It was a lot faster to fight through the Shadows with all of us going together, but things were a bit chaotic if we didn't stay in a main team and a backup team. Either way, we eventually came to a piano door where Rise decided to speak up through the communications skill.
"Senpai, be careful! I'm sensing a Shadow past that door!"
Yu made sure everyone was ready and opened the door. Two Jupiter Eagles ambushed us on the other side of the door, but they didn't last long since they were weak to wind. Everyone seemed to be having fun with their new Persona situation, but I was kinda disappointed I was stuck retraining with my same old Shadow transformation. Anyway, we found a Power Spot to gather materials, then continued on our way through the maze.
"It seems this area is a recreation of the tea party scene from Alice in Wonderland." Naoto commented when we entered a door to find a table all set up.
"They were celebrating an ordinary day that wasn't a birthday, right?" Yukiko asked. "That's why they're partying 364 days a year."
"Is that how it went...?" I tilted my head, failing to remember the actual storyline.
"Does that mean you get to eat meat for 364 days!?" Chie asked excitedly.
"Why would you think they serve meat at a tea party!?" Yosuke shook his head at her.
"Besides, it's always a meat party with you around, Chie-senpai." Kanji pointed out.
"That's true." I nodded.
"...Very true!" Chie agreed as well.
"You really eat meat every day...?" Yosuke muttered, then decided to change the subject. "That aside, what was Alice in Wonderland about again?"
"A girl who fell down a rabbit hole into a really weird alternate world with a grinning cat and an evil card queen...? Well, that's all I remember of it." I muttered, tilting my head with confusion.
"Whaa!? A girl fell down a rabbit hole and into an alternate world with grilled cod and an edible carp queen!?" Rei asked in shock.
"...Huh?"
"An adorable bear who scores with all the hip girls in a mysterious forest before turning into butter." Teddie answered as well.
"Huh!? An adorable bear who scores with hip girls in a mysterious forest before getting all the butter he can drink!?" Rei got it mostly right that time, but I had to wonder what went on in her head.
"Butter's not a drink!" Chie told her. "Teddie! Quit making stuff up. Rei-chan's gonna believe you."
"Look who's talking. I bet you don't know anything about Alice either, Chie." Yosuke said.
"What? Of course I do!" Chie kind of sounded like she wasn't confident. "It's a story of a girl who's taken to a wonderland after saving a turtle, and she mows down all kinds of fish."
"What!? A girl gets taken to a wonderland after saving a turtle, and gets to eat all kinds of fish!?" Rei asked.
"That's not right. It ends with her punching the Queen of Hearts, and treasure falls out while a dog barks." Yukiko said.
"Ehhhh!? So she punches the Queen of Hearts, tons of candy falls out, and it all takes place in a field of meat!?" Rei asked.
"How did you even get that one...?" I muttered, conflicted about whether I should laugh or be impressed by the blonde's ability to twist things to have something to do with food.
"Yep! A true happily-ever-after!" Chie grinned.
"I didn't know it was such a gourmet story...I've been remembering it completely wrong all this time!" Rei said.
"Ugh, dammit! You guys are screwing it up faster than I can correct you!" Yosuke exclaimed.
"So, how amazing are these delicacies? Do you get like, four truckloads full of them!?" Rei asked while eating a donut she pulled from who knows where.
"You've got it all wrong, you know. Kyoka-senpai's version was the closest one." Naoto sighed.
"Yeah! It's not counted in truckloads. In cases like these, you'd say "a whole ton"." Chie said, ignoring the second half of Naoto's comment.
"How long are we gonna keep this goin'...? C'mon, Yosuke-senpai..." Kanji muttered.
"So, what kind of story is Alice in Wonderland actually? I still can't figure it out!" Yosuke seemed invested in the conversation too.
"Tired of playing the straight man, huh...?" Kanji looked surprised.
"Umm, it's an exciting story! Ten whole tons of excitement!" Rei said.
"Exciting...? Does it involve food?" Zen asked her.
"Exciting is exciting! It's like, the bottom of my heart is so warm and fuzzy!" Rei told him enthusiastically. "Wouldn't it give you warm fuzzies if you could swim in an ocean of takoyaki, Zen!?"
"A grinning cat, a bear turns to butter, a girl mows down fish, food falls out of a hammer...and an ocean of takoyaki?" Zen summed up everything that was thrown out while discussing the story. "...Is that how it goes?"
"Aliens invade earth in the end." Yu added, blank as ever.
"Ah, yes, the aliens. Sure, let's put those in too!" Yukiko smiled.
"Oh, c'mon...! Now you're just being ridiculous for the sake of it!" I complained, but began snickering immediately after.
"Um, weren't we originally asking if anyone knew the correct story...?" Naoto pointed out, then turned to Zen and Rei. "The short version is that it's a tale of a girl named Alice wandering into a place called Wonderland. She ventures through a world full of fantastic things like talking plants and animals, and changes in height."
"...? That's it? What does one gain from that story?" Zen asked.
"It's an escape from reality." Yu answered.
"I see...So there is meaning in it."
"So, when are you gonna turn into butter, Teddie?" Rei asked.
"Hrmm, it's possible that I already have." Teddie answered. "Would you like to taste and see? Heeheehee."
"Taste...? Sure!"
"Then, we'll have to melt you down very thoroughly, won't we?" Yukiko asked with her creepy smile on that was extremely threatening as she was summoning her Persona.
"Yuki-chan, nooo! Please don't call your Persona!" Teddie begged.
"...If this world is indeed following the story of Alice...Will it end with a Queen...?" Naoto wondered.
"What's up?" Kanji asked her.
"Oh, no...It's nothing. Let's go." Naoto dismissed him and Yu called everyone to settle down so we could continue on.
We weren't making super fast progress because Yu needed time to draw out the map every once in a while, but soon enough we came across a big pink rabbit thing.
"Uh...What is that...? The really pink thing..." Kanji pointed it out.
"A...A rabbit? Maybe?" Chie guessed.
"It's a rabbit! How cute!" Rei looked enthralled by it.
"Is it cute...? Y'ask me, a bright pink rabbit in the middle of a place like this is just suspicious." Kanji muttered.
"Rabbit...A rabbit...Where have I...?" Zen looked to be in deep thought.
"I wonder what that rabbit is..." Rise said through the comms.
"Huh? You can't tell either?" Chie asked.
"Yeah...It doesn't seem like it's going to attack, and it doesn't feel like an FOE either. I don't think it's an enemy...but it's really interested in you guys...Maybe it's waiting for you."
