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The first hurdle was figuring out where to go.
Yosuke couldn’t exactly take Labrys out to a nice restaurant since she was a robot. Robots don’t eat… as far as he’s aware but better to avoid any awkwardness.
He couldn’t take her to the beach because he didn’t know if Labrys was waterproof and… well it felt inappropriate to ask… maybe? Honestly Yosuke’s still figuring out what is and isn’t rude to ask a girl and along with what is and isn’t rude to ask a robot.
He thought of a movie. Do the whole snuggle up and hold her hand during a scary movie routine… until Yosuke remembered “oh right, robot” and decided he didn’t want the rest of the date to take place at the hospital while doctors take care of his broken hand.
Yu tried to offer an alternative by suggesting a romance movie instead of scary one but there was no way Yosuke would stay awake or sane for some chick flick.
Teddie tried suggesting taking “Labby-chan” to Junes and there were not enough words for Yosuke to say how that was the worst idea ever.
It wasn’t until he tried talking to the girls (which admittedly he probably should have done in the first place) when they suggested the upcoming fireworks show.
Perfect!
Then the next hurdle was figuring out whether or not he should dress nice. He dressed casually when he and the team watched the fireworks last year. But that wasn’t a date so should he get out his old yukata? Did that thing still fit him? Did it get claimed by Teddie like some of his other clothes?
Did Labrys even have her own yukata? Kirijo-San honestly could probably buy an entire department store of yukatas for Labrys to try.
Thankfully, Chie snapped some sense into him.
“Yosuke, I can’t believe I’m saying this but: you’re thinking too hard. Labrys is just gonna be happy to see you. No need to get all fancy.”
Yeah! This was just gonna be something nice and casual. Plus she’s still learning about the world and everything. It wasn’t like she was gonna magically know proper date etiquette… probably should keep that in mind just in case.
The third and final hurdle was actually asking Labrys out.
Kirijo-San and her group had given the whole team their numbers to contact them (if only cause they already had theirs so fair’s fair right?) But… she probably only meant for him and the Investigation Team to call them for emergencies… So was he gonna end up misusing this and wasting Labrys and everyone else’s time?
But then again it wasn’t like Kirijo-san specifically said they could only call for emergencies, right?
…Well if this is how he dies then at least he’ll have a good time in his last moments.
“Hello?”
“H-hey Labrys, this is Yosuke.”
“Hey Yosuke-kun! What’s up?”
Okay the fact that she’s just casually asking him how he’s doing is a good sign that he didn’t just screw up and misused the number.
“Ah thing’s are… fine. They’re fine. Um… listen Labrys, there’s something I wanna ask…”
“What is it? Wait! Are ya guys dealing with shadows again!? If you need me and sis an-”
“No! No! I mean! We’re not in trouble or anything! I… I wanted to ask if… there’s going to be a fireworks show in a couple nights here in Inaba and I wanted to ask if you’d like to come with me?”
“...Oh…”
That was not a good pause! NOT A GOOD PAUSE!
“I MEAN! YOU KNOW LIKE FRIENDS! JUST VERY FRIENDLY FRIENDS! OR I MEAN IF YOU’RE BUSY SAVING THE WORLD I GET IT-”
“I’D LOVE TA!”
“Huh?”
“Well I ain’t got any missions right now and I ain’t never seen fireworks before so it sounds fun. And… It's been a while since I saw ya and… I missed ya.”
She missed him?
“So that’s a yes?”
“It’s a yes! Um, you said the show’s in a couple nights from now? When and where should we meet up?”
He gave her the time and location and once he hung up, Yosuke collapsed onto his bed with a relieved and excited expression on his face.
The next couple days flew by in a flash. Thinking about Labrys and the fireworks kept Yosuke in a good mood even through dealing with nasty customers and the boringness of stocking.
Eventually the big day arrived, Yosuke rushed through work as fast as he could without messing things up and getting dad on his case. It was about sundown when he was given the okay to clock off. He immediately rushed to the back rooms to change into his regular summer clothes and rode his bike over to the shrine where he and Labrys said they’d meet.
As soon as he arrived, Yosuke saw that Labrys had already beat him to the shrine.
She wasn’t wearing a yukata but rather some kind of dress with wide sleeves and she was kneeling down and petting that weird shrine fox and her babies. It was probably the cutest thing he’d ever seen.
