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"Kiss me," she whispers, and a hiccup follows. The words linger in his head while deafening silence fills the air around them.
"I'm taking you back to your home. We're not kissing."
"Why?"
"...Naoto." Did she even know what she was saying, and to whom she was saying it? How ever did she get this drunk? And how did he get saddled with the duty of carrying her home?
You insisted on bringing her home yourself, his conscious reminds him. Everyone was busy, too busy to notice the detective nodding off in the corner of the room. No one else seemed to remember that she had work the following day, and so Yosuke knew that he had to get her home soon as possible. (The group really needed to lay off of the booze... They seemed to lose all semblance of control as soon as alcohol entered the picture.)
He lets the crisp night air kiss his skin. Naoto is warm against his back.
"I asked you a question," she mutters.
"Because you're drunk, Naoto-kun. The great detective prince can't deduce that, huh?"
She lets out an indignant huff. Yosuke is amused, but he decides it'd be unfair to pick on her while she was intoxicated.
"Just go to sleep. I'm carrying you home, I'm gonna give you a big glass of water, and you're going to drink it and sleep. Because you have work tomorrow."
"How much did you drink?" she replies.
"Not as much as you, actually. Which is surprising-- I expected everyone to pick on me again and force me to drink more than I should have, but they didn't. They seemed to be a lot more interested in you..."
"Ah..." A hiccup. "I see..."
"Are you okay, though? In all seriousness. I didn't think you could drink that much--..."
"I'm very serious," she states. "And my body is very hot."
Yosuke laughs.
"Don't laugh at me, senpai!"
"I-I'm sorry it's just-- I'm not used to your conversations being so off tangent..."
She tightens her arms around him. Not enough to choke him. It kind of feels like she's just pulling him closer, which makes the gesture more cute than threatening.
"You didn't answer the question, though."
"Neither did you," she retorts.
"I don't need to answer your question! Imagine how your sober self would kick my ass. I like being alive with all of my body parts intact and free of bullet holes, thank you very much."
"Hm."
"Are you okay, though? Feelin' sick or anything?"
"No, I'm..." she pauses. "...Quite comfortable."
"Happy to hear that, then. Just go to sleep, I'll wake you up when we're there."
As if on cue, the detective nods off, leaving Yosuke alone with his thoughts and the sound of his footsteps. He puts a little hop in his step so he can reposition her, comfortably resting her legs under his arms. It's another ten minutes of this warm silence before he reaches the bus stop. He gently sets Naoto down on the bench and she doesn't seem willing to move much, so he lets her lean her head against his shoulder. He supports her with one arm around her shoulder, and keeps a careful eye on her.
The auburn haired boy waits for the bus and in doing so watches many, many cars pass. He imagines them as racecars that are speeding past him, the finish line. He counts the ones with hoods and the ones that are orange, and when he's bored of that he counts the ones that are blue and the ones that have tinted windows.
Twenty five blue cars later, the familar sight of a bus comes into view.
"C'mon, Naoto," he urges quietly. He taps her shoulder to wake her, but she mutters something inaudible and pulls his shirt closer to her face. Or wait, it was more like she put her face in his shirt-- or was she pressing her nose to his chest? Regardless, it had the older boy blushing.
"You have a toll card?"
"Mm. Right pocket..."
"Can you get it?"
"..."
She grabs the wallet from her pocket and slaps it into his hand.
"You owe me now, senpai."
"Owe you for what?!"
She shrugs.
"Haha, You're acting so un-you like right now, it's crazy..." And kinda cute. But he didn't want to mess with her when she was dozing off, so he refrains from adding that.
Yosuke puts his wallet and Naoto's wallet in his pockets. He scoops the sleepy detective in his arms, carries her to the bus, and bumps his front and back pockets against the toll sensor, as that was where the wallets were. Probably looked a little weird, but it was hands-free and it worked so he didn't care. Naoto remains nestled against him even as they sit, comfortable. Yosuke makes no attempts to move her (or himself, for that matter.)
She was still the ferocious detective the team knew so well-- but Yosuke felt honored that she'd allow him to accompany her when she was like this. Who was foolish enough to put their trust in someone like him?
"I want a kiss, senpai."
"No."
She grumbles.
"My parents used to do it all the time before I went to bed. Why."
"O---Oh! You meant that kind of kiss..."
