The Detective is on the case.
Naoto Shirogane was confused; she never was before, she found it to be a strange feeling, one she had already concluded she didn't like at all. A certain Kanji Tatsumi was the cause of this confusion, she had weird feelings that seemed to be a new type of feeling, her heart fluttered when she saw him and she couldn't help but blush every time that he complimented her.
Make me a man already
Why did he say that to her; she had no idea why he said that to her and even what it meant, she thought that if he was going to be a man that he would be one already due to biology, she wasn't a trained surgeon. Yukiko-Senpai said that men were confusing, Naoto had to agree. When they first met Naoto had assumed that Kanji was a blockhead, obsessed with fighting and motorcycles, due in no small part to the rumours she had heard around the Yasogami High Campus. Yet she had found him to be a much more fascinating creature, she remembered that she said he was intriguing. He had even remained calm when her shadow-self even blurted out the truth that she was a girl and not a boy like she masqueraded to be, their Senpai all reacted with confusion.
She found herself thinking more and more about Kanji Tatsumi, it seemed like she did that quite frequently more and more now, she decided to go out and discover what she was feeling. Naoto headed to the one person she knew would help her without laughing at her or threatening to tell the whole school, she decided that Chie-Senpai would be the best help. She had after all realised that she had feelings for Yosuke and was in a relationship with the scion of Junes, she would know what to do. Naoto pulled out her mobile phone and trudged through the numbers in her phone book, she pressed the call button, each unanswered ring made Naoto grow even more nervous.
"Hey Nao-Chan, what's up?" Chie asked
Naoto thought carefully what she was going to say to her upper-classman.
"I can't help but wonder what my feelings are." She started "I have a weird reaction to when I see Tatsumi"
In the background she could hear Yosuke's voice calling out to Chie, and the other girl on the other end of the line making a humming sound.
"Naoto, you gotta tell me what cha mean." Chie said.
"Well my heart flutters when I see him and I get embarrassed when he compliments me." Naoto explained she was trying not to feel embarrassed just explaining her feelings.
Chie had hit a nosy Yosuke as it seemed he wanted to overhear their conversation.
"Seems to me like you have a thing for him." Chie said
I am a girl who likes a boy?
It seems like you have a thing for him
That seems to make sense to the detective; she tried to picture him kissing her, and she felt all flushed and realised that she wanted that to happen. The detective prince had a romantic attraction to a guy; she never imagined that she'd develop feelings for another person; after all they would leave her in the end. But she seemed to be imagining him turning her down, telling her that he didn't want to be anything than friends with her.
Make me a man already
That sentence came into her mind again; this time she seemed to understand the meaning behind it now knowing that she had feelings for him, he meant that he wanted her in a more than friend's kind of way. That thought had made her blush heavier and she was glad she was at home, but she was a little nervous about seeing him at school tomorrow. Would he still have those feelings months later, and was his feelings a passing attraction. Naoto sighed to herself; she trusted her analytical brain to over think and makes her more nervous than she already was, she was trying to decide to admit her feelings for him.
From a place deep inside her; the shadow inside her was silently waking, it was trying to tell her that he wouldn't want her; no man would want to be with a scared child masquerading as a man to hide who she was. To ashamed to admit that a part of her wanted to be loved and to be treasured, she hated to own up to her weaknesses and to be rejected. She decided that she would ask him to meet her to talk to him tomorrow just the two of them; she typed a text message to him.
To: Kanji Tatsumi
From: Naoto Shirogane
Subject: Spare time
Kanji,
I was wondering if you wanted to go to Aiya's with me.
Naoto
How I feel.
Kanji read and re-read the message he received from Naoto; he replied that he would like to, in his usual manor. She never asked him if he wanted to do something with her, it made him both nervous and happy. Did she ask him to Aiya's to let him down and tell him she wanted to only be friends, or did she actually like him, he wanted it to be that she liked him.
