-Sigh- This took so much effort to write but I'm not happy with it at all after revising it it a few times. The second chapter came out so much better. I couldn't put it off any more so please excuse this drabble lol.
Battle Lines Drawn
"Is there something bugging you Naoto?" The sleuth jumped out of her bubble of concentration when her boyfriend tapped her on the shoulder.
"No no..." She started, startled from having her concentration broken. "I was just stuck in thought."
"You sure? You definitely look like you weren't there."
She put her hand to her chin.
'No point from hiding it from him.'
"I wanted to make the others in the team aware of our relationship." Souji raised an eye brow.
"What brought this up?" Naoto shook her head, she was still thinking on how the different ways it will end.
"I don't think I can continue to deceive them about our activities. Plus..." She looked up to him with an embarrassing smile. "...I'm running out of excuses."
The leader looked up to the sky in search of ideas. "Yeah you got a point. I don't think we have many left."
"I'm just not sure of the reactions of everyone in the team. Yosuke-senpai and Teddie I'm not worried that there will be any negative connotations. The girls however..." Souji perked up.
"Oh yeah that reminds me, what was that about?" Naoto looked confused.
"The girls, you mentioned it on the way home about a week ago and never elaborated on why it was a big deal."
"Oh..." She looked at him, scanning his eyes for any foul play. "...You seriously don't notice?"
He shook his head. "No."
She sighed. "You don't see all of the females in our group hold feelings for you?" Souji raised his eye brow at her.
"No one has told me anything." The sleuth shook her head.
"You don't spend enough time along with them as a group." She sighed as she thought of ways of easing the subject to them as easy as possible.
"I can tell all the guys, I don't think it would be a problem."
"What about Kanji?" Souji was taken back from that question.
"We confide in each other a lot so I don't think there will be any problems there." Naoto looked down gloomily.
"Yours sound so simple, I'm afraid mine would be a bloodbath of a discussion." She looked up at him to search the calm expression for ideas. "I really hope it doesn't break us up as a group. I don't want to be the reason for so much turmoil-" She felt the comforting hand of the leader of the group on her shoulder. He squeezed gently usually sending the message that she has nothing to worry about.
"If you are worried we can swap." She shook her head.
"It would seem that I was cowardly if I didn't speak to them. I will be fine."
"So when did you want to do this?" She closed her eyes.
"After-school, I want to get it out of the way as soon as possible."
...
...
...
"So why did you want to speak to us Naoto-kun?" Rise asked as she her knees up to her chest. The look on Naoto's face figured that this might be a long one, but no one knew what she had in mind.
"Yeah, I'm assuming it might be case related?" Yukiko added. Naoto shook her head and sighed.
'Please go well...'
"Actually this is more about Senpai..." Rise leaned forward in alarm.
"Is there something wrong with him?"
"What did he do?"
"Is it family related?" Chie added. Another sigh and a clench of the fists.
"No..." Naoto blushed four shades red before turning to the ground in embarrassment. "Actually Senpai and I are..." She looked at her female team mates, all holding grave faces of concern.
'They're so concerned about him, I feel so bad for deceiving them for so long...'
She took her last hold pride, hoping it will take her through without too much damage. "Senpai and I are dating." It took a second for the information to sink in. As their minds started to process what happened their faces morphed from concern to surprise, to well whatever degree of anger they felt.
"WHAT!?"
The collective cry caused her to wince.
"How!?" Chie asked questionably, her tone slightly higher than usual.
"Did this just happen?" Yukiko's question seemed more hypothetical than demanding answer; however Rise answered it for her.
"No..." She got up and was in Naoto's face immediately.
"Since when?" She growled.
"W-What?" She grabbed the front of Naoto's school jacket roughly. The sleuth yelped at the idol's surprising strength.
"Answer me!" She growled again, her frustration building up.
"F-For..." Rise shook her roughly.
"Tell me!" Naoto closed her eyes.
'Already in the deep end, might as well stay here...'
"F-For a few months." Rise's emotional dam broke the edge of her eyes watered as she pushed Naoto away.
"H-How could you!?" She screamed before running off.
"Rise!" Naoto called but she was already out of ear shot.
"So Naoto-kun what did you do to get him?" Yukiko asked darkly. Naoto whipped around suddenly remembering there was still two other females she had to deal with.
"Yeah Naoto-kun, tell us your secret." Chie's voice was more curious than hostile.
"I don't know what you are talking about?" Yukiko leaned forward in her seat, her posture dangerous.
