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Inaba’s nights are incredibly cold, Naoto reminds herself, hunching her shoulders up to preserve as much warmth as possible as she releases another breath into her scarf. It covers the lower half of her face completely, keeping her neck at just the right temperature. She doesn’t hate the cold—she likes it, in fact, being someone who enjoys winter fully, but something about the cold air here is biting into her, cruelly so.
The shopping district is quiet as usual, with more and more people pulling themselves away from walking out at night on their own due to the murders still going on. There’s a faint sound of music coming from the Shiroku store, but that is about it. The only ones who actually dare to be outside at night, at this point, are those in the investigation team, but even then they don’t walk off too far from their houses. Unlike her, who really shouldn’t be here, in front of Marukyu Tofu, somehow unaware that her feet had dragged her there after a long time spent at the school’s library and a detour to the riverbank. Her residence isn’t even anywhere this way.
As she turns on her heel, she hears the door of the shop slide open, and a familiar voice travels through the night air into her ears, “Naoto-kun?”
Naoto almost jumps in her spot; why is Rise’s voice so clear in her ears? “E-evening.”
“What are you doing here?” Rise rushes up to her. Naoto is at a loss at how smoothly she descended the stairs and closed their distance. She doesn’t even have the time to answer as Rise takes her jacket off and drapes it around Naoto’s body, and the scent of Rise’s familiar perfume envelops her immediately.
“I-I was just—” Naoto stumbles on her words, a bad habit of hers when she can’t catch up with her conversation partner’s shenanigans in time. And Rise switches gears fast .
“No, save it. Come inside first. Geez, you,” Rise tugs her by the arm, enough strength for Naoto to be pulled along, but holding back enough in case Naoto wants to pull away. Considerate as always, through the obvious worry dripping from her voice.
Knowing that there’s no chance to insist that she’s fine and that Rise can just see her off, Naoto obliges and steps into the store, only holding Rise in place when she needs to take her shoes off as they go further in and into the living room with a whisper of ‘pardon the intrusion.’ Rise takes her gloves off, throwing them onto the coffee table and then brings her hands up to cup Naoto’s cheeks, hidden behind the scarf. Naoto isn’t sure whether the heat came from Rise’s hands or from within her, but it’s pleasant enough for her not to move away.
“You’re so cold . Do you want anything warm to drink? Coffee? Tea?” Rise shakes her head, rolling her sleeves up as she makes her way to, Naoto recognizes, the kitchen.
“Um, no. It’s fine, really. I was just passing by and…” … and what? Naoto thinks to herself. She takes her hat off—something she’s used to doing when she’s alone with Rise—and runs her hand through her dark locks absentmindedly. The question Rise threw at her earlier, asking her what she was doing there, was exactly the same question that went through her own mind before she decided to turn around.
Rise peeks out from behind the wall separating the living room and the kitchen, eyes squinted as if she herself can scan people (which, by now, Naoto would take at face value if it were true). It doesn’t look remotely threatening, but Naoto freezes in place when Rise flicks a hand out and points at her with a teaspoon. “Coffee.”
“... Coffee.” Naoto repeats with a defeated sigh, unwrapping her scarf and taking off Rise’s jacket to hang it up on the coat rack. It wouldn’t do well for her heart to wear something so Rise for any longer than this. She knows where things are and where they’re supposed to be in this room by heart. She’s asked enough questions and Rise’s told her enough information to figure out what goes where.
But was she really that cold? It could be that she came off that way because Rise wears approximately five layers of clothing when it’s cold out. Not that Naoto blames her—Rise has always felt more like the summer sun than the chill of winter, after all. They’re the polar opposite of each other, but perhaps that’s also what pulls them together. And so she brought herself here without even paying attention to the directions, to the signs…
…
… Who is she kidding, Naoto just wants to fabricate a sophisticated reason for being here. She hasn’t pulled her phone out even once to inform her Grampa that she’d be home late. She doesn’t need to—he’s out of town at the moment, taking Yakushiji with him, and will be for the next two weeks. She didn’t spend the day with anybody from the team at all, not even a second to spare any of them a passing glance.
And she doesn’t want to go home yet, not so soon when it’s so empty and quiet.
“... I had a feeling you’d still be standing there,” Rise emerges from the kitchen with an audible sigh, two cups of steaming coffee in her hands. She cocks her head to the side, silently telling Naoto to take a seat on the couch. It’s aged a bit, but still soft and comfortable. Too comfortable.
