[Being an idol is tough. Yu never really had any doubts about that, but hearing Rise talk like this...it makes sense. People can be anything, anyone they want in a place like this, where no one knows them. Yu himself has started over in different schools and prefectures...maybe he sort of took that anonymity for granted.

The heat doesn't make it all the way to his face this time, as she stumbles through her explanation, but it certainly lingers in his chest, though whether it's a fire stoked or a twist of nervousness he can't quite tell just yet. But-- it's hard not to notice, right now, the small size of the room and how close they are on the bed, almost knee to knee.]

I-- [get it together, Narukami] ... It's alright. I get what you mean. Going somewhere new like this...you get to choose who you want to be.

[He wouldn't word it like that for anyone but her -- but he says it with a faint tip of smile in his expression, too. The truth is, he had no intention of dating anyone in Inaba. Just knowing it was all temporary -- he didn't want to put anyone through that. He didn't want to put himself through that. Maybe it's a testament to how much Inaba changed him, that he's more ready to form those bonds here. That he's no longer afraid of the hurt.]

... It's not weird. No weirder than anything else around here, at least.