CHAPTER 12 / Intent

November 3rd, 2011
Evening / Kayane's House

It had been a couple of days since this space in the dining room was occupied by the members of the Investigation Team. And also where I had revealed more of the truth about myself. We had gone back into the TV world today as a means of completing my training for the Investigation Team and they seem to be convinced that I was more than ready for a tougher challenge and had apparently taken me to the most recent dungeon they had cleared, which was actually mine. Apparently the strongest shadows they had faced so far resided in my section inside the TV world. I wonder if the difficulty of the shadows was dependent on the one trapped inside it. Yet they said that shadows couldn't hurt normal people. Rather that was what Teddie had been insistent on pointing out. I guess there was just a lot I didn't understand about it yet. But Yu had pointed out before that a lot of the TV world was a mystery to all of them.

Tonight wasn't a time to be dwelling on the Investigation Team, the Shadows or the TV world. I had something else that I needed to be worried about. Rise was going to be arriving any moment now for dinner. It was an important discussion about the future. And the possibility of us recording an album together. On one side it was a great PR move, for Rise anyway. Questions as to why Rise took a leave of absence from the industry and even turned down the part in a movie would drop. All attention would focus on her new project and the new mysterious boy that is with her. In that aspect it saves her career, for some anyway. However from my point of view...things would change dramatically...especially for me. I would suddenly be on pop cultures radar and Rise and I would be the focus of many rumors. Well...that had already started. With a Youtube and NicoNico video of our performance all over the web...the speculation had become she had come to Inaba to be with me. There was even speculation that Rise had been dating me for a while, before she had even come back to Inaba.

Honestly I just need to stay away from the internet for now on. My Mom and the Police had done a good job keeping the press off our backs. Still Rise hadn't shared what she thought of the whole situation. Whenever I tried to approach it she expertly dodged the whole thing. Maybe it wasn't worth talking about. She had no problems in the past dealing with rumors. However the new found popularity I was facing wasn't something I was coping with very well. Suddenly my existence was under a magnifying glass. How did I meet Rise? Was she and I dating...blah blah blah the questions never stopped. The only reason things had somehow mellowed out was because I was pretty quick to refuse to tell anyone anything. I just wanted to go back to how I always was. That, however, was never going to happen...and I knew it. Ever since facing my Shadow my whole world had been turned on its head. There was no right way to approach a situation. I had been determined to face things head on from now on. I just hadn't realized what that meant. Or what that entailed. That was why this discussion was so important...and I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted. Was this really the road I wanted to go down?

I looked at the clock just as it ticked over to 6 o'clock and was reminded that Rise would be arriving any second. As much as I had wanted to avoid it...there was no way I could continue to deny how often Rise occupied my thoughts. Hearing the rumors had put a strange thought in my head. What if Rise wanted a relationship? What was now a rumor could turn to be a fact...just not in the way anyone else would know. But I couldn't do that. Even with everything going on I knew that if it hadn't been for the current situation I would have never even been friends with Rise. Except now I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss she had given me...or what we had talked about before she went home that night. Rise had confessed to me.

However I had already made a decision when it came to Rise. If a relationship was what she wanted then I wouldn't refuse her. She had only shown me that she truly cared for me. And as Yu had pointed out to me before. She knew my secrets and was still here. The problem was my defensive nature and how I kept people away from me. I sabotaged any potential friendships just to keep my distance. I knew that...and so did Rise. Maybe part of myself couldn't understand why she was still around. It all happened because of the existence of shadows. If they didn't exist then I likely would have remained as I had always been. And I would have never met Rise. No, I would have only known her through music. My problem was...I had no idea how I was supposed to bring this conversation back up. I already knew that a relationship was what she wanted...she had told me very clearly she wanted to be more than just friends. That she liked me...wanted to know more about me. She had also told me that she would wait for me.

A knock came from the front door and I instantly moved from my seat at the dining room table and towards the front. As I opened the door I saw Rise. She was wearing just a simple pair of blue jeans and a red v-cut shirt. But instead of her hair in the usual pigtails it was let down. Her brown hair was wavy and seemed to shine...she had no doubt spent time on this. I couldn't help but wonder if her tease of cleavage had been intentional as well.

"Good evening, Senpai," Rise's voice shook me from my trance. I must have been staring at her but she simply smiled at me. I don't know why I felt I needed to give her an answer. I didn't want to rush anything. If anything I really wanted to take my time with her. Yeah...there wasn't a need to rush into anything with her...we would have plenty of time to know each other. I could tell her that I want to say yes, but at the same time I don't want to just start claiming her as my girlfriend or complicate things further...maybe I'm just thinking too much about this.

"Please come in. Mom is in the kitchen finishing making dinner," I motioned for her to enter. She slipped off her shoes and came in.

"Pardon the intrusion," She followed me into the dining area and sat next to me at the table. Then I realized how nervous I was at this whole situation. I wasn't sure if I should be. Rise had been at my house nearly every night in the time leading up to the culture festival...so it was just like them having dinner again at my place. She always sat next to me even with all the other places she could sit. I suspected it was so I got used to her being close to me. I would be lying if I didn't admit that it had worked. To be honest it felt odd when she wasn't sitting next to me. The couple night I had been alone to eat dinner had shown me how her presence affected me. Had I already changed this much because of a single girl? Well it sure looked that way. I know its just a part of me that is fighting that very fact. A part of me felt I would become too dependent on her. I was probably right about that.

