The Persona 4 Kink Meme ([info]badbadbathhouse) wrote,
@ 2009-02-12 23:30:00
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Ooh~ la la! Never in my wildest (and wettest) dreams did I ever think this kink meme would yield such passionate results! With nearly five thousand comments in the initial post, I figured it was high time we bring the naked party over into a new post to leave the first open for request followup and... other forms of fulfillment.

Ladies, gentlemen, those Chippendale dancers I hired last week and have kept on retainer, hoo hoo, I give to you

SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 4 KINK MEME
PART TWO


In this scintillating post of mine, you can comment anonymously with any pairing from Persona 4 and whatever astoundingly perverse or adorably vanilla kink your little heart desires. Delicious non-con, innocent fluff? Oh, darlings, it is very acceptable to bare your deepest desires here. ♥

If you're lucky enough, your request will be delivered by some sweet and sexy anonymous, and what better way to boost the levels of reciprocation than by filling out a request yourself? After all, we've all come here for the same~ thing~! Don't be shy, darling, we are all friends here. And if you see a filled request that nonetheless inspires you? Sloppy seconds are so very much encouraged. For a list of some finished prompts, head over to [info]verybadindex or [info]marukyurevue if you so please~!

Kiddies, our only real rule here is the request to blank out spoilers, like so:

I'd love to see myself Kanji involved with <font color="white">everyone even remotely available after July's events~</font>

Because half the fun~ of Persona 4 was learning all the twists and turns of the plot for ourselves, wasn't it? Anyone seen breaking this rule (and darlings, always remember that you can send your sweet Kanji a note through the Livejournal message center!) will have their request deleted in a hopefully timely manner.

Let's do our best, everyone! In this kinky paradise, men, women, and shadows are all invited.


Hugs and kisses,
Kanji~

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Ten Steps (1/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 05:55 am UTC (link)
"-forecast said it might rain at the end of the week. We gotta make sure we make it," Chie began, hissing urgently into Souji's ear.

"We'll be fine," Souji reassured her, glancing at Yukiko; she nodded, a determined expression on her face. "It's only been three days, and Teddie thinks we're almost at the top. All we have to do is save her."

"I think I'll be free today," Yukiko replied, leaning in close. Class hadn't started yet, but they still had to be quiet and careful; their conversation was nothing like the ordinary gossip that swirled through the rest of the classroom. "We shouldn't have any problems getting into the storage room today either."

"I'm good for today, too. I'll ask Kanji at lunch." Souji was sure Kanji would be more than ready; their kouhai seemed anxious to prove himself, clearing his schedule by force if necessary. Sure, the staff of the Amagi Inn gave Kanji weird looks whenever they slipped through, but that didn't matter. They'd get used to him, just like they'd gotten used to Souji. "If he's free to go, then we can-"

The classroom door slid open with a loud thunk as it hit the stopper, and Chie sat bolt upright. "He's here!"

Souji and Yukiko quickly turned back to sit properly in their seats, focusing their attention on their homeroom teacher. While King Moron's taunts had ceased to have any real effect on them, there was no reason to give him any openings. Souji blinked, though, as he realized Morooka wasn't alone - there was another boy trailing behind their teacher, taking up an awkward position next to the podium. That was familiar. Another transfer student?

But Souji knew what had to be coming, and Chie elbowed him lightly as Morooka cleared his throat. "Listen up," he demanded, gesturing sharply at the new student. "Looks like we got another chunk of garbage from the city."

Souji winced inwardly as the boy's eyes widened; Chie sighed, very quietly. "Couldn't even come in at the start of the term like you're supposed to," Morooka went on, glaring at Souji for a moment before continuing his rant. "Comin' in because of that big new store they're building, huh? Money-grubbers like the rest of 'em. Enough wasting time - hurry up, give 'em your name and sit down!"

The new transfer student recovered fairly well; Souji had to give him credit for that. "Hi, I'm Yosuke Hanamura... uh... nice to m-"

"So sit down already," Morooka interrupted, pointing sharply at the empty seat behind Souji. "Right behind Seta."

Souji resisted the urge to sigh aloud - Morooka's jabs were so predictable - and instead watched as the new student edged his way across the classroom, a vaguely embarrassed expression on his face. Morooka kept going on about "money-grubbing city types coming in here with their big stores and their big plans and-" but Souji tuned him out after a moment, choosing instead to risk a glance back at the desk behind him. The new student - Hanamura - was emptying his schoolbag into his desk as quickly as possible. He met Souji's gaze for just a moment and grinned, a little shyly; Souji returned the smile before turning back to face the front of the classroom.

Chie slid a note onto his desk a moment later. What a jerk, it said, in angry letters pressed hard into the paper. Souji just nodded, slightly - he'd managed alright when he'd arrived in Inaba and been the target of King Moron's harsh words, but that didn't make it any less frustrating.

And then Morooka started actually lecturing in earnest, cutting off Souji's train of thought. He tucked Chie's note under his own notebook and made himself pay attention. He'd have to talk to the new student some afternoon - when he didn't have to hurry off to the Amagi Inn with the others right after school.

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Ten Steps (2/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 05:56 am UTC (link)
........................


Souji got off the bus with a weary sigh. They had successfully rescued Rise, and she was safe now; the bus had passed the police cars on the road as the cops headed for the Amagi Inn, sirens blaring. The team had carefully set up the scene, and Rise used the last of her energy to pull it off - she'd been in the woods, lost and wandering after waking up in the forest where her kidnapper had presumably taken her, and stumbled out to the main road in sight of the Inn. Hopefully the story would stand up, but the alternative - sorry, officer, I was actually inside the TV - was so ridiculous that anything seemed plausible in comparison.

They were all exhausted now, and Souji was no exception - he couldn't remember feeling this tired after a rescue since the very first one, when it had been just him and his newly-awakened Persona against Chie's Shadow. Then again, they had taken out two powerful Shadows in a row today, and it was only because of Teddie that they'd beaten Rise's Shadow at all. Everything ached, and Souji wanted nothing more than to go up to his room and collapse on the futon.

Not that he could do that, of course. Souji paused on the sidewalk in front of his house, took a deep breath and stretched, wincing as his aching muscles informed him of exactly how much he'd overextended himself today. Nanako would be home; his uncle likely wouldn't be. Dojima had probably been called in the second Rise had been found.

Sure enough, as soon as Souji opened the front door, Nanako jumped up from her usual seat in front of the television. "You're back, big bro!" she said, eagerly. "Dad left a while ago. He said they maybe found Risette!"

"Really?" Souji asked, putting down his school bag and slipping off his shoes. "Is she okay?"

"I dunno... but I think so! Dad didn't look mad when he hung up the phone, or hurt, or..." Souji let Nanako lead him into the living room; she perched on the couch next to him, talking excitedly about what her dad had said, and about her day at school, as the TV droned on in the background. He felt a little guilty for not giving his little cousin his full attention, but he had so little energy to spare.

"...so what did you do today, big bro?"

That actually required a response - but he couldn't tell Nanako about going to the Amagi Inn, even if he didn't mention Rise. "Hm, school was pretty normal... ah, except for one thing. We had a new student transfer into our class."

"Boy or girl?" Nanako asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Boy. I think his family might have something to do with Junes?"

And that was the magic word; an excited smile spread over his little cousin's face, and she bounced slightly on the couch. "I love Junes! I can't wait until it opens up! Dad hasn't had time to go to Okina City in forever..."

Souji chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Yeah, he's been pretty busy, huh?"

"Mmhmm... but it opens in..." Nanako paused, a look of concentration coming over her face; she quickly counted her fingers. "Two weeks! Then we can go all the time! Every day! 'Cause every day's great at your Junes!" she sang, beaming.

"Your Junes," Souji echoed, obediently, then smiled as Nanako bounced again in delight. "I'll take you the first day it opens, I promise - but right now I'm hungry. Did your Dad say anything about dinner?"

"Um... there's some ramen..."

"That sounds good to me. What flavor do you want?" Souji asked as he got up, and while the movement brought another twinge from his abused muscles, he hid it well. Normally he'd make a proper dinner for himself and Nanako, but he was just too damn tired right now.

"Shrimp!" Nanako said, instantly, and she darted ahead of him to grab the shrink-wrapped bowls from the cabinet.

The TV caught Souji's attention as he walked past it, and he paused for a moment. "-correspondent in Inaba reports that teen idol Rise Kujikawa has been found alive and well after her apparent kidnapping three days ago-"

"Big bro?"

"Coming," Souji said, and turned off the TV.

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Ten Steps (3/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 05:57 am UTC (link)
...............

Inaba was tiny - one train station, one gas station, and that was about it. The bulk of Junes seemed to dwarf everything around it. So it was patently ridiculous for Yosuke to get lost on the way to school, but he managed it somehow. Fantastic. One more reason for that asshole teacher to yell at me.

Somehow, Yosuke made it in before the morning bell, though it was a near thing; he darted into the classroom and hurriedly sat down just as the other door opened to admit their homeroom teacher. Yosuke tried to hunch down behind the silver-haired boy in front of him, quickly grabbing his stuff out of his bag and shoving it haphazardly into his desk.

Fortunately, either his hiding trick worked or the teacher had better things to do than pick on him; Morooka launched into the lecture without incident, and Yosuke relaxed a little. He stared at the blackboard, trying to pay attention, but he couldn't really focus. Stupid teacher - what the hell was his deal, anyway? Stupid town, too, while he was at it. He hadn't asked for this. It had all been so sudden, with just a month's warning. Your father's been promoted - branch manager of the brand new Junes in Inaba. Congratulations for his dad, and a raw deal for him.

Stupid freakin' Junes-

"Hanamura!"

