No title available
No title available
Janaina Medeiros
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
#extradirty
we're not kids anymore.
tumblr dot com
祝日 / Permanent Vacation
Today's Document
🪼
Xuebing Du
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
Sade Olutola
Aqua Utopia｜海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
h
occasionally subtle
Love Begins
oozey mess
Show & Tell
YOU ARE THE REASON
seen from Ecuador
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Japan
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Canada
seen from Lithuania
@mayburger-blog
Mayburger has moved!
I won’t be changing the theme so people can still read my fics, but the blog won’t be updated.
My new artblog is bokuyaboku
My new fic blog is bisexualyato
Also please check out my webcomic at okotowarishimasuu
Fanfic update: 263
Read it from the beginning here, or read chapter 3 here!
Neighbors AU keep happening but I'm too ashamed for the delay to add a nice comment. plsdontkillme
Fandom: Noragami Pairing: Yato/Yukine Warnings: None. Word Count: 3,114 AO3 mirror Summary: Yato has been working at the royal palace all his life. He cleans the bathrooms, makes the beds, and helps with everything and anything that needs to be cleaned. But despite living in the very heart of the Kingdom, he finds his life to be kind of... unsatisfying.
It doesn't help that the royal prince Yukine is growing older and more bossy by the day, and that for some reason he's taken a liking to making him, him specifically, work like his own slave.
I have a shit ton of things to write and stuff to do. And that's exactly why I'm here, bringing you all the magnificent possibilities of bossy prince!Yukine ordering around poor old Yato.
I messed up the age difference a bit so some scenes could fit better, and there will be some manga cameos in the future. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
White as snow, dark as night (Chapter 1)
Yato was five years old when he saw the royal prince for the first time.
It was a winter afternoon, clouds covering the sky as far as one could see from the palace's windows. It was colder than usual in the big halls leading to the Queen's chamber, since the whole heating system had been focused on keeping a steady temperature in the room where she was giving birth.
Everyone in the palace was invited to see the prince. From the princess' teachers from the maids, and even the kids. It was the first time he'd entered that room, and he was immediately overwhelmed by it. He held his sister's hand and made his way to the front row, right in in front of the royal family, to make sure they could see everything.
As someone who shared his room with his sister and other three people, the sole fact that the Queen's room was big enough to house all of that people – if maybe it became a bit cramped by the time people had stopped entering – was enough to make him open his mouth in surprise. He did look at the golden ornaments all around the walls and the ceiling, the fine paintings that decorated the whole room, and how the bed right in front of him seemed like one of the clouds had been caught and used instead of wool.
But to be honest, all of his attention was easily focused on the center of the room, where everyone else was staring.
And it would've been quite difficult not to.
Even though she seemed physically exhausted, the Queen was as beautiful as ever. Yato didn't really have time to admire her steady breath and tender smile, as she held the newborn child in her arms.
It was a boy, the matron had announced when people started entering the room. His skin as pale as the Queen's, and just a mop of golden hair at the top of his head, almost translucent. He was wrapped with a towel, clean and calm in his mother's embrace.
It wasn't the first time he had seen a newborn. He did live with the maidens, and part of his job was assisting them when they needed help. He'd seen a few kids being born, and he sort of remembered the day Nora was born. But none of these kids had ever made him feel so drawn to them, so impossible to look away. Maybe it was because he was the prince, or maybe because of all the joy filling the room. But that little kid just looked like someone entirely different from everything he'd known, and he hadn't even opened his eyes yet.
“Your Highness!” Someone cried in the crowd, behind them. “What's his name? What's the prince's name?”
The Queen finally looked away from his son, and her eyes opened in surprise as if she hadn't noticed all that people entering the room. She looked back at the kid, and once more in the direction of the voice, and Yato could almost feel her staring at him.
“I... want him to honor this kingdom.” She answered in a soft voice, unable to keep her eyes off of her son from too long. “In honor to this white kingdom, small and silent as it is, but also beautiful and prosperous... Just like snow, I want his name to be Yuki.”
The crowd cheered. Some people applauded, some people started crying, and he could hear someone yell the prince's name, as if to inform those waiting in the halls. Yato, whoever, felt a little discouraged.
Yuki. Snow. Just like the Queen had said, it seemed fitting for a prince of this Kingdom. But it didn't sound right. Not entirely so. Something was off, but he couldn't really recognize what it was.
Almost as if... the name wasn't complete.
“Yukine.”
He could had sworn he didn't even open his mouth. It was more like a thought that wasn't meant to escape his mouth. But he felt Nora's eyes fixed on him, and after jut a second, his face became warm at the realization that the Queen was looking at him.
Had he really said that out loud? Just how loud?
The Queen was looking at him after all, and he suddenly had the urge of hiding in the crowd.
“The sound of the snow.” He continued, a bit more loudly but only so the Queen could her him over the overjoyed people celebrating the prince's birth. “I think it's... more special that way. There are many Yukis out there, but Yukine is different.” His voice started reserved and almost a bit shy, but it quickly became more decided.
And then, to his very surprise, the Queen's smile widened. A motherly smile as the traced the prince's face with a finger, and finally said. “Then Yukine it is.”
He didn't really meet the prince in person until he was eleven years old.
After the prince's birth, there had been a whole week of celebration in the castle. All workers had been given more food than they usually had, and were permitted to take rests off hours. The prince's public presentation had been held just a few days after his birth, and Yato couldn't help but feel a rush of pride every time someone said the name he'd suggested to the Queen herself.
There were a few more celebrations. A ball was organized, but as it was supposed to be for adults only, neither Nora nor him were supposed to go. They did go nevertheless, but it turned out to be way more boring than he'd expected.
With time, the celebrations ceased and life at the castle became the same as ever.
As he grew up, his own obligations at the castle grew as well. Even if all those so-called “obligations” were simply new ways of helping around the servants.
By the time he turned eleven, he was the castle's own mop boy. His job consisted basically in carrying what the maids needed to do their cleaning chores wherever they went, and then help them dust the room. With time, it had also become an habit of him to stay a little longer after they'd finished cleaning, making sure everything was in place and cleaning what had been forgotten by the maids.
It was a tiring job for a kid, but he was quite proud of his results every time the maids praised his efforts. If he had the people's respect for what he did, then maybe it was worth it.
Nora, on the other hand, had other jobs. They had been a bit reluctant of being told to go work at different sides of the castle at first, but after all Yato thought it could help her fin new friends. She was sent to help in the dungeons, making sure the metal workers did what they were supposed to do and helping with the armory. He didn't really understand how a kid as small as Nora was supposed to help with all that heavy work, but there was a proud look on her face every time she told him how she'd help keep the furnaces working or how this man had made her a pocket knife to defend herself.
And he was more than happy when she had bough a friend with her to their room.
Well, she wasn't exactly Nora's friend. For what Yato understood, she just thought Nora looked cute and wanted to be her friend. Since she hadn't really agreed to, the girl had just decided to follow her until she accepted her as friends.
Her name was Kofuku, and in spite of her original intentions of being friends with Nora, she became friends with Yato in the blink of an eye.
It was around noon, in the open field at the lower part of the castle. The sun was bright and shined bright on the sky, warming the ground just enough. Just like the Queen had said long ago, the Kingdom was covered in snow most of the year, and that made going out to play a very difficult task if you didn't want to be sick in bed for at least a week. That's why, every time the snow melted and the air became warmer, the three kids sneaked out of their jobs and played in the field until someone found them and yelled at them to go back to work.
They'd be playing hide a seek for a while, but it was a bit boring when the only place you had to hide were some trees planted here and there, with no order or sense, and the tower that connected the lower quarters to the place where nobility lived.
After a few tries, Nora had decided to step out and leave Yato and Kofuku play alone. She sat by a tree, watching as the two kids decided what to do next.
“You can't play hide and seek with two people.” He said, and Kofuku agreed by nodding.
“That's right, but... Do you know any games with two people?”
“Can't we just play tag?”
“You need more than two people for that.” Nora inquired. “And I'm not joining.”
Kofuku let out a cry, throwing her arms to the air “Awwww, Nora! Why are you such a meany?”
“I'm not a 'meany'” The black-haired girl replied. “I just don't want to play.”
“See? That's what I mean!”
Yato opened his mouth to say something, like how they could play knights and dragons and let Nora be the princess in distress, when he felt something.
Or, more accurately, he felt someone.
Was someone staring at them? He turned around, ignoring the girls' little fight, and then he saw it for just a split second.
There, just behind the tower's door, was a kid looking at the three of them. A kid he didn't remembered seeing before.
What's the doing?
And then it hit him. Could it be? Maybe that was it.
“Heeeeeeeey!!!” He shouted, waving at the kid. But before he could finish, the kid was gone. “Huh!?”
“Yato?” He heard Nora call him.
He turned around, a smile on his face, to look at the girls.
“I just found what we need. I'll be right back!”
And with that, he started running towards the tower.
Maybe it was because of his job with the maids, always running everywhere with a lot of things, but he was really proud of his speed. It could also be that the unknown kid was just very slow, or that the steps were too high for a kid to run up the stairs, but Yato just wanted to believe in his speed anyways.
It didn't take him long to find the kid, who hadn't got too far by the time Yato entered the tower.
“Heeeeeey!!!” He yelled again, as if it would make the boy stop this time.
The kid turned around and looked at him for a moment. Then he started running away again.
“Aw, man.” He shrugged. And proceeded to chase the kid.
Once again, it didn't take him long to catch up with him, extending his hand to grab his waist to he could stop running away.
“L-Let me go!” He yelled, trying his best to get Yato's grip off of him.
“Hey, what do you mean 'let me go'?”
“I said--”
“Come on! Do you wanna play with us?”
The kid stopped moving. He stared at Yato, his eyes (a weird orange, he noted, now that he could see them close) open wide. His expression froze, as if he'd just said the most blasphemous thing.
“W-What!? Who'd want to play with you!?”
“Oh, come on! There aren't many kids around here, I'm sure you're all lonely! And we could really use some more people, you know? You can't play tag with two people... What do you say?”
He started fighting again, trying to get free and run away. But Yato was stronger, taller, and obviously older. So he started walking down the stairs, trying to get back to the field.
“I'm telling you to let me go! I-It's an order!” The kid kept struggling, walking down with Yato against his will.
The raven-haired boy laughed at that statement, so clearly childish from the boy's mouth. Was he the son of a guard? That would explain how he'd learned that, but it still didn't make much sense how Yato hadn't seen him before.
“Yeah, yeah, Your Majesty!” He chuckled, still forcing the boy to go along with his pace as the tower's door grew closer and closer. He seemed to tense at this particular phrase, and Yato turned around to see if something was wrong. But before he could say anything, they heard a voice.
“Oi, Yato!”
And a way too familiar voice.
Yato was the one who tensed up now, his body knowing full well who was waiting for him when he turned around and looked at the door.
Sure enough, there he was.
Tall like a tree and stiff as a stick. He looked at Yato with those eyes he only gave him-- “What the hell do you think you're doing!?”
“Crap.”
Daikoku was one of the kids in the palace, even if he was already old enough to not be considered a kid anymore. His father was part of the royal guard, so he had started his training just a few years ago. He was only two or three years older than Yato, and yet he always looked at him the same way the adults did – as if the only thing he could do was cause trouble. How rude! He worked his ass off every single day of the week, so it was just normal he'd steal some food or made a little prank every now and then, right?
Oh but the worst part was the way that royal-guard-in-training uniform was a little too short for him, so he had to walk with big steps, careful of not tearing it, until he reached Yato and blocked his way.
“Well? What do you think you're doing?”
“Hey, hey! There's nothing wrong with what I'm doing!” He said hurriedly, shaking his hands. “We were just playing in the fields when I saw this kid staring at us. So I thought I'd ask him to join us!” He bowed a little so his head could be closer to Daikoku's, and spoke in a whisper too loud to not be heard by he boy he was still holding. “I think he's the shy type, you know? They'll never join if you don't ask them, and that's exactly what I'm doing.”
When he got back to a normal posture, the older boy's face was a mask of pure disbelief. Yato frowned at that – was it that weird for him to be nice to someone?
“Aw, come on! Why are you staring at me like that? It's true! I'm not doing anything wrong!” Shaking his head, he turned to the golden-haired boy. “Hey, tell him it's true! Ah... what was your name again?”
Daikoku sighed like a father way too tired of his kid's sorry excuses. “Yukine.”
“Oh, but if you want you can join us too! I bet Kofuku would be reaaaaally happy if you showed up.”
The older boy's cheeks turned a little pink, but he was way too proud to let it get him. “Yato!”
“What!?”
“I just told you! Who do you think this person is?”
Okay, now he was getting really confused. He turned his head to look at the boy, a mix of disbelief and exhaustion on his face. He looked back at Daikoku, and he suddenly had the odd feeling he was missing a very important point in all of this. “I dunno. Haven't seen him before.”
Daikoku sighed heavily. “I swear, every time I think you can't get more stupid...”
He took Yato's hand and forced him to let go of the kid.
“I deeply apologize for this, Your Highness.”
Wait, what?
A little switch flipped inside Yato's head when he heard Daikoku's words. His mouth dropped open and he turned to look at the kid with complete and utter shock.
“This kid's the prince!?” He was smacked in the head before he could even his sentence. “Ow!!”
“As you can see, some people living in the quarters aren't familiar with you just yet.” Daikoku continued, completely ignoring Yato's whining. “And I've been informed the royal guards are looking for you. May I accompany you to your rooms, sir?”
