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At this rate, Souji was going to be late for his club but he didn't seem very concerned about the fact when Yosuke brought it up.
"I'll go in a minute," he said, not making any move to get ready. If anything, he settled closer to Yosuke as they leaned against the side of the school, watching their classmates head off to make their own club meetings in time while others tried to get away from school as fast as possible. "They won't even notice I'm missing."
"Then why not skip it?" Yosuke asked, jumping at the chance to spend more time with Souji. He didn't bother feeling guilty; it wasn't like anyone attended all the meetings anyway. Lots of people were members in name only. "If we leave now we'll get to the food court right when they're taking everything off. It'll be nice and hot."
"That does sound good," Souji said slowly.
"We won't even have to worry about the crowd," Yosuke added. "I can sneak us into the staff room, and we can watch the TV while we eat." Souji chewed on his lip as he considered it, and Yosuke caught his eye, pulling out his trump card. "I'll pay."
Souji laughed, shaking his head. "You're a bad influence. But, no, I can't do it. I'm already in trouble for skipping last time to go into the TV, and I promised I'd show up up today."
Yosuke shrugged, a little disappointed but willing to let it go. "You got to admit, I almost had you."
"You did," Souji agreed, "but if you're really hungry, you don't have to wait for me. Go get something to eat, and I'll catch up with you afterwards."
"Nah, it's cool, I don't mind waiting for you," Yosuke said, liking how that made Souji smile. "Plus, everyone's headed over there with their friends. If I show up by myself, I'll look pathetic."
"You might," Souji said. "Practice takes an hour, you know. You won't get bored out here?"
"I'll find something to do," Yosuke said. "Who knows, maybe I'll even get some of my homework knocked out."
Souji wrinkled his nose. "Then you're right, you should wait for me."
Yosuke shoved him. "I'm not that bad."
"Yeah? Who's always asking me for answers in class?"
Before Yosuke could defend himself, a boy with glasses pushed open the nearby door. He looked annoyed, an expression that only deepened when he spotted them. "There you are," he said to Souji. "What are you doing out here? Everyone's waiting on you so we can start."
Souji barely glanced at him. "Sorry, I'm finishing up."
"So much for no one noticing you missing," Yosuke said, trying to figure out whether the student was in band or drama. He'd been trying to figure out which club Souji had joined for a while, and Souji hadn't offered any hints, amused by Yosuke's cluelessness. To be honest, Yosuke wasn't entirely convinced he didn't float between the two activities as he pleased. "You're in trouble now."
"Maybe," Souji said, with the same lack of concern he'd displayed earlier. "I'll meet you back here then?"
"Yeah," Yosuke promised. "I'll make sure not to wander too far."
The student let out a loud, impatient sigh, and with a quick wave goodbye, Souji followed him into the building.
Yosuke didn't waste any time before sitting down and pulling out his headphones. Chie told him he was stupid to risk bringing them to school, and maybe she was right, but he kept such a close eye on them that he didn't worry too much about anyone stealing them. Plus, he had to be ready to match Souji's plans; he might have been allowed to fight with them on, but he could hardly run home to grab them every time Souji decided he wanted to take a short notice trip into the TV.
He had made it through six or seven songs when a shadow fell over him. He glanced up, expecting to see a cloud blocking the sun, and instead found three unfamiliar boys. The pins on their jackets told him they were third years, and while he couldn't imagine what they wanted with him, he was almost grateful for the interruption. The new album he'd bought wasn't proving to be very good. "You want something?" he asked, easing his headphones off.
"I just wanted to have a little chat," the guy in front answered. "That okay with you, Hanamura?"
Yosuke frowned. "Do I know you?"
"Sure you do! Come on, look harder." He stepped closer, his classmates flanking him. "Or do you not remember every person who's had their shop closed down by your store?"