Yosuke jumped and met Morooka's gaze. Crap. The teacher was giving him a sharp, almost gleeful look - he knew he'd caught Yosuke out. "Y-yessir?"

"Answer the question, Hanamura - what's the meaning of the root word 'pend'?" Morooka's smile widened as Yosuke just stared. Damnit-

"To hang." The words were spoken quietly, and Yosuke resisted the urge to look at the source of the sound, lest he give it away. Instead, he repeated the answer quickly and (he hoped) confidently... and Morooka scowled, just a little.

"That's right," the teacher grunted, and continued the lecture.

Once Yosuke was sure he was safe, he relaxed again, relieved - though he did try a bit harder to actually pay attention to the lecture this time, so as not to waste the reprieve he'd been given. When the lunch bell finally rang, Yosuke quickly tapped the boy in front of him on the shoulder. "Hey, uh... thanks."

The other boy turned around with a smile. "Oh, no problem. I hate it when Morooka jumps on people like that. He did the same thing to me when I transfered here a few months ago."

"Really? I guess I just have to wait for some other poor sap to transfer in and take the heat off." Yosuke laughed, then shook his head. "But yeah... thanks for the hint."

"Hey, Souji," said the short-haired girl who also sat in that row, "you ready to go?"

"Yeah, one second," the silver-haired boy said with a nod, then turned back to Yosuke and held out one hand. "I'm Souji Seta, and this is Chie Satonaka."

"Yosuke Hanamura." Yosuke took Souji's hand after a moment and shook it, bemused, then gave Chie a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you."

Chie nodded cheerfully. "Nice to meet you, too. Don't take King Moron too seriously. He'll get tired of it after a while." She poked Souji in the back, though, as she stood up. "Yukiko already went to get her lunch. I'll meet you on the roof, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be there." Souji got up too and grabbed his school bag before turning back to Yosuke. "I'd better get going - but hey, tomorrow's Saturday. If you're not busy after school, maybe I could show you around."

Yosuke blinked, surprised. "Huh? Uh... sure, I think I could do that."

"Great." Souji smiled. "See you later, then."

And then Souji was gone, walking out of the classroom and leaving Yosuke behind. He blinked, bemused, until the growl of his stomach reminded him that he hadn't bought his own lunch yet.

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Ten Steps (4/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 05:58 am UTC (link)
..................


The inside of Junes was a vast, echoing cavern at this stage, filled with noise and employees swarming everywhere. The actual building had been finished a few weeks ago, but the inside was still a work in progress, with tons and tons of product needing to be stocked and shelved. It was a madhouse, and Yosuke hated it. Oh, sure, he'd worked part-time at the local Junes back home, but that was different. Back there he was just one of the crowd; here everyone knew his name, usually followed by the words "the manager's son".

His job right now was in the back, scanning endless boxes as deliveries flooded in, bringing everything they needed to have a fully-stocked store for the grand opening. The repetitive movements quickly made his arms ache, and he jammed his headphones over his ears and turned the music up full-blast to try and drown out the increasingly obnoxious beeps of the scanner.

They'd talked about how great the grand opening would be, but nobody had mentioned the colossal amount of work needed to get to that point. Inaba was disappointing, Junes was disappointing, and school was rapidly heading that direction, too. He was supposed to be the big fish in a small pond, the fascinating, instantly popular city kid - and for a while, it seemed that would be the case. He'd had plenty of curious students around him right after he'd arrived, chatting after school, asking him questions over lunch, but inevitably their conversation would turn to either the city he'd left behind or to Junes. And while showing off his knowledge of far-off places and his connections with Junes was fun at first, it lost its luster quickly.

Even though Yosuke wasn't really sure he wanted to know more about this dumb town, he had to admit that he owed his classmate. And this Seta kid was a transfer student too, or so he'd said. Maybe they had something in common? Apparently, he also came from the city too - and that reminded Yosuke of another sore subject. He stopped scanning for a moment and fumbled in his pocket for his cell phone, eyeing the readout blankly. Still no messages, no missed calls, nothing. Here he was, recounting all the stories of the people he used to know, the things he used to do - and none of said people seemed interested in even answering his text messages. Didn't any of them care? He'd have to text them later. Again.

Ugh. Stop thinking about depressing crap. Yosuke shook his head and shoved his phone back in his pocket, then fumbled for his player and switched playlists to the most obnoxious, upbeat music he had on the damn thing. At least he was going to legitimately hang out with someone tomorrow - maybe that'd go better. If nothing else, Souji probably wouldn't ask him about the city.

Yosuke stretched, then picked up the next box and kept scanning.

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Re: Ten Steps (5/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 05:59 am UTC (link)
...............

The rain arrived on Saturday morning, exactly as the forecast had predicted, though it wasn't supposed to last long. The rain was still pounding on the windows when the last bell rang, though, and Chie elbowed Souji with an aggrieved sigh. "Can you believe this? It said it was supposed to clear up by now!"

"Go down to Aiya, then?" Souji suggested.

Chie stuck her tongue out at him. "Nah, I can't afford to risk losing to the beef bowl today. Anyway, I'm going to go help Yuki at the Inn." Yukiko had left early today; Rise's discovery near the Amagi Inn had brought a new wave of publicity to the place, and Yukiko's family had their hands full. Chie tilted her head down to whisper into Souji's ear. "Hey, we gonna train tomorrow?"

"Maybe. I'll call you," Souji whispered back.

Chie nodded, then stood up. "Alright - seeya later!"

"Bye," Souji said, then turned to gather his books and put them into his bag as Chie left the classroom. He glanced back at Yosuke as he did so; the other boy had his head down on the desk, and Souji couldn't see Yosuke's expression under the fall of his hair. Maybe he wasn't interested after all... after the way Morooka had 'welcomed' him, Souji really wouldn't blame the guy too much if he wrote off Inaba entirely based on that experience alone.

But as soon as Souji stood up, Yosuke shifted, then glanced up at him with a grin. "Hey, what you said yesterday - is that still on?"

"Absolutely. You don't mind the rain?"

Yosuke shrugged. "That's what umbrellas are for, right? Anyway, I got the afternoon off work, and that wasn't easy. Might as well enjoy it."

"You have a part-time job?" Souji asked, curious, as Yosuke started shoving the contents of his desk into his own school bag.

Yosuke gave him a bemused look. "What, you don't already know? I work at Junes - it's not open to the public yet, but there's lots to do. My dad's the store manager. He wasn't supposed to be, but the first guy they hired had to quit because his wife got really sick. So they dragged us all out here to the boonies." Yosuke grimaced, then stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"Yeah, I know the feeling, kind of... but honestly, Inaba's not that bad. You'll see." Souji smiled. "You hungry?"

"Uh. Well, I didn't really eat much lunch today, so... yeah?"

Souji's grin widened. "Then I know exactly what our first stop will be."

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Ten Steps (6/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:00 am UTC (link)
............


"This is crazy," Yosuke muttered, poking at the pile of meat inside his bowl. "This bowl's got some kinda meat generator at the bottom, right?"

Souji swallowed his own mouthful of beef, then chuckled. "They don't call it the Beef Bowl Challenge for nothing. It's only on the menu on rainy days."

"I said I was hungry, but I'm not this hungry. I don't think I've ever been hungry enough to finish this - I don't think anyone's hungry enough to finish this! Ever!" Yosuke took another bite, but his pace was rapidly slowing down.

Even Souji had to admit he was getting full. One day, he was determined to conquer the Beef Bowl Challenge, but it wasn't happening today. "I do know somebody who's finished it, actually. Chie's finished it three or four times, believe it or not."

Yosuke's chopsticks clinked against the side of the bowl as he stopped eating and stared at Souji. "You're not serious."

Souji laughed. "Completely. I got to see it the last time she took the challenge on. It was terrifying."

"Geez, she's so skinny... where does she put it all?" Yosuke poked at the beef bowl again. "If you'd said that Hanako girl, I would've believed you in a second, but... oof. I give in, man. The beef bowl wins." He put down his chopsticks almost reverently.

"Yeah, me too," Souji admitted, pushing his own bowl just out of reach so he wouldn't be tempted to eat any more - otherwise, he'd never be able to walk home, let alone show Yosuke the rest of the shopping district.

Their movements caught the attention of the chef, who casually leaned over the counter to peer at their bowls. "Aiya... too bad, boys. That'll be six thousand yen."

"I got it," Yosuke said, quickly, and Souji blinked.

"Wait, no you don't. That's way too much - I brought you here, I should pay for yours if anyone's going to-"

But Yosuke shook his head. "Nah, I told you, I got it. I have a part-time job, it's good. Anyway, I owe you one for the other day."

Souji seriously doubted that working part-time at Junes was anywhere near as lucrative as selling Shadow bits to Daidara, but Yosuke seemed pretty determined. So he just nodded. "Thanks," he said, with a smile. "I'm pretty sure one answer isn't worth quite that much, though."

"Then you'll have to give me some more answers later, to make up for the difference," Yosuke joked, handing the chef some bills and getting only a few coins in exchange.

Souji snickered. "We'll see. Ready to move on?" He stood up, then stretched.

"If I can still move." Yosuke made a face, but got up and stretched too. "Oof. I can't believe anyone could possibly finish off that monstrosity."

"Walk it off," Souji informed him with a grin, then led the way back out to the street. The rain was only a sporadic drizzle now, not even worth using an umbrella; there were more people along the streets, chatting as they went from shop to shop. "Ready to keep going?"

"Yeah, sure." Yosuke readjusted his headphones and stepped out onto the sidewalk. "So where to next?"

"Hm. I'd take you by Souzai Daigaku, except I don't think there's much point. Their grilled steak is a local specialty, though."

Yosuke groaned. "Don't mention meat. Please. Let's just go wherever. Walk it off, like you said."