Alright, this was funny. This was incredibly funny. No matter how much he thought about it, the image of Daikoku speaking so formally to a kid – how old was he anyways? If he was the prince, then he should be six years old at most – was so funny he had to contain his laughter so he wouldn't be smacked again.
“That's fine.” The boy – no, no, the prince answered. It was clear in his voice and in the way he looked at Daikoku above the shoulder that he was a prince. Or an arrogant brat. The sight was still surrealist anyways. “I can go on my own.”
Yukine, the prince, Prince Yukine (Man, it just sounds so weird) glanced at Yato just once. A cold, 'I'm a lone wolf and that's cool with me' glance, before turning around and walking up the stairs.
Once he was out of sight and the sound of his footsteps had vanished, he received yet another hit in the head.
“Hey! What was that for!?”
“Will you ever stop being an idiot!?” He groaned, hovering his eyes with his hand. “How could you not know it was the prince?”
“How was I supposed to know!? Last time I saw the prince he couldn't even walk! It not my fault.”
“You're gonna get yourself in a shit ton of trouble with this attitude of yours, you know?” Daikoku growled once again. “Don't you have work to do?”
“Aw, but look at the sky! Can you really blame us for spending some time outside?” Yato started walking down the stairs. Although he wish he didn't, because once he got to the same level of Daikoku he felt... Hurt. Somewhere. Probably in his pride.
“Listen, just... Don't do this again, you got it?”
He crossed his arms, lips closed in a thoughtful expression. “But it was true, you know?”
“What?”
“He really looked like he wanted to join us. Don't you think it must be a bit lonely, being the prince and all?”
Daikoku shrugged, hitting Yato in the head, only lighter this time. “Don't sweat it, kid. It's none of your business.”
Spooky-chan Adventures Tobira ~Halloween Special~
Who are you and how did you get here? That kind of things doesn’t matter right now! There are two things you know for sure: Your costume for the Halloween Party is perfect, and you must collect as many candies as you can!
Guillotine Productions presents you Spooky-chan Adventures, a special minigame to thank you for our 300 followers, and wish you a Happy Halloween!
In this 2D platform game, you’ll have to travel through many different worlds, as you collect candies and try to stay safe! This game contains everyone’s beloved characters from Tobira, as well as two new mysterious characters! How this is all related to the final game? We’ll let the player decide that.
Download (for Windows)
Light Version (43.5MB) - Heavy Version (230MB)
NOTE: The Heavy Version includes RPG Maker VX Ace’s RTP. Download it if you don’t have the RTP installed in your computer.
Fandom: Persona 4 Pairing: Souji/Yosuke, Chie/Yukiko. Warnings: None. Word Count: 2,734 AO3 mirror Summary: Chie has a secret. Incidentally, Yosuke happens to have a secret, too. Souji and Yukiko also have a secret. When they finally decide to share their secret, they reach a common conclusion.
"I think... I think we're gay.”
“Yeah... I think we're very, very gay.”
In case you're wondering, the title comes from "hella gay for best friend support group". I love Chie and Yosuke's relationship as total bros, and what's better than exploring a relationship of a bunch of teenagers with awkward crushes?
Edit: Now 100% less painful to read thanks to lunarpikachu's corrections! ＼(*T▽T*)／
Support Group
“Hey, Yosuke? …Can I talk to you for a second?”
He looked away from his bag and stared at Chie, who was standing next to him.
“Hm? Sure, what is it?”
The girl didn’t seem too comfortable about that reaction at all. He could tell right away by how she frowned and her expression turned into some mix of embarrassment and awkwardness.
“You know, uhm… I think we should go somewhere a bit more… private.”
The confusion on his face after that must had been really obvious, because Chie crossed her arms and gave him a death glare before he could even open his mouth to make one of his comments.
“It’s not what you’re thinking, you perv!” She hurriedly added. “Just… come on, please?”
He had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from making any unnecessary comments that would probably had cost him the future of his kids, and nodded. “Alright, alright, whatever you say.” He shrugged. Once he finished putting all his classwork material inside of his bag, he stood up. “Hey partner, I-”
But he stopped when he realized Souji wasn’t there. Well, that was unusual. He hadn’t even heard him say goodbye, and he usually didn’t leave without at least saying “see you tomorrow” or something. And now that he noticed, Yukiko’s seat was empty too, although her disappearing in a hurry to help the inn wasn’t that strange.
Chie’s gaze was still fixed on him, the same weird expression on her face, when she finally said “Okay, now let’s go.” and started walking without even waiting for Yosuke.
The following were the most awkward minutes of his young life. He’d always thought about walking home with a girl, but now that he was actually going home with one… Well, not exactly a girl. It was Chie who was leading the way without saying a single word. It was kind of hard to think of someone who could kick Shadows into orbit as much as a girl as, for example, Yukiko or Rise.
They kept walking until, some way or another, they ended up at the riverbed of Samegawa. It finally seemed like Chie was willing to stop and talk to him, so he stopped walking a few moments before her.
“So, are you gonna tell me what you want now?” He asked, his arms crossed on his chest. It’s not like he had anything better to do today – actually he thought he could ask Souji to go somewhere, but it seemed it wasn’t going to happen, but just walking around town in such an awkward silence wasn’t exactly his preferred activity when he was free.
Then suddenly, a weird thought came to his mind. The weirdest thought. A thought so terrible, it made him shiver. Oh god no, anything but this…
“Woah, you’re…You’re not gonna confess to me, are you!?” Shit! It was so clear! The location, the absence of their best friends, how Chie was acting so weird…
Ah, fuck. He was screwed.
“WHAT!?” Chie screamed, turning back to look at him. “No way!! Ew!! Why’d you even say that!?”
It was really weird, but he felt honestly relieved when he understood the girl thought that possibility was just as gross as he did. Usually, one would feel bad to know a girl wasn’t planning on confessing to him, but… It was different with Chie. In more than one way.
“Hey, it’s your fault for acting all suspicious!”
Chie stared at him with the same angry expression, then relaxed and sighed. “I… guess you’re right. But, look.” She put her hands on her hips, and stared at Yosuke dead in the eye. “There’s something really serious I have to talk to you about, and you gotta promise me not to say a single word about it. To anyone.” She put a special emphasis into that last word.
“Anyone?” He repeated. “Like, not even Souji?”
It was clear that comment alarmed her, because she adopted a defensive position now. Did this girl ever think of something that wasn’t fighting…? “No! Not even Souji-kun! Wait, more like, especially not Souji-kun. Or Yukiko.”
Well, this was going to be interesting, one way or the other. Just what could be so important she couldn’t talk to Souji or Yukiko, the persons she seemed the closest to, about it?
“Alright, I promise. I won’t say say a word.” He finally agreed. “Now tell me what all of this is about.”
The brunette stared at the boy for a moment, as if trying to analyze him and make sure he wasn’t lying. After a few seconds of doubtful glares, she finally sighed.
“Actually, it’s about them. Yukiko and Souji-kun, I mean”
Yosuke frowned. They certainly seemed to be getting along together, but how did that have anything to do with Chie?
“You know how they’re hanging out all the time lately?” The confusion on his face must have been clearly noticeable, but he honestly couldn’t think of why Chie could want to talk about their relationship. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed! They always go home together, and they go to the roof to eat together a lot.”
Oh, yeah. He had noticed that. Actually, he had noticed that way more than he would’ve liked. He’d seen them quietly talk to each other before leaving the classroom, and he really didn’t want to think about it, but…
There was a thought that crossed his mind. And it felt really, really bad. It felt just as bad as it felt confusing.
“You think they’re dating?”
Now it was Chie’s turn to wear the most confused expression in the world.
“What!? No! There’s no way they’d be dating without telling us, right? I mean, didn’t he say he wasn’t interested? A-And we’re their best friends, aren’t we? We’d know!”
“Well… yeah, but…” He shrugged. They looked at each other for a moment, and wordlessly agreed on dropping the subject before it became mentally painful. “Alright, I give up. Just tell me what you want to say already.”
“I… I think I’m jealous of Souji-kun.”
There was absolutely no way he could get more confused than he was when he heard those words. Chie was doing a very good job on this whole ‘let’s confuse the shit out of Yosuke’ thing today, although the winner of that trophy was another person. “Jealous… of Souji?”
Chie sighed deeply, and proceeded to explain herself. “See, Yukiko and I… we’ve always been friends, so we’d always do everything together. But now that I see her spending all this time with Souji-kun, and with everything that’s happened, and her Shadow calling me her prince, I… I’m kinda confused, you know? And, I…” Another deep breath. “I think I’m jealous of Souji-kun because I don’t want him to be closer to Yukiko than I am. It’s not just Souji, it’s because of him I realized but – those guys who are all about the ‘Amagi Challenge’ too. Actually, especially them. Look, what I’m really trying to say is…”
The expression on her face suddenly turned shy, and even he could notice her cheeks were red. She looked at him dead in the eye, as if trying to confirm his promise or something like that. “I swear I won’t tell a soul, just spit it out.”
She relaxed slightly and finally finished.
“I think I like Yukiko…”
Alright. This was definitely not what he was expecting. He blinked a few times, trying to make his brain work, but the information wasn’t entering his head at all.
“You… what?”
“E-Exactly what you just heard!”
“…Oh.”
He stood there in complete silence for a moment. Chie was looking at him and he was looking at Chie, but he couldn’t really analyze what was happening.
Chie… Chie liked Yukiko.
Chie liked her best friend, Yukiko.
Chie, who was a girl, liked her best friend, Yukiko, who was also a girl.
And for some unknown reason, Chie had felt like she had to tell him, Yosuke, about it.
To be honest, it sounded incredibly familiar.
“YOU WHAT!?” A small ‘bing!’ sounded on his head as he finished analyzing the situation. “You mean, as in… you’re… and she’s… and you… You like Yukiko!?”
In less than half a second, the girl was covering his mouth with her hands, visibly agitated.
“SHHHHHH!!!! I don’t want the whole town to find out, you moron!”
Yosuke frowned and rolled his eyes. Well, she had a point there, but it’s not like she could blame him for reacting like that!
Chie moved her hand away from his mouth after a moment and stepped back. She glared at him, as if waiting for Yosuke to say something. And, at the same time, not wanting him to say anything because she knew Yosuke, and she knew his brain wasn’t really working right now.
“So like… Have you… I don’t know, have you told her?”
“Do you think I’d be here talking with you if I had told her?” She growled. “And there’s no way I can tell her, right? I mean, we… we’re both girls, so what if she finds it weird? I don’t want her to stop talking to me because of this…”
There was a strange feeling in the air when she said this. Or maybe the feeling was only inside of Yosuke’s head, and he was overreacting. Yeah, he probably was overreacting but… Could it be that Chie was expecting him to understand his situation? No, there’s no way she… No way, right?
“So, uhm…” He coughed. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Chie seemed about to get offended he had to ask that question, but then her face drew a surprise.
“Well, I… I thought you’d understand me. You know, since you like Souji-kun.”
Right when he thought he couldn’t be more confused, she had to go and say that. And the way she said it like it was the most natural thing in the world was just the icing to the cake.
“What!? I’m not… I don’t… W-What are you talking about!?” Ah, great. He could feel his face getting hotter after the girl’s accusation. Yup, totally keeping a nice act.
Chie, however, only frowned and shrugged.
“You think I haven’t noticed? Sheesh, how oblivious can you get?” She shook her head and gave him a sympathetic look. “It’s pretty obvious, you know? I think you… look at him the same way I look at Yukiko, or something like that.”
There was a faint, sad tone in her voice when she said that last part.
But even so, he wasn’t going to give up so easily. More like he had a bit of a pride, and he had to fight a bit. “I-I’m telling you, you got it wrong! Sure, I think he’s great and all, but it’s not like I like like him, alright? I-I don’t…”
He stopped right there. For months, he had considered himself pretty good at concealing something he had been fighting: his undying crush on his best friend. Honestly, he thought he was pretty good at it. He didn’t freak out at all when Souji had appeared out of nowhere when he was just thinking about him, and he had forced himself to not smile all that wide when he saw him walking to school before greeting him and walking together. And hey, his incessant references to hot girls and girls in bikini and all that stuff should have been enough to convince everyone of his heterosexuality, right?
Well, apparently not everyone. Chie was obviously not buying it, that much was pretty clear by the look on her face.
“Come on, Yosuke. You know that’s a lie just as much as I do.”
“Ugh…” He sighed heavily. Alright, there went his pride. After all, Chie had just told him a secret, right? Probably the least thing he could do was not act like an idiot. “Alright, maybe… maybe you’re right. So what?”
“Well, I… I dunno. I guess I just wanted to talk with someone about this. And— you know, I couldn’t tell Souji-kun…”
“That… makes sense.” He agreed.
…And then there was silence.
Alright, now they knew each others’ secret. Which was their giant crush for their best friend. But, what were they supposed to do now?
After a few seconds of silence, Chie finally asked the question.
“So like… you think we are… you know…?”
“D-Don’t say it!” Yosuke reacted quickly – his brain was practically trained to do so. “I’m not ready to face that word yet! P-Plus, there’s no way of knowing, right? I… I mean, like… maybe we’re straight, but they’re an exception…”
“Hey, maybe you’re right! But…” She sighed. “I don’t think there’s any way of knowing for sure, is there?”