Oh, great, one of these people. It had been so long since anyone had complained about Junes to him that Yosuke'd nearly forgotten it happened. It wasn't that he didn't get where they were coming from; he genuinely felt bad whenever he overheard one of his classmates crying because a lack of business meant her parents couldn't afford their to keep their shop open. But people acted like it was his fault, or that Junes would magically disappear if his father were run out of town, and Yosuke had quickly discovered that most of his classmates didn't want his sympathy. They wanted to be angry and for him to sit back and take it while they vented that anger at him.
Frankly, Yosuke wasn't in the mood to deal with it now.
"No, sorry," he said. "But if you've got a complaint, feel free to take it up with management."
"I'm taking it up with you," the guy said, and for a second Yosuke thought his stupid remark was going to get him punched but his would-be opponent apparently had more self-restraint than that. "I'm sick of seeing you walk around, acting like you being here isn't ruining people's lives."
"Sorry," Yosuke said because that was the safest answer.
"Of course you are," the third year said. Yosuke wondered if his friends were going to speak up, too, or if they were just going to keep glaring at him.
The guy launched into a long spiel about how his family's shop had been around since Inaba's establishment and how this meant he was better than Yosuke, and Yosuke nodded every once in a while, not listening to a word of it. None of it was new; as usual, the speech was designed to get a reaction out of him but he'd learned if he didn't give them anything to work with, the people bothering him tended to run out of steam and leave without any additional fuss. Since it was obvious this guy was itching for a fight, Yosuke let the insults about himself go in one ear and out the other.
When it became clear he wasn't going to raise to the bait, the guy said something new. "Where's your boyfriend?"
That caught Yosuke's attention. "What?"
"Your boyfriend, Shinji, Souta." The guy gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "The transfer student you're always glued to."
"Oh, him," Yosuke said flatly, deciding immediately that he didn't like where this was going. "I don't know."
"What's wrong, he break up with you?"
Yosuke's mouth tightened. He'd endured a lot of personal attacks in these conversations and learned to shrug off most of them but no one had ever brought up his friends before. "Don't worry about him."
"He did, huh? I wouldn't feel too bad about it," the guy continued, warming up to the topic when Yosuke made no attempt to hide how it bothered him. "He's not much of a loss, not even for someone like you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means he's such a loser, his own parents didn't want him around so they sent him to live with his drunk uncle."
Yosuke shot to his feet, his resolve to ignore any goading disappearing in a hot flash of anger. "You need to shut up."
"Or what, you're gonna hit me?" Behind him, one of his friends began to roll up his sleeves. "That'll be a fun story to tell Senta, how you got yourself knocked--"
"His name is Souji," Yosuke snapped, hating how he acted like it was so unimportant. He was starting to get too warm, his jacket uncomfortably restrictive.
"Oh, is that it? I don't memorize the name of every jerk from the city who gets dumped here."
"What's your problem with him?"
"He's weird," he answered without hesitation. "He sticks his nose into people's business, hangs around where he doesn't belong, and he's always staring at everyone with that stupid blank look on his face like we're not worth his time and he's such hot shit because he's from the city. Every time one of you comes from the city, something goes wrong here - first it was you and Junes, and now he's here and people are disappearing. People like you are bad luck, and you need to go back where you belong."
Yosuke'd always had the vague impression that Souji was popular, that he'd had better luck fitting in because he didn't have the burden of Junes dragging him down the way Yosuke did, but hearing this made him wonder if he hadn't been assuming too much. Souji'd been drawn into the case and formed the team with them almost as soon as he'd arrived, after all. There hadn't really been any time for him to get to know anyone else, and Yosuke couldn't recall him ever bothering to try or showing anything more than a passing interest in other people. In fact, except for Dojima and Nanako, he never talked about anyone outside the team, not members of his clubs or people he might have gotten to know around town. Did that mean other people might see him the way this guy did, as some standoffish stranger who'd brought back luck into town?
