"You want what...? Why?" Kanji asked in confusion after I had requested for him to make me a dance costume really quickly.
"It's nothing fancy. Just a long, layered skirt and a simple top." I told him, though I could feel my face burning with embarrassment.
"Yeah, but...Why?"
"I've got this thing to do, so, um..." I muttered, looking away and struggling to find a way to describe it that wouldn't be totally crazy to him. I ended up sighing and leaning my chin on my palm as I sat across the table from the confused punk. "Look, I just need a dance costume. My only set is at home and I can't dance in my uniform, it just doesn't flow right. Can you please just make this for me? I think there's still fabric in the sewing clubroom..."
"Dancing...? What the hell're you talkin' about? You don't even like the uniform's skirts..." He didn't look convinced, then looked down at the semi-decent drawing of the clothing I wanted that I had gotten Yu to draw for me since I couldn't do it. "What kinda dance uses this stuff anyway...? This shirt isn't even a shirt!"
"I think it's technically called a bra, but it isn't the same as an underwear bra, it's more like a bikini's type of bra...This is also a modified version of what I've seen a lot of dancers use, because theirs wouldn't work for me...And the skirt I want is thicker than normal performance ones, but I hate doing it in pants because it's kinda weird to show the leg movements for me personally, so..." I explained, a bit awkwardly. "A-Anyway, it's for a foreign type of dancing. You've probably never heard of it before."
"...You really wear this sorta stuff, Kyoka-senpai...?"
"F-For dancing, yes...My practice stuff covers my back completely, but that's because the police told me to cover up my tattoo as much as possible. I don't think it matters as much here, so I wanted to try a more common type of top..." I probably looked as embarrassed as I felt, but Kanji seemed more confused than judgemental. I shifted to put my hands together in front of me and lower my head in a pleading fashion. "C-C'mon, Kanji-kun, I need this stuff for dancing! I'm getting all stiff in here it's been so long since I practiced...If you do me this favour and don't tell anyone about it, I'll, um...Buy you all the ice cream you can eat right now!"
"A-All the ice cream I can eat...!?" His eyes widened and I knew I had caught his interest.
"Yep! As long as you can eat it, I'll buy! But only if you make this costume for me quietly."
"...Deal." He grinned, and I smiled with relief at him.
"Thanks."
"But...I'm still not sure about this...I don't usually make this kinda stuff..." He looked down at the drawing again and scratched his head. "What kinda material should I use...?"
"Um...For the skirt, probably something heavier but not rough feeling. The top should be more secure, but not rub on the skin too badly so...I don't know. Oh, and they both need to fit me well. The skirt should be tight to the hips so it doesn't fall down, but not tight on the legs...And the top needs to fit well enough that it won't slide out of place at all when I move...I'll give you my measurements so you can make them, but I don't know much about fabrics..."
"Uhh...I'll see what I can do..." He looked to be thinking about it seriously as he stared at the drawing for a bit, then he smirked. "This'll be a real challenge."
"But you think you can do it?" I asked, smirking a bit at him in response when he nodded. "Thanks, Kanji-kun. If you do a good job, maybe you can be my official go-to costume tailor."
"Yeah, yeah. So, can I get that ice cream now?" He dismissed, folding up the paper to put into his pocket and looking at me expectantly.
"Alright...But it won't be my fault if you get a stomach ache." I got up with him to go to the ice cream stand.
"You underestimatin' me?"
"Nope. Just warning you."
After buying Kanji more than fifteen ice cream cones and topsicles before he got sick of them, I decided to walk around for a bit, but got bored and ended up taking a nap in the rest area. Shortly after I woke up, I was maintaining my naginata until Yosuke found me and asked if I felt up for going on that date now. I wasn't really sure what he had in mind for a date in this place, but I agreed and followed him through the Culture Festival. He seemed nervous, but I probably seemed that way too, honestly. We went to see a movie, ate some donuts, and then ended up at Go-You Gameland. I don't really know what we talked about up until we had fallen into silence while fishing for yo-yos, but I think it was pretty normal stuff like what kind of foods we liked here, what we thought of the movie, that kind of stuff.
"...I can't catch anything." I sighed after having a water balloon slip off my hook for probably the thirteenth time.
"Yeah, me neither." Yosuke sighed as well and we exchanged semi-awkward smiles before I looked down at the yo-yos again.
"Too bad, I kinda wanted one..."
"Really...?"
I nodded. "I only got one of these things once, when I was little. I think Dad caught it for me when I couldn't, but I remember it being something I really liked...Well, up until my brother popped it trying to draw something on it with a pencil. I barely got to play with it..." I couldn't help but laugh a little sheepishly at the memory. "It seems kinda dumb to say it out loud, but that's why I wanted one..."
"...It's not dumb." He responded quietly after a moment in which another balloon slipped off my hook. "You never really talk that much about when you were a kid..."
