Archive of Our Own

“Guys, be careful with that one! I’ve never seen this type of status effect before!” Futaba warned from her position at the back of the party, clicking away at the keyboards inside her Persona’s floating shiplike form.

At the front of the combat line was Akira, Ann, Yusuke, and Ryuji, all of them having cornered a less-than-intimidating shadow in the depths of Mementos. Ryuji chuckled, brandishing his blunt weapon of choice and taking a step closer.

“Doesn’t look too tough. This will be a piece of cake!”

“Don’t get too hasty, Skull,” Yusuke said calmly. “Oracle’s detecting something unusual.”

The pair of them turned to look at their leader, who smirked and pulled out his favorite gun. “Just be on your toes. We have to take this shadow down one way or another.”

Ann grinned. “Alright, I’m first up then! Carmen, let’s blast them away!”

A plume of fire shot forth and burned the enemy, who shrieked and curled in on itself, but didn’t seem terribly shaken. Fire was not very effective.

“Ah shoot! Alright, next up!” Ann called.

Akira took aim with his pistol and fired a handful of bullets. The damage was substantial, but seemed to only knock the creature down to about half of its health.

“You can do better than that!” Akechi called from the backlines.

Rolling his eyes, Akira shook his head and snickered, placing a hand on his hip. “Don’t backseat drive. You can call the shots when you’re up front.”

“Focus!” Futaba ordered. “This thing is fast!”

“Watch out, guys!” Sumire shouted.

The opposing creature flicked its twin antennae, seemingly charging something up. Before Yusuke or Ryuji had time to take their own shots, it let out a shrill cry, sending waves of some kind over the group. From her position inside Necronomicon, Futaba could see that this attack was called “Heartfelt Burst”. While most of the combatants managed to resist the ray’s power, Ryuji, who was the closest, was hit full force with the status effect.

“Oh great, Skull’s hit!” she grumbled.

Morgana groaned. “She told you to be careful!”

While normally Ryuji would have retorted in some way, he was wavering on his feet, shaking his head and trying to correct his blurry vision. The group could see some kind of particle effect hovering over him in the shape of hearts. Futaba quickly hammered through her directory of statuses, trying to see if she could identify what was happening to her teammate.

“Hey uh…oh, got it!” she exclaimed. “Skull is…infatuated!”

Ann looked at Ryuji with concern. “Infatuated?”

“What does that mean?” Makoto asked worriedly. “Is he going to switch sides?”

Ryuji appeared to be getting his bearings. As he looked around, it was apparent that his eyes were glowing an electric pink beneath his mask. Suddenly, he turned toward his fellow Phantom Thieves, lumbering closer to the nearest party member. That ended up being Yusuke.

“Skull, snap out of it!” Yusuke barked. “I won’t hesitate to defend myself!”

Instead of attacking him though, Ryuji just drifted closer, peering up with a dazed expression. Yusuke stood ready with his hand on his pommel, but Ryuji simply closed the gap between them, wrapping his arms around Yusuke’s chest and burying his face in his shoulder.

“Skull?” Haru inquired, a little surprised from where she and Makoto were standing on the sidelines.

Yusuke blinked down at the shorter boy, gently prodding him. “Are you alright?”

When Ryuji glanced back up at him, he was wearing a wide, dopey grin, and his eyes were practically heart-shaped.

“You’re so pretty,” he sighed.

The rest of the group stared for a long moment, including the enemy, who was apparently interested in what effect their spell would have.

“Skull? You good?” Futaba asked.

Ryuji nuzzled up against Yusuke’s neck, hugging him tightly. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. I just wanna stay right here.”

Yusuke tried to carefully remove himself from Ryuji’s grasp, but the blonde held firm. Meanwhile, the rest of the group were collectively clearing their throats or shifting their stances, waiting to see if combat was going to resume.

“We have an enemy to kill, you know?” Akechi spat, growing impatient.

Futaba shook her head. “He’s not in his right mind. We’ll have to work around him.”

Akira gestured toward Yusuke. “Fox, take Skull to the backlines for now. Crow, Violet, you two are up. Let’s move!”

“Finally,” Akechi muttered.

Yusuke was a little perturbed. “I can still fight, I just need to…hey…Skull can you…let…go?”

Ryuji finally separated himself from Yusuke, but then immediately took his hand. “Sorry, don’t mean to crowd you. But you smell really nice, you know that? And your hair is so soft.”

Akira fought a smirk, trying to take this seriously. “He seems pretty attached to you. Just keep him safe until the status effect wears off, okay?”

With a huff, Yusuke reciprocated the hand hold, leading Ryuji away from combat. Makoto was ready on the sidelines, digging through a cache of supplies they typically stored in Morgana’s trunk when he was a car.

“Bring him here,” she instructed. “I’ll see if we have anything that can alleviate infatuation.”

While Makoto and Yusuke treated Ryuji--both of them ignoring the string of compliments that he was continuing to gush--the front line combatants finished up the fight. Nobody else was hit with the Heartfelt Burst, and they managed to take down the shadow and steal its minor treasure without further incident. As everyone tidied themselves up and Morgana resumed his car form, Makoto frowned over the collection of items, digging through but finding little of use.

“We have amrita soda, do you want to try that?” she offered.

Ryuji took the bottle and drank a hearty swig, swallowing and exhaling. A few moments passed where he waited to see if anything would change, but the hearts hovering above him didn’t dissipate. With a sigh, Makoto took back the empty bottle, stowing it in the cache.

“The battle’s over, he should recover with a little time, right?” Haru suggested, placing a hand on Makoto’s shoulder.

Cheeks pink, recognizing that Haru was trying to reassure her, Makoto nodded. “Yeah, he should be fine in a little bit. Are you in any pain, Skull?”

Ryuji shook his head, still holding Yusuke’s hand. “Nope. I just feel all fuzzy and bubbly inside.”