"It's waiting for us...?" Naoto repeated. "Hm. This could be somehow related to the story of Alice..."
"Oh, like the rabbit that was late?" I asked and she nodded.
"At the outset of the story, Alice chases a rabbit, falls down a hole, and wanders into Wonderland..."
"Then should we follow that rabbit?" Yukiko asked.
"I'm all for that! Rabbits are our friends!" Rei said, eating a corndog now.
"W-We don't know if it's a friend yet. It could be an enemy too..." Chie crossed her arms and looked hesitant.
"Either way, though, it's a clue. This is the first time we've seen anything that might not be an enemy." Yosuke said.
"I-I see..."
"I wish to chase it as well. I have memories...of seeing it somewhere..." Zen spoke up.
"It may be something connected with Zen-kun and Rei-san's memories..." Naoto said and looked to Yu. "Your opinion, Yu-senpai?"
"Let's catch it." Yu answered simply.
"All right! If that's the plan, then leave it to me!" Chie was suddenly on board.
"You just want to eat it, don't you." Yosuke teased.
"All right! I'll start by catching Yosuke first!" Chie glared at him.
"Ch-Chie-san! The rabbit is that way!" Yosuke ran away from her.
"Hey! You two, stop messing around in the labyrinth! It's dangerous!" I stepped in front of Chie to stop her from chasing him around.
"Hmph. Fine. I'll stick to chasing the rabbit for now." Chie crossed her arms and shot Yosuke another glare before turning her nose up and going to stand beside Yukiko again.
"So...Basically, we're gonna catch that rabbit?" Kanji asked.
"Yes. Let's make capturing that rabbit our chief objective for now." Naoto replied.
"Gotcha! C'mon, let's go, Kyoka!" Chie acknowledged.
"Alright, already." I sighed as I followed her toward the rabbit, but it immediately began hopping away from us.
"Hrm?" Chie took another step toward it and the rabbit hopped away again.
"Argh! It keeps running away just out of reach!" Yosuke looked annoyed.
"If we could get just a little closer, we could grab it!" Chie was also annoyed.
"Is it maintaining a certain distance in order to lead us somewhere...?" Naoto wondered and turned to Yu. "Yu-senpai, there appears to be a dead end up ahead. Let's corner it there and capture it!"
We did that.
"We've cornered it!" Yosuke said.
"You're not getting away this time!" Chie told the rabbit.
"Don't jump the gun, guys." I muttered uneasily, considering cornered animals could be rather tricky. It might attack for all we knew.
"C'mon, where could it get away to from here?" Yosuke asked me.
"Good point. Okay then, let's catch it on three." Chie said and the three of us got ready.
"Here goes. One-"
The rabbit literally jumped through the painting on the wall in front of it, leaving a rabbit-shaped hole and everything.
"Hey, it got away!" Chie shouted.
"It left a hole in the wall...How strong is that thing!?" Yosuke muttered.
"Where's that lead to, though...?" I asked, tilting my head.
"Hmm...Looks like it went through the wall and got away." Rise spoke up.
"It's a tight fit, but I think we can squeeze through the hole. Oh well...Let's go after it." Yosuke said, looking at the big hole in the painting.
We hopped through the wall, but the rabbit was nowhere to be found and we continued on through the labyrinth. We ran into a few Shadows before avoiding an FOE and getting equipment from a treasure box. Then, we came to a door where there were Shadows waiting on the other side and were ambushed by Golden Hands when we opened it. We beat them up, obviously. Well, one. The other ran away.
"H-Hey! Was that golden shining thing we just fought...!?" Yosuke asked.
"I-It was a Rare Shadow!" Teddie said.
"Rare Shadow?" Rei repeated.
"Those guys run away like a bat outta Hell. What a buncha cowards..." Kanji muttered.
"Well, you know what they say, experience is everything! I'm sure it'll be great experience for us!" Chie said. "Hey Yu-kun, if we run into another one of those, let's target it first!"
With that, we continued on, gathering materials from a Power Spot, fighting Shadows, making shortcuts out of secret passages by weird clocks, and eventually passing through a door and finding the rabbit again.
"Senpai! There's that rabbit!" Kanji pointed out.
"We're gonna catch it this time for sure!" Teddie declared.
"He runs fast. We better find a place to corner him first."
We cornered the rabbit again, but it was in another place with a painting on the wall.
"Alright. We got that rabbit dead to rights." Kanji said.
"Here goes! One, two-!" Teddie was cut off by the rabbit jumping through the painting and the wall again. "Gyaaaaah! It got away again!"
"Tch! Slippery little bastard...Let's go after it, Senpai!"
So, we crawled through the hole it made in the wall again. But the rabbit was long gone and we had to wander around aimlessly. We came to a dead end with a large pile of junk in it.
"Most of it seems useless...but we might find a use for some of these." Zen said, inspecting the junk.
"Hey, you think you could use that sword, partner?" Yosuke suggested, pointing out a sword laying amidst the useless junk.
"Hmm. Frugality is a virtue...But this is a labyrinth. We can't assume that this is any normal sword..." Naoto said.
"Hmm, well, you got a point..." Yosuke nodded. "Okay, partner, you make the call."
Yu shrugged and reached for the sword. However, it turned out to be a Shadow. One of five Justice Swords that ambushed us suddenly. We fought them off before Naoto sighed.
"To think a Shadow would mimic a sword...It proves that things are not necessarily what they seem here. From here on, we must go about our business more carefully, and..."
"Hey guys! Look what I found!" Yosuke held up a sword.
"Senpai! Were you listening to what I was just saying?" Naoto more or less glared at him.
"S-Sorry. That Shadow dropped this, so I thought it'd be strong."
Yu got the Bastard Sword from Yosuke and looked a bit happy as he gave it a couple test swings.
"This...looks to be quite a fine weapon." Naoto observed. "Still, Senpai. Though things went well this time, there's no assurance that will always be the case. Let's be sure to remain cautious."
"R-Right!" Yosuke rubbed the back of his head and looked a bit sheepish.
We then continued on with our exploration. We came to another dead end, which had a sign that said "Rest Area" on it.
"Rest Area..." Zen read. "This seems suspicious. We should leave at once and-"
"Whew...Just what I needed." Yosuke looked content to ignore Zen's concern.
"I'm beat..." Teddie sat down.
"Geez, you guys..." I sighed at them, shaking my head.
"...I worry that you have no sense of danger at all..." Zen muttered.
