Yukiko is really smart, Chie wants dating advice, Naoto is evilly devious, and Kanji is sort of a pervert. Should be a real great story, yeah?
I do not own Persona. It's been two months and I still haven't been able to watch my DVDs ;n;
"Chie, I'm not too sure about this," Yukiko muttered, following her friend out of the Junes food court.
"Come on, Yukiko! Rise and Teddie said that they would meet us and noon, and they never showed up. We waited long enough. If we don't go now we'll miss Naoto and Kanji entirely!" Chie justified, not even slowing her stride.
Yukiko, however, wasn't ready to let the subject drop. "I am concerned about what happened to Teddie and Rise. After all, this was Rise's idea, and you think she would be here on time," she mused, knowing the idol loved gossip.
"Yeah, well, she and the bear are no-shows," Chie stated flatly. "I'm sure they're fine! It's not they would have ended up in jail or something! So let's pick up the pace! If we don't hurry Kanji and Naoto will leave and we won't know where they went." Thinking the conversation was over, the Satonaka girl lengthened her steps, forcing her friend to power walk in order to keep up.
"Um, Chie…"
Chie looked over at her friend. "Huh, what is it now?"
"When I said I wasn't too sure about this, I wasn't just referring to the fact that our friends didn't arrive on time," she explained, hoping Chie would stop walking so fast in order to focus on the conversation.
Sadly, Chie's steps didn't so much as falter. "Well, what else could you be worried about?"
Yukiko took a breath. "… I'm not sure it's really right to be spying on Naoto and Kanji. It would be a shame if we were to accidentally interrupt their first date. Especially considering how skittish Kanji is. The only reason we even know about this date is because Rise stole Kanji's phone and read through his texts. It's obvious they want some privacy while their relationship develops."
At this, Chie did stop short, and Yukiko nearly ran into her. She managed to sidestep her friend at the last second and move to stand at her side.
"Chie, why is your mouth open?" Yukiko asked when she realized her friend was standing in the middle of the sidewalk, slack-jawed.
"… Yukiko, that might just be the most insightful thing I have ever heard you say! How did you figure that out?" Chie sounded incredibly impressed.
"That… there's no reason to be so surprised! I can be insightful when I want to be!" Yukiko responded, somewhat insulted that Chie thought she wasn't smart.
"Yeah, but still, how did you come up with such an explanation? Even Naoto would have a hard time with that." Again, Chie sounded astounded by Yukiko's observation.
Yukiko hesitated in responding. "…It… It just came to me."
Chie looked at her consideringly for a moment. Then a look of realization crossed her face. "…Oh, I get it. You're just making excuses. You're really worried about getting caught spying."
"That… that may or may not be true." Yukiko had indeed made up that story about respecting Naoto and Kanji off of the top of her head. But there was no reason to think that she wasn't genuinely concerned about the pair!
"Ah, Yukiko, don't worry so much," Chie reassured her. The brunette patted a hand on the Amagi's shoulder before resuming her power walk. "We won't get caught and chased by Kanji!"
"You say that, but I'm having a hard time believing we won't be noticed, especially since Naoto is involved." Both girls were well aware of the 'Prince Detective's' powers of observation.
Chie turned around and started walking backwards so she could speak to her friend face to face. "Am I your friend?"
Yukiko was completely taken aback but the sudden question. "Of course you are, Chie! Why would ask a question like that out of the blue?" she asked, genuinely worried.
"Just humor me," Chie smiled. "And as your friend, would I put you into a situation where you might possibly be hurt and/or humiliated?" she asked teasingly.
"Well, no." Chie had always taken care of Yukiko. There was no question in the dark-haired girl's mind that that would continue, no matter how many years passed.
The sporty girl smiled brightly. "Exactly. And even if we did end up in a situation like that, don't you think I would protect you?"
"Yes, you would." Was that even a real question?
"Then is there really a problem here?" Chie asked, giving Yukiko a stern look.
Yukiko sighed, admitting defeat. "I suppose not… You and Yosuke outran Kanji once, right?" she added, looking for that little bit of extra assurance.
"He may have body builder muscles, but he is no match for my speed!" Chie exclaimed, turning to face forward and increasing her pace once more.
"I just hope I can keep up…" The heiress sighed. She was already having a hard enough time keeping up with Chie now!
Chie looked over her shoulder. "Hm? What did you say, Yukiko?" She would have worn her friend said something.
