Of Boxers and Bandages

Naoto was mortified.

She had been apart of the gang for a while now, even though she inevitably found herself feeling like an outsider when it came to anything that ventured beyond the case itself. Her life had been an unusual one, her intellect alone separated her from most, but her complete lack of understanding when it came to the more casual side of social activities had felt like a severe handicap as of late. While strange, she never considered herself to be unhappy or unfulfilled. She had struggled with her identity, her sexuality (or for a while, lack thereof), and how she chose to display herself to others, but it was a personal, internal conflict that couldn't be avoided no matter her lifestyle or profession, though that didn't make things much easier. She was content watching from a distance, keeping to herself, but being razor sharp when it came to her ambition.

But Inaba had turned her whole world upside-down.

The case was strange, to be sure, but that was honestly the least of her worries since she had met the others. The Midnight Channel was a discovery that challenged everything she thought she knew about how the world worked, her entire career was built from healthy skepticism and the rejection of such ludicrous ideas. Once she became personally involved, her struggle with her identity, all her baggage was on display for them all to see. She had since found out that every member had undergone a similar experience, which did help, but Naoto was currently the newest member of the group, so she felt a bit detached. They all knew a whole lot about her, and aside from her observations regarding minor quirks, tells, and behaviors, she knew almost nothing about them. This ignorance was precisely what lead her to the Amagi Inn that weekend.

The preceding Thursday, they were all going over what the game plan was for the next few weeks regarding the investigation, which was overwhelming considering everyone was there at the same time, but that was still where she felt she was in her element the most. Her first formal meeting had gone over pretty well. Near the end, Yu left abruptly after getting a sudden notification on his phone that caused him to leave in a minor panic. Yosuke and Kanji left to go goof off elsewhere, she assumed, leaving her alone outside Junes with the girls.

She didn't mind it too much initially, but her tomboyish tendencies made her far more comfortable around men than women. It was a defense mechanism, training herself to be in such a male-centric environment, but as a result, didn't know what girls her age did or were into. There was definitely a diverse assortment though, so she tried to get a feel for each of them individually.

Yukiko was a walking paradox. She looked like the picture of elegance but was an obvious goofball when around her friends. Her giggling fits and general clumsiness with words as well as general movement were something Naoto would've never pegged just by looking at her. She was intelligent, kind, and incredibly precocious, but her lack of self-assuredness made her somewhat approachable, without it she seemed like she was simply too perfect to be real. Naoto hated relying on trying to find out her new friend's weaknesses in order to be more comfortable around them, especially considering how accepting they were and willing to take her under their wing.

Rise was… a handful. The younger girl was always a bouncing bundle of raw energy and sweetness, so much so that Naoto was convinced her blood sugar spiked whenever she was exposed to her for long periods of time. She was childish and emotional, but caring, and definitely essential to boosting their morale. She always looked at Naoto like she was studying her, which made her uncomfortable for all sorts of reasons, making her realize that may have been how others felt when she did it to them when trying to analyze them. She hadn't spoken with her much, but any interaction they did have mostly consisted of Rise complimenting Naoto and Naoto having literally no idea what she was even talking about.

Then, finally, with the exception of Marie, a strange girl who only sometimes accompanied Yu around and was aware of the investigation to some extent, but wasn't exactly a full-fledged member of the team, was Chie, who was the girl Naoto felt the most comfortable around. They obviously both had a sort of immediate androgynous kinship with one another, but nothing really felt awkward with Chie like it did with everyone else, and Naoto wanted to believe that it had more to do with her personality than her gender. Chie was a contender for the most talkative, being tied with Yosuke for the silver medal whilst Rise firmly remained the owner of the gold, but never in an annoying way. She was somewhat boisterous, but it never felt dishonest. Chie was genuine, she had no veneer, she was who she was and Naoto admired that. In fact, she was a bit jealous. If she and Chie had known one another for a long time, then perhaps the two would be almost as close as Yukiko and Chie were, a relationship that frankly baffled Naoto as she could never get a grasp for what their dynamic really was.

