NOTE: This is not another Rick Roll. I do hope you all enjoy this one, because I really liked writing chapter.
Enjoy and Review!
Log 28: Try Something New
Cover Image: Rise sat on a stage, dressed in her Yasogami High School uniform, her legs kicking out freely. The beautiful idol smiled softly as she admired the picture of herself and her friends.
Rise Kujikawa's experience with boys was a weird one. As a child boys would either call her weird or join in on teasing her. Growing up and becoming an idol did change how boys (and other girls) perceived her, most just admiring her beauty or just being downright creepy. Especially the older men who would try to get a little too close to her, thankfully security and Inoue were always there to help her. Over time her perception of boys was screwed, because of the pedestal she had been thrusted upon by becoming a successful idol. They were either huge perverts, lovesick puppies, or creepy middle aged guys.
That was until she went to stay with her grandmother in Inaba and met four boys that completely changed her perception.
Firstly, Kanji was a bit of an enigma to her. The boy was a bit brutish and headstrong, mostly deciding to charge into a situation headfirst before thinking it out fully. But unlike most guys, he was always honest with her and the rest of their group. A delinquent with a soft heart for things 'unmanly' and loves to help his mother the best way that he can. He never cared about her idol status and much rather focused on her as a person. Rise loved how sweet of a guy Kanji was and how easily it was to tease him. Seeing his face turn bright red at even the tiniest bit of flirting always got a laugh out of her. He may not be the smartest of guys, but he was one of her best friends and someone she could count on when necessary.
Secondly, Teddie was an even bigger enigma. The bear could be a massive skirt-chaser and loud mouth whenever he wanted to be. There wasn't a single moment where he wasn't trying to hit on one of the girls on the team, especially Yukiko. Rise remembered fondly when Yukiko had set his bear suit on fire for daring to imply that they shared a kiss before. But even with his defaults, Teddie was a great friend at the end of the day. Risking his life for them all back in her dungeon and staying by her Senpai's side when Dojima and Nanako were in the hospital. She wouldn't trade the bear's friendship for anything and hopes to continue helping him learn more about the world.
Thirdly, Yosuke-senpai was a bit of a strange one. The boy's personality could flip from being utterly serious about the situation to an idiot pervert the next. While she didn't mind it, she knew that his half-brained decision to sign the girls up for that beauty pageant was idiotic and it came back to bite him in the ass. Though, just like with Teddie, she would never throw away his friendship. When it came down to it he was always the most focused and mature one next to her Senpai. He would help all of them whenever he had the free time and would always buy Chie-senpai food whenever she bugged him about it. At first he was another boy who mostly cared about her idol status, but once he had gotten to know her better that started to matter less and less. He stuck by Senpai's side when he was at his lowest and picked the team's spirits back up as well. Yosuke-senpai is a friend she'd never want to lose.
Finally, there was her favorite senpai, Narukami Yu, the ex-leader of their Investigation Team. The boy that had stolen her heart instantly after waking up in his arms after passing out in her dungeon. After joining the team she had done everything in her power to get to know him more, call him out for dates, sit next to him during lunch break, stick close to him during TV World expeditions, and cling onto his arms. Could anyone blame the girl for trying? This was the very first crush she ever truly felt confident about and the object of her affection was such an amazing guy! It was almost terrifying how unbelievably amazing her Senpai was! He took care of his little cousin whenever his uncle couldn't and helped everyone in Inaba! She had hoped that one day he would start to return her feelings and love her just as much as she loved him!
But he never did.
His eyes were never meant for her. He had eyes for Yukiko-senpai and no matter what she did that fact would never change. The idol would be lying if she said that she didn't feel a little bit of resentment towards the heiress and the Fool for not being explicitly clear on their relationship, a lot of awkward moments could've been avoided had the two just said something earlier. But even after she acknowledged their relationship and told them not to worry about her, the idol's feelings towards Yu still existed. And she wasn't sure if they'd ever go away.
"You okay?"
Rise was snapped out of her thoughts by the unexpected voice. Turning around she found Kenny Tennyson standing at the door of the studio. The young man was dressed in a simple blue cardigan and white shorts with white tennis shoes. She thought he was still busy helping Inoue-san, so she didn't expect him to just pop up like this.
Not wanting him to see what was bothering her, the idol used her usual peppy smile. "Of course, I'm okay! Why wouldn't I be?"
"I don't know, you just seemed a little unresponsive all day." Kenny rubbed the back of his neck.
"He noticed that?" Rise was surprised, not many people were capable of picking up on her emotions. The only few that came to mind were her parents and Senpai. "O-Oh, I was just thinking, you know? It's pretty cute that you're worried about me though! But, there's nothing wrong, so you can go now." She mentally winced at how thick she had to put that one on. She really was out of it today…
Kenny didn't move a muscle, but he did look a little nervous. "...I don't mean to sound rude, but I think you're lying."
