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MID JUNE 2013- THE START
It’s the 22nd of June. Rise’s tour so far has been a success as her idol persona Risette is brought back to the big stage.
He has no idea how he ended up an assistant audio producer at the age of 18, well, 19 now. Rise needed someone, and he’d worked on a bunch of smaller gigs before, so he saw no harm in applying for the position. Rise’s manager “loved the energy and angle” his portfolio had provided, signing him onto the team.
To Yosuke, it was a dream come true to be working a real job in music, even if that meant working on his birthday.
The show was going incredibly well, the crowd was hyped, and her stage presence was intoxicating. No one was paying much mind to anything other than the sheer joy of being there. She covered hit after hit, revisiting some of her older works and singing some western music too. Yosuke had no idea how she acquired so many talents over the years, but it made for a spectacular idol.
“Thank you everyone for coming out tonight! I have a special thank you to someone on my team, it’s his birthday today! He’s my good friend and one of our assistant audio mixers, helping me bring the best quality show to you!”
Huh? His birthday got recognised? He doesn’t remember that happening for anyone else over the duration of the tour. He didn’t want to get his hopes up that he was something more than just a colleague to her. There’s no way they’re actually friends, right?
They did spend a considerable amount of time together outside of show hours, but he mainly chalked it up to being always on set and a similar age, however they did a bunch of talking about girls they both thought were total cuties and the best brands of ice-cream mochi, so maybe it wasn’t a far reach to assume friendship. She wasn’t afraid to be herself around him, confiding in some of her biggest secrets.
Who was he kidding, they were totally friends.
Rise came to greet him after the show, dragging him to the VIP section because ‘she didn’t want to be alone with so many people’ even though he had mentioned Kanji being there. She still whined and insisted that more than one bodyguard would be needed. Her puppy dog pout was too strong to say no to.
Kanji has always been Rise’s friend, since before primary school. He looks tough as nails but insisted on knitting a little silver cat as his present to Yosuke. He gave it to Yosuke the night before, knowing the day would be full of concert preparations.
“Hey Yosuke, happy birthday man! You’re 19 now, right?” Kanji smiled, seeming to know what happened without a word being spoken. “You stand on the other side of the table mmk? Gotta make sure Rise feels safe”. “Gotcha” He winked, mentally preparing for a swarm of people to start coming through the door.
There was indeed a swarm of people, murmuring and muttering over Rise – Risette to be more precise, but also about “that cute brunette”. There’s a lot of brunettes in the room, so he wasn’t too phased by it.
“Risette, who is he?” a fan asked Rise after all the squealing subsided, pointing rather definitively at Yosuke.
“Me?” Yosuke queries, a look of pure confusion spread on his face.
“OMG HE SPOKE BACK!” the (mainly) girls cooed. The rest of their phrases merging into a cacophony of girl chatter.
“He’s my assistant audio mixer, and one of my friends.” Rise calmly mentioned.
“OH, IS IT THE ONE WHO’S BIRTHDAY IS TODAY?? HE’S SOOO CUTE!”
Yosuke looks in pure unadulterated shock at Rise, unsure of what the hell is happening. He’d never had this much attention over anything really, let alone being called cute by a room full of teenage girls.
“Um, yeah... it’s my birthday today” He spoke, ending with a wink to offput how awkward he felt.
Some of the girls faked fainting, others asked if Rise was dating him, others weren’t phased in the first place. Seems to be commonplace with people who they think are famous.
Rise managed to wrangle the crowd back in, making sure the meet and greet didn’t go off the rails. After the group all got their photocards signed and pictures taken with Rise, they slowly trickled out of the room. One of the last girls asked for a selfie with all 3 of them, which Yosuke found pretty cute.
“I think that’s the first time someone has asked for my photo” Kanji said with bewilderment, Yosuke nodding his head along.
“Yeah, my fans have always been quite wary of you, even though you’re a total sweetheart” Rise sighed. “I suppose it makes your job easier”
Yosuke hummed in agreement, baffled at how he even got to this point.
LATE JUNE 2013-THE CATALYST
Once the tour finally ends, he’s offered a job helping with her studio albums. Backing guitar and some audio engineering. He’s quite thrilled that he still has a job in all honesty, his rent is getting pricey even with two other flatmates sharing a room.
He trudges back into his definitely overpriced Shinjuku rental, greeting Chie and her girlfriend Yukiko. At least he thinks they’re dating, they hold hands too much not to be. He’s greeted with a kick in the shins and a weird glare from the two, berating him with far too many questions all at once for him to possibly hear what’s going on. His eyes darting back and forth between the girls so quickly he fears he’ll give himself eye strain if they don’t let up.
“HOW THE HELL DID YOU BECOME INTERNET FAMOUS YOSUKE” Chie finally yells.
“Famous? Absolutely not, you must be thinking of the wrong person” Yosuke spat out. He’d just come back home; he hadn’t checked his phone or anything. His guitar case was still slung over his shoulders from walking into the hall without an opportunity to put it down. He attempted to brush his increasingly more annoying bangs out of his face, opting to try ignoring them as the girls’ side-eyed each other.
Yukiko asks him to look at a post on some random social media, showing her smartphone screen to the brunette.
It was the selfie with Kanji, Rise and him. He really liked that photo, unsurprised it ended up being posted on someone’s social media.
Wait the comments were all asking about HIM?
“Aint no way” He mumbled, scrolling through message after message of things that normally would boost the ego of a 19-year-old single straight guy.
He’d be lying if he said it didn’t affect him at all, but far less than he had expected.
He went back and read the caption; it went as follows:
“So lucky! I met THE RISETTE and two of her friends! Don’t we all look so cute!!! The boy on the left is Rise’s bodyguard Kanji, the one on the right is one of her audio guys. I don’t know his name but he’s so adorbs aint he!!!”
The comments really did seem to agree with that sentiment, desperately trying to find out what his name is.
His jaw was so dropped it could sweep the floor.
“I had no idea; I was busy working with Rise’s management on her latest album. Please tell me it just ends with the cute stuff, right? I have no idea what would happen if they found my socials.”
He doesn’t use his real name on anything public, so it would be hard to find even just for his friends, let alone a stranger.
Yet under that post, he saw a bunch of comments mentioning Jiraya.
He thought to himself, as that was the name he’d been using since he was like 10 for everything. Surely it was some niche coincidence.
He checked his account. Unfortunately for Yosuke, he did not mentally prepare himself for anything close to what he saw.
“HOLY SHIT” he dropped his phone out of sheer shock, seeing numbers in the hundreds of thousands in his inbox attempting to follow him.
“Thank fuck my account is private” he mumbled to the two girls, who nodded uncannily in unison.
He will never get over how weird those two are.
