Chapter 14
I am butchering dialogue, battles, and s-links to get the novel version respectable. I can make characters more cynical, mean, out of character, and amusing. My character is "special" personality-wise.
I own nothing of SMT and Persona.
This travels from Iron Cook to start of 2nd semester. Hope you stomach and GI tract is still alive after Kujikawa's.
Last chapter before the story's gears start moving.
The group headed downstairs to the grocery department to find the ingredients for their cooking battle that would include Chie, Yukiko, Rise, Souji, and Rion reluctantly. First, they had to know what they were cooking, so they called Nanako. Souji wanted to make something that he was sure he would burn the house down with. Souji dialed his "home" number.
"Hello, Dojima Residence…," Nanako answered slowly.
"Hi, it's Big bro," Souji answered. He really grew to like his cousin.
"Oh, hi!" she responded cheerfully.
"Is Dojima gone for the night?" he asked.
"Yeah, he said he's gonna be late today," Nanako responded.
"Do you mind if we cook dinner there? All of us? My friends are coming over… You've met them, most of them," Souji asked.
"Huh? Dinner? You're all going to cook?" Nanako looked confused.
"Yeah…, oh hold on a second," Souji said as he put the phone in his hands and turned to the group.
"Ask Nanako-chan what she wants for dinner!" Chie told him.
"What do you want to eat for dinner?" Souji asked her.
Nanako responded, "What do I want?"
"Yeah… What do you want to have?" Souji asked his cousin.
Nanako responded, "Umm… Anything's fine."
Hold on a second," Souji said as he turned to the others and told them what she said, "She doesn't care."
"She's just being modest," Yukiko told him, "Ask her again."
"No really, what would you like?" Souji asked again as he put the phone back to his ear.
"Well, umm…," Nanako was thinking and then said happily, "An omelet. I wanna eat an omelet with fried rice."
He told the group and then told Nanako, "An omelet. Okay, no problem! We'll be there."
"Okay, I'll be waiting!" Nanako said cheerfully.
"See you soon!" Souji said.
He hung up the phone…
Souji told the group, "She wants a fried rice omelet. An edible fried rice omelet."
Yosuke told Souji, "Fried rice omelet… An excellent choice, Nanako-chan. With a dish that simple, I doubt we'll get a second helping of Mystery Food X," he looked at the girls, "Huh? What's wrong?"
Chie stuttered, "Uhh… Nothing. Alright, let's go get our ingredients."
"Uhh… Where the hell are they going?" Rion asked as all the girls went in separate directions, "What are they going to make? Miso soup? Shrimp tempura?"
"Uh… if they're all making the same thing, why are they splitting up to different parts of the market?" Yosuke said as turned to Souji, "Looks like you'll need all the help I can give you," as Rion got some rice, eggs, soy sauce, and other assorted ingredients that are supposed to go in omelets.
Yosuke asked, "Hey, what kind of omelet are you making? I'll go get the ingredients for you."
"I'll make an Asian-American one. I think that's what Rion is making." Souji said as he gave a list of the ingredients that he needed to Yosuke. They were exactly the ones that were in Rion's cart. He felt confident that his kitchen would be safe at least with him. With him at least. Yosuke nodded and headed off to get them.
When they finished, there was a huge cartful of various items for the omelet battle. Souji had a good idea on who the winner would be.
"Okay, who has habańero peppers in this cart for an omelet?" Rion asked.
No one answered… and Rion shook his head, "I shouldn't have asked."
"Foie gras?" Yosuke asked. If possible, Yosuke had gotten more confused.
"Quite an eye you got there, Senpai!" Rise said, "It's a must-have for my special omelet. Don't worry, I'll let you have a taste. Ooh, maybe I should spoon-feed you." She said very seductively, "I heard last time you choked down something so awful that words couldn't describe it." Rise was so damn flirty, god only knows how much more flirty she acts around Souji.
"It was horrible," Yosuke was being overly dramatic; Chie and Yukiko got pissed and glared at the idol.
"You poor dears… Who would do such a horrible thing?" Rise asked sweetly.
Chie said slowly, "Rise-san? This is going to be the only chance you get to gloat, is that clear?"
Yukiko threatened, "I'll crush you with one strike!"
"Damn, she's hot when she's angry!" Souji thought. He almost started drooling.
Kanji had walked up, "Whoa! You guys look like you're ready to enter the Ultimate Frying Championship!"
"Kanji-kun! That's alcohol!" Yukiko pointed at the bottle in Kanji's hand.
Kanji tried to cover his ass as he said, "Huh? Oh, uh… Hahaha!" He quickly walked away to put it back.
"If he really wanted it, I could have bought it…," Rion muttered, "I look old enough. No one bothers to look twice at me, though I probably wouldn't buy it for him; it would be unethical."
Chie asked Yosuke, "By the way, where's Teddie?"
Souji looked at Yosuke, "That's a good question. Where is he?"
Teddie's voice could be heard in the distance, "Miss? Am I allowed to eat this?"
The group turned to see him by a sample tray off to the side. He was accosting some middle-aged lady who was giving out samples of meat. He was hoarding all of the samples.
