Monday, 4/28/12, Yasogami High School, Late Afternoon

"And that's when the Pharaoh got so mad that he-"

*RINNNGGGGGG*

"Aw, shoot! Well, don't forget that your test results are posted up in the hall outside. No retakes, you got what you got! Remember, denial isn't just a river in Egypt! Ha ha, goodbye!"

Ms. Tofue hurriedly left the room, holding onto her headdress as she passed through the door. Rise sighed in relief; she had been telling a story about a Pharaoh in Egypt for so long that she had forgotten to give the pop quiz that was scheduled for that day. There was at least one upside to her incessant yammering about ancient Egypt.

Quickly, Rise leapt up to her feet, her checkered skirt bouncing as she grabbed her book bag and almost leapt out of the room. She was eager to see her score; the test they had taken was the one she had studied for with Naoto, and Rise wanted to see if the studying had paid off. It didn't feel like it when she took the test, so she was cautiously optimistic at best.

Besides that, she was extremely anxious about seeing Naoto, as well. She couldn't get a hold of her the whole weekend, and she was starting to get even more worried. If Rise was right, and Naoto was truly upset with her, then there was no time to waste. She patted the front of her bag, feeling the bulky mass of the special weapon she had managed to cram in there. If that didn't work, she hoped that it would at least remind Naoto of how special she was to RIse. Moving quick to avoid Kanji, who she could hear give a mild "wait up!" as she stepped out the door.

In the main hall of the 2nd floor, many students were crowding around the bulletin board adjacent to the stairs. Steeling herself, Rise marched toward the massive throng and attempted to make her way closer to the board so she could see.

Having been in more of a support role during the Investigation Team's adventures in the TV World, Rise was not exactly a physical specimen. Her dainty figure was well suited for modelling, but was fairly ineffective when it came to shoving her way through anxious and wild students who all wanted to see their test score. Nevertheless, she pressed onward, making use of her elbows and hips to shove people out of the way.

After what felt like a deep ocean dive, Rise finally emerged, unscathed, at the front of the board. Smiling, she quickly began scanning the paper that was taped there, looking for her name. A shout from the back of the mob broke her concentration.

"'Ey pigtails! Down in front!"

Rolling her eyes, she cast a wicked glance behind her, not about to be heckled after her endeavor.

"Pipe down, plebe!"

She made a point to flick her red ponytails, causing some laughter and groans from her not so adoring public. After a minute, she found "Kujikawa, Rise" on the paper. With a gulp, she looked to the right to see her score.

...

87%. B+.

"Wooo hooo!" she yelped, leaping for joy and landing with one foot popped up cutely. Of course, because she was Risette, she got a smattering of applause from the student mass. She mock curtsied before looking back and seeing "Shirogane, Naoto" on the paper.

100%. Of course, she thought, not surprising in the least. Naoto was top in the class in almost anything she participated in, even art. She had explained to Rise that a detective must know how to sketch a perp even with only a minor glance, and do it well enough that any normal citizen could identify them. Sure enough, Naoto was an exceptional artist, doodling an accurate picture of Rise not more than 10 minutes after she had asked.

Almost as if the two were psychically connected, Rise turned to see the Detective Prince slowly walking up the hall. As usual, she looked effortlessly cool, her head down and a hand in her pocket, her school bag tightly clenched in the other. Also like usual, it was impossible to tell what kind of mood she was in thanks to her extremely blank face. Settling for trying a charm offensive, Rise quickly walked over to her friend.

"Hey, Naoto!" she cooed, idling up to the smaller girl and having to awkwardly start walking again as Naoto did not stop. Uh oh. The detective maintained her staring contest with the floor.

"Good afternoon, Rise-san," she muttered, her eyes downcast underneath her hat. She finally stopped near the school stairwell to address her friend. Rise could see through her body language that things hadn't appeared to improve at all since Friday.

"I was texting you, like, all weekend. Are you, uh, okay?" Rise tried to get Naoto to look at her, but was having difficulty meeting her eyes. Not good.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Naoto urged sternly, shaking off Rise's concerns. The redhead's resolve dipped a little, seeing that her friend was so blatantly lying.

"Ohh-kay," Rise hummed, nervously biting her lip. Perhaps she needed to break the ice a little before getting into any heavy stuff. Looking over toward the bulletin board, she found an excuse. "Did you wanna see your score?"