"You should rest too." Yu told him.
"You don't care if Rei faces danger. Is that what you're saying?" Zen pointed his crossbow at Yu.
"Z-Zen! No! That's dangerous!" Rei scolded him and he lowered his weapon. "These people are with us now, so it's safe! Can't we take a break? Please?"
"...Very well, Rei. If you say so." Zen gave in.
We took a break and recovered some energy and healed up a bit before moving on. The next door we went through, we saw two FOEs, the card soldier ones.
"Whoa! There's two of those FOEs." Yosuke was surprised.
"We'll run directly into them if we don't time our movements right..." Naoto observed.
"Yeah...Those guys look really strong..."
"Let's proceed with caution."
We had to get into a rhythm to avoid the FOEs and get to the next door. Then, through the next door we found, there was the rabbit.
"There's that rabbit." Zen stated the obvious.
"There's no painting around this time! Your luck has run out!" Chie said and we chased the rabbit, but it went down the stairs. "Huh!? It can do that!?"
"Uh, I'm pretty sure rabbits are capable of going down stairs, yeah." I replied, sweating.
"Oh well. Let's pursue it." Zen dismissed and we did so.
The world there changed colour schemes. It was a bit darker.
"Hold on, Zen. It hurts." Rei complained as Zen was pulling her along by the hand.
"What hurts?" Zen stopped to look at her as she yanked her hand away from him.
"It hurts when you pull on my hand! If you keep doing that, it'll be in no shape to eat donuts!"
"Oh...I'm sorry. I didn't notice." Zen looked like he felt bad.
"Zen-kun, don't be so hasty, okay? There are Shadows here too, so we need to proceed a little at a time..." Yukiko told him.
"We don't have that time." Zen responded bluntly.
"Zen! Don't be so mean to Yuki!" Rei protested and Zen looked down.
"He's like Chie that one time." Yosuke commented.
"Whaddaya mean?" Kanji asked.
"When Yukiko got kidnapped, Chie kept rushing on ahead, no matter how many times we told her to hold up. We went after her, but having to worry about both Yukiko and Chie really wore down our nerves." Yosuke explained.
"Hrgh...C'mon, I apologized for that!" Chie whined.
"Hey, I understand how you felt. But you've gotta keep your cool when mistakes can cost you big, or you could end up losing everything, right?"
"Yeah...You're right about that..."
"You're the impulsive kind, you know? You tend to charge on ahead, which might put people in danger. I believe you should take to heart this idiom, Miss Satonaka. "Haste makes paste"."
"Um, pretty sure it's "waste", Yosuke." I interjected quietly, so only he could hear me.
"...Waste." He blushed as he corrected himself.
"Oh, you didn't just go with it." Naoto said flatly.
"You seem pretty cocky for a guy who messes up common sayings." Kanji commented.
"You've got a style all your own when it comes to screwing up." Chie said.
"Well, they don't call him the Prince for nothing." Yukiko added.
"Yosuke never lets us down when it comes to that!" Teddie grinned.
"Dude, all I did was flub a line! Why're you giving me all this grief for it!?" Yosuke protested.
"It's impressive, Yosuke." Yu answered.
"You too, partner!?"
"Would you have even noticed if Kyoka didn't say something?" Chie muttered.
"Hey, give him a break, you guys. He was only a little off." I defended, but couldn't hold back and had to put a hand over my mouth. "Paste...Pfft..."
"Gee, you're real helpful, Kyoka." Yosuke crossed his arms and rolled his eyes at me.
"Yo-chan, you're a prince?" Rei asked excitedly.
"Oh, you mean what Yukiko said about them not calling me the Prince for nothing? Yep! I'm known far and wide in our school as Prince. It's true!" Yosuke was saying it like he was proud.
"Yeah, the Prince of Disappointment." Chie clarified.
"Mm-hm, a total disappointment." Yukiko added.
"I really don't know what Kyoka-senpai sees in you..." Rise decided to get in on this conversation too.
"A-Anyways...!" Yosuke looked embarrassed and desperate to change the subject. "We're still looking for a way out, right Zen? And that'll go faster with more manpower. So don't be so hasty to leave the rest of us behind."
"Yosuke..." Zen looked at him with a hard-to-read expression.
"What we're tryin' to say is, just take it easy." Kanji told him.
"Yes...I understand. I'll do that." Zen nodded.
"Everyone, listen up! I've got great news!" Rise spoke up suddenly.
"Oh? What is it, Rise-chan?" Teddie asked.
"Just come to the Velvet Room! You know how they say, um...Seeing is bereaving? We'll be waiting for you!"
"It's "believing"..." I sighed, shaking my head at her.
"...Yosuke-senpai and Rise-san share some interesting traits." Naoto commented.
"Don't even start!" Yosuke grouched at her.
Yu decided to use a Goho-M and we headed over to the Velvet Room.
"Oh, there they are." Marie was standing there.
"Huh? Marie-chan?" Yukiko asked in surprise.
"I suddenly found myself here. What's all this about? No fair that you guys are at this Culture Festival thing."
"This is Marie...It seems some of you already know her." Margaret said. "She's staying with us for now as a resident of the Velvet Room."
"Resident of the Velvet Room...? She's not my partner's relative!?" Yosuke asked.
"Ohh...That makes so much more sense!" I realized why I thought she seemed a bit off all this time.
"I'm not a resident. I just happen to be here." Marie denied. "Where's the Nose? He disappeared from the car and when I came to, I was here...It makes no sense."
"I do not know why she has come. It may be that she was called here, the same as us..." Margaret said. "In any case, since she is here, let's put her to use. We could use secure communication with other worlds. Marie will search for others who are trapped somewhere, just as you are right now. I'm sure you'll find this helpful."
"What!? I have to do that stuff again? You never told me about that." Marie looked at her in disbelief.
"I'm telling you about it now. When you're not busy with that, why not work on those poems you enjoy?"
"Wha-poems? Th-Those are just memos I jotted down about the other worlds...And why do you know about them!?" Marie looked embarrassed.
"Is that so? What a hard worker you are. If that's the case, then I'll ask you to do it this time as well." Margaret looked mildly amused.
"Hrgh...Stupid..." Marie grumbled, looking down.
I didn't really get what they were talking about, so I decided to ignore it.
"What're these poems...?" Rei asked while munching on a donut.
"They're not poems. They're the screams of my pathos." Marie answered.
"Pathos...! Zen, Zen! This "pathos" is so cool!"
"...Is that so?" Zen asked.
