Beta'd by and dedicated to FlowerChild777,who, surprisingly enough, did not point their finger and scold me for being a perv.
I realize this is a major deviation from the canon. Originally, this wasn't going to be how I wrote the Yu&Yosuke chapter, but then I got an idea for a sequel, and I couldn't resist the urge to write a really stupid get-together fic :P
I do not own Persona 4. Or 3, or 2, or 1, or 3 FES or 4 Golden... I'm sure I'm forgetting some :/
EDIT: Take a guess: I fixed it! Are you happy now, Sir Snarkington the Third?
Yu glanced over to his best friend as they continued the walk to the Dojima residence. They had both just finished a shift at Junes, and had opted to return to Yu's place instead of going to spy on their friends' date. "I'm surprised, Yosuke, I thought you would want to join Teddie and the girls on their little reconnaissance mission."
"I could say the same for you, Partner! You always seem to go with the flow. Y'know, when you aren't being a kickass leader and fighting shadows," he admitted, though it was far from begrudging. "But to tell you the truth, I figured Teddie or Yukiko would botch it somehow, and I'd end up getting chased by Kanji even though it was Rise's idea. And then after getting the tar kicked out of me Chie would somehow make the whole situation my fault and force me to buy her a steak," he complained.
Yu just smiled at Yosuke's pout. "…Maybe."
The brunette just huffed, throwing his hands behind his head. "There's no 'maybe' about it... Hey, I wanted to ask, you seem in an awfully good mood today."
Yu continued smiling that serene, almost creepy smile. "Do I?"
"Yeah, man. You barely stopped smiling since we started our shift at Junes. Thanks for helping out, by the way. Ever since we started raising our standards it's been harder to get applicants for the busy days." Not that it really bothered Yosuke that he worked with people who actually respected him as a human being.
The smile on Yu's face simply widened at the compliment. He had been more than happy to go help at Junes, and Yosuke seemed in a really good mood, too. "It's no problem. And I guess I didn't realize I was smiling."
A little bead of sweat formed on the Hanamura's face as he looked at the grin in question. "How could you not notice when you've been doing it for nearly four hours? And during hard labor, no less! It's kind of creepy, actually," he had to admit it. Normally, he didn't mind when his best friend smiled. There was just something slightly off today, like he was hiding something.
"Sorry." The grin immediately dropped off of his face. He didn't want to freak Yosuke out just yet.
Seeing the other boy looking down, Yosuke brought his hands forward and held them up defensively. "Hey, I wasn't trying to get you down. I was just curious about what could make you so happy that you've been in a good mood all day."
"...It's just a good day." He had decided weeks ago that he was going to finally do something about his little secret, and, well, Yosuke was presenting him with the perfect opportunity. What's more, his uncle and cousin would both be out for the evening. It didn't get more convenient than that!
"...Are you avoiding the question?" The brunette questioned, looking at his friend suspiciously once more.
"Yes." There was no sense in denying it, since he fully intended to tell Yosuke later anyway.
Yosuke stopped in his tracks. "What kind of abrupt response was that? You could at least pretend to not be suspicious!" he nearly shouted in exasperation. "... But, whatever, if you want to keep secrets, then fine," he dismissed. He started walking again past a surprised Narukami, who trailed behind him by a few steps.
"Yosuke..." He tried to explain. He didn't want to ruin the evening before it even began.
And, even if it didn't turn out ideally, Yosuke was still important to him. He never wanted his partner to feel isolated for any reason.
Yosuke stopped and turned around. He gave his friend a smile as he responded, "Seriously, it's alright. I mean, when you think about it, any day could be a good day. For instance, any day I don't have Chie trying to coerce me into buying her steak is a good day."
"That's one way to look at it." Yu joked in response as they began walking side by side once more.
After a few moments of comfortable silence, the Dojima house came into view. Still, Yosuke couldn't help but comment, "... Sometimes I forget how long the walk to your house is."
"At least we're finally here," Yu stated as he and Yosuke walked through the door and removed their shoes.
