Summer Break - Sunny - Morning

It had taken some work, but he'd managed to get everything worked out exactly the way he'd wanted it. His parents still weren't thrilled about him going back to Inaba for the summer, but he'd promised to go visit the university they'd been talking about, and that seemed to help ease their minds.

It was a day earlier than he'd planned. As far as 99% of the people he knew in Inaba were aware, he wasn't going to be in town until the next day. But as the train rumbled into the station, he could already see the sleek black car he'd known would already be there.

Because if you needed something handled with the utmost secrecy, there was only one person for him to ask.

The detective stepped out of the car as Yu approached, and she gave him a soft smile as he set his bag down to give her a hug. "It's good to see you," she said softly.

"Thank you for doing this. I know it's early."

"The time isn't really of much consequence," she said, waving it off. "Ensuring that no one knew I was going to be coming out at this hour was another matter entirely. But I have managed to keep it a secret. I will advise you that you'll need to walk through the motions tomorrow for the others, as they have a...mm. Plan for your arrival."

"I'm more than happy to play the fool." She looked up at him with a knowing look in her eyes, and he just winked as they both got into the car. "It really means the world to me, honestly."

"I am aware." That ghost of a smile was still lurking on her lips. "I've seen the difference in him, just since your conversation the other day."

"He told you?"

Naoto shook her head. "No, but you had sent me a message saying you'd finally heard from him, and his mannerisms changed at the same time. I do work for law enforcement, Narukami."

"Okay, okay." He chuckled. "He's doing better?"

"He's doing differently, at least. He's been quiet as to any reasoning, so I can't speak to very much beyond that. But it does seem to be an improvement."

"That's good at least." He sighed. "Part of me still thinks I'm making a huge mistake."

"You're not, senpai." Naoto's voice was soft. "Relationships are terrifying and uncertain, but as you have helped me to see, there is a great possibility within them as well."

"Oh?"

Her smile quirked up a bit. "Nothing particularly serious, but I will admit that I am more willing to believe you all now."

"The age of miracles might not be over after all." She swatted at him, and he just laughed. "Really, I'm happy for you though. I'll really be looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow."

"And I you, to see the outcome of today." Naoto let the silence sit, and for that, Yu was grateful. There was still a lot spinning through his mind, and though seeing her still so calm was good, it wasn't exactly perfect.

But he knew what "perfect" needed.

It wasn't long before the car stopped, a block or so away from their final destination, and Naoto cast a glance over to Yu. "Do you think you're prepared?"

"No." He shot a half-smile back to her. "But if we waited until I was, we'd be in this car for a long time."

She reached over and gave his hand a quick squeeze before pulling away again. "Text me if you can. Otherwise, I'll see you tomorrow."

Yu nodded, thanked Yakushiji-san for driving, and slipped out with his bag. It wasn't until the car pulled away that what he was doing really set in on him. It's not that big of a deal. He's done this to you. And he remembered the feeling, seeing Yosuke appear on his doorstep in the city. And hadn't he already done this to Yosuke once before? But...how was it going to be now? Since that conversation...

If he stood here much longer, he was going to talk himself out of it. He glanced at his watch; it was late enough that someone in the house would be awake. Yu stepped up to the door and knocked, waiting for someone to come and save him from himself.

It felt like hours before the door opened, and Yosuke's mother appeared. It took her a moment, but her eyes lit up in recognition-and before she could say anything, he put a finger over his lips. She put a hand over her mouth, hiding the smile there. "Is he awake?" Yu mouthed, pointing upstairs.

Mrs. Hanamura nodded, pulling her hand back and beaming at Yu. "He'll be so surprised," she whispered. "I thought you were coming tomorrow?"

"Technically, I am." He winked, and her smile just grew. "Can I leave this here?" He lifted his bag.

She nodded and took it from him. "Go surprise him. I'll put this away for you."

"Thank you." Yu gave her a small bow and crept up the stairs as quickly and quietly as he could. It had been so long since he was here last...even when he'd come back to visit for Golden Week, they hadn't really had much time to just hang out here. Though I do realize that I'm echoing almost everything I did last time when I showed up here... He took a breath, and in the silence before he knocked, he could just barely hear the music coming through his headphones. Of course. Maybe...

He nudged open the door a crack, just enough to see inside, and saw Yosuke sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair, with some website Yu didn't recognize in front of him. It was so typical, so classically normal, that some piece of Yu at last realized that this was just another day. Maybe an awkward one...but just another day.

Just a day with his partner.

Yu stepped forward and tugged Yosuke's headphones off his ears, and instantly his chair snapped back to sit flat on the ground. "Dammit, Mom, can't you just-" The words died in his throat as he turned around to see Yu, eyes widening. "Wh..."

