10/11
-Early Morning-
On my way to school, I ran into Yosuke.
"Hey, Kyoka..." He didn't look so good.
"You okay?"
"Oh yeah, just sore from landing on my guitar..." He grimaced. "Man, that was embarrassing."
"Buuut a lot of people showed up at Junes, right?" I smiled at him and he sighed, unable to resist a small smile in return.
"Yeah, that's true. I guess it's nothing compared to the benefit of having the performance."
"Oh yeah, by the way, do I resume my usual work schedule tomorrow?"
"Yeah, since the event's over. But midterms are coming up...You didn't ask for days off to study?"
"No, it's fine. I just study after work. My grades haven't really seemed to suffer yet either, so I'm not too worried about it."
-After School-
Chie invited me to study with everyone, so we ended up at the Junes food court with all of our books and stuff, but we ran into Nanako and Teddie sitting at the big picnic table and chatting.
"Oh. Hi Nanako-chan, hi Teddie." Chie greeted them as she, Yukiko, Yu, Yosuke, and I approached them.
"Hey, greetings to you." Teddie responded.
"Greetings to you." Nanako repeated.
"Looks like you're having fun." Yukiko said.
"Yo." Kanji greeted as he walked up, followed by Rise and Naoto shortly after.
"Wow, everyone's here." Rise said.
"So many people!" Nanako looked happy.
We all sat down at the table and set out our study materials on top of it.
"Why did everyone come here?" Teddie asked.
"Exam study group!" Yosuke sighed. "Times like these, I'm jealous of Teddie...It seems like a dream that we had a live concert here only yesterday..."
"That was so much fun. I didn't think the crowd would get that excited." Yukiko seemed happy. "But enough of that. Let's start with proving the trigonometric identities."
"Ugh..." I groaned.
"Argh...Jumping straight into math..." Chie whined as well.
"Ours is the section on trig functions, right? The one where we find the area of a triangle given two sides and-" Rise started, but Kanji looked at her in confusion.
"Huh? You find the area of a triangle with...You know, that thing. Uhh, base by height by 2?"
"If you don't mind, shall I teach you?" Naoto suggested to the other first years.
"Oh? Are you as smart as I thought? Could you uh...lend me a hand too...?" Yosuke asked.
"Oh, um...I wouldn't know where to begin with second-year subjects." Naoto answered.
"Aww...What's up with that? Useless after all..."
"D-Don't call me useless!"
"Hehehe...I think I've figured out what buttons to push to get Naoto-kun riled up. You're pretty cute when you're angry." Yosuke teased.
"Wh-What are you talking about!?" Naoto got flustered and then looked away with annoyance.
"That's it, I quit. This just ain't my thing...The hell with the exams. 's time for my animal crackers..." Kanji decided to give up in favour of snack time.
"Ooh, can I have some too? I wanna find the penguin!" Rise said excitedly.
"Hands off the penguin! It's mine!" Kanji got defensive.
Yosuke sighed. "Forget it. I can't think...Hey, Kyoka, what're you doing?" He drew attention to the fact I was looking under the table and Yu, who was sitting beside me, grabbed my handheld game suddenly.
"Hey!" I immediately when to grab it back. "Give it back, Yu-kun! You're gonna make me die!"
"You were playing games under the table? Are you even taking this seriously at all!?" Chie questioned as I got my game back from Yu and finished the battle so I could suspend-save and shut it off to put away before someone decided to snatch it from me again.
We tried to study, we really did, but we kept getting distracted.
"Teddie said he doesn't know who he is. That's so weird." Nanako suddenly said.
"...My life on this side is really fun." Teddie said. "But the more I feel that way, the more I want to know who I really am...I've surfed the net, read manga, watched TV...I even went to a place called the libeary, but I still can't find anything about me..."
"Dude, I'd be surprised if you did." Yosuke replied.
"Still, I'm starting to get an idea..."
"An idea?" Yukiko repeated.
"Whoa, isn't this your first time sharing a theory about yourself?" Chie asked.
"I lived in that other world. That world was my reality...But now, I have a feeling that it was born from the minds of people on this side...And over in that place, filled with Shadows, I think I was some sort of special being..."
"A "special being"?" Yosuke repeated.
"I don't remember anything from back then, though...Maybe it's that "amnesia" thing I read about in a book the other day."
