Saturday, 4/18/12

Rise Kujikawa sighed, sliding a thumb across her darkened smartphone screen to check yet another incoming text message. The little preview that popped up as a notification had been enough to convey the meat of the message, but she still scrolled through the entire thing hoping that there would be a silver lining.

"Srry, can't make it. Muku seems really sick! Yukiko would kill me if I leave him now. Srry again, study haarrrdd! :P"

";^; send 3 2 Muku hope he iz btter! Mwah! xoxoxoxoxo C U mndy!

The upbeat tone of the response betrayed the sour pout on Rise's face. The text was from Chie Satonaka, a schoolmate of hers from nearby Yasogami high school. The two girls had planned to be a part of a study group, and Chie was now obviously going to miss out. Chie's was the fourth text she had received that afternoon cancelling on the planned get together. She let out a haughty huff of breath as she put her cell phone down.

Rise had recently started her second year, and the first big test of the semester was coming up. The group she was going to study with was her typical companions, an eclectic mix of second and third year students that she had made friends with during her time in Inaba. She now sat alone, bored, and a little sad in the food court of the local Junes supermarket.

It may have seemed like an odd spot for a group of high school teenagers to hang out, but Junes held a special place in the hearts of Rise and her friends. This was where they often sat together after school, hanging out, studying, or just catching up. The previous year, it had served as a neutral meeting ground as the gang of friends tried to crack a local murder mystery that threatened to overwhelm the entire town.

As Rise drummed her fingers lazily on the tan bench she sat at, her mind drifted back to better times. Specifically, to a person that had been a crucial component in not only solving the case, but for bringing all of these now dear friends together: Yu Narukami.

It had only been a few weeks, but Yu's absence was still utterly devastating. Narukami had arrived in the small town of Inaba during the beginning of the last school year, displaced due to his parents' year long business excursion. In just that year, he had uncovered a mysterious world that lay beyond the town of Inaba's televisions, rescued several of his classmates from that world, solved the murder mystery that was plaguing the town, and formed lifelong unbreakable bonds with those six classmates as well as that of his uncle, Ryotaro Dojima, and young niece, Nanako, with whom he stayed.

Yu had left back at the end of March, and while there had been many tears shed by all of his friends, Rise, in particular, felt as if a crater had opened across her heart. Even now, weeks later, it was hard for her to stop one eye from becoming irritated and wet as he consumed her thoughts once again.

Formerly the national singing and acting superstar Risette, Rise had also retreated to Inaba last year to get away from the fame and the life that came with it. Originally seeing the old-fashioned, sleepy town as her burden to bear for leaving showbiz, Rise soon found that this little slice of Japan was in fact the one place where she would discover who she really was. She would never have figured it out without Yu Narukami.

As soon as she had seen him, she had felt something. While she of course thought he was the cutest boy in the whole town, she also marveled at how easy he made it for her to confide her dreams, her fears, and her feelings. After all, it wasn't so hard when he had already seen her at her worst; when she was lost in the TV world opposite to Inaba, her shadow, her unbridled inner self, manifested itself. The shadow version of Rise was a twisted take on her Risette persona, a sultry exhibitionist that was willing to forego her modesty for the approval of the people around her. While she was ashamed to admit it, Rise eventually embraced this dark side of her personality, vowing to grow past it and nurture it.

Even though she felt humiliated, Yu accepted her confusion with grace and understanding, which made Rise feel as if he understood her like no other boy she had ever met. Every other guy was always just interested in Risette, and everything that came with that package: the sexy clothes, her body, and her fame. Yu looked past all that, into who Rise Kujikawa actually was, and he didn't flinch. Far beyond a mere crush, she had worked up the courage to confess on Valentine's Day that her feelings about him were very serious, a feeling Yu reciprocated. As he headed off on the train back to Tokyo, she was heartbroken but optimistic that a long-distance relationship could work.

While Yu's absence was a large contributor to her current mood, Rise was also pretty upset that almost everyone ended up cancelling on the study group. She got along great with everyone and cared for them, but Rise would be the first to admit that Yu was the glue at the center of it all. Half of them were in a lower grade, so they didn't see each other all the time, and when they did it was rarely more than a quick stop and chat before they got back to their busy schedule.

