"Naoto-kuuuun!"
"Rise-chan, don't – mmmmph!" Naoto Shirogane, Ace Detective, let out an undignified yelp as her good friend, maybe even her best friend, Rise Kujikawa, captured her in a rib-crushing hug.
"I've missed you soooo much!" Rise squealed. "Was your Christmas incredibly lonely without me?" She tightened her grip on Naoto, who was slowly turning an unhealthy shade of purple.
"Can't… breathe…" gasped the blue-haired detective. Rise finally relinquished her grip on Naoto, who staggered back, clutching her sides and wheezing for air.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" Rise asked with a pout, disappointed in Naoto's lackluster response.
"… Positively ecstatic," Naoto said after taking a deep breath. Rise beamed, pleased, and picked up the bag she'd dropped in her excitement at seeing Naoto.
"I brought you a present!" Rise said, thrusting the gift into Naoto's arms. "I found it while I was in Tokyo! It was on sale, too."
"Oh… you have my thanks," Naoto said, surprised. "But I'm afraid I didn't get anything for you."
"That's all right," Rise said serenely. "I did show up rather out of the blue." Then she shivered in the cold December air. "Can I come inside?"
"Of course," Naoto said, rather chilled as well. She opened the door to her apartment and Rise eagerly bounded in. It was a small, quaint place, with a single bedroom, a kitchen, a living room with a table to eat on, and a bathroom. Still, it had a roomy quality to it that Naoto enjoyed, despite its sparseness of decoration.
"When are you moving back to the Shirogane estate, Naoto?" Rise asked, looking around with bright eyes. Naoto followed after her friend more slowly, setting her present down on the table.
"Soon enough, I presume. The case is over, after all, so I'm no longer required to be so close."
"We should throw a big party before you move out!" Rise said, stars in her eyes, as she sat down on Naoto's couch.
"It's not like I'm leaving Inaba or anything," Naoto said with a sweatdrop. Out of habit, she grabbed her signature newsboy cap and jammed it on her head, feeling awkward in company without it.
"So? We wouldn't have to worry about adults, and parties are fun!" Rise cried. Naoto smiled slightly and walked over to her friend.
"I suppose I'll think about it," she said, mainly to distract Rise from the topic.
"Sweet!" Rise said happily, appearing extremely pleased. Then she blinked. "Wait, aren't you going to open your present?"
"Oh…" Naoto said, glancing back at where the gift innocently lay. She quelled a stab of foreboding with some difficulty. "Sorry, I'll go open it now." Trotting back over to the table, she pushed aside the wrapping and pulled out a long, silky, very effeminate silvery-grey dress.
"Don't you like it? I found its twin in gold and bought it for myself. We could wear them on the same day, and be like sisters!" Rise said enthusiastically.
"Ah… well, I don't know…" Naoto said, uncomfortable as she stared at the dress.
"And I bet Souji would like it, not to mention it matches his hair!" Rise rattled on. Naoto turned quickly, a blush rising up her cheeks.
"D-don't be silly, Rise," she said, stuffing the dress back into its bag. Rise frowned.
"Don't do that, you'll wrinkle the material," she said disapprovingly. Naoto ignored that and walked back over to Rise, carefully seating herself on the couch.
"How is senpai, anyway?" Rise asked, idly turning on Naoto's small TV. "I haven't seen him in awhile either." Naoto felt her blush return in full-force as she thought of her boyfriend, and looked away.
"… I spent Christmas Eve at his house," she said, mumbling a little. However, Rise's bat-like ears missed nothing.
"What?" she said, straightening. "At his – but Dojima and Nanako are still – were you two alone?" Naoto looked down at her feet, heartily wishing she hadn't said anything. Even her ears had turned red, she was blushing so much.
"Well, technically, yes," she said, more difficult to make out than ever. Rise scooted closer, looking excited.
"Did you… do anything?" she asked, eyes glinting with a mischievous light. Naoto shot her a horrified look.
"O-of course not! Nothing happened!" she said, embarrassed.
"I don't believe you."
"What?"
"Tell me everything that happened!" Rise demanded. Naoto shifted, looked away.
"I got there, we talked for a bit, and ate cake in his room. Then I gave him my present –"
"The watch, right?" Rise interrupted.
"Yes, the watch. Then we talked for a little longer and I… left." Naoto had no intention of telling Rise that she'd dressed up in the Yasogami High's female uniform for Souji; it was far too embarrassing, and the pop star would tease her mercilessly.
"You left," Rise said, voice deadpan. Naoto swallowed thickly and then nodded, refusing to make eye contact with the other girl. "So, you're telling me you were at your boyfriend's house on Christmas Eve, alone, and you two didn't do anything?"