“Hmm…” He put a thoughtful look and a hand to his chin. And then, suddenly, an idea came to their heads at the same time. They looked at each other, both equally concerned but also glad they had reached a way to at least have an idea of how deep they were.
“We could…”
“Yeah… I think we could make out, just to be sure.”
Staring at each other dead in the eye, they both wordlessly agreed. Yosuke nodded, and then Chie did the same. He stepped a bit closer, and then she did the same. And when they were just one step away from the other, their faces adopted the same expression, and they both reached the same reaction.
“EW!!”
They basically jumped away from each other. Chie took a hand to her mouth, trying to clean herself from what hadn’t happened, and Yosuke felt the biggest shiver down his spine.
“No way, I can’t do this! Ewww, why’d you even bring that up!?”
“You were the one who wanted to make sure! Oh god, I feel like I’ve stared Death right in the face...”
Each of them dealt with their reaction until the terrible mental image of making out with the other disappeared from their minds.
“…Yosuke?”
“…Yeah?”
Chie sighed and put her hands on her hips. “I think… I think we’re gay.”
That word was so hard to accept. But it also sounded so very right. “Yeah… I think we’re very, very gay.”
- - - - -
The school roof was empty as ever when they entered. Yukiko was holding a cup of instant ramen, and he had his poor excuse of a bento. He closed the door behind them, and they sat at their usual spot, like they had somehow agreed to in the last weeks.
She started eating her ramen and he picked up the edible parts of his wasted daigaku-imo. They ate in silence for a few moments… and then Yukiko said it. She brought it up. What none of them wanted to discuss.
“Have you heard… the rumors?”
“Yeah, I have…”
“They sure seem to be spending a lot of time together.”
“You’re right.”
“People even say they must be dating…”
“…”
He finally looked away from his food, to find Yukiko’s gaze. Her eyes were burning with passion, but his were probably too.
“We must. Put. An end. To it.” She slowly said. Souji agreed nodding energetically.
They didn’t need any more words. That was actually one of the best things of this whole friendship based on a secret they both shared.
It all begun one day when it kind of slipped out of Souji’s tongue. The fact that he had been staring at Yosuke all day. Well, more like the fact that he had the biggest crush on his best friend. It wasn’t like he was especially trying to hide it (he had given Yosuke a lot of hints, but boy he was either an idiot or completely oblivious), he just never had the chance to talk about it with any of his friends.
And then when he told Yukiko about his situation, she confessed she understood him perfectly. Since she had a crush on her best friend herself.
Ever since then, their bond seemed to have deepened to a whole new level of friendship. They’d go home together, or each lunch at the roof, to have some privacy. And talk about their crushes.
They were pretty much what Souji thought every all-girl’s sleepover was like, only 24 hours a day.
“Maybe I should walk home with Yosuke…”
“Yes, that could be a good idea. We have to start by preventing them from spending too much time together. If we do, I’m positive the rumors will stop.”
Once again, words weren’t needed. They agreed with a nod, and went back to their food.
Yatone week day 05: Taking care of
Word count: 1407
AO3 mirror
Warnings: None! (hopefully)
This was supposed to be... kinda serious. But it turned out into something really weird. The weirdest thing I've ever written. And I'm supper happy with it. Hope you like it anyways!
quick summary is: hiyori must protect her idiot sons who are also dating each other
A small misunderstanding
There was a… weird mood in the air that morning. The always-busy house was strangely quiet. And Hiyori wasn’t dumb, she could figure out that there was something going on.
The half-phantom girl had come to visit early in the morning, since it was Sunday and she had nothing to do apart from spending time with Yato and Yukine. But when she got to Kofuku’s house, she was welcomed by a weirdly silent aura. It took a whole good minute for the door to open, and with her current experience, that never meant good news.
“Ah, Hiyorin!” The goddess had greeted her with a hug, as usual, and invited the girl to enter the house. But it didn’t take too long for her to notice something was missing.
“…Are Yukine-kun and Yato out?” She asked when she sat down at the living room and noticed neither god nor shinki were nowhere to be found.
The look Daikoku and Kofuku shared right then was suspicious, incredibly suspicious.
“Uhm…” The man cleared his throat, clearly flustered for some reason Hiyori failed to understand. “I don’t think… they’ll be coming down anytime soon.”
A small frown appeared on the human’s face. “Should I go wake them up then?”
Before she even knew what was happening, the man had jumped and flipped the table over, and the pink-haired goddess was shaking her hands very effusively. “That’s OK, Hiyorin! I don’t think you’d like what you’d see there anyways…”
Alright, now she was just growing more and more interested. And also scared. It wasn't a 'has Yato been kidnapped' kind of fear. More like... the kind of fear a mother would feel when they saw the trail of dirt only a kid would make.
“What… is going on?”
Goddess and shinki shared a concerned look. And for some reason, it seemed like the kind of look a parent would give their child when they had to tell him he was adopted, or that Santa wasn’t real or something like that.
“You see, Hiyorin… Last night…”
Kofuku didn’t get to finish her sentence. Because right then, the door of the living room slid open.
“I already said I’m SORRY! It was you who said he wanted—”
Yato stopped mid-sentence when he noticed everyone else in the room.
He stared at each of them for a second. Kofuku. Daikoku. Hiyori. Then just them overall. And then he closed the door, and his hurried footsteps could be heard until he got back to his room on the upper floor.
No one said a word for a few seconds. Until Hiyori slammed the upside-down table. “What was that just now!?”
The goddess and her shinki looked away. This was extremely, incredibly suspicious. She had seen Daikoku act like that before, it wasn’t so strange to see him acting like a parent embarrassed of his kid's behavior. But Kofuku was the kind to always speak her mind, so… what could have possibly happened to make her act like that?
“You do know something, right? Can’t you tell me what…”
Once again, the sentence was interrupted by a sudden, sharp scream of agony. It was, unmistakably, Yukine’s voice screaming.
So Hiyori stood up, her maternal sense at full power. “That was Yukine-kun!” She turned around and opened the door. “I’m going to check on him right now!”
Behind her, Daikoku and Kofuku screamed.
“NO!!”
“WAIT, HIYORIN! YOU’RE TOO YOUNG!”
But it was no use. She was already running upstairs, towards Yato and Yukine’s room. If Yukine was in danger, if something had happened to Yato and Yukine, then she, Hiyori-mama, would find whoever dared hurt her precious kids and Jungle Savage them to Mars!
“S-Stop it! It hurts!!”
“If you would just RELAX then it wouldn't hurt, you brat!”
“W-WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE TOUCHING!?”
“And where ELSE am I supposed to touch!?”
Every single movement of her muscles stopped when she was just about to enter the room. And the reason was, obviously, the voices she heard from behind the thin rice-paper door.
“If I’m SO BAD at this, then just do it yourself!”
“I-I’m not gonna do it myself, that’s embarrassing!”
She didn't know what was worse. If the conversation between Yato and Yukine, going on just behind the door, of the fact that she was leaning towards it to listen to it more carefully. There was also a weird feeling in her face, as if it had started burning, but she wasn't sure what to think about that…
“Hiyori!”
“Hiyorin!”
Kofuku and Daikoku caught up with her right then, and she turned her face to look at them with a finger hovering her lips. “Ssshhhhhh!!”
For the millionth time on the morning, the pair stared at each other in both confusion and complicity.
“Hiyori, whatever you do, don’t open that door.” Daikoku said slowly and carefully.
She was about to say something, but then everything became silent after just one sound.
A sound that came from the door and probably sounded much louder inside of Hiyori’s head that it had actually been. But at least loud enough for Daikoku and Kofuku to also notice. Daikoku’s face went completely blank, while Kofuku drew a happy smile and Hiyori felt the unmistakable heat of her cheeks burning red.
Yato’s commentary just after that sound only confirmed their thoughts.
“W-Woah… Yukine, did you just moan?”
Next thing they knew, the door had been slid open with a fierce sound, almost breaking the paper.
But it was worth the scene in front of everyone.
Yato and Yukine were lying on the bed. Well, technically, Yukine was lying on the bed. Yato was sitting above him, facing the blonde’s back. The shinki wasn't wearing a shirt, and the god might as well had been naked too, because the mattress were too messy to let them check that from their position on the door.
And, yes. Yukine was, indeed, moaning. His eyes were closed and his face was red as he gripped the pillow with all his will. Yato had his hands on the young boy’s back, but the positioning of his hips… was very suggesting.
Hiyori was trying to make her brain react in some way when she heard the sound of Kofuku taking a photo with her phone. And that’s when the two boys finally realized they weren't alone anymore.
The color on their faces faded right away.
“H-Hiyori…?” Yukine’s voice was faint.
“…”
“…”
“…”
Daikoku broke the silence “Are you using protection?”
Finally, the color returned to the boys' faces. But now, instead of white, they were bright red.
“T-This isn't what it looks like!!”
“We… we’re not…!!”
“It’s alright, Yato-chan.” Kofuku smiled, but she didn't miss the chance to take another photo. “Yukki is in that age, after all!”
Hiyori looked at Daikoku, who seemed to be the most affected person in all of this.
“But I can’t believe you still have any strength left, considering how loud you were last night!”
Yato’s eyes opened wide. And Yukine just covered his face with the pillow.
“W-We weren't doing anything!!” The blonde screamed, although his voice sounded muffled.
“We were just playing a game!”
“…Yeah, sure.”
“Noooooooooooooooo…..” Yukine’s cried as he apparently tried to fuse with the bed and disappear.
“You know, I don’t mind if you guys are dating and all, but even if you’re not human you should still take some precautions, Yato. I was expecting you to-”
The raven-haired god picked the closest pillow and threw it at Daikoku. The object landed perfectly on the shinki’s face with a soft sound.
The pillow felt to the ground, discovering the man’s red face. Red with fury.
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WERE DOING THIS IN OUR HOUSE YOU POOR EXCUSE OF A GOD!”
And with that, the door was shut with an sound even louder than before.
Hiyori just stood there, blinking a few times and trying to understand what just happened. She had the feeling her emotions towards that scene were somewhere between Kofuku or Daikoku’s reaction, but for some reason she could feel more drawn towards the goddess’ reaction, who was still looking at the images she had taken with her phone.
“I’m telling you, I was just giving him a massage!!”
On the other side of the door, Yukine’s whimper could still be heard. And it continued for a long while, along with the god’s hurried explanations.
That evening, Yato had to explain how Yukine had hit himself in the back when they were playing a dancing game last night, and he had been complaining about it until Yato decided to give him a massage. When asked if the dancing game was the only thing the two of them had done that night Yato’s face became flashing red, but he still answered with a hurried “W-Well of course!”
Whether that was true or not… the three of them decided it was better if that was left unknown.
Yatone week day 02: (Altered) canon moment
Word count: 1432
Warnings: Contains some spoilers for the manga (end of Izanami's arc). Not major spoilers though, just some vague things. I hope
I'm really sorry I'm so late to this ahhh ; ; University is way more time-consuming than I thought, but I promise I'll make a contribution for each day of the Yatone week. Also, I'm pretty sure you all manga-readers know what this scene is, but I get the feeling I got the times a bit mixed up- As always, please tell me if you see any inaccuracy or some mistake or anything!
Guiding light
He hadn't seen him all day. No one had.
When they came back to the house, they had left Yato in his room and let him to rest. He didn't know if he had woken up or not, although Kofuku had bought some food to the room, in case he wanted something to eat.
Downstairs, the whole day passed on a heavy atmosphere.
They knew they were going to have to talk about it eventually. They all knew it. But the moment any of them would open their mouth to talk, they'd just receive gloom looks from the others, and the conversation would've been left to vanish into thick air.
There were a few comments here and there, but they somehow managed to spend the whole day without exchanging many words between the four of them.
The worst part was knowing the other three shared a common thought. Not about Yato's situation, but about him. He could tell by the wordless, pitiful looks he noticed everyone giving him. Daikoku's eyes were the ones that hurt the most, and he was really grateful Kazuma wasn't there to look at him with the same eyes. But he couldn't blame them.
He had just become the god's main pillar. He was Yato's hafuri, his first hafuri. And he felt like he'd allowed this to happen. Like this was all his fault.
And what was worst: at the end, he couldn't do anything.
It was Hiyori who had saved him Yomi. If it wasn't for her, maybe Yato would've died down there. And, damn it-- when he thought was going to rescue him he'd almost got himself killed by that damn Kugaha.
He was angry. Angry at Yato, of course. But mainly angry at himself. For not being able to do anything, even though it was his damn duty.
Kofuku and Daikoku sent Hiyori back to her house when it stated to get late. There weren't many words then either. The girl gave Yukine a sad look, and left after hugging him and promising to come again tomorrow.
Before she was completely out of sight, he turned around and walked upstairs. To Yato's room.
The tray Kofuku had left by the door was still on its place, and none of the food had even been touched. A faint nauseating feeling grew in his stomach when the recognized the similarity of the scene, but he tried to ignore it right away. There was a possibility Yato was still asleep, but if that was the case, he'd just have to wake him up.
When he slid the door open, the first thing he noticed was that Yato wasn't on the bed. He gazed across the room, and finally spotted the god sitting by the window, right in front of him.
Yato didn't turn around when Yukine stepped in. He just stayed still, sitting there, looking at the night sky.
The boy closed the door behind him and walked a few steps towards the god, when the raven-haired finally seemed to acknowledge his presence.
“Yukine.”
His voice sounded distant. He was right in front of him, but... Right now, in that moment, he felt Yato had never been that far away from him.