Half of them were in their third year, so real life loomed heavily in the background. Rise had wondered if the gang could hold up without their leader, and hoped today wasn't an indication of the near future and more of an unlucky coincidence. If she was going to have to suffer without Yu, there was no way she could do it alone, especially now, with a career comeback quickly approaching. Her life was about to get extremely busy and stressful, and Rise dreaded facing the scary and unrelenting world of show business without her friends to confide in. She wiped an eye, muttering to herself that she was overthinking the whole thing again, like usual.

As she dried her eye, Rise hadn't heard the door to the food court open across the courtyard. The woosh of the doors trapping air back in the main buliding reached her ears and she turned to find the source, the pigtails of copper hair on her head bouncing in the dry spring air as she did. She was pleasantly surprised at who had arrived.

At first glance it would seem that it was a young man in the traditional male outfit at Yasogami: black collared jacket over a button down white shirt tucked into a neat pair of nice dark slacks. The jacket and pants looked overly big for his frame, and the pants had to be rolled up at the ankle to properly fit. On his head, a large blue cap covered up a mop of shaggy blue hair. Of course, Rise knew better; despite appearance, this was in fact a young lady, and her name was Naoto Shirogane, her classmate and friend. Rise suddenly remembered that of the whole group, Naoto actually hadn't texted her to cancel; she had just assumed that, like usual, Naoto wasn't going to show up due to her other responsibilities.

Like Rise, Naoto was a second-year student, but she also maintained a very serious side career. Called the "Detective Prince" by many, Naoto's true skills lied in the old-school art of the for-hire private detective. A descendant of a long line of famous investigators, Naoto had spent much of her formative years honing her craft, and she was very good at what she did. Rise had actually met the detective when Naoto was assisting the local police in the kidnapping and murder incidents that Rise had found herself caught up in

The year had been difficult for Naoto as well. She too had found herself lost in the world on the other side of the TV and confronted with her own shadow. It was the shadow that revealed the truth of Naoto's gender to the rest of the group, much to her horror. Naoto had spent her whole life admiring detectives in crime novels as well as her own family, and feared that she wouldn't be taken seriously as a girl entering a traditionally male-dominated workplace.

As such, her appearance was completely androgynous, even down to her voice. In keeping up this charade, however, she denied the truth which she claimed to seek, leading to the creation of a hideous shadow that wanted to completely alter her body to that of a man. Luckily, Naoto was able to confront her shadow on her own terms with the help of her new friends and was now, seemingly, comfortable with the idea that she was a young woman. Rise did find it strange, however, that she had yet to tone down her androgyneity; she still wore the male uniform and kept her hair short.

Unlike the way she felt with the rest of her friends, Rise was still unsure what to make of Naoto. She had grown quite close to the other two females in the group, Yukiko Amagi and Chie, and spent a lot of time hanging out with them on shopping trips and other get-togethers. However, these excursions rarely included Naoto. It seemed natural to assume that Naoto, a serious student, was busy with schoolwork, but often times she would decline seemingly out of disinterest. Unsurprisingly, it had only been Yu who had been able to get close to the mysterious girl, but even he only offered polite assurances that she did care for everybody, even if she didn't show it. Rise had seen that amongst the whole group Naoto acted fine, but wondered if that was just because Yu, who she was comfortable with, was around.

Rise wasn't necessarily offended by Naoto's aloofness, but she couldn't deny that it stung a little bit. She always tried hard to come off as cute and likeable, a trait that went hand in hand with being a pop idol, but Naoto had proven resistant to her charm. It wasn't just Rise either, as Naoto didn't seem to really hit it off with any of the other girls either. Did Naoto think she was too masculine to hang out with them? That couldn't be it; Chie was a massive tomboy and loved discussing the finer arts of protein diets and martial arts. Surely they would have some common ground. Yukiko could be silly at times, but was usually reserved and polite much like Naoto was. What made the girl tick, and why was it so misaligned with the rest of the group?