Naoto sits on what has become her favorite spot on the couch. It almost feels like heaven when Rise settles her cup down in front of her, the delicious scent wafting in the air. Rise has said once that she learned how to brew coffee for a movie that came out sometime ago before her hiatus, and it grew on her so much to become a secret hobby of hers.
After taking a good sip from her cup, Naoto leans back on the couch, feeling her stiff back sink into it easily. What she truly enjoys about being alone with Rise is that, despite her chipper attitude around the team, she adjusts very well with Naoto, either giving her a quiet time before starting a conversation or letting her strike up the conversation herself. No awkwardness, no nothing; simply enjoying each other’s company.
“You haven’t changed out of your uniform. In love with the school much?” Rise starts, looking at Naoto with a glint of mischief in her eyes. Their gazes don’t meet, but Naoto knows what kind of expression Rise has on her face right now judging from the voice.
“Perhaps I am,” Naoto answers nonchalantly with her eyes closed, earning a chuckle from the taller girl. The corner of her lips quirk up at the sound. Even her laugh sounds like music.
“I’m not surprised,” Rise continues, turning on her side to fully face Naoto’s relaxed figure. “But seriously, were you asking to catch a cold? Weather forecast said the temperature was going to drop real low tonight.”
“I zoned out at the riverbank,” Naoto feels ridiculous, but she did feel like she was zoning out. One conscious blink was all it took to make her realize that the sky had turned dark.
“Not a bad place to zone out.” Rise says, mumbling something along the lines of ‘too much sugar’ after setting her coffee down. “And whatever made you zone out over there brought you here?”
Naoto’s eyes snap open. There it is. The Rise that knows to peel her walls off casually without her knowing that she was doing it to begin with. Always so clever, always so careful not to prod too far. “Ahh, that.”
“Yes, that , Detective Prince.” Rise says, turning Naoto’s face her way with a finger on her cheek so that she can get a proper look at Naoto’s dark irises. “Why didn’t you just call me? That should’ve saved you some time!”
“Well, that’s…” Naoto darts her eyes everywhere but Rise’s own, “... because you don’t like the cold, and I’d figured you’d like some rest.”
“Oh,” Rise says, watching Naoto nod at her response. “Yeah. You’ve gotta work on your lying skills.”
“I wasn’t lying, Rise-san.” The lack of fight in Naoto’s voice is obvious, and that too Rise must’ve caught, because she has just rolled her eyes at the pathetic display of denial.
“Alright, lemme tell you something. Did you know you have this thing you do with your shoulders when you lie?” Rise says matter-of-factly, gently pushing both of Naoto’s shoulders down. “Fine, let’s say you weren’t lying. But they also tense up when you’re hiding something. Then my question becomes: is it so bad that you have to hide it from me?”
Unbelievable. Rise Kujikawa is unbelievably good at this. Naoto is completely at a loss, but she knows Rise is also giving her space because she’s not holding her down, and yet she doesn’t feel like moving away. Rise’s tone, her words, her expression; they’re all out of pure, genuine concern. There isn’t a single hint of curiosity, not a single gesture showing that Rise wants to know for the sake of knowing.
It makes Naoto want to tell Rise everything.
Just everything.
“Grampa is away.” Naoto spills, finally mustering enough courage to look back into Rise’s gaze. The answer hangs in the air, but Rise’s eyes are steady on her, hands sliding down from her shoulders to her upper arms, and slowly making their way to her hands. Oh. Rise’s hands are slightly bigger than hers. She never noticed that.
“You wanna stay the night?” Rise asks. She doesn’t unravel the information out loud, but Naoto can hear the gears clicking into place in Rise’s mind as the question comes out of her mouth.
“Well… well, I originally just…” Naoto looks down at their joined hands. Rise’s rubbing the back of her hands with her thumbs. It’s nice. “... wanted to see you. I didn’t think of staying.”
“Originally. Means you’re considering staying now.” Rise looks at her, a soft smile settling comfortably on her face at Naoto’s admission.
“How do you do that?” Naoto asks, her voice a few pitches higher than she would have liked. She’s let herself slip too much tonight. Unsightly, but to Rise, that doesn’t seem to be the case. She doesn’t think Rise ever minds her slips. “How do you read people like that?”
Rise seems amused at the question; a bit taken aback, but she responds nonetheless. “Reading people is easy. What’s hard is reading them right .”
“... What?” Naoto says, “No, wait, that makes sense. But… you’re that confident?”