Ann approached from behind them, having listened in on the conversation. “And uh…how are we feeling about Fox? Still snuggly?”

“Yeah, I just really like being close to him,” Ryuji murmured dreamily, resting his head on Yusuke’s shoulder.

Yusuke, still a bit bothered but not wanting to outright push him away, gave him a stiff pat on top of the head, at which Ryuji beamed.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll feel silly about this later, Skull,” Yusuke chuckled. “For now you are welcome to lay on my shoulder in the Mona van.”

The hearts above Ryuji’s head swam and twirled as if to reflect his own fluttering heartbeat. “That sounds so awesome.”

Ready to leave Mementos, everyone climbed back inside Morgana, Akira taking the driver’s seat. Ryuji and Yusuke sat in the very back, next to Futaba who was giving Yusuke an absolutely gleeful grin.

“You lovebirds gonna smooch on the way home?”

Yusuke’s brow twitched, and he gave her a sidelong glare as Ryuji lay his head on his shoulder. “Have some sympathy for Skull’s condition.”

“You’re gonna smooooooooch! Smoochy smooch smooch!”

Ryuji peered up at him from the other side with his best puppy dog eyes. “Are we?”

“No, we are not,” Yusuke protested firmly. “You are essentially inebriated. I will not be participating in any kind of intimate contact with you.”

Ryuji pouted a bit, but it only took seconds for the punch-drunk grin to reappear on his face.

“So chivalrous…”

Beside them, Futaba snickered, and Yusuke swatted her away. Sumire, Makoto, and Haru in the middle also had to fight back their reactions, clearly amused by how all this was going. It seemed like a pretty harmless status effect, right? And before they were out of Mementos, Ryuji would surely be back to his normal self.

Right?

Long after Morgana parked and let everyone out of his cab, Ryuji was still clinging to Yusuke’s arm, trailing after him with those telltale hearts still hovering above his head. Akira gave a surprised look to their traveling vessel as he turned back into his usual catlike form.

“Morgana? Do you know anything about long-lasting status effects like this?”

A little quiet, Morgana wracked his brain for a moment. “It should wear off when we leave at the very least, right? I’m sorry, I don’t know anything about this.”

The group looked between each other before deciding to call it a day. They all walked through the gates of Mementos, heading back out of the subway underground. Their clothes transformed, leaving them in their regular pedestrian attire, their weapons and items disappeared into hammerspace to be called upon later, and…

And Ryuji was still hugging Yusuke’s arm.

“Ryuji? You can let go of him now,” Ann said pointedly.

Ryuji, humming brightly, released Yusuke only to interlace their fingers, swinging the taller boy’s arm back and forth playfully.

“I don’t wanna let go,” he whined, still grinning.

Yusuke didn’t look amused. “You’re still affected by infatuation? I thought that kind of thing faded when we were in the real world.”

“It’s supposed to,” Morgana pressed. “Status effects shouldn’t carry over at all!”

“Morgana’s right, this is unheard of,” Futaba chimed in. 

She stepped a little closer to poke Ryuji experimentally in the cheek. The hearts were no longer floating in the air above him, his eyes their regular color, but he looked like any moment he might collapse into a puddle of weak-kneed goo at the sight of Yusuke. He was sighing like a lovestruck cherub, pressing his cheek into his friend’s crisp white sleeve and peering up into his eyes.

“You have such lovely lower eyelashes,” he murmured, squeezing Yusuke’s hand.

Yusuke, growing a little uncomfortable, gingerly pushed Ryuji’s head so he was at least standing upright, but it was going to be hard to extricate his hand from that grip.

“What should we do?” Makoto asked worriedly. “We can’t just call it a day and leave him like this, can we?”

“Should we take him to see a doctor?” Haru suggested.

Akira nodded. “We’ll bring him to Takemi. Maybe she’ll have some drug or treatment we haven’t tried. Let’s split up for now. I’ll go with Ryuji and Yusuke, you guys head home for the day.”

“Can I come too?” Ann inquired. “I want to make sure this doesn’t go anywhere…weird.”

“Okay, sure,” Akira agreed.

Futaba waved her hand in the air. “Can I come too? I want to make sure this goes somewhere weird.”

“No. Go home to Sojiro.”

“Aww, boo! Spoilsport.”

Yusuke, privately relieved that it would just be the four of them, waved off the others pleasantly. “I’m sure this will resolve shortly. I will keep an eye on Ryuji until then.”

Ryuji, managing to weasel his way into Yusuke’s personal space again, stepped behind Yusuke to put his chin on his shoulder. “You keep me safe, stud, okay? I’ll watch your back too.”

“Ah, yes. Thank you,” Yusuke replied awkwardly.

There was some more good-natured chuckling from the group, mostly at Ryuji’s expense. This was setting the groundwork for quite a lot of teasing at the next fair opportunity.

—--

“I don’t know what to tell you, kid,” Dr. Takemi sighed, peering over her clipboard. “Other than trying to conjoin himself to another person, your friend seems to be in pretty good health. You said this had to do with Phantom Thieves business?”

Akira stood in Tae Takemi’s observation room, next to Ann. Ryuji was seated on the examination bench, still clinging to Yusuke’s sleeve, the taller boy having elected to stand as well. Gesturing toward Ryuji, Akira tried again to explain as well as he could what they were experiencing.

“We fight monsters called shadows, and sometimes they have abilities that can cause status effects. Poison, forgetfulness, et cetera. This is one of those situations.”

Ann jumped in to add, “Normally this stuff goes away when we return to the real world…er, well, the normal world, but it hasn’t. Ryuji has been all over Yusuke like a desperate puppy, and we don’t know how to snap him out of it. It’s really out of character for him.”

“Also, my hand is growing sweaty,” Yusuke noted, though he’d managed to ward Ryuji’s grip away from his hand for the time being.

