Work Text:
November was an unforgiving month for Narukami Yu, who found himself alone in a house for three. The days seemed to blend to one as each evening, he returned to an empty home — a reminder of the terrible events that had happened.
Nanako… he thought to himself, turning his little cousin’s name over and over in his head until it was a hopeless jumble. His heart hurt every day for her. The Investigation Team had rescued her as soon as they could, but no one could predict that both the Dojimas would end up in critical conditions at the hospital. They could only wait for their recovery.
Yu stalked through the doorway into a dark living room. He flicked on the lights to see the house exactly as he left it. A mug left on the table, with dishes in the sink. He hadn’t exactly been diligent with his chores — he found himself going to bed earlier and earlier every night, and waking midday on Sundays to find that he didn’t have the energy to do anything at all.
He had last night’s leftovers, watching as it spun in the microwave. Then, he brewed himself a coffee. Dojima had been teaching him, but he still seemed to get the bean-to-water ratio wrong. Yu was a perfectly fine cook — coffee was the only thing he couldn’t perfect. The drink was weak and feeble-bodied.
Yu placed his dish in the sink. It would be so easy to leave it for later again, but he resolved himself to clean up the mess for a fresh chance tomorrow to set things right. He might’ve spent an hour simply doing the dishes, then staring at the almost-empty fridge, reminding himself to swing by Junes after school tomorrow for some groceries. By the time it was 9PM, he was spent and decided to tuck himself into bed.
A buzz from his phone alerted him before he shut his eyes for good.
>> heya. wanna go junes aftr schl 2morrow? chie wants steak (￣ー￣)
His eyes scanned Yosuke’s message. What a coincidence.
> Sure. I need to buy some groceries too.
>> awesum!!! c u then
Yu and Yosuke walked side by side as Chie bounded down the last straight to the entrance of Junes. She fussed for them to hurry through the sliding doors and into the elevator.
“Chill out, Chie! It’s not like the steak’s going anywhere,” Yosuke snickered, and Chie stuck her tongue out at him.
“Oh, by the way, I texted Yukiko and the others to come. Might as well make a group activity out of it. Yukiko will be here soon, she just had to run back to the inn to help her Mom with something.”
“I thought Naoto said that the first-years were doing a study session?” Yosuke asked. “Or that’s what I heard.”
“Study session?” Chie retched, pulling her phone out to read Naoto’s text that politely declined her invitation with much regret. “Finals aren’t until, like, the end of the month!”
“Yeah, which is under two weeks away,” Yu added. They all laughed nervously.
The door to the elevator opened to the Junes food court — not bustling, but still reasonably busy for an unassuming Wednesday afternoon during the school term. It was beginning to get pretty cold out, as autumn was coming to a close. The three friends found a table and Chie practically skipped away to order her steak.
“What’s got her in such a good mood?” Yosuke wonders aloud. “Other than the steak, of course.”
Yu stared off into the distance where Chie was ordering animatedly at the counter. His eyes unfocused as he began to make a mental shopping list.
Eggs, milk, frozen udon noodles, I think we’ve run out of dark soy sauce too… curry cubes, some chicken—
“You okay, Partner?” Yosuke asked, noticing his absent look. Yu stilled as concerned brown eyes studied his face. He nodded, and put on his best ‘I’m fine’ smile. Yosuke nodded in return, but something about his strained smile told Yu that he didn’t quite believe him.
Chie returned promptly with her steak and drink on a tray.
“That looks good. You buy that all by yourself? I thought you were jobless,” Yosuke winked.
“Oh don’t get me wrong, I am jobless,” Chie seemed to be proud of that fact, and Yu felt the corner of his mouth twitch. She shovelled two chunks of steak into her mouth disgraciously, then gestured vaguely to the counter in the distance. “I just put it on the tab.”
“‘The tab’?” Yosuke paused.
“Yeah. The Hanamura Yosuke Tab,” Chie grinned toothily through another bite of her meal.
“The— WHAT?” Yosuke shrieked, trying and failing to not lose his cool in public. “There’s no such thing!”
“There is now. Go bring it up to the part timer over there if you’re not happy about it,” Chie pointed. Sure enough, there was one of those part-timer girls from school that was always talking shit about Youke.
Yosuke balled a fist in anger, shaking it violently, not able to do much else in public.
