Work Text:
i.
Unsurprisingly, Yosuke’s the first one to text you. It’s only been maybe thirty minutes after the train’s left the station when you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket, followed soon after by a tinny recording of the Junes jingle, the telltale sign of an incoming picture mail. When you flip open your phone, you’re greeted by the disgruntled face of the orange tabby that frequents the roof of the carport. A second message comes in soon after, the same cat, but this time, happily chewing on a piece of fish.
The third message is text only, a solemn promise to maintain your cat empire in your absence.
(the fifth, sixth, and seventh text: an extended and personal account about just how GROSS fish are, how they feel, oh god, absolutely disgusting)
vii.
The first text(s) you get from Chie is a seven-part dissertation detailing the genius of the latest action flick to join her library. The fight scenes are just! Amazing! And oh man, the music – she’s never really paid attention to that kinda stuff, but it’s so good? And she never thought she’d actually comment on cinematography, of all things, but the camerawork really enhances the sense of movement, with that plus the music you can practically feel the kicks, especially the scene where they’re like, using these bright red curtains in the sequence, and speaking of, one of the best parts of the movie (there’s a lot) is how they incorporate all sorts of improvised weapons and it’s! So cool!
And that’s why, she writes, she’s totally going to stream it and you absolutely need watch it with her, and Yukiko, Yosuke’s going to be there too (because everyone should have the chance to see this masterpiece but like hell she’s gonna lend him anything ever again) so of course Teddie’s coming, Kanji’s working but he’s gonna stop by, like, ten minutes in and she can get him up to speed (all the action’s in the second half anyhow), Rise and Naoto are both out of town on business which means they’re also gonna watch the stream (well, Rise definitely, Naoto… eventually), so you definitely need to be there too.
You make sure to mark it on your calendar.
ii.
Yukiko’s first message is a link. There’s no description, but it leads to a… strangely catchy song. It’s obviously dated, as can be determined by the quality of the music video and by the… enthusiastic usage of synth, and it’s… not exactly what you’d expect from her music tastes. It’s not… too far off from some of the music you listen to, or well, it. Yeah, it kind of is. But who knows, maybe it made her think of you? What a nice gesture. You make sure to send her a long and detailed message thanking her for the song recommendation, outlining what you like about it, and then you forward it to the rest of the team.
For some reason, they are. Not pleased.
iv.
A couple times a week Kanji sends you a picture whatever he’s working on, from progress shots to the final product. It always brightens your day, especially since the majority of his projects are of a particular aesthetic you’re quite partial to. Cute things. Really, really cute things.
At one point where you were expecting a photo of his latest creation, you instead received a physical package of his latest creation – a needlefelt cat, delicate and round, with the fluffiest tail you’ve ever seen.
The next few messages he receives are nothing but a mess of exclamation points and emojis.
vi.
Rise calls you every other week, in-between the hectic idol lifestyle. It might be ten seconds of hey, how are you, gotta go, bye, or it might be an hour-long gossip session about the lives of virtually every single Inaba resident the two of you know (and some that you yourself don't). It’s quite impressive how she keeps tabs on everyone, and it’s nice to be kept in the loop and up to date.
You're apparently no exception to her omniscience – it takes one comment about just how grey the city is, not a park in sight, and suddenly your house is flooded with plants, pots, seeds, gardening tools, something from practically everyone in Inaba. The last package of this barrage of greenery contains a ticket to the botanical gardens, and a postcard promising to see him there.
xvii.
Teddie contacts you exclusively through other people’s phones. You could be talking to Yosuke about construction in the city and how he’s lucky to avoid it and there’ll be a yelp, some rather concerning clamor, and suddenly you’ll be bearing the brunt of some incredibly enthusiastic shouting that eventually calms into coherent questions. No one is safe when he finds out his sensei’s on the other line – Kanji is particularly irate when he recounts trying to check his phone for the time, only to be tackled. Into the river.
It’s kind of charming, you think. He’s curious. He just wants to know everything, all the time, are there bears in the city? Do cities have bears? Where are the city bears? What do you mean there aren’t any city bears? Isn’t there that one story, the city bear and the country bear? Well, he's the country bear - so there must be bears in the city!
(You promise to take him to see the city bears someday, but you’re… not quite sure if taking Teddie to the zoo is… such a good idea. Well, you’ll be fine as long as you have backup. Probably.)
(Maybe not.)
x.
Naoto’s initial texts are all to do with keeping you up to date with all the crime in your area. Well, not the specifics, but you’ll get a request to PLZ AVOID BACK ST several times until you text back a response. It’s not like a pickpocket’s that much more dangerous than a serial killer. This goes on for a bit, you needing to confirm you didn’t somehow stumble into a crime while chasing cats in the back alleys of the city, and slowly your conversations ease more towards whether you’ve caught the latest Featherman, Y/N? What were your thoughts? Green seemed somewhat out of character, it’s hard to say whether it’s a future plot point, or poor writing, but if it is in fact part of a larger plot…
It’s… sometimes hard to decipher Naoto’s long and detailed analyses. You have, on occasion, resorted to calling the detective, unable to figure out whether Y was supposed to be ‘yes’ or ‘why’.
0.
[incoming call]
“-s not working Yosuke, I can’t see sensei!”
“Hang on, hang on, let me just-”
[call ended]
[incoming call]
“-and don’t just poke around randomly, you’re gonna-“
[call ended]
[incoming call]
“Hey! Hey partner, sorry, Ted- well, you know how he is.” Yosuke huffs, rolling his eyes with an air of fond exasperation. In the background you can see Chie and Kanji holding Teddie back as he flails wildly. “Anyway, hold on a sec,” he continues, fixing the phone to some sort of stand you can’t see. It takes a little while, long enough that Naoto checks in, but Yosuke eventually clips it in successfully. “Alright! We’re good to go!”
“Get over here senpai, you’re blocking the camera.” Rise drags him off to the side, shoving him next to Teddie. “Everyone ready?”
“Ready for what?” you ask, trying not to laugh at Yukiko’s attempt to sneak her mustache glasses on. Rise pulls it off a second later, shoving it somewhere on the shelf you’re perched. She clears her throat, counts off, and leads your friends in the most musically arresting rendition of ‘happy birthday’ you’ve ever heard – the way Rise’s professional vocals contrast with Teddie’s haphazard and loose definition of melody is quite the experience. An excellent experience.
At the last chorus, Teddie bursts out with “make a wish, sensei!”
“A wish? Without candles?” Kanji looks borderline scandalized at such flagrant violation of birthday procedures.
“If we need to set something on fire, I’ve got some matches in my purse.”
“Senpai, why do you…” Naoto lets out a sigh, and discards that line of inquiry. “I would not recommend setting anything on fire.”
“Please don’t burn down my house.”
You can’t help but laugh at that. “Have some faith, Yosuke – if you can’t trust Yukiko to handle fire, who can you trust?”
“Yeah, easy for you to say – it’s not your house at stake!”
“Speaking of house,” Chie interrupts, pushing Yosuke out of the way, “show us yours! You’ve never given us the grand tour!”
“Oh! Oh! I wanna see sensei’s house! That can be his present!”
“How’s that a present!?”
“It’s the least I can do after you all took the time to serenade me,” you say, speaking over Yosuke’s protests. You smile at the screen of your phone, currently home to seven crowded faces peering back at you with unmistakable interest. “I’ll show you around.”