He nervously tried to find the bear he had made to give her, it was a bear designed to look like her but dressed as Sherlock Holmes, it had blue fur and her traditional hat. But it was wearing a trench coat and was holding a small fiddle, he admitted that he actually liked Sherlock Holmes, but he had only watched a film version and made a teddy bear based on it. He found it sat in the box in the wardrobe, it sat with the bears he made that looked like the investigation team and their Persona's, and he was nowhere near finishing them. But he was planning to give them to their real life counterparts when they were all gathered back in Inaba, when Yu had come for a holiday, he had made one of Nanako and Dojima which he was going to give to Yu to give to them.
Kanji looked over the finished bears and his favourite had to be the Naoto and Kanji ones, who were sat next to each other, holding their paws, it was a happy accident that they were. It seemed as if they were meant to be, if only in his imagination.
Naoto looked at herself in the mirror in her room she was proud of herself; she had sent the message and was ready to let him know her feelings, she looked at the female Yasogami High uniform hung in her wardrobe. Once the school knew she was a girl Rise insisted that she wear it to school from now on, Naoto had plainly refused, but she was making a compromise to not bind her chest any more. She wondered whether only wearing her female uniform top with the male trousers would be a suitable compromise. Naoto wasn't ready to wear a skirt yet and she wanted to push herself, a little to seem a little less androgynous, and she hoped that Kanji would like the change.
An awkward meal
Naoto was the first one to arrive at Aiya's and she had managed to find a table in the back of the restaurant; her hat lay beside her on the booth chair, she had a warm cup of tea in front of her. A detective was never nervous and was always ready to apprehend a criminal; Naoto chided herself on making a comparison between Kanji and a criminal, but that was all she had. "A detective always gets their man?" She questioned herself in her mind, that made her giggle to herself, "That seems apt"
Kanji had taken that moment to walk in and see Naoto giggling silently; she wasn't wearing her hat and the light lit her hair showing of its shine, he watched as she inhaled deeply and seemingly cough out her laughter. Kanji was an expert in all things cute and "Naoto's all kind of cute." He thought to himself, he tightened his grip on the bag gently. He hoped she would like Bearlock Holmes; as he had named the bear, he was originally planning on giving it to her for Valentine's Day but he was a little too nervous about it.
"Kanji-Kun I'm over here!" Naoto said as she saw him, she smiled despite her easily controlled emotions. She saw him relax a little at her excitement to see him; he rubbed the back of his neck with a hand and smiled back at her shyly as he walked over to join her. Kanji sat across the table from her and he saw that she was still smiling, now he was closer to her he saw her hat sat on the chair next to her.
"Am I dreaming this?" Kanji asked "I really don't wanna be dreaming this." He fixed his eyes on a spot of the table, he was afraid of the answer. But it didn't really seem like one of his dreams about this.
"Kanji-Kun." Naoto said a hint of sadness in her voice; it seemed as if he doubted that anyone would like him, yet he seemed to dream about her and that made her equally happy. Naoto reached across and gave him a sharp pinch on his arm, causing him to yelp in surprise and pain.
"Hey! Naoto that really hurt." Kanji said as he looked right at the detective.
"It proves you aren't dreaming." She replied looking at his nose, she was slightly blushing.
Kanji put the bag he had come in with on the table and pushed it towards her.
"I made this for you." He said.
Naoto directed her attention to the bag and pulled out Bearlock Holmes and looked at him, she stroked his head and smiled.
"Is this Sherlock Holmes?" She asked
"I call him Bearlock Holmes, I read a couple of the books. I was gonna give you a John Beartson too, but I haven't finished it yet." Kanji said scratching his head looking slightly embarrassed.
She adjusted Bearlock's hat and set him down on her hat.
"Bearlock Holmes is very cute." Naoto said
"He's cute, but not the cutest detective I've seen." Kanji said as he looked back at the table.
"So I can keep him then? Kanji-kun that's the nicest present I have ever gotten." Naoto said "Well that anyone has ever made for me with their own two hands. I don't want you to take that as an insult."
Kanji looked at her and realised that Naoto was embarrassingly struggling to say the right words, but seemingly only in his company. He was looking at the menu boards above the counter trying to decide what he wanted to order.
"Should we get something to eat?" He asked "Pick anything you want it's on me."
