Make It Your Moment
"Huh? My help?"
"Yep!"
"Why me? I mean, can't Yosuke-senpai or Naoto help you?"
"Naoto's always busy, and besides, the other character I'm talking to is a guy! It'd be weird having a girl play his role."
"Well, what about Yosuke-senpai?"
"Yosuke-senpai's great, but... I can't really imagine him being able to play a serious character, especially when he's talking to a real life idol."
"Yeah, I guess I can see that..."
"So will you help me? Pretty please?"
"Hey, let go! I'll help you! Just quit hugging me!"
The room seemed pretty normal for a girl, not that Kanji really knew what girls' rooms were like, he'd just seen them on TV and in movies as lame as that sounded. There was a bed, with a pink blanket, white pillows, and a single stuffed animal laid.
Is that a koala bear? Huh. Cute, Kanji noted to himself.
There was a desk by the bed, probably where she did homework, with a closed laptop sitting on it, plus some papers and pens scattered around it. The floor was made of a clean, polished wood, and there was a single window showing a tall tree outside, full of lush, green leaves.
Kanji sat on Rise's bed with a slight red hue on his cheeks. He'd never been in a girl's room before now, so he wasn't exactly sure how he was supposed to act. One of his hands scratched the back of his neck, while the other awkwardly felt the blanket over Rise's bed. Feels nice... He thought to himself, only to grumble. Why's it so hot?!
"Sorry that took so long." The door opened, revealing a beaming Rise with two glasses of water in her hands. She handed a cup to Kanji, before placing her own cup on her desk. "Thanks again for the help, Kanji!"
"S'cool." The young man shrugged. "Still don't see why you need my help. Don't they got professionals to help you with this crap?" He watched Rise reach into her desk and take out two small, stapled stacks of paper. She handed one to the young man, before joining him on the bed. Normally, Kanji would be a lot more embarrassed with a girl sitting close, but Rise didn't make him sizzle like Naoto or Yukiko-senpai did. Still, he did scoot away a bit, uncomfortable with the closeness. "So... uh... How do we do this?"
"It's easy. We just pick a line, and you read the lines that have Katsu's name in front of them, and I read for Reiko. Don't worry about sounding great, this is more for me than you anyways."
"Yeah, okay. I can do that."
"Awesome! Let's take it from page four, from the top!" The two flipped through papers, before stopping on the correct page. Rise looked at the boy with a patient smile.
Kanji saw the name 'Katsu' at the top of the page and blushed as he realized he was going to have to be the one to start. He took a deep breath, sipped some of the cool water, and read off the page. "I-I uh... I think I love Nanami..." He could hear Rise's giggles. He gave the red-haired idol a sharp glare, but it was utterly ruined by his burning cheeks. "I think I love Nanami!" He repeated, with more passion and confidence.
"Really? What gave that away? How you blush whenever she's around or how scared you get whenever she's around?" Rise asked, not even glancing at her script.
"Hey! You don't gotta be a jerk about it," Kanji read, glancing between his paper and his friend.
"Sorry, sorry. You're just so obvious! Hmm... Well, I love Yuudai-senpai... Gasp!" Rise gave an exaggerated gasp, stopping for dramatic effect. "Maybe we can help each other!"
"Huh? How do we do that?"
"Simple! We'll date each other!" Rise scooted closer, not that Kanji noticed.
He pretended to look surprised, before replying. "How exactly is dating each other supposed to help us date Yuudai and Nanami?" He read, before glancing at Rise again.
The girl wasn't hard on the eyes, he silently noted to himself. Well, duh. They ain't gonna make an ugly chick an idol, he thought, shaking his head a bit. Still, he couldn't help but start to wonder what exactly was up with Rise, err... What wasn't up with her? Yukiko-senpai made him blush before, Chie-senpai did too, and Naoto...
He hadn't really talked to or interacted with her in any meaningful way. Not since New Years...