"You're the detective. Figure it out." Her face started to flush, the rage threatening to boil over. Chie looked at Yukiko notice how quickly the rage was rising.
"What are you implying Yukiko-sen-"
"Don't Yukiko-senpai me!" She rose to her feet. "So what did you do, blackmail him, held something over his family..." she took a couple more steps forward. The height difference suddenly became apparent to Naoto as she looked up. "Did you offer him, how much of you did you show to him." Her face twisted in anger.
"How much did you expose yourself!?" She snarled.
'Jealousy is a very ugly emotion.'
"It wasn't like that." Naoto stood her ground, but she was losing control over her voice. "We bonded over personal interests; I didn't just throw myself at him because he saved my life."
The future inn keeper's eyes narrowed as she searched Naoto's for doubt.
'Yeah... Definitely not telling them about Christmas.'
"I..." Yukiko struggled to find the words so she just turned on her heels and walked away. Naoto was sure the faint sound of sobbing could be heard shadowing the heir to the Amagi Inn's footsteps. Relaying the interactions of the last ten minutes in her mind, this has gone as bad as she thought it would have been. It frustrates her that her lack of social skills in terms of relationships and people made this difficult. While she did have some sort of understanding on the other girls, she couldn't really relate to them so knowing exactly how they felt was hard.
Chie shuffled her feet, while she was disappointed about the news; she couldn't help but notice the dark turn the females of the group took when it came to the heart of their beloved leader.
"Just give Yukiko some time; she isn't used to this..." Chie told the sleuth. While the comment is reassuring, Naoto couldn't help but notice that there was still a frosty edge to her tone.
"I should have foreseen this would happen..." Naoto said gloomily.
"That sounds about right." Chie looked up at the sky in thought, taking the time to process the detective's words.
"I would be lying if I didn't say I had feelings for Souji-kun. He's one of the first people to actually spend the time to understand me in school outside other than Yukiko..." Naoto looked at the martial artist in practice. "I really appreciate the time he took out for me but what I was scared of most..."
Chie looked down at herself, her pride and self confidence melted away momentarily.
"I always thought I wasn't feminine enough, not woman enough. I was too up in people's faces. I would have always thought considering how Souji is, he would always be a Yukiko type of person, or considering how forward Rise was she would eventually get her way. I considered her dangerous; I think all of us do. But I guess I was wrong about the one we should have been aware of, the whole time."
Naoto was suddenly reminded of her own self esteem issues in terms of her looks. She too thought that considering how almost everyone had the impression she was a boy, it would have made it difficult for people to understand their relationship.
"But considering it's you I guess all of my issues about not being girly enough were completely wrong." Naoto nodded in agreement, pushing aside the bitter tone Chie's voice carried. While she was nothing like the now hysterical Rise or the venomous filled words Yukiko was spewing before, it was easy to tell how the situation frustrated her.
"I guess it shows next I should have tried harder." Naoto then suddenly figured something out. Chie's frustration wasn't aimed at her, but more aimed at own lack of effort. Chie gave her a sad smile.
"That's how it is really, I can't even be mad, I'm just surprised. There was no real clue that you two would have something. I'd always assume that Rise would have her way and that will be the end of it."
She looked towards the door where Rise and Yukiko left through.
"When you are competing against that, it's hard to be confident." That comment stuck a weak point in Naoto. It's the same way she felt when they started dating, Rise's confidence and beauty, Yukiko's beauty and gracefulness and Chie's freedom and energy. It was all things Naoto lacked in her mind. What right did she have to date Souji anyway?
"I see what you mean." That caught Chie's attention. She studied the downcast look on Naoto's face to her posture.
"You're not even confident yourself?" Naoto nodded slowly.
"I'm not. There are a lot of qualities I lack compared to the others. I know it's bad of me saying this but I don't really see what Souji-kun sees in me." Naoto shrugged. "It's petty of me considering what's happening but it doesn't make it easier at times. So I know where you are coming from."
Chie looked at the sleuth for a minute before looking back at her own feet. "I see what you mean. But hey at the end of the day, congratulations you've done what we couldn't do. I guess that's the difference between us." Naoto shook her head.
"Well I'm not celebrating, what is there to celebrate about? This was never a competition to me. In a sense, if I was in this to compete then I wouldn't participate at all." Chie hopped off her seat.
"Well I know that." Naoto looked up at her analysing Chie's words. "But unfortunately you have two friends that don't." She started to walk off.
"Where are you going?"
