Chapter Text
“Yusaku!” Takeru’s voice calling out his name is not rare nowadays. Yusaku was caught off guard by how quickly he got used to it, to turning around upon hearing his voice, seeing him standing there with a smile, much like now.
It is a little frightening, how fast Takeru Homura made his way into Yusaku’s daily routine, his life, without him even realizing.
“Let’s eat lunch together!” He holds up his lunch box, expectant.
“...Yeah.” Yusaku shrugs, resuming walking, Takeru joining him by his side as they head for the stairway in the upper floor, which is usually quiet and with little people passing by. They don’t bat an eyelash when they see Aoi already there, sitting on a step and leaning against the railing. She looks up as they approach.
“Zaizen Aoi.”
“Fujiki Yusaku-kun.” The greeting, although formal, is, if Yusaku dare say it, almost fond as they exchange a small smile, like it’s their own internal joke by now. Aoi, too, found a space in his day by day routine, without Yusaku noticing when.
“Homura-kun.” She nods over at Takeru, who grins.
“Yo, Zaizen-san! What’d you get for lunch?” He’s already plopping down next to her, eyeing her lunchbox. Yusaku finds a spot against the other railing, watching them for a moment.
This too has become routine, them gathering for lunch, and it feels so natural now, it’s almost unnerving. It feels-- normal , three classmates hanging out and talking about nothing of major importance. It settles an odd feeling in his chest, both aching and warm, because this is something he’s longed for but he’d thought would be forever away from his grasp, something like normalcy, residing in this tiny pocket of time, in this stairway. When he looks at them both, he’s hit with a sudden wave of fondness that threatens on pulling him under to drown him.
He’d never thought this feeling, finally within his grasp, could be so overwhelming .
But Yusaku supposes this, right here, is part of what moving forward means. Trying to cross the gap between himself and others, little by little.
“You have that look on your face again.” Aoi reaching over and poking his cheek with her chopsticks startles him into attention, blinking at her. She’s got a sort of knowing smile on her face, as she turns back to her food.
“What look ?” He averts his gaze, opening the plastic wrapping on his bread and taking a bite of it. He hears Takeru chuckling and turns to him; he has his cheek propped up in his hand as he gazes at him with creased eyes and a grin.
“That soft look you give us when you think we aren’t looking. It’s like I feel so... loved under that look?” Yusaku chokes a little, and his eyes only widen when Aoi nods in agreement over a bite of her food. He ignores how his cheeks flush.
“I-- I mean.” He can almost hear AI right now going ‘Aww, Yusaku-chan is embarrassed! How cute!’ in his mind and he’s sure as soon as Aoi isn’t around he will pop up to tease him about this. But Yusaku sees no point in denying anything, not now, not when they could read it plain as day in his face. He munches slowly on his bread for a moment to gather himself before speaking up again.
“I...appreciate you both.” He fiddles with the plastic wrapping in his hands, eyes on his lap. “Having this...” He gestures vaguely around them. “Is nice.”
When he looks up, both Takeru and Aoi are flashing matching smiles at him.
“I’m happy we are friends too!” Takeru beams, throwing an arm around Yusaku’s and Aoi’s shoulders. “At least I hope you meant that. Because I...think of you two as such.” He seems embarrassed now, smile turning sheepish. “I don’t--have many people to compare this to so--Uh--”
“Yeah.” Aoi nods, cheek squished against Takeru’s shoulder, but she doesn’t seem to mind in that moment. “I...would like to think we are.” Her eyes flicker to Yusaku and he has to fight down a lump in his throat.
Friends. He runs the word over his mind, and he thinks of---remembers--several things.
Remembers an abyss, uncrossable, between himself and others. Until a while ago, he would have said he had no friends at all. He didn’t think it was something he could have, something that could be part of his world.
Remembers, months ago now, his duel with Revolver. Remembers his wish for them to be friends, to seize something together. That feeling is still rooted in his heart, waiting, both patient and impatient, for Revolver-- Ryoken to be back. A part of him longs for him to be here as well, in this moment, a part of him wants to be able to gaze at him and feel that aching warmth in his heart when he does.
Remembers his desire to move forward from that day, to let go, to try and cross the abyss, to try to let people in. It is an unpaved road, one he doesn’t know, but now he looks at Aoi and Takeru and little by little there’s a path forming there with the steps they take.
There’s much they don’t understand about each other yet, this all too fresh and new. But there’s also things they do know, things they are familiar with about each other already, an air around them that’s comfortable and not oppressing. It doesn’t feel like an abyss stands between them--it feels like a bridge under construction, one they will cross, when they get to it.
A part of Yusaku is almost terrified, about how much this between them can grow, but another wants to keep reaching out, build that bridge even if it’s unsteady and unsure. He’s not going to let it burn early.
“Friends, huh...” He rolls the word on his tongue, tastes it, and it doesn’t taste bitter like it once did. It’s soft, a little sweet.
It makes him smile back at them, a hand resting tentatively on Takeru’s back. “...Yeah. That doesn’t sound bad.”