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Yu dragged his feet along the pavement as he made his way home. The cold wintery wind bit at his cheeks causing them to glow a light red. The silver haired boy buried his head into his coat for extra warmth as he turned the corner and saw his home enter his vision.
The sky above him was already a deep, navy blue and the streetlights illuminated the dark, country streets. He sighed quietly as he slid the front door open, his breath billowing out in front of him, thanks to the cold air.
"I'm home..." He mumbled sadly as he slipped his shoes off and shut the door behind him.
He didn't receive a response. The house was completely empty. Yu hated it. The silence was suffocating.
While he was extremely grateful that Nanako had managed to pull through, he was still torn up about his uncle and cousin being stuck in the hospital. He ran his fingers through his hair and placed his school bag onto the kitchen table, yawning tiredly. He just couldn't focus at school, he was too busy worrying about his family.
The silver eyed boy stared into space as he tried to think of anything to take him mind off of his anxieties.
"It's... fine..." He muttered to himself with a shaky breath as he made his way upstairs to his room, every single footstep echoing through the entire house. His thoughts were swarming, to the point that it made his head pound.
He had to watch his young cousin desperately try to cling to life.
He saw his uncle mangled, thanks to a car crash.
He almost let his emotions overwhelm him and almost killed a man.
He learned that Namatame wasn't the killer and that the real killer was still at large.
His friend had disappeared and no one knew where he was.
He had to find the real killer and prepare for exams at the same time.
Yu buried his head into his hands as he sat down on the sofa in his room. He let out a shaky breath as he tried desperately to calm himself down. He knew that he had to deal with this, but he didn't know how. He groaned as he placed his hands onto his lap and looked up at the ceiling. He stayed in the position for a minute before sighing and lowering his head to look at the TV.
The TV... The thing that started it all... Yu stared at his reflection in the small screen, taking in every last detail.
His hair was a little greasy, probably thanks to him forgetting to wash it for a while.
He had very large, dark bags under his eyes. When was the last time he'd gotten some proper sleep?
And now that he'd gotten a good look, had he gotten thinner? He couldn't really remember if he had been eating properly or not... It didn't help that he was pretty pale too.
Yu huffed dejectedly as he flopped onto his side, lying awkwardly on the sofa. The moment his head hit the cushions, Yu felt his eyes drooping. His vision gradually grew blurrier and blurrier until his eyes eventually shut and he fell asleep.
Yu gently jolted awake as a familiar sound rang through his ears. It took him a few seconds to realise it was the doorbell.
He clumsily fumbled around for his phone in the dark. As his phone's screen illuminated the room, he squinted his eyes and checked the time. 5:30PM. So, he'd been asleep for an hour and a half, huh? Well, that was a lot more sleep than he had usually been getting lately...
He rubbed his eyes as he felt around for the light switch and turned it on. The doorbell continued to ring as he carefully wandered down the stairs, switching on the living room light as he did.
"Coming." He called out blandly as he tiredly dragged himself towards the front door. His eyebrows furrowed together in confusion as he pulled the door open.
"Yosuke? What're you doing here?" He croaked out, surprised to see his best friend.
"Hey, partner. You seemed kinda out of it at school, so I thought I'd come and check up on you." Yosuke explained with a soft smile.
"N-No, you really didn't have to do that..." Yu protested awkwardly. He really didn't want to trouble any of his friends with his own problems.
"Yu... C'mon, it's not healthy to be alone for so long... At least let me keep you company for the night. Besides, you look like you could use a break from, y'know... everything." Yosuke persisted, gently squeezing Yu's shoulder. Yu glanced to the side with a troubled gaze.
"Fine... If you want to..." Yu sighed in defeat, stepping to the side and letting Yosuke enter the home.
"Thanks, dude. I brought some stuff with me, y'know, food, movies, pyjamas, that sorta stuff." Yosuke thanked him, presenting the bag before placing it carefully on the floor and taking his shoes off.