Takemi shrugged. “Lovesickness isn’t exactly a real sickness. I don’t have a treatment for it. Maybe…rejection is the answer?”

“That might work,” Ann pondered. “Yusuke, try shutting Ryuji down, hard. Tell him it’s not going anywhere between you two.”

Yusuke nodded affirmatively, taking a seat beside Ryuji. Even though the blonde was able to hear the nearby conversation, he appeared to be in his own little Yusuke-centric world. With a firm flick of his wrist, Yusuke broke Ryuji’s grip on his sleeve, and he placed both hands on the other boy’s shoulders, giving him a serious look.

“Ryuji,” he started.

Ryuji, dazzled by the display, nodded dumbly. “Uh huh?”

There was a long pause as Yusuke considered what to say. The silence stretched for a moment, into a few minutes, until Takemi cleared her throat.

“The rejection?”

Yusuke gave the group a withering look. “I don’t want to hurt his feelings.”

“C’mon Yusuke, you’re great at breaking hearts,” Ann joked. “Just pretend it’s a girl in a kimono, somebody you don’t know! You don’t have to be mean, just shut him down firmly!”

Yusuke turned back toward Ryuji, who was sheepishly playing with a lock of his own hair.

“Ryuji,” he tried again. “I…”

“I like you a lot,” Ryuji blurted.

Immediately the wind in Yusuke’s sails had flattened. He swallowed back his nerves and mustered up the gumption a third time.

“Ryuji, it wouldn’t work between us! We–”

“I’ve liked you since I met you,” Ryuji continued, completely unperturbed. “Your passion and fire were so captivating to me. I used to lie awake thinking about when you first got your Persona, how cool you looked and how powerful you seemed. Yet in real life, you’re this delicate slender guy who sees things in such a mysterious, complex way. I just wanted to get to know you better, and I’m so glad I have. I like you so, so much, Yusuke.”

Yusuke’s face was bright red, and he gave Akira a weak glance.

“Well uh…damn,” Akira muttered. “I don’t know, Yusuke. Maybe Ryuji is actually in love with you? He’s just picking a really weird time to let you know.”

“This is unprecedented,” Yusuke whimpered. He turned back to Ryuji, giving his shoulders a desperate little shake. “You were hit with a status effect, Ryuji! Come back to us! Don’t…don’t pour all this out here when you might not even mean it!”

“I do mean it,” Ryuji said softly, taking Yusuke’s hand again.

“This is getting to be a little above my paygrade,” Takemi coughed, crossing and uncrossing her legs. “Can you kids take this romcom somewhere else? I’m going to have other patients coming soon and I need to get things tidied up.”

Deciding that they’d reached a dead end at the clinic, the four of them got up, saying farewell to Dr. Takemi before heading out the door, a blushing Yusuke timidly dragging an ever-enamored Ryuji behind him.

—--

“So uh…we could try Leblanc?” Ann suggested.

Akira shrugged. “Sojiro is obviously an expert on love, but I don’t know how much input he’ll have on this particular situation.”

“I wouldn’t turn down Boss’s opinions on this,” Yusuke pressed, Ryuji trailing after him. “Especially if Ryuji is going to keep…well, for lack of a better term, “spilling his guts” in such a way.”

“I’ll spill my guts,” Ryuji crooned, wrapped around Yusuke’s arm. “I’ll tell you a thousand times a day in every way I know how, Yusuke. I really really lo–”

“Ahem!” Yusuke abruptly cut him off before he could make a declaration he couldn't take back. Pressing a finger to Ryuji’s lips only made his eyelids flutter dazedly. “Let’s go see Boss. This is getting out of hand.”

Traveling up the back streets of Yongen-Jaya, the gaggle of teens made their way to the somewhat hidden cafe. As they opened the front door, they were relieved to see that there were no patrons, only Sojiro and Futaba, who’d taken Morgana along with her.

“Hey, the lovebugs are back!” she cheered. “Did you fix Ryuji?”

“Not yet,” Akira sighed, hands in his pockets. He gestured toward Sojiro. “We were hoping that Sojiro might have some advice for this situation.”

Peering over his spectacles, Sojiro smiled, having just brewed himself and his daughter a cup of coffee. “Welcome in, you all. Would you like some coffee too? It goes great with advice.”

“I’ll take some,” Yusuke replied.

“No, not right now,” Ann retorted. “We need to sort out this situation with Ryuji first.”

“What’s wrong with Ryuji?” Sojiro inquired.

Akira pointed back to where the blonde was snuggled up against Yusuke, having graduated from holding his arm to snaking his way underneath it, hugging his chest.

“He got hit with a status effect in Mementos that made him a gooey lovesick mess. For some reason it hasn’t worn off, so we’re looking for theories as to how to shake him out of it.”

“Ah.” Sojiro crossed his arms, looking between Yusuke and Ryuji. “I take it you’re the object of his affection, Yusuke?”

“It would seem so,” Yusuke sighed, placing an uncomfortable hand on Ryuji’s back.

“We saw Dr. Takemi, and she suggested rejecting him, but Yusuke couldn’t really muster the guts,” Ann explained.

Morgana stretched on the stool next to Futaba. “Why not? He turns down girls all the time.” Then added with a huff, “Pretty bastard.”

“This is different, because it’s Ryuji,” Yusuke admitted. “He seems so earnest. I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Sounds like you’re playing favorites,” Futaba teased. “Maybe you like the attention?”

Grumbling, Yusuke sheepishly moved his hand up to pat Ryuji’s head, sighing in resignation as Ryuji giggled, nuzzling in close. “I’m not playing favorites and the attention is…it’s a bit smothering, being honest.”

In response, Ryuji pulled away, but continued to hold his hand.

“My bad,” he said dreamily. “Feels like I just wanna be all up in your space. This is totally good enough for me though, just holding your hand.”

