Hiyayakko [Shonichi]
Summary: Her life hasn't been boring for a long while, but she never expected this. Part 2 in Accomplice: Rise
This is the "true" start to the Accomplice: Rise series, Ablaze Curtana of the Star was more of an extra tidbit. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the series and Rise's altered adventure with the IT; oh, and Adachi, of course.
She pulled on the two ends of the white fabric, securing the knot that would keep it in place as she worked for the day. Her grandmother would be going to the school to get her enrolled now that she was back Inaba, permanently. Next week is when she would start though, she had made a public announcement that she was going to take a break because of health-related reasons after all. It would be odd for her to go to school immediately after saying that, and honestly, she needed a break from everything else in her life right now. Everything except her grandma, who seemed to be the only one to understand just how she was feeling these days.
That she needed a much more permanent break from being Risette than she had let on. Her idol alter ego, the fake her that the world adored. She was tired of being Risette, of becoming an idol to find some real friends only to realize that's not how the world worked. Any 'friends' she had only wanted to be friends with Risette, not her.
Rise sighed, shaking her head softly, sending her curls bouncing as she did. It was a habit, really, doing her hair up like this for all the photo shoots, the concerts; it would have been in the same style in that movie too if she had stayed on as the lead actress. With her quitting though, that wasn't going to happen.
"Rise," her grandmother's voice called from below. "I've got to be going now, take good care of the store while I'm gone, and don't push yourself too hard, sweetie."
She started to smile, but stopped upon seeing her reflection staring back at her. Rise looked away, down at her bright pink nails before looking up at the open doorway. "Okay. Be careful, grandma."
"Have a good day, Rise."
She forced her lips to curve up even though her grandma couldn't see her; she couldn't tell if it was from habit or not. "You too." She would wait until she heard the sound of the door closing before she leaned down to open up the bottom cabinet, pulling out a few cotton balls and the bottle of nail polish remover.
It would only take her a few minutes to get rid of the ghastly pink on her hands, and then wash them with soap before putting the bottle away and heading downstairs. She headed straight for the shop's entrance, flipping the sign over to announce that the Marukyu Tofu Shop was open, and invite customers to come inside.
Though the bell jingled shortly after, she knew it wasn't a customer. Rise looked up to see a cop standing in the store, glancing around at the food on display, with a cigarette sitting between his lips. "Is there something I can do for you?" she asked.
"No," the cop replied quickly, walking over to her just a moment after he saw her. She had sort of hidden herself away in the corner on purpose, so it wasn't surprising that he hadn't noticed her until she had spoken. "I just wanted to check that everything was fine inside. It looked empty."
"Thank you, for your consideration." Her words didn't sound as genuine as they could have, but she couldn't make herself put in the effort to do so. To sound happy and full of energy, when it would only be fake. Just like Risette. "But it's just empty because my grandma already left. It'll just be me in here until around noon when she gets done with her errands."
"Oh, okay." He seemed to be taken aback by her demeanor. Compared to how she was seen on tv, this probably wasn't what he had been expecting. "I'm Detective Dojima. Your grandmother told you that we would be here, didn't she?"
"She did," she replied, not bothering to ask what he meant by 'we' when she had only seen him so far. He must have a partner who was outside or somewhere nearby.
"Right." Dojima scratched at the back of his neck. "I'm going to be in charge of the security of your shop today. So if you see anything suspicious, let me know." By security he meant keeping the onlookers at bay, her fans and anyone that didn't have buisness in the shop. And by suspicious she assumed he meant anyone that tried to break in and raid her panty drawer. "I'll be outside. Just give a shout if you need something."
"Okay," she spoke in the same monotone that had taken ahold of her vocal chords since her grandmother had left.
Dojima left with a small nod of his head, going outside, but she heard him shout a second later, "Adachi! What are you doing over there? The cars will start to come soon, get over here and keep them from parking on the street."
The other cop - actually, probably another detective now that she thought about it - came into view, walking over and speaking in a softer tone than his superior. But considering it was early and no one was out at the moment besides them she could hear him perfectly fine, "I was trying to determine if someone could jump from that telephone pole and onto the Marukyu's balcony."
"Hm?" Dojima glanced in what she presumed to be the telephone pole that was potentially close enough to her shop's balcony that a detective would consider it an entry point for a panty thief... or something. "Even if someone could manage that jump anyone would see them climbing the pole before they got the chance to jump. Stop focusing on the pole and get to work." Dojima practically shoved a traffic stick into Adachi's hands before he walked off, presumably to do something else about her shop's security.
