Work Text:
You feel your body stiffen up against the couch in your bedroom. Maybe reading a romance novel was a bad idea, even if it was being used to help you express yourself a bit more. This sentence is eerily similar to what happened a few weeks ago, although you find it ridiculous you still remember it.
You’re special to me. The words ring into your ears every time you look at the guy, and it’s making you be glad you’ve been eating lunch with your other friends for the past while. Somehow, this is only amplified despite the fact that you actively are hurting in your side from him.
Yosuke. You do feel like he is special to you too. You’ve reached a point of understanding that isn’t just simple friendship. Maybe it could just be the fact that you have a unique relationship. Who wouldn’t after everything you’ve been through? It’s not like your other friends have been like this though—none of them have made you start to see a blur between the lines of platonic and romantic. None of them made you second guess the meaning of that phrase.
The cause of your thought process was the “fight” you two had. It helped him express his thoughts in ways that he normally couldn’t. The original reason was Saki, but there was something about afterwards. As you laid in the grass together, he took the time to make sure you were okay in a much more cautious way than normal. He placed a bandaid in your hand so gingerly and his hand stayed on yours a bit longer than normal. You swore he moved a bit closer to you after.
You have a bond you haven’t had with anyone before, guy or girl or whatever, and you know that full well. But of what kind?
Maybe you’re looking too much into it though. He’s probably not even thinking that hard. Romance is the least of everyone’s worries at the moment…and he’s straight anyway.
…
About a month later, you’ve looped back around to the same problem while you’re eating lunch with him alone after a while without doing so. Yosuke seems too busy eating your shared food for proper conversation, meaning that your brain has room to idly think. The main priority is gone until Naoto recovers, so now you’re left with…other thoughts.
It’s the way he gushes about your cooking. It’s the way he trusts you wholeheartedly. It’s the way he would literally take a hit for you (and has). It’s not like other people in your investigation group haven’t, but when it’s him, it feels so different. The way he talks to you feels separated from your shared friends. It’s beyond camaraderie. There’s a different look in his eyes, a different tone in his words than when you first met and when you still viewed it as just friendship.
You could also be reading too far into it.
When he finally says something, he seems halfway done with his food in. You only ate a bit of yours. Now you’re not sure if he was too fast or you’re too slow.
“Sorry, man. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning. I was so hungry.”
Maybe it was both. You shrug. “No worries.”
Yosuke grabs the bottle of water in between the two of you, taking a moment to sip before jumping right back into talking. “I don’t know how you can be this good at cooking. I should pay you to make me lunch more, but it’s not like I make enough to do that anyway.” He lets out a dramatic sigh.
You notice a water bottle right by his leg as he sets the one in his hand back down. Was that even his water?
“Actually, do you think you’d wanna teach me? I’m not bad at cooking, but I could use some tips still.”
“I could, if you’d really want me to.” You pick at your food, dawning on the fact that one of the most cliche things might’ve happened. You know it’s only affecting you because you’re thinking too hard about it. You’ve shared drinks before, the only difference is that you'd normally make sure not to actually have it on your lips or use different straws. Not that acknowledging that is helping anyway.
“…Something wrong, partner?” He sees through you at a speed that scares you. You start to think you spend too much time together if it's that easy.
“No, just occupied with everything that’s happened recently.” That is basically the whole truth. You’ll just tactfully leave out the bits that aren’t the case if he asked for details. To your relief, he only nods and gives you a pat on the back, leaving a hand there longer than expected before allowing you to simmer in your silence. For you always viewing him as someone who’s finicky with touching other guys, his recent behavior comes off as odd (especially since he hugged you yesterday unprompted)…although you guess it was you that got touchier in the first place when you hugged him for the first time. He was going to follow eventually, right?
You quickly break the quiet to avoid thinking too long. You can unpack this in your room by yourself once you get home. It definitely won’t plague your mind later in the school day when he pokes you with his pencil to ask about what note he missed, or when he asks for an answer to a question, or before he walks out shortly after class to make it to his Junes shift.
Chie gives you a strange look, as you’ve likely been looking at the classroom door for a bit too long. “What’s up with you?”