EARLY JULY 2013-THE MEETING
During promotional shoots, Yosuke was asked to be in frame with some of Rise’s photobook pictures. Usually, it was cute or funny frames, like the one where she’s perched on his shoulder like a bird, but there was one that was oddly serious. He was asked to change into something way more formal than his usual attire of jeans and a cool sweater. A cream long-sleeved button up where the top two buttons got left undone, that got rolled at the elbow, and a pair of brown mid-waisted formal pants that had a slight bootcut. He undeniably looked great, but he felt so out-of-place. Rise wore formal attire too, a dark ruby dress close to what a soloist in an orchestra would wear. Surprisingly modest for the idol world.
“Alright you two, this will be the poster to promote Risette’s album. Hanamura-san, I want you to hold Rise by the waist and give her a slight dip, Rise I need you to relax your back a little and fall into him… yes just like that… and hold…. Got it.” The producer rambled on about how great the shoot turned out, and how much money they saved with using a fellow team member. “We’re lucky Hanamura-san’s here; he just saved the marketing department’s ass” he had heard when walking to the recording studio one day. He had no idea why they decided he was a good idea, he had no modelling experience and was so awkward, yet they insisted he was good for their brand. He’d just have to trust their judgement.
Yosuke noticed another boy his age walk into the room, wearing similarly formal attire. Instead, he wore more low-waisted pants, suspenders and a blazer, with a neat shirt and tie. Not a single ounce of colour was on his person, even his tie was pitch black. His silver hair and eyes were indeed eye-catching but still maintained an indescribable warmth within their steely shade.
“Narukami-san, welcome in! You’re perfectly on time as usual. The first set of promotional photos just got shot. Hanamura-san, thank you for your work, we’ll still need you here for a couple of extra photos, so feel free to sit on any of the chairs around here.” One of the photographers cheerfully exclaimed.
The other boy smiled gently, swapping places with Yosuke. He had this natural charm to him, along with obviously being a professional. It seems Rise knows him, as they talked about meaningless things during production discussions.
The artistic director called for a break, seemingly to go for a smoke.
“Yosuke! Stop sitting in some random ass corner and come join us!” he heard her voice travel across the room, immediately whipping his head around to the direction of the sound. He stopped fidgeting with his plain gold ring and walked on over, asking Rise what was up.
“You looked kinda awkward sitting by yourself, when we’re both here. Oh, Yu-senpai, you haven’t met Yosuke before. He’s a great friend of mine and works more on the audio side of things.” She stated matter-of-factly.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, I’ve heard a lot about you from Rise here. I’m surprised someone who works more behind the scenes is out here in a photoshoot though, what prompted the change?” Narukami-san asked, genuine curiosity shown on his face.
“Oh, I was just asked to do it, I think it has something to do with that one post with all three of us, right Rise?” Yosuke nervously chuckled. “I also get a sweet bonus, which is always good with rent being how it is...”
Yu chuckled. It was soft and sweet compared to his harsh exterior. “I remember seeing that post, you look much nicer in person than in that photo.” Yu calmly said. A small smile threatened the corners of his mouth.
“OK PLACES TEAM! Hanamura-san, Narukami-san, I’d like you both to pose around Risette as the central focus point. Hanamura, I want you to be more fun and livelier, so flash that award-winning smile of yours. Narukami, just do what you always do."
He was so over his head right now, since WHEN did he have modelling skills???
They assembled themselves into place, Yosuke had Rise’s hand on his shoulder farthest away from her, and his hand was wrapped behind her back, settling on her hip. Yu had one hand on Rise’s waist, the other gently tucked into his pants pocket. Rise’s other hand was resting gently on Yu’s cheek, creating this gentle contrast in aesthetics. There was a height difference in Yu and Yosuke, he assumed Yu must have been 180cm tall while he stopped growing at 175cm, hoping the difference wouldn’t throw off the balance of the photo. Yosuke thought of Chie and Yukiko freaking out over this stupid photoshoot and smiled a wide, genuine smile. Before the camera clicked, he decided to wink, because he should do something fun right?
“Wow Yosuke, you’re a natural! We might have to call you back for more than just this.” Rise’s manager called out, looking at the previous shots. They all gathered around the tiny camera display, seeing their days work. Yu looked fantastic in everything, he had to admit he didn’t look half bad either. The lighting highlighted how freckly he is, especially compared to the flawless skin of Rise and Yu.
“You look like a total ray of sunshine, Hanamura-san” Yu said, although it was closer to a whisper. He didn’t know what to take of that in all honesty but couldn’t leave the guy hanging.
“And you look like some cool eligible bachelor, Narukami-san” He replied in a similar tone. The wink came too naturally there.
He swears he saw the stone-faced boy blush, but he may also be tired from today.
Filing out of the room, he caught Yu before he left, exchanging social media and numbers to keep track of shoots and schedules. The silver haired boy waved goodbye, mentioning how it was so nice to meet him.
“Just call me Yosuke, it’s easier” Yosuke called out to him.
“Then you may call me Yu” he smiled.
Yosuke thought about how phonetically nice Yu’s name sounded. It rolled off the tongue easily.
He really needed to go to bed.
MID JULY 2013-THE INTERVIEW
He got woken up by an egregiously early Rise phone call. She blabbered on while he was still barely awake, something blah blah photos blah blah shoot blah blah campaign. It had been a month since he got back properly, but the marketing and PR department never seem to take a break.
“Yosuke, the marketing team wants all three of us back for interviews today. Do you think you can make 1pm?”
“HUH?” is all he could muster in response to her, rewarding him with the most dramatic sigh he had ever heard from that diva.
“Yosuke, my fans are obsessed with you, why are you shocked? Has that not clicked in your little brain? They’re desperately trying to figure out who you are. I’m surprised no one from high school mentioned you at all”
It kinda makes sense why they didn’t, they wouldn’t have recognised him. He had short black hair for all of school, only growing it out and dying it over the course of the tour. He was never popular, didn’t participate in any clubs and barely made a sound throughout all his years.
Now he’s got news articles written about him, over a fucking selfie.
“Yeah, ok um I can do 1pm, is there anything I need to do or be prepared for?” he asked timidly.
“Oh yeah, bring your acoustic guitar. What you normally wear should be fine but wear those awesome black boots and not the green converse or yellow gym shoes. OH! If you could wear the blue jeans with the star shaped back pockets… that would be awesome too! And that orange striped sweater, it reminds me of the sunsets of my hometown. Sorry you don’t have to listen to my ramblings; I just think you look nice in that”
Oh, that makes it easy, doesn’t it?
“Yu will be there; he always wears boring colours. You two will look like total opposites!” she continued.
