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The morning sun peered through the crack in the curtains, making Yosuke stir. The blaring of his alarm, set to five o’clock, like always, finally got him out of bed. Though working at JUNES wasn’t nearly the ordeal it had been when he was younger, some things never changed, and early opening hours were unfortunately one of them. Yosuke had a lot more sway as a Store Manager, but unfortunately not enough to convince the suits back in headquarters to stop opening the stores at ridiculous hours in the morning. Seriously, who was even awake enough to go grocery-shopping at five in the morning? Yu worked regular hours at the hospital, and he was a total mess if you woke him up before six.
Speaking of which…
“Yo-kun… come back to bed,” Yu whined, wrapping his arms around Yosuke’s waist. “It’s so early …”
“You knew what you were getting into when you married me,” Yosuke replied, kissing Yu on the cheek and reaching for his glasses on the bedside table.
It was honestly kinda funny how many members of the Investigation Team ended up needing glasses as they got older, even outside of the TV World. Kanji’s eyesight had gone quickest from all the strain of staring at miniscule stitches all day, Rise insisted on wearing contacts, and Chie had to be talked into wearing contacts so she wouldn’t break her glasses during the gym classes she taught. Yukiko and Naoto both wore reading glasses, but didn’t need them the rest of the time. The only one who had managed to resist the plague of bad eyesight was Teddie.
Even Yu wore reading glasses. Yosuke happened to think Yu’s glasses made him look very stylish and attractive, and he gleefully took every possible opportunity to let everyone know that. They definitely fit his mysterious vibe, too.
Yu huffed, burying his head in Yosuke’s lap. “You’re so mean… come back to sleep…”
“I’ll make you coffee,” Yosuke said, gently slipping out from the bed and lowering Yu’s head back onto the pillow. “Don’t snooze the alarm clock again.”
Yu made a vague sound of agreement, and was out cold by the time Yosuke left their bedroom. Hopefully, he wouldn’t sleep through his alarm again…
As promised, Yosuke put on a pot of coffee, which would still be warm when Yu woke up, and thought about making breakfast. He’d gotten pretty good at cooking in the last few years. Fried eggs would probably keep pretty warm in the pan, and they had some leftover rice from last night.
There was something nice about having your own kitchen , Yosuke mused, cracking the eggs over the sizzling pan. Everything exactly how you like it and exactly where you want .
He’d lost track of the number of times he’d been eating a meal with Yu, reached out a hand across the table, and as said hand was taken in his husband's, thought to himself just how perfect the moment was. He had a lot of those perfect moments with Yu, and he looked forward to making countless more.
By the time Yu finally stirred, wiping sleepily at his eyes as he trailed off to the bathroom, the food was done. “Coffee's on the side, and there’s some eggs in the pan!” Yosuke called, as he fetched his coat from the rack by the door. “I’ll be back late. I love you.”
“Love you too, Yo-kun,” Yu called. “Have a good day.”
“You too!” Yosuke called, as he stepped outside into the slightly foggy morning air. It was funny… when they were kids, the sight of fog would have sent them spiraling, but these days, it was just another normal sight in their sleepy, rural town.
Yu was about to go on his lunch break, planning to call his husband when he had a few spare minutes between making coffee and eating his lunch, when one of the nurses came up to him, looking a little nervous. “Excuse me, Doctor… do you have a minute?”
So much for his lunch break…
“Of course. Is something wrong?”
“We’re having a little trouble with Mr. Nimura in Room 201,” the nurse said. “Well, the problem is more to do with his granddaughter…”
Yu raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“Mr. Nimura is dying,” the nurse said curtly. “Since the last time we saw him, his pancreatic cancer has become metastatic, spreading to his liver and lungs. He does not have a long time left to live, and when we informed his granddaughter, she became hysterical. She is now refusing to leave his bedside, despite visiting hours finishing over an hour ago.”
“I might be able to talk some sense into her,” Yu said, following the nurse down the hallway. “Please, wait outside and give me a few moments with her.”
The nurse nodded. “Understood, Doctor.”