“Nothing.” You bring your attention to your friend, a bit disappointed that Yukiko isn’t here as a buffer between the two of you. Maybe then you wouldn’t suddenly be getting interrogated.
A clear eyebrow raise shows that she’s still skeptical. “Yeah, right. You’ve been weird ever since lunch.” She pokes your shin with her foot. “What’s wrong?”
Your mouth presses into a thin line. This is stupid to get flustered over. You remember when you were so much harder to read, and you can’t tell if it’s because you’re close to her or because you’ve faltered on that front as of late. “I told you, it’s nothing, Chie. I’m fine.” You start to gather your school supplies and put it away. You leave as quickly as possible with the girl’s stern gaze following you.
You spend most of that afternoon hearing your phone buzz with her attempts to contact you, along with the others that she dragged along in her mission. You’re relieved that Yosuke seems to be too busy at work to bother.
YUUUUUUUUUUU
YUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
since when were you this hard to get a hold of??? wtf
Fine. You’ll bite, even if you’re trying to get some homework done.
…
30 messages in a row, and not just from you. Are you still upset about how I responded earlier?
YES I AM
in my defense tho i only sent Yukiko to you. anyone else was not me you can blame her
I don’t see why you’re worried exactly. I’m just having an off day.
yu i’m not dumb. i can see right through u
tbh Yosuke would be a better choice to interrogate you…but he won’t answer my calls anymore! they’re stringing him along at work this week
missed one too many shifts maybe on the account of us
hey maybe, and hear me out: go help him and TALK THINGS OUT with him
u keep being out of it and you won’t spill ANYTHING to the rest of us so maybe he’s a decent candidate
…
You start typing and quickly realize you don’t have much of a good response. She does have a point. Speaking about it would be easier. Then again, it's a hard topic considering…well, a lot of factors. The more you think about it, the more complicated the matter seems to get.
You’re brought back at the feeling of your phone buzzing in your hand.
…
i’m guessing anyway because Rise seems upset by it and is texting me now about how you won’t respond
ooooh
figured out why everyone knows. yukiko told the others oops….
well that just proves my point! it’s not just me who sees how you’ve been acting and honestly? it’s a bit annoying
i’m guessing it’s not the case because you’ve been uneasy before about it but not THIS bad
and you’re not even looking now are you???
whatever!!! just sort it out soon or else i’m gonna get someone to stage an intervention
i thought Yosuke was acting a bit funny but this is worse
…
Your eyes narrow at the last sentence. Has he been acting different? Aside from being more touchy with you, you can’t pinpoint anything else new. Unless that’s what she meant.
…Has he been touchier with you around your other friends? If he has been, why haven’t you noticed anything until today? For once, your standard stoic-ness seems to slip as you feel your ears heat up.
Wow, this really is stupid. Why are you even getting wound up by it anyway? It’s not like there haven’t been people crushing on you before, ranging from Rise clearly to a few girls at school. Maybe that’s the difference though—they’re all girls. You never exactly cared about who liked you at all, but for it to be him feels like a sudden twist. No guy has shown some kind of feelings toward you, but then again, it’s not like Yosuke’s hard to read. You’re actually not even sure if he realizes that he’s coming off that way.
Whatever. You should just do your homework and sort things out more tomorrow.
…
You decide to test out Chie’s advice and pick up some shifts at Junes. With how many jobs you switch between already, it wasn’t an abnormal thing to suddenly jump onto here. It isn’t like you haven’t worked here before anyway since you couldn’t say no to him and indirectly Chie the first time. Yosuke looked at you as if you were an angel when you arrived at the store, but you supposed he’d look at anyone like that if they offered to help in this scenario. It almost seemed as if the place was dead in terms of workers.
“My dad’s gone crazy with the shift assignments. He told me we’re understaffed because some of the employees recently quit or got fired, so now I’m stuck doing the bulk of the work.” He tells you as he hands you an apron as you stand in the employees’ room. You put it on and tie it by yourself. You figure part of why might be those girls you ended up telling off together a while ago. You can’t help but be at least a little happy about the fact that they may be gone.