As Naoto made her way over, the thought suddenly popped up that maybe Rise herself was the one being too distant. Perhaps it was she who hadn't tried hard enough to be a better friend. When she thought long and hard about it, Rise really didn't know much about Naoto aside from what she did, which seemed like a big roadblock. Since no one else was going to show up, perhaps this would be a good opportunity to try and have some nice girl time with Naoto, to figure out how she operated. A mischievous, cunning smile appeared on her face as Naoto approached her.

"Good afternoon, Rise-san. I apologize for being late, but I had an important phone call which needed my immediate attention," Naoto stated matter-of-factly, looking a bit confused at the emptiness of the table, "Am I early? I recall you said to meet at four o'clock at Junes, unless I was mistaken."

Behind her smile, Rise slowly began to break down Naoto as if she had never met her before. Her diction was scarily good for someone their age; she spoke more like a thirty year old career woman than a fifteen-going-on-sixteen girl. She also still used honorifics for even her close friends, which most of the group had abandoned save for Yukiko and Yu, who were so polite that they would probably never stop. Even more intriguing was her voice; with Rise's knowledge it was easier to tell, but she spoke with a husky and deep tone that could have easily belonged to a man to the uninitiated.

Lastly, Rise observed Naoto's stern, upright posture and sharp gray eyes, almost unable to meet the gaze of the blue-haired girl. Like Yu, Naoto had a certain "cool" factor to her, a no-nonsense way of carrying herself in all situations that made her a formidable ally and an even scarier enemy. She had softened once she had settled into the group and smiled more than she had before, but there was still an aura of professional coldness about her. Rise did her best to push all these thoughts to the background of her mind as she processed the girl's question.

"Hey, Naoto! Actually, you're the only other one who's going to show up today," Rise revealed, affecting a bit of a pout for dramatic effect, "Everyone else is busy today!"

"Oh, I see…," Naoto brooded, a fist on her chin in a statuesque pose, "would you rather we postponed until everyone else can join us?"

Rise felt like this was her point of no return, so she hurried to defuse the idea. "Oh n-no, no! We should still try since the test is Tuesday and, after all, we're both second years. It will be easier to study if it were just us without the third years and Moronji to slow us down," she joked, giggling before tagging on a nervous "just kidding," to the end as she got no response from the other girl. Naoto shrugged and just took a seat on the opposite side of the table, her face quickly turning as blank as a slab of marble. Rise let out a low moan; strike number one!

"Moronji" was Kanji Tatsumi, the other second year in their group. Tall like a mountain and scary to boot, Kanji's exterior hid a delicate soul that was more at home knitting than picking fights with equally scary people. He had a heart of gold but a brain of lead, flunking most major exams due to a seemingly uncanny ability to forget almost all the information he crammed the previous night. He also tended to act very strange around Naoto, unable to keep his voice down and stuttering a lot. Rise really did care much for the big lug, and "Moronji" was more of a tease than anything, but she was sort of glad he wasn't around to interrupt her attempt at bonding time.

As Naoto began to unpack her book bag, Rise tried to steer the conversation away from academics. She could feel the unfamiliar, uncomfortable vibe hanging in between the two of them, and wondered if her tried and true tactic of talking incessantly about whatever she was thinking would help loosen up the young detective.

"So, you said you got a phone call? Nothing serious, I hope," Rise asked casually, playing with the yellow tie on her Yasogami High sailor fuku. Like Naoto, she wore her school uniform, but she had on the girls uniform: a black sailor shirt and a black and white pleated skirt. For extra comfort against the chilly spring winds, she had added a pair of fashionable black stockings that went up her tantalizingly long legs.

Naoto shook her head before answering. "No, it was my Granpa. He was explaining to me the details of a case that had passed by him that I might be interested in." Rise remembered that Naoto lived with her Grandpa, a detective himself. Rise had always thought it was really neat that Naoto was smart enough to solve criminal cases, and used that excitement to infuse her voice as she responded.

"That's cool! Have you taken a case since the whole…thing last year?," Rise commented, hoping to keep on this topic. Naoto had first come to Inaba when the unfortunate murders happened, and she had been going to Yasogami since the last August. While not her original hometown, she had stayed in Inaba long after the case had ceased, which confused Rise. Maybe she wanted to finish the school year? She was hoping this was another topic she could bring up, and kept it in the back of her head.

