Tuesday, Showa Day, 4/29/12, Shirogane Estate, Late Afternoon

THWACK

The sound of heavy breathing echoed throughout the walls of the small gym. The room's heavy bag, weighted with sand and reeling from the impact of repeated blows, swung around just in time to receive another assault from its assailant.

THWACK

Naoto gulped in more air and reached her hands out to steady her battered training partner, growing somewhat annoyed by the cackling of the chain that suspended the bag from the ceiling. As it gently lulled itself to a stop, Naoto could feel the dull ache of exhaustion in her legs, so she decided to end her session for the day. She was wearing a black workout hoodie over a dark blue athletic t-shirt, complimented by a pair of long black basketball shorts with compression leggings on underneath. Except for a brief peek of her ankles between the end of the leggings and her sneakers, Naoto was completely covered up; the detective's aversion to showing her skin rarely made exceptions, even in the confines of a fairly torrid exercise room.

It was Tuesday, which called for her to go and practice striking and do some light cardiovascular exercises. Naoto had recently decided that perhaps it would be best to hone her body in addition to her mind, a decision influenced by a conversation Narukami had had with her months earlier. In yet another example of why she thought so highly of him, Yu had wondered if, for her own safety, she had thought of practicing some fighting techniques with Chie. Naoto could see no counterpoint, and so she did consult her older teammate, to poor results; despite her zeal, Chie didn't really have any sort of plan or formative training, which drove the detail-obsessed detective up a wall.

Instead, Naoto went about renovating an old room in the Shirogane Estate that her Granpa was usually far too busy to use anymore. Always willing to spoil his granddaughter if it meant her furthering what she loved, Naoto's Granpa purchased a heavy bag, an exercise bike, and some light medicine balls, learning to use each piece of equipment in her usual timely way. Although Naoto hadn't intended to continue as a disciple under Chie, she did agree with the would-be martial artist that it was better for Naoto to focus on her cardiovascular endurance than her strength. In addition, Chie had suggested that the tiny detective learn how to get the most out of her legs, since her arms were short and couldn't reach as high as might be necessary to fight an assailant.

Thusly, the last stretch of her workout usually included a small session with the heavy bag so she could refine her technique and learn to get all the strength she could out of her kicks. Taking a seat on the bench, she slid the elastic white shin-guards that encased the lower parts of her legs off, shaking her leg out to relieve the soreness. Setting them both down on the bench beside her, she slowly began to remove her sweaty hoodie when her thoughts turned once again to Rise and the things she had said.

Without the distraction of practicing her strikes on the bag, it was inevitable that Naoto would begin to ruminate on the last twenty four hours. Left alone on the roof, Naoto had found her way home, although she could barely recall willing her brain into doing so. The rest of the night had been a slow, torturous crawl; Naoto had lay wide awake in bed, afraid to sleep because of the hideous potential of the dreams that lay within her head. She had not had any contact with her friends since, and was thankful that it was Showa Day, the precursor to Golden Week, which meant that students didn't have school. Naoto doubted she would have been able to face anyone anyways.

Exercising had been an able distraction, but Naoto's mind was like a computer, cursed with the ability to seamlessly remember everything. Rarely did even the oldest memories tiptoe away from the recesses of her mind, never mind one so devastating. She gripped the hard underside of the bench she was sitting on, feeling the thick wood press into her palms. The sweat that had clung to her shaggy hair dripped onto the blue mats as the memory began to play again.

"You're just a little freak..."

"Nobody can be happy if you aren't, right?"

"...I'm not into girls!"

Naoto could scarcely remember a time where she had felt such unmitigated anger, such hatred for another person as to refer to them with the terms that she used to belittle Rise. The only person that sprang to mind was Tohru Adachi, the man who had tormented Inaba the previous year with a pair of killings. A large part of being a detective was maintaining and controlling your emotions no matter the circumstance, and she had failed miserably in this regard, as she had many times over the course of her young life.