“Gee, you’re one to talk! Like I don’t know you’ve been reading me too,” Rise lets out a hearty laugh, squeezing Naoto’s hands. Naoto feels her chest being squeezed as well; by what, she hasn’t really put a name on it. “The right way, of course.”
“Is… that so…” Naoto trails off as she watches the way Rise keeps rubbing the back of her hands. It’s an extremely soothing motion. “I was merely going based on my intuition.”
“I guess it comes with being a detective, then.” Rise lets go of Naoto’s hands, fingers trailing very, very slowly away from the touch. Light, tickling, but pleasant. “Oh, by the way, I’m still really happy when you said that you wanted to see me.”
Of course. Naoto would have been a fool if she truly thought that Rise would let the topic vanish into thin air. She had hoped so, however. But of course. It doesn’t help that Rise looks at her as if she were some sort of gift wrapped in an oversized scarf. A gift that brought herself in here, perhaps only invited out of courtesy.
“… I didn’t have anyone else in mind,” But was it really out of courtesy, when Rise offered her to stay the night?
“Not even the school? Aren’t you like, in love with that hellhole?” Rise’s inching closer, still with the same look in her eyes—and is that mirth Naoto sees? It must be. Yes, it is. It is an obvious joke. Oh. She’s even more beautiful from this up close.
“I am sure I like you more, last time I checked.” Her mouth runs faster than her mind could catch up, and the very next second, she’s engraving the softness of Rise’s lips on hers into her memories. She feels a shiver run down her spine when Rise settles a palm on the side of her neck, bringing them even closer to each other. And here Naoto thought that she wouldn’t ever want anybody to be in such proximity. No, she thought it wouldn’t be possible .
She feels Rise smile into the kiss when Naoto places a hand on her shoulder (the only way she can keep herself grounded, really), fingers digging their way into the thick fabric—and she was wearing a jacket . No wonder she remains so warm in this harsh cold. The whole ordeal of Rise wearing at least five layers of clothes was started by Kanji, said during one of their banters because he’d run out of jabs to get back at the idol. They broke out into a good laugh after (not that Naoto understood what was funny, but hearing them, seeing them laugh was tickling her too, and so she joined). She didn’t know that it was so close to the truth.
They both break away, although very reluctantly, for the sake of air. Rise, oddly enough, seems to be out of breath herself, face flushed and all. Naoto remembers her being involved in a few kissing scenes either for movies or music videos, so a part of her thought that, maybe, Rise was far more experienced with this. Apparently, even that isn’t the case.
Naoto blinks away her racing thoughts, much less successfully done with her racing heartbeat. Rise’s hand hasn’t moved away from her neck, seemingly at home with where it resides. It doesn’t bother her, though, and she appreciates the caress that comes after.
“I… c-could get used to that.” Naoto says, her face burning all the way down to the neck. She’s glad she’s unraveled her scarf before any of this happened.
“Great. ‘Cause I’ll be sure to have you practice a lot,” Rise giggles, placing a quick kiss on Naoto’s reddened cheek before throwing her arms around Naoto’s small frame, pulling her into a tight hug. “I’m glad you came to me.”
“Y-yes. Me… me too,” Naoto rests an awkward hand on Rise’s back. Being so close, she can’t even tell the difference between their heartbeats, both drumming so loudly. She isn’t sure where to look, so when her eyes land on Rise’s rose-colored jacket, her mind finally returns to earth after floating on cloud nine for a moment. “By the way… were you going somewhere?”
“Oh, right!” Rise pulls back from the hug, a pretty pink still coloring her cheeks as she checks the clock. “I can still make it. I told Kanji I’d pick my order up from his place sometime tonight.”
“Order?” Naoto tilts her head.
“Yeah, uh,” Rise chuckles sheepishly, for once being the embarrassed one tonight, “First time I saw the stuff he made, I told him it was creepy. I said that to tease him because his reactions were always fun to see, but then realized it came off pretty ill-willed. So, yeah, I’ve been ordering knitted dolls from him lately.” Rise points at a row of knitted dolls neatly placed on the cabinet, “He didn’t even want me to pay so I used to leave the cash with his mom, but I guess she talked some sense into him and now he just accepts it. He gives me extras though, the stubborn guy.”
“That sounds like Kanji-kun, all right,” Naoto nods with a smile. “I think I’d like to order some, as well. Grampa would love such presents.”
“Oh you totally should!” Rise squeals, her smile immediately shifting into a scrunch of her nose after downing her coffee—cute, Naoto thinks, remembering how she said she added too much sugar. “His mom told me he made knitted doll versions of the team and kept them in his room. Too bad I didn’t get to see them, but I think I could’ve cried on the spot if I did anyway.”