"You know I'm right," the third year said, and Yosuke decided he'd had enough. This was stupid; he wasn't going to let them pull him into a fight when the odds were so obviously stacked against him, and he wasn't going to stand here and doubt his friend because someone decided he was an easy target.
"No," he said, "what you are is full of shit, and you wouldn't say half of this crap to his face or to mine if you didn't have those two backing you up. If you want to keep talking, that's fine, but I'm done listening to it."
He tensed up as he made to leave, expecting to be shoved back, but they let him go by without any trouble. Still, the hair on the back of his neck stood up as he waited for them to make a move, and when he'd gone a few feet, the guy asked, "Did he do it?"
Yosuke turned around despite himself. "What?"
"Don't do that, you can't be that clueless. Or are you covering up for him?" When he didn't show any signs of understanding, the guy made a disgusted noise and walked forward until they were toe-to-toe. "I'm asking if he killed Saki. He'd tell you that, right? Did he tell you, too, that when they found her someone had flipped her skirt--"
Yosuke never found out exactly what sick thing he was implying. He was too busy slamming his fist into the guy's face, and it felt really, really good, even if it did mean the other two immediately jumped him.
The fact that the odds were against him no longer bothered Yosuke, who barely felt it when they hit him. He was so pissed all he could think about was shutting this fucker up, and he was going to do it by hitting him as hard as he possibly could as many times as he could. He struck back and dodged instinctively when the other two tried to grab him but his focus was on the one who'd actually said the words, who'd thought he could get in Yosuke's face and talk shit about Souji, about Saki, and now Yosuke was going to make sure he'd never be able to talk again--
"What the hell's goin' on here?"
Yosuke didn't even register the voice until the person who'd gotten hold of his collar tossed him to the ground. He scrambled back onto his feet, panting hard, and when he looked up he'd never been happier to see Kanji.
"I said, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Kanji didn't look pleased about having to repeat himself.
No one in the group responded. They might have been older than Kanji but he was bigger and his reputation meant everyone in school recognized him on sight. Yosuke tried to talk but there was blood dripping into his mouth thanks to a lucky shot to his nose and he had to spit. "These assholes are talking shit about Souji," he finally managed.
Kanji's face darkened. "Oh yeah?"
"We were joking around," one of them said, speaking up for the first time and only serving to piss Yosuke off further.
"Joking?" he echoed, barely believing he'd had the balls to try that. "They said he killed Saki-senpai!"
Kanji cracked his knuckles. "That true?"
"It's not like we're the only ones saying it," the ringleader said, voice muffled by the hand he held up to his face. His nose was bleeding, too, and Yosuke hoped he'd broken it. "The rumor's been going around for weeks, we didn't start it."
"And that's the best excuse you've got for messing with my friends?"
Apparently deciding he wasn't about to be intimidated by a first year, the guy stood taller and gestured for his backup to move closer. "Maybe you should pick better friends."
"Or maybe I should beat your ass," Kanji said, and set to doing just that.
It was almost unfair how quickly the fight turned around. It took two people to even begin to match Kanji, and one-on-one Yosuke was more than able to hold his own. In the end, though, it was only a matter of time before they got caught by a teacher. They were in clear sight of the school and none of them were making any effort to keep quiet, cursing and shouting at each other. When the first yell to break it up came their way, they ignored it but the second was accompanied by a loud thud as the PE teacher threw a piece of sports equipment their way and only barely missed them. The seniors fled, and Yosuke would have chased them if Kanji hadn't grabbed his arm.
"C'mon, Yosuke-senpai, we need to get out of here."
"But they're--"
"Forget about them!" Kanji snarled, and started running.
Yosuke nearly punched him out of frustration, but Kanji's grip meant he had to run if he didn't want to get his shoulder to be dislocated. He let himself be pulled along until it became clear they were going to leave the school grounds, and then he dug his heels in, stumbling to a stop. "Wait, that's the wrong way."
