A/N: Light and fluffy response to meme prompt. Naoto's awkward yet gentlemanly attempts to seduce Rise Kujikawa. (Rise/Naoto, obviously, just in case that isn't your thing.)
This dates back to 2009ish, and that shows in places (was even more of a beginner at this) - but I've tried to clean it up and I'm still fond of it. Should really write more with these two.
It was Yosuke's fault for starting it.
He'd walked over to her at lunch with that irritating gleam in his eye which always signaled trouble. Asked her how things were going with the girls at school, wasn't she still a hit with the ladies, all the usual nonsense. With patience born of repeated exposure to Hanamura's special brand of idiocy, Naoto had ignored him.
But then, then he had to go and imply she was useless. That it didn't matter how many girls or boys chased her, because she wouldn't know what to do with any of them. There were few things more frustrating to Naoto than incompetence, particularly her own. The fact that it might well be true - and that such entanglements were ultimately purposeless - was beside the point.
So prove me wrong, he'd said when he'd found her sulking on the roof later that day. Prove you're a player, Naoto-kun. She'd almost kicked him in the shins, before finding her composure and giving a stiff nod instead. Yosuke had beamed this wide, smug grin, and specified the terms. Naoto was to seduce Rise Kujikawa.
Which left her in her current situation: standing outside classroom 1-2, peering around the door and watching Rise pack up her bag.
C'mon, I know you like her, Yosuke had said, smirking and twirling his headphone cable between his fingers.
Irrelevant, Naoto decided. All this was purely to prove a point - and Yosuke knew nothing of the sort, Souji being his sole area of expertise. Rise was...pleasant. A little exuberant, but pleasant. Ridiculously popular among the male population too, which might set Naoto at a disadvantage.
There were always more letters in her locker than Rise's, though. Which meant she could do this.
Walk in. Say hello. Ask if you can walk her home. Easy.
Naoto took a deep breath, and marched into the classroom.
Rise looked up from her bag. "Hey, Naoto-kun."
"Um. Rise. Would you." Unfortunately it stopped there, because Rise gave her this smile. Not a smile, because that would've been simple to ignore. This was a very specific sort of smile - very bright, very eager, and very much directed at her. Diamonds and sunshine, Naoto thought, before deciding she was thoroughly stupid. No doubt idols smiled like that at everyone.
"Something up?" Rise was studying her; Naoto felt her face flush. "You don't look good. Want me to walk you home?"
"No, that's the wrong way ro- -" Naoto said, then turned it into a loud cough. "I-I mean, that won't be necessary. Goodbye, Rise," she added, before turning stiffly and dashing out of the classroom.
Three days and several mental pep-talks later, Naoto worked up the courage to try again. It was the week before exams, which was perfect. Whether due to disinterest or her gradual return to her career, Rise was a disaster in almost every subject; meaning she would require a tutor.
This knowledge gave Naoto confidence, Yosuke's snide comments at lunch gave her fire, and the two combined made her stride into classroom 1-2 after school. Rise stood in front of her desk, muttering and trying to wedge a large pile of textbooks into an entirely too small bag.
"Hello, Rise-chan," Naoto said, forcing her pitch just a little lower than usual.
Rise didn't look up. "Oh, hey, Naoto-kun. How are - ugh, stupid things! - how are you doing?"
"Ah. Good. Thank you. You, um. Appear to be having some trouble?"
"Man, I hate exams," Rise offered, as if it answered the question. She glanced up at Naoto then went back to stuffing books into various pockets of her bag. "It's hard for us, right? We have careers."
"I think you are going to break your bag," Naoto pointed out, in lieu of mentioning that she personally had no problem being a detective and not failing high school.
Rise crammed the last textbook into the bag's front pocket. "Probably. Naoto-kun, you wouldn't believe how much stuff I have to read."
"Well. I-I could walk you home, yes?" Naoto said, as quickly and firmly as she could. "Your bag must be heavy." She grabbed it from the desk, trying not to wince at what she assumed was the sudden dislocation of her shoulder.
Rise stared at her. "Uh...you sure you can carry that, Naoto-kun?"
"For a beautiful girl like you, of course," Naoto replied - except she didn't, since her teeth were clenched too tight to do anything other than nod and force a pained smile.
In the end, Rise had insisted on carrying a few of the books herself, despite Naoto's somewhat halfhearted protests. The important part, though, was that Naoto was still carrying her bag, and walking her home. The Shirogane Plan was in action. Flush with success, Naoto also suggested a small detour along the path by the floodplains; it was the closest Inaba had to any sort of natural beauty, and girls liked that sort of thing, probably.
Rise seemed content enough, at any rate. She was walking alongside Naoto now, smiling and occasionally glancing at the still-heavy schoolbag (which felt like it was attempting to drag Naoto back to school out of spite.)
However, she was unusually silent. Naoto turned to look at her - the bag weighing down her shoulder almost sending her into a pivot. "Is - is something wrong?"
"Just thinking." Rise's smile didn't falter. Naoto had been working on a mental list of just how many she had. This one was much softer, almost hazy.
"About what?"
"This time last year. When you started school. Before you got - well, you know." The smile turned bright, and she grabbed Naoto's arm with her free hand. "Naoto-kun, I thought you were so smooth! Sharp dresser, cool attitude...it was refreshing. Nothing like the other guys at school!"
This was highly promising. Naoto barely suppressed a smirk.
"I mean, now I know you're kinda awkward underneath it all. But you had it going for a while."
"Oh," Naoto managed, trying not to sound too disappointed.
They walked on almost in silence - or rather, Naoto did, Rise preferring to regale her with lurid gossip, particularly regarding the other team members. By the time they reached the edge of the shopping district, Naoto had already learned far too much about Yukiko-senpai and Chie-senpai and precisely what they got up to on the school roof, and elected to redirect the conversation. "Rise. You require a tutor for your exams, correct?"
"Oh! Well, yeah. Kanji-kun and me both, now that the senpai are all too busy." Rise sighed. "I seriously don't want to have to retake a year." She offered Naoto a smile. "Idols aren't allowed to be too dumb."
"Well. I...I could teach you. Be a tutor." Naoto wished it had come out a little more smooth - allow me to educate you, Rise-chan- but it was the best she could manage, and they were already outside the tofu shop.
Rise blinked. "For real? You'd do that?"
Naoto nodded. "If you like, we could start now. I have to take your bag upstairs anyway."
"That would be great! You are so nice, Naoto-kun!" Rise smiled - sunshine again, Naoto was positive this time, no matter how stupid she felt - and darted through the shop door. "C'mon, you can stay for dinner!"
Naoto took a deep breath, both to steel herself and to prepare for carrying a bag full of bricks up a narrow wooden staircase, then followed Rise inside the shop.
Rise's room was pink; spectacularly so. Naoto wasn't sure to make of it, or of the seventeen frilly cushions piled on the bed. She folded herself into a chair by the desk, which looked to be the most neutral place in the room, and rested her elbows on her knees.
First phase of her somewhat improvised plan accomplished. Naoto would've felt a sense of triumph if she'd been at all certain why she was doing this.
Pride, perhaps? Her initial fury at Yosuke had dissipated and she was now rather disappointed in herself for being so easily provoked. Since December, her interactions with Rise had largely been limited to their meetings with the rest of Investigation Team, which had more or less disbanded. Souji had left town three months ago, the remaining senpai would be applying to college next year, and Rise herself would be returning to her career in earnest come September.
Perhaps certain individuals - Yosuke, for example - would consider this an interesting way to pass the summer, but Naoto had never been fond of games. Or romantic affairs. And Rise, for all her casual flirting, deserved better.
Pride was a terrible thing, in retrospect. So was Yosuke Hanamura.
She also couldn't help remembering Rise's early comments; as a boy, Naoto had been cool and smooth, and as a girl, she was apparently awkward and ridiculous. Of course, it might just be their slightly increased familiarity - but Naoto suspected there was something far simpler behind it. After all, Rise was very keen on Souji-senpai. For her part, Naoto wasn't quite sure what to think about Rise.
Moments later, Rise breezed into the room, carrying two cups on a tray. "Is green tea okay? I wasn't sure what you'd like." She paused, staring at Naoto. "You know, you can sit on the bed. I only have one chair at the desk."
Oh. Of course. "Certainly." Naoto stood up. "What, um - what subject should we start with?"
Rise tipped her head. "Math, probably. I'm horrible at it."
Seduced over a mathematics textbook. The concept seemed unlikely. But with Yosuke's insults ringing in the back of her mind, Naoto supposed she ought to try.