"Ah, that's because I can't remember a whole lot. It's bits and pieces, y'know? Some of it I'm not even sure happened because my family doesn't remember it or they weren't there, but it seems so vivid to me..."
"...Alright." He said firmly and nodded, looking determined as he rolled up one of his sleeves and stared at the water balloons. "I'm gonna get one of these things for you. Which one do I go for?"
"Huh? Um...The orange one." I pointed out the one I thought looked the most similar to the one from my memory. "Y-You don't have to, though. It's not really..."
"No, I've got this." He dismissed my protests and focused on trying to get the balloon I'd pointed to.
I wasn't really sure what to do, so I ended up just watching him fail to get it at least twenty times. Then, he suddenly managed to get two and handed the orange one to me while holding the grey one and grinning proudly.
"I told you I'd get it."
"Thanks..." I smiled softly as I looked down at the yo-yo in my hands and then looked up to him as I began bouncing it up and down by the string in one hand while the other went to rub the back of my neck while I laughed sheepishly. "This is actually...A bit more fun than I thought my first date would be...Seriously, Yosuke. Thank you."
His eyes widened slightly for a second before he looked away, seeming flustered all of a sudden. "N-No problem."
"I-I agreed because I wanted to pay you back for what I did, but...I feel like this was too much fun for me, s-so, um, I-I'm gonna work hard to dance for you." I said, nervous but holding up my hands in fists with my palms toward my chest in a determined pose, looking at him with an earnest desire to do my best despite my anxiety. "E-Even if it's really embarrassing, I'll definitely do it as soon as I can."
"...Yeah." He smiled a bit at me, although his face was still a bit flushed. "Thanks for going along with me. I had fun too."
"O-Okay." I nodded and looked away as I felt like my heart was leaping into my throat, and then began to laugh nervously. "S-So, uh, I guess this would be the part where you walk me home, b-but...That's not really possible here, is it...? Haha..."
"O-Oh, right! Uh...Sh-Should I just walk you to where I found you before? The rest area, I mean...?"
"Y-Yeah, I guess that works..." I muttered and then we began to awkwardly walk together back that way. As I began to relax, a thought occurred to me and I began to snicker quietly to myself.
"Huh? What's so funny?"
"I-I was just thinking...None of the others interrupted when we were doing this stuff. We must've gotten lucky there." I answered, feeling more amused by that fact than I probably should've been.
"Hey, you're right..." He realized and began to glance around suspiciously. "You don't think they didn't interrupt because they were spying on us, do you...?"
"I haven't heard any of them, so if anyone was spying, they were either really quiet about it or by themselves..." I shrugged. "If someone like Yu-kun or Naoto-kun saw or heard us, we probably wouldn't have to worry, but...Then again, I wasn't really on guard so if someone was spying, they probably could've slipped past me with the noise the NPCs are making..."
"Yeah, well, I'm just gonna hope no one was watching or listening to us. If they were, I'd probably never hear the end of it." Yosuke sighed, then put on a mocking voice. ""Oh, Yosuke-kun, you're actually capable of being a romantic! "I'll get a water balloon for you, Kyoka!" Aww, so sweet!""
I began to laugh at that impression of what I assumed was supposed to be Yukiko or Chie making fun of him. "Oh, c'mon, you think you're the only one they'd tease? "Oh, Kyoka-chan, you got a date with that guy and said, "I'll definitely work hard to dance for you, Yosuke!" Aww, you won't even dance for us girls!"" I mocked Rise's voice and Yosuke began to snicker with me.
"Okay, we'll both never live it down if the others hear us say stuff like that." Yosuke agreed as we began to calm down, then suddenly changed the subject. "Hey, by the way, you never told me what kind of dance it was that you did."
"Th-That's...Well, um...I-It's belly dancing..." I mumbled, fidgeting a bit with embarrassment as I didn't look at him.
"Belly dancing...?"
"I-It's foreign. Th-The style I tend to lean toward is tribal fusion that I think originated from America, b-but the more traditional ones are Egyptian and Turkish. My teacher learned Egyptian style first, I think, so her style is a bit more, um...Rigid...? I think that's a word for it...A-Anyway, my style is a bit more suited to different types of music because it borrows a little from other kinds of dances so it's more varied..." I rambled a bit in my nervous explanation, but still couldn't look to see what kind of face he was making.
"...I don't really get it, but maybe you can explain it to me when we get back." He shrugged and offered me an encouraging smile as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm kinda curious, since you seem so into it..."
"O-Okay...It'd probably be easier to show you with videos on the internet than explaining, anyway, b-but..." I looked away, feeling my face burning with embarrassment. "I-It's not really...How do I put it...? Modest...? By Japanese dance standards, anyway. I guess..."
"R-Really...?" His voice went up a little in pitch and he cleared his throat awkwardly. "S-So, uh, why'd you start doing it?"
