Friday, 9/1/12, Yasogami High School, Late Afternoon…
"Geez, finally!"
Yukiko blinked, turning to see a vaguely Yosuke-shaped blur dash to the back of the room and frantically rifle through the cubby for his book bag not more than two seconds after the final bell.
"Better hurry, Yosuke! Even I didn't think you were gonna blow it this quick!" Chie snickered at the desk behind Yukiko's, crossing her arms as she watched her fellow 3rd year rush through his actions so quickly he was nearly tripping over himself.
"Sh-shuddup! Someone's gonna get banned from the food court!" Yosuke muttered, finally collecting himself as he threw open the classroom door. "And I mean it this time!" He didn't bother closing the door as he was immediately followed by a small gaggle of similarly dressed students.
"Oh y-yeah!? See if I care about your crappy – okay, he's gone!" Chie grinned, her whole tone changing as she bounced back around to look at Yukiko. "D'ya think we should keep an eye on them? I mean, I trust him, sure, but I wonder if Naoto-kun knows what she's gettin' into…"
Yukiko gave a small snort as she grabbed her book bag off the ground and onto her desk. Chie could be so funny. "I think it's nice that you're so worried about him!"
Predictably, Chie turned a shade of crimson. "Pfft, as if! I just don't want Naoto-kun to haveta deal with him bein' some kinda perv!" Chie had a big space in her heart for all her friends but always got flustered if someone called out her empty braggadocio and bluster. "You're lucky ya know," she continued, leaning in closer so the few classmates huddled around the desk next to them couldn't hear, "Most of these guys are total horndogs! At least Kanji thinks with his heart and not his –"
"Ch-Chie!" Yukiko squeaked, feeling her neck and ears heat up. There were still a little bit too many people hanging out in the classroom for her to feel comfortable talking about…that. Chie knew that as well, judging by her waggling eyebrows and laugh she was trying to muffle. That said, Yukiko didn't disagree with her friend's conclusion. "You are right, though…He can be such a sweetheart."
Chie leaned back in her chair, arms crossed again over her white school blouse with a satisfied look on her face. "Now that's the kinda boyfriend I can deal with!"
While she turned to pack away the last of her books, Yukiko felt the need to reiterate her gratitude toward her friend. "Y-you know, Chie, I…I can never thank you enough for what you did. It sounds silly, but I honestly think there's a chance none of this would have happened if you hadn't have stepped in."
It was the end of a long first day back at school, and more than a week later it still seemed too good to be true: she and Kanji were together. Dating. And not only that, her friends all knew and were so happy for both of them. In a flash Yukiko remembered sitting at the Junes food court with all her friends the previous afternoon, her palms sticky with nervous sweat as she hastily announced to everyone that she and Kanji were dating. As usual her fears were almost immediately debunked; within seconds Rise and Teddie were crushing both of them in a hug and squealing loudly while the rest of the guys showered Kanji with compliments and congratulations. Yu even took a moment afterwards and expressed how happy he was for her, which was the cherry on top of a wonderful day. She had been very anxious to see him, and yet he was a class act, offering up an apology for the iciness of the last few months and hoping they could go back to being friends.
It was one of the happiest days of her life, and like she said, Chie had a lot to do with it. Violent though it may have been, her intervention helped Kanji collect his thoughts and embrace his true feelings, which Yukiko had failed to do at the summer festival. In a way she was sad that she was still relying on Chie so much for emotional support, but seeing her best friend's shy, happy smile made her realize that it wasn't always a bad thing. Sometimes you just needed someone to have your back.
"Aw, sheesh! You hooked him, I just…helped reel him in, is all! B-but yeah, erm, I'm really glad everything worked out for you guys," she said quietly, flapping the loose sleeve of the green warm-up jacket tied around her waist. "Y-you're my best friend, and I'd do anything for ya!" The two girls gave each other a big grin before Chie broke eye contact, losing her nerve. "S-Speakin' of," she stuttered, changing the subject abruptly, "did you wanna meet him downstairs or was he comin' up here?"
"Oh, I just told him we'd meet him at the gate and then head out the usual way," Yukiko confirmed. Her mother had gone easy on her during the first week back at school and not scheduled her for any shifts, so Yukiko wanted to use her free time wisely and spend as much of it with Kanji as she could. As such she had asked him to walk her home when they were at lunch, and even though it was a bit out of his way he hastily agreed, especially after Yukiko gave his hand a small squeeze while asking.
"Okay 'cause I gotta pee like nobody's business!" Chie admitted, hopping up out of her seat with surprising speed. "Meetcha downstairs in a few?" She nervously bounced on her toes until Yukiko gave her a quick nod then lit out the classroom door for the bathroom at the end of the hall. As usual, Chie wasn't one to beat around the bush.
Yukiko giggled to herself while she slowly followed suit, book bag in hand. Even through her favorite red cardigan the notable difference in temperature between the stuffy classroom and air-conditioned corridor gave her a small chill, causing her to rub her arms a little as she made for the 3rd floor stairwell. As expected, many of the students were walking around looking exhausted; the first day after summer break was always notoriously difficult on grades, between turning in summer homework and receiving even more at the end of the day. With graduation looming a lot of students couldn't afford a dramatic drop in their grade, so the tension in the air was palpable.
Now onto the 2nd floor, the thought of graduation planted a worrying seed in Yukiko's brain. Despite her intent to stay in Inaba and help her family at the inn, she was still interested in possibly getting a job license, which meant maintaining high marks and a good work ethic. Exams were coming up soon, and these were some of the important ones she would ever take. Between all that and still actively working at the inn, in addition to the little odd jobs here and there she did to earn some extra cash, this didn't leave her with a lot of free time. She was still getting her feet wet in the realm of relationships, but it seemed like making time for one another was a critically important part. Did Kanji know how busy she was going to be becoming in the last half of school? Would he understand if she didn't have much time to spend with him? She shook her head, trying not to let her gloomy habits affect her otherwise good mood.