He glanced over at the time, 11am. He ends the call with Rise and promises to be there a little early to hang out, as per tradition while on tour.
This time he’s not in the wings, waiting for her to finish. This time he’s centre stage.
It’s nerve wracking, nausea inducing, yet exciting.
He puts on the outfit, adding a necklace his mother gave him as a gift for his 16th birthday. A little golden sun emblem on a delicate chain. He always liked how it felt, smooth and cold against his skin. He double checked how he looked in the mirror, his hair in a well-behaved half-up style today.
He kept his word with Rise, arriving around 45 minutes early. Yu wasn’t there yet, but messaged Rise about being there in 10 or so minutes.
“Sooo, what do you think of Yu?” Rise said in her classic sing song voice. She only uses that if she thinks there’s information to gain out of her request. She’s tried her best not to smile but failed miserably.
“He seems nice” he responded, thinking about the compliment he received from him during the promotional shoot.
“That’s all? Yosuke can’t you humour meeeeeee” she whined.
“He looks pretty? I don’t know what you want me to say honestly” Yosuke said, not understanding what Rise was trying to get at in the slightest.
“Yosuke, I-” Rise starts off, before locking her eyes on something behind him. He turns around and spots Yu, wearing something boring coloured, just as Rise predicted. He still looked a little too good for how simple his outfit is. He hopes and prays that Yu didn’t catch the conversation they just had.
Yu had started his pleasantries with Rise, talking about traffic and how nice it was to wear something comfier today. They talked with each other so naturally, leaving him no reason to contribute. It reminded him of high school, sitting back and just watching everyone be social. He didn’t really care for that sort of stuff until recently.
“Yosuke, you look great today, the orange suits you. You really do look like sunshine” Yu commented far too naturally. He felt his cheeks and the tips of his ears heat up. He’d only felt that around girls, so why around this random ass man he met like last week. Before he had time to process any of what he just thought about, he spoke. “Um, thanks. You look great today too.” fidgeting with his pendant as the words slipped out, barely audible. Yu smiled softly.
Goddammit, Yosuke can see why he’s a model with all this charisma. He reminds himself that this is just him being a professional and doesn’t mean anything personal. He messed with his bangs, wishing he could shrink away into a speck of dust.
Rise looked at him with a shit eating grin. He was not getting out of this; she spent basically 6 months constantly around him. She knows all his bad habits, nervous jitters and of course, his INSISTANCE that he was straight. He has no idea why she doesn’t believe him, maybe because they never found the same girls cute? That’s just because they have way different types though.
“Ok team, interview is happening in 20 minutes, I’m going to give you a rundown as to what’s happening. Risette, you’re going to talk about your album for the first 5 minutes, then we’ll have a song sneak peek. Hanamura-san, can you set up your guitar mic as we speak? Makes it easier. Narukami-san, you’ll be with Risette in the interview, talking about some of the behind the scenes of some of the photoshoots and production.”
He literally helped produce the album, what does Yu know about it?
Yu shot him a look, it seemed to be almost pleading. He finished setting up his guitar and mic at the correct height for a live performance, checking the tuning and adjusting the strap. Walking over to the other two, he immediately got questions from Yu.
“Yosuke! I need your help right now. I have no idea why you’re not doing that segment; you were a part of the production process.”
At least they were on the same page.
“Ok, so what do you know already about the album? Other than the theme of it” Yosuke started. If he had to explain any jargon now would be the time to do it.
“I know nothing at all, I barely understand the theme.”
Oh dear.
Yosuke proceeded to explain everything. The new direction of the album compared to the previous one. How there was a couple songs with a full orchestral backing that were fun to help with. He explained the whole ‘pick and choose’ concept to Yu, going on about how these sorts of love triangles work in media.
“Ah, so that’s why we’re both part of the posters. You’re supposed to be that... What did you call it? Childhood best friend type? And I’m supposed to be the more mature refined one.”
He hadn’t really thought too much about it until that moment.
“Oh yeah, you’re spot on.” Yosuke remarked. He looked back towards Yu, realising he’d been staring at some random wall this whole time. Rise would tell him he’s being a “space-case”, but he’s fully aware of his surroundings.
Yu was looking at him with such a sweet gaze. He was shocked that the boy could even look like that in the first place.
“Hanamura-san, Narukami-san, Risette. It’s time to get into places!”
The segment went great according to Rise. Yu had to leave to go to another shoot before it was over but texted him a thanks for saving his ass over the content he was being questioned on. He was just happy to have been of help and texted him back not to worry about it.
“So, Yosuke, ready to admit it?” Rise looked over at him. They were sitting together on the couch of his room, listening to some random Nirvana album she’d picked out.
“Admit what?” he tried to act somewhat clueless, but she almost definitely saw straight through it.
“You are the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.” She sighed, probably due to the lack of an actual answer.
“AW MAN, that’s so mean!” He pouted like a small child. They always squabbled like he did with his brother. It was comfortable, he felt like Rise wasn’t really a celebrity and instead just some random school friend.
During their couch conversation, Yosuke learnt a couple things:
- Yu was also 19, surprisingly. His birthday being July 10th. He assumed he was 21 or something, but no. He’s been listed as a teen heartthrob since he was 15 or so.
- Yu and Rise were from the same hometown, but only really started to get to know each other when they were 16.
- Rise had a girl she was talking to, another idol from the same company. That one had made him concerned, especially due to the unfavourable nature of idols dating.
“There’s something I gotta ask you about” Rise started. She looked uncharacteristically nervous. “Management has asked that I hang around either of you randomly in public, for the lead up to the album. They said the dating rumours would put more emphasis on me.” She didn’t meet Yosuke’s eyes, either out of embarrassment or shame.
“Oh, that’s fine, we can keep things minimal or whatever. You know it won’t change anything about our friendship, right?”
Rise shot a look that he didn’t quite understand. He was unsure he ever would.
Yosuke proceeded to write down 5 or so ‘date’ options. He let Rise pick whatever sounded best to her and saved some ideas to use when she inevitably also hung out with Yu.
What a weird situation to be in.
They agreed on a schedule over a four-way call, as Yu had some spare time in his day to help organise things and Kanji had to always be aware of what Rise was up to. It was simple to follow, with the day before the album release having them all go to the Tonegawa Fireworks Festival in Ibaraki. Since they were in Tokyo, it was one of the closer events that would be a large enough city to blend in to.
MID SEPTEMBER 2012-THE FIREWORKS
The ‘dates’ were fine, he wasn’t used to that many people following what he does. Luckily, they didn’t pay much attention to him if he wasn’t with Rise. Yu, however, didn’t have that luxury. On his way to the fireworks festival, he looped his headphones back over his ears and relaxed into his train seat. It was a short trip, but a nice one regardless. Rise and Yu both got privately taken to Ibaraki, taking public transportation would have been the death of them. He absentmindedly played the first playlist in his list.