Rei gasped. "What should I do!? That donut I just swallowed was tasty!"
"Good to hear."
"Now, considering that you can summon multiple Personas, you will soon be in need of fusion." Margaret changed topics.
"Fusion...?" Zen repeated.
"Fusion is the secret art of using two or more Personas to fashion a new one. The residents of the Velvet Room typically assist our guests with our knowledge of this secret art. It might be said to be the Velvet Room's true function. I summoned you all here because the preparations for it are finally complete. You have followed some strange fate and wandered into this "haven in the rift"...I have followed it as well. This indicates that I am fated to lend you my assistance...My work will not be on the level of my master's, but henceforth, I will assist you by fusing Personas. Fusing powerful Personas is the best means of strengthening yourselves. If you have trouble in battle, your first solution should be to try new fusions. You'll require a Persona Compendium to manage multiple Personas. I'll see that you have access to it." Margaret told Yu. "My duties grow more onerous...The nurse's office, equipment shop, and now the Velvet Room...If only someone would come to help..."
We left her then, going to rest up before our next trek into the labyrinth. Yu fused some new Personas for everyone, but that didn't concern me, so I occupied myself with talking to Zen and Rei a bit. Well, more like I ended up going with them to eat takoyaki and all we really talked about was where all the food stalls were at this Culture Festival. Anyway, after that we were all gathered by the labyrinth's entrance and warped down to the third floor. Or, I think it was the third...? Well, Yu had the map and I wasn't about to ask. It didn't really matter that much to me.
We gathered some materials from a Power Spot in a dead end, fought some Shadows, and then found another dead end, but this one had a flower pot in it.
"Huh? There's a bud growing in this flower pot..." Yukiko said.
"The bud of love..." Teddie added and I rolled my eyes. "Yuki-chan! The time to reap our budding love has come!"
"Oh, is it the time of year to shear your fur already?" Yukiko replied coldly, but with a smile.
"Gyaaaaaah! Please don't leave me bear naked!"
"Sheesh, that Ted...He just never stops hitting on girls." Chie sighed.
"He'll pay a heavy price for it someday." Yosuke responded.
"Um...! So no one's been watering the flower, right?" Rise asked. "Won't that bud die?"
"Oh yeah, you're right. Too bad we can't water it ourselves..." Yosuke said. "I'd do it, but I don't have anything to water it with."
"All I've got is soda..." I shrugged after checking my bag. "That'd kill it."
"Maybe we can come back..." Yu said, marking something down in his map.
We continued on our way and found a clock shortcut we had to go through to proceed. Though...There was no way for us to go back from this side, so lesson on being cautious learned. From there, it was a maze that we needed to pass through clock passages rather than doors. We fought Shadows and did that until we found a piano door and went through it to see another FOE.
"Oh, look! That soldier is carrying some red paint." Yukiko pointed out.
"Seems like it's in an awful hurry to paint those roses...What's that about?" Chie asked.
"I bet it likes red."
"Uh, I'm not sure about that..."
We watched it until it finished painting the white roses red, then it walked away.
"Once it finished painting, it started moving about..." Naoto observed. "Though from watching its movements, that FOE seems to be staying strictly within its territory."
"Do you think we can slip by without it catching us...?" Yukiko asked.
"In Carroll's book, the soldiers were threatened with punishment if they didn't paint the roses red."
"Isn't that where, "Off with your head!" came from?" I asked and Naoto nodded just slightly in acknowledgement.
"If there were a way to make those roses white again, then it should pause in front of the bush...If we could accomplish that, then I believe we could slip by while it paints the roses red."
"Toodaloooo...Pourin' me some water..." Teddie hummed and we turned to see him getting water out of one of the pools of water on the ground.
"What are you doing, Teddie?" Yukiko asked.
"I found a watering can by this pond over here!"
"...Well done, Teddie! If we pour water on those rosebushes, it may wash the paint off them." Naoto smiled and nodded at him. "Let's use this watering can to wash off the roses."
Yu decided that we would backtrack to water that flower in the pot we found earlier instead of immediately doing that, so we fought our way back to that dead end.
"Oh, it's the flower pot again! Let's give it some water!" Rise said.
"Why not? We do have a watering can, after all." Naoto agreed.
Teddie watered the plant and the dry soil absorbed the water.
"...Nothin's happening." Kanji said.
"Flowers don't bloom that fast. Let's give it some time and come back later, okay?" Rise replied.
"True. Why don't we note this place down on the map? If we mark where the sprout is, it'll help us remember to come back when we pass by this way again." Naoto suggested to Yu, who nodded and altered his map.
So, we did that, went back, watered the roses, and got out of the FOE's path so it could come back and start painting the roses while we slipped around behind it and into the next door. We then came across the rabbit again.
"Oh, we've found that rabbit." Yukiko said and we gave chase.
"We've cornered it!" Teddie said when we drove it into a corner, but it had a painting to jump through again. "It smashed another hole in the wall...Grr, I hate these holes! They're hard to squeeze through..."
"I'm starting to get the feeling that no matter what we do, we can't catch it..." Yosuke sighed. "...Well, it's opened up another path, so I guess this was helpful in a way. Let's keep going."
So, we went through and saw the rabbit across a pond from us.
"Hey, look at that!" Chie pointed to it. "Look how close that rabbit is! It's out and out mocking us now!"
"Where else could we corner it...? Let's search the area a little before charging back in-" Naoto started, but I had already started running toward the rabbit, chasing it.
"Grr...Stupid rabbit! You're starting to piss me off!" I growled.
"K-Kyoka-senpai!? What're you doing!?"
"Go around the other way! I saw a painting over here!" I shouted back.
We split into two groups, one to follow me and the other to go back around and corner the rabbit in the dead end I was referring to.
"You should probably give us a little more warning next time." Yu told me, although he looked unfazed as we all caught our breath.
"Sorry." I answered and shrugged noncommittally.
"Alright! It's trapped! I bet we can catch it now!" Kanji said, but then the rabbit jumped through the painting again.
"It charged through the wall again." Zen stated.
"Ughhh! How long is that thing gonna keep runnin'!?"
"That's one pesky rabbit! I'm gonna catch it no matter what!" Teddie looked angry.
"Whoa, you seem pretty pumped about this."
"That rabbit is cute. Everyone is chasing after it. It's exactly like me!"
"Yeah, no. The rabbit's better." I responded flatly.
"...With you, it's more like you chase girls all the time." Kanji muttered to him.