Despite that feeling of failure, there was the other side, too: the side that said good riddance . It was that monster again, telling her that it was okay to discard the idol. Rise's friendship had been little more than a distraction, something she had used to justify passing on work that was actually important to her. It could have gone better, but the distraction had been eliminated, seemingly, so why waste time thinking back on it? Who cares if what she said was harsh? It was the truth , and that was all that mattered to a detective.

She let go of the bench, feeling a small throbbing from just how hard she had been squeezing. She got up and walked in a little circle to slow her heart rate, looking at the heavy bag again. It was rather plain, a dark red thing that her Grandfather had purchased from parts unknown that had no markings or features to distinguish it as a brand name product. As she stared at it, Naoto felt herself beginning to fade away, the slow movement of the bag lulling her into a hypnotic state of tiredness.

Muttering to herself, Naoto sat back down and closed her eyes, which felt so heavy that she couldn't bear to keep them open. She leaned her head back against the wall, noting how even the sturdy wall felt as comfortable as a pillow in her current state. As usual, the estate was rather quiet thanks to her Granpa and Yakushiji working diligently behind closed doors, which left only the gentle singing of outside birds as the soundtrack to Naoto's resting. For a moment, there was peace, and that was enough for Naoto to doze off, trying to make up a for a whole night of restlessness.

Tuesday, 4/29/12 ? ?

When she opened her eyes again, there was nothing but darkness. Not only that, she was somehow lying prone on the floor when she clearly remembered sitting up when she closed her eyes. Alarmed, she rose to her feet and felt beside her for the bench, her pads, anything that had just been there a moment ago when she closed her eyes.

There was nothing.

A slight tingle of shameful fear crept up her spine. What was going on? A dream, maybe? She looked down and could make out through the darkness the same workout clothes she had been wearing. She tried to move forward, but her steps seemed to lead her nowhere. A voice she barely recognized as her own attempted to engage the blackness surrounding her.

"W-where am I? Is there somebody there? Anybody...?"

Nothing.

Naoto closed her eyes again, hoping that she could just will herself out of this dark place as easily as she had arrived, when something pierced through her mind's eye.

"So thou know what thou art, but not what thou truly desires. Thou hast much to learn, Naoto Shirogane."

Gasping, Naoto turned to see a blazing blue light pierce the shadowy realm she had found herself in. She instantly thrust her hand up, the combination of the light's strength and eyes adjustment to the darkness temporarily blinding. After a few seconds the light died down to a faint hum, and Naoto could make out a figure amidst the blue aura. It was about as tall as her, with a head that most resembled some sort of beetle. It was well dressed in a dark blue blazer and golden tie, with matching shorts and a nice pair of buckled shoes. Clear too in the darkness was the weapon in its hand, a sabre comprised entirely of a shimmering blade of light beaming out of a metal hilt.

"Suh-Sukuna-Hikona !?" Naoto whispered, aghast at what was in front of her. Sukuna Hikona was her Persona, a mystical being whose power Naoto called upon when she and the rest of the Investigation team had ventured into the TV World. It had been months since their last trip, and she couldn't get over the shock of seeing it in the real world. It had no mouth, but its voice seemed to resonate throughout her skull.

"I am thou. Thou art I. These are the words which hast bound us together. I wilt returneth when this rings true..."

With that, the blue flame around Sukuna-Hikona roared once more, consuming its whole body. Without thinking, Naoto ran forward and shot her hand into the flames, aiming for her Persona's hand. Strangely, the flames did nothing to her as she found the unflinching hand of Sukuna Hikona and latched on tight.

"W-wait, come back! What do you mean 'when this rings true'? Where are we?" Naoto's frantic questions went unanswered as the flames rose higher, causing her to instinctually flinch and lose her grip on Sukuna-Hikona's hand. When she turned back around, it took every ounce of strength in her body not to let out a scream.

"Wuh-where did he go!? Why'd he luh-leave me!? I don't want to be alone...please don't leave me alone like Rise-san did!" cried a familiar, horribly distorted voice.