Getting lost in her thoughts had suddenly carried her all the way down to the 1st floor shoe locker in at the front entrance of the school. She took a few glances up the halls, trying to find the easily identifiable Kanji amidst the throngs of students, but gave up and just went about retrieving her flat black shoes from her locker. The sun was still pouring in through the glass entrance doors, giving off a refreshing warmth as Yukiko exited the building.
She quickly threaded her way through the masses gathered all around the gates and took up a position next to the rightmost wall, sighing as she again tried to spot Kanji with no luck. She felt a little embarrassed: she had just seen him at lunch and yet could not have been more anxious and excited to see him again. Any hopes that them finally being in a relationship would cause her to relax a little had been dashed throughout the past week. She could barely explain it, but there was a safety in holding Kanji's hand or gently leaning against his big frame that was difficult to live without once she got even the slightest taste of it. Even now, her anxiety about the future was melting away when she remembered how it felt to be locked in his embrace, how she'd push his glasses up when they cutely slipped down his nose, his cloudy eyes brightening any time she'd hold his hand…
It was happening again! Yukiko bit her lip and took out her nervous energy on the book bag handle, squeezing the leather tightly in her fingers as yet another minute ticked by. Truthfully, she had an additional motive for wanting him to accompany her home that could also explain her nerves: she was planning on inviting him up to her room and finally getting the kiss she had been ready for the prior week. It was gutsy, but she wanted her first kiss to be special; having her boyfriend walk her home and inviting him to her room seemed like the perfect setup, something out of a romantic novel. As the genesis of her plan approached, however, she was starting to get cold feet. Would he think she was being too aggressive? The thought had crossed her mind, especially considering that he had been a little skittish when it came to physical affection.
She was so agitated she could barely hear the quiet voices that suddenly crept up around her.
"Dude that's her right there, go!"
"Th-th'hell man, she's g-gorgeous!"
"That's why it's a challenge, man, you got this!"
"I'm-I'm I-I'm gonna look like an idiot!"
"'S tradition, dude, you gotta!"
Curious, she looked to her side to see a clump of students gathered in a huddle of sorts near her. As soon as she looked they all averted their eyes and pretended they didn't see her, save for one poor soul who was shoved forward by his fair-haired, taller friend. Clad in the boy's Yasogami high summer uniform of a white button-up collared shirt tucked into black trousers, the boy couldn't have cut a less imposing figure if he tried with his paunch and poor posture. He was trembling terribly, and the white shirt did no favors as it revealed he was sweating quite profusely.
"Can…Can I help you…?" Yukiko asked, starting to feel bad for the obviously terrified young man. He ran a sweaty hand through his equally soaked black hair before bowing neatly at the waist.
"G-good afternoon! I am Fujinami, from class 2-B. Y-you are Amagi-senpai, y-yes?" He said it like he had a gun to his back.
"Yes…" Yukiko answered, cautiously. She was starting to suspect that this was yet another strange boy trying to ask her on a date. Once Chie and Rise had helped point out the telltale signs, she was getting a lot better at recognizing when someone was doing it, although Chie was great at actually warding them off with her boundless aggressive energy. She was still nowhere in sight at the moment, however, so Yukiko was going to have to improvise.
The kid, Fujinami, looked back at his friends for moral support and received a smattering of praise and hype. He swallowed big before playing his trump card. "In that c-case, would you do me the honor of –"
"Kanji-kun! Pardon me, Fujiwara-san," Yukiko apologized, quickly moving past him once she saw her tall beau making his way out the front entrance. She could hear a labored "I-it's Fujinami…" as she got into Kanji's field of vision, earning a smile for her efforts. As he had firmly stated at the beginning of the day, he had his white shirt on but had left it unbuttoned ("I ain't buttonin' up, it's too damn hot!") to reveal a black tank top with a flaming skull on the front, one of his favorites. His long legs helped carry him to Yukiko first, and as they basked in each other's presence with silly lovesick grins plastered on their faces, the voices of the gaggle of boys started up again.
"W-woah, isn't that…"
"T-Tatsumi!? Ain't he like a criminal 'r somethin'?"
"Did you know they were friends?"
"'Ey!" Kanji greeted her, his glasses slipping a bit as he looked down.
"Hey yourself!" Yukiko answered, trying to ignore the voices behind her.
Seeing an opportunity to make it clear that the so-called "Amagi Challenge" needed to die, she confidently linked her free arm around Kanji's left elbow, settling her right hand on his bare bicep just below his shirt sleeve. As expected, the rabble were even more shocked.
"A-are you shittin' me!?"
"N-no way that Tatsumi actually…"
"Fujinami, you are so screwed!"
"I-I didn't know, you guys set me up!"
As if Kanji's considerable strength was transferred to her through touch, Yukiko looked over at the group, who now cowered in fear instead of pretending they didn't notice. "Boys," she said with a nod of her head and a pleasant, Amagi-Inn-approved smile. Kanji, who had quietly turned boiling red, suddenly hardened his expression once he followed his girlfriend's line of sight.
"You punks botherin' her?" he hissed, a growl in his voice that even scared Yukiko. Almost immediately the boys exploded in different directions like pins at bowling alley, each scrambling to get away from the wrath of the infamous Kanji Tatsumi. This naturally brought even more attention to the couple; Yukiko bit her lip as she could hear the familiar sound of stinging whispers and biting comments of the peanut gallery surrounding them. Still, she sought to harden her resolve by clinging even tighter to Kanji.
"-Tch- Toldja people were gonna be assholes…" he murmured as Yukiko swore she could feel his muscles tense up in discomfort.
"Just ignore them," she said back quietly, gently stroking his arm to try and relax the irritated muscles. She was about to say more when she heard someone fast approaching them. Luckily it was only Chie, who had her teasing face on.
"Well sheesh, I didn't know I was gonna be in the presence of the 'it' couple of Yasogami High!" she laughed, patting Yukiko on the back, who gave an uncomfortable hum to her friend's sadly accurate observation.
