"Whoa Naoto! You sure are downin' those drinks," Kanji observes as he takes a sip of his own beverage.

"Yeah! When you let loose, you definitely go all the way! It's cute!" Rise chimes in, obviously a bit tipsy.

A prominent blush takes over Naoto's cheeks. "O-oh! I'm sorry… Should I… slow down? Is t-this not lady-like of me?"

"Dude, when have you ever cared about being 'lady-like'? Besides, you're just in the spirit of the night! Let loose and drink to your little heart's content!" Yosuke reassures the shy girl.

"Well, alright. If it really is fine…"

"The Prince of Junes is slinging more than bullcrap, for once," Chie starts, giving Yosuke a playful glare. "We should all relax, really. We have such a long, awesome night ahead of us! Woo!"

"So're we gonna do this game 'r whaaaat?" Yukiko drunkenly asks. She never was good with holding her alcohol, and time hadn't changed that.

Rise, of course, follows right behind Yukiko declaring, "Of course we're gonna play! I already have the chopsticks ready! Hehe! Hm. I'm thinkin' that we might be the tipsiest ones in here, Yuki! But don'tcha go worrying 'bout it! Everyone else'll catch up sooooooon! So, let's begin!"

With that, the red-headed girl holds out a handful of chopsticks. The tension in the room seems humorously high, as the not-so-drunk members of the party ponder upon how the night will end and if they really should let themselves drink too much.

Yu hurriedly draws a chopstick, obviously very into the game, just as he had been the time before. "Who's the king?"

Yosuke jumps up at the question, holding tightly to his chopstick. "Finally, Lady Luck has shined down upon me! It only took all of my life, but hey! Better late than never!"

Chie and Naoto both let out an audible sigh at their loud friend's outburst.

"Yeah, yeah," Chie rushes, waving a hand in front of her face. "Get on with it! Just don't ask for anything too creepy, okay, idiot?"

"Chie, I am so hurt. When have I ever done anything creepy?"

"Do you really want her to answer that?" Kanji inquires, more to himself than the rest of the group.

"Hey, Kanji, shut your trap! You may not want to get me started on people being creepy, huh Mr. Nosebleed?" Yosuke shoots back at his sexually confused friend, a blush crossing the younger man's face. "Anyway, your king has decided on a request, and remember: the king's orders are absolute! Chie! Come give me a sweet little kiss—"

"On your cheek?" Chie interrupts. Her voice carries a hint of hope for a lighter sentence than she is expecting.

"—on my luscious lips," Yosuke continues with a sly smile plastered on his face.

The tomboyish girl grimaces. "I guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up," she mumbles to herself as she makes her way over to her loud-mouthed friend. They examine each other for a while, Yosuke's grin not waving a bit. Chie scoffs and hurriedly moves in for the kiss, obviously wanting to get it over with as soon as possible. Their lips meet, and Chie quickly attempts to pull back. Yosuke seems to have other plans, however, and retorts by pushing her lips back into his own. Everyone else in the group gasps; they await what they believe to be Yosuke's imminent demise. However, Chie's wrath does not come. Instead, she appears to relax a bit under his touch. The two's lips stay locked for a few seconds until they pull back.

"I've been waiting for that forever! Wow! Tonight really is my night!" the Prince of Junes nearly screams as he pumps his fists into the air. This seems to snap Chie back into reality.

"H-hey! It was all part of the game! It's not like I wanted to do it! I'm just a good sport! Yeah, that's it!"

"The chemistry between you two is toxic," Yu blatantly states, effectively earning a death glare from the flustered Chie.

Rise jumps up and down and claps her hands together enthusiastically. "The game's off to a racing start! Where'll things end up next?! Alright, everyone! Give me your chopsticks and let's redraw!"

Everyone does as the pop-star instructs and hands over their chopsticks. They watch eagerly as she hastily mixes them up. Once satisfied with her work, Rise smirks and holds out the bundle of sticks to her friends; they all anxiously draw one, except for Yu, of course, who seems as confident as ever in his decision.

"Well? Who got lucky?" Kanji inquires.

"I…I did." The friends turn to look at the person who owns the soft voice. Not too surprisingly, it's Naoto.

"Yayyyyyyyy! Naoto's the king! Naoto's the king!" Yukiko happily chants. A blush creeps its way onto the blue-haired girl's face.

"As the king…" Naoto's voice trails off for a moment as she scans the room. "As the king, I think I would like for…Senpai to…to…hug me?" The shy detective sounded unsure about her decision.

"The king's orders are absolute." Yu stares at Naoto intensely, yanking off his glasses. He makes his way over to her and holds out his hand in a gesture to help her up; she takes his hand and stands shakily in front of him, not making eye-contact. Yu slowly but assertively wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace. Her eyes widen momentarily and then shut. They linger in this position for a minute or two, until Yu releases his grip. He smiles sweetly at his friend, earning one in return. Naoto hurriedly plops back down. Yu turns to start making his way back to his original spot, but then to Naoto's surprise as well as his own, he sits down next to her. He didn't know why, but even in the humorous atmosphere of the moment, he felt a serious, compelling urge to just stay at her side.

I really never noticed how soft her skin is…He thought to himself, not sure why exactly it mattered at all.

"No fair, Na-chan! You can't hog Senpai! Hmph!" Rise pouts, her arms crossed against her chest.

Kanji rolls his eyes. "There is still a game to be played, ya know."

"Oh yes! We can all have our chance at Sensei if we wish upon the chopsticks hard enough!" Teddie blurts out, still totally oblivious to how odd he can sound at times.

"Yikes, Teddie, calm down," Yosuke replies to his overly-enthusiastic friend, which starts a small argument.

"It's still hard to believe I'm back and here to stay, at least for a while. I missed this," Yu talks to Naoto quietly, as to not disturb the squabble happening in front of them.

"I-I'm really happy that you have returned, Senpai. I—I mean, we—missed you…" Naoto blushes at her words. Yu smiles at her innocence.

"I missed you too," he simply replies. It is a mystery to both himself and his nervous companion whether or not he is referring to everyone in the room or just to her.