Chapter 24 / Pulse

January 3rd, 2012 / Daytime
Outside Dojima's House

"So what's this all about, Yosuke? You aren't trying to brag about what you did on New Year's Day are you?" I ask nonchalantly as I browsed through my emails on my phone as Yosuke, Teddie and I were now standing outside of Yu's home.

"What I did? What about you? I'm sure you and Rise-san did something fun," Yosuke quickly diverted the conversation.

"Well she certainly dragged me around. She got dressed in a kimono and we went to the shrine and pulled fortunes and, you know, most of the usual stuff. I wouldn't say it was anything worth bragging about. Well, it was a fun day, sure," I shrugged. That wasn't adding the time back at my place. Where you could cut through the sexual tension with a knife. That had ended pretty quickly on my end though. The moment I touched her it was like I had been doused in a bucket of cold water. Every time I started to get lost in the moment the images of my childhood would put out that fire and then I would ruin the mood and become somber. Rise was more than understanding, and comforted me. However, I was blind to the frustration I clearly left her in. Then again at the same time I was halfway glad we were at this impasse when it came to physical intimacy. I was terrified of what would happen to us after we crossed that line. The last thing we needed was to give us new problems to worry about. "I'm pretty sure I heard down the line that you met up with Chie-san."

"I, well, it wasn't like we met up. We just both happened to run into each other and hung out for a while," Yosuke muttered and averting his eyes. "It isn't a big deal."

"Yeah? What color was her kimono?" I asked.

"Yellow mostly, and it had this green dragon on it. Definitely was something that fits her. She looked..." he stopped and glanced over to me not realizing until that moment what he had done. I just smirked before Teddie interjected.

"You should have invited me!" Teddie seemed a bit sad to have been left out.

"You were stuck at work because you completely screwed up the display in the clothing section and had to stay until you fixed it all. So don't go blaming me for your mistakes," Yosuke brushed it off as we walked up to the Dojima household. "Don't worry, you won't have to wait too long for us to get to the main reason we're here."

He knocked on the door and it was a few moments before it was opened by Yu.

"Oh, hey guys. This is a surprise. Please come in," Yu said quickly and turned back into the house. But something about his movements caught my attention. Something seemed off.

"Sorry to drop by unannounced but we were already in the area. I guess I could have called to warn you though," Yosuke said with a shrug. "Also picked up Senpai along the way."

"Still not sure why he was in the area. Did you have to deliver a Junes product or something?" I eyed him as we all stepped in and slipped off our shoes and followed Yu back into the living room area. After a moment I saw Nanako and she was on her feet and made her way over.

"Hello! Happy New Year, Kay-chan and Teddie! And Yosuke-san!" Nanako smiled.

"Happy New Year to you too, Nanako," I returned with my own smile. "Keeping your Brother company this morning?"

She nodded, "That's right. Ooh! Did you see the snowman outside? Me and Onii-chan made it yesterday!"

Now that I think about I did see it, but I had been thinking about my time with Rise and poking fun at Yosuke so I didn't connect the fact that it was in front of the Dojima household. Man I needed to be better at observing things. "You know, I did see that. It looked very suspiciously like Teddie."

"You did notice. Yep its a Teddieman!" Nanako proclaimed proud of it.

"Oh, Nana-chan. You make this bear so very happy," Teddie said.

Yu, meanwhile, had sat down on the couch and had said nothing. That wasn't unusual as he usually would wait for the right moment to make a comment, but he wasn't paying attention and looked incredibly distracted. Something was obviously on his mind.

"Hey, Yosuke. Should probably get to the reason you came here," I urged.

"Oh right. Do you have any plans over the break? If you don't have anything lined up, why don't we all go skiing?" Yosuke said with his usual grin. Yu looked up and seemed to brighten up a bit.

"Skiing? Why that?" Yu asked.

"There are a lot of mountains in the area, and it seems there are a lot of little ski resorts around here. It'll be a cheap trip because it's local, and the snow quality's supposed to be pretty good, too. What do you think?" Yosuke pressed.

"Think we can get everyone to go?" Yu said after a moment. He seemed much less composed than usual so I took a few steps closer to him.

"I already asked Chie and Yukiko-san about their schedules. And well, you know if Yukiko-san can find the time then I don't see anyone else having any problems. What about you and Rise-san, Senpai?" Yosuke looked over to me. I know he was trying to be casual about this but I did notice something that maybe others probably didn't think much about.

"Oh I'm sure we can make it work. But you know Yosuke, did you think I wouldn't notice? I mean, I did notice Satonaka has occasionally called you by your first name lately and you have gone into a habit of doing the same," I shifted my stance and crossed my arms. "Why is that, I wonder?"

"Does it really seem that way to you?" Yosuke looked at me. Still his voice was more reflective, not defensive which I had assumed he would have been.

"Well you aren't denying it," Yu added in with a chuckle. He laughed but it was weaker than his usual laugh, I glanced back over to him.