Opening the door, Yu was started by the sheer rage being thrown at him by such a scrawny girl. She was probably fifteen or so, with long dark hair tied in a half-up, half-down style. While she wore the Yasogami uniform and was rather well put-together, her skirt was a few sizes too big, held in place by a belt that was definitely not a part of the regular school uniform. She was sitting next to a hospital bed, where an elderly man - her grandfather - was lying, quiet and still. He was thin, and already showing signs of jaundice from his liver failing.
“Who are you supposed to be?” she snapped, crossing her arms.
Her grandfather reached out a frail hand, patting her on the shoulder. “Please, Sachiko… I’m sure the doctor’s here to help me.”
Sachiko’s scowl got deeper, if that was somehow possible. “He’s just here to tell me the same bullshit I’ve been hearing all day!”
“Sachiko! You will have respect for your-” Her grandfather was cut off by a hacking cough. Sachiko was by his side in an instant, her anger forgotten as she patted his back.
“Grandpa, you have to be more careful!” she chastised. Glaring at Yu, she snapped, “Can you leave?”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Yu said. “Visiting hours are over. You need to go home.”
“No.” Sachiko crossed her arms. “I’m not leaving my grandpa!”
“I understand you love your grandpa, but we can’t look after him properly unless you leave,” Yu said. “Especially when he’s… this sick.”
Sachiko went quiet. “He’s going to get better. I know he’s gonna get better.”
“If you want to do what’s best for his health, you need to go home,” Yu said firmly. “You can come back during visiting hours tomorrow.”
Sachiko glanced toward her grandpa, a look on her face like she was silently asking him to protest, only for Mr. Nimura - Yu really had to check his chart to find out his first name - to shake his head. “No, Sachiko. It’s late. I need my rest, and you need to go home.”
“F-Fine!” Sachiko snapped, grabbing her school bag. “Whatever, I don’t care!”
Mr. Mimura managed a weak smile. “I love you, Sachiko.”
Going a little pink, Sachiko grumbled, “Love you too, Grandpa,” before slamming the door shut behind her.
There was a moment of silence, before Mr. Nimura remarked. “She gets that from her father. Nothing like that on my side of the family.”
He started chuckling, but it quickly turned into hacking coughs. Yu knew - deep down - that the nurse was right. Mr. Nimura wasn’t going to last much longer. His remaining lifespan was in weeks, not months, and Yu couldn’t begin to imagine how Sachiko would react.
People often thought that sort of thing - that seeing people deteriorate so rapidly - was the worst part of being a doctor, but Yu disagreed.
The worst part about being a doctor was that you always had to go home afterwards, no matter what had happened while you were on the job.
At least Yosuke was good about it. On the days where Yu came home with a pensive expression on his face and no words left to speak, Yosuke would make a pot of coffee, wrap Yu in a blanket and put on the same dumb American sitcom they’d been watching together since they were teenagers.
It would be enough to bring Yu back to himself, eventually.
They never talked about it, but Yu hoped Yosuke knew exactly how much it meant to him.
Part of being the new JUNES manager was that Yosuke was responsible for interviewing prospective employees. Plenty of Yasogami students worked there part-time, since the pay was good and the store gave paid time off during exam seasons, which was something Yosuke had fought tooth and claw with corporate to secure for his employees. There was no surprise when a girl arrived for an interview dressed in the Yasogami uniform.
The interview had been pretty casual, and the girl - her last name was Takahashi, and Yosuke was too embarrassed to admit he’d forgotten her first name after skimming her application - walked out of it with a job stacking shelves. Yosuke had spoken to her a few times since then, but the girl always seemed distracted. He could kind of understand; he’d definitely been occupied with other things when he was her age. At least in Takahashi’s case, she was occupied with things like exams and friendships, instead of Personas, Shadows and solving murders. You know, the normal teenager stuff Yosuke and the rest of the Investigation Team never really got to have in the same way. Hard to really let loose when you’re busy trying to track down a killer.
They’d all realised - at some point or another - just how traumatic that year had been.
Every time it was foggy outside, Yu would get this look in his eyes, like his mind was somewhere else. There were things he could never forget. Things that haunted him. Things he regretted.
Every time it rained, Yosuke would come home to find Yu sitting in the dark, staring at the switched-off TV.
Sometimes, Yu would curl up next to Yosuke in bed and whisper, “What if it comes back?”
