Begin!

~Normal POV

Naoto arrived at school today thinking it would be another normal day. But this was proven wrong the moment she got there.

"Naoto-kun, there you are!" Chie ran up to her looking upset. "We got a huge problem!"

"What is it? Did something happen with the case?!"

Chie shook her head and grabbed her by the arm before dragging her towards the nearby bulletin board. Yukiko and Rise were there already staring at the board for some reason.

"What's wrong?" Naoto asked.

"It's this! Look at it!" Chie pointed at the notice on the board.

There was a paper hanging there with openings for signatures. The top said it was a sign up sheet for the Miss Yasogami Beauty Pageant that was going to happen at the festival. Well, she didn't see what was wrong with that on its own. It wasn't her thing, but she didn't care if other girls wanted to participate. Some girls liked that stuff, and that was ok. What was not ok was when she saw what the others were really upset about.

All their names were on the sign-up sheet.

"How-" Naoto wondered aloud. "Who would have-" She was too shocked and angry to finish.

"I'm gonna kill Yosuke…" Chie said, furiously.

"Do you think if I set him on fire, he'd learn his lesson," Yukiko asked bluntly.

"Probably not…" Naoto replied.

"What if he didn't do it?" Rise asked.

"Oh, he did it alright!" Chie answered, "It sure as hell wasn't Yu-kun or Kanji! And I don't even know if Teddie knows how to write! But I'm sure he's involved too!"

~...

The girls asked the boys to come meet them on the roof for their discussion during lunch. Or rather, an argument. Yosuke did end up admitting his guilt though. And his lame attempt to save face wasn't going to work for him.

"I- I mean if you don't wanna do it, you just say no, right? Like it was just a joke!"

"Entering your friends in a beauty pageant as a joke? Yeah, that makes it sound so much better…" Yu commented dryly. The girls seemed to agree with this, Yosuke was only digging himself a deeper hole.

"We wouldn't be so pissed if we could just say no!" Chie shouted, "With Kashiwagi planning this year's event, even those who got entered by other people can't back out!"

"Seriously?" Yosuke said, "Must have been something in the fine print I overlooked-"

"SO IT WAS YOU!" Chie repeated.

This led to more arguing from Chie and Yukiko. Naoto was upset at the situation too, but she figured that yelling at Yosuke wouldn't make much of a difference. The damage had been done. She just wasn't sure why her name was up there too. She rather felt her appearance wasn't anything special. And if he was only doing it out of fair play- well, she still didn't want to participate against her will.

"Hey, do you want us to take part in the beauty pageant?" Rise asked, rather calmly.

This got the trio to stop shouting. "Well- yeah." Yosuke said, smiling. "I mean, you guys know how popular Yukiko is here. And on top of that, we have an idol and a Detective Prince! What's the point of having a beauty pageant if all these incredible heroines aren't going to take part?!"

"So where do I fit in?!" Chie shouted. Yosuke didn't reply. "Well excuse me for not fitting in!"

Kanji wasn't paying attention to all the arguing. He was thinking of something else. It was going to be a beauty pageant, right? And… Naoto would be in it! The thought made him excited. He'd love to see her up there. She'd probably look so cute-

"Hey, you want them to be in it too, don't ya, Kanji?!" Yosuke asked.

Kanji blinked and looked at him. "Huh? I ain't interested in that stuff…" He lied.

Despite how he tried to cover it up, he couldn't help it. He shyly glanced at Naoto. But Naoto noticed and looked at him curiously. He was quick to look away to hide his blush.

Naoto was confused. Why did he look at her like that?

"Naoto-kun, Kanji-kun says that he really wants you to be in it," Yosuke said, smirking playfully.

"What?! I- I didn't say nothing!" Kanji argued, still blushing. He then remembered why there was so much shouting and figured he should say something to show Naoto he supported her. "She shouldn't have to do it because of you, dumbass!"

Naoto was surprised by this response. It was good to know that he was on her side. Though… a thought crossed her mind about the pageant. She pushed it aside for now, to not be too distracted. More yelling ensued with Yu scolding Yosuke for causing this mess. Rise seemed to want to do the show to impress her boyfriend, but she was the only one. The main issue was that Kashiwagi wouldn't let anyone back out of it, even if they didn't sign themselves up.

"If we can't refuse, I suppose there's no sense arguing the point…" Naoto said, frowning. "But it seems ill-fitting for someone like me to get up on stage... I wonder if there's any way I could take it up with the school authorities…"

"I don't think it's a problem at all..." Kanji said, quietly. He looked away from Naoto again and refused to say anything further. Naoto gave him a curious look but didn't ask him to elaborate. (Though it was obvious to everyone else what he tried to say.)

"Silly, Kanji." Rise said, giggling. "Just tell her you wanna see her on the stage! So, is it a deal? The four of us will be in the beauty pageant?"

The others felt defeated since they had no choice in the matter. So they reluctantly accepted. The bell rang for them to return to class, so they started to head back inside. Kanji quietly got Yu's attention and the two stayed behind a moment longer.

"What's up?" Yu asked.

"Can we talk? After school? I… need your help with something."

"Oh, sure, if I have time. I'll meet you outside my classroom."

~...

After school, Yu had a chore to do for his classroom's festival plans, but he was done pretty quick. As promised, he met up with Kanji. The two went to hang out on the rooftop since nobody else was there right now.

"So what do you need?"

Kanji panicked a little wondering where to start. "Well… It's about the pageant."

"Oh, about Naoto being in it?"

"Y-Yeah, that…" He sighed. "Do you think… Do you think she'd be mad if I wanted to see her in it?"

Yu shook his head. "Nah, I think she'd understand. For one thing, you had nothing to do with signing her up. And saying 'you deserve to be up there too' is a compliment. I talked to Yosuke between classes and he said he thought you'd appreciate seeing her in the show. Stupid decision, but you're not wrong for wanting to make the most of it."

Kanji was relieved to hear this. "You're probably right… thanks, senpai."

"No problem. So, how are things going with Naoto?"

"Uh, pretty good so far. We're getting along, hanging out, it's been nice…" Kanji smiled, thinking about it. "Heh, I- I damn near had a heart attack the other day. We ran into Nanako-chan and she asked us if we were on a date…"

Yu smirked. "Well, were you?"

"SENPAI!"

"Sorry, couldn't resist!" Yu replied, laughing.

Kanji glared at him, so Yu chose to change the subject.

"Have you tried any of the advice I gave you?"

"I tried giving her compliments. That ain't too hard, cause she did really impress me, so I just said what I felt." Kanji answered, looking away. "I can't tell if it's helping, but it makes her smile."

"That's how it helps," Yu said, nodding. "Girls remember when you compliment them. If it's genuine, then you know it makes them happy. Rise likes to fish for them."

"I just worry though… What if I ever say the wrong thing?"

"Then you can apologize, and try to be better. You know that much already. The important thing is that you don't hold back on saying the right thing when you need to. Cause if you miss that chance, you won't get it again, and nothing will ever change in your relationship."

Kanji took that advice to heart. "The right thing, huh… I hope it'll be obvious when I get there."

Yu patted his shoulder supportively. "I'm sure it will… And hey, getting to vote for her in the pageant will be nice, right?"

"Yeah, it will," Kanji thought for a moment. "I wonder how she'll look. Cause don't girls normally get all dressed up for that shit?"

"That's usually how it is." Yu then laughed and added. "Plus, I think she'd kill Rise if she tried to even suggest putting on makeup or something."

Kanji smiled. "That's true."

~End of Chapter