"Of course you can, dear. Eat as much as you like!" the sample tray lady said.
"You're such a nice lady! Is this one cooked already?" Teddie was putting his charm on the lady.
She giggled, "This one's ready, too. Oh, my! Are you hungry for more? Here… I'll open this package too."
Teddie pulled more charm, "You're so beautiful."
"Oh my, no! No, I must'nt! I've got a husband and son!" the lady tried to resist Teddie's evil charm.
"But I really want this meat! And I want you to cook it for me, Miss."
"Ooh, I couldn't possibly. The manager would get so upset," the lady explained.
Yosuke muttered, "I'm gonna knock the stuffing out of that bear."
He kept charming the lady until they headed to Souji's place, or Dojima's as you'd like to think of it that way. Yosuke dragged him, hair first. Rise, Chie, and Yukiko were at the kitchen making their abominations, no… omelets.
While Rion and Souji were making theirs at the table; they had already cooked the meat, Kanji was sitting across from them and Yosuke was standing nearby making small talk. Teddie was sitting with Nanako by the TV talking to the little girl.
"Rise-chan was right. This celebration does make it feel like it's over," Teddie said, "The case really has come to an end." Teddie looked down as he said that.
Nanako looked happy though, "Wow! It's really Rise-chan!" She seemed really excited that her favorite idol had appeared at her home.
Teddie still looked down, "I should go back over there soon…"
"Are you going somewhere?" Nanako asked innocently.
"Yep… The guys kept their promise," Teddie explained. He still looked down.
"A promise, huh," Nanako said, and then asked Teddie, "What if you made a promise with me? Could you stay then?" She was rather innocent towards Teddie.
"A promise… with Nana-chan?" Teddie was thinking as he said that.
"Umm… A promise that you'll play with me. How about that?" Nanako asked.
Souji had walked up to the pair. He was almost done making probably one of the only edible meals in the house.
Teddie said to Souji, "Sensei… You kept your promise with me. So I should go back there."
Souji just told him, "Don't worry about it… We want you to stay."
"But a promise is a promise. It's not good to break them," Teddie looked down.
"We'll be lonely, besides, you promised Nanako," Souji told Teddie.
"Sensei…," Teddie looked at Souji with admiration, "My promise with Nana-chan. I made a promise to play with her. Can I really stay here? It wasn't just my promise. Nana-chan made it with me. I'm really… really happy. Thank you." There were tears in Teddie's eyes.
"No worries… We wouldn't have it any other way," Souji said.
Yosuke had come over and Teddie asked, "Yosuke… I have a new promise to keep. So… I wanna stay here a little longer. Is that okay, Sir?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? You're not going anywhere," Yosuke said, "You can't just quit your job like that. In any case, if you left…"
He was interrupted by Rise's voice, "It's reeady! Incoming food! Out of the way, Senpai!" Rise brought her dish over and ran over Yosuke. Yosuke was nearly knocked over by incoming idols.
"Whoa! Ow!" Yosuke rubbed his shoulder as Rise ran into him with his dish.
All five dishes made it to the table… without much incident. It was after it made it to the table; that Souji was worried about.
"Bon appetit!" Rise exclaimed to the group. She seemed really excited about people trying her creation.
Yosuke interrupted her, "Well… Wait a sec. Asking Nanako-chan to jump in and try these dishes for us is kinda unethical."
Yosuke was looking at the girls with a scared look. Chie responded, "Don't look at us like that!"
Kanji figured it out, "Ohhh… So it's our job to taste it first, to make sure we can keep it down."
"I guess so," Rion said. He looked at Yosuke, "I can understand where you are coming from, Yosuke. I did not even try to help them this time."
"Hey! That's mean!" Rise exclaimed. She looked at Yosuke, "Then try mine first, Yosuke-senpai. It's guaranteed delicious."
Yosuke looked happy, "You don't mind me going first? Actually, I've been looking forward to yours. I mean, Risette cooked it herself. Can you imagine how many guys would kill me if they found out?"
"In about ten seconds, I'm guessing about zero," Rion thought, "I doubt she's ever had to cook for herself."
"Well then, chow time!" Yosuke exclaimed. Yosuke looked like he was going gulp the thing in one go.
He took a bite and choked, "Urgh…" He struggled to find words through his pain. He looked like he was dying, "I can't give this to Nanako-chan."
Rise asked Yosuke, "Ooh… It's so delicious that you won't let anyone else have a bite?"
Souji tried the omelet of death. Words could not describe the pain he felt. It was so spicy… Lava spicy.
"Oh dear…, Wow," Souji muttered when he could finally speak, "I'm afraid not."
"Ooh… is it good?" Rise asked, "I thought the flavors would balance each other…" Rise looked at Souji.
"Right…" Rion rolled his eyes.
Yukiko looked at them, "Here, try mine next!"
Kanji told her, "I'll take this one."
As he took a spoonful, Yosuke warned, "Kanji… That's a lot." Yosuke was worried for Kanji's well-being after Mystery Food X.
As he took bites and more bites and didn't say anything, Yukiko nearly yelled at him, "Hey, say something!"
