Chapter 2: Lost and Found and Friends


"And he's such a good listener, too: he's got that intense look, y'know? Like Nick Jonas."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, and he's totes a gentleman: asks how I'm doing, calls me just to say hey, holds my bags."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, he's the full package: smart, kind, and a total dream beau."

He wasn't funny, Kanji thought. But maybe only high school girls liked funny, and college girls with a future in sight liked serious and dependable.

Rise knocked on her window and waved to get Kanji's attention. "Kanji-kun!"

He held his phone away from his ears; Rise had lungs, made her a good singer and an even better screamer.

Waving through his window at her — a car driving between their houses on the road below — he brought the phone back to his head. "S'not my fault. Ain't no fun listening to you go on about a guy for hours."

"But this time it's a guy we both like!"

"I don't even know him!" Kanji snapped.

Rise stared at him, deadpan. Then, she breathed against her window to fog it and began to draw. "You've known him longer than me."

"Just saw him around class," Kanji muttered darkly, because that was precisely it: just seen him in class, usually when he mustered the courage to sit two rows behind him. "You've been spending the last week with him."

"And it's been great," Rise sighed, drawing an arrow through the heart. "You should really talk to him."

Kanji snorted, fogging up his window glass a bit. "Dumb guys like me don't got nothin' to say to smart guys like Naoto."

Finished with her art piece—she wrote three English letters inside the heart that looked backwards from Kanji's perspective, not that he was good enough at the language to figure them out anyway—she leaned her back against the window pane. "You should come hang out with us tomorrow night."

"That'd be intruding." Not to mention Kanji was awkward as hell.

"No, I'd really like it. Besides," she winked at him. "Every couple needs an awkward third wheel."

Kanji made an obscene gesture at her, but she only laughed in response.

"So it's settled. Meet us in the piano room at 7, 'kay?" And before Kanji could refuse, she hung up, blew him a kiss, and drew the blinds closed. Shortly after, he saw the lights shut off and, with a scowl, put his phone and continued working on his tiny felt hat.

His tiny blue felt hat, but only because he only had blue felt. Well, not entirely, he had other felts, but they weren't fit to work with and anyway he wanted to work with the blue felt.

Kanji huffed. He didn't have to explain himself to...well, himself. And Rise could be however she was with anyone she wanted, didn't matter to him, didn't need any explaining either.

His eyes wandered to the window, and his mind to the arrow-heart.

Rise wasn't stupid. Her English was pretty good; she sang in it.

Right, her stage name, Risette. That's what she wrote: Naoto's initials and the first English letter for Risette, whatever it was. Three letters.

Kanji returned his focus to the hat. Crossover stitch, watch the lining—

He just wanted to talk to the dude.

Kanji stopped working again and stared at the hat.

No, that wasn't exactly it. There was more, he could admit that.

He wanted to talk to Naoto, yeah, but he wanted to hang out, too. Like people did. And Naoto looked just as bad at peopling as Kanji was, and that was comforting. Other people were frightening, either frightened of him or disappointed when he wasn't a tough bike thug.

Sometimes, that disappointment became teasing. Mostly, it became exclusion.

So, yeah, Naoto seemed like the cool kind of upper class dude that was surprisingly nice when he wasn't being frigid. And yeah, it was hell mustering the courage to talk to him, but Kanji had a feeling that Naoto could be easy to talk to. Rise had said as much.

Rise had said other things about Naoto, too. Kanji had a hard time not agreeing.

Rise had also said they'd be waiting for him. It might end up being awkward, but so was he. And hey, if he was invited, it wasn't a date.

Maybe none of them were.

Kanji snorted and looked back at the hat. Maybe he would arrive, just to mess with Rise. Plus, he hadn't hung out with her in a while, and annoying as she liked to be to him, she was still the easiest person to talk to.

Hey, maybe she would be just the bridge Kanji and Naoto needed. To get along. To hang out.

Kanji sighed, but not unhappily. People were complicated. Connecting was hard. Naoto was interesting. Rise was beautiful. Kanji?

Well, Kanji was lost.


"Where is Rise Kujikawa?"

Except he didn't phrase it like a question, more like a statement. Something one of them knew the rest of.

Kanji shrugged, lifting his hands defensively. "I dunno, man. She's your girl—" He stopped, then clenched his fists. "Man, quit grillin' me. She's prob'ly jus' lost in her closet or somethin'."

