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Monday August 8th 2011
The Day it Starts
Good morning.
Did you sleep well? I heard that a girl was killed last night.
The noise of the arcade was bad, but can you buy some coffee from the café in the police cars?
Thanks. I can’t even safely walk around… I can safely withdraw cash now,
Have you heard? Good morning. Don’t be out dangerously late, okay?
Relax and don’t let your guard down.
---
Kotone shivered. The usual voices of the TV World were getting distorted, here close to the top of Mitsuo’s dungeon. She could almost feel more than hear the boy’s sanity unravelling around them, the cognition of this place darkening and twisting the closer they got to the killer himself. She hated this place more and more. Still, on they had to go, and as long as she had her friends, she was alright with following Yu forwards through the floor onto the next intersection.
“Wait!” Rise’s voice was panicked. Loud. “There’s something there!”
“There is?” Yu paused in his tracks. “What is it?”
“I can sense it…” Rise stepped up next to Yu, frowning as she projected her Persona behind her. She held a hand to her ear, pressing on the side of her new headphones as she listened intently. “Yeah! It’s definitely here. There’s a teleporter at this intersection. This whole floor is a grid full of them.”
“Like in Yukiko’s castle?” Chie’s eyes widened. “Crap. That sucked.”
“It’s okay. I think…” Rise knelt down, inspecting the floor for a long moment before nodding. “Yeah! As long as you hug the wall, you’ll stay out of its range!”
“Perfect.” Yu nodded, gesturing
“Damn, you can tell all that?” Kanji scratched his head, sticking close as the team skirted around the intersection. “When the hell’d you start being able to do that?”
“I think it’s the headphones.” Rise glanced at Kotone, smiling warmly as her eyes seemed to sparkle. “Koshi got them for me. They sorta filter all the noise from this place. It’s a lot clearer now!”
Kotone just pumped her fist triumphantly, grinning Yu nodded, looking satisfied. “Good work you two.”
“It’s all Koshi!” Rise flashed a thumbs up, throwing an arm around Kotone’s shoulder. She seemed very suddenly taken by surprise as Kotone turned the casual gesture into a full-on hug. “W-whoah, hey!”
“Sorry!” Kotone let go of her friend, still smiling nonetheless. “I thought we were doing a full hug, my bad!”
“N-no, it’s fine.” Rise swallowed, blushing with embarrassment. “Just… uh… okay, wow.”
“Did I do something wrong?” Kotone tilted her head, unsure of why Rise seemed so bothered. She was still blushing like mad. “Riri?”
“Fine! Fine! Just-“ Rise looked away, clearing her throat. “N-nevermind, let’s just keep going. Y-yu, make sure we stick to the left wall. There’s a Shadow that way with an item we might need.”
“…alright.” Yu frowned. “Rise, if there’s anything that-“
“I’m fine! Let’s just go, alright?” Rise still avoided meeting Kotone’s eyes. Kotone didn’t get it, looking towards Yu. The boy just shrugged. “Alright?”
“Sure.” Yu nodded, turning and heading off to the left. “Let’s go.”
And on they went.
Saturday, August 20th 2011.
The Day of the Parallel
The glow of the lanterns was bright in the night as Kotone sat on the steps of the shrine, watching the procession before her. The summer festival was in full swing, the various townspeople flitting about between the stands as they gave their thanks for the season. There were less people than Kotone expected from the word ‘festival’, but maybe that wasn’t surprising considering the recent string of murders.
Or maybe Inaba was just like that. It was hard to tell sometimes.
“You know, you really shouldn’t sit with your yukata like that.” Yukiko frowned at where Kotone was sitting, standing to the side with the other girls and fanning herself gently. “It’ll get dirty.”
“You’re lucky I’m even wearing one.” Kotone shrugged. “These things suck to put on.”
“You do fine with the kimono at the inn.” Yukiko tilted her head. “I don’t see how it was such a bother.”
