Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 4 nor its characters.

Pairings: Souji/Yosuke or Yosuke/Souji

Warnings: BL implications, spoilers for the months of November, any grammatical errors, OOC-ness and probably some cursing/language.

You have been warned.

This is a possible sequel to my other deviation "remain strong", a P4 fanfic focused mainly on Souji.

Or it can be a story that stands for itself. This is also a one – shot.

And...this is not an update just fixing a few grammar errors in this fic...just a few.

I'm not really good at my own grammar so please bear with me. :) Thank you.

Yosuke wasn't the most observant person. But he can be, when the time came.

It had been a few days, since Nanako-chan had been admitted to the hospital.

The situation was...how you say...not a very good one.

Her life hanged on a balance and probably any second now, she would...

No, he must not think that.

He doesn't want any more victims to suffer just like Saki-senpai.

Plus, if he cave in.... Not only will the rest of the group will feel down but...

He had to do this for Souji's sake.

Even if their leader still kept his calm exterior, he knew something was off.

He knows that he isn't exactly the most observant person in the world, but when it came to Souji, he becomes one.

Or is it just because the rest of the group somehow felt it too, and that everybody prompted him to talk to Souji.

Since, he is the one closest to Souji, they said it would make more sense if he would talk to him.

So after school, and since everybody seemed to be "conveniently" busy, even Teddie, he had no choice but to confront him by himself.

Only to find that the silver haired teen would be busy, saying something about a part - time job in a kindergarten of sorts.

They said their goodbyes and Yosuke was left to visit Nanako-chan to the hospital alone.

Only to see, that everybody who was supposed to be busy, appeared there.

Everyone except Souji though.

After a slight interrogation by the team saying where Souji is, he told them what Souji told him before.

Then again, why didn't he just call in the kindergarten to say that his cousin was in the hospital and couldn't come in today?

Time passes and eventually, everyone left the hospital.

Nanako didn't wake up today which is a slightly good thing because her big brother wasn't there to support her.

Which pissed Yosuke off, because there she is, clinging to her life and Souji didn't even bother to come and visit her.

He remembers that Souji told him that his part time job ends late in the afternoon, so he decided to go visit the silver haired teen.

To give him a piece of his mind...

As soon as he arrived in front of the Dojima residence, he was surprised to see that said teen was in front of the house sitting alone on the doorstep.

He pushed through the gate and saw Souji with an unreadable expression.

"Souji...?" He asked gently as he slowly walked toward the sitting form.

Souji looked up and said... "Hey" The unreadable expression gone and now back to his calm state.

Yosuke noticed the quick change of expression but brushed it off for he was too dumbfounded when he remembered Souji's earlier expression.

It wasn't really unreadable; he sort of could make out, some parts...

In fact, he was pretty sure....

Did Souji just look like he was about to cry...?

"Yosuke..?" Souji said and that immediately brought back Yosuke to earth.

"..Oh sorry... I was just..." What did he come here for again?

"...To tell you the truth, I didn't really go to that part time job...." Souji looked to the side to avoid Yosuke's gaze.

Now he remembers, he was suppose to tell Souji off for not coming to visit Nanako-chan today. But somehow, seeing Souji like that, his anger...disappeared.

And after processing what Souji had just said, his expression changed to that of confusion.

If he didn't go, then why didn't he even bother to visit Nanako-chan then? And why did he say he had to go there in the first place?

Seeing Yosuke's confused face, Souji decided to tell him.

"...I mean, I was going to but then I changed my mind..."

For the first time, Souji actually appeared confused. More like he's showing that he's confused, the usual calm exterior gone in a moment's notice.

"...Why di---?" Souji cut him off.

"I just...wanted to have some time alone... Things were...I needed to think." Souji brushed his hair off with his hand.

He needed time to think...? Yosuke thought and then went back to look at Souji.

But wait, his hand... Something is...

"Dude, your hand!" Yosuke rather pointed at Souji's hand rather rudely.

"What about it?" Souji who appeared completely unaware, raised his eyebrow.