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Ten Steps (7/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:00 am UTC (link)
Souji nodded, and started walking; Yosuke paused for a few seconds before catching up and keeping pace next to him. They ambled slowly down the sidewalk, with Souji pointing out various shops and stopping every so often to talk to people; Tatsumi-san laughed and asked how Kanji was doing, and Naoki Konishi paused from stocking the soda machine to say hello, though he gave Yosuke an almost wary look after being introduced.

"Y'know, you're right... this place is kinda nice. Cute, I guess." Yosuke stopped and peered into the window of the bike shop as they walked past. "The prices are kinda high, though. I think Junes is going to undercut a lot of this." He paused, then shook his head and pointed at something in the window. "Someday, I'm gonna get rid of my stupid bike and get something better... a motorcycle would be pretty cool, huh?"

Souji glanced down the street, thoughtfully. What Yosuke said about Junes was probably true, and according to Naoki, there'd been some concern about it among the local merchants. Which was probably why Naoki reacted the way he did, but-

"Souji?"

Souji blinked and refocused on Yosuke; the other boy was giving him a questioning look. "Sorry - what's up?"

"Aren't you... y'know, curious about Junes at all?"

"About Junes? No, not really - I mean, I know it's opening soon, and my cousin Nanako absolutely loves it. She has the jingle memorized. But we've been to them before. It's not like it's a new thing to me." Souji shrugged. "I'm sure you're sick of answering questions about it, anyway."

"Huh." Yosuke looked bemused for a moment, then grinned, and it seemed to Souji that the smile came more easily. "Well, hey. That works for me. You wouldn't believe how many people were my 'friends' until they realized I couldn't get them a job..."

"I've already got a job," Souji assured him. "Day care, very exciting."

"Really? I wouldn't have figured you for being that domestic."

"Oh, yeah, I wear an apron and everything," Souji said dryly, then laughed. "I cook, too. Is that domestic enough for you?"

"Figures," Yosuke teased, then stretched and looked up at the sky - the sun was beginning to set, and the sky was stained bright orange, with only a few scattered clouds left. "Whoa, I didn't realize it was getting that late. I guess time flies when you're having fun?"

"Having fun, huh? I told you, Inaba's not that bad," Souji said with a smile.

"I guess," Yosuke said, mock-begrudgingly, then grinned back. "Thanks. I appreciate it, seriously."

"Any time," Souji replied, and he meant it - it was nice to spend an afternoon not thinking about Shadows or the TV world or the case or anything. Just... being himself, being the leader of nothing more complex than a tour of the shopping district. He spent so much time with the others that it was easy to forget there were plenty of things going on in Inaba that had nothing to do with the murders. "Maybe we can hang out again sometime."

"Sure, that'd be great," Yosuke said immediately, then ducked his head slightly, as if embarrassed. "I guess I'd better get going. See you at school on Monday?"

"I'll be there," Souji promised, and watched as Yosuke gave him a thumbs-up and trotted down the street, heading for home.

That really had been fun.

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Ten Steps (8/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:01 am UTC (link)
.................

As Junes' grand opening drew closer, Yosuke found himself increasingly buried in work. The week before Junes' grand opening, Yosuke found himself going to school, then immediately rushing to the store to work until long past his shift would normally have ended. He had just enough time left to eat and possibly stare blankly at his homework before collapsing into bed. Lather, rinse, repeat until totally exhausted.

Souji helped him out in class here and there, either giving Yosuke answers in response to King Moron's sharp questions or nudging at his desk to wake him up when he dozed off, but even that wasn't enough to break through his constant exhaustion. Hell, even the news that the serial murderer had struck again and killed King Moron, of all people, hadn't done more than make Yosuke blink at the TV and wonder who'd finally snapped and given that jerk what was coming to him. He was just too damn tired.

So the grand opening itself wasn't the bright, joyous spectacle he'd imagined - oh, sure, it was crowded and people seemed happy, but Yosuke couldn't bring himself to care. All he could think about from the time he stumbled out of bed was the end of the day, when he could finally freakin' sleep. To make matters worse, he was on the registers, and the combination of what seemed like the entire town showing up at the store, plus the fact that hardly any of the new employees really knew what they were doing...

Ugh. This can't be over soon enough. Yosuke went through the motions dozens, maybe hundreds of times - "Hi, did you find everything you needed today? Have a great day!" - until his shoulders and throat were sore, but the lines never got any shorter. So many people went through his line that he didn't realize the face in front of him was familiar - and amused - until he was halfway through his greeting. "Hi, did you find everything you- Souji, what are you doing here?!"

Souji just grinned. "Shopping, obviously. How're you doing?"

"If I don't come to school again, just assume I'm dead and Junes killed me," Yosuke said, under his breath, then reached out for Souji's first item and paused. "Wait, what? Five... five medical kits? Dude, I didn't know you were that accident-prone."

"Heh, well," Souji said, though his gaze flicked away from Yosuke's for a second, but a moment later a small figure came up to him, brown hair just barely visible over the counter. "Ah - this is my cousin, Nanako," Souji said, and Yosuke leaned over the counter to see a small, pigtailed girl in pink standing by Souji's side, her face flushed with excitement. "Nanako, this is Yosuke, the transfer student I told you about."

The little girl beamed at him as if he was a movie star or something. "I love Junes!"

"Wow, uh... hi, Nanako-chan," he said, then flinched slightly as the man in line behind Souji pointedly cleared his throat. "Uh. Sorry, dude," he said quickly, grabbing the items and scanning them, bagging them as quickly as he could. "I'll catch up with you on Monday or something-"

"When's your break?"

"Heh.. a break? What's that?" Yosuke sighed, but he gave Souji a weary smile and handed him his bags. "Maybe in an hour or two, I don't know. Don't worry about it. Seeya - uh. Have a great day!"

"Every day's great at your Junes!" Nanako sang back at him, then waved.

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Ten Steps (9/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:02 am UTC (link)
But Yosuke had no time to think about Souji, or Nanako-chan, or even how glorious a break would be. The seemingly endless line continued to demand his full attention, and it wasn't until a good hour and a half later that he got a breather, finally relieved by the next shift. Not that his work was over, oh no - they needed him in the stockroom after his break - but he had a half an hour in which he could do absolutely nothing.

He almost went into the break room, then paused - nope, there were too many people in there. He'd be swarmed in a second with questions, and oh man, he was not in the mood for more damn questions. Instead, Yosuke took off his apron and shoved it behind an endcap, then hurried up to the food court, hoping to lose himself in the crowd for a while.

What he wasn't expecting was to have a cheerful "Yosuke-kun!" reach his ears as he wove his way through the crowded food court. He stopped suddenly, his attention drawn to a corner table, currently occupied by a small child in pink and a familiar silver-haired teenager. Nanako-chan beamed at him as he made his way over to the table.

Yosuke raised one eyebrow at Souji. "Dude, I told you not to worry about it."

"Who's worrying?" Souji grinned. "A guy can have lunch with his cousin anywhere he wants, can't he?"

"Big bro, can I go play on the playground?" Nanako asked eagerly, putting down her empty cup.

"Sure, go ahead. Can Yosuke-kun have your seat?"

"Yeah! Thanks, big bro!" And Nanako hopped up, hurrying over to the playground; Souji just gestured for Yosuke to take a seat.

He did so gratefully, slumping forward to rest his forehead on the cool plastic of the table. "I think I'm just gonna fall asleep right here," he mumbled, turning his head to one side so he could see Souji's face.

"This will all be over tomorrow, right?" Souji asked, glancing over at the playground before focusing on Yosuke again.

"Man, I hope so. My whole damn life's been nothing but Junes, Junes, Junes lately. Sometimes I really hate this place."

"Yeah, I can understand that." Souji picked up his own cup and took a long drink. "Nanako-chan likes it, though. I'm sure I'll be coming here a lot."

"Your cousin's cute - and hey, you said your uncle was a detective, right? I bet he's really busy what with King Moron getting murdered and all. Here I thought all that crazy serial killer stuff was all tied up. It's kind of exciting, isn't it?"

To Yosuke's surprise, Souji glanced away again. "Exciting? I guess so, in a way."

Yosuke raised one eyebrow; even though he didn't know Souji all that well, it was still pretty clear the other boy was being evasive about something. Then again, if his uncle was a detective, maybe he was sick of hearing about the whole thing. "Something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong. Nanako just gets lonely when her dad isn't around. I feel bad for her," Souji said, looking over at where Nanako-chan was playing. "We were all hoping the murders were done with, I suppose. My uncle isn't really home much with normal police work, let alone when there's an intense investigation like with the murders."

"That makes sense," Yosuke said, then stifled a yawn; even with all the noise, he was still exhausted enough that he wanted to just fall asleep right there on the table. "Ugh. I'm beat, but I still have to go back down and work in the stockroom for two more hours."

"How much more time do you have? If you want to sleep, I can just wake you up. I do it often enough in class."

"Shut up," Yosuke muttered, but he gave Souji a grateful smile. "Uh. Fifteen minutes?"

Souji checked his watch, then nodded. "Sounds good. Go ahead."

"Thanks, man," Yosuke said with a sigh, and rested his head on his arms, closing his eyes.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Ten Steps (10/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:03 am UTC (link)
......................

Souji knew the call was coming, but that didn't stop him from sighing quietly at the phone when it rang that evening. It was Yosuke, of course - probably mad, or at least confused. And Souji couldn't blame him. They'd had plans today, for the first day of summer vacation; hell, those plans had been all that kept Yosuke paying attention during their study sessions before exams. And then the Midnight Channel had come on the night before, with a clear image of Mitsuo Kubo taunting them all... and that was that.

Souji had sent Yosuke a quick text message that morning on the way to the Amagi Inn, knowing that he'd have to pay for it later, but their investigation had to take priority. He was exhausted now, his shoulders aching from fighting, but he owed Yosuke an apology no matter what. He flipped open the phone before it could ring again. "Hey, Yosuke."