"Nothing! Just that… we uh, need to speed up if we're going to find them!" Yukiko came up with an excuse that was counterproductive to solving her complaint. She sort of wanted to hit her head, but that would look undignified.
"Atta girl. Let's go!" Fortunately, Chie only sped up a little bit, and Yukiko could still keep pace.
A few moments passed in silence as they exited the shopping district. Finally, the Amagi girl couldn't help but break the silence to ask, "… I understand that we are going to spy on them, regardless, but why?"
"What do you mean?" the other girl responded, genuinely confused.
"I mean, is there a reason for us to go spy on their date?"
"Well, sure!" Chie responded without thinking. "I mean… They are our friends, and we want to make sure everything goes well for them, right?" She fished for an explanation. It was clear she didn't have a good reason.
The girl in red felt the need to call her out on it. "True, but would our presence alter the outcome? We aren't going to be interfering, after all." At least, she hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"You have a point there… We're also going for educational purposes!" Chie exclaimed suddenly as though she had just thought of it.
Yukiko blinked, surprised by the random explanation. "Education?"
"Sure. I mean, you've never been on a date, right? And sadly, I haven't been on one… in a little while," Chie hedged. "So this is a good chance for you and I… I mean, you to learn about dating in general. And, uh, I can get a refresher!" she stumbled through her reasoning.
"… Okay." Yukiko accepted the statement without questioning its truthfulness. "But then why would Rise and Teddie want to come? Rise has had plenty of experience, and Teddie… I just don't even know about Teddie…" She nearly stopped in her tracks, suddenly lost in thoughts of what sort of things the bear might know or expect, or what his motivation for spying on Naoto and Kanji's date be. It was sort of frightening, really. She resolved to be more forceful in rejecting his advances in the future.
Chie seemed to be having similar thoughts. "He isn't technically human, so I'm not sure dating is an issue for him. He probably just wanted to see you. Knowing Rise, I bet she just wants blackmail to tease Naoto and Kanji with later."
"That sounds about right for Rise," Yukiko had to admit, though she didn't like to think poorly of her kouhai. Suddenly, something fluttering and blue caught her eye just a few meters ahead of her. "Oh, look, it's them!" she stated, pointing at the figures of Naoto and Kanji.
"Don't be so loud!" Chie hissed, grabbing her friend by the shoulders and bodily dragging her into a space between two buildings. They both collapsed onto the ground when Chie tripped over Yukiko's feet. Luckily they didn't land hard.
"Chiemmfmfmfmffffm!" Yukiko's yelp of surprise was cut off by a hand over her mouth.
Chie readjusted her grip so that she could lean over Yukiko's shoulder and talk to her quietly. "Shhh. We don't want them to hear us!" she whispered, letting go of her friend's mouth.
Yukiko set about fixing her clothes and glaring at Chie. "Was it really necessary to grab me like that and drag me into an alley?"
The girl in green held up her hands defensively. "Sorry, I thought they were going to spot us!" she apologized.
The Amagi girl made a huffing noise, but chose to accept the apology. "What do we do now?"
"Hold on a sec…" Chie scrambled to the edge of the building and quickly peeked out to see if the couple had noticed them. "Looks like the coast is clear. They don't know we're here."
Yukiko joined her friend, leaning so that her head was beneath Chie's "… Is Naoto wearing a dress?" So that was what had caught her eye earlier!
"What are you talking about, Yukiko?" Chie asked snarkily. "She would never… Holy cow, she is!" How had she missed that earlier?
The long haired girl whined. "I wish I had my camera. She looks really cute!"
Chie chuckled. "Rise is going to be so mad she missed this!" As soon as she finished the gloating sentence, the couple began walking away. "Oh, hey, they're leaving! Let's go."
"Um, okay." The two girls exited the alley, doing their best to follow the couple while staying out of sight.
As they walked, Chie mumbled, "I wonder where they're going. I doubt it's too far. Naoto is in heels, after all. I still can't believe it!" the last bit was stated in a volume that was slightly louder than necessary. Luckily neither one of the underclassmen turned around to see where the noise had come from.
"Maybe he's taking her to a nice restaurant?" Yukiko offered.
Chie shook her head. "In Inaba? The nicest place we have here serves steak. Lots of steaks. Really good ones actually…" The meat-loving girl got a faraway look on her face, and a small trail of saliva escaped the corners of her mouth.
"Uh, Chie, you're drooling."
