Idol 18

Part XVIII

10/13

"I really don't understand how we can still be studying at a time like this. It's not like I'm going to be a neurosurgeon or a finance director or a museum curator or anything…" Rise sighed as she face planted on an open book. It was Japanese history, something she doubted that she would ever use in the future.

"Well, midterms are midterms. It just wouldn't do if the super lovely idol Risette failed out of high school, right?" Chie rolled her eyes, sighing herself as she turned the page on her advanced calculus textbook. It was a wonder that she was even doing work without Yukiko around.

"Chie-senpaiii! It just seems so unfair that we're stuck in the library while everyone else is outside in the wonderful and brisk fall weather." Rise stared out the window, slouching in her chair. She just missed the glare of the librarian who had passed by and heard her exclamation.

"It's okay, Rise-chan. Isn't Naoto coming to join you in a few hours? At least you have something to look forward to. Yukiko has an errand to run for the inn. It's not like she needs to study anyway. She and Souji always get into the top five in our grade." The brunette put her book down, joining Rise in staring out the window.

"It's too bad that Yousuke-senpai is lumped in with us…" The redhead glanced over at the table next to them, the boy in question had his headphones on, his eyes closed and his head on the table. A pile of untouched books were beside him, his practice questions still turned to the first page.

"Yeah. I mean, we're not as bad as he is when it comes to test taking…I think it's just cruel to put us all in the same category." Chie made a face at that, wondering what Yukiko was thinking when she suggested that they all help each other study. The black haired girl said it would help boost morale to have so many people in the 'same situation'. To this moment, Chie wondered what Yukiko meant by that.

Rise nodded in response to Chie's statement, taking out her phone as she checked her messages.

53 new messages

Rise frowned, unlocking her phone as she scrolled through the ridiculous amount of mail she got. She used to have an agent do all of this stuff for her, but recently, her personal account had been getting bombarded by requests to do interviews. She suddenly stopped, one name standing out from the rest.

"Inoue-san…"

"Something wrong, Rise-chan?" Chie looked concerned, seeing how the idol was staring at her phone with glowering hate.

"It's…nothing. Just a bunch of junk mail after the Naoto scandal. I guess those paparazzi vultures are trying to see if they can milk this for all it's worth. There are some pretty suggestive photos online already. Lots of me and Naoto just hanging around, me alone with her on some dark street corner, that love hotel thing…" Rise sighed at the end of the short list, wondering how her exploits were already front page news. It didn't seem relevant a few months ago when everyone thought Kanamin was the new rising star.

At the sound of love hotel, Chie blinked, shocked. "Isn't that something you should be worried about, Rise-chan?"

"I guess even bad publicity is publicity…my manager sent me another email. I haven't heard from him in a while." Rise looked at her phone again, wondering how she should reply to Inoue-san's request for a meeting.

"Hope you're holding up alright…" Chie reached over, putting a comforting hand on the idol's shoulder.

"Thanks, Chie-senpai. I do get kinda jealous of you and Yukiko-senpai sometimes… Being able to be…somewhat open about it. Or are you guys just careless about hiding it? I'm actually not sure, but-"

"T-that's enough, Rise-chan…" Chie shook her head, exasperated, getting the picture. "Let's just make sure we don't fail this midterm, hm?"

"Whatever you say, senpai." A smile back on her face, Rise hummed to herself, burying her head in her books once again."

10/19

Naoto stared at Rise, wondering why the girl had been staring at the same page in her textbook for the last thirty minutes. The detective studied the other girl with a quizzical look, contemplating whether or not the idol was that hung up on the chapter's title page. Today was the last day of exams, so no student in their right mind would have been stuck after school with their nose in a book.

Especially Kujikawa Rise.

"Rise?"

There was no answer.

Naoto stared again, scrutinizing every aspect of Rise's furrowed eyebrows, the curvature of her nose, her slightly parted lips. Carefully, the detective stood, walking over to the idol who sat at the desk by the window. They were the only two left in the classroom, the sunlight streaming through the window and washing over the empty seats in an orange glow.

