route_1065 | (no subject)

Who: Rise Kujikawa and OPEN (really, she's up for any harassment/doing the harassing herself, and either Action or Prose is fine, I work with both)
Where: Juuuust wandering around Goldenrod like a lost child
When: Saturday, December 4
Summary: One idol tries to deal with the fact that the darker part of herself may have wreaked some havoc last weekend and decides to kick herself back into shape.
Rating: Depends! Probably won't go above PG, though.
Log:

It hadn't been the best of weeks for Rise Kujikawa. Not only did Sora's ribs seem to have gone through some kind of Mexican Hat Dance experience, her two best friends were in a far-off city, she still hadn't heard from Souji, some poor girl had been beaten up by a stranger and left in the street, and both Hayate and Yayoi were terrified of her because of one part of her who shouldn't even have been out in the first place.

Really, she thought now, wearily rubbing her forehead. She'd done more explaining about her Shadow in just this week than she'd ever wanted to do. Ever. And she still didn't know how many people had encountered her Shadow-- and how. Kanzeon wouldn't have shifted back, not when Rise had accepted that part of her over a year ago. But no one should have been able to even remark on that sort of thing in as much detail as they had, unless they'd somehow encountered that Shadow.

It was tempting to just make a network post consisting solely of "HI, EVERYBODY, JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT MY DARKER THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS TOOK FORM AS A STRIPPER IN A BIKINI AND SHE ALMOST GOT NAKED, BOY DO I HOPE THIS DOESN'T AFFECT OUR FRIENDSHIP~!"

... And then no one would speak to her again. Even Yayoi had been horrified by whatever Rise's Shadow had done to her... and because that was a part of her, no wonder she would have been scared of Rise herself. She didn't blame the younger idol in the slightest. It was probably better to stay in Goldenrod with Hope and Sora for now; she was still concerned for the latter, and really only left his side when she needed to. This was one of the times, though she'd left something on his bed-- a "get well" present, though one that would probably unwrap itself. She'd return soon enough. But first...

Rise took a deep breath and pushed herself up on her toes to stretch before she picked up the pace to nowhere at all. She had to snap herself out of this. Whatever had happened, she couldn't change the past. What she could do was explain the truth to... her friends. If some of them still even wanted to be. Twisted as it was, her Shadow's wish to be seen for all of who she was and not just some ditzy airhead persona had been Rise's wish as well. It'd just been warped. But it was still a part of her.

If she was going to be rejected, at least they'd know who she truly was first. Maybe it would stop hurting as much as it had the first time.

... And maybe she should have been paying more attention to where she was walking while she thought, because then she might have heard Pepper's warning "Flaaaare!" or at least seen the bicycle display she'd just fallen over.

Yeah, that hurt too.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rise was not the only person wandering around Goldenrod. Sakaki couldn't remember anything of the events of the weekend, outside of a faint feeling that she'd reconnected with an old friend. But whatever had happened in those three days had apparently included Sakaki's sudden transportation from Violet to Goldenrod. According to the network, she wasn't the only one to wake up in a different place, but it was still unnerving.

Until she decided what to do with herself -- start moving back toward Violet? change her aim to the Goldenrod gym for now? -- Sakaki had taken to familiarizing herself with the city streets, in between -- of course -- training with her partners. (The higher level wild Pokémon outside the city were a blessing in that regard.) It felt nice; she'd grown up in a more suburban area, and a bustling city felt more like home than a tiny town. So Sakaki was on the street that day, learning the lay of the land, and by coincidence she was not far away when Rise met that bicycle display.

"A-Are you alright?!" As soon as she heard the crash, Sakaki rushed to the scene, reaching out to help Rise up before she even recognized the girl. But recognition came quickly after, and Sakaki blinked, surprised. It was silly, but she hadn't realized she might see a familiar face here. "Ah -- Kujikawa-san?"

The instant a hand touched her arm, Rise turned (with a wince), almost instinctively poised for her "savior" to be looking at her oddly-- but that wariness turned to genuine surprise after a few seconds had passed. "Sakaki-san?"

Well, this was unexpected. Hadn't she been in Violet?

... Then again, hadn't she been in Violet? It wasn't that shocking to think that this poor girl had been dropped in an unfamiliar city, too.

"... Haaa." Somehow managing to pretend that she hadn't just had a spectacular crash, Rise smiled up at her. "Long time, no see! How've you been?"

Sakaki's brow furrowed. She wasn't especially good at reading people, but the wariness in Rise's expression was clear. She didn't ask, though, giving merely a faint smile in return as she helped Rise up from her fall. "It has been a while. I've been... alright," she answered simply. "Even if my challenge to Falkner... has to be delayed again." She was never going to get her hands on that badge, honestly. "And you?"

Either she hadn't met her Shadow, or she didn't remember it-- good. Rise kept her relief to herself, though her smile turned highly sheepish. "Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been taking care of a friend of mine. I guess I got a little distracted heading back, though!"

... Sure, that was one way to put it. She managed to get a few of the bikes upright, mouthing a contrite apology to the owner of the shop that seemed to mollify him enough to prevent him from storming over and unleashing a severe lecture.

CRASH!

The sound of Rise knocking over several bicycles started Otacon out of his own uncertain thoughts, sending him jumping nearly a foot in the air. If he was to be honest, he'd admit to needing the distraction.

"Rise? Geez, are you alright?" He straightened out a couple of fallen bikes before extending a hand to help her up. "You should try and be more careful."

"H-Hal?" Rise's mind was still racing well ahead of her body, figuring out just what had happened until she realized he was offering a hand-- which she took after some more dazed staring. "I-- ouch-- I guess I got a little too lost in thought there."

Because no idol willingly smacked into a display, after all.

"Don't worry too much, it happens. I'm not going to tell anyone." After making sure Rise was okay, he turned to straighten out the display a little more.

"Have you been doing okay?"