"Why would you think that?"
Kenny pointed at his own eyes. "Your eyes twitched the entire time you were talking, and you seem a lot more on edge than normal. I don't know if it's the stress of the festival or something else, but if you want to talk then I'm all ears."
Rise was taken aback by Kenny's explanation, not realizing that he had been paying close enough attention to point that stuff out. "How did you figure all of that stuff out?"
Kenny shrugged, walking closer to her. "It's not that hard when you have a little sister and cousin that try to hide the mess they've made from you all the time." He spoke from experience of having to deal with Ben and Gwen.
Rise couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Yeah, I guess those two would be one heck of a handful, huh? I don't really pity Yukiko-senpai's position at the moment."
"Yeah? Try putting up with them for 10 years, she's pretty lucky at the moment." Kenny said, chuckling a bit.
"I guess compared to them Senpai got even more lucky with Nanako-chan. She's such a little sweetheart, you guys would love her…well maybe not Ben." Rise said. "She's a little too good for his tastes."
"Oh yeah, he'd do his best to corrupt her into doing mischievous pranks." Kenny added.
"Senpai and Dojima-san would kill him." Rise and Kenny laughed at the idea of Ben getting chased down by the Sister-Complex Kingpin of Steel. The two simply sat next to one another in the studio, continuing to share more stories about the twin terrors and Nanako.
Rise found herself laughing even more as Kenny told her the story of how Ben became terrified of clowns. "Snrk! That sounds ridiculously adorable!"
Kenny agreed with her. "You should've seen the way he cowered behind Aunt Sandra when Grandpa tried to reassure him. Turns out that Grandpa can be scary and all he has to do is put on some clown make-up."
Rise hummed to herself. "Maybe, I can try putting on a clown costume to scare him. Wouldn't I look good in one?" She giggled silently at seeing his flushed face as he hesitated to answer the question.
"W-well…I do think you'd look good in it." He answered before realizing something. "N-not because I think you're a clown or anything! It's just that I think you look great in any-I mean-every-I mean-"
"Snrk! Pfft!"
Kenny's stuttering stopped as he watched Rise struggling to keep her laughter in, which made the boy blush a little harder. The idol held up her hand, not wishing to offend him. "S-sorry, it's just that teasing you is so much fun. I'm not offended or anything by what you said." She kept giggling anyway.
Kenny was a bit miffed, but he couldn't find it in him to stay mad at her. Instead, he smiled softly at the idol. "Are you feeling better now?"
"Huh?"
"I asked if you're feeling better now."
Rise blinked at him for a few seconds before realizing that she did indeed feel better. Her conversations with Kenny had made her forget all about her troublesome thoughts from a while ago. "Yeah… I do feel a bit better."
"Good." Kenny's smile made the idol's heart stutter for a second, which confused the hell out of her. "You don't have to tell me what was bothering you if you don't want to, it's not my place to pry like that."
"Then why did you want to help me?" Rise asked.
"I guess, I don't like seeing people sad. Especially someone who loves to smile as much as you do." The sincerity of Kenny's response caused Rise's face to turn beat red. The boy was confused until he thought more about what he had said and his face matched her's instantly. Standing up as straight as an arrow, Kenny turned away from her. "I-I-I'm getting a bit thirsty! I better go get something to drink! I'll grab something for you too!" He rushed out of the room as fast as he could.
Rise stared at his retreating back, putting a hand to her chest. Kenny Tennyson was another confusing boy that had recently entered her life. Unlike the previous four, he was pretty normal and average. Nothing about him stuck out as extraordinary unlike his little sister, cousins, and grandfather who were all extraordinary. He had no special abilities and could probably blend into the background pretty easily, but there's just something about him that stuck out to her. It was weird to her, because it almost felt like what she feels towards her Senpai. But there was something else mixed into it that separated it from the feelings she held for the Fool, something much more than admiration. She noticed the eldest Tennyson re-entering the room with two water bottles and smiled at him.
Well… Life is about trying new things after all. And this mystery inside of her is something she'll figure out on the way.
Log End
NOTE: This is the very first log that doesn't feature Yukiko, so I hope it wasn't too jarring. I figured that since the current arc holds some screen time for our main characters along with Yu's group, Kenny and Rise deserve some type of chapter. Decided to put it here since it wouldn't be anything too long.
I am going through with the Rise x Kenny ship, because the idea of it is pretty interesting to me. Rise, who fell for the most extraordinary guy ever, failed to capture his heart. Yet the most unextraordinary guy manages to claim her attention in a different way that takes her by surprise. She believed Yu to be her destined partner, but that's not how life works and she's learning that.
Have a great day!