"So how is your grandma doing?" I asked...going for the lamest attempt at small talk. Maybe I shouldn't have bothered but having her next to me and knowing what the topic of the night will be...I wasn't sure what I should even be doing. Because I didn't know what Rise wanted when it came to her career.

"She is doing well. I think she has become happier since I moved in," Rise smiled warmly. "She's been alone since grandpa died a few years ago."

"That why you came here instead of to your parents?" I wasn't sure if I should ask but it had bothered me for a while why she we go to her grandmother instead of her parents. Curiosity caused a lot of problems.

"My parents don't approve of me stopping my career. Grandma was the only one that supported me when I had told them my decision. She just gave me a hug and told me that sometimes its best to just be a kid," Rise grinned and gave a light giggle. But I sensed things were not okay with her parents. The way she just glossed over it and changed it back to her Grandmother was a pretty big indicator of that.

"Yeah you are far too young to be worked to death," I laughed which she responded by giving me a quick glare.

"I was more concerned that I didn't have time for me. That I didn't know who I really was anymore because I spent so much of my time being someone else. Risette...or even acting on television," she sighed and although we had talked about it, it was still something that bothered her. "Working all the time made it hard to even know who I was."

"Well I suppose that is something else we need to discuss," my Mother said as she entered the room with a tray of tea. She sat the tray down and offered Rise a smile before sitting at the table herself. "This could be a time to change your public image as well. There are many ways to justify it to your current fans."

"You mean...to be me...instead of Risette?" Rise considered it...more than likely thinking of the possible consequences of a change like that. "Couldn't I lose fans in the process?"

"Most likely...but fans like that aren't really fans at all. The only one that needs to be happy is you. If you love and enjoy the work you do...as well as yourself. It will show. And the fans...your true fans, will be more than glad to take that journey with you," my Mother spoke softly as she poured tea in separate cups and pushing a pair of them to us.

"What do you think, Senpai?" Rise looked to me.

"Aren't we jumping into this subject rather quickly?" I said picking up my tea and carefully taking a sip regardless of how hot it was. "Is it really a great idea to do this? Half the world thinks Kujikawa and I are dating. Announcing we're doing a project together would make her lose fans."

"Rise-chan, you know the arena far better than Kay-chan. Do you want to enlighten him?" My Mother held an amused grin on her face. I think she was enjoying this far too much. I mean it was true though because I only cared about the music, not about what was popular or how an Idol retained her fans.

"It is only speculation. If I spend five minutes with a guy and someone snaps a picture a rumor will spread on the internet like wildfire. But mostly it dies quickly. However on our case..."

"...We sung a song together and now its all over the internet. And already had some three million hits," I sighed heavily. "So it will take longer but you are saying...if we leave it be they will eventually forget about it."

"Yeah. The media has a short memory and people move on quickly to the next big idol," Rise shrugged. "Besides Takura Productions bans dating for all its idols so it wouldn't hold for long as a rumor anyway, even if people think I'm doing it anyway."

I blinked for a moment. Her...agency doesn't allow the idols to date? But the other day she had confessed to me...told me that she wanted to be more than friends. She would...go that far to be with me? To lie people she worked for? That was a career ending risk to take...and I certainly didn't feel like I was worth that possibility. "Kujikawa..."

"Don't," she glanced over at me. Her voice dropped to a whisper, "I thought long and hard about all of that before what I said the other night to you. We can talk about it later."

"We'll have to address that as well. But, this is also the best time to capitalize on the rumors and...throw gasoline on the fire. A well timed released picture of you two...or maybe a better quality video of the song you sung would boost your popularity quickly. And generate interest for your work," My Mom explained.

"So that is why you want us to decide so quickly. We have a limited window of opportunity," I shook my head seeing very quickly where this was going. "And you want us to keep the nature of our relationship ambiguous."

"Kay-chan, I want you to seriously consider this. Your love is with music. You deserve to be happy...and I have never seen you happier than when you are with Rise-chan in that music room." My Mom gave me a serious look. I guess in the end the decision would come to me.

"Kujikawa…is this something that you want? To be performing with someone like me? I could hurt your career simply because I'm on the same stage as you," I said softly and looking towards a lone portrait against the wall. It was of Miyuki. For so long I had been stuck in that past, being unable to accept that Miyuki was dead. As if my constant refusal to see it would somehow bring her back. In the end all I had done was hurt myself and the ones around me that cared. Now Miyuki's Mother…my Mother was trying to help me again. And Rise was a girl who had only ever been supportive to me, but was me going into the spotlight with her what was best?

"Stop it," Rise said next to me. I looked at her and my eyes connected with her. "I know what you are thinking and I want you to stop. For one moment don't think about anyone else. What do you want, Ikakure-senpai?"

"I'm sorry…I just…" I shook my head. I just what? The truth of it was that I was scared out of my mind to open myself up to that kind of environment. To open myself to the criticism of the world. To show more of myself than I had ever done before on such a grand scale.

"Relax. You aren't doing this alone. I will be with you, every step of the way," Rise gently took my hand as she looked into my eyes. "You don't know it, but when you sit down to play music at that piano, you shine brighter than anything else in the room. When your hands touch the keys, you take everyone that can hear you on a journey. One that only you can provide."

"Do you really want to step back into the music industry?" I asked her. It was a question that had been on my mind since this whole subject had occurred.

