Delayed Player 14

When Yosuke woke up, a blanket now covered his body and a pillow sat under his head. The brunette figured his mom had done the task; he didn't expect Teddie would do something like that, and his dad wouldn't be half-assed to do so. Yosuke slowly sat up, painfully rotating his neck until the successful 'crack' made it feel back to normal. Yawning, he stepped off the couch and rubbed his eyes, looking blankly out the window. It was either really late, or it was early morning. The birds he suddenly heard chirping made him suspect it was morning.

Practically crawling at a snail's pace towards the kitchen, Yosuke turned on the sink, splashing his face with cold water multiple times until he felt completely awake. He wasn't hungry. He usually was when he woke up, whether it was just a power nap or a full eight hours of sleep, he was always hungry once his eyes opened up. But, today he wasn't. Was it because of his concern for his friend? Mentally shrugging to himself, the teenager figured that to be the reason because he didn't feel like coming up with a different explanation. Checking the clock, Yosuke gave a sly smirk. It was 4:27 AM. And right now, Yosuke didn't give a damn about the time. Searching for a piece of paper and a pencil, Yosuke hastily wrote down a note for his parents, taped it on the fridge, put on his shoes, and bolted out the door.

Adachi told him to come back tomorrow, and, well, it was tomorrow. Early tomorrow, but still tomorrow, right?

Sprinting down the road, Yosuke was glad rush hour hadn't started yet, as he quickly ran across cross-walks without any trouble. He wasn't sure how long it took him to run to the hospital, but he knew he never stopped for a break once, and once he did, he was absolutely out of breath. Once he was inside a couple nurses questioned him, Yosuke failing miserably trying to explain with his missing voice. One of them ran to get him a glass of water, which he happily downed in seconds. The women stared at him expectantly, before he had to practically play charades to say he lost his voice. It took them a couple of minutes, but they finally figured it out and found a notepad for him to write on.

He only wrote down two words, and he wasn't going to write down any more. They'd know what he meant. He was the most famous person in the hospital right now, after all. The women stared at his written words, before asking one of the questions he was asked yesterday.

"Are you a reporter?"

And Yosuke could only glare and shake his head. Why the hell would a reporter with no voice go to interview somebody? Why the hell would a reporter with no voice or notepad of his own go to interview somebody? How stupid could these people get?

"Are you a family member or a friend?"

Yosuke made a peace sign, and he would damn well strangle someone if they didn't realize he meant the second thing they listed.

"Excuse us for a second." The women backed away, back to their desk where they flipped through folders as they whispered what Yosuke could only imagine were concerned and cautious questions to each other. Sitting down in a nearby chair, the teen could only watch with disinterest as the nurses quietly squalled with one another. Maybe they wouldn't let him visit because it was so early in the morning. Maybe he should have slept in. But, then again, he wasn't tired anymore, even after that continuous run. All he wanted to do was see Souji. All he wanted to do was see his friend, and write thousands of apologies on one tiny sheet of notebook paper, before filling the whole damn thing with millions upon millions of nothing but sorry sorry sorry sorry.

And he hoped he would see his friend's patient smile once more. He missed that smile. But now, he was going to try to see it by means that didn't involve forcing all his stress and problems on Souji. He wanted to see it when they were goofing off, or playing video games, or just having fun. He didn't want to see it anymore if it related to his problems. He wasn't going to run straight to Souji for help anymore. He'd talk to his parents, and maybe the others for help. He wouldn't burden Souji with anything like that again.

The women continued to quietly bicker at the desk, and Yosuke wished he could ask what the hell they were talking about. He didn't understand what there was to talk about. Either he could visit Souji or he couldn't, right? A couple minutes passed as the nurses continued to talk, and Yosuke rolled his eyes, before getting back up and heading down the path he ran yesterday. The nurses called after him, but Yosuke ignored them and continued down the halls. He knew when he'd arrive at Souji's room; there'd be police outside the doors, and most probably paparazzi. If there was another crowd of reporters like yesterday, Yosuke wouldn't mind giving someone another fist to their face. Wandering down the halls, Yosuke glanced around curiously, wondering if Souji was indeed awake, and how he felt about being in a hospital. He was sure his friend hated it, and Yosuke didn't blame him, after learning what he went through. Yosuke faltered once he rounded another corner and saw Adachi sleeping on one of the hospital benches, arm resting over his eyes. Yosuke could only question how late the detective had stayed up.