"It's true...There are some aspects of the other world that make it seem as though it's rooted in human thoughts." Naoto said. "Still, there's no point in applying the principles of logic and deduction to a place like that...But the fact that you existed in such a world from the beginning adds credibility to your theory. There is little doubt that you are a "special being" on the other side. If you yourself know nothing about it, perhaps it's true that part of your memory is missing. Tell me, what is the earliest memory you can call to mind?"
"It's from a while ago. I've always lived there, as far as I could tell. Then it started to get noisy, so when I happened to bump into Sensei and Yosuke, I asked them to do something about it..."
"I see...If you've always been on that side, you'd have no sense of time or days..."
"I think time also passes slower on that side, so that messes with it more..." I added with a sigh.
"Oooh, that's right! Nanako-chan's completely clueless about all this!" Chie noticed Nanako looking around in confusion. "I'm sorry, Nananko-chan. We didn't mean to leave you out..."
"Hey...I think Teddie must be a king." Nanako smiled. "I read in a story that a king was all alone inside a forest because of a bad guy's curse. Isn't that what happened to you, Teddie?"
"A king...Well! When you put it that way, it sounds about right..." Teddie said.
"Yeah right." I rolled my eyes at that.
"Teddie...? A king...?" Yukiko started giggling. "I can see him wearing a cape..."
"Sheesh, Yukiko...You go into laughing fits in front of anyone now..." Chie commented.
"Can we...not talk about Teddie being a king...?" Kanji asked, looking disturbed.
"Hm? What's with that face...?" Yosuke seemed confused, but I instantly felt bad for Kanji, remembering the King's Game from the school trip.
"Teddie really was a king." Teddie said. "There were all these other kings too, and we all-"
"Hey...He's talking about what happened at the club!" Chie realized.
"No, no! Don't say another word!" I slapped a hand over the bear's mouth, since I was sitting next to him.
"Quiet, you! Not in front of Nanako-chan!"
After that, everyone quickly left their seats to go buy drinks with Nanako, leaving Teddie and Yu at the table. When we got back, we still didn't do a whole lot of studying, though, so I had to study when I got home.
10/12
-After School-
I had to work today. Getting back into the swing of things was a bit rough at the beginning, but I managed not to make any big mistakes and worked hard.
10/13
-After School-
For some reason, we went inside the TV today instead of studying. Yu apparently wanted to train and defeat the mini-boss Shadows that took up residence in the last level of Kubo's game and Naoto's lab. It seemed like their Personas were getting pretty strong, but I somehow managed to keep up with my Shadow side. I felt a little lacking compared to them, though. I assume it had to do with the fact I was part Shadow and using myself instead of summoning a Persona, but I wasn't sure on that. Hell, I wasn't even sure why my Shadow didn't turn into a Persona when I accepted it. I mean, if you go by what Naoto said, does that mean I'm still not in control of it or something...? Well, whatever. It didn't really matter.
10/14
-Morning-
Exams started today, so I studied right up until the last minute before they started.
10/16
-Daytime-
I had the day off school, but I was picking up a shift at work to make up for some of the ones I missed. On my lunch break, I ran into everyone else but Kanji, who had met up to study for exams in the food court.
"Hey, Kyoka. You on break?" Yosuke greeted me when I walked over to them, but looked embarrassed and nervous for some reason.
"Yeah. How's the studying going?"
"We weren't talking about school, we were just talking about dating!" Rise informed me with a mischievous smile. "Don't you think Naoto-kun and Kanji would make a cute couple?"
"Uh...Dunno." I shrugged, indifferent to the question and looked to Naoto. "Naoto-kun, do you even like Kanji-kun?"
"Th-That's...I do like him, but not in that way..." Naoto was blushing and looked reluctant to say anything else.
"Aww...Then, Kyoka-senpai, would you date Yosuke-senpai? Chie-senpai already turned him down really quick, but...You two seem awfully close." Rise said, not seeming to lose her intention to talk about this right now.
"Hm..." I paused to think about it, my face warming a bit as I looked away from them all and nodded slightly. "Sure, if he actually liked me."
"Wh-Wha-!?" Yosuke looked shocked and embarrassed, but Chie's exclamation overpowered whatever he might've said.
"No way...Kyoka!? And Yosuke!? D-Do you seriously...!?"
"A-Anyway! We should get back to studying! And your break's almost over right, Kyoka!? Y-You should get back to work!" Yosuke practically shouted, looking a bit panicky.
"...Okay. Good luck, you guys." I decided to make my escape before the embarrassment of what I said really settled in. Which it did, when I clocked back in and was working at the till.
