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Had Yosuke been religious before, the artificial sky and eerie music of 'Heaven' would have him wondering if Hell was perhaps the preferable afterlife.
He hates this place.
He hates the flowers that blossom every time blood is spilled like they're soaking up nourishment from the team's pain. He hates the sky that reddens with every beanstalk they're forced to climb. And he hates hearing Nanako-chan's voice on the wind, her pained and lonely thoughts on display for all of them, juxtaposed by Namatame's Messiah Complex bullshit.
God, he hopes they don't have to fight Nanako's Shadow. Yosuke doesn't think any of them could handle that.
And if he hates it, he can't imagine how Souji is feeling. Their leader – his partner – has kept his stiff upper lip so far, but they can all see the cracks in his facade.
Yosuke sees it in the white-knuckled grip that Souji has on his sword. He sees it in the split-second tortured look that crosses his face every time they hear Nanako's voice echoing through the rooms. He sees it in the shuffle of Souji's feet down the road when they part for the day.
And there's nothing any of them can do except push forward, muscles aching and Personas drained, until they get to her. There's nothing Yosuke can do for his partner except try to be there for him, and Souji refuses to let him in.
Maybe that's why he takes the hit.
He would have done it regardless, of course. Since their first day in Yukiko's Castle, he's had no problem shoving Souji out of the way of a hit he could tell would be lethal. But maybe it's that unvoiced desire to protect him, however he can, that has Yosuke barreling into his partner just in time to take the knight's lance to the chest.
One minute he's staring into Souji's horrified eyes that are much too like molten silver to be natural. The next he's staring up at a blood orange sky, Teddie's bear paws clumsily ripping at the buttons of his shirt.
"Yosuke! Nobody said you were allowed to die today!" he squeaks.
"Heh, I don't think I need permission to die, Ted," wheezes Yosuke, and his entire body hurts like a motherfucker. Teddie gasps, mascot head darkening his view like a solar eclipse.
"You're alive!"
"Of course I am? Hey, help me up." Yosuke eases himself into a sitting position, confused by the worried expression on their faces. Naoto's hat is tipped down to cover her expression and when Teddie pops his head off, there are tear tracks staining his cheeks. Souji is nowhere to be seen. "What happened?"
"Yosuke-senpai, that was... quite a hard hit you took," says Naoto, and does her voice crack? "Teddie revived you, but you didn't wake up for quite a while."
"Wait, I went out?" Yosuke doesn’t remember blacking out, nor does he really remember taking the hit; it would explain why he’s in so much pain, though. He looks down and blanches at the dark stain that has utterly ruined his shirt. Damn. That’s another one for the trash.
"Yeah, you jerk!" Teddie slaps at him with his bear paws in the most delicate way possible, which is perhaps the strangest part of this scenario, because Teddie is never gentle with him. "You pushed Sensei out of the way of that thing and it impaled you! I was unbearably scared! We thought you were going to die!" He throws himself at Yosuke, who flinches and shoves him away until he realizes that the boy is crying into his shirt.
Yosuke looks up at Naoto. "Damn. Was it really that bad?"
She nods and Yosuke stares off into the sunset, absently petting Teddie’s hair and contemplating just how weird it is that they can so nonchalantly shrug off the possibility of grave injury in the TV World. A snap and a spell and all that is left is a scar. You really should be more upset by this. “Huh. Hey, where’s Souji? Is he okay?”
The absence of his partner strikes Yosuke as hard as another blow, and he looks around a little wildly before Naoto manages to grab his attention. “Senpai went to get the others once we determined that your life was no longer in immediate danger,” she says. “He was quite upset at the events that occurred.”
“Oh,” says Yosuke, settling back down. Part of him is dismayed that Souji didn’t hang around until he woke up, but they have a mission, after all. It’s not like he threw himself in front of the guy to get his attention or anything.
who are you kidding? of course you did. that’s all you care about –
Shut up, Susano-O.
He’s not lost in his thoughts for long, because the heavy door to the room they’re in creaks open and the rest of the Investigation Team comes stampeding in. Yosuke finds himself overwhelmed by the worried questions and breaks out of the circle to approach Souji, who stands a ways away, staring out a window into the endless sky.
“Hey, man,” he chuckles awkwardly, unnerved by the way Souji’s body stiffens like he’s sensed a threat. “That was a tough one, huh? Glad to see you’re okay.”
