Gonna be honest. This'll be similar to one of Unchained Silence's shorts, but I'll also tell you it comes into its own quickly enough.

"Absolutely not!"

"Ab-so-lutely yeah!"

"That doesn't make sense!"

Naoto pushed the bundle of cloth back into Rise's arms, shaking her head as insistently as the first time she refused. "C'mon, Naoto-kun! They're casual! It's super comfy!"

"I'm dressed casually and comfortably already!"

She gestured feebly to her clothes, as they were truly the height of comfort; a white, long-sleeved shirt, and dark, plaid trousers. She had omitted the tie for tonight. Rise pushed the bundle towards her again and pouted. She was already wearing her yukata, an airy pink one that was laced with a flowery decal along the side. It fit her well. "The guys're gonna wearing their jinbeis! We should meet them in the middle and wear yukatas!"

"Rise-chan, I'm sure no one would object if I wore what I wanted to a festival."

"If you don't wear this, I'm telling Souji-senpai about the thing!"

"What thing?"

"The thing with the power!"

"What thing?!"

"Wear the yukata, Naoto-kun!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

Fifteen minutes later.

Naoto sighed, kicking her legs slightly from where she was sitting in the shrine area. Alas, she had lost the battle. "But I shan't lose the war. She'll see…"

"What are you muttering about?"

She looked up and saw Souji walking up, clad in a dark blue jinbei that, put simply, made him look both relaxed and oddly charming. "Nothing. Hello, Souji-kun."

"Have to say, I'm, uh...I'm stunned. You look...really good in a yukata."

Naoto adjusted her kinchaku sheepishly and let her sandal dangle off her foot. He wasn't kidding; the light blue complemented her hair nicely, and a light pattern of flowers was noticeable if one looked close enough. Her hair was done in a ponytail, because she knew Souji liked the style and because she didn't quite want to tie it in a bun. She did take the liberty of tidying up her bangs just enough for them to not cover her eyes. Nonetheless, the praise was welcomed with a rosy blush and a thankful smile. "Would you mind holding my phone for me? I don't want to damage it in the bag."

"Sure thing."

He took it and tucked it into one of his pockets, letting her take his hand as they wandered away from the shrine. Souji was quick to be distracted by the various booths, contrasting Naoto's notion that he would be as subdued as he typically was. "Ooh, I love masks!"

Souji almost jogged to the stand with Naoto in tow. To their joint surprise, Teddie was manning the booth. "Heeey, Sensei! I knew you'd come eventually."

"You got me. Anything particularly interesting here?"

"Well, we have Teddies, Feathermen, these weird ones…" He gestured to a collection of masks with numerals on them that were lying in the corner of the booth. "Oh! And these! I made 'em myself, after seeing what these other one were made of."

He handed both of them a mask. Souji turned his over and smiled, brushing his fingers over the cartoony visage of Izanagi. Naoto giggled lightly at the equally whimsical one of Yamato-Takeru. When she looked up, Souji was already wearing the mask and paying Teddie. Naoto tucked hers into her kinchaku and slung it back over her shoulder. His voice when they walked away from the booth was just slightly muffled. "I get the feeling you'll like some of the games here."

He gestured to the booth with the rifle and the can tower, which, strangely enough, was being handled by Daidara. "Heya, Dai-chan."

"Hey, kid. Wanna test your aim?"

Souji looked at Naoto for permission, so she simply stepped back and said, "Please, go ahead."

"Alrighty."

He paid the fee and took up the rifle, bracing the stock against his shoulder and taking aim. "Let's see…"

He fired, the shot easily smacking into the bottom-middle can, but...the tower refused to fall. "Hmm…?"

He fired again, and it was at this point that Naoto decided to focus on the why. The tower refused to give, despite his efforts.

Strange. Souji was no slouch with firearms as far as she could tell.

Naoto put her hand to her chin in thought as Souji fired and knocked the bottom can out of the base. That was his last try.

