A month has passed after Mikuratana-no-Kami was defeated thanks to the efforts of the Investigation Team, along with Kanami's help after her memories of Yuko Osada's incident were recovered (albeit rather violently). Since then, Rise's comeback has been a success and she's moved in with Kanami at her apartment near TakuraPro. The arrangement was a strange one, as TakuraPro wanted Kanami and Rise to appear as 'rival idols', but considering that Kanami looks ridiculously different from her idol counterpart, nobody would really notice two idols living together. That and both Kanami and Rise insisted, but for different reasons.
Kanami wanted to have her good friend and inspiration close by. Rise…well her feelings are a bit more personal and intimate, more than just wanting Kanami to be her friend. However Rise has not told Kanami yet for a few reasons. For now she's taking her time and waiting for the right moment so to speak.
"Halloween Halloween!" Kanami exclaimed with stars in her eyes and a pouty face while looking at Rise "Halloween Rise-senpai! You gotta come trick or treat with me!"
Rise merely sweatdropped and looked at Kanami with widened eyes a twisted smile "Really Kanami? I mean we kind of grew out of that."
"Nonsense!" Kanami exclaims, her eyes covered in the shadow of her glasses "As long as we draw breath, we shall celebrate Halloween! Free candy Rise-senpai! How could you say no to that?!"
"Well our weights for starters." Rise deadpans
"We'll dance it off!" Kanami huffs, her chest bouncing once. Rise eyed that and furrowed her eyebrows, instinctively touching her own chest.
'Why does she have the bigger boobs…?' Rise thought admittedly a bit envious 'It couldn't be the candy…' she briefly wondered. "Well I guess some candy is fine…" she sighs, uncertain of this, but Kanami is gleaming with joy.
"Yaay! Thank you Rise-senpai!" Kanami squeals and embraces Rise in a tight hug, with her face right onto Kanami's boobs.
The Idol's cheeks reddened more than a tomato, surprised by Kanami's action and flailed her arms wildly "Kdanagmi I neefgdh tuo brleatphe!" Rise yelled in a muffled voice (Kanami I need to breathe).
Kanami gasps and sweatdrops "Oh right!" she stops the hug and Rise pulls out and takes a deep breath, glaring at Kanami who quickly hides behind her beanbag chair. "I'm sorry I'm sorry don't be mad Rise-senpai!" Kanami cries out with teary eyes.
Rise twitches, but calms down after some deep breaths "I'm not mad at you Kanami…" she said in a low tone.
"Y-you're not…?!" Kanami slowly crawls out from behind the beanbag and Rise nods. "Hooray!" Kanami giggles. "So what are you wearing for Halloween?!"
"Um…" Rise scratches her head, thinking about it "I guess I could borrow a costume from the studio." Her eyes widen as she recalls something "Ah yes I got it! There is one that I can use after all!" she giggles "I wanted to try it on last Halloween but there was the school festival, so I had to pass, but now it's a great time to wear it!"
"That's great!" Kanami smiles "As for me, I'll look around the studio. I'll be sure to find something."
"Or just go in your idol costume." Rise grins "Nobody's going to believe you're the real Kanamin."
Kanami gasps "That's a great idea Rise-senpai! I'll do just that!"
"Great." Rise giggles "Then let's head to the studio and get ready." She looks at the time "But first maybe we should eat and bathe."
"That works." Kanami smiled "I'll go get the leftovers from yesterday!" she stands up and ambles to the kitchen. Rise watches her go with a smile.
'Maybe I'll give you a hint tonight Kanami. I hope you get it…' Rise thought as Kanami returns with heated up leftovers.
Rise and Kanami happily ate and then bathed.
The dual idols made it to the studio after a quick walk there with some small chat to lighten up the small trip, then head to their respective dressing rooms and get changed. Kanami went as Kanamin and awaited Rise to come out of her dressing room. Kanami knocked the door twice and calls Rise. "Rise-senpai, I'm all done. I'm waiting for you!"
"I'm almost done!" Rise yells from the other side.
"Hurry up its nightfall already." Kanami pouts "And I'm not missing out on the candy!"
"I know I know, just give me a sec Kanami!" Rise exclaims. A minute later Rise opens the door and greets Kanami. "Well?" she poses in a teasing manner, revealing that she's wearing some sort of succubus style costume (P4D's devilish dress) "how do I look?"
Kanami squeals at Rise after eyeing Rise in the dress "It's so cute Rise-senpai!"
"I know right?" Rise giggled "So, feeling horny yet Kanami?" she winks at her. Kanami however blinked in confusion.