He reaches out a hand to clasp Souji’s shoulder, but a hand catches his wrist and squeezes tight, making him gasp. Souji turns to him with a cold fury in his eyes that Yosuke has only seen very recently come to the surface, and only when faced with Namatame.
It makes his knees weak, and only out of fear, shut up, Susano-O.
i didn't say anything.
“Why the hell would you do that?” asks Souji, his voice low and somehow booming at the same time. Across the room, the other members of the team fall quiet.
Yosuke stammers, trying not to wince at what he imagines is an audible crunch in his wrist. “Whoa, what’s up, dude? You’ve never had a problem with me helping you out before.”
“You should’ve known you couldn’t take that hit.”
“Neither could you!” Yosuke counters, and he knows he’s right; Souji had been just as weak as him during the battle. “Whoever was gonna take that hit was gonna go down. I didn’t want it to be you.”
It’s as simple as that, really. Yosuke flushes at the unspoken sentiment in the words, but Souji’s anger gives him no time to dwell on embarrassment. With a sharp motion Souji pushes him away, hard, and Yosuke nearly loses his balance in the sudden flare-up of pain that the jolt causes.
“And who said you get to make that decision?” he snaps, nearly yelling, and Souji’s never yelled at any of them, and it’s scary. “Nobody should be taking risks like that up here. It was foolish.”
Of course, foolish me. Yosuke grits his teeth, glaring at him, though intensely aware of their audience. “Oh, yeah? No gratitude for the guy that may have saved your life, huh?”
“I don’t need saving!” retorts Souji. “What I need is a team that isn’t going to do dumb stunts to try and show off, when it’s only going to get more dangerous from here!”
“Who said it was a dumb stunt? Maybe I just wanted -”
to protect you, finishes Susano-O, and the words die on Yosuke’s tongue.
Souji stares at him, steel grey eyes waiting for an answer, and all Yosuke can muster up is excuses. “W-well, so maybe it was a little dumb, but you don’t have to yell at me ‘cause of it,” he mumbles, and it sounds pathetic even to him. “I was just trying to help.”
“Well, you didn’t,” says Souji finally, and Yosuke looks up in surprise when his partner turns away. Souji’s never turned his back on him, even when Yosuke is genuinely being an asshole, and it hurts more than he cares to admit.
“Alright, let’s get going,” he calls to the team, leaving Yosuke alone.
“Huh? You want to keep going, Senpai?” exclaims Rise.
“I see no reason not to,” says Souji.
Ouch. Yosuke forces himself to shuffle back towards the team, ignoring everyone’s confused looks as Souji gives his orders. “Let’s switch things up. Chie, Yukiko, Teddie, you’re with me. Everybody else stay put.”
he’s kicking us out of the team? hisses an offended Susano-O, and Yosuke opens his mouth to protest when Souji brushes past him without a second look. He’s left staring at the retreating back of his partner and the others, Teddie awkwardly looking back before bringing up the rear.
The doors slam closed behind him.
“Man, what’s with Senpai?” asks Kanji.
“Hell if I know,” mutters Yosuke. He attributes the lingering ache in his chest to Teddie’s shoddy healing.
By the time Souji has given Rise the order to bring everyone back to the entrance, Yosuke’s dejection has transformed into a simmering pot of resentment, fueled by Susano-O's grumbling.
he had no problem leaving you out once you’d done something wrong. will he just leave you behind if you piss him off too much?
This is Souji. He’s not like that and you know it.
he’s never yelled at you like that before.
“Yosuke-senpai?” Rise’s voice cuts through his thoughts, as she reaches a hand out to him. The other clutches a Goho-M, layered over by Naoto and Kanji’s hands. “Are you coming?”
“Oh. Yeah, I guess,” he mutters, taking Rise’s hand and letting the teleportation whisk them away.
“Good job, everyone. I think we’re almost there.” Souji’s post-exploration review is unwanted background noise to Yosuke, who trudges along at the back of the pack, glaring a hole into his partner’s back. “You’re really getting a hang of your Persona, Naoto-kun.”
“Ah, thank you, Senpai.”
“And I like that new move of yours, Chie.”
“Thanks!”
A furry paw bats at Yosuke’s arm. “Are you okay, Yosuke?” asks Teddie, feet squeaking in tandem with his pace as he struggles to keep up with the group. Even more surprising is the bear’s perceived attempt to keep his voice low. “Are you and Sensei fighting?”
