Delayed Player 13

Yosuke ignored the burn in this throat. He was going to lose his voice by the end of today, he knew that much, but he didn't care.

Izanagi continued to stand over the teenagers, and Yosuke could practically feel the Persona smirking defiantly. Yosuke's fingers twitched on his twin daggers as Susano-o appeared behind him, eyes flickering with hope. Izanagi was weak to wind, and Yosuke definitely had Garu spells at his disposal.

"GARUDYNE!"

Susano-o quickly casted its attack, the blades of wind forming underneath Izanagi before rising up and cutting through the Persona, and Yosuke was satisfied when the Persona fell. The small grin that had formed on Yosuke's face quickly diminished when he heard screams of pain. He shakily turned his head, hands shaking profusely before dropping his daggers to the ground. He could feel himself pale as his heart raced with panic. What had he done? How could he have forgotten something so obvious? Izanagi was Souji's Persona, not a Shadow! Any damage dealt to Izanagi, Souji would receive it as well! Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it!

Souji was bleeding. All Yosuke could see seeping through his friend's hospital gown was blood. They had to leave. They had to leave now. Yukiko's or Teddie's Dia spells would help a tiny bit, but they wouldn't be enough. Even Diarahan wouldn't be enough. Souji needed medical attention now more than ever. That would be the only thing that could save him.

"Teddie…" Yosuke's voice was raspy, "Can…you make…another exit…?"

The blonde looked at him, "What about Izana—"

"That…doesn't…ma…tter! Hu…" the brunette gagged, coughing into his sleeve before trying to finish his sentence. He couldn't. His voice was shot. Teddie glanced at him curiously, before everyone else yelled at him, to try to open another exit as well.

"B-But I don't know where it'll—"

"Teddie, that doesn't matter right now! If you don't do this, Souji's going to die!" Chie interrupted, before glaring in Yosuke's and Izanagi's direction. The brunette couldn't tell who the stare was directed at.

The Shadow gave a shaky nod, before running to an empty space of the floor they stood on, summoning another stack of TV's for their exit. The blonde watched the screen, trying to see if anyone was on the other side. It's how they could tell when they were safe to go back through the TV into Junes. Teddie motioned for the group to say it was safe, and they immediately ran for the TV's, jumping through the screen, the waves of electricity exceedingly calmer from the other one. When they appeared on the other side, Yosuke immediately realized…that they were in his living room. He was going to yell at Teddie to grab the first aid kit, before remembering his voice was gone, so he ran to where his mom kept the kit in the bathroom cupboard. When he rushed back, he practically shoved the kit into Naoto's hands, because he had absolutely no idea what the hell to do. The look she gave him meant she probably wasn't sure either, but she wandered over to their friend, where Kanji had put him on the couch, and tried to see what she could do anyway. Chie was on her cell, and by the sounds of it, she was talking to a 911 operator.

Yosuke shut his eyes and punched a nearby wall, cursing himself. Why was he so fucking stupid? He should have realized that attacking Izanagi would hurt Souji immediately! Why hadn't he thought about it until after the damage was done? Damn it! He was such a fucking idiot! A stupid fucking idiot! Fuck!

He took a deep breath, furious tears rolling down his face. Would he ever stop crying? Would he ever stop being such an idiot? If those paramedics didn't get here in seconds flat, Yosuke would have caused his friend to die…AGAIN! Fuck fuck fuck fuck! Yosuke punched the wall again. And again. And again and again and again. He would have punched a hole through it if Kanji hadn't dragged him away and talked to him, trying to calm him down. Yosuke wasn't listening though. All he heard were the insults he thought to himself for being such an idiot. Such a stupid stupid idiot. He couldn't believe how much of an absolute idiot he was. Sliding to the ground, Yosuke started punching the floor out of frustration.

Even when his knuckles started bleeding, even when sirens were heard in the background, even when paramedics arrived to help Souji, he didn't stop punching the ground. He only stopped when a paramedic had to force him up and quickly wrapped his hands before rushing out to help Souji again. The teens were soon questioned by a couple of cops and detectives, including Adachi, who looked absolutely pale and panicked, yet the tiniest bit relieved. Naoto was the one to bullshit an answer as to how and where they found Souji, but whatever it was, Yosuke wasn't paying attention. All he could do was stare out the door where the ambulance had sped off once Souji was located inside. When police came to question him, he didn't respond. He didn't want to respond. He wanted to stay by Souji's side and apologize. He didn't care that his voice was gone; he'd force himself to talk, even if it permanently made it so he couldn't talk at all afterwards.

"Yosuke," Adachi had approached him, "can I talk to you for a second?"