"Well… uh… How do I say this?" Kanji wondered. He ended up saying, "It tastes really… um… boneless."
Yukiko freaked out at him, "What! That's not a word you use to describe taste! Does it taste good or not? Tell me!"
"Damn! She looks hot again!" Souji thought.
Souji took a bite of the "boneless" omelet…
"Well… it's not going to kill me. I just don't taste anything in particular," Souji said. "Another Yukiko creation, that's for sure," Souji thought.
Kanji told them, "Not good, that's for sure. It tastes like… I'm eating plain oatmeal. It's pretty impressive that you put so many ingredients into a dish and it came out tasting like nothing."
Thankfully, Yukiko went off only on Kanji, "Your palate just isn't refined enough."
Nanako tried Yukiko's dish and took a bite of the oatmeal-ish thing.
"I think it tastes good," Nanako said.
'Nanako-chan!" Yukiko praised her.
"Okay… Try mine next!" Chie told them, "Urgh… I don't know about this… But I think it'll taste good! This time for sure." She was rather unsure.
"I'll give it a whirl!" Teddie replied.
As Teddie started eating, Chie asked, "How is it?"
Teddie exclaimed very excitedly, "Wow! This tastes awful! You have to try this, Yosuke!"
Yosuke looked at Teddie and said with a face, "Dude, not after you say that."
Regardless, Yosuke tried the terrible omelet. Souji decided it was probably only because of Yosuke's hidden feelings of Chie. Then again, he had feelings of Rise too. He said, "Ahhh… I see…"
Souji tried it next. It was terrible, "Oh… yeah…," Souji definitely had to agree with Teddie and Yosuke.
Yosuke answered, "Well… Um… It's a huge improvement over the curry."
Chie hung her head, "Yeah, thanks for the consolation. I feel so much better."
Nanako tried Chie's omelet after the guys.
"I think this tastes good too," Nanako said slowly and with a strained face.
"Nanako-chan!" Chie praised her.
Yukiko tried Chie's disaster after Nanako.
"Oh yeah, they're right. They're totally right. It tastes awful," Yukiko started laughing.
Chie lashed out at Yukiko, "Then try Rise-chan's. I bet you anything mine tastes better than hers."
Yukiko tasted Rise's food. It would not be a good sight as she took a bite.
"Urgh…" Yukiko fell over and was knocked unconscious.
"Senpai!?" Rise asked.
"Sure enough, one strike!" Kanji exclaimed.
"Well, Yukiko and Chie's didn't taste good either. But at least theirs didn't cause any casualties," Yosuke laughed.
"It's a taste too subtle for kids. It's a mature flavor!" Rise started to whine and tear up.
Rion looked at her, "I guess I'll try it… I am the oldest after all."
"Ha, maturity…!," Souji thought.
He tasted the omelet… He nearly freaked out in pain. He grabbed the milk he brought with him and downed it.
"Eeh… Who put habańero peppers in an omelet with foie gras?" Rion gasped.
"How did you know what I put in?" Rise asked.
"Do you want me to list the ingredients?" Rion was coughing as he said, "Habańeros are the hottest peppers you could have put in… It was pretty obvious they would overshadow the foie gras."
"You guys are just kids! I… I...," Rise started to cry all over the table.
Nanako tasted Rise's food as Rise showered the room. The house started to flood.
"Ngh…," Nanako said in pain. Yet, she still said through the pain, "It's spicy, but it's still good."
"Nanako-chan!" more praise came from Rise, "I knew it! Nanako-chan is the most mature person in this room!"
"Crocodile tears?" Chie accused Rise.
"Oh yeah, didn't you make one too, Senpai?" Kanji asked Souji.
"Didn't you?" Souji asked Rion, as Souji nodded. Rion nodded as well.
I made one for you guys," Rion said, "I'll go get it."
"You did," Nanako looked happy, "Ooh…" She tasted Souji's, "This is really good! I've never had an omelet with fried rice this good. It's amazing!"
"Are you full, Nanako-chan?" Chie asked.
Nanako nodded happily.
"We're still starving," Yosuke complained.
"If you're so hungry, then help yourself to an awful-tasting omelet! Hmph!" Chie rebuked him.
Just then, Rion came up with food… "Who wanted food?" he asked.
"An omelet?" Kanji asked, "Will this taste good?"
"I'll try it…," Souji said.
Souji tried it, and it tasted very good. "It's good," Souji responded, "Really good." He started eating it.
"Hey, don't hog it!" Yosuke exclaimed.
The single omelet was soon consumed by the others.
"Now, I'm the one who's starving," Rion thought to himself.
After eating the omelet, Yosuke stood up, "Uhh… I have a suggestion," he said, "You guys all know about the festival they're holding in the shopping district, right? Why don't we all go?"
Rise looked happy, "Oh, that sounds good!"
Teddie looked inquisitive, "Whoa! Does that mean all the girls will be wearing yukata?"
"A festival…," Nanako said slowly.
"We'll bring Nanako-chan along too," Yosuke said cheerfully.
Nanako looked at Souji, "I can come, Big bro?"
"Of course you can come with us," Souji responded.
