Title: "Twice Celebrated"

Author: Agony-Howl

Summary: Souji decides to not only get something for his best friend's birthday, but also make up for last year. There are, however, a few complications.

Pairings: Seta/Hana

Disclaimer: NOT MINE!!!!

Rating: T for colorful language

WARNING!!! This story contains shonen-ai with a hint at shojo-ai! Stop reading if you don't like either! There's also spoilers for the True ending.

Before I begin…I was just sitting around, trying to finish Kanji's dungeon for the second time and get out of my writer's block when I realized that a certain someone had a birthday today. And I can't just let that go unnoticed!

Originally, this was supposed to take place during the storyline, but I found out that on that day you're investigating. Not much room for celebration there-so this is a year after the events.

Enjoy!

&

"Yosuke,

"After you mentioned your birth date during one of our talks, I realized I missed your birthday last year. Not that I think you were thinking about it either-with making sure Rise was alright, we all pretty much had other things on our minds.

"Still, I don't think that's much of an excuse. So, to make it up to you, I sent a gift for this year to you. The other one will take longer to arrive, so you'll have to bear with me.

"Happy birthday and enjoy!-Souji"

&

Yosuke put down the letter and looked over at the brown paper-wrapped package that came with. Picking it up, he found it was actually pretty light. It was flexible, too. 'Just what did you send, Souji?' he wondered.

There were two sides to the enigma that was Souji Seta. One that nearly everyone saw was a calm, composed high school student. The other was one that very few saw-a high school student who had quirky tendencies and an odd sense of humor.

"Question is, which one sent this?" Yosuke asked himself. Cautiously, he tore off the brown paper to reveal-

"A Moron's Guide to Dating in Ten Easy Steps."

The brunette threw the book across the room. "Thanks a lot, Souji!" He shouted.

"Yosuke? Is something wrong?" His mother's voice called up.

"…No. It's nothing…" he sighed.

"…Alright…" she didn't sound convinced.

The third-year spotted something sticking out of the book. Pulling it out, he read;

"Wait until August."

'Just what is he planning?' Yosuke wondered. 'Hopefully, it isn't like what he sent me today…'

&

The wait for August seemed unbearable for the music loving teen. On one hand, he was curious about what Souji was going to do next. But on the other, after being sent the guide book he was dreading what he might get next.

It didn't get any better as he was thinking more and more about the silver haired teen. He recalled fondly about the year they spent along with the rest of the Investigation team solving the murder mystery that plagued Inaba and later fighting Izanami the day before he left. So much had happened that year both good and bad, but he wouldn't trade it all for anything.

But when he started remembering Souji, Yosuke would recall more than he was comfortable knowing. Like the rare times the normally straight-faced teen would smile or the way his gray eyes seemed to shine when he was happy. Or the times when they had fought and-

-hugged.

That last one was what kept bugging the brunette. He remembered the day well-he had asked Souji to come with him to the bank of the Samegawa river just to talk. Yet instead of that, he ended up spilling his guts and the tears he had held back since Saki Konishi's death had welled up. While he was crying he had felt arms wrap protectively yet loosely around him.

'That dumbass…' Yosuke thought as the teacher dismissed the class for the day-tomorrow, summer vacation would begin. 'Why'd he do that anyway?'

Pi Pi Pi Pi Pi Pi

A text message. He took out his phone and opened it up:

"Come up to the hill overlooking town-Souji."

The brunette was confused, but he decided to head up there anyways.

&

It took Yosuke ten minutes to head up the hill. When he got up, he didn't find anything.

Probably because a pair of hands went over his eyes.

"Guess who?"

He knew that voice.

"…Souji?" he asked incredulously. His vision was unblocked and he turned to face his amused friend. "What are you doing here?"

"I took Uncle Dojima's advice and told my parents about everything that happened here." Souji explained. "They agreed I could spend summer vacation here. And the school I go to let everyone out yesterday, so I arrived not too long ago."

"Really? Dude, that's awesome!" Yosuke grinned. "Have you told anyone else yet?"

"Not yet-I had to do something."

"Something…?" He remembered the letter. "Wait-the other thing you talked about in the letter…is this it?"

Souji nodded and smiled. "Happy Belated!" he announced.

