(Just wanted to say how much I appreciate all the positive feedback! This is my first experience with this kinda thing so it's been very encouraging! I'm in college currently, I'm keeping up with two fics, and I'm doing some more serious writing so I'm trying to pace myself. If you enjoy any of my stuff on here, I'd recommend checking out my novel series on Amazon called 'Those Who Dwell In The Dark', the Persona series was a fairly big inspiration, it's not as fluffy as my stuff on here, but it's character-driven supernatural coming of age fare. I've even got paperbacks now, and the kindle version for every book is 99 cents. You'd be helping out a struggling writer and I'd appreciate it greatly. Sorry for the shameless self-promotion, but I gotta eat and stuff. Enjoy!)

Once again she found herself returning from somewhere with Chie, except this time rather than nervous and unsettled despite her contentment, she felt like she had come down from a high.

She felt unburdened. Unfathomably relieved. It wasn't even necessarily because her situation was any better, in fact on the surface she had undergone a lot that, in theory, should've made her anxiety plummet through the roof. However, her minor epiphany (and change in wardrobe, which despite still donning her bandages, she had to admit the more loose clothes were somewhat liberating) lead to a sense of direction. Her life was insane now, but at least she was getting a handle on herself, something she hadn't felt since she first began to pursue being a detective.

The two of them walked back into the living area and promptly returned to their positions from before, Naoto appreciated Chie's ability to pretend like nothing happened, it put her at ease. She was able to dry her tears and make it look like she was fine, thankfully.

"Let there be light!" Rise cheered upon their arrival, and upon seeing Naoto, her eyes widened, "Wow! You look adorable! You gotta dress more casually more often Naoto!"

And there was the embarrassment again. Damn.

She found herself able to absorb the compliment with minimum blush. Rise would compliment a rock with low self-esteem if you stuck a bow on it.

"Thank you Rise. I admit it's definitely not something I'm used to but it's not unpleasant,"

Naoto took note that all three of her friends seemed both surprised that she responded and pleased she seemed to not be immediately put off by that comment. She felt a sense of camaraderie with them that she hadn't felt since awakening her persona. She wasn't just imagining things, her three friends genuinely felt proud of her, they knew getting her to come out of her shell wasn't going to be an easy process.

"Okay," Yukiko gently began, "I had an idea for what we could do next,"

She stood up, walking over to one of the side tables, grabbing two clear rental DVDs. Naoto felt Chie practically shudder with excitement.

"Two options for our venue tonight," she mused, the side of her that genuinely enjoyed being a hostess showing, "we've got The Raid, a movie Chie begged me to get last time we were at the video store-"

She held up the other option.

"-and here we have…" she had to briefly check the title, "... Your Name, which Rise begged me to get,"

Unlike Chie, Rise could not contain her enthusiasm.

"Cause it's supposed to be super good! And really sweet! And the animation is like ultra-gorgeous!" she said.

Naoto hadn't heard of either film, despite her secret cinephilia. It sounded like the latter was an animated romance, which was strange, considering it was more than likely a studio Ghibli outing, which she tried to keep up with due to her childhood love of Princess Mononoke and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, seeing such capable characters had inspired her to take initiative in her own life, so the prospect of watching that was certainly not unpleasant. However she was also a fan of genre-films, kung fu and action movies certainly fit under that umbrella, and if it came recommended from Chie then it was certainly worth viewing. Thankfully she was happy with both choices.

"Well I have a feeling I know what Chie and Rise want, so I guess it comes down to a vote. What about you Naoto?"

Damn. How come it always came down to that? A normal decision that had to be analyzed like a math problem.

She had no obvious inclination, so it came down to strategy. Chie and Rise had cast their vote, one for each, and Yukiko hadn't voted yet, instead politely asking Naoto first. She figured Yukiko would opt for Rise's choice, she didn't seem the action-movie type, which was fine, but it would've left Chie hanging a bit. She didn't want to appear biased towards her, but also wanted to make sure she was happy, but her friends couldn't be left hung out to dry either.

"W-well," Naoto began nervously, "We have time, why not both?"

Ever the diplomat. Chie gave Naoto a goofy grin and Rise did a small fist pump. Yukiko just chuckled at their dorkish enthusiasm.

"I didn't think we'd be sleeping much anyway, Naoto. Good idea. Double feature it is!" Yukiko announced.

"But which one first?" Chie asked.

"If I were planning this strategically, I'd say we should watch the more intense movie second, we are far less likely to fall asleep if we watch something more action-packed," Naoto suggested.

Yukiko nodded.

"Good thinking, leave it to the Detective Prince to find the logic in fun," Rise said with an infectious smile.

