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Much like getting together, telling people about it happens in jittery stages. Yosuke hems and haws and puts it off; I just don't know, not today, et cetera.
Teddie, much to both of their dismay but nobody's surprise, finds out first. They're outside Yosuke's house, away from the windows but right near the front door, and Yosuke's dawdling about going inside and Yu's dawdling about going home. He's only around for another day, and it's promised to the group at large, so this is the last chance before next time for them to be alone.
After staring thoughtfully at Yosuke for a long moment, Yu takes his face in his hands and kisses him, gently, on the mouth. Just as Yosuke's startled surprise starts to melt into something softer, Teddie shouts, "The season of young love BEARS FRUIT!!"
Yosuke shoves Yu away and looks like he's about to spiral into panic, but then Yu just says, "You say every season is the season of young love," and Teddie's off on a whole thing about that. Teddie is so blithely cheerful that all Yosuke can be is irritated. The panic dissipates before it gets a real hold.
Once Teddie knows, they kind of have to tell everyone else before he does it for them. Yosuke builds it up in his head too much and chickens out four separate times throughout the day. Yu eventually decides it's best to take matters into his own hands and, when they're all sitting around on a blanket eating shattered bits of watermelon, he boldly just says it.
In theory, it's quite stoic and matter-of-fact. In practice, they're in the middle of a conversation about fireworks when Yu blurts out, "Yosuke and I are dating."
Everyone goes quiet for a moment, and the drop in conversation nearly kills Yosuke on the spot. But then Rise laughs and says, "Well, yeah."
Then it's a cascade of overlapping reactions.
Naoto, of course, has "known for some time." Yukiko, of course, "had no idea!"
Kanji punches Yosuke in the arm and says, "took you long enough." Chie punches Yu in the arm and says, "congratulations! That's what you say in this kind of situation, right...?"
Then, Teddie, very smugly, says, "I found out first."
And then they're bickering and laughing and the conversation rolls back into it's usual rhythm, and everything is fine. Yu catches Yosuke's eye and gives him an apologetic half-smile: sorry, partner. Yosuke smiles back and shakes his head: it's all good.
It's a lot of comings and goings and a lot of near-misses with the Dojimas before Yu cracks again. He talks to Yosuke first, of course. Yosuke is, as usual, tense and wishy-washy and uncomfortable, but he says, "Nanako-chan's your sister, if you want to tell her, you can do that, I guess."
So while Yosuke's clattering ineffectually around in the kitchen-- it sounds like he's picking up and then dropping every individual pot and pan in there-- Yu sits on the floor next to Nanako in the living room. "I'd like to tell you something," he says carefully, looking over her shoulder at her drawing. It's Teddie, but a detective.
"Okay," Nanako says. With intent concentration, she finishes drawing Teddie's monocle, then puts down her crayon and looks at him, smiling expectantly. "What is it, big bro?"
It's best to just say it flat-out, he thinks. If she needs an explanation, he can give it, but the first thing is to just get the facts out there. "Yosuke is my boyfriend," Yu says.
"Oh," Nanako says. She glances over at the kitchen, then back at Yu. "Okay!"
That seems too easy. Yu shifts, wiping his palms on his pants, and asks, "Do you have any questions?"
"Ummm... are you gonna get married?" Nanako asks, wide-eyed and curious as ever. Yu is profoundly grateful that Yosuke didn't hear that. It may have killed him. Yu's flustered enough as it is, though of course he doesn't look it.
"Not... not for a while, I don't think," Yu hedges, eyes flicking over his shoulder for just a second.
"Are you gonna kiss?" Nanako asks in a hushed tone, like this is very scandalous. "On the mouth?"
Yu nods seriously. This would be a bad time to lie, he suspects. It is definitely a good thing that Yosuke isn't in the room for this. "We have already," he says. "Is that okay?"
Nanako taps her crayon on her cheek thoughtfully. "I guess so," she says. "It sounds gross, though."