"I have a feeling I did well," Naoto responded, again looking very blasé about the whole encounter.

"Oh...well you were right! Spoiler alert: you got a perfect score," Rise revealed, batting her eyes and smiling big, trying to provoke some reaction out of her quiet companion. Nothing.

"Mm."

A little crestfallen, Rise fell silent. She had been pretty sure before, but now it was definite: something was really wrong. Naoto looked like she wanted to be anywhere else other than right there next to her. If that was the case, Rise figured she better go for the coup de gras while she still had a chance.

"Um, Naoto, can I talk to you? I-I mean, somewhere private?" she asked nervously, clutching the front of her bag where her secret weapon was, as if it would grant her the strength to soldier on.

"Rise-san..." she heard Naoto start saying. She turned a listening ear toward her.

"I need to speak with you as well," Naoto confessed, finally turning her eyes to her taller friend. Rise noticed that her usual confident stare seemed very lifeless and flat, which was kind of scary to see.

"O-oh, good!" Rise answered, not expecting that answer given the look in Naoto's eyes. But what did she want to talk about?

"I...I am afraid I must confess something to you...something that I feel you deserve to know," she began gravely. Rise grew anxious, feeling that Naoto was gearing up to talk about what was on her mind

Before she could say something else, the two heard a small, familiar commotion coming from the stairs that lead up to the 3rd floor. They both turned to look.

"I can't believe I got a C! I studied sooooo hard!"

"Yeah, studied bad!"

"Shut up, Yosuke! You didn't do any better!"

"At least I can be honest and say I didn't study."

"That's not somethin' to brag about!"

Rise sighed, but couldn't help the smile in the corner of her mouth. The familiar banter of Chie and Yosuke was always a welcoming sign of normalcy in their otherwise hectic lives. Dragging behind the squabbling pair was Yukiko, gently pushing some loose hair out of her eyes as she balanced her bookbag in her other hand. Rise gave Naoto a look that signaled she wanted to greet the group, and Naoto nodded her approval.

"Howdy, guys! Talking about the test?" Rise greeted, which got a grumble or two from Yosuke and Chie. Rise hoped that this would just be a quick stop and chat, especially since Naoto was once again so close to confessing something personal. She noticed Yukiko chose to stay behind on the last step while Chie and Yosuke stepped closer to them.

"You heard that? Grrr...I kinda wish I didn't miss that study day you guys had," Chie huffed, folding her arms across her standard green athletic jacket.

"Yep, you missed out! We were actually gonna head off somewhere to celebrate. High marks only," Rise boasted, putting an arm around Naoto in an attempt to show some solidarity. Naoto quickly brushed off the idol's touch, looking embarrassed and uncomfortable. Ouch. Rise wasn't able to hide the frown that twisted onto her face.

"Well of course! That little genius is always getting the best scores," Yosuke moaned, fiddling with the large on-ear headphones around his neck. Even Yosuke's annoying put-downs couldn't get the slightest hint of a reaction from Naoto. Rise wasn't the only one to notice.

"Sheesh, I'd be stoked if I got a good score on a big test! You feelin' okay, Naoto-kun? Maybe she and Yukiko caught something, they both look a little rough. Come to think of it, so do you, Rise-chan. What's goin' on?" Chie commented, swinging around to look at Yukiko, who looked to be in a similar state of unpleasantness.

"Oh I think I know, I read about it in a magazine once. Apparently, depression is a side effect of the 'pressures of being beautiful'. Ouch!" Yosuke groaned as Chie ripped the book bag out of his hand and hit him in the side with it.

Yukiko gave an uneasy smile, which wasn't a good sign for her, either; she probably would have been laughing hysterically at their antics if everything was normal. As always, she had a beautiful red cardigan over the top of her black sailor shirt and a pair of leggings that matched her dark hair and accentuated the checkered skirt.

"I-I'm fine, Chie. Really! Maybe it's the pollen..." she trailed off, looking melancholy. Yukiko didn't have much else to say and so she just stood awkwardly, clutching her book bag tightly.

"She's been like this all day, too. I hate getting sick, so I'm right with there with ya, Yukiko!" Chie spat, stepping over to her friend with her hands on her hips in a semi aggressive manner. Chie didn't mean to, but Rise noticed that she almost always said and did everything with 100% of her possible energy. Even the simple act of commenting on an inane subject could make her a little intimidating.

