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It was the first snowfall of the year, and in all honesty, it couldn’t have come late enough for Inaba’s most stressed student slash amateur detective, Yosuke Hanamura.
The young retail worker absolutely detested the cold, and even more than that, snow. Snow was evil, in his mind. Each beautifully crafted flake might as well have been a demon from above.
Big cities like Tokyo budgeted for and allocated resources to keeping walkways and streets clear of snow and ice to allow for safe transport via train or on foot. There were occasional annoyances here and there, but nothing the teen couldn’t handle.
Inaba, a little country hamlet, was miles away from large cities and other government resources. As a result, it was not high on anyone’s priority list of places to tend to in a weather emergency.
Without the aid of professional snow equipment, the responsibility of keeping the icy deluge from piling up on the streets and clogging the alleyways often fell to residents. The same was true of local business owners, and even local branches of large companies like Junes were not immune to the added burden.
That was to say, it was up to employees like Yosuke to make sure the snow was never an inconvenience to customers.
Such a deal hadn’t exactly boosted Yosuke’s tolerance for the infuriating white flakes.
Snow iced the paths to school, it froze doors and windows shut, and it needed to be shoveled off all of Junes’ pathways (and he was never fast enough to get it all before another flurry would inevitably start up again that evening or night).
Sometimes, if the snow piled up enough, it even created icebergs of the stuff that clogged up bike racks and created heavy clouds on food court tables that always needed to be swept off by hand.
Then, there was the fact that the colder weather met that more people would be ordering hot drinks to cope with the dipping temperatures. Yosuke could already hear the bubbling from the boiling drink dispensers and feel the spattering of lava-hot coffee and spiced cider up his arms, burning his skin even through his double-layer of sweatshirts.
Yosuke hated winter, and more than that, he hated snow.
December came quickly, and so did Inaba’s first snowfall.
As if school exams weren’t miserable enough, Yosuke found himself largely unable to focus as the gray sky and heavy snowfall filled the classroom’s wide windows.
When the day ended, Yosuke donned his coat in dread at the knowledge of what awaited him at Junes.
Before he could dip out of the classroom, a gentle hand placed itself at the base of his neck to tug playfully at his collar.
He sighed loudly and reached behind his head to brush it off.
“Not now, Chie, I’m really not—”
Upon turning around, he saw Yu Narukami staring back at him with his signature, friendly stare. Yosuke’s hand had grabbed Yu’s wrist, and his fingers remained softly gripped around the pleasantly warm skin even seconds after realizing his error in judgment.
“O-Oh,” Yosuke floundered. “Crap. Sorry, dude. I thought you were someone else.”
“I’m pretty sure you thought I was Chie,” Yu quipped. “And I’m flattered.”
Yosuke exhaled loudly through his nose. “Well, she’s usually the one that does things like grabbing my shirt collar or…you know.”
He slowly let go of his partner’s hand. Yu allowed the released vestige to fall back to his side.
“So, um…what’s up?” Yosuke asked.
“You seemed down, so I didn’t just want to let you walk out of here without asking you what was wrong,” Yu said.
As usual, his friend’s blatant honestly made communication with him beyond effortless. Yu was so disarmingly easy to talk to, Yosuke thought. For better or worse.
“It’s nothing,” Yosuke said, but those silver eyes silently urged him to divulge the real truth. “Well, it’s Junes. I just know it’s going to be a pain to clear everything off.”
“Clear everything off?” Yu asked. Then, it hit him. “Oh, you mean the snow.”
Had he not specified that? He supposed not. Yosuke’s brain was still fried from the stress of exams, thus making it hard to focus. Plus, he’d noticed lately that it was getting harder and harder to gather his bearings around Yu. It wasn’t uncommon for his attention span to suddenly become stunted when he was around him. It didn’t happen all the time, but sometimes he’d look at Yu when the sun hit his face in just the right spot, or when he laughed loudly at his jokes, or when his eyes shined with fierce protectiveness any time one of their friends got hurt, and his brain would just come to a…screeching halt.
“Um…yeah, the snow,” he said, the words falling from his mouth like a river rocks toppling down a waterfall. “It’s been snowing for hours, and I can tell it’s that thick, heavy, wet snow. That stuff piles up easily and is so heavy to move!”