“Neither do I!” Kotone harrumphed, indignant. It really was rather ridiculous. She’d gotten this nice fancy yukata from CrocoFur. It was white, adorned with violet flowers and green leaves, squared out by a nice warm pink band to tie it all together. It looked amazing, but in the process of putting it on she’d somehow managed to screw up… what, three times? It was as annoying as it was embarrassing, and at this point she was just happy she looked half presentable by the time they made it to the festival. “It’s weird.”
“Well, I think you look great, so, yeah.” Rise cleared her throat, though Kotone wasn’t sure how she could tell considering she hadn’t seen the other girl look at her once so far today. “You look great in any outfit, a-actually.”
“Aw, thanks Riri!” Kotone grinned, tilting her head happily. For some reason, that made Rise tense up. “Hey uh, is everything alright?”
“Y-yeah, I’m- oh look, the guys are here!” Rise seemed to snap to attention, smiling nervously as she caught sight of the other half of the team making their way onto the festival grounds with Nanako in tow. “W-we should go say hi!”
“O…kay?” Kotone blinked, watching as Rise hurried away. She’d been acting weird lately. “Hey Yukiko, is something up with Riri? I feel like she’s kinda… weird, whenever we’ve been talking recently.”
“Oh yes, I agree.” Yukiko nodded affirmatively. “It’s a lot like how Kanji is with Detective Shirogane, don’t you think?”
“…sorta?” Kotone shrugged. “But I’m pretty sure that’s because he’s crushing on him, so I dunno what this could be.”
Yukiko just stared at her for a long moment before sighing and shaking her head with a smile as she moved to follow Rise. She took a hold of Chie’s hand as she went, the other girl squawking in surprise as she did. Poor Chie. That girl really was hopeless, wasn’t she?
Oh well, nothing to do about it now. Kotone pulled herself to her feet, dusting herself off to go join the others as they greeted the guys. Whatever was going on with Rise, she had no idea, but hopefully it was something she could help with.
She was good at that, right?
---
It was later. After meeting up with the boys and wandering around a little, Kotone somehow found herself leaning against a tree next to Chie, simply watching the crowds go by as she chomped on a candy apple. It wasn’t particularly dignified, and she was pretty sure Yukiko would freak over how much bark was getting on her yukata, but Kotone didn’t care. She was having a blast, that’s what mattered.
“Hey, Chie?” Kotone looked over at her friend, who still seemed… distracted. “What’s your favourite part of the festival so far?”
“H-huh?” Chie dragged her eyes away from where she was watching Yukiko across the festival, gulping. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…” Kotone straightened up, pushing away from the tree. “What’s your favourite part of the festival…” She grinned mischievously. “…aside from Yukiko in a yukata?”
“Wh-what?!” Chie’s listlessness vanished in an instant, a sudden surge of adrenaline bursting through her system as she turned bright as a tomato. “Wh-what are you talking about?!”
“I wasn’t gonna say anything, but like…” Kotone shrugged. “You’re staring.”
“I-“ Chie’s eyes widened. Kotone didn’t think it was possible for her to blush any harder, but here they were. “How did- you… d-did anyone else notice?!”
“Just me.” Kotone shook her head. “But that’s gonna change if you keep dodging around your feelings here y’know.”
“I’m not do-“ Chie’s objection died in her throat, a sudden and uncharacteristic embarrassment seizing her as she buried her face in her hands. “I-I thought you said we weren’t gonna talk about this…”
“I said we could wait until after we caught Mitsuo. Which…” Kotone gestured vaguely. “We did.”
“…you did say that.” Chie groaned, leaning her head back against the tree. “Crap!”
“Look, we don’t have to talk about it if you really don’t want to.” Kotone smiled sympathetically. “But you don’t have to run from your feelings, you know?”
“I-I’m not!” Chie sputtered, indignant. After a moment, she seemed to realize that such a visceral reaction wasn’t exactly helping her case. “Look, Ko, I- the feelings I have towards Yukiko are totally normal, right? I mean, she’s amazing! Of course I get like, butterflies when I look at her. Who doesn’t get that for their best friend?”