He shook off Kanji's hand and headed to the back of the school instead, glancing anxiously over his shoulder to see if the teacher had followed them. Kanji followed him, scowling. "What are you doing going back here, you want to get caught?"
"I can't leave," Yosuke said, trying to catch his breath. His heart pounded so loudly in his ears it was painful and his chest hurt. "I'm supposed to wait for Souji."
"Are you serious?" Kanji asked. Yosuke noted with some envy that he didn't sound nearly as winded. "Then send him a text, tell him what's up, he'll understand."
"I'm staying," Yosuke said firmly. At the rear of the school part of the building stuck out, forming a corner that he decided would work as a hiding spot, and he slide down against the wall thankfully. It felt like every bit of him was buzzing, all the way to his fingertips, and he wasn't sure his legs would have been able to support him much longer. "If you want to leave, go ahead."
"So you can go after those guys down as soon as I'm gone? Yeah right." Kanji squatted down, ready to take off the second the teacher showed up. "Where's Senpai now?"
"In one of the clubs. He should be out soon."
"As long as he doesn't take too long," Kanji said, but he sounded distracted. "You think that teacher got a good look at us?"
It wasn't really a question; Kanji stood out so much it'd only take a glimpse for him to be recognized, but Yosuke said, "I don't know," all the same.
"I hope not, I don't want this getting back to Ma." This from the guy who'd once driven away a biker gang for making too much noise. He glanced at Yosuke. "Then again, if I look half as bad as you, I'm not going to be able to hide it."
"It's nothing, they just got in a bunch of cheap shots." That wasn't completely true. Yosuke's side throbbed where someone'd gotten in a kick, his head hurt, and there were more aches than he could count flaring up all over his body, but at least nothing felt like it was broken. More annoying was the way his hands wouldn't stop shaking. To distract himself, he examined his headphones. "Aw, great."
"They broke?"
Yosuke turned them over. They'd been mostly ignored during the fight, but the wire had popped out of place and one of the drums was twisted the wrong way. Luckily, they'd been through worse in the TV, and he had them straightened out in seconds. "I think they're okay."
"Cause if they're not, we can always beat them up again. Just got to catch 'em when they're not at school."
Yosuke chuckled, putting his headphones back around his neck, and balled up his sleeve to dab at his bloody nose. "Wish I'd had my old wrenches," he mumbled. "That would have showed them."
"Hey, don't talk like that," Kanji said uncomfortably. "You can't go around bashing someone's face in with your weapons."
"Didn't you try to pick up the bike rack?"
Kanji had the decency to look embarrassed. "S'not the same thing."
They lapsed into silence, which was fine with Yosuke. His jaw ached when he talked, and he hadn't managed to catch his breath yet. His thoughts wouldn't stop racing, though, and the longer neither of them said anything the more frustrated he got, unable to stop himself from replaying the conversation in his head. Finally, he said, "I can't believe he said that about Souji."
Kanji'd leaned his head back against the wall, eyes closed like he was about to nod off. There was a bruise forming around the one he cracked open. "He starting talkin' about him for no reason?"
"He did it to mess with me. He wanted to fight and when nothing else he said worked, he dragged Souji and Saki-senpai into it." Yosuke wiped sweat off his face. "Did they seriously think I'd just sit there and let them say that?"
"No offense but you're kind of scrawny. They probably thought they could take you."
"In their dreams." Yosuke sniffed and spit again. He hated bloody noses. "I'm all lean muscle. You know, I beat Souji up once."
That woke Kanji up. "You're lying."
"I'm serious. We had a fight once to..." He hesitated, not wanting to get into the details but Kanji just nodded. "Anyway, I knocked him flat. Bam, like that." He'd gotten in trouble for it, too; some busybodies told his parents he was beating up a neighborhood kid and he'd gotten chewed out.
"Oh you did, did you?" Souji asked, strolling towards them.
Yosuke pulled his arm back from where he'd been miming a punch. "Hey, partner. And, yeah, I did. Sort of."
