Work Text:
“I could have handled that myself.”
The words left Yusuke’s mouth without a second thought, caught in the rush of adrenaline that had only built more and more with each passing victory during their venture further into Mementos. However, Joker appeared to consider those words quite a bit more than he had.
“Next one’s all yours then.” There was a challenging, yet playful lilt to the tone of his voice, and a smirk on his face that only further ignited the burning that built within Yusuke’s chest.
“Are you certain? It was only a jest.”
“Why not? I think we can have a little fun today,” their dauntless leader drawled, spinning his knife. His casual grace in the Metaverse never ceased to mesmerize Yusuke.
Unsurprisingly, the rest of their teammates seemed to be in agreement, perhaps even excited about the prospect of shaking up their battle rhythm a bit.
“The shadows have been a piece of cake today, but we’ll be right with you if things go sideways, Fox!” Mona quipped before shifting back into his vehicular form.
A laugh bubbled out of Yusuke as he followed the rest of the thieves back on board their endlessly-curious transportation. “If you all insist, the honor is mine then. I promise I shall not disappoint you.”
Joker shot him a sly look before climbing into the driver’s seat. “I know you won’t.”
They hardly rounded the corner of the corridor before encountering another shadow. He still wasn’t certain if ramming into the shadows was an intentional feature of Joker’s driving, or if Mona had a proclivity for headbutting shadows in this form. The thieves surged out of the van alongside Yusuke, but the vanguard fell into a defensive supporting position, allowing Yusuke to step forward alone into the battle.
Before him stood a lone cavalryman on a horse with a wicked glow to its soulless eyes, the likes of which had been menacing the first time Yusuke had encountered such a creature. Now such sights hardly impacted him at all. So easily he had grown accustomed to the distorted manifestations of human hearts, though his steadfast teammates surely played a part in that. For what could he fear with them at his side?
With his heart pounding from excitement against his ribcage, Yusuke assessed the shadow, keeping his hand casually rested on the hilt of his katana, even as his fingers itched to somehow quickly sketch the scene before dispatching the enemy. Perhaps someday he could capture the curve of the cavalryman’s armor, the flurry of the horse’s mane as it tossed its head in agitation.
But not today.
Today this shadow would fall to his blade, and his alone.
It was utterly thrilling to show off his worth like this, in a game they could afford to play when facing off against enemies that hadn’t proven to be much of a challenge that day. It was a mark of their strength as a whole, a testament to their growth as a team.
Of course, he could never deny that part of the thrill was having Joker’s watchful eyes on him. They had grown so… close since the daring thief waltzed into Yusuke’s world and completely changed his life, saving him from a doomed and hopeless future before they could have even considered one another friends. Together they traversed the unknown landscape of the human heart, both in the Metaverse and outside of it, and Yusuke could not even fathom ever finding another muse as perfect as him.
“Having second thoughts?” Joker called out to him teasingly, but Yusuke understood better now than to take the jibe at face value. Akira was checking on him, pulling him out of the swirling sea of his own thoughts.
He tossed a look back to his leader, packaging up gratitude and reassurance in a single glance as he only could with Akira. “Only about if I should offer this shadow mercy instead of the edge of my blade.”
Enough delay, it was time for action. What luck that the shadow they came across would be weak to Goemon’s chilling attacks. The shadow fell all too easily to just a single icy blast from his persona, leaving itself entirely defenseless. Yusuke rushed forward, unsheathing his katana as he moved and finishing off the shadow with a graceful display of his sword technique.
The shadow fell, its essence fading into the darkness of the corridor. Once certain the enemy was no more, Yusuke sheathed his katana and turned to face his teammates. Skull and Panther erupted into unnecessarily raucous applause; it seemed excitement was contagious.
Their reaction faded into background noise as Yusuke met Joker’s gaze. That usual smirk was on his face, but even his mask could not begin to hide the hunger burning in his dark eyes. It was a look that had begun to grace Akira’s face with an increasing frequency as they explored the many facets of their relationship. And Yusuke could recognize that telltale glint that assured he might get privately pulled aside at the next rest area for a discussion about his endeavor.
“Good work, Fox,” was all their leader said. For now.
Panther took one look between them and rolled her eyes before boarding the van again and muttering something about boys.
Thankfully, the exit was just at the end of the next dim corridor. The anticipation might have proven to be too distracting if they had encountered any other enemies on the way there. The thieves clambered out of the van, still chattering with excitement from Yusuke’s display of his skills.
“My turn next!” Skull shouted, pumping a fist in the air.
Panther laughed along with him and made a similar gesture. “You know what? I wouldn’t mind a go at it, too!”
“Be prepared to be completely blown away once I show you all how it’s really done,” a very self-assured Mona declared.
As they headed towards the escalators, Yusuke noticed Joker was very clearly keeping to the back of the group, allowing the others to go on ahead while he stuck close to Yusuke’s side. Their joyful bantering faded into the background of his awareness as the world seemed to narrow down to him and Akira. Soon, their teammates were out of sight, and Yusuke barely had a split second to react to what happened next.
In a swift blur of black and red, Yusuke suddenly found himself crowded against the subway wall just before the escalators. Their masks clacked against one another as Akira quickly moved in to kiss him, too caught up in the frenetic energy between them to coordinate their moves on the first try.
With an annoyed huff, Yusuke pulled back enough to shove his own mask up and out of the way. Akira had much more composure in removing his own, and Yusuke’s breath caught in his throat at the sight revealed before him. His muse was the very picture of desire, long eyelashes prettily framing his eyes now dark with want and uninhibited by the mask.
Their next attempt was much less clumsy, though it contained more force than was strictly necessary. Akira’s lips were always warm whenever they kissed, but this time they burned, searing his muse’s brand onto his soul as he gladly welcomed it. Yusuke sighed as Akira brazenly licked into his mouth, wholly losing himself to the thrilling sensations without a second thought.
But it was over just as quickly as it had started, and Yusuke couldn’t help but try to chase Akira’s mouth as he pulled away.
The corner of those now reddened lips ticked up into that maddeningly beguiling smirk. “Ready for more?”
Yusuke couldn’t help but to laugh at the sudden shift, feeling off-balance but in that pleasantly dizzying sort of way. Without a doubt, he would follow his leader into the depths of Mementos and the depths of the heart.
“As long as you lead the way, Joker.”