"No, I have not," she said quickly, her eyes stone cold. "Which subject did you want to start on? I believe the Math section is more difficult than the World History," Naoto asked, abruptly changing the subject. Rise's eyes widened at the sudden shift

"O-oh! Well, I also think that math is harder than history, so let's do the easy stuff first!" Rise stuttered, pulling her own textbooks out of the small book bag on the empty seat next to her. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Naoto was already starting, her nose deep in the textbook. "The overall chapter focuses on the Sengoku period, but I think our time would best be spent trying to remember the interpersonal relationships the warriors and warlords shared. Our instructor told us that one of the questions would be a flowchart that has us fill out all the blank spots in certain figures' biographies," Naoto recited without taking a break, "which means our combined efforts at charting these relationships will..."

Rise gulped, staring wide-eyed at the top of Naoto's head, slowly working out what she was saying. She kept going on and on, before finally taking a single quick breath.

"So, in short, I think we can achieve a passing score on the test if we simulate the test itself in our personal notes." Naoto finally looked up, her stern, gun-metal grey eyes a sharp contrast to Rise's soft, chocolate brown orbs. The idol gave an awkward chuckle and tried her best to sound enthused.

"Oookay, that sounds, er, like a plan," she finally answered with a sheepish nod of approval to her classmate. While Naoto was quickly beginning to jot down all of the necessary information in a notebook, Rise merely pretended to look at her book while attempting to think of a way to take back control of the conversation. She tried to keep her tone casual as her next question queued up. "So, um, what was the case about?"

At the abject sound of silence, Rise looked up from the book to see the top of Naoto's cap, her eyes still relentlessly glue into her notebook. Rise rolled her eyes; how could someone be so into homework!?

"Er, Naoto?"

"Mm?" Naoto grunted, finally stopping her writing to look up at Rise, who asked her question again.

"Well, it wasn't really important, just a missing person's case in one of the neighboring cities." She sounded almost...annoyed at the question. "So the most important relationship is that of the three most important unifiers: Oda Nobunaga, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, and of course, Tokugawa Ieyasu. It would appear that one could summarize the entire effects of the Warring States with just these three individuals, which will simplify our studying process," Naoto droned, once again dismissive of Rise's question. Rise felt her resolve grow weary , but she nevertheless jotted down the information the detective had relayed to her.

"Thanks, Naoto," she sighed, continuing to write some supplemental information from the textbook. She decided to try one last time to get Naoto to talk about the potential job.

"Sounds pretty important…I mean, you did a really good job here. Maybe you should, y'know, ride that momentum. That's sort of how showbiz works; once you get work, it only gets easier from there," Rise explained. Naoto stopped writing and let out a long sigh.

"I don't doubt I could use my skills to solve the case but there are…," she stopped momentarily, Rise hanging on every word, "E-either way, I've declined the case, so there is not much more to say about it," she finished, a somewhat wistful tone in the detective's voice. Rise caught onto this and wanted to pursue it further, but could see in Naoto's eyes and body language that she truly had nothing left to say. While she was glad Naoto opened up even for an instant, Rise didn't want to risk upsetting her.

The two girls continued to study in relative silence, the only breaks in the quietness coming from the generic tunes pumping out of the Junes speakers and an occasional sharing of more historical information. After roughly a half hour, Rise was impressed; she wasn't exactly a dedicated note-taker, but a few pages in her notebook were now filled with relevant, useful Sengoku era information. She was about to compliment Naoto when a new voice rang out from the opposite side of the large court.

"Hellooooooooooooooo ladies!"

Rise swiveled around at the sound of the high pitched shriek, already smiling at the sound of the familiar voice. Speeding toward the table was what appeared to be a fuzzy, red and blue bear mascot with giant expressive eyes. She knew right away that this was their friend Teddie, the curious denizen of the TV world who had decided to stay on their side because he loved it so much. He also had a unique connection with Yu Narukami, always referring to him as "Sensei" and usually crying if his name was brought up. He was the store mascot, so he held a few balloons tightly in his paw, each adorned with the Junes logo.

"Hey Teddie! Workin' hard, I see," Rise greeted, flashing a wink and a peace sign at the bear. Teddie's eyes sparkled and danced as he let out a lovesick sigh. Naoto waved politely in his direction as well, about to utter a greeting before the bear cut her off.

