AN: Another one comin' at ya! Chie And Yosuke are front and center again in chapter 11, so I hope ya like it!

On Tuesday morning, Yosuke launched out of bed. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was eager to go to school. By the end of the day, he'd have his mid-term report card in his hands, and he'd surprise his parents with what he was confident would be, at the very worst, a healthy collection of B's. He'd make them proud with his improved grades, and finally put to rest his fears of being sent to cram school. He had far more important things to do with his afternoons than go to cram school, like fight shadows and win an election. Perhaps most pressing, he had to find out when Chie had some free time. He didn't want to leave what was happening between them in limbo.

Normally a typical groggy teenager in the morning, Yosuke moved briskly through his morning routine. Within minutes, he was in and out of the shower and back in his room getting dressed. He threw on his fresh pressed school uniform and scooped up his headphones, placed them over his ears and cranked the music. He felt like his good mood demanded a soundtrack.

He danced his way down the stairs, pirouetting past his mother who gazed at him bemusedly. She was not accustomed to seeing him so upbeat in the morning. She asked why he was in such high spirits, but he didn't hear her over the blare of his music as he continued to the kitchen.

"Alight!" Yosuke exclaimed upon discovering a breakfast of bacon, eggs and fruit waiting for him on the kitchen table. It wasn't often that his parents prepared breakfast for him. Taking his seat at the table, he continued to bop his head to his music while shoveling bacon into his mouth. Even the taste of bacon seemed to be enhanced that morning. The bacon reminded him of Chie, a thought he immediately decided he would keep to himself.

When he finished eating, he moon-walked to the dishwasher and deposited his plate and utensils. After that, the only thing left to do was grab his school bag at the front door and head to class. When he stepped through the front door, he was pleased to feel the sun beating down on him, along with a gentle cooling breeze.

"Wow, talk about a perfect day!" he announced to himself aloud as he began the walk to Yasogami High. Had he checked the weather forecast, however, he would have seen that storm clouds were moving into the region.

Although he'd committed himself rigorously throughout the semester, every class that day was a 'write off' for Yosuke. He was so excited that he found it impossible to concentrate. He simply wanted the final bell to ring so he could get his report card. He was so distracted that morning that he completely forgot to remove his headphones for the first class. Thirty minutes into a history lecture he began singing along to his music, causing everyone in the room to stare at him. When he finally realized that all eyes were on him, he abruptly stopped singing. The second he embarrassingly removed his head phones, the entire class roared with laughter, even the teacher. Nonetheless, the teacher did confiscate the Mp3 player for the rest of the day.

"You've got a beautiful singing voice," Yuu quipped as Yosuke returned from turning over his Mp3 player.

"Oh, come on man! Settle down! I'm in a good mood, so what!" he replied.

"Well, I hope it's justified my friend. I hope your grades are as high as you think," Yuu responded.

"I've got no doubt in my mind!" Yosuke hummed triumphantly.

As the lecture continued, Yosuke was disturbed by something poking his back. Chie, who sat behind him, was trying to get his attention. Yosuke swiveled in his seat to face her.

"What are ya poking me for?" he inquired.

"Don't forget that you offered to tutor me if your grades are good," Chie answered bashfully.

Yosuke grinned confidently. "Oh, they will be!" he replied.

"Well, I know I'm not….so strong in math and I could probably use a tutor. So you better be a man of your word!" she scolded.

"Have I ever been one to lie, Chie? Of course I'll help you," he assured.

"Oh…."she continued nervously, "and don't forget that we're…you know..supposed to go for steaks..or coffee..or whatever sometime soon."

Yosuke smiled and laughed internally at Chie's timid demeanour. "Just call it a date Chie, sheesh. We're gonna go on a date. Is that such a big deal?," he thought to himself.

"Does after school today work for you?" he said aloud.

"You bet!" Chie beamed.

"How about we take our scooters somewhere?" Yosuke suggested.

Chie nodded vigorously in response with a wide smile plastered across her face. It dawned on her that this was unmistakeably a date. She'd never gone on a genuine date before so the whole prospect was exciting to her.

When lunchtime rolled around Yosuke, Yuu and Chie planted themselves behind a familiar desk. Again, Rise attempted to rally support for their campaign. Some students had actually shown interest this time and sat down to talk. Yosuke continually checked over his shoulder to make sure a 'Friends of Inaba' mob wasn't barreling down the hall to torment him.