Souji smiled but it was strained as he took in the sight of them. "If I remember right, we were pretty evenly matched."
Yosuke shrugged, and Souji sat next to him, smile dropping away entirely as he got a closer look at them. Yosuke turned away self-consciously, wishing he'd dodged some of those punches better. "Your club let out already?"
"No, but someone said they saw you fighting so I left." Kanji grunted unhappily. If they'd been spotted by another student, news of the fight would be all over school by tomorrow and there'd be little chance of hiding it from his mom. "Who started it?"
"Them," Yosuke said.
"Some third years decided to mess with Yosuke-senpai," Kanji added more helpfully.
"What was it about?"
"It doesn't matter." Yosuke had no interest in letting Souji know what had been said about him. "It's over."
Kanji didn't have the same reservations. "You," he said simply.
"Dammit, Kanji."
"Why are you tryin' to hide it? There ain't nothing wrong with defending a friend, that's a man's pride." Kanji smacked a fist against his chest, not affected at all by the dark look Yosuke shot at him.
"Me?" Souji said, face scrunching up in confusion. "Why would you get into a fight about me?"
"They were talking shit about you," Yosuke admitted. There was no use trying to hide it, not if Kanji was just going to spill the beans anyway. "Saying you were weird, calling you names."
"I've heard all that before," Souji said, too easily for Yosuke's comfort. "It's annoying, but nothing to get into a fight over."
"What do you mean, of course it is."
"If I got into a fight every time someone called me strange, I wouldn't be able to do anything else."
That didn't make Yosuke feel any better about the situation. "That's why we had to show them they couldn't do it, so they didn't keep at it."
"Yosuke--"
"Tell him the rest, Yosuke-senpai," Kanji interrupted, his whole demeanor serious. "He's got a right to know what people are saying behind his back."
Yosuke knew he was right but that didn't make this any easier. "They were talking about Dojima-san, too," he said, stalling for time. "And then they brought Saki-senpai into it. Said there was a rumor that you might have been the one who..."
He couldn't bring himself to finish but it didn't make any difference. Souji stared at him as it sunk in, mouth working like he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words, and then his whole face fell. Watching him, Yosuke decided he going to punch those third years in the face every day for the rest of the year.
"But it's done now," he said quickly, wishing Kanji had let him keep the details to himself. "They're not gonna say that crap again."
"They said it was a rumor, right?" Souji asked, voice tight. "That means other people are thinking this, too."
"Why the hell would anyone--" Except people in Inaba loved rumors, and that guy had said this one had been going around for weeks. "Look, those guys were assholes, they were saying anything they could think of so they'd have an excuse to fight me. No one thinks that about you, do they, Kanji?"
Thankfully, Kanji didn't waste any time backing him up. "Everyone knows you're a good guy, Senpai, and anyone who thinks otherwise is an idiot. Hell, you're living with a detective, aren't ya? If you'd done it, you'd have been caught by now."
That wasn't exactly the support Yosuke had been after, and by the heavy sigh Souji let out they weren't doing much to reassure him. "I've never really thought about it," he said, more resigned than anything else, "but I guess I'm not very popular."
"Who is?" Kanji asked while Yosuke struggled to come up with a good response. "What, you think Yosuke-senpai's phone is blowing up?"
"Hey!"
"Or mine, or Chie-senpai's?" Kanji continued, ignoring him. "Even if Yukiko-senpai's is, it's from a bunch of dudes she doesn't know who are begging her for dates. Being popular's overrated. You've got us, and Nanako-chan, and Dojima-san, don't ya? If people are going around spreading rumors without bothering to get to know ya, that's enough right there to let you know they're not worth your time. So fuck 'em."
Souji laughed halfheartedly. "Just like that, huh?"
"Yup, just like that."
"That's one way of looking at it," Souji admitted.
