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"Wait, so you two are dating going out? Not just going out somewhere?" Chie asked with a frown.
"What?" Yosuke asked in return, looking completely baffled. "Where would we even go?"
"I'd be happy to take you anywhere you'd like to go," Yu said, gazing at Yosuke with a soft expression.
"Partner..."
Yu enjoyed the way Youske's entire body seemed to melt as he sighed out his term of affection, but the happy look on Yosuke's face didn't last long since he snapped out of it a moment later.
"Ugh, this isn't the time for this! Don't just go along with her as if that was the normal response!"
Yu shrugged, and Yosuke groaned.
"Anyway, yeah, we're dating going out."
"Huh," Chie said, folding her arms over her chest and sitting back.
"Hmm," said Yukiko next to her, putting her hand thoughtfully to her chin.
Yosuke eyed them both suspiciously. "...What's with those reactions?"
Chie waved her hand vaguely. "Oh, nothing. I mean, you're not a ba—" she stopped herself, mulled over her words, then continued with, "You're not a terrible guy, but I was just thinking how surprising it is that of all the people Narukami-kun could've chosen to date, you were his first choice."
"Hm?" Yukiko looked between the two boys. "Was he your first choice, Narukami-kun?"
"What?! Don't ask him that! And don't you dare answer!" Yosuke directed the latter half of his exclamation at Yu.
"But you were my first choice. You were the only choice I wanted to make," Yu said, his face the perfect picture of innocence.
"Partner..." Yosuke said fondly, his entire body and soul appearing to turn insubstantial again.
"Oh, ew, you two. Get a room." Chie made a grossed out expression at them, but there was no real bite in her words.
"They're the ones who invited us for lunch, though," Yukiko said, "so maybe we're the ones who should leave?"
"Hell no, we can't leave these two alone. Who knows what they'll get up to without chaperones watching over them."
"Oh! I've heard of chaperoned dates before! I thought the chaperones had to be adults, but I'll do my best to fulfill my role!"
"Please," Yosuke said in a withered tone, "the last thing we need is you two chaperoning us..."
Chie let out a laugh. "We've got better things to do than watch over you two gross lovebirds. But wait, I didn't know you liked boys, Hanamura. You were always so mean to Kanji-kun. He's gonna be pissed when he finds out—"
"I know! I owe him an apology."
"I dunno, I think you owe him more than just one apology," Chie said while shaking her head.
"Yeah," Yosuke sighed. "I owe him a lot more than a single 'sorry'..."
"We'll talk to the others another time. We just wanted to tell you two first," Yu said.
"Hey, well thanks! I guess that makes sense, since we were the initial members of the Investigation Team. Anyway," Chie said, her tone growing gentle, "congrats, you two. It's about time you got together."
Yukiko smiled at them as well. "Yes, congratulations. I wish the happiest future for you two."
"Thanks, Satonaka. And you too, Amagi," Yu said, nodding at each of them. He wanted to reach out and take Yosuke's hand, but he refrained since he knew it would only make his boyfriend embarrassed.
"Yeah, thanks," Yosuke mumbled. He was staring at his hands in his lap, the sincerity of their friends' congratulations and well wishes apparently making it both impossible for him to look them in the eye and to stop the wide smile pulling on his lips.
It was Yu's idea to tell everyone they were together. In reality, Yu wanted nothing more than to yell it from the school building's rooftop like they sometimes do on teenage coming-of-age dramas, but Yosuke put a hard stop to that immediately. So they compromised and decided to personally tell those important to them instead.
At first, Yosuke was reluctant to do even that since it was so mortifying, but Yu didn't want to hide anything, and he thought it was only right to let those they were close to know.
Yosuke couldn't argue with that. Their relationship wasn't anything to hide, and besides, there was no going against Yu's strong sense of justice and what was right. Yosuke was tired of denying who he really was anyway.
It was still terrifying, though. It wasn't as if either of them thought their friends or family would reject them, but there was simply no telling how they'd react. But neither did they want to run away from the truth. They'd spent enough time doing that.
"Yosuke and I are dating."
