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It happened in the Junes food court. A fitting place, he’d say. The spot where mysteries unfolded and friendships were tested. He could almost taste the tension in the air once Teddie spoke up, a grin as bright as the sun on his face.
“Hey, Yosuke…”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve had some beary important thoughts on my mind! It involves scoring with hot studs…”
Yukiko slammed her face onto the table.
“Teddie, please stop bringing that up!” She groaned. Either from annoyance or the fact that she hit her face really hard on the table, Yu wouldn’t know.
He giggled and completely disregarded whatever she said. Yu guessed he would completely forget her complaint in an hour or so. Yosuke stirred at his drink, a sour look on his face.
“Dude, why are you asking me? You could ask… Partner.” He shrugged. “I got no luck with the ladies.”
“We know, Yosuke,” Chie said as she nursed Yukiko’s swollen cheek with a handful of ice from her drink.
Teddie wagged his finger in wide overdramatic sweeps. “You didn’t let me finish! I’ll have you know that Teddie is great at scoring with the ladies—“ a dull thud from Yukiko’s side once again. “But now he wants to expand his horizons! Sweet, gorgeous, beautiful ladies just aren’t enough for my beary big heart!”
The sigh Yosuke gave was beyond tired. “Dude… are you trying to say you want to go after older women? Or younger women?”
Yu slammed his hand down onto the table, a dangerous glint in his eye.
“Don’t you dare touch Nanako.”
Despite his cheer, Teddie shrank back, “n-no worries, Sensei! I would never try to score with Nanako! That would be beary wrong.”
Kanji grunted, “and beary illegal…” which earned him the smallest of snickers from Rise. His face grew a wonderful shade of pink.
“Older women then, huh, Teddie?” Rise giggled as she played with her straw. “Ooh, I never thought you would go for that! I can be your wingwoman!”
Naoto put her head in her hands, “Teddie… you are far too young to be seen with an older woman. Surely you would be taken advantage of. I simply cannot let that happen.”
Yu nodded in agreement. He put on his best stern face— which, admittedly, didn’t look much different than his usual expression.
“We’ll find you a girl your age,” he assured.
Teddie blinked in confusion. A smile finally wormed its way onto his face as he stared at his friends.
“That wasn’t what I was talking about!” His face suddenly grew determined. He clenched his fist and yelled to the empty Junes food court: “I want to score with cute boys!”
Yosuke spat out his drink. While he coughed and heaved over the table, Teddie continued to talk, a certain sparkle in his eye. He was blissfully unaware of the looks he was getting. Anxiety and tension coursed through the air.
“If Yukiko and Chie and Rise and Naoto can score with cute boys, then I can too!” He puffed his chest out. “I want to woo them with my manly charm! All boys love bears, right? They can’t be different than the ladies.”
Now recovered, Yosuke slapped his hand over Teddie’s mouth. He’d gone a startling shade of red. Yu could not discern whether it was from coughing or the situation. Both would work.
“Shut up , Ted!” He hissed out, eyes scanning over the food court. “What if my freaking Dad heard you?! He’d kick you out and then where would you stay?”
Teddie gently removed the hand from his mouth. It didn’t take a detective to figure out he was close to tears.
“W-What? Why would he…” he sniffled. Yukiko reached over and patted his back.
Kanji, who had been silent, now spoke up, his voice wavering. “Uh… it’s… some people ain’t really cool with dudes likin’ each other. That’s why most people keep quiet about it. They don’t wanna get, uh… rejected.” He bit his lip. “But don’t you fuckin’ worry about them! We—“ he looked at Yosuke, contemplated, and then said, “uh, I’ve got your back.”
The bear managed a teary smile at Kanji. He directed his attention to the still silent Yosuke.
“Yosuke, you… you won’t kick me out, will you?”
“Dude—“ he tentatively reached over and lowered his voice. “Uh… of course not. I-I mean…” he laughed. “Where else would you go?”
That seemed to placate Teddie. He threw his arms around Yosuke’s shoulders and cheered. When the one sided hug was over he turned to the rest of the table, that sparkle back in his eye.
“I’m… I’m gonna score with a cute boy!” He announced, a bit quieter than last time. Rise whooped and Kanji let out an ear shattering “hell yeah”. Soon enough the entire table was cheering, Yosuke still red up to his ears.
The table quieted down, as did the entire Junes roof.
“You… you guys won’t leave me alone, right?”
His voice was so quiet that Yu had to strain to hear. Once the words hit they hit hard. He stood up with a single goal in mind: comfort his weird bear friend.