He didn't answer. If Yato wanted to say something, then let him. And after an entire day of nothing but pity, hearing more than a few sentences on a row would probably help him, anyways.
“So... now you know it. I've been hiding things from you all this time.” He took his time to take a deep breath and continue talking. It took a lot of self control to not scream, or bite his lip, or do anything so the god could feel the anger inside of him. “I never stopped... Killing people, using Hiiro, doing what my dad wanted me to do...”
This was the closest he had ever got to hear Yato's voice cracking. And the tone on his last words made the oppressing feeling on his chest feel even heavier.
But what really made him freeze, the worst part of all this, was Yato's face when he turned to him.
“So I... I'll understand if you don't want to be my shinki anymore.”
It's not like he was crying. But it's not like he was trying to put on a tough act either.
He just... seemed tired. Looking at him with a comprehensive expression. It wasn't like the times when Yukine had told him to release him, or the tears from the time he saw his shrine.
Right now, in this very moment, he felt like was just seeing Yato himself. Someone who had tried to do the right thing, to be just, to do something for himself, only to find himself failing and being abandoned over and over.
So he... he just kind of let himself go with the strange mix of emotions inside of him.
It was clumsy. It was weird. And it was extremely awkward. But he wrapped his arms around Yato, and let him rest his head on the crook of his neck.
None of them said a word for a while, but he could almost feel the surprise on Yato's face. They didn't move until Yukine finally felt like he had found the right words to express what he was feeling. Or, at least, the part of his feelings he could understand.
“You can ask me ten times, and my answer will be the same ten times.”
His voice came out firm and clear, which was much better than he'd expected at first. The hug was still awkward, but he tried his best to reassure it.
“I'll stay with you, Yato. If you don't want to kill anyone again, then I'll make sure you don't. If you're lost in the dark, then I'll be the light to guide your path. You said I had nothing to be afraid of anymore... so I can tell you the same. I won't leave you. I can promise that much.”
When Hiyori left, when he walked to the room, when he opened the door... This wasn't what he had in mind. He wanted to grab Yato by the collar of his sweaty shirt and make him talk. Make him tell him everything he hadn't said: why he was in Yomi, why was he using the Stray, why had he left for months, why did he felt about to cry when he realized he didn't even know his damn name.
But now, for the first time, he felt like he could understand. He had the feeling this was what Daikoku, or Kazuma, or even Yato himself had seen when he started crying during his purification. The moment he admitted his sins, and the moment he felt Yato accepting him, despite betraying him over and over.
His hands were shaking and his chest hurt for more than one reason, but that didn't matter. Now it was his turn to let Yato know how he felt. Yeah, he felt betrayed and that wasn't something he could possibly forget that easily. But even then, he wanted his god to know that he forgave him. He wanted Yato to look at him not like a tool, or a weapon; but as his support. His guiding light.
He'd totally lost the track of time when he felt Yato's head moving, his hair rubbing on the skin of his neck. He heard a faint sound coming from the older man, and for a moment he was about to freak out. Was he laughing!? He had opened up to him, and the fucker dared to laugh!?
But it vanished on a slip second, when he realized something felt wet on his shirt. It wasn't a laughter; it was a whimper.
“Thank you... Yukine...”
And now, for the first time, he felt the closest person to Yato's heart in the whole world. He heard his voice cracking up and finally breaking on another small whimper, as the older one's arms finally returned the embrace, holding Yukine's back so hard he almost found it difficult to breathe. The god was stronger than he'd ever thought, and he didn't break on a loud weep and he would've. He just stood there, crying in silence.
Yukine didn't move during all the time, and Yato continued for a few minutes. The blonde couldn't tell if he had finally lost all strength to even cry, or just became too tired. But there was a new, weird feeling on his chest when he heard Yato's faint words.
“I'm really glad I fell for you at first sight.”
Your icon is Mayu from Indulging: Idol Syndrome, isn't it?
That's right! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
Do you except prompts?
I'm a little slow, but I do accept prompts and requests!
To the awesome anons who sent me the meme thing: I’m working on it! I just didn’t see it until recently, sorry ; ; and thanks a lot for sending these!
Fake Sky
Fandom: Noragami. Pairing: Yato/Yukine. Warnings: None. Word Count: 2.418 Summary: Yato thinks about helping Yukine with his fear of the dark.
I am a genius. A genius!
Humming happily, with a bag in my left hand, I slid the door open and couldn't help but keep smiling. Great job, Yato! For once, no one could tell me I was an idiot, or that I didn't do anything. This was my chance to shine!! “Yukine! I'm home!”
I said. But there was no one in the room. What the...? I opened my phone to check the time. Was he still working...? No, it was a little late for that... Maybe he went somewhere?
“Kofuku!” I went downstairs, hoping to find the little brat was on some part of the house I hadn't seen. “Do you know where's Yukine?”
“Yukki? Hmm...” Kofuku, who was sitting in the coach with a magazine resting on her legs and a cookie on her mouth, frowned for a moment, thinking. “I think... He said about not telling you he went to Hiyorin's.” She then blinked and put a playful face. “Oops.”
“Studying...”
Yeah, yeah, I won't deny it. I was proud of Yukine's efforts, and yeah I kind of trusted him alone in Hiyori's house now. I mean, yeah, he's in that age and his body is going to be full of hormones forever, but at least he wouldn't go lusting over everything with a boob now. Not to mention, he probably wouldn't have the strength to lust on Hiyori.
But that doesn't mean I didn't feel left apart every time they went to play together and left poor Yato all lonely.
However...
“...Yato-chan?”
“Thank you, Kofuku! Tell Yukine I'm upstairs!!”
Oh, me!! How could I be SO clever? I'm a genius, the god of genius, after all! I rushed upstairs with a beaming smile and renovated optimism. And almost broke the door when I opened it and entered the room.
I left the bag on the floor, sat down, and crossed both my arms and legs. With a little luck, Yukine would be out just long enough for me to finish. And when he came to the room and saw me... He wouldn't be able to say I'm not a good master ever again!!
By the time I heard Yukine's voice from the lower room, I'd had three near-death experiences by nearly falling for the stairs and hitting my head with the floor. But it had paid of, and the result was worth all my effort, I said to myself as I looked up at the ceiling. When I heard footsteps drawing closer, I realized I was smiling with anticipation.
“I'm ba-”
“Welcome home, Yukine!!”
“W-WHAT THE-- WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”
Ah. The moment I saw the blonde hair on the room I practically run towards Yukine. Just a bit more of impulse and I would've provoked the number one cliché scene in the world. Luckily, Kazuma was a good instructor and Yukine reacted fast enough to let me hit my face with the wall.
“What the hell... where'd that energy come from? Did a old man give you beer or something?”
Ouch. My face hurt. My nose was what hurt the most. But that didn't matter, not when I heard Yukine's question. I turned towards him with a smile.
“Huhu... Actually, I bought something great today!!”
“I'm going to throw it.”
“EH!?”
“Bet it's just another shitty talisman or something isn't it? I'm going to throw it.”
Ah, crap. He was about to step into the room, and that was bad!! I ran the few meters that kept me and the room away and extended both my arms. “Wait a moment! I'm not letting you in!”
“Heeh?” He frowned. And the look in his face made it very obvious he wasn't very pleased. “What are you talking about? You know, I'm tired and...”
Aha! I moved faster than him and blocked the way when he tried to get in by my left.
Then I did the same when he tried by my right.
And reapeated it a bit time until he became obviously angry.
“LET ME IN ALREADY!!”
“Wait! You have to wait outside, alright?”
It obviously wasn't alright. But that didn't matter. I hurried up and pushed him out of the room, then closed the door.
What to do, what to do... Oh, yeah! I threw the bags to the trash bin and then hid the bin inside the closet. Then I folded the stairs I'd borrowed from Daikoku and also hid it in the closet. And the small worktable in the center of the room, also hid it on the closet. Finally I took two futons out of the closet and put them on the floor.
I opened my phone, put it on lantern mode, and turned out the lights. The sun hadn't set completely yet, but it was dark enough to make it work. And honestly, I felt really proud of my work.
It wasn't dark enough to not see anything, but I still used my phone to guide me reach the door. Once I did, I opened it just a little bit. Just enough to peek and look at Yukine.
“Here. Take this.” Once I said this, I gave him my phone. He stared back at me with a puzzled expression. “Look at it, alright? Just do what I tell you.”
And then I opened the door. Although it didn't sting me, I could feel Yukine's disapproval on the darkness of the room.
“Don't worry, I got this! You look at the phone, and close the door behing you.” He didn't say anything, but I felt his tight grip around my wrist. I walked and waited for him to close the door. Once he did, I guided us to the futons on the floor.
“Alright, now lie down.”
He sat on the futon and I did the same. He wasn't showing any sings of trusting what was about to happen, so I had to gently persuade him to lie down by pushing his chest.
Once we were both facing the ceiling, his head next to mine, I held out my hand. “Now give me the phone.”
I heard Yukine's hair moving when he turned his head and glazed at me, but all I did was reply the same way. “What? You really don't trust me this time?”
Reluctantly, his hand moved until he was close enough for me to get the phone.
“Don't worry, I'll leave this here just in case.”
He, who hadn't said a single thing ever since entering the room, sighed. “...Now what?”
“Now look!” I pointed at the ceiling with my hand. I don't really remember the moment my lips curved once again, and at the moment I wasn't sure exactly what kind of emotions I was experiencing inside of me. “The sky!”
Once again, I heard his hair making friction with the futon's fabric. But the next thing I heard was a gasp.
My work the whole evening had consisted on sticking all kinds of stars to the ceiling of the bedroom. There were stars of all shapes and sizes... although that was because when the idea came to me, I just decided to buy every bag on the store. Maybe “buy” wasn't the word for most of them, but... that's a secret.
“You know, I've been thinking... You can't just stay scared of the dark forever! So I thought maybe there was something I could do... And locking you up on a dark room for four days didn't seem like a good idea, so I figured... You could start with something like this.”
Damn, that sound way more cool and less cheesy in my head.
“...”
...Crap, and now what?
It was probably because this kind of things always ended up the other way around when I planed them, that I hadn't thought about getting this far. I mean, I wanted to show Yukine the stars and tell him he could get over his fear if he tried little by little, but... But now what?
“So, I... um...”
Mumbling wasn't going to help, that's for sure.
Slightly, without making a noise, I decided to turn my head to see Yukine's reaction. Was he too scared to talk? Did he think it was a dumb idea? Or was he about to start laughing at my attempt of seriousness? Well, at least if he wanted to hit me, he'd probably already do it, so...
“It's...”
The moment I laid my eyes on Yukine's face, barely visible thanks to the light of my phone, he opened his mouth and talked without looking at me.
“It's beautiful.”
My heart skipped a beat when I heard his voice. And something I didn't want to hear inside of me told me it wasn't because of that compliment.
Some kind of switch turned on that very instant. I almost heard it click as it made me... aware.
I hadn't ever thought of it. Personal space. Being physically too close to someone. Some people had told me I had no sense of shame because of it and I sure had received more than one kick because of it. But now, for some reason... I became really aware of that.
I realized Yukine was lying next to me. Our bodies were so close, our hands were almost touching. And our heads were only centimeters away from each other.
...Close. I was really close to Yukine. He was there, staring at the fake sky with his mouth still open on surprise and his eyes lost in the spots of lights inside the darkness he feared.
Never had my heart beat this fast because of something as the distance between me and other person. I felt the urge to grip my chest, but contained myself.
It wasn't long until Yukine realized what he had said and opened in eyes, probably embarrassed of his own words. His gaze moved around the ceiling for a few seconds. “I-I mean! It's... I never thought you'd...”
The moment his eyes met mine, I felt like time had stopped.
Such an unrealistic feeling. Because at least I knew that much: the feeling inside of me, what I felt the moment I saw Yukine's face, it was real. And it wasn't an unknown feeling. But what I felt when out eyes met... that was different, but somehow so familiar, it almost felt nostalgic.
What was I supposed to do? I didn't know. I should had said a joke, or one of my poorly-timed comments to ruin the mood. But even I could tell there was a mood, there, inside the dark bedroom lying down a fake sky.
So I didn't do anything. Because I didn't know what to do, and because I didn't feel able to even move a finger. As if there was something pushing me down, some kind of pressure in the air forcing me to stay the way I was.
Then suddenly Yukine made a face. Even in the growing darkness of the room, I could see the red on his cheeks, but he also seemed apologetic.
He mumbled something, but I couldn't make a single word.
“...Uh?”
He frowned and looked away for a moment. When he peeked to meet my eyes for a second, he seemed even more ashamed. “...did that hurt?”
...Hurt? What was he talking about? “What'dya mean?” I frowned in confusion.
His eyes opened while for a second, and I clearly saw his ear beaming red. He sat up, grabbed his pillow and before I knew it, he was attempting murder by trying to suffocate me.
“Nfnghgnhggk!!” Of course not a single word of my protests made sense.
“Forget it!! Forget about it!! I didn't say anything!!”
He kept pressing and I kept moving my hands and feet to stop him until he grew bored of that stupid attempt and let go of the pillow. I sit up, grabbing the nearly murder weapon and trowing it back to Yukine's futon. “What the hell was that--!!”
I stopped in the middle of my sentence when I saw his face. He wasn't staring at me, but that didn't help his obvious blushing. Whatever he was talking about when he tried to kill me, must've been very embarrassing for him.