Ai, who was in the middle of bringing her drink up to her mouth, stopped and lowered her cup. "Hanamura?"
Yu cocked his head at her curiously. "Is there another Yosuke at school I should know about?"
This made Ai snap. "No, I was just making sure we were talking about the same idiot!"
"Oh," Yu said, smiling because, for some reason, he interpreted Yosuke being called an idiot as endearing.
"So we are talking about Hanamura?" she asked a bit warily.
Yu nodded.
A long sigh left Ai's lips, and she leaned back heavily in her chair. "I know we started hanging out so you could help me with my love troubles, but maybe I should've been the one coaching you through your relationships... Somehow, I feel like I've failed you."
"Why?"
She examined Yu's open expression, first with great suspicion, then with bottomless despair. "You're serious," she said in disbelief. "You really don't know why I feel that way."
Yu shook his head. "I don't."
"It's because you're dating Hanamura Yosuke!" she exploded on him, unable to hold back her feelings. "I know Inaba is small, but seriously? Him? What do you even see in that guy?"
"Well," Yu said, meticulously pressing down on a crease of the origami piece he was working on, "he cares a lot about others, is kind and dependable, and..." he paused and fiddled shyly with his origami. "And he's cute."
Ai contemplated his last descriptor for a full ten seconds, looked like she was going to agree with Yu, then shook her head decisively. In the end, the only thing she did was sigh again and mutter something about "eye of the beholder" and "at least he looks happy..."
A brief moment of silence settled over the pair as Ai nursed her warm drink sullenly, and Yu continued perfecting the final touches on his origami art. It was then that Ai noticed what it was he was folding.
"Are those hearts?" she asked incredulously.
Yu nodded and looked admiringly at the newly-made origami heart he just finished. "I learned how to fold them recently. Want some?" he asked, glancing at the small piles of paper cranes and hearts that threatened to spill off their small cafe table. Each one was made with obvious love and care.
Ai looked conflicted. She released another sigh that was so heavy, it nearly felt like she was letting out several years of her life with it. For some reason, she looked exhausted. "Yeah, sure," she said, holding out her hand and closing her fingers a few times in a "gimme" gesture, "I'll take a few."
"Are you serious? He really said that?" Kou asked between laughs.
It was after school, and soccer practice just finished. Yu and Daisuke were putting away equipment when Kou joined them and began helping out. They were chatting about this and that to pass the time as they wrapped up for the day.
Yu nodded in reply to Kou's question and set down the stack of safety cones he was carrying on the floor. That was the last of them.
Daisuke chuckled as he finished parking the cart of soccer balls back into its rightful corner and locked the wheels. "You and Hanamura sure are close," he said.
"We are," Yu agreed. "We started going out recently, actually."
Kou and Daisuke stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
After some ogling, Kou spoke up tentatively. "Like... You're dating? You and Hanamura?"
"Yeah," he said.
His friends fell into a contemplative but troubled silence. Yu stood there, confused at the sudden shift of tone in the conversation.
"Is something...wrong with that?"
"No, no," Kou said hastily, waving off his worries. "It's not that, it's just... Hm..."
"It's Hanamura," Daisuke quipped, completing the trailing remainder of Kou's sentence.
Kou nodded slowly. "Yeah, like... He's not a bad guy... Well, I mean," he stopped himself and shrugged when Daisuke gave him a dubious look, "he could be worse. My point is... Man, I don't know what my point is.
"I guess if it's anyone Hanamura would start going out with, you'd probably be the most likely. But if you asked me who you would most likely start going out with, I'm not sure he would've been on the top of my list."
"Isn't it more like Narukami's the only one who would be willing to even date that guy?" Daisuke asked.
Kou laughed. "Yeah, I think maybe that's what I was trying to get at."
"He's a good person," Yu said, immediately jumping to his boyfriend's defense.
"We're not saying he's not! We know he's a good guy. He just wouldn't be my first pick when it comes to dating partners," Kou said.
"Or mine," Daisuke agreed.
"Good, because he's mine anyway."