"Sheesh - you're finally picking up, huh?" Yosuke sounded vaguely exasperated. "I called all afternoon, but it just said your phone was out of the service area and shunted me to voicemail..."

Souji sighed inwardly and settled down on the couch. "I'm really sorry about that. Something came up."

"S'okay," Yosuke said after a moment, though Souji could tell even through the phone that it really wasn't okay. "I mean - we're still on for tomorrow, right?" But Souji hesitated just long enough. "Dude. Seriously?"

"I'm sorry," Souji said again, knowing it wasn't enough. "I really wasn't expecting to be busy right now. But summer vacation's just started, right? We'll have plenty of time to hang out."

There was silence for a moment, then a chuckle that didn't sound genuine in the least. "Yeah, I guess so. Maybe later this week?"

"Yeah, maybe - I'll call you, okay?"

"... Yeah. Yeah, you do that." Souji winced at the unmistakably hurt tone in Yosuke's voice. "Sorry. Uh. I'll... talk to you later." And Yosuke hung up before Souji could say anything in response.

He sighed and slumped into the couch, closing his eyes. No matter how he felt, he had a duty to see this through, to catch Kubo and put an end to this. He was the leader - he should be thinking about the case right now, reviewing the data from Rise about their opponents, planning strategies... not feeling guilty. He'd had to cancel or change plans with his other friends before, for the sake of their investigation, but he didn't remember ever feeling quite this bad about it.

After a few moments of silence, Souji got up and unrolled his futon, giving the television an irritated look before flicking off the light. It took him longer than usual to get to sleep.



Yosuke finally caught up to him a few days later. The investigation's progress seemed horribly slow, and Souji and the rest of the team had spent most of each day inside the TV world. Souji had been checking his phone messages, though; he'd watched his inbox fill up, and promised himself to reply to Yosuke in more detail, make things up to him, later.

But 'later' hadn't happened yet, and as Souji hurried down the street one morning, he nearly collided with Yosuke. "Whoa! Hey, there you are-" Yosuke had spluttered just before crashing his bike rather spectacularly into the curb.

Souji ran over to him and helped him up. "Geez, be careful - are you okay?"

"I'm fine - I was trying to find out if you were okay! What's going on, dude? I haven't heard anything out of you for days!" Yosuke gave him a worried look as he got to his feet. "What happened to... well, everything?"

And that was exactly what Souji didn't want to hear. "Yosuke, I'm sorry - I really need to catch the next bus," and that wasn't a lie, at least. The bus would be here soon, the last one for a good hour, and if he didn't want to walk to the Amagi Inn then he had to get on it. "I'll call you tonight, okay? I promise."

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Ten Steps (11/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:04 am UTC (link)
He squeezed Yosuke's shoulder, then set off down the street at a rapid pace, trying to focus on the investigation and getting on the bus in time than anything else - which was a mistake, as it turned out.

"Souji, wait-" And that was all the warning Souji had before Yosuke grabbed his arm, trying to get his attention.

It was just Yosuke's bad luck that he happened to dig his fingers in right on top of a Shadow-inflicted bruise. Souji flinched away without thinking, involuntarily wrenching free of Yosuke's grip. When he turned to face his friend, the other boy had pulled back a few steps, hurt clearly visible in his eyes. "Er... sorry," Souji said, quickly. "What's up?" He could feel his phone buzzing insistently in his pocket, knew it was Chie or maybe Kanji text messaging him, but he tried to ignore it for just a moment.

"What's going on, man? Is something wrong? You... you mad at me or something?" Yosuke folded his arms and gave Souji an almost defiant look, and a renewed sense of guilt hit Souji pretty much instantly.

But Souji had no explanation to offer him. "No, I'm not mad at you," he said, firmly, meeting Yosuke's gaze to try and make him understand. "Nothing's wrong, I'm just... busy, that's all."

It was a shoddy excuse, and Souji knew it; he wasn't surprised when Yosuke responded with a frustrated shake of his head. "There's something you're not telling me, dude... c'mon, you can trust me," and the desperation in Yosuke's words stung.

Souji sighed. "It's nothing," he said, and hated the words even as he said them; he saw Yosuke withdraw further, shut down a little. "We're just busy, but it'll be over soon-"

"And I'm not invited, right. I get it." Yosuke turned away. "Fine. Call me when you're not busy, I guess. When you've got time for me. Whatever."

And with that, Yosuke pivoted on one foot and walked away, fists clenched at his sides; Souji thought about calling after him, trying to explain himself a little better, but his phone buzzed in his pocket again and he sighed. No. He couldn't, and he hated even thinking it, waste any more time. They had a murderer to catch, and that had to take priority.

Just as Souji got to the corner, the bus passed him on the street; he swore under his breath and started running. But there was a familiar figure waiting at the bus stop, and she quickly got on the bus and said something to the driver, holding the bus until Souji made it through the doors. "Thanks, Chie," he murmured as he dropped his fare into the box and followed her down the aisle. There weren't many people on the bus, but they still took their seats in the back, far away from everyone else.

"Geez." Chie shook her head. "The next bus isn't for an hour, Souji-"

"I know, but I made it, didn't I?" Souji replied, slightly nettled, then sighed. Chie didn't deserve that. "I'm sorry."

Chie just raised one eyebrow at him. "Did something happen?"

Souji looked out the window for a moment. "I ran into Yosuke. He's not particularly impressed with my disappearing act the past few days."

Chie was quiet for a moment. "Y'know, I guess I never thought about that... I mean, Yukiko's part of the team, so it's not a problem for me. I guess I'm lucky, getting to keep my best friend with me."

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Ten Steps (12/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:05 am UTC (link)
"Heh. We're that inseparable, huh?"

"Yeah, you're getting as bad as... oh, I don't know, Daisuke and Kou." Souji glanced back at Chie. She was grinning at him cheerfully, but she quickly sobered again. "He's kinda annoying sometimes, but I think he's a nice guy, and you guys do hang out a lot..."

"He wants an explanation. You know I can't give him one." Well, he could, but that would involve lying - and Souji didn't really want to go there. Not with his... yeah, best friend sounded about right, if his brain didn't immediately supply the image of Yosuke stomping away from him again. Ugh.

Chie drooped. "Sorry, Souji."

"It's not your fault." Souji gave her a small smile. "Anyway, we've got a lot ahead of us today. Focus on that. I'll deal with Yosuke somehow, once we've... finished up."

Chie just smiled back and nodded, and filled the air with pointless small talk until they got to their stop. Still, it was almost a relief to go inside the TV and get into his leader mindset, to shift his focus to things he could 'fix' just by hitting them with a sword.

Sometimes things inside the TV world were so much simpler.


..............


Yosuke managed to make it all the way to the next intersection before he stopped walking and risked a glance back at the street behind him. A tiny part of him had hoped Souji would come after him, but his friend wasn't even in sight anymore. Yosuke swore under his breath, tugged his headphones over his ears and kept walking. It just wasn't goddamn fair, they'd had plans and what the hell had happened?

And why the hell wouldn't Souji talk to him about it? But no, it was as if Yosuke had suddenly ceased to exist, and that hurt, damnit.

Maybe, when it came down to it, they weren't as close as Yosuke thought they were - maybe their friendship was all on his end, and Souji was just being nice. Maybe the whole thing was ultimately as fake as his 'friends' back in the city. He got about as many text messages from them as he did from Souji these days.

Yosuke sighed and pulled out his cell phone. The readout was, once again, completely devoid of any messages, voice or text, and he scowled at it. It wasn't like he didn't have any other friends besides Souji - he wasn't that much of a loser - but the other people he knew, like Daisuke and a few others from Yasogami High, or the other part-timers from Junes, weren't quite the same. They were friends at school, or acquaintances at work, and... Souji was one of the only people he saw outside of those two places, come to think of it. But now Souji had practically vanished, as if they hadn't made plans for summer break.

Yosuke shoved the phone back into his pocket. By now he was almost at Junes, and he hesitated for a moment at the corner. Just walking along and moping wasn't making him feel any better - there had to be some kind of alternative, but he couldn't think of anything else to do except go to Junes. His house was empty, and even if it seemed like there wasn't anything else to his entire damn life but Junes, it'd still keep him busy. It was his day off.... but there'd be people around.

Damn, that's lame. Even for me.

It didn't stop him from crossing the street, though, and he took off his headphones as the automatic doors swished open. One of the full-time employees was on the elevator on the way up - he didn't remember her name, but pretty much everyone knew who he was. "Working again, Hana-chan?"

"Nah, it's my day off... but you know me, I'm always around," he said, cheerfully.

And if the smile on his face was a little forced, she didn't seem to notice.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Ten Steps (13/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:06 am UTC (link)
...................

"The police have apprehended the prime suspect in the Inaba serial murder case. The suspect was taken into custody last night-"

Souji changed the channel as Nanako came back into the room. "Did it start yet?" she asked eagerly, hurrying past him to take up her usual seat in front of the TV.

"Not yet," Souji replied with a grin. He knew better than to get between Nanako and Featherman, even for breaking news updates. Anyway, he was more than familiar with the news this morning. The ache in his shoulders was a constant reminder - they'd done it, they'd completed Mitsuo Kubo's 'game', defeated his Shadow, and dragged him out of the TV. It was over, at least in theory.

Souji knew that, logically, but he'd spent so many months working on the case, going to the Amagi Inn, jumping into the TV, summoning his Personas... it was startling, somehow, to be done. It was almost disappointing, in a weird way... and he had to admit that he'd kind of miss it.