Standing where the Persona had been previously was the weeping form of Naoto's shadow self. It still had on the oversized lab coat on over a turquoise button-up shirt, and it was using the dangling white sleeves of the coat to wipe its nose and glowing yellow eyes, both running with severe emotion. The real Naoto was too stunned to say anything, and she just stood in silent terror as the shadow continued its ranting.

"Don't you suh-see!? We were always meant to be alone...but we can be alone together !" it giggled, beginning to lose the crybaby affectation. An evil grin slowly rose on its face, and it began to approach Naoto, who stumbled backwards trying to get away. "Rise-san is right, after all: you are too much of a freak to be truly accepted by anyone. You're not pretty enough to be desired by boys, the girls don't think you're manly enough, and you don't even care to choose a side. You're all alone..."

"S-stop it," Naoto hissed, fighting the horror in her throat, "It's not true..." Even though she knew what happened the last time she tried fighting this terrible creature, she felt the need to defend herself. It didn't work.

"But it is!" The shadow shrieked, suddenly zooming up to Naoto with inhuman speed and grasping her face in its hands. Naoto shivered at the feeling of the lab coat sleeves brushing against her cheek, but felt paralyzed and helpless to stop it. "You heard it for yourself! Rise-san and Narukami-senpai, they lied to you ; Rise-san was never your friend . She used you for her own emotional needs and flung you aside as if you were garbage. That makes you want to cry, doesn't it?"

Naoto tried to close her eyes, but the yellow gaze of her own shadow was brutally worst part was that, like before, it wasn't wrong either. She tried again, in vain, to get the thing to shut up.

"J-just go away!" Naoto screamed, her voice coming out in a sort of choked whisper, "I-I...Rise-san..." She had been trying to fight the grip the shadow had on her face, but found her strength sapped as she crumpled to her knees in defeat.

The shadow laughed, a cruel, hoarse laugh that seemed to echo in the infinite space around them. "Still denying what I have to say despite my impeccable record. No wonder nobody likes you! I thought you were a big girl now, but it turns out you're still a weak little child throwing a temper tantrum. How typical!" it finished with a sneer. It coldly shoved Naoto backwards, making the detective tumble backwards onto the floor of the onyx oblivion they were stuck in.

"Rise-san and Narukami-senpai left you, but don't worry, I never will," the Shadow snorted, standing tall over the fallen detective, "After all, we both know monsters really do exist, don't they..."

As it trailed off, the aura of Naoto's shadow began to crackle and flare, much like it had when the otherworldly phantom had first arrived. Instead of disappearing, however, the Shadow cackled as it slowly turned into something that Naoto had hoped to never see again.

In place of the doppelganger form, Naoto's shadow had now taken on the bizarre and horrifying appearance of an android made up of Naoto's likeness. The left side of its body was fully autonomous, including the face and head, which revealed a pulsating pink brain. The other side was still made of flesh and bone, coexisting with the metallic makeover in a sort of terrible harmony. In its hands were two cartoonish ray guns, one of which was pointed right at Naoto.

"You can shine me up with a new coat of paint, but I will always be a part of you," it said with a robotic inflection, "You want friends, but you can't make them. So much love to give, but no one to give it to...not even to your precious Narukami-senpai. Such a result must be the cruel hand of fate intervening on your poor, miserable life, right?!" Naoto winced in pain, realizing that the shadow was hideously correct. She hung her head, unable to hide from the truth any longer.

"Y...you're right," Naoto said sadly, "I...I thought I could do it, but..." She bowed her head in shame, feeling as if the Shadow was once again voicing her true feelings. She felt herself getting upset and naturally clenched her fists. The Shadow must have noticed.

"Yes, get angry!" The Shadow boasted. "Rise-san pretended to be your friend, all the while plotting to hurt you! Embarrass you!" It roared, raising one of its ray guns up. "Why should she get to be happy while you are lost in the throes of misery? Because of a genetic lottery which has forever cursed you to be judged by society's unjust rules?!"