Yu managed to keep his smile tame. "Hey there, partner." He couldn't help it. He'd said it last time-he said it this time-what else was he supposed to say? It was the only thing that would sound right.

"What...wh... Yu?" Slowly Yosuke stood up, turning to face Yu-and stopped abruptly as the cord on his headphones went tight and tried to pull off of his neck. He cursed under his breath, whipped them off and tossed them on his desk, and then returned his gaze to Yu, just as shocked as before. "I thought..." He shook his head. "Your train doesn't get here until tomorrow."

"And Naoto tells me that I've ruined a surprise you have planned, but I promise to act just as surprised tomorrow. I just..." Yu took a small breath. "I wanted to see you first. Before everything got hectic like it did the last time I was here. I figured we needed some time to...make things a little smoother before we tried to interact in front of our friends."

Yosuke's face flushed crimson, but his eyes never left Yu's. "Y...yeah, that's probably true. ...Uh..." He looked around, running a hand through his hair. "I don't...um, if you want, we can...uh."

"Yosuke." Yu didn't say anything else until Yosuke looked back at him. "We can talk wherever you want. If you'd rather be somewhere else..."

"No! No, it's fine, I just..." He was getting frantic, but before Yu could say anything, Yosuke caught himself and sighed. "I told you I was going to be like this, partner."

"You're just yourself, Yosuke. I wouldn't have expected anything else." Yu bit back the smile. "The offer does still stand. We can go to the river if you want."

"No, we're fine." Yosuke walked past Yu to push the door closed, then flopped on the small couch against the wall. "You're right. It's just...us. It's still just the two of us. I shouldn't be freaking out."

"You're not freaking out." Yu sat down on the couch as well, making sure he wasn't crowding Yosuke, even by Yosuke's standards. "Freaking out would be treating me like Kanji's Shadow."

Yosuke's face darkened. "I don't even wanna think about that." He sighed. "I feel like such an idiot now."

"About Kanji?"

The brunet nodded. "He's the one I talked to. About...you know." Yosuke made a blank gesture. "About all of this. I figured he'd know a bit, like with Naoto."

"Not a bad idea." Yu figured it had been Kanji. It was the only person he could have imagined Yosuke talking to, but he hadn't wanted to say anything in case he was wrong. Now, he knew full well that there was no chance that whoever Yosuke kissed was Kanji too, so that was still a mystery.

Then again, Yu didn't really know the name of the person he'd kissed, so they could be even there.

"It still really made me feel like a jerk, but...I dunno. I kinda feel better now that we talked it out? I mean, even just between me and Kanji, it feels better. But...I guess I'm kinda...ugh, this is awful. I'm not making any sense."

"Just take your time. You haven't lost me yet." Now if that wasn't a loaded statement.

Yosuke sighed. "I guess I feel more prepared, maybe? Like, I've already gotten some of the word flailing out. But at the end of the day, it still leaves me lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to imagine going on a date with a guy. Being...like, someone's boyfriend. Yours, I guess."

"Yosuke." The brunet looked up. "Do you honestly think a date between the two of us would be much different than what we've done in the past? Going out, doing things we both enjoy, spending time together?"

Yosuke's face flushed again. "I dunno. There's usually kissing and whatever in dates."

Yu bit back the urge to laugh. "No need to rush, partner."

"That's what Kanji said." Yosuke huffed out a sigh and leaned back against the arm of the couch. "And I know there's no rush. I know that you're not just going to suddenly jump on me and demand making out or whatever. But...what."

Yu wasn't fighting back the smile nearly as well as he'd hoped he had been. "You have quite the imagination. What exactly has this nymphomaniac version of myself been doing in your mind?"

If Yosuke's face turned any redder, Yu was certain he was going to burst something. "Anyway..." He coughed. "I know there's not like a time limit or a set of goals to get checked off. I just...I feel like if I knew I could handle the big stuff, then the little stuff wouldn't panic me so much." When Yu's eyes-much against his will-flicked to Yosuke's futon and back again, the brunet smacked Yu's arm. "Dammit, partner, will you take this seriously."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I am taking it seriously, and I'm trying not to poke at you too much. But what you're saying does make a lot of sense." Yu ran a hand through his hair. "Because you're right. A lot of the little stuff is exactly what I've been talking about. It's the stuff we've already done a hundred times before. But it's the other things...that we haven't." Yu waited for a moment, then held out his hand, palm up.

"What's this for?"

"Hold my hand."

"What?"

"Little steps, partner." Yu moved his hand slightly. "Hold my hand."