But right now there was something - someone - else he'd missed that he needed to take care of. Souji padded into the hallway and flipped open his cell phone, tabbing through his address book until Yosuke's name was highlighted. He looked at it for a moment, then closed his phone and put it back in his pocket. A phone call or text message wasn't really enough. Yosuke had been really mad, not that Souji could blame him. Yosuke hadn't said a word to him, spoken or otherwise, since that morning five days ago - which was kind of worrying, considering that Yosuke usually texted him several times a day.

Souji turned to peer around the corner at Nanako - the show had started, and she was humming along to the theme song. "I think I'm going to go out for a few hours. Is that okay?"

"I'll watch the house," Nanako said immediately, her eyes flicking up to meet his gaze for just a second before her focus returned to the TV. Souji shook his head, grinning wryly, then put on his shoes. He couldn't remember if Yosuke was supposed to work today or not, but Junes was still a good place to start looking.

Sure enough, Yosuke wasn't too hard to find - he wasn't at their usual table, but he was in the food court, his chair shoved into a small patch of shade. He had his headphones on, eyes closed, head bobbing slightly in time to the music, and he jumped when Souji tapped him on the shoulder. "Gah! Hey - Souji?" The surprised smile lasted for a good five seconds before it turned into a scowl; Yosuke folded his arms, glaring at Souji in a half-hearted fashion.

The switch from cheerful to petulant was so abrupt that it was almost funny. "What, did you forget you were mad at me?"

"No," Yosuke said, then sighed and let his arms fall to his sides. He opened his mouth to say something else, but Souji got there first.

"Look, Yosuke - I'm sorry, I was a jerk, and... are you working today?"

"No." Yosuke glanced away for a second. "I'm just hanging out."

"Feel like hanging out with me?"

Yosuke gave him a long look. "Your treat?" he asked, finally.

"Yeah, sure," Souji said, and Yosuke's uneasy expression melted a little.

"Fine, I guess I can be bribed," he said, getting to his feet; still, when he walked over to Souji, he abruptly leaned over and punched him in the arm, hard enough to hurt. "Just - don't do that again, dude, okay? Seriously."

Souji winced - Yosuke seemed to have a talent for hitting his bruises by accident - but he had to admit he deserved that one.

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Ten Steps (14/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:07 am UTC (link)
They ended up walking down the main street in the shopping district, eating Topsicles and talking about nothing; Souji narrowly evaded Teddie in front of Tatsumi Textiles, the 'bear' working happily despite the heat and sparkling like mad at everyone who walked by. "'Sensei?'" Yosuke asked him as they headed up the ancient stone steps to the shrine. "You know that guy?"

"Yeah. We hang out sometimes."

"Heh. You hang out with the guy in the mascot suit for the shopping district Merchant's Association, and you hang out with me." Yosuke stopped walking, looking up at the leaves overhead.

"Why would that matter?" Souji asked, taking a seat on the cool stone in front of the offertory box; after a moment, Yosuke joined him. "You're my friend. So's he. It doesn't have to be all complicated."

"Maybe for you," Yosuke muttered, then bit off the tip of his Topsicle. "I don't really like coming here by myself, y'know? Everyone just looks at me funny, and they whisper when they don't think I can hear. I'm not me, I'm 'that Junes kid'. Like I personally decided to open the store just to be a jerk."

Souji sighed. "They'll get over it eventually. They're just worried about their businesses, that's all." But it wasn't an adequate answer, and Souji knew it; it was unfair, he couldn't and wouldn't deny that, and yet... it wasn't something he could really fix.

And that bothered him.

"Yeah, well." Yosuke kicked at a pebble. "That doesn't make it feel any better. It wasn't quite the same back home, but... now I'm thinking maybe I was just the Junes kid to people there, too. Discounts, connections, yeah... and how many of them answer my texts now?" He laughed, self-depreciatingly. "Nobody took anything personally... it was just business. I guess I was 'just business', too."

"But you're not Junes - you're you," Souji said, finally, glancing at Yosuke. "And if people can't figure that out... well, it's their loss."

Yosuke sighed, but when he looked back at Souji there was a faint smile on his face. "So you're not here to wheedle a discount out of me?"

Souji laughed. "No." He elbowed Yosuke lightly. "I promise."

"Well... good. So long as we're clear." Yosuke grinned, then ducked his head again, quiet for a few moments as he licked at his melting Topsicle. "I was kinda worried."

"About earlier, you mean?"

"Yeah," Yosuke admitted. "I thought you might be like the rest of them. I mean... if you don't want to hang out, promise me you'll just tell me, okay? I'm sick of people never answering my calls or messages, making excuses..."

"I'm sorry-"

"It's okay," Yosuke said quickly, then gave Souji a sidelong glance. "But what were you doing, anyway? I kept getting those damn 'out of the service area' messages when I called you. Did you go somewhere?"

Souji looked at his own Topsicle, trying to think of something. "Um. Kind of-"

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Ten Steps (15/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:08 am UTC (link)
"Sensei! There you are!"

Souji had never been more grateful to hear Teddie's voice; the 'bear' was standing at the top of the shrine steps, out of the bear suit now, waving a Topsicle in each hand. "I brought Topsicles, too - can I come share with you, can I, can I?"

Souji glanced at Yosuke; the other boy was looking at Teddie with a bemused expression. But he didn't seem bothered by Teddie's intrusion, so Souji nodded, grateful for the reprieve. "Sure, Teddie."

"Goodie!" Teddie beamed and came over to them, alternately licking at each of his dual-wielded Topsicles. "Oh, Sensei, it was so hot, it was unbearable! Tatsumi-san gave me a break and money for these, though. She's such a nice lady!"

"Yeah, you've been working hard lately," Souji said. "Hey, Teddie - this is my friend Yosuke. Yosuke, this is Teddie."

"Uh. Hey," Yosuke said, awkwardly.

But Teddie gave Yosuke a curious glance, then rocked back on his heels with a sparkly smile. "Oh, I heard about you! Sensei talks about you all the time. Nana-chan too! She taught me how to sing your song, Yosuke-kun!"

Yosuke blinked. "My song?"

Souji opened his mouth, but Teddie got there first. "Every-day's great at your Jun-es!"

Yosuke stared, then blinked again, then started to laugh, helplessly. "What the hell?"

"Nana-chan said you were from Junes, and that's the Junes song!" Teddie pouted. "Nana-chan and I practiced a lot!"

"And it shows," Souji reassured him, resisting the urge to laugh along with Yosuke. "You were almost on key that time!"

"Thank you, Sensei! Someday I'll get it perfect," Teddie said, with a determined nod. "Just wait and see!"

"N-no, you did fine, Teddie," Yosuke said, quickly. "I just was kind of surprised, that's all... I didn't think you'd like Junes at all, let alone sing the jingle..."

"Oh, no - Teddie loves Junes! Nana-chan showed me!" Teddie brightened even more. "And Chie-chan and Yuki-chan took me there to get some clothes! It's not the same as what Tatsumi-san makes, but Yuki-chan said these clothes suited me better, anyway! Pretty girls love hot studs in stylish clothes," he added, with a sparkling grin.

Yosuke blinked. "Well, uh... come and say hi to me next time you're at Junes, then? Maybe I can get you a discount or something."

"Thank you! You're really nice, Yosuke-kun - Sensei always picks good friends," Teddie gushed.

"Yeah... I guess he does." Now it was Yosuke's turn to nudge Souji, a wry grin on his face. "Even if he is a weirdo sometimes."

"Hey!" Souji protested, then choked back a laugh as the remains of Yosuke's Topsicle slid off the stick to land unceremoniously on the ground.

Yosuke glared at it, then glanced up at Souji with a calculating expression. "You know, you still owe me, dude."

"Fine, fine. You want another Topsicle, I assume?" Souji shook his head and got to his feet.

"Ooh! Ooh! Teddie wants one too!"

Souji wisely refrained from pointing out that Teddie already had more Topsicles than he could handle; Kanji's mother was going to have fun de-stickying her house guest when he finally made it back to the store later on. "Okay - two Topsicles."

"Get me a soda, too?" Yosuke grinned unrepentantly.

He only barely managed to duck when Souji flicked the Topsicle stick at him.

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Ten Steps (16/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:09 am UTC (link)
..............

Yosuke had called Souji early that morning in sheer desperation, calling in every favor he possibly could. "Souji - dude, I seriously need your help, those two stupid part-time girls didn't show up and we're gonna be slammed and they're not picking up their cell phones, and I know it's a hell of a lot to ask but-"

"It's fine - you're already at Junes, right? Give me ten minutes," Souji said firmly, cutting off Yosuke's panicked words. "I'll be right there."

"Ohmanthankyousomuch," Yosuke managed before hanging up and leaning against the wall of the stockroom in utter relief. True to his word, Souji arrived at the store ten minutes later, and Yosuke flung a Junes apron at him before dragging him up to the food court. It was already busy, and only going to get worse considering how hot it was supposed to be that afternoon. "You can cook, right?" Yosuke demanded as he tugged Souji behind the counter. "I mean, yeah, I know you can, all those lunches and stuff, but-"

"Calm down," Souji laughed, cutting Yosuke off with an easy grin. "I'm fairly sure I can handle reheating prepackaged food. It'll be fine."

Yosuke gave Souji a sheepish look. "Yeah. Sorry. The other two part-timers on concessions will be in later, so the afternoon rush'll be covered for that, but then there's the Featherman shows, and I am going to kill Megumi-san and Keiko-san next time I see them."

"Just show me what I need to do," Souji said firmly, tying his apron around his waist.

Yosuke relaxed a little. He could trust Souji, after all, in a way he couldn't trust those part-time girls. "Well, they were scheduled to do counter and prep at this station, but..."

"Yeah, you can do the counter. I don't want you touching the food," Souji teased. "Unless there's a special on boiled eggs today, right?"