Everyone was quiet when the boys left, even Rise was mostly silent, mainly due to a horrible brain-freeze she got from a slushie she had got in Junes, so the only sound coming from her was an occasional small groan as she rubbed her temples.

"Hey Yukiko, you're looking after the Inn this weekend, right?" Chie suddenly asked with a suitable amount of enthusiasm.

Yukiko's eyes widened.

"Yes but I know what you're going to ask, and no, we can't do that," she said solemnly.

Rise perked up.

"Wait hold on, do what? What is Yukiko not letting us do?" she asked summoning a bit of investment in her voice.

"I was going to suggest we have a weekend sleepover. It would be fun! We have all week off from school next week after tomorrow, we've been studying our asses off for the last few days, and we don't have any Midnight Channel stuff to do until next Saturday," Chie said a bit more bummed.

Rise's headache must have disappeared because suddenly she was operating at maximum efficiency.

"That sounds so fun! Come on Yukiko, don't be such a spoil-sport," she pouted.

Yukiko sighed.

"I'm not being a spoil-sport. It's just that last time we did this I got chewed out by my parents because someone spilled ice cream on the carpet in one of the rooms,"

Chie's face went a bit red.

"I promise I won't spill anything this time or make a mess. If I eat something it'll be in a 'Yukiko-approved designated area'," she said with a bit more optimism.

"Pleeeeeeease," Rise said, furiously batting her eyelashes, "I haven't slept over at anyone's house but Chie's and that was like a month ago! And we have a new team member now!"

She motioned directly at Naoto, who wanted to say something in protest but simply couldn't open her mouth.

Yukiko huffed in disapproval.

"Alright, alright, as long as we don't make a mess and everything is pristine when you leave, we can do it," she said with a bit more authority than was typical of her, "And Chie has to eat ice cream outside,"

She suddenly shifted to a more mischievous smile as Chie looked absolutely heartbroken.

"What? No fair! You totally spilled orange juice on my living room carpet and I didn't make you drink outside when you came over after that!" she said in protest.

Yukiko furrowed her brow a bit.

"Chie… I was 9. And I can vividly recall you being far messier than I was back when you wanted to be a professional soccer player. Mud everywhere…"

It seemed Rise's earlier pouting was transferred over to Chie.

"So what about it Naoto? Can you come?" Rise turned to her and asked.

All eyes turned to her. She audibly gulped, earning a slight giggle from Rise.

In her head she put it quite elegantly:

You see I appreciate the invitation, but I have some cases that need filing and extra work that needs to be attended to, so I won't have anything else taking up my time from the investigation and the Midnight Channel. Perhaps once it's solved we can all try this again, I just want to use my time off to my advantage.

Her mouth however wasn't feeling very cooperative.

"... sure… I mean, sounds great," she squeaked out.

What the hell?! Did I just say that?

Yukiko nodded in approval and Chie smiled, Rise full on cheered, sliding over to her side of the table, hugging her in a stranglehold that felt like a vice grip.

"Can you please… not… do that," Naoto said, struggling to breathe.

Rise stuck out her tongue and released her, letting her exhale. She already felt slightly strangled due to the bandages on her chest, hanging around Rise too much could prove fatal if she was such an intense hugger all the time.

Chie gave everyone a thumbs up.

"Okay! What time should we head over?" she asked Yukiko.

Yukiko looked upwards, like she was trying to find something in her own head.

"Probably around 7:30 or 8:00, my parents will be gone by then and I'll probably have dinner ready by then,"

Chie looked as if she had won the lottery.

"If you make Ramen tomorrow night I won't care if you send me to Jupiter to eat ice cream," she said with a deadly amount of seriousness.

Yukiko then calmly smiled and closed her eyes, picking up her purse to head home, filling the air with a distinctly Yukiko-flavored confidence. Naoto noted the few times she seemed to be self-assured had to do with food, Chie, or some combination of the two.

"Maybe, we'll see. I've gotta run," she said.

Chie's jaw dropped.

"What?! Don't leave me hanging like that!" she pleaded.

