There was a long pause and then Yu could hear a trembling in Yosuke's voice as he spoke. "You're in town? Really!?"
"Yeah. Where else would I go on summer break?"
"Why didn't you tell me? Partner! I would have planned out something cool." Yu tried not to laugh at the image that formed in his mind of Yosuke pouting.
Yu walked through the streets of Inaba as he talked and took in the slight changes that time had wrought on the town. "It's Inaba. Anything you might have planned wouldn't have been as cool as just hanging out with you."
"Man, partner, you know how to make a guy feel good about himself."
"So you'll meet me?"
"Of course! I'm at Junes right now, so it won't be too long."
Yu laughed. "I just passed the bookstore."
"Awesome! See you in a sec, partner."
Yu heard Yosuke hang up and pocketed his phone as he headed toward the north end of the shopping district. Yosuke was already standing in front of the restaurant with a huge grin on his face, though he was leaning on his knees and panting. "Partner!"
"You didn't have to run the whole way, you know." Yu kept his pace normal and enjoyed seeing Yosuke try to decide between waiting or going ahead and bridging the gap between them.
Yosuke inhaled loudly, but stood his ground. "Yeah, I did. I don't even know how long you're here for so I want to maximize it!" Gesturing toward the door, he said, "You know that beef bowl they used to only have on rainy days? You can get it any time now. Want to try it out?"
Shaking his head slowly, Yu said, "No. I've got something I want to do with you later and if we eat too much, we won't be able to."
"Oh?" Yosuke slid the door open and let Yu walk in front of him. "You're going to keep it a secret until then, huh? Man! Uh, is that when everyone else is joining us?" Yosuke's smile weakened slightly.
Yu shook his head. "No. You're my best friend. I came here to see you. I'm not even seeing much of my uncle and cousin while I'm here unless you're busy."
Yosuke laughed as he climbed onto one of the stools at the bar. "Nah. I was gonna help my dad out at Junes, but he finally got rid of a lot of the lazy people who worked there and got some real help instead. I'm having to live on my allowance alone!"
"I get it," Yu said with a wry grin as he sat down next to Yosuke. "Lunch is my treat, then."
Yosuke smiled brightly. "Really? Awesome. You're the best, partner!"
As they ate, the conversation flowed smoothly between them like Yu had never left. When they'd finished eating and Yu had paid, Yosuke led them back outside where the sun blazed bright overhead. "Where to now?"
Yu laughed. "You're going to think this is crazy, but Junes."
His lip curling, Yosuke sighed. "Seriously?"
"Seriously." Yu put his hands in his pockets and nudged Yosuke with his elbow. "Just... for the rest of the day, just trust me, okay?"
Yosuke stared at Yu, his eyes narrowed and intense, before smiling. "Okay, partner. Junes it is."
Their conversation continued as they walked to Junes. They'd covered most of the interesting things that had happened in the months they'd gone without seeing each other in phone calls and e-mails and texts, so things weren't so different from how it had been when they'd seen each other every day, except for Yu pointing out the small changes in the shopping district like the old bike shop becoming a bakery and several of Kanji's plush animals being on display at the textile shop. Yu stepped ahead of Yosuke as they reached Junes and held the door open for him. Yosuke had been lifting his hand to reach toward the door, but let it drop to his side now with a grin.
"C'mon," Yu said and rushed past Yosuke to the inner doors which he held open as well. Yosuke laughed and watched as Yu ran past him again. "Come ion/i!"
"Where are we going?" Yosuke asked as he raced after Yu, even though he was pretty sure he knew.
Yu just shook his head and kept his pace until they were standing in front of the largest television that Junes carried. Yosuke swallowed loudly, his Adam's apple bobbing and catching the light. "I've... I've tried to stay away from here. After everything... I don't really watch a lot of TV anymore."
"I know," Yu said and glanced around the department quickly. "Come on." He grabbed Yosuke's hand and pulled.
As Yosuke tripped toward him, he found himself wrapped in Yu's arms and falling inside the television. "What? No!" He struggled slightly against Yu's grip and found himself on the ground in the shadow world, though it wasn't anywhere he particularly recognized. "What the hell? How are we going to get out of here without Ted?"
