[Author's Note: Kink Meme Prompt: Might I please have Yosuke in a situation where he is married with a child and a busy career, when his wife suddenly leaves him. Knowing Yosuke and his capacity for heartbreak, I can only imagine how hard it would be for him to juggle his job and young child (particularly if his wife held the primary caretaking role before the split), so who does he end up calling for help but his old pal Souji. What starts as a few days turns into a few weeks which turns into months and soon, Souji is living with them full time. Naturally, this is made all the more surreal by the fact that old high school attractions start cropping up.

Be warned—this story starts off rather heavy and depressing! It'll lighten up once you-know-who gets in it, but that'll take several chapters. Even so, it's a bit of an emotional roller coaster of a story with several ups and downs.

The story takes place about a dozen years after Persona 4's ending. As far as I'm aware, there aren't any big spoilers for the series. The title comes from a line in the song, 'Signs of Love.' This story is clean. It's rated T for heavy themes. I'll put warnings when appropriate.

This story will end in Yosuke/Souji, just so you know!

A Yu Narukami version is available at Dreamwidth at the following address:
angevon dot dreamwidth dot org/7831 dot html
Every 'dot' should be a '.'

Please enjoy!]

Yosuke Hanamura stared at the paper in his hands as if the single word written on it would suddenly change.

Goodbye

It was Michiko's writing. They hadn't been getting along lately, true, but he couldn't believe it was this bad. But here was proof staring him right in the face. Goodbye. Not even a number to reach her at. She'd left her cell phone right there on the kitchen table. A clean split.

Goodbye. She had always been a woman of few words, even when they'd first met all those years ago. He'd been working the food court at Junes, and she'd been visiting Inaba with one of her girlfriends, and he'd accidentally spilled a soda on her, and...

Well, no point in reminiscing now. She'd left him.

He stared up blankly at the kitchen's ceiling light. His wife had left him. She was gone. Gone. Gone...

He ripped the paper in half in sudden panic. Gone!? What if she took Kichirou!?

Hiccuping in fear, Yosuke ran to their son's room. The door was wide open, but it always was, even during the night. He trembled before the doorway, afraid to look in the room and find out, but then he heard the sounds of a video game, so he finally peeked in. His beautiful eight-year-old son, Kichirou, was on his futon, controller in hand, eyes glued to the TV screen. Another boy his age was sitting next to him, watching him play.

"Try firestorm!" the friend shouted, and Kichirou nodded and pressed some buttons.

"H-hey, Ki-kun," Yosuke said, walking into the room. "And, umm, Hiroshi-kun."

His son glanced at him very briefly before turning back to the game. "Dad! I'm on a boss! Watch me fight it!"

Yosuke smiled and joined his son on the futon, worries momentarily set aside. He put his arm around the boy's shoulder affectionately, and the boy leaned into him, eyes still focused on the screen. Such a good kid...

He looked at the screen, too. They were playing some sort of role-playing game. The boss was an octopus-looking thing that had attacked the ship his party was on. If it was a monster from the ocean, though, it should be weak to... "Try Zio," Yosuke suggested. "Err, I mean... thunder?"

"How did you know?" Kichirou exclaimed when the attack worked well. "Have you played this before, Dad?"

"Lucky guess," Yosuke replied with a small smile. Some games were quite predictable.

He stayed with the boys until the boss fight was won. He stayed for the cutscene afterward, too, but used the opportunity to look at his son. Kichirou had inherited Yosuke's floppy hair, the color a dark brown in hue, almost black. His eyes were dark, too, taking after his mother. He definitely had a Hanamura face, but his button nose was from the Furusawa side of the family. It was hard to say at his age whether he'd grow up gangly like Yosuke or more elegant like Michiko.

"Whoa!" Kichirou whispered, a sound echoed by Hiroshi. Yosuke blinked at the screen. The giant octopus was sinking the ship in its death throes. The screen faded and then the main character was stranded on a beach somewhere, all alone. While Kichirou was accessing the save menu, Yosuke asked if he'd seen his mother lately.

The boy frowned. "No, Dad. Have you checked her room?"

