Wouldn't it be oh so great if she could fly? Just one day jump in the air and never come back? Soaring through the air, tossing petals onto the ground like a fairy….it would be so freeing. Rise knew she could never truly fly, so dancing was the next best thing for her. When she danced, she floated on her feet and soared across the stage like the mystical beings she played often. In fact, that's why people preferred her in those roles. She could dance like nobody else.
Of course, it wasn't approved by her parents. She was to be a good, proper Japanese girl, who left school at the age of ten and worked on her marriage prospects. Rise might've done just that, if she hadn't been out playing one day in the spring.
On a street corner was a woman wearing a dress she had never seen, with hair of an indescribable yellow shade, sitting on a chair and playing a silver flute. The music enthralled Rise and her feet moved themselves over to her, where she was so hypnotized she almost forgot to clap. The woman smiled and showed her a poster.
"I can't read that." Rise responded bluntly, not even looking at it.
"Oh, right. I work for theater group. We sing, dance, play instrument. Do you? We no care if you are Japanese, we teach anyone." Her Japanese was utterly atrocious, but Rise understood. She nodded and clutched the poster close to her chest and ran all the way home, staring at it in awe.
Of course, her parents said no, taking one look at the exposed cleavage of one singer and telling her it was forbidden, but her mind was made up. When she was supposed to go to the store, she grabbed a packed bag and sought out that woman, about to leave the inn she was staying in. She smiled and took Rise aboard the ship bound for England.
The next six years were grueling. Rise forgot every aspect of her old culture, dubbing herself Risette to be cuter and more accessible to the West, never speaking a word of her native tongue or wearing a kimono ever again. Her feet broke and bled from the extensive ballet training, her voice cracked and her breath was gone from constant singing and instrument rehearsals. She was a dancer, singer, and musician, so she was worked three times as hard as her peers. She shared a cramped room with thirty other girls, always covered in muck and urinating in empty alcohol bottles the older girls left next to their unconscious bodies.
Most left or died from the strain. Some were killed by angry or jealous men, while others suffered fates from their flammable costumes. Rise's bedmate had that happen and was thus swiftly replaced. Rise herself had burn scars on her waist and back of her right hand from a similar incident. She's thankful they were able to cut her out of her skirt before the fire spread to her face and disfigured her for life. She had to deal with the men too, was the mistress to some, being gifted expensive jewels, dinners, gowns, parties. Some just wanted quickies or touchies backstage. Rise's favorite patron was a Russian prince, son of their current Tzar, but there was also a British fashion designer, Worth, she loved just for the gowns.
Eventually, though, she had enough. After reappearing in the show she debuted in, she took the first ship out of Italy and headed back home to Japan, as foreign and alien as her shows portrayed it. Her grandmother welcomed her home with open arms and enrolled her at the local high school, and she thought for once, she could at last live a normal life. She needed a long break from that world.
Rise laid in bed then, screaming because it was all she knew how to do. Ever since she woke up that morning, her eyes burned and her ears roared, everything on fire from overstimulation. Her grandma blindfolded her and stuffed cloth in her ears, but everything was still too loud, too bright, too much.
"Make it stop! Somebody! Please!" She screamed and sobbed, closing her eyes and covering her ears. The doctor who was eventually sent for declared her hysteric from her career but couldn't prescribe anything. Even her dreams assaulted her with an onslaught of bright lights and loud explosions.
Then, just as soon as it began, it stopped. She knew peace.
Rise sighed, pulling out the cloth and away the blindfold. According to her grandma, three days had passed. That wouldn't do, she needed to go to school, she needed to meet back up with the others.
First, though, she needed to get dressed.
First she gave herself a gentle wash from the basin in her room, getting her face, neck, and underarms before she tossed her plain white shift on over her head with just a touch of lace. The shift came with a pair of lacy drawers that Rise tied loosely, revealing they were open in the crotch area. Next came grey stockings. She took out her corset and bustle and called for her grandma, who entered almost instantly.
"You remember how to do it, right?" She asked nicely.