But Rise Kujikawa? The idol? He didn't blush nearly as much. In fact, sometimes he felt like he could talk to her like she was any ol' dude. Up front and honest, no bullshit. Like during New Years, when-
"Ow!" Kanji growled as he rubbed his forehead, feeling a quick, but painful sensation. Rise held her script, all rolled up, in her hand. She was glaring at him.
"Earth to Moronji! It's your line!"
"Jeez! The hell's wrong with you?!"
"Me? You're the one spacing out and staring at me. Not exactly normal, if you ask me," she retorted, crossing her arms.
"Staring?! Who's starin'!? I ain't starin'!" argued Kanji, but they didn't seem to fall on receptive ears. The girl just gave a mocking smile at the taller boy, looking very proud of herself despite the difference in size the two had. "Fine, whatever. Where were we?" He grumbled.
She just smiled and unrolled her script, reading from page four again. "Isn't it obvious, Katsu-kun? When Nanami and Yuudai see us together, they'll get so jealous! Once they're tearing their hair out with envy, then we'll 'break up' and they'll be there to catch us! Get it?"
Not really... "Oh. I get it. Okay. Let's do it." Kanji then lifted up his hand, before looking at Rise. "Uh... Script says we shake hands here, do... do we?"
"Oh! Sure!" Rise extended her own arm. The two hands grabbed onto each other, Kanji's easily dwarfing the idol's, before shaking up and down. "Alright, not bad, Moronji!"
"Would you quit calling me that?" The boy released her hand, before grabbing his water and cooling off with it.
"Oh, don't pout! I'm just teasing! I really do appreciate the help."
"Yeah, well... Like I said. s'cool. So... we gonna keep going?"
"We will in a bit. Why don't I go downstairs and grab us something to eat? Then we can take it up from page six for a little bit longer? I'd feel bad if I made you help me without somekind of thanks."
Kanji gave a genuine smile at that remark. He nodded his head. "Thanks, Rise... That's really nice of ya. Um... You're just getting food, right? Not... not cooking it? Right?"
The earnest twinkle in her eye vanished. She pouted, before giving an outright frown as she crossed her arms. "Calm down, Moronji. I was just gonna microwave some leftovers, okay? You won't have to worry about me killing you by accident or something..." The chocolate-eyed girl spun around and walked over to the exit, leaving the young boy to wonder if he had done something wrong.
"Aw man..."
"Oh, Katsu! You're so funny!" Rise recited, holding onto Kanji's arm as they sat on her bed. Kanji stared at the girl, blinking a couple of times as a crimson glow formed on his cheeks. "Hm? Something wrong, Kanji-kun?" teased the girl.
"W-what the hell are you doing?! Let go of my arm!" He would have sounded a lot more commanding had his voice not cracked. He quickly coughed into his hand, before repeating himself, in a (unintentionally) hilariously over-the-top 'manly' voice. "Let go of my arm."
Rise rolled her sweet eyes, not releasing him. In fact, she brought Kanji a little closer to herself. "What's wrong? Can't you deal with your girlfriend hanging onto you?"
"G-girlfriend?! What?!" Kanji ripped his arm out of her grasp and practically shot up like a bat out of hell. He kept his distance, cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"Calm down, Kanji! I was just messing with you! The script said to hold onto your arm, so I did."
"The- the script?" He peeked at it. "Oh..." It did indeed say that. His crimson blush never left his face as Rise giggled at him. She scooted aside and patted the the other side of the bed, giving him proper space. He sat down, anxiously tapping his foot and averting his eyes.
"Hey, if you're not comfortable, we can work on it later. Okay?" Rise placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and offered a sympathetic smile. He finally looked up at her and nodded, muttering a thanks.
"Okay... Yeah. Sorry bout that. Y'know, freaking out."
"No problem. Honestly, I'm glad you reacted like that. For a while, I was afraid you forgot I was a girl too."
"Huh?" Kanji's brow furrowed as he looked at Rise like she had grown a second head. "How the hell could I forget you're a girl?"
"Well, y'know..." Rise pulled her hand away from the blonde boy and gave a halfhearted shrug. Now she was the one looking away, looking anxious and nervous on the bed.
"No, I don't know. The hell you going on about?"