“I dunno, dude,” Yosuke sighs, finding no reason to lie to him. “He was pissed at me.”
“He was beary upset when you went down,” Teddie says, rather seriously. “We really thought you weren’t going to wake up, Yosuke.”
“Then why the hell did he leave before I did wake up?” Yosuke glares at the neatly-sewn-up tears in his partner’s uniform jacket as he facilitates their departure from the T.V. world in an orderly fashion. Always all business.
Teddie pokes him. “I think Sensei just didn’t want to see another person he loves like that.”
Oh.
Dojima.
Wait, loves?
Yosuke’s flustered, discombobulated spluttering is cut off as Teddie shoves him into a TV. After the typical white-out and sickening roller-coaster feeling, he stumbles out into the Junes electronics section, surrounded by his friends and the totally-not-suspicious wall they have made around their entrance.
“Ugh, oh, God.” The lingering effect of Teddie’s healing magic dissipates immediately, leaving Yosuke feeling as though he’s been hit by a bus. He stumbles a bit and Kanji steadies him, hand heavy and huge on Yosuke’s shoulder.
“Yo, you okay, Senpai?”
“Well, I didn’t die, so we’ve got that going for us,” mutters Yosuke, making space in the circle for the last two. Souji steps out of the TV next and Teddie brings up the rear, refusing to allow any of them to remain in the TV world alone.
except Nanako. she’s there alone, right now, with that monster.
Don’t remind me, Susano-O.
He’s not given any time to think over Teddie’s words as the group moves, almost amoeba-like, towards the elevators. All too soon they’ve reached the first floor of Junes, where they split up into their separate groups to walk home.
Yosuke and Teddie typically walk halfway home with Souji, but today his partner waves them off without looking at them. “You’re probably exhausted,” he says, and it’s the truth, but Yosuke doesn’t like the way Souji uses it almost as an excuse. “Teddie, take him home.”
“Hey, it’s not like I need a chaperone!”
Teddie looks between the two of them awkwardly. “Sensei, will you be alright on your own?”
“I’ll be fine, Teddie. See you tomorrow.” Souji turns his back on the two of them and disappears into the fog.
Yosuke stares after him for what feels like hours, torn between wanting to have a genuine conversation with Souji and wanting to sock him in the jaw. In the end, inaction wins out. Yosuke allows Teddie to pull him along towards their place.
For a while, at least. The longer they walk into the sepia-toned fog, Teddie’s chatter long since quieted, the more frustrated Yosuke grows.
He could have at least asked if I was okay or something. It’s like as soon as he knew I wasn’t dead, he couldn’t give a single shit. And what was that stuff Teddie was saying about love and shit? Yeah, there’s Dojima… and Nanako’s gone and all… but if he really cared then why was he just pissed? I hate when shit’s weird between us.
Yosuke comes to a halt, almost without realizing it, as he makes a decision. “Hey, Ted? You go on home. I’m gonna go back and talk to Souji about some stuff.”
“Huh?” Teddie’s paws squeak loudly in the foggy silence as he turns half-around. “But, Sensei didn’t seem like he wanted to talk...”
“Well, too effin’ bad. If I don’t figure out what went wrong today, it’s gonna eat me alive for a week. And if we’re gonna finish this and save Nanako-chan, we all have to be on the same page, not arguing amongst each other. Partners don’t let arguments like this get in the way of their friendship or their mission.” Yosuke exhales harshly, not sure if he’s trying to convince Teddie or himself.
Teddie stares at him for a while, mascot eyes still creepily expressive even in the real world. Then he waddles over and wraps his stubby arms around Yosuke’s waist.
“Don’t be angry with Sensei,” he pleads. “He loves you beary much.”
“Ah, shut up with that crap,” Yosuke shoves him away gently, ignoring the flush that comes to his face from the insinuation. “And I’m not angry with him. Just irritated. And confused. And – why am I standing here explaining it to you? Go home. Tell Mom that I’ll call if I don’t plan on coming home.”
expecting a happy-go-lucky sleepover, are you?
“Okay, Yosuke.” Teddie gives him one last squeeze and then totters off, calling over his shoulder (not that he has one), “I also love you beary much, Yosuke!”
“Whatever!”