The study session went well enough, despite Rise's continual insistence on showing Naoto the contents of her wardrobe, discussing Yosuke and Souji in far more detail than necessary, and making endless cups of tea. A few chapters of geometry later, Rise requested a short break and flopped backwards on the bed. "Thanks again, Naoto-kun. Yukiko-senpai's the only other one who's any good at studying, and she's too busy with Chie-senpai." Rise smiled, again in a different manner. Naoto added it to her list: Suggestive and inappropriate. "In more ways than one, right?"
"Um. Yes."
"I mean, I sort of envy them. Not that they've been practically married since they were twelve," Rise added with a roll of her eyes, "that's kinda weird. But...being together must be nice, you know?"
"Yes," said Naoto, supposing it must be, if you liked that sort of thing. Maybe.
Rise smirked. "Too busy being a detective for that sort of stuff, huh? Probably wouldn't know what to do."
That was completely untrue.
Forget Yosuke. Naoto had someone else to prove wrong. "I think you underestimate me."
"Really?"
Naoto leaned over Rise, who was still sprawled on the bed. "Yes." With a sudden burst of courage (or more likely injured pride), she took hold of Rise's hand. "You recall how many letters I receive? Do - well, don't you think there's a reason for that?"
In truth, the reason was a complete mystery, but it sounded impressive. Naoto briefly congratulated herself. Shirogane, you genius! You are urbane, sophisticated, and- -
- -and holding another girl's hand, in her bedroom, on her bed.
Naoto swallowed hard and tried not to panic.
Rise glanced at her hand, still wrapped in Naoto's - then back up at Naoto herself, with a very strange expression. "Uh…I guess there must be. Maybe I'm wrong after all, huh?"
Another smile. This one was new too. Naoto intended to put it on the list but it was too peculiar to interpret - particularly when her courage evaporated and she jerked back her hand like it was on fire. "So. Trigonometry?"
Five more tutoring sessions came and went - but Kanji attended them too and Naoto found it difficult to do much seducing in-between breaking up fights over animal crackers. Then the exams started, and since her and Rise were in separate classes they rarely saw each other, except at the shoe lockers before and after school. Naoto would've considered walking her home again - except Rise was in a terrible mood for the entire week, and any attempt to sweep her off her feet would have most likely ended with a textbook being thrown at Naoto's head.
But the exams were soon over and operations resumed. Naoto had walked Rise home, carried her bag, seen her room and spoken briefly with her grandmother (which possibly counted as meeting the parents). She informed Yosuke of her achievements at the Junes food court, after school on the Monday following exam week.
"Seriously?" He let out a whistle. "Her bedroom, already? You player, Naoto!" He grinned. "Let me watch next time, yeah?"
Rather than dignify his comments with a response, Naoto instead flushed a similar shade of pink to Rise's room and stormed out the food court gate - slamming straight into Rise herself.
"Oof! Hey, watch where you're- -wait, Naoto-kun?" Rise glanced up, their faces inches apart, her fists pressed against Naoto's chest.
Naoto couldn't quite decide whether this was a good or bad thing, and - in place of resolving the conundrum - choose to turn bright red instead. "R-R-Rise. Hello. Um, sorry."
"Uh. Wow, I- -" Rise jerked back, looking almost as startled - then pouted. "You need to be more careful! You could've knocked me over."
A brief image of the two of them tangled together in the street flitted through Naoto's mind.
...No, no, that wasn't suave at all.
Try again, Shirogane. Yosuke was an imbecile anyway. Naoto tipped her cap and dropped the pitch of her voice. "Again, Rise-chan, I apologize. Please forgive my carelessness." She reached out her hand and placed it gently on Rise's arm. She could do this.
"Uh..."Was Rise...no, of course not. Rise never blushed. Even standing on stage in a bikini had failed to faze her. "I, uh...oh, yeah! I wanted to say thanks. For tutoring me. I mean, I'll probably have failed anyway, but it won't be for trying, right?"
"Not at all. You were very diligent." It was stretching the truth - although Rise had tried, compared to her usual standards. "Do you require further assistance?"
Rise began tugging at a stray strand of her hair. "I - well, I was hoping we could hang out again?" She smiled; the sunshine one again. "I kinda got used to it."
Smooth and cool, remember? It wouldn't do to appear too eager. Unfortunately, Naoto's immediate "Yes" didn't sound quite as casual as she'd have liked, and Rise giggled.
Gentlemen did not provoke giggles. Naoto would take control of this situation. She slid her hand round Rise's elbow and locked their arms together. "It's getting dark. I will walk you to your house." In truth it wasn't that dark at all, and the tofu shop was less than a ten minute walk. Rather than wait for the inevitable rejection, Naoto began marching away from Junes, tugging Rise in her wake.
"Whoa, slow down, Naoto-kun!" Rise gently pulled her back, and smiled. Contented, possibly...shy? "I'd, uh, like to walk a bit slower."
"Oh. Yes."
The walk was brief, of course, but Naoto thought she handled it well. Rise being so close was slightly alarming; however, Naoto was nothing if not courteous, and escorting a girl home while walking three feet apart seemed like it would be missing the point.
Rise's arm was also soft. Warm, too. Pleasant, in an abstract sort of way - and the way she'd smiled earlier was playing on Naoto's mind. Of the mental list she had constructed so far, the sunshine one was her favourite.
"Uh, Naoto-kun? We're here. You can let go of my arm now."
"Ah. Y-yes, of course." Naoto pulled back. "I...um." She moved to rub the back of her neck - then turned it, quite smoothly she thought, into a tip of her cap. "Well, goodnight, Rise-chan."
"Yeah. G'night, Naoto-kun." Rise took her hand and squeezed it gently, smiled again - though Naoto thought she might have already seen this one - and disappeared inside the store.
That smile was nice too, though. All of them were. Even the mischievous ones, because they made Rise's eyes gleam, and it truly had been enjoyable to walk with her, especially the whole arm thing, and -
Oh.
Oh no. This wouldn't do at all.
Naoto turned on her heels and strode through the shopping district, trying not to consider the fact that she might, possibly, maybe, be a little more interested in Rise Kujikawa than she'd thought.
"Holy crap, you really do like her."
Yosuke was staring at her as he leaned against the fence on the school roof. Maybe it would break. Naoto hoped so. "None of your business," she muttered, kicking her heels against the stone ledge.
Yosuke chose to ignore her. "I mean, I was joking earlier! I didn't think you were, you know. Like that. Into girls." He paused. "Uh, I'm... not sure Rise is, either."
"Irrelevant." Naoto had no intention of doing anything about this whatsoever. Quite the opposite. "Our game is complete. I accept victory."
"What? No way! Dropping out is an instant fail."
Naoto didn't fail in anything. Ever. "Absolutely not. Besides, it is entirely your fault I'm in this situation."
Yosuke shook his head. "Hey, hey! No way am I responsible for your crushes, Naoto." He smirked, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "You got yourself into this."
"I do not," Naoto said, very slowly and clearly, "have a crush."
It wasn't like that at all. Professional detectives did not get crushes. Rise was...pleasant. Enjoyable company. Nothing more.
"She's just nice," Naoto eventually managed. The ground was suddenly very interesting, so she decided to inspect it for a while.
She could hear Yosuke pacing back and forth, casting a shadow over the ledge. "So...it's not a game anymore, huh?"
Naoto shook her head, wondering if it ever was. Games had never entertained her, particularly not for so long - and she'd always had a talent for self-delusion when avoiding the truth.
"Oh. Oh man. Okay, we can handle this. Maybe she's interested, right?" Yosuke moved closer and tipped up the brim of Naoto's cap. "But it's kinda hard to tell with Rise. She's...uh, friendly with everyone."
"I'm not sure that's a polite implication, Yosuke-senpai."
"Ah, you know what I mean." When Naoto looked up, he was grinning. "Look, maybe I can help. I know all about girls." He nodded sagely. "I'm an expert."
"I strongly doubt that to be the case," Naoto said, and didn't add because you've been chasing Souji-senpai for the past year.
"What? You're kidding, right? I'm a major hit with the ladies."
Yosuke never got letters. Except from Souji, of course. Naoto shook her head again and went back to staring at the ground.
Unfortunately, Yosuke refused to take no for an answer. "You'll see. We'll come up with a plan. Operation Idol Master," he said with a wink, and Naoto swallowed the urge to shove him off the roof.