"Yes."
"O-Okay. Gotcha'. As long as it'll make you happy."
The rest of the bus ride is silent, save for the whirring of the wheels and the squeak that follows after it runs over bumps in the road. The two do not move closer, nor do they more apart. Once they reach their stop, Yosuke tries to wake her to no avail. He picks her up once more, tapping their cards again with his pocket-maneuvering spin before leaving. Her apartment isn't far from the stop, so they barely adjust to the cold before reaching her door.
"Keys?"
"I've got it...I'm a detective. I can handle these things..."
Yosuke gently lets her down on her feet, hand settled on the small of her back as she steadies herself. She pulls a key from a pocket in her jacket that he didn't know existed, and then she jams it in the lock. She twists it. Click.
"Everything is spinning..." she tells him, placing hand on the handle and head against the door.
"Hang onto me, Naoto-kun. It's okay. You got the door?"
"Yes."
She opens it and the room becomes alight the moment she walks in. Yosuke intakes the small, neat, apartment. It's well furnished despite the size, and there are no signs of peeled paint, tacky wallpaper, or discount-rate appliances.
"Nice place," he comments, impressed. He shouldn't be surprised, but there's such a large difference between this place and his own. Yosuke's room is barely a resemblance of a living place. Naoto's home had the dignity of a comfortable, well-paid adult.
"Let's go," she urges. She pulls Yosuke to her bedroom and flops onto the bed, face-first.
"This is my best blanket," she explains, voice muffled. "It's lined with fleece, and it's patterned on the outside, and it was given to me by my parents. They always used to tuck me in..."
Yosuke is right at her side. He chuckles and turns on the lamp on her night stand.
"Ready for bed, then?"
"No."
"I thiiink you are. C'mon."
"No!" She rolls herself, blanket forming a cocoon around her. Yosuke can't help but smile.
"Okay, Burrito-chan. I'll get you some water and a bucket."
"Burrito-chan?!?" Her voice hits a few octaves higher than usual. Yosuke's smile widens.
"Need anything else?"
"A kiss."
"G-gotcha..."
He leaves her side to get her water. It doesn't take him long to find a tall glass and a bucket, so he returns swiftly. When he does, he places the filled glass on the table beside her bed, and the bucket on the floor beside her bed.
"You need to drink this-- sit up, Naoto-kun."
Naoto mumbles something inaudible.
"You need to, c'mon... Just a glass or two so you don't feel like crap tomorrow."
"Fine." She's pouting. He can't see it, but he can certainly hear the childish scroff in her voice. She takes the glass and downs the water with one go. After that, she's turned into a blanket burrito again. This time she faces Yosuke instead of the bed. She looks at him with eyes of anticipation. Yosuke feels his face flush. Why did he decide to do this?! He was so embarrassed. Yet at the same time, he felt an odd streak of giddiness residing in his chest.
"Kiss?"
Yosuke sighs. He gets on his knees, leans over her, and brushs aside the soft bangs covering her forehead. He's hesitating and he almost doesn't do it, but before he knows it he's stopped holding his breath and he presses a tender kiss against her forehead. It's such a small gesture, such a short moment, yet he swears he can hear his own heartbeat and he can see her eyes widen.
"Bucket's on your side, okay? Will you be fine on your own?"
"..."
"No?"
"..."
"Naoto-kun?"
"...I..." She rolls so her face is smothered into her pillow. She sounds so sad, a curious feat considering how her voice is mostly muffled. "I, um... I don't want to be alone... No one ever really keeps me company."
He checks his phone. He has work tomorrow. So staying wouldn't really be ideal...
"It's okay. You're not troubling me if I do stay." He sets his phone alarm to 5 am.
Naoto's eyes light up.
"But no funny business, okay? You stay in your burrito, and don't leave your bed. I'm not going to do anything stupid, so don't worry about using the gun under your pillow."
"You knew?!"
"You have one there!?" He didn't know why he was so shocked. She was a detective, after all. But still. "I was just going on some clichéd detective stereotypes. Still, that's cool. Even if it's a bit nerdy."
"Nerdy!? I can hear what you listen to on your headphones sometimes."
"Hey, now-- leave my music out of this! We should really get some shut eye now, we have to get up early tomorrow."
"...You're right. Good night, PONPONPON-senpai."
"Hey!!"