Title: "Last Days"
Author: Agony-Howl
Summary: When the unthinkable happens, the Investigation team is on high alert. As they prepare for the killer to strike, Yosuke tries to figure out his feelings towards his partner and what he meant by "Today may be your last."
Pairings: Seta/Hana with Chi/Yuki on the sidelines. Flame me not!
Disclaimer: Only this story is mine.
Rating: T for language-not something I'd expect for an M rated game.
WARNING!!! There will be shonen-ai and shojo-ai. So if you don't like it, then don't read or flame me!
Before I begin… The last chapter was supposed to have romance, but when I was writing it I ended up writing about what the other characters were thinking.
Anyways, the story returns in this chapter with another nightmare. And that's about it.
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…So do whatever it takes
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life
Let nothing stand in your way
'Cause the hands of time are never on your side…
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-------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Torment"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why did I come out here in the rain again?" Yosuke grumbled, switching the umbrella to his left arm to give his right arm a break. Leaning on the fence, he looked over the town. He had wanted some time on his own, so he had told Rise that his shift ended later. A grimace crossed his face. 'And I'm supposed to be scared of being alone.' He recalled what his Shadow had said.
"You don't have the guts to take a step towards him."
Those words kept repeating in his mind. 'What did he mean by that?' he wondered. 'I'm not so scared I wouldn't take a step towards my best friend.' But the more he tried to figure it out, the more the answer seemed to elude him.
"…found him." A familiar voice spoke, relief in their voice. Brown eyes turned to the speaker-the same person he had been thinking about.
"Souji? What are you doing out here? And in the rain?" he asked.
The silver haired teen frowned. "I'd like to ask the same of you." He said coolly. "Your disappearing act scared everyone to death-we thought the killer got you."
"I..wanted some time on my own…" Yosuke said. "There's something that's been bugging me for awhile, but I don't even know what it is."
Souji walked over and stood next to his best friend. "So why did you come here instead of going home? Thinking is better when you're not getting rained on-at least that's what I think."
"Actually, I don't know why I came here." The brunette leaned forward. "…I hated this place when I first came to Inaba. You can tell how small the town is from here. But looking at it now…it's a nice town." He smiled sadly.
"Are you still sad about Saki-senpai?" Souji asked quietly.
"Kind of..." Yosuke admitted. "I want to tell Saki-Senpai something-that what's important…isn't who you are." He turned his gaze back to Inaba. "This town I hated so much? Now, I love it. There's still nothing here, but I have my family and friends…" he paused for a moment. "…and you."
Souji's gray eyes widened slightly and he gripped the fence for a moment before relaxing. The brunette wondered about this while he continued. "The important things are never far off…they're all around you." His face heated with embarrassment.
His partner was quiet, wordlessly telling him to go on. This reminded Yosuke of one time a teacher was talking about how genders communicated in different ways. When it came to problems, guys tried to solve them while girls just wanted someone to listen. Yet the fact that he was doing the latter didn't bother him right now.
"I always wanted to be 'special.' I thought my life'd finally have meaning if I was 'special' to someone." He looked down. "But I didn't really need it…It's not what you have or what you can do. Just being born, living your life…Before you know it, you're already special to someone."
"That's true." Souji agreed, encouraging him.
Yosuke smiled. "Yeah…Like you…You're special to me, you know?" As soon as he finished saying this, he realized how much it could be taken in a different way. 'Why did I say something like that?' he wondered. 'Damn…I hope he doesn't get the wrong idea.'
He started heading down the hill. "Anyways, I'd better get back to my place." His voice was shaky. "I've been out long enough in the rain."
Souji walked down with him. "True…you'd better get home before you catch a cold." He commented.
They walked down together in silence.
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Evening
Yosuke was lying on the futon, staring blankly at the ceiling. While he and Souji had walked home, he had taken the time to sort out his feelings.
He already knew that he came to look forward to his time with Souji-whether it be having lunch or hanging out somewhere. And whenever he needed to get something off his chest, the first person he'd think of was his partner.
But until today, he had just assumed it was because Souji had seen the worst part of him and didn't push him away. Something like that definitely helped someone trust another person more than anyone else, he reasoned.
Now that he was thinking about it, however, while they were in Naoto's dungeon a Shadow had knocked Souji down and would've finished him off if Yosuke hadn't taken the hit. Thankfully it was a wind attack, so he was able to withstand it a bit. But when Souji had later chastised him for his recklessness, he looked extremely relieved.
'Rise-chan did mention that he was keeping an eye on me whenever we were fighting.' He recalled. And at the same time…he didn't want anything bad to happen to his partner. 'That's because we're friends, of course!' he reminded himself angrily.
And he felt warm inside when Souji had hugged him.
'…That's not something just for friends.' That thought was all it took-now he was starting to think of what he really felt about the silver haired teen. His heart was starting to speed up-he vaguely remembered it did this before when he asked Souji to help him out at Junes. "Do I…really have those feelings for him?" he asked out loud this time.
The fact he didn't feel disgusted was probably another sign that he may have strong feelings for his best friend. But he had to make sure first…
Brown eyes closed as he visualized Souji and him together-holding hands while they walked. The scene became more intimate as it went on. Instead of holding hands, they were embracing and drawing closer for a-
He opened his eyes.
Not once in the entire scene did Yosuke feel like stopping. He actually felt…
"I really do like him that way." He murmured aloud. "But…if I tell him…" he shook his head. "I can't risk it. It's not worth what we have right now."
&
Meanwhile
Souji arrived home to the usual "welcome home" from Nanako and a more unusual guest. Granted, Toru Adachi-Dojima's partner-wasn't exactly odd save for his obsession with cabbage, but he wasn't often seen around the Dojima residence.