Yosuke couldn't help but laugh. "Good to see you're as quirky as always, Partner." He joked. "So, where should we go nex-"

Loud shouts and whoops broke in as a group of guys around college age stampeded in. Luckily they went passed the two younger males, but not without one of them shoving roughly past Souji. This threw him off balance and led him to falling forward.

Right into Yosuke.

Brown eyes widened as he felt soft lips touch his own and-as his back hit the ground-a warm body landed on top of him. Different feelings swam around inside him-shock, confusion…and something else.

It wasn't exactly a bad feeling-despite his stomach tying itself into knots, his heart beating frantically, and his head starting to get light, he felt like he was on Cloud Nine. This was a moment he wished would last.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't.

Souji broke away and scrambled off the brunette, pulling his knees in and placing his head between them while taking long, deep breaths. Yosuke got up in a daze, his face flushing. He raised a shaky hand to his lips. 'What…the Hell was that?' he turned to his best friend, who was still curled up. "Souji? Are you alright?" he asked, concerned.

"'m fine." His voice was muffled. Yet his fingers curled tighter around his legs, turning pale.

"Umm…about what happened…it doesn't have to change anything!" the brunette tried without success. "I-I mean you probably don't swing that way!"

Souji muttered something.

"…Huh? I can't hear you." The silver-haired teen began to slowly uncurl until his face showed.

The music loving teen was caught off guard by the look on his partner's face. Souji was flushed and the whites of his eyes were pink. Something shiny trailed from his eyes down his cheeks. Yosuke realized with a start that he had been crying.

And 'Souji' and 'crying' didn't go together.

"Souji, calm down…What happened was an accident…" he said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah…it was…" Souji spoke calmly. Yet something about his tone signaled to his partner that something was up.

Yosuke Hanamura was by no means a genius. He scored well enough to move up a grade and that was it. Last year he would resort to asking Souji for the answers to most questions when called on by a teacher. And he was a bit dense with some things. But there were times where he knew exactly what was going on.

"…Souji?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you…gay?"

Souji grimaced. "Guess the cat's out of the bag." He muttered.

"So," Yosuke continued cautiously. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Why do you think?" Gray eyes turned to face the other male.

"…Oh." The brunette remembered the events in the bath house-when he had pretty much shouted at Kanji's Shadow that he "didn't swing that way." However, instead of backing away from his friend, he scooted over. "But you know…I don't mind."

Souji looked at him with confusion.

"I mean, you accepted me after you saw the hateful part of me." Yosuke explained. "To turn away from you after doing that just because you like guys…I'd have to be a real asshole to do that."

He was relieved when Souji wiped the tears away-he looked like he was calming down a bit. "Sorry if I got a bit freaked out, but I thought you'd know that. Me and everyone else…we'll be with you no matter what. After everything you've done…I don't think anyone would turn you away."

Souji smiled. "And here I thought I was the one who was supposed to be doing the cheering up." He commented.

"Dude, is that all you got to say after I helped out!?" The brunette admonished playfully. "Remind me next time to just leave you to sulk!"

"I won't have to because there won't BE a next time!" Souji proclaimed.

Yosuke smiled despite trying his best to glare at his partner. He was glad that Souji was back to his old self. Even though he was still trying to adjust to this new piece of information he found, it seemed things were going back to how they used to.

But something still bothered him.

"Souji, can I ask you something?" he began slowly.

"Why do you need my permission?" Souji joked. "Ask away."

"Back there…I don't know why, but I think I felt something." The music loving teen explained. "I'm not joking about this…but could we try it again? Just to make sure…"

The confusion on Souji's face faded. He allowed a small smile to appear. "Sure-anytime you want to stop, let me know." He faced the brunette and leaned forward.

Yosuke did the same until their lips met. The same feeling from before had returned-this time he knew exactly what it was and he started to welcome it.

He pulled away reluctantly after a minute. His face heated up as he spoke. "There was definitely something." He admitted. "So…what does this mean?"

"Well, I felt something too." Souji said. "Maybe…we're a…"

"Probably."

Silence.

"This is going to take getting used to." Yosuke spoke up. "I mean, until a few minutes ago I was pretty sure I was only interested in girls."

"We do have the whole break." Souji pointed out. "And we can keep in touch afterwards."

"That's true…" he agreed. "By the way, Souji?"

"Yes?"

"This was WAY better than the book you got me."

&

Yay! Done

And since it's eleven p.m., I'm going to leave editing until tomorrow!