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Yu grunted as Yosuke ran hard into him, pushing him to the ground and out of the way of a Shadow’s attack.
His heart dropped. He hated when people did that for him, getting attacked in his stead.
He quickly sat up as Yukiko sent a wave of fire over at the Shadow, easily dispensing with it. He needed to make sure that Yosuke was okay.
He looked over to where he should have been, but didn’t see him. He frowned, looking all around. Finally, as he swept his gaze down, his eyes locked on to something that he had missed earlier.
“A cat…?” he questioned quietly.
There was what looked to be an orange tabby splayed out on the ground right where Yosuke should have been. He got to his feet then walked over to it.
“Yu-kun, are you and Yosuke-kun all right?” Yukiko asked, walking toward them. She frowned, “Where’s Yosuke-kun?”
Yu was at a loss for words as he reached the cat, kneeling down beside it and picking it up like a baby. Slowly, it blinked its eyes open, staring up at him. Immediately, it opened its mouth and began meowing. It seemed startled at the noise and started struggling in Yu’s arms. He let it go, not wanting to get scratched.
“Where’d that cat come from?” Chie asked, walking up beside him with Yukiko.
The cat looked at her and let out a loud cry.
Yu took a deep breath. Yosuke was gone and now there was a cat. Could that mean…?
“Yosuke?” he asked quietly.
The cat’s gaze snapped straight to him, meowing and padding over to him, jumping up and pawing at his leg.
“Yosuke?” Chie said, “Whaddya mean, ‘Yosuke’?”
“Are you saying that Yosuke-kun is the cat?” Yukiko asked.
Yu reached down, scratching behind the cat’s ears, “I… I think so. He was here, but now he’s gone and this cat is here.”
There was a crackling sound as Rise’s voice sounded from seemingly nowhere, “I think you’re right, Senpai. Yosuke-senpai’s reading is still in that room, but it’s all jumbled up and… weird. I think it must have been something that last Shadow attack did.”
Yu nodded, standing fully up from where he had been crouched on the ground, “Yukiko, can you try healing him?”
“Of course,” she quickly summoned her Persona, running through her repertoire of healing skills.
He started to get more and more anxious as none of them seemed to do anything.
Finally, she stopped, frowning, “I don’t think anything I can do will help.”
Yu took a deep breath, “All right, let’s head back then. I don’t want to come across any Shadows when Yosuke’s like this.”
“Is he gonna be all right?” Chie asked, brow furrowing with concern.
“I’m sure he will be. Effects from Shadows have never been permanent before. I don’t know why this would be any different,” Yu said.
Yukiko and Chie nodded, heading back toward the entrance. The cat - Yosuke, he had to remind himself - began following them. Before he could get too far, Yu reached down, scooping him up and into his arms.
Yosuke protested, meowing and wriggling.
“Yosuke, stop. You’re so small and you can’t fight like this. I don’t want you getting separated or lost.”
Yosuke stopped, looking back toward him and meowing once. Yu had to stop himself from reaching over and petting him. He had been thinking this since he had seen him, but he was really cute like this - not that he was saying that he wasn’t cute all the time, but it was different.
“I know. Just bear with it for a little while.”
At that, Yosuke readjusted himself in his arms, moving so he was facing toward him, then started clambering up his arm and onto his shoulder, perching there.
“All right. That works.”
Yu started heading after Yukiko and Chie, who were both waiting for them patiently. They quickly made it outside without incident and to where the rest of the team was waiting. They all ran over as soon as they made it out.
“Yosuke-senpai,” Rise said, reaching over and petting his head, “You’re so cute!”
Yosuke shied back, walking around Yu’s shoulders to get to the other side.
Rise pouted.
Almost without warning, Teddie reached up, trying to drag him off of his shoulder, “Yooosuuuke!”
Yosuke responded by letting out a yowl and digging his claws into Yu’s shoulder.
Yu grit his teeth, pushing Teddie back, “Teddie, just leave him be.”
“But Sensei! Yosuke’s so small now and I want to hold him.”
“Maybe later, but not right now, okay?”
Yosuke made another loud noise, planting himself firmly down on Yu’s shoulder, pressing up against his neck. Once again, he had to restrain himself from petting him. He would probably try and bite him if he did that.