The candidate trio discovered that many other students were disappointed with the lack of school clubs and their constant cancellation. It was beginning to feel as if they stood a chance of winning.

As lunch break was coming to a close, Rise took a seat in front of the table.

"Man, I'm bummed. Standing up for so long is draining," she sighed.

"Thanks again for doing this for us Rise," Yuu replied. "I'll have to pay you back somehow."

"I can think of a way Senpai," she whispered, fluttering her eyes.

As usual, Yu's expression was unreadable.

"I'm just teasing you Senpai!" Rise giggled. "But honestly, you should hang out with me after school. I could really use your help with something."

"What is it?" Yuu inquired.

"You'll have to wait and see. It's kind of personal!"

"Well you've piqued my curiosity. After school then?" asked Yuu.

"Yeah!" Rise squealed happily.

The afternoon classes passed quickly and the final bell rang at last. Of all the students in the class, only Yosuke seemed enthralled to hear the bell.

A deathly silence filled the room as Kashiwagi stood up with a pile of report cards in her arms. She began calling names, and students scampered one by one to receive their card.

Yosuke could barely contain himself. His legs twitched and he tapped his desk loudly with his finger. When his name was finally called, he bounced to his feet and pumped the air with a fist.

"Mr. Hanamura, please don't make a scene. Just come receive your report card quietly," Kashiwagi said wryly.

Yosuke trotted to her happily, accepted his report card and returned victoriously to his seat. He looked around and saw his friends were already looking at their cards. He wasted no time removing his from the envelope; he just had to see how he stacked up against his friends.

The world slowed down for Yosuke as his eyes scrolled down the card. Something failed to compute, and was causing a glitch in his brain.

The first few grades were decent, one was less than he would have hoped, and one was a clear mistake.

"Thirty eight in Kashiwagi's class?" he thought to himself. "That can't be right…"

"Um, Miss. I think you made a mistake on my report card!" Yosuke objected as stood up.

Kashiwagi sighed. "Like I said yesterday, if you're not happy with your results you only have yourself to blame."

"But Miss," he continued, his voice starting to tremble. "This says I failed your class. That's…that's just not possible. I mean, I refuse to believe it!"

"If you refuse to believe the sky is blue, it doesn't make the sky a different color! If the card says you failed, you failed!" Kashiwagi blasted. "Maybe if you paid more attention to your teacher, like Mr. Narukami has, you'd have passed!"

Kashiwagi's comment caused many of the students to snicker.

At that moment Yosuke experienced a total system failure. His face contorted in all manners as he searched for the words for a convincing argument. He emitted a few nasal squeaks and guttural squawks, but nothing that resembled language. He found himself gasping for air. He fell back in his chair and his friends jumped to his aid.

His friends noticed immediately the way that he stared off into space, as if he was focused on something that no one else could see. Unblinking and unmoving, he appeared to be a statue. For several minutes, he did not respond to any external stimuli. Not Yuu snapping his fingers, not Chie nudging him and not Teddie shaking him rather intensely.

"I think he's gone catatonic! Maybe we should call the school nurse!" Chie suggested.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," he croaked, finally coming back to life and greatly relieving his friends.

"Sorry buddy, you'll do better next semester," Yuu encouraged him.

"Thirty eight percent…how…?" Yosuke asked under his breath.

"Yosuke, what happened? You seemed to be doign so well on all the tests!" a very concerned and confused Yukiko asked.

"Thirty friggin' eight!?" Yosuke sobbed, still tuned out from his friends.

"It's not the end of the world, I mean, you passed some courses" Teddie pointed out.

"I'm going to cram school…" Yosuke stated with a blank expression.

The group remained silent while they exchanged glances.

"My carefree days are over….." he lamented

"Sports. Clubs. Weekends. Girls…..I won't get to enjoy any of them anymore….." he continued.

Before long, Kashiwagi was shoeing the student out of the classroom. Yuu and Yukiko lifted Yosuke to his feet and guided him out the door.

The trip home was a blur to Yosuke. One way or another, he had found his way out of the school and down the familiar road that led to his house, but the journey was totally vacant from his memory. When he arrived at his front door, he felt as if he had just snapped out of a dream.

"Huh, what…how did I get here?" he thought to himself. As he entered his home, he found himself slipping back into that dream state, where time had no bearing and he seemed to move rudderless through space.