"Yes, I made my mind up about that a while ago. But what really motivated me to go back was you. Singing with you on that stage made me remember something very important to me," She smiled in a way that made my whole body react. I could feel my temperature going up the longer I looked at her. "That I love music. It is something that I had forgotten, lost sight of along the way. And honestly…I think my return to music would only mean something if it was with you. If I went back on my own...I might just fall back into how I was before."

"I see," I mutter unsure of how to respond to that. I couldn't deny the feelings it had given me when I had been on stage. Even as nervous as I had been, and how hard it had been for me to handle…in the end I couldn't forget the feelings I had on that stage singing and playing the piano with Rise by my side. It was like I had finally seen what it was like to live. To truly be happy that I was alive. It was this kind of feeling that I'm positive that Miyuki had wanted me to have. And more than that…I wanted to make Rise happy. I wanted to be a part of her life. Letting her go back into that industry alone and her having to face all those things once again…I couldn't let that happen. I wanted to be there for her, and be her support just as much as she was for me. I closed my eyes for a moment and nodded, I could do this. "Alright, I'll do it."

Rise smiled and instantly engulfed me in a hug that I had known had been coming. I still felt myself want to squirm away from her but I hugged her back regardless. Was this okay for me? It no longer matter if I thought so or not. As I separated from Rise and I saw the smile on her face...I knew that I had no choice but to continue and I was quick to realize why that was. I wanted her to be happy...to always have that smiling face. And if I could be the one to give it to her then why shouldn't I strive to make sure I was always the one to make her happy? For once in my life I wanted to be selfish for not only myself...but for someone else.

"What have you done to me Kujikawa?" I said under my breath as my Mother sprang into details about the two of us creating our own CD. She talked about producing it all here at the house, as to not disrupt school. And that she would arrange the finer details...which also included the negotiations that would have to be done with Takura Productions and Rise's parents. That was probably going to be the biggest hurdler for us to get over. Before I knew it the night was over and I was walking Rise home.

"Ikakure-senpai," Rise said as we walked side by side towards the shopping district.

"Yeah?" I kept my eyes distracted and looking up into the sky. It was clear...and the night cool and refreshing. Maybe it was just the excitement from all the talking we had done.

"Did you want to talk about it? You know...what I said before?" Rise asked, her voice sounded calm but as she said it I felt my heart rate start to climb.

"About how Takura Productions doesn't allow you to date?" I asked, hoping that was it...I wasn't quite sure I was up to talking about the two of us having a relationship.

"Yeah. I mean, its a pretty normal rule for most agencies. They think us having a significant other ruins our image to fans," Rise's tone didn't betray her own feelings on the subject. "It hardly mattered when I had became an idol. Dating was never a priority or something I thought about...not until recently."

"Didn't you try and go for Yu?" I asked...and surprisingly I sounded and felt a bit bitter about it.

She seemed amused by this though, "That was before I met you, many months before. You're the one that occupies my thoughts now. So I'm just going to answer the question you don't want to ask." Rise bounced up in front of me and made me stop and looked into my eyes. "Yes, I would. I would risk my contract and employment with Takura Productions to date you. And before you let any of those negative thoughts enter your head...you are worth the risk. You may not agree, but that is how I truly feel, got it?"

How was I supposed to respond to that? "But we...barely know each other..."

"Maybe," she said as she turned away from me and started walking again. "At the same time we also know a lot about each other. Things that in normal situations we would never reveal to each other. At least not for a long time. You said it yourself when we were at the Amagi Inn. We know the darkest secrets and we're still here, we accepted that part of ourselves...we understand one another more because of it. But there is more to it than that. You're intelligent but you never flaunt it. You're observant and mindful of others, probably frustratingly so, because you always think of how others will act before you do anything. Like tonight for example, you were more worried about how my career would be affected and not once did you think about how difficult all of this was going to be for you."

I hadn't even realized it...she was right. There were more than concerts...but public appearances and many other things that come with it. "I hadn't thought about it, actually."

She giggled a bit as I moved to keep up with her, "I love that about you." The way she said it made me stumble a bit but I quickly recovered. She glanced over at me with that smile of hers once more. "I mean, it's also irritating because I know you do it so you can decide how to act in a way that nets you the outcome you want the most. But hearing you talk about protecting my career and everything else you say is...very attractive to me. I love it when you talk about me...because when you do..." We were now in front of the tofu shop so Rise turned towards me. "I know you are looking at me. You actually see me for who I am, you actually consider my feelings and what I want. But there is the opposite side of this I want you to think about."

"You mean me..." I said and I turned my head, but Rise simply side stepped so she was in front of my eyes again.

"I want you to be happy, Senpai. Think about what that means, okay?" Rise then stepped forward and kissed my cheek before quickly stepping away. "Goodnight, Senpai."

"Bye, Kujikawa," I said numbly as I watched her disappear to the side of the building. Rise and her Grandmother lived on the 2nd floor, so the door to the house was actually on a stairway on the side of the house.

The night air was cool but not enough to make me cold, even with me only wearing a light jacket. Honestly, with all Rise had just said, I definitely could use some cold air. What a long night it had been.

I had no problems being swept up in her enthusiasm over us singing together. One of the things we decided was a video of the two of us working on the song that we sung at the culture festival would make the biggest immediate impact. Mostly because the current video out there had bad audio quality and so was the video...so an easy way to push the momentum and propel rumors more was to release a high quality video of the song with the two of us in a casual environment. It would solidify that the video making the rounds on the internet were not only true but that they had been working in an actual studio. After all no one really knew what Rise was doing in her time away from the stage. Still there were complications that would no doubt come. But my Mom also pointed out that it would probably pressure a negotiation out of Takura Productions. Well, Mom was good at the business side of the equation, and had dealt with the politics involved before.

