.

"Of course." Minato nodded.

"I promised I would!" Teddie reminded.

"Yes." Souji smiled.

Dojima looked pleased at the chorus of agreements. "Did you hear that, Nanako?"

Nanako looked bright and happy again. "Yep! Thank you!"

Soon, everyone went home to get ready for the new term that was starting the next day.

When Minako and Minato arrived at school after parking their car, they immediately headed for their friends who were gathered at the front gates.

"Morning!" Minako greeted.

"Good morning, Minako-sempai." Souji greeted back. "You too, Minato-sempai."

"Good morning." Chie smiled.

"Good morning." Yukiko greeted as well.

"Summer vacation is over already." Chie sighed.

Yosuke then came up to the group. "Yo, guys. I got lost on my way here."

"The vacation was pretty long." Yukiko agreed.

"Really? To me it seemed really short. Back in America, depending on your grade, your summer vacations would always be at least 2 months with no homework." Minako said.

"What?!" Chie gaped. "That's so lucky!"

The group became surprised however when Naoto walked up to them, wearing their school uniform along with his signature hat.

"Good morning." Naoto greeted.

"Y-You...?! You're that, uh... pint-size detective!" Yosuke said, wide-eyed.

"I beg your pardon?! My name is Naoto. Please, don't give people bizarre nicknames you make up on the spot." Naoto said with narrowed eyes.

"Yosuke, don't call him pint-sized. It's rude." Souji sighed.

"Sorry." Yosuke mumbled.

"Um... You know that this is a high school, right?" Yukiko asked, trying to be careful with her words.

"You're entering as a first year, aren't you?" Minato asked, receiving a pleased nod from Naoto in return. Everyone looked surprised at this except Minako.

"My cooperation with the police has come to an end. However, there are aspects of the case with which I remain unconvinced." Naoto said. "There are some family related issues as well, so I've decided to stay here for the present."

Naoto started to walked away after saying his piece, but turned around after a few steps.

"And I felt that I should at least introduce myself to you all." Naoto said. "I trust our relations will be cordial, Sempai."

"Sempai...? That detective boy is... our underclassman?" Chie asked, still shocked.

"It seems to be the case." Souji nodded.

"Man, school is as dull as ever." Yosuke sighed. "With the case closed, the days feel so empty all of a sudden..."

"Maybe you should join a club." Minako suggested.

"Nah..." Yosuke shook his head.

"C'mon Yosuke, everything went back to normal. It's a good thing!" Chie said.

"I didn't mean it that way. It's just..." Yosuke trailed off.

"You're just not used to having so much free time now, am I right?" Minato asked.

"Yeah, that's it." Yosuke nodded.

"Hey, we're going to Junes later right? Why don't we ask Naoto-kun to join us?" Yukiko suggested. "Oh, I just thought... Since he doesn't know anyone yet, he must feel lonely..."

"I agree." Minako said.

"Didn't he say he came here to help out with the murder case?" Yosuke asked. "With the case closed, he's just an ordinary guy now. And if you think about it, that makes him a transfer student, just like Souji, me, Minako-sempai, and Minato-sempai."

"Hello sempai!" Rise greeted with a smile as she came up to the group.

"Maybe he transferred here out of plain stubbornness?" Yosuke suggested after giving a nod of greeting to Rise. "'Cause he doesn't seem like he's only in it for fun."

Rise looked confused.

"Alright, let's see if he wants to hang out with us." Yosuke said.

"A celebrity coming to school is already a surprise, but a detective is even rarer." Chie said. "I'm a little curious to see what his family is like, too."

"There's that and the fact that he's a detective at his age." Yukiko said.

Then the group went to find Naoto, only to see that he was around the corner surrounded by a couple of girls.

"Oh, speak of the devil. There's the little guy." Yosuke said.

"You dunno the area yet, right? C'mon, we'll show you around." A conniving looking girl said.

"There's probably tons of places to hang out that only we'd know about." The girl's friend agreed.

Naoto shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I'm not interested in 'hanging out', and neither am I interested in the two of you."

"Huh?... Hey, what did you say?!" The conniving girl asked angrily.

"What's with that attitude?! We're just trying to be friendly!" The girl's friend snapped.

Yosuke winced. "Geez... way to make an impression."

Minato then walked up to Naoto, earning awed looked from the him and the two girls in front of him.

"Kyaaa! Minato-sempai~!"

"Sorry ladies, I need to borrow Naoto-san for a moment." Minato said, looking at the two girls with disinterest.

"Sure~." The conniving girl sighed dreamily.

"We'll just be going now!" The girl's friend said before walking away in a trance.

"Sup!" Kanji said as he walked up to the group.

"So we meet again. May I help you?" Naoto asked, secretly relieved that Minato had gotten rid of the girls for him.

"Hey, Naoto-kun. If you're not doing anything after school, wanna come with us?" Chie asked cheerfully.

"Come with... You mean me?" Naoto asked, surprised.

"Of course, who else here is named Naoto?" Minako asked jokingly.

"...Perhaps another time. I have some things to mull over." Naoto said, declining politely.

"Things to mull over?" Rise asked.

"I must go straight home today, I promised my Grandpa so." Naoto said.

"Grandpa?" Kanji asked himself.

"Oh well... That's that, then. Let's hang out some other time." Chie offered.

Naoto nodded before he left.

Currently, at Investigation Team was sitting at their usual table in the Junes Food Court.

"Man, did you see Naoto's attitude...?" Yosuke asked. "He sure blew his debut at school... Is he going to be okay at Yasogami?"

"He is different, but he has this... mysterious air around him that draws your attention." Yukiko said.

"Whoa, Yukiko, I never knew... You like younger guys?" Yosuke asked in a mischievous manner.

