Chapter Text
Chie was lying sideways on Yosuke’s bed, her head upside-down as she watched Yosuke fidgeting in the loveseat, staring out the window even more forlornly than usual. It had been grey out all afternoon, drizzling on and off, but the more the evening set in, the more it seemed like the rain was done for the day.
“Well, I’m glad you were there for him when he got the call from his aunt, but man was that really crappy timing,” Chie said. “For you, I mean! You really were just about to tell him…”
Still staring out the window with one knee pulled up to his chest, Yosuke said, “Are you mad at me?”
Chie frowned. “Why would I be mad at you?”
Yosuke peered nervously at her and said, “For not telling him again…”
“You were about to!” Chie exclaimed, rolling over and propping her head on her hands with a sigh. “Look, I don’t blame you for not wanting to ruin your birthday, or even for waiting for the right time to tell him. And when his aunt called and you saw how he was reacting, you set aside your own stuff to make sure he was okay, which is a good thing.”
“You really think so?” Yosuke asked softly, turning a little to face Chie more directly.
“I mean, yeah,” Chie said, swallowing her pride for a moment for Yosuke’s sake. “I may have been a little harsh about it before, but only because I care! But like, I’ve been thinking about it, and if I had to tell Yukiko something huge and scary like that… if I wasn’t sure she’d want to have anything to do with me after she knew the truth… I think I might hesitate too.”
Yosuke nodded, just barely smiling before pressing his forehead to his knee.
Chie added, “You still have to tell him though, as much as it sucks.”
“I know,” Yosuke said. “When his cousin is better and he comes back, I’ll tell him then.”
“Attaboy,” Chie said, suddenly launching a pillow at Yosuke that flopped against his shoulder and fell to the ground. “Now stop moping already! Until that punk gets back to town, you’re mine again, and I don’t want you moping around the whole time!”
“The hell is that supposed to mean, ‘yours again’?” Yosuke asked, picking the pillow back up and launching it right back at Chie, who swatted it out of the air, watching it fall to the carpet with an anticlimactic thud. “I can’t believe I was about to compliment you!”
“Ooh, a compliment? What was it?”
“I was gonna congratulate you on learning empathy! That thing you said about Yukiko was really mature, for once!” Yosuke exclaimed, and then his snarl turned into a smirk. “Love has really changed you, Chie Satonaka.”
“I’ll kill you!” Chie yelled, about to combat roll out of the bed to go kick Yosuke’s ass when his phone started ringing.
“It’s Souji,” Yosuke said, staring at his caller ID with wide eyes.
“Well answer it!” Chie said, rolling (normally) out of bed to go join Yosuke on the loveseat.
“Right,” Yosuke said, waiting another second until Chie was firmly at his side to answer the call.
“Hello?” he answered like a question, as if he didn’t already know who was calling.
“Hello, Yosuke,” Souji said. “It’s Souji.”
“Oh, hi, Souji,” Yosuke said with a breathy rush of warmth that Chie just couldn’t help rolling her eyes at. “Um, Chie is here with me, can I put you on speaker?”
“Oh? Yes, of course.”
“You better say yes!” Chie said as Yosuke switched over to speaker. “Even if you said no, I was just gonna keep listening anyway. But this is much easier.”
Yosuke nudged Chie in the ribs with his elbow, but she ignored it.
“Well, how’s your cousin?” Chie asked bluntly, earning a harsher elbowing from Yosuke, which she responded to by digging a knuckle into his side.
“She’s going to be okay,” Souji said, and both of them turned to the other excitedly, momentarily forgetting to harass each other. “Apparently there was a weird bug going around her school. Most of the other kids recovered in a few days. She’s already looking better after taking some medicine.”
Pumping a fist and leaning toward the phone, Chie exclaimed, “That’s great, Seta!”
Yosuke said, “Yeah, I’m really happy to hear she’s gonna be all right! What a relief!”
“It’s kind of embarrassing, but…” Souji started to say, “I was so relieved after I heard she was going to be okay, I fell asleep on the ride home from the doctor’s. I would have texted you sooner, but I was out cold for hours. My uncle literally carried me into the house like I was a little kid, and I didn’t even notice. When I woke up though, Nanako was tucked into my side and sleeping soundly, so that was nice.”