Yu snapped his fingers and a TV appeared. "See, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about."
Yosuke shook his head. "What's going on here?"
"You should put your glasses on," Yu said as he slid his out of his pocket and put them on. "The fog isn't strong anymore, but it'll still give you a headache after a while."
"I don't even have them," Yosuke said. "What do you think you're doing, partner? This is stupid. What? Do you want to fight things? We could have just beaten each other up down by the river again!"
Yu walked over to Yosuke and reached into his pocket and pulled out the orange glasses. "I know you."
With a frown, Yosuke shoved the glasses on his face. "I'm beginning to doubt that."
"Remember when I said to trust me?"
Yosuke sank down to the ground and crossed his legs under him. "Fine. I'll sit here and listen for a few minutes. But if this gets any more moronic, I'm going through that TV."
Yu nodded and sat down across from Yosuke, making sure to leave a good amount of space between their knees for Yosuke's comfort. "I didn't tell you about all that happened at the end of everything when we had that big battle."
"Oh?"
"I didn't tell anybody. I didn't even acknowledge it myself for a long while."
Yosuke rolled his eyes. "Are you getting to the point anytime soon?"
"Just... listen." Yu adjusted his glasses. "After we won, I suddenly felt in me that I could call upon any Persona that had ever existed in this world. And any Shadow, too." He looked up at the terse lines of Yosuke's face. "I'm not going to say that I rule this place or anything, but I can control it to a point and get out of it on my own. And with that, I got something else. I knew what all of the Shadows were thinking. I knew what they'd done and who they were and why they were the way there were. That includes all of us. So, you see, I ido/i know you. I know you better than anyone else, maybe even better than you know yourself, because I can see the parts of yourself that you try to forget about and hide away."
Yosuke hissed as his eyes narrowed. "So... what? What are you here for? To make fun of me?"
Yu reached out and let his fingers trace along Yosuke's knee. "No. See, after that happened, I got to kind of sit for months with this knowledge in me where I could poke it and prod it and decide what it meant to me. And when I'd realized it, then I had to work at something."
"Huh?" Yosuke shook his head. "You're not making any sense."
Yu got to his knees and stared intently at Yosuke. "I lost interest in almost everyone once I knew what was inside of them. But, not you. Somehow, I wanted to know more. I wanted to see what you'd be like if everything went right for a change. I wanted to see what you'd be like if your fantasies became reality and someone was good to you, and I wanted to be the person doing that."
Yosuke's breath caught in his throat and his eyes were wide as he looked at Yu. "What?"
Yu laughed and the sound was light in the air. "I feel the same way about you that you feel about me, Yosuke. The reason why I never said anything about you calling me 'partner' all the time, and the reason why I was always hanging out with you even just to do nothing, and the ireason/i why you're the one I came here to be with... It has nothing to do with pity. It has ieverything/i to do with the fact that I've been in love with you for ages now. The only reason it's taken me so long to say anything is because I wanted to be with you to say it and I wanted to explain it and I wanted to do something to make it sink it and make you realize it because you are iworth/i it."
"I think that's the most I've ever heard you say, partner." Yosuke leaned his hands on his knees. "So, you know, then."
"Everything. I know you wanted to fight me at that time as some kind of penance for your feelings. But if I'd known then, I never would have done it. I don't want you to be ashamed of your feelings or of how you treated Kanji or of how you forced yourself to act so girl crazy because you thought it was expected out of you. I want you to be with me and I want you to be happy."
Yosuke took his glasses off to wipe at his eyes. "I'm happy when I'm with you."
"But sometimes you wish there were two of me," Yu said with a grin.
"Huh?" Yosuke started to shake his head, but bowed his head slightly instead as his cheeks colored. "What to you mean?"
"I meant it when I said that I was going to turn your fantasy into reality; just that one fantasy that you let yourself indulge in when you stay up too late and then can't get to sleep because you're too hard."
Yosuke brought a hand up to toy with a button on his shirt. "Should... shouldn't we at least kiss first?"
