A/N: Here's Chapter 5. I haven't gotten much done with chapter 6, since I've had writer's block as of late. I'm lacking the motivation to write it. I'll still try my best to have it up by next week though. Thanks for your patience.
Rise Kujikawa. That name irritates her and she knows exactly why. It's safe to assume that Chie Satonaka was a bit of the jealous type. Although, she was very good at hiding it. When Rise had clung to Yu's arm and flirted with him during their team meet up, Chie had been able to hide her irritation and instead she made a deadpan comment- the type Yu usually makes.
Luckily for her, Yu reacted uncomfortably to Rise's forwardness, but that still didn't manage to alleviate her fears completely. She and Yukiko had made arrangements to have a sleep over at Yukiko's house. It would be the perfect opportunity to have some girl talk, and Yukiko had a few questions of her own to ask Chie. Chie has kept to herself about her feelings for Yu, but Yukiko has had a sneaking suspicion for a while and was looking to confirm it.
They are sitting around the coffee table in Yukiko's room when Yukiko decides to just come right out and ask her question, "You like Yu, don't you?"
Chie is taken aback, "Is it that obvious?"
"Well, not really, but I do know you pretty well," Yukiko says reassuringly, "I don't think anyone else is as sure as I am. Don't worry!"
"Well, that's not really the problem. I don't really mind if anyone else knows..." She looks down at her cup of tea. She wasn't that big of a fan of tea, but maybe drinking it would impart a bit maturity and wisdom she needs to make the right choices and put her mind at ease.
"Well, what's the prob-" Yukiko pauses for a second, realizing exactly what was bothering her friend. She utters just a single name, "Rise."
"Right on the nose..." Chie sighs and puts her head down on the table. "Should I be worried? How do you think he feels?"
"I don't know, he is a pretty hard read." Yukiko wishes she could be of more help to Chie, "I think that's probably a better question to ask Yosuke-kun."
Chie lifts her head and looks Yukiko in the eye, "Well, should I be worried about Rise?" Chie furrows her brow in frustration. 'Boys are complicated.' No, that wasn't quite right. Yosuke was simple, but Yu was complicated.
Yukiko sighs, "I don't know. Judging by how he reacted to her flirting, you might not have anything to worry about." She felt powerless to help her friend.
In truth, she also had a slight suspicion that Yu reciprocated Chie's feelings. But she couldn't be sure, and she sure couldn't get Chie's hopes up over a slight suspicion. Yukiko hasn't spent enough time with Yu to really make an accurate enough assumption.
"She's so much prettier than me. Not to mention a lot more feminine. If she's my competition, I don't stand a chance! She's an idol!" Chie threw her hands up in frustration.
"I don't think Yu cares about that kind of thing. The first time he even heard of Risette was on the news coverage of her announcing her taking an extended vacation." Yukiko recalled the day after Rise announced she would be coming to Inaba for her vacation.
Yosuke had been completely ecstatic, and Yu had merely asked what the big deal was. Yu revealed the fact that she had actually met and talked to her after he had chased her down to give her phone back after she had dropped it. It explained why she acted so paranoid when he had done that. But, he hadn't even recognized or heard of her at that point. And that fact shocked all three of them.
"Yeah... Maybe you're right." Chie nods sullenly, "Boys suck," she sighs.
"Don't worry too much about it. At least he thinks you look good in a swimsuit!" Yukiko teases her a bit.
Chie's face turns red remembering the incident, "Uh th-that's..." Chie uncontrollably stutters until she remembers another detail, "He said you looked good too! Don't put this all on me!" It was Yukiko's turn to be embarrassed, "Stupid Yosuke."
Yukiko nods in agreement, "Either way, he does seem to think you are pretty, and you are. You need to give yourself more credit! You have good qualities, you just need to look at yourself more honestly."
Her words reassure Chie. Now, there is one more topic on the list. "Do you like anybody?"
"Huh?" Yukiko is taken by surprise with the conversation turning on her. Chie keeps prodding the question over and over again throughout the night. However it doesn't do much good. They laugh and continue chatting throughout the night.
Meanwhile, in Yu's room, the boys had decided to do a similar sleepover. Well, it was more like Yosuke imposed himself and took Kanji along for the ride.
"So... Why did we have to have this at my house?" Yu looks at his two buddies incredulously.
"Oh come on, don't be that way! How many times have I treated you guys at the Junes food court now?" Yu had to admit that Yosuke has been pretty generous whenever they met up at Junes.
"So, why exactly is the point of this, Yosuke-senpai?" Kanji looked just as confused as Yu did.
"Team bonding! What else?" Yosuke grins with pride, "This will be good for our team chemistry, so let's have some fun!"
"Makes sense, I guess. What are we gonna do though? Play some cards?" Kanji looks around the room, searching for something they can do for entertainment.
"I don't really have that much in my room, I only planned on being here for about a year, after all." Yu rubs the back of his head.
"Well, I see you have some speakers set up over there, you like music Yu?" Yosuke points over at Yu's desk, where there were some pretty fancy looking speakers and a cord to plug in a music device.