“Were you not able to get anyone else to help?” You suppose that was already answered, but it felt a good thing to ask anyway.
The brunet let out a long sigh, crossing his arms. “Everyone either said no flat out or said they were too busy. It’s starting to become a pain in the ass trying to bring people in, even if I promise a higher pay than normal.” He seems to almost be sulking for a moment before a cheesy grin pops up on his face. “Luckily, though, you just so happen to be nice enough to offer yourself.”
“Well, I felt like I had to. It’s not like I’ve been up to much anyway.” Aside from already being thrown into your clubs of choice, the rest of your time has been bumming around in your room or hanging around your other friends since you were too tired to do much else. You could probably use the work routine again for a bit.
Yosuke places an arm around your shoulders and brings you in close before guiding you towards a bulletin board in the back of the room. You are hyperaware of this fact, but you ignore it as he shows you a copy of the shift schedule.
“This is basically the same as last time. We’ll be sharing a shift, so you’ll be here the same times I am.” He motions briefly to it. “I’ll send you a copy later if you want, but it’s pretty much the same times every time…” He leans in, squinting slightly as he glances over it once more. “Saturday night we work late though.”
You nod in understanding. That’s simple enough. Now the only problem is to…actually do Chie’s suggestion.
It makes you sweat just thinking about it, and you’re starting to wonder if you’ll somehow gain a shadow if you keep being quiet about it. It’s not that you don’t want to tell him, it’s just his reactions to Kanji initially make you ponder if it would be smart to say anything. But then again, it’s been a few months. Maybe he’s simmered down enough?
The near mindless task of stocking shelves only makes you think more about it. What if he gets uncomfortable with you for addressing it? It’s not like you’d be directly saying he has a crush on you, just wondering where you’re both headed from here, but it is strange for you to be thinking about it so hard. Not unless, well…
Unless you may feel the same way. That would explain a lot.
The cool guy persona is slipping again since you can feel your ears flushing. You find yourself staring at the tomato mascot on the label ironically, not realizing there was the sound of slow footsteps behind you. You feel like crushing the can you have in your hands.
“…You good, bro?” You practically jump out of your skin at the sound of Yosuke’s voice and turn around with a speed you didn’t mean. He looks just as surprised as you are, grip onto the boxes he’s carrying probably harder than before. “Whoa, alright. Sorry.”
Slow breath out. “You’re fine.”
He takes a moment to look at you, eyes narrowing. “What’s with your face?” Shit. “That’s like the reddest I’ve ever seen it.”
“Nothing, nothing.” You move your eyes back to the can since you can’t bring yourself to really look at him at the moment.
“…Did you get a girlfriend?”
Huh? Your head snaps back up.
“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” He sets his boxes down, seeming intent on keeping this conversation going. “Geez, you got one before any of us. Lucky you.”
That’s—whatever. You can work with that excuse. It’s kind of on the right track. You turn back around to continue filling up the shelves.
“I guess it makes sense though. You always seemed to be pretty good with the ladies.” There seems to be a twinge of disappointment in his voice. You assume it's out of jealousy, but you can't tell of what kind. "Is it anyone I know?”
“We can talk about it later.” You didn’t mean to say it so curtly, but it likely got the point across better.
“…Yu, really?”
You start to speed up putting things away. “It’s complicated.”
It’s silent for too long. You hear him lift up the boxes. “I’ll back off for now. I’m worried about you though.”
The clink of cans takes up your thoughts. It takes up the majority of them for the rest of the week.
…
Saturday night. You’ve barely addressed anything this whole time. You’re starting to wonder why you’re usually considered the smart one when you can barely figure this situation out.
It’s 9pm. Things have died down for the day, leaving you to mindlessly roam around Junes for any extra work. Yosuke is occupied with one of his co-workers, and you’ve likely looped the same aisle ten times to see if there would magically be something to do there. Your only saving grace from boredom is the fact that your (or rather your friend’s) shift is nearly over. By the time it actually is, you’re poking around the register. Yosuke calls out to you.