The brunette stared blankly at the detective, who gave him a patient smile.

"I heard about you losing your voice. I have an extra notepad you can write on. Please, come this way." Yosuke slowly followed the older man outside, shakily accepting the notepad that was handed to him. Adachi stared with sympathy as the teenager awkwardly gripped onto the pencil with his bandaged hands. That look of sympathy suddenly turned serious, and Yosuke swore he saw a daunting smirk on the older man's face just for a second. But he was probably just imagining things. His vision was still blurry from his tears, after all.

"So, how did you and your friends manage to find Souji?"

The brunette blinked, before quickly scribbling down an answer. "Didn't Naoto tell you?"

"Yes, she did, but you were zoned out. I just want to hear what you have to say." Yosuke's eyes widened. He had absolutely no idea what Naoto had told the other detectives, and if he wasn't even close, Adachi would get suspicious. But he had to say something, otherwise Adachi would still get suspicious. Damn it, what could he do? It's like he was being tested again!

"What's the matter?" Yosuke swore he saw that smirk again.

Yosuke felt himself pale, before he quickly wrote another answer down. It was the only thing he could think of that he could say, so he was damn well going to say it. "I'm sorry. I can't remember. Once we found him, I panicked, and everything after that was a blur."

When he showed Adachi the notepad, the older man raised a questioning eyebrow, before giving a light nod. "I see." Despite the calm smile on his face, it seemed Adachi didn't believe him. The detective took back his notepad and pencil and let Yosuke go back inside, saying he was going to go to the hospital to tell Dojima the news about Souji. Yosuke honestly didn't really care what Adachi had to do or say, he just wanted Souji to be fine. He just wanted Souji to be okay. He just wanted Souji alive. When the rest of the cops left, the teenagers were awkwardly bunched around as Yukiko and Rise tried to rid of the blood that had stained Yosuke's couch. The brunette honestly didn't give a damn about the ruined furniture, and he knew his parents wouldn't give a damn either once he'd explained what had happened, so he could only glare at the girls as they fussed over the sofa. What about Souji? Why hadn't they bothered cleaning his wounds to help? They just stood there and cried!

But then again, it's not like he'd been any help either… He just made everything worse… He was always making shit worse… Why did he fail so much?

"I'm sorry, Yosuke, I don't think we can get rid of the blood…" Yukiko muttered apologetically, at which Yosuke just glared harsher in reply. The raven-haired girl didn't seem to notice as she grabbed Rise's cloth and placed them in the sink in the kitchen, the idol slowly getting to her feet.

"Should we…go to the hospital?" Kanji questioned, unease on his face. It seemed he was trying to relieve the tension in the room. "W…We can be there when Senpai's better…"

"Yeah… That sounds like a plan." Chie replied, trying her best to smile. "C'mon, guys!"

Yosuke continued to glare as they all filed out of his house, before he grabbed his house keys from his pocket and followed them, locking the door. Before the police arrived, Teddie had grabbed everyone's weapons and stashed them in Yosuke's closet, and the brunette hoped his parents didn't get home early and randomly snoop in there. He guessed they wouldn't care, either way, seeing as how they let him bring a sword and daggers out in the open to Junes that one time.

As the teens walked down the road to get to the hospital, Yosuke's scowl never left his face. He trailed behind the group and couldn't stop staring holes into the backs of their heads. They could have stopped him. They could have stopped him from being an idiot and hurting their friend more. They probably realized that attacking Izanagi would hurt Souji before he did, so why did they let him cast Garudyne? Why did they let him worsen their friend's condition? Why why why? They could have done something! They could have stopped him! They could have done whatever it was to either stop Yosuke or help Souji! Why was everything always made out to be his fault? Why was everything always by his hand? Why him?

"Senpai, please don't blame yourself." Yosuke continued to glower as Naoto stepped into pace beside him, tipping her hat to lightly block her eyes. "I apologize in not addressing my fears immediately. I was caught off guard and I hadn't expected you to react so quickly…"

Yosuke stalked off ahead. Excuses. All she was saying was excuses. She'd acted immediately in situations when she was caught off guard before. All it was was a bunch of lame excuses. How he wished time would just skip forward a couple of weeks so everything would just go back to bloody normal. He hated this so much. So very much.