No matter how many times Yosuke assured him that the TV World as Izanami had made it was gone for good - that they’d never have to worry about people misusing it again - Yu would never stop worrying.
He’d never stop sitting in front of that blank TV, looking for something in the static that simply wasn’t there.
One day, as Yosuke was clocking out of his morning shift, having taken the afternoon off, he noticed Takahashi loitering around the food court, picking at some food that had been left on a tray by someone. Every now and then, she’d look up - fearful of being caught - and go back to eating.
Yosuke couldn’t stop thinking about that sight.
The next morning, before Takahashi arrived for her afternoon shift, Yosuke left a few thousand yen on one of the tables in the food court, in an obvious spot.
When Takahashi took her lunch break, Yosuke was glad to see that she had bought something at the food court with the money he had left for her. That was good. The girl could use a few more proper meals.
Of course, he couldn’t pull the same trick too many days in a row; that would have made it obvious that someone was deliberately leaving the money for her to find. Sometimes, Yosuke took a different approach.
It was getting close to lunchtime, and Takahashi was looking hungrily at the stacks of food in the grocery section. After a moment of consideration, Yosuke dipped into the back room, returning with a basket. He took a few items off the shelves that were close to hitting their sell-by date, and gathered a few of the part-time employees to tell them that they could eat anything in that basket, whenever they wanted.
“All the stuff is close to going bad anyways. You guys might as well eat it, or it’ll just go to waste,” he said as casually as possible. A few people took a snack or two right away, and Takahashi furtively took a wrapped onigiri when she thought no one was looking.
Yosuke considered it a win, and vowed to keep the basket full from that moment on.
Looking after his employees was the least he could do, as Store Manager.
Sachiko had started coming to the hospital every day during their visiting hours. She’d clearly been coming right from Yasogami, since she was still wearing the uniform. Sometimes, when Yu came into Mr. Nimura’s room to take readings for his chart, he would hear Sachiko and Mr. Nimura chatting and would take the long route around the wards, so they could have a few more moments with each other.
After all, with how little time Mr. Nimura had left, Yu knew those moments would become precious to Sachiko soon enough.
One quiet afternoon, Yu entered Mr. Nimura’s room to take readings for his chart, and found Sachiko and her grandfather in the middle of an intense game of Go.
“Go, huh? I haven’t seen someone play that since I moved out of my uncle's house,” Yu remarked. “Used to play a game with his old buddies sometimes.”
“Shhh! I’m winning,” Sachiko hissed, taking a stone out of her bowl and placing it onto the board. “Take that, old man!”
Mr. Nimura feigned deep concentration before placing a piece of his own.
Sachiko balked. “That’s a terrible move!”
“Is it?”
“Yes? You can’t defend it! It’s way on the other side of the board.” Sachiko narrowed her eyes. “Unless… that was intentional?”
“Now, I’ve thrown you off your rhythm,” Mr. Nimura said, with a smile. “Your turn.”
“I hate you,” Sachiko grumbled, picking up one of her pieces.
“You love me, dear,” Mr. Nimura countered. “That’s a terrible move, by the way.”
“Sh-Shut up!”
Yu chuckled as he listened to their antics, getting the information he needed and leaving them to the rest of their game.
“Who won?” Yu asked, as Sachiko passed by him in the hallway later that afternoon.
Sachiko pouted. “… Grandpa did. He always wins.”
“Who knows, you might be able to secure a victory before…” Yu trailed off, knowing that Sachiko didn’t like being confronted with the idea of her grandfather’s passing being so close. “Well… you know.”
Sachiko scowled at him. “He’s not going to die.”
“I’m glad you’re feeling hopeful, but you need to listen to myself and the rest of the medical professionals providing him care. Your grandfather… these next few weeks will be the last ones you get to spend with him. Make them count.”
Scrunching up her face - was she angry, or on the verge of tears? - Sachiko stomped off, leaving Yu with an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
He really needed to get into contact with the girl’s parents…
It was late afternoon, and Takahashi had just finished her shift. Yosuke had expected her to head home right away, so he was surprised to find her sitting in the food court.
“Takahashi! Aren’t you going to head home?” Yosuke called. When he got no response, he stepped around the table, and realized that Takahashi was wearing earphones. He tapped the table, and she took them out. “Hey, aren’t you gonna go home?”