"What do you mean by that? Look at it, it's bleeding!!" Yosuke shouted apparently panic increasing by the second.

"...Oh...I guess, I scraped it a bit when I fell down awhile ago..." Souji looked at his hand calmly.

"You fe--? Nevermind, you need to bandage that up! You idiot!" Yosuke quickly took Souji's arm and dragged him inside the Dojima Residence.

"...It's not that a big deal, it's just a scratch." Souji said completely unfazed by the whole situation. Apparently his confusion gone and his back to being his calm self.

"What if it got infected? You wouldn't be able to fight shadows, or cook, or do anything else with your hands?!" Yosuke shouted angrily as he opened the faucet and put Souji's bleeding hand over it.

Souji winced a little when the water washed away the blood from his hand.

"I hope you got some antiseptic and some clean bandages here." Yosuke closed the faucet as soon as the blood was gone.

"...I think we have some antiseptic over there by that cabinet, but I'm not sure about the bandages though..." Souji shrugged as Yosuke quickly went to get the antiseptic.

"Okay, I got the antiseptic... but we have no bandages. Why?" Yosuke turned to Souji with a serious expression.

"We're really just a careful family. We rarely ever get hurt." Souji calmly said.

"Really...?" Yosuke said disbelievingly.

"Okay, I used it all up. Happy?" Even he was supposed to be irritated, he didn't sound like it.

"...No, not happy. If you were hurt, why didn't you ask any of us to heal you, or even, why didn't you even use your own Persona to heal yourself?!" Yosuke shouted angrily as he opened the bottle and dip the cotton bud in it.

"It takes too much energy and besides their only small cuts. And since were on that topic, why didn't you just use your healing powers to heal this?" Souji smirked for he knew he had won the argument.

"...For one thing, we're here and not in that world..." Yosuke took out the cotton bud, satisfied with the amount of liquid it has absorbed.

"...And the second thing...?" Souji prompted for Yosuke to continue on.

"...There's no second thing!" Yosuke flushed angrily as he took Souji's hand and gently put some antiseptic on it.

"...If you say so.." Souji winced when the antiseptic was put onto his scratched hand and looked to the side to prevent his weakness showing.

"You're an idiot!" Yosuke moved away as soon as he was done putting antiseptic on Souji's hand and threw the used cotton bud inside the trash bin.

"...Maybe..." And then that's where Yosuke saw it again... Souji looking...so sad.

That sort of sadness was almost similar to the one he felt when he told Souji about himself during that time by the riverbank.

Is it possible that maybe... just maybe... Souji's unsure of himself?

Yosuke shook his head to throw off that thought and then he remembered that they do have a bandage...

"Hey, Souji." That took the silence off the room.

"....?" Souji faced Yosuke, his whole attention to him now.

Yosuke was taken aback by this sudden attention but quickly regained his composure.

"I gave you a bandage, remember? I'm sure it can cover this small cut on your hand." Yosuke grinned as he remembered the events on that day when he gave that bandage.

But a small blush creped itself when he also remembered the events prior to that, especially the part when he was crying in front of Souji and the idiot gave him a hug.

Not to mention, him saying that Souji was important to him and that he wanted to be acknowledge by him the most.

What prompted him to say those things to Souji anyway? He sounded like a girl confessing her love or something?!

"Yosuke...?" Souji called to him.

"...A-anyway...! Do you still have it..?? Or did you use it already?" Yosuke said trying not to sound so squeaky.

Souji looked thoughtful for a moment and then nodded.

"Yeah, I do. I haven't used it though." Souji looked down thinking of something.

"Well then, let's use that! Where did you put it?"

"It's in my room, I'll go get it." Souji left and went upstairs.

"Hey wait, let me come to!" Yosuke followed him, what made him do that, he wasn't sure.

Yosuke observed Souji's room as Souji went to his study table and opened the desk drawer.

"You're not going to find any "stuff" under the futon, Yosuke." Souji said not looking up as he searched inside the desk drawer.

"...Hey, I wasn't even thinking about it!" Yosuke flushed and crossed his arms.