"Kyoka-chan? Your face is all red...You're not sick, are you?" A a middle-aged coworker of mine asked me with a bit of concern when she was walking by my till.
"Eh? Uh, no...I'm fine!" I answered quickly, her pointing out my face was red making me feel even more embarrassed. My smile wavered though, as I felt like crawling under a rock and never coming out. I practically told everyone that I liked Yosuke! I mean, I didn't say it clearly, but it sounded pretty much the same! "Ugh...I'm so dumb..." I whined, covering my face with my hands.
"K-Kyoka-chan!? You don't have a fever, do you?" The woman panicked a little and placed a hand on my forehead, but then must've guessed that I didn't from the expression I was making when I lowered my hands enough to look at her. "Oh, I see...It must be nice to be young." She smiled a bit as she removed her hand and stepped back from me.
"It's not. It's really not." I argued weakly, but she just laughed and walked away as a customer came up and I had to suck it up and help them. Well, at least working was a distraction and I could put it out of my mind for a while when the flow of customers picked up again.
10/17
-Morning-
Exams continued today, but I was finding it difficult to concentrate, considering I sat next to Yosuke and every time I caught sight of him out of the corner of my eye, I felt embarrassed all over again. I couldn't even look at him properly, even during breaks.
-After School-
I made a quick escape as soon as school was over with the excuse of having to work. On the bright side, keeping busy was helping me convince myself that maybe they didn't take it to mean that I liked Yosuke that way, just that if he asked me out I'd give it a shot. Not that that would be much better, really, but I seriously dreaded Rise's teasing either way.
10/20
-After School-
After exams were over, I had my head down on my desk, exhausted from the extra studying I had to do at night because of working and then trying my hardest to focus when actually writing the things.
Yosuke yawned as he stood next to Yu's desk. "It's finally over..."
"Hey, about question 8..." Chie asked Yukiko from where she was sitting in front of me. I decided to tune them out, since they were talking about the exams and I wanted nothing more to do with them.
"I pulled an all-nighter last night, so I'm ready to collapse any second now...I'm gonna head home. See ya later." Yosuke said to Yu, then walked away.
"Hey, Kyoka." Yu turned toward me and I lifted my head lazily to give him a questioning look. "Let's hang out today."
"Huh?"
"Wanna go for a walk?" He smirked just a little bit.
I grimaced. "I thought you guys were done with the dog jokes...?"
"C'mon." He stood up and I sighed and got up to walk with him out of the classroom.
We headed over to the flood plain for our walk, talking about how Nanako and Dojima were doing before finding a bench to sit down on. We moved on to talking about some TV shows and games before we somehow got onto the topic of my Shadow side.
"So, you don't control it...?" Yu asked when I restated that I didn't really know why it didn't turn into a Persona, even now.
"I don't know. I can transform at will in the other world, but I don't know if that's what controlling it is referred to as in regard to Personas and stuff...Unless, my Shadow was just messed up from the beginning and isn't capable of becoming a Persona or evolving like the others' have."
"...We weren't there when it happened to you, so I can't really guess what went wrong."
"Yeah...Maybe something else is at play that we don't know about yet. I mean, we hardly know anything about Shadows other than how to beat them up, right?" I sighed, but smiled at Yu's nodding. "Well, that's enough of talking about that. How about we play a little game, "Cuz"?"
"Game?"
"I played it with my brother when we were kids. I suddenly feel like bringing it back. You in?"
Yu nodded.
I then grinned and explained to him the game of "Slaps", which he got super competitive about after I'd won a few times due to his hesitation to slap the backs of my hands at first. I lost overall, but it was still fun. We both went home with the backs of our hands an angry red colour from getting a bit too aggressive in the last few rounds.
10/21
-Lunchtime-
Yu called everyone up to the roof and showed us a letter he received yesterday. All it said was "dont rescue anymore" and nothing else.
""dont rescue anymore"...Is this a warning?" Naoto asked.
"No punctuation or capitalization...What a cliche." Chie said.
"Ain't this just a prank? The kinda stuff that only happens in the movies?" Kanji asked.
"Uh, that would mean one of us had to write it." I pointed out. "Did anyone here write this as prank?"
Everyone shook their heads and looked unnerved.
"Did you show this to your uncle?" Yosuke asked Yu.
"Not yet." Yu shook his head.