"Really! Yay!"
"That settles it, then!" Yosuke put their minds at ease.
"The days of the festival, huh?" Rion was thinking to himself, "Damn it! Why do I have to work!?"
"Festival food always tastes great for some reason, even if ain't anything fancy," Kanji told his opinion to the group. He laughed, "Whew… We'll finally be able to get a good amount of edible food for once."
The girls did not like what he was saying and dipped their heads in shame. Souji chuckled inwardly.
"Well, it's settled then," Souji said, "We will all be going to the festival."
Souji sighed. The past few days he spent were not exactly the most exciting, but they were at least more interesting than listening to Kashiwagi whine.
He spent a few days hanging out with Rise. Souji found out that her parents were rather strict with her, and she didn't have many real friends.
"My classmates only liked me because I was Risette," Rise said, "Not because I was Rise."
"I see," Souji said, "I think I understand."
Souji just didn't feel the same about Rise, that's for sure.
He talked a little with Yukiko, trained with Chie, which was painful, and even hung out with Ai at the Okina Station. It was the first time he had hung out with her while not skipping class. Kou and Daisuke came and hung out with Nanako. Kou gave him some book about tea ceremonies, which Souji quickly threw away. "I don't need to learn about that shit!" he thought to himself. The best part of definitely being with Yukiko, but that was only a day or so.
Overall, a bummer of a few days before it started raining again.
It was August 12th and the news came on when he was eating with Nanako to tell them that "Because of the recent rain in the Inaba area, fog will be expected to come in overnight."
Souji decided it was time to go to the idiot box after eating and watch the Midnight Channel. It was still raining when Midnight came and the yellow screen came on. Of course, no one showed up choking or screaming in pain.
It was the next night that he was dining with Adachi and Dojima eating sushi with Nanako.
Adachi exclaimed, while at the table, "Wow, what a great spread! I've never seen so many pieces of fatty tuna!"
Dojima replied, "Well, if you're gonna have a celebration, you can't do it halfway."
"Celebration?" Nanako asked.
"Ah, it's about this," Dojima pointed at the TV, "Watch!"
The reporter talked, "I didn't care who it was," "I was pissed off." "I wanted to be famous."
The reporter was using quotes from Souji guessed was Mitsuo, "The suspect was often heard saying these things. The young suspect has confessed to being the culprit behind the recent cases, but he's shown no remorse so far. Because of several inconsistencies in the boy's deposition, some have called for a mental examination to be carried out. Until then, the police will be continuing their investigation to shed light on all prior incidents."
"Wow," Souji said, pretending to be shocked. Of course, he really wasn't. But… if you were the one who really witnessed the guy acting insane, who would think that guy wasn't insane.
Adachi told them, "It was actually pretty tough to make a case out of this. All we had was the suspect's confession and some circumstantial evidence. But the lab found the perp's prints on the victim's clothes, so we made it stick after all. Man, isn't crime scene investigation something? Who would have thought you could get viable prints from cloth?"
"That's impressive," Souji replied. He pretended to be impressed by the police's work.
"There's no more scary stuff to be worried about. You're safe now," Dojima told Nanako.
"Uh huh!" She told him happily. Souji didn't want Nanako to be scared anymore.
Adachi expressed to the group, "Man, that guy was twisted. A high schooler committing multiple murders and leaving the bodies like that… He was over the edge. Good thing we caught him! Now I can stop seeing suspects in every shadow!"
"No shit, Adachi!" Souji thought to himself, reminiscing about the photographer.
"If the killer was still on the loose…," Adachi was saying worriedly.
"Enough, Adachi!" Dojima exclaimed, "If you keep running your mouth, the sushi's gonna dry up."
Adachi apologized, "Oh, you're right. Sorry!"
"C'mon everyone! Eat up!" Dojima told to the group.
"Okay then," Souji said as he started eating.
"Well… since you asked…," Adachi started and looked at Nanako who wasn't eating and looking down, "Huh? You don't like sushi, Nanako-chan?"
Nanako explained, "There's wasabi in it," she told them.
Dojima remembered, "Ahh… that's right! I forgot to tell them to hold the wasabi. Here, I'll take it off for you. Which one do you want? Hmm?"
"Halibut!" Nanako said joyfully.
Adachi told her, "Excellent taste, Nanako-chan." He then said, "As for me, I'll go for sea urchin." Adachi made a grab for the one in the middle.
Dojima complained, "Hey, there's only one of those!"
"I'll just eat whatever sushi I can get, as long as it's edible," Souji said, "It's better than I usually get made for me." He had muttered the second part under his breath.
Adachi had already eaten the urchin, "Too late! First come, first serve!"
At least it was a happy and lively dinner with no crazy kicking or screaming. The best part, no one accused him of being around the crime scene, or interfering with the damn case.
On August 14th, Souji got a call from Chie.
"Hello?" Souji asked
"Hi, this is Chie!" Chie responded.
"Hello, Chie."
"I ran into Yosuke at Junes. He said he really was in a bind because he didn't have enough employees working at Junes."
"Man, that sucks for him…"
"He's probably going to come to you and beg for you to rescue him."