Another two visits later. Dojima's on his way out the door and Yu and Yosuke are on their way upstairs when Dojima says, "Yu."
Yu waves Yosuke on and hangs back, more than a little nervous, trying to flick through the last couple of days to think of what he might have done wrong. "Yeah?"
Dojima slaps a packet of condoms into his hand, pats him once on the shoulder, and does not make eye contact. He says, gruff as usual, "Let's not talk about it, alright?"
Yu feels like his entire body goes bright red, at that. While he's struggling to formulate any kind of response at all, Dojima just leaves for work. That's it. That's the whole conversation. Yu closes his hand around the condoms, face burning, and staggers upstairs. Yosuke's sitting on his couch already; he looks up and asks, "What did Dojima-san want? You in trouble?"
Yu wordlessly holds up the condoms, and Yosuke drops his phone with a horrible choking noise. "No," he says. "He gave you those? So he...?"
Yu nods and says, a little hoarsely, "He said 'let's not talk about it' and left."
They both spend some time struggling to figure out the best response to this; Yosuke eventually concludes, "Well, it's a hell of a lot better than it could've been."
About a week before Christmas, Yu's sitting on his couch with Yosuke's legs on his lap. Yosuke's reading manga instead of doing homework; it's difficult to focus when it's snowing and quiet and they have hot cocoa and candycanes.
Yu is on the phone with his mother. He looks down at Yosuke before he says, "I actually have plans on Christmas."
A pause.
"Yosuke. I've mentioned him before, he's... yeah."
Another pause. A measured, careful, "I don't have a girlfriend." Pause again. "No, I wouldn't like that at all, I don't think."
Yosuke flips through the manga, more carefully reading Yu's face. Yu squeezes one of Yosuke's legs, though Yosuke can't tell who he's trying to reassure. Yu inhales a breath that hitches in the middle, then closes his eyes. "I'm dating Yosuke," he says.
Yu listens patiently to whatever his mother is saying, then says, "No, I'm not joking. He is my boyfriend."
Yosuke, try as he might to pretend otherwise, is definitely not reading any more. Something about the word boyfriend still makes him tense up, but he's working on it. He tries to shoot Yu a wry parents, am I right smile, but Yu doesn't open his eyes. His voice remains perfectly composed; quiet, matter-of-fact, and polite. "I'm not springing it on you. You asked, and I answered you honestly."
His face is slowly shifting into a frown; brow creasing, jaw tightening. His grip on Yosuke's leg tightens and he opens his eyes, staring down at the floor. "You asked," he says again, more insistently. "Would you rather I'd lied?"
Then, to Yosuke's dismay, a real crack appears in Yu's composure. Hurt flashes across his face before being replaced with grim determination. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he says.
The whole affair is very civil, if stiff and unpleasant. Nothing gets resolved. After Yu hangs up, he leans his head back on the couch and lets out a long tired sigh. He's obviously trying not to look as tired and aggravated as he is; Yosuke knows him well enough by now to recognize the way he flexes his hands, tightens his jaw, shuts down all facial expressions to try and keep himself frowning. Yosuke sits up, then, and puts a hand over one of Yu's. Yu gives him a tense grateful smile.
"This is going to be a whole thing," he says. "We might have to spend some time with my mother on Christmas. Or... I might," he corrects himself. "You don't have to come, I just-- want to spend it with you, and she's..."
He shrugs helplessly.
"Yeah," Yosuke says.
The phone call is what pushes Yosuke over the edge into finally deciding to tell his parents. Stuttering over dinner, heart threatening to burst out of his chest, Yosuke says, "So I have a date for Christmas this year."
His mother is delighted. "Oh? Who? Is it Satonaka-san? The two of you really are a--"
"It's Yu," Yosuke says flatly, irritation prickling at his voice. There is a heavy silence. His mother stares blankly at him. Yosuke nudges at his food. "Yu Narukami. We're together. We're spending Christmas together."