He noticed that his music was a bit weird. Did someone seriously mess with his playlist? He checked his phone, seeing a text from Rise.
- Hope U like the playlist. Me n Yu made it 4 U.
That’s kind of sweet; he couldn’t remain mad. A follow up text popped onto his screen, explaining who chose what song.
He listened intently, wondering what Yu’s taste in music was. He knew Rise’s like the back of his hand, noting that the song that had just started was DEFINITELY hers. He scrolled through the playlist, seeing a good mix of genres, with a slight bias towards City Pop and K-Pop. That was Rise’s fault though.
He skipped to a song that looked interesting, the text noting it was from Yu. An up-beat western song started playing. Luckily, he knew more than enough English to understand the words.
Despite what the title said, it was very clearly a love song.
Maybe he just liked the band? Could be a coincidence? Why the hell was he thinking of love songs and Yu in the first place?
He sighed, hoping to shove whatever he was thinking out of his headspace.
He looked through Rise’s text again, selecting only the songs Yu picked (as he knew many of Rise’s picks). Most were western, but the ones that weren’t turned out to be jazz-fusion without lyrics. He could totally get behind them, adding them to his regular playlist.
He noticed a pattern with the rest of the songs. He didn’t want to be delusional, he’d only known Yu for a month-ish, since whenever the promo shoot was. They were just friends, and he had a totally normal friendly reaction to all of this.
Why did they all happen to be love songs. Holy shit.
“I’m going to go insane.” He muttered to himself, the taste of bile slowly creeping onto his tongue.
He noticed his stop was coming up and sent the other two texts about their music taste. He complimented Rise on her ability to always find the most upbeat songs that have depressing lyrics, and complimented Yu on his taste in music as a whole.
He met Kanji at the station, who brought him back to the hotel room that they’d booked. It had 4 beds, but 2 rooms. The sleeping layout was decided by Rise, who picked Kanji to be with her. It made sense, they’ve known each other since before they could properly count.
That leaved him and Yu sharing a room. He let Yu get comfortable, before putting his suitcase in the corner of the room.
“Um, what bed do you want?” he asked, mainly so he knew what bed he could put his laptop and textbooks on. Against his better judgement he’d been at university this whole time, somehow passing with relatively good grades. Better than he ever saw in school.
“I’ll take the one furthest from the window, if that’s fine” he responded politely.
“Suits me” Yosuke shrugged, plopping his laptop onto the middle of his bed for the night. He finds an outlet near the foot of the bed and plugs in his phone, which was running low.
“It’s nice that we have a balcony, it means we can see the fireworks from here instead of going out there” Yu mentions, vaguely pointing at the rest of the city.
“Oh yeah, cities aren’t as big of a problem to me as they are to you. I guess that’s the downside of being so pretty” he mumbled before he understood what he was saying. He wished to die on the spot, if not from embarrassment, from a brick through the window or something.
“You think I’m pretty? I’m honoured, kind sir” Yu looked at him with a bright grin, doing a stupid fake curtsy. He didn’t expect such a display from someone who’s whole brand is centred around being serious, but then again Rise was completely different to her idol persona.
“Whatever, I’m sure you hear it like every second of every day. You’re a model after all…” Yosuke trailed off, seeing Yu’s face falter slightly.
“Well, I hear a lot of random compliments, but none of them feel very genuine. Rise mentioned how terrible you are at lying” he looked back at Yosuke; his silver eyes seemed to sparkle in the afternoon sun.
“I can tell that you meant what you said before.”
A smile made its way onto Yosuke’s face, surprising himself with how unfazed he was with this whole ordeal. It’s normal to call your friends pretty, right?
“Ah yeah, I was better at it in school. I’ve been around Rise too long to remember how to in all honesty. She’s been great, I’ve had no reason not to be open with her”
“Makes sense, she did talk about you a lot on tour. I don’t think she mentioned me much at all to you.” Yosuke was about to say something, but Yu continued speaking.
“She mentioned how she thought we’d get along. She was right, as always.”
He remembers the late-night text conversations they started doing after that initial call, talking about music homework and weird modelling outfits. He cursed Rise for being 500 steps ahead, as per usual. She knew exactly what would get him to open to someone new and abused the shit out of it. The bile taste returned.
“Rise must have, like, a sixth sense for this sort of stuff” he joked, coaxing a laugh out of the other boy. He wasn’t really joking, but Yu was no fool, he was sure he could tell.
They sat wordlessly on the edge of Yosuke’s bed for a bit. It was getting close to dinner time, Kanji insisted on cooking, and no one protested.
It didn’t take long for the smell of food to waft from outside the door.
They all sat on the patio chairs on the balcony with their okonomiyaki, waiting for the fireworks to start.
Yosuke had never seen fireworks in person before, as his brother Teddie feared them. The bright sparkles and vibrant colours captivated him. He tuned out the rest of the world in favour of the display.
“This is incredible” he whispered to himself. He started thinking how incredibly lucky he was to be here in the first place. With Rise, Kanji and Yu.
“You’re right” Yu whispered back, clearly having heard what he said. He turned to look at the boy, his smile gentle and eyes reflecting the colours above.
He was gorgeous. He was sure Yu got the hint with how he lost his breath for a little too long.
All good things eventually come to an end, but he couldn’t stop bouncing around from the pure joy he experienced. Rise giggled at his excitement, poking fun at him.
“You’re like a little kid who’s just seen fireworks for the first time” she mentioned.
“Well, you’re half right, that IS the first time I’ve seen fireworks in person” Yosuke admitted.
A ripple of shock emanated from the rest of the group, but he didn’t really mind.
Rise had taken photos of the night on her camera. She insisted they be emailed to everyone for the good memories.
He opened the message while getting ready for bed. There were 12 photos, 4 of which were selfies between them all. The other 8 were more varied. 5 were different shots and angles of the fireworks, with the other 3 being candid shots of everyone together.
He noticed in 2 of them that Yu seemed to be looking at him and not the sky.
‘I’m fully, undeniably, insane’ he thinks to himself, deciding he must sleep whatever the hell has been happening off.
Yosuke opens his eyes again, looking up at a pitch-black room. He flipped open his phone for the time, the display reading 2.14am.
Ugh. He knew he was in for a long night if he only slept 4 or so hours. While on tour, he slept better than a sedated squirrel, not stirring until at least 11am. He felt a wave of nausea crash into him, jolting him out of any chances of being able to fall back into slumber. He rolled out of the duvet, making his way to the tiny ensuite. He caught his own reflection in the mirror above the sink. It was small, but perfectly fit Yosuke’s face and shoulders into the frame.