"Huh?" Souji asked.
"He'll be all, "You've got to save me from this chaos, Souji!" Chie announced
"Oh dear, so I got to help him now," Souji muttered.
"I feel kinda sorry for him, so I'm gonna help him out this week," Chie told him.
"I guess I have to go too," Souji resigned himself.
"He'll be glad, Souji-kun!" Chie said.
He had a few days before he had to become Yosuke's slave, but at least he'd get paid for it. Souji decided he'd hang out with Rise for a little bit. He did get some good money from scoring well on the test from his uncle. Starting the 15th, he agreed with Yosuke to work at Junes, so he joined them at the meglo-mart.
The conditions at Junes were hell on earth.
"Come get your grand delights!" Souji tried to advertise the food.
Yosuke sighed, "Why are there so many people here just for the hero show?"
"I have no idea," Souji responded.
"This is so freakin' tiring," Yosuke muttered.
"It's not going to get any easier," Rion had shown up to help and told the pair as he was helping to facilitate the visitors.
"Anyways, if you guys weren't here, I'd be a zombie by now," Yosuke admitted to them.
On the other side of Junes, Chie was trying to push the chilled food, "We've got shaved ice with all your favorite flavors! Cheer on the heroes while enjoying some shaved ice!" She sighed, "Ugh! It's so hot today!"
"You're kidding right?" Rion joked, "I thought it was supposed to be 0 degrees Celsius today."
"What's with Rion actually making a joke?" Souji thought, "Hell is freezing over as we speak."
Teddie was working tirelessly behind the meat counter. Souji wondered how he could serve meat in a bear costume.
The days at Junes continued and Teddie seemed about ready to keel over.
"Welcome, everyone! Beat the heat, and eat some meat!" Chie's voice rang out.
"How will eating meat cool you down?" Rion asked.
Chie went on about the different kinds of meat the customers could have, "Yakiniku! Grilled steak! Pork ginger! Chow down and restore the energy the brutal summer days have taken from you."
Teddie had stopped moving.
"Teddie finally kicked the bucket, Yosuke," Souji laughed.
"Man, Teddie really is dedicated, isn't he?" Yosuke asked Souji, "I'm melting in this short-sleeved shirt and he's wearing that huge costume. He's also standing in front of the griddle. How does he do it?"
"I guess he just does," Souji said.
Yosuke reminded the group that the summer festival was tomorrow and Rion just sighed.
Yosuke told them to meet at the shrine tomorrow night.
The next day was the summer festival. Souji headed out towards the Tatsuhime Shrine to meet his friends.
Teddie, Kanji, Yosuke, and Souji were walking up to the shrine.
"Funny, I remember this festival being a lot more crowded last year. Is it because of the murders?" Yosuke asked.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Souji said. He wouldn't know how crowded it was, but this year was pretty bad.
"Yeah, there aren't many people here this year. Well, I guess you can't blame them for being scared," Kanji responded, "Haven't seen the reporters around either. They sure are good at stirring up shit up and then disappearing. Well, I guess it ain't so bad to have thin crowds. What is important is that we get some ikayaki!"
Teddie looked excited, "Ooh… I wanna get some too! Kanji, what's ikayaki?"
"It's got octopus in it," Souji said.
They walked in amongst the booths buying ikayaki and takoyaki.
They got some food and were walking back when they started complaining about the girls.
"Man, they're late… Why were they meeting up at Yukiko's house in the first place?" Yosuke complained.
"Probably because it's the best-suited for getting ready," Souji said, picturing Yukiko in a yukata, "But where's Rion?"
"Oh, you didn't know?" Yosuke asked.
"No, what is it?" Souji looked at him.
"Rion lives by himself. He has to support himself. He has to work over the summer festival," Yosuke said, "I think that's why he looked down every time we talked about the festival. I feel bad for him."
"Oh, I see," Souji said. "That really is bad for him. I know he doesn't have parents, but geez."
"Well… The girls will show up sooner or…," Kanji was saying.
Teddie noticed, "Whoa! Isn't that them?" pointed off into the distance.
Rise was in a pink and red yukata, Yukiko a dark blue, Chie was in a white and yellow, and Nanako was in a white and pink yukata.
"Sorry we took so long," Chie apologized.
Yukiko explained, "It took us some time to get dressed."
Rise explained, "You have to wrap towels inside, so they're not as breezy as everyone says.
"Well, considering how you're dressed underneath," Souji thought.
"It's kind of hard to walk," Nanako told the group.
"You look cute, Nanako," Souji told her. He was dumbfounded by the group, especially Yukiko.
Nanako giggled and blushed.
Teddie flirted, "Nana-chan, you look so cute. I'm head over heels for you."
Nanako blushed and giggled again, "Thank you."
Rise asked Souji, "How do we look, Senpai? Does the sight make your heart skip a beat?"
"Do I really have to answer which is the best?" Souji asked, and they nodded, "I think it suits Yukiko the best."
"Really?" she blushed, "Thank you…"
Yosuke noticed Kanji looking away, "Kanji, what are you looking away for? Don't tell you're ashamed to look. What are you, a monk?"