"No, no, no," Naoto said. "I, well, I thought about it," she blushed crimson, "but we've never even kissed before! I… I didn't even know what to say!" The usually articulate detective floundered, looking helpless. Rise gaped at her stupidly.
"Wait, wait, wait… you never even…?" Rise seemed to swell up with indignation. "Naoto, if Souji's being a dick, tell me, and we can get Chie to kick his ass!"
"Wait, what? Rise!" Naoto said, her voice going up an octave in agitation. Rise crossed her arms.
"Well, why else hasn't he kissed you? There is clearly something going on –"
"It's nothing like that," Naoto said hastily. "I… we actually had a discussion about it, when we first started dating, and I told him I wasn't ready for that kind of… activity yet, and he hasn't tried to push me on it."
"What? Why not?" Rise asked, completely bewildered.
"I… well, I've never kissed anyone before, and, I just want to feel like I'm ready before anything like that happens," Naoto mumbled, pulling her cap low over her eyes.
"Never?" Rise asked skeptically.
"Never."
"Huh, that's weird. I always thought one of your "Detective Prince" fan girls would've thrown themselves at you or something."
"Rise!" Naoto decided not to mention that there had been several close calls, especially when she first showed up to Yasogami High. Even now she was rather wary whenever she left the classroom. Rise laughed and hugged Naoto, taking the detective by surprise.
"You are so cute, Naoto. Still, this business with Souji… it's not right that you two haven't kissed yet," she said, becoming business-like. Naoto swallowed.
"Erm, what do you mean?" she asked timidly. Rise thought for a moment, and then grinned.
"I know! Let's have Souji come over! I can give him his present, too!" Rise said.
"What? Rise, no!" Naoto said, alarmed. But Rise jumped up and whipped out her cell phone, dancing away with a laugh when Naoto tried to stop her.
"Senpai? Is that you?" Naoto froze in the act of tackling Rise. "Awww, you're so sweet! Hey, guess where I am? Nope! Naoto-kun's house! Yup! You should come over!"
"Rise!" Naoto shouted, only to be ignored.
"What do you mean, when? Right now of course! C'mon, Naoto really wants to see you!" Rise said gleefully.
"No I don't – I mean, I do, but, well, Rise! Stop this foolishness!" The Ace Detective was becoming steadily more flustered, especially at the idea of Souji coming over while Rise was in such an unpredictable mood.
"Okay, bye-bye, senpai!" Rise said, before finally acknowledging her friend. "Souji said he'd come over right away!" Naoto groaned and sank back onto the couch.
"Rise… why did you do that?"
"Because you guys have been dating for awhile –"
"Barely over a month, Rise."
"–and you haven't even kissed! It's ridiculous!" Naoto felt herself going on the defensive.
"Physical contact is not required in a relationship," she said stiffly, meeting Rise's eyes for the first time in several minutes.
"No, but it certainly helps," Rise said with a sniff. "Displays of affection show that you care about the other person! Souji's only human, after all; if you continue to act all awkward around him, he'll begin to wonder if your relationship is merely platonic!"
"Do… do you really think so?" Naoto said, uncertainly. She'd never really thought about it that way. Rise scoffed.
"Of course. Souji's a guy. A great guy," she added as Naoto opened her mouth, "but a guy none the less. Besides, he can't read minds, Naoto."
"I told him…" Naoto began, only to be cut off again.
"That you weren't comfortable with physical contact? That doesn't help at all – how do you think that makes Souji feel? He probably thinks he isn't worthy of you or something. Guys have weird complexes over stuff like that, especially someone as sensitive as Souji." Rise wrinkled her nose.
"But, I'm not very comfortable with public affection," Naoto mumbled. Rise sighed, sitting down next to her friend.
"It doesn't have to be public, Naoto. I'm not saying you two should be making out constantly, either. But a kiss every once in a while, a hug, maybe a little hand holding… it's not as difficult as you think it is, Naoto. In fact, it's quite enjoyable." Rise giggled as Naoto blushed. Just then the doorbell rang, and the pop star leapt to her feet.
"That must be senpai! Naoto, stay here!" Then she charged off before Naoto could respond. Standing up, Naoto made to follow after her, but then thought better of it. Sitting back down, she strained her ears to make out what the two were saying. She heard Souji's low baritone, followed by Rise's chipper response, and then the two were laughing.
Why am I sitting here? Naoto thought, feeling an insane surge of jealousy. Moments later, however, Souji was standing in front of her, smiling softly.
"Rise's gone off to get my present – apparently she left it at the Tofu Shop," he said, shaking a light dusting of snow out of his silver hair.
