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>"Hey Partner, I haven't heard from you all week, and I haven't seen you in class either. I know this is my 10th text in the last 4 days but please respond?" - Yu
Yu pocketed the phone, knowing unfortunately well that Yosuke, his partner, wouldn't respond. He'd been like that since the start of the week. It made Yu feel... Dejected, and worried, at the same time. He'd never admit it to the boy himself, but Yu had a crush on Yosuke, and missed him badly. At first, the team thought that perhaps Yosuke just had a cold and was at home recovering, after all the same thing happened to Rise last week, right before they were suppose to have their concert, maybe it was a bug that was going around, but then Tuesday and Wednesday hit with no appearances or texts from Yu's second-in-command. They checked Junes, to see if maybe Teddie knew something, or his father. But then they noticed that Ted was missing, and that the store employees, most of whom had grim or despondent features, seemed to be clearing aisles out.
Yu, Chie, and Yukiko met up at their old table. Unfortunately they were the only ones on the Team who could, as Kanji had to take care of his mom after she accidentally tripped and fell on the stairs, and Rise was stuck at Marukyu, helping her grandmother serve an unexpected large crowd. Naoto meanwhile was stuck at the station, forced to assist with whatever they needed doing.
"What are we gonna do?" Asked Chie. She was perhaps Yosuke's closest friend, at least before Yu entered the picture. She was worried about him, and it showed.
"I- I don't know..." Yukiko looked just as worried as Chie, if only because she knew how much it affected both Yu and her best friend, though she did care about the Magician as well.
Yu thought for a moment, dreading that maybe what Yosuke said last week wasn't as much of an exaggeration as they hoped, though he still tried to remain calm and rational, especially for his friends.
"I think I'm going to check his house. I haven't been there before but he did say it 'had a funky roof' so I should be okay."
"Ooh! Lemme go too, I've been there before so I can guide you!"
Yu didn't really know what to think about that fact. To him, that's a side of Yosuke he's never seen, and it almost... irks him a little, that Chie has. He doesn't voice this thought, however, as he knows it's purely petty jealousy speaking.
"Thanks Chie. What about you Yukiko?"
"Oh. I have to get back to the inn. We're supposed to be getting a large group today and my mother is going to need my help." She looked reluctant, like Yukiko was seriously considering ditching her responsibilities to help, but one look at Chie told her that the two of them would be fine.
"Alright, stay safe. We'll go check out Yosuke's place." Yu stated as they began to part.
The both of them, Chie and Yu, walked in silence, neither daring to try and dispel the worried, now slightly foggy, air around them. It seemed as though even the weather itself wasn't happy with Yosuke's disappearance. As they got close enough to see the place's roof, Chie was the first to notice the packed up and empty boxes near the drive way, along with some small wrapped up pieces of furniture. Then the both of them spotted Yosuke's mom, who was attempting to cram as much stuff as physically possible into their rather large, deep blue minivan.
"Mrs. Hanamura?" Asked Chie. "What's going on?" The motherly Mrs. Hanamura turned to face the two of them, making her tear stricken, make-up smeared face evident.
"Oh. Satonaka. I haven't seen you in a while!" Mrs. Hanamura said, trying to sound more happy and cheerful than what was possible given her appearance. "Who's this- Oh." Her attempted upbeat expression dropped the moment she laid eyes on Yu. Instead replacing it with nervousness and hesitancy. "You must be Yosuke's friend... Narukami. I'm sorry."
Her words dispelled any and all calm, rational thoughts within Yu's head, replacing them with anxious, gut-wrenching, ideas.
Before Yu even had the chance to speak, the front door opened, first revealing a haggered Mr. Hanamura, carrying a few more oddities. The man looked like he hadn't been sleeping for months, let alone a few days. Then Yosuke appeared in the door frame, his tear drained amber-brown eyes widened, like a deer caught in headlights. He stood there, fozen at the sight of his two best friends, the two best friends, that he had been trying, and failing to forget about all week long. The two best friends that, along with everyone else, tried, and failed, to save the Junes store his father and him worked at. He tried to speak, to say something, maybe apologize or explain, but nothing came out. All he could do was slowly open and close his jaw like a fish out of water.
"Is that everything Yuichi?"
"Just about dear. Hopefully we'll make it in time for the cultural festival there. I'd hate to see him miss it at his new school."
Yu was thoroughly off the deep end of worry, now mentally spiraling into panic. "W-What's... Yosuke? Why?"
The fawn-colored boy grimaced and looked down at his feet. Chie noticed that he had his headphones on, though neither of them could hear any sound from it.
"... I- I'm sorry guys."
It looked like he wanted to say more, but without any further words said, Chie spoke up, feeling a little spike of anger seeping into her words. "Sorry? What?! None of us have heard from you at all Yosuke! And all you have to say for yourself is 'sorry guys'? What the hell! Why haven't you talked to us? Why haven't we seen you at school lately?! Why the hell haven't we seen Teddie either? Or for that matter why are entire sections of the Junes here closing up?!"
