Chapter Text
When Teddie heard that Rise was going to wear her Yukata at this year's summer festival, he decided that their first date as a couple should have him wear something just as special. So Teddie came in with his very own Yukata, a blue and white one that Yosuke's mother said would fit him the most.
Surely because Teddie came early, he'd be anxiously waiting for Rise to arrive, right?
... Right?
"Teeeeddie... You can wake up nooooow..." Rise pokes his cheek.
"Mmm...?" Teddie stretches his arms and yawns. He gazes up at Rise in her Yukata and smiles. "Ooooh, did I die and go to heaven already?"
"Hee hee, very funny Teddie," Rise folds her arms, smiling back. "Now get up, you're getting your Yukata all dirty."
Teddie stood up from the steps and let out another yawn with a stretch. Now that's he's more awake, he takes a good look at Rise all dressed up. Her hair is even tied up. He's never seen her hair in such a gorgeous fashion, it's like a sculpture at a museum.
"Whoa, Rise-chan! You look so pretty! More than usual, I mean!" Teddie's eyes twinkle with adoration.
Rise giggles. "Of course I do! Today's a special day for us, after all." A blush across her face.
"Well, since this is a special day for us, do you want to hold hands?" Teddie asks.
"My, aren't we feeling intimate today?" Rise holds out her hand, still red. "Here, go on and court me."
Teddie takes her hand with both her hands. Warm and soft... her skin is so silky smooth to him, and he still can't believe they even got to this point. How he was able to win over her heart is beyond him, but he doesn't care, this is a fairy tale come true.
"You okay, Teddie?" Rise asks.
"Ah!" Teddie lets go of her hand and stammers. "S-Sorry! I uh, I've never gone this far before. It feels so... differen— huh?"
Rise takes a hold of Teddie's hand. "Don't worry, Teddie. If it makes you feel better, I've never gone this far either, so you better be grateful! Not anybody can take me out like this!"
"I-I won't let you down, Rise-chan!"
"Hee hee, good bear!"
The two of them continue holding hands as they walk side-by-side into the summer festival at the shrine. As they walk around, they see the stalls lit up with an abundance of people surrounding them. Looks like they're too focused on their own festivities to notice Rise all alone with a guy.
"So uh, what should we do first?" Teddie asks.
"What do you mean?" Rise replies. "You know we're always supposed to make a wish at the shrine first, right?"
"Oh right!"
Teddie and Rise walk up to the shrine to offer their donation. Before they began praying, Teddie spoke up.
"So what will you wish for, Rise-chan?"
"Well..." Rise gives a smirk. "I wish that I could travel across the world and see the sights!"
"Huuuh?" Teddie's eyes widen from shock. "B-But I thought you'd wish for us to be closer!"
"Would I?" Rise tilts her head. "I dunno, I've always wanted to go to Paris..."
"Nooooo! I can't believe it's over already!"Teddie cries out.
"I'm just kidding, Teddie," Rise giggles. "Of course I wish for us to be closer."
"O-Oh! Of course! Right!" Teddie nods. "I-I knew that! Hee hee!"
On the one hand, Rise's a little concerned that Teddie didn't understand that she was teasing, but on the other hand, the fact that Teddie was concerned about it in the first place reassures her that he's taking this relationship seriously. He wasn't kidding when he told her the other day that he was going to take this seriously, and his reactions show. Perhaps she could lay off on the teasing every now and then?
Maybe when he catches on better, she'll start turning it up.
They both bow and begin their prayers. A brief moment of silence passes as their thoughts of each other's company washes over them. Teddie can't help but smile at the thought of simply being with Rise as her boyfriend. How much further can they even go after that?
With their prayers finished, they both let out a collective sigh.
"So how about we play that goldfish scooping game together?" Rise asks.
"Sure! But I'm gonna get most goldfish!" Teddie's eyes sparkle with determination.
"Not if I get more!"
They both saunter to the goldfish scooping stall filled with a competitive spirit. Chie or Kanji would have taken on this little competition head on like they are right now. Certainly shows how much everyone else has rubbed off on them.
After paying for their own poi, Rise establishes the rules.
"You already know that you have to get the goldfish into the bowl with the net, right?"
"Yup!" Teddie nods.