Yu’s face scrunched up. “Wait, are you going to have to shovel it all?”
“Well, yeah, probably,” he stammered. “A lot of the other student employees took the day off for exams, and all the other staff members have to keep the store running. We’re always strapped around the holidays, but when it snows like this, our staffing is even tighter than usual.”
There was also the added fact that shoveling the snow would no doubt take hours of overtime since the late afternoon hour was already approaching, and the snow had yet to let up. While a few employees would likely be assigned to help during the day, they wouldn’t be able to work after hours or until the weather decided to let up long enough for the paths to clear.
It went beyond the work responsibilities of part-time and full-time employees. However, Yosuke was always happy to help as a favor to his father … even if he hated each and every icy, wet second of it.
“The sooner I get over there, the soon I can make a break in it and get some ice-melt down or something,” he added awkwardly. “And it’ll be good exercise! You know, it’s hard to improve your strength when the weather is so cold, and we’ve got to stay in strong shape for all the battles ahead, and…”
He was casting a wide net in trying to make the situation better for himself, but he was pulling up nothing but sediment.
Yu’s eyes drifted to the ground for a moment. He almost looked like he was thinking of something. Probably pondering a response for his half-assed admission, Yosuke thought. The subtle movement of Yu’s jaw and the way he chewed the inside of his cheek were copies of the same, worried motions he did when navigating the Investigation Team through hordes of dangerous shadows.
Yosuke recognized them as habits born from annoyance, and in this instance, he knew he’d caused it.
Before he could apologize for worrying his best friend, Yu spoke up.
“Let me help you.”
Yosuke blinked, slow and reptilian at the statement. When the sentence finally sank in moments later, he grinned despite himself. “Wait, for real? You’re serious?”
Yu nodded, returning a smile – teeth and all – that made Yosuke feel some kind of way.
Fighting back a blush, Yosuke came to his senses. “Wait, no. I can’t let you do that. It’s a lot of hard work, and it wouldn’t be right to force you into helping.”
“But you’re not forcing me,” Yu countered swiftly. “I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t interested.”
“But…”
“Hey, weren’t you just saying that you needed to get over there to make a break in things?” Yu asked.
Yosuke’s head snapped up. “Um, well, yeah…”
Another cheeky smile greeted him. “Then we don’t have any time to waste, do we?”
Before Yosuke could argue, Yu took his arm and pulled him down the now deserted school hallway. The other students of Yasogami High had long since dispersed to the warmth of their extracurricular club rooms or personal homes, leaving the two students virtually alone in the corridor. Even Chie and Yukiko had long since departed, apparently deciding their friends’ conversation wasn’t worth eavesdropping on.
Unable to find an argument that was convincing enough for him, let alone Yu’s resolute logic, Yosuke consented with a thankful huff.
“You’re seriously the best, man,” he said. “You know that, right?”
He only laughed in reply. “Don’t sweat it. What are partners for, right?”
While Junes didn’t have the extra employees to shell out for snow-removal services, they sure as hell had enough snow boots and heavy-duty coats for people to don for the job on-site.
‘Funny how that works out,’ Yosuke couldn’t help but think to himself as he rifled through the piles to find clothes that would fit Yu’s size and height.
He piled the articles in his arms and carried them out to Yu, who was waiting near the employee lockers.
“You can change in the bathroom and meet me out front whenever you’re ready,” Yosuke told him.
He nodded and accepted the armful of bulky clothes. His knees nearly buckled under the weight, which was reassuring for clothes tasked with protecting him from the cold.
“This should all work,” Yu said, a little breathless from the accidental weight-lifting exercise. “Thank you again for lending me the clothes.”
Yosuke laughed. “Hey, no problem. It’s the least I can do after you offered to lend a hand.”
Typical Yu, Yosuke thought, thanking him when he was actually the one going out of his way to help.
“Meet me out front when you’re ready.”
The two departed so Yu could get dressed and Yosuke could dig out the tools they would need for the operation ahead of them. Specifically, the two would be using snow shovels and two snow blowers. The tools were already on-site in another locked storage room that only a few select employees had access to since it housed some of the more valuable, expensive, and dangerous amenities that rarely required use.