His parents were home and waiting in the kitchen. They were eager as he was to view his grades, as they needed to know if they'd be paying for cram school. Yosuke tossed the card on the table where they sat and awaited judgement.

Yosuke was confused, surprised and ultimately worried about the reaction of his parents upon viewing his report card. He expected to receive a lengthy speech about the importance of a quality education and that he was squandering his chances at getting into a good college. What he received was somewhat more muted, and for that reason, much more terrifying. His parents examined his report card and simply reminded him of the prior arrangement; his grades were not up to par, so he would be spending his afternoons at cram school. And that was that.

Later that afternoon, Yosuke paced back and forth in his room while mulling over his unfortunate fate. His concentration was broken when his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID.

Chie.

"Hey, Yosuke, how'd they take it?" she asked before he could even say hello.

"Pretty well, all things considered…." he replied, unsure if he had read his parents accurately.

"Let go do something, like, right now. I figure you'd wanna clear your head," Chie suggested energetically.

"Right now? I'm not sure if I'm in the mood to be honest…." Yosuke moaned.

"Oh come on. Are ya gonna mope around all night instead? It'll be fun, and it'll be good for you! Plus you promised we'd hang out!"

"Yeah, you're right. I've got to live my life, right? And a promise is a promise," he replied.

"Can you come pick me up? My scooter is having some problems right now," Chie explained.

"Is there gas in it?" he asked.

"Psh, do you think I'd be that clueless? Gimme some credit here!" Chie fired back.

"Sorry, just trying to help. I'll come right over," he confirmed.

When he arrived at Chie's house, she was already waiting outside with her helmet in hand. Yosuke pulled his scooter up to the door and idled while she jogged over and hopped on the seat behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. Yosuke immediately headed toward town.

"So do you have any idea what's wrong with your scooter? Is it making funny noises or anything?"

"Oh, um, not really. It all seems normal," she called loudly over the sound of the humming scooter.

"Is it having trouble starting?" Yosuke inquired further, hoping to impress her with an understanding of scooter mechanics that he did not actually posses.

Chie sighed.

"I'll come clean with you Yosuke. Nothing is wrong with my scooter, I just thought you could use a hug to cheer you up," she explained as she tightened he arms around her friend.

Yosuke was about to grumble, but as Chie pulled herself closer to him the warmth of her embrace made him think otherwise.

"If you think I need a hug, you can just give me a hug. You don't need to be all secret about it. I'm all for free hugs," he replied with a laugh.

Chie tightened her arms around his waist in response.

"I appreciate the thought Chie, I really do. Thanks. But I'm gonna be alright. Sure, I'm gonna be pretty bummed for the next few weeks, but I'll make it through!" he buzzed with optimism.

"I know you will! You've never been one to give up!" she cheered.

"Maybe we should get some Junes steaks," Yosuke suggested.

"I'm banned for Junes for one year! Don't tell me you forgot already?" she reminded him.

Yosuke scolded himself. "Oh, right! How about Aiya then?"

"Sounds good to me," she agreed.

Yosuke revved his scooter and averted course toward the shopping district. He decided to take the long way so he could savour a few extra moments with Chie's arms wrapped around him.

Finally arriving at their destination, Yosuke found a parking space close to the restaurant and the pair dismounted the scooter.

Yosuke removed his helmet and ran a hand through his matted hair. "Well, we're here. I dunno about you, but I think a beef bowl will help drown my sorrows away," he joked.

"Now we're talkin'!" Chie answered enthusiastically."Let's go!"

Chie led the way into Aiya, and received a familiar welcome. She'd been a loyal Aiya customer for years, after all. She dragged Yosuke to a corner booth where they sat across from each other.

"So what did your parents say about your grades?" Yosuke asked.

Chie was surprised to hear him bring up the subject of grades. She'd assumed he'd want to talk about anything else in the world but grades.

"Well, my grades were okay I suppose, so they weren't angry or anything. They want me to continue to do better of course. I mean, there is room for improvement, but as least I didn't fail anything," she answered, immediately feeling a chill run up her spine over how she phrased her response. She didn't want to make it sound as if she happy that her grades were better than Yosuke's.

"Don't worry Chie," Yosuke responded, as he noticed how she cringed. "I'm happy you passed everything."

Chie sighed in relief. "Thanks."

"I'm starting cram school tomorrow," Yosuke informed.

"What?!" Chie said, aghast. "So soon?"