Yosuke's initial plan didn't appeal to Naoto at all, since it consisted mostly of her engineering awkward and semi-naked encounters in highly unlikely places (the school bathrooms, the roof, and the elevators at Junes). He'd assured her it worked in the movies and was therefore completely applicable to real life. Naoto remained unconvinced. Particularly after he mentioned that he'd like to be present for one or two of these encounters, as a form of encouragement.
Naoto would do without his help. Seduction couldn't be that difficult - or so she continued to tell herself after two weeks straight of walking Rise to and from school and failing to come up with anything meaningful to say. It didn't really matter, since Rise was capable of filling fifty years of silence without ever repeating herself, but it brought Naoto no closer to her goal. Not that she had a firm idea what that was. Make Rise like me. Demonstrate that perhaps I possibly hold her in some regard, maybe. Forget the whole thing and hide under a rock.
The task was further complicated by Rise's continuing appreciation for Souji, which had apparently faded neither with time nor the rumours that he had certain predilections, mostly involving Yosuke. Rise had taken to sending him letters. Lots of them.
"You do realize- -" Naoto began one day, when Rise was giggling over her latest half-finished missive at the food court picnic bench.
"Yes," Rise interrupted, then smiled. Naoto added another entry to the list: Slightly secretive, possibly evil. "But it's fun." She leaned closer. "And it really, really pisses off Yosuke-senpai."
Naoto couldn't fault her for that. "Ah. Um, what exactly do you write?"
Rise smiled again, positively devilish this time, and tapped the brim of Naoto's cap with her pen. "None of your business, Naoto-kun."
Which meant it was important. Naoto frowned at the table. "Oh."
How Rise wrote so many of these letters was a mystery. Naoto assumed there were only so many ways one could confess one's affections. Not that she'd found any of them. Maybe the seduction was the wrong way round; Rise was clearly the expert in this field.
"I gotta go to the bathroom," Rise said, standing up from the bench. "You want to come with?"
Naoto remembered Yosuke's whole inappropriate encounters idea. "Um. No. Why would I- -"
Rise looked crestfallen. She placed her hands on the table and leaned down towards Naoto. "It's what girls do, Naoto-kun." She winked. "Or boys that are friends with me. C'mon."
The peculiar and desperate tightness in Naoto's chest every time she looked at Rise was becoming extremely distracting. And when had her eyes turned such a rich, deep brown? It hadn't been obvious before. Very pretty, if you liked that sort of thing. They sparkled too. But they were eyes. Anatomy was inconsequential.
The phrase "glimmering chocolate orbs" flashed through Naoto's mind, and she resisted the urge to punch herself in the head.
She swallowed and returned to glaring at the table surface. "No, no. I will...um. Guard your letter."
As it turned out, guarding involved reading through the letter as soon as Rise was through the Junes door. After all, she would no doubt appreciate receiving a letter of her own. This one would make a suitable template. Purely an investigative task. Naoto, of course, had no interest whatsoever - not even a single bit - in what Rise was writing to Souji.
However, closer inspection revealed nothing of significant note. A few details about events at school, a brief mention of Rise's latest work project, and a well-crafted but profoundly disturbing lie involving Yosuke, Kanji, and the hot springs. Nothing vaguely romantic.
Naoto was briefly disappointed, until she realized Rise perhaps didn't like Souji that much after all.
Didn't solve her problem, though. Exactly how to craft a letter of...fondness, she supposed, remained a mystery.
The next day, Yosuke made his first useful suggestion in living memory. "What about the letters in your shoe locker? Write something based off those."
"…Do you think that would work?"
Yosuke grinned. He was sprawled on the concrete floor of the roof, arms folded under his head. "Totally. They're love letters, right?"
Naoto stared intently through the chain link fence. "I-I told you. It's not that sort of letter."
"Hmm. So what kind of letter is it?"
"An...an efficient letter of respect and admiration," Naoto said, attempting to sound adamant but winding up unconvincing even to herself.
Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Go downstairs, get all those efficient letters of whatever from your locker, and bring them up here. We'll write a masterpiece."
"Wow." Yosuke sucked a breath of air through his teeth. "You ever read any of these?"
Naoto shook her head. Typically they went straight into the nearest trashcan, unopened. In her first week at Yasogami High she'd gone to the trouble of shredding them, but it quickly became too much work.
"Uh…you probably shouldn't. Or walk home alone if there are girls around. Because based on this, they're all perverts."
"Oh." Her suspicions had been right. Naoto glanced at the neat stack of blank paper and pencils on the ledge beside her. Maybe this was a horrible mistake.
"Yeah. You're kinda lucky." Yosuke peered closer at one of the letters, written on pink unicorn paper. "This one here - 'I dream of us lying together in the sun, and me sticking my hand down your- -"
Naoto choked. "Yesyesthankyou, Yosuke-senpai. I-I think I understand." She swallowed, tugged at her collar and made a mental note to avoid all girls forever.
Except maybe Rise.
She sighed. " Are there any that are less graphic?"
"Yeah, there's a couple of cute ones. But we should ramp it up a bit. Not like this," Yosuke said, waving the letter for dramatic effect, "but something a little snazzy. Something that'll make her heart beat just that little bit faster."
Naoto frowned. "I don't wish to cause her physical harm."
"Not quite what I meant," Yosuke said with a sigh, and grabbed a blank sheet of paper.
"This is not a good idea at all," Naoto said.
Yosuke and her had almost come to blows over the exact phrasing of the letter. To her mind, the missive Yosuke had scribbled out was possibly worse than the unicorn letter in terms of distressing content. Naoto, on the other hand, had written out "Dear Rise" six times, crossed it out just as many, then thrown up her hands in disgust. It'd taken her a good fifteen minutes to calm down enough to write out the absolute basics. Which were essentially Dear Rise, I think I might like you quite a bit, and a few well-phrased compliments.
"No, because it's the least exciting letter ever." Yosuke stood next to her by the shoe lockers, glaring at the ceiling and looking thoroughly disgruntled.
Tapping her foot against the floor and ignoring Yosuke, Naoto glanced up and down the first floor corridor. There were only a few students milling about; both her and Yosuke had dashed out of their respective classrooms as soon as the final bell rang.
"I'm not kidding, Naoto. 'I think I might like you?' My grandmother could've written something steamier."
Naoto didn't want to think about Yosuke's grandmother doing anything, particularly of an erotic nature, so she kicked him in gently in the shins and shoved the envelope in Rise's locker. It sat on top of her outdoor shoes, almost accusingly - I'm an awful letter and she's going to laugh at me, you idiot - but Naoto resisted the urge to pull it back and tear it to pieces. While Yosuke limped down the corridor in a small torrent of complaints, she walked out of the school door and down to the gate, ready to walk Rise home.
She didn't need to wait long. Rise bounded down the slope towards her approximately ten minutes later. The afternoon sunlight was glinting off her hair, highlighting a few red strands that Naoto had never noticed before - were they genuine? Would it be impolite to ask? Curiosity was one of her stronger traits, and-
"...Naoto-kun, are you even listening?"
Naoto remembered what she'd been doing - and waiting for - before being distracted by Rise's hair. She glanced down at the other girl's hands. "You have a letter."
Rise smiled. Naoto had no idea what this one meant. "Yup."
The envelope was open, and Rise was neither in tears nor shrieking in horror. This was an achievement. Congratulating herself, Naoto took Rise's bag as usual and looped their arms together. "What sort of letter is it?"
Rise nudged against Naoto's shoulder. "A love letter."
No it isn't, Naoto almost snapped - then caught herself, swallowed hard, and nodded politely. "How nice."
"Yeah. Yeah, it was!" Rise smiled again. Wistful, yet somewhat calculating? "Different to the other letters I get. Really sweet." She waved the envelope at Naoto. "Wanna see it?"
Naoto hadn't been aiming for sweet. Thrilling and charming, yes - but sweet? "Um. No, I think that's - well, it's private, yes?"
Rise just hummed, and tucked the letter back by her side. "You know, Naoto-kun, whoever it was forgot to sign it." She glanced to her side. "Silly, right?"
If Naoto didn't know better, she'd have sworn Rise was smirking.
"Told you it was boring." Yosuke was standing in front of her desk, just after the final bell, grinning so hard that Naoto had to restrain herself from smacking him in the back of the head. It was a significant challenge.
She folded her arms. "Rise said it was sweet."
"Exactly. You ladykiller, Naoto." Yosuke drummed his fingers on the desk, watching the rain pouring down outside the classroom window. "Sweet's the kiss of death, I'm telling you. You may as well give up."
"Absolutely not!" Naoto hissed. It was horrible and illogical and senseless, but even thinking about doing that that made her chest hurt. "I-I...it worked, Rise liked it. She said so."