Chie didn't look back. "I'm going to go check on Yukiko. I have no idea what she's like when she's like this." With that Naoto heard the roof door close.
Naoto only sighed as she was left alone with the sound of the wind.
...
...
...
"So yeah that's how it came about." Kanji and Yosuke we hanging on to his every word as he went through what happened between him and Naoto. His two best friends looked at each other before looking back at the team leader.
"Damn Senpai, throwing yourself in front of danger like that, dumbass." Kanji scoffed. "But hey you did the right thing. If it was real, damn she might a' been in trouble. Too early to die for shit like that though..." Souji nodded.
"Yeah that was my reasoning." Yosuke smirked.
"So who would have thought you and the detective prince would be a thing..." He turned to Kanji, "Leader is all over your territory." Kanji glared at him with daggers sharp enough to murder someone while flushing red.
"Shut up! Would you stop teasing me over that ok?" Kanji scratch the back of his head. "Plus she can make her own decisions." Kanji turned to Souji. "You've got my support Senpai, I'm sure you two are good together."
Yosuke sighed. "Well someone is in high spirits. I doubt the girls will take it well."
Souji looked at him with confusion. "Is there something specific I'm missing with this?"
"Well Rise-chan will probably explode when she finds out; I'd rather not want to think about that. Not sure how Yukiko will react and Chie will probably be blasé about it." Souji rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"You might be right about Rise-" Crying could be heard in the background.
"Is that Rise-chan?" Kanji concentrated on the sound.
"Yep, definitely Rise."
Souji sighed. Naoto was right, it didn't exactly go well. The sound of the crying was getting closer. Souji turned to Yosuke with concern.
"You're about to found out about your Rise reaction..." Yosuke flinched.
"As in now?"
"Yup-" With that the door suddenly burst open as the former idol at the door with tears streaming down her face. Souji gave the other two a very sympathetic look. Rise spotted her love interest and threw herself into his chest with so much force it almost winded him. Recovering a little, he gave the guys a 'Let me sort this out and I'll contact you later' look which both of them nodded and discreetly made their way out of the classroom.
"What's wrong Rise-chan?" He asked soothingly patting her on the back. She only pressed herself into him even more before.
"I-I heard..." She sobbed, trying to control her tears. "I h-heard you are dating Naoto-kun?" Souji sighed.
"Yes, yes I am." He said simply.
"W-wha?" She looked up, with teary eyes meeting Souji's concerned grey ones. "R-Really? Why?"
Souji frowned, not too sure what to say or do in this situation. "I just have a special connection with our resident detective."
"B-But what about us?" Souji sighed again but Rise knew which type it was, it was the short one he gave whenever there was bad news. Alarm bells began to ring in her head that the news was not what she was hoping to hear
"Look Rise..." He turned to the side in frustration, more aimed at himself than anyone else. "I know we are close and I'm not oblivious to your affections but I don't want to seem like you were being lead on."
"Senpai..." She started to wipe her eyes. "Why didn't you tell us?"
"Naoto is not used to having an intimate relationship with anyone at all, so we decided to keep it quiet to make sure she had time to adapt." Rise blinked away the rest of the tears that was forming. "...She would have buckled under the pressure if she had so much attention and probably went mad." Souji finished with a small laugh.
"D-Did she go to you?" Souji shook his head.
"Nah, I confessed to her." Rise's eyes widened in shock.
"W-What really?" Souji nodded.
"Yeah, I was spending so much time with her for quite a bit and I just felt something click inside and the rest is kinda history."
"I know how that feels..." Souji looked away for a moment.
"I'm sorry..."
"Senpai?"
"For what it's worth Rise, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have strung you along and been clear about my feelings from the start. I don't think I've been fair to you at all." Rise saw the genuine disappointment within himself for not paying more attention. "But if anything put this one on me, it's not Naoto's doing so I take full responsibility. It was Naoto's decision to tell you all because she couldn't hide the face she was lying to everybody about us."
"I-I see..."
"So try not to take it out on her. I'd rather you be mad at me than anything else." Rise shook her head.
"I'm not sure if I can even stay mad at you..." Souji grinned.
"I'm sure you will, I have no doubt about it."
Rise frowned, Souji's confession made things difficult as her mental battle to stay frustrated, angered and betrayed by the Sleuth's announcement was being lost. She thought she had it, she could taste how close he was and she damn sure there was going to be no one in her way. Outside of Marie, she knew she didn't have much competition.