Yukiko began to giggle a bit as she continuously walked at normal speed towards her home as Chie frantically followed her down the road. Naoto wasn't sure where Chie lived but she hoped for her sake it wasn't too far from Yukiko's, from the look of it she was gonna nag until they actually got home.

Rise stood up, looked at Naoto, and uncharacteristically said nothing, instead playfully winking at her, skipping off down the opposite way of the street.

Naoto remained sitting, partially unsure of what just happened. Now she had to prepare.

After arriving home she decided to immediately prepare an overnight bag. She knew it wasn't until tomorrow, but she didn't want to forget anything or risk embarrassment in some way. She had never been invited to someone's house in a non-official capacity, let alone spent the night somewhere. In fact, since arriving at Inaba, she'd only been inside Yu's house, and that was simply because Dojima had invited her in for a look at some information regarding the case.

What did she need?

She packed some casual (by her standards) light-blue pajamas, underwear, several bandages, two sets of more casual wear, her typical blue detective-wear. She thought about packing one of her hats, but realized she wasn't exactly putting on a show for them anymore, the hat, though she had grown to like it, was mainly for theatrical purposes. Most of her attire was. The girls were probably going to be even more casually dressed than normal, and she had no clue what their standards were. Rise was literally an idol and Yukiko always looked as if she walked out of a movie or a portrait, even Chie owned her look so well it was a style all its own. Naoto's clothes were complicated and busy-looking. She opted to take some t-shirts to wear without something over them this time. Socks and her one pair of jeans then followed. The jeans made her a bit nervous, she hadn't worn them in the entire year she'd owned them, hopefully she hadn't grown to the point where it would've been an issue. Rather than trying them on she just stuffed them in the small blue drawstring bag she clumsily fit everything inside. All that remained was a toothbrush and deodorant, but she would grab those after she got home the next day.

How long did Chie say they would be there?

She said 'weekend' so did that imply until Sunday? Her announcement of not having school that following week seemed to imply that. Naoto didn't really consider the time frame. A bit of a knot formed in her stomach, did she have to spend that much time with them? It wasn't as if she thought she'd be miserable, but she knew she'd be anxious. Now that she had real friends, she contemplated seeing a doctor for her anxiety, as it never really reared its head until now. She had spent so long perfecting her facade for what the world expected of her, she found herself ill-equipped to finally show her true self around people… primarily because she wasn't sure what her true self even was. It was all just so overwhelming.

She took a moment to compose herself, breathing in and out to calm herself. She had spent years learning how to live her professional life, a few days of being social wouldn't be the end of her. Besides, she did sincerely appreciate the intention of having a get-together to include her and welcome her, if these were to be her friends, she had to start somewhere.

She plopped into bed early, sleeping for far longer than normal.

The day had breezed by, it was almost as if she blinked and was suddenly about to leave her home, bag packed, texting her grandfather about her plans.

Naoto arrived at precisely 8:00, she wanted to be punctual but also didn't want to be the first person there, in fear of freezing up being stuck in conversation with Yukiko 1 on 1. The inn itself was warm and inviting, and bigger than Naoto would've guessed for a town as small as Inaba. How on earth did Yukiko operate an inn by herself for days at a time like that? Not just because of the effort it took, but being alone for that long? Naoto wouldn't have minded it, but for someone else it sounded kind of intimidating.

She took a deep breath again, closing her eyes, clutching her bag. A technique that she'd found to be helpful the last few weeks.

She felt oddly naked without her hat, and shook the thought away as she approached the door to the inn. Was she supposed to knock?

Out of courtesy, she did.

Nothing much could be heard from inside, but someone or something was shuffling around.

"Uh, it's- it's open!" Yukiko said in her sing-songy voice.

Naoto felt a pang of embarrassment. Of course she didn't have to knock. She hadn't even been inside yet and she was feeling flustered.

Brilliant. This bodes well.

Opening the door, she was immediately greeted by a pleasant smell comprised of one-half ramen and one half air-fresheners that made the inn smell like freshly laundered sheets. It was comforting, warm even.

Inside, she was greeted to a desk she'd guessed she'd normally see Yukiko behind, in front of a wall containing all the keys for the different rooms. To her right a staircase that led up the second floor, and a hallway even further down that led to some of the rooms. To her left it was the same minus the staircase, but she could see a small gathering area towards the middle of the hall.