"What? Oh, ahahaha," she chuckled nervously as she wiped away a trail of saliva. She blushed when Yukiko continued to stare at her. "Ahem, where was I?"
"Nice restaurants in Inaba," Yukiko stated, wondering if Chie realized she was still drooling a little.
Chie jumped on the offered way to save face. "As I was saying, Naoto might not be vegetarian, but steak isn't her thing. I hope Kanji takes her someplace else."
"Hmmm." Was all the heiress responded. At least Chie had stopped salivating. But they had followed the pair onto the floodplains. Where could they possibly be going? Yukiko was about to ask when Chie spoke again.
"Either way, oh crap, quick, behind that bush!" Chie yelped when Kanji started to turn in their direction.
This time Yukiko was ready, and dived behind the foliage before Chie had to drag her out of sight. "Did they spot us?"
"No." Chie answered, peering between some branches. "But why are they stopping here by the river? Is Kanji putting down a blanket?"
It seemed he was indeed putting down a blanket. It was then that the girls noticed that Kanji was also carrying a picnic basket. It was an unusually nice day, so it made sense that the new couple would take advantage of the sunshine and warmth. The pair of girls let out a little sigh in romantic empathy.
"They're sitting down and it looks like Naoto is taking off her shoes. I doubt they'll go anywhere for a while," Yukiko observed from her own space between the branches. She tried to move to get a better view, but something snagged her long black hair and kept her from moving. "Do you think we can find a better place to hide? I'm getting branches caught in my hair," she complained, trying to detangle the strands that were already caught.
"There's no cover if Kanji looks up… Actually he might not look up at all." When Yukiko finally got her hair free and turned to give Chie a questioning look, the girl continued. "It's sort of hard to tell from here, but he is at the perfect angle to be staring down Naoto's dress."
That was something Yukiko would not stand for! "Pervert! We have to save Naoto!"
The brunette grabbed her friend around the waist and tried her best to hold her down. "Whoa, calm down, Yukiko!" Chie sorely regretted saying anything. She should have remembered that Yukiko did not respond well to anything that could even be remotely interpreted as perversion.
"Let me go, Chie! He should respect Naoto!" She hissed, struggling with all of her might.
It was a surprise to Chie how much trouble she was having. Who knew Yukiko could be so strong when she was mad? "Of course he respects Naoto! I don't think anyone respects her as much as Kanji! I was just making a joke!" she pleaded, trying to calm the infuriated girl.
"Oh." Suddenly Yukiko went lax in Chie's grip, all of the anger vanishing in an instant.
"That's all you have to say?" Chie snapped, sweatbeads forming on her forehead. She had ben genuinely afraid for Kanji in those few brief moments, and now Yukiko was acting as though it had never happened?
The girl in red, true to form, was already distracted again by the couple's picnic. "… Something is happening between them," she stated, unable to see exactly what since Chie was still trying to hold her down.
The girl in green was courteous enough to let go of her friend before peering between the branches again. "Don't change the subject… Oh!" Chie's eyes bugged out of her head when she realized what was happening.
"They're kissing?!" Yukiko yelped when she came to the same conclusion as her friend. She buried her face in her hands, an embarrassed blush flaring across her cheeks.
Chie turned to face the flustered girl. "Uh, looks like it… Come on, there's no reason to hide behind your hands. Look they're just," Chie started, turning back to look at the couple. She certainly wasn't expecting to see that they had gone from closed mouth pecks to a full makeout session. "Naoto what are you doing with your tongue?!" she shrieked, the surprise making her forget to be stealthy.
"Chie, what are you talking about?" Yukiko asked, looking between the branches herself instead of waiting for a response. "That's….Oh, oh no, I need to leave! That's just too passionate for a public setting!" She cried, already standing.
Chie stood up suddenly and began to run shortly after Yukiko. "Right behind you!" she shouted.
Naoto pulled away from her new boyfriend, discreetly wiping a bit of drool from the corner of her mouth. "Kanji, are they gone?"
Kanji, still blushing in embarrassment, mimicked Naoto's action. "Yeah…" The much taller boy murmered, looking over his girlfriend's head at the bush where their sempai had been hiding. It seemed that Naoto's plan to scare them off had worked better than expected, if the screams were any indication. Still, he had sort of hoped it would take a little longer.
Naoto seemed to sense his disappointment. "… We can continue later," she muttered.
Kanji practically beamed, he was so excited. "Have I told ya that you're the best girlfriend a guy could ask for?"