Naoto, crestfallen by the Shadow's ravings, could do little lash out. "It's...it's not fair! " she cried out, slamming her fists on the inky floor as her anger began to pour out.

She felt embarrassed for sounding like such a brat, but it was the truth. Why did her personal life have to be so fraught with indecision and heartache? Why couldn't she just give in to what society told her to be so she could properly compete with Rise? Couldn't just once things go her way? "It's not fair...why does this always happen to me..." As she contemplated what her Shadow had said, a quote from a book she read years ago suddenly sprang into her mind, as if put their by the Shadow. It was scarily applicable to the situation. "'When falsehood can look so like the truth, who can assure themselves of certain happiness?'" she said glumly, gripping her shaggy hair with both hands and pulling in anguish.

As she finished, the Shadow cackled and pointed the ray gun at Naoto, the barrel sparking with a red, otherworldly glow.

"That's exactly right. Falsehood." the Shadow hissed, before firing a blast directly at Naoto. All she could do was scream and hope the end would come quickly.

Tuesday, 4/29/12, Shirogane Estate, Late Afternoon

Naoto awoke suddenly, gasping for air as if she had been deprived of it to the breaking point. Her eyes were shut tight, and she was almost afraid to open them. After a tense few seconds, she relaxed her eyelids to see her Granpa's gym, just as it had been moments earlier. There was no sign of her Shadow or Sukuna-Hikona. It had all truly been a dream.

"That's exactly right. Falsehood."

Her Shadow's parting words were still ringing in her ears. The events of the dream had done little to assuage the rage in her heart for Rise. All of the little snide comments here and there over the past couple weeks, as well as the collective weight of her outburst on Monday, made Naoto tense up, and her hands reactively curled themselves into fists once again. Clearly, whatever she thought was there between her and Rise was a lie, a falsehood, just like her Shadow had said, that Naoto had conjured up in the vain hope that there was a chance for a normal friendship between her and another girl. Even the best detectives get it wrong sometimes, she thought sadly. Rise had no interest in accepting her for who she was, or even acknowledging that her feelings were valid.

Having stabilized her breathing somewhat, Naoto looked over at the bag, which was a maroon color that had long faded. Without any natural light streaming into the room, it appeared darker than it really was. Naoto recognized the color instantly: red, but closer to a brown color, almost like copper, just like Rise's hair. Her fist tightened, and she looked over at the shin guards lying discarded on the other side of the bench.

Perhaps it wasn't quite yet time to call it a day on the striking training after all.

Tuesday, 4/29/12, Marukyu Tofu, Late Afternoon

Rise slowly put the porcelain bowl full of broth on the tray that had been left for her, unable to will herself to eat any more. The white, sliced chunks of tofu in the bowl simmered quietly in the steamy soup, a specialty of her Grandma's. She was incredibly thankful that her Grandma hadn't asked many questions; she wouldn't even know where to begin.

She was lying in her bed at the Marukyu Tofu shop, nearly unmoved since Monday afternoon. In fact, she still wore her nighttime attire: a lacy white tank top and a pair of equally lacy boyshorts that matched. Her hair lay sprawled out on her small plateau of pillows, unkempt and wild. She had been so emotionally drained from the events of that day that she had merely laid in bed, and convinced Inoue the next morning that she wasn't feeling well and needed additional rest.

Being lazy for a day hadn't done much to help. Instead, being alone had just made her reflect on Monday, and none of the thoughts were good. She remembered the brutal accusations from Yukiko and Naoto, and how hard it had been to pick up the pieces of her that had been shattered by the responses. What had made them say such things? Weren't they supposed to be her friends?

Naoto being so vile to her hurt the worst. She had really felt a connection to the detective, a closeness that she hadn't felt...ever, really. It had begun to feel as if maybe she had finally found the best friend she had been craving. Naoto had proven to be a kind, trustworthy, and intelligent friend...where had it all gone so wrong?