Rise was still deep in her thoughts, unaware of the blunette's movements.

"Are you going to keep ignoring me, Rise?"

Naoto was right beside Rise as she leaned over and breathed right against the nape of Rise's neck.

"Hey…"

The girl jumped in her seat, blinking at the strange sensation of warmth right against her. She looked up apprehensively. "Is something wrong, Naoto?" Rise was red from ear to ear, slamming her textbook shut, caught off guard.

"No, no. Just looked like something was on your mind." Naoto resumed her usual cool self, taking a seat atop the desk that Rise was at. She glanced at the redhead, feeling a smile tugging at her lips. The detective loved watching Rise, even when the girl wasn't her usual self. Naoto turned her face away, letting her smile grow wider. Her feet didn't touch the ground and she absently rocked her legs back and forth. It was a habit that she was regularly reprimanded for when she was a child, but right now, she just didn't care. The setting sun was comfortable on her back and the empty classroom made her feel like Rise and her were in their own world.

The silence remained for a little while longer until an audible gasp permeated the air.

"R-Rise-"

Naoto fumbled as she jumped at the sudden feeling warmth against her, throwing her hands up defensively. The red-haired girl had her head buried in Naoto's lap, her arms snaked around her thin waist, her hands held fistfuls of the detective's shirt.

Again, there was silence. Now, Naoto knew that something was definitely wrong. She hesitated for a moment before she lowered a hand, resting it on Rise's head. Rise was too quiet today. Something serious must have been bothering her. Did the idol's exams go that poorly?

"Is everything alright, Rise?" Naoto stroked the idol's head, trying to comfort the obviously forlorn girl.

"I…just miss you. That's all. This week has been rough with all that studying." Rise paused, tightening her hold on the detective. "Studying with Chie-senpai really did help though. I don't think I would have been able to focus with you around anyway."

"I hope everything went well then?" Naoto was apprehensive, still unsure about whether or not exams were the source of Rise's strange mood.

The detective felt the redhead nod against her and then tighten her arms again.

"Everything was fine." Another pause and then a deep breath. "Exams seemed like the least of my worries this month. I'm so glad that we were able to rescue you."

Naoto let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Yeah. Me too."

The rest of the conversation carried on normally, with the pair discussing their evening plans to celebrate the end of their midterm exams.

However, no matter how normal their conversation topics were, a heavy atmosphere hung in the air and Naoto felt unease grow in the pit of her stomach.

10/31

Time seemed to fly by after Naoto's rescue, but the detective noted that something changed in Rise. Something had changed since they rescued her, since midterms. Things were awkward at times, like Rise was trying to hide that something was bothering her. Over the past few months, Naoto had gotten to know the redhead quite well and she could definitely tell when the girl had her idol airs on. She was seeing Rise's mask more often, feeling a bit hurt that there could be something Rise was hiding from her.

"Souji-senpai and Teddie looked soooo ridiculous today! I'm glad we decided to stop by Junes~" Rise giggled as she skipped alongside the detective.

Naoto smiled. "It was an entertaining night for sure."

Rise continued to prattle on about the Halloween festival, but Naoto was absent, focused more on how Rise seemed to get more and more distant as the days passed.

"What do you think, Naoto-kun?" Rise stopped, looking at the detective expectantly.

Naoto's breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening slightly as she caught a glimpse of the real Rise for the first time in days.

"Is something on my face?" Rise quipped as she cocked her head slightly to the side, acting cute.

Naoto shook her head, smiling. "No, I'm just happy that I got to spend the day with you. That being said, are you sure you want to stay over tonight? We do have school tomorrow."

"Of course! It's so rare that I get to spend the night at the Shirogane estate." Rise continued to skip along. "It's not every day that my grandma is out of town, you know?"

"Well, I just hope the paparazzi have gotten sick of Inaba by now. I don't know if more scandalous pictures would do your reputation any good." Naoto quickened her pace, almost jogging to catch up with Rise.

