"This is gonna be so much fun!" Rise squealed as she led Naoto into her bedroom. She had to stop briefly to remind her grandmother that Naoto was, in fact, a girl, but even that wasn't enough to dampen her spirits. With the door locked to avoid interruption, Rise began looking her friend over contemplatively.
Naoto had approached her friend after school to ask for her assistance in 'exploring her feminine side'. Even Naoto herself had expressed it with such quotation marks, the concept being about as alien to her as it was to Yosuke. Being the most fashion-conscious of their friendship group, Rise had seemed like the ideal choice to help Naoto dip her toes into exploring this hitherto ignored side of herself. In retrospect, the excitable young idol's approach may have been too much for Naoto to handle.
"Well, you do have a certain boyish charm... Makeup needs to be applied just right to avoid covering that up. Plus, it can feel kinda weird the first time you see yourself decked out with it, so let's stay away from the face for now. Maybe we should start with nail polish? I've got some nice colours that I think would suit you."
Naoto spared a moment to look over her fingernails, trying her best to imagine them painted any colour but their natural pinkish hue, but for all her keen intellect, the idea was just far too alien for her to imagine. She had almost entirely forgone makeup at the school festival's beauty pageant (not that she'd needed it to win by a landslide).
"Then, I'll be in your care, Rise-san," Naoto said with a bow.
"You're in good hands! Now, sit on the bed and take off your socks while I get my kit from the closet."
"Huh? W-Why the toes first?"
"Well, I thought you'd prefer to try somewhere you could easily cover it up if you start to have second thoughts after we've started. You don't wanna wear gloves in this weather, do you?"
"Well, I can't fault your logic, but... somehow... this seems more..." Naoto struggled to find the word to explain what exactly made this more difficult than starting with the fingers.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Rise dropped what could best be described as a toolbox onto the table in front of Naoto. Naoto could swear she could hear the wooden legs struggling to support the weight.
"I-Is this... all your makeup?"
"This? No, this one's just for my nail polish. The other three chests are still in the closet."
"Th-Three?"
"Uh-huh. I get free samples all the time. It doesn't happen as much since I started my break, but I still can't go more than a couple weeks without someone offering me something for free."
"That sounds... overwhelming, to say the least."
"Eh, sometimes. Most of the time, though, I just like the little shot of fame."
"I-I see."
"Ah, here it is. Hey! I told you to take your socks off! Chop-chop!"
The way Rise said that last part and clapped her hands reminded Naoto of one of her first encounters with the idol at Club Escapade back in September. Not wanting to incur the wrath of drunk Rise again, Naoto scrambled to do as she was told.
"There we go! Just let me warm up my hands so we can begin."
"Warm up?"
"My hands are a naturally quite cold. See?" She poked Naoto's foot, causing her to recoil. "Don't want that on your skin for a half hour, right?"
"Y-Yes. You're right."
"Geez, Naoto-kun. You really are clueless about this kinda stuff, huh?"
"I... I am ashamed to admit that I am."
"It's no big deal. We've all got things we don't know much about. But you're willing to learn. That's what matters."
"That sounds..."
"Unlike me, huh? Haha, yeah. Yu-senpai said that to me a while ago."
"..."
"'I see. Yes, that does sound more like something he would say than you.' Right?"
"I-I didn't mean... A-And I don't speak like..."
"Wow, this whole makeup thing has really thrown you for a loop, huh? You're normally so composed. You don't have to be nervous. We'll take this at your pace, Naoto-kun. So, you ready?"
After a brief pause to collect herself, Naoto replied. "Yes. I am ready."
"Great. Okay, let's do this!" With surprising swiftness, Rise grabbed Naoto's right foot and held it just loosely enough for it not to hurt, but firmly enough to keep her from kicking it free. Truly, the idol could be scary when she was excited. With impressive dexterity, Rise unscrewed the lid on the bottle with her thumb and index finger while holding the bottle with the same hand, before placing the bottle down on the table behind her. Once the built-in brush was no longer threatening to drip all over the floor, Rise gave one last reassuring glance towards her friend before going in with the brush.
"I-I-I-I'm not ready for this!" With a hitherto unknown strength, Naoto wrenched her limb free from Rise's grasp, causing her to drop the brush onto the floor. The surprise sent Rise back into the table, elbowing the still open bottle onto the floor as well.