Rise rolled her eyes, but it lacked even a hint of annoyance. It was more like she was trying to fake it and only look annoyed. "It's just... you never blush around me. You do around Chie, and Yukiko, and Naoto, but not me." Her voice a tremble to it, a soft vibration... She shrugged again, still as uneasy as she was before. "Ah, I'm sure it's nothing. Don't worry about it, Kanji-kun."
"Uh... O-okay," the young man replied. The two quietly returned to the script, though Kanji couldn't help but think that maybe he had done something wrong somehow.
The two were walking back to Rise's together after an enjoyable lunch at Aiya's. The food was good and the company was nice. The two had been spending a lot of lunches together since the new year began.
Rise still needed help with practicing her lines and Kanji, being the simple, good-natured fool that he was, was roped into helping her. The young man grumbled, but he still walked side by side with her from the restaurant. She was talking about the movie leads, and while Kanji couldn't exactly add much to the topic, he did offer a nod or comment every few lines, showing he was at least listening.
"Hey, Kanji?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks again for helping me."
"Would you stop already? I already told you, it's cool. You don't gotta thank me," refuted Kanji, though his tone lacked his usual anger. He shrugged as they walked. "I don't really got anything better to do. Business has been kind of slow lately over at the shop."
"Well, still. I appreciate the help." The blonde nodded his head, keeping his cool despite the faintest tinge of red on his face, only for it to suddenly explode into a blazing inferno when she wrapped her arms around his and clung to him. "Thanks, Katsu-kun! You're so sweet!" Rise declared, kicking up her foot as she squeezed her 'boyfriend's' arm.
"Ah! W-what the hell?! Get off of me! Quit it! Get off!"
"Hey, Katsu?"
"Yeah, Reiko?"
The two were back to work, Rise sitting at her desk while Kanji sat on the floor. Both of them had their script in their hands, but Rise wasn't looking at hers. She was reciting her lines from memory, and when the young man glanced at her, he saw a look of focus on that usually bubbly face. In his mind, he had to admit it was pretty cool how she could memorize the lines.
"How come you never tried talking to Nanami?"
Kanji recited his lines, trying to match the serious tone that Rise established. "I don't know. It just never felt like the right moment."
"It never will magically be the right moment, you have to make it the right moment."
Kanji felt a chill go up his spine. He took in a deep breath and exhaled, trying to keep it as quietly as he could. He was starting to get a churning in his gut, like a bad stomach ache. Rise stole a glance as he glared at the paper. "And how do I do that?" He responded.
"Just go and tell her how you feel. Life doesn't have to be like the movies. You don't need to run to the airport to stop her or have fireworks going off or have a band playing. Sometimes, all you need to do is sit down and tell her how you feel. Make it your moment, and if you want it to be? Make it big for her."
Kanji's hand squeezed the paper as he read his own lines. His fingers crumpled the white sheets as that churning in his stomach came back again. He took another deep breath, before replying. "It isn't that easy."
"It's as easy as you make it, Kanji." The young man looked away from the script and found that Rise was standing in front of him. When did that happen? She was staring at him, without anger or judgement, but with pity and concern. He gazed into her chocolate-brown eyes, only to look away with a scowl on his face.
"You said the wrong name."
"I know what I said."
A moment of silence. Kanji tossed the script at the wall, watching them bounce off and hit the ground, listening to the papers flap as they fell to the floor. He bit the inside of his cheeks as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. He glared at Rise with a glint of anger in his aqua eyes. Rise stared back with that same look of empathy and compassion.
"There isn't a movie, is there?"
"No. There isn't."
"So what...? You just called me here to make fun of me or something?!" He growled, standing up to tower over the idol. "That what you wanted? To get a laugh out of dumb ol' Moronji?!" His temper flared as his face contorted into rage and heartbreak. He dug his nails into the palms of his hands, only to watch as Rise gently touched his cheek.
"You know that's not true. I'd never want you to feel like that..." She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his body. She squeezed him, hugging him as she buried her face into his chest. Kanji just stood there, shaking in her arms, not even blushing from the hug. "I thought... I thought this could help you get over any feelings you had."