"Ooh! Will the skiing trip be another overnight event? I'll leave ski tracks of love under the frigid sky! Hey, Yosuke. Do we have a plan for our second chance at a surprise sneak-in?" Teddie chimed in.

"Why are you assuming that we're going to try that again? Plus both Yu and Kayane-senpai's girlfriends are in there and look its best to just let things be," Yosuke shook his head. "Come on, were talking about skiing here!"

"Oh you guys thinking of going skiing?" a new voice, it looked like Dojima was preparing to leave. "Well anyway, I'm off. Make sure to take care of the house for me. You too, Nanako."

"Mm hmm, bye Daddy," Nanako said rushing over to give him a hug.

"Off to the hospital?" I asked.

Dojima nodded, "Yeah, the Doctor wants to double check and make sure it won't re-open. I kinda pushed my luck before, so they only let me out temporarily. They want to keep me overnight though. Can you hold down the fort? You seemed kind of out of it last night." Dojima redirected this to Yu.

Yu nodded, but I took a more focused look at Yu as a result. Now that I think about it he looked off in a couple of ways. Dojima was gone, but Yu looked uneasy.

I dropped my initial inquiry to Yosuke and instead focused on Yu. "Spill it, whats up?"

"Look, I don't want anyone to worry. But, Marie has left," Yu said simply.

"Left? As in ran off?" I asked.

Yu nodded, "I kinda figured she had been planning to do so for a while, considering how she had been acting as of late. So I doubt there would have been a way to convince her otherwise. But it feels like she has gone somewhere we can't follow...not right now. Margaret is looking for her, for me."

The name stuck with me for a moment. I was sure I had heard that name before. Then after a moment, it struck me, "Margaret? From the Velvet Room? I remember, Miyuki spoke of being a apprentice to her. Sounds like this could be serious, but if Margaret is looking for her then there isn't much for us to do. No sense in stressing yourself out. But it seems you've already made yourself sick."

He looked up at me for a moment. "You're more perceptive than you let on."

"I'm still no match for your level of scheming, Yu," I chuckled and pulled out my phone. "I'll call Amagi. You should get bundled up." I noticed that Yosuke and Teddie had been distracting Nanako while Yu and I had been talking.

"Wait, I don't want to..." Yu started but I just glanced back.

"What? Worry her? I like to think that your girlfriend owns a monopoly on getting worried about you. And I'm not going to let you just hide things because you don't want to bother her. If you think she won't notice then you're wrong," I commented as I got up and went towards the front door. "Nanako-chan, take care of your big brother until Amagi can get here."

"You got it!" Nanako said before moving over to Yu.

I slipped on my shoes and dialed Yukiko's number as I stepped outside of the house. She picked it up after only a couple rings, "Senpai?"

"Hey Amagi. You might want to know that your boyfriend isn't feeling well and could probably use some pampering. Even though it appears he had planned to not tell you anything," I surmised quickly. I wasn't about to let Yu get out easy.

"Yu's sick?" She seemed to juggle her phone for a moment before she spoke again. "Can you stay there for a while? I'll be there as soon as I can. Should I bring anything?" Yukiko was quickly frazzled by my news.

"Just you," I chuckled. "Make sure you don't let him off for trying to keep it to himself. See you when you get here." I said as I hung up the phone.

"Hey Senpai, what was that stuff about Marie-san?" Yosuke said appearing next to me.

"She's gone, apparently," I shrugged. "And Margaret, one of the Velvet Room attendees that helps Yu is searching for her. So he's worried. And sick apparently, so I called Amagi."

"I noticed that one. But more of that Velvet Room business? What does that have to do with Marie?" Yosuke posed a obvious question.

"Marie is a Velvet Room resident too, apparently. But I have a feeling there is something more to her, that even Yu doesn't know. At least that was how I felt the last time I saw her when you all stayed at my place," I commented. It was useless to speculate too much. "Anyway, lets not focus on it. Amagi is on her way over. Depending on Yu though you may have to postpone that ski trip though."

"Not a big deal. I'm sure we can get it in somehow. I just think it be something fun to do before Yu has to head back to his parents," Yosuke shrugged. "Hardly something he should be doing if he isn't feeling good."

"True enough. Well time to make sure our glorious leader doesn't make things worse for himself," I said stretching my arms out. "Leave him alone and he'll probably run off to a part time job or something."

Yosuke and I headed back in. Teddie decided he was going to stay over to help watch over Yu as well. Eventually Yosuke had to leave and go to work. I eventually called Rise and had her grab some stuff from my house so I could make dinner for Nanako and Yu. It was much later in the evening with myself and Yukiko talking in the kitchen while Nanako was watching TV. Yu was sleeping on the couch.

"He's worried about Marie," I said as I finished drying the last of the dishes. "Just how close are they?"

"Very," Yukiko said softly. "He's compared her to being like a sister he never had. But he's been worried about her for a long time. He thinks she is trying to deal with something all on her own. But even he isn't quite sure what that is. She lost her memories but honestly, I'm not sure recovering them was what she really wanted. I think she just pursued them because it was all she had. And I imagine its hard not knowing who you are. Thats what I believe anyway. I just wish Yu would share his burdens with me a bit more. He handles way too much on his own."