"Yeah, a little bit," Yu thinks for a moment, "Speaking of music, you're always wearing your headphones during a battle, what kind of music are you in to?"
"Yeah, what's up with you and your headphones all the time?" Kanji curtly adds.
Yosuke seems a bit embarrassed at their observation, "Well, you see... I listened to music before when I lived in the city, but not as much. When my family moved here though, it was a way for me to escape. A way for me to escape all of the whispering, to avoid the stares I got." He frowns at the thought of all the resentment of some of the townspeople, "but, to answer your question, I mainly listen to hip hop and pop music. What about you guys?"
Kanji is the first one to answer, "I'm not really in to the whole music thing." His answer is met by shrugs from the other two.
"Well, I can appreciate almost any genre of music. I really like jazz and blues, but I gotta admit that I'm mainly a hip hop guy. You ever heard of Nujabes, Yosuke?"
"Pfft, I only have his whole discography!" Yosuke pulls out his music device and shows it to Yu. Sure enough, he does have every album.
"Same here!" Yu chuckles, "What are some of your favorite songs by him? I really like 'Luv (sic)' parts two through four. Those three are always guaranteed to be on a playlist if I'm in the mood for Nujabes."
"I like those songs. Actually, I like all of his songs. I haven't come across a song of his that I don't like." Yosuke thinks for a second and asks, "Do you have a playlist ready to be fired up right now?"
Yu smiles widely, "You bet I do." He walks over to his desk and pulls his own music device out of a drawer. He plugs it in and hits a few buttons, and a moment later music starts to fill the air. He fiddles with the volume controls a little bit to get an optimal volume for being the background of conversation.
"Nice, 'Feather' is always a pretty good playlist starter." Yosuke winks approvingly.
"I gotta admit Senpai, this sounds pretty cool. You guys just might convert me in to a fan of this guy." Kanji listens intently, trying to take in as much of the experience as possible.
"Weird, I would have pegged you as more of a punk rock type of guy, Kanji." Yosuke had an amazed look on his face.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!?" Kanji bellowed, while his two senpai laughed.
The three of them sit back, enjoying the music. After a few songs, Kanji speaks up, "This song sounds a bit different than the others. Don't get me wrong, I still like it, something about it just seems different."
"Wow, for someone who isn't a fan of music, you sure caught on to something obscure." Yosuke contemplates for a bit, "You see this was his last album. Well, sort of. It was released after he died."
This drops Kanji's jaw a bit. A look of disappointment quickly spreads across his face.
"He actually died before he finished. It was a traffic accident back in 2006. His closest friends all came together to finish and publish it for him. So the style is a bit different, but not that much different." Yu finishes the explanation. The atmosphere in the room became gloomy in an instant.
Yosuke ruffles his own hair in frustration, "Argh, no more sadness! Let's change the subject." Yosuke thinks for a bit before a metaphorical lightbulb turns on over his head, "Kanji. Yukiko, Chie, or Rise, if you had to choose one? I mean... If it is how you say it is."
"Would ya stop bringing that up already?" Kanji is fortunately a lot calmer about it this time. After the camping trip incident, Yosuke stopped bugging him as much about it.
"Well, Yukiko-senpai is really nice, but a bit weird. Rise is a bit too much to handle. And Chie-senpai can be downright scary sometimes..." Kanji voices his thoughts aloud, "If I had to, guess I choose Yukiko-senpai. What about you?" He turns his attention to Yu.
However, Yosuke is the one to answer, "Isn't that obvious, Kanji?" Yosuke looks at him for a second and continues after seeing the confused look on his face, "He would choose Chie, hands down. Right partner?" Yosuke gives Yu a sly wink.
"Oh yeah, you two do seem pretty close now that I think about it. I feel kinda stupid for asking now." Kanji chuckles.
"Yeah, I won't deny it. I do spend a lot of time with her," Yu rubs the back of his neck nervously, "and she can be super adorable sometimes. Well, I kinda think she is most of the time."
"Well, are you ever gonna do anything about it?" Yosuke stares Yu down.
"Wh-what? I couldn't possibly... It could compromise our team's chemistry if it doesn't work out." There's no hiding how flustered Yu is at the thought of actually asking Chie out.
"Geez, I don't think I've ever seen you this nervous, Senpai. Good to know that you're human too!" Kanji teases Yu a bit, "But even if she does reject ya, I doubt Chie would feel awkward about it. You're her friend, and she'd probably like to keep you as one. At least, that's how I think she is."
"You keep surprising me Kanji, you can be pretty smart when you wanna be." Yosuke ignores Kanji's growling at him. "But, seriously. I have overheard some things, and you have a lot of girls who are in to you. Lucky bastard. Chie is most likely on that list too."
"I don't think it's worth the risk st this point. I might do it eventually, but for now I think we should just focus on the investigation and exams are coming up soon aren't they?"
"Damn it, why did you have to remind me?" Yosuke grumbles.
They share a laugh, and continue to listen to music. Eventually, Yu pulls out a deck of cards and play some Chinese poker. They make things interesting by making the loser do inane things, such as standing on their head for a minute. The night is full of music, laughter, and mild bruises from losing bets. The investigation and exams can wait, tonight was their night to have some fun.