Chapter Text
Coffee brown eyes stare back at him, slightly pinched in the corners by flushed cheeks. Her smile enveloped in the confines of his wallet, and has been for the past two years. Naoto Shirogane— now seventeen— waits for the train back to his apartment. He still has about five minutes to spare, his two options to pass the time are A, mindlessly scrolling on his phone, or B, observing his surroundings. He picks the latter, it seems more productive.
Looking around the train station, there are a crowd of people at the station. The barrier separates the tracks from the platform— originally implemented due to some safety concerns, accompanied by small screens saying when the next trains are and which route they follow. Thick pillars help support the floor above the passengers, adorned by the occasional directory signs pointing to different exits in the maze deemed a train station. Tokyo is nothing like Inaba, nobody knows him here. He's no longer the dashing, mysterious detective prince; he's just another passing face. Not that he minds, Naoto likes his privacy.
There are also advertisements plastered on walls and commercials playing on various large screens, all begging for the attention of onlookers. None of them catch his attention though, none of them except one. A teenage girl with wavy copper hair, and familiar brown eyes smiles at him, she's holding a can of some diet soda in her hand while blabbing about the product. That girl is also the same girl in his wallet, who is none other than popular idol, Rise Kujikawa, stage name: Risette.
Naoto rips his gaze from the girl, and tries to focus on something— anything else. He struggles at this, or maybe he just doesn't try at all; her voice bleeds into his ear, saying the company's corny tune, and he just lets it. Why wouldn’t he? He willingly listens to her songs, late at night when he's feeling particularly lonely. The voice she speaks in is at least half an octave higher than her normal speaking voice, she changes her pitch to appeal to her audience more.
The navy haired boy lets out a heavy sigh, and stuffs his hands into the pockets of his coat. He can never escape her, can he? He acts like it's something not in his control, but he purposefully surrounds himself with her. He says he moved to Tokyo for his case, but he moved so he'd be closer to her. Even his case is connected to her, something to do with shady practices in the entertainment industry and the disappearance of certain public figures— including a handful of idols. He totally picked it up because it was the only case offered to him, and not because he was worried she was one of the missing people. Definitely not.
The subway rushes to the station as the speakers announce his train is here, cutting off his stream of thought. He's almost grateful he has an excuse to leave, no more reminders of Rise. He finds being on the train is the only socially acceptable time to simply exist, and do nothing else. Which he appreciates. Naoto holds onto a metal bar, and stares out the window as he waits for his stop.
The detective pushes past other passengers as he exits the train. Even if he likes taking public transport, he will forever hate the claustrophobic atmosphere during rush hour. Hence why he often works over time to avoid it, but today was not one of those days; Yu is waiting at home for him. Yu visits Tokyo from time to time— not as much as Inaba— but frequently enough. He often stays at Naoto’s apartment to save money, and to ‘make him feel less isolated’ (Naoto thinks Yu is exaggerating, Yu thinks Naoto is a workaholic hermit, which honestly isn't far from the truth).
Rain pours down as Naoto exits the train station. Good thing Naoto brought an umbrella; he’s always prepared— he’d feel paranoid if he wasn’t. The umbrella once belonged to Rise, but she forgot it at his place and never bothered to retrieve it. No matter how many times he tried to give it back or remind her to pick it up, she would either forget or brush it off and tell him she had a new one. She never did get a new one, so he always shared the umbrella with her. She’s smart, he knows all the tricks and games she plays, yet he turns a blind eye to it. He’s a fool when it comes to her, forever and always.
The droplets hitting the umbrella annoys him, it's like someone’s throwing pebbles at his skull. He hates the rain, unless it was that time Rise dragged him through the empty streets to dance— okay Naoto, no more Rise, focus on something else. He tries to think about something else, like what Yu may have bought for dinner, or maybe he made something? Either option is fine; he isn’t picky with his food, unless it's inedible. Unless Yu is expecting him to bring dinner— he should check in with Yu then. He pulls out his phone, scrolling through his contacts before the gray haired boy’s (man’s? Are 19 year olds considered men?) contact image came into view. Clicking the call button and waiting for the other boy to pick up, which only took a few rings.