All it took was kneeling down and hugging him, the silence at the table palpable, to bring that grin back. He could hear Chie anxiously tapping her foot behind them. Yosuke’s discomfort wouldn’t ruin his chance to reach out to Teddie. Not today.
“I’m beary glad that Sensei isn’t one of those people,” he said.
Yu nodded, “I am, too. You can always come to me for advice. After all, I have more experience in scoring with cute boys than you do. Can’t help with the ladies, though.”
A choking sound. Chie started swatting Yukiko on the back, yelling at her to breathe. Naoto had gone completely quiet, a look of careful consideration on her face. Kanji hid his grin behind his hand. Rise looked torn between tears of disappointment and tears of happiness. Yosuke… was silent. Not that he hadn’t expected that. But none of their opinions mattered.
Teddie’s relieved smile was enough.
“S-Sensei! I’m… I’m not alone, now! You understand me…” Tears started to glint in his eyes again. Everyone started to panic.
“N-No, Ted! Don’t cry again!”
“Teddie, um… look at the silly glasses Chie senpai is wearing!”
“Ugh— Rise, seriously?!”
“Haha—“ a gasp of air. “C-Chie… those are really funny!”
“Yukiko senpai…”
Teddie was already crying. He wouldn’t stop, even as Rise stretched Naoto’s face into a ridiculous expression. Kanji ran over and flailed for a second before Rise pushed him into their hug. Eventually they all joined in, even Naoto, as Teddie cried and blubbered. He wiped at his eyes and looked at all of them with adoration.
Chie sighed in relief, “jeez… what got you so sad?” Yukiko giggled and snorted. She took off the disguise glasses and huffed, her face softening when she looked down at Teddie. Yu held him as securely as he could. He was so small. “I-I mean… you were just so happy.”
“I was just… beary beary happy,” he confessed as he wiped his tears away. “I didn’t want to feel alone again. But Sensei and Kanji saved me. I-I’m not alone!”
Kanji scratched at his ear. “Uh… the hell did I do to help?”
“Your speech,” Naoto supplied.
“Oh, yeah…” he laughed. “Dude, any one of us would have done that for you. We’re your fuckin’ friends, man. Shit like who you want to date don’t bother me at all. In fact… I’m, uh… just like you. Boys and girls. I like ‘em both.”
He coughed.
“D-Don’t any of you start! I swear I’ll beat the shit outta you!”
“No need for that.” Naoto said. “I am also bisexual. I believe it would be… ill advised for someone to disagree when more than half of our members are under this umbrella.”
Rise hopped into the conversation. She was grinning wide, although her mascara was smudged from when she was crying.
“This is how coming out should be! Also…” she stretched her hand out and struck a pose. “Bisexual first years unite!”
Naoto and Kanji stared. They both slowly shook their heads, muttering to themselves as Rise pouted. Teddie saved her by putting his own hand in. Yu swore the sun got brighter when they cheered together.
He outstretched his own hand to test the waters. Biting his lip, he said: “gay second years?”
Chie grinned and put her hand in. Yukiko, after flushing red, also put her hand in. They all turned to Yosuke. He was as red as Yukiko’s skirt.
“Sorry, guys…” he nervously chuckled. “Token straight friend over here! You can do your cheer thing, though. Um. I won’t judge.”
Kanji blinked owlishly. “You can’t be serious, Senpai.”
“W-What?!”
Naoto adjusted her cap. She tapped on her chin and surveyed him.
“You are… most definitely not, Senpai.”
“I am not ! I love women!” He desperately searched for someone who agreed with him. “Guys! I. Love. Women! I-I mean, I’m all about the ladies! You guys know me! Come on, partner, back me up!”
Yu remained perfectly calm. “We’ve been dating for two months.”
Yukiko started to giggle.
“Get in there Senpai!” Rise cried.
He sighed, stood up, and put his hand in. With a countdown to zero and a renewed energy, they all raised their hands up. Yu couldn’t stop himself from intertwining their fingers. The flush that spread across Yosuke’s face spelt mortification, but the way he squeezed his hand told another story.
“I can’t believe we all just came out in the Junes food court!” Rise said.
“I can… because I planned it all!” Teddie announced, striking a pose as he stood up with a flourish. He was standing on the table. “I was the mastermind behind it all
“No you fuckin’ didn’t, Ted, sit the hell down.”
He sat down. Yu rested his head on Yosuke’s shoulder, watching as Chie and Yukiko did the same. It seemed like they could finally be honest with each other. There was no holding back, now. It was fitting. So fitting. A bolt of power surged through him. He knew the feeling before it announced itself in his mind.
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