Yukiko walked over to the television, placing the first movie in the DVD player, then hopping back over to the couch, where she turned of the lamp in the room, making the lighting more cinematically oriented. Rise unfolded a blanket on the couch, covering herself in it, and both Chie and Naoto elected to lie on their stomachs facing the TV, head propped up with their hands, just as Chie had done earlier.

This night was going better than she could've dreamed.

The first film had ended, and the atmosphere of the room wasn't hard to read.

It was unexpectedly emotional, even for a film of it's genre. She was surprised it was made by someone she had never heard of, the animation was so stellar it must've had a sizable budget. The first part of the movie blended a strange magical realism with slice of life, almost losing Naoto in the process, but once the story took a turn, she became enraptured. Chie seemed to feel similarly, whereas Rise and Yukiko were into it from the first second. However all four girls ended up in tears by the end, breaking Chie was no small feat, but shattering the once slightly icy but now emotionally vulnerable Naoto came as a surprise to everyone. Rise had the strongest reaction, once the credits rolled Naoto heard what sounded like a trumpet blast, turning around only to see Rise with a box of tissues.

Chie wiped the few tears on her face that she had away. At least everyone got a chance to cry that night, not just Naoto.

"Anyone else find it funny that we literally go and kill monsters on a weekly basis, and are in the process of solving a murder, but some schmultzy-ass movie can make us all cry?"

Naoto dried off her face with her sleeve.

"That point was not lost on me," she said.

They all let out a bit of a chuckle.

"Think once all that is over we can hang out and do this kinda stuff all the time?" Rise asked.

Naoto was a bit green compared to her companions, so she was still adjusting to the eclectic nature of life as she knew it. Even before this, 'normalcy' was not in the detective's vocabulary.

"I sure hope so," Yukiko said quietly, a somber hint of weakness in her voice.

"I feel like I haven't given that much thought. Just sorta got used to all this being life now, you know?" Chie asked rhetorically.

Preparing the future was something Naoto was familiar with, primarily because a valuable lesson she had learned when she was very young after her parents died was that no one can properly prepare for life.

"I know I'd certainly enjoy it," Naoto whispered, still loud enough for them to hear.

Everyone looked at Naoto like she had just set off a bomb.

"You mean after the case, you'd still be friends with us?" Rise asked.

Naoto hastily nodded, in an attempt to draw their attention away from her as quickly as possible.

"Of course! I mean, I've just never had friends before, so it's never really been an issue I've had to consider,"

Rise eyes welled up with tears as she pouted.

"Oh my gosh Naoto you're gonna make me cry!"

Yukiko gave her a warm smile.

"We appreciate that, Naoto. We know you have a promising career ahead of you, but if you make time for us, we'd love to further enjoy your company. You can always stay here when you come to visit us you know, get the Amagi discount," she offered, giving her a wink.

"Ugh let's cross that bridge when we come to it guys, I don't wanna get all sad. We came here to enjoy ourselves!" Chie said, trying to perk herself up.

Naoto had to agree, now that she had so many shared experiences with the investigation team, she didn't want to think about the melancholic nature of life and drifting apart. She had just got the chance to experience all this, despite the danger it entailed, was a little disheartening. It wouldn't impede her desire to pursue justice, but the reminder that everything comes to an end was just a bit too real. Maybe after this case, she could take a break. A hiatus. A vacation. She hadn't taken one since she began, and her experiences with her friends were valuable, and helped shape her, they had made her a more defined person. Perhaps living life as a normal teenager for a while would lend her a unique perspective that could aid her in her quest to constantly push herself.

"I agree. You all have me until this year ends at the very least. Being sad over sentimentality would be unwise when we could be having more fun," she said.

Naoto had just set 'fun' as a priority. Even she could scarcely believe it.

"Totally! Let's go ahead and watch the other movie so we can stop being a bunch of babies," Chie encouraged.

"Man I need a drink," Rise said exasperated.

She got up, walking down the hallway, turning right rather than left towards the kitchen.

"Does she know she's headed the wrong way?" Chie asked.

Yukiko shrugged.

"I… have no idea. Let's just put this in and we can wait on her while the previews play," she said, getting up to swap the discs.

Upon seeing the first 'Coming Soon To Theaters' message on the disc, the energetic yet light footsteps of the idol could be heard as she entered the room far more energetically than she had left it. She wore a silly grin on her face as she pranced back into the room, sitting back on her blanket. It appeared she had brought back a thermos with her. She enthusiastically twisted the black cap off the top of the metal vessel and took a sip, recoiling a bit before swallowing.

Yukiko shot her an odd look.