"That's fine, but I really don't need any help, I'm fine." Yu mumbled as he shut the door and shuffled his way past Yosuke.
"Yu." The sudden seriousness in Yosuke's voice made Yu freeze in place. The silver haired boy cautiously glanced over his shoulder to see Yosuke slowly making his way over to him.
"I get that you're our leader and you think that you need to stay strong for all of us, but you can't keep pretending that everything's fine. We all know that you're getting pretty overwhelmed, I mean, look at you; your hair's all over the place, you're still wearing your school uniform, and you're so pale, you look like a ghost... so please... let us help you and take a break... You need it..." The headphone wearing boy pleaded, worry clear in his eyes. Yu let out a guilty sigh as he processed his partner's words.
"Alright... I just... I just don't really know how to deal with all this..." Yu admitted with a whisper, running his fingers through his hair and cringing slightly at the greasiness.
"Great! Soooo, why don't you take a bath, relax a little, and I'll make some dinner? Sound good?" Yosuke suggested with a proud grin, patting Yu on the back softly.
"Alright." Yu agreed quietly and made his way into the bathroom as Yosuke made himself at home and got started in the kitchen.
Yu sighed happily as he emerged from the bathroom, wearing comfortable clothes and softly drying his hair with a towel. He didn't realise he needed a bath that badly, but apparently he did. He felt as if all of the knots and stiffness in his body had melted away, thanks to the warm water. Just having a bath instantly brightened up Yu's mood.
A small smile made its way onto his face as he wandered back into the living room. He was greeted by the sight of Yosuke setting plates full of sushi onto the table.
"Yo! How you feeling now?" Yosuke asked as he noticed his partner entering the room.
"Much better" Yu responded with a contented sigh.
"Told ya it would help." Yosuke retorted with a smug grin.
"Yeah, yeah... Lemme just dry my hair, then I'll join you." Yu huffed with a smirk.
"Sure thing, have you even eaten anything lately...?" Yosuke replied, glancing at the silver haired boy as he poured out some water for both of them.
As if to answer his question, Yu's stomach let out a tremendously loud growl causing him to look around awkwardly.
"I'll take that as no..." Yosuke remarked, raising an eyebrow as he placed the glasses onto the table.
"Well, I'm about to eat, isn't that good enough?" Yu mumbled back with a slight blush, throwing the wet towel into the washing basket.
"Yeeeaaaaahhhh, no. Can't believe that I'm the one lecturing you about eating properly..." Yosuke replied sarcastically as Yu took a seat next to him.
"Yeah, it's usually the other way around." Yu retorted. Yosuke just elbowed him. The silver haired boy chuckled as he picked up his chopsticks.
"Thanks for the meal." He said politely before reaching for a piece of sushi and happily placing it in his mouth. His eyes widened and sparkled.
"Wow, thish ish reallry good!" He exclaimed while cheerfully chewing on his sushi.
"I'm glad to hear it, I made them myself." Yosuke commented brightly, causing Yu to glance at him in surprise.
"Seriously?" He asked, reaching for another piece.
"Well, I mean, you're always making food for us, so I thought I'd make food for you for a change..." The headphone wearing boy admitted bashfully. Yu froze and looked at him.
"That's really sweet of you... Thanks, partner." Yu thanked him. Yosuke quickly looked away, unable to handle how genuine Yu's response was.
"Y-Yeah, well, I thought it would be nice if the team had someone else who could actually cook." He remarked, half joking, half serious. Yu burst out laughing at that comment, clutching his stomach and making sure not to drop his food.
Yosuke couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was extremely rare for Yu to laugh out loud like that, so he was filled with a feeling accomplishment. Plus, Yu had a wonderful laugh, so he always felt lucky whenever he heard it. Yu took a few minutes to compose himself, with a little help from Yosuke and the two of them continued chattering as they ate their meal.
"So, did you have any ideas on what we should do after dinner?" Yu asked as the duo finished washing up the dishes.
