After all the sophisticated dancing, stuffy suits and fancy finger foods, Yu Narukami's overall conclusion is that the only good thing about this princess ball was the food.

And the drinks of course. He absently remembers that this was his third flute.

Rise turns eighteen today. The Kujikawas and Inoue decided to throw her a birthday ball, celebrating her grand entry into womanhood and society.

Or as Yosuke worded it: "an auction to sell their daughter off to the highest bidder. (He's always been the bravest of their little team, or maybe the most clueless.) Yu couldn't say he disagreed, but he wouldn't have worded it like that or said it at all.

"Yo, Yu!"

Kanji was walking towards him with Yosuke in tow, the latter trailing behind him like he wished the ground would just swallow him whole because of the scadelized looks being sent their way by the other guests; the former appearing not to be fazed by it in the least. Both looked spectacular in their suits.

When they had first got the invitations to the ball, Kanji and Yosuke didn't have a suit to wear and they definitely didn't have enough money to buy themselves one. Yu had offered to buy one for the both of them, but they both declined. Yosuke didn't want to burden him, which was absolutely ridiculous to think, and Kanji decided to make his own. He had offered to make Yosuke a suit too but the brunette said that he'd borrow one from his dad. The suit was a tad big on him, but it suited him well, and Kanji's suit turned out pretty well.

"Would you quiet down," Yosuke whispered, his head ducked in embarrassment as he discreetly looked over his shoulder at all the leering eyeballs. "Everyone's staring at us."

"Who cares. They're going to talk anyway." Kanji ignored the looks, even turning to glare at one of the onlookers, who shamefully turned away and started nibbling on their hor d'oeuvres. "Why are ya standing over here, Senpai?"

"I got tired from all the dancing."

"Wait, dancing? Girls actually asked you to dance? What the hell, dude! I couldn't even get a girl to accept a drink!"

"Wow, Yosuke-senpai. That's pretty pathetic," Kanji said.

"Shut up! Maybe I would've had better luck if I wasn't babysitting Teddie all night."

Yu looked around for the blonde. He remembered coming in with Teddie. The blonde had come wearing his same white tux with the red rose pin. He had split off with Yosuke earlier when Teddie saw the sparkly champagne glasses. "Where is Teddie?"

"Probably off trying to score with one of the ladies here. He was so adamant about it and when the orchestra started playing the Waltz he was gone. I swear that bear is becoming more trouble than he's worth." Yosuke said, rubbing the back of his head in exasperation. "Anyway, where's Yukiko and Chie?"

Yu nodded towards one of the banquet tables. The two brunettes were standing beside each other at one of the many tables filled with food. Although the ball offered many tables crowded with sandwiches, soups, and sweets, true to Chie's nature she was stuffing her plate full of every selection of meat she could fit on her plate and more. Yukiko as the heir of the Amagi Inn took every chance she could to better the inn and it's menu, hence why she was admiring the various meats and paying close attention to the ingredients and their presentation.

"Seriously! We're at a party surrounded by all different kinds of food and she just wants to stuff her plate with meat!"

"Is it really surprising that Chie-san would go straight for the meat table?" A new voice spoke up. Naoto walked up beside them. She had dressed up, forgoing her uniform and platforms for a strapless cobalt blue dress that ended just below her knees and low heels. From the corner of his eye Yu could see Kanji blush and avert his eyes in another direction.

"Yeah, well. I guess you're right." Yosuke sighed.

"You look good, Naoto." Yu complimented.

"Ah. T-thank you, Senpai," she bashfully thanked him, her face glowing a light pink. "Rise helped me pick it out."

"Didn't she help all the girls pick out their dresses?" Kanji asked.

"Yep," Chie and Yukiko walked over to them. Chie's plate was stacked with meat and she was already eating from her plate while Yukiko was snacking on an assortment of different food from different tables.

"After we got the invitation, Rise took us all out shopping. We must've gone to at least five different stores," Yukiko said.

"I swear I've never seen that many dresses in my life!" Chie huffed then the brunette looked around.

"Speaking of, where is that girl? It's not like her to skip out on a party." Yukiko blinked, her eyes looking up and pressed her fork to her lips as she thought.

"Now that I think about it, no one's seen her since her parents made that big announcement."

When the last guest had arrived, the Kujikawas called everyone's attention. They wished their daughter a wonderful birthday but the words after seemed more for the bachelors of the audience than for the praise of their daughter. Rise all but ran away after the speech was over.

"She looked so sad up there. Inoue-san was the only one up there who actually noticed or even cared."

"It's so weird though. She had looked so excited for the party when she first gave us the invites," Yosuke pondered.

"Yeah, until you opened your big mouth and compared it to an auction." Chie yelled and jabbed him in his side.

"Ow! Hey, I said I was sorry." Yosuke yelped, rubbing his sore ribs. "And how was I supposed to know she'd heard me?"

"It still shouldn't have been said, partner." Yu interjected. He knew Rise was sensitive about her parents. She barely spoke about them until one day she broke down and spilled it all. It gave him a new perspective and even made him a little grateful for his parents. They're barely around but at least they don't try to sell him every chance they get.