"That ain't it!" Kanji responded quickly.
Rise giggled at him, "Ahaha! You're so cute, Kanji."
Nanako turned around and noticed Dojima walking up to them as Kanji looked annoyed at Rise's comment.
"Hey… Thanks for looking after her," Dojima thanked the group.
"They bought me cotton candy!" Nanako exclaimed happily.
Dojima looked content, "Did they now? Alright then, you wanna go over and do the target prac… game with me?"
Nanako exclaimed in glee, "Uh-huh! Let's go!"
Dojima told the group, "I'll take care of Nanako from here. It's only a few times a year that this town gets charged up like this. You kids should go and have some fun."
The group waved off Nanako. She looked happy.
Teddie thought out loud, "Hmmm… A summer festival… Hrmmm."
The group turned around and Teddie continued, "A couple walking together at the festival… Unused to wearing it, the girl's yukata comes loose. Summer has begun."
"He's an idiot alright," Souji thought.
"What kind of tagline is that?" Chie asked.
Teddie responded, "We got to go two-by-two." He yelled out.
"Two-by-two?" Yukiko was confused.
"Coupling off," Souji said.
"See, I've been thinking. It's the summer, you're wearing yukata, and we're at a festival. It's just wrong for guys and girls to be walking in a big group like this. We should couple up while we're here. It's only natural," Teddie said.
Everyone except Rise and Souji looked worried. "Yukiko and I, now!" Souji thought.
"What the hell are you babblin' about?" Kanji gestured at Teddie.
"I'm with Teddie!" Rise exclaimed. There was no way she was not going to agree with this, and she already had set her eyes on who she wanted as her partner.
They looked at her and she explained, "C'mon, Senpai… why wear yukata in the first place? So we have memories we can remember fondly, right?"
"I guess…," Souji said.
"So we should pair off right away!" Rise said.
Chie looked at Yukiko, "Rise… What a terrifying girl. You got a point though… Good memories."
"I'm fine too…," Yukiko said nervously. "I wanna go with Souji. I don't want Rise to go with him," she thought. She then said, "Oh, what I meant is… Count me in."
Chie told the boys, "Alright… You guys decide how we'll split up."
Yosuke looked worried, "Seriously? You're leaving it up to us? Alright."
The group walked away a short distance from the girls and circled up.
"Three guys and three girls… What should we do?" Yosuke asked the group.
Teddie was confused, "Three guys? Aren't you missing one?"
"What?" Yosuke said, "Me, Kanji, and Souji make three."
Teddie was dumbfounded, "Whaa! You did that on purpose."
Kanji was reluctant, "Uhh… Should I really do this?"
Yosuke chuckled, "Oh yeah, you can barely look at 'em. We should have made Rion skip work. Though, who would he pick?"
"He'd probably jump ship too," Souji chuckled, "I'm kidding."
"No way! I can look at 'em! It'll be a cinch, just you watch," Kanji told them.
"I don't know about this…," Souji said.
"Nah, you should bail, Kanji. It'd be the best for everyone this way," Yosuke told Kanji.
"Wha! You don't believe me?" Kanji stood back.
"Well, I've made my decision!" Teddie said with confidence.
Kanji looked at the transformed bear, "Hey, wait 'til we're finished for that!"
Teddie told the group, "I want Chie-chan, Yuki-chan, and Rise-chan for my partners."
"What the hell!" Souji thought.
"That's not a decision," Yosuke told him, "You're the one who told us we had to pair off in the first place."
"I ain't joking here, Ted. If you try and butt in on this…," Kanji was warning the bear.
Teddie told Kanji," That's right, Kanji. This is serious business. And you are a true man. A true man wouldn't be prancing around with other girls at a place like this."
"Okay?" Kanji said slowly.
"How much more can you butter him up?" Yosuke told Kanji in disdain.
"I don't like where this is going," Souji said. He thought, "He's going to do something screwy."
Teddie told Kanji, "Kanji! This is a test to see if you can uphold your status as a true man. Phew! Now no one will be left out."
"Yeah… You're right," Kanji said, "Thanks, Teddie. You said it! Okay, count me out!"
Yosuke lamented, "Dude, come one! Don't fall for that!"
Teddie walked over to the girls, "It's decided. I'm going with all of you."
Everyone was confused, especially the girls.
"Huh? What's going on?" Chie asked.
"Oh, well, there would have been too many guys, so someone would have been left out," Teddie confessed, "I just couldn't let that happen."
"So you took all the girls instead and we're all left out," Souji griped.
"What! You little…" Yosuke yelled as Teddie tried to pull his charm.
"Haha, I see," Chie said.
"I wanted Souji but…," she was thinking but, Yukiko told Teddie jokingly, "You're so kind, Teddie."
"We let them decide, and this is what we get?" Rise said, "Aww, what a let down. Oh, well… Let's go then." "I get Teddie instead of Souji," Rise thought, "This is dumb."
"We fail, huh?" Yosuke questioned, "An epic fail."
"No doubt about that," Souji responded.