“What, not gonna punch a girl in broad daylight?” Chie goaded, taking an exaggerated sniff of her Yosuke-Tab-bought-steak.
“Next time we go into the TV, it’s on,” Yosuke said seriously. “No weapons, no items, just you and me — a 1v1. I’ll beat your ass.”
Hm, the TV World, Yu thought to himself. They hadn’t seen the end of it yet.
“Officerrrr! Officer!!” Chie hollered with an annoying sing-song voice. “This guy just threatened me with assauurrghh—!!”
Her attention-seeking cries were muffled by Yosuke bringing the fork up to her mouth, loaded with steak, and stuffing it full to shut her up.
“Just eat your steak, dammit! I’ll pay,” Yosuke conceded as Chie protested through a full mouth. Yu laughed. He hadn’t had a good laugh in a while, and it seemed that Yosuke noticed, because his eyes found his own as they shared their small moment of joy.
“You okay, Partner?” came Yosuke’s voice again, like a broken record. Chie had stayed behind to wait for Yukiko, so Yosuke accompanied Yu as he bought the items on his mental shopping list. They pushed a shopping cart along as Yu began to put items in.
“I’m… fine. Probably just tired, I haven’t slept well lately,” he admitted.
Yosuke suddenly felt sorry for asking. Of course — Nanako was terribly frail and in the hospital for unknown TV World complications that the doctors had no idea how to treat, and Dojima-san had been hit by a car, dammit.
“Yeah,” Yosuke nodded, understanding. “It must be really hard for you right now, but you can depend on me, okay? Some things are too heavy to bear alone. I’m here for you.”
Yu felt so much gratitude toward his best friend — his Partner. Actually, they had been officially together since July — did that make them boyfriends? The terms between them hadn’t changed. It was always ‘Partner this’, or ‘Partner that’.
“Thank you,” Yu nodded, truly grateful.
Yosuke took one of Yu’s hands in his own and gave it a tight squeeze — it was one of the only things they could do in public and just-about pass off as friendly rather than romantic. Their touch lingered, but Yosuke drew away as Yu motioned to pick up a carton of eggs. They shopped in silence for a while as Yosuke pushed Yu’s cart for him, following his Partner through the aisles of Junes as he sought out for his groceries.
When everything was packed into bags and ready to go, they received a text from Chie.
>> sorry guys!! me n Yukiko r going back to my place now. you guys can go home n be gay or something.
Yosuke looked up at Yu in confusion, who returned the same confused look.
“Did you tell her?” Yu asked.
“No, did you?”
Yu shook his head. Funny.
“Must be because she’s always being lesbian with Yukiko,” Yu explained, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “She probably has an eye for this kind of thing.”
Yosuke made an ‘ah’ sound, then nodded firmly. “That… would be it. Makes sense.”
The two boys carried three bags of groceries between them, with Yosuke insisting to be the one to carry two. Yu argued that Yosuke was already carrying the one with the milk and heavier items, so he won the squabble over the third bag. They stocked up the Dojima’s fridge, still looking rather bare as Yu was cooking for one now, but it brought comfort to Yu, who could at least look forward to preparing his meals each day, and cooking some more to bring for his friends.
“All done, thanks for your help,” Yu gave his hands a quick wash at the sink.
“No need to be so formal, Partner,” Yosuke chuckled, snaking his arms around Yu’s waist in a back hug. He kissed his neck softly and rested his chin on his shoulder, their heads pressed together close. Yu sighed. He had been so anxious all month that he missed these gentle moments between them.
Yu wiped his hands dry and turned slowly as Yosuke peeled off his back. They reattached in a proper hug, and Yu buried his face in Yosuke’s neck. He knew it was time to send Yosuke on his way home for dinner, but he was so lonely, and selfish, and cold in his too-big-home.
“Will you… stay for dinner?” Yu asked quietly, knowing that Yosuke had already made aware his family’s plans for him to come home for dinner.
Yosuke stilled with a sigh. “I would love to… but I’ll have to ask my parents.”
They pulled apart to let Yosuke type away at his phone. A moment passed, after which Yosuke’s dad promptly replied.
“He says I can tomorrow,” Yosuke read, disappointed, but grateful that tomorrow promised an evening with his Partner.
Yu nodded. He understood. It was so last minute anyway, and he knew that Yosuke’s dad worked late often too, like Dojima. Whole family dinners were probably hard to come by.