“Is it alright if I stay for a little bit?” Takahashi asked.
“Yeah! I mean, the food court doesn’t close until five o’clock. Just make sure you’re heading out by then, okay?”
“Mhmm, got it.”
Yosuke was about to leave, but he hesitated. “Hey… what are you listening to?”
“Me?”
“You’re the only one with earphones,” Yosuke said. “You know, I used to be really into music when I was your age.”
“When you say stuff like that, it makes you sound really old,” Takahashi deadpanned.
Yosuke feigned offense. “Yeesh, Takahashi. You really know how to hit where it hurts.”
Takahashi rolled her eyes, sliding her phone over towards Yosuke. The screen showed the cover of one of Rise’s most recent albums, Sapphire . Rise had recently made her official, public and permanent retirement, which had a lot of her fans who hadn’t listened to her music in a while coming back. Sapphire had quickly hit the top of the charts.
Yosuke grinned. Rise had always told them to keep their association with Risette on the down-low, but she did give each of them one free pass to name-drop her. Yosuke had held onto his opportunity for the last twenty years, waiting for a moment just like this.
“You know, I used to be friends with Rise in high school,” Yosuke said, as casually as possible.
Takahashi scoffed, crossing her arms. “As if…”
“Oh, but it’s true!” Yosuke said, digging out his phone. “Wait, let me find that one picture…”
Eventually, he showed Takahashi an old picture he’d taken with the Investigation Team, way back when. It had been the summer after Yu went back to Tokyo, and Teddie had insisted on a photograph to mark the occasion. Yosuke had recently gone back and digitized everything from their high-school years, so he had a digital copy to show Takahashi. “Here we go! See, Risette. Well, she made us call her Rise, but–”
Takahashi gasped. “You were actually friends with Risette…?!”
“Yup.” Yosuke responded, a little smug.
“ How ?” Takahashi exclaimed. “You’re a total dork . I thought you were making it up to make yourself sound cool or something. You know, like a loser.”
“Okay, hurtful,” Yosuke said, laughing. “Yeah, I mean… it’s a long story, but we helped her through a rough patch, and she stuck around… you alright?”
Takahashi had gone quiet. “I’m sorry I called you a loser. Please don’t fire me.”
“You’re not on the clock right now, kid,” Yosuke said. “You’ve got a sharp tongue, and that’s awesome. Just hold that tongue with customers, alright? And anyone from upper management, if they come by to visit.”
“Yes, Mr. Hanamura.”
“God, that makes me feel old,” Yosuke grumbled. Takahashi’s mouth twitched, like she was holding herself back from saying something. “I’m not old, Takahashi. I’m thirty-six.”
Silence.
“What? It’s not that old!”
“You asked me to hold my tongue, Mr. Hanamura.”
Smart girl , Yosuke thought fondly. She really reminded him of Saki…
“Alright, alright, you’ve got me there,” he chuckled. They chatted for a little longer about Sachiko’s favorite music, but Yosuke eventually had to go.
“Alright, I gotta go make sure people are stacking the shelves right. I’ll see you around, Takahashi.”
“Yeah, see you!”
Sachiko and Mr. Nimura had been playing Go every day. Mr. Nimura let Sachiko play with a handicap, allowing her to place a few pieces on the board before the game started, and he still consistently secured a win.
“It’s not fair,” Sachiko grumbled. “You always win.”
“I’ve been playing for fifty years longer than you’ve been alive,” Mr. Nimura countered. “Let’s play another game. No handicap this time.”
“Hmm… okay.”
Yu returned to Mr. Nimura’s room around forty minutes later, clearly arriving right as the game was wrapping up. To his surprise, the board had a lot more territory owned by the black pieces, which was Sachiko’s color.
“I won…?” Sachiko whispered. Then, her eyes narrowed. “You lost on purpose, didn’t you?”
Mr. Nimura had a fond little look on his face. “Sachiko, when have you known me to ever let someone win? This match was yours, fair and square.”
Sachiko ignored him, looking at the board almost frantically, as if she wanted to have lost. “No, I couldn’t have won. We must have- have counted the territories wrong or something.”
“You won, sweetheart,” Mr. Nimura said. “It’s over.”