"Sure, you weren't.....found it." Then Souji pulled out a small box which was kind of similar to a woman's jewelry box.

This earned a bewildered expression from Yosuke.

"Nanako-chan...gave this box to me, said that I should keep things, even if their small, but is important to me, inside this box." Souji said a bit bitterly when he mentioned Nanako's name.

"....You put my bandage there?" Yosuke said feeling a little touched by the thought of it.

"Yeah, I didn't really want to use it, plus it's the only one thing you gave me." Souji took the bandage out and looked at it thoughtfully.

"..It's a bandage! You're supposed to use it when you get cuts like this. Plus... I could always give you another one." Yosuke looked sheepishly to the side.

"But, it won't have the same feeling to it..." Souji shrugged.

"...Arrggh, you really are an idiot!" Yosuke scratched his head a bit, and quickly snatched the bandage away from Souji's hand.

Then he removed the wrapped of the bandage and placed it on Souji's wound.

"...There..! Geez, you better take care of yourself from now on, okay?!" Yosuke huffed and crossed his arms.

"... Well, if I do get hurt again, I'll just turn to you then?" Souji smirked as he saw Yosuke blushed a bit.

"....Fine, whatever!" Then Yosuke looked at his watch and became wide eyed.

"Shit, its 15 minutes to 8 already!? Oh man, my parents are going to kill me!"

"Why, it's not really that late..." Souji asked.

"Well, even if it was my day off, my part time job at Junes, my parents still left me with chores to do... Plus, Teddie is probably wondering where I am." Then Yosuke's phone lit up and an email message was received.

Sure enough, it was from Teddie. After typing a quick reply, he closed his phone and put it back inside his back pocket.

"...I need to go, so I'll just see you later." Yosuke said as he walked near Souji's bedroom door.

As he was about to open, he was surprised when Souji caught his wrist.

"...Hey...! What's the matter....?" As Yosuke turned his head, he was surprised to see Souji looking somewhat...sad...?

"...Nothing, never mind." Souji let go of his wrist and immediately his mask was back on his face.

"..." Yosuke blinked once, or twice.

"...Do you want me to stay or something...?" Their leader sometimes wasn't the most honest person in the world, and sometimes this type needed someone to say it out loud for them.

Yosuke was like that too, but he never expected Souji to be like it too.

"...." This time, it was Souji's turn to blink.

"I..I'm just saying, plus when you just...did that gesture of grabbing my wrist and stuff...It's like you wanted me to stay or something...Haha..!" Yosuke looked sheepishly to the side.

"....I do..." Souji said hesitantly after a moment's pause.

"..Huh...?" Then Yosuke look at him puzzled.

He had never seen Souji this... honest before. Open...and perhaps vulnerable...?

Maybe, he really was worried about what's happening lately, and was probably trying not to show it.

"...I told you, don't mind it. Don't worry." Souji looked up and met Yosuke's gaze.

Here he was saying not to worry about him. Hell, after that quick display of not even noticing he was injured, who says not to worry about him?

"...Stop saying that! How could I not worry? For Christ's sake, your hand could have been infected! If I didn't persist to tend to it, what would happen then, huh? Huh?!" Yosuke took Souji's wrist with the now bandaged cut and held it, to emphasize his point. It wasn't long that Yosuke started shaking.

From anger or from something else...?

"...Yosuke... You're shaking." Souji stated as he looked at the other teen.

"...Don't change the subject!" He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down but the shaking didn't stop.

It wasn't long when he felt his hand being pulled along with his body towards a warm embrace.

"...I'll take care of myself, okay? So, really, stop worrying about me..." Souji said as he held Yosuke close to him.

"....You...dumbass! I told you, this is for girls!!" He finally said after recovering from this shock. His shaking did stop though, when Souji held him tightly.

"...But at least, you've stopped shaking..." Souji said softly.

"...T-that's not the point!" Yosuke felt his heart pulsing by the second, and a blush creped up to his cheeks.