They parted with quiet understanding, and Yu kissed Yosuke farewell at the door. It was wistful, and the feeling lingered long after Yosuke had left.
Yu returned to a living room that he was determined to make lively. He settled on making a chicken curry with the carrots and potatoes he had grown in the garden. Soon, the fragrant spices made the house feel a little less dull. The curry itself was delicious, and when Yu was packing away leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch, he packed more than enough for two.
On the following afternoon, Yosuke went home with Yu. They had the whole afternoon and evening to spend together, which felt like a long time, but also no time at all. They settled into the rhythm of idle chatter and peppered kisses, and they didn’t even bother to move up to Yu’s room when they started getting handsy. They had the whole house, after all — it was a curse and a blessing.
Yu raked his tongue up against Yosuke’s bare chest. The brunette shuddered as the other boy made his way past the bottom of his throat and found a spot to nip at his neck.
“No marks where people can see,” Yosuke whined, trying to stop him, but his tone betrayed him. “You know I wear V-necks.”
“Will it kill you to pop your collar every once in a while?” Yu murmured into the other’s soft skin. They were both shirtless and on the living room sofa, Yosuke lying down as Yu’s legs were pinned on either side of him. It was a little cold — Yu would have to remember to bring out the heater next time. A trailing hand made its way up Yu’s back as he continued to work at the spot, seeing what made Yosuke sigh and turn with satisfaction. His spine tingled with the sensation of tracing figures across his shoulder blades.
“So broad,” Yosuke mumbled, staring up at nothing in particular as his hands raked across the full width of Yu’s back, and Yu worked away at his neck. His Partner was more muscular than he was. “Is it just the sword-wielding, or do you work out?” he asked, a question that had been ever-present in his mind whenever he saw Yu shirtless.
“Just the sword stuff,” Yu said between bites. Yosuke squirmed. “I built up muscle pretty fast as soon as we started fighting shadows. Must be genetics.”
“Lucky bastard,” Yosuke muttered, to which Yu pulled away to plant a fat kiss on Yosuke’s forehead. He flicked Yosuke’s nose with a teasing finger
“Aren’t I the luckiest,” Yu said, and he smiled — a real smile.
“God, you are so embarrassing,” Yosuke groaned, throwing an arm over his face and blushing violently as Yu returned to trailing kisses down his chest.
Yosuke combed a hand through Yu’s hair. It was always so silky. Silky and grey — silver, basically. Perfect, handsome, Yu. Just his existence would piss Yosuke the hell off if he weren’t all for him to have.
Yosuke made a sound, a kind of pathetic one, when Yu’s kisses started trailing past his stomach. It tickled, but also made his body respond eagerly in all the right ways. Yosuke shivered violently every time his Partner’s lips left a cold, wet spot on his torso. They were both completely hard through their jeans.
“Hey, um, Partner,” Yosuke croaked, his voice bringing Yu out of his diligent tongue-work. “I’m really into this and everything — don’t get me wrong, but I’m kinda also freezing my ass off. Can we resume this in the futon?”
“Hm,” Yu hummed, pulling away to search for their discarded layers. He passed Yosuke his shirt and jacket as he stepped off the couch and stood upright, putting on his own clothes. He checked his watch and hissed through his teeth. “Crap. We’d better make dinner—quick—to give us enough time before I have to send you back.”
“Oh,” Yosuke uttered — he was bummed out to say the least, and they had a problem in their pants to deal with. But he wouldn’t be able to come up with an excuse as to what he and Yu were so busy doing instead of having dinner if he went home hungry.
“Cook with me?” Yu asked, offering a hand when they had both pulled their jackets back on. Yosuke melted at the gesture.
“Of course.”
They stood shoulder to shoulder, washing and chopping the ingredients as the rice was on its way in the cooker. It felt good to cook together with the groceries they had bought, the vegetables Yu had grown, and with Yosuke’s handy knife-work, they made Mongolian Beef for two.
They could almost pretend like it was normal — cooking together, eating together, and loving together under the same roof. It was the comfort and proximity they both needed in the despairing season.
As they shared little stories and brought up memories of the summer, Yu found himself knowing that even after this, when they would wash the dishes and go upstairs to resume their loving, there would surely be another day where the two of them would find solace in each other again. Perhaps this November wasn’t so cruel after all — by bringing one family apart, another drew nearer.