Sojiro cleared his throat behind the counter. “Well, my expertise doesn’t really extend to the hearts of men, but this seems like something that you might just have to let run its course. If Ryuji was hit by some kind of…whatever you called it, it should wear off eventually, right?”

“What if he’s stuck like this forever?” Ann asked worriedly.

Yusuke pursed his lips with concern. “Let’s just call it a day for now. I’ll take Ryuji home and we’ll see if some separation doesn’t help him calm down.”

Ryuji grinned, swinging Yusuke’s arm again. “You’re gonna walk me home? What a gentleman.”

“Yes yes, I’m lovely, I have heard you say this in many different ways today,” Yusuke muttered, clearly uncomfortable. “Come now, let’s get you back home. We’ll reconvene tomorrow after you’ve gotten some sleep.”

Akira nodded. “Sounds good to me. Best of luck, you two.”

Yusuke gave him a withering look. “Thank you, Joker. I’ll do my best.”

—---

Heading back to where he could remember Ryuji lived, Yusuke led his new paramour down the city streets, a little awkward as they were attracting a number of curious stares from strangers. It probably wouldn’t have mattered much if they were just holding hands, but Ryuji kept swinging in close to hug his arm, Yusuke would worm his way out of his grip, then Ryuji would rebound back again. Eventually they ended up walking at a slight angle so Yusuke could accommodate the shorter boy clinging to him.

“You ought to create some distance, Ryuji,” Yusuke advised as they approached his home. “Your mother will have questions if she sees you like this.”

“I’ll tell her the truth,” Ryuji replied flippantly. “That I lo–”

“Ah, let me ring the bell!” Yusuke blurted.

He quickly pressed the doorbell, waiting for a moment as Ryuji’s mother approached from inside. She called a distant, “Just a second!” before opening the door, immediately pleased to see her son and one of his friends. It took a moment for her to be confused by how Ryuji was hanging all over Yusuke, though.

“Welcome back, Ryuji. You brought your artist friend too,” she said slowly.

Yusuke waved pleasantly. “I’ve brought him home. He um…he is feeling a bit under the weather. Would you mind looking after him this evening?”

“Uh oh. Ryuji rarely gets sick,” she murmured.

She reached forward to take his arm, but Ryuji was not allowing himself to be peeled apart from Yusuke.

“I don’t want you to go home yet,” he whined, burying his face in Yusuke’s shirt.

Yusuke pushed gently on his forehead. “You need rest. Worry about me tomorrow.”

As he was gingerly pulled away, Ryuji gave him a sorrowful look. “I’ll miss you.”

A pang of guilt hit Yusuke and he tried to shake it off, reminding himself that this was very out of character behavior for his friend. “I’ll text you, okay? I’ll text you as long as you like. Is that acceptable?”

Ryuji smiled again, nodding, and Yusuke sighed in relief. He turned to Ryuji’s mother.

“He’s not quite himself today. Please disregard anything he might say to you that sounds…unusual.”

A little bewildered but more than willing to take care of her son, Ryuji’s mom gently led Ryuji toward their front door. “Of course. Have a good night, Yusuke. Get home safe.”

“I will, thank you.”

—---

That night, Yusuke struggled to work on his latest painting, finding himself repeatedly distracted by his text tone. It usually didn’t bother him to silence his phone–-art required focus and dedication, his friends understood that-–but something in his gut wouldn’t let him leave Ryuji by himself. The other boy was keeping up a steady conversation, asking about what he was working on, his thoughts on all sorts of things, what kind of food he liked, would he like to get food tomorrow? Maybe they could sneak out tonight and meet in Shibuya? No, no, that would be irresponsible, even if Yusuke did have any money to spend on himself. He kept trying to redirect the topic to normal things like school and Phantom Thief business, but Ryuji would become sappy again at the slightest turn, leaving Yusuke feeling way too out of his depth to pay attention to his art.

Their texts followed a simple pattern:

RYUJI: you seem like the type whos good at your studies

YUSUKE: On the contrary, I struggle with certain things such as mathematics. Things without a freeform approach, with a fixed correct answer, allude me if I do not understand the formula.

RYUJI: dude im with you, math sucks!!! theres way too much to memorize and i never feel like i understand whats going on when the letters get mixed in

Conversations would be on a fairly normal track, similar to how they often talked when they had free time to message each other. Yusuke and Ryuji were friends after all; they had a rapport and did keep in touch from time to time. Yet as soon as things seemed to be back to a regular pace…

RYUJI: i adore how honest you are. you never hesitate to admit when you struggle with something. its totally admirable!

YUSUKE: Thank you, Ryuji. I think your tenacity and willingness to improve yourself is also very respectable.

RYUJI: heh heh <3

RYUJI: you know how handsome you are too? unreal. youre like the whole package, im being 100% serious, youre like the best guy ive ever met

Yusuke fidgeted uncomfortably at his easel, fully abandoning the painting.

YUSUKE: I cannot accept what you’re saying when I know you’re still under the influence of the infatuation effect.

RYUJI: yeah but like

RYUJI: what if i loved you all along??

Swallowing hard, Yusuke quickly hammered a response.

YUSUKE: Do not say that.

RYUJI: say what?

YUSUKE: That you love me. I do not believe you truly mean that.

RYUJI: why not?? maybe this was in me the whole time just waiting to burst out! maybe i just didnt have the confidence until i was all lovey dovey in mementos

YUSUKE: We are not discussing this right now, Ryuji.

RYUJI: okay okay, i wont say it

RYUJI: i might think it though ;)

Yusuke decided he needed to put his phone down for a moment. He left for the small kitchen unit in his dorm, turning on the faucet and filling himself a glass of water. As he drank, he contemplated how all of this was really impacting him, something he had been avoiding doing all day.