"You have a funny way of trying to help," muttered Kanji. He shook his head and put on his tough guy act. "I'm fine. I don't need any help."
"I know that's not true," Rise teased. She kept her arms around him, acting as a warm haven for the man. "Kanji... If you want to be mad at me, then okay. If you want to stop, we can. Whatever you want to do, I'm okay with it, but... at least stay for dinner tonight? I want to make you something to eat." Kanji's face was filled with terror, but Rise laughed. "Don't worry. I've been practicing, and you can watch and make sure I don't make it too 'refined' for you."
"... Y-yeah. Okay."
"Hey, be careful with those spices. Too much will kill the omelette."
"You know, when I said you can watch, I didn't say you could backseat cook," Rise grunted as she broke an egg onto another pan.
"Hey, those things are going on my tongue! 'Cuse me for actually caring about happens to my taste buds," Kanji muttered, standing behind her. He watched her cook, and in his head, he knew thousands guys would probably kill for this. The famous idol, Risette, cooking for them. Most guys would probably love the idea.
Not Kanji though. He didn't see some big name idol when he looked at the girl. He saw his friend, Rise. Stubborn as a mule, way too emotional, but nice, Rise Kujikawa. The girl that all those thousands didn't even know. They probably thought she was some braindead bimbo who needed to be saved, or who was all ready to spread her legs for them.
They didn't know the tears she shed when she thought her friends were about to die. She didn't know the fear in her voice when she was faced to faced with slobbering monsters. She didn't how tough she was when she fought back against those monsters. Not one of those 'fans' knew the real Rise. They weren't there for her on New Years's Day. They weren't the ones Rise was trying to help...
"Huh?" Kanji's face was warm, he realized. He gently touched his cheek and realized that it felt hot against his fingertip. Was he... blushing? Because he was thinking about Rise?
"Kanji, could you help me with this?"
"H-huh? Oh, s-sure!"
"So, how's it taste?"
"Pretty good, actually."
"Told you I've been practicing," Rise chuckled, pouring some hot sauce on her eggs.
"Yeah, yeah." Kanji quietly ate his own food, munching away at the fluffy meal. Unlike the girl across from him, he ate his plainly. Nice and simple.
"..."
"..."
She put her spoon down and exhaled. "I didn't mean to bring up anything... bad. You know that right?" She kept her eyes on the hot sauce covered omelette.
"Yeah." He took another bite.
"I was trying to help. It's been a month since New Years, and I didn't know how you were dealing with it..." She glanced up, and saw him quietly eating away, staring into his food. "I thought... I thought this was a good way of helping. Kind of like, indirect therapy or something? I don't know..."
"I know."
"You helped me, and... and I thought this was a good way of helping you."
"By lyin' to me?"
"Yeah... I messed up, huh?"
"Look, just... Don't sweat it, Rise. It's cool." Judging by the look on her face, Rise didn't buy it, but Kanji smiled despite (or maybe even because) of it. "We're cool. I think... I think I have some thinking to do."
The fireworks lit up the night sky, and Kanji grinned ear to ear. This New Years, hell, this entire year, was nothing like the others before it. Before, he'd be with his Ma, sitting down and welcoming the new year together. This year, he was standing outside in the cold, watching it snow as fireworks exploded through the night sky. He had friends. He was closer to being a man by just being himself than acting tough and throwing punches ever got him.
"Wow... They're so pretty," Chie gasped.
"Man, what a year," Yosuke laughed. Kanji peeked down and noticed his senpai's fingers were locked with Chie-senpai's.
"Yeah," the girl sighed, leaning towards the boy.
Kanji gave the two lovebirds some room, quietly excusing himself and walking away as the fireworks went off. The two were lucky. They got to start the new year with friends and the person they loved. Kanji had the first one, but the second one...
Naoto, he thought. In just one year, he had met the Detective Prince, and in that one year, he was thrown into an ocean of new feelings. Naoto had unintentionally thrown him into a whirlpool of different emotions, from fear, to self-loathing, to... to that feeling he got whenever she walked by.