She haphazardly walked towards the area on the left, as she couldn't tell where Yukiko was, and didn't hear the voices of the other two girls, only the faint noise of a television.

As she went down the hallway she discovered the room was smaller than anticipated, but contained two separate couches, a table, a side table between the couches, and a TV in front of all of that. Chie was lying down on her stomach, on the floor, intently watching the television, both hands propping up her head. Rise was sprawled out on the couch furthest from the entryway, upside-down, kicking her feet up as she also watched tv, just not with the same vigor as Chie. Both girls already had on their pajamas, Chie wore what looked like basketball shorts and a green tank-top with fuzzy green socks. Rise wore an oversized yellow t-shirt and grey sweatpants. It was odd to see the idol in such a casual manner, her hair a bit messier than usual, but it made Naoto feel a bit more confident, as she didn't have to worry about maintaining an appearance just to look as if she belonged. She still wore her normal attire, which if anything, made her feel overdressed.

It was almost as if Rise's internal radar went off. Naoto doubted that she or Chie even heard her knock, Rise was more than likely occupying her own pocket of reality in her head and Chie was so invested in what was happening the only thing that could turn her away was food.

"Hey it's Naoto! And she's fashionably late!" she said, punctuating her greeting with an approving whistle.

Chie raised up one of her hands, but still didn't turn around.

"Hey Naoto, Yukiko almost has dinner ready," she said somewhat distracted.

Rise flipped herself around so that she was sitting on the couch like a normal person.

"Naoto can you get Chie to change the channel? She's watching some anime I've never seen before and it's on episode eight-billion so I don't know what's happening," Rise said.

"Like hell! This is the last episode before the FINAL episode of the arc! Either be patient with me or pry the remote from my cold, dead fingers," she said, still not taking her eyes off the screen.

Naoto was a closet anime fanatic, perhaps even as much as Chie was, but she couldn't tell what Chie was watching. Some of the few recreational conversations they had involved Featherman and old Kung-Fu movies. Naoto was also a classic movie fan as well, old film noir being her favorite because her childhood self was so enthralled in the mysteries.

"Let her watch it! It's not worth risking your life!" Yukiko called from the kitchen.

"Damn right it's not!" Chie responded.

Rise rolled her eyes and enthusiastically patted the space next to her on the couch as she smiled at Naoto, who nearly rolled her eyes in response as well. She didn't dislike Rise and didn't want to be mean, she was just concerned she'd be a bit overbearing. Then again, actually talking to her may have been the start of being able to establish a foundation for friendship- a friendship that hopefully included concise boundaries regarding personal space.

The detective prince took it in stride, smiling back and sitting down next to her, placing her bag on the floor. Rise looked intently at the top of Naoto's head.

"Wow I almost didn't notice you weren't wearing your hat! It looks nice!" she said.

Naoto nearly flinched, expecting the girl to start touching her hair or invade her space due to the compliment, but much to her surprise, Rise just sank into her side of the couch, staring at the ceiling.

Naoto then turned her attention to Chie, who was still absorbed in her show, which looked totally alien. She saw a whole lot of fighting, a whole lot of yelling, copious amounts of blood, and the occasional melodramatic statement of conviction or ideals. Fairly standard. At least the line work was nice.

Rise began amusing herself by blowing raspberries while continuing her staring. It could've been a passive aggressive attempt to provoke Chie, but there was no chance of that following through had it been the case.

Naoto felt it, that awkward pang in her stomach she feared feeling.

Was she supposed to start talking? Was it normal for people to hang out and just be silent for a minute or two? Would they think she was being rude?

Deep breath, Naoto. You're fine. You're overthinking.

She didn't even realize she had closed her eyes for a moment, but once opened, she was startled by all the lights immediately going out.

"What?! Yukiko what happened?" Chie yelled, startled.

She heard Yukiko huff from the kitchen.

"Power went out. It's been doing that lately. It'll be on again in a half an hour," she said disappointedly.