"I-it ain't like that!" Kanji grunted, "Let's just get outta here…"
"Don't hafta tell me twice!" Chie agreed. "You ready, Yukiko?"
"If everyone else is."
The unanimous agreement got the three friends to finally venture past the gate and onto the main road, the fading sun winking at them from the opposite side. While Chie and Kanji chatted a bit, Yukiko breathed a sigh of temporary relief; for her, it was out of the frying pan and into the fire. Now that the ball was in her court, she tried to siphon more strength from her vampiric grip on Kanji's arm, hoping that her master stroke would work out okay.
Friday, 9/1/12, Yasoinaba Station, Late Afternoon…
Naoto checked her watch, sighing heavily as she saw that her train's arrival time of 4:45 PM was fast approaching. The front of the station and the platform behind it was ghostly silent although this was not unusual; the peak tourism season had been letting up over the past couple of weeks, and there were simply not many commuters going to bigger cities otherwise. Still, she had hoped that a certain someone would have shown up by now.
It had been a whirlwind week for the detective. As joyous and relieving it had been to finally confess her true feelings to the person she loved, there was an equally big comedown: breaking the news that she was going to be leaving for an indeterminate amount of time in short order. Her eidetic memory didn't let her forget Yosuke's pained reaction, although he had tried his best to hide it after the initial shock. Despite his positive affirmation and words, it was clear that this was devastating news, which made Naoto feel intensely guilty about a decision she had made largely based in her own hurt feelings at the time. Still, he reminded her of what she already knew: this was what she loved, and Kirijo was a trusted ally whose good graces were important to maintain. And she had been itching to get back into the field after a relatively quiet summer, work-wise.
Unfortunately, this was all easier said than done. As she had packed up her belongings the previous night, it had been very difficult to not get emotional when she looked at her nightstand and saw both Squirt and the roll of photos she and Yosuke had taken in Okina. The scary part was that this emotionality and anxiety wasn't based purely in the short-term; Naoto's mind had spider-webbed into believing that this was going to be the story of their relationship going forward. Yosuke was in his crucial 3rd year of high school and she was adamant on moving forward with freelance detective work or some sort of career in law enforcement. Inaba wasn't exactly a hotbed for criminal activity, despite all that had happened, and it was likely that her interests would frequently take her to far off cities for weeks at a time. Similarly, Yosuke was going to be focusing on his studies; from what it sounded like, he was interested in using his experience working at Junes to look into going to university for a degree in business.
Because she didn't completely understand what the next step was in regards to maintaining her relationship or expressing her feelings, this impending future was threatening to swallow up any hope that she could be a good partner for Yosuke. Surely even love had its limits, and considering Naoto was already working with some restrictions, she was sure that Yosuke's patience would run thin in a short amount of time. Could words be enough? He constantly reassured her that it would be, but that didn't help the doubt deep-seeded in her brain.
In order to take her mind off the negativity, Naoto shifted her focus to yesterday's big hangout session with the fully reunited Investigation Team. Seeing Yu again was always wonderful, but it was Rise who Naoto had been most excited to see again. As expected, her private admission to Rise regarding her relationship with Yosuke was met with a round of disbelief, intense questioning, followed by crushing hugs and crying, ultimately ending with 110% acceptance and support. Rise also convinced her that Yosuke's plan of announcing the news to everyone at lunch was sound, and was also the loudest in her congratulations once the deed was done. The detective hadn't counted on Kanji and Yukiko to do the same, but it was relieving all around; the missteps of April were learned from, and now there were no secrets between friends. She and Kanji had even got a little bit of time to express their happiness for each other's romantic fortune, which helped give a little closure to their ordeal.
Although the day had mostly been a rousing success, Naoto did have some discomfort remembering the second half of the day, which was a split shopping trip between the girls and guys at Okina. As expected, Yosuke and Kanji were at the forefront of the girltalk, each girl tittering with delight at sharing details and feelings about the boys and how the relationships came to be. When it came time for Naoto to share, she found it difficult; telling Rise about her strange path to romance was one thing, but what would the older girls think? Of course, this, too, was folly: Chie and Yukiko were great friends, even if Naoto's relationship with them wasn't as strong as it was with Rise. There was no actual evidence that they'd suddenly turn cold, but predictably, Naoto had just chosen to offer up only the most basic of details. Naturally, despite a total absence of any negativity from the other girls, Naoto couldn't help but feel that everyone just thought she was weird and sullen, lucking into a relationship with someone who was so head over heels that he ignored her glaring flaws. Even if that was true...it couldn't be so bad, could it? After all, amidst all the gloomy thoughts were unprecedented highs caused by that special someone, who didn't seem to mind her oddness.
It was all so complex. Clearly, thinking about life in Inaba was causing her undue stress; it was time for a distraction. Moving her roller suitcase up on the bench next to her, Naoto rifled through one of the side pockets until she found what she was looking for: the box of Baoding balls that Rise had given to her. Rolling the hollow spheres in her hands was assuredly good for her dexterity, but now more than ever, Naoto was beginning to believe that their supposed therapeutic quality was no hoax. She did her best to focus on those as a nice distraction from her intruding thoughts. A few minutes passed, the –tink- of the orbs the only sounds she could hear aside from the generic train announcements, when suddenly a voice from the main road pierced the air, yelling so as to speak out over the sound of a bike engine.
"-Huff- -Huff- Sorry I'm late! That…That's not some sorta metaphor, is it!?"
Friday, 9/1/12, Amagi Inn, Late Afternoon…
"You don't have to."
"I wanna."
"Kanji-kun, really, I –"
"I said I wanna, senpai, so jus' let me!"
"-Sigh- Well, if you want to…"
Reluctantly, Yukiko handed her book bag over to Kanji, who had spent the last few minutes trying to convince her to let him hold it for her. Frankly, Kanji wasn't dying to do it, but it seemed like the nice, boyfriend-y thing to do, and he felt bad that she was offering up affection and he wasn't. He felt a shiver up his spine when he got a small reward for his chivalry: Yukiko settled her now-free hand just below his elbow and tightened her already firm grip on his bicep, pulling herself a little closer to him.
