Chapter Text
"Hey, partner…? What do you think happens between us when we both get girlfriends?"
It wasn't the question Yosuke expected to have derailed a study session, but he couldn't exactly complain. It was something on his mind for quite a while, since they got their licenses recently and all.
Now they could now take their eventual girlfriends out on dates, and to say Yosuke was looking forward to spoiling her rotten was the understatement of the century.
The only problem… He had no idea how the actual dating part of a relationship was supposed to go. The first girl he'd fallen for was Saki, and… well…
"Hmm," Yu finally tore his eyes away from their textbooks, his gaze moving towards the ceiling of the Dojima residence. It was one of those days where Nanako was visiting a friend, so he had the house all to himself and thus, no filter applied on the conversation topics. "I think things wouldn't change too much, personally. Why do you ask?"
He was lucky that Yosuke was mid sip of a Dr Salt Neo because that follow-up question would've caused him to unexpectedly spit it out. He swallowed hard and avoided looking at him. He'd never talked about something like this in detail…
"I was just thinking… well, you've never been in a relationship before, right?"
He shook his head, but was so miraculously unbothered about answering it as freely as he did. Seriously, did anything fluster him?
"And I haven't either." He looked back down, then straight into his partner's eyes. Come on, he could say it. It's not like it'd be actually real anyway, it's just for experience! "So…"
Yu chuckled, a sound that made Yosuke relax even if it was just lightening the mood. "Where are you going with this, aibou?"
"I-I'm just saying, maybe, could we uh…" He had a clear as day sense of what he wanted to test out up until three seconds ago when their eyes met. Damn it Yu, stop being so distracting! "Practice…?"
"Practice? Like… dating?"
"Uh… yeah, and other things, maybe. But just practice for our girlfriends so we know what we're doing when we have a real relationship, y'know? I don't want to go in blind!"
Something in his partner's expression twitched for a moment, but Yu still smiled all too casually at the proposition. "Sure. Let's give it a try."
"…Huh?" He blinked. Yosuke did not expect the answer he'd receive to be so accepting of it, and he wasn't sure what to do now. "You're like… in this?"
As composed as ever, Yu nodded. "Mmhm. What do you want to try first?"
The summer heat had to have been getting to Yosuke again, so he got up, turning away from his partner briefly as he checked the fan in the corner next to the TV. Medium speed already. Great…
He cleared his throat, then returned back to his spot on the floor. He could do this. It was just practice. It didn't mean anything and it definitely wasn't weird! "I think we should…try kissing first?"
"Alright."
Yosuke's expression was, for lack of a better term, flabbergasted. "Just—alright? You're serious? Not like, weirded out or anything?"
He shrugged. "It's just practice, right?"
"Oh… yeah, yeah. Sorry, I dunno why I'm so freaked out. Guess I've never really thought about it this way?"
"Neither have I…" he looked away briefly before moving closer to sit right next to him. "How do you want to do this?"
"Don't ask me! I-I don't know, just—" he gestured wildly, before setting his focus on Yu as he leaned in all too quickly.
His mind caught up with his body in the span of two seconds, because when got mere centimeters away from Yu's face, he closed the distance remaining between them.
He… really just did that.
At first, Yosuke stiffened up, then something — whether or not it was the mood or the heat of early summer he didn't know, made him melt into the moment. He began to trace Yu's face before the reality of just what it was he was doing sat in, and he bolted back.
Breathless.
That kiss… left him nearly breathless.
Yosuke blinked, raising a hand to his face to half cover his mouth. Every nerve from his forehead to his neck felt like it was burning, and by the flush on Yu's face he was feeling it too…
"U-Um…" he cleared his throat, his gaze moving to look anywhere but at Yu. "I-I guess it goes like that…?"
His partner stared at him, then spoke almost hesitantly. "How… was it?"
Say something. He should really say something. Come on Hanamura, use your words and tell him it was fine so you could get out of here and process it properly!
Something electrical surged through Yosuke's blood like static, and he whipped around so his back would be to his partner. Looking at him any longer would kill him, he was sure of it.
"U-uh…" he reached up to check his pulse, disguising it as scratching at his neck. Fast. So… so fast. "It was…" the ability to lie or even brush it off betrayed him. "…Surprising."
Silence cut through the air, any potential conversation with him past the point of possible.
Except… no. Yu's voice came, quiet and soft, and if Yosuke was truly dedicated to kidding himself, genuine.
"Did you… like it?"
Props to his partner for committing to the bit, but was he trying to kill him?!
"Wh-what do you mean, I—" oh yeah. Practice. It was just practice. Right. It's okay Hanamura. It didn't mean anything!! You can stop panicking now!! "I… uh…"
Yu was looking at him again. Yu was looking at him expectedly, waiting patiently for an answer and peering at him as he leaned on his palm propped up on his knee.
Did he like it? Did he like it?!
Of course he—
Oh.
Oh, that thought was dangerous.
That thought was, if he let it simmer for too long on the heat, the best and worst tasting betrayal of their friendship. It would taste like the most delicious poisoned laced tea, and Yosuke wouldn't let it steep.
Remember, it's just practice. Nothing more.
"Well," he breathed into a grin when he remembered the why of this situation occurring and not the who. "Your future girlfriend will definitely not be disappointed when you and her kiss for the first time. Let's just say that."