Maybe I should go see her? Make sure she's not alone for New Years. Kanji walked a bit faster now, head raised high as he scanned through the smiling masses. He spied Yukiko-senpai laughing with some guys from school. Judging from the looks on their faces, they were surprised by her hyena-like laughter, but one of the guys seemed to just laugh along with her. Teddie was hanging out with some girls from school, including a young looking girl Kanji recognized as Ayane. The girls laughed along with Teddie as he made some weird joke.
Everybody had someone it seemed. Everyone, but Kanji.
A sound caught his attention though, making him stop in his tracks. "Huh?" He looked around, swearing he had heard what sounded like... crying. There it is again! Being the kind boy that he was, and now accepted, he pursued the noise. It wasn't a hard search as the one crying was surprisingly close.
A young girl in a pink sweater sat on a stone bench, sobbing. One glance was all it took to realize just who it was. "Rise-chan?" He approached the girl, but she didn't seem to notice. She just kept crying, wiping at her face with the sleeve of her sweater. "W-what happened? What's wrong?" No response though. She just kept sobbing...
He looked around, wondering if he should call out to one of the others. Yukiko-senpai or Yu-senpai would be better at this whole 'comfort-the-crying-girl' thing. He didn't have so good a track record with emotional girls... "H-hold on. I'll go get Senpai! Y-you stay here," he commanded. He looked around and thanked his good fortune as he spied that head of silver hair past some bushes. "There he is!"
He made a dash for him, hand raised to call him over. He came to a skidding stop as Rise lunged off of the bench and grabbed his other arm, holding him back with all of her strength. "N-no! Don't look!" She begged, her voice nearly drowned out by the lights in the sky.
"H-huh? The hell's up with you? Rise, let go!" He struggled against her, eventually breaking free from her grip.
"Don't look," her tired voice cried, having gone hoarse from her sobbing. Kanji didn't understand at first, but when he saw who Senpai was with, he realized what she was trying to warn him about.
"N-Naoto?"
The two were holding hands, their figures outlined by the fireworks above. Even from as far as he was, he could see the way they looked at each other. The way they stroked each other's knuckles and laughed under the lights. Yu leaned down, Naoto wrapped her arms around him, and-
Kanji tore his eyes away from the sight. He was shaking. He felt like puking. He felt like his heart was just stabbed. He felt... he felt...
Kinda like how Rise looked, honestly.
"I'm sorry... I-I'm sorry..." Rise stammered, her voice trying to get through her sobbing. "I'm sorry..."
He tried saying something back, but nothing came out. A million questions raced through his mind. When? Why? How? Why? Why?! D-didn't Senpai know how he felt about Naoto? Didn't Naoto know how Rise felt about Senpai?! Didn't they think of anyone else before they decided to rip their hearts apart and... and... fall in love?
Was that really their crime? Falling in love with each other? Could Kanji really hate them for that? He bit the inside of his lip and ground his sleeve against his eyes, wiping the tears away. Stop it, he ordered himself. The questions could come afterwards. The feelings of jealousy, betrayal, and... and wishing the other couple good luck could all come after.
Right now, he had a crying girl to help, and anger wasn't going to be what helped her.
So he turned around and pulled the hysterical Rise into his arms, gently cradling her like he thought he was meant to. "Hey... Hey, it's okay. Let it out," he assured her. He gently rocked her back and forth, whispering into her ear as his face was buried in those copper-haired locks. "It's okay... It's okay."
She pulled away, and for a moment he was scared he had messed up again. Instead, she just looked at him and Kanji actually missed the warmth forming on his cheeks. Most guys didn't even see the girl in his arms. They only saw Risette. Her eyes were red from crying, her nose had a bit of snot going down it, and her makeup was utterly ruined, adding to the mess that her face had became.
And yet... Kanji gently stroked her cheek, wiping away the tears and snot with his mitten. "It's okay," he repeated. His voice was firm with confidence and warm with compassion.
She wrapped her arms around the tower of the man and resumed crying, but this time he was able to hear something else. A muffled pair of words from the girl. "Thank you..."