Yosuke, of course, was one of the few people that had access. All the more reason for him to be the one to tackle the monumental task.
He keyed in and hauled the equipment out. It took an additional two trips to get all the tools at the store’s main entrance. It took yet another lap through the building to grab the bag of Junes brand ice-melt to sprinkle along the sidewalk and walkways while they worked.
To his utter despair, the snow was still falling as he turned the choke of the gas snow blower to warm it up. Everything was already buried a few inches deep, and in true traumatized employee fashion, he activated his coping mechanism of quickly making a mental list of priorities so he and his partner could form the best plan of attack against the powdery menace.
By the time Yu walked out in proper attire, Yosuke had already blown most of the snow off all the food court’s outdoor tables. The sticky bottom layer had to be swept off by hand, of course.
That had been the easy part. Now, all those extra pounds of powdery substance had been displaced on the ground.
“Okay,” Yosuke said as he pointed to one of the shovels that he’d left leaning against the side of the building. “We’ll start with the walkways and sidewalk. We usually pile the snow around the sides of the building. Basically, anywhere there’s grass, you can put the snow. Oh, but don’t cover the bike racks or mailboxes. I did that last year and the mailman was pissed. I mean, rightfully so, but I don’t want another earful this year.”
Yu nodded along with each of Yosuke’s instructions until he’d finished their game plan for the entire property. At the end, they each grabbed a shovel and got right to work.
While customers filed in and out of the store, Yu and Yosuke danced about the property heaving weighty loads of snow back and forth, then frantically sprinkling obnoxiously blue ice-melt along the cleaned areas to prevent additional build-up. When a curious passerby gave Yu grief about if the ice-melt was safe for her precious dog to walk on, Yosuke rushed over and insisted that the Junes brand of ice-melt was perfectly safe for humans and pets alike, unlike a lot of other brands. She ended up running in to buy a couple of bags.
“Every moment is a marketing opportunity,” Yosuke laughed when Yu gave him an incredulous look.
“You really are a magician,” Yu said with nothing but fondness (and a little bit of physical exhaustion) in his voice.
The complement caused Yosuke’s cheeks to flare even redder than they already were.
“A-Alright, enough rest,” he joked, changing the topic out of embarrassment. “Let’s get back to work, yeah?”
For someone who really appreciated praise, he was still awkward about receiving it.
Yu dropped the topic, but still teased him with a soldier’s salute. “Yessir.”
They kept working and, a few hours later, the pathways were cleared and heavily salted.
With one last heave, Yosuke tossed the last shovelful of show off the property’s sidewalk. He used his knit hat to dab away the light sheen of sweat on his brow, but he smiled nonetheless. The young man couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride as he surveyed his handiwork. With the added bonus of the Junes holiday decorations, which included giant candy canes framing the entryway and garlands strung along the light posts, the shop looked like a little slice of a corporate winter wonderland.
Since the sun had gone down, he also took notice of the store’s holiday lights. While the larger decorations were usually put up a few days before the end of November, the lights usually kicked on long after Yosuke had headed home or clicked off before he finished closing up.
For whatever reason, he hadn’t taken notice of how…pretty the twinkling veils of holiday lights made everything look until that very moment.
Yosuke was so lost in the display that he barely took notice of the sound of crunching snow approaching him.
When he turned, he saw Yu following his gaze overhead until both were transfixed at the grand display of lights dancing across the normally brutalist architecture.
“It’s not too tacky, right?” Yosuke asked, suddenly self-conscious of how overly decorated Junes might have seemed in comparison to the rest of the town’s more subtle holiday décor.
Yu shook his head. “Not at all. It looks really nice. Now that the paths are clear, people can enjoy it even more.”
“Yeah,” Yosuke agreed, feeling a surge of relief. The worst part of the day was over. Thanks to Yu’s help, the whole affair had passed in what felt like the blink of an eye. He should have felt miserable and cold, but as he stood next to his best friend and stared up at the inky black sky amidst a winter wonderland of decorations and lightly strumming carols over the loudspeakers, he felt nothing but peace and contentment. He could, and would, have stood there for hours in bliss if Yu hadn’t broken the silence.
