Chapter Text
“Children of man, well done.”
The putrid goddess’s words, spoken even as she began to crumble to dust, sounded as if they should be praise - but were said in a tone that was anything but. There was something smug, something self-congratulatory in Izanami’s voice, and the Investigation Team stood in a half-circle, behind Souji, looking at one another warily.
Izanami wasn’t finished. Throwing her head back, she laughed, long and low. “Indeed, you have found the truth you fought for, shown me the power of your bonds; now it just remains to see how they’ll serve you hereafter. Farewell, seekers of truth; farewell, Izanagi-no-Okami.”
The last words echoed around them, her physical form already faded and scattered; Yosuke found himself shivering uncontrollably at the wind that howled through the faded ruins in which they stood. He glanced over at Souji; his boyfriend looked peaked and weary. They all did.
“Whaddya think she meant by that?” Chie frowned, leaning on Yukiko’s arm. Behind her, Naoto sighed.
“There’s no telling, but I think it’s safe to say that the true architect of the Midnight Channel has now been dealt with - and we all need to go home and rest.”
“Naoto’s right.” Souji’s voice was hoarse, and he sounded exhausted. Let’s get going.”
The group all gave each other weary nods - somehow, Izanami’s final words had taken the triumph out of their victory, and a nervous cloud hung over them as they headed for the TV world exit; even as the fog burned off around them, they felt no desire to stop and look around.
As always, they left through the TV, one-by-one; Souji was the last one through, stopping to take a final look around the TV. Something was bothering him, something in the back of his mind, and he couldn’t tell what it was; I’m just tired, he thought to himself, shrugging before he stepped through the TV.
The minute his feet touched the ground outside, everything went black.
Yosuke had just finished dusting himself off when Souji stepped through the TV; the brunette was just about to reach out a hand to his boyfriend, to say something about heading home together, when a look of surprise crossed Souji’s face. Before Yosuke could ask what was wrong, the silver-haired boy crumpled into a heap, unconscious; for a split-second, everyone froze, and then the brunette dived for his boyfriend as everyone else started to panic.
“Souji! Souji, what’s wrong?” Cold fear gripped Yosuke’s heart as he put his hands on Souji’s face, but his boyfriend didn’t stir; he was still breathing, but he was completely unconscious, and when Yosuke grabbed his hand it felt clammy and limp. He didn’t seem to have a fever, but the colour of his skin was pale - even paler than usual - and Yosuke couldn’t help gathering him close, holding him tightly as he pressed his forehead against Souji’s. “Partner! Answer me!” He knew he was sobbing, that his voice was choked, but it was all he could do to keep from unravelling into a full-blown panic attack.
Around them, everything was a blur. He was vaguely aware of the rest of the group freaking out - Naoto was trying to keep everyone calm as she spoke into her cell phone, he assumed she’d called 119, for an ambulance and paramedics. All the while, Souji never stirred; he just lay quietly in Yosuke’s arms, and Yosuke felt sick. Izanami’s final words kept playing through his mind; they meant nothing to him, but he knew they meant something - he just didn’t know what. He couldn’t know what. It was always Souji’s job, and Naoto’s, to figure those sorts of things out. Yosuke brushed his lips softly across Souji’s; he could feel his boyfriend’s faint breath, letting the brunette know that he was still alive, at least, but he couldn’t help feeling terrified that somehow - somehow - Izanami had won, anyhow. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the worst possible scenarios played through his mind.
I can’t live without Souji, she can’t take him from me, I can’t lose him…
“And you kids were just hanging out? You swear there wasn’t anything weird going on?”
Dojima paced back and forth in the waiting room; Yosuke sat in front of him, head bowed, and the rest of the group sat or leaned against every surface available, around the small alcove.
“We were in Junes, Dojima-san.” Naoto’s voice was quiet, and Yosuke was grateful that she’d stepped in; he had barely been able to get a single coherent thought out, he was so terrified about what was going on in Souji’s hospital room. Luckily, the detective knew that his nephew and Yosuke had been dating; he seemed to understand why Yosuke was so panicked, and was trying to go easy on him. Naoto leaned in. “The department store is hardly a hotbed of danger.”
“And the doctors ran tests, there’s no drugs in his system or anything else. I just don’t understand.” Souji’s uncle looked just as frazzled as the rest of them; he’d grown fond of his nephew over the year he’d been in Inaba, and everyone knew he was almost as upset as Yosuke. “To top it all off, I can’t reach his parents. Dammit! First Nanako, now Souji… what the hell is going on with this place?”
They had to go home, eventually. There was no news from Souji’s room, other than that he was still alive, but not awake, and that every test was coming back negative for any problems or illnesses. Yosuke begged to be allowed to stay, but finally, Dojima took his arm.