What the hell was he feeling? This type of feeling is absurd... but how come... He's not pushing him away or something.

"...Yosuke, stay with me..." Souji whispered softly as held Yosuke tightly.

"...Wh-what the heck are you saying...?!" Seriously, this situation was too much for his heart.

This day was just supposed to be him asking about what he thought about Nanako and how they were going to deal with Namatame.

Not a day, where he discovers that Souji having mixed emotions and probably confessing to him now.

"I...really don't know...I just..." Souji whispered, apparently confused himself. Yosuke also was confused on what's happening.

".....You just...?" Yosuke gently prodded on, he didn't sound irritated or disgusted, which he was supposed to be feeling right now.

Right now, he was just confused. Confused on why Souji suddenly went from calm, strong, independent, carefree guy to a vulnerable, or even lonely.. guy...?

Lonely...? Souji wasn't one to show any loneliness. In fact, he was pretty sure that the guy wasn't lonely at all. And that he was the one, who wanted friends.

But maybe... when Souji's uncle and Nanako-chan are both in the hospital, did it trigger Souji to being lonely...?

"...Never mind...Just...forget about it." Souji released Yosuke and looked down, so that he wouldn't face Yosuke.

Yosuke took a minute to register everything in and decided to get his phone and call Teddie.

"...Yosuke?" Teddie answered from the other line.

"Hey, I called to say, I'm going to be staying over at Souji's..." And Souji looked up surprised when he heard Yosuke say that.

"...You're staying at Sensei's place..?" Teddie asked surprised at the other line.

"Y-yeah...! You got a problem with that?!" Yosuke flushed when he thought on what Teddie could have thought when he said those words.

"...N-No, I don't...! But... what am I supposed to do here?" Teddie said a bit fearfully when he asked Yosuke.

"...Do I have to tell you everything you need to do...? Look, I'll come over to pick some of my things, so we'll see each other soon, alright? Bye!" Then he closed the phone ignoring Teddie's cries of "But" and "Hey..!" from the other line.

"...I-I'm staying because... You asked...politely...Alright? Don't get any wrong ideas!" Yosuke said blush still evident on his face, when he talked to Souji.

"...What about those chores...?" Souji asked.

"...They can wait... besides... I don't feel like doing them anyway...!" Yosuke crossed his arms and looked to the side.

"....Yosuke..." Souji called out to him.

"...What..?" Yosuke turned to look at him and his eyes went wide.

His eyes went wide for he never saw Souji...

"..Thanks...a lot." Souji smiled at him.

Well he did saw him smile in some occasions but not like this.

This smile was gentle and soft, and not like any smile he ever saw before.

And this earned a full blown blush from the music loving teen.

"A-anyway, let's go to my place and get my stuff, alright?!" He said before pacing to the door and leaving a confused Souji behind.

As said from before, Yosuke wasn't the most observant person in the world.

"Hey, let's visit Nanako - chan, today." He asked Souji and Souji nodded, his calm expression plastered on his face.

"...Alright." And they left the classroom together.

But when the time came, he becomes one.

"Hey, Yosuke..." Souji said to him before they reach the others at the front gate of the school.

"....?" Yosuke looked up to him and then saw the uneasiness in Souji's eyes.

"Nothing, Don't mind me...Lets go..." And Souji walked past him but Yosuke caught his wrist.

"...It will be okay... I'-- we're here..." Yosuke said almost slipping up and then looked at him seriously before he released the taller teen.

They both stood there in silence until Rise called for Souji's attention and Souji immediately put back up his calm face and walked towards them.

Yosuke looked at the taller teen's back and clenched his fist a bit before calming himself down and went to join the others.

You won't fool me anymore...

"Stay with me..." He recalled Souji's words from before.

Not anymore...

Especially when it came to their leader…

Notes:

Yosuke doesn't know the promise that Teddie made with Nanako-chan…From what I recall, only Souji was present and Yosuke was somewhere in the kitchen, when Teddie made that promise with Nanako-chan.

Then again, my memories are vague and it's been a month since I've played that part.

Thank you for reading =)