Work Text:
No music could seem to drown out your thoughts at the moment, not matter how loud. You weren’t even sure why, but you kept trailing back to one person—your partner—Yu Narukami. Part of the reason though could be because he gave you the sore spot on your face that you are currently pressing some ice on as you lie in bed.
It hurts to touch, and yet you’re still happy with it…not that you like the pain or anything, of course! It’s just the fact that it was from him? For some reason? And how he checked on you afterwards with such care. He’s always been so caring though, even after he saw your shadow. Beyond your own issues, he shows compassion to everyone, even if they don’t exactly want it. He’s willing to take the time to understand before judging. Maybe he’s too nice sometimes, but that’s something you adore about him.
Pfft. Adore? What are you talking about? That’s such a strong word.
…That is fitting though. You’ve always viewed him to be someone who is beyond amazing. Flawless is maybe pushing it, but he is in that ballpark. Smarts, personality, hell, even looks. You’re half sure whatever gods that made him built him too good. It’s no wonder people enjoy hanging around him, and you’re no exception.
Of course, as his best friend, you’ve seen him fumble a bit both with your other friends and alone. There’s times when he completely misses a swing while fighting or sometimes makes a wrong step in P.E. There’s also been times where he’s done math wrong while you’re studying together or dropped the stuff he’s carrying. With those things in mind, you know he’s not “perfect”. It’s all part of his charm though, both the grace and the (very few) clumsy bits of him. In like a normal platonic compliment way. It’s not weird for you to adore him, right? Everyone else basically does.
Oof. You sit up. Maybe you should think about this later. It’s late.
…
You couldn’t exactly not think about it. You’ve been racking your brain over this for a month, and you’re beginning to see a pattern emerge. A lot of your thoughts of him seem too flowery and how you treat him has shifted. After your fight, you’ve began to get more touchy. You figured it was just because you’ve hit the peak of friendship; he’s your best bro, after all, and who were you to say no to hugging him occasionally and the like? But hugging him goodbye the other night was a bit much.
You’ve been so distracted that you forgot to even have food this morning, but on the plus side, this left you more room to eat Yu’s cooking. You’re half sure a god gave him this ability. It seems like he can’t mess up a single meal.
You realize though that you’ve already ate half of your portion and have been very quiet aside from chewing. You swallow. “Sorry, man. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning. I was so hungry.” When you glance over, it seems like he’s barely touched his. Oops.
He shrugs, and there seems to be a small ghost of a smile on his lips. “No worries.” He must’ve been spaced out, as he looks to be in about the same spot as when you both sat down.
You grab the water bottle in between you two since you’re 90% sure that’s yours and unscrew the cap, taking slow sips since you feel like you ate too fast. You continue. “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.” You let out a dramatic sigh. How you wish you could eat his food every day.
Oh, weird thought related to you two living together. Rearrange that…
“Actually, do you think you’d wanna teach me? I’m not bad at cooking, but I could use some tips still.” That was a bit of a lie. The most you can do is boil an egg, and you’re not too sure that counts as cooking. The least you could do is try to learn from him. Maybe the talent could rub off on you.
“I could, if you’d really want me to.” Yu seems spacier than normal actually, poking around in his lunch but not actually eating it. He could always be a tiny bit of an airhead in your causal conversations, but to this degree makes you worry.
“…Something wrong, partner?”
He blinks. “No, just occupied with everything that’s happened recently.”
Something about that sentence feels a bit off, but you know you’d feel bad for prying. Besides, if he doesn’t have more to say, it’s likely just that. With a nod, you pat him on the back. Maybe your hand lingered for a bit too long, but you shrug it off and wait for him to start again.
Your mind wanders for the rest of the day, dreading after school due to work. Ever since you dipped out of shifts for Naoto, it feels like your dad is stacking the work up to the sky. You guess it’s fair, but you can’t help but be bitter. That and your thoughts about whatever is going on with Yu fills up most of the space in your head. You end of relying on him to fill you in for the most part. You feel a bit guilty, but relieved that he doesn’t seem mad with each question you throw at him.
You decide this afternoon you’ll just say goodbye verbally and make your way to Junes. Don’t want a repeat of last night in broad daylight.
You pull through the day with Teddie occasionally popping in to actually do his job, but immediately finding yourself to be angry with him since he said he switched shifts this week. He placed the blame on your father, but it still struck a nerve regardless. Who the hell is gonna be on this then? There’s almost no other open workers now!