“Hey, I have a surprise for you,” Yu said, smiling broadly as Yosuke met his gaze.
“A surprise?” he parroted. “Um…okay. Well, you’ve definitely got me curious. Lead the way!”
With the entire store and lot to themselves, the two trekked across the decorated storefront until they arrived at the front entrance. There, waiting for them, were two ginormous piles of snow on either side of the walkway. Each pile had to be over six feet in height and about as wide as Teddie (when donned in costume, of course).
“Holy crap,” Yosuke guffawed. “That’s…all the snow you shoveled?”
“It’s all the snow you told me to shovel,” Yu replied. Even he couldn’t hide the tinge of pride in his tone. “Did I pass the test?”
Yosuke was equally impressed. “Damn dude, you’re a machine! Even outside of school, you go above and beyond.”
Perhaps it was Yosuke’s imagination, but he thought he saw the faintest raspberry flush spread across his friend’s cheeks. It was probably just the cold wearing his face raw after hours of physical exertion, but still, he couldn’t help but dwell for a moment on pleasantly cute the gesture was.
Yu walked over to one of the stacks and patted it, sending a small cloud of flurries into the air.
“Well, what do you say?” Yu asked. “I’ll take one, and you take the other?”
Yosuke blinked, not following. “Um…for what?”
“For making snowmen,” Yu said. “What else?”
It was such a straight-to-the-point answer for something so random. If he was any less familiar with Yu, he would have thought the other teen was pulling his leg.
“You seriously want to make snowmen?” Yosuke asked.
“Can you think of a better way to make these ginormous mounds of snow more aesthetically pleasing?” Yu asked.
Well, when he phrased it like that, the idea sounded much less crazy. Actually, it sounded like fun. Despite the lactic acid burn already brewing in his arms and legs from hours lifting heavy snow, Yosuke wasn’t one to ever suggest cutting any time spent with his partner short.
Yosuke’s hesitation caused Yu to hum in mock contemplation as he turned his attention back to the large piles. “I mean, I guess we could use the snowblowers and blow all this onto the roof or—”
“Okay, no, no, I like the snowman idea more!” Yosuke rushed to say. “Actually, it sounds really fun. Like you said, it’s way better than just leaving these huge piles around for kids to mess with or something. Maybe if they were snowmen, they’d look nice and people would leave them alone.”
Yu nodded along. “Sounds like a plan to me.”
“Okay, then it’s set,” Yosuke said with a clap of his hands. “We’ll shape these ugly snow piles into some glorious snowmen. Then, when the employees and customers show up tomorrow, they’ll be so amazed at our handiwork that they won’t know what hit ‘em!”
“Maybe they’ll be amazed enough to give you a day off for all your hard work?” Yu posed. While phrased like a question, it was more like a statement … and not a subtle one.
Yosuke tried to laugh, but it came out as a hopeless huff.
“We’d have to make some pretty amazing snowmen for that to happen,” Yosuke added lightly.
Undeterred, Yu clenched his fist in cartoonish determination. “I’ll rise to any challenge for the sake of my partner.”
Yosuke’s cheeks flamed. Before he could even begin to formulate a protest, Yu had already turned back to his mound of snow and was surveying it thoughtfully, like a sculptor studying a column of marble. After a few moments of pondering, he reached up with mittened hands and began shaving a shape into the quickly condensing material.
“You better hurry and get started or you’ll need to use an ice pick instead of your hands,” Yu teased.
Still too frazzled to come up with a reply, Yosuke merely nodded and got to work. He rushed to the other pile of snow, which was on the other side of the main entrance’s front walkway, and began to think about what would look best. He knew he wasn’t exactly an artist, but a basic snowman didn’t seem too hard. Maybe he could even have a little fun with the design.
Just then, an idea popped into his head.
With an urgency that only accompanies a sudden epiphany, Yosuke began to shape the snow into a tangible form. All the snow he didn’t need was pushed back behind the snowman so that it was still off the path and yet remained slightly eclipsed from the view of passerbies (including nosy dogwalkers).