"My teacher showed me a video of a belly dancer when I was a kid struggling with the traditional dancing my mother put me in and, well, I just kinda got entranced by it. I quit the classes a bit after that, but later, I remembered the foreign dance Tanabachi-sensei showed me that time and looked it up myself. I learned the basics from watching videos and reading books or articles in english on it, but I only really started to do it more seriously when I got stuck in the TV world..."
"Huh? You mean when you went missing?"
I nodded slowly. "Dancing...was probably one of the only things that kept me from becoming more Shadow than human when I was in there...At least, that's what I think."
"...It must really mean a lot to you."
"Heeey! Yosuke, Kyoka!" Chie called out from behind us before I could respond to him and we both turned to see her and some of the others. "Wanna come with us to get something to eat?"
I exchanged a look with Yosuke before shrugging and he sighed as we turned around to walk over to them and go along with them to concession alley.
"What were you two doing?" Yukiko asked curiously.
"Yo-yo fishing." I said, holding up my water balloon with a grin.
"Wow, did you catch that, Kyoka?" Chie seemed impressed.
"Nope. Yosuke did." I answered.
"No way." She looked at him in shock, but he just glared half-heartedly back at her.
"Hey, I don't fail at everything all the time!" He defended.
"Yeah, yeah." Chie dismissed him with a wave of her hand and turned back to me. "Anyway, did you really buy Kanji-kun ice cream until he got sick, Kyoka?"
"That was his own fault for not knowing his limits." I shrugged, although I felt like my face may have coloured just a little with embarrassment thinking about what I had done that for.
"Really? Why, did you lose a bet or something?"
"Kanji-kun wouldn't tell us anything about why you bought him so much ice cream." Yukiko added, seeming curious as well.
"Th-That's a secret." I replied, which just made them more suspicious.
"Huh...? Now I'm even more curious!" Chie complained.
"I wonder what happened between Kyoka and Kanji-kun..." Yukiko mumbled, looking a bit let down.
"Nope. Not telling." I refused stubbornly and they dropped it by the time we got our food and sat down.
It wasn't too long after eating before Yu gathered everyone up to go back into the labyrinth and continue on. After heading back to where we left off and moving forward through a door, we had to maneuver around some FOEs and through another door. Then, we headed through another one and gathered materials from a Power Spot and then across a moving walkway to reach one of those cog warp things. After activating a shortcut near it, we headed over to the Selection Room door.
"Oh, we're here! It's that question room!" Rei said.
"Hey, you're right." Yosuke responded. "We've been through a lot of these...Maybe this really is the last one."
"Ah, one moment, please!" Fuuka spoke up. "Up ahead...I mean, just a little further on...I'm sensing something very bad there!"
"...But I don't see another way through besides this one." Yosuke pointed out to her, looking at Yu's map.
"Oh...I see. Well, if you have to go through, please be careful! There might be a guardian inside!"
"A guardian..." Rei repeated a bit anxiously.
"...There's no knowing what might await us, so let's prepare ourselves before going in." Zen said to Yu, who nodded to him.
"Oh, I just remembered! I have a message from Elizabeth!" Rise spoke up. "She said something about requests with time limits that haven't been completed yet. If you're coming back to make some preparations, you should go check the requests, too!"
Yu decided to go back on his own for a moment, telling us to stay put until he got back, then when he did come back, he led us back to the third stop, to a room that had been empty before. Turns out, Elizabeth wanted to have a bout with him, so that was where she said she wanted to have it. Yu decided to take Yosuke, Yukiko, Chie, and I with him to fight her, since the limit of people to fight her was five. Even if five on one sounded a bit unfair, I got the feeling Elizabeth or any other Velvet Room resident could probably take whatever we dished out...
"What is this power...? It feels really dangerous..." Rise said as we stood outside the door.
"Elizabeth seems strong...Please try not to get hurt." Fuuka added. "Oh, but I guess you could have her treat you if that happens. She does run the Nurse's Office, after all."
"Isn't that kind of...um...What is it they say about interests...?" Rise asked.
"Um...It's in her best interests?" Fuuka replied uncertainly.
"It's a 'conflict of interests'." Yu corrected.
"Oh, that's it! Yeah, that makes way more sense!" Rise agreed.
"Haha, whoops. I got it wrong." Fuuka replied lightly. "Well, now that's been cleared up, shall we fight Elizabeth?"
"Let's go inside." Yu nodded.
"I've been waiting for you." Elizabeth greeted us when we entered. "I've been so engrossed in my research that my joints have gotten all stiff. I can hear my bones cracking. To start off, I will fight you as if I'm warming up."
"Miss...Why do we have to fight?" Teddie asked.
"Teddie...The answer is simple. Perhaps because this isn't Tartarus or the TV world, but you're all rather...Somewhat...Pretty...Absolutely, still on the path of growing stronger."