"No, that's not what I meant..." Yukiko denied.

"What she means is that, people can't help be curious about Naoto because of his mysterious, distant attitude. Take Minato for example." Minako said, pointing to her boyfriend.

Everyone looked Minato over and nodded in understanding, making him sweatdrop.

"It also helps that Naoto-kun is quite good looking." Minako said.

"Naoto-kun said he has 'things to mull over', but he's gotta be talking about the murder case." Chie said, changing the subject.

"He's some ace detective, right? I bet he's not satisfied... even though the case is closed." Yosuke said.

'I'm not satisfied either...' Minato and Minako thought.

Chie sighed and looked around the food court. "This place isn't out special headquarters anymore... Eh, let's talk about something else."

Yosuke thought for a moment before remembering something. "Isn't the class trip coming up soon? Um... where are we going...?"

"Tatsumi Port Island." Yukiko answered, making both Minato and Minako alarmed. "Hey, isn't that where Minato-sempai and Minako-sempai used to live?"

"Yeah." Minako nodded. "We were second years 2 years ago, attending Gekkoukan high."

"Then why are you still in high school?" Souji asked. "With your high grades, I thought you'd be in college by now."

"Oh, Minato and I got into an accident on graduation day." Minako explained. "We were in comas for 2 years until recently."

"Whoa... you were in comas?" Yosuke exclaimed. "That explains why you're a couple years older than us."

"What was the accident?" Chie asked.

"We'd rather not talk about it, it brings back bad memories." Minato answered, Chie gave an understanding nod and let the subject drop.

"I heard it's an artificial island that faces the ocean. It's a pretty big city." Yukiko said.

"You're right." Minato nodded.

"There are a lot of places to hang out." Minako said.

"Uh, actually... we may not have any time to goof off during this trip." Chie frowned. "I heard the school board is changing the trip's schedule this year. The idea is, we're going to visit a private school there. Like, to have local and urban students interact or something. It'll be all about studying and serious business... yuck."

"Ugh... They're totally missing the point of a class trip." Rise sighed.

"What kind of place is this private school?" Yosuke asked.

"It's probably Gekkoukan high, our old school." Minato said. "It was the best high school around."

"I heard it's really good. They have nice buildings and everything." Chie said.

"That's true. Gekkoukan was a great school. Cute uniforms, beautiful buildings, lovely gardens, big track field, tennis courts, a pool, and more." Minako nodded.

"But it's closed on the day we're going there, so they're going to extra mile to make this work." Chie said. "They want us to tour some factories on the second day, and then we're coming back on the third day."

"That's no different from a social studies field trip!" Yosuke complained. "Urgh... I didn't want to know that..."

"Can't expect much from a school-sponsored strip, I guess." Kanji shrugged. "Well, we'll be around, so if it starts to drag, we can ditch."

"We can show you guys around." Minako said.

"But we're in different years..." Yosuke said.

"Oh, didn't you know? They excursion will be similar the camp out. They're going to combine all years. Since student enrolment is down and they're low on funds, they've cut the excursion back once every two or three years." Yukiko explained.

"Well, at least we won't be bored with you around, sempai." Kanji said.

"Gosh, I'm trying to remember the last time I went to Port Island and I wasn't working... This'll be great!" Rise cheered.

"I wish I could be that positive about it... Doesn't this seem like a pain in the ass to anyone else?" Yosuke asked.

"Not really." Souji answered.

"Some people were against the proposition, but it's been decided. Oh, and guess whose idea it was? King Moron's." Chie said, dropping the bomb. "It's just the kind of thing he'd come up with..."

"Nooo... King Moron...! Why must you torture us from beyond the grave...?!" Yosuke whined.

"Nooo... King Moron!" Teddie copied as he joined the group.

"You don't even know who that is." Kanji said.

"Hey tell me more about this trip." Teddie said. "Where is Port Island? What's there?"

"Get back to work, will ya?" Yosuke sighed.

"Well, even though the class trip is coming up, it's still a ways away." Chie frowned. "What should I do until then?"

"Well, it's not like we got much to do here in the first place..." Kanji said. "Man is just an animal trying to figure out how to kill time through his days..."

"Huh. You made that sound like you were being philosophical..." Chie said, surprised. "Yet is made absolutely no sense."

"S-Sorry." Kanji mumbled.

"Anyways, Sempai, did you have any sort of class trip in Gekkoukan?" Souji asked.

"Uh huh, we went to Kyoto for a couple days and stayed at a resort." Minako answered.

"What? Your old school was that rich?" Yosuke gaped.

"That sounds so nice... I heard the hot springs in Kyoto are amazing." Chie said.

"It was, until some of my old friends ruined it." Minako sighed.

"What happened?" Souji asked.

"When my friends and I arrived at the hot springs, we only got to bathe for a short time before he heard some splashing noises. After searching we found out it was two of my friends/classmates who were trying to peek on us. They entered the springs not to long before the men's time was over, so that they'd be there before the women came. The reason for this was so that they couldn't take any blame if they were there when the girls started going to the hot springs." Minako said.

"Ugh... what a bunch of perverts." Chie sighed.

"What happened to them?" Yukiko asked.

"My sempai, Mitsuru-sempai, punished them by executing them." Minako smiled.

"E-Executing?" Yosuke asked wide-eyed.

"You don't want to know..." Minato said, getting a shiver down his spine from the memory.

"Was Minato-sempai there?" Rise asked curiously.

"I was, but when I realized what my friends were trying to do, I left before the men's time ended with my other friend, Akihiko-sempai." Minato said, lying through his teeth.

The girls gave pleased, approving nods at this.

"Anyways, it's getting late. We should be getting home now." Minako said.

"Yeah, see you guys later." Minato said.

The group then split up and went home.