"Yeah," he replied solemnly. "I guess my parents didn't expect too much out of me. They booked me into a cram school weeks ago. They said they want me to start improving my grades immediately."

A wounded expression appeared on Chie's face. The thought that his parents didn't have trust in created a rotten feeling in her stomach.

"I'll be at cram school every day. Right after regular classes end, I've got to go home so my mom can drive me to evening classes."

"That's a total bummer," she lamented. "Like, when are we ever gonna see each other outside of school now?"

"I'm not sure," he replied. "I guess that's reason to make today count, right?"

Chie pondered the meaning of that statement, and grinned when her imagination started to wander.

"Yeah, seize the day and what not, right?" she asked.

"Exactly," Yosuke confirmed with a nod.

When the waitress arrived Yosuke and Chie decided to split a bottomless beef bowl, certain that if they worked together they could defeat it.

"So what about the election?" Chie inquired.

"Oh, that's right. I completely forgot about that. I guess I'll keep helping out, but I'm not gonna have time for making posters, or trying to drum up support and that kind of thing," he replied.

"Plus those 'Friends on Inaba' jerks seem intent on giving you a hard time…' she added

"Yeah, that too," Yosuke said with a dejected sigh.

"People like that..I just don't get them. It's like Yuu was saying, some people in small towns like this one like to treat others as outsiders, and make them feel unwelcome They're just afraid of change," Chie sighed.

"Yeah, some people are just going to be like that," Yosuke noted.

"It's such a shame too. If they got to know you they'd see what a great guy you are. Well….what a great guy you can be when you're not being a total jerk," Chie teased.

Yosuke smiled at the playful jab.

"This election stuff isn't that important you know. You don't need to keep doing to it. Not when you've got a full plate as it is," Chie continued.

"You think I should quit?"

"I don't want you to be miserable. And if you don't need to worry about getting attacked by a mob, and don't need to use what little free time you have trying to run an election, I think you will be a little happier," she replied.

"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed. "Still, do you think Yuu will be disappointed?'

"Naahhhhhh! He knows that the election isn't the most important thing in the world. He cares about his friends way more than he cares about winning some stupid election," she said cheerfully.

"Well then, I guess my political career is over as of today," he announced.

The waitress arrived a short time later and placed the enormous bowl of beef in the middle of the table. Yosuke graded a fork and prepared to dig in.

Before he could, Chie ducked under the table and crawled to his side of the booth.

"Chie, someone is gonna see you! What are ya doing?" Yosuke called frantically to her under the table.

"Seizing the day!" she announced when she emerged on Yosuke's side of the table. She nestled herself close to him and grabbed a fork, and began attacking the meat dish.

"Seizing the day, huh?"

"Yeah! Let's try to have a good time, regardless of elections and cram school and crazy mobs! We are on a date right? Let's at least enjoy the time together!"

Yosuke smiled as he watched her skewer more meat with her fork. He resolved to take her advice and enjoy their night.

Twenty minutes later, they had given up their battle with the beef. Despite their valiant attempt, the meat had bested them.

"I 'm so stuffed," Chie moaned.

"Me either," Yosuke huffed. "I don't think I can get up."

"I never thought I'd say this, but I don't want to eat any more meat. This might convince me to become a vegetarian," Chie groaned.

"Let's just…sit here for a while," he suggested, breathing heavily.

The waitress returned and asked if they would like the leftovers to go, but both agreed that they did not want to see beef again for a long time.

"Oh, before I forget," Yosuke began, "I brought something for you." He fished a Junes shopping bag out of his backpack and handed to Chie.

Chie peeked into the bag and smiled. She removed a new copy of 'Trial of the Dragon.'

"Awesome! Thanks Yosuke!" she exclaimed.

"No need to thank me. I did kind of owe it to you, remember?"

"Still, I'm thankful that you bought it," she said as she gave him a friendly hug. Yosuke hugged her in return.

"Know what the funny thing is? I didn't even watch that yet! I cracked it before I had a chance." Yosuke laughed.

"What?!" Chie exclaimed as she drew back to look Yosuke in the eye. "You haven't seen the greatest movie in the history of the world?!"

"Nope, not yet," Yosuke admitted.

"We're gonna have to watch in soon in that case."

Still not wanting to get up, they decided to spend a few more minutes lazing in their seats. Unexpectedly, they saw a familiar face staring back at them from across the restaurant.

"Son of a…." Yosuke chided, recognizing the face of the mysterious student rep. "Look who it is Chie!"