As you’re digging through the storage room, you cycle through your choices. It seems like pretty slim pickings, especially since most people are relaxing (unlike you) after fighting through TV monsters and other junk and you don’t exactly like some of your remaining co-workers. Except, well…
No, you couldn’t ask Yu. Even though you know he’d be willing, it would be cruel to bug him. You can try and bother some people you aren’t as close with…but you’re betting you’ll just have to trudge through this bullshit week by yourself. You can drown out your sorrows with some music and hope there’s no customer that needs you and forces you to take them off.
During one of your breaks, your aforementioned music is rudely interrupted, but not by a customer. Your phone rings out in the ringtone you set as a joke which means one thing: Chie is calling you. You try to think of a potential reason why before just going to the employees’ room and answering, hoping it’s something reasonable.
“You and Yu are acting weird.”
That doesn’t seem like a reasonable start at all. “What, no hello? And what do you mean I’m acting weird?”
“Yukiko told me that you keep staring at Yu all the time, or at least just today. Yu is being weirdly out of it like all the time too.”
You frown in frustration, grip on your phone a bit tight. “I picked up on what Yu’s been doing, but he told me he’s just stressed about the cases…why am I being dragged into this though? I wasn’t staring at him.” At least you hope not. You toy with a stray strand of hair to keep your mind occupied.
“Liar.” She practically hisses on the phone, but you know it’s more so jokingly if anything. Her tone quickly softens. “Look, I’m not gonna judge, but some honesty would be nice. It’s not just us two who have noticed you’ve been a bit off, y’know.”
“I am being honest!” You wish she could see your eye rolling.
She hums, clearly not believing you. “Well, okay...but I want you to know that we’re here for you, okay?”
That’s oddly sentimental. “You make it sound like I’m about to do something crazy.” You grumble, although with how work already has been you may actually. She gives a laugh before saying goodbye and hanging up with a click. You shove your phone back in your pocket.
You know she’s right unfortunately—you have been acting off, and you know why. You sigh and end up leaning against the wall. You weren’t planning on handling this now or really any time soon, but Chie already set you off. This is a train of thought that you’ve stopped a few times before, and it comes back regardless of what you do. Each time, it goes a tiny bit further.
Maybe, just maybe, you have an interest in your best friend. And maybe, who knows, you’d be willing to say that said interest isn’t just friendship. Maybe every touch since a bit ago, whether it be helping him up after a fall or a hug, has been stuck in your mind for days on end.
There’s something about Yu that’s special, and you’ve let him know that. Maybe it’s how he brings everyone together. Maybe it’s how he listens. Maybe it’s how he looks. Maybe it’s the perfect energy that is down to his very core. It was and still is a bit of jealousy, but you have to admit that there’s starting to be more to it. You’re starting to appreciate him on a different level entirely. The feeling isn’t even bad. It’s one of warmth, as dumb as that sounds, a stronger brand of it. Kind of like the ones you’ve felt before when you’ve had a crush but amplified…
…Ugh, why did you pick here to have a crisis? You already panic enough with Teddie around. There’s too many “maybes” and “probablys” to spiral about in a Junes.
…
You come back from your job and cram your homework in before dinner, not wanting to spend another minute doing any sort of work. You have one singular goal tonight—sort through whatever emotions and feelings you keep getting; those weird, dizzying, and fuzzy feelings. With a variety of bands as your witnesses, your headphones go on and you sit down on your bed. You think for a moment (a rarity for you, truly).
You’ll admit it: you weren’t exactly tolerable of any…”strange” behavior a few months ago. Kanji’s shadow hit you like a truck and made you freak out even more than normal. Once you got to know the guy though, it seemed not as bad. Kanji likes whatever he wants and you guess after a while you’ve started to just not really care. So why did you end up here? You never had an interest in guys before from your memory.
Your mind drifts off from the main subject of “why” and it’s more so a “how can it not” with everything about Yu. Maybe that’s just it. Yu is just so damn amazing that it would be hard not to fawn over him.
You’re brought back to reality by an oddly dreamy sigh that turned out to be from you (that’s embarrassing). But maybe that’s it. There’s not an exact reason to why you suddenly “turned gay”…or whatever this is. You still do think girls are cute and happen to think Yu is too at the very least.
Yu. Cute. That’s a new sentence, at least from you. That’s more of a Rise thing…does that mean she has competition now? She’d smite you if she knew.
Your phone rings with another special ringtone you recognize all too well. Sliding off your headphones, you grab your phone and go through brief mental preparation before hitting answer.
“Hey, Yosuke." Yu’s voice crackles over the phone.
You clear your throat. “Hey, partner! What’s up?” I definitely wasn’t just thinking about how pretty your eyes are or something.