"Oh man, you've got it bad, don't you?" Kou teased good-humoredly. "Well, I think this calls for a celebration since you've graduated from the singles club! How about you treat Nagase and me to a meal at Aiya?"
Yu was pretty sure this kind of thing was celebrated the other way around, and Kou and Daisuke should've been the ones treating him, but it wasn't like he couldn't afford it—not after the lucrative dungeon run he and Yosuke had the day before—and he didn't mind either.
"Sure," he said, "but you're paying for your own side dishes."
"Hah! Love's sure got you feeling generous," Daisuke said. "Alright, let's get some grub, then. And hey," he said, clapping Yu on the shoulder. "Congrats, man."
Kou nudged him in the ribs. "Yeah, congrats."
A wide smile broke out on Yu's face. "Thanks."
"Thanks for treating me to croquettes today," Naoki said as they stopped before the Konishi's liquor shop.
Yu smiled. "Of course."
Yu had been on the way out from school when he spotted Naoki, so they decided to walk together and chat while they were at it. They ducked by Souzai Daigaku since it was along the way back to Naoki's place.
"I'll have to buy something for you in return soon. Ah, but I'm going to be busy the rest of the week... Maybe next week?" Naoki asked.
At this, Yu quickly ran through his schedule for the following week in his head and frowned. "Sorry, I have plans with Yosuke, so I won't be free then... But don't worry about it. It's just a croquette or two."
Naoki chuckled softly. "You two get along so well. I always see you hanging out together."
"Yeah, we..." His words caught in his throat, and he balked on whether he should continue his sentence. Eventually, however, Yu quietly said, "We started going out recently."
A look of surprise flitted over Naoki's face. He cycled through several complicated emotions before his expression settled into a faint smile. "I see," he said finally, looking toward the ground. "So he was able to move on too. I'm glad."
"...Yeah."
Naoki inhaled deeply, waited, and let out all the air from his lungs, not quite as a sigh, but as a heavy breath. "You know, maybe I should talk to him. About my sister. I think... I think I'd like that."
Yu smiled. "Yeah. I think he'd like that too."
After saying bye to Naoki, Yu made to go back home, but since he was passing by the shrine anyway, he decided to stop by for a quick visit before calling it a day. It was just late enough for most of the shrine's usual visitors to have cleared out, so it didn't take long before the fox answered Yu's beckoning call and leapt down from the rooftop to greet him.
"Hello," Yu said, crouching to pet the fox. "Have you been well?"
As an answer, the fox nuzzled its head into Yu's palm. Its tail swept across the ground in quick, happy lashes.
The corners of Yu's mouth curled up naturally. "Guess what?" he said, his voice low even though there was no one else to hear him. "Yosuke and I are dating now."
At that, the fox lowered its head and looked at him somewhat doubtfully. It huffed in what sounded like exasperation or disbelief—Yu couldn't really tell—shook its head, and then...rolled its eyes? The fox seemed to have a lot of strong feelings about the new information Yu shared with it.
Before Yu could ask what the matter was, it ducked out from beneath his hand and ran off. Yu stood, confused by the fox's sudden exit and wondered if what he said upset it. He didn't want to leave without knowing what was wrong, but he also didn't know if the fox would even come back.
While he was waffling on what to do, the fox darted back out into the courtyard and stopped a few paces in front of Yu.
"You're back," he said, his body relaxing in relief. Yu hated the idea that he might've made the fox mad.
The fox jerked its chin up twice and curled its lips back just far enough to show Yu that it was holding something in its mouth.
"What's that?" He knelt again and held his open palm out for the shrine guardian, thinking it had brought him another wooden wish tablet to fulfill.
But instead of a wooden tablet, the fox dropped two love protection charms into his hand. Yu looked up at the fox, dumbfounded, but all it did was nudge his hand close around the charms with its nose. It huffed out a satisfied little puff of air, and Yu could've sworn it laughed.
"I... Thank you. I'll make sure to give him his as well."
The fox nodded, stood, and, after a brief glance back behind its shoulder, leapt back onto the shrine's roof and disappeared.
"Hanamura Yosuke? The Junes kid?" Dojima asked.