He looked like hell, putting it nicely.
His under-eye bags looking more pronounced than ever in the reflection produced by the worlds most chipped mirror. His freckles fading from their designated spot on his cheeks and nose. His roots showing more than he thought they did. The dim warm lighting illuminating all his flaws, all he tries to hide. What he sees barely looks like him, but despite everything, his brain reminded him it was still Yosuke he was staring back at.
What the fuck did anyone see in him.
He remembers how his face is quite literally all over Japan, side by side with the 3rd most popular idol and the man who won ‘best teen model’ 4 years running.
He didn’t realise he started crying until he snapped his eyes back onto himself. Looking at his reflection yet only seeing a stranger undeserving of being where he is.
He sobbed.
Ugly, curled up on the bathroom floor kind of sobs. The kind that made him feel like he was going to throw up. He tried his best to be as quiet as he could, but small whimpers of anguish still reverberated around the hollow space.
He felt like he was back home.
He thought he had left that all behind as soon as he hit 18. Clearly some shadows intended to haunt the rest of his days.
“Yosuke, are you ok?” a hushed whisper muffled behind the door.
It was undeniably Yu.
He felt so stupid for waking someone at this hour, causing him only to panic and cry more. He felt even more stupid for forgetting to lock the door. He scrambled to stand upright, now situated with his body hunched over the sink, avoiding meeting his own gaze.
“Yeah, I’m ok” He choked out, in between sobs muffled by his pyjama shirt.
“You really are a terrible liar, Yosuke. I thought we established this. Is the door unlocked? I’m going to come in.”
He hears the door handle turn, expecting an annoyed man to tower over him. To be berated for the weakness he’s exhibiting.
His dads voice echoes around his head. He immediately wished for it to stop, for it would only make him cry more at how disappointing he’s become.
Boys don’t cry. Boys have to be strong and stoic, protecting girls and what have you. Boys should get good business degrees and help their parents.
His sobbed erratically, body shaking uncontrollably at the words ricocheting around his skull. He feels a warmth on his shoulder, bringing him back out of his own mind. He dares to open one eye; his shoulders tensed and knuckles white against the porcelain he’s resting his weight on.
“You’re ok, Yosuke. I’m here for you.” Yu spoke in a hushed voice, gentle and smooth.
He let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding, staring back at Yu. His eyes conveyed an emotion he’d only seen his late mother make.
Empathy. Kindness.
He turned the rest of his body to face him, instinctively crumpling into Yu’s shoulder. His gentle heartbeat a constant rhythm against the dissonance of his own mind.
“I’m sorry” He croaked. He was sure the shit Yu was wearing was soaked right through due to his never-ending stream of tears. His mother used to rub circles on his back as he cried, and Yu was no different.
“Don’t apologise. We’re friends after all”
“Thank you, partner” he said in a shitty American country accent, trying to make the situation slightly less depressing.
“Any day, partner” Yu returned, in an equally shit accent. It made him chuckle a little bit, allowing him to pull himself together a bit more.
They made their way back to their room, both boys sitting side by side on Yosuke’s bed. The curtains were made slightly ajar by the breeze creeping through the window, shining ethereal moonlight onto the silver eyes in front of him. He felt his heart rate slow; shoulders fully relax as he leaned into the side of his ‘partner’. No one moved, as though a spell had been cast over the two of them.
Yu finally broke it, asking Yosuke about what happened in there. What caused him to break to such an extent.
“I feel as though there’s a weight you’ve been keeping from us all. You don’t have to share anything, but I know what it’s like to carry burdens alone.”
It’s like he knew just what to say to sneak through his walls. He’d wriggled through the tight structures that held up his cheerful persona, causing the mask to slip off. The dam broke, letting Yosuke pour out his struggles to Yu.
“My dad, after mum died, wanted me to be like him. He would remind me of all that separated me from the ideal version of myself he wanted to see, what he wanted his son to be. I was always too quiet for him, so I learnt to be loud. I was too sombre, so I learnt to smile through the worst years of my life. I was too stupid, so I burnt myself on both ends trying to get the A’s he so desperately wanted from me. I did everything I was supposed to and still fell short in every way. I gave up on most of the academics by high school, thinking it wouldn’t matter much anyway. Yu, I thought I wouldn’t live to see today, I thought I’d be with Mum instead. I’m glad I kept going, but it took a while for this all to pay off. I still hear his voice sometimes, calling me a pansy for crying like this. It’s like I can’t escape him.” Yosuke was surprisingly collected through it all, a cool even tone creating this detached sound. A jarring version of himself he didn’t quite recognise anymore.
“Well, that stuff is too sad anyway. You should be going back to sleep, partner” He slipped back into the comfortable bubbly self he was used to, almost like magic. Yu’s face didn’t seem to appreciate the sudden switch though.
“Yosuke, you don’t have to be something you’re not around me. I’m still going to think you’re incredible even if you’re not constantly this fun carefree person. I value you far too much to let myself ignore whatever the hell you just did.” He’d not heard Yu swear this whole time. He faltered, unsure what to do.
“Do you really want to be my friend or are you saying this all for Rise’s sake.” He muttered to himself. “I heard that.” Yu said, his hand gently turning Yosuke’s face. He looked up at Yu, seeing a weak smile on a clearly disheartened expression.
“Yosuke, I don’t think you understand how highly I think of you.” He said, dipping his voice lower than usual. His face burned, holy shit his voice was nice. In the friend way of course. He heard a light laugh emanate from the other boy, smooth and sweet.
“You’re so cute when you blush like that, partner.” Yu cooed, intoxicatingly.
Um.
Ok maybe that can’t be explained away by friendship. He really did try to justify it as bros being bros but couldn’t find ANY logic for that. What was worse, that or the fact he liked it.
He decided to be a selfish prick and ask something of Yu.
“Yu, you can say no if you’d like of course, but I think it could be nice if you came over and joined me for the rest of the night. Your heartbeat was calming before, so maybe it might keep the other thoughts at bay” Yosuke flet like an actual idiot for saying that out loud, but there’s no taking it back now. He tensed his body, preparing for a barrage of insults.
Yu looked… relieved?
“Of course, Yosuke. After all you said I don’t think I want to let go of you.”
He noticed how he was still holding Yu’s hand, the other boy’s thumb making a soothing pattern on the back of his hand. He relaxed into the touch, leaning on Yu physically and metaphorically.
He smiled, properly.
LATE OCTOBER 2013-HALLOWEEN PARTY
Yu had no time for anyone, let alone Yosuke.
He refused to dwell on what happened in Ibaraki, continuing his job with Rise as per usual. He called Yu when he had free time, but after about the 3rd voicemail he left, he stopped trying.