“Just checking in. Are you doing okay?”
You refrain from a sigh. This must’ve been Chie’s doing. “Yeah, I am. Work’s draining me already, but I’ll be fine. Are you?”
He’s quiet for a moment. “Mhm. Do you need any help over there?”
You perk up at the sudden offer. “Seriously?”
“Of course. Why would I be joking?”
You’re reminded of why people think of Yu as a sweetheart. He just offered to work your shift with you, for crying out loud. “I mean, if you really wanna. Thanks so much, dude. I thought about asking, but I didn’t wanna bother you.” There’s a debatably dorky grin on your face, and you can’t tell if it’s from Yu or from the help he just agreed to.
“No problem.” You can hear the smile in his voice and fight off any kind of excess thoughts pertaining to mushy couple stuff, trying to crumble them up like paper and toss them into the mental abyss.
A topic change from work would be nice. “Hey, did you wanna maybe see a movie at the end of the week?” …Now it just sounds like a date, ack.
“Depends on what they’re showing, but I’d probably say yes regardless.”
“…Well, I haven’t checked actually.” You cough out. “But I’m sure we could find something good. If not, I bet there’s something else we can do in Okina.” You would’ve paid attention if you had the brain capacity to.
There’s the ever so slightest laugh in response and…it makes your heart flutter?
You think that you were right—this is a crush. Now what?
…
You stand in the employees’ room, hand him an apron, and get right to the spiel you didn’t get to earlier. “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.”
“Were you not able to get anyone else to help?” He asks quietly as he reaches behind himself to tie it on.
Ugh. Don’t get me started. You ran around to find people outside of the Investigation Team and still couldn’t find anyone willing to work. You were sure you could at least get Kou to do it... You cross your arms with a big sigh. “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. 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.” Your point comes up again and again—he’s so damn nice. You place an arm around his shoulders for a half-hug. You bring him close, albeit way more than intended. Ignoring this, you move the two of you towards the bulletin board in the back of the room that has the employee schedules.
“This is basically the same as last time. We’ll be sharing a shift, so you’ll be here the same times I am.” You motion briefly to it to emphasize as if he hadn’t seen it before. “I’ll send you a copy later if you want, but it’s pretty much the same times every time…”
Wait a minute, is that new? You lean in to see some red ink written on Saturday’s. Shit. “Saturday night we work late though.” You say this while straining to not sound like you’re complaining. You suppose it means more time with Yu, but you’d probably be trying to hang out with him after work anyway.
You both go your separate ways pretty quickly, busying yourselves with whatever tasks are available. You do your normal jobs, and you ended up assigning him what Teddie typically would do. Everything was going pretty smoothly up until you tried to walk through one of the aisles to get to the storage room. You stop yourself at the sight of him seeming to be out of it, not even noticing your presence.
“…You good, bro?” He flinches hard and spins around at a crazy speed. It startles you and you end up holding onto the boxes in your hands even more out of surprise. “Whoa, alright. Sorry.”
“You’re fine.” He certainly isn’t though, sheesh. Especially because…his face is oddly flushed. His ears too, now that you think about it.
“What’s with your face? That’s like the reddest I’ve ever seen it.” You’ve seen him blush a bit before, mainly after a comment from Rise or when something awkward has happened, but it’s never been to this extent.
“Nothing, nothing.” Yu looks down at the can in his hands, clearly avoiding eye contact. What could it be that’s got him like that?
Ah, hold on. “…Did you get a girlfriend?”
His head snaps back up immediately. Case closed.
You try to shove down the part of you that wishes you were wrong and try to be happy. “I’m gonna take that as a yes.” You set your boxes down, expecting to keep this conversation going. Maybe you’ll able to get a proper answer about his type now…not that you really needed to know now. “Geez, you got one before any of us. Lucky you.”
He turns around and gets back to work, eyes locked on the shelves. Alright, sure. You can fill in the silence. “I guess it makes sense though. You always seemed to be pretty good with the ladies. Is it anyone I know?” You lean on your boxes to give yourself something to do besides standing still. Maybe it is Rise after how many months of her already incessant flirting.
“We can talk about it later.” The response comes off much more curt than expected from your partner.
“…Yu, really?” You can’t help but press him a little. This is odd behavior.
“It’s complicated.”
Complicated? You can’t help but be just a little frustrated. You’ve been so raw and honest with one another, but…You take a deep breath. Calm down. You should follow in his footsteps and have patience. It’s only fair.