"Hrm?"
"You're weak. Very. Extremely. To the point that I have to do a double take."
"Oh my!"
"That is why I'm overstepping my bounds to "do you a solid". Please come at me with the best you have as of this moment."
"Grrrr! This lady isn't nice! We gotta teach her a lesson! Don't hold anything back, okay!?"
"Well then...here goes. Your fate is in the cards. This Persona and I shall be your opponents for this battle. Please demonstrate your power to me. I demand satisfaction."
"Go, everyone!" Fuuka cheered us on as we prepared ourselves to attack.
Yu followed a pretty simple strategy when facing new opponents, so it wasn't difficult to predict what he'd do. First we tried all types of just physical attacks, then we tried every kind of magic attack, and finally if we didn't find any weaknesses, we just did whatever attack we had that was strongest against the opponent. Elizabeth either hit us with her book or else was using a Persona that seemed to be more physical moves than magic.
"Is this the extent of your power? Dainty though I am, I do have some knowledge of rough play. There is no need to hold back. Please approach me with the intent to kill." Elizabeth picked up on our slight hesitation to really hurt her rather easily and called us out on it.
Yu got more serious, so we all did too and began to hit her harder.
"Oh...? For a brief instant, I felt as if I saw an oasis in the desert. However, the battle is not yet over. Take care not to exhaust yourself..." Elizabeth said and seemed to get a little bit more serious as well, although it was quite obvious she was still holding back.
I was following Yu's orders while in Shadow form, but I gotta say, the Persona Elizabeth was using hit pretty damn hard even though she wasn't being serious. Still, we seemed to be making a dent in her HP at least.
"Hmhm...That is more like it. I shall shift into the corresponding gear. I hope that you enjoy this battle to its very end." She seemed happy to be getting worn out.
I ran out of energy so I couldn't use any more magic and shifted back to my human form to attack her with my naginata more effectively. Although she got me with a Hamon and Yukiko had to use magic to revive me. It wasn't too long after that before we actually defeated her.
"Whew...Well done." She didn't seem all that fazed though. "I have indeed sensed the latent power within you. It seems you still have quite a ways left to grow...I'm relieved to learn this. Your reward will be given to you in the Nurse's Office. Now then, I'll go on ahead...Bamf!" In a white light, she disappeared.
Considering we were exhausted from the fight, Yu used a Goho-M and we went to the Nurse's Office to recover before heading back into the labyrinth to go to the last Selection Room door. In return for the fight, Yu got an item that made it possible to fuse a new Persona, but whether or not it was worth it, I wasn't sure. Either way, we had to move on.
Inside the Selection Room, there was a small blue bear touching noses with a large pink kinda scary looking bear bride, so it was probably the last room. Though there was no guardian inside this room and I didn't see another door or anything at first glance.
"After overcoming countless hardships, you have at last reached the final room." The mechanical voice spoke. "You await the final question with sweaty palms, but before that, there is something that must be done. Yes...It's time to review your choices thus far." It then proceeded to go over the questions it asked and the answers Yu had given up until this point before continuing. "And so, laugh or cry, here comes the last question. You can answer it if you wish, or elect to not answer it. What kind of girl makes your heart skip a beat?"
"Overwhelming intellect." Yu responded.
"I don't know what to say. Er..." Naoto muttered.
"You have summoned your will and selected an answer." The mechanical voice said. "This concludes the questioning. There are no correct answers, only the path you have chosen. Well then...the time has come to announce your destined partner."
"Finally, eh? I'm looking forward to this." Minato looked interested.
"Someone sure is acting carefree, since this doesn't involve them..." Yukari commented.
"Quiet. Don't let your guard down..." Mitsuru chided and then the lights dimmed and spotlights began to move around our group.
"Your destined partner is...lo and behold..." The voice said and then suddenly the spotlights stopped and Naoto and Yu were standing next to each other in front of us.
"Eh? M...Me? Goodness, er...This is unexpected. Wh-What should I do...? Waaah!" Naoto seemed embarrassed until they both suddenly fell because of some trap door opening under their feet.
"Wha-Hey!" I darted forward with some of the others, but the trap door had shut and wasn't opening.
"Wh-Where'd they go!?" Chie asked in a panic.
"They must've ended up on the next floor down. Look for the stairs!" Minato ordered and we all spread out to find the stairs while Kanji was still trying to get the trap door to open.
It probably took at least five minutes for us to find the stairs and rush down them to a weird place with sunshine and rainbows and a weird photochopped wedding picture of Naoto and Yu standing in the middle of the path with heart shaped arches. We rushed past it despite some of our shock at what was going on and headed for the only door we could see.
"Senpai, look out! This is impossible for just the two of you!" Rise seemed to get through on the comms to them just then.