“Oh Chie…” Kotone winced. She was in deep, wasn’t she?
“Wh-what? That’s normal!”
“No, it… hold on. Hey, Riri?” Kotone looked over at where her friend was idling nearby, looking strangely as if she was doing nothing at all. “Could I ask you something?”
“W-what? Me? Oh, uh.” Rise looked towards Kotone, only to very quickly blush and look away. “S-sure.”
“Okay…” Kotone frowned for a moment. Rise was still acting weird, huh? “We’re besties, right?”
“O-of course!” Rise nodded a little too enthusiastically. “Of course we’re besties, duh, that’s what we are, yeah, yep!”
“And you’ve never had a crush on me, right?”
“A… crush. On you? A crush on you? I’m- that.” Rise looked as if she were about to collapse there on the spot, her whole face turning a very bright red. “That- no, I wouldn’t, that would- because I would have to- n-no, definitely not!”
“Perfect, th-“
“Because even if I did, that’s not how it would work!” Rise interrupted stamping her foot somewhat maniacally. “Because I was an idol, so I definitely know how this works, and I definitely know how to do feelings and things, because I know what dating’s like, and I know what having a crush feels like, and I definitely don’t have weird feelings about my best friend, not happening, nuh-uh!”
Rise gasped, letting out a breath of air as her speech ended. Kotone and Chie both stared at her, bewildered by what they had just witnessed. Somehow Rise blushed an even deeper red, her mouth moving silently as if to offer up some sort of explanation. She found none.
So instead, she just turned and booked it away.
“…okay then.” Kotone blinked, looking back toward an equally bamboozled Chie. “That… wasn’t what I was expecting.”
“…Ko, are you sure I’m the one who needs help here?” Chie looked between Kotone and where Rise had vanished, her own troubles temporarily forgotten. “Because that was…”
“Yeah. That was something.” Kotone frowned, her brow creasing with concern. Something was clearly up with Rise. But what? “I should go talk to her.”
“Y-yeah.” Chie nodded, turning to look back toward where Yukiko was standing. “You really should.”
You really should.
Tuesday, August 23rd 2011.
The Day They Go for a Walk
Kotone loved the sunshine.
It just… felt nice. After spending so long in the TV, being able to relax on a towel here at the beach alongside her friends and feel the sun on her skin and the sound of waves in her ears, well, it meant the world to her. Honestly, she could stay in that moment forever, there on the sands of Shichiri Beach. Almost nothing could ever convince her to move.
Almost nothing.
“Hey Ko.” Kanji’s voice shot Kotone’s eyes open, the large boy’s shadow looming over her as he looked down at where she was sunbathing. “Rise and I were goin’ for a walk down the beach. You wanna come with?”
“Down the beach? With Riri?” Kotone blinked, sitting up and glancing past the larger boy. Rise was standing a little ways away, looking out at sea and bouncing on the balls of her feet the way she did whenever she was nervous. Kotone noticed that she hadn’t seemed at ease ever since they’d gotten to the beach. Probably something to do with bad memories from swimsuit commercials or something, which was a shame since she really did look pretty cute in that one-piece . “Sure, let’s go!”
A walk down the beach to get her mind off things was probably exactly what Rise needed right now!
“Alright, lets-“ Kanji was cut off as Kotone sprang to her feet, already making her way over to Rise. “Whoah!”
“Hey Riri!” Kotone grinned as she took the other girl’s hand. “Of course I’ll come with you!”
“I-“ Rise froze. Like, stock-still, block of ice, froze. She was midway through a bounce when she did, so she just stood there as if she were in suspended animation, staring at Kotone with her mouth ajar. “I-“
“Are you alright Riri?” Kotone blinked, uncertain. Rise had been acting even weirder around her since the festival, and she still wasn’t sure what to make of it. Hesitantly, she began to pull her hand back. “If I crossed the line again, you can-“
“No!” Rise’s grip on her hand tightened all of a sudden, her body seemingly unlocking as she blushed with embarrassment. “No, I- sorry Koshi. You’re fine. You’re totally fine. This is on me.”