"Only loosely, but I try my best."
Rise was thankful her grandma was such a quick learner when it came to her outfits, as she really didn't want to walk around everywhere without a corset. She slipped her arms into the beige fabric and let it settle comfortably under her bust and let her grandma tie it in the back, making a nice little shape. She then helped Rise step into her bustle pad and wiring, letting it fall behind her. She also slipped into a thin white skirt, pulling it over her bustle and letting it fall to her ankles. She smiled.
"Thank you! I can handle the rest!" She waved to her and finished getting dressed quickly, understanding the rhythm after years of dressing like this.
Her summer dress was an airy cotton in a white print with yellow tucked layers around the skirt and orange trim and patterned flowers all around the dress. She wore a matching set of orange earrings and a heart necklace, carefully pulling it onto her high collar. She brushed her hair out carefully, a hundred strokes to make it shine, then pulled and twisted it up into a tight bun, making sure no strands were out of place. On her head she wore a matching white hat decorated with yellow and orange flowers around the rim to match her dress, and slipped on grey kid gloves.
Finally came her shoes, heeled boots with a bunch of buttons to do and undo, but she liked them and didn't want to wear anything else. Heeled shoes that weren't boots were actually more annoying to her.
Once she gave herself another look in the mirror, she waved goodbye to her grandma and walked around town, looking for the others.
"Oh!" Rise soon found them, hanging around a random location in the middle of the street and ran up to them the best she could, smiling. "Hello!"
"Dang, is that really you, Rise-san?! You look gorgeous! Way better than the other day!" Yosuke praised. She giggled.
"Well, those are just my work clothes. This is what I normally wear." She smiled at them. "Were you coming to check on me?"
Chie nodded.
"Then…let's walk and talk. Because I have some things to tell you too!" She turned around and led the way, deciding to go to the shrine. As she walked, they asked her questions, and she answered best she could. "I was at my house, getting ready for dinner…and then I woke up in there. All I remember is that,"
Chie sighed hugely and hung her head. "And yet again, we are led nowhere!"
"Earlier we met this weird kid named Shirogane." Yosuke said.
"I know them….they came to the store a few times while I was still recovering, or so Grandma says. I don't know what she told them, but I assume it was good enough because they eventually stopped bothering us." Rise fiddled with her gloves as they reached the shrine.
"Don't worry, tomorrow we can discuss all this in more detail at our hideout."
"You have a hideout? You take this really seriously." She smiled and held her hands in front of her. "I'm…I'm really happy you guys did all that for me. I'm sooo happy! Danke! I love you so much!" She clapped her hands and wiggled in place, unable to jump because of her bustle.
"You don't have to make such a big deal out of it…." Chie laughed awkwardly.
"It's a big deal to me! You all risked your lives for me. And now I can repay the favor by helping out as a member of the team!"
"Oh, right!" Yu handed her a pair of spectacles she stared at. "We wear these in the Other Realm. Now you can officially say you're a member!"
"I love them! Thanks, Senpai!" She nuzzled closer to him.
"You're so spirited now! That's definitely Risette!" Yosuke said in awe.
She pouted a bit at that. "Well, I was depressed from the stress and let that affect our first meeting. I'm so used to always having to put a happy face on, I don't really know much else." Everyone wanted to greet a girl who was all smiles, after all. Even if normally her attitude was sour or she had awful breath, a smile made the patrons forget all of that.
"Just do what comes naturally to you!" Yukiko stepped forward, smiling at her. "Nobody has one true self all of the time, we're constantly changing and shifting to match the need at that time."
Kanji wandered over then, bowing. "Where does Raccoon put it all? He ate seven whole servings of mochi, like those big balls they have for the summer!"
"Clearly, he puts them in his big balls." Yukiko said in a dead serious tone, making Chie blush and facepalm.
"Enough with the big balls talk! I never want to hear about them again!"
Kanji focused on her, taking in her weird outfit. Rise just stood confidently, unashamed of anything he would say.
"So, you go to school, right? How old are you?" He asked. Yukiko suddenly snickered.