Naoto snorted, and looked angrier than Kanji had ever seen—which was just mildly miffed, really, but it was still off-putting.

Especially because it almost looked like Naoto was trying not to smirk.

"Doubtful. We planned today two days ago. She certainly had enough time to dress." Naoto drew a small notebook from the folds of his jacket — one of those blue trench coats with all the pockets and buttons — and opened it midway. "When was the last time you saw the girl in question?"

Girl in question made Kanji feel like a stranger in the conversation. "Wh-Rise, right? We still talking about her?" Naoto just held his gaze. "R-right. Yeah, yesterday, last night, we were on the phone and we were talkin' 'bout stuff and she invited me here…"

Kanji felt his cheeks flush slowly at his scrambling words, but Naoto didn't seem to notice; he only shifted his eyes between his notebook and Kanji, but the lack of visible que made Kanji think he hadn't said enough yet.

Man, this felt way too much like an interrogation.

"A-and, like, I saw her from my room. L-like, not like-!" Kanji waved his hands around. Quite suddenly he felt like if he kept going like that, Naoto would be suspicious of him. "Like, from my window, through hers. We-we live across from each other, and sometimes when she doesn't wanna leave her room but she wants to talk to me we do it like that. Like, call and…see…each other. Through the window."

There was feeling stupid, and then there was feeling Kanji-stupid. And, even then, there was feeling Kanji-stupid in front of a straight-faced, no-nonsense Naoto.

It took glaring somewhere leftward and clenching his jaw, but Kanji managed to shut up before he added a fourth level of stupid. Even to him, it sounded like he had something to do with Rise not being there, or even that he was going around messing with Rise right in front of her—

Well, he didn't know what Rise was to Naoto, or what Naoto was to Rise, and really, really didn't know what Naoto was to Kanji. But he sure as hell knew what Rise was to Kanji.

Kanji let that small amount of certainty into his voice. "Listen, I ain't been up to anythin' wrong with her, we just talked last night and I haven't seen her since. She's prob'ly just late or something, or maybe she's tryin' to find her phone and that's why she's not picking up." And why she hadn't bugged him with bubbly texts to join her, that was a bit unusual, almost made Kanji back out.

Naoto only nodded, eyes on his notebook as he wrote — what, Kanji didn't know, couldn't even guess. He couldn't even figure out how a simple hang-out became a frickin' crime scene.

Finally, Naoto shut the notebook and pocketed it. He levelled Kanji with an unreadable stare. "Regardless, it's obvious she won't be arriving. I should take my leave."

As Naoto turned to leave, Kanji's thoughts nearly jumped out of his throat — well, y'know, since we're here anyways let's hang around for a bit, I dunno, she'll show eventually, we'll chill until then, whatever — but he choked on them and instead coughed a few times. It at least got Naoto to stop and look back at him.

"—I mean, yeah, tha's cool. I'll let you know if she shows." If she doesn't let you know first. "So…yeah. I'll-I'll see you around."

And for a moment, Naoto paused, like he had to process his thoughts. Then, "Take care of yourself, Tatsumi." He nodded once more before turning and walking away.


"Rise here! Sorry about missing your call. Leave me a message and I'll talk to you later!"

It was the first time Kanji ever heard the entire message. Usually, he'd hang up somewhere around the 'missing' and she would get back to him soon enough.

Now, he was just hung up on the 'missing'.

Rise was missing. Hadn't showed for three days, wouldn't pick up her phone, didn't come to the class they both took — Statistics, they both hated it, but it was damn hard enough alone, so they never missed a class — and Kanji was heading across the street to her dorm as a last resort.

Rise lived with three older girls: Ebihara Ai, Kanji knew her as one of those piranha girls that Rise clashed heads with; something Chie, tough, meat-loving girl Rise was more or less chill with; and Amagi Yukiko, who had been a friend of Kanji's when they were younger.

Kanji wanted to say he avoided Rise's house because Ai reminded him of all the girls who'd treated him so cruelly, but it was more because of Yukiko: they both grew up in the same small town, got along pretty well as kids. His family's textile shop provided kimonos and curtains and the like to her family's inn, so they always had to wait around with each other when the parents started talking (and talking and talking and talking).

