Spring Awakenings

Aria of the Soul

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

Naoto Shirogane was not afraid of much in life. At only 15 years of age, she had 6 years of experience as a detective under her belt, having experienced what felt like the entire gamut of humanity from its highest highs to its lowest lows. She had faced down con men, addicts, thugs, murderers and, now, a serial killer. Years of dealing with the scum on the bottom of society's shoe had brought about an innate toughness that, combined with her zeal for solving mysteries, made her capable of steeling herself against even the most difficult of situations.

Today was not one of those situations

Since Sunday afternoon, Naoto had been doing nothing but putting out fires. A lapse in temper had caused her to reveal to Yukiko that Rise and Narukami were dating, and she was left with mere hours to prepare for the fallout. At the time, there was no end game that didn't involve telling Rise what she had done; that was the honest way, theShirogane way. Man up, reveal the truth, and face the consequences.

She had tried. She really had. Rise had approached her in the hallway and agreed to talk in private, and it looked as if Naoto was going to be able to break the news to her before anyone else could. Unfortunately, they ran into the rest of their friends, including Yukiko, just as they were leaving. As expected, the result was nothing short of calamity.

This terrible turn of events had lead her to the roof of the Yasogami High building, facing down an understandably frustrated and furious Rise. Naoto did her best to remain calm, taking deep breaths as she stepped toward her friend to try and best explain herself. To her right, Kanji stirred quietly; after Naoto had gone after Rise, he had sort of aimlessly followed, like a six foot tall lost puppy.

"We thought we'd find ya up here," Kanji murmured, clearly uncomfortable with everything that was going on. Rise's eyes lowered into a devastating glare aimed right at Naoto.

Gulping air, Naoto laid out a cautious plea. "R-Rise-san, I need you to understand that at no point did I intend for you to-"

"You promised you wouldn't say anything . You promised."

The words cut Naoto worse than any knife could have. There was nothing, no argument she could conjure nor evidence she could present, that could change this simple fact: she had broken her word, which was promised to be unbreakable. Struggling to keep her emotions stable, Naoto tried to soldier on past the accusation and have a real discussion.

"I...I did, yes, but it was not my intention to reveal the information that you-"

"You lied to me."

Again, a thunderbolt may have had less of an impact then Rise's declaration. The fact that she still was turned slightly to her right, not totally looking at Naoto, made the accusation all the more hurtful.

"I know...I know that I have done something...something that is unforgivable," Naoto agreed, her chest hurting from having to say the words, "But you have to believe me, I cherish our friendship and would never try to-".

Rise finally turned her full attention toward Naoto, a fresh set of tears welling up in her eyes as she interrupted the detective once again. "You cherish our friendship!? You sure have a funny way of showing it," she whimpered, her voice cracking as she did.

"Rise-san, pIease-"

"I w-wanna know why. Why did you do this, Naoto? What did I do to make you hate me so much that you'd break your promise? Is it...is it because you liked him too?" Rise begged, her eyes watery but full of fire. Naoto looked down, struggling to contain herself. She supposed she hadn't been very subtle in her actions once Rise had told her, but she had underestimated the redhead's intuition.