Naoto could still make out everything in the room, thankfully. Rise's and Chie's cell phones provided a bit of a glow, and the Amagi Inn wasn't exactly dark by design, some lights outside shone through as a dim bit of illumination.

"Dammit all. Guess I'm gonna have to wait to finish…" Chie said despondently.

She felt Rise sit up a bit more.

"Oh come on Chie, now we just have a better excuse to find a way to have fun!"

Both Chie and Naoto were frightened at the prospect of what it exactly it was she meant.

"What exactly do you have in mind?" Chie asked.

The room was slightly illuminated suddenly as a cone-shaped shaft of light appeared from under Rise. She was holding a flashlight, and not even a detective as keen as Naoto could figure out where she had gotten said flashlight.

"Telling ghost stories of course! That's sleepover 101. And now that the power is out it makes everything all spooky," she said.

Naoto was about as well-acquainted with horror as she was with romance novels, that is to say, not much. She predicted having to take a 'pass' if she ever managed to get a turn.

"Hey don't start without me!" Yukiko called, "I've got your bowls ready!"

Naoto immediately felt the panic in Yukiko's voice. She thought about the prospect of her trying to carry four bowls of Ramen into the room in the dark. Spilling food and breaking plates wasn't a good way to formally kick off the night. She got up, carefully stepping down the hallway, one hand on the wall to make sure she wasn't about to run into anything. Thankfully Yukiko's outline was one of the first things she managed to see.

"Yukiko! Let me get help you with those,"

Yukiko was a bit startled, but thankfully not enough to drop anything. She felt Yukiko's warm smile despite not actually seeing it.

"Oh, thank you Naoto," she said.

Naoto grabbed two of the bowls, instantly enchanted by the overwhelming smell. She had heard horror stories about her cooking from the others, but apparently she was working on her Ramen recipe per the request of Rise and Yosuke, apparently Chie had been her guinea pig and she had developed quite the taste for it.

As they returned to the room, taking slow, deliberate steps as to not slip on anything, she instantly felt the other two girls excitement for the meal grow.

"I have been waiting all day for this!" Chie exclaimed.

Yukiko handed a bowl to Rise, taking a seat next to her. Naoto handed one of the bowls to Chie, sitting next to her on the floor, facing the others.

"Okay NOW we can start!" Rise said, enthusiastically clicking the flashlight over and over again.

Yukiko picked up a small portable light that looked like a lantern on the floor next to the couch, setting it on the side table, casting just the right amount of light for some atmosphere. Naoto finally got a look at Yukiko in good lighting, who wore her hair in a ponytail, whilst donning a pink tank top and red flannel pajamas.

Naoto took note of Chie's body language. She was already scarfing down her food, but seemed to be curled up into a ball, almost defensively. Rise and Yukiko looked about as normal as they ever did.

She took a bite of Yukiko's meal, apprehensively, but found that this tasted better than the ramen they'd normally get, and definitely better than the instant noodle packs they'd find at Junes.

"I hope it's okay!" Yukiko said sheepishly.

Chie didn't even both answering, just giving a thumbs up as she devoured her bowl. Rise hadn't tasted it yet, blowing on hers a bit to cool it down.

"Okay so whose first?" Rise asked.

Chie went from looking at her when she spoke to shoving her face with more noodles.

"Ooh! I'll go!" Yukiko said, crackling with energy.

Naoto furrowed her brow a bit. Yukiko was into telling scary stories like that? She seemed nervous whenever she talked about stuff she actually liked with the others, so it was odd to see her excited about… well almost anything, really.

Chie, on the other hand, looked like she was about to brace herself for some kind of impact, scooting away slightly.

Naoto took the opportunity to eat, sit back, and listen. She didn't have to worry about being anything or doing anything if she just had to listen to stories.

Once Yukiko finished, Naoto was regretting that she had eaten her food so quickly.