Teddie reached up, petting his head. Yu couldn’t see his expression, but he would have bet that he was glaring, “All right. Yosuke, your fur is so soft. It might even rival my beary own.”
“H-how soft is it?” Kanji asked. He had been standing there the whole time, but hadn’t said anything, his gaze fixed on Yosuke.
Yosuke looked at him, letting out a low growl.
“Sorry,” Kanji blinked, “I won’t touch ya.”
“Anyway,” Yu said, “Rise, can you try scanning him?”
“Oh, yeah, of course.”
Yu pushed Yosuke gently and he got up, jumping down off of him and onto the ground.
Rise summoned her Persona. It was quiet for a few seconds before she started talking, “Hmm. I’m not seeing anything too out of the ordinary. He seems fine except for… you know… being a cat.”
“Is there anything that we can do?” Yu asked.
“I don’t think so. I think it should wear off on its own in a few hours though.”
“Do you have a more precise estimate?” Yu asked.
“I’m not entirely sure. It’s not going to be anytime soon though.”
So probably not something to wait out in the TV world then.
“All right. Let’s head back to the backlot. I think we’re just going to have to leave and hope that it wears off by tomorrow.”
Yosuke looked back at him in alarm. He wasn’t quite sure what of that he was concerned by and he couldn’t exactly answer him like this if he asked.
“What about Yosuke?” Chie asked, “He can’t really go home like that, can he?”
Yu thought for a second. If he went home, he would have Teddie there to help him, then again, he wasn’t sure if Teddie would be a very big help in keeping him a secret from his parents.
He pursed his lips, “Yosuke, you can come home with me,” he turned to Teddie, “Teddie, can you tell Yosuke’s parents that he’s spending the night at my house so we can study?” It was a school night, but that would give them a free pass.
Teddie nodded, “Leave it to me, Sensei.”
With that, they all started heading toward the entrance to the TV world. Yu had picked Yosuke up again and was carrying him. They quickly reached the backlot and exited into the electronics department at Junes.
It was at that point that they needed to hide Yosuke. The employees probably wouldn’t take too kindly to them carrying a cat through the store.
Yu held him low, against his stomach while everyone else walked in front and beside him, effectively creating a wall. People might wonder why they were walking so close together, but it was better than them seeing him with a cat.
They managed to not rouse any suspicion as they made it out of Junes. Once they were in the parking lot, he let him climb back onto his shoulders and then parted ways with everyone, heading back home.
Yu was trying to figure out how he was going to sneak Yosuke past Nanako, and potentially his uncle if he was home, when Yosuke started meowing.
“What?” He wasn’t sure why he asked that. It wasn’t like he could answer him.
He looked at him with wide, brown eyes - they were still cat eyes, but they were the exact same color as Yosuke’s normally were.
“You’re going to be fine,” Yu said, reaching up and patting his head. His fur was really soft and felt nice under his hand. He wanted to keep touching him. Instead, he forced himself to stop.
Yosuke meowed at him.
“Rise said that it should wear off in a few hours. If it lasts through tomorrow, we’ll figure something out then.”
Yosuke meowed, then bumped the side of his jaw with his head.
Yu laughed, “You do make a pretty cute cat though.”
To his surprise, Yosuke began purring. He stopped very quickly though, letting out a series of almost flustered sounding meows.
He reached up and scratched him behind his ear, the purring starting back up.
Before long, they made it back to the Dojima residence. His uncle’s car was in the driveway. He silently cursed. He could have definitely gotten him past Nanako with very little issue, his uncle though…
He walked over to the back of the house. If he looked up, he could see his bedroom window. Yosuke was looking at him curiously.
“Climb up onto the roof and I’ll let you in through the window.”
Yosuke let out a surprised meow.
“Shh, someone will hear you. You’re a cat. You can make a jump like that.”
Yosuke seemed to glare at him. Yu ignored it, grabbing him off his shoulder, then holding him up toward the roof. Yosuke hesitated for a second before springboarding off of his hands and landing on the rooftop, making his way toward Yu’s bedroom window.
“I’ll be right there.”
With that, he walked back around to the front and opened the door. Both his uncle and Nanako greeted him, but he excused himself as quickly as possible without seeming suspicious and headed upstairs.