Kanji was aware that her feelings for him ran pretty deep, but she had surpassed even that high bar in the last week. If they were together, it was never very long before she engaged in PDA: holding his hand, placing her hand on his back, or linking arms like she was doing now. She also never said goodbye without standing up on her tiptoes and giving him a tiny kiss on the cheek. He wasn't complaining – literally the most beautiful girl he knew was showering him with affection, how mad could he be? – but it did make him feel weird. Kanji really wanted to express his affection for her in the same way she did, but he didn't want to be like the creeps who would come up to her at school all the time. Not only that, his inexperience made him even clumsier and awkward than usual; his miserable attempt to kiss her cheek last Friday was proof of that. The best, lowest risk thing he could come up with was holding her bag for her, but it seemed like that wasn't nearly the same.
The two had been walking for a long time, Chie having long since separated down her own path home, and their destination was finally in sight. In a pretty definitive sign of the times, there was little activity near the entrance to the Amagi Inn, which meant their peak season was finally coming to a close. According to Yukiko it had been a fairly remarkable summer, interest from the previous year's shenanigans driving business to record highs. Kanji was just glad that there wasn't any crowds to gawk at the couple again like there had been at school. It was one of the bigger things he had been afraid of, and today had shown that it was probably going to be a thing.
If it bothered Yukiko, however, she sure didn't show it; even he was surprised at the power move she had pulled in scaring off the group of jerks trying to hit on her. That made him feel stupid all over again, since she told him countless times that she wasn't embarrassed by him. He did believe her, of course, but he had lived his life with a pretty firm code of not trusting anybody, even if that person was literally his girlfriend. Luckily it had only been a week, and he kept telling himself that there was still plenty of time to get used to this. Maybe, anyways – he figured he'd have to accept that this was reality instead of the fugue state he often felt he was in first.
"You know, Kanji-kun…"
Uh oh! Did he do something wrong?
"Y-yeah?"
Yukiko bit her lip and looked toward the street before continuing. "You don't, erm…You don't have to call me 'senpai' anymore. I think we're a little past that."
Huh. Well, that made a lot of sense, he thought. He'd mainly been doing it to be nice, but after a year or so this was far more than a student peer relationship.
"O-oh. Al-alright," he agreed, nodding his head, "So is it cool then if I…Well, if I call ya by your first name?"
"I'd prefer it, actually," Yukiko answered, smiling up at him. God she was so cool. What did he ever need to worry about?
"Cool, sen – U-uh, buh, Yukiko." Kanji quickly corrected himself, earning an adorable giggle.
"I'll do the same for you…Kanji."
Woah. Kanji tugged on his shirt and wiped the back of his neck, feeling a huge heat wave course through his body. Surely he'd wake up at any moment and this would all be over, right? As the couple walked toward the front gate of the Inn, a thought suddenly crossed Kanji's mind. Yukiko's insistence on first names only gave him a chance to suggest something, something he'd always thought in his head but figured he'd never, ever have the chance to do for real. In the maelstrom of events that had occurred in the past week he'd totally forgot it, but it was all he could think about right now. He stopped walking abruptly right as they passed the Inn's gate, causing Yukiko to stop with him since she was pretty well anchored to him.
"Hm? What is it?" Her question barely registered because Kanji was preparing for a battle in his mind. It was now or never, he told himself; the opportunity had been presented to him, and he had to take it.
"Yukiko," he started, trying to look straightforward so as to avoid looking into her oh-so-pretty eyes and melting, "There's somethin' I wanna ask ya..."
"Oh?"
A quick swish of his tongue to wet his rapidly drying lips and mouth, and he was ready. "Y-y'know how my M-ma and some 'o the older folks in town…c-call ya Y-Yuki-chan?"
"Erm…Y-yes…" She was starting to sound weirded out. Time to wrap this up!
"U-uh…S-so the thing is, I uh…I always thought that was really really cute. C-could I possibly…I-I dunno maybe call ya that t-too?"
The air seemed to stop for a moment as Kanji awaited his response like a man awaiting judgement before the Buddha himself. Naturally he regretted even thinking this was a possibility; for all he knew Yukiko despised the nickname, like he did when the owners at Aiya called him "Kan-chan," and he just offended her really bad.
Suddenly, a tingle shot up his whole arm, causing him to arch his back in response: Yukiko had started drumming her fingers in thought on his bicep. At about the point he was going to start grinding his teeth from anxiety, Yukiko finally gave a response.
"Well…Most of the adults call me that because they've known me since I was really small. It's really more of a kid's nickname…"
Of course, he should have known. He was about to apologize, but another squeeze on his arm made him stop.
"So I guess in that case…You'll just have to call me Yuki." She said quietly, looking down at the ground.
Kanji had to do a double-take just to be sure she wasn't playing a prank on him. She was smiling, sure, but it was a sincere, appreciative one that probably wasn't going to lead to an obnoxious laughing fit. At this point, Kanji didn't even know what to say and he couldn't shake the odd negative feelings that arose from her quick response. Was she really okay with this, or just going along with it?
"Th-that's…That's really okay?" he asked in disbelief. Her nod didn't settle him down as much as he'd hoped. Feeling frustrated, he shook his left arm so she'd let go of it.
"K-Kanji? What's wrong?" Yukiko asked, stepping in front of him and trying to meet his wandering eyes.
Where did he even start? "I…I dunno, I just feel really weird and I'm not sure how to say it without soundin' like a ungrateful jerk," he sighed, pushing up his glasses. He wished he was as good with words as Naoto, or even Yu – they always seemed to be way better at breaking down and translating the sludge that went between their ears.
