The Idol and the Prince

Part XIII

09/17

"Hey…are you sure Rise-chan's alright…? She hasn't said a word all day. She usually says the customary 'good morning ' or 'hello' or…'Leave me alone. I'm fine'…but I guess this week has been tough on her…" Yukiko leaned over as she whispered to the others sitting around her.

The group of teens glanced over at the solemn redhead who was eating her bento rather silently with a serious yet empty expression on her face. She was sitting by herself a few metres away from her friends, seemingly absorbed in her thoughts.

"I guess this is her way of coping, right? I mean…I half expected her to break down in tears, but…maybe Rise's less of a drama queen than we th-augh!" Yousuke added this comment, forgetting to whisper as he earned himself a rough jab in the ribs from Chie. "What the hell was that for!" The insensitive boy looked over at his fellow brunette, glaring.

Completely ignoring Yousuke, Chie turned to Yukiko, Kanji and Souji. She slammed her fist into her palm in a determined fashion, her eyes burning with her usual fighting spirit. "Okay! Today. After school. We're going to find Naoto's dungeon! We're going to save that stuck up little detective!" The girl nearly shouted, her voice resounding across the empty rooftop.

"Chie!" Yukiko cupped a hand over the brunette's mouth, almost knocking her to the ground with the sudden motion.

The entire group chanced a glance over at Rise. Even a deaf person could've heard Chie call Naoto a stuck up little detective.

"Naoto-kun's not that stuck up…"

The words came from Rise's mouth, barely above a whisper. She abruptly dropped her chopsticks and her lunch was forgotten. The idol stared off into the distance, her eyes clouding over.

"Maybe he's just a little bit…stuck up." She seemed to be saying the words to no one in particular, just reassuring herself of something.

Five pairs of eyes were fixed on Rise. Her behaviour was abnormal enough, much like the time right when she disappeared a couple months ago. Now, she was rather scary, a shell of the cheery Rise they were all used to. Chie and Yukiko whispered to each other as Yousuke sighed. There was no telling what was going through Rise's head. Kanji nervously darted his gaze over to the railing surrounding the ledge. He knew that Rise was a dramatic person and on TV they always did crazy things. The gangster himself was rather upset about Naoto's disappearance, but he knew he couldn't match Rise's feelings at that moment. He sighed, wishing for an instant that he had the right to be so concerned with the boy.

Without another word, Rise closed her bento box and calmly put everything away. She stood for a minute, her eyes still glazed over as she stared absently ahead of her.

"I…"

A thick tension suddenly blanketed the area and everyone was holding their breath. Yousuke had a mix of emotions on his face. Yukiko had a fistful of Chie's jersey in her hands. Chie was nervously biting her lip. Kanji's gaze drifted back over to the ledge, ready to jump up and tackle Rise if she did anything rash. And Souji…was still eating his lunch, his grey eyes betraying none of his emotions.

'CRACK'

Rise's bento box hit the concrete floor with a loud splintering sound. The cover must've cracked, but the redhead didn't care. In a heartbeat, she crossed the distance between her and the roof stairwell, forgetting her lunch box and her friends as she sprinted down the stairs.

It was well into last period before anyone saw Rise again…

"Kanji-kun!"

The door to the first year's classroom slid open with a bang and everyone stared at the frantic girl standing at the entrance. Holding a dusty bat, Kujikawa Rise stood at the door, her chest rising and falling quickly as she struggled to catch her breath. The whole room was quiet and the teacher standing at the board dropped his chalk, breaking the silence. After a couple of seconds, the redhead stormed across the classroom, walking over to Tatsumi Kanji, who was sitting at his seat with shock written all over his face.

"You're coming with me."

Without another word, Rise made her way back out of the classroom as if nothing had happened. Stares followed her out the door. Suddenly, the screech of Kanji's chair broke the awkwardness. He got up cautiously, feeling the stares of his classmates and the teacher on him. His face was turning red rather quickly and he excused himself, running after Rise.

In the empty hallways, Kanji struggled to catch up to the idol, who was walking like a crazed woman. She was already halfway up the stairs, clutching her bat menacingly.

"R-Rise! Where are we going?" Kanji was all good with skipping, but the Rise he saw right now wasn't someone he wanted to follow to the ends of the earth.

