dream ✪ 05

[notjust_risette]

Warnings: Minor Persona 4 spoilers, if any.
Effects: (optional) A sense of longing and loneliness throughout the dream.

Comments

[beary_bad_puns]

[The little bear looks sadder than he's been in a long time. Rise is a very special friend and seeing her in a state like this makes him feel unusually sad.]

Rise-chan? We're friends, aren't we?

[notjust_risette]

[She's wiping away her tears when Teddie's call goes through. She's relieved to see someone familiar and tries to stop sobbing for a moment.]

Yeah, Teddie. We're definitely friends.

[A smile forms on her lips, it's small but sincere.]

[beary_bad_puns]

[He brightens at that.]

Teddie's bear-y happy to hear that.

Did Rise-chan and Sensei get in a fight? Like Yosuke and Chie-chan always do? Is that why you're sad?

[notjust_risette]

[She tries to keep her voice steady.]

No, Teddie. Senpai isn't here anymore. It looks like he left Somarium... again.

1/2

[atoli_in_sky]

*Atoli stared at the dream, her mind in silent frenzy. So ... that was the other self Rise-san was talking about?*

No...

[atoli_in_sky]

T-that's not true, Rise-san!

[notjust_risette]

[Hearing that coming from Atoli had been a little surprising but at the same time, she was glad to hear it from that other girl.

She nods a little]

Yeah, I know it's not, Atoli-chan. It's just a stupid dream.

[atoli_in_sky]

*Gathering up her hands, she fumbles before speaking up again.*

... Um, I'm like that too Rise-san.

[carpo_vita]

[And now he fully understood what they meant by 'shadows'. They take what the individual would consider to be negative traits and amplify them a thousand folds.]

That's not as much 'selfish' as just simply being human, Kujikawa-san. Living alone is hard to imagine, if not impossible. We all fall back on friends - that's how we get things done.

[...Also, he knows.]

Is there anything that I can help with?

[notjust_risette]

...I guess that makes sense. [She looks away for a moment, trying to gather herself before continuing.] It just hurts because it keeps happening even if they can't help it.

[Wiping away at her eyes now.]

I'll think I'll be fine, Minato-kun.

[carpo_vita]

[...That quietens him for a little longer than usual.

She's been here for quite a while. Akihiko and Ryoji have always been here, and Mitsuru joined shortly after, as far as he's concerned. Souji is actually the first one to have left Somarium as a close friend of his. He obviously didn't know him as well as Rise did, but he could imagine - if this happened to him with Akihiko, for instance.

...Yeah, that's normal. It was just like moving and transferring from district to district and school to school - the friends he made never last. It IS harder to say something to this, though, since loss of this sort is never easy to cope with and the entire reason why The Answer happened orz. It IS painful, but he's grown accustomed. ...Unlike her, but he understands how that's like.]Souji-kun wouldn't want you to be upset, though. He would want to see you smile again too, regardless of whether he'll be there to witness it or not. Even if the memories are not of Somarium, he'll still remember you, like how you remembered him. ...We're here too

[notjust_risette]

[She understands where he's coming from. Although she's heard that before from others, it helps to hear it again. She herself didn't want to dwell on this too long because thinking about it only made everything seem to hurt more.]

I guess I just feel this way because it's been so long since something like this happened. I almost thought that we could all get out of this together...

[thenicer_one]

[Iris only has this to say.]

"No man is an island", Rise...

[notjust_risette]

Iris...

[That makes he pause for a little despite the crying. What the other girl said makes sense, but it still hurts.]

Yeah, I know that...

[thenicer_one]

Even if the people you know have gone home, please remember that there are people here who care for you, Rise.

[notjust_risette]

[Hesitates for a moment before managing a nod.]

Yeah... Even if I do I miss home sometimes, I don't want to leave here either.

[seeksonlytruth]

... Rise-san... [She's bad with things like this. WHAT DO YOU SAY??]

[notjust_risette]

[She answers Naoto through choked sobs.]

Looks like he's gone, Naoto-kun...

[seeksonlytruth]

Yes... It seems that way. [It's sad enough for her, but for Rise who has watched friends come and go for awhile now... It must be worse.]

Do you need some company?

[notjust_risette]

[She considers it.] Yeah, that might help a little...