“I'm going to sleep.” He announced. “I'm tired of working and studying.”
This said, he threw himself back into the futon and covered his body with the mattress.
“You're not gonna change?”
“Shut up!!”
Well, he obviously wasn't up for that.
A soft sigh came out from my mouth, and that moment I realized I had been smiling for who knows how long. Maybe I had that stupid shoujo manga look on my face when I was staring at Yukine's back then, especially when out eyes met...
And then, I noticed the heat on my face.
The mix of feelings on my chest.
The beating of my heart.
The familiar scenario anyone – well, maybe anyone older than 16 – would recognize.
I wasn't dumb enough to not recognize it either. But that exactly the reason why I suddenly felt like going to bed without changing, too.
Yukine let a slightly angry groan when he heard me cover with the mattress, and I instinctively turned my body on the opposite direction from his. But even after doing so, it took a while for my heart and my face to calm down.
“...Thank you.”
It was a whisper, just loud enough for me to hear it. But it made me smile.
“Really. It's... uhm... I really like it. So thank you.”
What a brat. How could a kid like him make me swift emotions with such small words or acts?
I turned my body towards Yukine's. As expected, he was facing the other way. It was better this way, I thought, as I put my hand in his hair and gently brushed it. I felt like saying something, but once again, my mouth wasn't responding and my brain was too slow.
“You're a jerk.” He said when I put my hand away from his head.
“Yeah. Probably.”
I answered without even thinking, just because my brain had decided the worst moment to function again. Yukine let a soft laugh, and didn't say a word for the rest of the night.
As for me, I stared at Yukine's back all night.
Wondering if those feelings would fade. Wondering if it was even alright. Thinking about everything and nothing as I slowly became more sleepy. And when I finally fell asleep, I thought I could deal with them a little longer.
Souyo Week Day 06: Shadows
Warnings: Some spoilers but do we really consider spoilers at this point.
So I have this theory about how if one has suppressed thoughts for too long and keeps going on the TV, a new Shadow will appear with new suppressed thoughts. I guess it's kinda messy, sorry for that.
Something's not right.
“Yosuke?”
He can hear Souji calling him, but that doesn't change the fact that something is not right. In fact, it makes him feel like what's happening is even worse.
They're training, as suggested by the team's leader, in the Secret Laboratory. Naoto wanted to see the TV world with her own eyes, and Rise said there was a strong shadow where the detective's used to be. So they headed there. But up until this moment, they haven't found a single shadow in the whole dungeon. The only reason Yosuke wanted to call Jiraiya was to heal Souji, who opened a chest that contained damage.
But when he tries to cast Diarama on his friend, something's definitely not right. It's not just that he can't call his Persona – it's as if it was never there in the first place.
“Hey, Yosuke?” Souji's voice snaps him out of his weird mental state. He looks up to face him, and judging by the expression he makes after the eye contact, he can tell he has noticed his confusion. “Is something wrong?”
At the other side of their mental connection, Rise gasps. “Yosuke-senpai... What happened to your Persona?”
He's staring at Souji, his eyes fixed in his partners' as the other looks back to him, but he can almost see Chie and Teddie turn to see him, as he can almost see the concerned look in their faces.
“Isn't this like... are you silenced or something?” Chie is the first to talk. He'd like to answer her and tell her it's not like that, but there's something that doesn't let him even move. He knows what it is, of course. It's fear. “Or maybe... you know, maybe that chest let you without spirit? It's happened before, right?”
What she says does make sense, but he just can't turn towards her and explain it's not like that. Jiraiya isn't blocked, or sealed, or too tired. It just isn't there, where it should be.
He keeps staring at Souji, as if begging him for support. His feet fixed in the floor, his heart beating fast, and a cold sweat in his back. Shit, he's scared. He's really scared.
And then, he hears Rise gasp just a second before Souji opens his eyes. He's staring right behind Yosuke.
“I... can't use my Persona? Does that mean... I'm useless again?”
He turns around when he hears it – when he hears him. The unmistakable sound of his own voice, although distorted.
“But I... I wanted to help everyone. I was so jealous... but I still wanted to be useful to everyone.”
There's no doubt. It's him, or at least, part of him. It speaks with his voice, and except for those glowing yellow eyes, that's his face, even his clothes. But there's something odd, something different. The Shadow version of himself he faced that day, with Souji, on the distorted version of the liquor store, was arrogant, sarcastic, full of itself. It laughed and made him reject it with harsh words.
But the Shadow in front of him... it was different. It wasn't arrogant. It wasn't full of himself – it was actually the opposite. Its hands were both in his chest, and it hadn't looked at him in the eye for more than two seconds, before looking back at the ground. It seemed fragile, scared, almost as if...
“Does that mean there's... no reason for me be with him anymore?”
“H-Hey, what's going on!?” Chie's voice interrupted his Shadow's speech. “Didn't Souji-kun already beat Yosuke's Shadow?”
“He did! I was there too, I-I saw him!”
“That's right... He... He did that for me, didn't he? He... protected me. He saved me, right?”
No.
No, this couldn't be happening. This isn't happening, there's no way it's happening. It must be just a nightmare, another nightmare like the ones he's had ever since he saw his Shadow.
“So we... we became friends. No, we became partners, right?” The Shadow's lips bend to a weak, almost shy smile. And the moment he can see it stare right behind him, where Souji is, he feels his heart stop.
No, please don't.
“I was jealous of him... He was the popular new student... He had an amazing power, and he was our leader... Always surrounded by girls, always having secret admirers...”
“Stop it!!”
He was trying to hold himself back, but something inside of him makes him scream as he walks towards his Shadow self. He's breathing way too fast, he can feel his heart in his neck, and his legs are shaking. He by now he can't deny his Shadow self, not when he can't fight and Souji's injured. But there's no way he can just let it go on when everyone... When he is listening.
“Yosuke!” It's Souji's voice that calls him. Now that he's closer, he can even see the blush in the Shadow's cheeks when his partner talks.
“But after some time, I started thinking... Who was I really jealous of? Him? Or... the girls?”
“I said stop it!”
“Yosuke, you can't–!”
“I know it, dammit!!” She shouts out before Chie can finish. Yeah, he knows what he has to do, he knows he can't deny it, but...
“But... can you believe it? After all I did and said, even though we're both–“
He runs to get his Shadow by his jacket, and then he wishes he was strong enough to lift it up. Then, maybe he would feel intimidating, and not as weak and pathetic as he's feeling right now. “I know it, alright!? I get it!! You're me! Now shut up, just shut up already!!”
What is he doing? He knows that isn't going to work. He knows what he's just done isn't “accepting” his hidden feelings are a part of him. But there's... there's no way he can accept it in front of everyone, and all he wants is for his Shadow self to stop before doing what he knows he can't do.
His other Shadow, the one Souji had defeated, would probably have laughed at him. It would've smirked and tell him how it wouldn't work if he didn't mean it. But the version of himself that's in front of him doesn't even do that. He doesn't mock at his desperate attempt of shutting it up before it could say anything else, before everyone could understand what his Shadow is talking about.
Instead, it looks at him with eyes full of tears. “I... I just want him to know it... I want to tell him. You want to tell him. But you're just afraid... You're scared he'll think it's gross and you won't be partners anymore.”
That's right. That's exactly right. And he knows it. He knows there's no point hiding, no use denying what it says. He could just say it out loud right now, stop this nonsense and hope this is all just an incredibly vivid nightmare.
But his hands are trembling. His whole body is shaking, and he can't say for sure if it's fear, nausea or nervousness he's feeling. Why... why did it had to appear in front of everyone, why in front of Souji, of all people?
“We're just... a poor boy in love with his best friend.”
It's almost laughable, how easy it's for the Shadow to say it. He finally lowers his head, although his grip is still tight. Come to think of it, no one has interfered with his Shadow's speech. It's almost as if they didn't want to stop it. It's probably just his imagination, and he knows it, but maybe, just maybe, some of them already knew it and wanted him to be honest with himself. Or maybe they're just too shocked, or enjoying the show.
“Yeah, that's right... Everything you said was right.” He takes a deep breath, hoping the other have just left, wishing his voice is not loud enough for them to hear it all. “Shit, I'm really scared. I didn't want it to happen like this... but you're right.”
He lets the grip on the Shadow's clothes go and he turns his face up to stare at the yellow eyes of the other version of himself. It no longer seems like it's about to cry. In fact, it looks so calm, it almost seems lifeless.
“When I first realized... I didn't want to admit it. I mean, come on. I had never thought about it. Guys like girls, and that's all... that's how it worked around me so I never ever questioned it. I thought I was like everyone else...”
From somewhere far, very far behind him, he can hear someone say a faint “Yosuke...”. But he doesn't even recognize whose voice it is. Everyone, even Souji, is too far away from him right now.
“But then, he... He was the first person who ever consider me his friend without second question. He didn't find me annoying. He didn't turn his back on me, even after he saw the ugliest part of me. Damn, I don't think anyone has ever made me feel accepted before. That's why I didn't want to screw it up. But... you're right.”
He took a deep breath. Yeah, it was him. He knew it from the moment it had opened its mouth, but it really was him.
“Even if he thinks it's weird... Even if he says it's gross... You're me. You're the part of me who... loves him.”
Crap, when did he start crying? He only notices now the steam of tears going down his face, blurring his vision. He needs to calm down, he knows that, but it isn't that easy. Not now, not knowing that if he doesn't want to screw everything up again, he'll have to face his confession sooner or later. Souji wouldn't ask about it, but there's no way they can just pretend nothing's happened after this.
His Shadow self nods, and then he disappears. It's almost like the first time, when he first got Jiraiya. He's not lacking his Pesona anymore, but... something feels a little different. It's not a bad thing, actually it feels good. But it's still strange.
Before he can even begin caring about it, his legs finally give up and stop supporting him. He falls to the metallic floor, his hands and knees protecting him to hit his face.
He feels like he's going to throw up, scream and collapse, all at the same time. His head is hurting like hell, and the footsteps approaching him sound as distant as before. Finally, right before someone touches his shoulder, he gives in and lets his consciousness drift away.
Souyo Week Day 03: Future and/or family
Warnings: None (I hope)
AO3 mirror
Once again, I have no idea how adoption works on Japan. I'm sorry for any inaccurances.
“What about Mari?”
“I don't know... How does Hanako sound?”
“Man, no! You want me to have war flashbacks every day!?”
Souji laughed softly, almost a whisper, and Yosuke replied with a deadly stare. There was a moment of silence, but then they both sighed at the same time. Their gazes met, and after a second of silence, they laughed harder than before.
Even though they had a very comfortable couch just behind them, they were sitting on the floor. The small table between them and the TV which they used to work and have dinner, was full of paper. They weren't just laying there at random, that was impossible with Souji around. After all, most of these papers were extremely important, and they couldn't just go on losing them, not when it had been so difficult to get them on the first place.
On top of the table and all the papers, there was a little box filled with small papers. Each of them containing a letter in hiragana, properly written by Souji's skillful hands. That whole thing about the box had been Yosuke's idea, but it didn't end too well, as the papers with “mi”, “yu” and “yo” threw outside the box implied. As it had happened so many times before with so many other ideas, they just gave up when they decided they weren't going to get much from it.
“We're not getting much progress done, are we...”
“Maybe we could ask the others for ideas...”
Yosuke shrugged “As long as we don't ask Ted... I don't want to think of the kind of names he'd like.”
Silence again. They had been trying any possible method – they even looked it up on the internet, although that part ended right away- but they always came back to square one. Or zero. They hadn't found one single name they liked yet. And they had been thinking about it for three days.
A small voice in his head told him they should had thought about it way before getting the papers, but there was a reason Yosuke hadn’t thought about it before.
Because he knew it. He knew there was a name Souji really, really wanted to suggest. It wouldn't take a genius to figure it out. And, to be honest, he always thought he would come out with that name right away. He had also noticed how Souji was trying his best to hold out to not say it. But that was probably just because they had been together for who-knows-how-many years now. Even the ever-stoic Souji became easy to read when you woke up next to him every day.
“We really should decide on one now... At least until we find something better.” The brunet sighed once again. “I mean, you wouldn't want to hear Chie and Yukiko's complains about how we shouldn't leave something like this wait for the last moment and–”
“What about Saki?”
Souji's voice made him stop at the middle of the sentence, eyes open wide. He turned his head to look at the silver-haired, who seemed only slightly hesitant about what he had just said. It wasn't until he blinked a few times that he realized his mouth had also dropped open.
“I-- ah... wha--” His mind was completely blank. “Did you just say--”
“I thought...” His partner's eyes looked down to the floor, avoiding his gaze. “I thought you'd like that.”
'Partner'. It was their nickname, like something only they knew about, something only they were allowed to say, and only when they were alone. There had been a time when they had used that term to introduce each other, but that had ended quickly. It felt like an excuse, like hiding the real nature of their relationship to stranger eyes.
Souji had been the one to stop using that term when talking to others about them, and instead begun using “boyfriend”. Much to Yosuke's embarrassment, at first. But then eventually he found himself admitting Souji was his boyfriend without freaking out or getting all red and nervous and caring about what anyone would think about it.
Then at some point, “boyfriend” became “fiance”. And then it became “husband”.
Although they weren't officially registered as husbands, for very obvious reasons, they felt like they were. All they needed was a ceremony in the Amagi Inn, two rings, and Teddie's best man speech that ended up in tears and a group hug.