"Oh hey Nao-chan! Looks like a looootttt of book work! I'm not sure I could bear all those words," Teddie joked, "unless of course you wanted to whisper them into my fuzzy ear. I may go for that!" Naoto looked up, mortified, and a deep scarlet blush began to flood through her face. Rise suppressed a giggle, knowing full well how Teddie got in the company of any of the group's females. She pretended to pout and scolded the bear for his words.

"Leave her alone, Teddie! And here I thought you learned how to behave yourself," she moaned, a knowing smile eased into the crook of her mouth. Teddie chuckled, waddling over to the bench where the girls were and plopping himself down.

"Don't worry Rise-chan! Nao-chan knows that my love is like a gentle breeze: cool to the touch, but capable of moving the mightiest fire with just a fraction of my power!" He dramatically clasped both of his paws together as he swooned, caught up in the romance of his own words. Naoto muttered something under her breath and just continued her writing.

"Oh, Rise-chan, Yosuke wanted me to tell you that he's bear-ry sorry that he had to work an extra shift today. Buuuuuttt I'm here now, so I can be his replacement," Teddie continued, scooching a little closer to Rise. She was glad that he was still in his mascot costume and not his human form, a form he had somehow grown out of pure will last summer. It was far easier to keep an eye on him since his gestures were far more obvious and exaggerated; as a human, he had an annoying tendency to try and sneak an arm around her when she wasn't looking.

Rise rolled her eyes, still in a teasing mood. "Well that's cool and all, Teddie, but can't you see that this is girls only!? No bears allowed!" She stuck her tongue out at the wide-eyed bear.

"Oh, really? Well now I definitely wanna get in on this action!" he shrieked, fixing his gaze on one of the books. "What kinda stuff is in here?"

Naoto looked up from her work, eyeing Teddie. He fidgeted under her gaze as she started to address him. "Well, if you are to join our study group, Teddie, we will need to test your knowledge. How familiar are you with the curriculum of Yasogami High? Remember, we need to be passing in all forms of mathematics, including algebra and geometry. Would you be able to deduce the area of a quadrilateral, in meters?"

Teddie's eyes were wide, pupils shrunk to penny size as he stammered for an answer. "Uh…er, w-w-well I-"

Naoto wasn't done. "And how are your linguistic skills? Could you tell me how many on make up a senryu poem? How well versed are you in classical Tanka poetry? These are the important things that Rise-san and I must know, so I hope you will be able to assist us," she continued, reducing Teddie to a mumbling mess. But Rise could see her inhale again, which meant she was just getting warmed up.

"This," she explained, holding up her textbook, "is a primer on the history of Japan. We are tasked with discovering all there is to know about the Sengoku period. Are you aware of the winners and losers of the Battle of Kawanakajima? If I were to say "The Tiger of Kai," do know whom I would be referring to? You had better answer quick, Teddie, as we need to know all this and more by Tuesday."

Teddie quivered, his eyes blank as he slowly rocked back and forth. "I…I…I GIVE UP! School is too much for this poor old bear!" He leapt to his feet from the table, reeling from the massive amounts of information Naoto had just blasted him with. Rise was holding her hand over her mouth, a laughing fit taking over that would rival Yukiko in its intensity. She looked up to see Naoto had the slightest hint of a smirk on her face, too. Naoto usually wasn't this funny, and maybe she was beginning to feel more comfortable if she was in this kind of mood, Rise thought happily.

"That's our Detective Prince!" she chirped, turning on her highest watt smile. Naoto let out an uncomfortable chuckle and tucked the bill of her cap down, the blush from earlier making a second round across her cheeks. This just made Rise chuckle more, as it was often hard to decipher the best way to push Naoto's buttons.

Teddie clucked, wagging a finger toward Rise. "Rise-chan, please! Our little 'Detective Prince' has matured and become a beautiful Detective Princess," he said, a sly, matter-of-fact grin flashing across his head. Naoto turned toward both of them, clearly flustered.

"P-please! I never asked to be referred to by that epithet, and if I never heard it again, I'd be very pleased!" she pleaded, her voice becoming a little bit higher-pitched.