“No!” Sachiko exclaimed. Tears began to slip down her face. “I don’t want it to be over. I want… I want to keep playing with you, Grandpa. It can’t be over yet.”
“Sweetheart… everything ends eventually.”
“It’s not fair!” Sachiko sobbed, clinging onto Mr. Nimura’s hospital gown. “It’s not fair, Grandpa!”
Yu made his exit quickly after that. The moment felt too personal to intrude on.
Takahashi had been acting oddly for a few weeks, so Yosuke was glad to see her brighten up again after a little while.
“You got a special boy on your mind?” Yosuke asked, catching Takahashi off-guard when she was in the middle of mopping. “Or a girl?”
Takahashi took a furtive look around to make sure there was no one listening, before muttering, “It’s a girl…”
“Oh?”
“Mr. Hanamura… when did you know you were in love?”
Yosuke raised an eyebrow. “Who says I’m in love?”
“You have a wedding ring,” Takahashi said. “Plus, you had your arm around that silver-haired guy in that picture you showed me. High-school sweethearts, huh?”
Yosuke barked a laugh. “You are crazy perceptive, kid. Alright, I’ll bite. I met my husband, Yu, when I was about your age, actually. He was a transfer student, and we were in the same class. At the time, I was head over heels for this girl, Saki.” His face fell. “She, uhh… she died.”
The fact that Yosuke could talk about Saki without breaking down was multiple credits to his therapist. Ms. Fushimi did wonderful work.
“Oh…”
“Yeah, it was… really rough. I didn’t take it well, but Yu… he pulled me out. We spent a lot of time together outside of class. I’m pretty sure he single-handedly dragged me, kicking and screaming, out of my own grief. Still, we stayed friends until our third year. I wasn’t in the right place for romance, and he was dealing with his own problems.”
Every day, he regretted not driving down to Tokyo to give Mr. and Mrs. Narukami a piece of his mind. At least they’d been decent enough to give up custody of Yu to his uncle without much trouble.
If they hadn’t, Yosuke definitely would have driven down to Tokyo. He’d slashed a goddess with Kashin Koji - fighting two oversized brats like them would be nothing.
“So… how'd you realize?” Takahashi said. “That you loved him, I mean?”
Yosuke managed a smile, despite the heavy topics they’d been discussing moments ago. “When I realized I couldn’t imagine my life without him.”
“Anyone ever told you that you should quit working at JUNES and be a poet instead?”
“If I did that, who would stack the cans at the front of the store?” Yosuke snarked. Receiving a roll of the eyes, he asked, “Alright, alright… who’s the lucky gal?”
“Sawaka Shirogane,” Takahashi said, blushing right up to the tips of her ears.
How ironic…
“You’re never gonna believe who else I went to high school with,” Yosuke said.
Takahashi’s mouth fell open. “You have got to be kidding!”
“We were also friends, actually.”
Takahashi was so surprised she lost her grip on her mop, almost knocking over the bucket of water she was mopping with.
“How many people in this town were you friends with?” Takahashi asked. “Actually, you know what? Don’t answer that.”
“In my defense, it’s a small town and most people went to the same high-school.”
“Still weird... kinda cool, but still weird.”
Trust her to say it like it was.
As Takahashi was about to leave for the afternoon, Yosuke passed her a piece of paper with his phone number written on it. “Look, kid… I don’t do this for everyone who works for me, but if you ever need an adult for something, give me a ring, alright?”
Takahashi rolled her eyes, but accepted the slip of paper.
The more Yu looked into Sachiko’s family, the more worried he became. Mr. Nimura had admitted himself to the hospital, and he had put his granddaughter down as his emergency contact. None of the other doctors and nurses had met Sachiko’s parents either. It had always been just her and her grandfather.
Eventually, Yu had enough, and decided to ask Mr. Nimura about it directly. “Is there a reason that your daughter hasn’t come to visit you?” he asked. “You don’t seem to be in contact with her.”
Sachiko, who had been chatting with her grandpa moments ago, went silent.
“The less said about my daughter, the better,” Mr. Nimura said at last. “She is no longer my daughter, after what she did.”
“Grandpa…” Sachiko’s voice took on a warning tone.
Yu didn’t heed the warning. “Are you two not in contact anymore?”