As soon as he opened the window, Yosuke jumped inside, looking around. He had been in his room before, but things must have looked different as a cat.
He looked up at him and meowed. Again, Yu had no idea what that was supposed to mean.
“What do you need?”
Yosuke looked away quickly, then back at him, and meowed again.
He furrowed his brow, looking around the room. He still had no idea. While looking around, his eyes locked onto his bag. He knew that in that bag, there was a small container filled with a blend of catnip and silvervine. He had it to give to the stray cats that he would go visit by the floodplain. It definitely worked on all those cats, but would it…?
He strode over to the bag and pulled out the little jar. Yosuke jumped up onto the couch, looking at him curiously.
“Do you want to try something?”
Yosuke tilted his head.
He opened up the container, taking out a small pinch of the catnip and silvervine, and placing it down on the couch in front of Yosuke. He looked at it curiously before leaning down and sniffing it.
To Yu’s immense joy, he immediately started meowing, rubbing his cheeks against the dried leaves. Before long, he flopped down onto the couch, starting to roll in it, stretching out his body. After a few seconds, he rolled back into an upright position. He shook his head, looking up at Yu and crying at him.
His pupils were so dilated that he couldn’t even see the brown anymore. He laughed slightly, walking over and sitting down next to him. He reached over, brushing a piece of catnip off of his cheek.
He walked over, placing his front paws onto Yu’s thigh and starting to knead against his leg, purring loudly. He was so unbelievably cute.
He reached over and started petting him, running his hand down from the top of his head, all the way to his tail. He was so soft and his fur was so silky. He could do this for hours.
After a minute, he jumped fully into Yu’s lap, facing toward him, this time kneading on his stomach. That hurt a little bit, his claws repeatedly digging into the flesh like tiny needles, but he didn’t mind it too much.
He reached his hands over, cupping his face into his palms, rubbing his cheeks with his thumbs.
“Who’s a handsome boy?” he cooed, “Such a good kitty.”
He closed his eyes in contentment, his purring growing louder.
He laughed, “So nice and soft,” he hummed, “Yes, so handsome.”
He leaned forward, pressing a kiss against his forehead.
At that, the kneading started to slow down, stopping almost completely as he laid down on top of him, stretching his legs out in front. Yu took one of his paws, turning it over and running his finger over the paw pad.
“Look at your lil’ beans. You’re so cute, Yosuke.”
He stopped as soon as he said his name. That was right. This was Yosuke, not just some random cat.
His face felt like it was on fire as he let go of his paw, “Sorry.”
Yosuke meowed, pawing at his hand.
He was a bad friend. He had essentially drugged him - with catnip, but still.
Yosuke looked up at him and meowed again.
He reached underneath him and picked him up, pulling him off and depositing him back on the couch. He cried, trying to climb back into his lap, but he put his hand up, stopping him.
At that exact moment, there was a knock on his bedroom door, “Big Bro, dinner’s ready.”
“Okay, I’ll be right down.”
He stood up from the couch and walked toward the door. Yosuke followed him.
“You have to stay here, okay? I’ll try to bring you back something to eat.”
Yosuke cried at him, but didn’t try to walk any further. Whatever the catnip had done to him, at least he still had enough presence of mind to understand what he was saying.
He went downstairs and had dinner.
While they were cleaning up, he discretely wrapped some leftovers up and placed them into his pocket. Once they were finished, he headed back up to his room.
Yosuke had gone back over to the couch and curled up on it, but he sat up when he came in, meowing at him almost angrily. The catnip had probably mostly worn off.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I brought you dinner though,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out the little bundle of food, placing it down in front of him.
Yosuke glared at him slightly before leaning over and sniffing at the food, starting to eat it.
“I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
The only acknowledgement that he got was a quick look and a tail flick as he kept eating.
He grabbed his towel then headed to the bathroom. It wasn’t until he was drying off that he realized he hadn’t brought any clothes with him. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem, but Yosuke was currently in his room.
He shrugged to himself. He had changed in front of him before in gym class. It wasn’t that big of a deal.
He walked back to his room, closing the door behind him. Yosuke had finished eating and now appeared to be asleep on the couch.
He went over to the dresser and started getting dressed. He had just pulled on his pajama pants when there was a sleepy half meow, half yawn coming from the couch.