Rise continued to snicker at Naoto's embarrassed reaction. One of her favorite things was seeing Naoto get in a tizzy, at which point her tough-guy-detective wall would fade and her voice would suddenly get much higher, almost back to its natural pitch. It made her so much more relatable, like she was just one of them and not the suave, sophisticated adult she had initially portrayed herself as.

Rise could see that Naoto was probably at her breaking point, so she decided to reign in the jokes. "Relax! We're just jealous that we don't have cool nicknames," she joked, reaching over the table to pat Naoto's hand. The instant her hand made contact, Naoto shyly retracted hers under the table. Rise was a little hurt, but she managed to convince herself that she needed to take baby steps; this was still Naoto after all, and just because they were having a bit of fun now didn't mean she was going to join Rise at the salon or go shopping.

Teddie grinned, his face becoming boastful. "Oh haven't you heard, Rise-chan? Nana-chan helped me figure out that I'm the King of the TV World!" Teddie puffed out his body and made himself appear tall, befitting his "kingly" status. Rise rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out, and she heard Naoto chortle as well.

"So? I was voted 'Queen of Idols' after my first year in showbiz," she bragged, turning her nose up and making a mocking gesture with her hand, a voluptuous smile back on her face. "I don't even wanna begin to say how many fan letters I got for people begging me to be their 'Queen'," she said seductively, knowing that would rile up Teddie.

Sure enough, Teddie's eyes sparkled and he was about to say something when a booming voice suddenly erupted from the direction of the door back to Junes.

"Dammit Teddie! I didn't take an extra shift just so you could mess around! Get your ass back in here!"

The voice could only belong to Yosuke Hanamura, another member of the group who also worked at Junes. He was a manager, and, more importantly, he was Teddie's boss and guardian while he was in the real world. Yosuke often said he was sure Teddie would have been let go without his guidance, and Rise really couldn't argue that logic. Yosuke could act like an ass most of the time, but he took his job very seriously, since his father was the owner of that particular Junes.

"Woah! Being in the company of two real beauties makes time fly! I'll see ya later," Teddie yelped, leaping out of his seat and shuffling back into the store, shrieking excuses along the way. Rise smiled and waved, turning her attention back toward Naoto. Rise wondered if she was hurt by the earlier teasing and went to apologize when a shy smile appeared on her friend's face.

"If only I had never appeared on that TV program, I wouldn't be stuck with that abominable title," Naoto sighed, closing her eyes. At a loss in the initial murder investigation, Naoto took a bold gamble and agreed to do an interview for the local news show, which lead to her getting kidnapped and needing to be rescued by Rise and the others. This was the first time the "Detective Prince" moniker had been used on a wide scale, and it had quickly caught on around the whole town.

Rise could relate; her own stage name was something she couldn't bear to hear when she first arrived, as it reminded her of all the emotional baggage she had tried to leave behind after her time in the TV World. Despite the changes they had both gone through in the past year, Naoto didn't seem as willing to embrace this particular title as Rise was her old one. Seeing that she wasn't that upset, Rise couldn't help but attempt to tease Naoto some more.

"Maybe you're right, but we also might not have been friends," she taunted, which got Naoto's attention, "And wouldn't that suck? What would you do without me?!" Rise giggled before again adding a customary "just kidding."

Naoto's pupils shrunk a tad as she realized Rise was paying her a slight compliment. "Y-yes, that would have been an unfortunate turn of events. Although I seem to recall you were not very fond of me at first."

Rise laughed awkwardly at that. Before Naoto had joined the Investigation Team, they were active rivals. Naoto had been working with the local police to solve the case, and she strongly suspected her classmates as being more involved than they let on. Rise specifically remembered calling Naoto a "creep" because she had said that the group was treating the investigation as a game. Despite the early tension, it was all water under the bridge once Naoto was on board with the rest of the team.

"Haha, yeah...that was pretty intense. Who would have guessed we'd be here now, studying together?" Rise asked, watching as Naoto nodded slowly before going back to work. This girl sure didn't stay off track for long! That must have been why she was a great detective but such a social oddball. Rise groaned internally; that was the closest she had gotten to having an honest-to-goodness talk with Naoto, and it had slipped right through her fingers.