"We're going to save Naoto-kun right now." Rise said matter-of-factly as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She continued to mount the stairs two at a time, a wide smile stretching across her lips.

The two first years got to the second floor and Kanji paled. "Oh no…Rise…I hope you're not…planning to-okay…you are." Kanji froze in his spot as Rise made her way to Souji-sempai's classroom. He turned around, pretending to read some bulletin in the hall as he kept one eye on Rise.

Sliding the back door open just a tad, Rise peered into the classroom. After analyzing the situation, the redhead decided that it was all clear. Self-study period. No big deal. The teacher wasn't even in the room. She opened the door more and stuck her head in the classroom. "Excuse me! Is Souji-sempai here?"

Chie turned at the idol's voice and spotting Rise by the door, she rushed over. "Rise-chan! I'm so happy to see you! I'm so glad that you-" Chie stopped, her eyes drawn to the bat clutched tightly in Rise's hands. "I was going to say that I was so glad that you decided not to do anything…weird." The brunette shook her head as she sighed.

"Just so you know, I figured out where Naoto-kun is. I dropped by the shopping district to pick up a couple of things and I ran into a cop. I didn't do anything weird…I just got the last clue." Rolling her eyes, Rise scoffed.

"Yo! Rise! You were really out of it at lunchtime. Better now?" Yousuke waved as he made his way over, followed by Yukiko and Souji behind him.

"Now that we're all here, we should get going!" Rise turned, cradling her baseball bat as she exited the classroom.

"You want us to skip school?" Yousuke raised an eyebrow, looking at Rise.

"Not like you guys are doing anything anyway. You and Souji-sempai were daydreaming and Yukiko and Chie were being all lov-" Rise caught herself before she said anymore. She could feel the stares from Yukiko and Chie's direction. She cleared her throat briefly. "L-let's just go. Naoto-kun's chances aren't getting any better if we waste time like this."

With that, Rise became the newly self-appointed leader and led her merry brigade to Junes' electronics department.

"Rise! You can't be serious! Think about this more clearly!" Chie yelled as she fought with the struggling Rise in her grasp.

"Chie's right! This is your life, Rise-chan! Don't be so crazy! We can handle this! Just stay outside and support us from there!" Yukiko's face was turning red as she fought to restrain the redhead on the other side of the girl.

"No! NO! I can't! I have to go! You don't understand what it feels like to just sit here and feel useless! Let me go! I WANT TO SAVE NAOTO-KUN! I'M THE ONE WHO KNOWS WHERE HE IS AFTER ALL." Rise flailed in the arms of the two girls, her baseball bat on the floor. She struggled with all her might, screaming and begging to be a part of the action.

Yousuke chuckled as he stood off to the side with Souji and Kanji, watching the sight before him.

"Rise! You CAN'T tag along this time! You're way too underleveled and those monsters'll eat you alive! We won't be able to protect you all the time!" Chie had had enough of Rise's antics and the brunette hooked an arm around the redhead's neck, putting the girl in a headlock. Yukiko quickly backed off, leaving the rest to her capable partner.

"C-Chie-sempai! S-Stop that! I'm not that underleveled! I'm only a couple levels lower than the rest of you guys! I'll be fine with my bat-Ahhh!" Rise tried everything to get out of Chie's monster hold, pulling hard on the girl's short hair.

Wincing, Chie tightened her hold. "I'm. Doing. This. For your own good!"

"I HAVE to go with you guys!" Rise's face was completely red now as she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Yukiko made her way over to the sidelines, sitting with Yousuke, Souji and Kanji, shaking her head. "Those two are getting to be too much for me…Rise's pretty stubborn and she really knocked the wind out of me earlier…" The slender girl winced as she lay a hand on her bruised ribs rather gingerly.

"I didn't know Rise was so strong…" Kanji pondered aloud to himself as he watched the blows that the redhead landed on the sporty brunette.

"Wow…I should really watch what I say around her…" Yousuke commented as he continued watching the fight between the two girls. Rise was on the floor now, Chie pinning the girl down with a vicious arm twisting and a knee to the back. "Both of them are actually pretty vicious."