Off into the distance…
"Hey! Teddie!" Rise yelled, "Why are you buying another idol's photo!? Mine's in there too!"
Back with the guys, "Arrgh… what's with this?" Yosuke yelled.
"You just suck, that's all," Souji said.
"Hey, Ted! Hands off my corn!" Chie yelled at the bear-human.
Yukiko complained, "Teddie! You got ketchup on my yukata."
"I'm going to kick that bear's ass…," Souji muttered.
Souji spent the next day at the festival with the manager of the team for the hell of it. He wished for a good time with Yukiko. Would he get it? He hoped so… He smiled when the girl failed at the lottery game.
He hung out with Yosuke, but found that Nanako had some homework left to do. Maybe, a lot of homework left to do.
"A slacker like me," Souji thought, "I've taught her well!"
She was happy to receive help from her Big bro.
"Thank you Big bro for the help!" Nanako told him.
"Not a problem," Souji replied.
"I'll start with some spelling practice…," she said.
That was exciting after you double-checked her work, and found she did it all perfectly.
"She's too smart," Souji thought, "I hope she doesn't turn into the next Rion. That'd be unbearable."
The next day, Nanako had to write three proverbs for her class.
"Ahh… let's see what we can find," Souji said.
"Oh… I know one. "A rolling stone gathers no moss." Dad always says that one," Suddenly, a doorbell rang and Nanako looked up, "Who can that be?" Nanako asked.
It was Yosuke and Teddie to help with Nanako's work.
"We had a little event going on at Junes today. Here's a souvenir for you, Nanako-chan," Yosuke said, "Oh, are you doing your summer homework? I feel sorry for you."
Teddie told her, "Alright! I'll help you, Nana-chan. Umm… Proverbs, uhh… Oh, I have one. "Cogito ergo sum.""
"Where did you pick that one up?" Yosuke asked, ""Don't cast pearls before swine" is something more like what'd you say."
Both helped Nanako finished today's homework with some laughs included.
Tomorrow, Souji helped Nanako with her homework again.
"I have to write an essay about something I remember," Nanako said.
"Well, there are a lot of good memories to choose from," Souji told her, "We just need to pick one." He thought about the time they did magic tricks.
The doorbell rang, "Is someone here today too?" Nanako asked.
It was Chie and Yukiko here to help with homework.
"I heard from Yosuke that Nanako-chan is doing her homework, so I'm here to help you," Chie said as she sat by. Yukiko was standing over the three as Chie asked, "You're writing an essay? Have you decided on a topic, Nanako-chan?"
"Not yet?" Yukiko asked as Nanako shook her head, "Hmm, let's see… How about the time when we went to the festival together?"
Nanako smiled, "That's right! The ikayaki was so good, and I had so much fun."
"Well, I think you have your topic," Souji said.
They finished today's homework and set off for tomorrow.
Another day went by and so another day helping Nanako with her homework. Today, Nanako was writing a book report.
"I already finished reading the book, so I just need to write about it. A king goes deep into the forest, and…"
The book report went well and Souji felt good about it.
"He was all alone… so he wasn't angry or sad. The king said he was happy, but I feel sad for him." She asked Souji, "Umm… Big bro? Do you feel happy when you're alone?"
"I think it depends," Souji told Nanako.
"I see…," Nanako said, "Maybe I should write about you, too…" Souji wasn't sure about that.
The next day, Nanako was doing her art homework.
"I have to make something out of stuff I find in the house," she said, "A milk carton, a paper towel tube, knitting wool, origami paper… What else do we have?"
The doorbell rang… It was Rise, Rion, and Kanji.
"Senpai said that Nanako-chan was doing her summer homework. You should have told me!" Rise exclaimed. She pouted though, "But, it looks like I picked the wrong day to come. I can't do any of this art stuff."
"Me neither," Nanako pouted.
"That's why we have Kanji," Souji said.
"Huh… Let me see what you've got," Kanji responded.
Kanji crafts some amazingly detailed car thingy.
Rion took a piece of paper and began writing a bunch of notes on it. It was a detailed song, "Here's what Rise is good at…"
"Is that a song?" Rise asked.
"Well… yeah," Rion said.
Souji just shook his head.
It was another day of working on Nanako's homework.
"I have to write a paper on my favorite animal," Nanako said, "Hmm… which one should I choose?" she asked herself.
"Well… is it one that lives in the sea, or one that lives on the land?" Souji asked.
"Oh… I know. There's a picture of it on that shirt Dad bought me. What's it called? A platypus? I'll write about platypuses!"
"That's cool. You should have an easy time," Souji said.
Nanako began researching platypuses in a book she had.
"The platypus lays eggs. And they have poisonous claws!" She looked at Souji and pointed at him, "Question! Is it male or female platypuses that have the poisonous claws?"
"I know Teddie has poisonous claws…," Souji said.
"Huh?" Nanako looked confused, "Teddie has poisonous claws? He has hands."
Souji had finished his summer homework very quickly and it looked like Nanako had one more piece of work to do too.
"This is the last thing I have to do for my homework," Nanako said.
"What is it?" Souji asked.
"I just need to write a picture diary," Nanako told him, "Umm… Big bro and Dad…"
"Okay…," Souji said.