"Especially since he's not going to be in town for much longer, right?" I found myself asking. Yukiko reacted almost instantly to my inquiry.

Yukiko dropped her hands, "It scares me. If he leaves...is he going to leave me behind? He's helped me so much and I just can't imagine him not being in my life. He's reassured me again and again but I keep finding myself worried about it."

"That's normal, you know," I said as I put the towel down after drying the last dish. "I hope you keep telling him about this. You're both important to each other. I see it whenever the two of you are in the same room. You just gravitate towards each other. At the same time, are you hoping he comes back to live here in Inaba with you? You plan on taking over the Inn right?"

"I..." Amagi blinked and looked at me, a panic in her eyes. "Oh, I hadn't thought of that. That's...really selfish of me...isn't it?"

"It isn't a bad thought. I could see how appealing it could be to run that place with Yu at your side. And I'm sure he isn't opposed to it...but Persona and Shadows changed all our lives. Who is to say if that fight is ever over? And with as powerful Yu is...and how he takes continues in these situations. I could see him also leading a charge against Shadows beyond Inaba. If it exists," I shrugged as I turned fully to Yukiko. That was a whole other line of thought. "You should be more confident in your relationship. I mean, we're all young, but don't be afraid of talking about your insecurities. I think we know better than most what happens when you let your problems bottle up."

"Yeah...you're right," Yukiko nodded. "Sorry, I didn't mean to burden you with my thoughts. It's just...Yu has been more worried than usual."

"I've noticed," I commented and peered out the window seeing that Rise was walking up. "Rise is here." I moved over to the front door and opened it just as she got to it. "Thanks Rise."

"Anytime," Rise said as she stepped in and I took the grocery bag from her and she slipped off her shoes before coming in. "How's Yu-senpai doing?"

"Making himself sick by worrying about things all on his own, and probably not sleeping well as a result," I said as I headed back into the kitchen. Yukiko was there to greet Rise as well.

"Thank you for your help, Rise-chan," Yukiko gave a slight bow.

"Of course," Rise smiled. "Why don't you go check on Yu-senpai? Kayane and I can handle dinner."

She nodded and walked to the living room to sit next to Yu and probably to change the washcloth on his head. I couldn't help but sigh as I turned to the bags that Rise had brought and started putting things out on the counter. I was going to just make a miso soup, as it was probably best to keep it simple for Yu. I focused on it for a few moments and started to prep everything before I glanced over to see Rise just watching me. "Something wrong?"

She shook her head, "Of course not. Just thinking about how sexy you look while cooking." Rise had a seductive smile on her face. I raised an eyebrow. Well, I was still getting used to it, but Rise never missed an opportunity to remind me how attractive she found me. I didn't mind it but my head was too deep in thoughts about what Yukiko had said to really react to it.

"Shut up and cut up the vegetables," I said and started making sure the pots and everything else was ready to be used to cook.

"I'm on it," Rise said and took the cutting board. The two of us worked together in the kitchen in relative silence for quite some time...and Yukiko seemed to be sitting next to Yu and simply watching him. Nanako seemed kinda happy to have so many people in the house. It was a long while before Rise spoke again. "Have you, thought about the contract?"

I glanced at her, "You mean if I want something out of it?"

Rise nodded, "Yeah, I just want it to be good enough for my parents to sign off on it."

The meeting was on the 15th...only 12 days away from now. My Mom had invited executives from Takura Productions, a Producer who was a friend of hers, Rise's Parents...Rise's agent and a couple of lawyers that more or less were there to mediate the whole thing. Honestly, there wasn't anything I cared for in the whole thing. I was going to be performing with Rise...I really didn't have anything else I wanted from it. "I just want to make sure Mom has control of our media appearances. I think anyone else would...probably try to pressure me to do more."

Rise nodded, "I don't want to do any appearances without you. I want us to be a package deal." Rise said suddenly. I blinked for a moment...I hadn't thought about that. There would definitely people that would want to split up our appearances to appeal to certain crowds. But being a huge market success wasn't why we were doing this. "Both of us, together...or they don't get us at all."

I found myself nodding in agreement, "Yeah, I'm fine with that."

"Ooo! What if we did some acting? We could get a spot as a couple," Rise was now turning to speculation of what kind of media appearances we could make.

I shook my head, "I thought we were gonna leave our relationship ambiguous to the fans?"

"Oh we will but we also gotta give them fuel to talk about it, right?" Rise grinned. I chuckled, yeah it was a situation that could be played both ways...if it kept talk buzzing then ultimately it could help us in a strange sort of way. "Kayane...I hope you know I won't be happy with us hiding our relationship forever."

"I am well aware of that...as I wouldn't want to either," I spoke softly. I turned to her, all that was left was to let it cook but the miso soup was essentially done. "I mean it isn't like we are hiding it...we just aren't confirming or denying it either way. And us being professional on stage has nothing to do with what we do off of the stage."

