Chapter #4Your Courage Has Greatly Increased. However... by: Silverhammer   (Takes place shortly after the fourth dungeon. Spoilers for that point in the game.)
Life was good for Yu Narukami. A few days ago, he and the Investigation Team tracked down and captured Mitsuo Kubo in the TV world, and, at his little cousin Nanako's request, celebrated their victory with an omelet cook off. Yu got to exercise his talents as a supreme chef in training, which was something that he always enjoyed doing; cooking being a secret passion of his on par with Kanji and his knitting.
However, the three girls on the Investigation Team- Rise, Chie, and Yukiko- tried to cook their own omelets as well, which were... less than great. Rise had put enough spices in hers to turn a small dog inside out. Chie's was so terrible that Yu was genuinely surprised to find out that the eggs she used hadn't gone bad. And Yukiko, who had been actively trying to improve her cooking for months now, had somehow- through a process that could only be accidental alchemy- created an omelet with no taste whatsoever.
After having her omelet mocked by everyone save Yu and Nanako, and seeing how much Nanako enjoyed the southwestern style omelet Yu made, Yukiko finally broke down and took Yu up on his frequently voiced offer to give her cooking lessons. Chie asked to join in as well, more to support her friend and shut Yosuke up about her terrible food than out of any desire to learn to cook. Rise, for her part, didn't think she needed cooking lessons- if boys couldn't handle a little extra spice she didn't see why that was HER problem- but leaped at the opportunity to spend time with her Sempai.
Today, the first Sunday of their summer break, was the first lesson, to be held at the Dojima's house. Yu had decided on curry as the dish to teach the girls, and bought the ingredients at Junes last night. He figured curry was a good first lesson. Given Rise's tendency to put spices on everything, starting with an already spicy food would let him wean her off of it gradually. As for Chie and Yukiko, this was an opportunity to teach them what was actually supposed to go in curry, as opposed to chocolate sauce, fish eggs, and whatever else they bought at Junes in a fit of madness that time they made it for the camping trip.
Yu would insist to the girls that Nanako being at a friend's house today, and therefore unable to volunteer to be a taste-tester, was a complete coincidence.
Expecting his friends to arrive soon, Yu got the ingredients out and set them on the kitchen table. As he grabbed the chicken out of the fridge, he noticed a strange mushroom in the back. He wasn't sure what leftover it had grown out of, or why it as glowing, but something drew him to it...
Eat it...?
>Eat it
Never mind
For reasons Yu could not explain, even to himself, he grabbed the mushroom and popped it into his mouth. He regretted this action immediately as he collapsed into a coughing fit. He struggled to his feet, but suddenly found himself feeling dizzy.
Was the ceiling always that high up?
Well, the good news, Yu thought as he fell to the floor, is that whatever the girls end up making today won't be worse than that.
Well... Yukiko's might be, was his final thought before he passed out.
---
Rise glanced around the street in front of the Dojima residence, pleased that she had judged her timing right and was the first one here. She was really looking forward to spending the day with her Sempai, and if she could get some alone time with him before the other two showed up, all the better. She walked up to the front door and knocked. Hearing no answer, she tried the knob, found it worked, and let herself inside.
"~Sempai?" Rise called out. "The door was open, so I came in!" She kicked off her shoes and looked around, seeing no sign of Yu. She frowned. This wasn't a very big house. There was no way he didn't hear her if he was here. "Sempai?" She took her phone out of her purse and called him, only to hear his phone ringing as it sat charging on the kitchen counter. "Well, he can't have gone far, his phone's still here," she mused out loud as she walked towards the kitchen. "And all this cooking stuff's on the table..."
She shrugged and walked to the couch. "He must be taking out the trash or something. I'm sure he'll be right back!" With that she flopped down on the couch, having a seat while she waited.
---
Yu got up slowly, nursing a headache as he regained consciousness. "Ugh... why do I keep doing that to myself," he wondered for what wouldn't be the first time today. Getting his bearings he looked around and was shocked by what he saw. He was still on the Dojima's kitchen floor, but now everything was enormous. The refrigerator extended into the sky like an impossible monolith, the counters unassailable cliff faces, the table and chairs propped up on gigantic legs thick as redwood trees and twice as high.
As he was processing this, he heard the echoing rattle of the doorknob turning in the distance.
"~Sempai?" a booming, yet instantly recognizable voice rang across the cavernous room, "The door was open, so I came in!" After the sound of giant wedge sandals scraping against the floor, Rise Kujikawa emerged from the front hallway, as tall as the tallest skyscraper Yu had ever seen back in the city, her normally cute, bubbly presence looming and terrifying. "Sempai?"
"Rise!" Yu jumped up and down, waving his arms. "Rise, I'm down on the floor! I'm..."
PIPIPIPI! PIPIPIPI!
Yu's own voice was drowned out by the sound of his phone ringing on the counter. Rise heard it and walked towards the sound... and right towards Yu.
"Rise, NO!"
Rise's bare foot slammed onto the ground right in front of Yu, the tremors knocking him to the ground.
"Well, he can't have gone far, his phone's still here..."
"AAAAHH!" Yu shouted. Still on his back, he was subjected to the terrifying sight of the sole of Rise's other foot- covered in dust and debris from the floor too small for Rise to even feel but noticeably raining down on her tiny sempai- as it came towards him at terrifying speed. Scrambling to his hands and knees he half-crawled, half-rolled, barely escaping the crushing ball of Rise's foot, but finding himself trapped between her second and third toes as they came down immediately afterward. Unable to get himself free and too insignificant for the giant former idol to feel, Yu squirmed as he was shaken up and down by Rise's innocent footfalls.
"And all this cooking stuff's on the table..." Rise's voice boomed above him. The sickening roller coaster ride started anew as Rise began walking to the living room. "He must be taking out the trash or something. I'm sure he'll be right back!" After another several excruciating seconds, Rise sat down on the couch, her feet lifting up off the floor as she did so and the force knocking Yu out from his prison between her toes, causing him to roll down the top of her foot and crash into the bottom of her calf.
"Well, that wasn't pleasant," Yu muttered to himself, recovering and taking stock of his position on top of the oblivious pop star's foot. "I've got to get her attention somehow..."
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