"Yeah, man, and with your uncle... Oh, Nanako!" Whatever Yosuke was about to say was forgotten as the adorable little girl came into view. She was wearing a new pink dress with a ribbon around the waist.
"Hello, Yosuke. Welcome home, big Bro," the young girl greeted
Yu returned the greeting with a hug. "Hello."
"Hey, Nanako," Yosuke finally greeted the little girl properly. "Why are you all dressed up? You look pretty cute in that dress."
Nanako blushed at the praise, but smiled happily instead of looking embarrassed. "Thank you, Yosuke. I'm going to a party. I left dinner in the fridge, so all you have to do is heat it up. There should be enough for Yosuke if he wants some too. Bye, Yosuke. Bye, big bro!" Finished with her hurried explanation, she headed toward the front entrance.
Yosuke was a little put off by the sudden hello-goodbye, but he said his farewell anyway. "Bye, Nanako. Take care."
"Bye, Nanako. If you need me to come pick you up, just call," Yu instructed. He wasn't really too worried. Nanako was a responsible kid.
Yosuke was having slightly different thoughts. "She really is a cute kid. You better make sure you're around when she grows up," the boy warned, his tone very serious all of a sudden.
The abrupt change in mood put the silver haired boy off balance. "Why's that?"
Yosuke looked at him as though he was crazy. "You're her big brother. It's your duty to chase away all of the boys chasing her who are clearly unworthy."
"...Nanako is pretty mature. She wouldn't go out with someone who didn't deserve to date her. She could probably handle any unwanted suitors."
"Are you saying you're going to shirk your responsibilities?" The boy with headphones put on a slightly mortified expression. "Are Chie, Kanji, and I going to have to pick up the slack? Actually, Naoto can be pretty scary when she wants to be." A small chill ran down both of their spines as they recalled how indifferently Naoto pointed her gun at shadows… and at Teddie the one time he tried to grope her. "Heck, even Teddie gets overly protective."
Yu felt a little hurt by the comment. If he felt like Nanako was in any sort of trouble, he would never hesitate to do something about it. Didn't Yosuke understand that? "...No, I'm not trying to slack?" It sounded less firm than he would have liked.
Yosuke, however, seemed to realize how distressed the other boy was. "… Take it easy dude. There's no reason to be so serious. I'm just giving you a hard time." Perhaps he should be a little more careful with his jokes. After all, Nanako's safety was probably a sensitive topic…
"Right." Or not. Yu was instantly back to his eerily chipper self the moment Yosuke reassured him.
"… Anyway, when's your uncle supposed to be back?" Yosuke asked, not really sure how else to change the topic.
"I'm not really sure. When he called he sounded like he was in a hurry. He mentioned something about a child abduction and how 'you guys always manage to find yourselves in trouble and involved with the police.'" He did his best to sound like his uncle when he was giving a lecture. "He didn't say anything else relevant."
Yosuke looked toward the front door. His expression clearly showed his worry. "Huh, a child abduction. That's some pretty serious stuff. Should we really be letting Nanako go by herself?"
"If it was something he felt was really a concern, he would have taken Nanako to the station, or at least told her to wait till I got home and asked me to take her."
"I guess you have a point there. They probably caught the perp, and Dojima-san was headed down there to book him. And I know you wouldn't just risk Nanako's safety either. Not after what happened last time… You really are a good big brother, you know." Yosuke felt he owed it to his partner to mention it, after how his joke had gone sour earlier.
He regretted saying it almost immediately. Narukami got a weird look on his face that Yosuke couldn't quite identify, but reminded him vaguely of a schoolgirl after her crush had complimented her. "… I'm really glad you think so," he replied.
By this point, Yosuke was a little freaked out. He had never seen Narukami blush before, and he had no idea why the other guy was starting now. "Eh, there's no reason to look all sappy!" he almost yelped. He forced a more lighthearted tone into his next words. "It's not like anyone would disagree. I'm just stating a fact."
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." It was stated flatly. Part of the Junes prince couldn't help but feel it was a bit anticlimactic for whatever reason.
