As he strolls, Yu finds that, with nothing but downtime between each labyrinth, everyone naturally breaks off into smaller groups.

He spots Chie and Yukiko first, inseparably curled up in a corner. They look especially soft dozing off together, foreheads touching and fingers loosely laced. Seeing them like this, it's obvious to Yu why Yukiko turns down every 'challenger' that comes to her – Chie really is her prince already, no two ways about it.

Maybe he'll see if Elizabeth has an extra blanket in the Nurse's Office.

Yu happens upon Kanji next, straddling a chair the wrong way and draped over the back of it. He's flushing brightly as Junpei animatedly mimics curves with hands, a clear description of someone. Junpei elbows Akihiko next, hoping to rope the older boy into an agreement but only earning a short laugh from him.

Akihiko's reaction still makes him beam, though, and then he rounds back on Kanji to tease him about his blush.

"Senpai, help!"

Figuring he's already close enough, Yu lets Kanji wave him down. The blonde is up to his ears in shades of pink; Junpei is merciless.

"T-tell them," he says, pointing to the other two boys. "Tell them that N-Naoto and I aren't dating!"

And though Yu smiles sweetly in response, his voice is utterly deadpan as he looks over to Akihiko and Junpei and says, "They're dating."

"Senpai!" Kanji roars, nearly toppling his chair as he hops up in embarrassed protest. His head swivels between Junpei, who's openly laughing; Akihiko, whose eyes are nearly sparkling with mirth; and Yu himself, who grins and puts his hands up in faux surrender.

"Oh look, there's Mitsuru-senpai and Nao-cakes now!" Junpei blurts, immediately drawing ire for the nickname from both Kanji and Naoto and conveniently giving Yu the out he needs to get back to his original plan.

He slips away, down the hall, before the bubble of chaos can burst again.

Yu expects to find what he's looking for at the Concession Alley, but he doesn't. He finds Rei, Zen, Fuuka, Rise, and a scarily large pile of takoyaki being split four ways.

It isn't at Go-You Gameland either. He finds Teddie and Aigis instead, aiming to win a second stuffed sheep (a black and white one) to befriend their first (a pink and purple one).

So although there's no reason to worry, and Yu sternly reminds himself of such, he finds himself picking up his pace.

Along the way, as if to hammer home their harmlessness, the sea of student semi-Shadows simply parts around him.

Yu doesn't know if semi-Shadow is the right term for them but considering it – their nature, their appearance, their existence here and period – distracts him long enough to pull his anxiety back down a notch.

And then he stops short.

There it is. There he is.

Yosuke, alone. In the corner of a booth, lazily propped up against the wall with his arms behind his head. Headphones on, eyes closed, and mouthing lyrics. Legs crossed at the knee, one foot tapping against the booth seat.

He looks relaxed, serene even, and Yu is torn.

If he interrupts, Yosuke will look up at him with those wide, gorgeous, honey-brown eyes and flash a bright grin at him. He'll pull his headphones back down around his neck, and say something benign like, hey partner, how's it going?

Yosuke will turn all of his attention on him and, selfishly, Yu wants that. All the time, if he's honest.

But if he interrupts, he can't watch Yosuke's rapturous smile – the one that appears every time the beat drops just right. He'll miss all the ways he dances in place, nodding his head or twirling his fingers to rhythms only he can hear. He'll miss the beauty, the purity, of Yosuke being completely in his element.

Just thinking about him makes his heart flutter and his fingertips tingle and, hoping to calm the wild racing before it crawls up his neck in the form of a blush, Yu exhales quietly.

Focus.

Deciding at last to interrupt, he exhales again. Yet before Yu can fully throttle the thudding in his chest and move forward, a familiar, tranquil voice filters in and gives him pause.

"So… Do you love him?"

Blinking, Yu turns in the direction of the voice, coming up behind and to the left of him.

Oh. Makoto.

"Yuki," he says amicably, in greeting. His gaze hops between Yosuke, swaying in his own world, and the shorter boy beside him.

Yu still isn't used to being around someone as stealthily astute as the other Wild Card is, but it's also refreshing. He sees more of himself in Makoto than he expected – especially in how deeply his team trusts him to guide them. It's nice to know someone else understands the weight of that privilege, though they haven't talked about it directly.

"I asked you a question," Makoto replies, slipping his hands into his pockets. He looks up at Yu expectantly, but Yu isn't seeing him anymore; his eyes are already back on the brunet sitting only a few footfalls away.

Yu rolls his shoulders, unruffled by the bluntness. "You did?"

Makoto inclines his head in Yosuke's direction, another gesture the platinum-haired boy doesn't catch. "Hanamura. Your partner. Do you love him?"

So he did say that; Yu heard him correctly after all.

He looks over then, taking in the mildly curious expression on Makoto's face. Curious, and… that's it. Just curious.

Staring down at him, Yu gets the sense that anything he says will be safe with the other boy. And, well, there's no reason to lie; he isn't ashamed.

Nothing could make him ashamed of how he feels about his partner.

"Yeah," Yu answers softly, biting his lip. "I think I do."

Makoto's response is instant. "Are you going to tell him?"

"I… I don't know. I want to, but…"

Yu trails off, graduating from simply biting his lip to full-on worrying it. It's a bad habit and a clear indicator of his current moodiness; the fact that he's allowing himself to be seen doing it at all is proof of the strange, easy camaraderie between him and Makoto.

Patiently, Makoto says nothing, though he does follow Yu's line of sight to where it settles, yet again, on Yosuke. He's not Makoto's type but, upon reflection, it's easy to see why the taller boy is smitten. Even in a harrowing situation like this one, he carries with him the aura of sunshine.

A long string of heartbeats skips by before Yu sighs. Deeply, audibly, and, this time, with resignation.

"He's not into guys. He wouldn't be into me."

Admitting it aloud conjures up a veritable whirlwind of emotion and, all at once, his throat tightens; his stomach twists wretchedly; and his eyes prickle warm and wet at the corners.

Swallowing thickly, Yu shoves every single messy feeling back into its box. He turns his gaze to the ceiling and wills his lips to stop trembling; this is, without a doubt, the wrong time and place to start falling to pieces.

"That's rational," he hears Makoto saying. He sounds so far away now; merely an undercurrent to the static buzzing in Yu's ears. "But I think you would be surprised."

Yu rubs his eyes, pretending that something's there, before shifting to look at Makoto again. His sleeve catches the wetness he couldn't blink away.

"Why?"

Makoto shrugs. "I just do." Then, turning on his heel, he begins walking back the way he came. "Later."

The abrupt goodbye, punctuated with an offhanded wave, leaves Yu chewing his lip all over again. He turns back to Yosuke, who is alert now, smiling and dragging off his headphones just like Yu predicted he would earlier.

After, Yu decides as he heads over to him. After all of this labyrinth nonsense is done; once they're home and truly safe, he'll tell him.

He'll tell Yosuke how wonderful he is; how beautiful he is; how keen and funny and everything he is.

Down by Samegawa, where they hugged, and fought, and maybe Yu didn't wishfully imagine a look from the brunet that was just for him – he'll tell him.