“On you?” Kotone blinked, tilting her head. “Riri, what’s wrong?”
“I’ll...” Rise glanced towards Kanji, who was standing a little ways away. The boy simply shrugged. “… I’ll explain soon. Just, I think it’d be better if we went for a walk first, okay?”
“…alright, sure.” Kotone smiled, holding Rise’s hand gently and turning down the beach. “Let’s go then!”
And off they went.
Shichiri Beach was nestled in a small indent of the coast where it ran alongside the road, leading to a gentle curve that hugged the water even after the road turned inland. Here, away from the publicly maintained concrete steps and aging vending machines of the public access, the shore was slightly rougher and soon enough the trio found themselves swerving around piles of driftwood and long abandoned garbage as the forest loomed over the shore beside them. The beach terminated at a small promontory that bled into cliffside beyond, the sand giving way to tougher rocks and slippery slopes that the three of weren’t quite comfortable traversing on their own. Instead, they elected to double back a bit and sit down where the beach met the trees, enjoying the gentle shade after a long day out in the sun.
And the whole time, Rise refused to let go of Kotone’s hand for some reason.
“Thanks for coming, Koshi.” Rise smiled nervously as she and Kanji sat on either side of their friend. For some reason, however, Kanji was sitting a little ways farther away than he needed to. “I’m really sorry to disturb your sunbathing.”
“Are you kidding?” Kotone grinned. “I’d rather spend time hanging out with my friends than just lying there. This is way better.”
“Really?” Rise blinked. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, a hundred percent!” Kotone pumped her free fist, nodding assuredly. “So what was it you wanted to tell me about?”
“Oh right. That.” Rise’s eyes widened, something like fear flashing behind her expression. “Well uh...”
“Yeah?” Kotone just smiled, encouraging. “Whatever’s going on Riri, you can tell me. We’re always here for you, right?”
“Right.” Kanji nodded as Kotone glanced over at him, looking for support. “You got this Rise, I believe in ya’ man.”
“Right. Okay, so, um.” Rise cleared her throat, the distant sun above prompting her to sweat bullets. “Ever since I stopped being an idol, I’ve been looking for something. Or, someone? Someone and something, I guess. For a while I thought maybe Yu had it, or was it, but now I-I think I’m realizing you have it. Are it. Something, sorry Koshi, the words are hard right now.”
“It’s okay, you can take your time.” Kotone squeezed her friend’s hand, trying to be as comforting as possible. “Just breathe, alright Riri? Look at me and breathe.”
“I…” Rise focused in on Kotone’s face, seeking comfort. Evidently, however, she found something else since her gaze quickly darted away, searching for some kind of escape. She found one in Kanji, locking eyes with the boy for a brief moment. “H-hey Koshi, could we maybe have an intermission?”
“An intermission?” Kotone blinked. “What do you mean an intermission?”
“Like a show, right?” Rise pulled away from the other girl, clearing her throat nervously and gesturing emphatically at Kanji. “I need a quick break, a talk with my manager, y’know?”
“Your manager?” Kotone glanced over her shoulder at Kanji, perplexed. “Since when are you her manager?”
“Uh, just now I guess?” Kanji scratched his head. “Rise, dude, are you su-“
“Yep!” Rise nearly pushed Kotone to her feet, her nerves clearly getting to her as she continued to beam bright red. “Sorry Koshi, just, um, give us a few minutes, alright?”
“…alright Riri.” Kotone shrugged, smiling sympathetically and picking her way past Kanji towards the forest behind them all. “I think I saw a path back there anyways, I kinda wanted to check it out. Just yell once you’re ready, alright?”
“Of course!” Rise nodded emphatically (too emphatically), waiting until Kotone was out of sight before sinking her face into her hands. “Shit!”
“Wow man, I hate to say it…” Kanji scratched his head, frowning. “But you’re kinda the worst at this dude.”
“Hey, like you’re any better with Detective Shirogane!” Rise groaned, pouting as she pulled her legs up and hugged them tight to her chest. “This is harder than it looks!”