"Wha-!? What a thing to say...!" Teddie seemed surprised.
"Come, everyone. Let's hurry onward." Naoto suggested, so we passed through the painting.
The rabbit wasn't around, but we found a piano door with a lock on it.
"Huh? Is this a padlock? It looks pretty solid..." Yosuke said.
"...Yeah, this ain't gonna be easy to bust open." Kanji agreed. "I mean, I probably could do it...but it'd be faster to just find the key."
"True...Then let's try searching this path first." Naoto agreed and we searched the area, only to find a dead end.
"Huh...? It's faint, but I'm getting a reading of a door here!" Rise spoke up.
"A door? I don't see any door." Kanji said.
"There has to be one! Look around!" Rise insisted.
"Uh, guys...? Does this count as a door...?" I asked, crouched down in front of a blue door about the size of a mouse hole that was next to a table with bottles of a mysterious liquid on it.
"Hey, Senpai. I think there's something in that room. Is there any way you can get inside?" Rise asked as Yu came to look at it too.
"Yeah, right! No one's getting through a door that small but hamsters!" Chie responded.
"If this followed the children's story, there would be a drink to shrink oneself." Naoto stated.
"Who would drink something that suspicious?" Yosuke asked, but Teddie was already downing one of the bottles from the table.
"Aaaah! What a refreshing taste!" The bear said.
"Wha-!? Dude, is that what I think it is...?"
"It was right over there. There aren't any vending machines here, so it was a life...saver...Hrmm?" Teddie suddenly shrunk down to the size of a mouse. "Aaaaack! Yosuke...Y-You're ginormous!" His voice was even high pitched.
"No, it's you who's gotten smaller!" Yosuke corrected him.
"Geez, this is just..." I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose and trying to process what the hell was going on in this place. Shadows were one thing, but shrinking...?
"H-He fits in my hand..." Kanji said, picking up the tiny bear and blushing. "Aaaagh! Oh, I'm gonna die from sugar shock!"
"Nooooo! Please don't toy with meeeee!" Teddie cried, practically helpless against Kanji when he was so tiny.
"I want to drink some too! Mad Bull gives you wins!" Rei grabbed a bottle and held it up with a grin.
"Don't drink that." Zen took it from her and threw it away.
"Wha...? Bwuh...!" Kanji somehow caught the bottle in his mouth and shrunk too.
"Dude, Kanji too!?" Yosuke seemed surprised.
"It doesn't seem to be immediately toxic, but this is just..." Naoto began.
"Kanji-kun and Teddie are like little fluffy cuties!" Yukiko gushed, holding Kanji in her palm and poking at him.
"Even Kanji-kun's adorable when he's this tiny!" Chie added, playing with Teddie in her hands.
"D-Don't call me adorable, dammit! Whoa, wait, where are you touching, Yukiko-senpai!?" Kanji shouted in a higher-pitched voice and seemed embarrassed.
"Aaaahhh...Chie-chan's petting technique is so gooood..." Teddie seemed happy.
"You guys sure are taking this in stride...Hey Naoto, about this drink..." Yosuke started, but Naoto was blushing.
"C-Can I...touch them too...?" Naoto asked Chie and Yukiko, as if asking to see another kid's toy. "Only to satisfy my sense of curiosity, of course. There's no ulterior motive. Don't get the wrong idea..."
"Look, look! I can pick him up!" Yukiko said, holding Kanji up by the back of his shirt.
"His head feels so good!" Chie gushed, petting Teddie with her pointer finger.
"I'd like to keep them as decorations in my room..." Naoto commented as I was sniffing at one of the other bottles on the table.
I couldn't help but be curious. And I did kinda like Alice in Wonderland, so...I was curious what shrinking felt like...
"Hey, Kyoka, are you-H-Hey!" Yosuke shouted at me in shock as I drank a bit of the mysterious liquid, then he snatched the bottle out of my grasp. "What the hell are you doing!?"
"Ah...I was curious..." I answered sheepishly, but then found myself looking at his feet in confusion. I shrieked a bit when I was suddenly shifted into the air and came to be looking into the really big face of Yosuke as I slapped my hands over my mouth to silence the noise. His annoyance seemed to melt as he placed me down to stand on his palm.
"Huh...? Wow, it's like having a little figurine." He seemed amused, and began poking at my side with his now giant finger.
"H-Hey! Stop! That tickles!" I complained, squirming away from him.
"Haha, you're kinda cute like this, Kyoka." He laughed and I felt my face heat up with embarrassment as I fell to my knees to sit on his palm and look up at him as he pet the top of my head with his fingertip.
"Sh-Shut up..." I crossed my arms, horribly embarrassed but really happy somehow too.
"Wow...! Kyo, can you turn into your other form when you're like this?!" Rei more or less stole me away from Yosuke to hold me in her hand, looking excited.
I nodded slightly and transformed, then she squealed.
"Zen, Zen! Look! She's like a little tiny puppy now!" Rei said while pulling on Zen's sleeve excitedly.
"Yes..." Zen answered, as unreadable as usual.
"Well, looks like it's decided. Teddie, Kanji, and Kyoka will be the ones to charge into that room." Yosuke spoke up as I turned back to human form. "Yu, let's wait here and...WH-WHAT!? What're you doing!? Seriously, partner...?"
I looked over to see Yu downing a bottle of the shrinking potion. Turns out I'm not the only curious one, huh...?
"Fine, dammit! I'll drink it too! But don't blame me if anything bad happens!" Yosuke took the bottle he had taken from me and downed the rest of it.
Then, we were all placed on the floor in front of the tiny door.
"Ugh, I hope we can get back to normal..." Yosuke said, looking at his hands.
"Heeheehee...What a beautiful sight!" Teddie was looking up Yukiko's skirt.
"Wait, Yukiko! I've got it!" I saw the look on her face and stopped her from potentially sending us all flying by taking my naginata and using the staff to smack Teddie face-first into the blue door.
"Eeeeek!"
"Let's hurry up and go before she decides that isn't enough..." I grabbed Yosuke's arm and ran toward the door as Yu opened it and Teddie ran through in a panic.
Our leader rushed the rest of us through and then closed the door behind us. In the room beyond the small door, a key was hanging from a twig on the rose bush.
"Grr...I can't reach that key with these bite-sized hands or feet..." Teddie squeaked.
"Wouldn't it be convenient if we just got bigger again all of a sudden? Yeah...like that'd happen." Yosuke said. "I think we can reach it if we put all our heights together...Should we form a human ladder?"