The trek back across town is much more draining now that he’s alone. By the time he’s made it to the Dojima household, his chest aches with the phantom pain of his injury and there’s a stitch in his side from the combination of exercise and not having eaten since lunch. Yosuke leans against the doorframe, intent on catching his breath before confronting his partner.
That is, until he hears a series of raucous crashes from just inside the house that scares him out of his wits. It sounds like glass shattering – maybe a window – and terror seizes his heart like an ice-cold hand, and before Yosuke realizes it he’s springing through the door, not even considering that it could be locked.
“Souji!”
“Yosuke?” Souji gapes at him, barefoot in his kitchen, hands still wrapped around the remains of a stack of plates he had attempted to catch in their perilous fall from the cabinet. “What are you doing here?”
“I – uh, well, I was thinking, and – shit, you’re bleeding, partner!” exclaims Yosuke, eyes wide as he sees the rivulets of blood dripping from Souji’s hands onto the floor, as well as the speckles where the ceramic had cut his feet.
Souji blinks, taking in his injuries for the first time as the pain signals finally make it to his brain. “Oh. I guess I am,” he says, staring blankly at the bloody footprints left when he shifts his weight.
Yosuke, meanwhile, springs into mother hen mode at the sight of blood, conditioned by years of taking care of his siblings. “Here, sit down, and lift your feet up so you don’t step on anything else, and I’ll be right back.” He impresses Souji into a kitchen chair and then heads to the bathroom, stopping only to take his shoes off because Dojima would kill him if he knew Yosuke was walking around his house with his street shoes on.
He is quite familiar with the Dojima’s first aid kit, after many a night spent cleaning themselves up after TV shenanigans. It’s only when he returns to the living room that Yosuke pauses, realizing just how… sad the scene is.
Flickering light from the lamp is all that illuminates the room, casting everything in eerie yellow, just like the fog. Souji sits alone in the kitchen, feet up on the chair like a child, his expression so…
lonely
broken
miserable
How long has he been staying here alone? Were we all so caught up in the mission that we forgot that he has to come home?
What hurts even more is getting to see Souji put his mask back on when he realizes Yosuke has returned. He straightens up, expressing relief that he had known where to look with that so obviously fake smile on his face, and if Yosuke weren’t so shaken by his partner’s condition, he would punch him for trying that shit with him.
That won’t help, though. Yosuke returns to the kitchen without a word. He knows where the broom is, too, from nights spent cooking with Souji and Nanako; he sweeps the broken ceramic into a pile before kneeling down in front of Souji.
“Give me that,” he orders, taking Souji’s hand when the other doesn’t move.
“Yosuke -”
“Don’t try that with me,” Yosuke says. He is very carefully not meeting Souji’s eyes as he bandages his friend’s wounds, but he can tell that his partner is surprised. “I don’t pretend to be okay when I’m not, around you. You don’t have to pretend around me. Whether it’s physical or emotional pain. Okay?”
“...okay,” Souji whispers, and when Yosuke glances up, he’s smiling, though it doesn't quite reach his eyes. It makes Yosuke swallow, fighting the urge to choke up, too.
“W-well, good. And you’re all cleaned up now, so don’t hurt yourself again, okay? You’re lucky I was here to patch you up,” Yosuke bluffs, neglecting the obvious fact that Souji is capable of taking care of himself.
Luckily, Souji doesn’t comment on it either. What is perhaps unlucky is his next statement, said with a teasing lilt to his voice. “You’re going to kiss them better, aren’t you?”
Yosuke’s ears burn red, but he maintains just enough control over himself to not become a stammering fool. “Dude, I’m not kissing your feet. I’m not into that,” he deadpans, coaxing a genuine laugh out of Souji, which makes the embarrassment of the moment all the more worth it. “If you insist, though...” he adds, and before he can freak out because it’s too gay, he leans forward and brushes his lips against the Band-Aid on Souji’s hand. Then he jerks away, just as fast, staring at the ceiling and wondering if it might open up and pluck him out of existence so he doesn’t have to admit how right that felt. “There. Feel better?”
“Much,” teases Souji, and time stands still and for one crazy minute Yosuke would do literally anything to keep that smile on his partner’s face. “Say, what did you come over to talk about?”
“Oh.” Yosuke is tempted to bluff, to keep his worries to himself so he doesn’t have to put a damper on the mood. If Souji isn’t mad at him anymore, then that’s all that matters, right?