Rise stepped closer to me and put her arms around my waist, "Always twisting it to make it sound better...that's so like you."

I guess that was something I had always done. I looked out to the living room at Yu. Marie was missing...gone someplace we couldn't follow. But a resident of Yu's Velvet Room was searching for her now. I suppose there was nothing else to do but wait for that, and leave the worry rat of a leader to his girlfriend. Rise and I had our own imminent problem less than 2 weeks away from now. Our immediate future would depend on its discussion. No pressure.


January 15th, 2012 / Evening
Kayane's House

Fortunately, Yu had only been sick a couple days, and had gotten a pretty good scolding from Yukiko about keeping things to himself. He did explain it to the rest of the Investigation Team about Marie's disappearance. They were all concerned...I was too but there wasn't much we could do to find her. Waiting was hard to do, but Yu said that Margaret had been confident that she could find her. For the last week or so we had all been focused on the upcoming finals. I had managed to catch up with all my classmates now but...these were the last finals...then it would be placement tests for any colleges I might want to apply for. Well...except I wasn't going to. I had finally made a decision in that regard as well.

It had been nice to be back to a level of normalcy for once. Even though I was aware there was still issue that the Investigation Team would have to deal with. For one, there was still the question about the entity that had tried to kill me...or rather, keep me dead. Then there was also the curious question as to what the TV world even was. Adachi had been taken...sure...the murders had been solved. But the being Ameno-sagiri had manifested...there was definitely something bigger at play. And it seemed like all was over...but I didn't believe that for a moment. Too many loose ends had been left in its wake. All of that needed to be put aside as I found myself in a different situation.

Sitting around the long table in our dinning room, were a lot of different individuals. Sitting to the left of me was my Mom, Tsukio Nanase. To my right was my girlfriend and soon to be music group partner, Kujikawa Rise. On the other side of Rise was her old manager Inoue Minoru and was here to support Rise and I. On the other side of my Mom was a Lawyer friend of hers...Tsuruga Tokutomi, he was here to mediate and ensure the final contract was fair to all parties involved. The other side of the table had both of Rise's parents, Kujikawa Natsuko and Jiro. Her Mother, Natsuko had spent most of her time sizing up the others in the room...me included. As a matter of fact she had spent a great deal of time criticizing me...but not saying anything...but I could tell she was looking for any flaw I had. Rise had warned me that her Mom was rather ruthless. Rise's Father, Jiro, on the other hand seemed quite relaxed and had only exchanged pleasantries and seemingly took his time to sip on the tea Mom had provided. At the end of the table was Rise's Grandmother, Kujikawa Sumiko. She seemed attentive and had politely chatted with others for a little while. The other three at the table were probably the most intimidating. They were the three executives from Takura Productions.

The one in the middle of the three was older gentleman with gray hair and balding. He had a clean shave but held a stern look on his face. It seemed like this was the man we would have to convince. His name was Hishikawa Yoshii. On his left was a younger man, in his early 30's named Takasu Hayato. Apparently some upstart that had made some big decisions that paid off and netted him some big promotions along the way. On the right of Hishikawa was a young woman named Fukazawa Mayako. Apparently she had made a big splash pretty quick as a manager and had some connections through her family that somehow landed her on the executive board for Takura Productions. Of the three she seemed incredibly nervous and was constantly looking over paperwork with her. Likely a list of what they wanted from the deal. After what had been an awkward beginning of introductions and pleasantries...the main event of this was about to start.

"Alright, I will start this. My name is Tsuruga Tokutomi, and I've been asked by Tsukio-san to mediate this negotiation. The negotiation will end when either we call for a recess or all parties have come to an agreement upon the terms. After which the terms of the contract shall be drawn up by my office and then we will meet again to formally sign them. Also as a necessary understanding to be made is that any music created by Ikakure Kayane and Kujikawa Rise prior to the signing of the contract legally belongs to them. To open, the floor will belong to Tsukio Nanase. She will give the bullet points of her proposal, to which everyone here has been given a copy of. After which we will then move to each party for any changes or amendments that are to be made," Tsuruga looked around the table and got visible nods of confirmation from all concerned parties. "Then I turn the time over to you Tsukio-san."

"Thank you, Tsuruga-san," Mom nodded. "As you are all aware, we are here to discuss the future of Ikakure and Kujikawa and their desire to perform together. As I have sent all of you a demo song they produced I believe that there is no doubt in regards to their talent. However, Kujikawa cannot maintain the type of schedule she had before, as it should be obvious that her exit from the scene was a clear indicator that she could not handle that amount of workload. Also due to medical reasons, Ikakure is unable to be loaded with an overly busy schedule. As such their appearances must be planned with a minimum of a week's notice. Anything that comes up in less than 7 days notice will be rejected. This is to maintain a healthy life style that will also allow them to properly continue their educations."

Naturally that didn't sit well with the executives. The main thing about the way their Idols worked was being flexible on a moments notice so they could capitalize on all opportunities. Limiting our appearances and requiring people to schedule it a week in advance meant we would automatically be turning down a lot of other work. However, this was something that Mom would not be budging on.