"Then the winner of this game between us will be whoever scoops up the most goldfish before all our nets break!"
"And the prize?"
"Hm..." Rise pauses for a moment, then her face lights up. "The prize is all the tickets we've won together!"
"I like the sound of that!"
On Rise's mark, they begin attempting to scoop up the goldfish.
Teddie attempts to scoop up the goldfish so quickly that the moment he puts the net in the water, the fish immediately swim away. Rise glances over at Teddie while she makes more careful movements when trying to scoop up. To her, it looks like she got the game won already, but she still has to scoop up at least one fish. Despite being careful as she is, every goldfish swims away too quickly for her to scoop up into the bowl.
"Ah! My net broke!" Teddie exclaims. The stall keeper hands Teddie a new net and right away, he's swift in trying to scoop up the goldfish, leading to his second net almost breaking already.
Rise can't help but smirk. Those tickets are mine, she thinks to herself. But because she's distracted by Teddie's antics, she unwittingly gets her net broken as well. "Oops..."
The stall keeper hands Rise a new net and this time, she'll try not to pay attention to Teddie. Though it might serve difficult. Especially since...
"Nyaaaaaah!" Teddie keeps trying to scoop up the fish quickly that not only do they swim away, the net breaks. Again.
Now Rise feels bad. Even though she hasn't scooped any goldfish, she doesn't want to win like this.
"Hey Teddie, watch me for a moment."
"Hm?" Teddie glances over at Rise while he's handed his final net.
"If you want to pick up the goldfish, you have to be more careful." Rise looks around the play area and sees goldfish gather by the north side. "Try picking up goldfish near the sides, they'll be easier to get." She reaches forward and with one fell swoop, manages to net a goldfish to put into a bowl. "There we go!"
"Oh! That's amazing, Rise-chan!" Teddie sparkles.
"Hee hee, not bad huh?" Rise smiles wide. She didn't think she'd actually get a fish during the demonstration, but bonus points to her. She notices that her net is now broken, leaving both her and Teddie with one net left. "Looks like this is our last chance, so make this one count!"
"I'll win this time for sure!" Teddie clenches his fist, ready to put it in action.
Rise gets her final net and this time she's going to take as much time with the goldfish scooping. Her net hangs above the water, waiting for the goldfish to gather somewhere by the side before she attempts to scoop them up.
"There!" Rise exclaims, swiftly attempting to scoop the goldfish, only for the fish to swim away. Her nets bumps into the side on accident, causing her net to break. She lets out a sigh. No more fish for her. "I guess that's that." Rise turns to Teddie. "How did you do, Teddie?"
"I got two goldfish!"
"Huh?"
Teddie holds out his bowl containing two goldfish swimming around. "Your tips really helped, Rise-chan!"
"No way..." Rise blinks in surprise. Teddie really got more goldfish than her? Either he's a quick learner, a trickster, or he got lucky. Maybe a combination of all the above. Either way, she can't even be upset or mad. Teddie's a quick learner, she's got to give him that much credit. "Looks like you win!" Rise cheers.
"Really?" Teddie looks into both the bowls, then pumps his fist into the air. "Yaaaay! I get to keep the tickets!"
The stall keeper hands Teddie two tickets and to Rise one ticket. As they walk away, Rise gives the ticket she got from the vendor to Teddie. "Here, as promised."
"Thank you, Rise-chan!" Teddie smiles. "Say, how about we use these tickets now?"
"Already?" Rise asks. "But we only visited one stall."
"Better now than never, don't you think?"
"I suppose." Rise shrugs. "It's not like it's our only chance to do the draw."
They walk over to the lottery worker and ask to draw. Teddie gives the worker three tickets, giving him three chances to pull something good. He closes his eyes and digs through the box. Once his hand touches only one slip, with two fingers, he draws from the box and holds the slip high up in the air.
"This one, I'm sure of it!" Teddie says. Opening the slip, he reads out the prize. "Third place prize, a beautiful ring. Oh! I got a ring!"
"Hey, third place!" Rise claps her hands. "Good job!"
The worker hands the ring to Teddie. "Usually this ring goes for 5,000 Yen on the market, so you're pretty lucky to get it for free!"
"5,000 is only third place?" Teddie's eyes widen. "I wonder what the grand prize is!"