But that’s not what he’d told Teddie, and with a sigh, Yosuke realizes that it’s not what he wants, either. It’s feelings time.
“Well, I just… I wanted to talk about earlier,” he admits. “When you yelled at me and stuff.”
“Oh. I’m sorry if I -”
“Hang on, don’t apologize for my hurting my feelings or whatever. I mean, you did, but that’s not the point. I didn’t come here because of my feelings. I mean, I did, but – gah, lemme start over.” Yosuke rubs his face, perpetually cursing his inability to speak his mind as concisely as Souji can.
And his partner, of course, simply waits for Yosuke to get his shit together, as always.
“Okay. Let me start again. It’s over. It’s in the past now. And I don’t want validation or anything. I just… kinda want an explanation. ‘Cause I don’t want anything to get in the way of - of our mission,” Nanako’s rescue, “and I was worried that there might be some tension between us after that. And that’s the last thing I want because you’re my partner. We’re the bedrock to the whole team, yanno? If we’re not getting along then everybody gets screwed up. So… yeah. And you don’t really have to say anything -”
“I was scared,” whispers Souji.
“Huh?”
Yosuke blinks. Souji had undoubtedly said something, but his head is bowed, silver bangs hiding his eyes, so all Yosuke has to go off of is the tight line of his mouth.
“I was scared, Yosuke. I know I shouldn’t have left you, and I said some hurtful things. But, you didn’t see yourself – you didn’t see it -”
Souji’s voice cracks and Yosuke realizes just how much emotion he’s trying to hide. He sits on the kitchen floor to ease his aching hamstrings and reaches out to shake Souji’s knee. “Partner-”
“- there was so much blood, Yosuke, usually nobody bleeds that much, and we thought you were dead -”
“Partner.”
“ - none of this would have happened without you, there’s no team without you, I can’t do this without you -”
“Souji!”
His friend falls silent, his words dying with what almost sounds like a whimper in his throat. Yosuke’s thoughts are too much of a blur to be coherent, but he knows what he needs to do, and it starts with him getting up on his knees to lean into Souji’s personal space. He wobbles a little bit, clutching Souji’s shoulders and making him look Yosuke in the eyes.
His mouth is dry. “I’m okay, partner. I’m here, right?” he soothes, because Souji is still staring at him with those terrified eyes, and Yosuke can almost imagine his own mangled body reflected in them. “You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
Souji lets out a strangled laugh, eyes shimmering with wetness.
“Really. See?” On impulse, Yosuke grabs his hand and presses it against his chest, so Souji can (hopefully) feel his heartbeat. “Super alive. Despite all the times I’ve wanted to die of embarrassment, it just hasn’t happened yet, so you’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“Please don’t ever take a hit like that for me again.”
Yosuke hesitates. Part of him wants to agree, just to appease Souji, but he can’t lie about something this important. “...I can’t promise that – listen, you’re our leader. Yeah, maybe you need me, but we need you more. And… I know you’d do the same thing for me, partner. You always protect me; today, it was my turn to protect you. But I know you’d never let anything bad happen to me.”
Souji stares, and then in what feels like slow motion, leans forward and kisses Yosuke.
Oh. What?
he’s kissing you, idiot, do something! respond! you’re really bad at this you know? oh yeah, no pretending you’re straight anymore, not that you were doing a great job. you’ve always been super gay for this boy, you just didn’t know it. but I knew it. because i’m the cooler, gayer Yosuke.
...shut up, Susano-O.
Yosuke kisses back.
Not much – just enough to indicate to Souji that he hasn’t done anything wrong, because Yosuke knows he would want the same reassurance if it were him doing the kissing, and it’s not a bad feeling, anyway. Souji’s lips are chapped, and it doesn’t really taste of anything at all, which is weird because Yosuke had always thought kisses were supposed to taste like something, but it doesn’t really bother him. And the way Souji is holding his face is sort of nice, too.
In fact, Yosuke thinks he almost likes kissing his best friend, and it’s that realization that has him finally pulling away, breathless and dizzy, staring at Souji in wonder.
Souji, on the other hand, looks horrified.
“What is it? Am I really that bad of a kisser?”
“I… I kissed you,” he breathes. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, Yosuke, I can’t believe I did that, I’ll never-”
“Hey, hang on,” interrupts Yosuke, because a tiny part of him might not want to hear Souji say he’ll never do it again. “Don’t panic, dude.”