The first hurdle would definitely be Rise's agency. Even though she was not active she was still under a contract in regards to the type of performances she could do publicly without their approval. However with my Mom's connection that wouldn't be as big of a problem. The business move that we were hoping to make would void Rise's current contract and put her in one with My Mother as her agent as well as the one with the power to control her media appearances and performances. Both my Mother and I didn't want Rise to be run around like she had been before. Naturally the negotiation for that contract would be happening as soon as we solidified the plans. The sooner the better. We were confident that we would succeed. Rise was more concern about her Parents and what they would say and want out of it. Rise was sixteen, and that was still too young to be on a contract that didn't have her parents involved.

Tentatively Rise was planning to stick with the name Risette. I thought it was best as well because there was no necessary reason to change things like that because it could confuse fans. Eventually she might change it but it would be a slow change to ease fans to it. It might seem a bit too cautious but fans don't take to complete utter changes in the best ways. But one thing that Rise wanted was a band name. She didn't want it to have the name Risette on the front of the CD. She wanted something that would represent the both of us. Something that when heard would make their fans think of both us and not just one and the other.

It was a lot to take in...and many decisions to make. I was coming up on exams for college...if I wanted to even go. Honestly, I hadn't thought about my future until very recently. It all changed with the TV world and meeting Kujikawa herself.

I found myself in front of Narukami Yu's Uncle's place. I stopped and shook my head. It was all his fault that I became so involved with Rise. He was an expert planner, made me wonder how good he was at chess. Before I had thought about it I strolled up to the door and knocked. Only a few moments later I heard a familiar voice from the other side of the door.

"Who is it?" Nanako asked tentatively.

"It's Kayane...Yu's senpai. Do you remember me?" I answered and heard the door unlocking and Nanako peeking out to look at me. I smiled, "Always a good idea to check who it is before unlocking the door. Your Dad teach you that?"

"Mm hmm. Umm...Onii-chan isn't here," she quickly supplied the answer to my unasked question.

"And your Dad?" I asked quickly worried if she was home alone.

"He's working," She said looking a bit nervous.

"Well Nanako-chan. What if I said I was here to see you? I got super secret information to tell you," I smiled. At the very least I could keep the young girl company until Yu got back from...wherever he was. Then again it wasn't like I had much interaction with children to know when a child was responsible enough to be left alone. And again everything I had heard and seen from Nanako had only shown me how mature the young girl was. Maybe I didn't have a reason to worry. That didn't mean I was about to change my mind for sticking around for a bit. And oddly enough talking to her seemed like something that might clear my thoughts.

"What kind of information?" Nanako seemed to perk up immediately.

"I can't tell you out here. Mind if I come in for a bit?" I asked knowing that normally the young girl should have said no...but she did know me and that I was a friend of Yu. "I will give you a hint...It has to do with me and Risette."

She opened the door and eagerly let me in. I took a quick glance around and everything seemed to be in place. I seemed to have a bad feeling about her being here alone. But why? Why did I feel such trepidation? "I saw you guys sing at the culture festival." Nanako's voice brought me back to the present.

"Then you'll be happy with this news," I smiled softly as we both sat on the floor around the table in the living room. "Did you like it?"

"It was pretty. But why was what you sang so sad?" Nanako asked.

I laughed...leave it to a child to notice the difference in tone. Even if she wasn't ready to understand what the content of the lyrics meant. Then again there was a way for her to understand it, probably more than most her age. She was a lot more mature than girls other young girls because of she had to deal with the loss of her Mother. Her Father having to work left Nanako on her own...forcing her to be more responsible. She was a lot stronger than I had been when I was young. "Nanako-chan, can I ask you something personal?"

She looked at me for a moment before giving a small nod.

"When your Mom died...do you remember how sad you were?" I asked with a soft voice but I knew that the comparison would be something she would easily understand. Death was a subject that Nanako and I both understood. And so I knew the song would mean more to her after I explained it.

"Mm hmm" she nodded solemnly. Hardly a subject anyone cared to be reminded of.

"But now you have your Brother and your Dad and they make you happy, right?" I smiled and so did she after I said it and then she was nodding to confirm it. "Well that song is about that whole journey for me. I never knew my parents...I had a bad Uncle who would hit me and hurt me. But I also had a very good friend. A best friend who I could tell anything. So I told my friend about my Uncle. Do you know what she did?"

"She helped you," Nanako said.

"That's right...but something went wrong and she died...but she still saved me in the end. It hurt a lot. And because of that I didn't want any new friends because I didn't want to go through that ever again. I thought if I was alone...I could never be hurt. But I was wrong. I hurt myself more...and it took friends like your brother and Kujikawa for me to see it. That is what the song is about. Because my friends who I didn't even know I wanted...never gave up on me. They took away the sadness just like your Dad and brother did for you." I smiled and Nanako looked unsure of what to say. I wasn't sure what she was thinking until she asked me a question.

"Do you love Risette?" Nanako asked flat out...and it caught me completely off guard...luckily I hadn't been drinking anything. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised...but she was just as perceptive as her cousin was. Or maybe I was just dense on my own emotions. I wasn't sure if love was the right word.

"She has been a great friend," I answered diplomatically. Love...I wasn't sure what it means exactly but...if I had to put my thoughts of Rise into words then maybe...

