Everything had changed.
The way his life progressed forward, his outlook on so many things, and the way he interacted with people.
All because of him.
Those grey-eyes had always shown a sense of leadership and vibrance with only the keenest understanding. It was a unique trait, to see just how the lone, young man was almost like a chameleon; being able to slip in and fall into an equal wavelength with anyone he met.
That trait was so admirable. Not only that, but he had the most straight-forward of attitudes. He would tell it like it was, or call you out on something when he wanted to know the answer to something or to know the truth.
Seeing him, being around him, knowing him, getting closer to him, it had all changed Yosuke Hanamura.
He'd come to label the other as 'partner'. It was a way of saying I've got your back no matter what, and also a way of saying, I'll always be your best friend no matter what.
They would both take mortal blows for one another.
They would die for one another.
Such a strong bond can change so many things about a person. All their beliefs, emotions, interactions, everything down to the very way a smile formed on their lips when they saw the one who had changed their lives.
The loss, the happiness, the gain, the victories, every feeling was intensified with that one person by his side.
The idea of another person ever being able to do so many things to you, it starts to rationalize that perhaps this was a miracle. Narukami Yu had become his miracle.
Something so amazing, something that only continued to make his days even more wonderful than the previous one, it could only make those feelings of admiration and the desire to never leave his side as his partner deepen.
It could only grow into that of love.
His heart pounded so loud, he thought that the world around him could hear it.
Was he really here in this moment?
Yosuke leaned over his friend, staring down at him with completely worried eyes. He could already feel tears threatening to fall. He knew that healing him would be easy enough, but it never made it any easier whenever he had to see the other in such pain.
Blood covered his hands.
The moment he saw the shadow make contact to cause such a blow, he had already thrown his weapon aside and gone running to his side.
His hands clutched at the school uniform jacket that had been so carelessly torn from the blow. Yosuke was trying not to let his voice become uneasy as he already saw Yukiko trying to cast the most powerful healing spell she could muster from afar.
The shadow was still in the center of their circle. Kanji had started taking all of his fury out on it; he was not pleased either from how the monster had hurt one of his comrades.
"It's really not that bad Yosuke." Yu smiled up at him, the pain clearly visible in the after-shock of his words.
"Come on don't be like that. It has to hurt like hell."
"I feel a bit better since you got here."
"Where else would I ever be but here?"
Yosuke couldn't hold back a tear, and it fell down the side of his cheek. There had only been the rare, few instances that he had cried in front of the person in his arms.
He too, had consoled his friend whenever Nanako was thought to be dead. By some miracle she still lived, and by some miracle now his friend was still looking up at him with that same smile.
It scared him to death, thinking of all the instances that one of them could've died. He still hadn't mustered up the courage to say what he had wanted to say for almost two months now.
The feeling had developed, but he wasn't sure of the intentions or how strong it would become. First it was a liking of him as a person, but gradually it grew to a physical attraction, and then it grew to something he had never felt before.
Every time they went into battle, he would argue with himself. Always saying, you have to tell him after you get back.
But he never did.
The words were always too hard to say. He imagined it probably would've been awkward for him to throw that in the middle of a conversation. And it more than likely would've ruined their very close bond of friendship.
Yosuke knew that his friend wasn't like that either. He had only ever dated girls, and he had recently been seeing a lot of girls. Nothing serious had come of it, but that fact always still prevented him from saying what he wanted to.
So he kept that secret, hidden away deeply inside of himself. He knew that his shadow-self was probably laughing at him for being so cowardly.
But as he felt the blood still trickling on his hands, he knew it couldn't be put off any longer.
The healing spell was already starting to take effect as Yu had started to breathe a little more easily than before. His body wasn't tensing up as much either. Those brown eyes looking down at him were obviously lost in thought; he had looked into them enough to know when the other was thinking hard on something.
"Tell me."
The command was so delicate yet firm. Even with the slight shocks of pain that must have been running through him, the man in his arms was still so adamant at noticing when something was off about him.
That was something he always cherished about their bond. Even in sickness, pain, or near-death experiences, they still worried about one another before themselves.
"You'll hate me."
Yu felt a wave of confusion but the light chuckle that came from him brushed it off.
"I could never hate you."
Yosuke swallowed out of nervousness. Glancing at the scene beside of them, he could see that the shadow was now leaning over, clearly on its last bit of health.
