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Last year, there’d been snow, a newly fog-free world to explore with his friends, and Yu to spend all his nights with. This year, it’s cold, it’s wet, Teddie hasn’t visited in weeks, and worst of all, Yu’s not coming back for New Year’s. He was supposed to; they’d been looking forward to it since summer break. But then his cram school opened up a session over the break, and of course, his parents signed him up.
Actually, Yosuke’s wrong. That’s not the worst part. The worst part is that when he asked his own parents if he could go to Tokyo since Yu couldn’t come to Inaba, they decided the study session sounded like a very smart choice, and enrolled him in one, too. It’s adding insult to injury is what it is — this town’s so small it’s impossible to find new albums until weeks after their release dates, the biggest shopping area has ten shops at best, and a fun date is a visit to the shrine followed by beef bowls, but somehow there’s a cram school open during winter break. His opinion of Inaba, which tends to vary by the day (depending on whether Yu’s visiting, and how nice the customers at Junes were), has taken a severe turn for the worse lately.
It’s not much of a comfort that Yukiko and Chie are attending the study sessions too; they spend all day trading notes under their tables, Yukiko because she already knows the material and Chie because she’s already given up, leaving Yosuke to watch the teacher and, horror of horrors, actually focus on the material. If he doesn’t get into a good Tokyo school after all this, he’s going to hunt down one of the gods he met last year and have a very pointed chat with them about how they’re running this place.
It’s the 30th, two days till New Year’s and Yosuke’s staring at his homework, calculus forgotten as he contemplates the injustice of life. He has no date for the New Year’s shrine visit, of course. The small gathering planned at Dojima’s the evening before doesn’t cheer him up much, either, considering it’ll be missing not only Yu but also Rise who’s still touring, and Naoto and Kanji who’ve gone a few towns over to spend the holidays with Kanji’s grandparents. Maybe he can try to pop over into the TV to get Teddie to come — although it’ll be hard explaining to everyone outside the IT how he could come to visit on such short notice.
He’s startled out of his gloomy thoughts by his phone vibrating in the otherwise-silent room. A quick glance at the screen shows him that it’s not Chie asking for help — she keeps doing that and then getting mad when Yosuke gives her the wrong answers, but it’s not like he’s doing it on purpose and what exactly does she expect? — rather, an unplanned call from Yu. He hurries to pick up.
“Good evening, sweetheart.” His voice is smooth as velvet on the other end of the line, warming Yosuke as soon as he hears it.
“Hey, partner! I thought your parents didn’t want you calling too late?”
“They’re at one of their colleague’s holiday party. What they don’t know can’t hurt them.”
Yosuke laughs. “Damn, Tokyo’s made you into such a rebel. It’s like I don’t even know you anymore!”
“If you’d rather we got back to our homework…” Yu replies, his joking tone belying the false threat.
“No! No, oh my god, I don’t want to see another math equation until I’m at least 40.” Yosuke goes to lie down on his bed. “How are you, anyway? It’s been like two days since you called, I was worried cram school had finally killed you.”
Yu sighs, a bit more heavily than Yosuke would have expected. “It’s exhausting, honestly. Especially when I think of what I’m missing out on by being stuck here. Was the party at my uncle’s today?”
“No, that’s tomorrow,” Yosuke replies with a touch of guilt. He’s been so focused on how much this situation sucks for him, but it’s got to be even worse for his boyfriend, who’s all alone with neither friends nor the family he likes best around. “We all miss you a lot. I miss you so much, dude.”
“I miss you too.” Yu pauses, then continues, “I wish you were here. There’s so much I want to show you, so many places I could take you...”
“Yeah? Like what?” Yosuke’s curious; Yu never really talks about his life in Tokyo, usually he just asks for updates on Inaba.
“I told you it snowed a couple days ago, right? All I could think of was how nice it would have been to walk around in it with you, take pictures and then stop in a cafe to warm ourselves up. But by myself… it’s just not the same.”