“Hello?”
“Ah- hey, Yu. Just wanted to clear up who’s responsible for dinner tonight?” Naoto’s voice has deepened in the past year-ish, it’s no longer high and boyish as it was two years ago. He wonders if she’ll prefer his more deep and mature voice, it makes it sound like he actually went through puberty, even if it wasn’t authentic.
“All cool, I just finished frying some fish. Just waitin’ for the rice to finish cooking. Are you coming home soon?” Yu asked. Can he not hear the rain over the phone? Maybe he’s just double checking.
“Mhm, I should be back in…” Naoto trailed off, taking in his surroundings for a moment. “5 minutes, give or take?”
Yu replied with a small sound of acknowledgement at Naoto’s response. “Cool, I’ll see you then?”
“Yup.” Naoto then ended the call, he's always awkward on the phone. He has no clue when it’s his turn to talk, sometimes he interrupts the other person by accident. At least he can go home, today was full of deadends and cryptic clues, but he can go home to see his friend, and chat while they eat dinner; reminding him that not all is bad.
The dining room is dimly lit, the two sit at the table as they eat. Yu usually did all the talking, Naoto occasionally interjecting with his own thoughts. When Naoto does talk, he’s either talking about his case (which gets stale quickly), or ranting about the same four societal issues he is fixated on. It was cool the first time, but now? Not so much. On very rare occasions when Naoto is extra paranoid he’ll talk about Rise, it’s honestly just a string of incomprehensible sentences. It’s kind of uncomfortable to listen to, but Yu is a good friend, and puts up with it. Today, Yu is talking about some random party, and how Naoto should go. This is probably the sixth time he’s talked about this topic, but every time he has had something new to say.
“A bunch of idols will be at the party! Maybe you can go and talk to them? Not for your case of course, you’re not there for work,” Yu says enthusiastically, this catches Naoto’s attention. Idols… Rise’s an idol, will she be there? A mixture of dread and excitement pools in his chest at the idea, does he even want to see her? Will she even notice him? What would they even talk about— his thoughts are quickly cut off by Yu’s voice. “So? Will you go? The party’s tomorrow, and I know you have the day off.”
Naoto blinks, stumbling over his words. “Ah– uhm, yeah. Sure-!”
…
Why the fuck did he say yes?! Is he stupid? Great, he can’t even change his mind anymore because he’s already agreed and it’s literally tomorrow. At least he can get some clues from the idols there, and possibly see Rise. He’s just purposefully screwing himself over at this point.
“Seriously? Awesome! It’s okay I’ll be there as your guiding light,” Yu jokes, smiling. At least Yu is happy. At least someone is happy, even if it’s not him. Yu stands up, taking his empty dishes to the sink to clean. Naoto finished a couple minutes ago, Yu eats slower since he’s talking so much. He just nods in response, and quietly excuses himself to his room.
Naoto lies in bed, staring at the ceiling. He’s not even tired, well he was, but now he can’t stop mulling over the party. Why would he agree to that? What’s wrong with him? Is he really that desperate to see her? Even after all these years, he still folds so easily at the mention of her. God, he’s such a mess. Does she become a mess at the mere mention of him as well? Or is she over him? If so, when? What did he do to make her leave him like that? Is that really that easy to— no, Naoto, breathe. Don’t spiral, it’s not worth your time.
…
He’s going to a party, presumably with people his age. There will probably be alcohol, drugs, possibly sex, and other miscellaneous things he can’t bother to think about. God, he’s going to stick out like a sore thumb just by standing around. What is he even going to wear? He can't borrow Yu’s clothes. Yu is a good nine inches taller than him, he’ll drown in them. Anything in his wardrobe is too formal for this kind of party… maybe he can try and dig for some hand me downs from his father his grandpa gave to him awhile back, that seems promising? But will those fit him? How tall was his father? Surely not as short as him. Yes, he's grown in the past year, but not by much. Fuck. This is what he gets for being short. All he can do now is try and get some sleep, even if further dwelling is the more favored option.