"Yeah, I know. I already feel bad." They all fell quiet thinking of how their friend was feeling now.

"Hey! I know! What if we all just have a party at Junes? That'll be sure to cheer her up!" Chie suggested.

"That's a great idea, Chie." Yu said.

"Yeah! We still haven't given her our presents yet so we can just give them to her at the party!"

"And Chie and I can make the cake," Yukiko said.

"No! Uh, I mean. We have plenty of cakes at Junes already. I'm sure we can find one that's big enough for all of us." Yosuke hurried to say.

"Sensei! This party is bear-tastic!" Teddie ran in out of nowhere, a plate in his hand compiled of what looked like something from every table and somehow balancing the mountain of food in one hand with a fork dangling from his mouth.

"Teddie! Where were you?" Yosuke asked, his anger clear as he stepped in front of the bear with his hands on his hips.

"The second floor bathroom. They had this fancy fountain that shoots out water! I must've drunk at least a gallon ton."

"Fountain in the bathroom?" Kanji asked.

"Uh, Teddie. You weren't supposed to drink from that." Naoto said.

"Huh? Why? If it shoots out water you're supposed to drink it. That's the number one rule of drinking water!"

"That's the most dangerous rule about water I've ever heard!" Yosuke yelled.

"Are there any rules about drinking water? I mean, I've been drinking water the normal way, but is there really a correct way to drink water?" Yukiko pondered.

"Teddie, have you seen Rise?" Yu asked. He needed to nip this conversation in the bud before it got too out of hand.

"Rise-chan? Last I saw she was on the second floor. She looked sad, too. Did something happen to Rise-chan?"

"Nothing bad. I think she just needs a change of space. We're throwing a party for her at Junes."

"Really. Ooh, how fun. I'll go get Rise-chan."

"No, I'll go get Rise." Yu stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "You go help Yosuke and the others set up."

"We'll leave her to you, partner."

The second floor was quieter than the floor below. While the first floor was for the guests to eat and drink and chat merrily, the second floor was more for the honored guests or the stragglers who wandered off from the busy scene to look around.

Among the dark mahogany, red paisley, and cream he was looking for a flash of blue. He had already searched around the great hall, the dining room, the lounge, the library, her parents' office, the music room, the indoor movie theater…

Just how many rooms can a house have anyway? Don't they run out of purposes and names at some point?

Yu was about to walk back downstairs when he heard a different sound besides the guests talking.

"Humming?" It sounds like it's coming from the balcony.

The light melody led him back down the hall to a small balcony above the inground pool. Leaning on the wrought iron and twirling the petals of the pink peonies braided along it was Rise.

Her hair was loose from the tight bun it was first done up in and now tumbled down her back in a wild array of curls. Her stiff posture from on stage was gone and now all that was left was a tired girl trying to hold on for a bit longer.

"You certainly found a good hiding spot. I've been looking everywhere for you." Rise jolted by the new voice as Yu walked up to join her on the balcony.

"Oh, Senpai!" Her posture immediately straightened and she started to brush off her dress even though there wasn't a spec of dust or dirt on it. "I thought you and the others were downstairs."

"We were, but it was getting boring without the main star in attendance. Good food and drink can only do so much for so long."

"Haha. Inoue will be glad. He was so worried over the menu choices." Rise covered her giggle behind her hand. Yu frowned at the white sparkling glove that covered it, remembering just where they were and as beautiful as the dress was, how stuffy it must have felt to wear it.

"Rise, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she answered immediately, but then faltered. "Well, maybe."

"Rise."

She sighed. "I'm just overreacting. I'm used to this by now."

"You shouldn't be used to it." His voice caught a firmer tone before he caught himself. He calmed himself down before he started to speak again. "If it's what Yosuke said-"

"No, it wasn't that. I mean, yeah it stung, but it wasn't something I didn't already know." Her fingers dropped from the braided stems of the peonies and moved to clutched the side of the wide railing, leaning her body even more over the edge. "It's just hard to keep trying to meet their expectations. I know they want the best for me, but they never take my feelings into consideration. It's always: "This will better our family" or "Listen to us and you'll be set by the time you're thirty". They never listen to what I want."

"And what do you want, Rise?"

"I want y-" she turned around to look at him only to find him looking back at her, that small smile on his face that radiated so much comfort and patience. She could feel her cheeks pink a little at the sight. She quickly turned her head away, a small pout on her lips. "I want…freedom."

What's wrong with you, Rise? You're over blushing by now. She gasped as fingers pulled hers away from the railing and intertwined with hers. She looked back up to find Yu smiling.

"We're throwing a party for you at Junes. Wanna ditch this place?"

A smile slowly grew on the young woman's face. She started pulling Yu back into the mansion. "Let's go, Senpai!"

Yu let her pull him along, glad that his Rise was back.

That Teddie moment was completely off the top of my head. Just imagine them trying to explain to Teddie what a bidet is.

Feel like I'm getting better at writing P4 too. That balcony scene was kicking my butt for a while though.