"Naoto-kuuuun!"

October fourteenth, the first day of the midterms. Sighing, I braced myself for the impact. I was getting used to these confrontations. Still, when Rise-san charged into me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, I couldn't help but stumble forward a few steps. She was quite petite, but Rise-san was strong for her physique.

"Good morning, Rise-san," I greeted her. Our meetings before and after school were beginning to become quite common. "Are you prepared for the exams?"

"I was just about to talk to you about that," Rise cooed before dropping her face into a melancholy grimace. "No. I couldn't get any studying done. Every time I try to focus, it all just falls apart." She sighed heavily. "I wish we'd actually studied the other day. How about you?"

"I feel that I am well prepared," I smirked proudly.

"Great for you," Rise-san mumbled with a hint of envy. "Well, I guess I at least have talent, so I'm not completely done for, hopefully."

"Yeah," I grinned, "You could always go back to being an idol, if necessary."

The comment was meant to be said jokingly, but Rise suddenly stopped walking, only to stare at her feet. My shoes scraped against the pavement as I turned to face her. She seemed deep in thought, and her face had fallen into a frown. I couldn't help but feel guilty.

"I-I apologize," I said, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything…"

"No," said Rise-san as she made an attempt to smile, "No, it's alright. You didn't offend me. I just… Would rather you have not brought that up."

My heart fell with guilt. "Rise-san, I'm sorry…"

"No," she insisted again, "It's okay." She looked up the hill toward the school, which we were approaching, and began to continue walking toward it. "I just need some time to think. I'll see you later. Good luck on exams, Naoto-kun." She smiled hearteningly before walking off.

Stuck in my place without the will to keep moving, a small sense of self-hate welled up within me. Gritting my teeth, I lifted the hand that was not carrying my bag and smacked myself in the forehead, pressing the hand into my face in frustration.

I groaned loudly, scolding myself. "I am such an idiot!"

There really wasn't much to the first day of exams. I had expected the questions to be somewhat more of a challenge, though the tests themselves were quite tiring and monotonous. At the very end of the day, I stood up, every joint in my body cracking after they had all been locked in place for a few hours. It felt so good to finally stretch out my tense muscles. Part of me wondered what a massage would feel like at this time, though I would never be able to muster the courage as to allow someone to touch my body in that way. When the dismissal bell finally rang, I left eagerly, seeking to catch up with Rise-san and hoping that she had forgiven me for what I had said earlier that morning. When I stepped out into the sunlight, a cool burst of wind blew past me, and I shivered abruptly for a few moments. Though it was still only autumn, winter was slowly approaching. I gazed out past the horizon of the small, modest town of Inaba, remembering when I had first arrived here. I didn't want to think of the pain I had felt on that first day in this new town, however little I had wanted to admit that I did feel pain. That feeling had since begun to melt away, and newer senses of hope were now filling the gaps which the sorrow had eaten out of my heart. The sunlight reflected off my bluish irises as it would off of crystal. Only a month ago, these irises would have been dull, grey, and deplorably empty. Now, they were being latticed with new hopes and aspirations.

I started off down the hill, eyeing the crowd of departing students for the noticeable reddish hair of Rise-san. However, after a few minutes of searching and calling out her name, I started to feel disappointed, and thought of giving up. Suddenly, though, I was struck with surprise and hope when I heard my name being called out from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw Rise running after me down the hill, her long, reddish hair flowing lithely behind her brazen eyes, beneath which a smile was forming on her face. For some reason which I could not clearly identify, this sight seemed to fill me with joy, and I barely noticed the corners of my lips lifting slightly.

"Hi, Naoto-kun!" Rise said cheerfully, "How did exams go?"

Her choice of conversation was surprising to me. "They went well," I said, "But, Rise-san, if I may ask, are you put off at all by what I said to you this morning?" We began walking down the road together.

"What you said this morning?" Rise repeated, "Oh, yeah, I almost forgot about that. No, I told you not to worry about it!" She smiled at me. "It was a mistake, and you didn't know it would upset me. I'm not hurt or anything."

The tightness in my chest eased a small bit. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive," Rise-san nodded. She thought to herself for a little while before continuing. "In fact… What you said sort of made me think about something I've been feeling for a while. You see, the truth is… I'm not sure what I want to do about my job as an idol."

I looked at her in surprise. "No kidding?"

She nodded. "I came here to take a hiatus from all the fame, and part of me honestly didn't want to be an idol. But… Ever since I started to make friends here, I began thinking that maybe…" She swallowed the words she had planned to let out. "I've just been confused about what I should do."

I looked over her face. For once, Rise Kujikawa was at a loss for words. I was surprised. Her brazen eyes stared forward at the ground in front of her as we walked, her normally smiling, glossy lips curled into a reproachful frown. I noticed, as I thought, that even though she was willing to expose this side of herself to me, which was a great honor on my behalf, I saw before me the figure of an idol. Yes, this idol did have emotions, and yes, this idol did have friends and worries of her own. Still, I thought to myself, in all of Rise-san's glittering presence, the wonderful young woman who stood before me, and who I truly felt accepted me-not for the Naoto Shirogane that was admired by countless schoolgirls, not for the Naoto Shirogane who was a world-renowned Detective Prince, not even for the Naoto Shirogane that was male, but for the Naoto Shirogane that was a growing young female detective-was and would always be an idol at heart. That, at least, was what I witnessed through my own eyes.