"Everyone thinks you guys are together. Everyone as school has said so," Nanako just went on to show me just how kids put things in perspective. She was right though...I was pretty sure even the Investigation team thought the same way as the rest of the world. In reality I had no idea where I stood with her...but I was sure of one thing...Nanako was probably right. I was more than likely in love with Rise. But I was far and away from saying that out loud. But I couldn't deny how much I looked forward to seeing her...spending any time with her. Those feelings were all new to me...then again it was the first romantic feelings I had ever really experienced. That was the reason why I was so hesitant to acknowledge those feelings.

"You ready for the secret? It is related...so I am not dodging the question," I felt I needed to clarify. If any person could hold a secret for how I felt for Rise it would be Nanako but I had a different one to tell her.

"Oo, tell me!" Nanako smiled, excited for the secret. And I was glad to tell somebody.

"Now you can't tell anyone, okay?" I grinned knowing that the suspense was just making her more eager.

"I promise," she said.

"Kujikawa and I are going to make a CD together." I smiled.

"Ooo...I wanna hear it when you are done!" Her smile was almost as infectious as Rise's was. I couldn't help but nod in agreement. "We'll have a party with Dad and Onii-chan and all your friends as well and we can all listen to it together! What do you think?"

"That would be fun...I can't wait. Tell you what...as a bonus you can have the first CD," I know that it wasn't something I would ever do. But Nanako was just as much my friend as any of them. Plus she had a way of cutting to the point and giving me another viewpoint. In such a short time even Nanako had become something important to me.

"Really?" Her eyes got big and hopeful.

"It's a promise," I said and offering out my pinkie. She gladly hooked her own with mine and the promise was made. "And one last secret Nanako-chan. Something that even Kujikawa doesn't know." I paused only for a moment before verbalizing my feelings for the first time. "I do like Kujikawa Rise." I couldn't express on if it was love or not...that was too early to tell. But I didn't want to deny my attraction to her anymore. No...I needed to be more honest with my feelings...kinda like Nanako was.

"Have you told her yet?" Nanako seemed like she couldn't contain the excitement she was feeling about my revelation. She wanted to know every detail. I could tell just from her eyes. It made me chuckle a bit.

"No, I haven't. To be honest, I'm not sure how I can tell her. Or if I even should," I shrugged and then the two of us were welcomed by the sound of the front door opening.

"I'm home," came the sound of an exhausted Yu.

"Welcome back," Nanako smiled and running over to greet him.

I saw him as he walked in as he gave a weak smile to Nanako and let out a long sigh. I shook my head, "Long night?" My voice grabbed his attention as his head snapped over to me.

"Senpai? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Hanging out with Nanako-chan of course. She is a good friend of mine, you know. She even knows a secret or two," I grinned looking at Nanako who smiled back at me.

"I don't get to know?" Yu asked looking at Nanako.

She shook her head, "Nope, it's a secret. Kayane-san told me not to tell anyone. That includes you, Onii-chan."

"That's right so don't try and wrestle the truth out of her. Oh and Nanako-chan…you can just call me Kay-chan like my Mom does," I saw her nod.

"Alright, Kay-chan," she smiled.

"It's getting late Nanako-chan. You might want to get ready for bed," Yu changed the subject as he moved and sat down at the table in the dining room area.

"Okay, Onii-chan," Nanako said before disappearing towards her room.

"Nanako-chan and you sure do get along well," Yu said softly. "Then again…I think it's because you both understand what it is like to feel loss. When Nanako-chan's Mom died…I had never really known her. So…I felt sad but…"

"It can't even come close to what Nanako went through, right?" I said as I sat across from him. "But Nanako-chan is stronger than I ever was at her age. I didn't fight…I just…went with the flow. I merely existed. It wasn't until I got thrown into a television that I had my proverbial wake-up call. But she has you, Dojima-san and all of your friends now. Sometimes it is still nice to have a kindred spirit. Someone you know that has felt the same pain that you have."

"Yes, it isn't something that I can do for her," Yu admitted. "Anyway, other than seeing Nanako, what did you stop by for?"

"Well honestly I had just stopped by after walking Kujikawa home," I paused for a moment looking towards the direction Nanako had disappeared to. "Say…is she home alone…often?"

"She is. But she is really responsible and knows what she needs to do," Yu seemed to think about it for a moment. "Granted, it isn't like I don't still feel…bad for leaving her by herself. But I use the part-time jobs I do to help our Investigation and…well its important."

"I'm not trying to blame you or your Uncle or anything like that. I'm just worried is all. Especially after you had gotten that note," I sighed. If anything I felt the need to stop by more often after tonight.

"Let's not think about that too much. Too much paranoia can be a bad thing you know. How about you tell me how it went with Rise-san," Yu said, seemingly more relaxed than he been when he first walked in.

"It went well, and you can probably guess the results, but you are going to have to wait for an official announcement along with everyone else," I grinned a little bit.

"But you told, Nanako-chan?" He eyed me.

"And I'm sure it will just eat you alive that you have no idea exactly what it is," I chuckled a bit and got back to my feet as Nanako-chan came back in the room. "Well its late I will leave you in peace. Good night, Nanako-chan. Also don't fall for any of Narukami's tricks to try and get you to spill our secret. He has to wait."

"You got it," Nanako beamed.

Yu just shook his head and saw me to the door. "Rain sets back in tomorrow," He commented in a low voice.