“Hey, Yu, we’re supposed to get off soon. Do you wanna head home together?”
You look up, seeing as all you were doing was wiping down the counter. Not like you hadn’t done it a thousand times already. “Yeah, we can.”
When you get around to putting your things away for the night, you both walk out together. He chats about a few various things and you’re happy to listen as you make your way in the direction of your house. He eventually stops short though, making you do the same.
“Do you think we could go to the flood plain?”
You can’t help the confused expression on your face. “Now? This late?”
“I just wanna hang out there for a bit before we gotta head home for real. I’m sure Dojima won’t mind.” Yosuke nudges you with his elbow. You guess you could just tell your uncle that you had to work later than normal. He didn’t blow a complete fuse when you first announced your plan. Besides, it’s a Saturday. You have tomorrow off and have no plans.
“…Alright, but not for too long. I don’t want to worry Nanako.”
You hear him mutter something about “big bro Yu” before he responds with a relieved thank you. The walk there is quiet, and he eventually gets occupied with his headphones, leaving you to listen to crickets and see if there’s any stars out tonight. Normally, he’d be talking to whole way through. With his suggestion being abnormal already, you’re beginning to worry and wonder if it has to do with what Chie said earlier.
It takes a while to get there as the streetlights become less and less common towards the floodplain. You take your time going down the steps towards the riverbank, both because of the darkness and how spacey you’ve been as of late. Yosuke takes a spot near the water, squatting down to peer into it as he slips off his headphones. He doesn’t say anything for a while, even after you stand right next to him. You’d find it peaceful if it wasn’t for the nervous feeling gnawing at you.
“Can you be honest with me for a sec?” He looks up with a piercing gaze that you can only see because of the moonlight. You’re used to seeing this kind of expression, but only when you’re in the TV World with it being directed at Shadows. It’s a bit surreal. “Tell me what’s up.”
Dammit. You feel stiff all of a sudden. He holds his stare for a while before tugging on the hem of your school uniform shirt. Before you know it, you’re already down to his level, sitting on the grass. He plops down fully next to you.
“I get it. I don’t like sharing stuff too, but this is weird. You’re usually pretty open, so when I saw you were hiding something…” Yosuke huffs. “Well, it kind of hurt, but it made me worry too.”
You keep your eyes on the water and your hands in your lap. From here, you can see your reflections. Your friend is looking at the sky. Maybe he’s trying to look for stars too, but you’re sure it’s more because he’s about as tense as you are.
“I’ll sit here for as long as we have to. You just tell me when you’re ready.”
Hearing him have this much care for you…it makes you want to tell him right here, right now—just spilling your guts and blurting out your entire thought process. The way he sees it though must be that you have some crush problems related to a girl rather than him. Even if you think he may like you too, you’re terrified that you read him wrong.
Your head feels like it’s spinning though as you attempt to organize your thoughts. Why can you help out with other people’s problems but can’t even sort out your own?
Your mouth is dry and you can’t come up with anything else. “Would it be stupid to suggest another fight? Maybe it’ll clear my head.”
“Yu, what?” He looks baffled by the fact that you suggested it this time, and with full seriousness no less. “Dude, I don't know if that’s what you really need. Besides, I don’t think we should fight when we can barely see.”
“It was the only thing I could think of.” You admit quietly.
He takes too long to say something. “…If you’re sure.” He’s slow when he stands up, presumably putting his headphones in his school bag judging by the noises. “C’mon. I should have some bandaids somewhere at least if we get hurt too bad.” He extends a hand out to you.
You grasp it and he hoists you up to your feet. You’re really doing this, huh?
He takes a few steps back before announcing that he’s ready. When you get to the actual fighting portion, you quickly see how dumb it is to do at night. You’re stumbling more than normal, and you both keep tugging each other away from potential rocks and other obstacles since you both aren’t actually trying to hurt each other. In a way, it does seem to be helping, but you don’t know how long the feeling of an unscrambled brain will last.
“Hey, wait—“ You hear a yelp before you find yourself making the same noise and inhaling grass. You fall into it with a thud, making your body ache from the sudden impact. Next to you, you hear a loud groan.
