30 Day OTP Challenge
"I'm going to like the me you found… After all, I like the you who found her"

Day 25- Gazing into each other's eyes.

xxx

A/N: Once again, apologies for the tardiness of this chapter XD Hopefully I'l get this done this week. I have less shifts at work which means more writings for you :) Since there's only 4 chapters left after this one, I should have it done by Thursday provided nothing gets in the way :P (It will, probably. Everything that I'm doing is told to me moments before it actually happens XD). I'm bending the epilogue a little bit here, sorry about that. To be fair, I've written so many of these bloody things, I'm not sure if I'm going against my own canon at this point XD I'm not 100% on this one, but hopefully it's pretty good :D Regardless, enjoy :)

xxx

"The next stop is: Yasoinaba. Yasoinaba"

The monotonous drone coming from the kind of busted speakers on the old train woke Yu from his light sleep. He didn't really get any last night, what with the planning with Dojima and Yosuke.

It was summer vacation and Yu was adamant to visit Inaba, and coincidentally, his friends and second family again. It had been a while since he saw them last and even then a lot of… stuff (for lack of a better word) in the form of the P-1 Grand Prix. He didn't really get a lot of time to hang out as friends during that time. Even worse, Rise had been sort of kidnapped during that whole event so she spent most of the time afterwards recovering. These next two weeks would be different though. No crazy Shadows starting a fighting tournament in the TV, no secret organisations coming in to hunt Shadows and no buying porn for Yosuke at the station. Just hanging out with the people he was closest to.

Yu's phone rang then. That truly woke him up. He rolled his eyes a little as he saw the caller ID throw up Yosuke's name. It's not that he hated talking to him, it's just he knew what the conversation would be about. Still, he needed to go over some stuff with him. Besides, he was his best friend…

As such, he let it ring just a little longer before answering.

"Hey, Yosuke"

"Dude, what took you so long to pick up?"

"I was asleep" Yu lied "It's a long train ride"

"Ah, OK. How far away are you?" Poor naïve Yosuke…

"I'm rolling in now"

"Alright, Cool. Everyone's waiting at the station for ya!" Yosuke said, cheerily. He was excited to see his partner again.

"What about Rise?" Yu asked

"No… Why'd you ask me not to tell her about this again?"

Yosuke's question was a valid one. To an outsider, a guy asking someone not to tell his girlfriend he was in town seems a little… devious. He wanted to surprise her though. He was looking forward to the look on her face when he turned up. He was looking forward to making her happy…

"It's a surprise." Was all Yu said

"That's all you say when it comes to this" Yosuke groaned…

"A man has to have secrets." Yu laughed as the train slowed down.

"The current station is: Yasoinaba. This is where this train terminates. The current station is: Yasoinaba" The train speaker droned yet again

"I'm here" Yu said, returning his attention the phone call. "See you in a second"

"OK, Partner!" Yosuke enthused as he hung up the phone.

Not long after Yu got off the train, holdall bag in hand, he saw the whole Investigation Team. Well, the whole team sans the Navigator. There was an explosion of noise from them all as he approached the group. "Hey Senpai"s were thrown around as were "Welcome Back"'s. Yukiko hugged him and everything. It was nice…

"Where's Rise-chan?" Chie piped up after initial "Hello"'s we issued. "Yosuke, did you forget to tell her? Why wouldn't you tell her that her boyfriend is back in town, you moron!" This earned a groan from the group, including Yu.

"Good to know that you two still haven't ironed the tension out…" He sighed. "I'm surprising her later, Chie. Your boyfriend didn't forget."

This caused both Yosuke and Chie to blush madly.

"Don't be so stupid!" Chie said, very quickly.

"Yeah, c'mon guys. Stop joking around…" Yosuke blurted out, face turned away from everyone.

"Did he touch a nerve, Yosuke-senpai?" Naoto probed over Yukiko's violent laughter.

"No, shut up… Yu, go see your girlfriend. Then we'll all go grab some steak or something."

"Steak… who does that remind me of?" Yu said as he walked away from the group.

"Shut up!" Chie yelled at him while he retreated. He looked back on them while the normal chaos ensued. He hated leaving them alone but he needed just a little bit more calm before that particular storm. A storm he loved sailing through, sure, but he just needed to prepare a little more first. Starting with his girlfriend…

xxx

It took a while to get to Rise's. He was on foot after all and Yasoinaba was a fair distance away. The Team even passed him on their bikes on the way to Junes. He needed the walk though. God knows he needed to stretch his legs after sitting on that rusty old train for what seemed like a million hours. After a while, he wound up in Marukyu Tofu…

She was there washing dishes in the rear of the store, her back to him. Yu's heart skipped several beats, even though he couldn't even see her face. He couldn't confuse her for anyone else. Her red twintailed hair, her small form, even the way she hummed a little song to herself as she worked. Everything about her. His love for her came flooding to the forefront of his mind. So much so that he couldn't even bring himself to mess with her… Well, he could a little bit.

"Excuse me, can I get three orders of Ganmodoki please?" He said. The order was special for them, it was the thing Kanji ordered when they all met Rise for the first time. He hoped she'd remember that…

He heard her gasp just a little bit, stopping everything she was doing as soon as she heard his voice. She turned around slowly. It was at that moment their gazes met.

Even from across the store, Yu could see everything going on behind her large brown eyes. It was almost as her thoughts were laid bare on them. Confusion, initially, as they were much wider than he was used to. After that, happiness (Which caused Yu to crack a smile), but a special kind of happiness. The kind that only he could bring her, one of purity. And finally, Love. It manifested almost as realization, with a knowing smile to match…

When Rise looked into his eyes, she saw what she always saw. A blankness. This wasn't bad, however. His grey eyes instead of being empty portrayed more of a façade of composure. Rise knew that behind them, there was a sea of emotions he wanted to express. It calmed her to see this side of him was still intact. Unlike her however, he was less easy to read.

"Senpai…" she finally said, after they simply stared at one another for a good thirty seconds.

"Hey" He smiled.

That was all they needed to say to one another. The rest of their greeting was conveyed by the next couple of seconds. Rise almost ran over to the counter, banging into a table as she did so. She didn't care, she needed to be closer to him pain be damned. The distance from the sink to the counter couldn't have been more than about 10 feet, but to Rise it felt like a desert with an oasis on the other side. Finally, she crossed the gulf with only the tabletop between them. She ignored it as she grabbed his collar with one hand.

Their lips crashed together. Their tounges and mouths were doing all the talking, not Their voices. This kiss was better than any conversation in the world to convey all the feelings they wanted to share with one another. Love, Passion, Longing, the relief of their loneliness… They couldn't be shared with words, only actions…

Finally, the kiss broke. Their foreheads met and they continued to gaze into each others eyes. No words were needed. Neither wanted to break the perfect, isolated bliss they had created...