"So tell me."
The voice regained his full-attention. It was clear that if he was ever going to say it, he had to do it now.
"Yu I…"
His voice stopped short as he tried to prepare himself for the damage that he was about to do.
"I-I love you."
Silence hung in the air as the words processed and started taking their effect.
"I know it's wrong, we're best friends, but I just-I can't-" Yosuke began to openly sob, his tears falling from his eyes, running down his cheeks to land on the already ruined school uniform on the figure in his arms. "I worry about you so much, and I want to be around you all the time. Just seeing you smile at me makes me feel like I can get through my day, and I look forward to every day after that because I know I get to see you again."
There were far too many reasons racing through Yosuke's mind as to just why he had come to feel this way.
His smile, his laugh, his eyes.
For the way his hand would touch his shoulder. For the way they would always hang out together after school. For the way they could joke about anything with a sense of humor that only they understood. For the way they could sense when something wrong with the other when no one else could.
For the way they always went to the other first for advice. For the way they always had each other's back. For the way that when one of them smiled the other would smile back. For the way that they laughed together. For the way that they comforted one another. For the way that they had never been more comfortable around anyone else.
For the way he was able to understand every part of him. For the way he had been able to make him see so many things about himself that he never had before. For the way that he had been able to make him a better person.
For everything about Narukami Yu.
"And I've tried to hold it back; I've tried to tell myself that you'll never feel that way towards me. But it hurts too much in my chest. All the times we come here we risk our lives; I am always so terrified that I might lose the chance to tell you all of this."
Yosuke gripped onto the other man's arms as if they were his lifeline.
"But after this, after seeing you fall and having your blood on my hands, I just couldn't-"
His words cut off, a sudden inhale of breathing as he was trying to restrain his uneasy sobbing. He could feel the words pouring out of him, but he felt like he wouldn't even be able to speak properly anymore. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-" All he felt like he could do was apologize for how he just ruined everything with the best friend he would probably ever have in all his life.
The sound of a loud scream emitted in the air just as the shadow began to fall to the ground.
With no words, Yu ran his hand upward in a slow movement. Once he felt it reach the back of the head hovering above him, tears falling from that face, he gently forced that head down closer to his own.
Hardly noticing the sudden movement from his friend, Yosuke was lost in feeling like he had just been stabbed in the chest by no one other than himself.
Little did he know that his hopes were about to be lifted.
Their lips met in the central point of chaos. A large gust of wind flew through the area as the shadow had fallen. Tears never stopped falling from those brown eyes as they had instantly closed from the initiation of a connection that he never thought would become a reality.
Yu let his fingers trace into those auburn-locks, still brushing his lips over the one who had just confessed everything that he had ever wanted to hear from a person. His best friend, he had become the significant other part of himself that he always wanted and needed.
The kiss was chaste, completely enthralling for them as all those days, weeks, and months of emotions had finally been able to have that release through the words spoken from their lips that were now sealing themselves together.
Pulling back just enough to still keep the man close to him, Yu stared up at those brown eyes, feeling as if he hadn't just been completely torn apart by a shadow. No, he had been given the utmost happiness that he had ever felt, just from having the other by his side.
"I love you too, Yosuke."
The words shot through him, straight to his heart. Upon impact, Yosuke felt himself having to restrain himself from crying all over again. For months he had been only ever dreaming to hear those words, always pining away not to get his hopes up for something that would never happen.
But it had been real. The tingling sensation still lingering on his lips and the vision of the man he loved moving in to reconfirm that truth once again made him feel like he had been given another miracle.
The battle having just ended left the others with quite a scene to watch.
"Oi, it's about time you two!" Kanji was yelling in the background as he couldn't help but to laugh afterward. Their happiness was clearly spreading to everyone else nearby.
"I didn't know." Yukiko was blushing while consorting with Chie. Both girls were already supportive of the idea, and were trying not to get too caught up in how cute they looked.
The second kiss was just as amazing as the first. Hearing the supportive shouts from their friends only made fair-skins darken with a blush as a small chuckle was emitted from the other in between the meeting of their lips.
They stayed that way for what felt like forever. The world was tuned out so that only they were the only two present in that moment. From then on, the smiles only grew wider as the happiness overflowed between them.
They would die for one another.
But now, they would also live for one another too.
- fin