Kanji threw open the church doors to crash the supposed wedding and Naoto and Yu let go of each others' hands. "Uh-W-Wait! Y-You guys...! Um, uh this marriage is, uh...W-We're cancellin' the congratulations, dammit!"
"Don't got time for that!" I pointed out the freaky Shadow priest thing with four arms riding on a floating coffin.
"Time to say your vows..." The "Merciful Clergyman" said.
"A priest...?" Rei asked in surprise.
"Time to say your vows!" It repeated. "In sickness? Splendid! In health? Maaaagnificient! Prepare to meet your maker, for now you shall die!"
"...! No, don't come near me!" Rei seemed terrified.
"That must be the guardian of this labyrinth!" Fuuka said as we got ready to fight the thing.
"Rather twisted version of a clergyman, isn't it?" Naoto asked, holding her gun ready next to me.
"I'm not really sure what this whole "vows" issue is, but dude's definitely not right." I answered her, readying my naginata and waiting for Yu's orders.
As we fought the thing, there became some patterns to what the "vows" meant. When he said "Vow to me that you won't strike!" And there was a red coffin floating around him with some brown ones, we couldn't attack normally or we'd get hurt. When it was "Vow to me that you won't use skills!" with a yellow coffin we couldn't use our skill attacks, and when it was "Vow to me that you won't use items!" with a green coffin, we couldn't use any items. When he said "Vow to me that you won't be bossy!" with a blue coffin, Yu couldn't ask our support for help.
"Little sheep who flout God! I'll make you take your vows!" It said when we had made a dent in its health, and then later said, "Men! Women! Amen! You do not believe in the word of God? That is a SIN! Lost sheep, I tie you up! More vows! More penance!" And then, when we got it pretty low on health, it said, "Did you hear the voice of God!? Believe and you will be saved! If not, the sin is thine! It's too early to go to His side! Mercy is a virtue! Welcome the salvation of agape!"
Then, while he was apparently desperate, he no longer told us what we were vowing just said, "Just vow to me all manner of things!" and we had to remember what colour coffin meant what. Thankfully our leader and vice leader were keeping track and calling out orders reliably. Shortly after that, we managed to defeat the guardian and it disappeared.
"Oh, just as we thought...A chest." Yukiko noticed as we approached the chest at the back of the room that the chains fell off of when the guardian went down.
"I will open it." Zen stepped forward.
"Zen...No!" Rei seemed scared, but Zen went ahead and opened it anyway.
He then turned around and showed us a ring with a large red stone.
"Don't touch that!" Rei ran forward and slapped it out of his hand. Then, the bell began to ring. When it stopped, Rei seemed really anxious. "Ah...Sorry...I'm sorry, Zen..."
"...It's all right. I'm as confused as you are." Zen reassured her and picked up the ring again.
"Is that...a toy ring? Like the ones they sell at fairs?" Chie asked.
"Ooh, yeah. That's what it looks like." I nodded, looking at it more closely.
"I had one back in the day. It made me feel like a princess, and that was my royal heirloom." Yukiko said nostalgically.
"So, Zen. Is anything coming back for you yet?" Shinjiro asked.
"Yes...I was searching for something in this world...It was because Rei cried..." Zen answered, closing his eyes. "But I couldn't find it...Rei. I think this ring is yours."
"I don't know..." Rei said uncertainly.
"Then why did you tell me not to touch it?" Zen asked.
"I don't know...I just thought that you shouldn't..."
"That stuffed rabbit we found in the previous labyrinth...That was also Rei's. Why are her things in the depths of the labyrinths...?"
"Zen...I hate you, Zen!" Rei seemed really upset.
"Hate...? Me?"
"It's...It's all your fault! I-I don't care about you anymore!" She cried.
"Rei...Don't cry. I'm sorry, it's my fault."
"Are we kinda...intruding here?" Yukari asked awkwardly.
"This cruelty is trying on us single people! I do have a space open right here, you know?" Teddie replied to her.
"It'll be open forever." Yukari responded bluntly.
"Hngh..."
"Well done, everyone! When you get back, please come to the Velvet Room!" Fuuka spoke up. "Another lock is about to come off!"
"It is...?" Mitsuru asked. "Then our hypothesis was correct..."
After that, we headed back and went to the Velvet Room. One of the locks disappeared, leaving only two.
"As soon as that bell rang earlier, the lock started rattling!" Rise said.
"Hmm...There seems to indeed be a correlation between the labyrinths and the locks. If we defeat the remaining two guardians and take what they are protecting, these doors will open..." Naoto replied.
"It's clear that these doors are connected to the real world from which you all hail." Margaret stated. "We looked into them, and we don't sense the presence of Shadows beyond these doors...From one of the doors, I detect the familiar air of the world I know well. And from the other, Elizabeth and Theo say they feel something similar..."
"Two left...That means we're halfway through." Minato said.