“I’ll back off for now. I’m worried about you though.” You pick up your boxes and move on, or at least physically you do. Your mind idles on the subject all night.
…
Saturday night, 9pm. You’re pretty sure you’re half dead now after the past few shifts. A new co-worker you got turned out to be a 1st year that you’ve barely spoken to before but suddenly wants to take up all your conversation time. It’s nice to see how excited he seems to hang around you (that’s new), but it’s begun to be a pain in the neck.
What saves you from constant talking to the fact that your shift is just about over. The moment you can, you call out to your partner. “Hey, Yu, we’re supposed to get off soon. Do you wanna head home together?”
He seems to be idly wiping the counter that you swore he already cleaned. His head perks up. “Yeah, we can.”
You scramble to get out of there, both because you’re happy to get away from that week of working and because you get to walk with him again. Hopefully it wouldn’t end up in a hug, especially with current knowledge in mind. That may fry your brain more. You shake your head briefly to clear that out and end up jumping from subject to subject out of habit. Yu seems to be content with listening, and as you make your way to his house, you’re brought back to earlier today. There’s an idea simmering in your brain, but you’re not sure it’s smart…
You’ll pitch it. “Do you think we could go to the flood plain?”
“Now? This late?” He looks confused, and rightfully so.
“I just wanna hang out there for a bit before we gotta head home for real. I’m sure Dojima won’t mind.” You nudge him with your elbow, hoping that you managed to be convincing.
“…Alright, but not for too long. I don’t want to worry Nanako.”
You blink dumbly, not actually expecting a yes. “Okay, big bro Yu.” You murmur the nickname to yourself to lighten your own mood. “Thanks.”
The walk there feels tense to you, spurring you to eventually slip on your headphones to try and drown out any nerves. You weren’t sure where to start really, with both Yu’s behavior and your own feelings on the line here. The streetlights are seen less as you made your way towards the plain, eventually seeing the need for the two of you to slow down to avoid injury in the dark. After a bit of fumbling, you manage to make your way down to the river. You squat down next to it and slide off your headphones. In an attempt to settle yourself, you keep your eyes on the water. Yu soon finds his way down too and stands next to you, seeming to be waiting for one of you to talk.
Sure, fine, you can go first… “Can you be honest with me for a sec?” You look up to him and immediately notice the tension in his body. Maybe this is too direct, but you’re not sure how else to bring it up. “Tell me what’s up.”
He stays still, eyes darted off to the side. You end up tugging on the hem of your school uniform shirt to bring him down to your level. You both plop down on the grass, cold from the lack of sunlight.
“I get it.” You try to reassure him. “I don’t like sharing stuff too, but this is weird. You’re usually pretty open, so when I saw you were hiding something…” Be honest with him. “Well, it kind of hurt, but it made me worry too.”
He stares off into space again. You refrain from a sigh and instead look up. Anxiously, you twist a finger around your headphone wire in an attempt to occupy your mind with something else. You fail, clearly, and start talking already. “I’ll sit here for as long as we have to. You just tell me when you’re ready.” You murmur into the air.
Yu takes long enough to speak again that you start to try and count things. A good amount of stars. 1 moon. 1 set of headphones. 2 high schoolers…
“Would it be stupid to suggest another fight? Maybe it’ll clear my head.”
That immediately brings you out of your daze. “Yu, what?” Since when was he the one with the stupid ideas? What on earth is bugging him this bad? “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.” His voice is so soft, too genuine. Your mind jumps around a variety of “why”s until you decide that it’s only fair you do the same.
“...If you’re sure.” You purposely take your time standing and putting your (precious) headphones in your bag before making your way to your partner’s side. “C’mon. I should have some bandaids somewhere at least if we get hurt too bad.” You reach a hand out to him. He looks at it briefly before grabbing it.
You bring him up and step a bit back. “Alright, whenever you want.” You do whatever excuse of a fighting stance you have without your kunai and charge, him doing relatively the same with a more believable one. You find quickly that you were right that this was kind of stupid as you keep grabbing each other to avoid rocks and various obstacles in the dark in an attempt to stop any full-on harm.
Everything goes as well as it could in this setting before you stub your foot on a rock. “Hey, wait—“ You practically yelp before fall directly into the grass knee first. You groan loudly as you hear a similar noise come from next to you.
You end up moving onto your back to avoid further pressure, hands over the spot you just hurt. “Ow, ow, ow….I feel like I busted my knee or something.” You hiss. I’m gonna have a bad bruise, aren’t I? Your partner only offers a grunt as a reply. When you glance over, you see that his face currently buried in the grass and you have to stifle a laugh. “Well, do you feel any better at least?”
