Begin!

~Normal POV

Today it was raining. And Kanji had forgotten to check the weather forecast before leaving for school. He wasn't alone in this however, as while he was running to school, he ran into Yosuke who had the same problem. Both of them had forgotten their umbrellas. As luck would have it, they eventually found Yu and Naoto on the road. The two of them had their own umbrellas, and had stopped to chat.

Yosuke quickly ran up first and ducked himself under Yu's umbrella. "Sorry to barge in! Phew! That was a pain…"

Yu didn't mind it though and held his umbrella over both of them without any care. Unfortunately, this left Kanji stuck in the rain still.

"Hey- that ain't fair! Make room for me too!" Kanji shouted.

"This one's already full, dumbass!" Yosuke argued. "Get Naoto to make room under hers." Kanji blushed and glanced at Naoto.

Naoto smiled and said, "By all means, Kanji-kun. You'll catch a cold at this rate if you don't." She held up her umbrella a little higher as an invitation.

Kanji's heart started pounding. Sure, he was getting soaked in the rain, but he didn't know if he was ready to do this. Getting under her umbrella would mean being close to her… really close. What if she didn't want to be close to him? What if he did something stupid and made her upset? Damn, he was getting all jumpy just thinking about it. Not to mention, it was in front of Yu and Yosuke, both of whom already knew that he liked her. (Since they playfully teased him about it sometimes.)

"Wha-?! Me and her under the same umbrella…?" Kanji said, in a slightly panicked tone. He quickly looked away. "To hell with that! If I did that, um, it'd mean…" His blush darkened. "W-We'd practically be like a couple!"

Yu and Yosuke shared a knowing but frustrated look. Yu had tried giving Kanji a little advice on how to charm a girl, but it looked like Kanji was too scared to try to use it. While they were distracted by this, none of the boys noticed Naoto's reaction.

Her face had turned bright pink. She tried to brush it off, but the idea did fluster her a little. No, nevermind that, she was offering because Kanji might get sick, that's all. Right? Right. She didn't want him to catch a cold. He might miss the festival, or worse, be out of commission if something happened with the case! The rain was supposed to last all day, but it was going to stop before midnight at least, which was comforting. And nobody had turned up missing yet. So they were still waiting on any new case updates. And they needed to be healthy to fight. Thus, let Kanji share an umbrella with her. It was the most logical option.

"And that's a problem because…?" Yosuke asked, "Dude, how old are you?"

Kanji glared at him. "Shut up! Come on, let's trade spots!"

Yu held back a sigh and subtly rolled his eyes. "Kanji, we're trying to wingman for you and you're being a dumbass."

"You know how stupid that sounds right?" Yosuke said, dryly. He sighed and looked at Naoto. "Well, it's fine with me. Naoto, mind if I walk with you?"

Naoto thought about it. In choosing between the two, she really would rather walk with Kanji. Before she joined the team, Yosuke had given her the absolute worst in terms of a first impression. Calling her "shorty," because he didn't know her name, and also the various "killjoy" comments when they were at the club during the school trip. But the worst was a teasing comment about her being "lonely," that one hit like a bullet. And it had taken a lot of willpower not to show it. Of course, once they confronted her Shadow and learned how messed up her life really was, he was quick to apologize. She got an apology from Rise too, for a similar reason, but she felt that Yosuke had done worse than her. Naoto did accept these without question, she could tell they were genuine.

And then a mere day after she joined the team for real, Yosuke made a comment about wanting to see the girls' "measurements" when they were at the hospital. Needless to say, she didn't want to be too close to him after such a thing. The other girls told her he was always like that; Teddie was too. Yu had told them off for it though at least. So yes, if given the choice, she was much more comfortable walking with Kanji. But really, she didn't want anyone to get sick. Yosuke had growing up to do, but he was still her friend, so-

"H-Hey, who are you calling stupid?!" Kanji asked, "Stop talking shit about me!"

"Ugh, will you just make up your mind?" Yosuke shouted. "Just go with Naoto, it's the best solution. You're too damn big. It'll be a tight fit under Yu's umbrella. Naoto's perfect for you."

Kanji blushed at that wording. "P-Perfect? Me and Naoto… are perfect…?"

Naoto also blushed at hearing this, but pulled down her hat to hide it.

Yu subtly nudged Yosuke and whispered, "I got this."

Yosuke glanced at him. "Huh?"

"Um, I don't mind making room for whoever…" Naoto said, sheepishly. "We're going to be late if this keeps up."

Yu smirked a tiny bit. That was the perfect opening for his plan. "Ah, shit, she's right! Come on, Yosuke, let's go! We don't want to give Kashiwagi another reason to hate us."

Without even waiting for a response, Yu started walking at a brisk pace. Yosuke quickly followed him to stay under the umbrella. Kanji didn't have time to react to this- the two were going on without him!

"Wha- hey!" He sighed in frustration.

He was about to start running to school, since he couldn't afford to be late either, but he suddenly noticed that he couldn't feel the rain anymore. He looked and saw Naoto had come over to him and was holding her umbrella above them both.

"Uh- um…!" He couldn't find the words to respond.

Naoto's face was still a little pink, but she smiled softly to show it didn't bother her. "Kanji-kun, it's alright, I don't mind."