Yosuke tipped up the brim of her cap. "Who're you trying to convince?"
Naoto bit her lip.
Stupid. This whole thing was stupid.
"It doesn't matter," she muttered, "as long as she liked it." With that, Naoto stood up, grabbed her bag and umbrella, and stormed out of the classroom before Yosuke could speak.
Rise was standing by the main door to the school, staring at the torrential downpour outside. Naoto swore she was shivering. "Rise-chan...are you well?"
"Oh! Hey, Naoto-kun." Rise smiled. Sunshine again, and it eased the strange tangled mess inside Naoto's chest. Against the rain, it even seemed to brighten up the sky.
Naoto was trying to work out whether there was some scientific basis for that statement or whether she should bang her head against the school wall until she knocked some sense back in, when she remembered: Rise was shivering, and a gentleman would do something about it. "Do - do you need a coat?"
"It's not that cold, Naoto-kun," Rise said. "It's May, remember?"
"Oh. Yes."
"I just don't want to walk home in the rain." Rise sighed, looking up at the sky. "Totally forgot to check the forecast this morning."
"I. I have an umbrella." Naoto held it out as evidence.
Rise's face lit up again. "Great!" She latched onto Naoto's arm, hugging it close. "Shoulda counted on the detective prince, right?"
"Yes," Naoto managed, wondering why she'd bothered with the whole letter idea when umbrellas were clearly just as effective.
Unfortunately, the umbrella wasn't designed for two people - even two short, slim people. At any one point, either one of them was halfway out in the rain, no matter how they stood or how close Rise pressed against Naoto. Which wasn't the most terrible experience imaginable - but in the end Naoto gently untangled their arms, moved aside, and held the umbrella over Rise's head.
The gesture would hopefully appear chivalrous and dashing. Unfortunately, the rain soaking her hat and trickling down the back of her neck made that difficult to believe.
Rise stared at her, eyes wide. "Naoto-kun, what are you doing?"
Naoto grabbed her hand. "I," she said solemnly, "am ensuring you don't have to walk home in the rain."
"You're gonna get soaked! I don't- -" Rise began, until Naoto frowned at her. She raised her hands. "Fine, fine. You're crazy, I get it!"
"I am perfectly sane," Naoto said, head tipped up and rainwater dripping off her chin.
By the time they reached the shopping district, however, Naoto found herself increasingly in agreement with Rise. Her shoes were full of water and her clothes were sticking to her skin. Her trousers in particular were completely waterlogged.
They dashed under the awning of the tofu shop. "Well," Naoto said, trying to sound cheerful, "here we are. And you're reasonably dry."
"Yeah." Rise was glaring at her. "And you look like you fell in the Samegawa."
"Not at all," Naoto protested, preoccupied with shaking rainwater out of her shoes.
Rise put her hands on her hips. "Naoto-kun, you are drenched. Come inside and dry off!"
Aha, thought Naoto. This would almost certainly lead into one of the awkward semi-naked encounters Yosuke had so vigorously recommended - which meant she couldn't go anywhere near Rise's house, ever. "I am fine," she insisted, wringing the water out of her hat.
With a small growl of frustration, Rise clamped one hand over her wrist and dragged her through the shop door.
It was, Naoto had discovered, very hard to be debonair and refined while soaking wet. It was even harder to be as such while half-undressed in the bedroom of a girl you thought you might like, possibly, maybe, depending on the definition of the word. Especially when she was attempting to undress you further.
Rise threw up her hands. "Naoto-kun, your pants and shirt are soaked. You can take them off, I won't look!"
If he knew, Yosuke would be kicking himself.
"No, no," Naoto stammered, trying and, she suspected, failing not to blush. "Really, that isn't necessary!"
Rise pouted. "But you'll get sick! I have clothes you can wear, you know. They'd fit."
Naoto was positive they'd also be pink, orange or some other completely unsuitable colour. "I will be fine," she insisted, trying to prevent herself both from shivering and dripping water all over Rise's room.
Rise stood up, stamped over to the closet, pulled out an admittedly inoffensive blue sweater and thrust it towards her. "I'll make some tea. If I come back upstairs and you aren't wearing this, I'm gonna put it on you myself."
Really, Naoto thought.
Then she forced herself to nod and make a vague sound of agreement, and Rise left the room - glaring at her on the way and shouting "I mean it!" from halfway down the stairs.
Naoto sighed and began unbuttoning her shirt. She surveyed the room - making a mental record of the contents, as was her habit in most locations. Rise's bedroom was much the same as last time: namely, pink. The clothes in the open wardrobe were well-organized and even her schoolbooks were stacked neatly on the desk. Very surprising, Naoto decided - then remembered there was relatively little she truly knew about Rise, beyond the obvious. Which made the basis for her feelings even more difficult to discern.
She glanced round again, making a final catalog, and paused. There was a guitar in the corner of the room. Acoustic. Had that been there before?
Her shirt was as drenched as Rise had said, but there was a hanger on the back of the bedroom door. At least if the shirt were hanging up, it would dry quickly and she would be able to leave. Standing around half-dressed in Rise's bedroom was so far outside of Naoto's comfort zone, it was practically in orbit. She walked to the door, slipped the hanger inside the shirt sleeves - then almost fell backwards onto the bed when Rise burst back into the room. "Naoto-kun, I..."
Unfortunately, in her eagerness to avoid landing on the bed sheets in wet clothes, Naoto had grabbed hold of the nearest solid object: Rise. Rise, to her credit, hadn't stumbled forward under Naoto's slight weight. Meaning that the two were pressed up together in the doorway, their faces inches apart, with Naoto's hands gripping Rise's upper arms.
There was a long, painful moment of silence while Naoto fought the urge to run screaming from the room. This situation was precisely what Yosuke had described. It was therefore a disaster.
"Um," she offered, in place of anything sensible.
Rise just stared at her. Though she had almost two inches in height on Naoto they were still close enough to - well. "I...uh, Naoto-kun? You're..." Her eyes glanced down at the tanktop binder around Naoto's chest, then back to her face. "Um - y-you're..."
Panic led to recklessness. Panic was also inevitable in the middle of a train wreck, and rather than let Rise go and leap backwards across the room, Naoto leaned closer, raising the fingers of one hand to Rise's face.
For her part, Rise didn't move away. Her eyes were even wider (chocolate, Naoto thought), and her lips were slightly parted and very pink (glistening slightly, lipgloss perhaps) and it seemed like the most sensible thing in the world to- -
"I-I wanted to ask," Rise whispered, her breath warm against Naoto's cheeks, "w-what sort of tea you wanted."
Naoto found it impossible to breathe. "Oh. Um." She jerked back, then ran her hand through her damp hair and tried not to remember that it had been against Rise's face moments before.
"Green tea, right? You, uh, you liked it. Last time." Rise had turned a fascinating shade of red.
"Y-yes. Yes, green." Naoto glanced towards the bedroom window, wondering whether she should just throw herself out and be done with it.
When she looked back, Rise was staring at the ceiling. "You, you should put it on. The sweater. You'll get cold."
"Yes. Absolutely." Naoto grabbed the sweater from the bed and covered her front. "I-I th-think I'll leave the trousers on. If that's all right."
"Okay," Rise mumbled, and went back downstairs.
Fifteen minutes later, Naoto was sitting on the floor of Rise's bedroom, wearing the blue sweater, drinking a cup of green tea and attempting to block out most of the afternoon's events. Rise herself was perched on the bed, uncharacteristically silent. Every so often she glanced up at Naoto, but on the two occasions they'd made eye contact both had looked away.
Naoto finally settled on a neutral topic of conversation. "I...I didn't know you played guitar." She gestured towards the instrument in the corner of the room.
Rise blinked, looking startled. "Uh...sorry?"
"The guitar. Do you play?"
"Oh. No, not yet. I'm learning. Yosuke-senpai's teaching me."
Naoto bit her lip and tried to ignore the flash of unreasonable jealousy. "Oh."
Rise continued, seemingly happy to have something to talk about which didn't involve Naoto, rain, or horrible doorway collisions. "I'm gonna learn acoustic, then move up to electric. I want to play on my next album."
"Really?" To the best of Naoto's knowledge, idols rarely composed their own music.
"Yeah. I don't wanna...I mean, it's stupid if all I do is sing other people's stuff, right?" Rise looked at her for confirmation - and when Naoto nodded, she smiled for the first time since they'd reached the shop. "I'm going to write my own songs," she said. "Play on them too."
Naoto did her best to smile back. "That's good. Very ambitious."