“Hey.” He said as he decided to kneel down and join her.
“Ah, hey Yosuke-kun!”
The fox let out a yip as she obviously recognized Yosuke and placed her head into his hand to scratch.
“Aw looks like ya guys are fast friends.”
“Oh I actually know this fox. Well Yu knows her a little better than the rest of us. But um… I know it’s kind of hard to believe but she actually helped us out when we were exploring the TV world…”
At that moment, Yosuke realized what he just said to his robot maybe-girlfriend who was also friends with a dog that had a persona.
“Well… uh… hard to believe at the time, I guess.”
Labrys just giggled.
The two stood up and looked each other over.
“You look nice.” Yosuke offered
“Ya think so? I was worried about showing up way too fancy like and I kinda wanted something a little more summer-y but well…”
Labrys pulled down one of the sleeves of her dress, showing one of her metal arms to make a point.
“Sis wore something like this when she first met… someone special to her. So I guess I figured…”
“It looks nice on you.”
Labrys smiled, “Thanks. You look nice too.”
“Oh, thanks.”
The two stood there awkwardly, not really sure what they’re supposed to do next. Yosuke was the first one to step up.
“So we should probably get going. There’s this perfect spot to watch the fireworks and it's a bit of a walk to get there.”
“Alright, lead the way.”
With that Labrys took Yosuke’s hand and the two were on their way to the hill.
They spent the walk catching up, Yosuke talked about how he’s been studying for college and Labrys talked about missions she’d been going on with the Shadow Operatives. He couldn’t help but feel like he was boring her. Cram school wasn’t quite as exciting as super secret spy missions after all.
But Labrys assured him that she didn’t mind.
“Heck, I’m glad to hear that you don’t gotta deal with shadows and other dangerous stuff right now.”
Guess she’s got a point.
“Besides, I’m glad to have a break and spend some time with you.”
“Y-yeah… me too…” Yosuke replied, hoping his face wasn’t turning too red
The sun had completely set by the time the two of them arrived on the spot at the hill.
Labrys whispered a wow as she walked towards the wooden fence and looked over the view of the town.
“Wow, you could see the whole town from here.”
“Yeah…”
Labrys looked thrilled as she happily pointed out familiar buildings.
“I think that’s the Tofu shop over there! So that means, that building over there is Kanji-kun’s place right?”
“I think so? …Do you have like… a zoom function with your eyes or…?”
Labrys pouted, “Are ya accusing me of cheating?”
Crap, crap, crap, he screwed up already!
“N-no! I just thought…”
Thankfully Labrys then started laughing.
“Ha, ha, ha I was just messing with ya.”
“Oh… ha, ha… funny joke.” Yosuke replied nervously
Yosuke stayed quiet as Labrys guessed more building, just letting her have her fun without shoving his foot in his mouth for real.
At some point though, Labrys looked over at Yosuke with an unsure expression on her face.
“Hey Yosuke-kun?”
“Yeah Labrys?”
“...This is a date right?”
Dammit, he was worried about this. He never once used the word “date” after all. But he didn’t want to force it on her if that wasn’t what she wanted.
“I mean… kinda yeah. But… if you just want this to be a hangout between two friends, it can be.”
Labrys’ response surprised him.
“I want it to be a date!”
“Y-you do!?”
She shyly nodded, “You mean a lot to me, Yosuke-kun. You helped me when I needed it the most and I… can’t stop thinking of that. I mean, I know I’m still kinda new to… all of this but I’d like to give it a try.”
Yosuke was speechless for a moment before finally collecting his thoughts and taking her hand.
“Then it’s a date.”
“So… does this mean we should start kissing or something?”
This can’t be real. This is obviously some dream he’s having in the break room at Junes or over his study books at home or…
“Y-yeah I guess.”
The two leaned closer to each other. Yosuke admittedly wasn’t sure what to expect if he had ever got to kiss Labrys. How much different would kissing her feel compared to a human? Not that Yosuke ever really had any experience to pull from…
But all his thoughts just went away as soon as their lips touched and all he could think of was how warm she felt and the sense of joy and comfort washing over him.
He and Labrys eventually pulled away but before either one of them could say something, the whistling of the first firework rang out.
They briefly glanced at each other and decided that nothing needed to be said. They turned back to fully watch the fireworks as Labrys rested her head on Yosuke’s shoulder and he gently took her hand.