“Nanako?” Yosuke asked. “Is that her name? Weird, I don’t think you’d mentioned her name before. Why does it sound familiar?”
Chie offered, “Are you thinking of Kanako from that one show we watched?”
Yosuke shook his head. “No, Kanako was the name of that wrestler, remember?”
“Dang, you’re right. Oh, maybe it was Hanako?”
“I don’t know,” Yosuke said with a shrug. “But anyways, Souji, we’re glad Nanako is okay! We hope she has a speedy recovery! And I’m glad you both finally got some sleep. Did Nanako have any of your desserts yet?”
“Just one cookie,” Souji answered. “Her appetite is just starting to come back. But she really liked it, and she said to thank you for all the desserts.”
“Me? You’re the one who made them all!”
“Yes, but I told her they were originally for you and that you nobly sacrificed the majority of the basket for her.”
“Pfft, less of a ‘noble sacrifice’ and more of a well-intentioned regifting of my leftovers that I honestly regret just a little bit because they were really freaking good and I could’ve had more…”
“And he could have shared them with me! ” Chie piled on. “Looks like you’ll just have to make us more, Seta!”
“Chie!” Yosuke hissed. “You can’t just demand baked goods from him!”
“Why not?” Chie asked, dodging a swat from Yosuke. “He owes me!”
“For what?!”
“For loaning you out to him!”
“Excuse me? ‘Loaning me out’? I’m not your property! I’m not a library book, or, I don’t know, a freakin’ kayak!”
“I’ll do it,” Souji interjected, shutting the two of them up for just a second. “Auntie has a really nice kitchen.”
Yosuke scolded, “Look what you’ve done, Chie!”
“What? He wants to bake for us, in Auntie’s nice kitchen!”
“He already went to so much trouble with the first batch, and he’s supposed to be taking care of his sick cousin, not planning a tasting menu for you!”
“Mr. Perfect can do both! Right, Seta?”
Souji argued half-heartedly, “I’m not perfect.”
Turning to Chie and holding his phone farther away, Yosuke exclaimed, “You haven’t changed at all! This is just like Little Chie demanding a meat dinner from my mom on the first day you met her!”
“Why would I change? Little Chie was badass!”
Turning his back to Chie now, Yosuke brought the phone back up to his mouth and said, “I’m really sorry about her, Souji.”
“Don’t you apologize for me, Hana-chan!”
“I’m really sorry about her,” Yosuke repeated. “And please don’t feel obligated to bake anything for her, or for me.”
“It’s okay; I want to,” Souji said firmly. “I’m… going to stay here for a week or so, I think, so Nanako will have time to get all better, and then the four of us can just spend some time together. We don’t get to do that too often.”
Yosuke and Chie both quieted down at the gentle, fond way Souji spoke about his family.
Souji continued, “And maybe toward the end of the week, if they’re up for it, me and Auntie and Nanako can bake, and then I’ll bring it back for you two, and your mom too, Yosuke. And I can make some for Yukiko too. She likes sweets, right, Chie? Oh, and Daidara too, to thank him for getting your birthday gift together so fast…”
“Whoa there, cowboy,” Yosuke interrupted. “You’re gonna be naming everyone in town soon. You can afford to take it easy for a bit, you know.”
Chie said, “Maybe you should open up a bakery, and then you can bake for everyone in town!”
Yosuke sighed, “That’s the opposite of taking it easy.”
“What? It’s a good idea! Well, I mean, it’s a good idea if his desserts are as good as you made them sound. Or was it just the love goggles?” she asked, making an exaggerated barfing sound.
“Shut up, Chie!”
“I guess my desserts are pretty good,” Souji said, humble as ever. “Uncle won’t stop eating them, that’s for sure. Auntie had to slap his hand away from the basket earlier just so there would be some left for Nanako. But I saw him sneak some more after that… So it’ll be good to bake more for everyone here too, I think.”
Yosuke said, “Geez, maybe you should open up a bakery…”
“I’m just happy to have people to share with,” Souji said exceptionally warmly, causing Yosuke and Chie to squeeze each other’s arms with an unarticulated bout of cute aggression.
“Well, in that case…” Chie said, “Can you bake me an apple pie?”
“CHIE.”
“What? I’ve been craving apple pie. Sue me.”
Souji said, “I have been wanting to work on my lattice technique…”
Yosuke facepalmed.