"Thanks, Naoto-kun." With that, Rise went back to drinking her tea and another awkward silence fell.
Naoto began tangling her fingers in the sleeves of the sweater. "Um. Rise?"
"...What?"
"You, ah. You said that when I was—when you thought I was a boy, I was smooth." Naoto paused. "And now I'm not."
This had, Naoto freely admitted, been bothering her for quite some time. The prospect that she'd lost what little polish she'd had was distressing, particularly where Rise was concerned.
Of course, everything involving Rise was currently distressing.
Rise raised her eyebrows, looking confused. "Well...yeah. I mean, I know you better now. And I've seen how flustered you can get." She glanced away. "Like just no- -uh, well, I have, anyway."
Flustered. Naoto did not get flustered. She simply became...ill at ease. Discombobulated. As she had tonight, for example. Why had she ever thought she should kiss- -
"Oh," she said - which seemed to be all she ever said, at least lately. She stood up and walked over to the window. "I-I think the rain's stopped."
Rise kicked her heels against the bed, one hand curled in the hem of her school skirt. "Um. Great. I'll...leave you to get changed, okay?"
Five minutes later, Naoto walked downstairs in a shirt that was only slightly damp, carrying a hat that was still waterlogged. Rise was waiting in the shop doorway, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. "I'll...uh, see you at school tomorrow."
This was, in all probability, the last time Rise would ever invite Naoto back to her house. As such, Naoto racked her brains for something smooth and smart to say; something that would compensate for the horrible mess she'd made of the evening. Something that might make it clear to Rise what she felt, or at least how much she felt it.
Instead, she nodded and walked out under the awning and into the street.
The next day, Naoto made one of her rare visits to Junes. There were two reasons, and one of them was sitting in the food court with his feet up on a picnic bench.
"You didn't tell me you were giving Rise guitar lessons," Naoto said evenly.
Yosuke tugged off his headphones and stared at her, eyes wide. "Uh - she, uh, told you?"
"Yes."
"Naoto, it's totally not what you think! Souji would- -uh, I mean, Rise's a friend. And I'm great on the guitar." He narrowed his eyes. "Why, are you jealous?"
"No," Naoto lied, and sat down opposite him. But in truth, there was no reason for envy. Any other male, yes; Yosuke Hanamura...no.
"Nao-chan!" Teddie bounced over from the Junes store door, a grin on his face and two Topsicles in one hand. "You never visit me anymore!"
Naoto smiled and made a small bow that Teddie somehow turned into a hug. "I - Teddie, please don't get those on my shirt - I apologize. I was here with Rise a short while ago, but I believe you weren't at work."
"Probably sleeping in the furniture department," Yosuke muttered.
Naoto smoothed out her shirt, rumpled from Teddie's enthusiastic greeting, and inspected it for Topsicle juice. "There is a purpose to my visit, though." Before Yosuke could interrupt, she held up her palm. "No, not what we just discussed. I wish to buy something."
"I hear Junes is great for that." Yosuke rolled his eyes and stretched his legs out further.
"What do you want to buy, Nao-chan?" Teddie was hopping from foot to foot. "I know where almost everything is!"
Naoto devoted every ounce of self-control she had into not flushing red. "Um. I, er, want one of Rise's - I mean, Risette's albums."
Yosuke burst out laughing.
"Thank you, Teddie. I appreciate your assistance." Especially since Yosuke had found Naoto's intended purchase hilarious, and seemed less interested in helping than in making jokes about her crush on Rise being visible from Mars. To be fair, he'd offered to get her some MP3s - "C'mon Naoto, who buys CDs?" - but Naoto preferred to do this above board.
Teddie was leading her through long racks of CDs with utmost precision. "No problem, Nao-chan. Here!" He stopped so abruptly Naoto almost ran into his back, then swiveled to his right. "That's Rise-chan's section."
Rise had her own section?
Looking more closely, the racks in this area were filled with Risette merchandise. This included two different calendars, a Risette doll in a pink dress, a shelf of DVDs, and five separate shelves of CDs. Naoto blinked. "Um. There's a lot of them."
"Of course! Rise-chan is an idol." Teddie picked up five CDs, seemingly at random, and pushed them into Naoto's hands. "She's done remix albums, live albums, B-side albums, albums with the best songs from the other albums..." Beaming, he pointed at the pile of CDs he'd forced upon Naoto. "Those ones are my favorites."
Except for different costumes, the CD cases looked practically identical; same poses, same logo, same smiling Rise. Risette, Naoto reminded herself, and looked up at Teddie. "Thank you again. You've been very helpful."
Teddie nodded. "She looks really pretty on the covers, too," he added. The way he smiled left Naoto wondering just how obvious she was.
Lying on the floor of her room a few hours later, Naoto decided she still wasn't a fan of pop music.
She'd been half-expecting Rise to cause a musical epiphany, seeing as she'd thoroughly disarranged Naoto's life in almost every other way. Perhaps this was the wrong album. Teddie had recommended it, though, and he seemed to be an expert in the field. Besides, she'd researched the sales figures; this had been one of the most successful releases of the past year. Perhaps, Naoto thought as she studied the picture of Rise on the cover - why was she dressed as a cat? - some things just weren't meant to be understood.
She pulled off her headphones and put the case aside; cat ears or not, attempting to reconcile Risette with the Rise she knew at school (and tried to kiss yesterday, her mind pointed out) was giving her a headache. The girl on the cover looked like Rise, and in some ways she was Rise, but...it was different.
Still, from a completely unbiased perspective, Rise did look cute. For the briefest of moments, Naoto wished she'd bought one of the Risette dolls - then remembered that if anyone ever came to her room and saw it, she'd have to kill herself on principle. Plus, given that Rise hadn't spoken to Naoto at school at all today - had avoided her, in fact - talking to a doll would cross the line from slightly creepy into desperately sad.
Ridiculous. What did her and Rise even have in common? Other than unusual career choices, Naoto was at a loss.
She stood up, returned the CD to its case and resolved to give it to Teddie tomorrow.
"Naoto, you have absolutely no taste," Yosuke said flatly, eyes wide in disbelief. "You seriously didn't like any of it?"
"It was...inoffensive." This conversation didn't appeal to Naoto in the slightest, but Yosuke refused to move away from her desk. She tipped her cap down over her eyes, folded her arms and waited for him to get bored enough to leave.
"Wow. I just - wow, Naoto." He smirked. "Pretty sure you're required to like your girlfriend's music."
Naoto felt her jaw clench. "I'm also certain you are required to talk to them. And...she's not my girlfriend."
"Wait, for real? Rise's blanking you?" Yosuke tilted his head. "What did you do?"
Got half-undressed and tried to jump her in her own bedroom, Naoto almost said - but quickly decided telling Yosuke was the worst thing in the world she could do, if only because he'd laugh himself sick. "None of your business."
He shrugged and rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Girl thing, right? But you should fix it, because dude, you look miserable."
"Very astute," Naoto muttered, and went back to waiting for him to leave.
Three days passed of Rise continuing to avoid Naoto wherever possible and pretending not to see her in the school corridors. Naoto, meanwhile, spent most of her days hiding in her classroom and being poked at by Yosuke. The whole affair was excruciating.
On the fourth day, however, Rise was leaning against the gatepost as Naoto left school. "So, are you gonna walk me home?"
"What," said Naoto.
Rise thrust out her schoolbag, the other hand on her hip. "Walk me home. That's what we always do, right?"
Rise had seemingly chosen to forget the last few days had occurred. This annoyed Naoto more than she could express. "Fine," she said, clenching her teeth and taking hold of Rise's arm in what she hoped was a suitably petulant manner.
If it bothered Rise at all, she hid it well. "Great! Hey, can we go by a mail box? I wanna send a letter to Souji-senpai."
"Fine," Naoto repeated, for additional emphasis.
Rise was happily oblivious. Or at least faking it well. "Not that he's gonna answer. Hardly ever does. He's mean." She rolled her eyes, then leaned closer; close enough for a few locks of her hair to brush against Naoto's neck. "Honestly, it's such hard work being friends with boys," she whispered.
Naoto swallowed, feeling lightheaded. Angry. She was supposed to be angry.
...And Rise was supposed to like boys, wasn't she?
Naoto took a deep breath. "Um. What about girls."
"Hmm?"
"Girls. D-do you like them." Keeping the pitch of her voice smooth and low was proving hopeless.
Rise tipped her head and looked at Naoto, her eyebrows slightly raised. "Uh...they're fine, I guess? No worse than boys." Then she smiled - and oh god, it was the sunshine one, so Naoto had to snap her head away to ensure she stayed appropriately incensed. "Either way, I like you."