He gulped. Well, if she was already giving him her umbrella, it would be dumb to turn it down now. Though his heart was pounding from being so close to her. No, wait, he could do this, right? Kanji could practically hear Rokuten Maoh yelling at him to go for it. That's what a strong man would do, take the chance in spite of his nerves. He wanted to be closer to her, so he needed to start somewhere.

"O-Ok… let's go then…" He replied, nervously.

Naoto nodded and the two started walking together. It didn't feel so bad, actually. Aside from the fact that her arm was getting tired from holding the umbrella up so high. Curse this height difference, she thought. She should have worn her tallest platform shoes if she thought this would happen. Kanji, while he was trying to focus on getting to school and not think about how close he was to his crush, noticed the umbrella dipping slightly. He glanced at her and got a crazy idea.

He grabbed the handle and took it from her, holding the umbrella above them more comfortably. Naoto looked up at him and smiled. "Th-Thanks…"

"N-No problem!" Kanji said, quickly.

The walk was quiet, aside from the sound of rain. Naoto had never shared an umbrella with anyone before, much less a boy. She could see why it appealed to so many though. It had charm to it. Something about it gave her a warm feeling in her chest.

"You know…" She said, aloud. "I've never done this before…"

Kanji chuckled nervously. "I haven't either…" He tried to think of something else to talk about so he could calm down, and then a thought hit him. "Uh, hey- what happened with that thief thing? Did they find anything?"

"Oh, no, not yet. I checked on my room when I got home that day. Nothing was damaged, thankfully. It's most important that grandpa wasn't hurt though. Whoever did this didn't intend violence, at least."

"That's good! I'm glad everything was ok!"

At this point, they had reached the school. They'd have to put a hold on this discussion until later. Naoto offered to talk more after school, which Kanji happily accepted.

~...

"Yu, why did you walk away so fast?" Yosuke asked, "I know you don't care what Kashiwagi thinks of us."

Yu smirked. "Look behind you."

Yosuke looked and saw Kanji and Naoto walking a ways behind them. And sharing the same umbrella.

"Ohhh… Good plan, partner!"

"I knew it'd work."

"Eh, hopefully it helps them out. I mean, if she likes him too, that is."

"I think she does," Yu said, simply. "A little. I've seen them hanging out at the flood plain, she seems happier around him. But I didn't want to eavesdrop."

"We'll have to see, I guess."

~...

After school, Kanji and Naoto met up at the lockers to get their stuff before heading out. It seemed everyone else was busy today, so the two had to head out alone together.

"This…"

Kanji looked at Naoto. "Did you say something?"

"Oh, I just noticed this." Naoto held up a pink envelope. "It was in my shoe locker."

"What, is somebody asking to fight you?"

Naoto laughed. "You mean like a duel? That's quite old-fashioned."

Kanji grinned at the fact that he made her laugh. "Well, what is it then?"

"Just a letter," Naoto said, examining it. "Judging by the name and the handwriting, the sender is a woman. She thoughtfully provided her year and class. When one factors in the 'heart-shaped seal' as well, it's hard to imagine that this is related to my job in any way. In other words, there's no need to read it."

He gave her a puzzled look. "It sounds like a love letter…"

"It must be." She went to the nearest trash can and tossed the letter in before returning to her locker and shutting it. "I'm sorry. I wasted your time with this pointlessness. How misleading… A sealed letter at a time like this…"

Kanji couldn't help but get worried seeing that. What if he really didn't have a chance with her? Other students were already trying to get her attention, what if one of them was successful before him? What kind of person would she like anyway? Maybe he can try to ask? He'd have to be careful how he worded it though.

"Uh… that was from a girl, right?"

"Yes, why?"

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "S-So, like, if- purely hypothetical! Just curious! If it had been from… a guy… would you have thrown it away still?"

Naoto seemed to glare at him a little. "What do you mean?"

Kanji instantly regretted his words. He was about to apologize for asking, but she kept going.

"Whether the sender is male or female, I have no intention of responding." She continued, calmly. "I have no time to be dilly-dallying with callow love affairs… I assume the same is true for you? Saying they love me without even knowing me… Ludicrous. Let me put it this way, Yu-senpai and Rise have been together for some time now, yes?"

"Yeah, for a couple months," He answered. "I remember when they told us they were dating. It wasn't a huge surprise."

"The two of them fell for each other because they knew and trusted one another. Rise told me so herself." Naoto said, "That is the foundation of a good relationship, in my opinion. One where you truly know your partner, and care for them."

"O-Oh, yeah, I think so, too."

He was relieved to hear that. She was only uninterested because she saw her admirers as mere strangers. That was a weight off his shoulders. Maybe he did have more of a chance than he thought.

"Anyway, are you ready to go?" She asked.

"Yeah, let's go." Kanji was about to head out the doors, but Naoto called out to him again. "What?"

"Have you forgotten?" She held up her folded up umbrella and gestured outside. It was still pouring down rain.

"O-Oh, right…"

Kanji held open the door while she opened up her umbrella. He hesitantly joined her under it, figuring she wasn't going to take no for an answer, and they walked out into the rain together. He opted to hold it for her again as well.

"Would you like to stop somewhere on the way? I had some questions about the case, if you could answer them."

"Sure." He thought for a moment. "Wanna stop at Aiya's? I can buy us lunch."

"Yes, I'd like that. I haven't been there in a while," Naoto answered, smiling.

It didn't occur to either of them, until well after, that they had agreed to go out on what most people would call "a date."

~End of Chapter