'Her' room. Sure, Yosuke had been sleeping on the living room couch for the last week, but... it was still their room... Mom and Dad's room...

"R-right..." Yosuke didn't bother to check, knowing she wouldn't be there. He'd just wanted to find out if she'd told Kichirou that she was leaving. Apparently not. That was probably for the best, but that meant he had to tell him.

He felt the shortness of breath that signaled panic welling up within him, so he left the room before the boys could see it. How the hell was he going to explain this to Kichirou? Yeah, Mom's gone. I guess she doesn't love us anymore. N-no, of course she still loves you, Ki- kun...

He made his way back to the kitchen. He crumpled the torn halves of the note she'd left and stuffed them in the trash can. With the evidence out of sight, maybe he could pretend it had never been there. Oh, Mom must have gone out for the night with some friends. I'm sure she'll be back later.

Yosuke frowned to himself. Where had she gone? His first guess was her parents' place, so he called them. Yosuke wasn't on bad terms with his in-laws; he was sure they'd be willing to talk to him, even if she'd told them not to.

"Furusawa-san? It's, umm..."

"Hanamura-san? Hello." It was Michiko's father. He didn't sound angry or anything... mostly puzzled at the sudden call. Yosuke took that as a good sign.

"Has Michiko talked to you lately?" Yosuke tried.

"We haven't heard from her since you stayed over during the holiday. Is there something we should be aware of?" The holiday he mentioned was Golden Week, which had been over a month ago.

She left me. "Oh, no. We're doing fine." Yosuke mentally cursed himself. That didn't sound suspicious at all! He groped for an explanation for the call and his eyes alighted on the cell phone Michiko had left on the kitchen table. "Uh, what I meant was, she's getting a new phone! So you might get a call from a strange number."

"You could tell us the new number now," his father-in-law suggested.

"O-oh! W-well, she hasn't bought it yet, so... I didn't think of that! I'll, uh, just call you back when we have it, haha... Sorrytobotheryou."

"Wait—" he heard on the other line before hanging up.

He stood hunched over the table, breathing heavily to try and calm himself down. He mopped the sweat from his brow with nervous fingers. So. She hadn't told her parents. Yosuke had no idea where she was. One of her friends, maybe?

She hadn't been cheating on him, had she...?

He didn't want to think about it.

He realized that in his anxiety he hadn't changed from his work clothes. He'd immediately seen Michiko's note and it had completely thrown off his 'I'm home from work' routine. There was no need to continue wearing a suit and tie here in the comfort of his own home. He changed into more casual clothes—khaki pants and a dress shirt. He didn't wear v-neck t-shirts anymore; Michiko preferred him to dress somewhat nicely, even at home. It was sad, really, because he liked having his collarbone exposed. He thought it one of his better features.

After changing, he turned his attention to a more immediate concern: it was already past 7 pm. He wasn't hungry, but Kichirou would need to eat something. He opened the fridge and stared mindlessly at its contents. He wouldn't be able to focus on cooking. Hell, when was the last time he'd cooked anything more than instant ramen, anyway?

A half-and-half teriyaki chicken and shrimp pizza from the local pizzeria was sounding more and more appetizing. He called up and ordered delivery. He told the kids and they were so excited to have pizza that he cheered up a little bit. "Yeah, you can stay, too, Hiroshi-kun," he told Kichirou's friend. "If your parents are okay with it."

"You're awesome, Hanamura-san!" Hiroshi replied, and Kichirou giggled at his friend. "Pizzaaaaaa~!"

His cheer evaporated when he returned to the kitchen to wait for the delivery. They were going to eat dinner without Michiko. Both of the boys were going to ask why. "She's not feeling well," he mumbled to himself, practicing the excuse so it would sound more natural. "She's resting in her room. Don't worry, I'll make sure she eats something." He repeated it a couple more times, wondering if he could convince himself that it was true before deciding that sort of thinking would lead him down an even darker path.

There was a knock on the door and he couldn't help but pray that it was his wife returning, but she would've had a key. With a resigned sigh, he pulled out his wallet, opened the door, paid for the pizza, and took it inside.

