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Sometime, after Yu left Inaba, Teddie liked to walk around the floodplain at night sometimes.
It’s become a regular thing for them, usually when they get the closing shift at Junes. It keeps them going, and the empty atmosphere, which was usually unsettling for them, was calming now. They’ll always stop to sit by the lake for a moment before heading back to the Hanamura household.
Listening to the waves, watching them flow in and out of the land, grazing shoes as they stepped ever so slightly into the water. Yosuke would always get mad at them for coming home slightly wet, but they’ve been practically able to tune out their technically older brother’s scolding since he first stepped into the human world.
Their eyes would glow like it always did in the dark, akin to that shadow-self of people that they used to face in the TV world. It helped them see, but made everything feel or look like it was their original home when the fog was around, along with a weird fuzz everywhere.
But he didn’t know those eyes would lead someone to him.
Yu hopped last stop on the train to a familiar sight, the simple, town of Inaba at night. It didn’t seem to change that much, but it looked cleaner than usual, and as empty as always.
The Dojima’s were probably asleep by now, because wanted to make his stay a surprise, so he didn’t call them to pick him up. So, he decided to walk over there. It’s not like it’d take that long, anyways. Inaba is a pretty small place, for town standards.
He walks around, looking at the places he’d learned to love from his year with the Investigation Team. The shopping district looked to have more stores, although they were all closed aside from Shiroku Pub.
He decides to take a detour the floodplain, just having a moment to himself before surprising the Dojima’s (and the rest of his friends) later that night. But as he gazed out into the lake, he recognized two golden eyes looking out at the floodplain too, from afar.
They make eye contact for a moment, before the familiar person speaks.
“…Sensei!?” It speaks, with a slightly distorted voice. When he heard that, it confirmed his suspicion that it was Teddie. “What are you…”
They continue to stare at each other for a moment, taking in each other's presence. Teddie sits down on the grass and gestures the other to come over, which he agrees to and sits down with him.
“What are you doing here, anyways?” Yu asks to the other. “And why do you look like that?”
“Uhh…” They reply. “I always go here when I have closing shift. And remember that thing Yosuke-kun told you about? The… umm.. incident with the coffee?”
“So it was real, huh?” He says, surprised. The bear nods in response.
“But wait! You’re here, Sensei!” Teddie adds, before hugging him for a moment. He hugs back, and they pull out of the embrace after a minute.
“Ah.. it was supposed to be a surprise for everyone.” Yu responds, scratching the back of his head. “But… If it’s only you who knows, I don’t mind. Just don’t tell Partner.”
Teddie giggles at that. “Okay Sensei! I promise to keep this secret until you surprise them!” He nods to hihimself. “I can’t wait to see the look on Nanako’s face!” He grins.
“I couldn’t wait to see the look on yours.” Yu smoothly responds, and Teddie blushes a little at that.
And for a moment, they just watched the waves together like that. They leaned on eachother as the water washed in and out, and they shared a quiet moment together. Eventually, Yu checked the time, and got up to surprise the Dojima’s, as planned.
“Just make sure to act surprised when you see me tommorow, okay?” Yu says, smiling. Teddie jumps up and hugs him one last time before nodding.
“Hehe, of course!”
On days like these, Teddie’s grateful for having a bit of shadow quirks. They’re glad it led him to Yu, at least for just that short moment.