To her credit, Yukiko didn't back down. "W-well, it's probably better t-to get it off your chest now instead of later. I don't want you to feel you have to hide things…"
Fair enough. "I-I…Sometimes it feels like you're bein'…I don't wanna say "too" nice, but…Yeah. I jus' don't want ya to feel like you gotta be all extra about this 'cuz I was weird about it at first. Th-that's why I wanted to carry yer bag," he explained, holding up the leather case, "Least I'm doin' somethin' then and not just lettin' you do all the work…"
Yukiko's poker face didn't crack, making it impossible to tell if what he said was stupid or on point. Eventually she sighed and tugged at the yellow ribbon on her uniform top. "I-I'm glad you said something," she started, her eyes looking more hopeful than her tone, "But I really wish you wouldn't worry. I…I-If it seems like I'm exaggerating, I apologize, but…" She took a few seconds to really compose her thoughts before speaking again. "Back before…everything happened, I would pretend to be happy even if I really wasn't, and be exactly who I thought everyone wanted me to be. That's how you learn to be a good hostess, and that's how I treated my life. Even after I got my persona, I had to figure out who it was I wanted to be. I'm still trying, but one of the things I know I want to do is to be more open about things that make me happy. I don't care if I look silly laughing at jokes or going to pray: That's just who I am."
Her voice took an upward swing when she continued. "A-and since you make me happy, Kanji, I don't mind being open about that. I-I think the way I like expressing that is…what I've been doing. I-I want you to be happy too, so if you want to call me Yuki, that's fine! It really doesn't bother me. I-If I embarrass you, I'll stop, but…that's honestly how I feel. "
Kanji was so relieved he could cry, but he was also so humiliated that he wanted to knock his own lights out. Of course the answer was simple, and of course she wasn't doing everything for his sake. He tried to say something but stopped, then tried again, but nothing came out. Eventually he just sighed and puts his hands in his pockets, content to just wallow in his stupidity for a minute rather than making it worse by talking.
"Y-Yuki…"
She wouldn't even let him have that. Not a second later, Yukiko closed the small gap between them and pushed herself into Kanji, wrapping her arms around his torso and holding on tight. Kanji didn't hesitate returning it, resting his chin on her headband while one arm hung on her neck and shoulders and the other eased itself around the soft material of her cardigan, careful not to hit her with the book bag. As the hug passed the ten second mark, Kanji began to very lightly stroke and comb through her long black hair, reveling in its consistency and shininess. In turn she began stroking his back and patting it while she nestled her head into his chest. The unforgettable scent of her jasmine perfume stung his nostrils again, and he selfishly buried his nose in her hair so he could overdose on it.
"Tell me what you're thinking," she said after another few seconds, still not moving from her embrace.
Guess this was no time to blow smoke. "I'm thinkin' I'm kinda dumb and I shouldn't worry so much."
Another charming laugh. "You're not dumb; you're sweet and thoughtful! I just don't want you to be embarrassed of me either."
"Nah, jus'…Wish I was better at this kinda stuff. But I guess I can learn, right?"
"I've never h-had a boyfriend before, so…we'll learn together!"
Yukiko moved her head up, which made Kanji pull his back to its normal height. She was gazing up at him, her face flushed and her eyes mischievously squinted.
"W-would you like to come inside? I can…show you my room?"
Kanji blinked in surprise. He'd been in the Amagi Inn a few times, but never to Yukiko's room. Hell, he hadn't ever been to girl's room, period, that wasn't his Ma's. He wanted to spend more time with her, of course, but maybe that was a step too far, too soon. Back in Yu's room, things had gotten a little intense, so he was a little intimidated by what might happen if they were alone again That, and there was a significant chance that he'd run into either her mother or father, and he wasn't looking forward to that, either. Kanji had only met Yukiko's mother a few times, and her father once, but each time he had been thoroughly intimidated by the Amagi matriarch. She was all business, all the time, and it seemed her only soft spot was her daughter, whom she fawned over in conversations he overheard with his own mom. Given Kanji's reputation over the past few years, the fact that their mothers were close, and he was going out with her daughter? A recipe for disaster before even mentioning Yukiko's father, who didn't appear to be a scary man, but was still a father to a young girl that was seeing someone with a problematic past.
He quickly shook his head and removed himself from the hug. "U-uh, maybe some other time?" The look on Yukiko's face in response to that nearly broke his heart. "I-it's nothin' to do with you! Trust me! I jus'…" There didn't seem to be any use to being dishonest. "I-I dunno if I'm ready ta be, y'know, "Hey, Mr and Mrs. Amagi, I'm goin' with yer daughter now!" yet…"
Yukiko bit her lip in response to that, but nodded sadly after mulling it over a moment. "I-I can understand that. I probably should have thought about that, I-I don't know what I was thinkin –"
He didn't want her to think she did something wrong. "N-no, nah, it ain't yer fault! Trust me, I wanna see yer room, and soon! I jus' gotta build up some ba – E-erm, I-I mean…W-well, you know what I mean!" He wasn't sure she cared, but it seemed real gauche to use vulgar language in front of such a proper girl as Yukiko.
"O-okay…Still, you came all this way," Yukiko answered, stepping away from him and inching toward the lobby door, "Can I at least get you something to drink for the walk back? O-or money for the bus?"
He didn't want charity, necessarily, but he'd gotten so hot and bothered walking and talking with her and it was a particularly warm day that a cool drink sounded pretty nice. Plus it was really hard to turn her down when she clasped her hands behind her back and angled her hips just ever so slightly to look up at him. She just looked so darn cute. "Uh, sure! S-sure, I guess I could use a water 'r somethin', yeah!"
"''R somethin,'" huh?" She chuckled, retrieving her book bag from him and turning around to head inside. "I'll see what we have, but water for sure! Oh, and Kanji?"
"Mm? Wassup?"
She stood with her back to him before shifting her head to give him a silly look. "You can say 'balls,' I've heard the word before!"
Kanji was glad he didn't have a drink yet for he surely would have spit it all over the courtyard. "Wh-whattya sayin' that for?! Y-you can't say that!"