Not only was Yukiko keen on telling scary stories, but she was shockingly adept at setting the scene and getting you involved in the storytelling. She was also frighteningly good at descriptive terms, going into great detail in regards to the gorier and more surreal moments of her little tale. Naoto thankfully had the stomach for it, the other girls didn't fare as well. Rise curled herself into a ball on the couch, sitting as far away from Yukiko as humanly possible. Chie had scarfed down her food quickly, and almost immediately after scampering off to the kitchen to put everyone's empty bowls back, relishing any excuse to vacate the room, and returned, cowering behind Naoto for the entire duration, so much so that she could hear her breathing heavily through all of it, which made the story feel far more intense. Once finished, Yukiko tossed the flashlight over to Rise with a devilish grin. Turns out that along with being kind of a dork behind the scenes, she also had a dark side. Naoto cursed herself for not anticipating that, it was fairly obvious that everyone had some kind of dark or mischievous impulses on some level, so Yukiko's had to manifest somehow.

Chie scooted forward now that Yukiko was done, one of her fuzzy socks now brushing against Naoto's pant leg. Naoto thought they were kind of cute, and considered buying some for herself for when colder weather rolled around, she didn't anticipate Inaba was going to be a climate that would be easy when winter arrived, and the poor circulation she had would be in full effect.

Despite being exposed to quite a graphic story, and all the lights being out, she had a brief moment of clarity. Her anxiety was fairly moderate. Nervous, sure, but that at least in part had to do with the environment. For once, she didn't have an irrational fear tugging at the back of her mind that everyone secretly hated her for… some reason. She was simply so insecure she figured it could've hypothetically been anything. If there was one thing most prominent, it was probably her voice. Back when everyone thought she was a boy, her slightly deeper voice came in handy, she could blend in quite well. But now that she was making an active effort to accept herself, she tried to kill it with the theatrics, so her voice was now that strange half and half combo that really showed whenever she was caught off-guard. Before she could maintain her visage perfectly, now she'd let an occasional girlish squeak out which would turn her redder than Rise's hair. That was one of the reasons she wasn't keen on taking part in the night's storytelling. The other reason was that she knew she simply couldn't compare with Yukiko's.

"Your turn Rise," Yukiko mused, looking just about as happy as Naoto had ever seen her.

The idol blushed.

"I have to follow you? Jeez that's unfair,"

Yukiko blinked.

"Unfair?" she asked perplexed.

Naoto chuckled.

"I think Rise is complimenting your storytelling abilities. To be fair they were quite effective," she said.

"Oh, well, I just like telling them, I didn't know I was any good," she said.

Chie rolled her eyes.

"Yeah sure. I saw your face when you told that story, you didn't 'enjoy' it, you practically got off on it you sadist,"

Yukiko's face now matched her outfit, she opened her mouth to protest, but said nothing.

"Now Chie how could you have seen her face when all you did was hide behind Naoto the whole time?" Rise teased.

Chie laughed.

"Like you were much better, I thought you were gonna slip between the cushions of that couch,"

Rise shrugged.

"What can I say, Yukiko's a natural. You ever try writing anything?" she asked.

Yukiko went from embarrassed blushing to appreciative blushing.

"Oh no no no, I couldn't do that. What if someone read it? It's one thing when it's you guys but if someone else did? I'd drop dead," she giggled.

"You could increase your skill by simply doing it recreationally," Naoto suggested, "Everyone has to start somewhere,"

Yukiko didn't respond, but it looked as if she may have taken it into consideration. Rise looked as if she was still trying to think up something for her story, while Chie looked like she was trying to find any reason to leave the room.

"Oh, hey!" Chie said, almost as if she had won the lottery, "I could really go for some ice cream!"

Yukiko smiled.

"If you want some then eat it on the back porch, not risking that again,"

Chie looked crestfallen.

"Aw man come on! I promise I'll be careful!"

Yukiko seemed to be relishing in the high of scaring all her friends so thoroughly.

"Well what kind of, what did you call me? Sadist? What kind of sadist would I be if I let you inside, hm?" she said.

Chie sighed.

"Alright fine I'm going to the back porch. I'm eating every damn bit of it though! Don't need to be in here listening to your stories anyway," she said whilst getting up, heading towards the kitchen.

"I'll join you," Naoto spoke up.