“Ryuji is one of my dear friends,” he thought with discomfort. “A beloved friend. Someone I would never want to seriously harm. To cut him down while he’s saying such heartfelt things…I simply do not possess the emotional strength. All I can do is ask him to refrain from saying something that he might regret later.”

He glanced back at his phone where he’d left it on his stool.

“Ryuji…”

He would never admit it, especially not to Futaba, but there was some truth in what she’d said before: he didn’t hate the attention. Sure, this was very out of character for Ryuji. It was almost a different person on the other end of their text conversation, considering the things he was freely admitting. Yusuke though, found it hard to fully ignore him, even though it was probably for the best not to humor him right now. Who didn’t like receiving compliments? He tried to tell himself that this was all it was. Just hearing nice, kind things from someone he cared about, something easy to understand and sympathize with.

It didn’t matter that he’d spent more time lately thinking about Ryuji. About how he fought, how he talked and laughed, the stupid jokes he made, the way the light would sometimes hit his tender brown eyes and his glowing smile. Nothing was different between them. They still relied on each other when they needed to, they still spent one-on-one guy time together away from the rest of the group, hell, Ryuji even treated Yusuke to a beef bowl once in a while. There was no reason for Yusuke to read into this behavior from his friend. He knew it was a status effect making him dribble sweet nothings like a leaking faucet.

Nothing else.

He picked up the phone again, seeing a few more messages from Ryuji.

RYUJI: i wont say i love you, i know you dont wanna hear it right now

RYUJI: but i will say that youre so important to me and that i love the time we spend together

RYUJI: can i treat you to breakfast tomorrow? it doesnt have to be a date but it would be super cool if you wanted it to be :) 

Why was this causing such a pain in Yusuke’s chest?

YUSUKE: If you are still feeling this way after some sleep tonight, then fine. I am unwilling to turn down a hot meal provided by a friend.

RYUJI: YES okay okay cool ill wear something nice!! lets meet in shibuya and go to that diner, they have great breakfast stuff! maybe 9am?

YUSUKE: 9:00 am would be agreeable.

RYUJI: great!! ill see you there beautiful!! <3

YUSUKE: Alright. Goodnight, Ryuji.

RYUJI: good night!!

—--

At a few minutes past nine the following day, Yusuke found himself approaching the diner in Shibuya, the morning train having been slightly late. Ryuji was already stationed outside, checking his phone periodically, wearing probably the nicest pair of pants that Yusuke had ever seen on him. As soon as he spotted Yusuke, Ryuji waved animatedly, his face lighting up. A pit hit Yusuke’s stomach–-it seemed that he hadn’t gotten over the infatuation from yesterday. He steeled himself for a morning of deflecting uncomfortable compliments, smiling weakly as he stepped up to greet Ryuji.

“Good morning,” he said pleasantly.

“Hey there!” Ryuji replied emphatically. He gave Yusuke a pointed once-over, sighing happily. “You look so nice.”

Yusuke let out a small exhale. He could handle this.

“Here, um,” he started, looking a bit stiff. “Did you want to…hold my hand? As opposed to clinging to my arm. Please refrain from that while we are out in Shibuya.”

Ryuji didn’t need to be told twice. He gleefully interlaced their fingers, tugging Yusuke along behind him and into the diner. Yusuke blushed, averting his eyes and following the shorter boy to a booth toward the back. As Ryuji sat down, he sat across from him, but Ryuji tilted his head to the side.

“You should sit next to me,” he suggested. “We’d be closer together that way.”

Yusuke paused, considering, before meekly getting up and sitting down on the same side of the table as Ryuji. The blonde grinned, elbowing him playfully.

“See? I can lay on your shoulder now.”

“Ah, please refrain from…oh, uh, okay.”

Ryuji snuggled up close, completely disregarding Yusuke’s uncomfortable expression. Yusuke, in turn, patted his arm awkwardly, doing nothing to stop Ryuji from resting against him. Even if there were concerns about receiving strange looks, it was hard to turn the other boy down when he seemed so happy.

After a brief wait, a waitress came to take their breakfast order. She appeared immediately charmed by the pair of them, blushing cheerfully and making sure she got any extra notes they had. Once she’d written down what she needed, she inclined her head.

“Enjoy your date!” she said softly, giving them a thumbs up before heading back toward the kitchen.

Ryuji returned the gesture, and Yusuke flushed and averted his eyes.

“At least she is supportive,” Yusuke murmured.

Scoffing, Ryuji bumped their shoulders together, giving him a winning grin. “If anyone had a problem with it, I’d flip their bricks. I don’t care if anyone knows how I feel about you.”

“Can you…?” Yusuke huffed, fumbling for what to say. “Ryuji, you are still infatuated, yes? You’re not behaving like your usual self.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I mean, all I’ve been able to think about since yesterday is you, Yusuke,” Ryuji said warmly. “That probably means I’ve still got that love bug or whatever.”

Yusuke turned away, his free hand fidgeting over his pant leg. It took him a long moment to decide what he wanted to say. He’d been protesting any declarations of true love from Ryuji, trying to keep things on track, but he was starting to lose steam.

“He doesn’t know,” Yusuke thought bitterly. “He doesn’t know this is causing me pain. I myself don’t even know why this is causing me pain. I just…can’t keep playing pretend with him.”

“Ryuji,” Yusuke started, meeting his gaze. His expression was serious, a comic contrast to Ryuji looking like he was on cloud nine.

“Yeah?”

Slowly, Yusuke pressed Ryuji away from him, removing his hand from his grip and creating a small amount of space in the booth. Ryuji surprisingly let him, his cheerful smile softening into a look of slight concern.

“Everything okay, man?” he asked.

Yusuke sighed. “Ryuji…this is…this is becoming too much for me. Perhaps we should go our separate ways for the day, at least until you are able to come down from the infatuation effects.”

Immediately, Ryuji reached for his hand again, but stopped when Yusuke pulled it away. “I’m sorry, did I do something? Can we talk about it at least?”