They had thought about doing it officially, maybe having a ceremony in some foreign country, but they had never really talked it out. Either the timing wasn't right, or they just didn't have enough money. It didn't really matter, after all. They were married, and the only proof they needed was each other, their love, and the memories of that day in Inaba. Not some sheet of paper.
“I...” He had to remind himself how to breathe. That whole situation felt so strange, hearing that name – hearing Souji say that name, it made him feel a strange oppression on his chest. How many years had passed since the last time he had said Saki-senpai's name? And still, it made him feel uneasy.
So he left out a short laugh and shrugged, finally feeling able to breathe normally.
“Man, you really are full or surprises, aren't you.” He gently punched Souji's shoulder, but the other man only raised an eyebrow in response. “What? I really wasn't expecting you to say something like that.”
“I'll keep that in mind next time.” He sounded disappointed. Not exactly mad, but almost as id he'd been expecting a very different reaction from Yosuke.
And he knew that. He could read that much out of his expression, it wasn't the first time that had happened. “Look, I really wasn't expecting you to say that. Really. And I... kinda appreciate it. Honest. But there's no way that's happening.”
Souji's expression changed to somewhat puzzled, but also let out a bit of relief. That made Yosuke's smile grow bigger. The man who had been the 'Leader' so many years ago was still a kid in some way. “Really?”
“Come on!” He laughed yet again and shook his head. “First, it's not that good. Second, I don't think you think it's that good or that you even like it. And third, I don't want to imagine how she'd react if she knew we named our daughter after her.”
Finally, his partner's face relaxed. And then he smiled, one of those smiles that was more in the light of his eyes than the curve of his lips. “Yeah, now that you say it, it's not such a good idea.”
“Admitting it is the first step.” Yosuke replied with a light tone, patting Souji's head as if talking with a child. He smiled gently and went with it for a moment. Then he leaned down to join their lips on a soft kiss.
The kiss was short and sweet, the kind they had when Souji went to work or when they didn't have the time – or the place to start a longer one. When their lips parted, his partner looked at him with a concerned expression and put a hand on his chin. “But now we're back to where we begun.”
Yosuke gazed at him and smiled. Oh, come on. They had been talking about this for days. He had been waiting for him to finally say it – after all, it's not like there was any reason for him to think Yosuke didn't like the idea. But days passed and he hadn't heard the least thing about it. Whatever reason his partner had to not say it, it didn't make any sense to him. It was just obvious to Yosuke's eyes that he was dying to suggest it.
“So...” He leaned to make his shoulder touch Souji's. “Nanako?”
Souji's blinking was almost audible. His hand left his chin, and he turned to look at Yosuke. “What about her?”
“Come on, you know what I mean.” He looked at him. Seriously, sometimes he didn't know if he liked to play dumb, or he was just incredibly dense for certain things. “You're dying to name her Nanako.”
Once again, the silver-haired man blinked. His expression was puzzled, but Yosuke could see a bit of happiness in the light of his eyes and the soft pink of his cheeks.
“I wanted to...” And suddenly he sounded embarrassed. The one who always held his hand in public, who had asked him to marry him, and not to mention the one who always did and said a lot when they were alone, was so embarrassed he couldn't even finish his sentence. “But you said we shouldn't name her as someone we know, so...”
Oh. Ooh. He got it now.
Yeah, it was true. He had said that they shouldn't name their daughter as someone they knew. But he didn't think Souji would take it that seriously. And that was because... somewhere deep inside, there was a part of him who still thought like a high school student. And his high school self didn't like the idea of someone being named Rise Seta, not one single bit.
“Oh, come on. I mean – yeah, I don't think naming her Chie or Yukiko would be a good thing. Can you imagine?” He laughed. The idea of any of the girls from the former Investigation Team reacting to the fact that their daughter was named after one of them was almost scary. Rise would definitely faint, or argue about why they hadn't thought about her name in the first place. Maybe Naoto would act like the adult they all were, but sadly the most responsible of the girls in the group didn't have exactly their idea of a girl's name. “But Nanako's different. I like it. And I know you love it.”
There was that, and also the idea of Nanako hearing the news about the baby's name sounded way more peaceful. Almost cute, even if she was no longer the little kid he had met back then. Somehow, it came a moment when she was almost like a little sister to him, too.
“Is that... really alright with you?”
Yosuke rolled his eyes. How much of a kid could a grown-up possibly be? “I'm telling you. I practically got that from granted the moment we said we'd have a kid.”
He saw Souji's smile at the same time he felt the warm of his hand against his own. He smiled back and intertwined their fingers. Then, he felt his heart racing fast against his chest. “Thank you.” Ah, damn. Even after all these years they had been together, that damn smile, those eyes, and that damn voice, those small acts... They still drove him crazy and made him blush like the first time.
“Does that mean it's settled?” Much to his own disappointment, his voice sounded way too soft, almost a whisper. But it didn't seem to bother Souji one little bit, as he drew closer to him.
He didn't answer his question. Instead, he made their lips gently touch, and they stayed like that for a moment. Just when Yosuke was sure the other was going to open his mouth to deepen the kiss, he broke apart and whispered. “I love you.”
“You dumbass.” He smiled. And then he drew him close again, but this time he didn't let him go for a long time.
Souyo Week Day 01: AU
(that’s it, that’s the title. aka Music Store AU)
Warnings: None (dorks being dorks)
Alright so I started writing this to be a one-shot but then I thought about a lot of things and started developing the AU in my head so now I want to make it a full fanfic. So, things might sound a little weird so there’s a quick explanation at the end in case you need it.
this took me three days to finish how do you explain that.
–
Man, he hated this town
If being forced to move because of his father's work wasn't bad enough, discovering the place he was moving to was more like a ghost village than an actual town surely made him want to walk all the way back to the city the very day they arrived Inaba.
To make things worse, even though their moving should had supposed a big deal and them getting, like, a lot of money (they were basically the owners of the biggest place in the whole town, for crying out loud!), reality hit him hard in the face when he saw their new house wasn't exactly a mansion. And that he had to share his room. With Ted.
Of course, things didn't stop there. Actually, they started getting worse and worse with time. First, everyone at school looked at him with derogatory eyes, because apparently his father's new job meant some of their families were having a bad time. Like he had anything to do with it on the first place. Trust me, you're not the only one who wants Junes to be shut down and everyone go home. Then, he discovered his teachers also hated him, especially that King Moron who always picked him to solve the most difficult questions he was sure he made in the act.
More or less one month after getting transferred, he tried the so-called Amagi Challenge. He asked a girl out, the most popular girl in school in fact. Of course, it couldn't go well. Not that it really mattered – he wasn't heart-broken or anything, after all he just asked her out to try and boost his reputation, but in such a small town, rumors spread stupidly fast. Teddie kept bothering him with the stupid “hot stud” thing he totally didn't say for over a week.
That stopped, though, when he and his step-brother were asked to start working on Junes. Apparently they didn't have that many employees, and his father said they could really use their help. They would get paid, of course. Honestly, that last part was the only thing that got him to agree. He was sent to the music department, while Teddie became the lone attendant of the abandoned TV section of Junes no one ever went to (what were they thinking, selling those huge-ass TVs at a higher price than anyone in that town would ever be able to get?). Every now and then, Teddie would go and complain about how he was feeling lonely on “his side”, so he invited himself to the music section, just to be sent back to his spot when he broke something.
The ring of the school year didn't come until the college entrance exams, in January. Somehow he had managed to barely pass every subject in school until then, but the exams were just...
Ugh.
He didn't feel like coming out of his room in a week after the public embarrassment his score had supposed.
So, after all, he graduated from high school without much problem, and felt honestly happy of saying goodbye to Yasogami High. The problem was, there was no way he could go to college, at least not in the city, and he sure as hell didn't want to go to the nearest college where all his former classmates would recognize him and keep treating him like an invader.
Strangely enough, his parents didn't seem to mind him not getting into college (they did give him a terrible lecture when they saw his score on the exams, though) and agreed to let him stay with them, helping with house-related stuff and working on Junes, like he had been doing until then.
Somehow, though, he felt his parents were giving up on him, like saying “we couldn't save him from becoming a NEET” and then focusing on Teddie and making sure he did get used to Yasogami when the new year started.
For the first time in his life, he didn't have to wake up early to go to school. He still woke up early, though, but that was because Teddie just didn't know how to get ready for school without making a show about it. He was so nervous on his first day, Yosuke had to help him put his uniform on, and remind him wearing a rose on his pocket wouldn't make him look more refined.
Of course, he didn't listen and ended up waving goodbye in french, or english, or something and running towards the school with a smile on his face.
Things became really quiet after Teddie's first week of class in high school. He would always tell some story about his day during dinner, about how his teacher had asked him a very difficult question and he had answered it, or how he saw this really cute second-year being bullied and he had to step in because how dared they, that girl could be an idol if she wanted to! Pretty much the same stuff he had been doing when he was still in middle school, although he did sound more excited now.
On Yosuke's side, however, there was nothing new. There were people coming and going into the music department, and he liked to use his time working there to listen to his own music, or even play it on the speakers when no one was there. The music department wasn't that big anyways, probably just as much as his old classroom in high school, so he was the only attendant they needed.
Everything was as boring as ever. The same routine, the same albums being sold, the same faces coming and going and most of them never buying anything even after spending thirty minutes looking everywhere.
“I might as well just die of boredom.” He sighed heavily. It was his third hour at work, but it seemed like he had been there for years. He was resting his head in the counter, his eyes half-closed and ready to get asleep at any moment. There weren't any customers right now – no one was there when they had offers in the food court, so no one would've noticed if he just dozed off... a little bit...
“Excuse me.”
He opened his eyes and stood up straight and rigid when he heard a voice way too close to be good. He was expecting it to be his father, or some of the employees who had permission to lecture him. Instead, he saw a silver-haired boy staring at him with gray eyes and a impassible expression.
He knew right away he had never seen this person before.
“I'd like to buy this.”
Yosuke blinked a few times. It wasn't until then that he noticed the disk the boy had in his hand. “Y-Yeah, sure thing.”
He took the CD and put it into its proper Junes bag after telling the boy the price. The stranger gave him the money, but when he was going to give him the change, the silver-haired boy made a gesture with his hand, as if saying it wasn't necessary.
Before he could protest, the boy exited the store and the automatic doors closed behind him, leaving Yosuke alone with 150 yen in his hand.
When he got home that night, Teddie was talking about some transfer student from the city “Just like us, Yosuke!!” and how he was as cool as everyone said and they were all trying to get him into their groups, even the first years.
For some unknown reason, Yosuke saw gray eyes that night in his dream.
As the days passed, he realized some strange feeling growing in his chest. It was a weird feeling that kept him staring at the automatic door of the store, and made him frown, sigh and look away when the person who entered the store didn't have silver hair.
He soon realized that feeling was expectation. Pure expectation. For some reason, he wanted that unknown customer to come back to the store and tell him to keep the change again. As soon as he realized it, he found himself asking why.
Maybe it was just because he had never seen that guy before. He already knew the faces of almost everyone in town (not like that was a difficult task), but he had never seen that one guy, at least not in the store where he could keep a closer eye on the customers.
Or maybe, just maybe, he had felt something. Like, curiosity, of course. Mere curiosity. Straight curiosity. He didn't swing that way, he seriously didn't swing that way, he had to remind himself when he caught himself daydreaming about the mysterious customer while cleaning the living room.
But anyhow, it was just stupid to expect someone who came into the store last week to come back so soon. In fact, it was stupid to expect it to come back at all. The music department was close to the electronic and TV department, and there was something all these departments had in common: people wouldn't just walk around them every day. No one would go in a music store weekly, that made no sense at all. So, expecting the mysterious silver-haired boy to show up in the music store so shortly after their first encounter was really, really stupid.
And that's exactly why, even though he did his best to not seem as stupidly desperate and happy as he thought he looked when the boy entered the shop a week later from their first meeting, he was sure something about his face revealed his honest surprise. And his voice when he greeted him with the usual “Welcome!” didn't sound even slightly as bored as he sounded when he greeted random, unimportant customers. One could almost swear their eyes met for a second before he stared at the computer's screen. Good thing it was facing the wall and thus only the employee in the counter could see it, because it was off and reflected perfectly the stupid look on his face.
Come on Yosuke, what are you? A schoolgirl? He sighed and sat down in the stool he had convinced his father to bring so his legs wouldn't kill him at the end of the day. He crossed his arms and legs and tried to be as discrete as possible while following the boy with his eyes. Now that he looked at him, and not just his face, he noticed he was wearing the Yasogami uniform. So he was younger than him? He really didn't seem younger than him, in fact he had thought he was older. On their first encounter, he had confirmed he was taller, plus he had this... weird aura, like he was some kind of genius or something, that made him look very mature.
Yet again, no genius would be living in a town like Inaba.
The boy kept walking around the store for a long time, even when he had already chosen a CD and holding it in his hand. He didn't really keep track of how much time the boy kept walking in circles around the shelves, listening to the music in the free-to-listen CDs or looking at the posters without ever choosing one. But he did notice it was really easy to keep his eyes fixed at him, almost as natural as breathing. He had to look away every now and then, of course; he didn't want to seem like a stalker and he really wasn't going to hold his gaze when the other boy looked at him – probably feeling intimidated by how he was staring at him, Yosuke thought.