Everything was going so well…

Another moment where her mouth was on autopilot. She knew she didn't want to just leave Chie alone, but insisting she accompany her may have come across as strange… or did it? Was that a normal thing to do?

"Ha!" Chie triumphantly exclaimed, "What about you Rise? Between the two of us I bet there won't be leftovers,"

Rise looked a bit sad.

"Sadly I'm trying my best to eat healthy, I skipped a meal today for Yukiko's ramen. I'll have to tap out,"

Yukiko looked over at Rise.

"Really? You didn't have to do that for me," she said, obviously grateful.

"Honestly it was just cause Chie was going on about how good it was," she responded, rubbing the back of her head.

They continued their conversation, but Chie tugged on Naoto's arm, asking her to follow the girl into the kitchen.

The power was still out, but thankfully both girls could see just enough not to fall over on themselves or each other. Naoto stood in the open doorway to the kitchen area as Chie grabbed the chocolate ice cream from the freezer and opened a drawer, getting two spoons.

As Chie led Naoto down the hallway to the door that was attached to the porch area, Naoto sincerely hoped that Chie didn't think she was imposing or being a try hard. She just instinctively didn't want her friend to be alone.

As Chie opened the door, the night air immediately hit the two of them, a bit breezy and only slightly colder than it was inside, but perfectly acceptable conditions. The back porch was adjacent to the bath area, which currently had a large tarp over it. The porch itself was large, had some outdoor furniture, a couch, a few chairs, a dining table over to the girl's left, and on the right there was a set of plant arrangements that covered the perimeter, mainly composed of bushes and a few bonsai trees in the back in front of the fence. Chie flipped on the light switch so everything could be seen better, and Naoto got a large, open view of the night's sky that was pretty breathtaking.

"Wow, nice night huh?" Chie said, genuinely in awe.

The stars were beautiful and bright, almost picturesque. Naoto nodded in agreement. Inaba was so often covered by clouds and shrouded in fog, such a view was truly rare.

Chie took a seat on the right side of the couch, Naoto joined her, sitting in the center. The couch was made out of some strange outdoor material, something waterproof so it could be in the rain, so it wasn't the most comfortable thing on the planet, but nothing awful. Chie cracked open the ice cream and immediately took out a giant scoop despite the small spoon, shoving ice cream in her face. She didn't quite anticipate it being that large, so she had literally bitten off more than she could chew. She struggled for a moment swallowing it. Naoto laughed.

"I thought you of all people would be well-acquainted with eating at this point," she said with a smirk.

Chie gulped it down and half-heartedly chuckled.

"You'd think so, right? I guess choking to death on ice cream wouldn't be the worst way to go out," she said.

Naoto gave that a bit more thought than she probably should have. Choking to death was, after all, still choking to death.

Naoto decided to take a bite, having to put a bit of muscle into scooping, as the ice cream hadn't quite thawed yet. She had never eaten much of it as a child, but found herself quite taken with the flavor. She had certainly been missing out.

"Sorry Yukiko made you come out here," Naoto said, "Are you two alright?"

Chie's eyes widened at Naoto's genuine concern. She laughed.

"Us? Yeah we're fine! She's just giving me a hard time. We do that a lot. I think she'd have to kill somebody for me to be genuinely mad at her,"

She took another, more appropriately-sized bite.

Naoto knew that friends typically ribbed on one another more often than casual acquaintances. There was a sort of depth to it, that jokes and insults wouldn't mean anything to someone else because you knew that behind them, was someone who still cared. She got the logic, but it just didn't seem very appealing as a concept. She saw the fun in the occasional playful teasing, lord knows Kanji and Yosuke gave them enough ammunition for such things, but she wasn't sure where the line was drawn. Then again, Yukiko and Chie were so close they almost transcended friendship and directly went to family. Maybe it was context sensitive. Different for everyone.

"You know I really miss nights like this. Feels like it's been an eternity since I actually enjoyed one," Chie mused.

It was indeed. Naoto, once again appreciating the clear sky, was now genuinely happy that she chose to leave her bubble that night. Turns out it did pay dividends.

