Coffee talk (OPEN)

 The arrival of a teenager in a familiar school uniform that she could not quite name, woke Rise from her thoughts. She offered him a friendly smile. "Hello and of course, help yourself." She answered his question, after all with the shop being busy her table was the most empty. It would be incredibly rude to tell him that he could not sit with her, especially as she was not expecting company from any friends. He introduced himself, though from his question it appeared he did not recognise her. Rise honestly found this to be both surprising and also refreshing, most people she encountered knew her from her music career. It certainly made a change for someone to not immediately know who she happened to be. "I'm Rise Karbowski." She introduced herself and offered her hand to shake. "Pleased to meet you." Rise by her very nature happened to be sociable, she liked meeting new people, she valued hanging out with her friends and keeping up with them. Honestly, she found being alone to be quite difficult. It was that feeling of loneliness which played a key part in her taking a break from her music career in order to focus on her mental health. 
Not a popular decision with her family for sure besides her Grandma, but Rise had needed to take that step back to refocus and recover. She would go back to music, but after completing her education. For the moment, the music icon was a student, if one who happened to be famous from her achievements, hit records and incredible singing voice. 

"May I ask what homework you are doing?" Rise inquired politely, she was naturally the helpful and caring sought. Though in truth she probably would not be much aid to him with his work even if he had asked for assistance. Rise despite her intelligence, never particularly excelled at education, the only thing she seemed to be good at was singing. She had proved her father wrong by producing a successful career in music, since he had said she wouldn't make any money from it. Ironic really, since she had done so well in the end. She sipped her tea and looked thoughtful. It was always nice to have a hot drink and talk with someone new.

A nervous voice suddenly spoke up.  "Miss Karbowski?" The voice belonged to a teenage girl. "Erm... Would you mind signing this for me please? I'm your biggest fan." She offered a small poster to Rise along with a pen. "Of course." She replied with a grin. "I'd be happy to." Rise quickly signed it with her characteristic messy writing before handing both pen and poster back to the teenager. "Thank you!" She declared happily before retreating to another table where a cluster of teenagers sat showing off her prize. Rise glanced at Kyou. "Sorry about that... If any more come over I can move? I don't want to interrupt you doing your homework." 

 Rise raised an eyebrow at all of that. For her when homework inevitably threatened she attempted to gather some friends for a study session or failing that use a computer to aid her assault against the work. Yet he had come here to do his homework as well as organise the events as he was the student council president at his school... That was impressive in Rise's opinion, she couldn't have done any of that in a similar setting. "That is quite impressive." She admitted, truthfully finding it to be so, however she hoped her words did not sound smug or dismissive, since she was a music icon. Everyone had their own skills and abilities after all, their unique aspects of their personalities. Rise knew for a fact that she could not do half the stuff he was, heck she doubted she might manage to organise a group of friends properly to go see a movie, let alone events for a school. 

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders, wondering if she should tell him that only a few years ago she had been the quiet, shy kid with few friends. Somehow, she thought it might put a damper on the conversation and it was not something to simply blurt out in casual conversation with somebody who she just met. She let out a small laugh. "I don't think that would be necessary but I appreciate the offer." After all, it might be nice to have someone leap in if a fan got a bit too excited. "They might be pleased to hear that I am going to a school in the area then." She said this jokingly, though she was as the news reports and gossip magazines had revealed, attending a school, Tatsumi High and taking a break from the music world. However, she was planning for her return. Rise herself was not much of a fighter, she tended to prefer to solve confrontations with words, though she carried a can of pepper spray for those encounters which might go hostile. She had however never had cause to use it, but her Grandma wanted her to have it and so she did. Rise personally had her doubts about the effectiveness of the meagre weapon against some of the villains which threatened the world. But... If it put her Grandma's mind at ease, who was she to object. 

Rise appeared surprised when he sudden started to pack up and leave as if he had been stung or forgotten something. She was so stunned by his sudden departure that it took her a few precious moments to process it. Was he afraid that if he spent time with her that his boyfriend might think there happened to be something going on there? Or that she might be interested? It seemed a logical concern if his partner happened to be possessive and jealous in nature. Though surely it could not make for a healthy relationship there. But who was she to talk there about healthy relationships? Rise was single, never been asked out for so much as a date, her relationship with her family save for her Grandma might charitably be described as strained and uncharitably as cold war level tension. She did not leave right away, that itself would raise questions and the last thing she wanted was any more rumours circulating about her on the internet. 

She followed after asking for her tea to be put in a travel mug before exiting the shop. It was still nice out, Rise honestly could say she was slowly starting to feel more like herself again... Not the depressed, stressed out little ball of concentrated anxiety and loneliness she had been at the height of her tours. Not that the world would have known that, nor in truth needed to know such a thing. 

Rise managed to spot Kyou and caught up with him after a quick walk. "Sorry about that..." She began uncertain as to whether or not she should say that he was not her type? After all if his boyfriend was the possessive type, such news might be taken poorly or worse. Maybe it was better to simply let the matter drop and not raise it. 

 Rise felt her cheeks flush slightly at the bowed apology. "It's quite alright." She said, accepting the apology. "Ah... I... Well I'm not one to judge nor can I accurately say anything on the matter since I don't have much experience with romantic relationships." It was weird in a way, perhaps the very fame that brought attention and wealth, also served as a barrier of sorts to others. Not that Rise actively sought a relationship, she needed to sort herself out mentally before she tried anything like that. It would be unfair to enter a relationship with someone only then to end it because of her personal issues. "Unfortunately the world is full of jealous people." She admitted, for every one who managed to stand out, there were a hundred or more eagerly waiting to drag them down again. A shame really, but what could anyone do about human nature?