The more she thought about it, the more obvious it was that Naoto clearly felt for the team's leader, too. Rise was mad at herself that she didn't realize it sooner; perhaps her desperation to be Naoto's good friend had overshadowed her normally keen intuition when it came to recognizing the feelings of others. In that respect, Rise could completely understand why she would feel jealous, but did it at all justify how Naoto had acted? Calling her that terrible name? Thinking about it just caused Rise to get upset all over again.

One of the hardest parts of being in the entertainment world, for her, was the two-faced nature of it all. Rise couldn't even begin to count the number of people who had approached her backstage at shows looking to use her for a handout or another job. When she would refuse, their words would sting like acid, often accusing her of doing lewd and distasteful things to fuel her relatively fast rise to the top. This was a big reason why she had felt so worn down by showbiz, and to hear that the rumor mill still churned even amongst people she trusted unquestionably was like an icepick lodged in her heart.

It was that pain that made her justify what she had said about Naoto. Yes, she had been really mean and said some hateful things, but that little jerk deserved it! Rise really cared about her, and tried so hard to be a part of her life, but Naoto just kept pushing her away. It made her question if the things Naoto admitted to her were the girl's actual feelings, or just some sort of appeasement in order to placate the idol. In a fit of anger she had already deleted all the detective's information off her phone; if that was how she felt, Rise didn't feel the need to associate with someone like that anymore, even if it was someone who had risked her life for her, and she had done in return.

Struggling to contain her tears, she looked over at her phone, hoping there was nothing from Naoto. New messages from Kanji and Yosuke, which were promptly pushed off the screen; she just couldn't handle anyone from the group today. She was relieved, but there was one other person on the team that she just had to call. Clutching the phone between shaky fingers, she pulled up her contacts and zipped through them until she got to "Naru-chan."

She had been dreading to have to make this call ever since they had decided to keep their relationship a secret. Yu was her boyfriend, someone she loved and someone who understood her better than anyone, but she was deathly afraid to tell him what had happened. Biting her lip, she wished desperately that the news had stayed hidden until Friday, when he could be there to be strong for her. Yu was unbelievably good at being supportive, and she needed that now more than ever. Putting on a brave face, she tapped the green button that would place a call and waited with baited breath as the phone rang a few times.

"Rise? This is a nice surprise! What's up? "

This kind greeting was enough to cause a few more hot tears to soar down Rise's cheeks. She lost her nerve for a moment, more than willing to conceal the truth if it meant basking in the warmth of Yu's gentleness for just a minute.

"H-hey, N-naru-chan. You...you don't know how b-bad I needed to hear you," she managed to croak out before the sob lurking in her throat reared its head. Yu's tone almost immediately changed.

" Rise, what's the matter? Are you feeling okay? "

What a loaded question. Rise wanted to shriek it as soon as he had asked, but instead uttered a mournful "no," before continuing to cry. She heard a deep sigh, and then he continued.

" C'mon, Rise, just talk to me. What's going on?"

If only it were that simple, she thought. Taking a shaky, unfocused breath, she did her best to try and say what she had meant to.

"It's...it's bad. R-really bad," she started, wiping a misty eye, "I dunno if I want to tell you..."

" Just go slow, and take a deep breath. I'm listening. "

Imbued by his comforting tone, Rise began to spill her guts. Everything came out; the screaming match in the hallway, the fight with Naoto on the roof, and most importantly, the revelation that the group was in on their big secret. She had to stop to catch her breath, her tears doing their best to hinder her usual breathing pattern. Finally, when it was all over, there was a long silence from her boyfriend.

"..."

"N-Naru-chan? Suh-sweetie, please, say something," she whined, desperate to hear what sage advice he had. He always knew how to fix a situation, and she was willing to listen to anything he had to offer.