Yu nodded, trying to keep his expression neutral but finding it very hard to maintain eye contact with his uncle while doing so. His hands were getting a little sweaty as they spoke.
"Isn't that the same kid you got arrested with way back when because he was brandishing weapons in public?"
"That was a misunderstanding," he hastily said. "They were blunted model weapons."
Dojima rubbed his scruffy chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... And I wasn't there when it happened, but I'm pretty sure I heard..."
His uncle started mumbling under his breath so quietly that Yu couldn't catch everything he said, but he was sure he heard something about "starting fights," "riverbank," and "broad daylight." Yu wisely said nothing about how he was actually the one Yosuke was caught duking it out with on the riverbank in the middle of the day. He had a feeling that wouldn't help the situation.
"Um, um!" Nanako bounced in her seat, unable to stay quiet any longer. "If you're going out with Yosuke-onii-san, does that mean you're boyfriend and girlfriend?! Oh, but, um, you're both boys, so..." She tilted her head and started thinking very hard.
"It means we're boyfriend and boyfriend," Yu said, bailing her out of her dilemma.
"Oh! Okay! So does that mean Yousuke-onii-san will come over more often? And maybe Teddie will come too? And we can play together more?" Her eyes were sparkling with excitement.
"Um," Yu said, smiling awkwardly, "I'm not sure about that..."
"I hope he will!" Nanako said. "And Teddie too!"
"Stop that now. It's not polite to demand people to come over all the time," Dojima chided. "But I'm sure if that Hanamura kid does visit more often, Yu will be safe and smart about things and absolutely not cause you any trouble, Nanako. Isn't that right?" He directed this last part pointedly at Yu and, the way he said it, it wasn't really a question. Dojima raised a knowing eyebrow at him.
Yu's hands weren't the only part of him sweating now; his entire body broke out in a cold sweat and heat rose to his face, though he still tried valiantly to keep his expression blank. "Yes, sir," he said, very aware of how his voice trembled.
"Good. I hope you'll be responsible and not do anything either you or I will regret. You're a resourceful enough kid not to do stupid things, and there are certain phone calls to my sister I'd rather not make if I can help it."
Dojima's stern look was withering, and all Yu could do was nod.
"Yayyy, I'm so happy!" Nanako cheered, oblivious to the heavy pressure that was crushing Yu. "I love you, Onii-san, and I love Yosuke-onii-san, and you love each other too! Right, Onii-san?" Nanako turned her wide eyes on him and giggled.
Her blunt question threw him off, but after a moment of hesitation, he nodded slightly and smiled. "Yeah," he said, his cheeks growing even warmer, "I do."
Dojima grumbled disapprovingly and shook his head, but even through his embarrassment, Yu didn't miss the way the corner of his uncle's mouth twitched up.
"What?! So you were the one who swung that way the whole time?!" Kanji's voice echoed loudly across Junes's rooftop food court.
"Shut the fuck up, dude! Can you yell any louder?!" Yosuke hissed, flattening himself against the table as if he could disappear into it if he tried hard enough. "And I swing both ways, for your information!"
"Whaddya mean you swing both ways? Just how freakin' greedy are you?"
"Gree—?! That's not how sexuality works, dumbass!"
"Since when've you been an expert in sexuality?!"
"No, Hanamura-senpai's right, Tatsumi-kun. Bisexuality is a thing," Naoto inserted herself into the yelling match as if it were nothing. "As well as pansexuality, though that's a bit different."
Kanji sat back down in his seat, having stood up in all the excitement without realizing. "Huh? What, really? Like, you don't gotta choose or anything?"
"I don't think anyone...chooses who they like," Naoto said carefully.
Rise stomped her feet and banged her hands on the table petulantly. "Who cares if Hanamura-senpai chose to fall in love with Narukami-senpai or not! I can't believe he stole Senpai from me!"
"I didn't steal anyone from you!"
"But you knew I liked him! Everyone did! But you just had to cheat with your headstart and got all cozy with him before I even had a chance to make my move!"