Naoto looked at him then up to the menu; she settled on an order of Gyouza, and Kanji got a beef bowl. He knew he really shouldn't eat too much at Aiya's as his mother always cooked way too much, but he really wanted to enjoy his meal with Naoto as he wasn't sure if they were going to do so again.
When the food arrived they sat in silence as they ate; Kanji tried his best not to make too much mess or chew too loud, but Naoto seemed to move her chopsticks with an air of grace. He could almost hear her thoughts about eating everything she had been given as Kanji was paying and she didn't want to waste his money he was spending on her.
"Thank you for the meal." Naoto said as she put her chopsticks down on the plate.
Just me and you
Kanji had taken Naoto to the pavilion; and they ended up sitting next to each other and looking out over the river from their vantage point. It was slowly turning from daytime to night as the sun started to set. He handed her a cold can of TaP Soda
"I had an enlightening conversation the other day with Chie-Senpai." Naoto said
Kanji looked up at her a small look of confusion on his face.
"Whaddya' talk about?" He asked looking at her, half dreading her answer.
"I seem to have romantic feelings for someone." Naoto said
Kanji choked a little on the fizzy drink, he managed to clear it out before he spoke.
"Why are ya' tellin' me this?" He asked
Naoto looked down at her food, trying to gather her words to explain her feelings.
"They are for…" she started as she put her can down.
"You like Yu-Senpai right?" He asked
In his mind he had already decided that she would never have feelings for guy like him, she had asked him to go to Aiya's with her so she could let him down gently and avoid hurting his feelings.
"No! Kanji! I…" She said "I look up to Senpai as a big brother." Naoto said as she went to touch his hand on the bench next to her, and she felt too embarrassed to say his name.
Kanji looked straight at their hands when he felt her put hers on top of his. He stared right at her and watched her blush.
"Alright well, I know what cha gonna say. But since we met, I thought you were different than others. You said I was intrestin' an' I had no idea how to handle that. I guess that was when I became attracted to ya." Kanji said "But I want you to know that I really like you."
What seemed like an eternity later; Naoto took a hold of his t-shirt and pulled him close to meet her lips with his and they shared a tender kiss.
"Kanji-kun, you are an idiot sometimes." She said
She softly laughed against his shoulder as she nuzzled into it.
"Yeah I have to be, don't I?" He asked rhetorically
He showered her lips with tiny delicate kisses; she refused to let him stop as she rather enjoyed this new experience, and she wondered what other little experiences she could have with Kanji.
"I like you very much Kanji Tatsumi."
The mini investigation team.
(This is the last little bit)
After Kanji walked Naoto back home; he headed back to his room, his mum looked at him as he just mumbled 'hey ma' as headed past her and straight to his room. He opened the door of the wardrobe where the handmade dolls of the investigation team were all gathered in the box, his eyes saw the two he was looking for and gently pulled them out.
He saw that he had some space on the shelf in his room; and sat the two dolls next to each other; he sat them together and linked their arms as they smiled happily in the fixed way he had given them.
"She really does like you little guy." He whispered to the little Kanji, as a little pep talk to himself and the doll.
Kanji imagined the little toy Kanji gave him a little affirmative nod. He smiled as he went to his little table to finish the Beartson, so that Naoto could have her Bearlock's little companion.
Across Inaba
Naoto smiled as she put the stuffed bear on her desk; he sat rested against the pen pot, his little smile made her smile even more. She could imagine Kanji making him; putting each individual stitch and that he did it all for her made her happy; she had someone who wanted to stay near her.
Her thoughts went back to her Shadow; she was still a little sad that it was part of her, was still dealing with that kind of rejection. Yet she was glad that she had come to Inaba, and she was glad that there was a reason for her to stay.
From: Kanji Tatsumi
To: Naoto Shirogane
Subject:
Nao,
Thanks for today; remember to get some sleep, Bearlock wouldn't want you to be overly exhausted.
K x
From: Naoto Shirogane
To: Kanji Tatsumi
Subject: Bearlock
Kanji;
Today was my pleasure too. Bearlock and I are talking all about how sweet you are for worrying, but I will get some sleep. I think he misses his Beartson.
Good Night
Naoto (even though this is embarrassing have some goodnight kisses) xx