Righteous fury became immediately irrelevant. "R-really?"
"Of course, Naoto-kun! You're my friend."
"...Oh good," Naoto said, resisting the urge to curl up on the footpath and never move again.
Rise hummed. It sounded content, and based on the way she tugged at Naoto's arm there was a slight bounce in her step. "Though since you don't like my music I might have to rethink that."
What.
"W-wait- -where did- -who did you- -" Naoto's brain and tongue had simultaneously seized up.
"Teddie. Yosuke-senpai told him, said that was why you gave him the CD." A small smirk played across Rise's lips. "Then he told me."
Naoto made a strangled sound of distress.
"Hey, don't worry! Actually, it's kind of nice. At least I know you're not friends with me for Risette, right?" Rise gave her a strange sort of smile; one that Naoto failed to interpret, mostly because she was plotting Yosuke's impending demise. "Although you seriously have no taste. So, which album was it?"
Remembering the title was impossible with Naoto's mind flailing around in flustered circles. "The...the case was white and orange."
When she looked up, Rise was smiling again; a different one now. Straightforward, may not actually hate me. "Gonna have to be more specific, Naoto-kun. You realize how much Risette stuff there is out there?"
"Y-you were also...dressed as a cat." Naoto choked down a follow-up sentence about how adorable it was (not that she'd been looking that closely).
Rise looked pensive. "What color cat?"
Naoto paused, unable to imagine a world where one would willingly dress as a feline more than once. "Um. Black."
Rise's face lit up. "Oh, yeah! Wow, that's a good one too." She tapped Naoto on the head - or her hat, at least - and laughed. "No taste at all."
This was inexplicable. In Rise's position, Naoto would have been deeply offended, but the way Rise was smiling at her right now - warm and more brilliant than ever - meant that couldn't possibly be the case. It made no sense. Much like Rise herself. Everything about her was different to Naoto, from the clothes she wore to the way she spoke and moved and thought.
And in many ways, it was better.
"I suppose you're right," she said to Rise, managing a small smile of her own.
"I got another letter today," Rise said during their walk home, two days before the start of summer vacation. They'd taken another detour through the park by the floodplains to enjoy the sun. At least, Rise appeared to enjoy it - and provided Rise was there, weather was inconsequential to Naoto.
She tried to sound indifferent. "Really."
"Yeah. I think it's from the same person as last time. This one was interesting."
Interesting. Naoto's heart sank. She'd given this one her all. Best handwriting. High quality paper.
More significantly, she'd found herself writing things she would never be able to say. An admission that she wished she had the courage to tell Rise how amazing she was, that Naoto wanted to shine the same way she did, that she desperately wanted to articulate all this in person but had no idea how. Completely different from the last one. Rereading it, she'd almost been too embarrassed to leave the letter in Rise's shoe locker. It sounded clichéd and ridiculous and utterly love-struck.
Which she probably was, on all three counts.
Rise squeezed her arm. "I feel kinda bad for the person who wrote it."
Naoto had no idea what that meant. It didn't sound promising. She bit her lip and stayed silent.
After a few minutes, Rise turned to look at her. "Naoto-kun? What's up?"
Still preoccupied with the letter, Naoto took a moment to answer. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Rise gave her a stern glare. "I can tell something's up. I still have Kanzeon, remember? And you've been acting weird for over a month now. Why?"
Naoto had no idea how to respond. Because Yosuke-senpai teased me into trying to seduce you except it turns out I really like you after all and I'm sorry I'm so horrible at this. It would have come out all as one breath and would probably have been the last thing she'd ever say to Rise before jumping in the Samegawa and swimming to Tokyo.
It wasn't fair. She had to imagine this sort of thing - courting, for want of a better word - came naturally to men. Which she wasn't, not really. But she wasn't much of a woman either, and that made things worse, because if Rise did prefer girls then she'd want someone who behaved like one. And if she preferred boys, as was most likely, Naoto didn't quite fit that category either. It would be so much simpler if she did.
"I wish I was male," Naoto muttered, for far from the first time in her life, though now for a different reason: because you might like me more.
Grabbing Naoto's forearm, Rise spun both of them into an abrupt stop. "C'mon, Naoto-kun. Is that what's bothering you?"
Naoto struggled to form an answer, busy trying to ignore how hot Rise's hand felt against her skin. "N-not exactly." She felt her face flush, and began tugging at her shirt collar. The ground suddenly became demanding of her attention.
Somewhere in front of her, she heard a soft, slightly frustrated sigh - then Rise's hand was under her chin, tipping it up till their eyes met.
"Because it doesn't matter, does it?" Rise looked at her, eyes brown and intense, stroking a thumb in a circle under Naoto's chin - and Naoto was completely lost.
Rise had to know, didn't she?
Naoto swallowed hard, caught between wanting to take the initiative, hoping Rise would do it for her, and frantically trying to estimate how many people might be close enough to see.
There was a long, long moment of silence, and just as Naoto was wondering if she would have to take charge - this situation was impossible to navigate - Rise pulled her hand back, dropped her arm to her side and looked away. "So...you shouldn't feel bad."
When she looked back up, the smile was back. Nervous, this time. Naoto couldn't recall seeing that before. But the moment passed, and as her expression leveled out Rise looped their arms together again. "I know what'll cheer you up. Topsicles!" She gestured down the pathway toward the shopping district. "C'mon, we'll call on Kanji-kun on the way."
Frankly, Topiscle eating was an activity more likely to cheer up Rise and Kanji instead of Naoto - but pushing the point seemed petty, and Naoto duly followed Rise to Tatsumi Textiles.
They wound up making a brief detour to Junes, after Naoto pointed out that Teddie wouldn't appreciate being excluded from a Topsicle-gathering expedition. Yosuke had stayed late at school, which was for the best. Naoto still hadn't quite forgiven him for broadcasting the details of both her personal life and musical taste.
Consequently, sunset found the four of them in the south end of the shopping district, Teddie bouncing around and hugging Naoto and Kanji until the latter threatened to throw him through the window of the general store. While Naoto persuaded Kanji that violence was simultaneously not the answer and the best way to ensure he never ate another Topiscle, Rise grabbed Teddie's shirt sleeve and dragged him inside the shop.
Kanji skulked round the side of the building and leaned against the wall, one leg bent against the bricks. He glanced at Naoto, then up at the red sky. "Uh...so how's it going?"
Naoto was not a fan of open-ended questions. "Fine, I suppose. Work is slow."
"Meant with Rise."
"I- -oh." She flushed red and stared at the paving stones. "H-How- -"
"Yosuke told me." Kanji shifted against the wall, frowning at thin air. "Y'might have said, dammit."
…Why would Kanji care? "I...didn't think it was relevant."
"Course it is. I mean, y'know, we're friends, right?" There was an odd edge of disappointment in his voice, and Naoto immediately felt guilty without knowing why.
"Yes, of course." She paused, fiddling with the brim of her cap. "Kanji-kun, is there something- -"
"No, no!" Kanji's grey eyes were wide and - as was his habit when nervous - he ran his hand through his hair. "Didn't know, that's all. That you...y'know." His voice went very quiet. "That you liked girls."
Naoto shrugged. "I like Rise." It was the only conclusion supported by the current evidence.
For a moment, Kanji looked distant. "Yeah."
They both fell into an awkward, fragile sort of silence. Naoto tried to concentrate on numerous distractions - eavesdropping on people walking past, counting the bricks in the wall, pointedly not thinking about Rise - anything except the odd sensation that she'd hurt Kanji's feelings.
Eventually he sighed, leaned forward, and clamped his hand on Naoto's shoulder. "S'her birthday soon, right? You get her something?"
Naoto blinked. "Birthday?"
Kanji's mouth twitched into a half-smile. "Yeah. People have 'em, and they get presents. What're you gonna give Rise?"
Gift-buying was not among Naoto's formidable list of skills. Particularly for teenage girls. "I - I don't know. We aren't exactly..."
"You mean you're not...?" He raised his eyebrows. "What're you waitin' for?"
There was no sensible answer, and Naoto settled for a helpless shrug.
"Ugh." Kanji scratched the back of his neck. "Tell you what. Meet me an' Yosuke at Junes on Wednesday. Five o'clock. We'll talk over some ideas, yeah?"
Naoto nodded and quietly thanked him - just as Rise burst through the shop door, shouting about how impossible it was get Topsicle juice out of anything and that certain dumb bears would be wishing they'd never seen the other side of a television, with a large blue stain on her shirt and a multicolored Teddie clinging to her back.