"Senpai...Dojima-san is trustworthy, but it may be best to keep this to ourselves." Naoto suggested. "He will ask why you received such a letter, and if he were to put you under surveillance, our hands would be tied. If this letter is real, what's most important isn't what it says...It's the fact that it was delivered to the Dojima residence, addressed directly to you. This means the culprit knows in great detail who has been interfering with his crimes...And of all of us, he chose to deliver his message to the Dojima residence, home of a police detective. I'd have this letter checked at a crime lab if I could...But even then, I doubt they'd find anything. The text is a warning, while the subtext expresses the culprit's confidence that we can't use it to pinpoint his identity."
"So it's useless to tell the police...In fact, that would make things worse." Chie said.
"Cross your fingers it's just a prank..." Yosuke muttered.
"I think the chances of that are slim...This message is too specific, too perfect to be a prank." Yukiko pointed out. "But how could the killer know so much about us? Could he be watching us from somewhere...?"
"Teddie's been saying for a while that when we're over there, he senses someone watching us..." Yosuke realized. "Wait...Every time we went to the other side to rescue someone, did we end up on the Midnight Channel ourselves...?"
"I-I dunno...It seems like no one else knows what we're doing." Chie said. "I haven't heard any rumours about us at school. Even the people who I know check that channel haven't said anything...The only gossip I heard was about the people who disappeared."
"I haven't heard anyone talk about us appearing on the Midnight Channel to save people, either." I added.
"I see...Come to think of it, how the Midnight Channel works is still a mystery..." Yosuke said and we all fell silent a moment to think about it.
"Let's put aside for now the matter of what that world truly is. There's too little data to go on." Naoto suggested. "For now, we need to keep in mind that the culprit knows who we are...As long as we're all aware of that, it will be enough for now."
We all nodded and Yosuke said, "Yeah...Guess there's no use thinking about stuff we can't understand. Freaking out over speculation is just what the killer wants us to do...Right?"
"Yosuke's right." Yu agreed, putting the letter away.
"...Yeah." Chie nodded.
"We'll have to wait until the situation changes." Yu told us.
"All right. Mind if I change the subject, then? The Culture Festival's just around the corner. What's our class doing again?"
"Uh...Dunno." I shrugged.
"Oh yeah, it hasn't been decided yet, huh?" Yosuke responded.
"I heard we'll be voting on it soon...But aren't they still gathering ideas?" Yukiko asked, then Yosuke seemed to think of something.
"Whoa...I think Yosuke just got hit with a bolt of inspiration..." Chie noticed too. "Whatever it is, it'll be out there. I'd bet my lunch on it."
Rise stood up suddenly and looked to Yu. "Hey Senpai, have you decided who you'll be going around the campus with during the festival? My schedule's still wide open, you lucky guy!"
"Urgh...She just had to say something..." Chie muttered.
"Rise sure comes on strong..." I muttered with her.
-After School-
I ended up hanging out with Chie and Yukiko in the classroom after school, talking about classes and the cultural festival before Rise decided to join us and the conversation once again got derailed because she was in a mischievous mood yet again.
"Aren't you going to be walking around with Yosuke-senpai, Kyoka-senpai?"
"Oh yeah...We never got the chance to ask directly. You like him, don't you?" Yukiko asked me, seeming curious.
"Ah, um...I-It's not really..." I stammered, embarrassed all over again. "I mean, can we just forget I said that? It's really not...Uh..."
"What? Did you not mean it?" Chie asked, seeming curious as well.
"No, I just...Geez, it's way too embarrassing!" I whined, hiding my face in my hands. "Now isn't really the time for that kind of thing, anyway!"
"Aww...!" Rise giggled and patted my shoulder. "Looks like you have a cute shy side too, Kyoka-senpai!"
"Wow, so it's really true..." Chie seemed stunned.
"When did you start liking him?" Yukiko asked, seeming really interested for some reason.
"I-I don't know...It just kinda happened!" I couldn't help pouting at their prodding as I shrunk back in my chair and wished for something to save me from this embarrassment. "I didn't even realize I actually did until after I said that in front of all of you guys that time...!"
"Uh...You know this is Yosuke we're talking about, right?" Chie seemed doubtful. "Is it really possible for a girl to like him...?"
"Snrk...! That's harsh, Chie!" Yukiko seemed amused.
"Ooh, don't tell me! Kyoka-senpai's actually into the perverted kind of guy!?" Rise guessed.
"N-Not really...I just think he's a good guy. He's helped me out a lot."