He turned to face Yosuke. He couldn’t be certain, but it looked like his eyes lingered for a second too long on his bare chest. He ignored it though. It was probably just his brain.
He quickly grabbed a shirt and put it on, walking over to him.
“Sorry again for the catnip. I was curious if it would work.”
Yosuke let out a small meow, stretching.
He still seemed irritated. Maybe he could make him less irritated. He opened up the drawer on his desk, reaching in and pulling out a roll of extra fishing line. He cut about half a yard off, then tied a pencil to the end of it so it would be weighed down.
He grinned as he dangled the fishing line in front of Yosuke. He glared at him. With a flick of his wrist, he moved the line. Yosuke’s eyes immediately locked on to the pencil, following it as it swung back and forth, his tail flicking.
After a few seconds, he tore his eyes away, narrowing his eyes at Yu. Yu laughed, flicking his wrist again. The pencil swung swiftly in one direction causing Yosuke to look back toward it. He jumped up, trying to hit at it with his paws, but missed, falling back down onto the couch.
After that, he started going after it in earnest, jumping after it. He managed to smack it a few times, but not actually catch it.
They played like that for around fifteen minutes before, on a particularly aggressive jump, he managed to get the pencil into his mouth. Yu let him pull the string out of his hand and he took off running with it to the other side of the room. He dropped it on the floor, looking up at him triumphantly.
Yu laughed, clapping, “Good job, you got it.”
Yosuke looked proud of himself, padding back over to him and jumping back onto the couch.
Yu yawned, “I’m probably going to go to bed soon.” It was still pretty early, but he was always exhausted after a stint into the TV world.
Yosuke meowed again, looking at him.
“You can either sleep on the couch or with me on the futon. I don’t mind either way.”
He was quietly hoping that he picked the futon. It would be nice to sleep in the same bed as him - as a cat or otherwise.
He lightly scratched him behind the ear before standing up and setting up the futon for the night.
Yosuke was watching him from the couch as he pulled back the covers and climbed underneath them. He patted the futon beside him.
“You can sleep here if you want.”
Yosuke slowly stood up, jumping off the couch and walking over. He lifted up the blanket and he crawled underneath it, curling up right against Yu’s side.
He couldn’t help but smile as he laid his hand on to Yosuke’s back, slowly petting him, “Good night, Partner.”
- - -
Yu wasn’t sure how much time he had been asleep when he woke up. It was still dark out.
The thing that he immediately noticed was the fact that, instead of being curled around a cat, he was curled around a person. He was pressed up flush against his back, face buried against his neck. His arm was slung over his waist, his hand coming up to rest against his chest.
“Yosuke,” he whispered close to his ear, his heart racing.
He groaned, rolling a little bit toward him.
“You’re not a cat anymore.”
At that, Yosuke perked up a little bit, looking down at himself, “Oh, thank god.”
Yu laughed, “Was it really that bad?”
He glared at him, “You gave me catnip.”
“Sorry.”
He groaned, “I’m so embarrassed,” he rolled back over, facing away from him.
“Why are you embarrassed?”
“I wouldn’t stop climbing all over you and… you… you called me a ‘handsome boy’.”
Yu hummed, “And that’s still true. You are a handsome boy.”
Yosuke made a noise of alarm, burying his face into his hands, “You can’t just say things like that.”
“Why not? It’s true.”
Yosuke looked up and glared at him before sighing, “Sometimes I really don’t get you Partner.”
Yu shrugged, yawning, “Let’s just go back to sleep. We can talk about this tomorrow.”
“Do you want me to go sleep on the couch?”
“No, this is fine, unless you’re uncomfortable. We’d have to go downstairs to get extra blankets.”
Yosuke hummed, “Okay, if you really don’t mind.”
“I don’t.”
Yosuke leaned his head back and Yu quickly pulled himself forward, getting back into a position reminiscent of how they had been when they woke up.
Maybe it was a position slightly too intimate for two friends to be in. Maybe it was, but Yu couldn’t bring himself to care, not when he was warm and comfortable, not when Yosuke was letting him bury his face against his neck, not when he could feel his steady heartbeat through his fingertips against his chest.
Maybe they shouldn’t have been doing it, but they could deal with that in the morning.