By the time the silver-haired boy started walking towards the counter, Yosuke had figured out a few things about him. First, he was a third-year student, as the “III” in the collar of his uniform indicated. Second, he seemed to like foreign music, since that was the part of the store where his feet always ended up leading him, and where the spent more time, leaning forward to look at the artists (and he actually looked like he recognized most of them). And third, he was stupidly good-looking. He had discovered that detail the first time he saw him, but now it was just obvious. Maybe that was it, the reason why he kept staring at him like it was the normal thing to do and why he had been thinking about him for almost a week; he was so stupidly charming and good-looking it was just impossible to not look at him.
“I'd like to buy this.”
Damn, even his voice sounded gorgeous. Did that make any sense?
“Sure thing, sir!” Luckily, working in Junes for almost half a year had given him enough training to cover up his stupid shoujo manga protagonist attitude with a cheerful smile as he checked the price and put the disk inside a bag just like the one he had given him on their first meeting. He couldn't help to look at the name of the CD, but he gave up trying to figure out what it meant. It was a foreign artist all right, and he couldn't make any sense of what the name of the album was. English was never really his subject, to be honest.
The boy gave him the money and he efficiently put the bill in the cashier. His fingers moved fast, with experience, as he gathered the change he had to give the silver-haired boy.
“I didn't expect to find this kind of album here. It's really a surprise.”
Oh crap. Was this... was this what he thought it was? Was the boy trying to start a conversation? With him? Last time he checked there was no one else in the store, so it had to be with him. The silver-haired boy wanted to talk with him. He felt his whole body freeze in the spot. Think, Yosuke, quick! Say something!!
“Y-Yeah, we actually get a lot of different stuff here... Like, stuff you wouldn't find in the city, a lot of Enka singers and that kinda thing...” Well, that was awful. But at least he did say something, and at least he didn't say he was sorry he had been thinking about him and how he wasn't gay, not at all, not the slightest bit, he just thought he was gorgeous like a Greek god and–
“I like it. It's not the same best-selling album from the most popular idol in every corner of the store, like the city.” The boy smiled, and Yosuke felt like he was about to die of embarrassment right in the spot. For some reason, he felt his body burning, but he was static, unable to make his damn brain work. “The music here, it's like it can tell you a message.”
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. So many things were so wrong in so many ways right now. Was he trying to keep talking, even when Yosuke had his change in his hand? Why did that smile feel so warm he could have melt right there? Actually, why did that smile feel like being struck by a lighting? What the hell was going on?
“H-Here's your change!” That sounded way more hurried than he wanted. He really didn't want to sound like he was trying to rush the boy out of the store, but he was going to go crazy if he didn't leave that instant. The boy stared at the coins and then back at him, without ever changing that small smile that was more on his eyes than his lips, and felt as bright as the sun.
“It's okay, you can keep it.” He took the bag and bowed slightly. “See you later, Yosuke.”
He just stood there, with his hand open and a really weird feeling in his chest. It wasn't until he got home, that he realized his Junes apron had a name tag on it.
“Damn it.”
In all his years as a student, he had never felt so much like a schoolgirl. Which would've been normal, because after all he was a boy and not a girl but – “What the hell am I even thinking about!?” The point was, for the first time in his life, he was lying on the bed and squeezing his head against the pillow, trying to make the weird feeling that definitely wasn't a blush disappear from his face.
He didn't even hear the footsteps and the door opening.
“Is something wrong, Yosuke?” That was Teddie, of course. The brunet growled as a response. Very mature of him. Teddie's steps drew closer, and he could almost see his little brother picking one of the manga on his shelf and sitting on his own bed to read it.
It wasn't the best thing to do, and especially not the most big-brotherly thing to do, but just for a moment, he tried to convince himself everything was Teddie's fault, just because having someone to blame made him feel so much better and a bit less confused.
Yeah, it was Teddie's fault that he had thought that high school boy was incredibly gorgeous and even hot in some weird way that felt so wrong but also so right. It was Teddie's fault that he had felt like the stupid protagonist of the stupid romance manga his brother liked to read and where he got all his stupid catchphrases from. It was Teddie's fault because he was always talking about how great it was to be on high school and how he had been called cute, and how there was a transferred student and...
Wait a moment.
He opened his eyes and straightened, looking at Teddie's bed in the other side of the room.
“Hey, Ted?”
“Hm?” The blonde boy looked up at him. He had an animal cracker on his mouth, but for now Yosuke would skip the fact that those were probably his.
“Could you... hmm...” Well this was awkward. He tried to sit in his bed as naturally as possible, and tried to make the question sound... well, at least not as awkward as it sounded in his head. “You know, tell me stuff about that transferred student you were talking about?”
There was an obvious reaction in Teddie's face. A big smile that made his blue eyes shine. It was even cute how easy that boy was to read. Despite his casanova act, he was in fact so innocent and so open he looked like a little kid. It was easy to remember he was four years younger than him.
“Oooohhh... So you're interested, Yosuke!”
Forget it. He wasn't cute. Not at all.
“S-Shut up, don't make it sound weird! It's not like that, not at all! Got it!?”
The worst part was that he knew Teddie meant no harm at all with his words – at least not beyond the typical pissing off their brother's relationship was based on. And yet he felt as if he was stating exactly what Yosuke didn't want to admit; he was, without question, interested in a guy. He. An obviously straight man wanted to know more about a guy he had met twice, and yet had made him feel like he had never felt before.
“Hmm...” Teddie hummed, leaving his manga at a side of his bed and crossing his hands. “I don't really know much about him... He just moved from the city, so he has like this... you know? He looks so cool!”
Yeah, trust me I know. He frowned. Although, hey. Maybe he was asking the wrong person. “What's he, like... physically? I might've seen him on Junes a few times.”
Once again, his brother put on a thoughtful expression. “I can say no doubt he's really good-looking! All the girls are heads over heels for him, you know? He has this... silver hair, and these gray eyes! And he's tall, too! I heard a girl from my class say she saw him on the PE uniform and...”
Damn right, that fit the description. Silver hair, gray eyes, tall, good-looking... He filled all the requirements to be the mysterious boy at the music store. And in a town as small as Inaba, there was little to zero possibility it wasn't him. Actually, the other person he knew who fit the description was that Tatsumi boy that made a fuss last year with some biker gangs or something. And he didn't really seem as good-looking as the mysterious customer, at least not at his eyes.
“Alright, I'm pretty sure that's him. Thanks, Ted.”
Teddie seemed like he wanted to keep asking about his sudden interest in this senpai, but for reason, he just took his manga and kept reading it until he announced he was going to sleep. Yosuke tried to stay awake for a few more hours, and oh how hard he tried to watch some porn. But he decided it was wiser to call it a day before finding himself fantasizing about gay sex.
It took him twelve whole hours of sleep and house-cleaning until he noticed he hadn't asked Teddie the most important thing: the famous senpai's name.
Crap, what the hell was he even thinking about!? There was definitely something wrong with him, that was a fact. And it wasn't like he could just up and ask Teddie about it now. Just like, no way! It already was a huge effort to ask about him on the first place, so admitting he wanted to know his name was like losing some kind of fight against his pride.
Luckily for him, he didn't have to work every day. He actually got Sundays free, and the rest of the days depended on the other employee's schedule. That way, he could spend that Saturday and Sunday just relaxing. Playing videogames while Teddie wasn't home, trying to make lunch and failing, and then playing with Teddie once he got home. The important part was getting his mind away from the music store, and the voice that still echoed on his head. “See you later, Yosuke”.
Yeah, he spent the weekend not thinking about Junes' music store, with everything that implied. Or at least, he spent most of the weekend doing so, which was an achievement when compared to the big mess his head had been last week.
Of course, that didn't mean he was ready to set foot in his workplace on Monday without starting acting like a damn schoolgirl. Once again.
Fuck, this was almost absurd. Just sitting there, on the empty music store, made his mind go wild recreating the scene of his last meeting with the boy. He tried listening to music at maximum volume, but even so he always ended up forgetting about the sound and focusing on way more embarrassing things.
And the worst part was that the boy didn't show up in the store on Monday. And for some reason, that made him shut the door closed angrily when he got home, making a noise so hard Teddie actually jumped in his spot.
The same happened on Tuesday, and then again on Wednesday night after coming home from hours and hours of sitting in the store looking at the automatic doors only to be greeted with complete and absolute disappointment.
When he got to work on Thursday, he spent two whole hours frowning and badmouthing the silver-haired boy. Yeah, he was proving to be so very mature lately.
“I mean, what's up with him? Sayin' stuff like 'see you later, Yosuke', what the hell!? He thinks he can just come here and start saying whatever he wants and just get away with it because he looks like a professional top model and mister gorgeous smile or what!?”
No much people came in during this time, of course. The music department never had too many customers, but there had been less and less people lately. Honestly though, it wasn't a surprise. Not even him had paid a single yen for the music he listened to all day, why would anyone buy any of the albums of the unknown artists on the shelves?
Because of the lack of people and his obvious bad mood, he decided he was allowed to take a longer lunch break than usual. He went to the food court, ordered the biggest and most expensive dish of all and charged the money on his father's account. Then, he spent thirty minutes eating by himself while still mumbling, and he didn't care the way he was drawing attention with his whole grown-up act. When he finished, he decided to take a look around the other not-so-busy areas of Junes. Honestly, apart from the food court and the supermarket, everywhere else was way too dull most of the time. Was it really profitable to keep a place like that?
Well, not that it was any of his business anyways.
The tour through the electronic departments of Junes was way more boring than he thought it could be. He didn't like to admit it, but he liked it when Teddie was there to bother him, because at least he had some means of entertainment. But not today, of course, because his brother was still on school, and he didn't have to work on Thursday anyways. And, although he was friendly enough with the other part-timers of Junes, it wasn't like he was close enough to any of them to keep more than two minutes of conversation before excusing himself.
At the end, he ended up wasting another thirty minutes of his life clearing the demo version of a game in the video game section of Junes before realizing he had spent way too much time idling, and deciding it was time to go back to the music department, even if there was nothing to do there anyways.
The moment he stepped inside the music store, he recognized a black uniform and silver hair standing in front of the counter.
His first instinct was to step back and get ready for running away. Run away from what? From the boy he was angry at for not real logical reason? It didn't make the slightest bit of sense, but he really felt like running away the very moment he recognized he was there, and it almost seemed like he was waiting for him.
But of course that wouldn't be possible. The automatic door had made a sound when they had opened, and of course the silver-haired boy couldn't be too aborted in whatever the hell he was thinking to not hear it. The moment Yosuke's foot stepped back in a very poor excuse of an attempted escape, the boy turned around to see him. And for a split second he could have sworn he saw a smile in the boy's eyes when their gazes met.
“A-Ah...” Fuck. What could he say? 'I'm sorry I went out and let the place untended didn't think the boy I've been stressing over the last days would just show up'. Nah, it didn't sound like a good idea. “Hey! Sorry, did I keep you waiting?” Once again, his actual conversational skills were only slightly better than the other possibility.
The boy shrugged slightly and followed Yosuke as the brunet walked to his spot, at the other side of the counter. “I was wondering how long it could take you to have lunch.”
Oh, yeah. He had left a note on the counter. I'm on lunch break, please refer to another department employee if you need anything. Not like he wrote it, every counter in Junes had one in case someone had to leave their spot alone.
“Yeah... about that, please don't tell the others.”
He felt his face burning red when the other man chuckled. Oh crap, this is why he wanted to run away. There was something going on, like his body had some kind of natural reaction to being close to this one guy whose name he didn't even know.
“So, uhm... You go to Yasogami?”
The silver-haired boy blinked, a confused look on his face for a second. Maybe because he didn't expect Yosuke to start a conversation, let alone asking something about him. Honestly, not even Yosuke knew why his mouth moved on his own like that.
“Yeah, I just transferred. I'm moving with my uncle from the big city.”
He already knew that he was from the city, but he didn't think saying it would make him look less a stalker than when he had been following him with his eyes around the store the other day. “Hey, I moved from the city too! Just six months ago, when this place opened. There isn't much to do here so it's a little boring, don't you think?”
“I like it here.” God damn that look. Was he doing that on purpose? Was that boy aware of his own gorgeousness and liked using it to confuse people, or was it just natural? “You know, is in this kind of place where you can find things you'd never find anywhere else.”
“You mean like the music?”
He knew he had said something he shouldn't when he saw the look on the other's face. But he wasn't able to identify what it was. What, was he talking about something else? Something deeper like inner peace or perfect karma?
“...I guess you could say so.” His face returned to his previous expression after a moment, and then he gave him the CD on his hand.
Now this was a radical change. He didn't really notice the first album, but the second one was definitely the kind of artist you'd never hear on the radio and only happened to know because the drummer had played a song in an indie game or something like that. But the one he gave him this time was all... girly. There was a group of girls sitting next to each other, a soft pink background, and a lot of hearts and sparkles. The group was Japanese this time, but still the name of the album was in english.
“Ain... shinkin... ofu yu?” That was so terrible his English teacher would've sent him right back to school if he'd hear him. Also, why did he even try reading it?
“I'm thinking of you.”
“U-Uh!?”
“That's what the name means.”
“Oh. Yeah, something like that...” Well, now he knew he had said it loud enough for the other boy to listen to it and that he had felt his heart skip a beat with that one sentence. But, it's not like it was his fault! He wasn't the one who had just came in and started talking with that voice and – he should probably stop now. “You really have a weird taste, did you know that?”
“I get that a lot.”
For the third time, Yosuke put the boy's disk inside the Junes bag, told him the price and then proceeded to put the money into the cashier. This time, however, he was stopped before getting the change.
