This time there was no crisis as to who should knock. Chie walked up to the door of Naoto's house and knocked. However, Naoto was not the one to answer. "Ah, you must be Naoto's friends. She said you would be coming by to pick her up. I'm her grandfather."

"Mr. Shirogane," Chie shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." He opened the door wider. "please, come in. I believe Naoto is just finishing getting dressed."

"Thank you," Yukiko said as he held the door open for them.

He showed them to the sitting room where the three of them shared a large couch as they waited for Naoto. Her grandfather looked upstairs as if checking something. He then turned back to them looking very serious. "Can I ask a favor of the three of you?"

"Of course." Rise answered immediately, not quite sure what else to say.

"Naoto you see she's..." he started. "I'm so glad that she has started hanging out with you all. It has been a long while since Naoto has had someone that she could call a friend. I just worry about her sometimes. Just... make sure she has some fun every now and then. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure thing!" Yukiko answered happily. "Naoto works herself so hard sometimes. We are trying our best to make sure she leaves some time for herself."

He sighed in relief. "Thank you. I can't tell you how happy it makes me hear you say that..."

"I apologize, did I keep you waiting too long?" Naoto came running down the stairs. She was wearing her usual light blue top, yellow scarf, and blue hat. However, and the three girls would never say it out loud, but something looked... different about Naoto. People that didn't spend a lot of time around her would never have noticed, but it looked like she might not have tied her binding as tight today...

"We didn't mind the wait," Chie answered. "We were just getting introduced to your grandpa."

Naoto eyed him suspiciously, but he made a point of not meeting her eyes. She finally looked away, "Alright then... shall we be off?"

~line skip~

The first thing on today's agenda was shopping. Specifically, clothes shopping.

"Oh, what about this one?" Rise held a top in front of herself.

"Hmm..." Yukiko and Chie eyed it suspiciously. "What do you think about the green one?"

"This one?" Rise held up a different colored top.

"Oh, I like that!" Chie grinned. "That color would look very good on you Rise!"

"Hmm..." she looked up, "What do you think Naoto?"

"Huh?" Naoto had to admit; she had not been paying attention for a while now. It's not that she wasn't having fun, she really was because she got to spend time with her friends, it just clothing shopping isn't really her thing. "Oh uh... yeah. It looks good."

"Hmm... I think I'll wait." Rise put the top back on the shelf. "Naoto do you see anything you like?"

"Huh? Me?" she looked around as if making sure she wasn't talking to someone else.

"Of course, you, silly!" Rise laughed. "Do you see any clothes that you like?"

"Um..." Naoto sighed. "Not really... I'm just not into this kind of thing..."

"What kind of things are you into?" Yukiko asked.

Naoto thought it over, "I like books..."

"Then off to the book section!" Chie grabbed her arm and started to drag her away.

"We don't need to look at books just for me..." she tried to protest.

"We want you to enjoy yourself too." Rise told her. "Now, let's look at books for a little bit..."

They looked at books for a while, and Naoto actually found a novel she had been trying to find, for a while now. After that, they decided to get something to eat in the food court. This is where their plan would finally take effect...

~line break~

"So, Rise... I think Yu might have his eyes on you." Chie started.

"Oh, I hope so..." Rise said dreamily. "He's so handsome. Don't you think Yukiko?"

She blushed, "He has nice shoulders..."

Chie snorted "That's it?! Shoulders?! Yukiko, there are a few other features about him that are more handsome than his shoulders!" Yukiko blushed.

"What about you Naoto?" Rise looked over at the blue-haired girl.

"Huh?" she hadn't heard the question clearly.

"Do you think Yu is cute?" Chie asked her.

"What?!" Naoto started blushing... "I... well... while Senpai has... certain... qualities that might make him... desirable... but... he's not really my... type..." By the time she was finished Naoto felt like her face was going to burn up from how hot it was...

Chie smirked "So you have a type huh? What is the dream version of Mr. Shirogane?"

"Um..." she didn't like where this conversation was headed. "Can we change the subject?"

Rise smirked, "Not in your life. Describe your dream guy to us Naoto."

"I don't know..." She was still blushing. "This all seems highly inappropriate... Besides... I don't really have times for a relationship right now..."

Yukiko rolled her eyes, "This is all hypothetical Naoto. Come on, it'll be fun."

She sighed. "I can't believe you are making me do this... I guess... If I were ever to date someone... I would prefer that this individual would support me in my career. I wouldn't want them to try to deter me from my desired goal. I would also want him to be kind to me, I would want us to get along, and he..." she started blushing even more. "That's it!"

"Wait, what was that last thing you were going to say?" Chie asked.

"Nothing!" Naoto insisted.

"No, you were totally about to say something else." Rise pushed.

"You can tell us Naoto-Kun," Yukiko added sweetly.

Naoto looked down at the table, refusing to meet their eyes. "I... I would want someone who could... protect me..."

"What do you mean?" Chie asked.

"I... want to be able to take care of myself..." Naoto continued. "However, if there was ever a situation in which I couldn't... I would want someone who could... keep me safe... I try not to get scared but... if I ever did..."

"You want a big strong guy who can beat someone up on your behalf if you need them to?" Yukiko asked.

She blushed even more "I guess that is one way of putting it..."

The three smiled at each other. They guys were going to be very happy with their discovery...

~line break~

"She really said that?!" Kanji asked excitedly.

"Basically," Chie answered.

"Dude, she's totally got the hots for you!" Yosuke slapped him on the back. "Now we just have to figure out a way for you to tell her. Yu, bro you got any ideas?"

"She... didn't think I was handsome?" he was sitting in a corner rocking back and forth.

Rise looked over to Yosuke "I don't think he's going to be of much use for a while, you'd better move on without him."

"Don't worry sensei, Teddie thinks you're handsome!" Teddie jumped into his lap. "Do you think I'm handsome?"

"No."

Chie rolled her eyes, "Great, now they're both crying!"

(A/N - Thanks for reading! :) Bye!)