"First time on the talk show circuit, huh?" the idol asked the younger woman in the green room while waiting to be called onto the set.

"Y-You can tell?" the star-struck model replied with wide-eyed surprise.

"You do this as long as I have, you can sense nerves a mile away. You see it a lot with up-and-comers like yourself. Plus, I have a natural affinity for reading people."

"Rise-san!"

"Huh? What is it, Yukari-san?"

Yukari Takeba gave Rise Kujikawa a meaningful look that Ann couldn't quite identify. The older actress' face turned red, as if embarrassed to be put on the spot, but Ann wasn't sure that was it. If anything, Ann got the impression that Takeba-san had misinterpreted what Kujikawa-san was saying, but now realised that she had been reading too much into it. Ann had seen such exchanges happen enough times in Phantom Thief discussions to be able to spot such instances, but what Takeba-san had thought was being said eluded Ann. She didn't even know the two stars knew each other before now.

"You weren't so different yourself the first time we were on a show together, Rise-chan," the fourth guest chimed in, saving Takeba-san, intentionally or otherwise.

"L-Lisa-senpai! Stop!"

"Only if you agree to stop calling me 'Senpai'," the other blonde, who insisted on being referred to by her given name, said with a teasing smile. "I've not been in the idol industry for years now."

"Oh, yeah, you've got that fitness show now, huh?"

"That's right. I hope you've been watching, Rise-chan."

"I, uh... I've been super busy with, uh... with my new album and..."

"Wow. And they say my acting is bad," Ann whispered to herself a little louder than she'd intended.

"What!? My acting isn't bad!" Kujikawa-san seemed to take great offence to Ann's words.

"I-I'm sorry!" Ann exclaimed quickly, bowing as best she could in her seat.

"Oh, don't worry about her, Takamaki-chan," Lisa-san said with a casual wave of her hand. "Rise-chan's just a big ol' crybaby. Isn't that right, Rise-chan?"

"I... I'm not a baby..." Kujikawa-san's eyes were definitely getting wetter. Either she was a better actress than Ann had given her credit for, or she really was about to cry.

"Alright, let's stop picking on the poor girl," Takeba-san said with a tired sigh, opting to be the mature one. She almost reminded Ann of Ms. Kawakami, in a weird way. "Rise-san is a fine actress and she's entitled to cry when she's being bullied by her senpai. But to get back on-topic, how are you feeling, Takamaki-san?"

"Uh, mostly fine. This isn't the first time I've had the spotlight on me. Plus, I've seen a couple of these shows taped, and I doubt it can be as embarrassing as that Alice Hiiragi interview back in July."

"You were there for that?" Lisa-san asked with great interest.

"Uh, yeah. My agency got me and a friend in. It was pretty shocking, seeing the guy just drop to his knees and profess his love for Alice like that. It probably would've seemed like a publicity stunt if not for all that change of heart stuff last year. I guess it worked out for him that there was already a precedence for it, huh?"

"I guess you and Rise-chan have that in common then."

"Have what in common?" the idol and the model asked in unison.

"That serial murder case in your hometown right around the time you had your first hiatus," Lisa-san clarified. "There was something unnatural about the way those people were killed too, right?"

"Well... yeah. I guess." Kujikawa-san exchanged an odd look with Takeba-san that suggested to Ann that both knew more about these mysterious deaths than they were letting on. While she was tempted to acknowledge this, she doubted she could lie convincingly enough to assuage them if the subject shifted to the Phantom Thieves or changes of heart. Ryuji had made that fact quite clear many times. Of course, Kujikawa-san didn't help matters when she redirected the conversation back towards Ann. "Actually, didn't the principal of your school die mysteriously too, Takamaki-san?"

Ann didn't get the impression that Kujikawa-san really wanted to discuss this; more that she didn't want to discuss the murders in her hometown and opted to use the opportunity to segue away from herself. Ann had to admit, she might have done the same if she was in her position. Still, it made Ann want to turn the tables on the idol somehow.

"Uh, yeah. It was one of those mental shutdowns, apparently."

"And wasn't he helping to cover up that other teacher's abuse of the students?" Lisa-san chimed in.

It was difficult enough for Ann to discuss Kamoshida with her friends who knew all the details of how she and Shiho and all the others had suffered under the former teacher's abuse, let alone with strangers. Especially in the time since the group had gone after Hikaru Arihara and found his shadow self capable of manipulating her and her female teammates to an even more extreme degree than Kamoshida ever could, which had seriously hurt Ann's resolve for a while. If not for Joker's unnatural way with words, she might have been left thinking she hadn't changed at all since joining the group.

These concerns seemed to be evident in Ann's expression, because Takeba-san said, "You're overwhelming the poor girl! Put yourself in her shoes." Takeba-san, again, steered the conversation in a way that saved Ann, whether she realised it or not. "

"Yeah, you're right," Lisa-san relented. "Sorry about that, Takamaki-chan."

"Sorry, Takamaki-san," Kujikawa-san said, looking like she might start crying again.

"I-It's okay," Ann responded. "Really. I'm used to it, being part-foreign and all."

"Tell me about it," Lisa-san said more brightly, rolling her eyes in understanding. "I'm American by birth, but I was raised here in Japan. I couldn't even speak much English until years after I finished school. But because I was the blonde white girl, everyone expected me to be fluent in both languages."