“Ow, ow, ow….I feel like I busted my knee or something.”
You grunt a reply into the dirt. You think you hurt yourself more with the fall than the actual fighting. You feel like you cracked a rib or twelve.
“Well, do you feel any better at least?” You assume he turned his head to you since he sounds the smallest bit closer.
You look over to him. You were right. “Kind of.” You sigh before you slowly roll onto your back. You suppose your mind does feel a bit refreshed. “…You know how you asked about me having a girlfriend?”
“Yeah. Was it bad for me to say that?” He’s rubbing his aforementioned knee gently.
You think for a moment. “No. You’re not entirely wrong. I do like someone, but…”
“But?” When you read his expression, there’s so much genuine concern on his face. You’re scared of making that expression even worse, but you know that it would be hard to turn back by now.
“That someone is you, Yosuke.”
His eyes go wide and he sits up with a start, lips in a flat line. “Whoa, whoa, that’s…that’s…” He lets out a loud, awkward chuckle but can’t seem to find anymore words. He brings his knees up to his face, resting his chin on top of them as his hands begin to find strands of grass to pull out. The air is tense and quiet.
“…Really?”
You nod and backpedal immediately. “I’m sorry, Yosuke. I know that—“
You get a flurry of shushes that cut you off. “Look, I kind of don’t care too much about that anymore, man. I...I don’t mind people liking what they like.” He turns his head the other way, this time resting his cheek on his knees and looking back at the lake. “…And maybe I don’t really care what I like either.” He huffs. “W-Would it be weird to say that I…kind of like you too?”
“What?” You were right? And he said it that easily?
The word comes out much louder than you mean and you hear your friend start laughing aloud, easily growing from a small snicker to a near howl. You scramble to cover his mouth, fearing the potential of getting in trouble again by making too much noise at this hour. “Why are you the one telling me to be quiet?” You practically hiss.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just—I didn’t expect you to react like that.” His apology is muffed under the palm of your hand. “You should’ve seen your face, Yu.” You can tell he’s still smiling about it by his eyes.
You bring your hand away and carefully lay back down on the grass. It takes Yosuke a moment to do the same next to you.
“…You wanna do anything about this then, partner?” His voice is soft. He places his folded hands on his stomach.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, c’mon. Do I have to spell it out? That’s embarrassing.” You nudge him. He sighs and groans a “fine”. “I mean, us being…a couple, or whatever you wanna call it. I guess we don’t have to make it official though.”
“Are you sure you’d want to be one?”
“W-Well, maybe not now, but…I wouldn’t mind in the future. You made me realize that I have a heat inside me.” He swallows. “…I like you a lot.” He fidgets for a moment, twiddling his thumbs. “Y-You’re making me say weird stuff now. Quit it.”
You chuckle to yourself. “It’s not my fault. You’re the only one really talking right now.”
You both lay in silence for a moment, and for once in this whole time frame it’s comfortable. Even with the soreness of that fight, you feel at peace. The grass is oddly soft to you, although you know that you’d never pick it over a bed. There’s a faint few stars in the sky tonight you realize.
You break the quiet. “Is this why Chie said you were acting weird?”
He snorts. “Maybe, but you’re one to talk. Are you gonna go back to normal now?” There’s a joking tone to Yosuke’s question, but you know that he’s genuinely wondering.
“Yeah, I think so. Are you?”
He shrugs. “I guess we'll have to see.”
Yosuke gets up slowly and reaches a hand out to you again. When he pulls you up, he keeps his grip on you, even as he finds his school bag and in turn yours. As you sort yourselves out, it takes him a while to say anything, waiting until you’ve both stumbled your way up the stone stairs.
“Do you think you’d mind staying over tonight? I…don’t want you to go yet.” The words come out in a soft tone you don’t hear often from him. You can tell that his face has reddened slightly.
You mull over the idea for a moment. Maybe you could since it’s late enough already.
…
Monday morning. It’s 8:30am. Chie stares at the two of you as if she’s trying to pick you both apart atom by atom. Maybe Yukiko is too, now that you think about it.