Chase The Truth

Chapter 66: A Moment on the Hill

Begin!

~Normal POV

1/14 - Saturday

The days passed quite peacefully. Aside from an annoying few days where Yu was bedridden with a cold, shortly after the new year started, everything was very relaxed. He spent his time leisurely, since there was no more trouble to worry about; including setting aside time for dates with Rise. The two had even spent the first day of the new year together for one such date to make wishes at the shrine and then spent the rest of the day together. That was a great day. Though, they hadn't tried to have another "sleepover" since Christmas Eve. Much to their dismay, it didn't look like they were going to get another chance yet. Dojima and Nanako were going to officially be let out of the hospital on the 20th. So there wouldn't be any more "home alone time" for Yu after that. But Rise seemed fine with it being on hold for now.

The only real problem that had occurred lately was that Marie had disappeared from the Velvet Room; without explanation. Yu asked Margaret to track her down for him. If she had business to do, that was fine, but he wasn't in the habit of losing his friends without reason. He wanted to know what was wrong at least. Marie may have been blunt, and rather rude on multiple occasions, but she had gotten nicer over time. He felt much more comfortable calling her his friend now; and the rest of the team liked her too. She seemed like she finally enjoyed their company as well. But until Margaret got back to him with an update, there was nothing he could do but wait on that.

Today, Rise asked to meet up somewhere after school. She had something important to tell him. Of course he accepted right away. He had a feeling he knew what it would be. The others had asked him for similar meetings about some favors, or personal issues they felt comfortable confiding in him. He was always happy to help. Though he noticed that aside from these individual moments, Kanji and Naoto were both mysteriously busy after school now. He saw them in town a few times. They'd been spending a lot of time together since Christmas. Best not to pry, Yu thought, as he and Rise left school together.

She took him out to the hill overlooking the town. It was rather cold today, and there was a nice blanket of snow covering the ground, but the place was still pretty. And even more so with Rise here. The two stopped at the wooden railing to look at the view below.

"Was it ok to come out today...?" Rise asked, nervously. "Did you have anything you needed to do?"

"Nothing that I can't do another day," Yu answered, smiling, "So what's the matter?"

Rise fidgeted a little. She seemed upset about something. "You remember when I told you before that I had a number 1 fan? A girl who was being bullied and would send me letters...?"

"I remember... Did something happen?"

Rise frowned and looked down sadly. "She sent me another letter... She says she's going to stop being my fan..."

Yu gaped at her. "What the fuck? Why?"

"She's made friends with someone, but her new friend is a fan of someone else. It seems she was told something like, 'I'll quit being your friend if you stay a Risette fan.'"

He frowned listening to this. He thought it sounded like this girl should find a different friend then. That was utterly ridiculous and very cruel. Hell, it was that kind of thinking that led to a situation like Kanji hiding his hobbies simply because society didn't agree with them. Or Naoto being afraid to be herself simply so that a bunch of sexist bastards would take her seriously at her job. He'd seen how harmful that way of thinking was. It even nearly got them killed by their Shadows... Though they had overcome it recently. It was not how you make real friends, and that girl should know better.