The worry in his voice was making Yusuke’s heart ache. Why did it have to be Ryuji, of all people, to fall head over heels for him? He could have navigated this with any of his other friends, been careful with their feelings yet firm in his boundaries, but with Ryuji…he felt his chest getting tight, and he couldn’t bring himself to look into those tender brown eyes.

“You did nothing wrong. This isn’t your fault,” Yusuke insisted. “You are…telling me things that are making me feel a myriad of emotions. I am losing the gumption to handle these feelings, even though I know you are not speaking from an authentic place. I can’t keep pretending that I am okay with this little charade.”

“Yusuke?” Ryuji asked softly. “Hey man, we can do whatever you want, okay? I just want to make you happy.”

Yusuke swallowed hard. “I want you back to normal.”

Ryuji nodded slowly, turning to stare into his own lap, running his thumbs over each other. He appeared to be contemplating what to say next, though Yusuke could only imagine the cavalcade of artificial niceties that were swarming inside him. It must have been hard for Ryuji to navigate this too. He wasn’t in his right mind, he was still feeling the influence of a mental poison from Mementos, and Yusuke could tell it was draining him just as much as himself.

“I…I don’t know how to fix this,” Ryuji murmured.

Yusuke gave him a gentle frown. “As I said, it’s not your fault. Let’s just try to talk about things like we normally would. We…we can finish breakfast, alright?”

This seemed to reassure Ryuji somewhat. He smiled again, folding his hands on the table in front of him, perhaps to show that he wasn’t going to keep reaching for Yusuke’s hand. The gesture looked like it was causing him physical strain.

“Sounds good! As long as I’m here with you,” Ryuji chirped.

They waited in relative quiet for their food, which came out surprisingly quickly. Yusuke was thankful for the distraction from conversation, digging in immediately and taking the chance to stop talking. Between bites, he glanced to the side to see a pair of chopsticks hovering in midair, the end laden with some of Ryuji’s meal.

“Want to try?” Ryuji offered, grinning.

Barely regarding this as an intimate gesture, Yusuke nodded. “Shall I take your chopsticks?”

Ryuji shook his head, face pink as he held up the bite of food. “Say aah…”

Oh, that’s what he was getting at. Yusuke, flushing, battled his inner hunger versus his sense of restraint. Ultimately, a combination of not wanting to upset Ryuji and genuinely wanting to try his dish won out, and he obediently opened his mouth. Ryuji carefully fed him a mouthful of food, giggling as Yusuke chewed and swallowed. He grabbed a napkin, reaching up to dab Yusuke’s chin.

“You got sauce on your face, goofball,” he teased.

Yusuke was still flustered by the gesture, not meeting his eye. “That was delicious. I’ll have to consider ordering that next time we come here.”

Ryuji sighed happily. “We can come back here any time you like. I’ll always make sure you’re fed.”

Blushing harder, Yusuke resumed eating his own meal. Ryuji always looked after him, it was true. He couldn’t count the number of times the other boy had comped him for a meal, or shown up to his dorm with groceries. He didn’t even have to ask-–Ryuji would prod him every once in a while, “Hey, are you eating enough? Want me to bring you some take out?” and Yusuke was always grateful for it. It was no secret that Yusuke was bad at managing the meager amount of money he had. Though it was often Makoto or Akira who would step in with budgeting advice, Ryuji was always there to help in any way he knew how. The pair of them were a bit hopeless at financial math, but Ryuji was getting better at cooking, and he knew how to prepare a balanced meal.

“You always do,” Yusuke murmured.

“Hm?”

Ah, damn, he’d let something slip out. Yusuke cleared his throat, having finished his plate of food and therefore having no excuse not to keep speaking.

“You always make sure I’m fed,” he said quietly. “I…I really appreciate it. You go to great lengths to spend your own time and money on me, and I hope it’s not something that feels like an obligation.”

Ryuji was glowing, outright beaming. “It’s because you’re the best. I’d do anything for you.”

“Yes yes, this was before the infatuation thing,” Yusuke retorted. “I never understood why you seemed to give me preferential treatment. At first I thought it was because you pitied me, but now I understand that you’re just a genuinely caring and kind person. You like doing things to help your friends, myself included.”

“I knew I could help you, so I did. I love doing it,” Ryuji replied. “That’s not gonna change when the love bug is gone. I’m just gonna have to take all the time I’ve got now to soak up your pretty face before I’m back to normal.”

Yusuke grumbled slightly. Ryuji was still infatuated after all. He knew this, but Ryuji had seemed more lucid than yesterday, so he was starting to hope that the status effect was wearing off. He just folded his arms on the table and pushed his plate away, burying his face in his sleeves. Anything Ryuji said had to be taken with a grain of salt. Any gesture, any kind expression-–it was all fabricated. Ryuji was a friend and nothing more. Nothing less, but nothing like the infatuation wanted him to believe.

“Hey, Yusuke?”

Ryuji placed a gentle hand on Yusuke’s shoulder, which was not rebuffed. 

“You feeling okay, beautiful?”

Yusuke huffed privately to himself.

“I am perfectly fine. I would, though, like to end our outing for the day soon. Let us pay the tab and get going.”

“Ah, right,” Ryuji replied. He turned back to his own food, eating quickly so as not to waste anything he ordered. 

Eventually the waitress drifted back around and Ryuji paid the tab, the pair of them getting to their feet and heading out into Center Street. Yusuke gave Ryuji a brisk farewell before turning to leave, but Ryuji quickly grabbed his hand, not ready to let him go just yet.

“Wait, Yusuke, can you come with me for a second?” he pleaded.

Yusuke was growing very tired of the morning already, though he apparently still had a bit of patience left in him. “Alright. Where are we going?”