After a few minutes of nudging and prodding, he finally created a shape that was compact and sturdy enough to remain upright without being dashed by a winter’s breeze. Next, he created divots to mark where the eyes and nose would go, then marked those spots with a few dark rocks that were more than abundant along Inaba’s rural roadways. The teen then reached for the extra snow pile for the added material to shape the creature’s finishing touch; it’s long ears. It was a little tricky shaping the appendages to stand upright, but after a few tries, he was able to pack the snow in hard enough that they could withstand their own weight without crumbling into dust.
It was coming together nicely. All he needed now was…
“You made a rabbit.”
Yosuke whirled around to see Yu standing behind him and surveying his work with wide eyes. After a few more seconds of study, silver eyes widened even more in realization at why the snowy creation stirred a sense of familiarity. “Wait, is this…the Hare of Inaba?”
“You guessed it!” Yosuke said, more thrilled than surprised at his partner’s ability to correctly discern the identity of his creation so quickly. “Seeing all the other Junes decorations made me think of it. Don’t get me wrong, our display is nice, but it kind of lacks any…local flavor, you know?”
Yu made a noncommittal noise, which Yosuke took more as a gesture of politeness than any actual feedback.
He continued softly, almost self-consciously, “I thought it might be nice to dedicate something to the local lore, and put it front and center where everyone who comes in to shop has to look at it before they walk in.”
The hare was about five feet tall with paws created out of snowballs Yosuke had shaped to huddle around the creature’s well-nourished belly. It also had a slightly pinched nose and chubby cheeks. Evergreen needles from nearby conifers made for easy whiskers without looking too tacky, in his humble opinion. The creature’s pose had been the hardest part, with its head tipped toward the heavens as if it was searching the snowy skies for any trace of its godly companions.
“I wish I had some cattails to give him,” Yosuke added with a laugh. “That would really complete it.”
Then, he got an idea.
The young man unwound the Junes brand scarf he’d borrowed from the backroom to fend off the winter chill and wrapped it around the snow-bunny’s neck. He tied the fleecy red fabric into a small bow and backed away to survey his work.
“What do you think?” he asked.
“It’s perfect,” Yu was quick to reply. “People will absolutely love it.”
While Yu was by no means sparse when it came to praising his friends, the jubilancy in his usually even tone and the way he continued to stare at the piece long after Yosuke had looked away – as if he was soaking in every detail – only enhanced the feeling of accomplishment Yosuke felt.
“Aw, thanks man,” he laughed, scratching the back of his now unadorned neck. “So, what did you make?”
Upon looking over, Yosuke could see that Yu had shaped his pile of snow into an elongated torso that also had rounded appendages hanging from the sides. There almost looked like bear paws. A line of stones also ran up the middle of the snowman’s torso just like a line of buttons that would be present on any winter coat or costume.
It wasn’t until he saw another pile of snow rolled on the ground with snowball-shaped ears and garden stones from a nearby bed serving as eyes, that it clicked.
“You made Teddie!” Yosuke exclaimed in delight, which caused Yu to grin broadly and nod in agreement.
“It’s kind of like Teddie, but with a wintery skin,” Yu said with a smile.
Yosuke scoffed, but not out of malice. “A winter skin? What is he, a video game character?”
“He could be,” Yu remarked with a grin. “Tell me that stranger things haven’t happened to us.”
Touché, he thought secretly.
“If we want to make him less…monochromatic, I can run home and get some snowcone syrup and—”
“No, no, no!” Yosuke countered. “That’s okay. Really. I think he looks great as is.”
Yu cocked his head, which sent a small accumulation of snow at had gathered atop his knit cap to gently fall to the ground. “Yeah?”
“Seriously,” Yosuke nodded. “You nailed it man, but…one question. Why is his head on the ground?”
At this, Yu heaved a sigh and turned his guilty gaze to the oversized, white lump. “Well, I wanted to make sure I kept Teddie to scale, so I figured rolling out the head from a fresh pile would make the most sense, but…”
“But…?”
“It’s too heavy,” he admitted.