Rise stuck to the corner of her grandma's shop even when customers would walk in, any fans limited to trying to see her through the storefront windows as Dojima kept them at bay. Of course, after a few minutes of not seeing her and no one mentioning her being inside they would leave. Though, the latter only happened because she kept her back to the customers for the most part, and when her grandmother came back around noon it was her that dealt with the customers instead of Rise.
By that time the crowds had thinned out as well. Once the schools around Inaba began to end they would flood the store's front again, but for now things were relatively calm.
"You can't park there, sir!"
For the most part anyway.
Her gaze slipped to a crack in the shelves that allowed her to see Adachi getting off the sidewalk, walking over to a car that had stopped in the middle of the road. It just sat there, literally sat there, blocking traffic for it's one lane. She didn't think someone would actually do that.
"Hey, did you hear me? You're going to hold up everyone behind you-"
"Isn't that the tofu shop run by that famous idol Risette's family?"
"What? No. Could you please move your car-"
"Yeah, I think it is." The man in the car was clearly ignoring Adachi. It was obvious from the movement of his shoulders that he had just let out a heavy sigh, before moving to stand in the person's direct line of sight of the shop. "Hey! What gives-"
"Get your car moving before I have to write up a ticket, and not after. Come on," Adachi swung the traffic stick to point at the road. "I'll double the fine if you don't get moving."
At that point the car's window rolled further down. The man driving glared at Adachi, and while she couldn't see who was in the back seat, she assumed it was a kid when she saw a spitball fly out the window and - presumably - connect with Adachi's face.
"H-hey!" The car finally started moving. "Get back here-or stay away!" Rise laughed softly at the detective's mix up. He was clearly upset about what the child had done, and the parent for not reprimanding them; but at the same time he remembered that he was suppose to get them moving. It wasn't the sort of thing you say every day; a detective slipping up at work. Though, both the detectives seemed to be acting like ordinary cops for today, and her grandmother had mentioned that the force here in Inaba was small.
According to the news there was a killer on the loose, but instead of working to catch him the detectives were here, making sure she wasn't bothered just because she was a former idol that quit recently. It wasn't nearly as important, but because of her more rabid fans she couldn't just turn their help away after her grandmother had asked for it, especially because her grandmother had asked for it.
Rise turned away to look down at some tofu and some sweet rice flour she was molding into a ball for mochi. She sighed, her coming home was a bother to everyone - and she knew it - but, she couldn't stay on as an idol. Not when she was pretending to be someone else, just for the benefit of her company.
It was her fault now that the people of Inaba and her more crazy fans were giving the police force a hard time. They were just trying to keep the peace, give her the privacy she had back before she was a model, they shouldn't have to deal with things like that.
She glanced back towards the crack between the shelves, to see Adachi standing on the sidewalk once more, waving the traffic stick to move people along, as if that somehow helped. There was only one road after all, it shouldn't take a genius to figure out that you were just suppose to move forward and not attempt to stop in the middle of the street. It was a waste of resources for the police to be doing this, but... it was helping her and her grandmother, as troublesome as it was.
Rise rolled the prepared mochi to the side of the table she was working at. With a glance at the clock she stood up, retrieving a block of chilled tofu from the fridge along with a few other ingredients: a green onion, cucumber, some shiso leaves... She paused, that really was too much green, she should add another color... Her gaze landed on the container of plum paste; purple, that would surely even out the palate.
She carried the items back to the table, opening a box from the store and setting a plastic sheet on the bottom before placing the block of chilled tofu inside. Within a few minutes she had sliced up a quarter of the green onion, cut up some cucumber, and chopped the shiso leaves lengthwise. She arranged the leaves along the bottom of the block of tofu, mincing the green onion and cucumber further, mixing the two together before taking some to sprinkle on top in a circle. The remains were simply arranged on the top and along the sides of the tofu. Rise only took a spoonful of the plum paste, setting it in the center of her creation: a hiyayakko.
After cleaning everything up and putting what she hadn't used back in the refrigerator Rise stuck the box with the hiyayakko in there as well, to keep it from getting warm.
