Chapter 34: Exit Stage Left
May 24, 2011
Disclaimer: The Persona series is owned by Atlus and its parent company which is currently Sega. JustCharles owns Reiko Setsuka, but I do own any OCs that I will be using including Dylan, Stephen and Roz. Anything else that I reference is the property of their respective authors.
Hilton Hotel, Tokyo
Song: Guns 'N' Roses – Paradise City
Take me down
To the paradise city
Where the grass is green
And the girls are pretty
Take me home
Stephen woke up and turned off his alarm. He'd spent the last two days rehearsing the songs he was playing with Rise and he was exhausted mainly because he hadn't played guitar in over a month and he was a little bit rusty.
He felt sad for Rise even though taking an extended sabbatical from showbiz or just leaving it entirely was something that she'd been planning on doing for a while. Maybe she was doing it for him?
Stephen went over to the fridge in his hotel room and grabbed a bottle of sparkling water and quickly drank its contents.
Rise was supposed to have recorded another album and done another movie but those commitments had been postponed, perhaps indefinitely. Not to mention the fact that she was going to be getting a deal with some big-shot manager in addition to her deal with Inoue.
None of that had concerned Stephen seeing as he had no idea of how the business side worked and he wanted to keep it that way. He was just grateful to be there. With her.
So I've definitely got it bad for Rise. That's fine. I just have to remember not to let it get in the way. Stephen took a very deep breath and put his headphones in.
He was grateful to Rise for sending him the set-list for the show and keeping him up to speed on any last minute changes even though he was only a small part of it.
Just as Stephen had gotten comfortable, he heard a knock on the door and saw Rise standing in front of him.
She was wearing a pink skirt, a pink, form-fitting t-shirt and black boots. Presumably, she was going to wear something different later on.
"Hey Steve! Just wanted to see if you were decent." Rise was practically looking him up and down.
Stephen was doing his level best not to stare at her. "Yeah. I was just going to take a shower and get dressed. Make yourself comfortable. I mean, it's a nice room but I guess that it's not as nice as yours. Not that I'd expect you to take me to your room or anything."
"I'm not that kind of girl Steve." Rise replied.
He'd screwed up. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm used to girls being more direct that's all."
"I say you are." Rise closed her eyes to stop herself from staring at him, especially as he walked over to the bathroom.
She could hear Stephen whistling to himself as he turned on the shower and she wondered if she would look in or not.
After about half an hour, Stephen stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his waist and he put his pyjamas into a bag. Rise was staring at him with her eyes open and a deep crimson blush spreading across her face.
"What, you've never seen a guy standing in front of you with a towel on before? It's a little bit rude to stare you know." Stephen snapped his fingers.
Rise looked up at him. "I didn't mean to stare. Would it be better if I waited outside?"
"Sure. I'll only be a few minutes." Stephen was disappointed and relieved at her exit.
He reached for a pair of boxer shorts, jeans, and a belt with a skull for the buckle, white shoes and a grey t-shirt with a bull's eye symbol on it.
Stephen also remembered to bring his room key seeing as the show had been rescheduled to an earlier time in order for them to get their stuff and get back to Inaba. He didn't want to piss off Morooka by missing any more days of class than he necessarily had to.
Rise gave him a little look. "That was fast."
"I didn't want to be late. Especially as it's your last show and everything. Hey, it's not too late to get breakfast is it? I'm starving." Stephen smiled hungrily.
Rise giggled. "I think there's still time."
"Fantastic!" Stephen exclaimed, practically bounding down the hallway, leaving Rise to follow after him.
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
Stephen had practically locked himself in his dressing room after rehearsing with the rest of Rise's backing band just to make sure that he'd gotten everything right.
He didn't mind the solitude seeing as all the attention would be focused on Rise. It almost didn't seem real.
Sighing, he opened the door as he could hear someone knocking.
"Uh, you're on in 10! Get out there!" One of the crew just gave him this look of almost contempt.
Stephen responded with a rude gesture before brushing past him with his guitar in hand.
He'd made it on-stage slightly before Rise, forgetting that he had to be called on even if it probably didn't matter.
"RISETTE, RISETTE, RISETTE!" The chants had grown a lot louder.
Stephen smiled as Rise ran on-stage and kicked into the first song of the set.
After almost two hours, Rise called a halt to the show to make an announcement.
"After today, I'm going to be taking an extended sabbatical from music and I mightn't be coming back. I'd like to thank everyone for their support and introduce someone who's been a real inspiration to me, the one and only Stephen Halsey! And I thought that it'd be time to try something a little bit different. HERE WE GO!" That was Rise's signal.
Song: Kelly Clarkson/A Day To Remember – Since U Been Gone
Here's the thing we started out friends
It was cool but it was all pretend
Yeah, yeah
Since U Been Gone
You dedicated you took the time
It wasn't long till I called you mine
Yeah, yeah
Since U Been Gone
And all you'd ever hear me say
Is how I picture me with you
That's all you'd ever hear me say
But Since U Been Gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get
What I want
Since U Been Gone
How can I put it? You put me on
I even fell for that stupid love song
Yeah, yeah
Since U Been Gone
How come I'd never hear you say
I just wanna be with you
I guess you never felt that way
But Since U Been Gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get
What I want
Since U Been Gone
You had your chance you blew it
Out of sight, out of mind
Shut your mouth I just can't take it
Again and again and again and again
Since U Been Gone
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get, I get what I want
I can breathe for the first time
I can breathe for the first time
I'm so moving on
Yeah, yeah
Thanks to you
Now I get
You should know
That I get, I get what I want
Since U Been Gone
Since U Been Gone
Since U Been Gone
"That was amazing!" Rise whispered in Stephen's ear as she hugged him close.
She didn't even care that there were cameras flashing.
Stephen returned the gesture before it ended and he raised his hands in the air as a way of acknowledging the crowd.
There were only a few more songs to go through before they left and Rise was overjoyed to say the least.
Stephen had gone back to his dressing room and put on a change of clothes after valiantly attempting to freshen up.
He stepped out and saw Rise talking to Inoue.
"Are you sure that you want to walk away?" Inoue wondered.
Rise nodded. "I am. Thanks for everything."
"Well, if you ever want to reconsider then you know how to reach me. Take care." Inoue smiled before making his exit.
Stephen leaned against a wall and waited before getting Rise's attention. "Hey! Are we going to go back to the hotel? We've got a long journey back to Inaba ahead of us."
Rise nodded again and went back to her dressing room to get her stuff.
"Good idea." Rise smiled at him good naturedly.
Stephen was glad that Rise had gotten the opportunity to make the decision to take an extended sabbatical on her own terms.
Marukyu Tofu
After a few hours, Rise was finally home.
She sat down on the bed and smiled. She could be her own person.