He chucked on the playlist from the train ride, sorting through emails and doing some work study on set. It was music video season, as the album had been such a huge success. They’d finished 3 of the 22 songs last week, moving on to another 4 of them for this week’s work.
He’d been so focused on all the production work that his hair had an awkward half/half appearance of dye and natural black roots. He was sure if Yu was here, he’d get made fun of for looking like a tortoiseshell cat.
His phone started vibrating like crazy, leaving him no option but to check it. It was a call from Yu.
He pressed accept faster than anything in his life.
YU! It’s been so long since I’ve properly heard from you. Is everything alright?” Yosuke was unsure how loud he was being, but he didn’t particularly care, he finally got a response from his partner.
The nickname after that night stuck, mainly because it was funny. Neither seemed to care about the other connotations that phrase may induce.
“It’s lovely to hear from you too, I’m sorry I couldn’t respond earlier. I have called to invite you to my agency’s annual Halloween party. I know that’s tomorrow, cutting it fine haha, but would you want to go? All of my co-workers want to meet the friend I apparently don’t shut up about. They’re convinced that I mean that you’re my partner in the other way.” Yu spoke, and oh how Yosuke wished to just listen forever. Even though the speaker quality on his phone was terrible, it still carried the warmth his voice possessed.
“You’re just as bad as Rise, it seems. Sure, I’ll be there, but we need to organise our costumes asap.” He mentioned, sighing over the phone.
“Of course! I’m free today after 3pm, are you? If you’re anything like Rise you’re trapped there until 10pm” Yosuke wasn’t quite sure if he heard disappointment in his voice, or if he was imagining it.
“Um, let me see… I finish at 3.45. Where should I meet you?” He was flicking through his planner, checking he had nothing on after his shift.
“Can you meet me at my apartment? Ill text you the address. My break is nearly over but I’ll catch up with you later” Yosuke could hear a faint 5-minute warning call in the background of Yu’s call.
“See you, partner” he said, before checking if the text came through. It had, with an address eerily familiar to his, but he wasn’t fully concentrating on it.
“You sure will!” Yu hung up quickly, clearly rushing to be places.
Yu and Yosuke were in neighbouring apartment complexes this whole time. How did neither of them notice?
Yu dragged Yosuke by the arm into his apartment, carefully shutting the door behind them. “You look like a tortoiseshell cat Yosuke” was predictably the first thing that came out of Yu’s mouth.
“I guessed your size, I hope that’s ok” was the second.
Yosuke was confused, why would his size be needed for anything. Yu hurried into his room and grabbed out a costume. It didn’t seem quite Yu’s style, or size for that matter.
It clicked; it was for him.
Yu seemed to notice the cogs turning in the brunette’s head, handing the costume to him to try on. “To keep things fair, I’ll try mine on too” he hurriedly said.
Yosuke was still trying to figure out what the fuck his costume was.
“Have you watched the movie Ocean Waves?” Yu probed, somewhat noticing Yosuke’s lack of recognition. He nodded. He had watched that film, but didn’t see what it had to do with anything.
“Well then, you’d know Taku and Yutaka”
“Wasn’t that movie gay as hell, anyway who’s going as Rikako? You know, the most important character.” Yosuke queried. He didn’t want to ruin Yu’s planning but didn’t want to make the poor guy uncomfortable if he missed the implied eventual romance.
“No one will be her, and the movie was very much up to interpretation Yosuke Hanamura.” Yu replied nonchalantly. Well, he was fine with it, maybe? He got full legal named there, sparking a bit of fear into his soul.
Yosuke looked down, noting that his outfit was the one that resembled Taku’s pink shirt and jeans, while Yu was wearing Yutaka's blue pinstripe blouse and taupe dress pants.
“Good thing I haven’t dyed my hair in God knows how long. I’ve been meaning to cut out the dye eventually, it’s frying my hair. Do you still think there’s time to go see a hairdresser?” Yosuke asked, wondering if Yu would say anything at all.
“I can cut it; I did a course for hairdressing last year. Way cheaper than anything in this area.” Yu commented, almost tripping over his words. It felt odd seeing someone so cool fumble like that.
“You’re a lifesaver, thanks partner.”
“Anytime, especially for you Yosuke”
That sentence make Yosuke jump a little bit, unsure how to process the… emotion it made him feel.
As Yu gently cuts off all the dyed areas, styling his hair with precision, Yosuke thinks.
Was it envy? Pride? No those are both too hateful.
Was it jealousy? Admiration? Closer but still no.
“You’re all done, partner. I gave you a curtain style haircut, as I think you’d look weird if your hair was any shorter than mine.”
He looked at his reflection in Yu’s bathroom mirror. Yu did a fantastic job.
“Thanks, Yu. You did an awesome job, but your bathroom is now a massive mess. Let me help you clean up, ok? After all you’ve done for me today.” Yosuke hates cleaning but didn’t give a second thought about helping his partner.
The evening of the next day rolls around. Halloween landed on a Thursday; the day Yosuke had off. Yu was only working in the mornings, so had politely forced Yosuke to stay the night at his place and wait for him to return.
Yosuke, being the way he is, got bored very quickly.
‘No harm in a small look around’ he decided, avoiding places like closets and drawers for… obvious reasons.
He checked the calendar that hung in Yu’s room, today was circled and had a little heart in the corner. It was cute! ‘He must really like co-worker Halloween parties.’ Yosuke thought, his heart thumping slightly faster than it did before. He checked previous months and days, noticing specific days that were circled felt familiar.
September 14th, fireworks
August 2nd, the day they went to the museum with Rise for a ‘date’
July 14th, the days of the interview
July 5th, the day of the promotional shoot
June 22nd, his birthday.
“Huh, coincidence that I was there for all of them” Yosuke shrugged it off. He thought Yu must really value friendship.
He noticed that Yu had a small corkboard above his desk with printed out photos. Some were from the night of the fireworks, mainly ones of him and Yu. Others were from the promotional shoot with Rise, specifically the ones of just them together. There were about 3 or 4 that didn’t contain Yosuke, and they seemed to be family related.
Maybe they were just the best pictures of himself?
He decided to sit on Yu’s bed, taking in the overall vibe of his room. His room was mainly grey, with hints of orange from the things Yosuke himself had gifted. He saw everything was on display somewhere in the room, with Yu’s bookshelf containing most of the ex-brunette’s little gifts.
He noticed that the frog plushie from the museum visit was right beside him, tucked neatly into the covers of his double bed, like a part of him was there Yu at night.
He felt his face flush, feeling how personal this all was. He darted out of the space, shutting the door gently.
‘Yu will be back soon anyway; I should make us some lunch.’