The disheveled male looked up in surprise. "Oh, it's you Souji." He commented. "Dojima-san wanted me over for dinner after solving the recent case."
"Case?" Souji asked. Besides the murders, he couldn't think of anything else the police would have their hands full with. And since they thought that Mitsuo Kubo was the killer, they wouldn't bother with the murders anymore.
"Well, the reporters are going to get the story out later. Apparently the guy who vandalized part of the Junes electronics department was messing up more than some merchandise." Adachi explained. "He was going after some of the part-time employees and…I don't want to say anything else around Nanako-chan, but you probably get what I'm talking about."
"I do." Souji replied, not wanting to say anymore around his younger cousin either. "But why was he doing it? Didn't he hate Junes?"
"He does-but according to him, he was pissed off at how high schoolers acted. Like they didn't have a single care in the world. So he wanted to 'show them how harsh reality really was.' Goes to show there really are some twisted people in the world."
"Adachi! Quit running your mouth!" Dojima scolded as he walked into the living room. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"Sorry, sir!" the younger detective apologized as his partner got dinner out of the fridge.
As they ate, Souji thought about what Adachi said and what had happened a week ago. 'So the stalker was probably the guy he was talking about.' He realized. 'Yosuke does fit the victim profile-on the outside, at least.' On the inside was a different story-he knew his friend was still suffering from the death of someone close to him, even if he didn't show it. And he was helping to track down the killer while saving people in another world. 'Good thing the shock kept him from moving too much-if he had gone after that sick bastard…' He didn't want to think about what could happen to the brunette, so he turned his thoughts to other things.
Tomorrow was going to be raining as well, so the fog would come the day after. Souji found it strange that the killer had not made a move to kidnap Yosuke. Normally, he would get the intended victim weeks before the rain came. 'Then again,' Souji thought. 'Yosuke's been out of his home most of the time. And according to Naoto, he went up to the victim's door and announced his presence in some way before taking them away.' Still, he couldn't let his guard down until the fog came and went.
&
"No…Stop…"
Teddie woke up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Who's there?" he whispered before realizing who the voice belonged to. "Yosuke?" he crept over to the teen's room, where he was tossing and turning.
"Don't go…"
The bear remembered something like this had happened the night before. So that meant Yosuke was dreaming about the girl he was trying to-
"Souji…Please…"
Teddie's ears perked up. 'Why is he dreaming about Sensei?' he wondered. 'I thought he said he was dreaming about a girl dating someone else. Unless Sensei is dating the girl…'
"Don't go…Souji…" Yosuke's voice was getting more desperate, like the outcome he didn't want was coming closer.
Now it was clear that he was definitely lying about last night. All this time, he had been having nightmares that had to do with Souji leaving. Noticing that the brunette seemed in pain, Teddie went over to his futon and tried to nudge him awake. "Wake up, Yosuke." He whispered. "You're having a nightmare."
The mumbling stopped, but now he was breathing hard. No matter what Teddie did, he wouldn't wake up. But he kept trying, not wanting to see one of his friends suffer.
Suddenly, Yosuke shot up with a gasp. There were tears gathering in his eyes and his breathing had yet to even out. He looked over at Teddie. "Ted, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"You were saying stuff in your sleep again." Teddie explained before remembering what he found out. "And you lied about what you were dreaming about last night, didn't you?"
"Huh? What makes you say that?" Yosuke asked.
"You were saying Sensei's name and asking him not to go." Teddie pointed out. "So there must be something going on between you and him."
Brown eyes glared at him. "There's nothing going on!" He snapped. "Dreams are meant to be abstract-they have different meanings from what happens in them. Now go back to sleep, Teddie!"
Teddie retreated from his room as fast as he could. When he returned to his own, he sighed. "I know for sure there's something going on between him and Sensei." He said out loud, as if confirming it. "But I can't do anything about it. So that means that Sensei's the only one who can help him." He thought for a bit before smiling. "I've got it! I'll tell Sensei what's going on tomorrow!"
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Early Morning: October 24, 2011
"The rain doesn't seem to be letting up this morning." Yosuke murmured as he looked outside. "Tomorrow's probably going to be foggy. And there's no sign of the killer either." Despite how much things were looking up, he still grabbed his glasses and kunai and hid them in his pockets.
His nightmare from last night still haunted him. It had been the same as the one before, but his Shadow's words were different:
"Even when you've finally figured it out, you're too terrified to even take a step towards him."
"What AM I terrified of!?" Yosuke muttered angrily to himself. "My best friend was about to die! Why would I be so scared I wouldn't go to save him!?"
It didn't help that he now knew he had feelings for Souji either. On one hand, he wanted to tell the silver haired teen about it so badly and hope that he would feel the same. But on the other hand, he didn't want something like this to ruin their steady bond.
"I can't tell him." Yosuke told himself firmly. "It'll be better this way-He'll never know."
Picking up his bag and an umbrella, he went out the door and was about to step into the rain when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He stopped, one hand reaching into his pocket for-
A hand with a cloth was pressed over his mouth and nose. The other arm went around his shoulders to restrain his movement. Alarm bells seemed to be ringing in his mind as he reached one hand up to pull off the one held over his mouth. His other hand went into his pocket to grab one of the kunai. His captor tugged him backwards, heading into the rain. Everything before him was darkening and his limbs were getting weaker as whatever drug was on the cloth went into his body. His struggling began to cease as he headed into unconsciousness.
'Senpai...Souji…'
Yosuke stopped struggling.
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Writer's block is a bitch!
But I finally got this done, so huzzah!