" What did I tell you when we first started going out? "

Rise froze. This wasn't the voice of the gentle, kind Yu that wanted to help her with her problems; he now sounded like he did during battle in the TV World, stern and serious. Teeth chattering, Rise did her best to answer him.

"I-I-I mean, I know you said that-"

" I specifically said NOT to tell anyone, didn't I? At least until I was there, right? "

"Y-yeah, but I-"

"But you did it anyways. And look what happened, " Yu sighed, sounding very disappointed. Rise could feel her heart breaking even more as she tried to find some way to counter his point.

"It w-was just Naoto! I didn't think she'd, y'know, take it terribly and tell everyone!"

" You shouldn't have told anybody! I trusted you, Rise, and now everyone's... "

He broke off there, seemingly trying to get a grip on what he wanted to say. Like a husk, Rise just listened and barely felt, almost all emotion possible being drained as Yu continued to voice his disapproval.

" Rise, I'm not stupid; I had a feeling that Yukiko and Naoto may have had feelings for me. I was hoping that if we waited long enough, until I could break the news to them privately, it would be alright but... "

Wait...he knew the whole time? As usual, Yu mystified her with his forward thinking, even if it was at her expense.

"Y-you knew that they liked you?" she asked, almost to herself.

" I mean, not 100%, but I just got that feeling, you know? They would look at me the same way that you did...but I just never had the feelings for them that I had for you. "

Rise was a little upset at that. "Well, why didn't you say anything?! I knew about Yukiko but if you thought about Naoto I wouldn't have...urgh!" she moaned, crunching up her comforter as a means of relieving the stress. He sighed again, sounding as weary as she did.

" Look, we both made mistakes, okay? I'm not mad at you; this is my fault. Maybe coming down right now isn't such a good idea, if everyone is as upset as you say. I can still get a refund on the ticket, and I can probably reschedule to- "

It was Rise's turn to interrupt, her mind going into overdrive as she flew up in her bed. "Wait, you can't! Naru-chan, I...I need to see you...you don't understand how much this hurts," she trailed off, her voice getting hoarse as more tears made their commute down her cheeks.

" I get it, Rise, but this is something that I think just needs time to cool off. Nanako's gonna be upset too, but maybe I'll come back after midterms. I'm sorry, but I just think this is for the best, " he finished, sounding very matter-of-fact.

A bit of anger began to swim alongside the sadness inside Rise. "So y-you're just going to leave me now, too? H-how could you?!" she rasped, bitterly. Yu said nothing at first, which just made her even more mad.

"I muh-messed up, but that doesn't mean you have to-to punish me like this! Everyone hates me now, isn't that enough!? I thought you luh-loved me..."

" Rise, please, I do love- "

Not wanting to hear his voice anymore, Rise smashed the red hang up button with her thumb and threw the phone down toward the edge of the bed. She put her hands on her face, a full set of tears now gushing forth. Foregoing her hands, she grabbed a pillow and put her face in it, letting the soft pillowcase absorb her sorrow. She stayed like that for a long time, the heavy sobbing eventually turning into pathetic, breathless whimpering.

The combination of the soft pillow cradling her head and the exhaustion of being so mentally drained made her shut her eyes, if only just to rest them for a minute. One minute turned to two, and that turned into an extended cat nap, free of the pressure from her own life.

Tuesday, 4/29/12, ?

Fluttering her eyes for a moment, Rise found that she was still cradled into a soft surface, but she was, strangely, standing straight up instead of prone in her futon. Just as odd was the feeling that the pillow was...hugging back?

Finally opening her eyes, she looked around to see a sea of black, with no sight of her room, the tofu shop, or even Inaba in sight. Scared, she looked to see what was latching onto her, but instead found herself overwhelmed with relief.

"I-is that you, Himiko!?"

The tall being in front of her didn't have a mouth or even facial features of a sort, but it gave a gentle nod, making Rise snuggle in closer to it. This was her Persona, Himiko, a gentle and passive figure that gave Rise the ability to sense things deep in the fog of the TV World. As always, it was dressed splendidly in a plunging, floor-length white gown and matching scarf, looking like an old movie star. Her head was a bizarre satellite dish, which seemed to amplify and maximize her powers.