“But I… I forced myself on you.”
“No, you didn’t. I mean, okay, so you did at first,” not helping, “but – hey, you know me. I’m not the kind of guy to put up with shit I don’t like, am I?”
Souji frowns. “Actually, you are,” he points out.
“Huh. Wait, really?”
“Yeah, Yosuke. You put up with so much crap from the rest of us that you shouldn’t have to. You live with Teddie, after all.”
“Oh. Guess you’re sorta right. But hey – I don’t put up with your bullshit. I’m happy to, ‘cause you put up with me, but – damnit, look, my point is, if I hadn’t been okay with it, I would have pushed you away or something. So I guess the fact that I didn’t sorta says something about, uh, how I felt about it.”
His face is burning red, but Yosuke stares directly at his partner, hoping that he can at least convince Souji not to feel guilty about the kiss. Souji is clearly taken aback by his reaction, but there’s a glimmer of something that might be… hope? in his eyes.
“Would you care to clarify how you felt about it?” he teases, and Yosuke groans. He pushes himself away from Souji, but then falls backward on his ass onto the kitchen floor.
“Ow, fuck, you asshole. Are you really gonna make me say it?” he whines. He hasn’t even fully accepted that there is something to say, but Susano-O is giving him the internal vibe that if Yosuke tries to deny this, he will actually manifest and beat the shit out of him.
“I would really like it if you would say it, yes.”
“Ugh, fine. I kinda liked it, okay? And I wouldn’t be totally opposed to doing it again. You know I’m terrible with this whole sexuality thing, but you’re my partner, and if there’s any guy I’m gonna be okay with kissing, it’ll be you. I already know that you’re special to me, so… maybe this is just part of that,” rambles Yosuke.
“Can I kiss you again?” asks Souji.
say yes, damnit, demands Susano-O, but despite his instincts, Yosuke shakes his head. His heart does a strange little flip when Souji’s expression visibly falls, and he hurries to explain. “Not – just gimme some time to process the first one, okay? And you’re not in the best mental state, either, dude. No need to rush into anything. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
you’ve got five months until he’s gone. you gonna wait ‘til the train platform for that second kiss?
Fortunately, for as much of an asshole as his Persona is, Souji seems to understand Yosuke’s hesitance. “You’re right,” he sighs. “I really shouldn’t have done it, though. I wanted our first kiss to be romantic and perfect.”
“You – hey, you’ve thought about it?”
“Well, of course,” says Souji, quite matter-of-factly. In fact, the only thing betraying his stoic mask is the sparkle of affection in his eyes. “If it wasn’t already clear, I like you, Yosuke.”
Those are not words Yosuke had ever expected to hear out of his partner’s mouth, especially not with this connotation, and they have him covering his face in absolute embarrassment.
Behind his hands, though, he can’t help the grin that spreads across his face.
“Oh my God… I like you too, partner.”
“Not in the gay way, though.”
“Maybe in the gay way. I dunno. Maybe I should ask Kanji -”
“If you try that before you have a genuine conversation with him and apologize for all the stuff you’ve said, he will beat you up. And I will help him.”
“Whoa, okay, partner.” Yosuke puts his hands up in faux surrender, although he knows Souji has a point. Man, that’s not gonna be a fun conversation. He changes the subject, not interested in thinking about his impending doom at the moment. “Hey, let’s move out of the kitchen. My ass hurts sitting on this floor.”
“It seems to be a very sensitive part of your body.”
“I’m… gonna pretend you never said that, partner.”
“Fair.” Souji helps him up, bandaged hands lingering a bit too long in Yosuke’s. He’s quiet for a moment, and then flicks his bangs out of his eyes to look at Yosuke hopefully. “Would you want to stay the night? I can’t make food, since we don’t have any groceries, but… we could order in. I just don’t really want to be alone right now.”
Oh man, this guy. “Dude, you don’t even have to ask,” Yosuke says, hoping that if he’s casual enough about it, Souji will relax and that anxious look in his eyes will go away. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Not today, not ever. You’re never gonna be alone while I’m around, Souji, even if you want to be, so you’d better get used to it. We’re gonna save Nanako-chan and catch this bastard and even when it’s all over, I’m gonna be right next to you.
you’re damn right, me.
Souji smiles, for real this time, and it makes the entire day worth it. “Thank you.”