"Because I met him earlier than you did?!" Yosuke clutched at his head as he whisper-yelled this.
"Yes!"
"That doesn't even make sense! What do you want me to do, travel back in time so I don't meet him first?!"
"Yes!" Rise said emphatically.
"Hey, hang on, I'm not done with you here, Senpai!" Kanji elbowed his way back into the conversation. "If you like guys, then why the hell'd you keep gettin' all up in my case about bein' gay or whatever?"
"Oh my god, can you two stop attacking me for literally two seconds and just let me live?!"
"No!"
"Hell nah!"
"Ooh, wait!" Teddie exclaimed, finally finding the right chance to join the chaos. "Yosuke, this is great! Now that you and Sensei are dating, you can finally put all those techniques in the magazines you hide under your mattress to good u—"
"Stay out of this, Teddie!"
The conversation between Yosuke, Kanji, Rise, and Teddie rapidly devolved into unintelligible chaos.
"...Well," Naoto said, looking a bit stunned, "I can't say this is how I expected things to turn out when you and Hanamura-senpai asked us to meet you here."
Yu, who was sitting there equally dumbfounded, nodded in agreement. Despite having been present since the start, he still had no idea how things managed to get out of hand so fast.
"I'm not sure if this is the right time to say this," Naoto went on, her voice raised a little louder than usual so she could be heard over the brawl that was happening across the table from them, "but congratulations. I haven't known you two as long as everyone else, but you both always seemed to get along so well. You make for a good couple."
"Thank you," Yu said, smiling happily.
"Of course. Also, er..." Naoto glanced over to the others again, her eyes lingering on Yosuke. "Good luck."
Yu's smile faltered slightly. "With what?"
"Things...in general?"
Naoto's answer felt extremely evasive, but she didn't seem to want to elaborate, so Yu didn't press the matter.
Eventually, it grew late, and the group had to split up. Naoto was the first to excuse herself since she had some business to attend to, then Teddie had to run off to finish the rest of his shift.
Yu stood from the table when Rise announced it was time for her to head out. He knew Yosuke wanted to speak with Kanji privately, and he was ready to give them some space. Rise was more than happy to accept his offer to walk her home.
Before they left, Yu looked back at their table. Yosuke's body language expressed a keen sense of defeat and humility. Next to him, Kanji had his arms crossed and he was frowning, but he was listening to Yosuke intently and looked more disgruntled than genuinely mad. Yu took this as a good sign and wished Yosuke a silent good luck.
He and Rise didn't speak until they reached the shopping district, and Rise finally broke the silence.
"Senpai? I know I was being really mean to Hanamura-senpai earlier, but...I didn't actually mean what I was saying," she said in a small voice. "I mean... I do like you, even now, but I'll get over it. Eventually." Her smile was a little strained when she looked up at him.
Yu's brows furrowed automatically at the sight of her conflicted expression, but Rise shook her head quickly.
"No, I'm okay, really! Or at least, I will be. Promise. You can't ask a girl to get over a crush immediately like that, you know? But I seriously will be okay once I get some time to process everything." She scuffed her shoes against the ground with each of her steps, stalling for time. "Anyway, I just want to let you know that I'm really happy for you and Hanamura-senpai. I think I speak for the whole team when I say we all are. In the end, I think all we want for each other is for everyone to be happy."
"Thank you, Rise. And I'm sorry."
"What? Why are you apologizing?"
Yu looked away briefly in shame, then returned his gaze to her. "Because I never properly turned you down even though I knew you liked me."
Rise laughed and shook her head. "Senpai, you're way too nice!" Her giggling softened into a faint smile. "I was never really that serious when I flirted with you. I think I knew from the beginning that I didn't actually have a chance. You've always been so nice to me and humored me no matter what I asked you to do, but... Hmm."
Their steps slowed to a stop in front of Marukyu Tofu.
It was Rise's turn to glance away as she put her arms behind her back. "The way you look at me and the way you look at Hanamura-senpai are completely different," she said, filling in the rest of her incomplete explanation.
"Really?" This was news to Yu, as he had no idea that was even a thing.