Yosuke rolled his eyes. "It's not like you even have to do anything fancy, geez - well here, look, there's a guide thingie. Follow that, and- damnit," he swore under his breath, as he turned just enough to catch the expectant gaze of a customer waiting at the counter. "Uh. Good luck?"

"We'll be fine," Souji assured him. "Get going!"

And it was fine. After the first rush of customers had been successfully dealt with, Yosuke relaxed a little more; their part of the counter only handled a small part of the menu, after all, and Souji seemed just as confident in the food prep area as he was with... well, everything. There was a steady stream of customers to keep them busy, so they didn't have any time to talk, but it didn't seem like long before the next shift arrived and the two of them were sent out into the food court proper to deal with the crowds there.

They finally had a chance to relax a few hours later, as the afternoon Featherman show gave them time for a momentary breather. Yosuke slumped against a wall and closed his eyes, tuning out the dramatic speeches and answering reactions from the crowd. "Man, you're a lifesaver. If you hadn't been here, I think I would have died or something."

Souji chuckled; Yosuke opened his eyes just enough to see his best friend grin as he fanned himself with a discarded sales flyer. "It's a lot of work... but at the same time, it's kind of fun."

"Yeah, well, you don't have to do it every day," Yosuke muttered, then grinned back. "Thanks, man-"

"Hey, Hanamura!"

Yosuke jumped at the sudden, angry hiss, the back of his head almost hitting the wall. The door to the employee-only area was open, and Megumi and Keiko were standing in the doorway, furious expressions on their faces. He resisted the urge to groan, then sighed under his breath and straightened. "Be right back," he told Souji, then quickly sidled over to the doorway.

The two girls backed away enough to let him through the door, then converged on him immediately once it closed behind him. "What's this about us being in trouble for being late?" Megumi said, glaring at him.

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Ten Steps (17/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:10 am UTC (link)
"Uh... well, you're six hours late right now, so-"

"This is ridiculous," Keiko spat. "It's summer vacation - you better talk to your dad about this! We've only got one chance left before he fires us, and I gotta keep this job!"

Then maybe you should freakin' come to work was what Yosuke wanted to say, but he stopped the words before they could escape. "I really don't think that'll work. I mean, you were late, so... there's nothing I can really do about that, right?"

"You'd better do something," Megumi snapped. "Make sure!" With that, they stepped out of the doorway, letting the door fall closed behind them - but they stayed just outside, their shadows visible under the door, their voices still quite audible. "Can you believe this crap?"

"Ugh, I know - can't he do anything right? The only reason anyone even talks to him is 'cause he's the manager's son, and if he can't even do something like this... why bother?"

Yosuke swallowed hard, trying to shove away the sudden painful feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Oh, he'll fix it. He's so desperate, he can't afford not to."

They moved away then, still muttering about him, but Yosuke couldn't bring himself to open the door and head back outside. Instead, he leaned against the wall and rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck. Can't let them get to me, they're just bitchy 'cause they got caught out, he thought, hard, but logic didn't really help.

A moment later, the door creaked open again. "Yosuke?"

Yosuke quickly pushed off the wall and caught the door handle, pulling it the rest of the way open; Souji was standing in the doorway, a vaguely worried expression on his face. "Geez, sorry - you know how it is, being the manager's son and all. Some people think I'm the complaints department, heh."

"Those were the part-time girls that didn't show up this morning?"

"Yeah, well. They're not going to be working here much longer if they don't shape up," Yosuke said, then glanced out the door past Souji. "Hey, it looks like the show's almost over... we gotta be ready to clear the tables before the next horde descends. Never a dull moment, huh?" He laughed.

"Right," Souji agreed, but Yosuke could tell his best friend wasn't quite convinced that everything was okay. But there was a lot of trash to pick up and chairs to rearrange as the crowd dispersed. Souji matched chairs to tables across the food court while Yosuke gathered up trash and wiped up any obvious spills from the tabletops, just enough to get the area looking clean and tidy before the next show in forty-five minutes. Yosuke lost himself in those mindless tasks without too much trouble.

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Ten Steps (18/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:10 am UTC (link)
One of the tables was particularly filthy, having been all but drenched in spilled soda. Yosuke swore under his breath and shoved the sodden trash into his garbage bag, then tried to corral as much of the spill as he could. A moment later, a pile of napkins landed on the table; he glanced up, startled, to see Souji standing there. "I'll get some more from the back," Souji said, and Yosuke just nodded.

The napkins helped a little, but the whole thing was still sticky and horrible, and it wasn't until a few minutes later when all the spilled soda and soaked napkins had been disposed of that Yosuke realized Souji hadn't ever come back with more napkins. He sighed, shouldered the now-full trash bag, and headed for the back room; put one slightly-sticky hand on the door handle, then stopped. There were voices inside again - angry ones. He couldn't quite make out specific words, but... no, it was Megumi and Keiko again, and...

"-stay out of this!"

Yosuke jumped away from the door and ducked around the corner as the door swung open again; Megumi and Keiko walked past very quickly, muttering to each other under their breaths. This time, they headed for the elevators. Yosuke sighed and hefted the bag again, only to round the corner and almost run right into Souji.

"Whoa-" Souji reached out and steadied the garbage bag before Yosuke could drop it. "You got it all cleaned up, huh?"

"Yeah, I did..." Yosuke frowned slightly as Souji held the door open for him. "Hey, Souji, you weren't... I thought I heard you talking to them..."

"I heard what they said to you earlier," Souji replied as Yosuke stuffed the trash bag into the kitchen's trash chute. "It isn't fair that they blame you for-"

"Dude, it's okay, I'm used to it, it happens all the time. Just let it go," Yosuke mumbled.

"That's not acceptable," Souji said sharply, and Yosuke gave him a startled look. "Just because something happens all the time doesn't make it okay."

"I'm the manager's son. That's just the way it works!" Yosuke closed the door to the trash chute with unnecessary force, then tried to slip past Souji and out the door into the hallway, but Souji grabbed his shoulder.

"They're just using you, Yosuke-"

Yosuke rounded on Souji, his fists clenched hard at his sides. "Yeah, fine, maybe they are - but I can't worry about that, because then I'd have to worry about if... if everyone else is just using me too, alright?" Like my 'friends' from back home, his brain threw in, treacherously, and Yosuke bit his lip, hard. "It's just stupid, okay? I can't let it get to me. I'm fine-" But his voice cracked on the last word.

Souji's hand was still on his shoulder, but after a moment, the other boy shifted. Yosuke tensed slightly as Souji reached out and caught him around the waist in something that seemed suspiciously like a hug.

"You stupid- that's for girls," Yosuke mumbled, but he couldn't tell whether he ducked to bury his face in Souji's shoulder for comfort, or just so that Souji wouldn't see his face when the tears finally came. Not that Souji wouldn't figure it out anyway, the way his shoulders were shaking.

Yosuke wasn't really sure how long they stood there like that, but finally he took a deep breath; Souji moved immediately, releasing him from the impromptu embrace, and tried to catch Yosuke's gaze. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay," Yosuke said with a sigh. "Sorry..."

"Don't worry about it." Souji smiled. "I promise, there are plenty of people who like you because you're you. Not those girls, obviously, but not everyone is like them."

"Heh.... yeah, I guess you don't have any ulterior motive for being my friend, huh?"

Souji laughed. "Yeah, I want to get huge discounts for Nanako. Dumbass."

"Nanako-chan could get a discount just for being adorable." Yosuke pulled a clean napkin from the pocket of his apron, then wiped at his face. "Man... thanks for... that. Even if it was stupid."

"I didn't mind," Souji assured him, and Yosuke smiled despite himself.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Ten Steps (19/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:11 am UTC (link)
...................

The cicadas hummed into the night, their drone muffled by the sounds of the summer festival. For these two nights, the tiny shrine was revitalized; Souji wondered idly if the fox approved, if it was sitting somewhere and watching them all with those bright, knowing eyes. "Ta-da-da-dum! One shaved ice, just like you wanted, Sensei!" Teddie proclaimed, holding the thing like a trophy before handing it off to Souji. "There's so much food, so many lights... so many pretty girls..."

Souji had to admit that the girls looked fantastic in their summer yukatas, even if they couldn't walk very quickly at all. "Man, how'm I supposed to catch goldfish with this thing on?" Chie sighed, fanning herself with what looked like one of Yukiko's older battle fans. "I feel like I can't move!"

"It's perfect for you," Yukiko giggled, and Chie rolled her eyes.

"You gotta be real careful," Kanji advised them, through a mouthful of ikayaki. "And take real good care of 'em once you catch 'em, too!"

"I will!" Nanako-chan beamed as she hovered over the goldfish trough, a paper 'net' in one hand. "Which one is the best, big bro?"

"Hmm..." Souji studied the fish carefully, then crouched down next to Nanako and pointed one out. "Do you like that one?"

"Yeah!" she agreed, enthusiastically, then sat down on her heels and leaned forward with a serious expression on her face. "Careful... careful... ah!" There was a splash. "I got it!"

"First try, too! Awesome, Nanako-chan!" Chie grinned as the booth attendant carefully transfered the goldfish into a water-filled plastic bag. "Whatcha gonna name it?"

"She's a girl fish," Nanako informed Chie, "and... um..."

"You should name her... hmm..." Kanji's brow furrowed.

Souji laughed and stood up, stretching as he did so. This was fun, if a little bittersweet - it was, after all, partially a celebration that they'd solved the case. They hadn't been inside the TV world in a good week and a half. And while that was obviously a good thing, they weren't really the team any more. Not the way they had been, anyway, with their mission and shared secrets.

"The glow of the lanterns, the beauties in yukatas..." Teddie sighed next to him. "It's like a dream come true!"

"It's kind of romantic, isn't it?" Rise laughed, coming up beside Souji.