"Really. Yosuke?" Chie was skeptical, but I nodded. "Well...I guess you guys did hang out together a lot..."
"But doesn't it bother you that he's always looking at other girls?" Yukiko asked, but I shrugged.
"Rise's an idol, so that's different. Neither of you would go for him, and Naoto doesn't seem very interested in the whole thing, so..." I shrugged again, calming down a bit as I got accustomed to talking about it, but I was certain my face was still pink at the very least. "Besides that, we're not even together, so he can look at whoever he wants as far as I'm concerned."
"But what if you did actually get together? Wouldn't you be, like, super jealous?" Rise asked.
"That's...I can't really say anything because we're not together. I also don't really wanna hope for anything either, considering everything that's going on and the fact I'm not really sure what he thinks of me..."
"So you weren't planning on confessing properly after you spilled the beans?" Chie asked.
I shook my head. "Maybe I would've when everything's over, but...I don't want to put that burden on him right now. I'm satisfied with the way things are, so I'm just going to ignore it for the time being. It'd be great if you guys could too. At least until the case is over or things calm down."
"Wow. Like I thought, you're pretty mature." Chie looked impressed for some reason.
"I'm still curious, but we can leave it be for now." Yukiko nodded to me with a smile.
"Aww, what a letdown. I wanted to tease you more, but you're so reasonable about it...!" Rise pouted a bit, but then smiled at me. "Oh, Kyoka-senpai, do you think Yu-senpai will go with me around the cultural festival?"
"Uh, I have no idea. Dude's hard to read." I responded to her a bit awkwardly as Yukiko and Chie looked a little uncomfortable with the sudden topic change.
"H-Hey, do any of you know what kind of food stalls we'll have this year?" Chie changed the topic again and Yukiko jumped on the chance to steer the conversation away from Yu.
10/22
-Morning-
"Well, as you all know, next week is the Culture Festival." The male class rep said from the front during homeroom. "And as you also know, we still haven't decided what our class is going to do for it." He sighed. "You guys don't care, do you?"
"We're going to decide based on the suggestions we have so far. Please vote for one of them." The female class rep said. "Here they are..."Break area"..."Video room"...and "Study room"."
"Wow...Sounds like whatever we pick, we don't need to put any effort into it. Talk about lack of motivation..." Some guy said in awe.
"Yeah, but the easier the better, right...?" An optimistic guy responded.
"Oh, one more. Um..."Group date care"." The female class rep added.
"Heeey, who put in a suggestion like that?" Yosuke said when I looked to him suspiciously. "Was it you, Chie?"
"Yeah right! Why would I do such a thing!?" Chie responded irritably while I rolled my eyes.
"What's...a group date cafe?" Yukiko asked.
"Who knows...but I doubt anyone will vote for it. Our class is actually a pretty serious bunch." Chie replied to her.
"Yeah, it's just a joke idea. You gotta have one weird one mixed in, y'know?" Yosuke said.
"Ugh, figures!" Chie shot a glare at him.
"I'm going to laugh so hard when it wins and no one has any idea what to do." I stated, smirking a bit.
"We'll be passing around the vote sheet. Just circle one of the suggestions." The female class rep said.
I voted for "video room", but I had a feeling it wouldn't matter when I turned it in.
"Alright, time to count the votes." The male class rep said once everyone had turned in their sheets. "Uhh, the first vote is...group date cafe. Second vote...group date cafe. H-Huh? Seriously? Third vote...video room. Fourth vote...group date cafe. Group date cafe, group date cafe, study room, video room, group date cafe..."
Everyone seemed surprised, but the group date cafe was voted first and I began dissolving into muffled snickers.
"Wha-1st place!? What are we gonna do!?" Yosuke asked.
"Don't ask me! This is your fault!" Chie snapped at him.
"Called it...! Pffft...!" I snickered, biting my lip and holding a hand over my mouth as my other one wrapped around my stomach.
"It's not that funny, Kyoka!" Yosuke said to me.
"I do wonder, though. Do all those people who voted for it realize they have to run it themselves...?" Chie asked.
"I've never been on a group date before, so I was a little curious..." Yukiko said.
"What the-You voted for it!?"
"Yeah...I thought it would be sad if no one voted for it."
"But Yosuke's the one behind it..."
"H-Hey! It wasn't just me! It came in 1st place! The public agrees!" Yosuke protested.
"Well, since the majority rules, we'll be doing the group date cafe." The male class rep announced. "But what does that even mean...? Is it like speed dating? Can we really pull this off? You'd all better pitch in on this."