She sat down nearby when he found a new spot to work. "Can school ever truly be described as peaceful?" Rise countered with a smirk. "I'm sure they will meet me sooner or later it... It is the price I pay for following my dream." Of course, Rise had not expected her life to change so suddenly and dramatically, the fact she won stunned her and indeed it still all felt like a dream at times. "I do not mind at any rate the attention... I just do not like it when it causes difficulty for other people, my friends and the like." She shrugged her shoulders and continued on. "It is part of who I am I guess... My quirk as it were, my ability to sing." The only thing Rise had ever been good at. She did not mind meeting new people or forging new friendships, Rise was extroverted by nature. It was when she was alone and or felt isolated that she struggled. 

"It is something you can boast to them when you're next in school or use it as an election promise." She said chuckling at the idea. "Vote for me and I'll make sure you meet Rise." She laughed again. "God that sounds so egotistical." She shook her head, not wanting to fall into the trap that claimed many celebrities where they only saw themselves in the world. "I'm just an ordinary girl at the end of the day." Of course to her fans and those who liked her music, Rise was anything but, however to herself she was just like everyone else, ordinary. At least that happened to be what Rise tried to tell herself. Yet in a world full of heroes and people with incredible abilities she managed to stand out, despite being utterly Quirkless. 

 She grinned as she shrugged her shoulders. "I think my class has managed to get used to the fact I am there." The rest of the school probably was still trying to process it. Still she liked her school and they in turn had been delighted to welcome her as a student. Rise still wondered if they might have been as eager if she had not been who she was, if she had been just a normal person, no fame, no songs to her name or anything. As ever she liked to think that they would have been and perhaps her first day there may have been a little different and easier. 
But life was what life was at the end of the day, she managed to achieve her dream, live it and in truth she still planned to do so. Rise merely needed to take a break, heal mentally from the stress and the isolation. The new friendships she forged were helping greatly in that regard. She thrived off of social contact, making friends, talking to people, looking out for them, it all gave her a buzz and energy. 

"Nice, remind me to vote for you when you run for government, they could use someone like you who manages to get stuff done." Rise joked, genuinely impressed by what he said. She had met the student council president for her own school, they got on okay. Though, they were not exactly friends but managed to work together on the few occasions that they needed to. She believed that the president thought that Rise might be tempted to run and take her position. Rise had no such desires, school was difficult enough without running an election campaign. Heck, keeping up with the homework and tests happened to be a considerable challenge as it was. Why add on any additional pressures for herself?

She nodded the once meeting his gaze with her own. "That's the plan." Rise promised. "Like the papers said, taking a mental health break and then I'm coming back stronger than ever." There had been some criticism from a few of her fans, but most of the trouble she had to do with came from her own family. Hence why she was here, with her Grandma instead of the rest of her family. Rise never really got on with any of them  save for her grandmother, moving in with her after she took a step back from the limelight was the best option for her. "Singing is the one thing I am good at... I cannot walk away from it." She added. "But I do need to get better before I can go back to it." 
 

"Fair enough." Rise said with a smile, she did not know what views he held that might be unpopular, yet she decided against asking. After all, they barely knew one another at the moment, it seemed a bit foolish to start discussing political views. She understood the desire to not wish to deal with that manner of headache. Okay perhaps not truly understand the political headache as she had never so much as ran for a school election, but she could relate from her own personal experiences. 

"I loved it." Rise clarified quickly. "Just... Well it is difficult to explain but I am quite sociable and I ended up well feeling isolated from friends and..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I have never been one to take feelings of isolation and loneliness well." She then added on. "I'll be back after education is dealt with better than ever." The singer promised, of course her health was the most important thing, but that had been why she took a step back from the music scene. Besides, she liked being a music idol, Rise the singer even if it did sometimes feel like no one really knew her or knew the real her. But she got to live her dream, a rare thing for many people who were forced to give up or worse settle for something else. "I'll get better and everything will be fine once more." This time Rise was taking measures to ensure that upon her return she would not find herself feeling isolated, alone and left out. 

 Rise shrugged her shoulders. "It's okay, you don't need to apologise."She said quietly, once Rise had healed up she would be back at it and better than ever. Life was not easy, regardless of whether one happened to possess a Quirk or not, regardless of whether one happened to be a hero or not. Everyone faced their problems and found ways to deal with them or made the decision to give up. It was not easy, but you either settled or fought back. Rise was not about to give up on what she wanted to do in her life, there were still so many songs she wished to sing and the roar of the crowds... Well that always happened to be welcome. 

She nodded grimly at that. "Yeah... I found that out the hard way." But her younger self, her previous self had not yet learned the difference and to go from near loner to such sudden fame happened to be quite exciting and incredibly thrilling. Everything became clearer in hindsight however, yet she learned from the mistakes made then and hoped to avoid making similar ones in the future. She smiled. "It is okay and yeah I got this." Rise sounded quite confident about being able to handle the difficulties and problems of her fame. As ever in life there would be issues to face and deal with but she believed she could handle them. But first she needed to recover and deal with the current problems she faced. One battle at a time as it were, one battle at a time. The year break would give her plenty of time to deal with and process everything, as well as hopefully come to terms with who the real Rise was. 

Just who was the real Rise? The quiet and lonely girl who dreamed of fame and friends? The music idol/icon that the public and media adored? Or the young woman trying to figure things out and understand who she was and what she wanted out of life? "Life loves to make things interesting for us." She said with a small smile on her face. "There is never a dull moment."