Yukiko went to say something, but caught eyes with Naoto and quickly looked away, blushing furiously. Rise looked back at Naoto, who was having a similar reaction. What was that about?

She was about to bid her older friends goodbye so she could finally get to the bottom of what was going on when a tornado of sound and fury assaulted the eardrums of everyone in the hallway.

"God dammit, man! I MEAN C'MON!"

The entire group looked over, cringing as they realized that loud and aggravated voice could only belong to one person. Sure enough, leering over the top of the group of students still at the bulletin board was Kanji, hands in his pockets and stomping the ground. As usual, he wore his black Yasogami jacket around his shoulders, a long sleeved shirt with a skull on it, telling everyone who saw him all they needed to know. His hair, dyed an intense blonde, was greased back and intimidating, accenting the piercings on his ears and nose. Of course, as Rise had come to find out, he had quite the soft inside, but his outside was still loud and scary.

Sulking, he made his way over to the group, fire in his eyes. "What's the point of studyin' fer these damn things if I can't even get half of it right!? 'S gotta be rigged or somethin'..."

Yosuke, who preyed on irritability, immediately leapt into the fray. "Dude, I didn't even study and I did better than half credit! And this is the hard stuff, not that easy peasy 2nd year crap!" he teased, winking as he did.

Kanji looked like he was going to have a conniption fit. "'Ey, lay off man! Just cuz you can fake yer way through a test doesn't make you a badass or nothin'!"

Even in her sour mood, Rise couldn't help but giggle, eternally amused by Kanji's frequent, passionate tantrums. He usually never meant the things he said, so it was always fun to see him get worked up.

"Okay, okay!" Yosuke yelped, leaping back defensively, "No need to get all edgy!"

"Well he wouldn't if you would just zip it for once, Yosuke," Chie added, never missing an opportunity to clown on Yosuke, "Besides, you barely passed! Congrats, you have four brain cells instead of two!"

"Hey..." Kanji mumbled halfheartedly, drowned out over the laughter of Chie and Rise at an embarrassed Yosuke.

"Oh c'mon, I deserve more credit than that! Man, if Yu was here he'd talk some sense into you guys," he said flippantly. Unintentionally, this brought a sort of sad air that took the wind out of the sails of the team. Everyone looked a little lost for words, until Chie decided to pep up the mood.

"Well, he will be soon! Friday's the big day!" she announced, which earned a whoop and cheer from Yosuke and Kanji. Rise smiled, but Yukiko and Naoto remained, still, oddly quiet.

"Ooohhh yeah, Yu-Senpai is back! I'll bet he can't wait to leave that crummy city school for a week," Kanji said, his mood swinging instantly.

"Yeah, this may be the only case of someone wanting to come back to the sticks," Yosuke agreed, casually resting his hands behind his head. Chie rolled her eyes.

"Puh-lease, like you're still salty about livin' here," she said while giving Yosuke a punch to the arm. Yosuke's tiny "oowww..." drew a laugh from everyone except Naoto and Yukiko again.

"'Ey, Naoto-kun you're like...pumped, too, right?" Kanji asked awkwardly, not directly looking her in the eye. Rise had always noticed (and supported) Kanji's rather obvious feelings toward Naoto, but was pretty sure Naoto herself was one hundred percent oblivious. Nevertheless, it was fun to tease him about it, and she hoped it might ease the tension that was clearly simmering between her and Naoto.

"Aw, that's so thoughtful of you to ask, Kanji! Isn't that thoughtful, Naoto?" she cooed, laughing as Kanji turned red and started cursing to himself. Yosuke cracked up as well, fully aware of what Rise meant.

"S-shuddup! I'm askin' her!" he roared with a squeaky tone. Naoto only meekly raised her head up.

"U-um, yes, I, too, am happy that Narukami-senpai will be visiting us," she uttered quickly before looking at the floor again. Mission failed. Rise let out a little sigh before turning toward the stairs down to the first level.

"Well, Naoto and I were gonna hang out, so...later, everybody," Rise announced, earning waves and grunts of goodbye from everyone else, which she and Naoto reciprocated.

"Oh, hey, Rise-chan!" Rise heard Chie ask as she started down the first step.

"What's up?" she asked, turning back around to face the spunky third year.

"We're plannin' on surprising Yu-kun with a party at his Uncle's place on Friday. You down to help us get ready for it?" Chie asked, winking cheekily.