“It’s rather hard to be in contact with someone who lives in another country,” Mr. Nimura said curtly. “And who never picks up her daughter’s calls.”
Yu nodded, face solemn. “Ah… I’m beginning to see what’s happening here.”
“You don’t know anything!” Sachiko snapped.
“Sweetheart… I’ve let this charade go on for long enough. I know you think you can look after yourself, but you need people to support you when I’m gone.”
“You’re not going to–”
“ Sachiko . Listen to me!” Mr. Nimura never raised his voice, so it was very odd to hear him come any bit closer to shouting. “I don’t have much time left. I know that scares you, but pretending it isn’t happening won’t solve anything. When I’m gone, who will look after you? We both know your mother won’t. Dr. Narukami is right. We need to think about our next steps… about your next steps.”
Sachiko was clearly on the verge of tears. Looking between her grandpa and Yu, she shook her head. “You’re not gonna die, and I’m not going to live with Mom . She doesn’t even want me !”
“I know, sweetheart. Believe me, I know.”
“This isn’t fucking fair,” Sachiko said. “I can’t– I can’t be here.”
And before anyone could move in her direction, she’d ran out of the room sobbing.
“Do you want me to go after her?” Yu asked.
Mr. Nimura shook his head. “No… she’s right, about what she said. She needs time to process this. Time away from me. She’ll be back when she’s ready. ”
“Are you certain?”
“I’m an old man, Dr. Narukami. I don’t have time to be uncertain about things at my age. Now, pass me my crosswords, please. There’s a good man.”
A week after that, Yu overheard a conversation between Sachiko and Mr. Nimura as he walked past Mr. Nimura’s hospital room.
“I’m sorry I got upset,” Sachiko said quietly. “I love you, Grandpa…”
Mr. Nimura pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I love you too, sweetheart. I’m sorry things are ending like this…”
“Not your fault.”
Mr. Nimura’s voice cracked as he replied, “It doesn’t change how sorry I am.”
“You’re not going to call Mom again, are you?”
“No… I’ve got something else in mind…”
Good to know they were finally making plans.
Those plans were necessary a lot sooner than expected.
It was always tricky to estimate how long a cancer patient had left to live, since the disease could spread quickly, and treatments weren’t always effective. It was possible for patients to deteriorate rapidly almost over night. That was the case for Mr. Nimura; one day he had been awake, mostly coherent and maintaining solid vitals, and a week later, his liver was failing him.
Within twenty-four hours, he was gone.
Yu had been one of the last doctors to speak to Mr. Nimura before he passed. The man had gone out with no fear, his only regret being that he didn’t have longer to spend with his granddaughter.
He’d given one final lurch before passing, which felt like something straight out of a drama. He hadn’t feared death - he’d charged right in.
When Yu had gone into the waiting room to tell Sachiko that her grandfather had passed, he found the girl clutching at a paper cup with shaky hands. The way she looked at him, tears in her eyes, Yu realized that she knew what he was about to say.
She still broke down as soon as the words left his mouth.
“I don’t think you should be alone right now,” Yu said. “Do you have anyone you can call?”
Sachiko sniffed. “I… my boss, maybe? He said I could call him if anything happened. And he’s really nice.” She took her phone out of her pocket, her face crumpling when it wouldn’t turn on. “My phone’s dead… can you call him for me? Please? I think I’m just gonna start crying again if I have to talk.”
“Of course,” Yu said. “Here, give me his number.”
Sachiko nodded and began to recite the phone number.
Yu froze when he recognised the number, finishing the rest of it off in his head without Sachiko having to say it. “That’s my husband’s number,” Yu said. “Do you work at JUNES?”
Sachiko’s eyes went wide. “Y-You’re the guy in that picture he has on his desk! You look different in your scrubs. I didn’t recognise you…”
Yu ran a harried hand through his hair. “Okay, change of plans. I’m going to call my husband, and we’ll sort something out, okay? We have a guest room, so if you’re comfortable with it, you can stay the night.”
Sachiko nodded, looking at him with so much trust in her eyes. “Thank you, Dr. Narukami.”
Yu managed to smile. “If you’re gonna be a houseguest, you can call me Yu.”
Now all Yu had to do was make a phone call.
That would be the easiest part about this whole situation.