"You're hurting me, Chie!" Rise could feel the grains of sand dig into the skin as Chie pressed her face harder against the dirt ground.

"Just give up already! I'm not going to let you be all reckless in Naoto's dungeon! Your persona doesn't even have any attack skills! What are you gonna do? Analyze them to death?" Chie didn't let up on her hold, determined to stop the redhead from throwing herself into harm's way.

The Mayonaka TV main 'foyer' was filled with the sounds of the two girls and their fighting when Teddy bounded out of nowhere, doing cartwheels across the ground over to the spectator's corner. "Hey! What kinda party are you guys throwing? It's so lively over here!"

"Uh…we're kinda waiting for Rise and Chie to sort out their problems before we can go and save that Shirogane Naoto guy." Yousuke said off-handedly as he adjusted the headphones around his neck.

"Ohhhhh! That sounds like fun. Can I come with you guys?" Teddy completely ignored the cat fight behind him as he jumped at the opportunity to join in on the fun.

"Uh sure. After we decide whether Rise can come with us or not." Yousuke directed his attention back to the girls, wondering when Rise got the upper hand. Chie was pinned under the idol as the girl straddled the brunette rather roughly. His attention was piqued.

"Why can't Rise-chan come with us?" Teddy asked innocently as he turned around to watch the fight along with the others. Kanji was too busy wincing at every punch, slap and choke. Yukiko was too busy biting her lip to hold in her emotions. And Yousuke was too busy appreciating the great opportunity he was given today to be able to witness those two going at it.

"Get off me, Rise! Don't make me hurt you!" Chie flailed under Rise's weight, her arms pinned down at her side. There was a cut on her cheek, blood trickling down her face to the ground.

"No way! I bet you're just angry 'cause it's not Yukiko-sempai straddling you, huh? I'm not gonna get off until you let me come with you!" Rise grinned devilishly as she applied more weight to Chie's legs and abdomen.

"Y-You s-shut up!" Chie's face was red not only from the physical exertion, but the embarrassment that filled her.

"Oh wow. She didn't deny it, did she…" Kanji looked on in awe as he snuck a glance at Yukiko, who was watching the altercation with a rather glazed look in her eyes. The usually calm and demure girl seemed to be highly agitated. He could tell she was insanely jealous at the moment. If he didn't know better, it seemed like Yukiko had been taken over by some kind of monster. The feral expression on her face was intense to say the least.

"Yousuke-chi! Why can't Rise-chan come with us?" Teddy shook Yousuke hard, bringing him back to the question at hand.

"Oh uh…well, Rise skipped too many dungeon excursions earlier, so she's kinda underleveled. If only she wasn't so busy with Naoto… " Yousuke scoffed, jealousy prickling at him since he wasn't the one getting the attention from the superstar.

Teddie seemed confused. "That's it?"

"Yeah. That's pretty much it." Yousuke's eyes were still glued onto Rise and Chie's scuffle. Rise was winning now. Their clothes were starting to tear. A lecherous smile spread across his face. Not like he was interested…but torn clothes were always a bonus.

"STOP!"

Releasing Chie from her reverse chokehold, Rise fell back, breathing heavily. Sweat rolled down her face, the red marks around her neck starting to darken into bruises. Chie, with the pressure off her airway, coughed as the oxygen rushed back into her lungs. She was doubled over on the ground, trying to breathe again.

"What are you two thinking!" Yukiko had her hands poised on her hips, her foot tapping in impatience.

The two girls looked up at the booming voice that had stopped the both of them. Yukiko's pink lips were drawn in a thin line, her eyebrows furrowed in anger. It was the first time anyone had seen the usually reserved girl so livid with anger.

"We're supposed to be fighting together to save Naoto-kun! Not fighting each other! Don't be such children!" Yukiko shook her head, ashamed of their actions. "Even Yousuke's behaving today!"

Averting Yukiko's gaze guiltily, Chie and Rise felt ridiculous for acting so juvenile. They both muttered apologies to each other, dusting off their clothes as they helped one another up.

"Truce?" Chie outstretched her hand.

"Truce." Rise gladly shook it, looking away sheepishly.

"Okay. Now that we've resolved that, we should get the two of you fixed up before we go in to save Naoto…" Yukiko frowned as she spotted Chie's fat lip, Rise's painful looking bruises and the two girls' ripped clothes.