“You can keep it, really.”
He looked at the boy, who already had the bag in his hand, and frowned. “No way man, I'm not keeping 1000 yen of tips.”
The student let a mirthless laugh and shook his head. “I didn't have anything smaller.”
“Now you sound like a city boy!”
He rolled his eyes, but Yosuke could tell an amused tone on his expression. “Alright, here.” He took a 500 yen coin out of the cashier and gave it to the boy. “We get half, how about that?”
The other boy looked at Yosuke's hand, and then a faint smile drew on his lips. He put his hand beneath the brunet's and took the money. “Thank you.”
“Ey, that's my line.” He smiled, hands on his waist. With an exaggerated gesture, he cleared his throat and talked with a way too practiced voice. “Thanks for your visit! Please, come again!”
This time, the laughing voice of the boy was audible, and followed by Yosuke's own.
“Oh, hey... Now that I think about it, you haven't introduced yourself.” Something was definitely wrong with him, asking that many questions. Two days ago, he was blushing like a schoolgirl at the mere image of the boy in his imagination. But now there was something in the mood... that made him feel really comfortable. Feel at home. “I mean, you already know my name, so that's not fair game.”
The boy blinked at Yosuke's words. “...You're right.” As if he had just realized the small detail of never saying his name. “I'm Souji Seta. It's a bit late to say it... but it's nice to meet you.” He reached his hand to greet Yosuke's, so the brunet accepted the handshake.
“Yeah, it's kinda late, but... I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet you.”
He realized way too late that the handshake was being way too long. He couldn't help but stare into Souji's eyes, and he was sure he stared back. Fast enough, his heart begun beating way too fast and he had to let the other's hand go, for his own good.
“Well, I have to go now. I'll see you later.”
“You mean you'll come again?”
“Of course.”
And with that, Souji Seta exited the music department. Yosuke found himself following with his eyes until he turned away and disappeared from his vision range. And at some point, he thought the boy had looked back at him.
Maybe, he thought, this city is not so bad after all.
–
Yosuke, Chie and Yukiko graduated from high school, Teddie is in his first year and he was adopted to Yosuke’s family. Souji is in third year because or actual reasons, but Rise is in second year because of senpai (Kanji and Naoto are also in second year but that’s not important in this one fic). Yeah it's very messy i'm sorry.
Also I have no idea of how a) entrance examns work on Japan, b) music stores actually work or what name some of the things have, and c) what kind of food does the Junes food court offer.
Fandom Writing Meme
Artists may get pallet swaps, but we writers get this! Send in two characters (or a ship) and a number, and then I'll write the situation that comes up.
1: Person A attempts to poison Person B over dinner.
2: It's Person A's wedding day, and Person B has showed up to win them back.
3: Person A and Person B attempt to change a lightbulb.
4: Person A and Person B end up on a kiss cam at a sports game - although they've never met each other before.
5: Person B performs a big romantic gesture for Person A right in front of all of their friends/coworkers.
6: Person A and Person B are trapped in a burning building where only one of them can escape.
7: Person B creates an experimental formula, and wants to test it on Person A.
8: Person A meets Person B's parents.
9: Person A and Person B are the only two left in the survival games, and only one can win.
10: Person A and Person B meet unexpectedly when they're both distracted and they literally crash into each other.
11: Person A falls off a structure, right into Person B's arms.
12: Person B leaves Person A at the alter.
13: Person A attempts to cook dinner for Person B with disastrous results.
14: Person A is Person B's boss, but feels conflicted since they are also attracted to them.
15: Person B ends up in a strange partnership with Person A during a crisis.
16: Person A and Person B both get picked for an exchange program halfway across the world.
17: Person A falls in love with Person B - but they speak different languages.
18: Person A is from a big city, but when they decide to visit the country they meet Person B.
30 days shipping challenge (writing) - Day 02: Cuddling
Pairing: Yato/Yukine
Warning: Super small reference to Bishamon's arc (manga)
Kofuku opened the door and stuck her head out the door.
“We're going to sleep now, good night!”
“Ah.” I looked up from the manga I had in my hands. “Alright, good night.”
“Good night!” Yukine also looked at her, and even though I couldn't see his face, he sounded like he was smiling. Kofuku smiled back and closed the door happily.
The next second, my attention drew back to the manga and I heard Yukine's pencil scraping the paper. As usual, he was doing the homework Hiyori had given to him that evening. And as usual, he had no intention of giving me any attention.
It turns out the little boy here is so responsible he can't waste his time listening to his... -oh man this sounds so weird even now- boyfriend. I might or might not get a little nervous every time that word pops out, but that's... just a minor fact, alright? The thing is, Yukine was way too busy doing his homework to even let me touch his hair when I was bored. (Note to self: figure out how Yukine's hair works)
Come on, he didn't even HAVE to do that homework. Who chooses optional homework over... well... over me!?
“You're not going to sleep?” I was leaning my back against the bed, just a few meters away from the table where he was working. I glared at him for a moment, and then pretended to continue with my reading. To be honest, though, I had reached a moment when I no longer knew what was going on, either on the story or the real world.
“I still have two problems to do.” He muttered, not looking at me for even a second. I frowned.
“You can do that tomorrow.”
“I have to work tomorrow. Unlike others.”
You little--! I closed the manga and angrily threw it to the bed. Oh well, if he was gonna play that game, then let him try. He sighed and I got up, just to take my jersey off. I knew he was looking the moment he heard the zipper, but instead of making any kind of comment, I just tossed it down.
“Well then, I'm going to sleep.”
“Night.”
Not even a proper good night? What about a sweet dreams' kiss? Just how stubborn can this boy be?
I frowned and got into the bed, covering myself with the sheets, facing the wall and closing my eyes. Tomorrow he'd probably be all angry and demanding I didn't give him enough attention, and whose fault would it be? Mine, of course, totally mine. And the worst part? I just couldn't pay him back with the same attitude! I couldn't just bring myself to say “well Yukine, YOU give me your attention if that's what you want me to do” or something like that. Have you seen that kid when he gets angry but doesn't say anything? It's... I mean... how could anyone not hug him?
Somehow, I fell asleep while having mixed feelings about Yukine's cute but still childish behavior.
At some point of the night, I woke up at the feeling of something grabbing me from behind.
As a natural reflex, I turned around, ready to call Sekki and fight. But instead of some deadly trap, a phantom, or even Nora, I saw a fourteen years old boy trying to hide his face in my back.
“Yukine?”
He didn't answer. Instead, he just held me more firmly, his hair pressing against my chest. My body slightly relaxed and I looked around. And then, I felt him shivering.
It was dark. The room was completely dark, except for the faint blue moonlight that crept through the window. We always slept with the lights on. I didn't mind, and to be honest, it wasn't hard to get used to it. But now the room was so dark, I could barely see the door.
“Did the light went off?” I asked, looking back at him. It took him a small moment, but then he nodded. I felt his knee touching my legs, he was probably on a fetal position. I stroked his head slowly, trying to calm him down, but it didn't seem to have any effect. “It's probably just the bulb. I'll go change it, alright?”
I tried to sit, but he held me tighter.
“No.” His voice trembled, just as much as his body. “Just... stay.”
I did as he had said, and laid down in the bed again. I took a deep breath and surrounded him with my arms, holding him softly, with extreme delicacy. He felt so fragile, so vulnerable in my embrace, I honestly feared he would break if I held him too tight. The image of him literally breaking in front of my eyes hit me, and I had to look at his face to make sure he was still here, with me. Although I couldn't see his face, but the fluffy mass of blonde hair that topped his head.
I felt him graving my shirt with all his will. He was honestly terrified, petrified. Not that I could blame him, though. Even if he didn't have any memories of his life as a human, the emotional connection of dark and fear was still so unyielding. If I had lived like him, I would probably be scared of the whole world.
But I just couldn't let him shiver in terror all night, until the sun rose the next morning. Even if he didn't want me to leave, I had to do something, anything, to calm him down and tell him everything would be alright. So I moved one of my hands and put it into the pocket of my pants. I found my phone (you never know if a client will call you during the night!) and opened it, making the screen shine.
“Hey Yukine, look at this.”
Slowly, as if scared of what I had to show him, he separated his face from my stomach, and looked up to me for a moment. When he saw the light coming from the phone, he glared at it. After a second, I heard him trying to conceal a laughter.
“What the... why do you have THAT?” He was probably trying to sound angry, but the laugh he wanted to hide was clearly audible. The sole fact of not hearing fear in his voice made my heart beat with happiness.
“Huhh? I like it! Maybe I should make it my wallpaper...”
“Oh my... Don't you DARE.” He looked at me with open eyes, and I smirked. “I'm serious, don't you dare.”
“Aww, and I thought it was really pretty... What if I send it to Kazuma?”
“Stop it!” His voice was almost laughing at this point.
What I was showing him was a picture we'd taken a few weeks ago, out of boredom. Out of the many photos we had taken, this was my favorite, so I didn't delete it like I promised Yukine. But hey, we rarely did that kind of thing – do silly faces, laugh and take pictures, like most teenager couples.
He hit my chest with his head, but we both kept laughing for a while. After we stopped and breathed for some air, he looked up at me with a faint smile.
“Look, I'll put this on lantern mode and leave it here, okay?”
He nodded, and looked at my chest again. “Thank you.”
At this point, I was pretty sure he could feel my heart pounding at maximum speed in my chest. But I couldn't feel him, because of how he was grabbing me.
“Now, why don't you let me go, and we can cuddle like normal people do?”
Even in the dark of the night, I could tell his cheeks turned red with my comment. “I don't want to-- I didn't mean to-- W-We're not normal people!”
But still, he let me go, just to creep up the bed and hold me again, now with his head on the pillow and his heart beating fast against my chest.
“You don't have anything to fear anymore, Yukine.” I said, and I kissed his head. Then I looked at him in the eyes, and he looked back at me.
“I know.”
30 days shipping challenge (writing) - Day 01: Holding Hands.
Pairing: Yato/Yukine.
Warnings: None.
“What the hell are you so shy for? It's not like anyone could SEE you! Come on, it's not so hard!”
Although my mind reminded me how stupid the position I was in seemed, I just couldn't bring my body to react. I knew it was the easiest thing in the world, and I should be able to do this easily, but...
Oh, great, and he was starting to notice it. The brat was fucking waiting for me to make the first move, and then he'd yell at me. Why did I knew that? He was doing that thing with his nose, that thing he does when he wants me to do something but doesn't say anything. Yeah, that thing.
Come on, get in my shoes!! Do you have any idea how many people I've dated in the last hundred... no, thousand years!? The answer is incredibly close to zero! How could I bring myself to just... make the first move on a thing like this!? Even if no one in the whole street could see us as we made our way to Hiyori's house, even if it was just us two in our little world... It's just too embarrassing, alright! YOU try holding a fourteen years old's hand who spends the whole day complaining about your sweat while walking together! Furthermore if you just found out he's had a crush on you for over a year!
Yeah, it's not an easy pie, huh?
But there he was... I could see his eyes gazing at me for a moment and then back to the street. And then back to me. And back to the street. He has frowning and kept doing that thing with his nose. I took a moment to appreciate how cute that expression was, but immediately felt this eyes staring at me with a murderous wish.
Just... grab his hand. How could that be any hard? I had done it before, when I wanted to take him around. Why was it more difficult now?
Well, the answer is... because when I did that, I hadn't noticed. How his cheeks would violently turn red whenever I grabbed his hand and walk with him that way, or how his voice trembled while insulting me. And, most important, I hadn't noticed how much I liked it when he did that, and just how adorable he was.
So that's why it was way harder to just simply grab his hand while walking on the street, now that I was fully aware of many different things regarding Yukine's feelings. It's not like I didn't want to, it's just that my body wasn't responding.
“Ah... It sure has started getting cold lately, hasn't it!”
“Hmp.”
So you're not open for conversation either, huh. Well, maybe that wasn't the best topic. But come on! Why wasn't he doing anything!? Why did it had to be me the one who made the first move? At least he could say something like “hey, let me see your hand” or something like that...
But no, of course no. After all, Yukine is just a brat. A fourteen years old brat. He would just wait for me to make the first move and then he'd say “what the hell do you think you're doing!” or something like that.
Yeah, I knew that, but...
“Hey, let me see your hand.”
“What?”
He stared at me, still frowning.
“I said let me see your hand. Come on, I learned something really cool the other day!”
Yukine suddenly stopped, making me stay a few steps away from him. He took his hand out of the pocket of his jacket and practically pushed it against my face.
“Hmmm....”
I stepped back and pretended to look at the palm. Even so, I could still see his eyes staring at me with zero confidence. I put both my hands out of my jacket and took his, as if doing some kind of investigation to read it.
Despite his name, and despite the cold weather, his skin was warm and soft. I massaged it a moment, just to get a better feeling of it. He made a sound when I did this, probably telling me to hurry up.
And so I did. I stopped pretending to read his destiny on the palm of his hand and quickly held it with mine. His eyes opened wide and his cheeks turned red, almost as if he wasn't expecting that turn of events. I smirked and he frowned... but I think that just maybe my cheeks were also slightly red.
“W-What the hell do you think you--”
“Oh come on, you were asking for it!”
He closed his mouth angrily. Of course he was. He was waiting for me to hold his hand just as much as I was.
“Shut up, you're sweating. Gross.”
“But you're not letting go, are you?”
“I said shut up!”