"We might get through this sooner than we expected." Akihiko commented.
"Only halfway?" Yu muttered.
"Huh, I wouldn't have figured you to be so spineless. Well, at least there seems to be no reason to rush this. We'll be fine if we stay properly prepared."
"Fuuka-chan and I scouted out the next labyrinth." Rise spoke up. "The display's called the "Evil Spirit Club", but it's being held in the second-year class 4 homeroom..."
"Second-year class 4? I thought each year at Yasogami High only went up to class 3." Yukiko said in confusion.
"Yeah...It's weird." Rise agreed.
""Evil Spirit Club"...? That name's already a huge red flag for me..." Chie looked freaked out.
"...What, you're scared? What happened to those kung fu skills?" Shinjiro asked.
"Wha-I can't believe you're making fun of me! Fine, I'll smash those ghosts with my kicks!"
"Does that work...?" Ken asked.
"Shh, let her believe it for now." I told him, holding back a snicker.
"Well then, everyone. Please be careful on your way." Margaret said, wrapping up our meeting.
When we split up, Rei asked if we could spend some time together, so I ended up going with her to get takoyaki, although she seemed less eager to eat at the moment than she usually was. Zen also didn't come with us, so it was just us two and I wasn't really sure what to do.
"Um...H-Hey, can I call you Rei?" I asked out of nowhere and she jumped a little before nodding to me.
"M-Mm-hm. I don't mind."
"Okay, then, Rei, how do you feel about music?"
"Music...?" She looked at me in confusion.
"Do you wanna come with me to listen to some? The music club plays a show and I was gonna go there to try and pick a good song to dance to..."
"D-Dance...?" She seemed to lighten up a bit with curiosity and nodded. "O-Okay! I want to come!"
So, when we finished eating, we headed over to the music club and listened to the music they played for a bit. At first Rei seemed unsure of what to do and we sat off to the side of the crowd of NPC students, but I couldn't think of anything to do to cheer her up but to get up and invite her to dance with me. It wasn't belly dancing, more like the kind of unorganized, unplanned random dancing you did when you just wanted to have fun. She was hesitant at first, but within half an hour, we were both shouting the lyrics to some of the songs that replayed at the top of our lungs while laughing and more or less jumping around together with the crowd. My throat got sore and my feet hurt, but it was fun and Rei looked like her spirits had lifted a bit by the time we got too tired and went to get something to drink together.
"Wow, I didn't know singing and dancing like that would be so fun!" Rei beamed at me while holding the cool canned drink I had gotten for her against her cheek. "Thanks, Kyo! It was as fun as eating a gigantic parfait!"
"Let's do it again sometime." I laughed a bit at her excitement coming back and smiled with relief at her before taking a sip of my own soda and looking down at it thoughtfully. "You know, when I was having a hard time, just dancing was really helpful to clear my head for a bit...So, um, I'm not great at talking and I probably can't say the right things to make you feel better, and I don't want to pry or anything, but, Rei, if you ever need someone to just dance and have fun with to lift your spirits a bit when you're down...I'll be here. A-And if you wanna talk, I'm definitely here to listen too, so..." My voice became a bit nervous toward the end as I didn't know how she'd react.
"Kyo..." She suddenly put her hands over mine and I looked to see her eyes seemed to be watering, but she was smiling a little. "Thank you...! I'm glad we got to be friends...!"
"M-Me too..." I responded, a bit shocked, but more because there was this kind of pain and sadness in her expression that I couldn't understand. Right then, I got the feeling she was hiding something from everyone, but I knew better than to call her out on it. After all, it was a kind of familiar sense of bittersweetness that I could relate to in a way. When I made friends and knew that I still intended to one day leave them in a hurtful way, that's the feeling I was reminded of looking at the hints in her face right then. But, for some reason, more than anything else...I wanted to see Rei be truly happy.
"Then...Let's go get some taiyaki now!" Rei cheered, lifting her soda high into the air and smiling.
"Yeah, sure." I returned her smile and we headed over to get more food. Even though it was mostly her eating since I was pretty full from the takoyaki still.