"Yup! I start tomorrow!" She grinned. "And I'll be in the first year class! How about you?"
"Oh, I don't go to school."
Yukiko laughed harder.
"Oh." She looked at Yu and moved closer to him. "Well, I know he goes, and I can at least be with the senpai who saved my life!"
"Bad time to transfer though. Not only has the case gotten worse, but tests are about to start again." Chie hung her head.
"I was almost eaten by monsters. I think I can handle a few tests." She reassured them.
"Oh! I always wanted to know…" Yosuke ran over to her, staring at her bustle. "Is that real? I sometimes saw girls dressed like this and wanted to know if their butts were truly that big!"
"Hanamura-kun!" Chie scolded him. "You can't ask that!"
"It's part of my dress to keep the back from getting squished." Rise giggled. "But you can still smack it if you want,"
"And how do you relieve yourself in a dress like that?" Yukiko tilted her head.
"That's it, no more inappropriate questions for her!" Chie scolded Yukiko. "That stuff is none of your business!"
"I just squat over the hole in the outhouse, or a chamber pot! The skirt is more flexible than it looks." Rise looked over at Yu. "If we have nothing else to do today, how about you show me around town? I'm sure it's changed so much in the time I've spent away from it."
"I'm only visiting, why'd you pick me?" He asked.
"Because I know you can give me an unbiased opinion!"
Yu looked around and pointed at the shrine. "That's the town's local shrine."
Both Rise and Yukiko laughed at that and Rise clung to his arm.
"You have a sense of humor too! I like that." She smiled. "I'm so glad you guys are the friends that I made."
The others dissipated while Yu and Rise wandered around the town, Yu pointing out anything he thought might interest her. "That's a Chinese restaurant, owned by a Chinese family. Over there is a blacksmith. This shop sells decorative stuff to hang from your kimono. Further down that road is the famous Amagi Inn that Amagi-san's family runs, and down that road on the opposite side is the residential area." He said.
"This town might be small, but I still like it. It's got more going for it than most people give it credit for." She smiled at him.
"I've only been here for a few months yet I know that to be true. It's just got a different vibe." He smiled back at her.
"But why are you here? Visiting?"
"Something like that. My parents are members of that exchange program so they're studying advanced sciences over in England for a year. They taught me some European culture when they left, but not much."
She clasped her hands together. "So can you speak English?"
"Only a few words."
She held out her hand and Yu shook it gently.
"You know handshakes!" She praised.
"Also, there's a city near here with a bunch more stuff in it. Like a fashion store, if you like that,"
Rise walked ahead, holding her hands in front of her. "Maybe. Depends on what they have. I have to still look fashionable, you know?"
After their tour, Yu dropped Rise off at the tofu shop and tipped his hat at her, and she briefly curtsied in response. She headed back inside and looked at herself in the mirror.
Already she was fitting in.
School was rough. She had to trade in her favorite clothes for something Japanese and unflattering to her. A pink kimono top and light brown hakama with her hair up in a high ponytail tied with a pink bow. As usual, she wore her right sleeve long enough to cover her scarred hand and struggled through her classes. She could do this. She promised herself she could….!
Her homeroom teacher was someone who spoke entirely in haiku. By the end of the day, her head was spinning and she wandered to Junes, feeling disoriented. The others were kind enough to fill her in, at least. Like on how the cute blond in the group was actually Raccoon who managed to shapeshift himself into a human with a swirl of blond-brown hair and a long ruffled shirt and tight pants with rows of belts and scuffed shoes. He dressed almost completely outdated and she started giggling when she saw him.
"Your new look is cute!" She still offered.
"I still feel bad that King Moron was the one who was killed this time…there was a time I thought maybe he was, and it's true he was harsh, but he didn't deserve to die." Yosuke sighed. "And his death just gives us more questions than answers. Like why? What's the motivation? Was everything we guess just a coincidence?"
"It just means we have to try even harder to catch the killer! He won't die in vain, and neither will anyone else!" Chie pumped her fist.