“Hey, uncalled for!” Kanji scowled, turning away from her and crossing his arms. “Plus, that’s totally different!”
“Nuh-uh! We’re all in the same boat here Bakanji!” Rise followed his lead, crossing her arms in front of her legs unhappily. “If you’d told me that Chie would be the closest out of us to asking people out, I would have thought you were crazy.”
“Nah dude, you’re right there.” Kanji shook his head, turning to look at Rise once more. “You just gotta make it over that last hurdle right?”
“Right.” Rise groaned, releasing her legs and laying back against her palms. “Ugh, Risette could do this so easily! She’d just go up to her and say ‘Hey there cutie, you make my world go around~’ or something. That’d be so much simpler.”
“Well, yeah.” Kanji frowned. “But Risette wouldn’t have the guts to try somethin’ like this in the first place.”
“Yeahhhh…” Rise sighed, exhaling for a long moment before nodding determinedly. “Alright. No more worrying about this. I can do it!”
“Hell yeah dude.” Kanji matched her nod before turning his head and yelling in the direction Kotone had gone. “Yo, Ko! We’re good!”
There was no response.
“…Koshi?”
No response again.
The two looked at each other, concern flashing in their eyes. The pair jumped to their feet, going to look for their friend as soon as they could.
Fortunately, they found Kotone pretty quickly.
Unfortunately, they found her having weird tree visions, and the whole idea of asking her out sort of went out the window with that in the mix, so what can you do really?
Friday, September 2nd 2011.
The Day Kotone is Awesome
Kotone and Rise were sitting outside Souzai Daigaku, eating fsteak skewers, when Kotone caught sight of Yukiko and Chie walking down the street together and holding hands. Now, Kotone wasn’t one to pry (okay, mostly wasn’t one to pry), but she knew a happy couple when she saw one. If it weren’t for the huge smiles plastered on both their faces, then all the smudged lipstick on Chie’s cheeks was probably a good sign. Kotone grinned, pumping her fist.
“Mission accomplished.” She turned to Rise, winking. “See Riri, I’m an awesome matchmaker! I can tell when two people have chemistry, easy peasy.”
For some reason, that caused Rise to squawk and choke on her fsteak skewer, which proved to be a much more important distraction than whatever her response would have been to that.
Thursday, September 8th 2011.
The Day of the Hotel Room
The room she was sharing with Rise for their trip to Tatsumi Port Island was on the second floor. Well, technically the room she was supposed to be sharing with Rise was on the first floor, but the vibes she’d gotten stepping inside it were so distinctly and utterly rancid, that Yosuke and Yu had been kind enough to swap places with them. Not that this second floor was much better, but at least it didn’t make her want to throw up.
No, for some reason it was Rise who was freaking out as soon as the two stepped into the room and saw the giant heart shaped bed, the ‘mood lighting’ on the wall, and the giant funhouse size mirror overlooking it all.
“Do you want me to get you some water Riri?” Kotone swallowed back her own discomfort at the state of the room as she smiled at her friend, whose face was somehow brighter than the covers of the bed she refused to sit on. “You seem stressed.”
“I’m not stressed!” Rise’s voice cracked, indignation and nervousness peaking all at once. “I’m fine!”
“Riri…” Kotone frowned, sitting on the bed and patting the spot beside her. “You know you can tell me anything, right? If something’s bothering you, I’m happy to listen.”
“I know Koshi, that’s why I- I-“ Rise winced, her whole face contorting before she finally gave in and sat down next to her friend and put her head in her hands. “I don’t know what to dooooooooooooooooooooo!”
“Okay, um…” Kotone hesitate for a moment, patting her friend on the back. Rise flinched at the contact for a moment, before electing to lean closer to Kotone as she shook her head hopelessly. “Start from the beginning, alright?”
“Okay. I’ll try to do that.” Rise took a deep breath, still bright as a tomato as she pulled her head out of her hands. For some reason, she still wasn’t looking at Kotone. “I… I have a crush, Koshi.”