"Huh?" Kanami tilts her head "Well you have horns Rise-senpai, why would I feel them?" Rise twitches and lets out a light groan, sighing in what Kanami thinks is annoyance. Did she say something wrong?
"N-nevermind." Rise mumbled "Let's go have some fun alright?" She quickly returns to her usual smile, with Kanami nodding, smiling back.
"All the candy…!" Kanami drools a little, eyes looking rather ominous. Rise had to double-take at that and sweatdrops, merely following Kanami outside of the studio.
Rise and Kanami had lots of fun collecting candy and prancing around.
-Kanami/Rise's Apartment-
Kanami squeals next to Rise with all the candy they got, enough to fill the table. Kanami is mesmerized and doesn't know where to start. She fails to see Rise looking at her with warm eyes. Just seeing Kanami be herself cheers Rise up, as well as calms her a bit. The night was long but the prizes were worth it.
"I don't know where to start…!" Kanami exclaimed, eyeing all the different pieces of candy, looking rather indecisive. "There's so many to choose! I could just die right now!"
"None of that Kanami" Rise smiles "How about I pick them for you and then feed them to you?"
Kanami's eyes sparkle with glitter "You'd do that for me senpai?" Rise nods
"Sure!" she giggles, a sly glance crossing her eyes 'Perfect…' she thought, grinning to herself as she grabs a candy and unwraps it, then puts it in her mouth.
"Hey." Kanami pouts "Rise-senpai I thought you were-mmph" she suddenly feels Rise's lips on her, opening up and…passing the candy to her mouth. Rise pulls back, licking her lips and looking at Kanami.
"Well?" Rise slyly asks "How did you like it Kanami?"
Kanami chews the candy and swallows it, then smiles at Rise "It was really good senpai! Another candy!"
"W-what?" Rise twitched a bit "Uh…not the candy, the um…way I passed you the candy."
"Oh it was nice." Kanami innocently smiles. Rise merely sweatdrops.
'Is she serious? I kissed her!' Rise thought annoyed "Fine." She takes another piece of candy and repeats the process, unwrapping it, putting it in her mouth and pressing her lips onto Kanami's, but keeps her lips puckered onto hers a little longer than the last time before pulling back "How about that one?"
"Chewy~" Kanami giggled, completely clueless about Rise's true intentions; Rise's eye twitching and having the most confused expression on her face. "Something wrong Rise-senpai?"
"N-no…" Rise said in a low-tone, twitching somewhat. 'Ok…this is going to be harder than I thought.' she wondered on what to do next, with Kanami deciding to eat the candies by herself. "W-woah Kanami easy on the quantity." Rise frowns "You could get a stomachache." Kanami however shook her head.
"Nonsense!" she exclaims "I'll be fine Rise-senpai, just you wait!"
-The next day-
Kanami is lying on her bed, looking pale and dead-like eyes, groaning loudly "Oooh…." She's rubbing her stomach "I was wrong…"
Rise sighed, rubbing her face as she's sitting next to Kanami and giving her some medicine "I told you didn't I?" she frowns at her "You could have hurt yourself Kanami"
"Oh it's hurting bad Rise-senpai… "Kanami groaned, eyes closed and trying to rest, to no avail sadly "Sorry Rise-senpai…" she opens her eyes half-way and has a gaze of guilt in her eyes. "I made you waste a day…"
Kanami's words shocked Rise, but she quickly recovers and pokes Kanami's cheek "Hey, it's nothing ok?! I already talked to Inoue-san about it, we're good for today, so rest and recover." She smiles "I'll take care of you Kanami. Whatever you need, say the word."
Kanami's cheeks reddened a bit, clearly a blush from Rise's encouraging words "Rise-senpai…" her guilt whisked away and now a smile is in place "Cuddle with me…?" she even lifts her arms up and looks at Rise with puppy-dog eyes.
Rise couldn't resist (not that she wanted to) and hugs Kanami "Anytime Kanami" Rise giggled "I'm here for you, always. "She smiles and cuddles against Kanami. Kanami smiles and returns the cuddles back.
"Thank you Rise-senpai." Kanami softly whispered, slowly closing her eyes "Kanami go sleep now…" she succumbs to sleep mere seconds later. Rise didn't leave her side the whole time.
-A week later-
Kanami and Rise were relaxing after a long day of practice, when Kanami popped a question. "Rise-senpai, you should get your own bed."
Rise nearly fell off the couch at that, quickly recovering and starts to anime-sweat a lot "N-now why would I do that Kanami?" she pouts "Don't you like us sharing a bed?"