"So…I can come with you guys today?" Rise looked up with an incredulous look on her face, her uniform askew and hanging off her right shoulder. She winced as she coughed, her entire body radiated with pain.

Yukiko sighed. "Yes, yes. On one condition." The girl smiled softly. "Just remember that we're a team, okay? We're all friends and we want to work together to fix up this whole mess, right?"

Rise had tears brimming in her eyes as she nodded.

Turning to Chie, Yukiko summoned her persona, laying her hand gently against the cut on the other girl's cheek, her magic flowing into the brunette effortlessly. "You're lucky I'm here to fix you up. Just…don't get beat up when I'm not there, okay?"

"W-what are you saying, Yukiko! I didn't get beat up! I-" Chie was effectively silenced when Yukiko suddenly drew her in for a kiss. The brunette could feel the tingling in her as Yukiko's magic surged through her lips.

Sighing, Rise turned away, making sure Yousuke was still too busy blabbing away to notice the two engaged in a private moment. Just to be safe, she adjusted her position, so she could maybe block they boys' view of Chie and Yukiko's make-out fest.

As the two parted, the black haired girl chuckled to herself. "I don't care what you think, Chie, but if I hadn't stopped your fight, I'm sure Rise would've had you at her mercy." Yukiko smiled knowingly as she finished patching up the girl's injuries.

Chie blushed wordlessly. Her silence said it all.

"W-Wow…the inside is even crazier…" Rise held onto her wooden baseball bat for dear life, feeling the shivers run down her spine at the sight of the fluorescent lights that flickered all around her. "Reminds me of those old tv shows with the top secret bases." The girl wandered down the dark hallway, leaving her teammates behind as they mulled around the entrance, looking around.

"Huh? Where's Rise?" Yousuke looked around, wondering where his favourite idol went, surprised that he'd taken his eyes off her for even a second. He finally spotted her down the path, disappearing into the corridor. "Hey! Rise! Come back! Don't go off on your own!"

Yousuke went running after the girl and the rest of the team followed closely behind.

"Wow…this lab is really detailed…" The idol was too busy admiring the décor in the secret laboratory to notice Yousuke calling after her…much less the shadow that was quickly approaching her.

"Rise! Behind you!" Yukiko yelled at the top of her lungs to get Rise's attention as a Furious Gigas came up behind her at a terrifying speed.

The redhead whipped around, hair dishevelled; weapon in hand as she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Kyaaaaaaaah!"

She closed her eyes and drew her arm back in a batting motion. As the looming Gigas lunged at her, Rise let her bat go, nailing the monster right in the side of the head. Her wooden bat splintered on contact, sending half of her weapon flying into the wall. The Gigas, on the other hand, crumpled to the ground, disappearing in a puff of black smoke.

Breathing heavily, Rise threw the remnants of her bat away, collapsing on the floor as she slumped against the wall.

"Wow, Rise-chan! You're really good at this!" Teddy jumped up and down in excitement as he rushed over to Rise, the threat taken care of.

Standing, Rise brushed herself off as she smiled sheepishly. "Tehe…I've never really done this before, but it really is a good way to get rid of stress!" However, glancing at the pile of splinters that used to be her bay, Rise sighed. "But now…I don't have a weapon anymore…"

Dejected, the redhead trudged along until someone tapped her gently on the shoulder.

Turning around, Rise was surprised to see Souji. "Souji-sempai, what's wrong?"

"Here." The stoic boy held something out in his hand, giving it to Rise.

"For me! Thank you so much, sempai!" The redhead beamed as she gladly accepted her new weapon. It was a wooden bat with rusty nails sticking out every which way. Facing the corridor ahead, Rise marched on with fierce determination in her eyes. "I'm coming to save you, Naoto! Please be safe until then!" With that, she took off running.

"Agh! Rise! Wait up!" Yousuke chased after the girl, the rest of the team lagging behind as they let out a collective sigh, knowing that Yousuke's intentions were not entirely in the right place.

A/N: Ahahaha. I come back from my hiatus just to give you all pointless filler. Getting back to the plot soon. The anime inspired me to get off my as and finish this :P