"Take your shoes off," Yu said and took off his own as well. He leaned forward and tilted his head so that his lips were pressed firmly against Yosuke's. It was an interesting sensation as Yosuke drew in a sharp breath at the touch and then began to respond slowly, his movements growing more certain as time went on. Yu slid his knees toward Yosuke and began to unbutton his shirt as they continued learning each other's mouths. Yosuke's shirt was pushed back off of his shoulders and Yu pulled himself away from the other man's mouth and brought it down to nip at the lobe of Yosuke's ear. Yosuke gasped and let his legs unfold under him awkwardly until he could pull Yu on top of him as he lay on his back. Yu caught himself easily with outstretched hands and Yosuke pulled out of the kiss. "Were you always that agile?"
Still holding himself up over Yosuke, Yu brought his legs up on either side of the other man so that he straddled him. "Did you think I was going to chance coming in blind?" He held up his hand and snapped his fingers and smiled at Yosuke's sharp intake of breath. Yu wasn't surprised by it since Yosuke was suddenly staring at his shadow self, eyes blank and yellow. "Don't feel jealous that I tried things out with him first. He is you, remember."
Yosuke scrambled backward so he could stand up. "I know you said you could call upon the Shadows and make my fantasy a reality, but I didn't imagine this."
Yu held up his hand and snapped again and his own shadow self appeared next to Yosuke's. "In your fantasy, you're getting to experience everything all at once. So we'll do that now. The question is... Of the three of us, who would you like doing what? Anything goes."
"Dude, you can summon multiple Personas now?" Yosuke shook his head. "We're... Are we really going to do this?"
"We are, and these are Shadows, not Personas."
"What if Teddie comes in here?"
Yosuke started to pull his shirt back on, but Yu stopped him. "You don't need to worry. Nanako requested to hang out with Teddie today."
"Seriously?" Yosuke let the shirt fall back to the ground. "So... We're doing this. Then, just... I want to taste you." Yu captured his mouth again and they kneeled together.
His eyes closed loosely behind his dark framed glasses, Yu gave conscious thought to controlling the shadow figures standing idly by. He felt hands begin to strip him and didn't bother to look as the hands came from behind him and this was about Yosuke. With his shirt on the ground next to Yosuke's, Yu opened his eyes as he pulled away again and smiled at the way his shadow self was trailing his fingers along Yosuke's spine already.
Yosuke's mouth was red and he panted softly as Yu pushed him backward further to rest on his heels and grasped at the waistband of his pants and worked the button free and then slid down the zipper carefully so that he could let his knuckles stroke at Yosuke's rising hardness. Yosuke lifted his hips at Yu's whispered command and let his pants and boxers be dragged down to his knees as one unit. Yu's shadow self knelt down behind Yosuke and helped him out of the rest of his clothes while Yosuke's own shadow moved around to kneel in front of Yosuke.
Yu stood up and stripped his own pants off quickly; watching as Yosuke couldn't quite keep his eyes off of him even as Yosuke's own shadow self mouthed hot, open-mouth kisses along the underside of his cock. Yosuke licked his lips and held his hands up to grasp at Yu's hips as he approached and straddled Yosuke's shadow's back. "I don't even know how long it's been that I wanted to taste you."
Running one hand through Yosuke's hair, Yu smiled. "Since the first time we ate lunch together." He let his hand trail down the back of Yosuke's neck to grab at those everpresent headphones and pull them off and discard them off to the side. He looked down at Yosuke's face with his eyes bright in the dim light of the shadow world. "Suck me."
Yosuke's mouth opened wide and he looked up at Yu as he leaned his head forward and took Yu inside his mouth slowly; Yu's foreskin pushed back by Yosuke's lips. Yu let his hand stay in Yosuke's hair; just sitting there as a reminder that it was what Yu wanted rather than any attempt to force any action out of Yosuke.
Starting slowly, Yosuke began to work his mouth along Yu's shaft. "Do whatever you want," Yu whispered. "You wanted to taste me, so taste away." Yu smiled as Yosuke's eyes shut and his cheeks lifted in a strange smile even as his lips were too tightly wrapped around Yu's cock to cooperate with it.