"Are we that strong...?" I muttered, doubtfully.
"I want to be on top!" Yu declared as stoically as ever.
"Uhh, sorry to be a wet blanket when you're so hyped up, but Kyoka's the obvious choice here." Yosuke told him.
"Wha-!? No way, Teddie does it." I refused, considering the fact I was wearing a skirt and the bear was the only one I didn't want to see up it, even if I was wearing black shorts underneath.
"Aww, I'm sorry, Sensei. I'm such a lovely and delicate boy that I'm destined to stand on top." Teddie said dramatically, suddenly out of his costume.
"Yeah, yeah, now get that costume back on. It'll be softer that way when you're stepping on us." Yosuke responded.
So, Kanji made the bottom, then it was Yu, then Yosuke, then me, and then Teddie climbed up on my shoulders.
"Th-This isn't as easy as I thought..." Yosuke said as our human ladder shook unstably.
"It's such a nice view from up here. Fever tiiiiime!" Teddie squirmed excitedly.
"Hurry up and get the key! THE KEY!" "Get the damn key!" Yosuke and I shouted in unison.
"Ngh...Nnnnngh...Hrgh..." Kanji sounded like he was having trouble.
"Wh-Whoa...! We're falling! Aaagh!"
Teddie managed to get the key loose before falling off, then making me topple off as the key clunked Yosuke in the head. It kinda happened too fast, so I'm not exactly sure how it worked out that I had landed with my back across Kanji, or how exactly Yosuke, who was under me, somehow ended up on top of me. I'm going to blame this place's weird physics for it and leave it at that, considering I had a lot worse things to worry about. I mean, of course Yu landed just fine, but how the hell did Yosuke end up landing in a way that our mouths were together!? It didn't help one of his hands was on my chest and I think he blacked out for a second because when his face started twitching like he was waking up, his fingers did and I tensed up completely because that was the moment my mind caught up with what happened. Yosuke's eyes snapped open after that and once he registered what position we were in, he pretty much leapt off of me and scooted back on his butt.
"...I-I am so sorry! I didn't mean to...! I-I just-Please don't hit me!" He held up his arms in front of his face and had his eyes shut like he was expecting me to throw something or slap him or something. However, all I could do was sit up and stare at him in utter shock and embarrassment. "K-Kyoka...? Your nose..."
I slowly reached up to touch my nose, but found it was bleeding. Panicking a little, I pulled out my handkerchief to place over it, then blanked out again, staring at Yosuke.
"Hey, Kyoka-senpai...C-Could you get offa me...?" Kanji grunted and I jumped to my feet in a panic, remembering other people were here.
Luckily, it seemed Yu was the only one who had seen anything, since the Key had landed on Teddie and was weighing him down, so he couldn't see anything. And I had been on top of Kanji, who was face down, so I kinda doubt he saw...But that left Yu, who was smirking at me just a bit, and Yosuke, who was looking at me with a mixture of fear and concern.
"H...Help..." Teddie called weakly, and I decided to jump on the chance to move on like nothing had happened.
"L-Let's get the key out of here! C'mon, help me get it off Teddie-san!"
The guys apparently thought better of questioning me and we just did that. Then, Teddie opened the door so we could carry it out. Once we exited the small room, we returned to our normal size.
"Oh, there they are! Welcome back!" Rei greeted us with a smile.
"Weeee're baaaaaack..." Teddie said, still flattened.
"Yikes, you're all flat. What happened!?" Chie asked with worry.
"Owww...Uhhh, I don't remember much...I fell on my head..." Kanji said, rubbing the back of his head and wincing. "Kyoka-senpai fell on top of me and...I think Yosuke-senpai did a faceplant right into the ground too."
"Uh...Y-Yeah...!" Yosuke agreed nervously, glancing at me. "W-When I came to, I was sprawled out on the ground...I had no idea what happened...I found Kanji and Kyoka collapsed on the ground next to me and Teddie was all flat. H-Hey, partner? Did we fall that bad?" He looked to Yu, as if begging for a way to stop talking about it.
"It was a serious accident." Yu replied gravely.
"Whoa, seriously!? You're calling it a serious accident!?" Yosuke looked shocked for some reason.
"Wh-Whatever! Everyone's fine! L-Let's forget about it!" I internally winced at how shaky my voice sounded and how warm my face felt.
"Y-Yeah!" Yosuke agreed quickly. "Well, at least it all paid off. We got the key!"
"But y'know, something's weird..." Kanji said. "I hit my head and Kyoka-senpai landed with her back on me...But her nose was bleeding..."
"Isn't it a pretty bad injury if you got a nosebleed...?" Chie asked, concerned as she looked at me.
"I-It's not! I'm fine! It was only a little...!" I said, probably a bit too quickly.
"But why was it bleeding...?" Kanji asked, confused.
"Uh, um...M-My hand smacked it on the way down! Ahaha, how lame, right?" I laughed nervously.
"Y-Yeah! That's what happened! Wow, what a fall!" Yosuke laughed nervously too.
"But you said you couldn't remember anything..." Kanji pointed out with a confused look at both of us and we froze.
"You guys aren't making much sense...Oh yeah, did you see what happened in there, Rise-chan?" Chie decided asking us was useless.
"Huh? Oh...nope. I didn't see anything. Not a single thing." Rise answered quickly and I let out a quiet sigh of relief as I reminded myself to thank her later.
"O-Okay...Well, thanks for getting the key, guys." Chie decided to drop it with that.
Yu apparently decided to say nothing as well, so we headed back to the locked door to open it.
"Let's try that key from earlier." Naoto said once we got there.
"Ooh, me! Me! I wanna open it!" Teddie inserted the Small Door Key into the keyhole.
"If this doesn't work, we'll have to go looking for another key." Chie said.
"One more time! One more time!" Yukiko chanted with a smile.
"Please, no encore..." Kanji sighed and then the sound of the lock opening distracted us.
"It's open!" Teddie announced.
"Whew...That's a relief. Welp, time to keep going." Yosuke replied and we headed through the door.
Inside, we found a Power Spot and passed through another clock passage. We fought some Shadows on our way and went through some more clocks and another Power Spot, more clocks, Shadows, and then to a dead end that had a beautifully decorated picture book on the ground.
"Hrm...? Is this a picture book?" Teddie asked, looking at the book with some kind of monster on the cover.
"It's...a "pop-out picture book"? Looks like it's one of those kids' books." Chie said.
"Oh, cool. I loved those things when I was a kid." I smiled.