"Haha…publicity is still publicity at this rate. It's not like a sex tape was leaked or anything. Just suggestive pictures and racy captions. They'll get tired of it sooner or later. It's not like Risette is trending that much anymore." Rise grinned, but Naoto could tell that something changed slightly about the girl's demeanor.

Naoto coughed and dismissed the blush that creeped up on her face when Rise mentioned sex tapes. "Your name is still pretty big. We got quite a few views on our Junes performance too. And I've seen those headlines about that new movie adaptation of The Bullied Teacher series. They're saying that the producers are looking to scout you for the female lead. Isn't that amazing?"

There was a pause before Rise replied. "Haha…that is pretty unbelievable. I haven't been in showbiz for almost a year. A movie too? That would be pretty ridiculous…" Rise turned away, trailing off as she continued down the road.

Naoto felt her heart skip a beat. The hesitation told her everything. She needed to confirm her suspicions.

"You'd tell me, wouldn't you, Rise?"

The redhead stopped in her tracks and her response was almost automatic. "Tell you what, Naoto-kun?"

"Would you tell me if you were ever approached with the movie deal? Or…just if there was ever anything bothering you?" Naoto chose her words carefully, not wanting to sound accusatory.

Yet again, there was another pause. It was short, but Naoto caught it.

"Of course I would!"

The detective's heart sank. She knew it was a lie. She didn't know what the reason was, but all she knew was that Rise had just lied to her.

"I'm glad to hear that." Naoto mustered up a smile, intertwining her hand with Rise's as they continued on.

Later that night, when the lights were off, the housekeepers asleep, a dull thud echoed in Naoto's room. Rise corned the detective, pushing the other girl up against the wall roughly. The redhead crushed her lips against Naoto's, her hands fumbling to unbutton the girl's uniform. There was a sense of desperation in the redhead that the detective couldn't put her finger on, but the thought was quickly dismissed as Rise shoved her tongue into Naoto's mouth.

Naoto let out a whimper, melting as she fought for losing control. Her hands started to wander as well, pushing off Rise's unbuttoned blazer and untucking the redhead's shirt from her frivolously short skirt. The detective was making progress, exposing the taut alabaster skin of Rise's midsection that quivered under Naoto's cold hands.

Rise let out a sigh of pleasure as she pushed back harder, feeling her desire mount. "Naoto…" She whispered through gritted teeth as the detective trailed kisses down her neck.

Stifled moans came from both girls as they shared heated kisses in the darkness, their touches dropping lower and lower below the waist.

The unzipping of Rise's skirt broke the semi-silence in the room, the fabric dropping off the idol's hips, pooling around her ankles. Rise returned the favor, stripping off Naoto's belt and trousers.

Minutes passed and more clothes were strewn across the bedroom floor. Naoto paused and took Rise's hand, leading her over to the queen sized bed in the middle of the room. They were both clad in next to nothing, Rise in her lacy pink brassiere, and Naoto, in her sports bra and boy shorts.

Naoto coaxed Rise onto the mattress, following suit as she straddled the idol. She moved to expose more of Rise's smooth skin. Her fingers trembled slightly as she snaked her way behind the idol's back, unhooking the pink bra that Naoto knew to be Rise's favorite.

Throwing the undergarment aside, the blue haired girl paused, locking eyes with Rise in the dim lighting. She searched the idol's golden orbs, getting lost in the girl's smouldering gaze.

"N-Naoto-kun?" Rise's voice wavered, and she reached up to stroke Naoto's face. They shared each other's gaze for a moment longer before Naoto leaned down, capturing the idol's lips with her own.

As Naoto kissed the redhead, she could only think of how good it felt to be with the real Rise again. Despite the questions that hung in the air, it was a relief to know that lies weren't involved in what they had.

A/N: Lol. I don't even know why I try to meet deadlines. I promised to finish this, but it just never happened. I should get on that, but I suppose that real life is a bit more pressing. I think writing is fun and I enjoy just posting these random things. From now on, I will make no more writing commitments because I obviously have commitment issues with writing (y)