After Rei decided to go with Yukiko and Chie to a movie, I headed back over to the music club's performance and attempted to work out which song would be best for a belly dance and then having to count out the beats and trying to test how well I could do certain moves to it. It wasn't exactly easy, since I couldn't pause or restart the songs and had to wait for them to be played again, so I got the brilliant idea of using that recording feature on my phone I never used. The quality wasn't great, but at least I could go somewhere quieter and attempt to work at my own pace on the dance. Though, I did have four songs picked out and eliminating three of them was kind of a must before I could seriously work on any choreography. I mean, I didn't want to improv and screw the whole thing up by half-assing it, so I had to work out a routine and practice beforehand. It was kinda difficult to tell if my dances flowed well with any of the songs without a way to see them or someone to tell me, though. I ended up searching for a mirror to use, but the best I could do was a tall skinny one in a storage closet. It supposedly belonged to the sewing club, but they obviously weren't using it, so I did. Watching myself dance in a mirror is still a bit weird to me, even after dancing at a proper studio that's basically nothing but mirrors, but it makes it a lot easier to see what flows better with the music I was using. It wasn't traditional music, and I couldn't find any with similar drum patterns to the stuff Tanabachi used, so I had to make do. I also was having trouble making a proper dance once I actually picked a song. I guess it didn't help that I felt sick every time I thought about it being a performance. I was more of an improv dancer than making choreography, so every time I tried to get a fixed routine down, I ended up forgetting what I did before or changing it in the middle or screwing it up completely because I didn't step the same way...Eventually, I gave up and just let myself flow to the music for a bit. After my frustration began to die down, I incorporated some of the improv stuff I did almost consistently. Then things began to flow better.
"Kyoka." A voice suddenly made me jump, stop dead in the middle of my dance and spin around to see Yu standing in the doorway.
"Wh-What?" I asked him nervously, but he had the same blank expression he always did.
"Here." He held out a naginata to me and I hesitantly walked over to take it from him. "Theo made it with some rare material I found earlier."
"Oh...Okay." I stepped away from him to swing it a few times before nodding. "It feels nice. Thank Theodore-san for me."
Yu nodded, but didn't leave and continued to lean in the doorway as I set the naginata aside and picked up my phone to stop the music.
"...What else?" I asked him after a bit of silence and he stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.
"Do you...Think Naoto likes Kanji at all?" He seemed hesitant for once and by the time he finished the question, I couldn't help but blanch a little.
"What? I don't know...Why-Wait. Yu-kun...Do you actually...?" I stared at him in surprise, but he just nodded a bit in response and his eyes shifted away from me. "H-Hold on, let me get this straight...You like Naoto-kun...!?"
"...Is that bad?" He actually looked a bit conflicted about it. "I mean, Kanji..."
"I-I have no idea..." I sighed, shaking my head at him as I got over my shock at this news and sat down on the floor, motioning for him to sit with me. "I mean, it's not like you can help who you like, but...Huh. To be honest, I don't really think Naoto-kun thinks of Kanji-kun that way, though. She doesn't seem very interested in dating in general, so..."
"Yeah..." He sighed, seeming to deflate a little.
"Hey, uh, why're you talking to me about this kinda stuff anyway? Can't you like, talk to Yosuke or something...?"
Yu shrugged. "You know Naoto better than him."
"Huh...? W-Well, even if that's true, I really can't tell you how she feels or anything...And I'm definitely not asking for you."
"I wasn't asking you to." He shook his head and gave me a faint smile before looking downward thoughtfully. "I guess...Ever since what happened in the labyrinth, I've been thinking about it. Naoto's...Really cute..." I could've sworn he had turned just a bit pink in the face for a second there, but I blinked and it was gone.
"Wow. Yu-kun, I'm kinda surprised." I gave a small, disbelieving laugh at his rare break in character. "To be honest, I thought you maybe liked Yukiko, or none of the girls at all...But you and Naoto-kun, huh...?" I smiled a bit thinking about it. I actually thought it was a good match, but I decided not to say anything like that.
"Chie and Yukiko are great, but...I never thought of them that way." Yu told me rather bluntly and I felt a bit bad for the two, but had no intention of breaking the news to them. This was a private conversation between Yu and I, after all. He then added with the tiniest grimace, "Rise is...Well, not really my type..."
"So, was it just when that whole destined partner thing happened that you started liking her or...?"
"No, I was interested in her since...Since we ran into her at Kanji's shop..." He admitted slowly.
"Wait, you mean when everyone still thought she was a guy?"
He nodded a bit. "I thought it was more of a interest in the mysterious guy getting involved in the case, but...After she joined the Investigation Team and we started to talk, I noticed that my interest hadn't died when the mystery was solved...It grew."
"I...Don't really get it, but uh, you've never really liked anyone before, have you?" I asked him a bit awkwardly and he gave me a blank look before shaking his head a bit. "Yeah, I think it's kinda hard to understand at first unless something happens..." I sighed with exasperation at the thought of how I realized I liked Yosuke, but then shook it off and offered Yu a smile. "Well then, I'll be cheering for you!"
"What about Kanji...?" He looked a bit conflicted.
"I know this might sound a bit harsh, but...I honestly think that won't go anywhere." I sighed and resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I thought about Kanji's situation. "I mean, Kanji-kun denies it a lot, but he doesn't do anything about his feelings either. I don't even know if he truly likes her or if it's one of those things where if a person shows interest in you when everyone else wants nothing to do with you, you kinda get attached easily...And that isn't always a good thing if it makes you so conflicted like it does for him."