"Would you like to hear my opinion?" I asked her softly.

She looked over at me with a slightly confused expression. "Your opinion?"

"Yes," I nodded, "Would you like to hear what I personally think you should do?"

She hesitated for a few moments, before saying "Yes."

I closed my eyes and smiled. "When I look at you, not only do I see a strikingly beautiful young woman, who was one of the first to accept me in my entirety… But I also see an extremely talented and worthy idol."

Rise-san seemed as if she was doing her best to retain her composure, but I heard her swallow hard beside me.

"Rise-san," I continued, "You and I are practically polar opposites. Even so, we share many things in common. Both of us have a history devoid of friends, partially because of our jobs. We never remain in the same place for more than a few months. We are well-known by the public, but the public barely knows anything about our true selves. And foremost, we are both trying our hardest to discover the people we are truly meant to be. I feel that I can relate to you in more ways than one." I chuckled to myself, dumbstruck at the fact that I had someone I could relate to at all. "But, when I look at you, I see standing before me an idol that should not be shaken by anything that others say or feel."

I saw her frown, but I knew what she would have said. "When I see you," I continued, lowering the tone of my voice to be as soft as I could make it, "I also see Risette."

She gasped quietly, looking over at me with wide, glittering eyes, which I could tell were trying hard to hold back tears. I smiled encouragingly at her, knowing that she understood what I meant.

We were both quiet for a very long time, speaking very little to each other. When we reached the point in the Shopping District which we usually separated at, she turned to me and smiled.

"Thank you for walking with me, Naoto-kun," she said quietly.

"There's no need to thank me," I said, "You should get some rest to prepare for exams tomorrow."

"I will," said Rise-san, "Oh, and Naoto-kun…"

I turned back to face her again after briefly turning away. "Hm?"

"...Thank you," she said, bowing slightly. "Thanks for everything you said."

I grinned at her. "It was my pleasure."

The second day of exams were not much harder for me than the first. Not much ensued that day, but the midterms were easily beginning to tire me out. I went to bed early last night, and it seemed that before I even had the chance to dream, the ringing of my phone stirred me awake. I lumbered out of bed, picked it up off my desk, and hastily answered.

"Hello?" I had to force the raspy word out of my throat.

"Hey, Naoto-kun!" the upbeat voice was Yosuke's. "We're all getting together for another study session at Junes. You in?"

I lazily tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes. "'Study session,' eh?"

"Ah, don't worry, we're actually gonna try this time. I honestly think the past two days have enforced that idea enough for me…" He sounded pained.

I yawned, nearly gagging at the taste of morning breath. "I accept. I will be there in a few minutes. I just woke up, so I may arrive a little while after the others."

"Cool!" Yosuke said before hanging up.

As I had assumed, I arrived slightly after everyone else. Yosuke-san informed me that Kanji was helping his mother in the textile shop their family owned, so he could not show up. Nevertheless, we all sat around the picnic table under the awning at the food court, proceeding to take out our notes and textbooks. Hopefully, we could actually get some things done. Yosuke immediately began to speak up soon after we got settled.

"It's getting to be a custom for us to meet up like this," he said to Chie, "But that aside, can I borrow your notes?"

"Borrowing notes is getting to be a custom too…" Chie-san added, "Alright, let's get started… But first, I want a melon soda."

Yosuke-san frowned. "Is that your way of saying you'll lend me your notes if I buy you a melon soda…?"

"Could be," said Chie, sounding rather smug.

I smirked at their playful prodding. I had observed this sarcastic sort of relationship between them for some time, and thought of it as rather comical. I decided to poke some fun at the two of them as well. "Hmhm, Yosuke-san and Chie-san seem to get along well."

Rise-san joined in with my commentary. "Why don't you two date?"

"Never!" Chie-san said quickly with a grin. Her timing was impeccable.

"That was quick…!" Yosuke seemed to be taken aback as well.

"You too, Naoto!" Rise giggled, directing the attention at me, "You could go out with Kanji!"

My face turned bright red. Again with the thing about Kanji-kun…? Rise-san seemed to show no end to this nonsense, and it issued unnecessary embarrassment to me. "Please, stop it!"

Still, she refused to cease her childish antics. "Aww, how cute!" She turned to Yu-kun. "Hey, Senpai… Wouldn't Kanji and Naoto make a good couple?"

I stared at him, pleading internally for him not to play along with her silly game. I broke out in a sweat, and could imagine Kanji's face staring at me again. I was grateful that he was not there with us at the moment.

Yu looked at me and thought about it for a moment, before chuckling and replying "No way!"

I was surprised, yet relieved. "Y-yes, of course not. Kanji-kun is an interesting sort, but…" I swallowed hard, and my face became hot. My eyes flashed to Yu-kun's once, but I immediately looked away. For some reason, I could not look at Yu-kun. The one glance I managed to salvage through my anxiety returned an image of his unique, silvery irises which conveyed his strange and androgynous attitude. Something about them, however, seemed to reflect something slightly different. Yu-kun was most definitely an interesting character to behold. He was very soft-spoken, and I often forgot that he was there. However, his sole presence was all it took to convey his unparalleled personality.

Yosuke shrugged his shoulders, seeming to be sympathetic of Kanji. "Sounds like he's got no chance…"

We managed to get some studying done that day, only with constant prodding by Chie to an ever-distracted Yosuke. It was most definitely an interesting day.