The brunette looked around. There was nobody else close by. Yosuke edged closer to the sleeping man, wondering if he should wake Adachi up or not. The teen decided Adachi would probably prefer going home and resting on his bed then that uncomfortable looking bench, so he shakily reached out to Adachi, ready to shake the older man awake. He almost fell from shock by the sudden movement from the detective, Adachi holding onto Yosuke's wrist like a vulture. Yosuke winced. He didn't realize that Adachi could have such a fierce grip! If he'd been squeezing his wrist any tighter, Yosuke was certain Adachi would break his hand.

The detective's other arm that remained over his eyes lightly fell down his face, Adachi peering at the teen. Yosuke couldn't decipher the emotion in Adachi's eyes before they turned into panic. The older man quickly let go of Yosuke's hand and sat up, staring wildly at the teen who lightly rubbed his wrist.

"Oh, jeeze, kid, I'm so sorry! I didn't—Oh, man! Are you okay?" Adachi fussed, trying to examine the teenager.

Yosuke gave a hesitant smile, before nodding, placing his hand back at his side. He bet it'd be absolutely bruised in a matter of minutes. Adachi looked absolutely guilty, "A-Are you sure? I mean, we are in a hospital, we can get it checked out to make sure I didn't break anything…"

Yosuke gave another smile. If he needed to, he'd just use the bandages on his hands and wrap it around his wrist instead. But damn! He couldn't believe how much power Adachi had! He never would have guessed!

Adachi sighed, "All right… But jeeze, I'm sorry! I didn't… When I sleep, my senses are heightened so…" the detective sighed again, before he rubbed his eyes and slid his sleeve up, revealing a watch a bit high up his arm. Adachi seemed to have to double take when he checked the time. "…I-It's only twelve after five!" he looked at the teen incredulously before looking back at his watch.

"You sure didn't waste any time getting back here, huh?" Adachi laughed, dragging his sleeve back down. Just at the last moment, Yosuke caught something on the detective's wrist before it was covered by his cuffs. It looked like…someone or something had scratched him? It also looked like the older man had tried covering it up with something, but whatever it was, a little bit had been wiped off when Adachi rolled up his sleeve.

"…What's wrong?" Yosuke blinked, before looking up at Adachi's face, who seemed mildly concerned. Something looked…off though. The brunette wished he had Naoto's or Souji's keen eye for spotting stuff, because it was bugging him that he couldn't decipher what was…off.

Yosuke was absolutely curious about the man's injuries though, so he whipped out the notebook he'd stuffed in his pocket, and wrote a quick question. "What happened to your wrist?"

Adachi blinked, before lightly chuckling, "So, you saw that, huh? My brother came to visit a couple of days ago, and we got into a fight. He didn't stand a chance against his big brother though; that's the only thing he managed to do to me!" the man grinned from ear-to-ear, and Yosuke could only make a small smile in response. Something still seemed off, but he still had no idea what it was, and it still bugged him. But, he wouldn't be able to figure it out, he knew that.

"So, I'm guessing you wanted to see Souji, right?" the detective asked, his smile turning shorter with sympathy. "Well… He didn't wake up last night… So if he does wake up and you're in there, I'm afraid you'd probably get the boot because everyone's eager to question him. Hopefully you, or one of us, won't have to deck another reporter in the face though!" Adachi chuckled again, Yosuke giving another smile. Why did it feel so…weird being alone with this man all of a sudden? Yosuke found himself wishing he'd at least dragged Teddie along, just to make it seem less awkward and…frightening? Yosuke wasn't sure what he was feeling around the cop right now, but it definitely made him amazingly uneasy. Was he just tired, making him feel this way? But… He didn't feel tired at all… Maybe it was just all the stress and everything else from the last day's events wearing him down and making him imagine weird things.