Rise nodded firmly. "Really. Your gaze is always so soft when you look at him, and sometimes, you look completely lovesick! It's pretty gross, actually!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"O-oh..." Yu's cheeks itched with embarrassment. "Sorry if that made you uncomfortable."
She giggled and shook her head. "Don't apologize for that." The grit beneath her shoes crunched as she shifted her weight. She lowered her gaze, and her long lashes obscured her eyes. "It's like Naoto-kun said. We don't choose who we like.
"Anyway!" she said, voice bright and cheery, "Thanks for walking me back home! Congrats to you and Hanamura-senpai too! I'll see you around."
Yu waved at her and watched her skip back into her grandma's shop, grateful for her words of support but guilty still for the redness he saw on the tip of her nose and the corners of her eyes.
Yosuke was halfway down the stairs in the Junes building when he noticed Yu walking up them and stopped.
"Yu? You came back?"
"Yeah. I wasn't sure if you'd still be around, but I thought I'd try my luck. How'd the talk with Kanji go?"
Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "It was...hard, but it had to be had. I've...I've been a real asshole, haven't I? And not just to Kanji either."
There was no sugar-coating it. Yu nodded without offering him any comforting words.
"Yeah. I guess I deserve that, huh?" Yosuke said with a pained expression. He let out another sigh and sat down on the step he was on.
They weren't supposed to block the stairs since it was a fire hazard and everything, but it was near closing time, and everyone usually used the elevators anyway, so Yu walked up to Yosuke and sat next to him. He bumped their thighs and knees together silently. Even though he was the one to initiate the physical contact, Yu's heart still skipped, and it jumped again when Yosuke nudged him back in acknowledgement.
They glanced at each other and exchanged a smile, though Yosuke's quickly crumbled away.
Yosuke looked at his knees. "I think the worst part was how easily he forgave me," he said, his voice small and brittle. "Even after all the shitty things I've said to him, he just shrugged and went, 'Yeah, we all got our struggles and stuff. We all accepted our Personas and whatever, but it's still hard to actually accept ourselves in the end,' when I apologized. It made me feel like a total piece of shit." He laughed emptily and shoved a hand roughly through his bangs.
"Well," Yu said, "you are a total piece of shit."
Yosuke elbowed him in the side. "Hey. Some boyfriend you are."
"I'm your boyfriend, not your enabler."
"I thought you were supposed to be both!"
"Not when it comes to really shitty things. I can't let you get away with stuff like that."
"...Why'd you let me get away with so much until now, then?"
Yu took Yosuke's hand into his own when the latter began picking at his own nails. He squeezed Yosuke's hand tightly. "Because that was your own battle to fight and win. There are some things we can't force others to understand or realize. They have to realize it themselves."
Yosuke leaned his head against Yu's shoulder and turned his face to hide against it. "This is pathetic. I'm pathetic. You've seen how everyone reacted when we told them we're dating, right?"
"Puzzled but ultimately accepting?" Yu asked.
"...That's one very optimistic way to put it. No, dumbass. They were all in shock because they couldn't believe Narukami Yu decided to date Hanamura Yosuke. You're smart and patient and perfect at everything you do, and I'm...I'm me."
"Caring to a fault, more sensitive than you let on, and devastatingly handsome?" Yu placed his free hand on Yosuke's cheek and made him look up. He leaned down and pressed their mouths together. His chest fluttered with warm happiness and nerves.
Yosuke immediately buried his face against his shoulder again after they pulled apart. "Ugh, you're so..." He shook his head and started a new sentence. "I don't know what you see in me..."
"Everything. I'm the only one who's seen every side of you, remember?"
Instead of answering, Yosuke tightened his grip on Yu's hand. Yu kissed the top of Yosuke's head and enjoyed the quiet moment between them.
"Oh wait, before I forget..." He took his hand from Yosuke's and dug into his pocket. "Here, this's for you."
"A love protection charm?" Yosuke stared at the small charm, then looked at the one Yu was holding. "Why'd you get these?"
"I didn't. The fox gave them to me when I told it we're dating."