"Of course not." Kanami smiles, turning to Rise "But you know, sometimes we need our personal spaces and alone time. But then again" she sweatdrops, looking at the apartment "I'm not sure where we'd put it…"
"Well maybe it's not necessary." Rise shrugs "'Cause you know…" Rise grins and decides to flirt with Kanami, feeling a little needy. She poses on the bed and looks at Kanami with a wink "Pin me down…" she says a bit more seductively, but it flies over Kanami like an autumn leaf.
"Well I love pin the tail on the donkey Rise-senpai, but I'm not really understanding you." Kanami said, still blinking and looking very confused. Rise sighs and decides to be a bit blunter.
"I like to play bottom…you know. Bottom?" she winks at Kanami.
"…Huh?" Kanami blinked, not getting Rise's innuendo whatsoever "Bottom? I don't get it Rise-senpai."
Rise twitches and takes a deep breath "You know…bottom. You on top, me on the bottom." She circles her finger on her thigh "Doing things…"
A few seconds passed, and then Kanami gasped loudly, a big smile on her face and looking at Rise with starry eyes. Rise nearly screamed. Yes Kanami understood! "A bunk bed! That's a great idea senpai!" Or not; Rise bit her lip and tried not to scream. "I'll go and check them online and see if there are any special bunk beds on sale."
"No wait Kanami you don't-"Rise sighed but Kanami was already typing on her Mac. Rise resigns herself with a groan and lies down on the bed. 'I need advice…' she thought.
-An hour later, while Kanami bathes-
"Just tell her." Yu Narukami said from his line of the phone.
"I can't just tell her!" Rise groaned "I want it to be special!"
"Rise, you and I both know Kanami isn't exactly sharp with social skills." Yu deadpans "I mean I wasn't, and it took me a while to get Chie's signals you know?"
"Well duh, I had to help you with that." Rise sighed "But you're right…maybe I should just tell her. I'll think about it." She frowns "I just wanted her to you know, follow my trail, make it special."
"Kanami can hardly follow a straight path." Yu deadpans, sweatdropping "Do what you feel is right Rise. Tell her your way."
"…I'll do that" Rise smiled "Thanks Yu-senpai."
"Anytime Rise." Yu chuckles from his side.
"Sooo have you and Chie-senpai done it ye-"Rise suddenly hears beeping, and smirks to herself "I guess they did. Finally." She hangs up and places the phone down, sighing to herself as she waits for Kanami to get out of the bathroom. Once she gets out, Rise looks at her great friend and love interest. Kanami noticed Rise's gaze and blinked in confusion.
"Something wrong Rise-senpai?" Kanami asks. Rise shook her head though.
"No, just realizing something." She smiles at her. Kanami didn't question it and plops down onto the bed.
"Sleep time…" Kanami murmurs and falls asleep, with Rise giggling at Kanami's actions.
'Christmas…' Rise thought 'I'll wait until then.'
-The day before Christmas Eve-
Rise had sent Kanami to get some supplies, but really it was a smoke screen for her master plan.
Sexy Santa suit? Check. Lower bunk bed properly decorated? Check. Mistletoes? Check. Rise grinned to herself. There is no way Kanami is going to escape her advances tonight. She'll confess and make this the best Christmas ever; for her and Kanami. She eagerly awaits Kanami's return.
Said return happened 14 minutes later. Excited, Rise quickly gets on the bottom bed and poses seductively while Kanami comes in with the bags, looking a bit tired and wobbly. "I'm home senpai!" Kanami calls out, the wobbling causing her to narrowly miss the mistletoes Rise placed on the ceiling.
Kanami did not stop under any of the mistletoes on her way to the kitchen. Kanami didn't even look at Rise on her bed while she did so either. 'HOW?!' Rise screamed in her mind, unable to comprehend how Kanami somehow avoided everything. 'Ugh!' Rise starts to roll around in her bed, frustrated and annoyed. 'Ok, Yu-senpai was right, blunt it is then!' she thought and decides to act right away as Kanami returns from the kitchen and finally takes a good look at Rise.
Kanami tilts her head in confusion "Uh, Rise-senpai aren't you cold in that outfit?" she asks.
Rise frowns and gets off the bed, walking straight to Kanami and looking at her, and right there she leans forward and presses her lips onto Kanami's for a sweet soft kiss that lasted a few seconds. Rise pulls back and looks at Kanami with a serious face "Kanami…I like you, as in like you, you know? I want you to be my girlfriend." And there we go, can't get any blunter than that.