"Actually...would the teachers be okay with this?" One of the girls asked.
"Dude, how could Kashiwagi say no?" A guy responded.
"Ms. Kashiwagi is busy getting ready for those two notorious pageants." The male class rep said. "That's why she's leaving it up to us students to decide what to do."
"Yeah, right! She just dumped it in our laps 'cause she didn't want to bother!" Some girl said.
"G-Group date cafe...? Are we going to get any customers with this?" A worried guy asked.
"Seriously, what IS a group date cafe? I voted for it and I didn't even know." Another girl said.
"Pfft...! Heheheh..." I couldn't help but find it really amusing.
"Oh my gosh...How the heck's this gonna turn out...?" Chie asked.
-After School-
I had work today, but nothing really happened there.
10/23
-Daytime-
I had the day off today, so I got a rare chance to binge on some video games I hadn't been able to play much of before. It didn't seem very productive to other people, but I was quite satisfied with my progress.
10/24
-Lunchtime-
They posted the test results today, so I checked them. My grades were a bit lower than usual, but I still passed so I figured it was fine. I was distracted during the tests, after all.
-After School-
I had to work today, but it wasn't super busy, so I was kinda bored until Yukiko stopped by and we chatted a bit while she was buying ingredients.
10/25
-Early Morning-
I was walking to school in the rain with my umbrella when I came across Naoto with an umbrella of her own, Yu sheltering Yosuke under his, and Kanji standing out in the rain.
"Um, I don't mind making room for whoever..." Naoto was saying as I got into hearing range.
"I'll go with Naoto." Yu suggested.
"Huh? You...?" Naoto blushed. "A third choice, eh...? Not what I expected, but I have no objections."
"Uh...What's going on?" I decided to speak up as I got close enough for them to notice me. "Kanji-kun, you're gonna catch a cold standing in the rain like that." I sighed, raising my umbrella and stepping over to shelter him under it with me.
"K-Kyoka-senpai...!" Kanji looked surprised, but grateful somehow.
"Oh, it seems the dilemma has been solved with a forth option." Naoto looked a bit surprised.
"Huh?" I tilted my head in confusion.
"Kanji was being difficult about the umbrella situation." Yosuke sighed as he explained to me.
"Sh-Shuddup!" Kanji snapped at him, looking embarrassed.
"Oh crap...We're gonna be late if we keep this nonsense up. Let's hurry it up." Yosuke noticed the time and we walked to school together in a semi-awkward silence.
Somehow, I felt like I had interrupted something I shouldn't have...
-After School-
It was raining, so I ended up spending time with Naoto in the library. We talked about our favourite mystery novels and I looked through the shelves for one that had a good female protagonist and story. She told me again I didn't have to, but I insisted that I wanted to. It was kinda fun to talk about criminal investigation and stuff with a real detective, too.
10/26
-After School-
I had to work after classes today, but Kanji came by when I was on break and we talked a bit before I had to return to work.
10/27
-Lunchtime-
"Kyoka! Did you see the bulletin board!?" Chie came running into the classroom and slammed her hands down on my desk, looking like something really serious had happened.
"What's wrong, Chie?" I tilted my head at her in confusion.
"Someone wrote our names down for the pageant!"
"...What!?" It took me a second to process what she said, then I stood up suddenly. "A-Are you serious!?"
"I know who did it, so c'mon!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me up to the roof while I was still in shock. I managed to at least grab my bag, though.
Everyone met up on the rooftop, but it seemed like the girls were focused on Yosuke while I was sitting with my pelt pulled over my shoulders and watching quietly.
"You better have a damn good explanation for this!" Chie was pissed.
"F-For what?" Yosuke wasn't looking at her.
"The beauty pageant! You wrote down our names without telling us, didn't you!?"
"N-No! It wasn't me! Why do you automatically blame me!?" Yosuke defended and Chie and Yukiko stepped toward him menacingly. "I-I mean, if you don't wanna do it, you just say no, right? Like it was just a joke."
"We wouldn't be so pissed if we could do that!" Chie shouted at him. "With Kashiwagi planning this year's event, even those who got entered by other people can't back out!"
"Seriously? Must've been something in the fine print I overlooked..." Yosuke muttered.
"So it was you!"
"Oh crap...!"
"Hey...Do you want us to take part in the beauty pageant?" Rise asked the other guys as Chie and Yukiko were chewing out Yosuke.