As the last hour passed by Rise helped her grandmother around the store: keeping the shelves stocked, packaging the food, anything that doesn't require her to interact much with the customers; if at all now that her grandmother is here. While doing this she grabbed an extra container of silken tofu setting it next to the hiyayakko she had made earlier, packaging it into a separate box from the shop.
A few minutes after her grandmother had headed upstairs and Rise has flipped the sign to closed Dojima walks in, as she hadn't locked the door yet and had been expecting him to come inside. "Well, we're done for today. We'll be back tomorrow, and the next few days as well until all the excitement dies down. If something happens while we're not here just call the station and the closest unit will be sent over."
"Thank you." Rise was feeling a bit better after working today, it helped to get her mind off all the other things that would likely rush back at her later tonight. When she saw him just nod his head, about to say goodbye - or something similar - she spoke first, "Wait one moment." She turned around, grabbing both boxes from the fridge, setting one down on the counter before walking towards him with the other one. "This is for helping today at the shop. I know you have more important cases to attend to, so thanks."
Dojima glanced down to the the box in her outstretched hands, before looking up at her with a smile. Perhaps he thought he was seeing a bit more of the Risette from the commercials now, or at the very least someone that didn't appear completely depleted of energy. "Thanks. That's very kind of you."
"You're welcome," she replied, but still has to force the corners of her lips to curve up. "Is the other detective still here, too?"
"Hm?" Dojima glanced to the other packaged box she had set on the counter, quickly figuring out her intentions. He smiled. "Yeah, I'll send him in."
She offered him another smile, watching as he left the shop.
Dojima seemed to stop and glance around for a moment, before finding his partner and calling out, "Adachi!"
Something clearly hit the pavement a second later, followed by a quick, "Yes, sir?" from the way Adachi was speaking Dojima must have caught him off guard, and that sound from before was probably him dropping the traffic stick. A small smile appeared on her face as she turned and made her way back to the counter she had set his packaged hiyayakko on.
"There's a nice lady inside that wants to see you."
"Huh?" Adachi sounded so dumbfounded over this statement that she almost grinned.
"Go on. I'll be waiting in the car." She had a sneaking suspicion that Dojima would be locking the car from the inside so that Adachi couldn't get in even if he tried. So if he wanted a ride back to the station, he was going to have to enter the shop. It was nice to see that even after the day they had Dojima could still joke around with his co-worker, and he must have done it before too, because she could hear Adachi sigh from outside.
"At least turn the air conditioning on so it's cooler inside the car." There was a grunt in reply to his words, and then the closing of a car door.
What followed was a series of footsteps on the pavement, the jingle sounding when the door was opened, and a few seconds of silence. "Uh, hi. Do you know where your grandmother is? Dojima mentioned that she asked for me."
Rise couldn't help but laugh softly at his chosen words. Is that why he came in here looking both tired and slightly irritated? Just how often did Dojima tease him to make him think it was her grandmother he was referring to when he mentioned a 'nice lady?' "Nope. That was me, actually. Sorry about the confusion." His expression turned to one of surprise, and a giggle slipped passed her lips as she picked up the box from the counter, walking over towards him with it in hand. "This is for you."
She stretched out her arms, offering up the box with both hands as she smiled. "For..." he seemed confused as he looked down at the box, like he wasn't sure it was for him, even though it should be obvious.
"For helping out at the shop. I really appreciate it," Rise added with a smile. "It's hiyayakko, so there's no cooking involved. I prepared it myself."
"Oh, really?" he seemed skeptical. "Well, thanks-" He began to reach out for it, but Rise pulled the box away at the last second.
"If you don't want it I can just grab something from off the shelf. The ones on the right might be a bit bitter, though. They have been sitting out all day, and our air conditioner is being picky with the hours it wants to work."
"What?" He didn't just look confused, he looked flabbergasted. "No. I believe you." She hadn't missed the way he glanced to the other tofu on display in the counter - in actuality they were fine, kept cool behind the glass - before back at the box that was still in her hands.
"Do you?" she asked, with a grin, watching as he appeared to be looking for the right words that would make an adequate apology. "I forgive you," she said, before he could even speak, stepping forward to present the box once again. "But when you come back tomorrow you have to tell me how it tastes. Okay?"
Now Adachi just looks nervous as he takes the box from her, almost as if he expected her to yank it away again, or an alien to pop out of it. "Sure. I'll let you know at the end of my shift."
Rise smiled, "See you, then."