Yosuke hums, agreeing wordlessly. He’s been feeling like that too. Going to the movies with Kanji or Chie is nice, but it just isn’t the same as going with Yu. Every time he sees something interesting in a store, every time he hears a funny story, he wants to tell him about it, as if any good thing was twice as enjoyable shared with him.
“Everyone in class keeps talking about New Year’s, too. They all have plans. Some people are going to a nightclub on the 31st to dance, others already have their shrine visits all figured out…”
“I’m sure they’d let you join them if you asked?” After all, Yosuke hasn’t met the first person to dislike Yu yet. Hell, even Adachi liked him, in his own awful way.
Yu’s laugh is bittersweet. “I’m sure they would. Most of them are very nice. But I don’t want to go dancing with Takahashi or visit a shrine with Kai. I want to go with you. I want to see your eyes light up when the music you like comes on, I want to dance with my hands on your hips, I want to hold your hand at the shrine and make a wish by your side. I know, it’s pitiful, but I don’t want to do any of it without you.”
Yosuke’s entire face is red and his stomach is filled with butterflies by the time Yu finishes his short speech; if his mom walks in now, there’s no way he’s going to convince her that he was just discussing homework problems for tomorrow. He and Yu have been dating for a while now, but their relationship segued so smoothly from best friends to lovers that there hasn’t been much in the way of heart-to-hearts. That may need to change, he thinks as he wills himself not to breathe too hard into the receiver.
“Next year,” he says abruptly as the thought comes to him. “Next year, let’s do all that. We can visit everyone over the rest of the holiday, but for New Year’s let’s do all those things, just you and me. And there’ll be no cram schools or parents to stop us from being together the whole time. Ok?”
Yu’s quiet for a bit before replying. “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that. We’ll go dancing, and everyone will be jealous of me for being with the most gorgeous guy in the room. Or maybe you’ll be the new star DJ by then,” he says with a smile in his voice.
Yosuke shakes his head, not bothering to reply. Yu thinks so highly of him, when really it should be the other way around. It’s Yu who would turn every head on the dancefloor, who would try DJing for the first time and somehow be amazing at it, who would set the whole room on fire just by being there. He’s objectively superior to Yosuke; he’s smarter, more courageous, more charming, just more in every way that matters. And yet, he seems to sincerely think that it’s Yosuke who’s the real catch. That he’s the lucky one. The most amazing part is that he believes it so strongly that even Yosuke starts to believe it too when he’s around; Yu makes him feel like something special, not just some countryside Junes manager’s son. Like someone worthy of Yu.
“Then the next day, we’ll go to the shrine, and maybe if I’m lucky you’ll even wear a kimono.”
“Pff.” Yu’s always trying to get him in fancy clothing. “You really love that formal shit, don’t you?”
“I love you in that formal shit.”
“Dude.”
Yu laughs. “It’s not my fault you look gorgeous all dressed up.” Yosuke tries to get a word in — gorgeous is going a little far for a messy-haired brunet, even for Yu — but Yu just speaks right over him. “And then, I’ll take you home and cook something special for us, and we can stay at home for the rest of the day. Maybe you’ll play something for me on your guitar, or we’ll do some origami or play some video games. Maybe we’ll just have a nap on the couch.”
As Yu speaks, Yosuke’s eyes drift shut and he lets himself imagine the scene. The delicious smell of lunch wafting through the house, him on his guitar and Yu at the stove, and then relaxing together, sharing their hobbies with each other like they used to do all the time when Yu lived in Inaba. Better, even, because then each day will end together rather than apart.
“I can’t wait,” he says softly after a moment of silence, part of him still somewhere in that vision of their future.
“For you, I could wait forever,” Yu replies warmly. “But I really wish we could be together right now, too…” He sighs. “I guess I should let you get to bed for now, though.”
Yosuke checks the clock; it doesn’t feel like he’s been on the phone very long, but it’s definitely past time to sleep if he wants a chance at getting up on time for class tomorrow.
“I guess so,” he mumbles glumly.
“Good night then, honey. I love you.”
Yosuke’s chest floods with heat. He wonders if he’ll ever get tired of hearing those words, hopes he never does.
“I love you too, partner. Good night.”