Yu's shadow drew Yu's attention now. He'd gone from light, glancing touches down Yosuke's back and sides to pushing Yosuke's knees apart and pushing his hips forward and upward and getting down into his own obscene position to mouth at Yosuke's hole; his tongue dark in contrast to the paleness of Yosuke's flesh. Canting his head to rest on one shoulder, Yu looked down at the absurd reality of Yosuke's shadow's mouth full to brimming with what was essentially his own cock. It took a moment to recognize, but both versions of Yosuke were sucking cock the exact same way with the same pattern to the way they'd pull off for a moment every now and then to move their mouths to balls and to let their hands stroke through sticky-wet pubic hair and along bright red foreskin, even if they weren't quite synchronized. But it did amuse Yu that Yosuke almost seemed to be learning from himself, or, rather, from his shadow.
Yosuke's mouth popped off of Yu's cock as Yu's shadow began to kiss and nip his way back up Yosuke's spine. "Are you ready?" Yu asked Yosuke as the kneeling man let out a keening wail as Yu's shadow began to suck slowly at the jucture between his neck and shoulder.
"Yeah," Yosuke said as he reached out a hand to masturbate Yu while Yu's shadow pressed his hips forward even more and while Yosuke's shadow gasped for breath around Yosuke's cock driven into his mouth by the action. Yu watched, feeling himself grow warmer as he watched his doppelganger slick his palm with saliva, stroke his hard cock, and position himself where he could press it slowly within Yosuke.
"Oh, God," Yosuke managed to say between sharp gasps of breath. "That's kind of weird and amazing, partner."
Yu grabbed Yosuke's wrist and began to work it back and forth; masturbating himself with Yosuke's hand.
Yosuke's shadow increased his fervor as Yosuke began to thrust into his mouth as Yu's shadow seated himself fully and gave his hips an experimental roll. With a gasp, Yosuke's eyes widened and then he set himself back to working Yu's cock with his mouth and letting his hands reach back to cup Yu's ass and trace along the cleft and into the dimples at the top of his cheeks.
The sight of Yosuke torn beween all of his pleasures and unable to put all of his focus on any particular one was too much for Yu to take. The feel of Yosuke's tongue sliding under the edge of his foreskin while he sucked Yu further into his mouth was exquisite torture just enough that Yu's hips bucked and his balls drew up and then his fingers were tightening in Yosuke's hair as he spilled his seed along Yosuke's tongue. Yosuke struggled to keep him in his mouth and then continued to suck at him at the last vestiges of come were pulled from him. Pulling off of Yu, Yosuke leaned forward to brace his arms against the ground and licked his lips as he looked up to meet Yu's gaze. "Come on. Finish me off."
Yu sank to the ground in a crouch as he let himself concentrate on what the shadows should be doing. He kept his eyes on Yosuke's face as he led his shadow in slightly increasing his pace and the strength of his thrusts while increasing the pace and suction of Yosuke's shadow until Yosuke froze between them and convulsed slightly as he came, sliding almost bonelessly toward the floor until Yu banished the shadows who shrank away from being and Yosuke slid, instead, into Yu's arms. "Man, talk about a first time, partner."
Stroking Yosuke's hair back from where sweat had plastered it to his forehead, Yu grinned. "I wanted everything out in the open. You're not going to be able to hide from me anymore."
Yosuke smiled shyly. "We should get dressed."
Yu laughed. "I told you that there's no one to see us. There are still shadows in this world, true, but they're not going to come anywhere near us."
"Uh, no, I want to get dressed because this grass is making me itchy."
"Seriously?" Yu gathered Yosuke's clothes and brought them to him. "See, even after I know everything about you, I still manage to find out more."
Yosuke looked up from untangling his underwear from his pant legs. "Good. I'll work to keep surprising you." He leaned forward and shook slightly as a shiver worked its way down his spine. "Now, how about we get back to the real world? It's early enough that we can still make it to a movie. Y'know if you want to go."
Yu buttoned his shirt as he smiled at Yosuke. "I'm pretty sure there's nothing you could ask me to do that I would say 'no' to."
Clearing his throat, Yosuke grinned widely while pulling on his pants. "Should I look forward to trying?"
With his underwear caught around his knees still, Yu nodded. "Wouldn't you anyway?"