"Don't stress it, Narukami. Let's just tackle it as it comes. Wild speculation just leads to paranoia," I said which made Yu laugh.

"You're right. See you tomorrow, Senpai," Yu gave a small nod.

I left the house and began making the walk to my house looking up into the cloud filled sky. "Rain is coming huh? Whatever happens next…I guess all I can do is be overly prepared."


November 4th, 2011
Evening

I stood in front of my TV in my room. The lights were off and the clock was about to click over to midnight. This would be the first time I would watch the midnight channel. Then after a few agonizing seconds, it moved and the TV that was unplugged came to life. A green-yellow hue came from the screen, but it was so full of static that I couldn't tell anything about it. Was it a guy….a girl? Young? Or old? I had a general understanding that the image only became clear after the victim was already inside the TV.

After a few moments…the image faded and then there was nothing. How was that supposed to help them save anyone? At this point it could literally be any person in Inaba. I sighed and collapsed onto my bed looking up at the ceiling. My phone almost immediately began ringing. I scrambled over and flipped it open.

"Hello?" I asked tentatively.

"Senpai?" It was Rise. "Did you see it?"

"Yeah I did, but I couldn't make out anything. Knowing that a person appeared on it…it doesn't really help us other than knowing that the kidnapper is going to be striking again soon," I sighed as I looked over at a stack of CD's sitting on the edge of my bed. I had pulled every last scrap of Rise's music from my collection and was listening to it all constantly now. Most of it was because I felt that I needed to get truly inspired to write more tracks that would combine Rise's talent and sound along with my own. "Well, I'm going to assume we'll meet up with the others tomorrow. Let's just worry about it tomorrow. Oh by the way, I finished mixing the recording of our first song. I'm going to let Nanako-chan have a listen to it tomorrow night."

"Oh I'm sure she'll love that. Did you…want to tell the others tomorrow about what we decided?" Rise asked. I could tell by her voice that she wanted to tell them.

"Yeah we should…don't want it to be all bad news, right?" I said knowing that once someone was kidnapped it would be all business.

"That sounds good," Rise paused for a moment. "Senpai, there is something else I want to talk about."

My heart rate started climbing the second she said this, "About what?" Of course I knew what the subject was...but I had been avoiding it. Sure I had admitted to Nanako that I liked Rise...but I wasn't sure I would be able to say it to her any time soon. Regardless of my feelings...timing was also important.

"Us…but it can wait. It isn't something I want to do over the phone, okay?" She said quickly.

"I understand. How about Sunday night? I would say tomorrow but…" I started. Oh boy...what was I doing? I was not ready to talk about this...yet I had just said it so calmly but my heart is going a mile a minute. Plus I planned to let Nanako listen to the song and...yeah that was a good reason. One day at a time...that's all I needed to approach this.

"No, Sunday is fine. I was planning to have some time with Grandma tomorrow night," Rise quickly stated. Well I guess I didn't need to bring my reason up...still my heart was beating quickly anyway.

"Alright, it's a plan then. It's probably best I head to bed, Kujikawa. Tomorrow the Investigation continues," I said with a small chuckle.

"Good night, Senpai," She said then hung up.

She certainly did sound tense to me. If she was going to talk about us…our relationship…then there was no way I was going to be able to think of anything else until that talk happened. I sighed and looked over at my door where a poster of Rise…or rather Risette was. You know…I just realized how creepy that must look to have a poster of her on the back of the door. I mean it wasn't like I had ever known I would meet the real Risette. I sure as hell didn't know I would become close friends with her and be so attracted to her. Then again she had been in my room when she stayed over because of that thunderstorm and had likely seen it then. I had been more curious on what had led up to them rescuing me and how they had learned about me than to worry about what she would see in my room. Thanks to Naoto and her connections as a Detective she was able to pull up records related to my case against my Uncle.

It was more than that...my file, which I had seen briefly a while ago...was big. Most of it was filled with medical documents and psych evaluations. All of them would have been very telling that I did not have a typical childhood. Yu had been insistent that they know about it...because in order to rescue me...they would have to encounter worse. And he only knew what Rise said...but she said it was the roughest challenge they had ever had.

There was an uneasiness that continued to settle within me, as my thoughts shifted back. The midnight channel now bothered me…something about it seemed wrong. I only had the recounting of the other Investigation Members experience before. I had no basis for it other than it just being…a bad feeling. I would just have to be prepared…and trust my instincts. I wouldn't second guess myself this time. Not when someone's life was in the balance.


November 5th, 2011 / Early Morning
Kayane's House

The day started much like how I had anticipated. Text messages saying we would be meeting up at Junes after school was over. I can't say that I slept very well as that sense of trepidation only seemed to magnify as time passed on. But eventually I had slept more due to exhaustion than anything else. So maybe I wasn't that surprised when I found a few guests at my door. Opening it I found Kanji, Naoto and Rise.

"Good morning, Senpai," Naoto said with a slight bow.

"Why are you guys here? Isn't it the opposite way of getting to school?" I eyed them but Rise just strolled right over to me and stood at my side and was obviously batting her eyes at me in a flirtatious manner.

"Maybe we just want to walk with you," Rise teased, but I simply sighed even though my heart rate continued to climb as she was next to me. And having to fight the compulsion to step away from her didn't do me any favors. Yet I knew I wanted to be closer to her. My mind and body seemed to be in a civil war on how it should act. Instead I just tried to ignore her...partially.