Yosuke chuckled and went to the other side. With ease, he was able to lift the snow just enough to worm his fingers between the freezing sculpture and the cold concrete. “Well, that’s easy to fix. Here, you grab the other side, and we’ll lift it together.”
Yu followed his friend’s guidance and went to the other side of the large, Teddie-shaped snow-head.
“Ready?” Yosuke asked.
Yu nodded, and after a three-second count, they hauled it up and lifted it over their heads.
When they attempted to slide the heavy structure onto its pedestal, the head warbled on the uneven surface. Yu frantically began to smooth the snow more so the two pieces could mesh together more securely. All the while, Yosuke strained to keep the entire statue upright.
“Gah, my arms are cramping!” he whimpered. An entire plane of snow was pressed against his cheek and causing his teeth to chatter. “Hurry, Yu!”
“One, sec, one sec,” Yu said, taking a few moments to step back and check that the plane was level.
“One second, my ass!” Yosuke cried, yelping as the snow started to seep down the front of his coat and penetrate the fabric of his shirt. The result made him shiver physically enough to make his shoulders shudder. It was at that point that Yu finally rushed in and alleviated half of the cold, weighty burden from his friend’s arms. Together, they managed to push it overhead and lock it into place.
When they both stepped back, they were able to take the whole scene in with widescreen appreciation. The sweeping commercial decorations became a backdrop two their two imperfectly crafted snow creatures, which stood like proud topiaries at the front of the otherwise generic storefront.
It was a perfect sight.
“Hah…that’s what I call teamwork,” Yosuke gasped still trying to catch his breath. The smile on his face betrayed any tiredness in his voice.
“Well, you did say this would be a good workout…” Yu replied, chuckling a bit.
It took every ounce of energy for him to lift his fist and lightly punch his friend’s shoulder.
The snow continued to fall, but Yosuke didn’t even notice.
He just stood there, shoulder-to-shoulder with Yu in the lamplit streets of a tiny town. Everyone else had already indoors and possibly asleep, which was evident by the lines of dark windows and shuddered storefronts that lined the rest of the streets. In the distance, delicate chords of a generic holiday song danced on the wind, like they were being played on a record player in the next universe over.
Over the ground lies a mantle of white
A heaven of diamonds shine down through the night
Two hearts are thrillin' in spite of the chill in the weather
He felt a little blush bloom across his cheeks at how awkwardly relatable their situation seemed to be to the romantic song. A fatally curious part of his brain dared to wonder if Yu was interpreting the same meaning from the song as he was. Was he was picking apart the lyrics with the same microscopic precision that his own brain utilized when he was racing to solve a problem or reach a conclusion?
From his outside perspective, that didn't appear to be the case. Instead, Yu looked like he was … lost in thought. Daydreaming, maybe.
That idea brought Yosuke a rush of happiness. Yu was always running around and always seemed to have his fingers in a million different tasks. If he had a planner, it would have been the size of a dictionary, with each day needing its own chapter. Even Yosuke had no idea how his friend managed it all and stayed relatively sane. It said a lot that, for the first time Yosuke could recall, Yu seemed … still. He was a picture of relaxation as he simply stood in the rainbow-glow of holiday lights, took steady breaths, and admired the spectacle before them.
It was such a humbling experience that Yosuke found himself speechless.
Yet, he also kind of knew where his friend was coming from. After all, more parts of their lives overlapped than not.
It had been an insane year for both of them. Every week – hell, every day – had been plagued with stress and anxiety around a plethora of issues. Everything from passing exams to saving the mortal lives of their friends and comrades had been on the table at some point. The fate of the entire town, maybe the world, rested on their still-growing shoulders.
They’d been through hell, and there was probably even more ahead of them.
So, a little bit of snow and cold weather was not about to stop Yosuke from enjoying quiet silence with his most trusted companion in the entire world.
“Happy holidays, Yu,” Yosuke said suddenly, not because he wanted to spoil the comfortable silence, but because it felt like the right sentiment. It was a kinder way of saying, Hey, we made it. We’ve survived the year, and we’re gonna keep going.
As seamlessly as he’d slipped into his trance, Yu came out of it and turned to face his partner fully. “Happy holidays, Yosuke.” We have more work to do, but I’m not going to give up. I know we can do anything if we stay together.