“Marshmallow, it’s time for supper!” a pleasant female voice called on Souji’s end of the line.
Completely unable to help themselves, Yosuke and Chie asked in unison, “Marshmallow?!”
“Erm, that’s Auntie’s nickname for me,” Souji admitted ruefully. “But only she calls me that.”
Chie cackled. “Not anymore, Marshmallow!”
Souji entreated weakly, “Please… don’t…”
Yosuke said, “Normally I’d try to stop her, Souji, but you’ve gotta admit it’s pretty funny… Marshmallow, heh heh…”
“Yeah, it’s pretty funny,” Souji sighed. “I guess it’s not so bad if you call me that.”
Chie started singing, “Sweet Potato and Marshmallow, sitting in a tree!”
Yosuke groaned. “Real mature, Chie!”
“Sweet Potato?” Souji asked innocuously.
Chie answered, “Yeah, that’s Yosuke’s nickname! His mom calls him that all the time, because—”
“No need to explain why!” Yosuke laughed nervously, flailing and trying to cover Chie’s mouth without getting bitten.
“Sweet Potato and Marshmallow,” Souji repeated, sounding weirdly happy. “They go well together.”
Yosuke’s cheeks might as well have burst into flames.
Perhaps realizing what he had just said, Souji quickly said, “Well, I’ve gotta go—”
“Bye, Marshmallow!” Chie called over Yosuke’s shoulder. “Enjoy your… wait, did she call it ‘supper’?”
Yosuke insisted, “Hold on, apologize before he goes!”
“Apologize?” Chie asked indignantly. “For what?”
“For… for your overall behavior!”
“Sorry, Marshmallow!” Chie sang, followed by a shit-eating grin. “Don’t forget the apple pie! Hey, that sounds good, apple pie with marshmallows!”
“Chie!” Yosuke scolded one last time before bolting up out of the loveseat and out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Quietly, so Chie wouldn’t hear, he said, “I’m really, seriously sorry about her, Souji.”
“Don’t be. I like her. And I owe her, for loaning you to me.”
Yosuke grimaced. “I’m really worried about how impressionable you are when it comes to her.”
“I’m just joking,” Souji said good-naturedly. “Kind of.”
“That’s concerning,” Yosuke said. “And hey, sorry about us, me and Chie both, I mean. We get like that when we’re together sometimes. Most of the time. I know it’s probably obnoxious. Usually it’s just Mom getting the brunt of it, but really she just adds to the chaos—”
“It’s okay. I like Chie,” Souji reiterated. “And I like you.”
“R-right,” Yosuke stuttered. “Okay. Um, say hi to everyone for me, okay?”
“I will,” Souji agreed. “Talk again soon? Just, um, the two of us?”
“Heh, yeah. We’ll talk again soon. Enjoy your family. Bye for now.”
“I will. I… yeah, I will. Goodbye, Yosuke.”
“Bye, Marshmallow.”
Souji let out a short, embarrassed laugh and then hung up.
Chie burst out of the bedroom, hitting Yosuke in the back with the door.
“Ow! Were you listening?”
“Of course I was! You two are disgusting, by the way.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Yosuke said, knowing full well he was still blushing as he pocketed his phone.
“So what’s for dinner?” Chie asked, stepping around Yosuke to head toward the stairs.
“You’re insufferable,” Yosuke said, following behind her. “You know what you’re like? You’re like a dog. A yappy little food-motivated dog.”
Unfazed, Chie said, “And?”
Yosuke said through a sigh, “And I think Mom was planning on making baked chicken tonight.”
Chie sniffed the air. “Hmm yeah, I think you’re right. Lemon pepper, by the smell of it.”
“Seriously? I don’t smell anything,” Yosuke said, also sniffing the air. “You really are a dog.”
“That’s not an insult. People love dogs! Air Bud? So many movies about that golden retriever playing different sports. Snoopy? Cultural icon. Snoop Dogg? Living legend.”
“You know I can’t argue against American heroes like Air Bud, Snoopy, and Snoop Dogg.”
“You can’t! You shouldn’t!”
“Okay, you got me… dawg,” Yosuke said, instantly earning the stink eye from Chie. “Get it? Because you’re my friend? And ‘dawg’ is… another word for… Forget it, let’s go eat.”