"Hahaha yes I caaaannn!" Yukiko laughed, quickly heading into the shoji front door of the inn while Kanji attempted to sputter a response. She was so weird sometimes, he thought. Still, once he got over the initial shock of it, he did think it was pretty funny. In a million years he would have never imagined Yukiko evolving from her bad sense of humor focused on puns and double entendres, let alone having a sense of humor at all, so he supposed he was grateful that he was already finding more layers to his girlfriend in a relatively short amount of time.
His girlfriend. Yeesh, what are the odds that he was going to be saying that about Yukiko Amagi, of all people? He'd only ever imagined Naoto being something close to that, and somedays it was still tough to completely erase the fantasy of having Naoto be his girlfriend. Did romantic feelings like that ever go away? He wondered it at times, but slowly his dreams and waking hours had come to be filled by his raven-haired senior, the girl he'd known since he was just a little kid. If gods were real, and Yukiko prayed to them a lot…was it fate? Heavy stuff to be sure, but things had gone so well that Kanji was starting to become a believer.
It wasn't long before Yukiko returned, her arms still behind her back. Kanji could clearly see she wasn't empty-handed although he was curious as to why she had snagged two beverages.
"You get somethin' for yourself, too?" He asked, reaching his hand out expectantly.
Yukiko shook her head, a sneaky smile on her glossy lips. "No, they're both for you…but you have to pick which one you want! No peeking!"
Pick one? "What're ya talkin' about? I gotta pick one at random? Some free drink!" Kanji huffed, playfully amused by her goofiness.
"You said ''r somethin,'' so I got you ''r somethin!''" She said, taking yet another step closer to him. "Now…pick." Her smile suddenly vanished, replaced with a weirdly serious face.
Kanji pushed his glasses up again and rubbed his nose, not really getting what was going on. "You're such a little goofball…Awright, well, can't go wrong with right, right? So I think I'll jus - !"
He reached forward to poke her right shoulder and was stunned when Yukiko, quick as a whip, leaned forward and snared his lips with her own. In any movie he'd seen he knew that you were probably supposed to close your eyes but he was too shocked to do that, something Yukiko had no problem with. There was nothing to fully describe what he was feeling in that moment – Yukiko's lips were sticky with gloss, and the small amount that collided with Kanji's taste buds reminded him of a cherry fruit snack. For a second he felt like he was going to start choking from a lack of air and carelessly breathed in through his mouth; Yukiko never broke the kiss, instead clumsily choosing to open her mouth a little wider to maintain the seal, resulting in the two pairs of lips becoming a little unaligned and sloppy.
This went on for what felt like hours, but was in reality only about 5 seconds. When they finally separated Kanji could feel a bit of gloss and drool on his lips and, more shamefully, a tingling sensation in his lower abdomen. Yukiko opened her eyes to reveal the same squinty look she had given him a moment earlier, a certain hunger and longing lingering in her dark irises. He looked down to see that he had unconsciously put the hand he had reached out on her sailor collar, the black material not thick enough to disguise the bump of her clavicle from his fingers. Even worse, his thumb was brushing up against the skin at the base of her neck, which was now flushed red as he imagined his whole body was.
Abort abort abort! "Uuuhhh…" He gasped, suddenly feeling breathless as he removed his hand from her blouse.
The sensual look in Yukiko's eyes vanished in a flash, quickly replaced by wide-eyed disbelief. "I-I-I –"
Her hands shot out from behind her back, a water bottle and a melon soda can in contained in them. She placed the water bottle in Kanji's hand quickly. "H-here you go! Goodbye! Thanks!"
As quick as she was there she was gone, the clacking of the shoji door the only clue that she had been movement. Kanji could only stare at the water bottle in his hand, which was trembling along with the rest of his body. What…just happened!? He reached up to his mouth and rubbed his bottom lip, examining the shiny, translucent gloss that showed up on his finger. Should he have said something? Anything? Yukiko said "thanks," was that what you were supposed to say after you kissed someone?
Amidst the chaos swirling in his brain and tremors moving through his body, Kanji could feel a smile slowly start to creep across his face until it had transformed into a grin that would put Yosuke to shame. He had no idea what he was doing in a relationship, or what made a girl like Yukiko tick, but one thing was for sure: whatever it was, he needed more of it.
Friday, 9/1/12, Yasoinaba Station, Late Afternoon…
"Is it almost time?"
"Yes. It should be arriving in just a few minutes."
"Okay…"
An awkward silence hung heavy in the air. Yosuke knew their time together was going to be brief, but it really felt like he had just arrived to say goodbye. A peek over at Naoto, her hat pulled tight over her eyes and still clothed in the same summer uniform as he was only, matched his mood pretty clearly: mopey, listless, and unsure.
He played it cool at first, but after she had broken the news that she was going out on assignment for at least a month, Yosuke had gone home and cried for a long time. It embarrassed him especially since she had made it clear it wasn't going to be forever, yet he couldn't help but see it as an impossible amount of time. He tried to not be selfish about it but for him, it certainly seemed like anytime he really got close to someone they went away: first Saki, then Yu, and now Naoto. And the fact that she had agreed to it mainly because he had hurt her feelings so bad that she felt she needed to leave town? He appreciated her honesty regarding the matter, but every word was a razor slash to his heart.
Scary to think that someone could affect him this much, that being separated for any length of time was provoking this strong of a reaction. He must have been way more messed up than he realized if he was this dependent on someone else. The shame of it had gotten to him, and he had barely looked Naoto in the eye since he had arrived. It was the kind of clingy nonsense he had worried about coming in ways that he couldn't control, so he just chose to stay quiet rather than lean into it and alienate Naoto before they could even get off the ground.
He sighed and crossed his legs in front of the bench, needing to something to expel the nervous energy. While he was cracking his knuckles, Naoto began to speak.
"U-uh..I…have some things for you."