"Why not try your luck and find out?" The worker holds out the box. "You still got two tickets left!"
"Okay!" Teddie nods.
The prizes he drew from here aren't anything special, according to him. A book about a man lost at sea and a coupon for 50% off anything at the shopping district is okay, but nothing really tops the ring he got. He's planning on giving both to Yosuke later. They walk away while planting the prizes in a bag.
But as for the ring, Teddie's still holding it in the palm of his hand.
"I can't believe you got the third-place prize in only three tickets, Teddie," Rise giggles. "You sure are one lucky bear."
"It was just dumb luck," Teddie grins sheepishly while blushing. "I just wanted to use the tickets before they flew off with the summer breeze."
"Wow, that almost sounded poetic."
"Did it!?"
"Almoooost..." Rise smiles.
"Argh, so close!" Teddie snaps his fingers and another giggle from Rise.
"In any case, the ring's all yours," Rise says.
"It sure is!" Teddie holds up the ring to the sky. The lighting from the stalls and fire from the torches make the design in the middle faintly glow with a myriad of colors. It's almost like looking into a tiny kaleidoscope. He puts the ring down and back into the palm of his hand. The ring may belong to him now, but someone else, to him, deserves the ring more.
"What's wrong, Teddie?" Rise asks.
Teddie gazes into Rise's eyes for a moment, then gives her a bright smile. "I want you to have the ring instead, Rise-chan."
"Huh?"
Teddie takes Rise's hand and gently places the ring into hers. "You know how there's wedding rings, right? Let's make this a dating ring!"
"Uh..." Rise looks at the ring she now possesses. Never mind the cheesy naming of the ring, why did Teddie give her something that he earned himself?
"You don't like the ring?"
"No, I do," Rise says, still gazing at the ring. "But why give it to me when you won it?"
"I don't wear rings, I'm already a prized treasure!" Teddie says while sparkling.
"Very funny, Teddie," Rise says sarcastically. She's still grinning from corner to corner though, she can't believe he made such a joke.
"But more importantly, I gave it to you so we can remember our first date together."
"You mean like a memento?"
"Yeah, like a memento! Whatever that is, hee hee." Teddie places his hand above Rise's hand. "To me, the ring is more than a memory of our date."
"Really?" This piqued Rise's curiosity. "What does this ring mean to you?"
"It means this is the start of something special," he begins to explain. "I can promise you that in the future, I could get you tons of rings of all kinds! Maybe even more. But this ol' ring? This ring is what started it all, and only this ring can represent the start of our future together."
"Awww.. That's so sweet of you." Rise blushes. Usually she doesn't easily fall for Teddie's flirty mannerisms, but it's when he's being genuine about his love that he shows just how kind he is. And it's this earnest nature that had Rise falling for him eventually. He really is something else. Rise slips the ring onto her right ring finger and checks out the ring before putting her hand down. "So how about we enjoy ourselves at the festival?"
"Yeah! I'm thinking food!"
"Of course you are." Rise smiles.
For the rest of the night, they spent their time checking out the food stalls and splitting food among each other. Rise had to make sure Teddie didn't make a mess on his Yukata while he devoured the food away. At least a few times, Rise would be stopped for an autograph by a fan of hers. Teddie was so tempted to tell them that Rise was his girlfriend, but remembered that he had to keep it a secret or else she can't be an idol anymore. That's not something he wants.
When the two realized there wasn't much left to do at the stalls other than exchange their tickets they received from all the food they bought, Rise decided it was time to head home, and Teddie insisted he escorted her back despite her home being fairly close to the shrine. Once they bagged up their goods, they left promptly.
"My house is right there," Rise says. "You don't need to escort me, you know."
"But a gentleman must escort his date home to ensure her safety!" Teddie says with a sparkle.
"Hee hee, I guess there's no harm."
While they were walking together, Rise hums to herself a tune she heard while on tour. Teddie gazes up and down at Rise's beauty and still can't believe that all day, he was with such a beautiful girl. How he was able to win over her heart is beyond him. Everything about her is perfect, her kindness, her smile, the way she plays around with him, and of course her body is no slouch either. What was it that Yosuke said? Her slender hips? Her astounding chest? Her delicate hands?
Her hands...
Teddie takes a gander at Rise's hands and notices something off.