"Very, very romantic! Under the fireworks, young love blossoms," Teddie proclaimed. "And then comes the kiss!"

"I acted out a scene like that before, for a drama. And your shaved ice is melting, Souji-senpai," Rise said, and Souji hurriedly picked up the straw as she giggled. "Take notes, Teddie - dripping shaved ice on people is almost never romantic!"

"Right!" Teddie said, nodding seriously. "But Rise-chan, when is it roman- oh!"

Souji blinked as Teddie suddenly zipped past him; ever since they got here, Teddie had been darting from booth to booth like a little kid, but this time the 'bear' was waving wildly. A moment later, Souji stifled a laugh as he heard a familiar voice rise in protest over the sounds of the festival. "H-hey Ted- whoa, hey, let go!"

"Sensei, look who I found!" came Teddie's triumphant shout as he returned, practically dragging Yosuke behind him.

"Good job, Teddie," Souji said solemnly, then laughed as Yosuke gave him a pained look. "How's it going?"

"Oh, hi, Yosuke-senpai," Rise added with a winning smile.

Yosuke actually blushed a little. "H-hey, Rise."

"Rise-chan promised to teach me all about the festival!" Teddie beamed, releasing Yosuke's arm and latching on to Rise instead. "The lights, the food, the romance - I'm ready, Rise-sensei!"

"Rise-sensei, huh? I like the sound of that!" Rise giggled. "Okay, Teddie, let's go!"

"What just happened?" Yosuke asked weakly, as Teddie shifted his grip on Rise's arm, according to her instructions, and the two of them walked off. "Dude, you got some weird friends."

"What, like you?"

Yosuke punched him on the arm. "You know what I mean. Geez."

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Ten Steps (20/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:12 am UTC (link)
"What're you doing here? I thought you didn't like coming out here alone," Souji said with a grin.

"Yeah, well... it's summer, right? You gotta go to the summer festivals... but wow, Risette in a yukata. That was definitely worth the trip." Yosuke shook his head. "Man, you gave up hanging with Risette? You're crazy!"

"You know she's just Rise to me." Souji took another bite out of his shaved ice.

"Yeah, yeah - you're always hanging out with all the teen idols, right?" Yosuke grinned. "So what's there to do around here? I just got here, so..."

"The usual - food, a couple of games..." Souji glanced over at the goldfish booth; his uncle had joined the group, and Nanako was proudly showing him her prize while Chie and Kanji energetically debated which name was more appropriate for the fish. "It's not very big, but it's cute."

"I guess I'm getting used to the small-town thing. Cute's fine with me, and food is definitely fine. Something smells really good. C'mon!"

Small as the festival was, it did indeed have plenty of food; before long Yosuke was armed with a meat skewer, while Souji stuck with his shaved ice. "S'good," Yosuke informed him through a mouthful of food. "Junes' food's kinda crap. This stuff's much better."

"You'll choke if you keep doing that, you know."

Yosuke just rolled his eyes, but swallowed before opening his mouth again. "Dude, I was trying to have a conversation with you, not get a lecture." He took another bite, turning slightly to survey the booths that lined the walkway leading up to the shrine, then flinched as a sudden loud boom filled the air, accompanied with a burst of red light from above. "Whoa, what the hell?"

"Fireworks already? I guess I lost track of time." Souji blinked as an excited murmur swept over the rest of the scattered crowd, and almost everyone at the festival began moving towards the street as another firework exploded somewhere beyond the leaves overhead.

"Oh, damnit, I wanted to see these - man, all the good spots are taken already," Yosuke groaned, looking at the people already lining the stone steps and pressing against the bushes at the front of the shrine. "Argh, we'll never get out onto the street now..."

"We don't need to. Come on," Souji told Yosuke, grabbing his arm; he'd been here with the fox often enough to know his way around the shrine grounds better than most. He led Yosuke around the back of the shrine, where there was a gap in the fencing just wide enough for a person to slip through to the small field on the other side. It was a tiny clearing, good only for children (and foxes) to play, but it was enough. "Here we go," Souji proclaimed, stopping by the fence and climbing up to sit on the top rail. As Yosuke joined him, another firework boomed overhead, perfectly visible, with only a few telephone wires in the way.

"Geez, you really do know how to find everything in Inaba," Yosuke muttered as another firework arched across the sky. "You're so damn weird."

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Ten Steps (21/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:12 am UTC (link)
Souji elbowed his best friend; Yosuke had to grab the fence to avoid falling off. "You're complaining? You can go stand behind everyone else, up on your tiptoes, trying to catch just a tiny, tiny glimpse-"

"Not on your life," Yosuke said immediately, then gave Souji a grin. The burst of a firework made the shadows around them flicker. "I'm glad I ran into you."

"Even if Teddie did have to drag you over," Souji teased; Yosuke made a face. "He's pretty excitable, but he means well."

"Yeah, I know he does." Yosuke looked bemused. "You'd think... y'know, how he works for the Merchant's Association and all..." He didn't finish the sentence, but Souji still knew what he meant.

"That he wouldn't like you because you're 'the Junes kid'? Teddie doesn't worry about things like that."

"Yeah... some people do, and that sucks, but not everyone's like that." Yosuke looked up at the sky, a sheepish smile on his face. "You're not like that, and there's other people around me who aren't like that either. This town's still tiny as all hell, and it still kinda sucks sometimes, but..." Yosuke was quiet for a long moment. "I guess if you have your family, and you have real friends... you can be happy anywhere, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"So... I don't really hate being here anymore." Yosuke's smile softened a little, though he was still looking up at the fireworks. "Because my family's here, and I have friends here now, too... and I have you. You're special to me, y'know?"

There was something oddly soft and vulnerable in the way Yosuke said those words, and Souji quickly glanced over at his best friend - but the flickering burst and crackle of a particularly bright, rapid-fire string of fireworks made it hard to make out Yosuke's expression. And when the sharp, staccato popping faded, the moment was gone. Maybe it was just his imagination... and he wasn't sure if he was pleased or confused by the thought.

"That was kinda neat," Yosuke said slowly, as the crowd along the main shopping street started applauding; he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, then stretched and jumped off the fence, as if nothing had happened. "Thanks, man... that was fun. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, maybe?"

"Sounds good," Souji agreed, climbing down himself. "Call me after your shift?"

"Will do." Yosuke grinned. "G'night." And then he was gone, darting across the field and easily hopping the fence that separated the field from the shopping street.

Souji watched him go, a thoughtful look on his face.

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Ten Steps (22/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:13 am UTC (link)
...............

Souji and Nanako sat in companionable silence, listening to the soft sound of the rain outside. Nanako was working busily on her summer homework while Souji sat on the couch with a book, offering encouragement and advice as needed. "Big bro, did it rain that day we went to Junes? I don't remember," Nanako asked, after a moment, her brow furrowed in thought.

"Yeah, it started on the way home, remember? We had to run down the street so you wouldn't get wet."

She giggled. "Yeah, that's right! Thanks, big bro!"

Souji smiled and settled back, then paused as his phone started to ring; Yosuke, according to the caller ID, which meant it could take a while. "Hey, I'm going to go upstairs for a little bit to answer this, okay?"

"Sure! I'm just drawing the pictures now," Nanako said with a grin; she held up her book for his approval, and Souji couldn't help but smile at the stick figures. They were remarkably detailed, considering.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes." Souji quickly headed for the stairs, flipping the phone open before the call could go over to voice mail. "Hey, what's up?"

"Oh man, oh man. Souji, I am so dead."

Souji blinked at the panicked tone in his best friend's voice; he went into his room and pushed the door halfway closed behind him before settling on the couch. "What's going on, now?"

"Dude, this is serious, I- do you even watch television? Don't answer that," Yosuke groaned. "I was just on the freakin' news."

"... what, like on TV?"

"Yes, like on TV, what do you think!?"

A flicker of unease awoke in the back Souji's mind, but he tried to ignore it. "So why were you on TV, anyway? Did you rob a bank or something?"

"Souji- argh, this isn't the time for that, seriously," Yosuke spluttered.

"Sorry. What happened?"

"There were some dumb reporters lurking in front of Junes, interviewing people - word on the street, or something, I guess - about Junes, and what people think about how it's supposedly destroying local businesses or something," Yosuke said, with an exasperated sigh. "They grabbed me on my way out of work 'cause I still had my apron on, and then I let slip I was the manager's son and they stuck the camera right in my face. I was hoping maybe they wouldn't use that footage, but they ended up airing pretty much everything I said, and hardly anything from anyone else they interviewed! They called it an exclusive Junes interview, goddamnit - my dad is going to kill me!"

Souji sighed into the phone. "Look, it can't be that bad. What did you say?"

"Doesn't matter... look, Junes is weird, okay? You're supposed to go through official PR channels for this kind of thing. It's some big corporate deal. But I was tired and I just wanted them to leave me alone so I could go home, so I babbled a bunch of stupid crap and damnit. My dad'll be home soon, so I have... what, maybe a few minutes left to live? I'll leave you some of my stuff in my will, okay?"

"Nobody's killing anyone." Souji rolled his eyes. "Just calm down, alright? I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Yeah, well- shit," Yosuke swore, and Souji heard a muffled sound in the background, perhaps a door slamming. "He's home. Damnit. Call you later, maybe, if I'm still alive." With that, he hung up without waiting for a response.

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Ten Steps (23/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:14 am UTC (link)
Souji just shook his head and flipped his own phone closed, then padded downstairs, trying to ignore both the sound of the rain on the windows and the uncertain feeling in the pit of his stomach. But they'd caught Mitsuo, it was over, Yosuke could be on TV every night if he wanted with no harm done. Souji made himself stay calm, exactly as he might have before fighting a dangerous Shadow. The only thing he had to worry about was Yosuke's dad actually killing him, and that wasn't going to happen.