Things? "Y-yeah? What?" Curious, he looked over to see her pull something out of her pocket. It was a small, thin box that looked like it would hold a pen or something. She opened it, not wasting any time, to reveal…a watch? Indeed, it was a black digital watch with a simple brown leather band. Naoto took the watch out carefully and held it in her palm toward Yosuke, almost like she was a salesman.
"You…bought me a watch?" Yosuke asked in surprise. It was basic, but it was nicer than the stuff you could get for cheap at Junes. He was used to looking at his phone for time, but it was a bad habit for working in a retail store. In that sense, it was a pretty thoughtful gift.
"W-well, I bought the shell of a watch, but I customized the functions myself," she explained, pressing a button on the side to turn it on. It was tough to see in the orange glow of the early evening, but it turned on just fine, the screen lighting up with the time. "It is a normal watch, sure, but…It can also tell you where I am." She must have noticed how confused Yosuke looked because she pressed the button on the side again, changing the watch face from the current time to a glowing digit of some kind. On closer inspection, Yosuke could see that it said 1 m.
Ohhh, he thought, finally understanding. The watch was showing how close Naoto was in relation to him! "W-woah! That's so cool!" he reacted, carefully snatching up the watch from her hand and admiring it himself, his initial glum attitude beginning to melt.
"And…J-just so you know, my watch," she explained further, holding up her wrist to show off the more complex looking one on her wrist, "has a similar function." She pressed a button on the side to show off that her watch listed the same number. 1 m. "Mine can tell me where you are, too…" Her blush intensified as she said that, lowering her hand and placing it in her lap as she squirmed uncomfortably.
"Huh…" Yosuke mumbled, quickly pulling the watch on before he got up off the bench, walking a bit along the platform and then looking down to see the watch now said 2 m. It worked!
Naoto sighed sadly. "It's just a toy, though, so it really only has a radius of a few meters. From today on, until I return…it will just say 'out of range'…"
Well, nothing's perfect, Yosuke thought. "Still, you made this. That's pretty awesome; good work, squirt."
Another sigh, although this was followed by a playful eye-roll. It had taken the better part of the week, but Yosuke was starting to see signs that he had worn down her defenses when it came to silly nicknames.
"I'm glad you like it. I wasn't sure whether or not a watch may be too archaic, but it was the only thing I could make in such a short amount of time," she explained.
"You didn't have to get me anything, so I'll take it!" Yosuke said, his icy demeanor melting a bit with a wide grin aimed at Naoto. This was one of a few ways to nearly guarantee a smile out of her, and he was delighted to see his hypothesis proven correct again.
"There's, erm, one more thing," she muttered, turning to the suitcase at sitting at the foot of the bench and unzipping the main compartment. "Come."
What was she, Santa Claus? Yosuke joined her at the bench again, waiting with great anticipation to see what else she had. He was more than a little puzzled when she turned back around to reveal a very familiar-looking Corgi puppy plush doll.
Confused, he looked at her and back at Squirt a few times. "Hmm…re-gifting? Or did you somehow find the exact same thing by playing every crane game in the place?" He said with an irreverent tone. Her hohoho in response sent him heart aflutter.
"Not exactly," she chortled, "I…This doll stopped being just a doll as soon as I won him. It makes me think of that day all over again: doing something out of my wheelhouse, conquering a difficult challenge…and you, above all." She set the doll on the small amount of bench space between them. "That was the day that I came to understand what a thoughtful and intelligent person you were, so much so that I told you something I had yet to share with anyone, even Rise, and you didn't flinch, or laugh, or run away. You stayed…And I believe it was then that I felt the first spark of things to come…"
Shakily, she reached over and seized Yosuke's hand, tightly interlocking her fingers with his clammy, sweaty digits. He flinched a little, not expecting her to willingly engage in PDA like that. "Do you remember, senpai, when you confessed to me on the hill? I told you then what I still believe today: when we're not together, i-it feels like a part of me is missing. This doll, this…Squirt is a part of me now, for better or for worse…as is this…" Slowly Naoto used her free hand to remove her hat, exposing a flattened crop of blue hair. She set the hat on Squirt's head, which nearly covered the whole head of the tiny plush.
"N-Naoto, what're you…"
"These pieces of me…they are as much yours as they are mine. And until I return, I think it would be best if you kept these. I wouldn't trust anyone else with these precious items…Please accept them!" She bowed in place, squeezing Yosuke's hand so tight it almost hurt.
Yosuke couldn't help the staggered breathing that followed, or the tears beginning to sting his eyes. She trusted him that much? Why did she have to go? "N-N-Naoto…"
With her head still down, Naoto squeezed his hand tightly again. "Please…don't laugh…or say it's stupid or childish…okay?"
"I-it's not that…" His voice broke a little as he said that, causing Naoto to break her bow and look up at him.
"S-Senpai, you promised you wouldn't…"
She was referring to a vow the two had made that they wouldn't cry when they separated. It had been easy to say the words, but Yosuke's bluster had completely failed him. He took a big shaky breath and pinched his thigh in order to focus on something else. "I-I'm not, I'm not! But…geez, squirt, I…I don't even know what to say."
"Then don't. Wasn't it you that said…"
"N-no words?"
"Hmm. No words."
As soon as they finished their exchange, the booming sound of an approaching train whistle got them both to jump. Naoto quickly zipped up her suitcase and got on her feet, dusting and straightening herself out before walking into the entrance of the tiny station. Yosuke joined her, gathering Squirt under his arm while they walked through the building and onto the grey brick platform. The train was a silver bullet rocketing slowly toward them amidst a small cornucopia of signal breaks and blaring sirens. As it pulled into the station, Naoto turned to Yosuke. He did the same, stopping for a moment to set the newly capped Squirt on the ground next to him.
"I…I guess this is goodbye," Yosuke said sadly, crossing his arms so they wouldn't get in his way.
Naoto shook her head. "Goodbye implies that I am never coming back. This is only temporary…I promise to be back as soon as I can."
"R-right…"
"Now boarding: Yasoinaba Station. Bound for…"
At that announcement, Naoto took a deep breath and gripped the handle of her briefcase. She started to walk toward the open train doors but stopped after a few steps.