"My dear child...why doth tears stain thy eyes so?"

As usual, Himiko's godly, feminine voice seemed to invade all of Rise's senses, despite the words not actually being spoken out loud. Rise latched on tight to the apparition's waist as she answered.

"O-oh Himiko...I don't know if I could explain the whole thing...I feel like you're the only one I have left..." she whimpered, thinking about everything that had happened over the past week and a half. She felt her Persona's arms move up her back, caressing her messy hair. Rise felt a little embarrassed because she was still in her sleep wear, which seemed really lame compared to Himiko's beautiful dress, which she was probably staining with all her crying.

"Thou need not speak of this any longer. I am thou, and thou art I. When thou has't broken the chains which bind thy true self, thou wilt find me again. Farewell, my sweet..."

"Himiko, what are yuh-you talking about, I don't - eek! "

Before Rise could even process what her Persona was saying, blue flames shot up around her, encircling both of them. Rise knew not to fear the flames, as they were merely an affectation of the Persona's power, but she still buried her face further in Himiko's chest, squeaking in fear.

Once the noisy flames died down, Rise relaxed a bit, glad that she was safe. She noticed, however, that it felt like she was clinging on to bare skin instead of a nice dress, and Himiko seemed to have... grown quite a bit since the flames erupted.

"Oooooo, do you hug Naru-chan like this? I'll be he loves that..."

"N-no...!"

Rise leapt back and screamed at the top of her lungs. Himiko had faded, leaving behind the scantily clad form of Rise's Shadow self. Its orange bikini left very little to the imagination, and now it was twirling its hair on its finger, giggling at the panicky Rise.

"Whatsa' matter? I don't bite! ...Unless you really really want me to," it teased, taking steps toward the cowering idol. Rise did her best to crawl away, but there was nowhere to go in the dark abyss.

"Wuh-what do you want from me!? I thought you were-"

"Dead?" Rise's Shadow interrupted, giggling incessantly, "Oh honey, I'm not going anywhere now, not when you're this close to achieving your dream!"

Rise forgot all about her fear for just a second, utterly confused at what the thing was saying. "M-my dream? What do you mean!?" she asked, scooting backwards for every step the Shadow took forward.

"Pfft, duh!" it mocked, "C'mon, you got your hooks in that sexy little Naru-chan! That's what you wanted, right? You really put the moves on him; let a girl in on what you're up to next time! What base did you let him get to? Tee hee, don't worry, I won't tell!"

Rise was disgusted by the words coming out of the Shadow's mouth. She wasn't like that!

"Ugh, gross! That's not...I didn't..."

"You know Naoto was right: he's your prize. Guess you can't be too ashamed of me anymore; after all, how else do you think you snagged him, your witty sense of humor? Oh, puh-lease " The Shadow scorned, bending down to leer into Rise's face.

Rise felt a few more tears prick her eyes. Why was this happening? And worse...why was she starting to consider what it was saying? Did Yu really only care about her body?

"Oh, cheer up babe!" The Shadow continued, winking crudely, "As long as you've got the goods, he'll stick around. Naoto can't beat you there, even if she is better than you in every single other way! You really lucked out that he's not with the girl he deserves!"

"You can't..." Rise muttered, not able to find the words to defend herself, "Y-you duh-don't know what you're talking about! He loves me!" She cried, her eyes still clenched shut so she wouldn't have look at the evil thing in front of her.

The Shadow let out its horrible guffaw again. "Wow, in your dreams! How could someone love you?! You can't even go one measly month without getting jealous of someone. Way to be clingy!"

Rise clamped her hands around her chest, feeling her heart attempting to leap out of her ribcage. Is this what she really thought? Naoto deserved Yu over her? That didn't make any sense, she thought.

