[Summary: It's Valentine's Day, but Souji skipped class.]

[Author's notes: this kinda goes between chapters 9 and 10 of Truth In Someone Else, another fic of mine. You can probably read it without that, though. Not exactly happy with the ending but I ran out of time and I need to go to bed.]

Day 10 - Valentine's Day

Yosuke had been dreading Valentine's Day ever since he and Souji had become an item. He didn't want to see all those lovelorn girls flocking to Souji's desk with dazzling smiles and hopeful eyes to bombard him with their homemade chocolates. Heck, he wouldn't want to see that even if they weren't dating.

Well, that was the spectacle he'd expected to find when he entered Classroom 2-2 on that fateful day, anyway, but to his utter astonishment, Souji wasn't even there.

A single girl by his desk was asking Chie where 'Seta-kun' was, but Chie just shrugged. "I haven't seen him at all today!" she added.

The girl kinda frowned at Souji's desk, which had a nice little stack of chocolates on it. After a short internal debate, she added hers to the pile.

"Huh," Yosuke said after she'd left. "Where is Souji?"

"I figured you'd know," Chie said, sizing him up. "He's your boyfriend, after all. Didn't you make plans?"

The way she emphasized 'boy' in boyfriend was rather comical, but Yosuke wasn't in a humorous mood, so he ignored it. "No? I mean, what with Marie-chan, we didn't have much time."

"I can't believe you aren't going to take him on a hot date," Chie said. "At least tell me you brought him some chocolate."

"Uhh. No?"

"Yosuke." Chie was shaking her head as if he was a lost cause. "Even Kanji-kun left him some chocolates."

"Well," Yosuke said matter-of-factly, "Kanji would."

Chie gave him a flat look and turned her back on him, effectively ending the conversation. Yosuke just shrugged.

While waiting for class to start, Yosuke's gaze wandered to the empty seat in front of him. There weren't too many chocolates—he'd always imagined his partner would have a ridiculous mountain, but it wasn't that bad. That pink one looked like it was knitted... was that Kanji's?

At least tell me you brought him some chocolate.

Yosuke frowned to himself. He wasn't a girl.

But... why did he think it was okay for Kanji to give Souji chocolates when he didn't think the same regarding himself? And he knew that when Souji received Kanji's chocolate, he would think it was sweet and cute and he would be glad that Kanji was thinking of him.

It'd be much better than the nothing Yosuke was giving him.

Feeling uneasy now, Yosuke got up from his seat and exited the classroom. He wanted to see Souji now. Wanted to let him know... how he felt. He didn't need chocolate for that.

Souji was nowhere to be found, though. It was somewhat amusing to think that Souji skipped because he didn't want to have to reject so many people, but Yosuke knew he wasn't the sort of person to skip class for a weak reason like that. Even after the most harrowing TV World experiences, he was always in class the next day.

Instead of scouring the school, Yosuke sent Souji a text message asking if he was okay. It took a minute for the reply:

no.
sick.

Sick on Valentine's Day? What awful luck, but Yosuke figured it couldn't be helped. They'd nearly frozen to death in that sub-zero cabin just the other day, and yesterday they'd spent all afternoon and evening trudging through Marie's dungeon. Possibly Souji was feeling a relapse from his New Years cold.

Holding up the phone, Yosuke glanced around the hallway, as if the students rushing past him could hear the plan forming in his mind and stop him. Not a moment later he dashed down the stairs and headed out of the school.

The Dojima Residence was pretty far, all things considered, so it was good he had a bike. Fortunately the snowfall hadn't been heavy recently so the roads were mostly clear, though he had to avoid the odd late student running to class.

Honestly, he didn't care for snow, but now he had fond memories relating to it. The first snowfall on New Years, building the snow bunny with Nanako, seeing Souji in his gorgeous winter coat and scarf every day...

From that last thought alone his face was warm despite the cold wind.

Soon enough he was at the Dojima Residence. He rubbed his hands together while waiting for Souji to open the door. It reminded him of how Souji had warmed his hands with his breath on New Years Eve. Souji had been so sweet then, like the amazake. He'd never be able to think of amazake the same way now.

When Souji opened the door, he looked like he could barely stand up. He was paler than normal, which was saying something, and his nose was dripping. His puffy, bloodshot eyes widened in surprise. "Yosuke?"

"Dude, you really are sick," Yosuke said. "You should get some rest."

"I was going to," Souji said, his voice a croak. "But then someone rang the doorbell."

"S-sorry," Yosuke said, hanging his head. "I just wanted to know if you're okay."

"Well..." Souji said. "Now that you're here..." He was smiling shyly now, but then he swayed on his feet. Yosuke reached out to steady him. From there he helped walk him to the kotatsu, where, by the way the blankets were opened, he'd apparently been camped out.

"Souji!" Yosuke said. "Sleeping under the kotatsu is bad for you!"

Souji ignored him and got comfortable underneath it.

"No wonder you got sick." Yosuke shook his head. "Teddie taught you some bad habits. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him to look after you when you got sick last time."

"It's all right," Souji said, following it with a wide yawn. "If I sleep, I'll be better in no time."

"That's true..." Yosuke paused. Souji had closed his eyes and seemed ready to nod off already. "Uhh, anything I can do for you?"

One eye opened. "Mmm... water? I finished my glass."

With a nod Yosuke took his glass of water and filled it up at the kitchen sink. He placed it within Souji's reach, right next to his phone. Souji's eyes were closed again, and his breathing was steady and regular, if a little wheezy. Yosuke watched him for a moment before speaking.

"Hey, Souji?" he asked quietly. "If you're still awake."

Souji's answer was a slow, "Yeah...?"

"Happy Valentine's Day?"

"Hmmm..." Souji said. Yosuke couldn't tell if it was an answer or he was just breathing. "Is it Valentine's Day?"

"Uh yeah? Did you forget? Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't get you anything."

Souji smiled. It looked really cute with his eyes closed like that. "Mmm, you did though."

"Huh...?"

A long moment passed. "You're here," he finally said.

"G-geez," Yosuke said. "That's cheesy." But he supposed that being alone when you're sick wasn't fun. Maybe Souji appreciated that he'd been worried enough to skip school to see him.

Whatever the reason, Yosuke wouldn't know. Souji's smile faded as he drifted off to sleep.