"You didn't!" He moved toward the stairs in an attempt to hide his slightly panicked expression. "… Anyway, you said you wanted to try out that new gaming system of yours?" he said nervously.
"… Yeah,"There was a touch of confusion in his friend's voice which went intentionally ignored.
"Then let's head up to your room." He moved up the stairs quickly, calming down as soon as he reached Narukami's bedroom door. Sometimes, a short attention span, or the ability to deny that something was very off, was a blessing. "Man, it feels like it's been ages since the first time I was here. That reminds me, you never showed me where your stash was!" The boy with headphones started rummaging through Narukami's shelves.
Yu, meanwhile, stared at his partner's back in confusion. "Pardon?"
"You know, your 'stash.'" The brunette stated as though it would explain everything. "Sheesh, are you trying to tell me that you seriously don't have one?"
Yu, meanwhile, simply stood and watched Yosuke go through his things. "…?" He debated stopping him, as Hanamura was getting dangerously close to finding the gay porn stashed beneath his bed. Wait, had Yosuke been asking about his porn the entire time?
"I guess that sort of makes sense. I mean, you probably have a lot more excitement when you go back to the city for part of the year. Not that we haven't had a lot of excitement in Inaba ever since you showed up… But still, I guess that really doesn't count as a normal situation," Yosuke rambled as he dropped onto his knees to begin searching beneath the futon.
"Yosuke, why are you looking under my futon?" He asked for appearance's sake. Narukami was a very kind and openhearted individual, but he had his pride too, and he was not going to admit he had just realized what Yosuke had wanted almost since they first met. Of course, Yosuke was probably looking for the heterosexual version, which Yu kept hidden in a small box behind the curtain. No reason to point that out now, though, he thought with a shrug.
"How many times am I going to have to say it? I'm looking for-Paydirt!" Hanamura pulled out the sought after box which contained various knick-knacks in addition to the elusive 'stash.' "I knew you had to have some stuff hidden around here somewhere. It was actually pretty smart to hide the magazines in the box with all of this junk. You wouldn't want Nanako to find them by accident, after all."
"Uh, Yosuke…" Maybe he should explain first. After all, he didn't know how Yosuke was going to react. Finding out your best friend was actually bisexual was one thing. Finding out via a gay porn collection was another.
"Relax dude. I'm just curious as to… what… you're into?..." Yosuke had already picked up the first magazine before Yu could stop him. The silver haired boy could see Yosuke was starting to sweat a little.
"Is there a problem? You look awfully red."
Yosuke swallowed. "Well, I mean, that, did Kanji bring some stuff over here one day and leave it by mistake?"
"What does Kanji have to do with this?" He honestly didn't get the connection. Kanji had told him he didn't keep porn, after all.
"Dude, I mean, dudes." Yosuke stuttered.
" 'Dudes'?" Yu questioned. Yes, some of them looked effeminate, but seriously, it was pretty obvious what the main theme was.
"They're all dudes!" Yosuke finally spit out, waving the magazine in Yu's face.
Yu simply blinked. "And?"
"What?! Are you telling me, after all this time, you're into other guys?" Yosuke looked shocked, to say the least. Yu was very pleased to note he looked more embarrassed than disgusted.
The other boy replied flatly. "I don't discriminate based on gender."
"What the hell kind of response is that?"
Instead of responding to the comment, Yu brought up something he had noticed earlier. "…You look awfully embarrassed."
Yosuke's blush deepened. "I'm not! I mean, it's not that big a deal, right? It just would have been nice to know since we're so close, you know!?" Yosuke snapped. He cleared his throat and tried to be a little more calm, placing the magazine back in the box. "A-Anyway, if you don't discriminate based on gender, why are there just guys?!"
Narukami really didn't feel like divulging the location of the other box, so he told a different truth. "I was hoping to try some of those."
"With who exactly?!" Despite the accusatory tone, Yosuke was still blushing rather fiercely.
Yu decided, based on the fact that Yosuke seemed a little too flustered to be indifferent to it, that it was now or never. "You."