"W-Well yeah." Yosuke answered her. "I mean, you guys know how popular Yukiko is here. And on top of that, we have an idol and a Detective Prince. Not to mention Kyoka's rumoured to be in with Yakuza...What's the point of having a beauty pageant if all these incredible heroines aren't going to take part!?"
"So where do I fit in!?" Chie questioned, offended. "...Well, excuuuuse me for not fitting in!"
"Chie's the cute sporty type with secret admirers." I said quietly.
"O-Oh..." Chie blushed at that.
"Hey, you want them to be in it too, don'tcha, Kanji!?" Yosuke asked.
"Huh...? I ain't interested in that stuff..." Kanji said, then looked to Naoto and looked away quickly.
"Naoto-kun...Kanji-kun says that he really wants you to be in it." Yosuke said.
"Wha-!? I-I didn't say nothing!"
"What about you? You want them to be in it, right?" Yosuke looked to Yu.
"Of course I do." Yu answered.
"Ahh...I thought you might be a little jealous, not wanting me to show off to other guys. But I guess you're not that uptight." Rise said.
"Hey...You guys are inching onto the bandwagon with Yosuke, aren't you?" Chie said suspiciously.
"So long as there are people looking forward to seeing me, I might as well put on a show for 'em." Rise said with a smile. "Of course, there's no need to involve my agency in this."
"Th-That's right! That's the way to go! Teddie's looking forward to it too." Yosuke said. "Actually, I think he was more excited than anyone. It was him who was pushing me to sign you all up."
"Ugh, so Ted's behind this too..." Chie grit out.
Naoto sighed. "We're in an awkward position...If we can't refuse, I suppose there's no sense in arguing the point...But it seems ill-fitting for someone like me to get up on stage...I wonder if there's any way I could take it up with the school authorities..."
"I-I...don't think it's a problem at all." Kanji told her. "I-I mean, just do it! Ya know...Seriously!
"Dude...Looks like your blood's boiling even more than usual..." Yosuke commented.
Rise giggled. "Silly Kanji. Just tell her you wanna see her on the stage. So, is it a deal? The five of us will be in the beauty pageant?"
"Wh-What are you saying!?" Naoto looked surprised.
"Um...I beg you, please be in it." Kanji said seriously. "If you do, my, uh, doubts will finally be cleared...C'mon! Make me a man!"
"Doubts...? What are you talking about?" Naoto seemed clueless as to what he was saying.
"L-Look, just do it, dammit! I m-mean, you're an ace detective, aren't ya!?"
"Wha-!? What does that have to do with a beauty pageant!?"
Kanji gasped for air.
I began snickering quietly at their exchange and stood up to face Yosuke. "Alright, we'll do it."
"K-Kyoka!?" Chie looked at me in shock as I smiled.
"But you are going to regret making us, Yosuke." I finished in the sweetest voice I could make before turning and walking away.
"Wh-What's that supposed to mean...!? K-Kyoka!?" Yosuke sounded actually scared, and I snickered darkly to myself.
-After School-
We were preparing for the Culture Festival to be held in two days, so Yukiko and Chie had been sent to go buy materials. I ended up slacking off with my game system in a corner of the room while we waited for them.
"We're back. Ugh, I'm so tired..." Chie and Yukiko returned and put down the supplies.
"Where'd you guys go?" Yosuke asked, I guess not having been around when they were asked to go get the stuff.
"Over to Junes. We had to go get some paint and cloth." Chie answered him.
"Ohh, for the decorations." Yosuke realized.
"Thank you. Did you have them write you an invoice?" The female class rep said to Chie.
"Yeah, I think they understood what it was for, so they wrote it without us having to ask." Chie answered.
"There's some things I want to go over about the day of the event." The male class rep said.
"Is this about the group date cafe...?"
"Yes, since Yosuke's leading the executive committee."
"Wait, what!?" Yosuke looked surprised as I shut off my game system.
"It was your proposal, right?"
"Are you serious...?"
"Kagayami-san nominated you for the job, too."
"Kyoka...!?" Yosuke shot me a glare, but I stuck out my tongue at him childishly and turned my head away.
"Well, all you have to do is the reception." The male class rep continued. "After people sign in, have a few guys and girls sit facing each other at a table...Conduct a short session first where they ask each other questions. After about half an hour of that, it'll be confession time. Get them to select the number of the person they like. If the other person accepts, that makes them a couple...Hey Yosuke, you listening?"