“A crush?” Kotone blinked. Wait, that was what this was about? “On who?”
“That-“ Rise made a distinct squeaking noise, shaking her head emphatically. “I don’t want to say, okay?”
“Alright…” Kotone frowned. This wasn’t really like Rise at all. Usually she was bursting at the seams to tell Kotone everything about her life, but not with this. Not recently. “Do you wanna describe them then?”
“I… I guess I can do that.” Rise slowly sat up, her pigtails bouncing over her shoulders as she swallowed nervously. “So um… she’s a girl. A really cute girl.”
“Ooooo, I love cute girls!” Kotone grinned, leaning closer; an act which of course only made Rise squeak again and blush deeper red. “Tell me about her!”
“W-well um, we haven’t known each other that long, but she’s always been there for me since we have.” Rise bounced nervously on the bed, her fingers tapping manic patterns against her skin as she refused to look Kotone in the eye. “And she’s cute, and kind, and funny, and… oh Koshi, I just can’t take it anymore!”
“Whoah, slow down!” Kotone reached a hand over to steady her friend, which was nearly enough to make Rise explode on the spot. “It’ll be okay, alright? You’ll be okay. I’m sure she’ll like you back, you’re awesome Riri! I’ll even help you ask her out if you want, I’m a great matchmaker!”
“You can’t do that you airhead, it’s you! I have a crush on you!” Rise stamped her foot, only to freeze in place as Kotone’s eyes widened in shock. “I- I mean um- I.. uh-“
“Me?” Kotone pointed at herself incredulously, seemingly unable to process the former idol’s words. “You… you have a crush on me?”
“Of course I do!” Rise huffed, throwing her hands up fruitlessly. “You’re like, the cutest, coolest, kindest girl I know! How can I not? It’s not fair Koshi, it’s not fair!”
“But- wh- you-“ Kotone just continued to stare, slack-jawed as she tried to process the words coming out of her friend’s mouth. “Me? You have a crush on me?”
“I do!” Rise pouted slouching over. “And it’s dumb, and stupid, because you’re my best friend and I don’t want to ruin that, but you’re just so- God, you’re so cute, and kissable, and I just want to hug you, and hold you, and walk around telling everyone that you’re my girlfriend and-“
Rise was cut off as Kotone suddenly lurched forth, closing the distance between them in a second. She squeaked as she stared into Kotone’s brilliant crimson eyes, her whole body suddenly coursing with electricity as her brain bluescreened. What was she doing, was she okay, what was going on, was kotone doing what she thought she was doing, was this real, no it couldn’t be, no it was insane, this wasn’t happening, this was happening, oh GOD this was happening, kotone was going to kiss her, but she wouldn’t, would she, Rise didn’t know, didn’t know, didn’t kn-
And then Kotone finished closing the distance, their lips met, and the world exploded on the spot.
“S-sorry!” Kotone gasped, leaning away with a deep blush on her face. “That- that was probably too sudden, but Yosuke that’s what you’re supposed to do if-“
This time Kotone couldn’t finish before Rise all but pounced on her, their lips locking once again as Rise squealed in delight. It was a much longer kiss this time, their arms wrapping around one another in their closeness as Rise continued to vibrate in excitement and her heart soared.
“Oh my God.” Rise was the one to pull back this time, her heart pounding in her chest like a drum. “Oh my God.”
“You’re a really good kisser Riri!” Kotone grinned, Rise’s lipstick staining the edges of her mouth. “We should do that again soon!”
“Wh- hahah!” Rise squeed in delight, jumping to her feet and running around the room in excitement. “Did that really just happen? Oh wow, that really just happened!”
“Yep!” Kotone stood up too, “So uh… does this make us girlfriends?”
“Girlfriends?” Rise froze, her eyes widening with surprise. Girlfriends. Holy shit, girlfriends. She… she had a girlfriend. “I- we’re girlfriends. We’re girlfriends!”
All Rise could really do after that was throw herself into her new girlfriend’s arms, and laugh.
Because it was perfect.
Kotone was perfect.