"I'm only quarter-American myself, but my parents always pushed for me to be fluent in both languages."

"And are you?"

"Luckily, yeah."

"I'm so glad for you," Lisa-san said with a bright, genuine smile.

"Of course, that doesn't make high school smooth sailing. Finding someone who'll give you a chance to introduce them to the real you before making superficial judgments about you is still super rare. And after a while, people lose interest in learning more about the foreign transfer student and start using assumptions to fill in the gaps."

Kujikawa-san placed a hand on Ann's shoulder. "I know the feeling. I got a lot of attention when I first moved back to Inaba back in high school. I imagine the intrigue surrounding a beautiful foreign transfer student can feel like that surrounding a celebrity transfer at times."

"B-Beautiful...?"

"Ugh." Takeba-san cringed and rolled her eyes.

"Huh? What's up, Yukari-san?"

"Oh, I'm just remembering my own high school life. My class had three transfer students in our second year alone. Three!"

"That sounds... excessive," Ann commented, glad that her own class had had just the one transfer. And that it had been such an incredible person at that.

"Tell me about it. And of course, all three were attractive, so the rest of the class talked about little else besides them for weeks after they transferred."

"I think that would've happened at Yasogami too," Rise-san chimed in, "if so many people weren't disappointed after meeting me and realising I'm not the same person I am on TV."

"That sucks!" Ann blurted out.

"Huh? Takamaki-san?"

"It's not fair that people make up their own expectations for someone they've never met, then get upset when those expectations aren't met by the real person. I hate people like that!"

Kujikawa-san smirked, then struggled to supress a laugh. Ann had seen interviews with the idol before, and this was definitely different from the polite, manufactured laugh she used there. Ann then realised that the idol was laughing at her outburst and her cheeks turned Panther-red.

"I'm sorry!" Kujikawa-san said through her laughter. "It's just, a friend of mine back in Inaba once said something along those lines. Haaaah, it's nice to be reminded of her like that."

"You had a group of friends to help you through your problems too, huh?"

"I did!" Kujikawa-san beamed so genuinely, Ann feared it might blind her. She averted her eyes in the direction of Takeba-san and Lisa-san, both of whom were smiling nostalgically, as if reminiscing on similar, if seemingly a little more bittersweet, experiences of their own.

"I'm glad," Ann beamed back. "Everyone deserves a friend who sees the real them."

"That's so true. Most people are so worried about upsetting The Risette that they sugarcoat their opinions to placate me. It's always nice to meet someone who addresses me as Rise Kujikawa first."

"Is that not normal for you?"

"Back in Inaba, sure. But out here, it's pretty rare. I guess that's where you and Yukari-san are lucky. Your image isn't manufactured for optimal popularity. For the most part, you just get to be you."

"I can vouch for that," the former idol added with her hand raised as if in class.

"That may be true, but we all still need to watch what we say in public," Takeba-san countered with an air of seasoned wisdom. "These days, one slip-up can turn half the internet against you in a flash."

"That's true," Ann acknowledged. "But, if you're ever in need of someone to listen to the real you, you can always call me, Rise-san." The second the words finished leaving Ann's lips, she worried that she might have overstepped her boundaries. After all, here was a young woman who had been at the top of the idol world since Ann's age was still in the single digits, and now some girl came in and offered to be her confidant. How arrogant must they think she was?

"I'd like that, Takamaki-san."

"Wait... really?"

"I appreciate your frankness," the idol said with a genuine smile. We should be friends... Ann-san."

"O-Okay... R-Rise-san. Wow. I'm friends with a real cele- Sorry..."

Rather than being upset, Kujikawa-san chuckled in amusement. "No, I get it. Even some of my closest friends back in Inaba still struggle with that. As long as you can look past that superficial relationship, it's all good."

"Wow. I'm friends with a really cool girl."

Rise threw her head back and laughed. Her laughter was infectious, as the other two joined in. Ann felt more than a little self-conscious, but she joined in nonetheless.

"Any chance I can get in on this, Ann-chan?" Lisa-san asked.

"Sure! I'd love that!"

The three looked to Takeba-san to do the same. With a wry smile and a shrug of her shoulders, she said, "Okay, I want in on this too. Call me Yukari."

After another shared laugh between friends, Rise-san had a sudden idea: "Oh! I should totally get you three in my next video!"

"Ooh, that sounds cool!" Ann exclaimed.

"Right? As long as you don't think mid-thirties is too old to keep up."

"People who think like that suck, Lisa-senpai. And no, you can't complain about me calling you 'Senpai' because you'll be working in the industry again." Rise-san stuck her tongue out at the older woman, who could do nothing but sigh in mock exasperation.

"You got me there, my young kouhai."

"Yay! What about you, Yukari-san?"

"I'm not so sure-" the actress began, but was interrupted by Rise-san.

"You may be me senior, but I'm your senpai in the entertainment world. You gotta do what your senpai says!"

"That's right!" Lisa-san agreed enthusiastically.

"You sneaky little... Oh, fine. I'm in."

The other three cheered.

The four were called onto the set shortly thereafter. Rise-san's sudden announcement of the music video for 'Lovers' sent waves across social media for weeks to come.

Fun fact: Ann is the first Lovers party member to not canonically fall for her protag without the player's input.