"That will be expanded onto later, but I'd like to get to the main point of conflict here. First of all the voiding of Kujikawa's current contract with Takura Productions. As it stands, Kujikawa cannot return to the industry in any form except by returning to Takura Productions. In order to proceed her old contract must be annulled for the new one we will create here. First, property. All rights and uses of the name Risette and all current cycling materials will be retained by Takura Productions. However our new contract will have Kujikawa and Ikakure as official talents of Tsukio Talent. My personal agency," Mom said and was immediately met with an outburst.

"Hold on!" Takasu Hayato was the one to speak out. "Why would we let you take our best idol?"

"Because Kujikawa Rise has already expressed that she will not return to the music industry unless it is with Ikakure Kayane," Mom answered promptly. "And you want her to finish off her contract with you before moving to this project, correct? Which would last until she is eighteen years old. And thus believing you will have gotten the maximum amount of benefit from her. However, you cannot force her to come back. But you can stop her from doing anything in the industry."

I stared at the executives. That was right, despite what we may have wanted, the first hurdle was to get them to agree to the voiding of Rise's current contract. If they refused there was nothing we could do but wait until the contract ran up with them. Which wouldn't be until her eighteenth birthday, which would be a year from June 1st. By then any steam we could use to our advantage would be gone, and it would be that much harder to enter into the music industry..

Takasu went to object again but the older gentlemen next to him held his hand up, "Hayato, if I had not been willing to do just that then I wouldn't have ever agreed to this meeting." Hishikawa looked to my Mom. "Tsukio-san, I have always deeply respected you and what you accomplished in your brief time in our company. And I also realize how hard it must have been when you parted from us. The death of your daughter and finding out the truth about your Husband was shocking to a lot of us that knew you. That was also why I fully supported your decision to leave and adopt Ikakure Kayane. Clearly you have helped him foster a love of music much like your own. I saw it in the video you sent to me of their performance. So I want to express I am in full support of this, but I want to know how you want Takura Productions to be involved. If it was only my personal interest then I would support you 100%, no question. However, I must sell this deal to the board of directors."

Everyone else at the table was surprised. Likely no one, myself included, had known that Tsukio had once been an employee of Takura Productions. Or that she knew Hishikawa from her time their.

"Mom? I thought you said..." I started but Mom glanced at me with a smile.

"It's thanks to Hishikawa that I was able to get everything I needed here and work as a contractor for the company," she said looking to me. "The only way I could adopt you was if I had agreed to do something about my availability. And considering what happened to Miyuki when I hadn't been home so often...I wasn't about to continue to be absent as a parent." Miyuki gave me an apologetic look before looking back to the others at the table. "I apologize."

"Don't be," Hishikawa shook his head. "Allow me to elaborate, Ikakure. Your Mother was one of our best agents. She helped several stars become really popular. However in order for her to be as good as she was, she dedicated a lot of time to it to further her career. That obviously led her to spending a lot of time away from her Daughter and that whole situation, which I know you are well acquainted with. When I learned of what happened I learned about her intent to adopt you I talked with her and worked with a lawyer to meet the requirements that the courts wanted. I didn't want to lose her as a talent either, so I offered her a job as a contractor, making her able to work away from the big city and also meet the requirements for adopting you. It was a good arrangement for all of us. And thanks to that we've continued to flourish. Tsukio Talent Agency has been one of our prized partnerships. While she doesn't actively manage any Idols, she is more than qualified to knows what makes a good Idol. And personally I can think of no better reason to re-enter the music industry as an agent than with the son you left it for to take care of. Let us get to the particulars of the deal. I am prepared to part company with the Idol Risette. What is it that you are looking for Takura Productions to do?"

"I wish for Takura Productions to take care of the printing, distribution of their music and concert planning for the pair," Mom said simply. Hishikawa seemed to grin as if he had predicted what Mom was going to say. He shifted in his chair.

"And we pay you royalties and you are free to go to other companies for other merchandise?" Hishikawa asked. Mom gave a simple nod. "Then you plan to not take any profits beyond royalty for what we take care of? Naturally based on an agreed on worth of the two," Hishikawa grinned, "Ruthless as ever, Tsukio."

"Sir? If we do that..." Takasu started but was cutoff once more by Hishikawa.

"..By doing so we still are able to make a good amount of money from them. Tsukio is banking on their popularity and will actually make a bigger profit on merchandise if it works out. But in the end we would both win out. Without Risette or Ikakure officially under our roof the money from such events will generally be profit, and we can use them to show off our newer talent as well. Since we plan the concerts we control the line up. It is mutually beneficial, and I would hardly want a talent like Kujikawa to waste her ability because we want to be the only ones to profit from her. As a matter of fact we can take on additional potential talents with this deal. As we save money on various other aspects as part of it," Hishikawa looked over to Fukazawa next to him. "Marketing would also have additional opportunities to expand as well."

