Souji couldn't sleep.

He normally could sleep in anything, anywhere. He slept on trains before, in fact, he rather enjoyed it; it made the trip much shorter. But he just couldn't. A pillow didn't help. Blankets of different sizes and thickness made him uncomfortable, but it was worth a shot. He didn't have anything else to do but sleep, all the books he bought with him have been read in the past hour.

The reason he couldn't fall asleep was because he had giant butterflies in his stomach. He never felt this away before; he fought GODS with fearless abandon.

So why was visiting Rise such a hard thing?

His college work for the next two weeks had been finished, so he arranged to visit her at her next stop on her tour. He didn't know what they were going to do, and that is the reason why he was so nervous. Five years ago this won't be a problem. But that WAS five years ago. She rose up to a sensational star, landing a leading role in last year's biggest blockbuster. He currently worked for a degree in engineering, hoping to take control of his mom's company.

And it had been at least two years since they seen hide or hair of each other. They exchanged letters and photos, but no human contact. Rise's schedule was very busy, and the movie did take a while.

Souji fidgeted in his seat. He and Rise had something special. He protected her from monsters. She watched his back. They talked about everything. He endured her cooking, but it got better with practice, especially with the help of an experienced chef. She gave him free meals at her grandma's tofu shop.

And the two shared a bed once. Nanako and Ryotaro had gone out shopping one night and he invited her over to study. As all things, one thing led to another and the next morning lead to close encounter when Nanako came in with breakfast. Souji thought he lost a couple years of his life that morning. Thankfully Rise got out the window with all of her clothes without being seen.

He still had at least two hours to go. So he tried to sleeping again. This time, he imagined Rise-chan in a swimsuit. A blue one that Teddie had bought but never got used. This worked much better, but then he was reminded of why he couldn't sleep in the first place.

Little kids playing with toy lasers. Every person's nightmare.

"THANK YOU, KYOTO!"

The deafening roar of the fans drowned the city's name out when Risette finished her song. She breathed heavily; the concert was over after a full three hours of singing and dancing. And with that, she waved to everyone, and walked backstage and promptly collapsed into her chair. She grabbed a wet towel and placed over her sweaty forehead before her manager walked over.

"Great, Risette-chan! Just…amazing! This is the biggest crowd I ever seen in my life!" He shouted so she could hear. Rise just sighed. He always did stuff like this. Her new manager was a bit paranoid about her leaving, so he butt-kissed more than anyone else in the business. It was nice, but he just got on his nerves.

"Thanks. I'm going to bed. I just need some sleep." She mustered up the energy to walk out of the concert and to her hotel, avoiding the paparazzi. The lights came on for a minute, then off, along with the clothes. She fell dead asleep as she landed in the bed.

And that was her schedule. Wake up. Breakfast. Practice. Lunch. Practice. Fan Interaction. Dinner. Show. Bed. It got tiring. Rise hardly got a break, and she had one more week left of the tour before she could be given some free time. No agency bugging her 24/7.

But the paparazzi. Oh god, the paparazzi. The camera nerd that tracked her to Inaba five years now had become an official journalist. He taught others about her moves and tricks, and now she can't leave with being followed. She assaulted her old stalker and only managed to get out of trouble because the stalker didn't press charges; he now had a fragment of Risette's nail.

She actually woke up only after five minutes of troubled sleep. She rolled under her covers, but sleep never came. Rolling over to the left, she watched her alarm clock for an hour, watching every minute tick by.

Nothing doing.

She rolled over to the right. There were letters on the night stand. She already read them, but she decided to read them again. Fans sent letters by the thousands every day, but these letters all came from one person, Souji Seta. The only letters she kept were his and her No.1 fan. Rise read all the letters at once, taking another hour.

She got reminded of the past few moments she had with him. The time the two of them went to the fanciest restaurant in Inaba. Rise gave him a back-stage pass to one of her concert s, and she gave it her all. They celebrated the New Year's in a balloon. One of the many things that were great about being a star was access to many things. And he was coming tomorrow to see her. How long had it been? She couldn't remember long, but she didn't care.

She fell asleep because she remembered his smile.

The next day was thankfully free, so Rise finished talking with her fans and got some alone time in an ice cream parlor. The paparazzi reported that she was on diet, but that was far from the truth. Unlike those stars, she watched what she ate. Her grandma had read about other star's eating habitats, and when Rise came over, she taught her granddaughter everything about healthy eating.

Souji was new to Kyoto, so he needed a map to find the parlor. It took him fifteen minutes longer the allotted time he promised to get there.

And there she was. Waiting for him. She was wearing a simple orange tank top with a lime green stripe, black pants with black shoes, and a lime green wristband. She had a small sundae that was half-finished, now she just slowly tapping her spoon against the bowl. She looked bored. And her ass…

Souji shook his head, dispelling the nasty thoughts. First time in two years and the first few thoughts was about her ass? Good thing she didn't use her Persona, he could be serious pain, or, as Yosuke would have said, a 'critical hit'.

Truth was that he was scared. The two had a relationship and the two just drifted from each other, switching to a long-distance relationship because of each other's lives. The feelings were strong, but again, not being able to see each other's faces makes it hard to confirm if the feelings are true. There was no doubt there was love between the two.

But was it still there? Two years is a long time.

But he was wasting time just standing there. He took a big intake of air and walked forward.

"Hello, Rise-chan."

"Senpai!"

To be continued….next chapter.