He set the box down on the kitchen table, washed his hands at the kitchen sink, and then pulled out some plates and napkins from the cabinets and called the kids in. "Pizza's here! Go wash your hands!"

The boys gathered around the kitchen table, hovering over the pizza box, just waiting for him to open it. It was always an exciting moment to a kid, huh? The opening of a pizza box.

He threw the box open with an exaggerated flourish and they all looked eagerly inside. He hadn't told them what kind he'd ordered so it was quite a surprise to them.

While they marveled, he stared at the half-shrimp, half-teriyaki chicken pizza. Despair almost swallowed him when he realized he didn't even like shrimp pizza; he'd ordered that because that's what Michiko always ordered for herself and he'd made the thoughtless assumption that she'd be here to eat it with him...

"Are you okay, Dad?" Kichirou asked, concern in the boy's voice.

Yosuke blinked rapidly. "Oh. Y-yeah! I just realized I forgot to get drinks." He went and opened the fridge, then looked back at the boys. "You guys mind The Natural? I think we also have some Orange Smash in the cabinet, but it wouldn't be cold."

"Aww, I like Orange Smash." Hiroshi pouted. "But The Natural is okay, too."

"Ki-kun?" Yosuke asked, since the boy hadn't answered.

"Whatever you're having, Dad!"

When the pizza had been served, Kichirou asked the question he'd been dreading. "Isn't Mom going to eat?" Yosuke had only set out three plates. Kichirou looked at Hiroshi's plate as if wondering whether his friend had usurped his mother's place at the table.

"She's not feeling well," Yosuke recited crisply. "Don't worry, I'll take care of her. I always do!"

Kichirou frowned. "Poor Mom... We can save some pizza for her, right?"

"Y-yeah..." Yosuke set some of the shrimp pizza aside and wrapped it up in plastic wrap, then put it in the fridge. Heck, maybe she would come home later tonight... Maybe she'd realize she'd made a mistake in leaving...

The boys devoured the remaining pizza in record speed. Yosuke only had one slice, and, lost in his melancholy, took forever to eat it. After he'd cleaned the few dishes they'd used, it was time to walk Hiroshi home. He apologized to the boy's parents for allowing him to stay so late, but they didn't seem to mind since Hiroshi had called them. They trusted the Hanamuras. Kichirou was often trusted with them, too.

On the walk back home, Yosuke held his son's hand and listened while the boy animatedly told him about the video game he'd been playing earlier. Yosuke made an effort to pay attention even though the game's story, like in most role-playing games, seemed quite convoluted. "So now you're looking for your sister, huh?"

"Yeah, we found everyone else on the beach. Even the space dog!"

Yosuke didn't have much time to play video games anymore, especially not the sort of long-winded story-based games his son enjoyed. But he definitely remembered getting invested in a game's story before. There was one where the main character's love interest had been killed, and...

He talked with his son, guessing at how he'd find the main character's sister until they reached the house. Yosuke paused upon unlocking the door, foolishly hoping Michiko would be home, watching TV on the couch like she usually would be doing at this hour...

Of course she wasn't. After Kichirou had used the bathroom, Yosuke sat on the couch and turned on the TV, inviting his son to sit with him. He turned the channel to the weather report. He hadn't lived in Inaba since he'd married, but it was still a habit. Seemed like it was going to be cloudy, matching his heavy heart. Then he changed it to the quiz show. They had a good time playing it, but it was awkward without Michiko. She was an expert at it, much like a certain little girl in Inaba had been.

With the show over, it was time to give Kichirou a bath. This had always been Yosuke's job, ever since the boy was a baby. It had been his primary way of bonding with his son, too. Kichirou was probably old enough to start taking them on his own now, but... then he'd lose that precious bonding time. And Kichirou still loved bath time with him, so...

The two of them had a lot of fun with the bath toys, especially the shark and the tyrannosaurus rex. Then Yosuke brought out a toy boat and they reenacted the octopus attack from the video game.