"You told the fox we're dating?" Incredulity filled Yosuke's face.
"Yeah. Oh, I told the cats in front of our house and the ones on the way to school too."
Yosuke visibly wilted. "Yeah, of course," he said in a dead tone. "You can't tell the fox but not the cats around the neighborhood."
Yu nodded. "But the fox, I told after I told Naoki since I was passing by the shrine anyway."
A shadow of pain darkened Yosuke's expression. "Naoki..." The charm crinkled when he squeezed his hand around it. "How's...how's he doing?"
"Fine. Better. It's still hard for him on some days, I think. But he's slowly moving forward again."
"That's good..." Yosuke traced the edges of the charm.
Yu pressed his leg against Yosuke's again. "He said he's glad you were able to move on too."
Yosuke breathed in deeply and sighed. "I should talk to him sometime...about Konishi-senpai. It might be good."
"He said the same thing, you know. That he'd like to talk to you about her," Yu said.
"Really?"
"Mm-hm."
Yosuke scrubbed the corner of his eye with the back of his wrist. "Yeah. I'll do that, then. I should."
Faintly in the background, the jingle warning shoppers that Junes was about to close started playing.
"Ichijo and Nagase congratulated us as well."
The contemplative air around Yosuke evaporated immediately, and he sat bolt upright. "You told those two?! Fuck, they're going to tease the hell out of me!"
"I think Ebi was happy for us too."
"Ebi? As in Ebihara Ai?!"
Yu tilted his head. "Is there another Ebi at school I should know about?"
"No, I'm just—" Yosuke dragged his hands down his face. "Never mind. Who else knows?"
"Daidara from Daidara Metalworks."
"Why'd you tell him?"
"Because I happened to be shopping there, and I thought I might as well."
"So now he knows too?"
"Yeah. He didn't care at all. The lady at Shiroku was very interested, though."
"Why'd you te— No, never mind. I think I see the pattern already," Yosuke said, rubbing his forehead agitatedly.
"My uncle and Nanako know," Yu continued nonchalantly.
"Well, I guess that's a given... I haven't told my folks yet, though... Anyway, how'd they react?"
"Nanako was really excited and asked if you were going to visit us more with Teddie so we could hang out together," he explained.
Joy made Yosuke's eyes light up and sparkle. "Nanako-chan! She's so sweet!"
"My uncle told us to practice safe sex."
Yosuke turned on Yu, grabbed him firmly by the shoulders, and shook him urgently. "What?!"
To try and stop him, Yu held up a hand between them. "Well, he didn't say that in so many words, but he heavily implied it. Actually, it was closer to him threatening us to practice safe sex or else."
"No! Oh my god!" Yosuke wailed. "Fuck me!"
"That's the pla—"
"No! Not right now! Don't you dare make a joke like that right now!" he said with a glare. "Oh my god, I'm never going to be able to look your uncle in the eye ever again!
"And I know you said you wanted to tell everyone about us, but I didn't think you literally meant everyone!"
Yu couldn't help it and chuckled. He cradled Yosuke's face in his palms and placed a kiss on his forehead. When all that did was elicit a pout from his boyfriend, Yu kissed him on the lips.
"Everyone was supportive and happy for us in the end, you know."
Yosuke neither acknowledged nor denied that statement.
"Hey," Yu called out, waiting until Yosuke dragged his anxious eyes up to meet his. "I don't know how long it'll take for you to believe it, but we're together. We're dating. And you're the most special person to me. Okay?"
"Okay..." Yosuke replied reluctantly, his face and ears glowing red. "But I might need to hear you say that a lot more before I start actually believing it."
"That's alright," Yu responded. "I'll tell you as many times as you need."
Yosuke's hands slid down from his shoulders and rested on his chest. He nudged his nose against Yu's and tilted his chin forward for a kiss.
Yu was more than happy to oblige. When they were done, he brushed his thumbs over Yosuke's warm cheeks and smiled. "Yosuke. I love you."
Yosuke's eyes widened, and he tightened his grip on the front of Yu's shirt. He sucked in a breath.
"...I love you too."