He turns his head to face you. “Kind of.” With a sigh, he rolls onto his back. There is some kind of visible relief on his face, but there’s bits of him that are still full of tension. “…You know how you asked about me having a girlfriend?”
“Yeah. Was it bad for me to say that?” You rub the knee you just hit, both out of pain and as a way to partially distract.
He takes a second to think. “No. You’re not entirely wrong. I do like someone, but…”
Your head perks up slightly. Your hand freezes. “But?” It’s not a girlfriend? Why is he hesitating? Who is it? Curiosity is infesting your brain.
“That someone is you, Yosuke.”
HUH?
You feel your eyes go wide and sit up with a start, head reeling from the movement. Holy shit. “Whoa, whoa, that’s…that’s…” A loud and awkward chuckle leaves your lips, trying to find words and supremely failing as if your brain shut off. You bring your knees up to your face, resting your chin on top of them as your hands search the ground for some grass blades to grip onto. God, where do you even continue from here? Do you just blurt out everything you’ve been thinking about? How does he look so calm?
Calm. You breathe.
“…Really?” You can’t tell if your voice is shaking or not.
“I’m sorry, Yosuke. I know that—“
“Shhhhh.” No way he’s saying sorry. “Look, I kind of don’t care too much about that anymore, man. I...I don’t mind people liking what they like.” You turn your head the other way, this time resting your cheek on your knees and looking back at the lake. Maybe you should look him in the eye while saying this, but you’re too nervous to do so. “…And maybe I don’t really care what I like either.” Deep breath in, then out. “W-Would it be weird to say that I…kind of like you too?
“What?” His voice nearly booms.
You can’t help the laugh that bubbles up from you, getting much louder than intended. He practically scurries over to you to slap his hand across your mouth. “Why are you the one telling me to be quiet?”
It only makes you wanna laugh more. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It’s just—I didn’t expect you to react like that. You should’ve seen your face, Yu.” You can’t suppress the grin on your face. He eventually moves his hand and you soon both lay back down on the grass.
You fold your hands on your stomach. “…You wanna do anything about this then, partner?”
“What do you mean?” He asks in a tone that you still can’t figure out if it means he’s playing dumb or not.
“Oh, c’mon. Do I have to spell it out? That’s embarrassing.” He nudges you; he’s not, is he? With a sigh and a groan, you start before you can even think too hard about it. “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?” A quick glimpse up shows that he’s looking directly at you, his eyes warm. He has such delicate lashes…
Your brain resets again and you keep your eyes on your hands now. “W-Well, maybe not now, but…I wouldn’t mind in the future. You made me realize that I have a heat inside me.” Swallow, think how to phrase. “…I like you a lot.” He doesn’t say anything for a moment, leaving you to lamely twiddle your thumbs until you can’t handle his eyes on you. “Y-You’re making me say weird stuff now. Quit it.”
A soft chuckle leaves his lips. “It’s not my fault. You’re the only one really talking right now.”
The scene is peaceful. You sit in comfortable silence, and you help yourself to your new favorite pastime of trying to find as many details of his face as possible. Maybe adore was the right word. He is special. You’d reach for his hand, but this whole debacle is already embarrassing enough for you. You’re sure he wouldn’t mind though.
“Is this why Chie said you were acting weird?” He jokes.
Of course it was her. You snort. “Maybe, but you’re one to talk. Are you gonna go back to normal now?”
“Yeah, I think so. Are you?”
“I guess we’ll have to see.” You say with a shrug, smiling to yourself. You aren’t entirely sure what “normal” would be for you after this, but you know you’ll reach it at some point.
You take a while to get up, pulling your partner (whatever that may mean now) and leaving your hands linked together even with your fumbling around to find what you need to bring home. You lead the two of you up the stairs, managing to get to the top with less issue than expected. When you stand in front of him, it dawns on you what just happened in full.
Yu! Likes! You! Oh my GOD. You? You?!
You swallow. This is embarrassing, but you feel like you have to say it. “Do you think you’d mind staying over tonight? I…don’t want you to go yet.” You know your face has to be all red and you’re pretty sure you’re starting to sweat all of the water out of your body.
He stands still for a moment, thinking presumably. You pray to whatever god that’s listening for it to be a yes.
…
Monday morning, 8:30am. Chie seems to be staring daggers into you and you can’t tell if it’s something you did individually or if it has to do with what happened over the weekend. Not like she knows already though…right?
And then you see Yukiko doing a softer version of that look. You’re starting to panic a bit now.