The woman nodded and looked at her notes, "Marketing for their music and concerts would fall into our wheelhouse, but the expenditure there would be much less than allowing Kujikawa's contract to come to term without making any money. Voiding her contract and going under the new term is more financial sense for the company. As per her previous contract she is not required to come back to work if she feels unable to do so."

As most idol's were underage, all idol contracts could essentially be backed out of, or rather, stop performing at any time. The catch is they couldn't go anywhere else to perform or do anything in the entertainment industry if they did so. When idols quit because of being unable to handle the workload, it was often the end of their career. Until that contract ran up, which usually only did when they became of age. And re-entering the industry after that was often rare as companies didn't want a performer who had previously quite before. There were always exceptions, but often times it was more about circumstances. But usually calling it quites once was enough to end a career. That was the same restriction on Rise's contract.

"I forbid it."

The opposing voice this time was Rise's Mother, Kujikawa Natsuko. I had heard stories of her Mother and what had happened while I had been in the comatose like state. Rise had said that she would be difficult. Well she hadn't phrased it exactly like that, I was being a lot nicer than Rise had been. To be fair her parents should be the most vocal about this whole arrangement. But the reason behind them being vocal was what concerned me. "I assume its because of me," I spoke. I wasn't going to allow the subject to be danced around. It was best to get to the heart of the matter. I had no experience in show business. While Rise was already a proven talent.

"I'll not have my daughter destroy her career with some boy she has a school girl crush on!" Natsuko was almost standing at this point. She looked to Rise's former manager probably looking for his support in her stance, "Inoue-san, how can you support her in this? She'll lose all the fans that she built up to this point and..."

"Then they were never her fans," Inoue said pushing up his glasses. "While there is some risk involved, as all changes often are. The demo track they've given to all of us should be all the proof needed that the sound and music they create is definitely able to be sold as a product. And most certainly she will lose fans, but they will gain more from a much wider demographic because now it is not simply just Risette. It will be Kujikawa and Ikakure. The type of music they sing together is different than the songs sung by Risette. While I have briefly discussed this with Ikakure that the track list will have a wide variety but aims to have a cohesive sound and experience."

"You can't seriously be on board for this! This is more than a risk! It could end Rise's career and never reach where she has gotten to before now," Rise's Mom shook her head.

"Are you saying you will force her to finish off her contract with Takura Productions?" My Mom interjected. If anyone would have seen this happening it would be my Mom. Apparently the two of them had also clashed while I was in the hospital. In that time Mom and Rise had bonded. And likely this was the real reason she had brought a lawyer to this meeting. The parents had the right to refuse the deal. Rise was still under their care, technically. However, Rise was currently living with her Grandmother, not her parents. No doubt, my Mother would have taken all of that into consideration when setting up this meeting. Mom paused only fro a moment before delivering a line that could often be taken as a personal attack, but Mom had been careful of her tone, making it an honest inquiry, "I wonder if you truly have Rise-chan's best interest at heart."

I glanced over at Mom. What was she doing? I had never thought my Mom would be directly confrontational against Rise's Mom and it made my thoughts stop. Rise had grabbed my leg under the table and I responded by slipping my hand down and took her hand in mine. This was the moment that Rise had been afraid of. Her Mother taking an obstinate stand against the wishes of everyone else present and bringing the contract negotiation to a dead stop.

"How dare you! I am her Mother, how can I not have anything but the best of intentions for my daughter? You have no right to say anything, when it was your son that..." she started but Mom stopped her cold with a sharp reply.

"That what!?" Mom sent a death glare at Rise's Mom. Daring her to say something more than that. "What does my son have to do with anything?"

"Your son has my daughter saying crap like she won't go back in the industry if it isn't with him. She wasted her time worrying about him while he was in the hospital when she could have been working on a come back," Natsuko was going down a road that would definitely escalate. Rise squeezed my hand with her left as she moved.

Rise slammed her right fist on the table demanding everyones attention, "Don't you dare. I made those decisions before I met Kayane. I had started to believe I could come back before him, but it wasn't until after I met him and I started to get to know him, that I knew I wanted to come back. It's all because of him that I remembered why I wanted to become and Idol to begin with. So if you say anything more about Kayane then..."

"Hold it," Tsuruga was standing now to claim attention. Rise took a moment before I place my free hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "I will not allow this to degrade further. However, instead, I would like to hear her Father and Grandmother's opinion on this matter as both of them are entitled as guardians."

"Guardians? But I am her Mother," Natsuko looked to him, still riding a wave of anger it seemed. I noticed though that Rise's Father had remained calm throughout the entire exchange and was just silently drinking his tea. If anything he seemed at peace with what was going on. Perhaps he was just no stranger to his wife's means of expressing herself.

"Indeed, however, Kujikawa Rise has been living with her Grandmother for over six months. That makes her just as able to weigh in on what is best for Rise. Now, Kujikawa Sumiko-san. Why don't you start?" Tsuruga played it smoothly and somehow managed to diffuse the shouting match from escalating further.