They exchanged broad smiles. Then, after a few seconds, their gazes remained locked long after their smiles had faded.
The sound of snow and distant music swelled like a choir in Yosuke’s brain as their bodies somehow drifted closer. He hadn’t remembered that happening.
“Thanks again for helping me,” Yosuke said, his voice almost offensive when juxtaposed to the romantic quiet that surrounded them. “This ended up better than I even thought, and…I know I couldn’t have done it without you, and…”
He was rambling, but that was because he suddenly noticed how Yu was looking at him. The look on his friend’s face wasn’t one befitting complacent listener, but rather, was more suited to someone experiencing a pleasant daydream. He looked almost lost in thought, and eagerly so.
He looked like he wanted to say something.
“Um, partner…?” Yosuke asked. His voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you okay?”
Yu opened his mouth, and slowly, his lips formed words against the delicate backdrop of snowfall.
Love knows no season, love knows no climb
Romance can blossom, any old time
Here in the open, we're walkin' and hopin' together
“I think I love you,” he whispered.
Yu fired the statement off like an executable, but Yosuke faltered on the installation.
“You…love me?” Yosuke repeated. He blinked at the words, slow and reptilian. “Or, wait, you think you love me?”
Yu chewed his lip in worry. “No, I’m sorry, that’s a lie. I know I love you. I just…I guess I wanted to phrase it in a way that left you an opening.”
Yosuke’s brow furrowed in concern. He closed the distance between them and slowly, like he was testing the temperature of hot water, lifted his hands to Yu’s shoulders. Once he made contact, he squeezed them gingerly beneath his palms.
“An opening?” Yosuke asked. “What do you mean by that?”
“You know…” he stuttered, averted his gaze to the cement out of embarrassment. “In case you didn’t feel the same or wanted to back out without hurting my feelings.”
The sentence ricocheted around him until it finally landed, punching what felt like a large hole in his chest.
“Yu, I…”
“It’s okay,” he rushed to say. “Please, you’re not obligated to return my feelings. I just…I’ve wanted to tell you for a while, and we’re alone, and…I just wanted to make sure you knew.”
He began to lean back from Yosuke, intent on giving his friend some literal space and perhaps alleviate him of any additional pressure. Instead of moving away, Yosuke only leaned in closer, closing the distance between them again.
“How long have you felt like this?” he asked. It was his turn to be straight-to-the-point.
“I don’t think I could tell you an exact moment when I realized,” Yu confessed slowly. “But…it’s been months.”
“Months…oh my god, Yu…” Yosuke laughed, his head slumping against his partner’s chest. “All this time, and you decided to tell me all this after I spent hours making you shovel snow?”
Yu laughed, the sound condensing in soft puffs that floated to the pin-pricked heavens.
“Sorry,” Yu said. “I guess I’m not a master of timing, huh? But…I’ve had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to say, so…”
The rest of his statement was cut off as Yosuke leaned up and pressed a kiss to Yu’s lips.
It was chaste but warm. Warmer than anything else around them. Even when Yu closed his eyes and entwined their hands – their fingers slotting together like pieces of a puzzle that could only fit each other – all that still paled in comparison to the surge of visceral heat of having Yosuke’s lips on his.
When they pulled apart, Yu’s head lolled forward a bit, chasing the touch. Yosuke grinned at that and buried his face in Yu’s chest, nosing burrowing into the thick Junes brand scarf he’d lent him.
They stood comfortably entwined for a few moments before Yosuke pulled away. He blinked the snow out of his eyelashes, and Yu reached up to wipe away the melting droplets that threatened to run down his cheeks.
“So,” Yu began, now confident enough to make eye-contact again, “Does that mean…”
Yosuke bit his lip, resulting in a lop-sided grin. “You’re still not sure?”
Yu shook his head, but his smile never vanished. “I want to be sure I’m not…imagining it. Like, this isn’t some hypothermia-induced hallucination, right?”
The laugh Yosuke let out was a blend of disbelief and joy. “I’m afraid this is reality. A very cold, but…very good reality.”