"That's the only way you should look at it," Yosuke said, anxious to provide some comfort. "Those people running their mouths don't know you, they didn't know Saki-senpai, and they're going to feel like idiots when we solve the case and catch the real killer. Until then, just stick with us, okay? You don't need anyone else."
"Maybe I don't," Souji said, smiling slightly. There wasn't enough strength behind it but that he did it at all was encouraging. "But what about you, are you okay?"
"Huh?" Yosuke hadn't expected the question, his own injuries forgotten. "I'm fine. Kanji already told me I look like crap but it's not as bad as it seems."
"That's not what I meant." Souji's voice softened. "You're shaking."
Yosuke hadn't noticed his hands still trembling, and annoyed, he clenched them tight in an attempt to control them. "It's nothing," he said. Who cared how many people whispered behind their backs? As long as they stuck together they'd clear up Souji's name and get justice for Saki. He wondered how many other rumors there were about her death. "Adrenaline."
Souji's smile took on a sad edge, like he knew what Yosuke was holding back, but he didn't press. "If you're sure. Kanji, how about you, you're okay?"
"I'm fine," Kanji said, clapping Yosuke hard on the back in what he thought was supposed to be a comforting gesture. It would have hurt even if Yosuke hadn't already been bruising. "Those punks didn't know what they were doing. I'd hate to see them in a real fight."
"If you're both sure then..." Souji leaned back on his hands, blowing air out of his mouth loudly and breaking some the tension that had settled over them. "You know, I wasn't really expecting it to be any different here, but I guess no matter where you are, people are always gonna talk."
"But they won't be doing it about you," Yosuke said. "Not anymore."
Kanji nodded. "You got that right. Anyone wants to mess with you, Senpai, they got to go through us."
Souji regarded them fondly, strengthening Yosuke's confidence that their team was more than enough for them. "No one's ever thrown a punch for me before. It's a nice feeling. Kind of sweet."
Even Kanji couldn't let that pass without a comment. "Ain't nothin' sweet about trying to knock out a man's teeth, Senpai. We were manly as shit."
"Yeah, who says that?" Yosuke asked, embarrassed. "You're weird, partner."
Souji faltered but before Yosuke could apologize for saying the wrong thing, his face turned sly. "At least I'm not allergic to tofu."
"Hey, that's a real thing."
"Sure you're not just a picky eater?" Kanji asked.
"You know what? Screw you guys." Yosuke rubbed his nose. It'd stopped bleeding for the most part, but the dried blood itched and touching it stung. "You gonna head back to your club now?"
"No," Souji said, sounding tired. "I'm done for the day. It's not like I'm adding much by being there, I'm not very good."
"Maybe you should quit," Yosuke encouraged, unwilling to pass up a chance to free up Souji's schedule. "I've never been a big fan of drama, anyway." Souji looked at him curiously and Yosuke couldn't hide his excitement, sure he'd figured it out. "That's it, right? It has to be. You're too good with your hands to be bad at playing an instrument."
"Haha, it could be." Souji stood and helped them up, and Yosuke was glad to hear he wasn't the only one who hissed in pain. He could already tell he'd be sore tomorrow. "Come with me. The nurse's office should still be open, I'm sure no one will mind if I take a few things and patch you two up."
"You any good at that kind of stuff?" Kanji asked.
"Of course," Souji said, mildly offended at having his abilities questioned. "I work at a hospital, don't I?"
That didn't sound right to Yosuke and it took him a second to figure out why. "Aren't you a janitor?"
"Well, yes," Souji admitted reluctantly, "but it's basically the same thing."
"No, it's not." Despite this, Yosuke didn't hesitate to follow him, and Kanji fell into step at Souji's other side. "You're not going to go crazy and make us look like mummies, are you?"
"No," Souji said, "but I might give you eye patches. You'll look so threatening no one will pick a fight with you again."
He almost sounded as if he believed it, and Yosuke told him it was a great idea because he didn't have the heart to disagree.