It usually lead to them playing Family or having mini tea parties, or just talking about pretty things like clothes and flowers. Maybe it was hanging around Yukiko that made Kanji think it was okay with everyone to be, well, how he was.

That last snag was part of why they drifted apart, but Kanji eventually pushed everyone away after his Dad had—

Kanji realized he had been standing in front of the door for at least a full minute. As soon as he did, he jammed the doorbell in thrice without thinking — if, against all hope, it did turn out that something had happened, his thug-looking self staring creepily at the girl's door wouldn't help his case much—and tried to look as natural as possible.

He only had to wait a few seconds before the door swung open, someone shouting, "Easy on the doorbell, big guy."

Short hair, loud voice, green jumper: it was the Chie girl. Kanji shuffled, kicking himself for not planning this ahead of time.

But he had rushed for a reason. "S-sorry 'bout that. I just, I wanted t'know if Rise was home."

Chie eyed him warily, and he saw her grip tighten on the door. "Who's asking?"

"Er, Kanji. Tatsumi Kanji." He pointed to himself, as if that was needed. Still more chill than handshakes, he always thought. Handshakes were just awkward, especially when his hands were always so much bigger than—

"Oh, Kanji-kun?" Chie's eyes widened, but her posture lightened and she opened the door wider. "I know you. From across the street, you two always talk late at night."

It wasn't usually late at all. Well, some nights Rise would wake him up just to talk about a dream she just had, or how the Chie girl was snoring louder than an elephant, or how she hadn't finished an assignment due in the morning and she needed his help even if he was dumber than her.

Thinking about it left Kanji feeling a lot lonelier.

"Y-yeah, sorry 'bout that, I—"

"You don't need to keep apologizing," she said, and then stepped away from the entrance. "C'mon in, it's cold out."

Kanji wanted to decline, but he figured Chie was right, and she probably didn't appreciate having to stand at the door in a light sweater in the middle of November. Instead, he followed Chie in with a, "Thanks."

"Geez, you're a lot more polite than I thought you'd be."

"Wha's that s'pose t'mean?" Kanji muttered, but he knew the answer from a mile away.

"Just that, y'know." Chie gave him an appraising look. "You've got that rebel look and all. I thought you were gonna break in!"

She laughed, and though it wasn't what Kanji had expected, he was kind of glad Chie was so to the point. He liked to the point. No beating around the bush.

Naoto was to the point.

But this was about Rise. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Listen: you seen Rise lately? I can't get a hold of her."

Chie stopped and turned to face him, looking suddenly anxious. They reached the kitchen, and Kanji could see a kettle sitting on the counter. "Oh man, you too?"

Kanji grimaced. "Crap, she ain't here?"

Chie shook her head. "She hasn't been around for a few days now, and the others don't know either. I thought maybe she took a few days off or something."

"No, she would have said something." Kanji dropped himself into one of the dining chairs. "'Sides, me an' her an' someone else were s'posed to hang out a few days ago, she wouldn't have missed it."

Chie perked at that. "Is that someone else that prim boy she's been going out with?"

Kanji wanted her to elaborate on 'going out with', but set the matter aside with a simple, "Yeah, hat an' tie guy. You know him?"

"He's dropped her off sometimes. Been over for tea, too." Chie crossed her arms. "D'you think…you know, since he just showed up and suddenly she's — d'you think he had something to do with this?"

"No," Kanji snapped too quickly. He almost jumped out of his seat, because there was no way Naoto would've done anything to Rise. "He's a good guy, Naoto. He's worried about her too." At least, Kanji assumed so. Naoto hadn't spoken to him since Rise's disappearance, and Kanji had been too nervous and too wrapped up with Rise to strike up a conversation.

Chie eyed him steadily, but nodded all the same. "If you say so. Rise puts a lotta stock in you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, she's always goin' on about you and all. Talks about you way more than Hat Boy." Chie made to take a seat as well, but stopped when she heard someone coming down the stairs.

"Chie, who are you talking to?" Around the bend came black haired, fair skinned, red-sharp shirted Yukiko. "Is it Ri — oh!"

Kanji waved a hand up, but his mind barely registered it. How was he supposed to be with her? Did she recognize him, even? "H-Hey-I mean, good afternoon, Yukiko-er, senpai..?"

