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If Yosuke had to name one good thing about Inaba, it would be the silence.
In the city, he had to keep the volume of the music in his ears higher to drown out every noise that threatened to remind him about his surroundings. Here (and yes it sounds stupid but even when he was on a shift at Junes) he didn’t need to blast his ears out to dissociate, well, he did anyway when it felt right to do so, but in moments like these, where he was biking back home the volume of the sugary pop in his ears was… normal, thanks to the quiet nature of the countryside.
While the thought of a pack of chips, a soda can and a few hours of the new game plus run he was busy with sounded good, for once, the fresh air and warm sun felt more inviting. He felt at ease when he took the turn to head to the Samegawa river instead of home.
The sound of running water is loud at first, but it becomes background noise before you can even notice it: it was the same as the flow of cars pouring down the street in the city. Which was funny to him because he was naturally attracted by that continuous noise as soon as he moved here since the silence was oppressive.
It wasn’t anymore, or at least, it wasn’t eerie anymore.
Throwing down the bike on the grass, he plopped next to it, taking a deep breath out of reflex. While some people passed by here from time to time, this was his other safe place, (the first one obviously being his room) the harsh comments of the Inaba inhabitants didn't reach him here, the world couldn't reach him here.
The grass felt as cushy as ever and the sun covered him from head to toe like a warm blanket, the illusion of being in a soft bed only broken by the occasional gusts of wind. He fiddled with his Mp3 for a bit, finding a mellower playlist to drift away from the world to, filled with soft heartfelt vocals, acoustic guitars and muffled drums.
Taking one, two, a few deep breaths of fresh clean air laced with humidity felt inebriating , he was sure you could get drunk on it if you inhaled it enough to make your head spin. After adjusting his arms as a pillow and closing his eyes, everything fell into place.
This , was something you couldn't get in the city even if you paid.
This peace, this warmth , this sense of everything slowing down and stopping for yourself to get lost in the moment. Appreciate life when in any other moment you couldn't, to fill you to the brim with positive vibes and nature. Nature , he had noticed the effect of nature on his mental health: the more he stayed splayed on the grass, the more his mind, anxiety and stress felt less present.
Although, if he wanted to be picky, there was one thing that was missing to make this the perfect moment.
But texting required him to open his eyes and move one arm from behind his head… and that felt like too much of a hassle, so he let the moment be a nearly-perfect one.
Then, curiosity hit him.
What if he turned off the music? What if he slid his headphones off and listened to the river flow instead? Once it started to fall into the background, he could hear birds chirping in the distance, maybe even the subtle sound of the wind caressing the grassy hills and shaking the tree’s fronds. He felt even more out of the world. Like he wasn’t next to a river near a village but in the middle of nowhere, with only nature for miles on end, somewhere a car and even a plane couldn’t reach.
His hair being caressed and messed with by the wind felt even better… wait no, that wasn’t the wind. It was another force of nature petting his hair.
With difficulty, he opened his eyes to find what was missing to make this instance the perfect one.
“Partner”
Yu was also naturally attracted by the continuous noise of the river, as a fellow city boy in unfamiliar territory, he must have missed the traffic hum too.
He looked like an angel like this: sitting by Yosuke’s head and bending over to look upside down from his point of view, the warm light of the sun made his skin glow, pouring in the cold grey eyes some natural life, making them shine like metal. A small smile and a serene expression adorned his face: Yu looked just as carefree and relaxed as Yosuke felt, especially with those soft but calloused hands running through his hair slowly, having detangled them thoroughly a while ago.
“You look comfy”
Yosuke smiled.
“I am even more now”
He must have dozed off at some point since he didn’t realize Yu approach him, also because Yu had to attend the drama club that day, so he must have napped a few hours away, in fact, the sun had turned a little more orange, yet its rays were still warm. The wind had died down.
“I was scared to disturb you, you looked so peaceful” Yu was sappy, very sappy, and even after a few months of dating him Yosuke still turned bright red at every comment. Something told him he would never get used to it no matter how much time would pass. “Did your headphones fall off or..?” he tapped the orange device but Yosuke shook his head. He couldn’t blame him for thinking so, you would rarely see him without them covering his ears if alone, “Nah, I wanted to hear the wind” Yu smiled, tangling his fingers in chocolate milk strands, “Did it sound good?”
Even if it was embarrassing to admit, Yosuke could be just as sappy, if not more. Every time he daydreamed about having a girlfriend he would get excited thinking about all the romantic ways to make her blush, how he would cover her in praises and love. His dream wasn’t shattered when he internally accepted his crush on his partner.
“Yeah” a shy smile crept up on his lips and could feel his cheeks heat up, “It was the prettiest noise I’ve ever heard after the sound of your laugh”. A flash of surprise and deep pink coloured Yu’s face before he smiled, right before hearing the heavenly sound he had just mentioned, “I’m glad you like my laugh Yosuke”
“I like all of you partner” More blushing from the both of them, “Now you’re doing this just to make me blush, you sappy dumbass” he turned away in embarrassment, it did make him warm inside, seeing his boyfriend like this: it was just how he dreamed it would feel to lovingly tease his Yu Narukami. Because the thought of loving a she or a he or… anyone but him felt wrong and empty.
“But I’m your sappy dumbass, and I really meant it…” he added in a softer tone, “Love you, partner”.
Instead of replying, Yu bent down and kissed him softly. His warm lips on his must have been his favourite feeling after the one of soft grass under his fingers.
Let's be honest, if Yosuke had to name one good thing about Inaba, it would be Yu.