Ryuji led him through the throng of daytime patrons, around several shops until they came across a back alley. This was where the airsoft shop was hiding, but there were several nooks that allowed people to step out of sight of the public even during the day. Ryuji pulled Yusuke into one of these alcoves, standing face to face in the small gap and blushing vibrantly. He cleared his throat, seemingly steeling himself for something.

“Can uh…look, I know you don’t want to spend more time together today. I really really want to, but I can let you leave. Before that though…”

Ryuji shifted, and Yusuke quirked an eyebrow.

“Yes?”

Brown eyes met dark gray, and Ryuji swallowed back his nerves.

“Can I kiss you?”

Yusuke was taken aback, but he held himself steady. “I…I’m not sure how comfortable I would be with that.”

Ryuji, sensitive to his boundaries but visibly afflicted by the infatuation, took Yusuke’s hand. He tilted his head, giving him a weak and almost desperate look.

“One kiss, just one. I just wanna have something to leave with, you know? Nobody can see us back here, and I promise I won’t bother you the rest of the day.”

Yusuke contemplated this. Would kissing Ryuji hurt as much as he expected it to? Maybe. Was it so, so hard to say no to him in this context, alone like this in a secluded place, even if he didn’t mean what he was saying? Would this make things worse? Would the infatuation pass on to him? Would they end up in a spiral of mutual destruction caused by their own shared desires? His heart was beating in his ears, and he stared down at the other boy with a mix of panic and resignation. Would a kiss be so bad?

Probably.

“I…okay.”

Ryuji, lighting up like a fireworks show, pumped his fist, trying not to look too eager. He laced his fingers together with Yusuke’s, smiling as he closed in, batting his eyelashes in a very uncharacteristic way.

“I’ll be quick,” he whispered.

Yusuke closed his eyes, and after just a moment, felt the soft contact of Ryuji’s lips against his own. The sensation was electric in his throat, the tenderness making his head spin. If this had been any other situation, he would have wrapped Ryuji up in his arms and kissed him back heartily. He tried to hold back the gush of emotion that he could feel welling up inside him, everything he’d been avoiding thinking about, everything he hadn’t said, it was all threatening to spill forth the second Ryuji pulled away.

Just like that, the kiss was broken, and Ryuji stood back for a moment. 

“Woah…uh…Yusuke?”

Yusuke, eyes still closed, peeked over at him. Instead of looking like he was about to faint from joy, Ryuji was beet red, his mouth pulled in a tight line, and he was shifting from side to side on his battered sneakers. 

“Ryuji?” he asked quietly.

“Yeah uh…” Ryuji cleared his throat, stuffing his hands in his pockets and staring at the ground. “I…I think…I think the infatuation is broken.”

Relief swept over Yusuke, followed by a stab of pain in his gut. That kiss was one-time only.

“Are you back to normal now?” he inquired.

Ryuji covered his face with his hands, groaning, his ears visibly flushed. “Oh man, I said so much embarrassing stuff! I was all over you like a lovesick puppy! What happened to me?!”

Yusuke patted him supportively on the shoulder, collecting himself as well. “Nothing said was your fault. Do not worry. I am just pleased that you’ve returned to your regular self.”

Spreading his fingers, Ryuji looked out at Yusuke like he wanted to evaporate into dust. “Can we…go home? I mean, can we each go to our own homes? I have a lot of damage control I have to do.”

“Of course, Ryuji. Let’s get going.”

—--

Yusuke was laying back on his futon, taking an early rest to contemplate everything that had happened. Ryuji’s words, his gestures, that gentle kiss…everything was false. Everything was a byproduct of a status effect. Nothing was real. He needed to accept that the last day was just a farce, something to be chuckled at in hindsight and quickly forgotten.

He checked his phone, noticing a few new text messages. Admittedly he’d been avoiding it for a while, but he was getting to a point where he wanted to see how his friends were reacting to Ryuji’s return to normalcy.

ANN: i guess ryuji’s back to normal now? did you have too much trouble handling him?

YUSUKE: No, he was a bit clingy but he behaved himself quite well.

ANN: oh good!! well thanks for supporting him, yusuke, it was a big help!! <3

YUSUKE: Any time.

He flipped to another conversation.

FUTABA: heyyyyy did you guys make out sloppy style

YUSUKE: My affairs are none of your business.

FUTABA: did you do the horizontal tango

FUTABA: did you slap ass and smoke grass

YUSUKE: I will not humor you.

FUTABA: then you leave me to my own theories kekekekeke

He continued to search through his messages, responding to his friends as they checked in with him. As he whittled down his inbox, he was eventually left with just the notifications from Ryuji. There were a lot, and he had to ready himself before he opened them. Ignoring him was only going to make things weirder between them. He exhaled through his nose, checking the conversation to see what Ryuji had been saying.

RYUJI: hey uh, ive been looking at the stuff i said to you the last day or so

RYUJI: dude i am so sorry

RYUJI: i was all over you, i have no idea what the hell was going on in my head

RYUJI: god i really said a ton of wild stuff. i hope i didnt make you uncomfortable

RYUJI: we dont have to talk about all this right now if you dont want to i would definitely feel weird if i was in your shoes

RYUJI: maybe we could just pretend this didnt happen?

RYUJI: just let me know if you wanna talk about it because like, wow i really said some stuff didnt i

RYUJI: we are definitely still friends dont worry about that

Yusuke thumbed over the edge of his phone, sighing softly.

YUSUKE: We are absolutely still friends, I promise.

Not waiting for a reply, Yusuke closed his phone, setting it on the floor beside his futon.

—--

Yusuke didn’t even realize he’d dozed off until there was a knock at his door. He blinked blearily, getting to his feet and shuffling toward the entryway. As he opened the door and looked out, he was very surprised to see Ryuji standing there.

“Oh. Hello,” he greeted awkwardly.

Ryuji had one hand behind his back, looking down at the floor. He hadn’t changed out of the nice clothing he’d worn to breakfast, except that his jacket was tied around his waist instead of being worn properly. He glanced up, blushing visibly, before turning his gaze away again.