"Well… Enough standing around here, I'll take you to Souji's room, okay?" Yosuke nodded and slowly followed the older man's lead, who said no more as they headed down the hall. The brunette couldn't help but continue to curiously glance at Adachi, trying to see if he could find out why it was suddenly so awkward to be by this guy. All he could see were the bags under Adachi's eyes, but other than that, it was the same, goofy Adachi.

The duo rounded a couple of corners before they arrived at a room, two police standing outside the door. The officers gave a light nod towards Adachi before one stared at Yosuke.

"It's okay, he's with me, and he's a friend of Souji's." Adachi said before they could ask questions. The officers nodded again before one of them opened the door, allowing Yosuke and Adachi inside. Yosuke blinked at the sight, swallowing the lump that entered his throat. Souji still looked as pale as he did yesterday, and there weren't all that many wires attached to him, but it sure as hell looked like there were millions from Yosuke's vision suddenly blurring. His knees were shaking, too. It took only a matter of seconds before he felt himself falling and then stopped from hitting the floor thanks to Adachi quickly grabbing him. Whatever worried calls Adachi made, the brunette heard nothing. It felt like he was floating to the chair Adachi was helping him get to. He didn't know what had happened. He didn't know why he suddenly felt like he was going to pass out, but once Adachi propped him in the chair, everything went back to normal.

Yosuke could only blink as the doctor, that he could only assume had been checking Souji's vitals or something before they entered, hurriedly walked over to examine him. The brunette just wanted to push the man away. Right now, he didn't give a damn about himself; it was probably just a dizzy spell from all the shit that'd been going down. Right now, he just wanted to watch over his friend.

The doctor asked him a few questions, which Yosuke had no choice but to answer. He answered angrily, but answered nonetheless. The questions seemed absolutely pointless, and Yosuke's hands kept twitching on his pencil. He wanted to punch the doctor so freaking badly, or stab the man's eye out with the writing utensil. Either way, he just wanted the man out of his face so he could watch over Souji. The man gave Yosuke a couple of hesitant looks before leaving him alone, telling Adachi something Yosuke didn't give a damn about as he moved to a chair closer to Souji.

The brunette could feel tears welling up in his eyes again, but he forced them away. He wasn't going to cry anymore. He didn't want to cry anymore. He had to stay strong… But up close, Souji looked so much paler. He was as white as the bed-sheets, or maybe even whiter… The only thing standing out was his utterly bruised neck. Yosuke glared. He could see the marking from the rope that strangled him, but there was something else that was a cause of some of the bruising as well… Had the assailant tried strangling Souji too, before throwing him in the TV? Yosuke sighed and lightly rubbed his eyes. He wouldn't be able to figure it out without any help, so why did he keep trying to solve everything? He'd only end up making it all worse.

He wondered if Naoto was up by now… He could probably talk to her to figure this out, since everyone else was probably on the same deduction level as he was. But then again, he did have a detective on the case who loved to run his mouth standing just a couple feet away. But then again…again, there were two police officers on guard in the room as well, and they surely wouldn't let Adachi spill anything about the case to a teenager.

Yosuke lightly shook his head. He shouldn't be worrying about this right now, right? He'd only worry about it once him and everyone else was at their table in Junes, talking all the facts over.

Right now, he was just going to sit there, watching over his friend until he woke up. Even if it took days, he'd still stay by his friend's side.

Shakily, Yosuke found himself lifting his hand, then found himself gently placing it over Souji's. He was thankful the IV was in Souji's arm instead of his hand; he didn't want to accidently screw things up even worse. The brunette held back a sob and lowered his head, desperately fighting against his tears. Souji felt so cold… It's like he was ice… How he wished he could say he was sorry over and over and over with his voice, instead of writing it on paper. Sure, he hadn't even started that… But… Whatever! He just wanted his friend to wake up… And he wanted to apologize… For every selfish thing he did when Souji had arrived, and for fucking everything up in the TV when he tried to save him. He couldn't believe himself for going in with such a strong mindset, then indeed crumbling at the first sight of Souji, whether it'd been him getting squashed by his Shadow, or strapped to a chair with a noose ready to hang him.