"That won't be necessary." A slim boy sauntered up to their table, wearing garish and bright colors.
"It's you!" Kanji said. Rise couldn't really place a name to the face, but they did still look familiar. They wore a long blue shirt and pants with boots, but the most striking part of their outfit was a long yellow scarf draped over their shoulders and teal buttons on their shirt with a brilliant white jacket hanging off their shoulders. A silver pocketwatch peeked out of their jacket pocket. They wore a blue Fedora as well.
"They've already found a culprit for the case and took him in for questioning." The boy continued like nobody said anything. "I know because I'm a private investigator on this case, which means I get this sort of information. It's not public information yet, but he's a boy from even further out in the country. If you can believe that."
"So, that's really it? They found the culprit and that's that?" Chie frowned. "And why would you come over here and say your piece like that?"
They put their hands on the table suddenly. "So you can finally stop playing around and go back to your lives."
Rise stood up. "Is that what you think we're doing? Playing a game?" She remembered them now, the detective who came around both before and after her kidnapping to ask Grandma questions. They'd never understand the terror Rise felt in there, her body frozen and the only sounds unable to be blocked out were the growls and shudders of monsters. They had no right to say that! "Because I think you're treating this like a game, going around questioning everyone in sight!"
"I lost someone dear to me because of this. We made a promise. It's dead serious to us." Yosuke said.
"Yeah!" Yu nodded in agreement.
The detective took their hands off the table and the smallest smirk curled up onto their face. "I see. You know, detectives like myself are basically forgotten about after the case is over. Isn't that sad?"
Kanji just stared at them.
"Is that why you came over here? The job threw you out and now you're lonely?" Yosuke mocked. The detective spun around.
"That's all I wanted to say to you. Good day."
Rise sat back down after they left, sighing. "I don't know what their problem is!"
"He has a stick up his butt." Yukiko said bluntly. "If the case is really over, then good! We can go back to everyday life! If it's not somehow, then we'll show him! We don't need his advice!"
The others nodded. "Yeah!"
Thus, the only thing left to do was to just keep waiting on a result.
Rise would do a lot of waiting in her life after that, starting on that day. She just wasn't aware of it yet.
-As stated before, ballerinas of the period lived hard lives, being overworked and seen as little more than prostitutes, relying almost exclusively on their patrons to make money. One huge danger was many girls still wore the flammable old costumes which would cause them to burst into flames in a room full of oil lamps. Some died or were left completely disfigured.
-Rise's favored patrons are Charles Frederick Worth, creator of the concept of haute couture, who was very well-known for his designer dresses primarily throughout the 1860's and 1870's. The other is a young Nicholas Alexandrovich, whose brother once noted 'had a love of ballerinas' He carried on an affair famously with Russian-Polish ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska that lasted up until his marriage. He'd grow up to become Tzar Nicholas II, AKA the father of Anastasia Romanova.
-I put in a detailed description of Rise getting dressed to show how Victorian outfits come together as pop culture has a lot of misinformation on the subject, especially about corsets. Look, I'm not here to start a huge debate about how corsets are good for you actually, because I understand the legit concerns women and others had about them and their effect on health of women. Dress reform movements existed for a reason after all. However, tightlacing, the act of lacing the corset as tightly as possible, was rare and corsets were important for supporting the bust especially of bigger breasted-women. They were also worn over the shift/chemise, never on the bare skin like many period dramas portray. That'd ruin the corset and hurt the woman's skin. It's also important to remember women back then were far more used to wearing these things like hoopskirts or bustles so while they look cumbersome and impossible to us, most women managed just fine.
-Drawers, underwear that looked like shorts, during this period were open in the crotch for an easier time using the bathroom and other hygiene purposes. Once shifts grew shorter over the following decades, the crotch became closed due to shorter dresses and thus no longer being needed.
Sorry for the wait, spent an entire week getting paperwork done for a job I'm applying for and thus chapters for the next few weeks may be slow or even on hiatus as I get that done and go through my training. We'll just have to see. I'm going to have to pee in a cup! I don't believe this!