"I wonder what's supposed to pop out of it. Shouldn't we be careful around this thing?" Yosuke asked.
Yu wordlessly went to open it.
"Hrmmm!?" Teddie was shocked.
"I knew it! Here it comes!" Yosuke said as a Shadow popped out of the book.
It was a Burning Beetle, which was strong, but all of us working together managed to take it down.
"Whew...I guess that was more of a Shadow diorama book." Chie sighed.
"Yeeesh...We can't let our guard down in this labyrinth..." Teddie said.
"Nope. Things like what just happened might come up again..." Yosuke affirmed. "If we run into more suspicious stuff like that, it might not be a bad idea to trust our first instinct."
"Really? It seemed like Yu-kun's was to look at the book..." I muttered, then shrugged and smiled. "Well, on the bright side, it didn't kill us. It was kinda fun to fight, too."
"It's fine. I got rare materials." Yu said blankly, holding up the bug pieces and such.
"You two might be the only ones satisfied with this..." Chie shook her head at us.
We continued on and went through the next door, to find the rabbit.
"Whoa!? It's the rabbit and a card soldier!" Yosuke was surprised the room had both inside.
"Well, hold on. The layout here doesn't seem too complicated." Yukiko pointed out the mostly open space. "I think we should get our bearings here first. That card soldier is the only thing in our way, so once we water the roses, we can focus on the rabbit."
"Leave the watering to me! Sprinkly-dinkly!" Teddie cheered.
"Not yet, you moron!" Yosuke stopped him, since Yu was still drawing in his map.
Once Yu had finished his sketching of the area he could see, we moved to explore a little while avoiding the FOEs and the rabbit so we could find out where we could chase it once the card soldiers were distracted. Once Yu had decided on the path, Teddie watered the roses to distract the card soldiers and we quickly chased the rabbit into another corner.
"Amazing, everyone! You cornered the rabbit!" Rise said, and it jumped through a painting again.
"Alright, it's opened up a path." Yosuke said.
"Just a little more and you'll have this whole floor figured out! Hang tight just a bit longer!"
We headed through the rabbit's hole and found a Power Spot on the other side. We continued on and passed through a clock, fought some Shadows, and found a dead end where there were white roses blooming.
"Man, there sure are a lot of roses in this place..." Yosuke commented.
"They're pretty, though. They seem bigger than normal roses, too." Rise replied.
"Let's take one back with us as a souvenir!" Teddie suggested, picking one up.
"Why? Won't it just die?" I muttered, tilting my head in confusion.
"Whaaat? You don't like roses, Kyo-chan!?" Teddie seemed shocked.
"Not really. Flowers are kinda...Useless." I shrugged. "And they attract bugs."
"Oh, I see. You really hate bugs, don't you?" Yukiko smiled at me and I turned my head away, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the time I nearly cried like a little kid in front of her because a bee landed on my arm and I couldn't move until she made it go away. She laughed without actually bringing it up, though.
We moved on and went through another clock passage, into a room with two piano doors and a shortcut back toward the stairs that we activated before going through the door closest to where we'd come into the room. We fought some Shadows after entering and then finding nothing in the room. We went back and headed for the other door.
"Everyone, be careful! I sense FOEs from the other side of that door!" Rise warned us.
"Those card soldiers again, right? What do we got to worry about? We can get by without fightin' em. I'm going on ahead!" Kanji said, going to open the door and enter the room.
"Er, Kanji-kun!" Naoto called after him, then sighed and shook her head as she shrugged. "...Oh well. We should head in as well!"
And so we stepped into the room after Kanji to see a few card soldiers about.
"Kanji-kun! It's dangerous to go off on your own!" Naoto scolded.
"Why? Those card soldiers ain't nothin' to worry about if we don't fight 'em, right?" Kanji responded dismissively.
"We must exercise absolute caution until we fully understand the FOEs' routes!"
"There are three FOEs here." Zen observed.
"Yes. And judging by their placements...I doubt this will be simple. We'll need to think through which FOE we lure to which rosebush. I suggest we begin by watching their patterns first and noting down their positions relative to the roses." Naoto said.
"Senpai, let me remind you of something real quick!" Rise spoke up. "The FOEs with the paint go back to their regular paths once they finish painting the roses. But that takes time, so if you mess up, just leave the room and they should go back to their positions!"
"Well then, Yu-senpai. Let's go." Naoto said and Yu looked at his map and watched the FOEs' movements and then started moving to map out the room while also working out which bushes Teddie should wash the paint from.
Predictable of our leader, it only took him one try to work out the proper way and we made it to the stairs going down. The next floor was darker and the rabbit was there, waiting for us.
"So this is where the rabbit went!" Yukiko said.
"You think it's tired? Well, let's try to catch it while it's off guard..." Chie suggested, but the rabbit just disappeared. "Whoa!"
"The rabbit completely disappeared! Where did it go...?" Rise wondered.
"If you can't sense it anymore, it's probably just gone." I shrugged.
"A rabbit...Where did I...?" Zen mumbled. "...It's no use. I don't think I can remember..."
"Too bad we couldn't catch it, huh?" Yosuke asked, looking at Chie and I.
"Hey, you were thinking I was gonna eat it, weren't you!?" Chie glared at him.
"I-I wasn't hunting it!" I protested, crossing my arms and looking away since I couldn't meet his gaze without thinking about what happened when we were shrunk.
"I'm sorry to interrupt." Naoto spoke up, drawing our attention. "The atmosphere here has clearly changed. We should proceed with caution."
"...Rei, are you all right?" Zen asked the blonde, who looked scared and nervous.
"...M-Mm-hm. I made my choice, after all...to leave here..." Rei answered.
"Yes...You're right. Let's continue." Zen nodded.
We headed further in and found a mysterious light pillar with a floating gear in a corner. Rise told us it was directly connected to the entrance, so if we used it to come back, we could start our investigation again from there. Yu decided we should head back for a bit, since we'd been exploring for quite a while and could use with some item restocking and equipment upgrades. Once back, we all split up to do our own things for a while, and I had gone to get a donut to eat, but halfway through eating it, I began wincing. Maybe it was the adrenaline wearing off, or the fact I had some time to zone out and think about it, but my nose and front of my mouth really hurt. I mean, I guess that's expected when someone literally falls on your face with their face, but...I didn't notice at all before. Maybe because I was in shock at the time, and then blocking out thinking about it while we were exploring...? Either way, I decided to head over to the nurse's office. Margaret wasn't there, so I just took it upon myself to inspect my face in a mirror and gingerly prod at my nose.