Chie, she had more chances of running away with Hanamura than getting Souji, they interacted a lot but Chie never let on the that she had any interest in him. Her tendencies stopped at protecting the leader's time to keep working on the case rather than being caught up by the famous new addition to the team. She didn't want something as cliché as that to happen.
Yukiko, her affections towards the leader was intense, that was obvious, and from the way she stared at him to how she treated him in battle. The glancing touches whenever she casted a healing spell in close proximity to when she helped him off his feet after taking a large hit. There was no doubt in her mind that Yukiko was a caring person, she was the party's mythical first aider but the treatment she gave Souji specifically was hard to not notice. However she didn't have her confidence, she couldn't show her affection as well as she wanted too, and always hid behind her actions. She would have had so much of a better chance if she confessed before her arrival.
But Naoto, the sleuth had no reason to even be in this equation. She made it obvious that she had no interest in any personal relationship within the group. Kanji as far she was aware was the closest to her, also where did Souji begin to have this attraction? Where did it come from and how come she didn't notice herself?
The whole situation was so out of left field she wasn't too sure how to process it all now that her anger had simmered down. What did she do wrong? What did Naoto do right?
The Idol suddenly stopped herself in thought.
Maybe there wasn't anything that could be explained about this? Could it be that it was just one of those things that she couldn't understand. It's one of those things about love that even she believes in. To break down the infatuation she had with her Senpai, it was basic, almost textbook story of a young woman falling in love, he was the leader of the group that saved her life, and looks aside it was hard to see many better than him in her eyes. His calm and commanding attitude while remaining understanding were his best traits. Did Naoto see the same thing in him as herself? Did looks mean anything to her?
That might be something for her to ask Naoto when they finally decided to speak. She will need to wait; she still needed to calm down and couldn't face her like this or if she did, giving her crap would be a good way of expelling anger.
She knew about her own feelings though, Naoto was the one person she confided in about Souji. While Naoto didn't owe her anything, the feeling of betrayal still lingered.
"I think I'm feeling a little better Senpai." Rise told him, lifting herself from his chest and wiping her eyes.
"Good good..." He looked at her with a sincere smile. "Again I'm sorry-"
She cut him off with a swift kiss to the cheek, causing him to tint pink momentarily. "Save it. I don't want to hear it again."
With a small groan she pushed herself off him, his embrace while it was platonic; was still more comforting than many others she had felt before.
"I'm going to head home and relax. I think I just need some time to myself to adjust and get used the current dynamic." She gave a small wink. "I don't want to see you two falling over each other in battle and getting yourselves hurt."
Souji gave them a knowing smirk. "Yeah I think it's something I have to work on too." She slowly brushed her hair so it didn't seem so ruffled.
"I will speak to you tomorrow Senpai. Buh-bye." She said in a bright tone. As soon as she left the class room Souji frowned.
"Sorry Rise but you are not better than me at wearing masks..."
...
...
...
"Yukiko?" Chie asked her friend. The heir to the Amagi Inn had her head in her arms against the table, if she heard her best friend, she didn't acknowledge her presence.
"Yukiko?" The dragon called again, this time Yukiko's response was a small sob. Chie's frown changed to a look of sadness and pity. "Talk to me Yukiko..."
"What's there to talk about?" Her reply was muffled by her jumper. Another sob and a cough were making it obvious that she was still crying. She was still hurt from the earlier announcement and was finding it hard to accept the sudden change in the situation with the person she has been aiming to confess her affection for the past seven months.
"Yukiko..." She hated that tone; it was one of pity, sympathy. It only reminded her of why she was here in the first place and how her lack of action has caused her to miss out on one of the biggest opportunities she felt she had recently in terms of her heart and her affections.
"Please... Not now." She knew it wouldn't work, but she prayed that Chie would just leave her, let her wallow in her own sadness and be tend this was a nightmare that she would wake up from.
"You know I can't do that, especially when you are like this." Yukiko scoffed, or tried too but it was met with another sob half way through.
"What do you know anyway? You don't know how I feel..." The bitter tone was reminiscent of her shadow, something that hit a little too close to home for Chie. Sure she didn't share the same deep feelings as her, but it didn't mean she could just dismiss them as not worthy.
"How do you even know that they are or not?" Chie asked with annoyance laced in her tone. The question in combination of the way it way it was expressed caused Yukiko to look up.
"E-Excuse me?" Chie analysed her puffy eyes, still damp with tears she was shedding. Normally that would be enough to quell any negative feelings she had about anything and comfort her but she needed to make a point before this became too one sided.