"Rise what exactly did you get to drink?" she asked apprehensively.

She smiled.

"I brought it with me just in case I needed to liven things up," she said winking, taking another sip, which made her cough a little bit as she swallowed it as quickly as she could.

Chie gasped.

"Oh my God you brought alcohol? For real?" she asked, half horrified but half curious.

Rise nodded.

"I don't see the problem. It's just us, and if there's any appropriate time to be a little risky, it's this one,"

Naoto didn't know how to feel. She had partaken in drinking before, but only to maintain her male construct. Whenever she had to meet someone in a bar, or in a club, she'd frequently get offered drinks as a preliminary to business discussions, and said yes whenever offered, stomaching anything from beer to wine in order to appear a bit more hard-boiled than she probably was. However becoming intoxicated was always out of the question, she always needed to remain in top form, with minimal interference. It was irresponsible, sure, and illegal, but if people were careful about it and paced themselves, she had no real issue with it, even if they were underage. As long as they kept to themselves and didn't bother or harass anyone, it was their choice to make.

Rise took note of Naoto's expression whilst she was deep in thought.

"Oh I forgot, we've got a narc in our midst," she joked, "you gonna get me in trouble, Naoto?"

Rise childishly stuck out her tongue and smirked at her. Naoto was trying to be more open-minded and less of 'buzzkill' as Kanji had put it. She only got one life to live and drinking with a few friends at a sleepover was hardly a capitol offense, she just had to be watched by the other girls.

"We're in the midst of solving a murder. I can overlook a few minor infractions, Rise," Naoto teased back.

Rise was a little surprised to hear Naoto talk with a bit of lip. She was pleased.

"That's the spirit! Here Yukiko,"

She offered the bottle to Yukiko, who was closest to her, her eyes widening.

"I-I'm not sure. Last time I was a little bit… uh... "

"Fun?" Rise interrupted, "You were fun! Come on, live a little bit senpai,"

Her utilization of an honorific seemed almost calculated to Naoto.

She had been present when the gang visited a night club and mistakenly subjected to alcohol. Yukiko was apparently a very silly drunk, almost polar opposites. Rise, throughout her career, had some level of tolerance so she simply became increasingly flirtatious, especially with Yu. Teddie had been simply more obnoxious, and Chie was a little all over the place. She couldn't lie, it was comedic gold.

Yukiko curled her lips and nervously snatched the bottle from her younger friend. She took a swig of the drink and instantly coughed violently.

"Ugh, Rise, what the hell is in that?" she said, trying to fight back a slight urge to throw up.

Rise innocently batted her eyes.

"Vodka. Guess you guys aren't really accustomed to stronger stuff like that. You would not believe the tolerance people in Europe and Russia have for this stuff. Touring there was always pretty exciting,"

Yukiko turned up her nose a bit.

"It tastes like swill," she mumbled, leaning over to pass the thermos to Chie, who took it with both hands.

She stared at it for a moment. Naoto took note that it looked like it was almost full. Rise definitely didn't take it along for her singular enjoyment. She was quite calculated for someone who was so often thought to be ditzy.

Chie shut her eyes and braced herself, bringing it to her lips, taking a sizable gulp. Way more than the other two girls. Her eyes were kept shut, but she didn't recoil like the other two.

"Ha, amateurs. It wasn't that-hic!- that bad,"

Naoto was impressed. Chie was probably the most physically resilient person on the team, even more than Yu and Kanji. She could kick ass and take copious amounts of punishment in the TV world.

She handed the bottle Naoto's way.

At first she took it and just stared at it. She never had Vodka before. For that matter, she hadn't ever had anything stronger than sake. She had no apprehension to drinking a bit just as a contained action, but she wasn't sure how she'd react while being slightly tipsy, should she become that way. Not to mention she didn't want to risk being at the receiving end of Rise's inevitable pouty face. She also didn't want to appear like she was stuck up or too good for it.

Succumbing to peer pressure. A good thing she liked her peers.

One drink wasn't quite as bad as she anticipated. It was a bit dry, and more than a bit bitter, but she could stomach it. She ended up drinking only slightly less than Chie.

Naoto handed the bottle back to Rise, once returning to the floor to see the film had begun. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yukiko taking the bottle once again. She sighed, knowing what was inevitably about to come.

The bottle was passed for the duration of the film, until it ended.