Yosuke had agreed to Yu’s plan the second he mentioned Sachiko’s full name, and Yu drove Sachiko down to their house in silence. Every time he tried to speak to her, she would start crying again. Eventually, he settled on keeping his eyes on the road.
After Ryotaro and Nanako’s car accident with Namatame, Yu had been hesitant to learn to drive, especially with his uncle in the passenger seat. The motorbike was one thing, but it took a lot of coaxing to even get him behind the wheel of a car , much less to get him driving . Most of his friends got their licenses at eighteen, but it had taken Yu a few more years to become confident enough behind the wheel to attempt his test. A big part of it had been Yosuke making him practice, honestly. That guy could make anything easy just by being there.
Soon enough, they were at the small house Yu and Yosuke shared. They’d been able to stop by Sachiko’s house to pick up some clothes and toiletries, so Sachiko wasn’t arriving completely empty-handed.
“Yosuke!” Yu called. “Is the spare bed available?”
Yosuke stuck his head out from behind the kitchen door. “I need to wash the sheets. Teddie was the last one to use them.”
“Who’s Teddie?” Sachiko asked, before hesitating. “... sorry.”
“Teddie’s my kid brother,” Yosuke replied. “He’s a great guy, but he has a terrible habit of eating in bed, and spilling stuff everywhere.”
“What was it this time?” Yu asked.
“ Poutine and iced tea ,” Yosuke replied through gritted teeth. “I have no idea where he gets these combinations from.”
“Right, so… if the spare room isn't an option…” Yu grimaced. “You’re gonna have to sleep on the couch. Sorry about that…”
Sachiko nodded, putting her backpack down next to the couch. “That’s okay. I'm used to sleeping on my grandpa’s couch. There wasn’t space for another bed in his place.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Sachiko shrugged. “You guys are doing me a favor, so… yeah, it’s fine.”
“It’s only for the night,” Yosuke promised. “Just ‘till I get these sheets clean.”
Sachiko hummed. “Yeah, okay.”
“You hungry?”
“No.”
“You wanna eat anyway?”
“... I think I’ll just be sick if I eat,” Sachiko admitted. “Is it okay if I just go to sleep?”
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” Yosuke said, grabbing her a blanket and some pillows. “We’ll do our best to keep it down for you.”
“... thanks.”
With Sachiko settled on the couch, Yu and Yosuke went into the kitchen, closing the door behind them. As soon as they were out of sight, Yu went limp, leaning his weight on Yosuke.
“Wanna talk about it?” Yosuke asked, hand in Yu’s hair.
Yu’s voice was muffled against Yosuke’s chest. “No. I just… poor kid.”
“Yeah,” Yosuke agreed, patting Yu’s hair. Hopefully, it was somewhat soothing. “Poor kid.”
“It’s not fair,” Yu muttered. “Worst day of her life, and her parents don’t give a shit.”
Just like my bastard parents went unsaid.
Yosuke was once again struck with the urge to put the fear of God into the Narukamis.
And the Takahashis too, for good measure.
After making sure that Yu had something to eat - even if it was just reheated curry and rice, Yosuke suggested they have an early night. As they walked through the living room, past Sachiko, they noticed that she had fallen asleep with the blanket only halfway drawn over herself. Wordlessly, Yu took the end of the blanket and pulled it the rest of the way over her. Yosuke put a hand on his shoulder, beckoning him towards the stairs. “Come on, Yu… let her sleep.”
Yu spent the rest of the night with his head on Yosuke’s chest, and Yosuke holding him close.
Though that first night was rocky, Sachiko was the ideal houseguest. They finally got her set up in the spare room and got the rest of her belongings from her grandfather’s house. Yu called Yasogami and got Sachiko two weeks off school for bereavement, and Yosuke quietly took her off the schedule at JUNES.
For a few weeks, Sachiko was quietly disconsolate. She’d barely eat, had trouble sleeping and spent a good amount of time crying in the bathroom, thinking Yu and Yosuke couldn’t hear her.
Then, one quiet afternoon, she asked if Yu would play a game of Go with her. Though Yu and Yosuke were both a little surprised, knowing how special the game was to Sachiko and her grandfather, Yu hesitantly agreed. He hadn’t played Go in years, and even then, his games with Ryotaro had been few and far in between, so Sachiko had to remind him of the rules.