"Are you saying that my feelings don't mean anything?" Yukiko paused. Her brain didn't comprehend the reasoning that Chie missed this opportunity too. No, that doesn't make any sense...
"W-What?" Chie didn't back down.
"Answer me." Yukiko blinked away their tears, her mind preoccupied on what was in front of her.
"Y-You had feelings for him?" Chie shrugged. Her frown morphed into a blank expression, her mood improving slightly that Yukiko caught on to where this conversation was heading regardless of her turmoil and denial of the truth.
"I thought that it was obvious."
"No way..." Chie nodded solemnly.
"Yeah I did. What can I say? I'm good at hiding it." Yukiko coughed, still slightly delirious from her outburst earlier.
"I could see that you wanted him, it was pretty obvious considering how you act around him. You always had your eyes on him and you always spend time with him."
"Chie..."
"No Yukiko, you blushed so much around him, you give him special treatment and you are always latched on to his words. The only reason why I didn't say anything is because your feelings were so strong and you don't get on with guys well naturally. He was the first who tried to open you up as a person and saw you as you're true self. The real Yukiko."
Pain shot through her heart, instantly feeling guilty from the tunnel vision of her emotions.
"I should have known..."
Chie cut her off with a raised hand. "No, and I don't expect you too." She paused looking at the ground. "As long as I didn't make it easy for Rise and you were happy, I didn't mind."
Yukiko wiped her eyes, trying the blink the residue of her tears away. "I was so selfish..."
Chie shrugged.
"I guess, but we are all allowed to be once and a while right?" Chie's lips pulled into a small smile.
"Why are you giving me the benefit of the doubt?"
"Oh come on. You know what I'm like. Yeah I can like the guy but what's the actual chance I would beat both you AND Rise. To say it's unlikely is definitely not enough." Chie scoffed.
"Don't say that-" But a swift shake of the head from the martial artist stopped her.
"Look, I'm not as girly or feminine as you and Rise; if anything I share more traits with Naoto." She pulled at her skirt. "I'm all about activity, I get along with guys more than other girls and I like fighting. I'm not as graceful as you and I'm not as feminine as Rise who uses that idol charm where she can."
Yukiko sighed; her emotion of jealousy and anger from before started to fade.
"And Naoto feels exactly the same." That feeling spiked momentarily at the mention of the sleuth's name.
"How dare she think that when she has his attention!"
"Come on Yukiko-"
"No! She has him all to herself and she think that she thinks she can give that bullshit of a sad story. Why would I care how she feels when she hasn't gone through all of the effort to know him like I had? I've known him for so much longer and she waltz in, thinking that she can take what she wants!?"
"Yukiko-"
"Do you honestly believe her sob story!?" Chie sighed.
"Yes. Yes I do."
"What!? Why?"
"Because I can relate..." Chie slung her jacket over her shoulder and turned to leave. "Not everyone is as confident in how they look like you and Rise."
"Chie where are you-" She began to walk off.
"I'll see you tomorrow Yukiko. Call me if anything happens."
Yukiko could only watch on as she saw her leave, still shocked from her sudden departure. Her shoulders slumped as the feeling of loneliness set in.
...
...
...
Naoto spent a long time on the roof reflecting on what happened between her and the girls. After letting Chie's words sink in, she slowly descended the stairwell hoping to find her boyfriend. If she couldn't then she would just have to head home and phone him in the evening. Luckily for her she caught him just as he was about to leave the class room. He had an expression filled with thought, serious thought.
"Senpai?" His ears twitched at the familiar sound of his lover's voice. He looked up, his frown quickly shifting into a small smile.
"Naoto..."
"How did it go?" Souji shrugged then scratched the back of his head.
"Easy, they guys were understanding as to be expected really." He looked at her nervously, noticing her downcast expression. "You?"
"Not good at all."
"Yeah I gathered that much." Naoto raised her eye brow to that response. "Rise came down here crying, actually interrupting my talk with the guys."
"Oh." Souji shrugged.
"I managed to calm her down a little but still she tried to act happy while she left but it was obvious to me that she was still hurting." Naoto's frown increased.
"This is my entire fault..."
"No, it's our fault. Don't blame this all on yourself." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Come, I'll treat you to a hot chocolate and marshmallows to make you feel better."
Naoto's frown turned into the faintest of smiles. "I really shouldn't. I feel that basking in your attention after all of this will only make me feel guiltier."
Souji thought process halted, not taking that into consideration earlier. "You're right, you can blame it on me too after. Plus we can think of a way of fixing this mess."
"Now that is a good idea."