The rest of the walk to the hospital wasn't much greater, Yosuke walking faster when someone tried to talk to him. Anything they would say would be excuses or bullshit. He didn't want to listen to either. Even when Chie started yelling at him, he ignored it and moved on. Souji. All he cared about now was Souji. Was he going to be okay? Was he going to live? Was he going to be pushed into a coma? Was he going to get amnesia? Was he going to be all right? Yosuke hoped and prayed for his friend's wellbeing. He didn't know what he would do if Souji ended up a vegetable, or worse, thanks to him. And this damn fog probably wouldn't be helping Souji's case either, if it really was poisonous as the nut-jobs around town said. Damn it…

It took around 40 minutes for them to get to the hospital, and once they were indoors, Yosuke stared blankly at the chaos in the lobby, the others following suite.

"The hell's going on?" Kanji asked, a nearby nurse turning to look at the group. The woman visibly paled at their presence.

"Please tell me you're not reporters!"

The teenagers stared at each other awkwardly, before slowly shaking their heads. The woman breathed a sigh of relief, before turning wide-eyed again. "Are… Are you patients?"

The group slowly shook their heads again. The woman breathed another sigh of relief. "So you're visitors? Who were you planning on seeing?"

"Uh… Souji Seta…?" Chie replied, hesitantly looking around. The nurse turned pale again.

"I-I see… Well right now he's still in surgery… And we're busy trying to rid of all the reporters swarming the halls asking questions." The nurse sighed, "Perhaps you should come back later, when things calm down?"

Yosuke glared and defiantly shook his head, before running off. He'd personally kick the asses of the reporters and made sure they left. He was going to stay here, until he knew Souji was safe. He wasn't leaving his friend's side again. He wasn't going to let Souji down again. He was going to help him this time. In the TV, he still screwed up. Any time before that, he'd screwed up absolutely. He wasn't going to screw up anymore. Well, he hoped he wouldn't. He would try his best to make sure he wouldn't.

Turning a corner, Yosuke gasped when he ran into someone, and fell straight on his back. He quickly looked up at the person he ran into, finding a concerned Adachi staring down at him. The detective shakily held out a hand, helping the teenager stand up.

"Hey, you okay?" the older man asked as Yosuke dusted himself off. The brunette nodded, peering behind Adachi, watching as detectives and cops fended off prying eyes, cameras, and notepads trying to ram into the doors the cops were defending. Nurses and doctors were also there, trying to help.

Adachi gave a short, sad chuckle, before sighing, "Souji's been done with his surgery for awhile, but the doctors don't want to leave thanks to the reporters. They're concerned about any casualties that might happen with so much people crowding around. And it doesn't seem like they'll be letting up any time soon… This is the first major story they've had in months; I guess they don't want to miss a beat."

Yosuke glared again, and slowly walked past Adachi, who questioned him confusedly. The brunette honestly didn't give a rats ass that there were cops around, and the reporter that was closest to him, he gave the sucker a powerful right-hook to the jaw. The man was knocked unconscious, and everyone else could only stare at Yosuke in shock. The rest of the paparazzi immediately fled down the halls while the police and hospital staff continued to stare at the brunette, before a couple of nurses made sure the unconscious reporter wasn't hurt too badly.

The police glanced at Yosuke wearily for a couple of moments, before sighing, "We'll let you off with a warning."

Yosuke nodded as Adachi slowly approached the brunette and moved him away from the doors as doctors quietly peered out of it, quickly strolling Souji out of the room on a stretcher. Yosuke's breath hitched in his throat at the sight of his friend. Sure, he wasn't dead and turning blue like before, but he still looked absolutely dreadful. Bruises around his neck and wrists, bandages wrapped all over, and he still looked so god damn pale. Yosuke clenched his fists at his side, gritting his teeth in frustration at himself. He was the cause of those bandages…

"Don't worry, we're going to catch who did this to him, all right? The only one who's got something to worry about is the bastard that did this!" Adachi smiled, patting the teen's shoulder. "But you should probably go home and visit tomorrow. I don't think they'll let visitors in right now, other than police that'll ask Souji questions once he wakes up. Besides, you look absolutely exhausted, and you should probably give your voice a rest. Nothing bad will happen to Souji again, I promise! We'll have cops stationed inside his room, too, so nobody will be able to pull that kidnapping stunt again!"

Yosuke did nothing as the young detective turned him around, "Now, go on, go home, get some rest, come back tomorrow and visit Souji when he has more strength."

Then Adachi gave the brunette a light push forward, and Yosuke couldn't help but walk back down the hall he'd sprinted through only minutes ago.

"Oh, there he is!" He heard Chie call as the rest of the group ran up to him. Yosuke ignored them, walking past his friends and out of the hospital. When he finally arrived back home, he didn't even bother going to his room; he laid down on the couch, not giving a shit about the blood, and fell asleep nearly immediately.

He had no dreams.