"I-I see," Naoto said, suddenly feeling very warm as Rise's words echoed in her head, not to mention ashamed at doubting her friend's intentions. Souji stood there awkwardly for a moment.
"May I sit down?" he finally asked, the epitome of politeness. Naoto nodded wordlessly, and her boyfriend took a seat beside her, several inches between the two. Naoto swallowed as Souji turned his silver eyes on her, the question in them unasked.
"Rise and I were talking…" she said after a moment. Souji smiled.
"Go on," he said encouragingly. Naoto took a deep breath.
"Have you ever kissed anyone?" she blurted out thoughtlessly, before gasping in mortification.
"Sure," Souji said after a second, brow furrowed slightly. Naoto blinked, adjusted herself, and took a deep breath.
"I apologize. I didn't mean to… well, it's just – Rise said that I was giving you a complex, because we've never…" Naoto flailed about uncertainly, angry that her usually articulate tongue was failing her at such a critical moment. Souji smiled, calm and understanding as usual.
"You don't have to feel like you're making me unhappy, Naoto," he said. "I think I'm lucky that you even care for me." Naoto blushed hotly, avoiding his gaze.
"I realize that. But I just wanted to let you know that the fact that we've never kissed isn't because you aren't good enough or anything like that." It felt surprisingly good to get that out. Souji raised an ash-colored eyebrow, contemplating his girlfriend's statement for a moment.
"Well, that's good to hear. But what brought this up?" he asked with a good-natured smile. Slightly taken aback, Naoto stared at him for a moment.
"Erm, well, Rise wanted me to tell her about our Christmas Eve date –"
"Ah," Souji said with a chuckle. Naoto smiled as well, having calmed down. She couldn't help but feel a little ridiculous about making a fool out of herself over something that suddenly seemed so trivial.
I shouldn't have let Rise get to me, she thought with a faint smile, somewhat abashed. Souji gazed at her intently before scooting a little closer.
"Do you want me to kiss you, Naoto?" he asked, hip lightly bumping against her own. Floored for a moment by the question, it took Naoto several seconds to turn a brilliant shade of red.
"I – ah – senpai!" she said, for lack of anything better to say coming to mind. Souji grinned and touched her hand, although his eyes were serious.
"We don't have to if you don't want to," he said, cheeky grin still in place. "But I certainly wouldn't mind." Naoto hesitated, floundering. Her hand automatically intertwined itself with Souji's as she deliberated, feeling more than a little hot around the collar, especially with him staring at her like that.
"I… I guess," Naoto said reluctantly as she thought back to what Rise had said earlier that evening. She'd never really know if she was ready until she tried, right?
Carpe diem, she thought, taking a deep breath.
"Yes," Naoto said aloud, looking straight at Souji with clear, determined blue eyes. "Let's do it." Souji laughed at that, causing Naoto to flush, tightening his grip on her hand.
"You're sure?" he asked, ever one to double-check. A lump the size of the Shirogane estate in her throat, Naoto could only nod. Souji took a deep breath, seeming somewhat nervous for the first time as well, before leaning forward. Not sure what to do, Naoto simply closed her eyes. His lips were soft and warm when they met her own, sending a tingle of electricity down Naoto's spine. Then it was over, and Souji pulled away, a glimmer of warm affection in his grey eyes as he considered her.
"That was… easier than I anticipated," Naoto finally said, blinking. Souji laughed, seeming very pleased with himself.
"Remind me to thank Rise when she gets back," he said, causing Naoto to blush for the umpteenth time. Then she started.
"Speaking of Rise, what do you think is taking her so long?" Naoto asked. Souji frowned, considering.
"I dunno…"
"Hi hi!" They both jumped, looking over at the entrance, where Rise was standing and smirking, leaning against the far wall.
"R-Rise, how long have you been here?" Naoto said, feeling hot and embarrassed all over again. Rise grinned mischievously.
"Long enough," she said artfully, before bounding over to sit on the other side of Naoto, slinging a casual arm over her friend's shoulder. "I'm so proud of you, Naoto!" Naoto's blush darkened as Souji looked at Rise with clear amusement in his eyes.
"Where's my present, Rise?" he asked, affecting an offended expression, and Rise replied with an arch smile.
"I went and got my dress, it's a gold twin to the one I got Naoto, and I thought we could model them for you!" she said, gesturing at the bag lying on the floor by the door entryway.
"Cool."
"Rise!"
Fin.
Author's Note: Well, this is my first contribution to , and I hope you all enjoyed it. Just a short little one-shot, nothing special, that I had a lot of fun (the Rise-Naoto dynamic is just so amusing to explore). Please feel free to give me some feedback, as I'd greatly appreciate it. :)
Return of the Thief,out.