Before Yosuke could offer a response to Chie's words, his father stepped in. "I'm sorry about this, really, I am. Yosuke told me how you and your other friends tried to save the store for us, and for that I'm greatful, but since it didn't work, we can't stay. The store just isn't profitable enough, not anymore, especially not when that deal with Kanamin fell through-"
"Wait." Interjected Chie, simultaneously realizing what Mr. Hanamura was saying, and failing to notice the slowly forming tears on Yu's face. "You mean... You guys are... Moving?! What Yosuke said last week was true?"
"I'm afraid so Ms. Satonaka."
While their conversation was going on, Yu and Yosuke looked at each other, both looking like they wanted to be anywhere but here, to be in any other situation than this. The Fool felt like his heart was being dragged downwards, towards the dirt. He just couldn't believe that his best friend and crush was going away. Yu knew that he'd always have to leave Inaba in the spring, but at the very least he'd be in Tokyo, one relatively short trip away from Inaba. But now, with Yosuke moving away, Yu wouldn't be able to see him anymore, wouldn't be able to have his help in solving the case, wouldn't be able to see how his eyes seem to gleam like perfectly cut gemstones in the sun, or how if Yosuke turned his head just the right way on a cloudless, sunny day, he could see very faint freckles dotting his cheeks and neck.
The Magician meanwhile felt just as heartbroken. He never wanted this. He wanted to help Inaba, in spite of how they treated him. He wanted to solve the case and bring the murderer to justice! He wanted spend as much time as he could with his friends, with both the people he helped save from the killer, and the people that saved him from the despair he had when he first moved here. Most of all, he wanted to be with Yu, to hang with him till spring. Now it doesn't even matter. Now he already feels worse than he did when he left Tokyo, now that he knows that the friends he had then weren't good friends, and especially now because he knows that the friends he does have right now, are some of the truest friends he'll ever have in his life.
At that thought, Yosuke realizes that the feelings he has for his partner no longer matters. He can just say it, and it doesn't matter if Yu will like him or not. After all, he thinks, he's never going to see him again after this, might as well get everything out in the open.
"Yosuk-"
"Partn-"
The both of them interrupting each other is almost enough to send a little trickle of laughter out from their mouths, but neither of them are laughing.
"You go first Partner." Yosuke tries to give Yu a slight smile, encouraging him on.
"No Yosuke, please. I want to hear what you have to say."
Yosuke takes a moment to think about how to word what he's going to say, a rare moment from him he realizes.
"I... I know I've hurt you by ignoring you. I'm sorry. I just... I got the news on Saturday, after I came home from school. Remember? I left early, right before lunch? They told me that my dad was being reassigned to another store, further down south, and that I was being taken out of Yasogami a few days early so I could help pack. I didn't know how to take it. "
"You could have told me! Or Chie! You could have told any one of us!"
"I tried! I really tried... But every time I tried to text you I couldn't figure out what to say. 'hey prtner! Sry 2 giv u som bad nws. im mving.' I mean, nothing I typed out or thought of to say on the phone felt like enough. And then Ted vanished and I didn't-"
"Teddy... Vanished?"
"Yeah, and I don't know where he's gotten to. He doesn't have a phone so I can't call him." Yu feels about ready to give up on everything, crawl into a ball and weep. First Yosuke's leaving, and now Ted's missing? To him it feels like his world's falling apart.
"Where are you moving to? Can't we call? Or Text? Or anything? Please?!" Begs Yu, desperate for Yosuke to not leave his life. It's the most emotion he's ever shown so far to his friends.
"I wish I could tell you, but there's not much point really. And yeah, we could text, but you and I both know we're never gonna keep that up. You'll forget about me after a while, don't worry." Yu couldn't even believe what he was hearing, that Yosuke believes he's forgettable?
"Yosuke, I will never forget you. Ever! Don't you dare ever think that for one second, please!"
"I- I'm also sorry, for what I'm about to say." Yosuke continues, ignoring the Fool's plea.
"Yosuke?" Yu notices that Yosuke's developed a bit of a blush on his cheeks.
He takes a deep breath, and puts a fist over his heart. "I like you. A lot actually. You turned my whole life around, and helped me become a better person, someone I'm proud of, someone Saki-senpai would've been proud of."
Before Yu can even understand the confession he's just heard, or articulate a response to let Yosuke that he likes him too, they both hear his dad call from the car. "Hey Yosuke! We're all packed up, get in!"
"Well, that's my ride. See ya partner, maybe we'll see each other again someday." He tries to frame it in a hopeful way, his face holding a slight smile and sympathetic eyes. It's betrayed however by his tone of voice, and the tears threatening the corners of his eyes.
The Fool and the Chariot despondently watch as the Magician enters his family's minivan, and the two watch as they pull onto the road and drive away, leaving Inaba behind.
Later, when both have returned to their homes, tear valves running dry and hearts sagging, Yu has a dream. He dreams of a car with a velvet interior, one that should be populated. In front there should be a man with a long nose, and next to him two gorgeous young women, one he hasn't spoken to much, with a red choker and blue cap, and the other a tall ash-white haired lady he remembers talking to many times, but looking ahead he sees that there is no one with him, and he realizes that he can't remember any of their names. He dreams further of a feeling deep within his chest, a feeling that he has somehow failed. He tries to look around, but all he can instead do, is watch as everything fades from his eyes, like a piece of film burning away.