Naoto chuckles, her chest light and still fluttery after what happened. When silence settles between them, the reality of the situation dawns on her. She has just kissed Rise Kujikawa. Or did Rise kiss her? Naoto can’t even tell at this point, but she brings a hand to her face, slowly running it from her forehead down to her chin. After the rush of adrenaline completely fades away, she feels her face heating up once more, all the way up to her ears.
She dares not to look at Rise.
At Rise, who’s just as red as she is, giddy from top to bottom, desperately wiping her clammy hands on her jeans just so she has something to do with them other than holding Naoto’s hands.
Yes.
They aren’t too different, after all.
“Er, so…” Naoto doesn’t know where the courage came from, but she starts a conversation. Her voice probably doesn’t sound that loud, but in that silence, even a small rustle can slice through it. “… I was always under the impression that you liked Narukami-senpai.”
Rise makes an odd, puzzled noise from the back of her throat. It’s a relief to know that Rise has a lot of off moments as well. Laughing nervously, she responds with embarrassment coating her voice, “Yeah, that happened. I found out he was with Yosuke-senpai, though. Chie-senpai and Yukiko-senpai came up to me one time because apparently Yosuke-senpai told them he was kinda jealous, even though he knew Yu-senpai showed pretty much zero interest in my advances. It was just a silly little crush anyway. A one time, quick thing.”
“I see, a silly little crush,” Naoto nods deeply, rubbing the back of her neck with a hand, one that hasn’t busied itself with clasping and unclasping the almost-forgotten hat between her fingers. “Then is this not a ‘silly little crush’?”
“Nah, definitely not. Kissing him never crossed my mind now that I think back to it,” Rise giggles, standing up from her spot as she stretches her arms. She offers a hand Naoto’s way, the slight tremble of it not going unnoticed by the detective. “You’re a different story entirely. You’re super kissable in my book.”
“That is one vulgar way of telling someone about your feelings,” Naoto lets out a laugh at the sight of Rise’s pout, butterflies fluttering in her stomach at the statement nevertheless as she takes Rise’s warm hand, gladly being pulled up to stand on her feet. “But yes, I’ll have to admit, I find myself coming back to you when I want company. When I need company. I truly wanted to see you, because for some reason you’d always make my heart do strange, but pleasing maneuvers.”
“God, you’re so corny,” Rise doesn’t let Naoto respond as another kiss lands on her lips, sealing shut whatever answer Naoto was about to say deep inside. It’s chaste, but electric all the same, and Rise pulls away to whisper onto Naoto’s slightly parted lips, “I love it.”
Naoto did say she could get used to it, but not so soon. It still makes her freeze. And her mind still takes its sweet time to process the intimate contact, especially with Rise’s hypnotizing eyes gazing at her from up close. She has never known anyone else whose smile always reaches up to their eyes as often as Rise. It’s beautiful, she thinks, and she doesn’t want to look away.
“Stay the night, okay? I don’t think I want you to go home for now,” Rise whispers some more, and dear God Naoto is going to lose it at the way her heart is somersaulting in her ribcage. She feels like her mind has turned into nothing but a jumbled mass of words and still images of Rise, and she can only manage a nod, which prompts a giggle from the taller girl, “Awesome! Let’s go see Kanji, then. Oh, but let me go get you a nice jacket first. You can pick whatever you like from my closet.”
Picking out clothes isn’t exactly Naoto’s forte, especially with the assortment of blinding colors stored within Rise’s closet. But she’s glad that Rise doesn’t complain much about her choosing blue again in the rows of what feels like colors of the rainbow and then some all lined up neatly on hangers. Blue does look good on you , Rise tells her, I wanted to see you in white some more, though. She keeps that in mind. Perhaps she should add more white into her wardrobe. It is one of the very few bright colors she can handle.
Leaving the shop, the cold of the night greets her again. But this time, it’s much less vicious. It must either be the jacket (it’s comfortable, almost feels like it’s hers the moment she puts it on), or how comfortably her hand finds itself wrapped in Rise’s gloved one. She doesn’t mind believing in both, and she definitely doesn’t mind Rise huddling up close to her being another reason for it.
Making up an overly fancy reason for seeing someone isn’t all that worth it, Naoto thinks, a waste of time as loneliness began to eat her up slowly from the inside, when all she needed to do was tell them that she wanted to see them, and she could have the warm summer sun in her arms.