"...So, you're saying you don't want Kanji and Naoto to get together." Yu said it more as a statement than a question, but I shrugged and nodded anyway.
"It's none of my business, though. And if I have to chose between you and Kanji-kun for Naoto-kun, I'd say you'd probably have the better relationship. Not that I'm an expert, but that's my opinion, so I'll cheer for you in this case. If Kanji-kun starts liking someone else that I think would turn out better, I'll cheer for him then, but I honestly don't think he should end up with Naoto-kun. But that's an outsider's opinion. If he actually got the courage to confess to her, I'd be surprised, but at the end of the day, it's her choice. Though, he might get rejected...Hell, I don't think Naoto-kun even wants a relationship at all, but she's gotta be thinking about the fact you two were branded "destined partners" like you are right now, right? I mean, anyone would think about that after...Right?"
Yu nodded a bit in agreement. "...Thanks, Kyoka."
"For what? I was just airing out my bias this whole time." I replied lightly and smiled back at him when he gave me a faint one in response.
"Hey, did you and Yosuke work things out?" He changed the subject suddenly and I couldn't help but feel flustered at the mention of it. It probably showed on my face, since he smirked a bit at me as he waited for a reply.
"Y-Yeah. Everything's fine!"
"Really? Does that mean you're together now?"
"N-No..." I answered a bit reluctantly, looking down at my hands and sighing. "I mean, I c-confessed to him, but I didn't ask for an answer and said I'd do it properly later, s-so...Um..."
"It's complicated?" Yu guessed and I sighed and nodded a little reluctantly. "I'm sure he'll be considering it seriously now."
"Yeah, but...I-I mean, it's still kinda...What's the word...? Uneasy? I don't know. It's weird not to know what he thinks when he knows what I think, y'know? It's like...I wanna wait, but I also wanna just say screw it and get it over with if it's gonna be a rejection..."
"...I probably shouldn't say anything, but...Yosuke's been in denial about the hints you've dropped for a while. I think it's probably a good thing you told him straight out about your feelings." Yu said slowly, as if choosing his words carefully.
"...I have been dropping hints, haven't I?" I whined, feeling embarrassment rush up on me at the thought and burying my face in my hands. "Ugh...Most of it was unintended, but still...It's really embarrassing...! And that really just makes it harder to dance for him now, too...! Gaah, what am I gonna do?!"
"Dance...?" Yu repeated and I froze, realizing I had said that out loud a little too late.
"...Nothing we said today leaves this room." I told him as seriously as I could with my face burning, and stuck out my pinky to him. "You've gotta promise me."
Yu raised his eyebrows at me, but then nodded and hooked his pinky with mine to shake before I sighed and answered him.
"So, uh, context...You remember that time at the club on the school trip when I freaked out and Yosuke chased after me?" I asked and he nodded a bit. "I kinda...Well, I wasn't really mentally stable at the time, but I kinda f-forced a kiss on him...And then I forgot after and only remembered back when you guys had that group date and he talked about it."
"...Ohh." A look of realization crossed Yu's face and he nodded. "So, what does that have to do with dancing?"
"Um, so, when I apologized I offered to make it up to him and, long story short, he asked if he could see me dance. I've got a thing about performing in front of people, but I agreed to it because, I mean, I want to repay him for putting up with all that stuff. But I didn't want to half-ass it...S-So, that thing I made you draw is gonna be my improvised costume and I picked out a song and I started working on the moves and everything, b-but...I have no idea if I'm even going to be able to go through with it when he's watching. I-I mean, this kind of dance can be taken a really, uh...A really weird way, I guess...S-So it's really embarrassing, y'know?"
"So that's what you were doing in here." Yu stated blankly, then offered a small smile and put a hand on top of my head. "Don't worry. I know you can do it, Kyoka."
"...Easy for you to say, Mr I-Have-Three-Emotions-I'll-Show-On-My-Face-At-Any-Given-Time." I crossed my arms and half-heartedly glared at him for only a second before I began to snicker with my joking tone. "I mean thanks, but seriously, I have no idea how you just go along with anything and everything. You weren't even that upset about the cross-dressing thing."
"Hey, I looked good as a girl." He defended and I laughed a bit more.
"Yeah, sure. I thought you looked like a good female delinquent, but...Teddie really had you all beat in the end."
"Yeah...Who knew he'd make a really cute girl...?" Yu sighed, although he chuckled a little as well.
"Well, anyway, thanks for the talk." I said when I calmed down.
"No problem. I'll be cheering for you, too, cuz." Yu smirked a bit as I felt myself get flustered again.
"Th-Then, I hope everything works out for both of us."
"Yeah."
After that, Yu left me to my dancing, saying that we'd probably head over to the next labyrinth soon. He said something about a quest for Elizabeth being to take down an FOE in the Group Date Cafe, but I didn't feel up to going back in there and turned that offer down. I had had enough of the pink for the time being.