"Indeed. I think this may be the first time in a while where I've simply just been able to be somewhere without an alternative motive or investigation. It makes me think I've been missing out on nights like this one,"

Chie listened to what she said intently, and looked concerned.

"Hey Naoto, I've got a question, you totally don't have to answer if you don't want to, but it was just something I was er- curious about,"

Naoto's heart stopped. She was never a fan of when people posed questions like this, preferring them to just come outright and ask rather than making it an event or a process.

But this was Chie. She would be fine.

"Of course, what is it?" she asked, sounding far more nervous than she would've liked.

"Well," she began, swallowing another bite, "Before you came here, all those other places you've been, wherever you've investigated, all of that… did you have friends anywhere?"

Naoto was stunned. Not because of the question, but because of how she really had to process that question. She had been a bit of a globe-trotter throughout her career. She had stayed in several places for long periods of time, far longer than she had been in Inaba, but never forged any kind of bond with people. Her interactions were planned, strategic, pureply for the sake of finding information. She was a detective first, and a teenager second.

"No," she said softly, "I guess I haven't,"

Naoto looked down at her feet to avoid eye contact. She could practically feel Chie's pity stare.

"Bet you're happy to have us then, right?"

Naoto looked up at Chie not to find her looking forlorn or sad, but with a bright smile. Maybe she did pity Naoto a bit, and she didn't blame her for such feelings, but her more sunny response just made Naoto feel warm. Happy. Safe.

"I… yes. Yes I am. Despite only knowing you all for a short time, I owe you, all of you, a great debt," she said.

Chie smirked before taking another bite, answering as she chewed.

"You know you don't have to be so formal. 'Thank You' would've done the trick," she said with a level of amusement.

Naoto was trying to make a habit of speaking more colloquially, something that was proving quite hard to kick.

"My bad," she said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously.

"No need to apologize! You're just so… mature, you know? I think that's why we were kind of afraid of you when we met you. You talk- well actually you're more articulate than most adults I know,"

She figured that was the case, or at least one of the many reasons the team was so apprehensive. After all, initially, she was a bit of an antagonist before she had the whole story.

"This is all just so… new. I have an easier time with the Midnight Channel than I do people," she said, a bit exasperated, taking another spoonful of ice cream.

Chie nodded.

"That's not just you. I had to get used to it, but going and kicking ass and using Personas is way easier than just… existing in the real world. I've been beating up monsters and using crazy powers in my imagination for years as a kid. There's definitely a difficulty curve, but I just guess it came naturally,"

While Naoto's imagination had never been active in the way Chie's had, she understood this conflict. She admired those who vanquished evil both in fiction and real life, and had always been so much of a realist that she simply just sought to be like her real-life heroes. Though, her very young childhood self had pretended to be one of the power rangers once or twice. Combating evil in the form of shadows was a simple conflict. They may get hurt, or even injured severely, but it's only because of simple cause and effect. The variables in the real world were so numerous, infinite even.

"Well, hopefully we can make it easier for each other," Chie said, breaking the brief silence.

Naoto nodded. She sincerely wanted that to be the case.

Chie looked over intently at Naoto, and leaned in, hugging her friend with one arm. Naoto however, was more frozen than the ice cream. Chie reeled back and noticed that nearly half the carton was empty.

"Shit! I guess I really need to watch my bite-size huh?"

Naoto was still a bit taken from the fact that she had physical contact with someone.

"We should go back inside, Rise is probably messing with our bags or hiding our stuff for a prank," Chie said, raising her eyebrows smiling sem-sarcastically.

Naoto nodded in a panic just to show some form of response.

Chie stretched for a moment, and stood straight up, heading back inside. Naoto waited a moment to put a bit of distance between the two of them. She was stirred up a bit more than she anticipated.

Naoto, it was a hug. People do that all the time. Why are you freaking out like this?

She couldn't answer her own internal thoughts. She simply followed Chie back inside, unable to stop thinking about the only time any non-family member had ever hugged- hell, had ever even touched her beyond a handshake.

Nervous though she may have been, when she thought about it, all she could think about was how nice it was to feel like somebody really was her friend. And how she didn't really mind the feeling of Chie's arms around her.