"...Mm. Seems I'm losing my touch."

"Everyone has an off day. May I try?"

Naoto took the rifle as Souji fished out more money to pay for her set of attempts. Daidara grinned and pocketed the bills he handed him, gesturing to the tower of cans. "Feel free. Rifle's already loaded."

Naoto took aim and fired. She missed the cans, much to Souji's surprise. She shushed him when he tried to say something, firing another pellet and seeming to miss. Daidara's grin only grew wider. "Um…"

"Give me a moment."

Naoto gave him a knowing look and took aim. She slowly let go of her breath and fired...at the wire above the cans. The pellet shredded the already weakened binding, sending the tower of cans tumbling to the floor. Rather than be shocked, Daidara simply smiled, plucking the biggest prize, a stuffed Jack Frost, off the wall and handing it to Naoto. "Congrats, little lady. You saw through my little trick."

She took it quietly and smiled again before stepping away from the booth amidst the cheers and whistles. "Shall we go?"

"Fireworks should start in a bit, sure."

Naoto put the rifle down and handed the Jack Frost to the child she saw eyeing it before Souji began the game. She smiled softly at the joyous look in her eyes as she walked away. Souji simply smiled and pointed to a cotton candy booth.

A hop, skip, and a jump later.

"It's, er...quite crowded today."

Souji's look was chagrined as he took her hand and tried to keep moving. "Tourists. Lots of tourists. Stay close to me, yeah?"

"Mhm."

The two tried to wade through the crowd, but things fell apart more quickly than Souji thought possible. He felt Naoto's hand slip from his and quickly turned, but she was already being carted away from him in the rush. "Crap. Naoto!"

Naoto found herself stumbling into one of the shopping district's many alleyways. She straightened out her clothes and made to leave, but she groaned inwardly as she found that she wasn't alone. You must be joking.

"Hey there, little lady."

Naoto sighed and just managed to dampen the glare she gave to the man trying to woo her. "What."

The one speaking was taken aback by the curt tone she used, but was undaunted as he plastered what he hoped was a charming grin on his face. "Wanna have some fun with us?"

"Your definition of fun and mine seem to be very different."

She batted a questing hand away from her side and prepared to strike back, only to have her arm caught by the moron in charge. "Let go."

"C'mon. It's not good to walk around alone, y'know?"

"I'm not alone, I'm waiting for someone."

"In an alley?"

Naoto's voice had an uncharacteristic amount of bite to it as she muttered, "...You pulled me over here, you simpleton."

The leader grabbed her arm, causing her to stumble back slightly. She cursed the yukata and the now-uncomfortable sandals briefly and tried to think of a strategy given her reduced mobility. Damn it.

"What'd you call me, you stupid-"

"Excuse me."

Naoto felt a surge of relief at the sound of Souji's voice, breaking her arm free of the man's hold as they turned to face Souji down. "Who the hell are you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm her boyfriend."

He pointed cheekily to Naoto, who was as stunned as the rest of her assailants. Souji waved to her after a moment, the smile all but laced into his voice when he said, "I~f you don't mind, we'll just be on our merry way. Fireworks're starting soon, y'know."

"Take the stupid mask off! We're not messing around here."

Souji stared at the man for a second, just long enough to cause him to shift uncomfortably, then shrugged. "Sure."

Souji took the mask off and wrapped the band around his thumb; he pulled the plastic visage back until the band was almost taut, "Here you go."

The mask flew into the offender's face, and Souji made sure it didn't break anything; only that it hurt. The impact kept the mask against his face as he reeled back and tried to hold back a shout. Souji looked slightly bewildered, something Naoto could easily read as a farce, and looked at his hands. "Oops. Butterfingers. Here, let me get that off ya."

He braced his thumb against the dangling band, pulling the mask back quickly and letting it go. It smacked back into the man's face, sending him recoiling with an audible cry of pain. "Aah, I'm all thumbs today! Sorry."