"I told you, man, we shoulda gone to the food court."
The school vacation had begun, and come the following Wednesday, Naoto was standing outside the general store with Kanji and Yosuke, trying to find a little shade in the summer heat.
"No way." Yosuke scowled. "Seriously, Kanji, you have no idea how sick I am of that place. I have to work there all summer."
"And I'm working in my Ma's shop and Naoto's workin' with the cops." Kanji crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "Don't catch us bitching 'bout it."
Naoto coughed. "Gentlemen, could we please focus on the task at hand?" She pulled out a folded sheet of paper from her shirt pocket. "I have some ideas for gifts for Rise."
Sighing, Yosuke sat on the ground with his back pressed against the store wall. "Go ahead."
"Um. Well, practical presents are always good, yes?" Naoto couldn't help notice Yosuke and Kanji glance sideways at each other. She frowned before continuing. "Accordingly - a desk lamp might be a possibility. There wasn't one in her room."
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.
Kanji blinked. "You've seen her bedroom?"
Yosuke, meanwhile, looked pained. "Now I see why you need our help."
Naoto's fingers tightened round the paper, crumpling it slightly. "Um. A...a school notebook, perhaps. New stationery will be useful for the new semester." She paused. "Or an umbrella. I had to lend her mine when we walked home." Mentioning the consequences of that particular gesture seemed ill-advised.
"Wow, Naoto." Yosuke was shaking his head. "Guess I'll totally be coming to you for tips on romance."
Kanji kicked him lightly in the back and grinned. "Nah. Naoto ain't goin' after a guy."
Yosuke opened his mouth, ready to launch into yet another tirade of denials, before Naoto intervened. "Yes, well, if either of you happen to have better ideas," she snapped, a little more fiercely than she'd intended, "please grace me with your insight." What was wrong with her suggestions anyway?
"Look, it's gotta be something more personal." Kanji was rubbing the back of his neck, his brow furrowed. "Rise's a romantic. You can't just give her somethin' useful, it don't work that way."
"Since when were you an expert?" Yosuke raised an eyebrow. "You're chasing someone too?"
Kanji flushed a dark shade of red. "No! Not now," he added under his breath, then straightened up and moved away from the wall. "But people come to the shop lookin' for gifts sometimes. My ma gives them suggestions." He walked over to Naoto and glanced down at her list. "No offence, Naoto, but practical stuff ain't a good idea."
"Oh. I-I see."
"Somethin' homemade." When she glanced up, Kanji gave her a half-smile. "I know you make stuff too. An' I'll help, if you like."
Something homemade. Naoto couldn't imagine what Rise would like. "I make mechanical tools," she pointed out. "I don't believe those would be suitable."
With a grunt, Yosuke pulled himself to his feet. "Hey, I might have an idea. Something you guys could work on together. Let me check a few things out first." He twirled his headphone cable round his fingers, his smile unbearably smug. "Prepare to be amazed by my genius."
Naoto and Kanji both rolled their eyes.
For the past week, Rise hadn't been herself.
Much like Kanji, she was helping tend her grandmother's store throughout the summer. Naoto had visited her most days, usually under the pretence of needing to visit the shopping district for work. Devising excuses to enter Marukyu Tofu was somewhat trickier, since there was only so much tofu one could convincingly claim to need, but Rise never seemed to question her.
But there was something different in her demeanor. She'd been subdued and seemed preoccupied. The change demanded investigation, but Naoto had no idea how to approach the issue. Instead, she settled for regular visits, and attempted to cheer Rise up by bringing cans of soda and snacks from the general store.
"You know, Naoto-kun, I work in a tofu shop." Rise gave her a small smile. Muted was the only way Naoto could describe this one. "Getting something to eat isn't a problem."
"Variety is important." Naoto passed her a can of soda. Rise was taking a brief break from tending the store, and they were sitting under the trees near the shrine.
"Yeah. Guess so." Rise was in her work clothes, the dark colors she typically wore underneath her apron. It jarred a little with Naoto's usual mental picture. Not that she'd spent much time devising it, of course; she absolutely didn't think about Rise outside of their regular meetings. Much.
But there was definitely something wrong. Was Rise unwell? Naoto studied her; the color of her cheeks seemed ordinary enough, and she appeared to be eating well. It had to be something else. Perhaps it was related to work - she'd been busier than normal recently and had attended several meetings with her management team in the city. But Rise enjoyed her job, didn't she?
Unraveling the mystery would require further evidence. This left Naoto no choice other than to ask outright. "You, ah. You seem...quiet."
"So?" It wasn't a tone of voice Naoto had heard before, not from Rise.
"Well...I'm..." Naoto couldn't quite manage worried, so settled for, "...surprised. You are less cheerful than usual."
Rise shot her an icy glare. "What, I have to be happy all the time?"
"W-what? No, I- -" There was something very disconcerting about Rise's expression. For want of any other idea, Naoto tried to pat her on the shoulder - but she drew back.
"I'm sick of it. Sometimes I just don't - it's not like I don't have feelings, okay?" Rise was flushed a dark, angry red and her shoulders were hunched taut. "You don't get it, Naoto, you never do. Nobody does."
A cold lump had settled in the pit of Naoto's stomach. This made no sense. "But I-I never said that you..."
"Oh, just - just forget it, okay?" Rise jumped to her feet, and - before Naoto had time to do much beyond stammer her name - stormed out from the trees and back into the main street.
Unable to rationalize Rise's behavior at all, and - as ever - unable to deal with the irrational, Naoto avoided her for the next week. She continued to work on the gift with Kanji, though it seemed futile when the recipient hated her.
"She don't hate you," Kanji pointed out after Naoto's disjointed and clumsy retelling of events. "Somethin' else is up."
Naoto didn't believe him on the first count. Perhaps, however, there was something in the second - and if so, she owed it to Rise as a friend to discover the cause. Even if it turned out they weren't friends anymore.
On the day before Rise's birthday, and after much provoking from Kanji, Naoto summoned the courage to walk through the door to Marukyu Tofu. Rise was at the back of the shop, wiping down the metal counter with a cloth. It was near sunset, and near closing time.
Her courage rapidly failing her, Naoto stood at the counter, feeling unwell and wondering whether she should leave before Rise noticed her presence. The choice became meaningless when Rise swiveled round, and her eyes widened.
"Oh. Uh...hey, Naoto-kun." Rise turned her gaze to the counter case and began wiping the glass with a cloth. "Do you need something?"
"I..." Naoto took a deep breath, wishing she were back in the television world; fighting a dozen Shadows would be easier than this. "Um. Are you, are you busy?"
Rise looked at her for a moment. There were dark circles under her eyes. "I'm closing the store in a few minutes. I'll - I'll be free after that."
The air was stifling, and Naoto found herself fiddling with her shirt collar. "Very well," she mumbled, and walked outside to wait.
This wasn't promising at all. Rise seemed no more willing to talk than before. For a moment, Naoto considered calling Souji; his knack for dealing with people was uncanny. He'd identify the issue in an instant. But to rely on him would be both immature and inappropriate. Naoto was an adult, at least in the ways that mattered - and this was presumably one of them.
Five minutes later, Rise walked through the shop door and locked it behind her. She turned to Naoto. "So what's up?"
Naoto suspected she was the one who ought to ask that. She took Rise's hand. "We will go for a walk." Best not to leave it as a question. After all, she was supposed to be the one taking the lead; the gentleman. Wasn't that how all this had started?
Rise didn't answer, but nor did she break away. Instead, she followed Naoto through the district and down towards the park. Neither of them spoke. Given Rise's usual verbosity, the silence was deeply troubling. Naoto briefly attempted to make conversation about the weather - but she found small talk as challenging as she did pointless, and Rise's monosyllabic answers overwhelmed what little ability she had. When they finally reached Naoto's chosen destination - the top of the hill overlooking town - the sky had turned a deep red and burnt orange.
Rise narrowed her eyes. "Why did we come here?"
"I-I thought you might enjoy it. The view, I mean." Naoto liked high places. Perhaps it was foolish to hope Rise liked them too.
"Oh." Rise moved to the fence and leaned against the wooden bars. "Okay. So what's wrong?"
"I should ask you that." Naoto tugged at the hem of her shirt. "You...you have been..."
"Naoto-kun, I don't wanna talk about it."
"I'd rather we did." It wasn't strictly true, since Naoto would ultimately prefer that the situation resolve itself without her input, but that was unlikely to happen.
"It isn't any of your business!" Rise snapped, hands tightening round the top bar of the fence.