“Hey Yusuke. You got a minute?”

Yusuke glanced back at his dorm, which was covered wall-to-wall in canvases and art supplies, though his futon was spread out in the middle of it. It wasn’t exactly set up for company, but he felt that Ryuji wouldn’t mind.

“Sure, come in.”

Ryuji followed him inside, cautiously guarding whatever was behind his back. As they walked into what was more a studio than a real dorm, the shorter boy stopped, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. Yusuke paused and faced him, also feeling a bit of the strange tension in the air. What had he come here to say?

“I uh…I spent some time talking to my mom today. She had a lot of good advice for me,” Ryuji started, his voice a mutter at first but swelling into a more confident tone as he went on.

“She seemed concerned about you last night,” Yusuke noted.

“Yeah, she said I didn’t shut up about you all night. It’s a little hazy, but I definitely remember talking at her about the whole thing,” Ryuji admitted sheepishly. “She listens to me gush about my friends all the time, but she pointed out that I uh…I hadn’t…said a whole lot of new stuff. I didn’t realize at first until she said something, but I have definitely said things like “Yusuke is such a pretty boy” and “he’s so talented it pisses me off sometimes”, stuff like that. She figured out I was in some kinda lovestruck state, but she…” He paused to chuckle self-consciously. “She said “well it’s about time you said something to him”. I didn’t know what to say to that.”

Yusuke stared dumbly, slowly processing what he was saying. “You talk about me a lot?”

“Yeah…um…shit, how do I say this…” Ryuji cleared his throat, forcing himself to meet Yusuke’s eye. “There’s…a reason…that the infatuation effect had me going after you specifically.”

Unsure if he was understanding things correctly, Yusuke gave him a deliberate sort of nod. “Because I was standing closest to you?”

“No, you just…ugh…here!”

Suddenly, Ryuji pulled from behind his back the thing he’d been hiding: a bouquet of flowers. There were daisies and carnations, mostly yellow, wrapped in a small blue ribbon. His face was beet red, and it was only when he thrust the gift forward to Yusuke that reality for the other boy finally clicked.

“What are these?” Yusuke asked, still in disbelief.

“They’re flowers. Because I like you, dumbass,” Ryuji grumbled, his other hand thrust into his pocket. “It took getting hit by cupid’s arrow in Mementos, but I realized that those feelings hadn’t come out of nowhere. I didn’t go after Ann or Makoto or even Akira, I went straight for you. Because when I really think about it, you’re the one that’s always on my mind at the end of the day. I’m…not good with this warm and fuzzy stuff, but I sure spilled a lot of what I’d been holding in while I was out of it. I hope this helps you understand that it wasn’t just a bunch of crap I was spewing. I really do like you.”

Yusuke, cheeks a rosy pink, took the bouquet, his heart fluttering in his chest and his eyes wide. “They’re lovely.”

“Oh, really? Thank god, I don’t know anything about flowers,” Ryuji sighed gratefully. “I just thought, y’know…my chat ID is yellow, I’m kinda yellow, and yours is blue, so…yellow flowers, blue ribbon? It’s probably pretty stupid, but hey I tried my best.”

Emotions were swirling around in Yusuke’s head, leaving him practically speechless. Perhaps the last day of confusion and heartache was worth it after all? He started to giggle, covering his mouth, and Ryuji gasped in frustration.

“You think it’s stupid, don’t you? Don’t laugh at me!”

“No, no, please don’t misunderstand,” Yusuke blurted, trying to stifle more laughter. “I think it’s genuinely sweet and earnest of you. That’s how you are, just so well-meaning, so authentic. I’ve been denying how I felt because of the infatuation effect, but this last day of attention from you has made me realize…I feel the same way. I only hoped that you weren’t thrust into a position where you were saying things you didn’t mean. You are…sure that the effect has worn off, correct?”

Ryuji, softening, nodded. “Yeah, I know for sure. That kiss was enough to shake me back to earth.”

“It was a wonderful kiss,” Yusuke agreed, his tone quiet and reflective.

Still flustered, Ryuji averted his eyes, shuffling his feet and moving a little closer. “You uh…man, fuck it.” A grin broke out over his face, knowing that Yusuke felt the same. “Want another one? I got plenty for ya.”

Blushing, Yusuke chuckled. “Let me first find a glass of water for these flowers. I’d hate for them to wilt.”

“Yeah, okay, sure. Do that first.”

Once the bouquet was safely stored in a cool glass on the kitchen counter, Yusuke returned to Ryuji. He boldly placed a hand on the blonde’s cheek, no longer afraid to push the boundaries between them. As long as he could trust that Ryuji was being real with him, he didn’t have to worry about the pair of them doing anything they might later regret.

“You…are really gorgeous,” Ryuji sighed, his expression dopey and lovestruck like it had been before.

“As are you,” Yusuke replied, smiling wide. “Exceptionally handsome.”

A strong hand was placed on Yusuke’s waist, and he was brought in for another tender kiss. He closed his eyes, thumbing over Ryuji’s cheek, soaking up the warmth of his chest as he was pulled in tight. They stayed like that for a long moment, drinking each other in, enjoying a proper first kiss without the pretense of status effects hanging over them. It was actually Ryuji that pulled away first, and he took a sharp inhale as soon as he was no longer wrapped up in Yusuke’s lips.

“Sorry! Forgot to breathe,” he wheezed.

Yusuke laughed, running his fingers through Ryuji’s hair. “You know, I’m becoming inspired for a new painting. Perhaps a still life, something in yellow and blue.”

Ryuji beamed. “Really?”

“Yes. But first, I believe you mentioned you had a surplus of kisses. I’d like to continue taking them from you.”

“You got it, man,” Ryuji said dazedly, grinning from ear to ear.