"Oh, no. I'm so sorry, Rise-san! Where do you keep your cleaning supplies!?"
"It's fine, Naoto-kun. I was the klutz who dropped them."
"Even so, I-"
"Am still trying to find yourself. Clearly, it's not time for you to do this just yet." Despite herself, Rise couldn't quite keep the frustration out of her voice, though whether this was due to the mess or Naoto's insistence on taking accountability, it was difficult for either to say.
Once the two were done with the cleaning up, Naoto returned to the bed, sitting cross-legged with her socks firmly back on her feet.
"I'm sorry," she said for what felt like the thousandth time. This whole nail decoration thing really had done a number on her resolve. She felt like she had when she'd first tried the female Yasogami uniform. Her femininity felt so alien, no matter how much she tried to embrace it.
"I keep telling you, it's fine. It's a shame it didn't work out this time, but what can you do? Tell you what, maybe you could try helping me apply some colour to my nails. Think of it as a test run for your own. Sound good?"
"Um, y-yes. Sure."
"Great. Then, I'm gonna go with orange. One sec." Rise leaned into the chest to find the bottle in question. She leaned so far in that Naoto briefly thought she might fall all the way in, like she were entering the TV world. The thought made her chuckle.
Rise gasped, pulling herself out of the chest and whirling around to face her friend. "This outfit does make my butt look big! Senpai said it didn't..."
Naoto burst out laughing at this comment. Rise's expression changed to a smile too suddenly for this not to have all been a ploy to ease the tension for her friend.
"You have a really nice smile," Rise commented, bringing an abrupt end to Naoto's laughter as her face turned red. "Regardless of what you may think, you are beautiful, Naoto-kun."
"R-Rise-san, please..." Naoto mumbled, lowering the brim of her cap over her eyes to avoid eye contact with the idol's earnest gaze.
"I'm serious. I mean, remember at the beauty pageant? I was basically guaranteed to at least come in second, regardless, because I have so many fans at Yasogami. If anyone would've been able to beat me, I expected it to be Yukiko-senpai, the local Japanese beauty. And Chie-senpai is surprisingly popular among the guys as well. And yet, who won in the end? The surprisingly shy and demure Detective Prince who'd only been at our school for less than two months, and whose real gender had only become known one month before. This may sound egotistical of me, but you beat a popular idol in a beauty contest, Naoto-kun! That doesn't happen by accident."
"No, that-"
"Yes. You did. And you barely showed off any of your personality during what little time you spend onstage, so it stands to reason that your looks played a big part in your winning, right?"
"I... suppose that is a fair assessment."
"See? The people have spoken! Naoto Shirogane is pretty!"
"P-Please stop..."
"Never!"
A few months later, in the summer, Naoto paid a visit to Tatsumi Textiles alongside Yukiko, who was putting in an order for the Amagi Inn. While Yukiko went into the back to discuss business with Kanji's mother, Naoto waited out front with Kanji himself, who agreed to watch the front for his mother.
"You appear to be doing well, Kanji-kun."
"Yeah, I guess I'm doin' alright. You?"
"I have been well, yes. I see you dyed your hair back to black."
"Y-Yeah. Rise helped me with it. D-Does-"
"No, it does not look weird, rest assured. In fact, it reflects you entering a new phase of your life and your earnest desire to pursue your studies more seriously rather well."
"O-Oh. Thanks. You, uh... you growing your hair out?"
"Oh. You noticed? Y-Yes. No enough to get in the way, but... just enough that I feel a little more feminine."
"L-Looks good. You should... grow it out more. I-If you wanna, that is!"
"I... just might do that. Thank you for the suggestion."
"S-Sure..."
Silence fell between the two for a while as topics of discussion dried up, illuminating to both how little they actually knew about the other's interests. If pressed, they could each give a surface-level overview of the other's primary hobby, maybe a longer-term ambition, but that was probably about it.
Naoto was startled out of her deep focus on this fact as Kanji called out "H-Hey!" probably louder than he had intended, his voice cracking at the start.
Her own voice came out just as unintentionally loud as she answered with "Y-Yes!?" with her own voice starting uncharacteristically high. They both noticed this similarity and couldn't help but chuckle. It helped ease the tension somewhat, for Kanji especially.
"So like... we don't talk much outside of group stuff, right?"