One mediocre serving of yakisoba later, Yu was giving Yosuke the run-down of all his coworkers. One was apparently quite pushy while the other two were less insane or something. He was trying so hard to listen, but Yu’s eyes kept making his mind wander.
“Yu, has any girl tried to date you?” Yosuke absent-mindedly asked. Yu immediately stopped whatever he was saying to look directly at Yosuke. A gaze of bewilderment and shock seemed to be apparent in his silver eyes.
“Yes, technically. Rise tried back when we were both 16, but it didn’t go very well. Turns out it’s hard to date girls if you don’t like them. Same goes for Rise, hard to date guys when girls are your thing.”
“Wait you’re gay? Makes sense as to why there’s no girl clinging off your arm.” Yosuke sheepishly chuckled, unsure if his face was warm from embarrassment or validation.
“So, a boy that you’ve dated instead?” Yosuke tried again. “I assume someone like you would totally have some pretty boy by his side.”
“No again for the first part, but for the second part I think you’d count.” Yu responded calmly.
“Oh um, ok. I don’t think I fit the criteria, but I’m honoured you think so.” He stuttered out, barely able to finish the sentence. He hid his face in his hands, trying to cover the fact he looked like the tomato from veggietales.
“You’re cute when you blush, partner.” Yu sighed.
“HEY!” Yosuke whined, unsure how much worse his tomato-itis can get.
Yu opened his phone and stated that the two should start getting ready if they want to be there on time.
“It’s somehow already 3pm, this starts at 5pm and you’d probably want a shower. I do too, so that would probably take an hour on its own.” Yu mentioned. He was right, Yosuke desperately wanted to shower.
He started getting up to go back to his apartment, it was like a minute away from Yu’s. A hand grabbed his arm.
“You can shower here, its fine. Outside is cold.”
It was Autumn, so it shouldn’t be that bad. Regardless he obliged, for completely platonic reasons.
Yosuke showered first, taking note of the products Yu owns. It feels overly intimate to Yosuke, but highly comforting knowing the other boy uses the same shitty bars of soap he does. He finishes, immediately changing into the comfy clothes of his character. He did uncannily look like Taku, now that his hair was shorter. He was still freckly from summer, the only major difference between the character and him.
Yu followed suit, wearing a different set of glasses frames from his usual. He looked a lot like Yutaka, just with obscenely grey hair. He didn’t really notice how long Yu’s eyelashes were until now, still wet and clumping together as they do. He wasn’t sure how to process that information, desperately changing the subject on his mind.
“Are we ready to go?” Yosuke inquires.
“Not quite” Yu replies, spraying something on Yosuke’s neck and wrists. The back of Yu’s hand accidentally brushed Yosuke’s neck, like a whisper of the life he wanted with him. It smells like what Yu wore to shoots.
It smelt good. He blushed at the feeling of closeness to Yu, having a part of him on his body.
He looked back over to Yu; a lopsided smile innately appears on his own face. He noticed Yu’s hands shake slightly while walking back to his room.
What could be making Yu so nervous? If anything, HE should be nervous. Instead, he felt calm.
How the tables turn, he guessed.
The Halloween party was better than he thought it would be. Sure, there was great food and whatever, but seeing Yu’s coworkers bully the shit out of him was a sight to behold.
Yu gave an apt description of the major people he’d be meeting, all asking about his relationship status to Yu. He felt like a broken record saying “we call each other partner as a stupid joke, like they do in cowboy movies. We’re just friends last I checked” to at least half of the room. It hurt his heart knowing he had to say they were friends when he wanted, yearned, for so much more.
Yu’s agency was much smaller than Rise’s company, meaning everyone somehow knew his name before he knew theirs. It wasn’t a shock when someone called out to him.
“Hanamura-san! Big bro talks so much about you” a small voice called out. He looked down to see a small girl with two dark brown pigtails looking up at him with eyes shining brighter than the sun. “I’m Nanako, Yu lived with me and my dad when he was in high school” she continued. Nanako was undeniably adorable.
“Oh, it’s so lovely to meet you Nanako-chan. I’ve heard a few things about you too from Yu.” Yosuke mentioned. Nanako seemed to somehow smile brighter at that piece of information.
“Really? Oh, I love my bro so much! You better be nice to him” she pouts, in typical 9-year-old fashion.
“Don’t you worry Nanako-chan, your big bro is safe with me” he said, crouching down to her eye level.
“Yu really really likes you; he talks to me about how you’re like sunshine and a whole bunch of lovey dovey stuff. He also told me not to tell you that. Yosuke, will you also be my big bro?” she sheepishly mumbled. Yosuke’s eyes went wide, then relaxed into a soft smile.
“As long as you want me to be. You’re a sweet kid; I’d be happy to.” He said softly.
He stood back up, noticing Nanako grab onto his hand. She was looking away, obviously embarrassed or thought she was too old for being looked after in this way.
“Can we go find big bro? I want to see him now” she said with utter conviction.
“Of course, I think I have a couple of things to talk with him about too” Yosuke sighed.
“You’re not very subtle Yosu-nii.” Nanako huffed. Yosuke thought the nickname was cute, before processing the rest of the sentence.
Yosuke stalled for a second, you could practically hear the dial-up noises running around his head. Had he been flirting this whole time? Had Yu been flirting back? WAS HE WORRIED ABOUT NOTHING AT ALL???
He metaphorically face-palmed and made his way towards Yu, with Nanako by his side.
The party had died down considerably by this point, with Yu’s uncle picking Nanako up an hour ago. Yosuke yawned, leaning slightly onto Yu.
“Hey partner, ready to go home?” he asked, his voice plagued with fatigue.
“You look like you could pass out on the spot, do you want me to walk you home?” Yu asked, barely hiding his own tiredness, “Or you could come back to mine.”
Yosuke took the second option rather quickly, walking with his arm looped around Yu’s. He thanked Yu for letting him crash on his couch.
“Oh, absolutely not, you slept on that couch last night and woke up with back pain. I want you to be comfortable.” Yu said with a newfound sense of determination, like a mother scolding a small child.
“Yu I am not taking your bed if you’re sleeping on that damn cursed couch, I’d rather sleep on the floor than do that”
“Well, partner. We’ve shared a bed before at your request, can we share this time on mine?”
Sharing again? Yosuke must be dreaming. He hadn’t stopped thinking about how nice it felt being held by Yu in a completely platonic- oh who was he kidding, it was romantic.
His face must have been a giveaway with how he was feeling, with Yu commenting on how he looked like a deer in headlights.
“If I’m reading into what Nanako said correctly, I think you’re more than happy with this arrangement, no?”
“Wait what did Nanako say to you?” Yosuke yelped, clinging onto Yu’s arm slightly harder than before.