"The girls are just nervous," Kanji commented and I noticed both Rise and Naoto turn slightly red. For a guy that hadn't dealt with girls very well growing up he was certainly perceptive. I figured that might have been the case. Kanji just shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. He was more than willing to be the protective brute he occasionally came off as. At least that was how it looked to me.

"Understandable," I said as I separated from Rise to gather up my school bag and Rise was at my side once more when I was ready. "Alright lets go." I guess there was no shaking her from my side...I didn't mind it...but it just brought thoughts of what we would be discussing on Sunday. Us. It was kinda a vague topic...could also be about the CD...and nothing about our relationship. Maybe I was overthinking it. I needed to changed my thoughts.

"Shirogane, You are still rather new to the Investigation Team, right?" I asked to stir up a conversation as we left my house and began the walk to school.

"That is correct. As a matter of fact it wasn't long after I joined that you were taken, Senpai. But I had actually been brought on to the case rather early to help the police. It became rather apparent how odd this case was early on...but I couldn't figure out a pattern until after a few victims had been taken. I still have a lot to learn," Naoto seemed like she genuinely thought she should have figured it out sooner. I merely shook my head in response.

"But you saw the pattern and also figured out how to duplicate it in order to prove that the case had not been solved, right?" She nodded to this. "Considering you were dealing with only facts and speculation that is pretty impressive. I doubt a thing like Shadows or Persona is something that could be explained anyway. Not without problems."

"You are right. More than likely Persona is a lot more broad than we realize. I doubt we are the only ones in the world capable of such feats," Naoto thought about it for a moment. "But it would be impossible to locate people like that."

"Well it wouldn't be easy and there is no telling if they would be helpful or not. And what would be the point in having this power if we didn't stand on our own?" I knew I was right. Maybe it was part of the reason why I had been a victim. Because of it...my life had changed. And even with the danger that came with our power...I had never felt more like myself than I did now. Well...whether that was good or not was still to be seen.

"Senpai...I was gonna tell you we were coming this morning but..." Rise started but I just shook my head at her.

"You guys are always welcome to come over. As long as I am there," I said with a smile which had Rise returning her own smile affectionately. "So is it normal for who appears on the midnight channel to be unclear?"

"From my understanding, yes. However from what I have observed in the past it hasn't been that ambiguous. I was unable to determine a build or gender from the silhouette that was shown," Naoto vocalized her thoughts.

"I see. Well that can wait til after school. I just wasn't sure if that was normal or not," I shrugged as we continued to walk. "Things are sure going to get a lot busier than I am used to."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it," Rise spoke with a smile on her face and a knowing glance that I was referring to all the different activities I would be soon doing. Song writing...recording...plus preparing for exams and then the time in the TV world. My life was so drastically different in such a small amount of time. It made me happy...and the fact that I could say just that showed how different things had become for me. It was all something I would have no choice but to get used to.

The thought of the midnight channel was going to stick with me all day. The girls had been worried and sought out some comfort this morning. However it all did not sit well with me at all. The lack of information and knowing that another person may have to go through the same thing. It was bothering more and more. I just knew that whatever it was...it was going to test everyone on the Investigation Team more than they ever had been before.


November 5th, 2011 / After School
Junes Food Court

Now that I had seen the midnight channel for the first time I could not even imagine what it had been like for the ones on the Investigation Team that had been there since the beginning. All of the things they hid had been laid bare for the world to see.. All of them at one point had been the hot topic of the town. Yet I had been ignorant of any of this because I never paid attention to it. This place was what they referred to as their special headquarters. It might be a bit childish, but considering we were a group of teenagers with supernatural power and the only ones capable of going against the culprit…I think the Investigation Team could enjoy some semblance of the fact we were all still kids.

"Could any of you tell who it was?" Yosuke was the one to start the conversation.

"From a fuzzy picture like that? No way," Kanji shook his head from his seat on the bench.

Even though it was raining we had all gathered under one of the covered long tables that we had used previously when we had the study session. Although I had ended up just tutoring them. Not that it was a bad thing, the last exams tends to cover things over all your years at school. I sighed, "I have to agree."

"How about the regular TV? Has anyone become famous around here lately?" Yukiko redirected the attention of the group. Obviously the midnight channel wasn't any help at the moment.

"I can't think of any offhand…I suppose there was that politician who visited to quell the rumors about the fog. His statement was read on TV," Naoto paused for a moment. "But the chances of it being him are slim. He returned immediately to the city after his inquiry."

"I must have missed the news, because I didn't even know about it," I swore to myself. It was a lot harder that it seemed to try and keep up with the local news after never bothering to check before. "But if the politician is the only thing that stands out…that doesn't seem to fit the pattern."

"No this makes it quite troubling," Naoto let out a sigh of her own.

"Hrmmm…" Teddie muttered but didn't seem relevant to what we were speaking about.

"Hm? What's the matter?" Yosuke was quick to remember something as the realization quickly showed on his face. "Oh yeah, they stuck you with the midnight shift for falling asleep on the beds in housewares. I told you to use the TV in the electronics department, right? Did you remember to check it out?"

"How rude! I made a promise with Nanako-chan and I'm serious about living! From what I saw…wasn't the person on TV last night pretty small?" Teddie stated.

"If I had something to compare it to, it would be easier for me to judge size. But being on a TV doesn't help when trying to determine that," I shook my head.