"Now Natsuko-chan, I understand your concern about Kay-chan," Rise's Grandmother started glancing over to Rise's Mom and then to me. I had forgotten that Rise's Grandmother had always referred to me as Kay-chan. Well actually Mom went to their Tofu shop quite often. I could just imagine the two of them talking about both Rise and I. Likely had been a conversation that had increased ever since I had gotten out of the hospital. And Mom enjoyed tofu, so she was there often. Sometimes I think just to talk to Rise's Grandmother, Sumiko. "But you should know that Rise-chan wasn't happy and I'm sure it contributed to her leaving the industry. When she first started her career she truly smiled and loved it but I think we all saw that she wasn't like that when she had quit. She had lost that happiness. So I don't think many of us were surprised when she had decided to leave. But recently, Rise-chan feels like she is glowing whenever she talks about her friends, and especially Kay-chan. I want to see Rise-chan at her happiest, and right now I believe that this is the best way for that."

"Jiro, please tell me you aren't taking her side on this," Natsuko looked to her husband.

He had remained relatively quiet and had finished off his tea, placing the cup on his table, "Before I get to that, let me elaborate about something that many of you may not be aware of. I am sure everyone is familiar with how Rise became a part of the music industry at this table? Ah, except maybe you Tsuruga-san, so I shall explain. It was neither myself or Natsuko that recommended our Rise to try out as an Idol. It was actually my brother and Rise's Uncle, Hideo. Rise had been struggling at school during that time and I had heard she had problems fitting in with the others. As my wife and I were often busy with work he often helped looking after her. I entrusted him to give it a try so he picked her up from school and drove her all the way to Tokyo for the auditions. I'm sure you are all well aware that she passed her first audition. I hear that her actual acceptance as an idol was due to no small part to Tsukio and her son, Ikakure. As Risette, she became popular and largely successful. What you likely don't know, is that in that time her Uncle passed away due to cancer. Rise doesn't like to talk about it because it affected her so, but I know it made her reevaluate why she had been a Idol to begin with. After all, without her Uncle she never would have attempted to go down that road. Now Rise, after taking this time off. I want you to tell me, did you find the answer you were looking for?"

I was surprised, Rise had a lot of reasons for stopping her career. But not once had she ever mentioned her Uncle having died in all this time. It was likely something close to her that was hard to think about. I understood why she would do that. Her Uncle's death had likely been a catalyst that led her to think about the reasons she became an Idol to begin with, but it wasn't a deciding factor as to why she had quit. It had just been a motivator in evaluating where she was. And when she had, she had forgotten who she was.

"I love music," Rise started in a low voice. "For the longest time I was doing it because I wanted to be accepted, wanted to have friends. But as an Idol, I was just as alone as I had been before. You'd think I'd realize that earlier just by the nature of what I was. An Idol is someone that is put on a pedestal, and you really never learn anything about them other than what you see. So I was surrounded by people, but nobody really knew me. And it seemed like no one ever cared to get to know me either. They jsut wanted to see Risette, the Idol. At first I thought I was really connecting with people but it was really just admiration. That they could see the real me but I realized I didn't know who I was to begin with. And Uncle Hideo always told me it was up to me how far I would go. So, I just wasn't sure anymore. And after Uncle Hideo died, I wanted to make sure I knew for sure, for him. It's different now, I know that this is what I want. I can't describe it in words that will do it justice. But when I'm on stage with Kayane, I feel the most like me. It's like I've finally found myself and its something I can only reach that place when I'm with him," Rise spoke softly but everyone could hear her quite clearly. I really couldn't say anything to add anything meaningful to the discussion. Rise's Mother looked appalled by the declaration but her Father offered her a smile.

"I had a feeling that is what you would say. Hideo would have been proud to see you and what you've done. I'm sorry Natsuko, but I believe I am in full support of Rise's decision. You saw the video of the two of them performing as well. Tell me, dear, when was the last time you saw her shine that brightly on stage?" Jiro shared a moment with his wife, the two looking at each other. "It's time to let her decide what she wants. She's almost an adult you know. It's what I want for her, and I know this was the reason my brother signed her up so many years ago. He wanted to give her the tools to be confident and create her own path. After all, she's just as stubborn as you are now." Jiro laughed.

"I can't approve of him. Do you have any idea who he is?" Natsuko said back, she must have looked up my past. It isn't like a web search with my name wouldn't pull up the case that happened in my childhood. It was really easy to find as it had been covered pretty extensively in the media. Rise tensed up next to me, as she clearly was getting angry but it didn't matter to me what was said. I had heard it all many times before.

Jiro shook his head. "Dear, what are you really afraid of? That boy experienced a traumatic childhood and through all of the trouble and trials he faced, he is here now. Rise tells me he is a top student, always scoring in the top ten of his class, if not the top five in exams. She also tells me he has been slowly working through a lot of his personal problems because of his childhood, slowly but surely. If anything, I think the two of them help each other more than even they realize," he turned to look at me. "Please forgive my wife if she's said anything that offends you. She doesn't mean what she says."