"It's funny…I've left this station many times, but always on my own," she commented, her back still to Yosuke, "All those times, when it has just been me, I would inform everyone that I was leaving after I already boarded…That way, no one would have to stand on this platform and bid farewell to someone they wished could stay, as I did with Yu-senpai. It let me keep a healthy distance, too, in order to shield my heart from the pain of leaving my only friends. So…B-being here now, knowing th-that someone I love will suh-suffer that pain…"
When she turned to look back, it took all of Yosuke's strength to hold in the sob building in his chest: Naoto had tears streaming down her face and was sniffling rapidly. "I-I-It's muh-more than I-I cuh-can take…"
Weirdly, he was slightly relieved; now he didn't have to hold up his end of the bargain. "Wuh-wow," he said, laughing amidst the tears that were starting to fall, "N-never fuh-figured you to bruh-break a promise, s-squirt…"
Naoto's face scrunched up in anger as much as she could while desperately clenching her teeth to stop any more sobs from coming. "Qu-quiet! Yuh-you s-started it!"
Luckily for Yosuke, he was so amused whenever Naoto got flustered up that it was powering him through the agony. "Hehheh, -sniff- Th-that won't huh-hold up in c-court!"
"Wuh-would –sniff- so!"
As Naoto backed off to rub her eyes and nose, Yosuke stared at her through his blurry vision, overwhelmingly in love with the sobbing detective. All his instincts cried out to do something, but even at the height of emotionality, he knew that it was probably best to respect her wishes. Still, couldn't hurt to ask…
"S-since we-we're breakin' all the ruh-rules here," he sniffled, stepping very close to his trembling girlfriend, "I-I'm guh-gonna h-hug you. Thu-that alright?"
Naoto looked up, her forearm still covering her face. "A guh-good r-rule, whu-while strictly e-enforced, shuh-should be a-able to buh-bend in d-desperate tuh-times…"
Eureka! Yosuke wasted no time in stepping forward and gently, gently, slipping his arm over her shoulder and down across the top of her back, pulling her close. Even though he had her permission he knew he had to play it cool, so he tested the waters by placing his free hand gently on her shoulder. Surprisingly, Naoto responded; she put one arm around his waist and gripped his forearm tight as she leaned into the hug, burying herself in the space between his bicep and chest. She sobbed quietly as he moved his hand off her shoulder and around her neck, holding the back of her head steady against him and massaging the top of her back at the same time. He of course wanted to go further, to cocoon her in his arms, but he knew to take it slow above all else. As sad as he was, knowing that Naoto was beginning to trust him even more than she had a week ago was definitely acting as a poultice for the pain.
The hug went on for quite awhile before she let go, taking some time to further compose herself. She took a handkerchief out of her back pocket, dabbing at her eyes and blowing her nose, while Yosuke winced at the mess he now had on his school uniform.
"Y-you better get goin', squirt," Yosuke warned her, pointing to the train, "I think they're about to do last call."
"I-indeed. S-senpai, I…Yosuke," she stuttered, making Yosuke gasp. She never used his name sans honorific. "I love you…"
Heart swelling, Yosuke didn't leave her hanging. "I-I love you, too, Naoto."
She grabbed her suitcase one last time and set out for the train, Yosuke close behind. Before she stepped into the waiting train car, she turned and gave him a deep bow. "I-I'll call you as soon as I'm settled in."
"Can't wait." He answered, trying his best to grin through the tears. It got a little smirk from her.
"B-before you leave, please investigate Squirt thoroughly. He may be hiding one last surprise," she suggested. "U-until we meet again…my love."
As if she timed it on purpose, the door of the train slid shut, leaving a stunned Yosuke standing in the summer breeze. "My love?" It was so cheesy that he couldn't help but laugh at it. Clearly she had taken her ideas of romance from The Maltese Falcon or some other detective novel, but he supposed that her trying at all was a small victory worth taking. He quickly ran to the end of the platform, waving at her through her window seat while the train pulled out of the station. She mirrored his actions as long as she was in his line of sight, and he kept waving afterwards probably long after she could no longer see it. For no particular reason he held his watch up and clicked the button, only to see exactly what she had said: Out of range.
Now alone on the platform, he let himself cry for just a minute or so, getting it out of his system now before it consumed him for the whole night. Once he had calmed down a little bit he walked back over to where he had set Squirt on the ground. "Sorry' bout that, buddy," he said to the thing, holding it up above his head as he looked all around it for any clues that Naoto may have left behind. Nothing jumped out at him, and even a thorough investigation of her hat proved fruitless. He was about to call it quits when he caught a whiff of something as he pulled it in for a closer inspection. It was vaguely familiar, and after looking around to make sure no one was there to see him look terribly absurd, he pushed the doll up to his face and took a big inhale.
It was her.
He had mentioned to Naoto over the course of the last week that he had liked the scent she tended to wear, a men's cologne that smelled vaguely of cinnamon and other earthy smells. Evidently she had coated Squirt in it, which meant that unless he was washed he was probably going to be smelling like this for a while. It was an ingenious move that Yosuke could only laugh at as he fixed the policeman's cap back on Squirt and took another whiff of him, hoping it permanently burned into his senses. As he moved back out to the front of the station and onto his scooter, he carefully balanced Squirt between his thighs and settled for tucking the cap between his school shirt and the t-shirt he wore underneath.
While he strapped on his helmet, he looked at the sun setting behind the train station. It would probably take four or five hours to get to Tatsumi Port Island, and it was going to be an agonizing wait for her call. Still, he had to remember that she was coming back someday soon, and the little pinch he got under his chin trying to fasten the helmet meant that he wasn't dreaming: he loved Naoto Shirogane with all his heart, she loved him back, and no amount of distance would change that.
But what else did he expect? Nothing about life in Inaba seemed real, and dreams had a funny habit of coming true in ways you couldn't make up in your wildest imagination.