"You bastard!"

The second one rushed him, fist raised predictably enough that Souji couldn't help but roll his eyes. He felt his anger at the gall of the three slip for just a moment. Souji intercepted the fist with his palm, lightly slapping it away with a flick of his wrist. His other hand shot forward, clenched fist crashing into the attacker's chin and sending him into a bunch of trash bins. He brushed off his knuckles and walked past the two writhing figures. "Excuse me."

Souji shoved the last one out of his way, such that he ended up between Naoto and the three. Souji reached into his back pocket and handed Naoto her wallet and phone. "You left these with me."

"Thanks…"

Naoto promptly flipped her phone open and took as clean a picture she could manage of the three. Souji quietly stepped out of the way as she kicked off her sandals and promptly socked who she labelled as the leader. Souji winced and made a show of brushing off his hand as if he had been the one doing the punching. The remaining two made to pick him up off the floor but were stopped as Naoto showed them something that shone just enough to stun them into stupefied silence; a badge. The proof they were looking for. "You may think that fools like you are invincible in the dark, but I can assure you that you will never believe that idiocy again. Assaulting a detective is one of the dumbest moves in the book. Now, leave. Before I arrest you myself."

"That's pretty merciful of you."

Naoto glanced back at Souji; the smile on his lips and the shine in his eyes told her that he really wanted to hammer this point home. "Yes, well...tonight is a festival." She glared back at the three. "And I'm off duty."

"Better go before she reconsiders."

They took the hint,collecting themselves and running out of the alley. Naoto almost spat, shaking the hand she had struck with until Souji took it. Anger was clear in her eyes as Souji took a handkerchief out of his bag and wrapped it around her hand.

"Idiots…"

Souji simply smiled and kissed her hand. "Oh, right...about that warning you let them off with-"

"Hey! Stop right there, you're under arrest!"

Naoto's sight darted to the entrance of the alley, and she just managed a glimpse of blue chasing after the three idiots. "Oh, no~. I wonder who could have called the police on this busy night."

She scoffed and raised her foot as Souji tried to help her put her sandal back on. "I wonder." She said flatly.

She slipped her other sandal back on and balanced herself on Souji's arm briefly. "Ah, thank you."

"Mm."

She looked up at his low tone; to her surprise, he looked mildly apologetic. "Sorry. I spoiled the punch for you."

"I'd say we're even."

"Seriously, though. You okay? They better not have hurt you. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to-"

"Souji, please. I'm fine." It wasn't as if he could have done anything anyway.

"...Really?"

"Really really."

Souji smiled in relief and took her good hand in his own. He anticipated the look she gave him and shrugged lightly. "Sorry. Protective boyfriend mode's at a hundred percent tonight."

"I suppose that's not a bad thing every so often." She smiled and cupped his cheek with her free hand, careful not to irritate his skin with the handkerchief still tied around her knuckles. "Thank you."

He gazed at her for but a moment before leaning in and pressing his lips to hers briefly. He let the comfortable silence hang for a beat before smiling softly. "Sure. Ready to go? Fireworks are starting soon."

He stood and offered his hand, and Naoto made to take it. Instead of standing, however, she pulled him down hard enough for her to be able to wrap an arm around his shoulders and kiss him. Souji heard the pop of the fireworks just as she felt her lips on his, thus fulfilling some type of cliche that he would have to look up later. She let him go just long enough to murmur, "I think we missed the fireworks."

His answering chuckle was silenced by her catching him again.

First off, if you think the beginning (...and ending, kinda) were half-assed, then I don't blame ya!

It astounds me just how incompetent I can be sometime. I have unfinished bits and pieces that have been lying around for a while, but I polished this one off in one night. Ohh inspiration, you are a fickle little thing. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. I had fun writing as mundane passive-aggressive badass Souji.

Here's hoping I can keep the ball rolling. Till next time!