"Um… let's see, August 27th… Ah, I don't remember the weather," Nanako said, "Umm… Big bro? Did it rain the day we did my art homework?"
"It did, but it stopped by the time we worked on it," Souji said.
"Oh that's right! Thank you!" Nanako told him, "Big bro and his friends helped me a lot with my homework. They were so nice. I like them a lot." She looked at Souji who was trying to see how she was doing, "No! Don't look!" Souji was just happy that he was included in her homework.
The next day he spent the day hanging out with Yukiko.
August 31st was the last day of summer break, and when he came down, Nanako was waiting for him.
"Oh, you finally came down," Nanako told him.
"Yeah… I had to get ready," Souji said. He had just finished buttoning up his shirt as he came down, and popped his collar.
"Um, I got a call from Dad. He said someone gave him a watermelon. It's too big for us to eat, so he said you should call your friends over," Nanako asked gleefully, "Do you think Teddie and your other friends can come?"
"I'll give them a call. I'm sure they can," Souji responded.
He called Yosuke and Yosuke picked up almost immediately.
"Hey, Yosuke. We have a watermelon," Souji said.
"Watermelon?" Yosuke inquired.
"Do you want to come and have some?" Souji asked.
"Yeah, definitely. I haven't had any yet this year. I'm gonna call up the others so you better not smack it open before we get there," Yosuke sounded really excited.
Everyone had shown up for some watermelon. They had arrived rather quickly. It made the second time in only a few weeks that they had crowded into their adobe.
"Um, Dad got a watermelon from someone, so he said we should call everyone," Nanako said excitedly from the couch.
"Man, a watermelon!" Kanji exclaimed, "'Cause of all the stuff that's gone down this summer. I completely missed out. So where is it? The fridge?"
Rise was annoyed, "Gee, Kanji. They invited us over. At least show some manners."
"We gotta smack it open first!" Yosuke exclaimed.
"Huh? Are we seriously going to do that? We can't eat it if it gets all crushed," Chie wondered.
Yukiko lightened the mood as she said cheerfully, "But, but, doesn't it sound like fun?"
"I wanna do it too!" Nanako smiled.
"That seals it," Souji said, "If Nanako wants to, we smack it." "Yukiko wants to do it too," Souji thought.
"I'll swing at it with everything I've got!" Teddie told the girl, "The splattering fruit juice! Bursts of joy! One night of love… The bitter sweetness of those days is the essence of youth."
"Only Teddie can make the simplest things sound nasty," Rion muttered.
Yosuke shook his head, "That makes no sense at all. And dude, will you cut out those commercial lines of yours."
"That's the essence of youth," Nanako said.
"Oh great… look what you did Teddie," Souji complained to Teddie.
"We can expect nothing less from someone who knows nothing but what he sees on TV or at Junes," Rion shrugged.
The door opened and Dojima was home, "I'm home… Whoa, that's a lot of shoes. How many people are here?"
Nanako ran over to Dojima, "Welcome home! Um, let's split the watermelon open!"
Dojima was nervous, "Say what? Um, you see… We had already opened the watermelon with the others in the neighborhood and shared it with the others."
"Wha…!?" Nanako looked really disappointed.
They took some of the large watermelon pieces that were left and shared it with Souji, Nanako, and their friends. They were all eating out on the porch.
Dojima looked to a pouting Nanako, "C'mon Nanako, don't pout. Everyone came here to hang out, right?" As Nanako still looked down, "I'm really sorry," Dojima said to her, "It never occurred to me that you'd want to do that."
"Hey, Nanako-chan. Let's do it again sometime," Chie said, "Next time, we'll do it right… at the beach."
"Seconded!" Rise smiled.
"That sounds great," Souji said.
Yosuke had another one of his thoughts, "Whoa! Does that mean we get to see you guys in swimsuits? Oh… but there probably aren't enough days left. We'll have to do it next year."
"He would want to see them in bathing suits," Souji thought.
Nanako looked at the ground, "Next year…" Nanako looked at the group, "Will you play with me next year too?"
"Of course we will!" Chie said.
"I don't see why we would not," Rion said as he gestured with his small piece of watermelon.
"You betcha!" Kanji exclaimed while chewing down noisily on his watermelon.
Yukiko repeated, "You betcha!"
"Did you hear that, Nanako?" Dojima looked at her.
"Yep! Thank you!" Nanako exclaimed.
They all went home eventually and Nanako fell asleep. Rion and Yosuke were the last to go, and Rion helped clean up. Dojima appreciated it.
Souji and Dojima were talking in the living room.
"Thanks for everything today, Souji," Dojima said.
"That's not a problem. I was glad," Souji responded.
"It's been a while since I last saw Nanako in high spirits like that."
"I'm glad too," Souji said.
"The case is finally solved… Now for all the… Eh, never mind. Save it for some other time," Dojima wanted to say something else it seemed.
"Alright, I understand," Souji nodded.
"You know. You really made some great friends," Dojima smiled.
"Thanks. I think so too," Souji agreed.
Unfortunately, the second term would start tomorrow.