And Yu smiled. He smiled at him like he was talking with someone else they both didn't know yet.
"I'll take it." He chuckled, and Yosuke fidgeted in place, checking the fan in the corner again.
Without warning, he stood up, and used fiddling with the fan as an excuse. Since when had it gotten so hot in here?! Why was it way hotter than a moment ago?!
"Big bro! I'm back!!" Nanako's voice was a welcome splash of ice cold water in this overbearing heat, and Yosuke had to bite back his sigh of relief that their 'practicing' would be dropped for discussion. "Hi, Yosuke-nii!!"
"Hey, Nanako-chan. How was your friends place?"
"It was really fun, but Takeishi-kun had some homework left to do, so his mom sent me back."
"…oh." Oh yeah. Homework. They were supposed to be doing homework right now too, but frogs for brains Yosuke just had to bring up girlfriends and dates and God, that kiss still stuck in his mind like a fly on honey…
Speaking of, the frog literally in his brain was still hopping in circles at Mach speed, and he pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned. Focus, Yosuke. It didn't mean anything.
"Do you have a headache?"
"Huh?"
Nanako was looking at him with concern, and he felt Yu's stare matching hers and burning holes in the side of his head. "Do you want some medicine?"
"Um…" Now was really not the time to be stupid, but Yosuke would keel over and die before talking about the fact that he had just kissed the 'big brother' of innocent, tooth rottingly sweet Nanako straight on the mouth, and could still feel the afterglow of his actions.
When he looked down and combed his hand through his hair as he tried to deliberate an excuse instead of saying something, Yu rose to his feet immediately and grabbed Yosuke's arms, leading him back to the couch and motioning to sit.
"Give me just a minute, okay?" What was he doing…? He should say something, he should do something..! Better yet, he should just leave. He should leave and—
Oh.
Oh, that worried look in Yu's eyes when he tried to stand up and excuse himself. Ohh, that look was going to kill him…!!
Yosuke sat back down, wind whipping from ear to ear like a hurricane in his skull deafening his attempts to think clearly. He'd vaguely heard something about honey or caramel to Nanako but couldn't be present enough to process the specifics. Not when Jiraiya was still bouncing off the walls of his brain for the past fifteen minutes since they broke apart…
Something cold touched Yosuke's hand and brought him back to the present as he looked down. A thermos.
"Here." Yu said, the same worried twinkle in his eyes before he looked away. "I… don't want you to overheat on your way home, so…"
"Thanks, partner…" he popped the lid and took a quick drink, surprised but no less delighted by the taste of ice cold matcha mixed in with sweeter, rich tasting caramel. "It's really good."
His lips lifted into a slight smile, and Yosuke felt his stomach flipping. "Mm. I've been told matcha's good for headaches."
Riiight. A headache.
That's why Yosuke was now beyond the point of distracted and falling victim to his usual behavior of either saying stupid shit or not saying anything at all.
He looked outside, wincing slightly at the lazily setting sun before glancing back to his abandoned homework. Leave. Leave now or else he'd never get anything done at this rate—
"If you're not feeling well, you don't have to stay." Why did Yu sound almost… sad?
"I should um… I should get going anyway. Don't want my parents to worry."
"Mhm." Yu went over to the table and grabbed Yosuke's work. "Come on. I'll see you out."
And just when he thought Jiraiya would maybe calm down. Great… it's not like he could complain, any time with his partner was a good one, but…
Before he could talk himself out of it, he held Yu's hand as they made their way out to his scooter.
"Thank you…" he said, his chest still burning. "I'll uh… I'll see you tomorrow for more practice?"
His partner's expression melted from that same almost dejected worry to a relieved smile in the span of three seconds. "Our usual spot?"
"Right by the floodplain, yup." Yosuke took another sip of the matcha so he could focus on something that wasn't making him internally spiral. How many times had he tried to remind himself that everything was fine and that he was just practicing…?
Just before he could get on his scooter and drive away, he found himself pulled into a gentle embrace by Yu, and his heart just about stopped from how fast it was pounding against his ribcage. Get out of here. Get of here now!!!
…but, when he returned the gesture then met his partner's eyes, he willed his brain to stop running in circles.
"See you then, aibou." Yu said, his voice soft as he patted his shoulder and turned to go back inside.
"Y-Yeah… see ya." And with that last exchange, Yosuke sat the thermos in the basket of his ride, then drove back home, hoping his heart would not in fact explode like he thought it was going to…
What was going on with him tonight…?!
Unwilling to deal with his parents while his mind was as scrambled as scrambled could get, Yosuke rushed up to his room and collapsed back first on his bed.
There had to be an explanation why. Why was he like this? Why did he feel like his heart was going to explode? Why…
Oh yeah. Practice.
He was probably just panicking because he never thought he'd ask his partner, let alone any guy for that matter, if they could practice kiss. If they could practice date.
And he accepted it.
Yu accepted the offer immediately, and Yosuke was still buffering from it. That had to be it.
It was just practice, and that was all it would ever be. No need to get red in the face and warm in the heart over what amounted to nothing.
Yeah.
This all meant absolutely nothing.
That was the only way to explain it.
No need panic over some simple practice.