After dancing to save idols, everyday life was a breath of fresh air. Magic and personas were stressful and dangerous. High school was over, college was barely achieved. A smaller university, a community college really, accepted him. It was just outside Inaba, close to home and friends. And near the other world, should the flowers turn to fog again.

Yosuke had fallen into a rhythm, studying and taking classes, study methods in cram school carrying over to the classes. He didn't live on campus, but in an apartment just inside of town, where the TVs could still suck them in if they were to reach out.

Ah yes, them. Yu moved into Inaba after graduating, on the train back when the graduation ceremony ended. Both had traded buttons before, sending them in envelopes and sewing them into the jackets they wore. Neither was old enough to rent, so Dojima took care of that with the added caveat that both knew they were always welcome to live with him if they wanted or needed to.

They always turned him down. He didn't need to see the two of them walking up at midnight for 15 minutes, dropping back asleep again after walking around, looking for monsters that didn't exist on this side of reality. Dojima was told everything but did not believe it or most likely didn't want to consider it. It was a good way to stay sane. He had Noato to worry about, and that was all that was relevant.

Yosuke envied the other students in his classes, mentally guessing what their shadows would look like. How threatening they would be, what the weakness be or the persona would be. It was almost a fun pass time now. Making light of a year, almost two, of his life. It was easier to laugh at the pain than to acknowledge how deeply it hurt to be a plaything of a god that dragged him…

Yosuke swatted away that thought. The memory of the hands holding him and pulling him out of his skin flared against his raw nerves, but he ignored him. It was just a side effect of being a hero. He stood by his partner, defeated his shadow at the end of a fucked up prix, with the title of "Captin Ressentiment" branded into his skin. The envy and want to be a hero was a high that had a bitter taste, the town still hated him, at least a little two, something that leaked into the classes he was taking to further himself. The dirty looks from his classmates from school, that even Yu couldn't distract from, and the rude comments that were thrown his way when Yu was getting starry eyes from those same people. There was a temptation to just walk away-

No. no. he was still needed. He still needed his partner. Yu kept him grounded in ways he had never experienced before. It was a comfort he didn't want to take for granted. Even when he met one familiar face in his classes. One that he hadn't seen since long before the murders happened. It was almost surprising that he was recognized with the murders having had happened and solved. He barely recognized himself.

Golden Week almost came too soon. He had just gotten used to studying and working hard and it just cut away the distraction, leaving wounds that were boiling at him.

"This is your fault," Yousuke whispered under his breath, as the bus he was in, half empty, passed the gas station where that damn attendant worked.

Night covered the sky, shrouding everything in darkness and silence. He stopped in front of the liquor store, more popular than ever, now that was painted in tragedy.

Yosuke didn't hate anyone in the town, just the pain. He was older than his senpai would ever be and she had more aspirations than he ever did when she was alive. It was unfair- bullshit.

No, he didn't mean that. He didn't really feel like-

Something in Yosuke snapped. Rotting away. Like closure, but more venomous, like all of his pain was easier to fold away, and his smile was easier to summon, easier to fake. The wind magic at his fingertips blew away in a wind running through his hair, now dyed a more natural brown, reddish colors popping in direct sunlight.

It was sunrise when Yosuke returned home having wandered for hours before coming home. He found himself lost in thought at the graveyard. People who were loved and mourned rested there, and Saki still had dozens of flowers, a saint to the masses, not allowed to make mistakes and Yosuke seemed to be making enough for the both of them.

Yu was still sleeping in the bed they shared. The other latched onto him holding him close. His brows bunched.

"Late" Yu mumbled in his sleep, nearly stirring awake.

"Just walking around town. Sorry." Not a lie but still not quite a truth.

Exhaustion and sleep took over. Hours passed in silence and peace.

Yosuke awoke to a hand on his shoulder roughly shaking him awake. His eyes shot open. His chest was stinging, his nails tingling from the force of scratching his skin hard. He didn't even know if he was even having a nightmare or just his nerves were getting to him.

His hand was pried away from his chest and it was easier to breathe for a moment, allowing Yosuke to close his eyes to gather his thoughts. He calmly looked up again to see Yu looking at him with wide eyes, panicked. Yu's breath skipped as a hand was placed on the side of Yosuke's neck careful but close enough to feel each other's pulse.

"Partner..?" Yosuke whispered.

"You're gone. I can't feel…" Shock turned to heartbreak. Yosuke didn't need more than that to understand. The resonance that they had the connections they had under the surface with the personas were gone, severed. "What happened?" Yu asked softly.

"I don't know- I'm not hiding-"

"You are. I can see it in your eyes."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Why are you shutting me out?"

"I don't think you would get it."

"Is someone bothering you is it like high-"

"Yes, no- it's everything."

"Do you want to go into the other world?"

Yosuke paused. He didn't want to say no. it would have been too easy. But it was easy enough to do. With there not being fog anymore, navigation would be a cakewalk. No one had to know. He felt shame that it popped up again, and while the prix was a different persona, it was still so easy to believe that his shadow was coming back. There was a small habit that he should work on fixing but it was what he did. He didn't want to confront it right now, or ever really.

Yu read the silence and nodded, looking down. "Eventually?" he supplied, his voice dropping.

"Eventually," Yosuke promised.