"Rise-chan, where's your ring?"
"Huh?" Rise glances at Teddie. "I put it in my bag."
"You did?"
"Yeah, I'll show you." Rise shuffles through the bags past the books and coupons she won. It's taking her some time to try to find it though.
"Rise-chan?" Teddie cants his head. "Is it in the bag?"
"H-Hold on a sec, I'm sure I put it in here..." Rise stops walking to put down the bag. She's digging further inside the bag, hoping it just got lost in the shuffle. Teddie stands there, waiting for Rise to finish searching.
While she does finish searching soon after, her sigh says it all.
"I'm sorry, Teddie. I think I lost the ring..."
"What!?" Teddie's eyes widen from shock. "No, it can't be!"
"I-I'm really sorry... I don't know what happened..." Rise frowns.
"W-We have to find it!" Teddie turns around and begins making a dash for the shrine.
"Teddie, wait!!" Rise shouts. He stops in his tracks. "We can get another ring, it's not like it's the only ring in the world!"
"But it's your ring!" Teddie turns around. "Isn't it supposed to be special to us?"
"I-It is..." Rise averts her gaze. "A-And I'm really sorry I lost it. But I don't want you to go through the trouble of finding it for me..."
"Why not...?"
Rise walks over to Teddie with her hands folded. "You want to remember this date for the rest of our lives, right?"
"Right." He nods.
"Well... there are more ways to do so than a ring." Rise gives him a soft smile and a blush. "We can both take a picture together, or maybe do something special on our first date..."
"What's something special?" Teddie asks. Rise's still approaching him. She reaches out and holds his hand, taking him by surprise with a kiss on the cheek soon after. Teddie blushes, a rarity for him. "W-Was that a kiss!?"
"Be beary grateful!" Rise steps back and wags her finger, still smiling and blushing. "Not anyone can get a kiss from Risette, so let that be a good memory for our first date instead!"
Teddie rubs his cheek where Rise kissed him. He looks at his fingers, seeing a bit of lipstick on it. It's so surreal, but it really happened; Rise kissed him on the cheek. "W-Wow..." he says. "I-I don't know what to say... The words are leaving my mind..."
"Weeeeell, you can start with a 'Thank you' to me!"
"O-Oh! Thank you, Rise-chan!" Teddie grabs her hands. "I will cherish this moment forever!" His eyes gleam with wonder and joy.
"Hee hee, now isn't this better than a ring?" she winks.
"Sure is!" Teddie nods.
Great to see Teddie in better spirits, and rather quickly too. Usually he'd be thinking about a loss like that a little longer, but that kiss must have helped out in some way. Nothing on the lips just yet though, she's still got an image to maintain.
Noticing the night getting late, Rise taps Teddie's shoulder. "You should get home now, my house is right over there," she points at Marukyuu Tofu.
"Right!" Teddie waves and smiles. "Good night, Rise-chan!"
"Good night, Teddie!" She waves back as she watches him dash off.
* * * * *
School is finally over for the day and Rise's on her way home. Balancing her idol life and education isn't easy in the slightest, but it's never wrong to want to better yourself and have a backup plan when things go south for her idol career. Granted, she hopes it doesn't go down that path, but with the way the world works, one can never truly know.
"Hey, Rise-chan!"
"Huh?" Rise looks over her shoulder just as she was putting her shoes on and sees Yosuke approaching her. "What's up, Yosuke-senpai?"
"Have you heard from Teddie at all today?" Yosuke asks.
"Huh?" Rise shakes her head. "No, not that I heard of. Why do you ask?"
"I got a call from work saying he didn't show up at work today..." Yosuke opens his phone. "I tried calling him a few times earlier, but he didn't pick up. I was hoping someone knew what happened with him..."
From what Rise remembers of Teddie, he's usually the type that either tries too hard at work and causes a mess, or slacks off eating topsicles. But he wouldn't be the type to miss out on Junes, he still loves that place since it hosts what technically is his home. What could have happened that kept him from work?
"Sorry, I don't know where he is." Rise sighs.
Yosuke shoves his phone back into his pocket. "Well if you do find him, can you let me know? I'm a bit worried something happened."
"Of course." Rise nods. Yosuke and Rise part ways from there.
