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Right. So. Chie is not stupid, despite what some teachers believe. She's pretty dang smart, actually - she just can't bring herself to sit at a table and look at numbers for more than 5 consecutive minutes.
So Chie is smart. Even her girlfriend says so, though Yukiko also laughed so hard she cried at one of Yu's stupid puns, so. Debatable opinions from that source.
The point is! Chie is a smart girl. So clearly, she should be able to deal with whatever Hanamura Yosuke and Narukami Yu have going on. But it is so hard sometimes. She wants gay rights for everyone in the world except those two.
The pair are as thick as thieves, and thick as in stupid, which is a horrible combination. Sometimes it feels like they're just besties with some weird repressed emotions going on, and sometimes it feels like they're dating. Chie even has a list of Top Three Reasons Satonaka Chie Is Justified In Planning Out Hatecrimes.
Observation number one: the handholding.
The first time it happens it's mostly an accident. Yosuke, as is his usual way of existence, trips over literally nothing and falls. Or, technically, doesn't fall. Because Yu catches him. Then they have intense eye contact until Rise coughs at them, and then they just. Don't let go of each other's hands the whole walk.
Yeah.
It's horrible! It's worse than the time Chie spilled her noodles on Naoto and nearly started crying because she'd had a horrible day and goddamnit if she couldn't get her noodles what was even the point of living.
Moving on.
Exhibit two: the nicknames.
'Partner'. The word haunts Chie day and night. Who wakes up one day and decides 'the next guy who saves me from my inner demons gets to be called partner in a dubiously homosexual manner, all while talking about the hot girls in our school'? Like, come on. Mixed signals much?
Reason number three for Chie's impending breakdown: The Incident.
Yu has never lost consciousness while fighting shadows, except for one time during Nanako's castle. He was running himself ragged and collapsed more out of exhaustion than anything else. This fact didn't make it any easier to stomach. Especially for Yosuke, who refused to leave Yu's side for the rest of the day.
Also, Chie caught a glimpse of them in the hospital after finding Nanako, and she was definitely not supposed to overhear Yu cry, or Yosuke's gentle platitudes as they tenderly hugged.
Still, she did, and now she wants to scream every time Yu ogles at Yosuke's fancy jumping. Ugh.
So Chie does the only thing she can think of. She hunts down Yosuke and threatens him into a sexuality crisis so he can finally get over his stupid pining.
That evening, while she's cuddling with Yukiko, she gets a text that's mostly incoherent gibberish and a selfie of Yu blushing as Yosuke kisses him on the cheek. Chie texts back a 'finally!' before turning off her phone.
She's happy for them, she supposes.