Rise smiled, her feelings for Yu prompting her to speak from her heart. "I'd love to, but to be honest, I'll probably just be waiting at the train station all day instead! After all, if anyone gets the first hug, it's gonna be me!"

This earned a smattering of laughter and resounding, almost thundering silence from Naoto and Yukiko. In fact, innocuous as the statement was, Yukiko's face began to twist from its blank slate into a sort of grimace.

"C'mon, he's not even back yet! Down, girl, down!" Chie laughed, putting her hands up and talking to Rise like she was a caged dog in heat. Amongst the all the chuckles, a loud clatter arose from the sound of a book bag being dropped behind them.

Everyone turned and saw Yukiko, hands now white-knuckle clenched, her whole torso shaking.

"T-that's enough! Does everyone know about this but me!?" She roared, chest heaving like she had been holding her breath up to the breaking point.

Rise gasped in surprise, and the rest of the group was equally astonished. Chie stepped forward first. "Y-Yukiko, what're you talkin'-"

"You," Yukiko hissed, dramatically pointing an elegant finger at Rise, "You don't need to gloat! You've already taken him for yourself, so just leave it alone!" Rise's pupils shrunk, and she felt her heart speed up like a treadmill. She knew. She knew. But...how? Why? In the confusion, Rise felt her eyes start to flutter and tears were not far behind. Before anyone could say anything, Naoto stepped up, suddenly alert.

"Y-Yukiko-senpai, please! This is not the time for-"

"D-don't you say anything else Naoto-kun! You're just as guilty," the heiress continued to rave, turning back to Rise, "How could you keep this from me!? How could all of you keep this from me?"

As Rise struggled to make any noise come out of her throat, Kanji leapt into the fray.

"What's gotten into ya, senpai? Don't yell at Naoto and Rise like that, they didn't do nothin'!" he hissed, always ready to defend the Detective Prince in any way he could.

"Yeah, what the hell's going on!?" Yosuke asked, his previously joke-y tone evaporated in favor of a deeply concerned one.

Yukiko was close to breaking down herself, trembling as Chie went and grabbed a hold of her friend's shoulders. "Just calm down, Yukiko! No one knows what you're talkin' about! What didn't we tell you?"

Yukiko wasn't finished. With tears swimming in her eyes, she gave one last icy glance at the starlet. "You've always made your intentions clear, so stop throwing it in my face! It's...just c-cruel...". She couldn't even finish her sentence before a wave of sobs overwhelmed her, forcing the heiress to put her hands to her face. By now, the crowd around the bulletin board was much more interested in the kerfuffle near the stairs and they had subtly shifted that way, blocking the downstairs exit.

"Woah, Risette against Amagi? Talk about a deathmatch," Rise heard a male student whimper, almost as if he was watching a kaiju battle instead of a bitter argument.

"I got 1000 yen on Amagi-senpai, any takers?" shouted a girl, who immediately began shaking hands and making deals with the crowd before Rise could finally take no more. She too began to cry, feeling the sting of her mascara as it burned her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

"Will someone please explain what's happening!?" Yosuke groaned, stepping closer to the group.

"Yeah, I don't get it, neither. Why's everyone cryin'? Who died?" Kanji asked, rubbing the back of his blonde hair.

Yukiko looked up, confusion in her sad eyes. "You...you mean you don't know either?" she whimpered as Chie attempted to soothe her.

"No! That's what we're trying to say!" Chie said, exasperated. Yukiko sniffled before going to speak, but it was Naoto that cut her off as she pushed her way to the center of everyone.

"Y-you don't have to say anything, Yukiko-senpai! It's not your fault...i-it's mine" Naoto began, her voice shaky and high, "The truth is, Rise-san and Narukami-senpai are...involved. In a relationship. I only learned of it recently, and I told Yukiko-senpai yesterday, but I never meant-"

Rise looked up, stunned at what Naoto had done. All of a sudden, she felt her vision going a little blurry. Was this actually happening?

"N-Naoto...how could you!?" Rise choked, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. Naoto refused to look toward her, eyes cast down in shame.

"Wait, huh? Y-you sure!? I mean...damn," Yosuke muttered, rubbing the back of his head anxiously.

Chie began to slowly rub her demoralized best friend's shoulder. "Yukiko..." she breathed, her face twisted, as if she was experiencing Yukiko's pain through osmosis.

Kanji looked a little less than phased. Thumbing