“Hanamura. You’ve got to go home. You’re half a step away from passing out yourself; Souji would never forgive me if I let you panic yourself into a coma for his sake. Go home, shower, eat something, rest - even if you can’t sleep - and I’ll call you the minute I hear anything. I promise.”
The others had finally all gone home - all giving him a hug or a pat on the arm - and Yosuke’s shoulders slumped as he acknowledged the detective’s orders.
“All right, Dojima-san. Just… please. I don’t care what time it is, please just call me…”
“I will, Hanamura. I promise. And barring any news, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
Swallowing, the brunette nodded. “I- okay. Thank you.” Souji’s uncle just nodded, and Yosuke dragged himself out of the hospital, heading home.
There was no way Yosuke could sleep that night. He lay in bed, staring at the ceiling; all he could think about was his boyfriend - Souji’s smile, Souji’s eyes, the crinkle they made when he smiled at Yosuke, his slender fingers twined through the brunette’s as they held hands, the feel of Souji’s lips against his, against his throat, against his skin. The sound of Souji’s voice - quietly talking after school, whispered words of love, hoarse cries of passion, laughter during late-night study sessions, even anger, as they talked about the murders. He thought about Souji’s shy face when he’d confessed to the brunette at last year’s summer festival, their first kiss under the fireworks, holding hands under the harvest moon. The smile on his boyfriend’s face when they finally admitted to the group that they were dating, with Rise’s catcalls and Yukiko’s giggled questions.
He was tracing Souji’s face in his mind when the horizon began to lighten, through his window; looking at his phone, he was both glad and anxious that he hadn’t gotten any messages - he wanted Souji to wake up, but he was terrified of a late night call telling him to come right away. It was too reminiscent of Nanako, of last November.
Finally, the clock struck seven, and Yosuke decided that it was an acceptable time to be awake; he felt like dried cardboard, but he figured that laying down must have at least done something for his energy. Dragging himself out of bed, he grabbed another shower - the water helped wake him up a little - and forced himself to eat a bowl of cereal, trying not to think about Souji standing at his stove, cooking tamagoyaki and miso like he did every time they spent the night, either at the Hanamuras’, or at the Dojimas’.
Teddie came down a little later; the boy looked tired and anxious, but Yosuke could tell he’d at least slept, for which the brunette was glad. Ted opened his mouth to say something - Yosuke assumed it was about Souji - but after one look at Yosuke’s face, he quieted; this made the brunette feel both grateful and alarmed, since Teddie was usually never so thoughtful.
Still, the past week had done a number on all of them, and maybe it wasn’t surprising that the bear was starting to mature a little.
Yosuke and Teddie were waiting at the hospital as soon as visiting hours started; Dojima was along shortly, followed by the rest of the group, and they reassembled in the same waiting area as the day before, as Souji still wasn’t awake, and still wasn’t receiving visitors.
It was starting to wear on Yosuke. Not even being allowed into see Souji made him wonder if something had happened, and they just weren’t telling them; he knew it wasn’t the case, but he couldn’t stop worrying, and he was already picking at his nails to the point that they were almost raw.
After what felt like hours, but was only an hour and a half by the clock on the wall, they were all brought out of their various anxious or worried dazes by a nurse, walking purposefully into the group.
“Ryotaro Dojima?”
Dojima jumped to his feet, pushing through the group to hurry over to the nurse. She pulled him aside, even as Yosuke’s heart plummeted; there was a strange look on the detective’s face, and he seemed to be arguing with the nurse. Finally, he sighed, turning to the group.
“Souji’s… awake.” There were gasps of relief all around, but Yosuke - who felt relief, but also a growing panic - had no chance to say anything before he continued. “I’m going to go in and see him, but you all need to stay here for now.”
“Dojima-san-” Yosuke clenched his fists, standing up. “Please. I need to see him, too.”
“I-” Dojima paused, looking at the nurse, then back at Yosuke. Giving a heavy sigh, he finally nodded. “Okay, Yosuke. You can come, too.”
The brunette hurried over to the detective’s side; the nurse nodded at both of them, and she led them to the room.
Souji was sitting up in bed; his head swiveled towards the door when Dojima and Yosuke walked in, and Yosuke almost collapsed, he felt so much relief at seeing his boyfriend awake and seemingly unharmed.
“Souji! Souji, oh god, you’re ok, thank god-”
However, as the brunette said that, Dojima put a hand on his shoulder; Yosuke frowned, realising that his boyfriend hadn’t smiled at him, hadn’t really shown any sort of excitement or happiness at seeing either of them - or even recognition. The relief in his stomach had just started to sour when Souji - his eyebrows furrowed with a worried look on his face - gripped his blanket.
“Who- who are you? Where am I? What’s going on?”