Another quiet fifteen minutes passed, the two only speaking if Rise had a question. Before long Naoto looked at her watch, clicking her tongue anxiously.

"It appears to be getting late," she said, starting to gather her things, "I promised my Grandfather I would be home before dinner, so I must be going now. I hope I was an able study partner; I...," again, Naoto appeared to struggle to convey her thoughts, "I understand that my methods are not necessarily suited for everyone."

Rise gathered her books together before answering, feeling bad that Naoto was being such a downer. "Not at all! You are always a big help! So smart," she beamed, trotting over to Naoto and giving her a gentle prod in the shoulder. The idol could have sworn she saw Naoto griamce before she started walking back to the main lobby of the store to use the elevator. She made a mental note to try and remember that Naoto wasn't exactly about physical contact. The two girls silently continued their journey down the elevator and onto the first floor of Junes. A few times during the elevator ride, Rise attempted to say something, but lost her nerve just as fast. Before too long they were exiting Junes out the thick glass doors and stepping out onto the inky grey roads of Inaba.

Rise and Naoto were the only two on the road, a surprising occurrence for a Saturday afternoon. Rise's home wasn't far south, and Naoto had a little ways to go north, so their paths were literally split. The two faced each other before heading their separate ways.

"Well thanks, Naoto! I always feel so dumb studying with you," Rise gushed, feeling uncharacteristically sheepish. Something about Naoto's gaze, grey and unfaltering, made her feel odd. Nevertheless, Naoto returned a smile, to Rise's delight. Maybe she really was getting somewhere.

"Please don't insult yourself, Rise-san, you did fine. That was pretty nice, actually," Naoto admitted, rubbing the back of her head, "We ought to study again sometime." That was a home run! Rise mentally celebrated, trying her hardest not to let it spill out in her voice.

"O-oh, for sure! We definitely need to hang out more often! Us 2nd years have to stick together anways," she teased, giving her shorter classmate a little wink. "Well, I'll see ya later!" Rise beamed, turning to head toward her Grandma's tofu shop up the street, feeling she had achieved a major victory.

"U-um, Rise-san?"

Surprised, she turned to see Naoto had called her attention. It was hard to see in the dying light of the early evening, but Rise could just barely make out yet another faint blush on Naoto's face. She looked like she had something important to say, and Rise felt her heart race a little from the intensity of Naoto's stare.

"Y-yes, Naoto?"

"I-I just wanted to say that…," Naoto suddenly turned to her side, bill in her hand, struggling to finish explaining her thoughts for what Rise felt like was the hundredth time that day, "Er, it's nothing, nothing at all. I apologize."

Rise cocked her head, one ponytail drooping like a dog ear as she did. Was that it? "Is everything okay, Naoto? You can...you can talk to me," she stated, taking a wobbily step forward. She wondered why Naoto was so clearly worked up; had she said something wrong?

Naoto nervously rubbed her cheek, almost like she was trying to wipe off the blood that was shifting through her face. "Really, it's not important. I'll see you Monday in class, yes?"

"Yeah, I-I guess..." Rise contemplated asking for clarification, but didn't want to make it worse. "Bye, Naoto," she said shyly, giving her friend a little wave.

With that last awkward goodbye, Naoto quickly turned on her heel and nearly sped off in the other direction, leaving a very confused Rise standing in the cool Spring evening. She sighed and continued down to the Marukyu tofu shop, her Grandma's business/residence.

Along the way, she reflected on what went right and what went wrong. Despite her charm offensive, Naoto still seemed really uncomfortable even broaching the subject of her work or her personal life. This was frustrating to Rise; usually, whether through her looks, talents or general bubbly attitude, she would open people up. She tried to tell herself that Naoto was just awkward when it came to sharing her feelings, and that the day overall had been a success, but she still felt pretty down in the dumps. If they couldn't even open up to each other, how good of friends could they be?

Her pessemistic thoughts were interrupted by the chime of her cellphone, and she quickly dug through her book bag to pull it out. She only saw the preview screen, but her whole mood immediately shot right up into the stratosphere.

"Naru-chan: Hey, have time to talk?"