The film itself was a blur of excitement. It was an hour and a half of non-stop fight scenes. It was hard to read the room at first, but the emptier the bottle became, the more loud the girls became, all ingesting about the same level of substance. As the violence in the film became more and more intense, it turned from a viewing experience into a participatory rally, cheering on the characters they wanted to succeed and booing when they got knocked out or killed. Rise became, well, more of herself. Yukiko became a mess of giggle fits and cheering, Chie became somewhat dazed but nonetheless enraptured by the choreography. Naoto was a bit late to join in terms of participation, but got just as into the experience as the others. Once it ended, they all felt a little winded. Their faces all bright red from the intoxicating liquid, which had been empty around the half-hour mark.

Naoto felt somewhat disoriented, but still was enjoying herself. Her past self would've been ashamed, disappointed even, but her current self was amazed at how fun it was just to be 'normal', or whatever their version of 'normal' was.

"Okayyyyyy," Yukiko mumbled, "I'm not really tired yet so what do we do?"

Yukiko slurring her words made Naoto chuckle, but the rest of the room paid it no mind.

Rise was of course, the first to suggest something.

"Ooo I know! I know! We gotta play truth or dare!"

Chie's face turned a bit sour.

"Really? Aren't we a bit old for that?" she asked.

Yukiko dismissed the comment with a hand wave.

"Hell no we aren't! We gotta enjoy our childhood while it lasts!" she said with a surprising amount of clarity.

Naoto somehow recognized that her sober self would have been mortified because she didn't really even know what the game entailed, but her drunk self shoved that aside and she sat there in curious silence.

Yukiko sat on the floor across from the other two girls, and Rise followed, practically tumbling out of the couch sitting in between Naoto and Yukiko.

"Who's first?" Rise asked with a wink.

"Eh why not?" Chie offered.

"Dibs on asking first!" Yukiko quickly shouted, almost violently in nature.

Despite her being so eager, Yukiko suddenly looked more nervous than Chie did.

"So…" she paused for dramatic effect, "truth or dare?"

Chie barely gave the decision a modicum of thought.

"Truth," she said confidently.

"Okay… which boy on our team is the cutest?" Yukiko said, almost tripping over her words from giggling.

Chie expected them to start off a bit easier, and didn't want to do 'dare' cause she knew better than to mess with 'Drunk Yukiko'. However now she was regretting even participating. Naoto felt bad simply by being adjacent to her.

"Is it normal to be so… intrusive with these inquiries?" Naoto asked.

Rise nodded exuberantly.

"Yep! That's what makes it fun! You gotta raise the stakes! So, Chie, come on! Spit it out!"

Chie's head was spinning from partial embarrassment, the alcohol, and general confusion. She looked like she was about to suddenly freeze up like a piece of machinery and have steam start coming out of her head. She rubbed the back of her neck.

"Um… well… none of them are really my 'type'... but… um…" she trailed off.

Not her type? Interesting…

"Well if we wanna guess your answer I think ruling out Teddie is pretty obvious," Yukiko said.

No one even thought about objecting to that.

"I mean, Yu's pretty good looking? By conventional standards? I suppose?" she said hurriedly.

Rise laughed.

"Oh shit we may have a love triangle on our hands! You may have to fight me for him senpai," she said with another one of her winks, albeit her face moved a bit more exaggeratedly because of her slightly impaired fine motor skills. Naoto smirked at the sight.

She hoped she wouldn't be subjected to such questions. She may have had feelings for Chie at the present moment, but trying to wrap her head around anyone else would prove to be difficult. She wasn't entirely sure what physical qualities she preferred in others. Chie was certainly cute, but was her visual appeal a byproduct of how she felt about her? As much as she tried, she couldn't find it in herself to answer Chie's question. Yu certainly was conventionally attractive, as was Yosuke, just a bit messier, but neither one really leapt out at her as being 'attractive'. There was Kanji, who on first impression seemed brutish, but had a sensitive side that shone through a lot, and Naoto felt like she was the only one who noticed. She knew Kanji had flirted with her when he thought she was a boy, knowledge she didn't really know how to respond to so she paid it no mind, but personality-wise he seemed to be hiding something that went against his looks, and he certainly wasn't unattractive. If Naoto HAD to choose, she'd say Kanji, but even then, his physical appearance didn't count for much. And Teddie was… well he was a bit too pretty looking.

"Alright then, we're going clockwise so Naoto, you're up,"

Her eyes widened, it was like she was in the midst of a verbal firing squad.

Yukiko nodded towards Rise, signaling her to take the reins. She had a wide smiled, almost wicked in nature. Naoto wasn't exactly confident about what this meant. She did however, know her choice.

"So Naoto, Tru-"

"Dare!" she interrupted quickly.

Everyone was a bit surprised with her abruptness.

Rise looked positively evil. Naoto swallowed.

"Okay Naoto… I dare you… to kiss me,"