Rise was not very sure what was going on. All she knew that Kanji wanted to talk to her on the roof. So she walked up to the school's rooftop after school and found herself all alone, without any sign of the blonde haired boy. "Real funny, Moronji," she sighed, wondering if he was a lot madder at her than he let on. "You have five minutes, before I leave, Moronji..."
As if on cue, the doors were pushed open and the giant of a high school student ran through. "I'm here! I'm here!" He panted. Rise raised a brow, before noticing he had something in his hands.
"What's with the papers?" She inquired, walking closer. He held one out to her and lifted his crimson face to look her in the eyes.
"I have a movie for you."
"... Huh?"
"I have a movie. I want you to act it out with me." He bit his lip and scratched the back of his head. "D-don't look ahead, okay?"
Rise sat on the vent, no less confused, but willing to pay along. She held the piece of paper in her hands as Kanji stood in front of her. The poor boy was shaking in his shoes, red in the face as he walked towards her. He seemed jittery... jumpy, even. He was acting weird, and Rise knew he wasn't that good of an actor.
"H-hey, Reiko!" He greeted, robotically lifting his arm and flailing it to his sides.
Is he waving? "Hey, Katsu. So why'd you call me up here?"
"Um... W-well, ya see, I... I uh... I..." The stuttering wasn't in the script, but it was a nice touch. "I've been thinking." He gulped and took a step closer. "I've been thinking about... about Nanami." Rise felt her heart sink, and she wasn't entirely sure why, only for it to rise up again when he continued. "A-and you."
"Together? Katsu, you perv," Rise teased.
"H-hey! Stick to the script!" Kanji's face got redder and the girl couldn't help but admire it. He really was just an overgrown teddy bear. "I... I... I... Nanami, she... she chose Yuudai, and-and Yuudai, he chose... He chose her." A moment of silence for dramatic effect, or maybe Kanji just needed to remember what his next line was. "And I'm kinda mad at them, but at the same time, I ain't! I mean, when you like someone, you go after them. Right? That's how liking someone works! I hope they're happy together and... and... you know!"
"I don't know," Rise read, and honestly admitted.
"... When Nanami was here, I... Well, I don't know if I loved her, but I liked her, and I never told her that."
"Kanj-er... Katsu. I'm sorry."
He smiled and sat beside her. His face was still scarlet, but his smile was genuine and sweet. Rise couldn't help but return it. "I'm... I'm okay with it, I think. It hurts, but... I'm okay, and... and I ain't looking for any of that rebound shit!" Okay, that wasn't in the script. "I ain't. I ain't lookin' to be anyone's rebound, and I ain't lookin' for one. I... I want something k-kinda real, y'know?"
It hit Rise like a hammer on a nail and she dropped the sheet of paper. Script be damned, she scooted closer as her own cheeks flared up. "S-same! Yeah! Me too! No rebounds! Just... just looking for that that special someone!"
"Yeah! Hell yeah! S'what I'm saying!" Kanji moved closer. "So... uh... R-Reiko-"
"Rise." She beamed and he chuckled, nodding his head.
"Y-yeah. Rise... Um... Would you... Do you... I mean, if you have time and if you want to, d'you wanna... see a movie or something? Or- or get lunch together? As... as more than frien-" He was silenced with a kiss. It silenced him up good as he realized who was kissing him. Not the idol the rest of the world saw, but the regular girl, the best part of Risette...
"I'd love to, Moronji..." She giggled, and Kanji's heart swooned at the sound.
"A-awesome. Um... Wanna start now or-" Another kiss.
"Let's go."
And Make It Big
There should be more Kanji and Rise stuff. I think they make a cute couple. Two broken hearted fools finding comfort in each other, realizing that maybe they have a shot at love with each other, realize things worked out for the best, yadda yadda.
This story really snowballed. Originally, it was going to be about the two practicing lines, with no ulterior motive... Then I thought this was more dramatic and fun. I'm crazy like that.
I'm tired, so nothing else to report. Take a look at my other stories if you have the time. Always appreciated. Have a good day! See ya!