Speaking of the Shadow incident…he could only wonder what the rest of Souji's opinions on him were… He really wanted to know. Whatever they were, he'd listen to everything Souji had to say. Even though Izanagi had said Souji hated them all, that didn't mean he didn't care for them either… Because if he didn't care, why would he have stopped listing why the investigation team pissed him off so much? Why did he say he believed in Teddie to get them out of the dungeon? He cared for them… He must care… It was still natural for friends to hate something about their other friends, right? Yosuke knew there were plenty of things he absolutely hated about Chie, and she most likely felt the same about him, but they were still friends.

Yosuke sighed, continuing to hold his tears back as he lifted his head back up, only to find his heart stop beating for a couple moments. Souji was staring at him. His eyes were dull and lifeless, but he was still looking straight at him. Yosuke couldn't move. All he could do was stare right back at him.

Souji smirked, before his gaze turned to their hands, "Y… You…d-umbass…" it still looked like it was painful to talk for him, "Th… That's…f-for girls…" Yosuke blushed and quickly retracted his hand, glaring lightly at his friend, but then he couldn't help but smile. That's what he said when Souji hugged him at the river, trying to comfort him after he broke down.

"Souji!" Adachi was quick to appear beside Yosuke, absolutely ecstatic, "It's good to see you're awake! How're you feeling? Should I go call the doctor? He just left."

"I… I'm fine… A-Adachi-s...an…" It looked like Souji was straining himself not to wince from the pain, and the guilt Yosuke felt just deepened.

Then he suddenly realized how heavy and troubled the atmosphere in the room seemed to be. There wasn't any way he was imagining it this time.

The brunette took quick glances from Souji to Adachi to the other two cops who were watching the scene quietly, traces of small smiles on their lips. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Was it just his imagination?

"If you say you're okay, we're going to have to ask you some questions, all right?" Adachi gave a light smile, and Souji gave a light nod in return. "And if it starts to hurt too much to talk, we can just get you to write down your answers in one of our notepads, okay?"

"I'm…f…fine…"

"Adachi," the brunette and detective turned to one of the cops that inched closer to the bed, "We can't have civilian—"

"Let…him s-tay…" Souji glared at the cop, who seemed absolutely shocked.

"B—"

"Let him stay!" Yosuke was taken aback at Souji's tone. At that moment, it seemed like Souji wasn't in any pain whatsoever. The officer raised his hands defensively, before slowly backing away. Yosuke knew he wasn't going to be doing the questioning now.

Adachi blinked, before taking out his notepad, and started the interview. Yosuke carefully watched Souji as he talked, so maybe he could tell why that lingering feeling of a heavy atmosphere never left. Yosuke assumed that Souji would have agreed with the cops and made the brunette wait outside until the interview was done, so why had he done that? Why had he made the cops allow Yosuke to stay? Was he scared? Did Souji hate officers too? Was one of his caretakers in his childhood a cop that treated him horrible or something? Or was it just the fact he was in a hospital? Yosuke mentally sighed. He would ask the questions he wanted to ask later, when Souji was out of the hospital, and when he actually was able to speak.

When Adachi was done questioning Souji, Yosuke watched as his friend nearly immediately closed his eyes once he was done talking and was soon fast asleep. The answers Souji gave Adachi had been simple. The assailant was the same person, he still couldn't remember the persona's face, and he didn't remember a thing until he woke up in here. Yosuke knew the last part was a lie, but if he hadn't already knew, he would have been convinced that it was the truth.

"Hey, Yosuke, are you hungry?" the brunette turned to Adachi, who was smiling calmly. "I think Souji's gonna be sleeping for another long while, the doctor said that would be normal for a couple of days, and…well, I'm personally starving! And I know you got up preeetttyy early, so I'm assuming you haven't eaten yet."

Yosuke blinked, before giving a light nod. Now, probably thanks to Adachi mentioning it, he was starving as well. He slowly stood up and the detective's smile grew. "So, you're coming along then? Well, today I'll pay for your meal too, my treat! …And apology for the wrist thing."

Yosuke nodded again, trailing behind Adachi as they left the room. Before the door closed behind them, Yosuke took a glance back at his sleeping friend and smiled. He was going to be okay, and Yosuke couldn't be happier.

But…why was that heavy, uneasy tension still there?