On her way home, Rise can't help but think about where Teddie could have gone. She's getting flashbacks from when he ran away back in December and no one could find him anywhere. She tried her hardest to find him to no avail, and she cried when he came back. That was when they were just friends. She can't even imagine how she would react if something like that happened again while they were dating.
Just as she thought about what happened, Rise looks ahead at where Marukyuu Tofu is and sees a familiar blonde sitting at the steps.
"Teddie!" Rise calls out to him.
"Hm?" The blonde looks up and smiles. "Rise-chan, you're back!" Teddie stands up and claps his hands.
Rise runs over to him and blinks. "Teddie, what happened to you?" she gazes up and down his body to see a few leaves and twigs stuck in his hair. His clothes are dirty and even a bit torn up. Did he get into a fight?
"Oh, this?" Teddie brushes himself off. "I uh, I called off work today to do something beary important, and I finally got it done!"
Teddie's lying about calling off and Rise knows it. But for the sake of knowing what happened, she plays along. "What's so important that you called off work for?"
"This!"
Teddie holds something up from his clenched fist. It's the ring that Rise got from the summer festival last night.
"H-Huh? You found it?" Rise asks.
"Yup, I searched for this baby all day!" He takes Rise's hand and plants the ring on her palm. Rise looks down at the ring, still glimmering as usual. "It wasn't easy though," Teddie continued. "I got stuck in the bushes a few times, and this thing is super small! You wouldn't believe where I found it!"
Didn't she tell him not to worry about the ring? Why did he go through so much trouble to find something like this again? She looks at the ring and sees there's not even a scratch nor dirt on it. It looks as clean as new.
"Teddie... why?" she asks.
"Why what?" Teddie tilts his head.
"Why did you find the ring after I told you not to try to find it?" she closes her hand.
"Because it's your ring, Rise-chan."
"...?" Rise looks into Teddie's eyes.
"Maybe it is just some dumb ol' ring, but this ring is yours. I told you that I wanted to give it to you so we can remember our first date together." Teddie holds Rise's hands. "Maybe we can buy another ring, a wedding ring or even a ring of good luck, but only one ring will ever represent our first date, our first time going out together as lovers." he smiles. "So, I want you to hold onto it for just a little longer until we get ourselves a new ring, okay?"
"..."
Rise's speechless. Many guys in the past have tried giving her gifts to woo her in some way, and they all involved such expensive gifts. Yet when Teddie put so much value into a ring that wasn't even worth half the amount that she'd usually receive, her heart raced. Was it because they're dating, or was it because he took so much effort to get it back for her, even when she never asked?
If he went this far for her just to get a ring back, what else would he do for her? From the way his eyes stare into hers, it feels like if he said he'll do anything for her, he'll mean it. She looks down at her hands being held by the boy she calls her lover. Even though he's a bit dirty, his hands are still delicate and smooth as a child's skin. And right now, she doesn't want him to let go.
... Hold on, where did these water drops on her hands come from?
"... Rise-chan?" Teddie says.
Rise pulls her hands back and touches her cheek. There's tears dripping from her eyes. Since when did she start crying? It's just a decorative ring. Is she really crying over a ring?
"A-Ah! Rise-chan! What's wrong?!" Teddie's eyes widen.
"..." Rise sniffs and wipes her eyes. "You..."
"... Me?"
"You dumb bear, making me cry like this!" Rise pulls Teddie into an embrace and smothers her face into his shoulder.
"H-Huh?" Teddie wraps her arms around Rise, but blinks in confusion.
Rise hugs him tight, refusing to loosen her grip on him. She doesn't care if he's dirty right now, she just wants to keep a hold on him for a bit.
"A-Are you that happy that I found the ring?" he asks.
Rise lifts her head and looks him in the eyes. "It's not about the ring, silly," she sniffs. "I just..." her cheeks flush with a rosy color as she smiles. "I just really love you, you know that?"
Teddie finds himself blushing as well. He smiles softly and nods. "I really love you too, Rise-chan." Just as Teddie was about to let go, Rise pulls him closer in. "R-Rise-chan?"
"Come on, do you really wanna let go so soon?" Rise teases. "Let's stay like this a little longer, okay?"
"O-Okay!"
The two of them hug each other tight, neither of them wanting to let go.