Kanami froze in her place, not showing any signs of a response. Rise began to get worried, was she too blunt? She gulped "Uh, Kanami…?" and then Kanami fell down, collapsed on the floor. Rise's eyes widen and gasped "K-Kanami!" Rise calls out her name and quickly helps her up, then places Kanami gently on the bed…
-Few hours later-
Kanami let out some light groans as she slowly gets up, rubbing her head "Woah what the eggnog hit me…?" she rubs her head and sees Rise (in pajamas now) resting next to her bed, having dragged her beanbag to the side it seems. Kanami's awakening and talk wakes Rise up though, yawning a bit and rubbing her eyes, then sees Kanami looking at her; a moment of silence before Rise gasps.
"Kanami! You're awake!" Rise smiled "Are you feeling ok?! Can I get you anything?!"
"Um…n-no… "Kanami shook her head, blushing, suddenly recalling why she fainted. Rise took a breath and sighs of relief.
"Alright…" Rise nods to herself, noticing that Kanami is still looking at her "W-what…?" she asks, confused.
"…You love me…?" Kanami asks in a low-tone, as if she can't believe it herself "As in…ice cream with cake kind of love?" her description was odd, but Rise understood it. You work with Kanami for a while, you get used to her antics after a while. Rise nods though.
"I do, I mean it." Rise says "I've been meaning to tell you for a while now but I wasn't sure how and I flirted with you but you didn't respond so I got desperate and-"she sighs "N-nevermind…Now you know." Rise clears her throat "But I understand if you don't feel the same way Kanami. I mean…" she fiddles with her fingers "We could be putting our careers in danger you know?"
"…" It took Kanami nearly a whole minute to take that in, but it seems she already made a decision. "I don't care."
"H-huh?" Rise blinked "What did you say?"
"Don't care." Kanami smiles, eyes turning watery as she leans towards Rise "I love you too Rise-senpai!" she cries out and embraces Rise in a tight hug. Rise was surprised at first, heart nearly stopping a beat, but joy overcame her and she returns the hug, kissing Kanami's cheek.
"Kanami…" Rise smiled and lets Kanami express herself as she wishes. Once Kanami calms herself (now blushing) the two look at each other.
"…Kana-chan." Kanami pouts.
"H-huh?" Rise blinks in surprise "What?"
"Kana-chan. And I call you Rise-chan." Kanami smiles "Deal?"
"…." Rise giggles, but nods "Sure…my Kana-chan~" she winks. Now Kanami blushes, but smiles
"Rise-chan…" Kanami giggled "You're the vanilla to my chocolate."
"Hehe…yeah I suppose so Kanam-"
"The syrup to my pancakes." Kanami continues to express her feelings it seems "The cheese to my ham sandwich!"
"Uh…Kanami." Rise sweatdropped "You can stop no-"
"The gravy to my mashed potatoes!" Kanami exclaims "We are the tomato and lettuce of a complete burger!"
"Kanami…" Rise sighed 'This girl I swear…' she can't help but smile and spend the night talking to her new girlfriend before the two head to sleep on the same bed. So much for the bunk bed it seems.
-Christmas Eve-
"So you took my advice." Yu says while talking on the phone to Rise "See? Told you it would work."
"Hehe, yeah I should have done so from the start." Rise sighs "But at least it all worked out."
"I'm happy for you Rise." Yu smiles "Go spend the day with her now you hear? I gotta go though, I'm gonna head out to pick Chie up for our date."
"Oooh I see." Rise giggled "Gonna break another bed with her senpai?"
"…I don't want to know how you learned of that." Yu coughs on the other side "S-see you Rise." Yu hangs up
"Heh…" Rise hangs up 'My senpai's are dorks.' She thought, seeing Kanami return from the kitchen with two cups of hot cocoa and lots of marshmallows.
"Here you go." Kanami smiles as she grabs one of the cups and Rise the other. They gently tap their cups together and sip the cocoa slowly before putting it down. "So…what do lovers do Rise-chan?"
"Oh lots." Rise smiles "It's like a friendship expansion, only more intimate."
"Intimate?" Kanami blinked "Like beyond cuddling?" Rise nods
"Mmhmm…! It involves bare clothes and plenty of creativity." Rise winks. Kanami didn't get it, but nods regardless.
"That sounds fun Rise-chan, you gotta show me sometime!" Kanami exclaims with a hint of curiosity in her tone of voice. Oh Kanami if you only knew.
"Mm…maybe I will Kanami" Rise grins "Maybe I will"
Rise and Kanami spent a lovely eve together…