Yosuke sighed. "Yeah, I hear ya..."
Then, a group of boys in a corner laughing caught all of our attention.
"Hey, if we roll up this bit of cloth, won't it kinda be like a ball?" One of the slackers said.
"Yeah! Okay, I'll be the catcher!" One of his friends said.
"Why the catcher...?" Another asked, then looked over at the others. "Hey, Yosuke! Wanna be the batter?"
Yosuke sighed, then said, "Ahh, I don't give a damn anymore! I'm in! Watch me slam that ball right back in your face!" And ran off with the other guys to play.
"Hey! You guys better get serious about this!" The female class rep scolded them, but they ran away from her.
"Kyoka...You're so sneaky..." Chie muttered as I walked over there to help them with the decorations.
"Nominating Yosuke to lead the executive committee...You weren't kidding about revenge." Yukiko seemed impressed.
"That one was personal. I'm not done yet." I smirked at them, although it was probably more annoyed than anything else. I was actually pretty pissed about this pageant thing.
"Scary..." Chie muttered.
"The rest of the girls'll be in on my next scheme to get back at all the guys." I smiled at her.
"You've already thought of something?" Yukiko asked, interested.
I nodded. "We'll talk about it later, with the other two."
"Ooh, I'm getting kinda excited...!" Chie grinned back mischievously.
10/28
-After School-
I was talking to Chie and Yukiko at Chie's desk when a girl approached us to talk about some things regarding the decorations we had to finish for the group date cafe. Then, Yosuke, Yu and Kanji entered the classroom and walked up to us.
"You better have a damn good explanation for this!" Yosuke looked pissed and we all looked at him cluelessly.
"For what?" Chie asked innocently from where she was sitting in her desk.
"For what, my ass! For signing us all up in the cross-dressing pageant! It was you, wasn't it!?" Yosuke demanded and the girl that was uninvolved quickly left.
"Ohhh, that thing. Rise-chan started saying, "Let's all have fun with this!" when Kyoka suggested we shouldn't leave the guys out, so..." Chie answered unsympathetically. "And Kashiwagi seems happy, too, now that there's more people involved in it."
"You little...! This is cross-dressing! CROSS! DRESSING!"
"I was just keeping my word." I crossed my arms and glared back at him.
"You're the one who started it!" Chie stood up. "It's because of you that we can't back out of the beauty pageant, so it serves you right!"
"That's beside the point..." Yosuke looked away a bit guiltily.
"Don't worry." Yukiko smiled. "We'll make you absolutely enchanting. Okay?"
"That's not what's important here!"
"It's about a man's pride, dammit!" Kanji exclaimed.
"I'll give it my all." Yu stated in his usual stoic manner.
"Whoa, are you serious!?" Yosuke looked at him in disbelief.
"Yeah, yeah. This has nothing to do with pride or any of that." Chie said. "You know already, right? Once someone signs you up, you can't back out. If you've got a problem with that, go talk to Ms Kashiwagi."
"Th-There's no way she's gonna listen!" Yosuke looked defeated.
"Wha-!? Why're you giving up!? I ain't doin' this! Period!" Kanji protested.
"Kanji-kun, are you still okay as far as the mandatory attendance policy?" Yukiko asked. "I don't think it would be wise to disappoint a teacher too much."
"You are a scary gal, you know that, Senpai...?" Kanji looked defeated too.
"Just leave it to us to dress you guys up." Chie smiled. "Rise-chan's with us too. There's no way you won't turn out pretty."
"Y-You're positive we'll be pretty...?" Kanji asked.
"I guarantee it." Yukiko said as she and Chie nodded.
"Well...I don't." I shrugged. "I don't even really wear makeup myself, so...I'll try my best."
"Hey, why're you suddenly fine with this!?" Yosuke looked at Kanji.
"Well, if we gotta do this, might as well go all the way with it!" Kanji answered.
"There's nothing manly about being a woman! I seriously refuse..."
"Kashiwagi's sure gonna get angry if you don't show up...Maybe you and Kanji-kun can be classmates next year." Chie said.
"Wh-Why is this happening...?" Yosuke whined, putting a hand to his forehead and looking miserable. "We all end up in the same boat, without our consent...What kinda joke is this...?"
"Uhh, the exact same joke you pulled on us!" Chie answered.
Yosuke looked between the three of us and smiled nervously, ""I-If we gotta do this, might as well go all the way with it!" Ahahahaha!"
Of course, none of us were actually happy with this situation.