"I dunno…It was too blurry to make out any details, including how tall or short they were," Chie spoke for the first time since the meeting started. "It was probably just your imagination. Either way, though, did you sense anyone in that world?"

"Nope. No one's come so far," Teddie replied confidently.

"Then we might have to wait one more night and see…" Rise added her own sigh.

"Yeah, I guess so…" Yosuke shook his head. "Good thing it looks like it will rain will keep up all night. Don't forget to check again later on."

Everyone nodded, and the meeting was pretty much over. Yu had been rather quiet the whole meeting. He seemed just as frustrated as everyone else. They didn't have enough information, so even though they realized that there was another victim going to be taken, they had no idea who it was. Which meant they couldn't protect them. And I couldn't help but ask a question.

"Was it like this every time?" I looked at the others…they all looked at me for a long moment.

"Yes, but two people died before we figured it out," Yu said gravely.

"If that's the case then I guess I'll go research this news story, might be that someone did get more attention around here that just isn't obvious. If it isn't the politician, then perhaps someone else that became well known as a result," I said getting to my feet. "Oh and Narukami. I'll be stopping by later tonight. I have something to share with Nanako-chan."

"Alright, Senpai. Okay guys, let's just try and relax, and we'll meet up tomorrow," and with Yu's word the meeting was over.

Even if there hadn't been anything really knew, at least I had a line to research that maybe I didn't need to but it would keep my mind thinking. Rise was going to be spending time with her Grandma which meant she wouldn't be coming over. So I had time to waste while I waited for our recording of the song from the culture festival was finally mixed. We had spent most of the time yesterday doing the vocal recordings, which didn't take too long because we had rehearsed so much leading up to the culture festival. Then my Mother and I recorded the different instruments to create the sound that the song had originally meant to be. My Mother had texted me to tell me that she had been working on it most of the day and it was almost ready to be published together.

As I began to walk home I only had a couple of thoughts. That there was still a question as to who had become well known enough to show up on the Midnight Channel…and what would Nanako-chan's thoughts be on the song done with all the instruments I had intended to be with it. But I still had an unshakable feeling that I needed to be a lot more cautious than I currently was being. All I could do for now…is just move forward and do what I can.


A/N:

Ah yes...the main plot of Persona 4 is coming back to the main stage. After a lot of time of just getting Kayane used to the changes that have happened to him as a result of his own kidnapping. I think a lot of people will know what is going to happen and what might change. Well except the people that come from my deviantart page...you already know what happens...but no spoilers please for those reading it for the first time.

At any rate as I've gone through I've been adding from 2k to 5k additional words to each chapter (Including a brand new 13k word chapter 4) So expect to see even more new stuff as I move forward with it here. Overall I think I've managed to add more emphasis on things I originally intended to but wasn't quite sure how to approach at the time. But I have a much better understanding of it now than when I initially wrote it...which is why I've been adding and heavily editing portions of it as I go. The major points are still the same but I want it to make a better emotional impact than it might have had originally.

Pacing is a little back and forth in this story. But generally if it doesn't add to overall character development or the main story then I'm probably going to skip it. Even though having more silly/fun moments can be a nice break in pace...it can also pull people out of how serious something is. And I think it is a balance that is hard to get, regardless of how experienced you are. Even established writers/screenwriters find this difficult. So for me if I feel nothing in the narrative has something significant happen I will skip it. That's why I'll go from having several chapters covering only a couple days into maybe a week or so going by. I think it is pretty up and down with how people like it...but I don't care too much for filler, although I do have some when I feel like I need to break up the more emotional scenes.

Everyone has their preference...I know there are a lot of people that like to see the day by day happenings. I know there are a few fan fics that literally cover every single day of the game. I couldn't do something like that. Especially in a fan fiction where Yu is not the main character and this main character doesn't have social links...so there are a lot of days where...well nothing interesting is going to happen. I dunno, we've all played the games and we've done the social links...I can see an appeal of recounting them as a different interpretation of the character...but not every single one. That is a crazy amount of writing where a lot of it is too crazy important to the overall narrative. That's my opinion. Let me try a different perspective.

A typical young adult book runs about 65k to 95k in word count. There are exceptions to that, but it is an industry standard to stay within that limit. Games are definitely a lot different. Script word count will typically run between 300k to upwards of 900k depending on the scale of the game. RPG's being what they are have a lot of text. Writing a fan fiction and trying to cover anything leads to massive word counts...especially if you are trying to add more to the narrative. Take for example my Persona 3 Fan Fiction. The final word count for that was 310k, which is the equivalent of 3 books. That is crazy to me. And that is with me cutting a lot of the other narrative parts to Persona 3 that I know people would have enjoyed me to cover.

So let me get to the main point of why I bring it up. I plan to cover both fighting games and Dancing All Night (No I will not be covering Persona Q because technically it is passed the point it would have happened and would have greatly affected the flow of the story, if anything it would have to be a story all on its own). I had considered breaking up each into its own story...and I'm somewhat torn on the idea...but the truth is I can't because of the overarching story I'm trying to tell. I guess I just want to know if you guys feel you lose interest over time with bigger word counts or its something you look forward to. Some people enjoy having a lot to read, even if it means taking longer to get a new chapter. While others seem fine with shorter chapters but getting them faster. Just looking to see what you guys think so leave me a review or just send me a PM, either is fine.

I hope you enjoy what has happened so far. Some of my favorite moments are going to be coming up soon in the Fan Fic so hopefully you'll stick around to see it. Thanks for your time and see you next week with the next chapter.