I shook my head, "It's fine. I can understand being protective of Rise. Honestly, I don't know why she is around me either." I shrugged and looked over at her. "If I may say so though, at the same time, I want to selfishly keep her by my side. She is the one that helped me stop running from myself and my past. Even now she encourages me everyday to push forward."

Her Father laughed, "I said the same thing about Natsuko, when I talked to her Father." He looked at his wife and smiled. His wife suddenly becoming embarrassed about what he had said. Jiro looked to his wife and took her hand, "It's time to let go, Natsuko. You're daughter needs your support. But she no longer needs your protection."

"Listen to Jiro," Rise's Grandmother added. "Rise-chan is ready to spread her wings on her own. You have to let her take this chance. Just as we all must do."

"I..." Natsuko seemed unsure of what to do, she looked to Rise. "Rise, do you love this boy?" She asked blatantly. The room shifted a bit. Technically us dating was a violation of Takura Productions contract, but it wasn't like we had said or indicated as much.

"Yes, but that's something different, Mom. That had no bearing on this decision. This is about my career as a performer, as a musician and singer. I don't want to be seen as an object. I want to be able to fully express who I am. And that isn't something I can do as Risette. With Kayane at my side on stage, there is so much more I am able to do and express that I couldn't do before. It isn't about the fame or success, its about being true to myself for not only me, but for you, Dad, Grandma and Uncle Hideo. Not just family, but my friends I made here in Inaba and Kayane himself. He reminded me how to love music again. How I feel right now is because of him," Rise pulled my arm to her. She was using me to emphasize her point. "And I want to take this risk, with him. No one else."

"If you ever hurt my daughter," Rise's Mother paused and glared at me. "I hope you realize what will happen to you."

"If I ever hurt her, I'll accept any punishment and do everything in my power to make it right. I want to believe though that we'll work together through all of this. Music is something that doesn't come from no where. A long time ago, Rise's entrance as an Idol was what inspired me. And then when I met her for real, she inspired me even more. I'm not saying I know the future or that nothing will ever go wrong. However, we'll face it on together, and we'll see how it goes. But we want to try and show the world our music," I wasn't sure if it was what she needed to hear. However, the last of Kujikawa Natsuko's resistance fell to the wayside. Whether she believed it or not, she had decided to trust her husband and daughters words. This was only the beginning of a long road for Rise and I. Who was to say what was the right decision to make? I know I wasn't qualified. Still as the conversation began to turn to the more legal aspect of this new contract that would be made, both Rise and I eased up in our chairs, feeling a heavy weight disappear. Now it would come down to hard work, and nailing our songs. But that could wait for another day. There was a lot of business to talk about now. Then things would really begin for both of us.


A/N:

I think it is harder to keep pushing forward than people realize. Maybe you could just be a motivated individual so it just feel natural, but for others it takes a lot of effort to keep up any pace in pursuing a dream or goal. I say this having had to deal with a lot of people that sit in between both of those. Hesitation comes in many forms and a lot of it has to do squarely with confidence. A lot of people need an outside force to keep themselves motivated. Like myself, for instance. I have to keep myself accountable in order to make sure things keep getting done. One of the goals for this fan fiction is to make sure I put out a new chapter each and every week. However in order to make sure it gets properly edited and maintains a certain level of quality it means making sure I stay several weeks ahead of what I'm currently posting. And my goal is to stay about seven weeks ahead. To which I'm actually not that far ahead at the moment so I've been writing a heck of a lot more to try and catch back up to that.

In regards to Kayane, his obvious motivator is Rise, herself. A shared dream of performing together on stage keeps the two of them united and moving. This chapter is very important for a few reasons. One is that Rise's contract with Takura Productions is voided which has a lot of aspects to it. Kayane's Mom is setting it up so that transition into adulthood and a continued career in the music industry will be a smooth transition. Which if you don't know much about how Idol's work, it is actually relatively difficult with the amount of red tape an Idol has to deal with in order to continue her career. As a lot of the Idol agencies can block an individual's career for quite some time. Ruining any chance of popularity. A lot of girls are used and then discarded. This is part of the reason I enjoy Dancing All Night because it actually shows a lot of the other side of the Idol industry. It is a taxing field to work in, especially for young girls that may not understand how it can affect the rest of their lives. Its for this reason that good Agents are incredibly valuable in the industry. As an agent or manager is also in charge of ensuring their mental health is good. As this is a Persona story, this always remains to be incredibly important.

Next Chapter we'll be hitting the slopes and everything that comes with that. Marie's dungeon won't be too far behind, but that isn't to say that there won't be complications along the way. Hopefully you'll all enjoy on whats coming in the next few chapters.

I want to thank all of you that come here and read the newest chapter each and every week. You have no idea what it means to see people read and enjoy my work. So I hope you continue to support me and maybe leave me a review or so along the way to let me know what you think. It's always a huge motivator to see that. Even if you have a criticism I want to hear it. And also thanks to all my new readers. I hope all of you enjoyed what you've read and will stick with me from now on, week in and out.

Thanks again everyone and I'll see you next week with the next chapter!