When she inevitably won, Sachiko managed a tiny smile. It was the first time they’d seen her smile since coming to stay with them.
After that, Sachiko slowly started recovering. She started helping Yosuke with the laundry, and Yu with the cooking. She started going back to school, and kept up with her homework. She started working at JUNES again, too, and Yosuke regularly saw her chatting with Sawaka in the Food Court during her lunchbreaks.
Soon enough, Sachiko had become an everyday part of their lives. Yu and Yosuke couldn’t imagine a moment when she wasn’t there.
Which made it all the more surprising when they came home from visiting Teddie and Rise and found her in the process of packing a suitcase, which had clearly been bought that day. The discounted price tag was still attached.
“What are you doing?” Yosuke asked. “Planning a trip or something? Without us?”
“... I’m packing?” Sachiko said hesitantly. “To move out?”
Yu furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would we want you to move out?”
That made Sachiko pause. “... because I’m not paying you rent or anything? I mean, it was nice of you to let me stay this long, but I’m not interested in handouts.”
Yu looked towards Yosuke, and nodded. They’d both been thinking it; now it was time to tell Sachiko.
“We need to talk about that,” Yosuke said. Sitting down on Sachiko’s bed. Yu sat down next to him.
“What?”
“Come on, sit down,” Yu said, patting the bed. Sachiko hesitantly sat down. “We haven’t told you much about our families, huh?”
“Not really? I don’t know why that matters right now, but I’m listening…”
“I promise this is important,” Yu said. “When I was your age, I came to Inaba to live with my uncle for the year. My parents finally decided I wasn’t worth the trouble. The plan was always for me to go back to Tokyo at the end of the school year, but I asked my uncle if I could stay for good. When I told him how my parents were treating me, he fought them for custody and won. I’m only here today because he offered me a place to stay.”
“As for me, I wasn’t getting along great with my parents, but they came through for our friend Teddie when he needed somewhere to stay. I think he basically saved our relationship.” Yosuke chuckled. “Teddie officially became a Hanamura a year later. Never saw my dad cry before that day…”
“I don’t understand.”
“The point is, both of us have… less-than-typical families,” Yu explained.
Sachiko huffed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“I think what Yu is trying to say is… we’re fond of you, Sachiko. If you’d like to stay longer - forever, even - we’d be happy to have you here.”
Frozen in place, Sachiko took in the words. “Are you sure?”
“More than I’ve ever been about anything,” Yosuke said. “Well, except marrying Yu.”
“... can I think about it?”
“Of course,” Yu said. “Take all the time you need.”
When Yosuke walked past Sachiko’s room later - just how long had it been Sachiko’s room? - the suitcase had been unpacked, and was left by the door.
A week and a half later, Sachiko came up to Yu while he was cooking dinner. “Is… is the offer you made before still… you know?”
“Yeah, it is,” Yu said, hands stilling. “Do you…?”
“Please?”
Yu smiled. “Of course.”
Sachiko’s eyes brightened a little. “What’re you cooking?”
“Yosuke’s favorite. Don’t tell him, it’s a surprise!”
“Oooh, cool!”
A year had come and gone since then.
Thanks to some help from Ryotaro and Naoto, who had gone into social work, Yu and Yosuke were able to secure legal custody of Sachiko. It had helped that Mr. Nimura had left a note in his will asking that they be the ones to look after her. Since her parents had given up custody of Sachiko to her grandfather, his legal opinion was the only one that mattered.
Sachiko had called her mother one last time, though. The conversation had ended in tears, but it solidified Sachiko’s stance that her mother wasn’t worth bothering with, much less the useless layabout of a man that she'd married.
Now a third-year at Yasogami, Sachiko was already looking into universities with her girlfriend, Sawaka ( about damn time ), though she had every intention of coming home to Inaba at every opportunity.
She might have lost her family a year ago, but she’d gained a new family, too.
“Dad? Papa?”
Yu looked up from his newspaper. “Hmm?”
“I’m really glad I chose to stay with you.”
“I’m glad you did too, kid,” Yosuke replied, pulling her close for a hug. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Papa.”
Another quiet afternoon together as a family.
What more could they ask for?