Yu’s eyes sparkled brighter than the holiday lights above them. “Yeah?”
Fondness swelled in his heart and boiled in his veins. Yosuke nodded slowly, his hands coming up to cup Yu’s face with a tenderness only reserved for one’s soulmate. “Y-Yeah.”
Neither needed to ask again. They both leaned in and pressed their lips together in a second, deeper kiss. With the initial surprise conquered, both were free to tilt their heads and melt into each other’s touch without having to pay heed to doubt or rejection. They breathed against each other, feeling the cathartic rise and fall of each other’s chests even beneath their thick layers of clothing.
Even after they broke apart, they stayed wrapped in each other’s arms many minutes afterward. Yu’s hand rested on Yosuke’s arms, his thumbs rubbing circles into the thick sleeves of the coat.
“We’ve been out here for a while,” Yu finally uttered. The sky had turned completely black overhead.
At last, the snow had stopped falling.
“Maybe we really are both really hallucinating,” Yosuke joked. “We have a lot to talk about, but…honestly, I’m freaking freezing out here.”
Yu agreed readily, each huff of breath condensing in a heavy cloud in front of his face. His cheeks were still pink, but more so from the raw temperature of the wind than the result of a lingering blush. “Let’s call it a night for now. But…we should talk about this.”
The image of Yu’s imaginary, dictionary-sized planner spring back into Yosuke’s brain. A discussion about … what had just happened would be yet another meeting to squeeze into their already packed schedules.
As if reading his mind, Yu’s gloved hand reached up and smoothed Yosuke’s snow-soaked bangs out of his eyes.
“We’ve…both got a lot going on,” he whispered, speaking for both of them. “Let’s take this at our own pace. We’ve got all kinds of time, right?”
‘All kinds of time.’
Perhaps Yosuke was crazy, but that didn’t sound like the sentiment of someone who was looking for a temporary fling until summer came around and he left for Tokyo.
The admission that Yu had been thinking of his feelings for months before their fateful confession still had Yosuke’s heart spinning like a turbine. He felt charged with romantic energy, but at that moment, he couldn’t have formulated his thoughts elegantly if his life depended on it. He was dizzy, giddy, and so unbelievably lovestruck that it took every ounce of self-restraint to not rush back into Yu’s arms and kiss him again. He would have absolutely seized the opportunity if the temperature wasn’t dropping by the second and the crushing realization that he’d have to wake up early tomorrow after a long night of work wasn’t squishing his brain like a block of cement.
Being in love was wonderful, but the fact that they could take time to enjoy it? It was the definition of perfection. Perhaps he really had earned the favor of the Hare of Inaba and had been bestowed a godly favor in exchange for all his work.
“I think I can pencil you in somewhere,” Yosuke teased, still partially at a loss for words.
With a new surge of rejuvenation rushing through their veins like adrenaline, they hauled the tools back to their proper home in the Junes storeroom. As for their rented clothes, Yosuke told Yu to hold onto them and return them whenever he had the time. Junes owed them at least that much flexibility for their efforts.
By the time they made their way back toward the front and Yosuke had locked down the entire store, they were both essentially dead on their feet.
The key had barely clicked the store’s deadbolt shut when Yosuke felt feather-light pressure on his arm. He glanced over his shoulder to see Yu still standing there, his face still a mask of cautiousness as he slowly linked their arms. One of his hands had found purchase on Yosuke’s elbow.
“Can I, um, walk you home?”
If he’d heard the line in a movie, Yosuke would have rolled his eyes. However, something about the sincerity in Yu’s eyes and the sincerity in his voice made him almost melt into a pile of goo right on the spot. So much for warming up at home.
“One whole block?” Yosuke laughed, then shivered as another icy wind caressed them. “Yikes, yeah. Stay close to me, okay?”
“No problem.”
The two left nothing but uncertainty and snow-dusted footprints behind as the last lines of a thrumming melody followed closely on the wind, which seemed to swell into an otherworldly chorus as they shared another lingering kiss beneath the last streetlight before home.
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening
In the lane, snow is glistening
A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight
Walking in a winter wonderland.
Maybe, Yosuke thought, snow wasn't so bad after all.