They had made it to Yu’s apartment door, which he promptly unlocked. Before Yu said anything, he dragged Yosuke by the arm into his bedroom, sitting him down beside each other on Yu’s bed. The frog plushie once again tucked neatly on the unoccupied portion of the bed.
“Nanako told me a lot about you, but mainly your reactions to her poking and prodding. She told me how you said you’d take good care of me, and how you’d be more than happy to look after her like a younger sister. Friends don’t just say that sort of thing to their friend’s little sister. She started calling you Yosu-nii, and you didn’t correct her.”
Yosuke blinked, frozen in place and unable to say a word.
“You’re ok partner, she was the one who made me realise how important you are in my life. I was really hoping you two would get along like that, she’s always been fussy with who she spends her affections on.”
Yosuke stuttered, stumbled, failed to make a coherent sentence.
“I’m so glad I met you, Yosuke.” Yu smiled wide, a painfully beautiful expression.
Yosuke’s brain was on overdrive, was he genuinely getting what he wanted? Was it all really coming true?
“I love you, partner. I really do.” Yosuke blurted out, flushed beyond salvation.
He felt a hand on top of his, making him reduce his grip on the duvet below. Fingers intertwining like they had always supposed to have been there.
“I love you too, partner” Yu sighed, pulling Yosuke into a hug.
He cried, but unlike last time it was out of joy. Out of relief. Out of love.
“Let’s get to bed now, shall we? I’m not going to need Mr Froggie here as a Yosuke Hanamura replacement anymore.” Yu chuckled, slowly pulling back from Yosuke.
“Yeah, I think there’s a lot we need to talk about in the morning though.” Yosuke replied, his eyelids drooping from exhaustion.
Yu gives Yosuke a spare pair of pyjamas to get changed into and leaves the room to give him some privacy. By the time he returns, Yosuke is already in bed.
Yu doesn’t hesitate to join him, as they drift off to sleep.
MID JUNE 2015-HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Yosuke was now 21.
Surrounded by his friends and his partner in their now shared apartment, he thought about all that had changed from two years ago. How grateful he was of everything, even the weird dancing event that Rise insisted they help her with.
How he was grateful he met Yu.
He hadn’t expected anything flash, as everyone was still kinda poor (#rent) and his shifts weren’t getting any shorter. He still had his job with Rise's team, but due to the public finding out about Yu and Yosuke, the attention he recieved for existing had died down. Yu didn't have the same luck, but also stopped caring so much.
Once majority of the fussing about had died down, he sat down on the shitty couch that Yu insisted they kept, looking over at the coffee table. There was a small envelope on it, addressed to Yosuke.
Yu gathered everyone around, with a knowing glint in his eye told Yosuke to open it.
Inside were plane tickets, set for the date September 30th until November 12th. Yu was one hell of a man.
Yosuke blubbered about, asking about time off and costs and all that jazz. Yu calmly stated he had that all sorted, knowing Yosuke would react somewhat like this.
“I thought it would be nice to spend our second anniversary overseas. You mentioned wanting to go somewhere while you were still young, so no better time than the present.”
Yosuke shot up and hugged Yu, calling him a “stupid idiot UGH but I love you” and kissed him on the cheek. Yukiko and Chie took a video of the whole ordeal for “memories at your wedding” which Yosuke didn’t find as funny as the rest of them did. Rise brought her girlfriend, Nozomi, who commented on how great it was that Yu found someone like him. Kanji was there too, with his totally not girlfriend Naoto. Fortunately for Yosuke, those two were busy in the kitchen fussing over a cake. Nanako and at Yu’s insistence, Ryotaro, were present too, talking with Yosuke’s parents and little brother Teddie. They seemed to be getting along just fine.
Yosuke took a better look at the tickets sitting on the table, completely forgetting to check where they’re going.
“I heard they had good skiing locations, since you like snowboarding. It will be winter when we’re over, but I’ve heard the weather is overall rather temperate.” Yu piped up, his chin resting politely on top of Yosuke’s shoulder.
“I didn’t think I could somehow fall more in love with you until now” Yosuke mumbled, stealing a kiss from his partner.
“Guys, keep the romantic shit for later, ew” Chie states, making a fake puking reaction. She had no right to talk with how she and Yukiko acted on Yukiko’s birthday like 6 months ago.
Fortunately, Naoto and Kanji appear with the cake singing (quite poorly) Happy Birthday.
LATE OCTOBER 2015-THE MOON IS BEAUTIFUL, ISN'T IT?
Being on holiday properly for the first time was nice, made better by the presence of Yu. His hair feeling the breeze as they tackled slope after slope. His hair that was once shortened around this time back to its original length, and colour.
Yu was a surprisingly good skier, while Yosuke preferred the snowboard. Yu’s hair had gotten longer too, able to be tied up into a half-up style.
They came to the bottom of the run, noticing the sunset starting to creep in.
“Partner, we should probably get going. It’s getting late and there’s something I want to do with you” Yu spoke, hand in hand with Yosuke.
“Ok, but only because I love you. Otherwise, we would’ve been here until closing call”
“I thought as much, thank you for letting me pry you from the snow” Yu chuckled. He laughed along, enjoying the brightness radiating from his other half.
“Dibs not driving” He shouts, detaching his snowboard and dashing towards the car park.
“Yu, the moon is beautiful out here. The stars are so much more visible than back in Shinjuku. Do you know any constellations?” Yosuke started out, a soft breeze swaying brown and silver hair.
Yu blushed at the phrase, but Yosuke had no idea why. He decided he should ask later.
“I do know a couple. Over there is the Southern Cross. A lot of the constellations we’re used to seeing are upside down on this side of the world or have totally different names. That other one over there, with that super bright star? That’s Eridanus, the river constellation.” Yosuke could hear the man talk about anything for hours, with how soothing his voice was to the faux brunette.
Yu looks away, his hands noticeably shaking against Yosukes.
“Are you ok partner? You know you can tell me anything. Are you cold? I can go grab a blanket from the back for you.” It was typical of Yosuke to fuss over his partner, who wouldn’t?
“Yosuke”
He turns his head around to face his love, forgoing his quest for a warm layer for Yu.
“Partner”
He’s standing in front of Yu.
“Will you marry me? We can’t legally in Japan, but we can here. I love you so much, Yosuke, I want to be officially yours.”
A ring that looks like a much nicer version of the one he’d fidget with on set was being held delicately in front of him, an honest display of love.
“Of course, partner” Yosuke whispered into the night, hugging is now fiancé tight. The ring fit perfectly, with Yu admitting he stole that other ring to be able to size it correctly.
“I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, partner” Yosuke said, muffled by the fact his face was smushed against Yu’s body.
“I can’t either, my love”