"Yeah! I brought some movies with me. I wasn't really sure what you'd wanna watch, so I brought a variety. I've got a comedy movie, in case you wanted something to cheer you up, or a sad movie if you just wanted to let everything out, uhhh, an action movie if you wanted a distraction, orrrr this cute lil anime movie in case you wanted to feel like a big kid." Yosuke replied, gesturing towards his bag.
"Why don't you pick one while I get changed into my pj's?" He suggested, as he grabbed his pyjamas from the bag and jogged off into the bathroom. Yu smiled himself as he pulled all of the dvd cases out of the bag and placed them onto the table.
"Hmmm... Which one to watch...?" He hummed thoughtfully as he analysed all of the cases, slowly reading the blurbs of each one.
"Yo, so have you picked one you wanna watch yet?" Yosuke asked, as he re-entered the room, slipping his clothes into his bag.
"Yeah, I think I'm in the mood to laugh." Yu answered, holding up the comedy film.
"Good choice." Yosuke commented lightly, picking up the other cases.
Yu set up the tv and placed the disc into the dvd player while Yosuke slid the remaining dvds back into the bag. Yu noticed Yosuke pulling something else out of his bag, but he didn't pay much mind as he picked up the remote and sat down on the sofa. When Yosuke sat down next to him, Yu realised what it was Yosuke was holding: a blanket. He draped it over the both of them as he snuggled up next to his partner. The silver haired boy just sighed blissfully as he nuzzled his head into Yosuke's shoulder and pressed play. As the movie started up, Yosuke wrapped his arm around Yu's waist and pulled him closer. Yu just giggled quietly to himself as he noticed the blush on Yosuke's cheeks.
"Y'know, that was a great movie. Thanks for bringing it." Yu commented light-heartedly, rubbing his aching sides.
"I'm glad you liked it." Yosuke happily replied, stretching his back. As he stood up and turned the tv off, Yu let out a loud yawn.
"Welp, there's only thing left to make you feel better. C'mon, let's get you to bed." The boy with bleached hair suggested, gently patting Yu's back.
"What am I, a kid?" Yu chuckled as he began walking slowly up the stairs.
"C'mon, you've seen those bags under your eyes, you need some actual sleep. So, move it, get to bed." Yosuke explained, shoving Yu gently towards his bedroom door.
"Alright, alright..." Yu sighed as he set up his futon.
"Hey, do you have a spare futon that I could use?" Yosuke asked as he stood awkwardly in the middle of the room. Yu just looked at him.
"We can just share my own." He answered, smoothing out his duvet.
"A-Are you sure that's okay?" Yosuke stuttered bashfully. Yu stared at him with a knowing smirk and a raised eyebrow.
"We're boyfriends, Yosuke. It's fine." He assured him, shaking his head softly.
"Well, yeah, I know, it's just, we haven't shared a bed before, y'know..." Yosuke shyly refuted.
"I seem to remember sharing a bed on the camping trip..." Yu commented thoughtfully.
"You know that doesn't count!" Yosuke snapped. God, he wished he could just forget that entire trip... Yu just grinned at him with tired eyes.
"Alright... Lemme just turn the light off..." Yosuke admitted defeated, bashfully scratching the back of his head and flicking off the light. He carefully made his way over to futon and slid himself under the duvet.
"Hey, Yosuke?"
"Yeah, Yu?"
"Thanks for spending the night with me... It… It really means a lot." Yu mumbled quietly.
Even though it was dark, Yosuke could have sworn he saw a flash of red on Yu's face. He chuckled lightly as he placed a soft kiss onto Yu's forehead.
"It's no problem. I care about you, so of course I'll help you whenever you need me, okay?" Yosuke whispered back, pulling Yu against his chest and wrapping his arm around him.
As the silver haired boy's eyes drooped, he mumbled out a final statement:
"I love you."
"Love you too, partner."