Rise's doppelganger wasn't finished. "Naoto was so right, you are a little drama queen! I'll bet you started all this crap just to satisfy yourself. But then again, you took care of that flat-chested, cold bitch, didn't you? Serves that little weirdo right; who would even think to tie down their boobies like that, right!? What a loser!"

"Stuh-stop!" Rise shouted, not able to stand it any longer, "Please ! I wuh-want Himiko back..."

Rise clapped her hands over her ears, trying her best to drown out what her darkest self was saying. Is this what was lurking in her heart? The thought of it made her start crying again, but she didn't dare move her hands to wipe the tears. Her plan was working until a bright light crashed through the darkness, making the idol open her eyes and blink from the suddenness of it.

"Wuh-what...!?"

As her eyes readjusted, Naoto could see that the Shadow was holding a cell phone, Rise's cell phone, and aiming it at the disheveled girl. The blinding light was from the phone's camera flash!

"Oooh, that's a good one! Now give me 'sad girlfriend'! He's mad at you now, but Yu is sure to come around with these sexy selfies! C'mon, do it for Narrruuu-chaaannn. Do it, you slut! "

Like a spear, the word pierced through Rise's heart and rendered her breathless. As the Shadow continued taking photo after photo, Rise did her best to meagerly defend herself against the horrible invasion of privacy.

"Nuh-no more!" she whimpered, holding up a hand over her face, "Just stop! I'm...I'm begging you, stop..."

Her words went unheeded as snap after snap echoed throughout the darkness, the Shadow's ruthless laughter getting louder with each passing second. Rise felt the whole world spinning, and a loud buzzing was now blocking out the horrible sounds across from her. Her head felt like it weighed ninety pounds, and before she could stop herself, she was plummeting to the floor.

Tuesday, 4/29/12, Marukyu Tofu Shop, Late Afternoon

"Rise-chan...hold of yourself! ...Rise-chan! "

Hearing her name being said so urgently forced Rise out of the deep sleep she had been, her face stained with tears and bits of her tangled hair. Breathing felt difficult, and she put both hands on her chest in order to help bring some relief to her tortured lungs. Next to her was her Grandmother, a wet cloth in her hand as she slowly rubbed the idol's back. As usual, she was in her stark white smock and apron, no doubt in the midst of cooking tofu for tomorrow.

"Poor thing, what has gotten into you? You were screaming like you were being attacked!" Her grandmother sighed, moving some of Rise's copper locks so she could dab at her sweaty forehead. Rise still couldn't find the air to speak, as most of it was being used to push the sobs out of her throat.

"I-I-It wuh-w-was... huh-horribbbllee! " she wailed breathlessly, the memories of the dream flooding back into her mind. Himiko disappearing, the awful Shadow returning and taunting her, and worse yet, what it all meant. She had never felt more alone, even in the comfort of her Grandmother's care.

"Oh, it's the stress of all that fancy show business stuff," her Grandma fussed, using the damp towel to dry some of Rise's tears, "I'm telling you! Here, let me get something for you to drink."

The older woman got up and waddled off toward the kitchen, while Rise sat with her knees pulled up into her face, thinking. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong: Naoto and she had a terrible fight, Naru-chan was mad at her and no longer visiting, and who knew what the others thought. For God's sake, Chie was going to hit her! And she was expected to start recording an album in a few weeks!? Her Grandma was right, it was all too much. And that wasn't even the worst part, she thought.

The worst part was that it was all her fault.

She was the one who hadn't told anyone, and then broke the silence unwittingly. The little voice that would tell her to not worry about just being herself was gone, and an overwhelming sense of self-hatred was beginning to set in. She had trusted Naoto, and look what it had gotten her. Stupid , she said silently to herself.

While she waited patiently for her Grandmother, Rise wondered how in the world she was going to go to school and face the others. The thought of having to see Naoto was the most repulsive thing in the world to her, but she didn't really have a choice in the matter, either. She put her head down and waited for her Grandma, trying to think of anything but what was on the immediate horizon.