When bath time was over, Yosuke dried himself and his son with a towel and then changed Kichirou into his pajamas and put him to bed in his futon. He pulled the Featherman-themed sheets all the way up to the boy's chin. "Goodnight, Kichirou." He kissed the boy's forehead. "I love you very much."

"Love you too, Dad... Tell Mom I love her too..."

Yosuke tried not to look stricken. "Of course..."

He turned off the lights and left the room, wiping his eyes at the deception. He wouldn't be able to hide it from the boy for very long. If Michiko didn't come back soon... What was he going to do?

Without his son to ward them off, his thoughts turned to his wife and the grief he was holding back. He knew she hadn't been happy with him. But this unhappy? To leave without a word? To leave without any of her belongings?

He entered their bedroom. All of her clothes were in her drawers and her shoes in the closet, and all of her jewelry still in the jewelry box.

He toyed with what had once been her favorite necklace, one he'd bought for her years ago when their marriage was still young. It was a small string of pearls with a flower-shaped pendant studded with tiny opals. He couldn't remember the last time she'd worn it for him.

He tore himself away from the dresser and forced himself to change into his nightclothes. He hesitated before getting in their big, Western-style bed—maybe he should sleep on the couch again— but ended up crawling under the covers. He laid on his side and closed his eyes, thinking of his missing wife.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Yosuke babbled. He tried to wipe the spilled soda off of the girl's dress with the nearest rag, but he'd recently used it to clean the food court's tables so it wasn't a clean rag, and...

"Can't you tell you're only making it worse?" the girl's friend complained. "We'll take care of this ourselves."

"N-no, it's my fault," Yosuke protested. "Come on, I'll make it right. I promise!" He pulled the unresisting girl to her feet and dragged her to the stockroom, where he grabbed a bunch of paper towels and continued to try and dry her off. Of course she'd been wearing a white dress and he'd spilled a brown, syrupy soda all over her. "Damn, that dress is ruined... I'm so sorry! Wait here, I'll be right back!"

He rushed to the women's clothing department and found a dress approximately the same size and brought it back to her.

"Here, put this on!" he told her, holding out the dress.

The girl just looked at him.

Maybe ordering her to change in the stockroom was a bit weird... "Umm, umm, I'll go outside and close the door!" He pushed the dress into her hands and immediately left the room. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously while he waited outside the door.

A few minutes later, she stepped out of the stockroom wearing the new dress. It was a coffee- cream colored affair with a white sash and little white ribbons on the shoulders and chest. The color really set off her dark eyes. Her soft black hair was in a little disarray after pulling the dress over her head. Despite that, she was pretty cute...

It also filled out her form rather well, considering Yosuke hadn't put any thought into picking it out for her. He'd just been working on automatic.

He blushed at noticing that and shook his head. "Ah, ah, I'm sorry again. That dress is yours to keep." He bowed humbly with his hands drawn together in supplication, as if he was asking his friend Chie not to kick him after breaking one of her DVDs.

The girl's eyes widened.

"It's on me," he told her. "It was my fault, after all."

"Michiko! What are you—Oh!" The girl's friend had arrived, probably wondering what was taking her so long to return to the food court. "Well, good!" she huffed after taking in the sight of the new dress. "I guess Junes knows what good customer service is after all! Come, Micchan, we're going to be late!" She pulled on the girl's arm and dragged her away.

Yosuke watched the girls leave with some regret. There went his paycheck for the day, and he couldn't even say he'd made a satisfied customer out of it. The girls hadn't bought anything, after all, except that soda he'd spilled. And he couldn't tell if she was happy with the new dress, either...

He curled up into the fetal position on the bed. He still remembered that astonished look in her eyes when he'd said she could keep the dress. A memory so crystal-clear, it was like it had happened only yesterday.

It hadn't been love at first sight or anything—he wasn't a complete sap—but when he'd seen her again a week later, and she was wearing the same dress he'd given her... and then she'd...

He rolled over on the bed and into the depression reserved for her body. He buried his face in her pillow and breathed deeply, inhaling the remnants of her preferred perfume, a sophisticated scent he'd no longer know now that she'd left him.

He couldn't hold it back now. He wept.