"No, I suppose we don't."
"Then, do ya wanna, like... I dunno, do somethin' some time? Like a movie or somethin'?"
"That does sound nice. Yes, I would like that Kanji-kun."
"A-Alright, yeah. Uh, just so you know, I ain't great at the whole... talkin' about myself... thing. Y'know? I mean, with Yu-senpai, it was always so easy to just... be myself and talk honestly."
Naoto smiled. "Yes, he does have that effect on people. But you have no need to worry. I also struggle to open myself up to others outside of a professional working relationship. So you aren't alone in that respect."
"Yeah. I guess we really do got a lot in common."
"It's true. One wouldn't assume so from looking at us, but we are quite alike in a number of ways."
"Yeah. But thanks to what we went through this past year, we know better'n to judge someone just from how they look."
"True. If not for that, I daresay we may not have even known the importance of looking beneath the surface, especially of ourselves. And even if we have not yet come to fully understand who we are, we are well on our paths to discovering that."
"Yeah. Y'know, I figure you 'n' me... we both got... kinda similar stuff to figure out, right? I guess, why not figure it out together?"
"Kanji-kun? Are you... asking me out?"
"..."
"...?"
"...Y-Yeah, that's right, dammit! I ain't afraid to say what I gotta say!" With each word of this sudden proclamation, Kanji's voice grew louder and louder. "You're a super cool chick and I wanna get to know you better! Everyone else has got someone on the team they're really close to except for us! It ain't right, dammit!"
"And this is why you want to get to know me better?" Naoto asked, sounding almost disappointed, even to herself.
"I- No, it's because I like you an-!"
As Kanji realised what he'd just let slip, his eyes threatened to jump out of his head. Naoto's eyes seemed to like that idea and were prepared to do the same.
"This is... unexpected," Naoto said finally, her brain barely able to string words together.
"How on Earth is this unexpected?" Yukiko suddenly exclaimed from the doorway deeper into the shop, bringing attention to just how loud Kanji's words had gotten. "The only way Kanji-kun could have been more obvious is if he'd clung to you like Rise-chan with Yu-kun!" Neither of the younger teens knew why Yukiko seemed quite so incensed by Naoto's words, but they both felt like children being scolded by a teacher for failing a test.
"Yuki-chan!" Kanji's mother chastised as she too emerged from the doorway from where the two had been listening in.
"You too, Ma!?"
"I... I-I should go!" Naoto exclaimed, pulling down the brim of her hat in a vain attempt to cover her reddening cheeks.
"Huh? H-Hey, wait!" Kanji gave chase to the fleeing detective as his mother and senpai watched on in both bemusement and amusement.
Naoto eventually stopped running at the gazebo on the Samegawa Flood Plain. She took a seat as she gasped for breath. Kanji did the same when he finally caught up. Despite how short her legs were compared to his, the girl could run. It took a few minutes for both to finally catch their breaths and feel comfortable enough to speak again.
"You really... want to date me?" It had clearly taken a lot for Kanji to pluck up his courage to admit it the first time, so Naoto waited patiently while he did it again.
"Y-Yeah. You're cool, you take your job seriously. Sure, you can make some boneheaded decisions, like when you let yourself get kidnapped by Namatame, but I can't exactly hold that against you, bein' me 'n' all."
Naoto chuckled.
"Plus, y'know, you're... cute."
"In a boyish way or a girly way?"
"Both... I guess?"
"I see." Naoto couldn't help but smile.
"So, like... you don't have to decide on anything long-term now. But, do ya wanna try, like... one time for now?"
"I do."
"G-Great! Yeah. It's a... a date."
"It is. But I won't expect you to pay for me. Such notions are outdated and I would rather us be equals in this."
Kanji let out a sigh and wiped how brow. "Good, cuz I dunno if I coulda afforded that."
Naoto let out a hearty laugh, which Kanji soon joined.
Unbeknownst to the two, Yukiko and Mrs. Tatsumi had caught up in time to witness the final moments of the scene.
"Kanji-kun really knows how to pick 'em, huh?"
"He is his father's son, after all," his mother said proudly.
A few weeks later, Naoto returned to Rise's home for the first time in months, asking Rise if they could try the makeup thing again. Nanako happened to be visiting Rise at that time as well.
"Wow! You have so many colours!" Nanako exclaimed in awe.