Yukiko hesitated, but she walked up to him — closer than Chie but farther than Rise would have — and held her hands clasp in front of her. "Good afternoon, Kanji-kun. It's wonderful seeing you." She bowed her head slightly, then eyed the table. "Oh goodness, did you just come from outside? I'll bring you some tea. Let Chie take your jacket."

Chie muttered something about 'manager mode', but held her hand out to take his jacket, adding, "But seriously, 'Good afternoon'? 'Senpai'? Am I missing something?"

Kanji shrugged off his jacket and gave it to Chie with a thanks while, thankfully, Yukiko answered from the kitchen. "Kanji-kun and I knew each other when we younger."

Though she sounded quite wistful, Kanji noted that she also seemed to answer pretty vaguely. Wasn't much else she could say, though, was there?

But he wanted to add something, if just to know there was more to it. "We grew up together. Kinda."

Chie, from across the hall, sounded somewhere between skeptical and bothered. "Really?"

"Oh, yes. But we haven't seen each other for a while." Yukiko set down two simple tea cups and a soft drink can. "Rise does talk about you a lot, though, so it's sort of like you're here, too."

"But she's not," Kanji sighed, staring into his tea.

He heard Yukiko sigh, disappointed. "So you don't know what happened to her, either?"

Kanji shook his head.

A pause, then: "I'm worried about her."

"C'mon, Yukiko," came Chie's voice, but without enough confidence. She took the seat beside Yukiko and cracked open the can. "She's fine, she just likes to worry us. I'm sure of it."

Kanji felt like he needed to add something, if only to make Chie's assurance truer. He raised his head, and raised the cup to his mouth. "N-Naoto's prob'ly on the case, and the guy's a genius, so he'll get down to it before you know it."

"Naoto?" Yukiko echoed, touching her finger to her mouth. "Her new boyfriend?"

Kanji spat his tea out, coughing, and felt a hand smack him a few times harder than it had to. He felt his face flush, saw Chie standing beside him and Yukiko eyeing him horrified. "Oh-oh dear, was the tea really that bad?"

"N-no!" Kanji spluttered. "'S pretty great, it-it was jus' hot, yeah? Burned my tongue, went down the wrong pipe, y'know?"

"Oh goodness," Yukiko sighed, relieved. She gave Kanji a few moments to collect himself—his stupid face wouldn't stop burning up, it was definitely the lukewarm tea—and watched Chie take her seat. "Where were we? Oh, right, Naoto-kun. He seems like a real sweetheart—"

Chie snorted before downing her drink.

"—and if you're certain in him, Kanji-kun, so am I."

Kanji didn't feel like he deserved Yukiko's resolute trust. Sure, they got along a few years ago, but they barely knew each other then, and even less now.

But then, he didn't really know Naoto enough to trust him like he did.

"Yeah." Then, maybe because of the confidence of the moment, maybe because he wanted to say it to Naoto, Kanji grinned besides himself. "Listen, I know I just got here, but gotta head out, and...how 'bout we hang out later, catch up an' all?"

Yukiko smiled kindly. "I'd love to."

Kanji scratched the back of his head and stood up a little too quickly. "Awesome, then. I'm looking forward to it."

Yukiko stood as well, smiling even wider.

It was a really pleasant smile, Kanji thought. Different from Rise's — from the very many ones Kanji had gotten from her — in a way that made him think of her.

Man, he might even be starting to miss the girl.

Thoughts like those kept his mind busy until he heard Chie shout, "Hey, ya big lug, if you're gonna leave without a bye, at least don't leave without your jacket!"

"Wh-" Kanji snapped back to reality and found himself facing the door, hand on the knob. "Uh-right, sorry. Jus'-"

"Worried," Yukiko finished, coming up behind him.

On his other side, he heard Chie's muffled, "Or blown away." A moment, then, "Kidding, kidding. Here."

Kanji turned around, and gave Chie and Yukiko a level stare, respectively. They'd barely talked, didn't even get through a whole cup of tea together, but Kanji felt like the circle of people in his life—which was really just two scattered dots before — had opened up to the two of them.

More surprisingly, Kanji found he liked the thought of that.

He really had a lot to think about.

"Thanks, S-" Just a bit of hesitation. "-Senpai," Kanji managed to say, taking his jacket from Chie before turning and walking away.