Yosuke, however, had started talking again before his friend could reply. "'Cause Kanji's dating Naoto now and… what?" He trailed off, sounding confused.
"I said it clearly."
There was a beat of silence. They stared at each other for a few moments as tough trying to read each other's thoughts. Yosuke was still reeling a little from the revelation, so his thoughts were mostly in a whirl. On the other hand, Yu was feeling pretty calm and pleased with the whole situation, and was feeling confident enough about how well he knew Yosuke to assume that there was more than surprise making the other guy flushed. "The only thing that isn't clear here is your thinking! Hey, what are you doing?" Yosuke asked as his friend started moving closer.
"Is it really so bad?"
"What, yes, no, what?" It was clear the boy had no idea how he was supposed to answer as he took a step backwards and away from his friend. "Yu, I think you need to take a step back. That's the wrong direction!" he snapped as the city boy continued to walk closer.
He simply smiled that serene smile which, to the now hopelessly confused Yosuke, looked more demonic at the moment. "Not really," he replied calmly, taking another step forward.
Yosuke reflexively stepped back again, which proved to be a mistake as he hit the edge of the bed and fell on top of it. He quickly sat up again as Yu started to close the remaining distance.
Just as he was about to attempt to escape, the Hanamura boy was distracted by a dull thumping noise. It sounded like a door shutting. Thinking this might be his chance, Yosuke blurted, "I think I heard someone downstairs."
"I won't be listening to any excuses." His expression didn't change as he essentially blocked the other boy's only exit.
Yosuke made one finel, feeble attempt. He was being honest, but he got the feeling that Yu was being honest about not listening to excuses. "No, I'm serious, maybe Nanako came back for something. Yu, did you bring me here with this in mind all along?" He asked as Yu leaned over him. He tried to scoot backwards and put a little distance between them, but with some clever maneuvering Narukami managed to get him flat on his back.
As Yu held himself over Yosuke, he replied with a simple, "Yes."
Yosuke wasn't sure whether to be nervous or exasperated. "Why don't you even try to deny it?!" At this point, Yu very carefully lifted the cord to his headphones and rubbed it between his fingers. "Hey!" If he kept that up, he was going to ruin the headphones. Yosuke shook his head. He had bigger concerns right now than the condition of his headphones, didn't he!?
"Do you really dislike the idea?" Yu asked, moving his fingers to the brunette's shirt collar. He had yet to say 'stop' or try to push him away, after all.
"…" Yosuke remained silent, not sure if he really even wanted to answer.
Dojima rubbed the back of his neck as he walked through the front door. Even if he had a headache, he was grateful his face was intact. Rise had some wicked fingernails, and it had been almost impossible to keep her away from Teddie until she calmed down. Now he just wanted to sit down to a nice dinner and pretend his nephew's friends were normal. "Hey, Yu," he called as the boy came down the stairs. "Oh, hello Yosuke," he added in surprise when the Hanamura boy followed his nephew.
The boy smiled in greeting, though it turned into more of a wince as the boy walked past him awkwardly. "Hello, Dojima-san," he muttered as he tried to pick up his shoes.
Dojima, for the sake of his headache, decided not to delve into why Yosuke was acting so strangely. "Are you leaving already, Yosuke? I'm sure Nanako made enough to feed you too," he offered more out of courtesy than anything.
"I appreciate it, sir, but I think I'm going to eat out," the boy replied quickly.
"Yeah, Uncle. I think it will be a while before Yosuke is in the mood for a 'sit-down' meal," Yu elaborated. The bizarre smile that Dojima had noticed earlier seemed to have intensified since he left.
If looks could kill, Dojima would have had to arrest Yosuke for glaring daggers at his nephew. "Bastard," he hissed as he finally got his shoes tied.
Headache or not, this was getting to be a bit too suspicious. "Boys, did I miss something important?"
"Not really. See you tomorrow night, Yosuke," Yu called as the boy headed out the front door.
The teen half shouted, half whined as Yu closed the door behind him. "Does it have to be so soon?"