"Yes it is!" Naoto shot back, cringing at the outburst. She paused - looked at Rise, who was wide-eyed and staring - and forced down the lump in her throat. "I...don't like things being like this." It sounded pathetic even to her own ears.
Rise looked strangely vulnerable. "I-I know. I'm sorry. I just..." At the end her voice gave out - and when Naoto looked closely, her eyes were brimming with tears.
Oh no.
"Ah...don't cry, Rise-chan, I'm sure everything..."
"No, it isn't!" Rise protested, breath hitching. "They, they won't let me - they've already decided everything that's going to be on the next album and that's the way it's always been and I never cared before but now I- -" She apparently ran out of breath, and settled instead for fragmented sobs.
"Um." Naoto had hoped that something more useful might follow. It didn't.
Hot tears began to roll down Rise's cheeks, and she rubbed at her face with shaking hands. "T-they don't take me seriously, Naoto-kun. I want - I want to be part of it too, not just a face, I want to..." The rest dissolved into a mixture of broken sentences and louder sobs.
Naoto could barely make out the words, so she moved closer and wrapped her arm awkwardly around Rise's shoulder. Not for the first time in her life she wished she were taller, or at least taller than Rise; her attempt at a comforting hug might then carry more weight. Being treated as a joke was something she could at least relate to, but sympathy was useless without the words to back it up. "Rise-chan, I don't - please, stop."
The sobs continued. "I, I'm gonna have to leave Inaba soon, they said so, but they still won't let me play on the songs and I don't want to go anyway because then you won't be there and we won't hang out and I'll never get to- -I'm sorry, Naoto-kun, I was such a horrible jerk and now you probably hate me, even though you were so nice and I know it was you who wrote those letters and- -"
Oh. Oh, no no no. Naoto attempted a lucid and intelligent response which twisted into a choked sound of terror.
If Rise noticed, she didn't allow it to disrupt her flow. "But I couldn't say anything even though I wanted to and even when the last one made me feel so, so bad for you, and then Yosuke-senpai said it started as a game anyway so I figured you didn't mean it but it always seemed like you did, and I, I,..."
As far as Naoto was concerned, the one thing that had to happen right this minute was for Rise to stop talking, because she badly needed to think about all this before her mind imploded. So she turned, put both hands on Rise's shoulders, and pulled her into an abrupt and muddled kiss.
It wasn't suave or charming or any of the other things she'd intended - partly because Rise was still making soft sobbing noises and partly because the mechanics of the action were a mystery. Inexperience was a bigger issue than she'd expected. But Rise's lips were soft and smooth, with a vague hint of...something, maybe cherry lipgloss - and most importantly, she didn't pull back. With a little more confidence, Naoto cupped Rise's face with one hand, fingers tangling in a few strands of hair, and rested the other against the back of her head, pulling her closer.
The sobbing noises stopped. As Rise's lips moved back against hers, it became too difficult to think about anything beyond the sensation of fingers against soft skin, the hands now gripping Naoto's shoulders, and the way Rise's lips yielded against each movement.
In the end, Naoto was the one to break away - suddenly terrified that she'd made a horrible mistake and misinterpreted the entire thing. "Um...I, I apologize R-Rise, I just..."
Rise just stared, face streaked red with tears - and that was all the evidence required, Naoto really had misjudged everything. But then she gave this warm, melting smile; one which Naoto couldn't recall ever seeing before, and which made her breath catch in her throat. "Wow."
"Wow?" Naoto choked out.
"Yeah. I'm...really glad you did that, Naoto."
"Glad?" Naoto was eager to reach a stage where she could do more than just echo Rise, but her brain had reduced itself to both the consistency and mental alacrity of a bowl of wet rice.
Beneath the tear tracks, Rise's face was flushed pink. "I never would've been brave enough. I mean, thought I would be, and I tried." She ran a finger down Naoto's neck and over the shirt collar. "But I freaked out. Like that time in my room." Guilt flashed over her expression. "Uh...sorry about that, by the way. Ignoring you afterwards. I just freaked."
Right now, apologies of any sort were unnecessary. "Oh," said Naoto, hoping that would cover it.
"I, uh, kept dropping hints." Rise smiled again. Very, very happy; tinged with reproach. "But you really are dense, you know that?"
Naoto did now - and in retrospect, yes, she must have been. "So...you...um. You are okay with, er...with this?"
Rise actually laughed at that, leaving Naoto feeling quite stupid. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay with it."
Swallowing, Naoto turned her gaze to the ground. Rise's right hand had worked its way up to her cheek, and she unconsciously leaned towards it. "I-I have a gift for you. A birthday present."
"Beyond what you just did?"
Though she couldn't see Rise's face, the smirk at the edge of her voice was unmistakable. Naoto felt her face blush red enough to compete with the sky. "N-No. Something else. I...left it back at the shop, hoping you'd find it tomorrow. Just in case you were still...well."
Rise grabbed her hand and twined their fingers together. "Then what are we waiting for?" This smile was brighter than ever. "C'mon, I want to see what you got me!"
"Um. Here." Naoto held out a rectangular box, covered in glossy blue paper.
Rise took it with one eyebrow raised. "I think you mean 'Happy birthday, Rise-chan.'"
Naoto bit her lip. "Yes, that too."
The blue wrapping had been Kanji's idea. Naoto had intended to just present the box itself, ideally running away straight afterwards. It seemed to impress Rise, though, and she took her time in unwrapping the gift. As she pulled off the last of the paper and opened the box, her face lit up in a wide smile.
Naoto promptly lost her nerve and launched into a much-needed explanation, because the gift wasn't - well, what if Rise didn't like it? "I-I know this is unfortunate timing since you're having problems with the album, but...but, Yosuke-senpai said you were doing very well with your lessons, and he suggested this and I thought, perhaps one day you would want to play on stage and..."
Rise pulled a long, black and purple guitar strap out of the box and inspected it, still smiling. Naoto attempted to read her expression but was caught up a bout of quiet panic, and settled for watching Rise trail one finger along the strap. "Hey, these are little lights, right?"
"Y-yes. Kanji-kun helped considerably. He made the strap and I added the extras." Naoto ran her hand down the back of the strap to a small black box and flicked a switch. The LEDs started twinkling in sequence, blue and white lights racing up and down the edges of the canvas fabric – sparking a soft, impressed noise from Rise. "I'm sorry it's a little...um, garish, but I thought it would- -"
"You thought it'd suit me just fine?" Rise's lips curved into a pout.
Regardless of their behavior, watching Rise's lips was something Naoto needed to avoid. She looked away, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. "That...isn't what I meant."
"Kidding, Naoto-kun." With that, Rise jumped forward and pulled her into a tight hug. "It's not garish. It's amazing!" She leaned back, looking Naoto in the eye. "I'm totally gonna wear it. You'll see. I'll keep practicing. I'll make them let me play." A single, firm nod – then Rise wrapped her arms around Naoto's back, tight enough to hurt if she hadn't been light-headed with happiness.
"Was it an acceptable gift, then?" she murmured against Rise's neck.
She didn't need to look at Rise to know she was smiling, or what type it was. "Definitely."
"Good," Naoto said, then tugged her into a second kiss.
"Did Yosuke-senpai really say it was a game?" Naoto asked, during a brief break from contemplating his untimely demise. Night had fallen, and her and Rise were curled against each other on top of the latter's bed.
Rise laughed softly, one hand playing with the collar of Naoto's shirt. "Kinda. I think he was trying to help. He told me you were definitely serious now." She smiled. Rueful, Naoto decided. She might have to tell Rise about the list. "But I...sorta latched on to the first part. Why? Are you gonna thank him?"
"Trying to decide if I should kill him, actually."
"Hey, we'll get him back. Don't worry!" Rise winked. "He's still crushing on Souji-senpai."
Naoto smiled back at her and the two fell into a strange but comfortable silence. Are you really going to leave, she wanted to ask, but it would kill the mood. She began stroking Rise's hair instead, fingers occasionally catching on wavy curls, earning a happy sigh from Rise in response.
Besides, there was a more pressing concern. "Um. I'm - I'm not going to be very good at this," Naoto pointed out, suddenly unable to look Rise in the eye. "This thing. Whatever we're..." Terminology failed her, but Rise seemed to understand.
"You are way too hard on yourself, Naoto-kun." Rise rolled onto her back and glanced sideways with a smile. Mischievous. About to say something inappropriate. "Though I have to say, you suck at seducing, smooth guy."
Naoto grabbed and swung a pillow with an indignant grumble, just as Rise dissolved into laughter.