"Arg. What's that jerk doing here?" Chie sneered as she sharpened her stare.

"I dunno. I'd say he's getting something to eat, but he's just…sitting there."

"Yeah, well why is he staring right at us like that?!"

"I don't know that either," Yosuke remarked.

Chie locked eyes with the rep, inadvertently triggering a staring standoff. After a few moments, she had had enough.

"What?!" she called loudly across the restaurant.

The rep smirked in response.

With a nudge from Yosuke, Chie came back to reality and saw that some of the staff were staring are her strangely due to her outburst.

"I think it's time to get out of here," Yosuke suggested.

Chie didn't object. They forced themselves to their feet and left. The rep continued to watch them as the exited.

"What a weirdo!" Chie complained.

"Yeah, let's just forget about that guy," Yosuke pleaded. "Let's go for a scooter ride. I don't feel like going home yet."

Chie agreed to the suggestion and they began walking the short distance to the scooter.

The hum of another vehicle echoed over the hill in front of them. In a flash of speed, a scooter carrying two passengers whipped past them and out of sight.

"Hey, I think that was Yuu and Yukiko," Yosuke noted. "Where the heck is he going at that speed? I didn't know these things could even go that fast!"

"Should we go see what they're up to?" Chie asked.

"Nah, we'll hear about it tomorrow I'm sure," Yosuke answered as he continued walking to his scooter.

The two drove around town for a good while. Yosuke used the time to observe the many places he had neglected to visit of a long time. The shrine, the flood plain, the view of the town from the cliffs. All of the places he was sure he wouldn't have the time to visit anymore.

As they drove through town together, Chie explained all the great things about 'Trial of the Dragon' and why it was the greatest movie of all time, in her opinion. Yosuke mostly listened, but made agreed again that they would watch the movie together at some point; when and if he was able to find the time.

When clouds began to shroud the sky and the sun started to arch, Yosuke realized it was time to face his fate. He set course for Chie's house to drop her off.

As they arrived at Chie's house, both knew that their date was coming to an end, and nervously anticipated what that was supposed to bring; a good night kiss. Their first real kiss, should it happen. Both of them attempted to stall, saying anything that came to mind in hopes that the other would make the first move.

"It was fun hanging out with you. Ya know, it's nice when I get to see the side of you that isn't a jerk-face!"

"Oh, gee, thanks," Yosuke answered.

"But honestly, thanks for picking me up."

"Thanks for coming out with me."

"Thanks for paying for the beef bowl."

"Thanks for keeping my mind off of cram school, even for a few hours."

"Thanks for not saying anything while I pigged out!"

Recapturing the moment they shared on the rooftop proved difficult. On the rooftop, the emotion of the moment had made things flow very naturally. Now, both of them felt like the eyes of the world were upon them, demanding that they finish where they left off.

When a brief silence came between them, Yosuke summoned all his courage.

"I guess it's now or never…" he thought to himself.

"Well, good night Chie," he said softly as he leaned toward her.

When it was over, Yosuke was sure it didn't look like the seamless, perfect kisses shared by people in movies or on TV. It certainly didn't feel seamless. It was all so unfamiliar and for that reason, awkward.

Neither was sure which direction to tilt their head, and they nearly cracked their skulls together due to that oversight.

As their lips closed, their teeth briefly clanked together. They were both confident that wasn't supposed to happen.

And just how much were they supposed to open their mouths. Was it even supposed to be an open mouth kiss? A few seconds in, and they seemed to have reached an equilibrium.

As the kiss drew on, both were so concerned with their inexperience showing through that they found it difficult to find any pleasure in the act itself.

Yosuke finally drew away slowly, forcing himself not to sigh in self disappointment.

When their eyes met, both chuckled at their poor excuse for a kiss.

"I'll talk to you later Yosuke," Chie added. She stood on her toes and pecked him on the cheek before hopping to her front door.

Yosuke rubbed his cheek and smiled.

"Geez, a kiss on the cheek is so much easier! Why didn't she just do that in the first place?" he pondered.

Author's Notes

Y'all catch what Narukami did? The reasons why will become clear by next chapter, if they aren't clear already!

And what's with that Rep? I've got a chapter explaining what his deal is just raring to go! That one should a bombshell.

As always, I LOVE feedback. Comments, suggestions, complaints, anything!

Next Chapter: The Perks of Being a Manwhore