"It hurts...But I don't think it's broken..." I mumbled to myself, sighing in relief. "I can't really see any bruising, but I should put ice on it...It looks a tiny bit swollen..."
As I looked around the room for a cold pack, the door suddenly opened and I looked up to see Yosuke frozen in the doorway upon seeing me.
"O-Oh, Kyoka...Wh-What're you doing here?" He asked as we both looked away from each other.
"I'm just looking for a cold pack...It looks like Margaret's not here right now."
"A cold pack...?" He seemed confused at first, then realized. "Oh! Man, I'm really sorry about that. I-I mean, I think I passed out when I fell, b-but..."
"It's okay..."
"...D-Does it hurt?"
"Only a little."
"Sorry..."
"It's okay. It was an accident." I gave him a smile that felt more awkward than reassuring. "Oh, did you come because you got hurt, too?"
"Oh right...! I actually came to get something for Kanji's headache. Uh, you wouldn't know where the medicine for that is, would you?"
"I think I saw it somewhere over there." I motioned vaguely to a shelf I'd already searched and then turned back to looking for a cold pack.
"Thanks." He turned to begin searching that shelf and it was quiet for a while aside from the shuffling of materials as we searched. Then, Yosuke suddenly asked out of nowhere, "Um...You're really not mad at me...?"
"No. Not really. It was an accident."
"But, you looked pretty...Uh, I don't know. Affected by it...?"
"I wasn't mad. More like...I was really shocked and embarrassed. Because that was my...first kiss..." I trailed off, tilting my head slightly as I looked to him in confusion.
"Your first...?" He repeated quietly, looking at me with this complicated expression that was painful for some reason.
"Huh...That's strange." I lifted a hand to hover in front of my mouth as I looked down in thought. "I think that was my first kiss, but somehow...That seems wrong...? But I don't remember any other time. Did I forget my first, or...?"
"Th-That's not what I meant!" Yosuke said quickly and looked a bit panicky when my attention snapped back to him in confusion. "I-I mean, you're not mad that I...Wh-When I woke up I kinda, you know...Uh..." He trailed off and looked away, rubbing the back of his head and seeming really embarrassed.
"...Oh!" It took me a second to realize what he meant. "You mean because you felt-"
"Y-You don't have to say it! I'm really sorry! I-I didn't mean to!" He put his hands together and lowered his head as he cut me off.
"...It's okay. You weren't really awake yet when you did it." I waved a hand dismissively, despite the fact I was too embarrassed to look at him anymore. "B-Besides...Since it's you, I don't really...mind..."
"Kyoka..." He looked at me with an expression I couldn't place as his hands dropped to his sides. "I'm really-"
"P-Please don't say anything else!" I cut him off, panicking for a reason I didn't quite know. Maybe because I was afraid it was going to be a rejection, or because I didn't want to have to think about this sort of thing in this situation. "L-Let's just forget it happened a-and go back to normal, please!? I'm bad at not saying embarrassing things, so I've put you in a difficult position, but can we just sort everything out after we get back home and solve the case?"
"...Alright." He sighed after a long silence in which I didn't look at him directly, then turned his back to me as he continued to search the shelf and I thought I heard him mutter under his breath, "A ridiculous fall like that didn't mean anything anyway..."
It kinda stung, so I decided to pretend I didn't hear that and returned to my search for a cold pack. Once I found one, I said a hasty goodbye to Yosuke and went to find Rise while I was holding it on my nose. That embarrassing conversation reminded me that I hadn't thanked her for not saying anything. It didn't take too long for me to find her talking with Zen, Rei, Naoto, and Kanji. Once I pulled her aside and we went to one of the "rest area" classrooms that had no one inside but the phantom Yasogami students participating in the Culture Festival, I bowed to her.
"Thank you, Rise! I really owe you!"
"Huh? What's this about, Kyoka-senpai?" She tilted her head slightly at me, confused.
"For, uh, not saying anything back in the labyrinth...When we got the key..." I muttered, feeling my face warm with embarrassment as I reminded her.
"Oh! W-Well, that wasn't really anything." She held her hands up to me, shaking her head at my thanks. "You don't have to thank me for that...It's super embarrassing, so if you guys didn't say anything, I didn't want to either. I mean, even if you like Yosuke-senpai, that's...Well, actually, that kinda makes it worse, huh...?" She gave me a sympathetic look when I winced at the mention of my feelings.
"How does something like that even happen...? I was above him, so how did I end up below!?" I whined, covering my face with my hands as I got frustrated just thinking about the impossibility of it again.
"I don't really know either. All I saw was the very end, so..." Rise sighed, shaking her head, then paused for a second as I whined and covered my eyes with my fingers too. Then, I felt her hand on top of my head, gently and a bit hesitantly. "I'm sorry, senpai. This must be hard for you..."
"...No. I talked to him and we agreed to forget it happened and go back to normal." I sighed, uncovering my face and looking at her apologetically. "Sorry, Rise. I didn't want to make you feel bad, I just wanted to thank you for not saying anything. That would've been so much worse...I doubt Chie and Yukiko would've let Yosuke off the hook just because it was an accident..."
Rise looked at me in surprise for a second before she giggled a bit. "Awww, Kyoka-senpai, you were worried they'd beat him up? That's why you didn't want to say anything?"
"W-Well yeah..." I looked off to the side, feeling a bit self-conscious under the redhead's amused smirking.
"I thought it was because you'd be really embarrassed...I guess you really DO like Yosuke-senpai!"
"H-Hey! Don't you think he gets enough jabs from you guys without adding this on top?" I protested, but she just laughed at me and ruffled my hair. "Rise..." I whined, fixing my bangs that she messed up.
"I'll be rooting for you, Kyoka-senpai!" She grinned, holding up her fists with the palms facing toward herself in a cute pose of encouragement.
"Wh-What...!?"
"I don't really get why you'd like him, but I think you two would make a cute couple! Oh, but I hope it doesn't bother you that he's my fan..."
I shook my head slowly, smiling just a bit. "Thanks...But I don't know if that'd ever happen..."
"C'mon, he'd be crazy to reject you! I mean, what other girl would fall for a guy like him? And you're really pretty in your own way."
"Somehow, you can sound both nice and mean at the same time..." I sighed and sweated a little at her backhanded compliments.
After I talked to Rise a bit more about other topics, like this weird place we ended up, Yu called us all to go back into the labyrinth.