It was a long moment before Yosuke finally reached out to take Yu's hand, and Yu threaded his fingers through Yosuke's. It was another long moment before Yosuke relaxed. The brunet just kept watching their hands, as if he expected them to be doing something else. Yu didn't say anything, just gave him the time he needed to process...and figure out whatever he was going to do next. "This doesn't feel too weird," he finally managed.

"That's a good thing...?" Yu tilted his head slightly.

"Yeah! Yeah, I mean...okay, that probably came out weird. But yeah, it's...I mean, I'm glad it doesn't feel totally weird. I...well, I kinda hope that means I'll get used to anything else."

"I'm sure we'll find a way through it."

And they did, for the rest of the day. Yu did eventually convince Yosuke to go outside, and they walked around the Samegawa, talking just like they always had. Talking about the city, about the school Yu was going to visit, about what Yosuke's plans were, what the group was planning on doing over break-including (though he never asked for details) the surprise supposedly waiting for him tomorrow when he "got into town."

And through it all-well, most of it-Yosuke let Yu keep a hold on his hand. And they never mentioned it.

By the end of the day, they were perched in Yosuke's room watching a really awful movie, the two sitting side by side and Yosuke with an arm slung over Yu's shoulders. Yu had his eyes closed more often than not, just letting his head rest against Yosuke's arm, listening to the movie as it went on. It wasn't until Yu suddenly noticed that the room had gone quiet that he opened his eyes again and looked around-to find the TV off and Yosuke watching him, a small amused smile on his face. "What happened?" Yu asked.

"Pretty sure you fell asleep, partner. Not that I blame you; that movie was awful. But pretty sure I had a whole conversation with myself and never knew."

Yu could feel his face burn. "I'm sorry, Yosuke. It's been a long day, with the train ride and all."

Yosuke shook his head, waving it off. "No, I get it. Like I said, I don't blame you." He paused, and the small smile came back. "You just looked really...calm. Peaceful. Just totally relaxed."

"I'm finally at home and hanging out with my best friend. Why wouldn't I be?" Yu gave him a crooked smile back.

"Because it's been kinda awkward for a while between us, and even thought we're working on all...you know, this...I guess part of me was worried that you thought differently of me, deep down. Because I went dark for so long."

"Yosuke..." Yu nudged his partner's leg with his own. "You reacted exactly the way I expected you to-and then gave me the answer I never expected. I honestly thought that after I told you how I felt, you'd never want to talk to me again. Something like this, even if it's awkward? I was afraid we'd never recover enough to be like this again. The fact that you're still here and willing to try...there's no way I could think less of you, just because you panicked."

"Will you kiss me?"

The sentence came so far out of left field, Yu could not figure out what the words even meant for a solid moment. "I'm sorry, what?"

Yosuke's face was red, but he was keeping eye contact with Yu. "I know we don't need to rush and I know every reason you're gonna give me that I don't need to be saying this, but just in my own head I wanna know. I wanna know if I can deal with this. Like...if I think I kinda like you too, I wanna know if I'm just making that up because you're my best friend and you like me. And I'm never really gonna know until we do at least that. So I...I want you to kiss me. And I'm just gonna apologize now if I spaz out."

Yu blinked several times, but slowly nodded. When he managed to speak again, his voice was a whisper. "Close your eyes?" Yosuke took a breath, watched Yu, and closed his eyes. Yu shifted enough so that he could face Yosuke, and leaned in. "Do you trust me?"

"What?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I...yeah. Of course."

Yu's stomach was in knots. Like Yosuke had said, this was a make or break moment. If this went badly...it was going to go badly. And Yu didn't know how either of them were going to handle that.

He set his fingers against Yosuke's cheek, and the brunet twitched at the unexpected contact, but didn't pull away. After just letting his hand sit there, palm against Yosuke's cheek, Yu steeled himself enough to lean in again and set his lips gently against Yosuke's.

Yosuke didn't stay dead still, but he didn't give much of a reaction either. As Yu started to pull back, he felt Yosuke reach out and grab his shirt, keeping him from moving away. He didn't pull Yu forward, or open his eyes or say anything, just held him there, a breath away. Yu waited a moment...another...and then tried again.

This time, Yosuke kissed him back.

It wasn't long or drawn out, not wild or deep, just a soft gentle kiss that lasted a lifetime too short before Yu pulled back again, and Yosuke let Yu's shirt fall out of his grasp. Yu's eyes opened before Yosuke's, and he wasn't sure if his stomach was going to let him survive the wait for Yosuke to meet his eyes again.

But he did, and they watched each other for a silent eternity, before Yosuke finally managed a faint, sheepish smile.

"I...I think we're going to be okay."