"Hehe, yeah," Rise replied, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment. "Before I took my break, I was only allowed to use colours that 'match Risette's established aesthetic'."
Nanako tilted her head in confusion, so Naoto clarified, "She was only allowed to use colours that she typically wears when she performs as an idol."
"That's right. So, after I decided to go on my break, I kinda went overboard and bought all the colours I could get my hands on."
"I do not recall seeing you wearing them though."
"You noticed, huh? Even after I decided Risette wasn't really a part of the real me, I guess I still worried that people would reject me for not being enough like Risette. If I just smiled and waved when people recognised me, that would be enough, but the illusion would be shattered if a super-fan saw me with blue nails, for example. But at a certain point, I just stopped worrying about it. I'm not really sure what prompted it though."
"It was probably Yu-senpai."
Rise's expression took on a dreamlike quality at the mention of their senpai. "Yeah," she sighed wistfully. "He always did have a way of bringing out your best self."
"I don't really get it," Nanako admitted, "but Big Bro's cool." The older girls had to nod in agreement.
"So, Naoto-kun, you ready to try having your nails painted again?"
"I am. I will not run away this time."
"Great! Love that determination! And since Nanako-chan's here, why don't we let her choose the colour for your first time?"
"Really!?" Nanako gasp in amazement.
Naoto chuckled. "That sounds perfect. I'm in your care, Nanako-chan."
"I'm gonna pick a really good colour for you, Naoto!" Nanako exclaimed with infectious enthusiasm.
It took her some time to find just the right colour in Rise's chest of colours, which Naoto was certain Nanako could have fit quite comfortably inside of if it was emptied out. Nanako occasionally produced a bottle in one hand and held Naoto's hand with her other to contemplate her choice. After a number of rejected choices, Nanako finally settled on one she liked.
"This one," she said with an adorable level of confidence, holding out a bottle of turquoise that somewhat matched Naoto's plaid winter pants.
"Really? I thought a deep blue was more her colour," Rise pouted. "You know, like her hair."
"My art teacher told us about, um... colour... feary?"
"Colour theory."
"That's it! She said that too much of one colour is bad. And Naoto mostly wears blue, so I wanted to pick a colour that's different, but looks good with blue."
"Nanako-chan's really come this far, huh?" Rise said with a mix of pride and fear.
"As well as that," Naoto said with as much pride but none of the fear, "Dojima-san told me the other day that she's taking piano lessons. Is that right?"
"Uh-huh!" Nanako replied with a wide grin. "My mom used to play the piano for me and my dad, so I wanna learn to play it for him too."
"NANAKO-CHAAAAN!" Rise quickly had her arms wrapped around the young girl, crying openly at the sweetness of the intent behind her ambition.
"I took piano lessons at my grandfather's behest when I was younger," Naoto said through a nostalgic smile. "If you'd like, I could teach you a few short pieces and help you get to grips with reading sheet music."
"REALLY! YAY!" Once again, the young girl's enthusiasm was infectious. Rise, however, managed to maintain her composure enough to do her bit, bringing into question just how often her tears were an act.
"Oh? And will you be teaching Nanako-chan this piece with turquoise nails?"
"I shall."
"Huh? Y...You will?"
"Yes. But before I do, Rise-san, I would like to paint your nails first."
"Ooh, getting some more practice in, huh? I'm game. So, which colour are you thinking? Pink? Orange?"
"Blue."
"Blue?"
"I think blue would suit you rather well. You think so too, right, Nanako-chan?"
"Uh-huh! Blue would look really good on you, Rise-chan!"
Rise averted her eyes. "Dammit. I told Senpai I'd try not to cry so often."
Before too long, a blue-nailed hand was guiding Nanako's tiny hand as she held the turquoise-soaked brush the younger girl had so carefully chosen for the young detective. As the tip of the rush finally, after months of anticipation, made contact with the nail of her big toe, Naoto felt a strange swell of... something inside herself.
Rise seemed to recognise the feeling that was causing the face Naoto was making and smiled. "Atta girl."
Of all things, this idea entered my mind because of a scene in Horimiya. If you've seen the show, you know the one. The middle scene here was actually intended to be an entirely separate story, but I realised this story was just two scenes that were connected, but without any cause for Naoto's change of demeanour. Thus, it made sense to take the other scene use it to connect the others.