The silence stretches on, heavier and more painful. Yosuke tries to fill it again; he says, "I'm--" and then his father slams his fist into the table with a bang.
Yosuke snaps his head up, scowling. "What the hell? Are you trying to scare me?"
Then it's a fight. There's a lot of shouting, and Yosuke ends up storming out of the house and halfway to Yu's when he remembers Yu isn't there. He calls the first person he thinks of-- Kanji, for some reason, it's always Kanji when this kind of thing happens-- and waits in the cold in the middle of the street until Kanji comes jogging up with the whole team and a puffy winter coat. Yosuke, shivering-- he grabbed a too-thin coat on the way out, too mad to think clearly about the weather-- gives him an exasperated look and says, "I don't need the whole gang, I just need someplace to be for tonight while my parents cool off."
"Tough cookies!" Chie says. "We're going to have a sleepover at Kanji's place, and you're going to like it!"
They bundle him up and drag him to Kanji's house and Kanji makes them all hot cocoa and does cute designs in the foam.
Yosuke's parents aren't happy, and things aren't perfect, but they drop the subject.
Then it's Christmas and Yu meets Yosuke at the train station, cold-reddened nose and ears peeking over his thick Kanji-knit scarf, hands in his pockets. They walk to Yu's mom's apartment building and spend a few hours there just the two of them-- his mother is out-- and that's great. Then the sun sets and they walk through the lit-up snowy streets to meet Yu's mother and, Yu says with a grimace on their way, her boyfriend. "She didn't tell me until just now," Yu says, "or I would have said."
Yu's mother has the same severity as Dojima. She doesn't look much like him-- she's pale and tall like Yu-- but she doesn't smile at all, and the way she looks at Yosuke feels a lot like being under arrest.
They don't even get through introducing themselves without incident. "This is my son and his friend," Yu's mother says to her boyfriend, and Yu and Yosuke both go very still.
"Actually," Yosuke says loudly, "I'm his boyfriend."
Several people walking past glance over at him; he can feel that weird flicker of attention in the crowd, and he tenses up. Yu hesitates, which doesn't help, but then nods and says, "Yes. Yosuke is my lover."
There's more painfully awkward conversation-- Yu's mother is not happy, but not willing to fight-- and then they start towards the restaurant. Yosuke presses up close to Yu's side and mutters, "If you ever call me your lover again I'm gonna punch you in the nose."
Yu laughs quietly.
The whole dinner is a nightmare. Yu's mother not only doesn't approve of Yu dating a guy-- she also very transparently does not like Yosuke in particular. She asks him a lot of pointed questions about his grades (not good) and his hobbies (not interesting) and his family (not rich). Everyone is very tense and Yosuke and Yu spend the whole night actively restraining themselves from starting fights.
But they survive, and Yosuke's honestly relieved when Yu's mother decides last minute that he can't stay the night and he'll have to figure something out. Yu snaps a curt, "Fine, we'll figure something out," and grabs Yosuke's arm and walks off, more prickly than Yosuke's seen him in a long time.
They walk for a while, unwinding, staring at the string lights wound around trees. They get coffee and watch people ice skate and it's another half hour before Yu asks, "Should I have fought her?"
Yosuke shrugs. "Probably wouldn't have done much," he says. "Don't worry about it, partner."
They spend the night at a cheap hotel and go back to the train station together in the morning. Before Yosuke gets on the train, Yu pulls him into a tight hug and says, "I'll see you at the New Year's thing." He sounds a little croaky.
"Yeah, man. Less than a week," Yosuke says.
They hold onto each other for a little too long, drawing a little too much attention. Yosuke's flushed when he scuttles onto the train, fussing with his hair and hurrying to find a seat. He flops down across from an old lady, who smiles at him and asks kindly, "Was that your brother?"
Yosuke looks out the window; he's got a clear view of Yu, still standing on the train platform, hands in his pockets. His face goes even more hot. "Uh--" He shakes his head. "No," he says firmly. "We're dating."