"Is something wrong, big bro?"

Souji glanced down at Nanako; she was looking at him, concern in her eyes, and he smiled. "No, nothing's wrong. How're the drawings coming along?"

.............


Almost midnight.

Souji snapped the curtain closed, that movement practiced and familiar; how many times had he watched the clock hands tick towards midnight, wondering what would show up on the blank TV screen as rain drummed on the roof overhead? But there shouldn't be a damn thing. He should be going to bed. There was no reason for this... and yet he couldn't quite make himself sleep. But it'd be fine, and when nothing happened he'd have the ultimate reassurance. The sharp tick the clock made as it hit midnight seemed unnaturally loud, and Souji unconsciously leaned forward slightly, focusing on the TV.

And then his breath caught in his throat as static crawled across the screen, tainting it with a yellow glow, revealing a dark shape that fuzzed at the edges - but Souji had no doubts, as indistinct as the image might be. He pulled out his cell phone in one quick movement, and he gripped the thing hard as he dialed Chie's number.

"Souji?" Chie answered, her voice sleepy; he'd woken her up, but he had no mental room to feel bad about that right now.

"Chie-" The static faded from the screen even as he spoke, leaving no light behind. "Chie, listen to me. The Midnight Channel was just on."

"W-what? Wait, are you serious?" Chie spluttered. "This better not be a joke-"

"It's not a joke, I swear - it was just on, and Yosuke was the one on it. There was a special on the news earlier tonight, and..."

There was a long silence from the other end, and then Chie swore under her breath. "But we caught the guy! Didn't we?"

"I don't know. I thought we did too, but... I saw Yosuke on the Midnight Channel. I know I did."

"I believe you," Chie said, but she sounded shaken. Souji couldn't blame her. "Okay. Uh. Meet at the... maybe the gazebo tomorrow? If this is really... really still going on, we gotta talk to everyone."

"I'm not letting this happen," Souji said, and it came out more like an order than he'd meant it.

"Well, at least Yosuke-kun won't yell at you for following him around like Kanji-kun did," Chie said with a laugh that quickly faded. "Uh. We'll... see you tomorrow, I guess?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Chie - I'm sorry I woke you up."

"S'alright, I'd be freaking out too - heck, you saw me, I did freak out with Yukiko... try and sleep, okay? G'night."

Souji listened to the drone of the dial tone for a moment before lowering his hand and closing his phone, letting it slip through his fingers and fall to the ground. He had a feeling sleep was one thing he wasn't going to be able to do tonight.

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Ten Steps (24/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:15 am UTC (link)
.................

The grocery section of Junes was busy as usual; the aftermath of the morning sales always meant lots to clean up, plenty of accidental spills to mop up and endcaps to straighten. Still, Yosuke couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched - and, while at first he just rolled his eyes and told himself he was being paranoid, as he kept working it seemed he kept hearing things. Little noises, shuffles like quiet footsteps or clothing rustling, but every time he looked suspiciously up and down the aisle, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Maybe he was just imagining it, going stir-crazy from being grounded all weekend-

What's that? Yosuke slowly put the box he was holding down on the shelf, then frowned. Sure enough, there was a weird, rhythmic squeaking moving down the next aisle over; he crept over to the shelves and tilted his head, listening carefully.

"Teddie- oh man, you are not wearing that," came a frantic whisper from the other side of the shelving. "What is wrong with you?!"

"B-but Chie-chan, it's my disguise-"

"W-what? That's the worst disguise I've ever- Teddie, stop-" Something knocked against the shelf, hard. "As if everyone didn't already know who you were, sheesh!"

Yosuke quietly snuck down the aisle and peered around the endcap, only to see Chie standing halfway down the aisle, arms akimbo, glaring at a familiar, gaudy mascot costume. "I can't believe you," she began, only to be cut off as Teddie turned.

"Yosuke-kun!"

Yosuke nearly banged into the endcap as he straightened, trying to look casual; fortunately, Chie was doing the exact same thing, grabbing a random box from the shelf and staring at it as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. "A-ah - hey, Yosuke-kun! Hey, where's the... the hair products? You know Teddie here, he gets terrible... terrible hat-hair from the inside of this thing..." She tapped Teddie on the head, a little harder than was really needed, and got a muffled yelp from inside in response.

"Uh... over in the Health and Beauty section?" Yosuke replied, confused.

"Ah... ah, yeah, right! Obviously!" Chie shoved the box back on the shelf and grabbed Teddie by one arm. "Thanks! Come on, Teddie-"

Yosuke stared as she practically dragged Teddie away, and wondered what on earth was going on.

And it didn't stop there, either - it went on all day long, catching glimpses here and there. Yukiko was in the grocery section, browsing the produce with the most ill-chosen curry recipe Yosuke had ever seen in his life; Kanji was in the toy department, staring fixedly at a display of stuffed animals, trying (and failing) to be inconspicuous. By the end of the day, Yosuke was thoroughly confused - even moreso when he emerged from the break room, apron slung over one shoulder, and nearly collided with Souji.

"Whoa, hey - careful," Souji laughed as Yosuke stumbled back, startled.

"Geez, way to give me a heart attack," Yosuke sighed as he got his balance back, then grinned. "What're you doing here?"

Souji shrugged. "Shopping - when school starts again, I won't be able to make dinner as much as I have been, so I thought I'd grab some stuff from here. Nanako loves anything that so much as mentions Junes."

Yosuke shook his head. "Sheesh, that kid... she's adorable, but I have to wonder sometimes."

"Don't ruin her dreams," Souji chided him with a grin. "I swore never to tell her of the horrors I witnessed in the food court kitchen..."

They were almost at the front doors by now, and Yosuke raised one eyebrow at Souji, pausing as the automatic doors swished open in front of them. "Aren't you going to finish your shopping?"

"Eh, I hadn't really started yet. Anyway, I haven't seen you for a few days. Good to see your dad didn't kill you," Souji said, mildly.

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Ten Steps (25/?)
(Anonymous)
2009-05-11 06:15 am UTC (link)
Yosuke scowled. "Yeah, well, he might as well have," he muttered as he stepped out into the evening light; it felt pleasantly warm outside after the air-conditioned chill of the store. "I'm grounded until school starts again, and they took away my cell over the weekend - got it back now, but..."

Souji gave him a sympathetic look. "Well, it's better than the alternative..."

"Barely," Yosuke sighed. "I basically just ruined the rest of summer."

"I'll just have to come to Junes and see you, then," Souji said immediately, and Yosuke couldn't help but grin in response.

But after that first day, things started getting weird. Souji wasn't just there for a little while, not just showing up for his lunch break or something normal. Either Souji or one or more of his friends seemed to be around constantly, hanging around even when Yosuke was busy working. Souji kept walking him home in the evenings, too, and Yosuke couldn't shake the idea that someone was watching him on the way to work in the mornings, though he couldn't prove it. And while the whole thing was kind of nice, in a way, Yosuke was also thoroughly confused. Not that he minded or anything, but he had no idea why Souji and his friends were doing this, or what it meant... or how he felt about it.

"Dude, what's going on?" Yosuke asked him at lunch on the third day; the two of them were sitting in the food court, splitting a set lunch. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's cool that you're hanging around and stuff, but... uh..." And he had absolutely no idea how to finish the sentence, no way to make sense out of his own confusion.

Souji didn't seem bothered by that, though; he just laughed and sat back in his chair. "Can't a guy hang out with his best friend once in a while?"

"W-well, yeah, but... I mean, I don't mind or anything, but..." Yosuke couldn't quite figure out a good way to say that, either, so he let his voice trail off and trusted Souji to fill in the blanks. But, to Yosuke's surprise, Souji actually glanced away for a moment - not long, just a split second, but it was enough. He's hiding something-

"I just wanted to spend some more time with you," Souji said with an easy smile that made a strange, confusing feeling thrill through Yosuke. "That's all. You going to finish that?" He leaned forward then, chopsticks hovering over one of the last pieces of meat.

"Well, I- hey, yeah, I damn well am," Yosuke protested, lunging for the meat with his own chopsticks; Souji tried to fend him off, but Yosuke was victorious in the end. "Dumbass," he mumbled through that mouthful of food.

But the thought bothered him all day as he went through the motions of cashiering that afternoon, vaguely aware that Souji was still around here somewhere. What on earth could Souji be hiding that would make his best friend spend a lot of time with him, that would make him stay around constantly, giving him looks that Yosuke could only parse as... protective?

Sure enough, Souji was waiting for him again when he came out of the break room late that afternoon. "Man, you must be seriously bored if you're still hanging around," he teased, to hide the uncertain curiosity that tried to override his thoughts at the sight of his best friend. "Want to come back to my house and wait on me hand and foot, next? Maybe work my shift for me tomorrow?"

Souji looked sheepish for a moment, than laughed. "Hmm. I wouldn't go that far. Anyway, if I work your shift for you, you'll just be trapped at home, right?"

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Ten Steps (26/?) - (Anonymous), 2009-05-11 06:16 am UTC
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Re: Ten Steps (32/?) - (Anonymous), 2009-05-11 07:05 am UTC
Re: Ten Steps (32/?) - (Anonymous), 2009-05-11 08:50 am UTC
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Re: Ten Steps (42/42!) - (Anonymous), 2009-05-12 02:03 am UTC
OP - (Anonymous), 2009-05-12 02:37 am UTC
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Re: Ten Steps (42/42!) - (Anonymous), 2009-06-14 06:55 am UTC
Re: Ten Steps (42/42!) - (Anonymous), 2009-07-22 12:59 pm UTC
Re: Ten Steps (42/42!) - (Anonymous), 2009-07-22 01:10 pm UTC
Re: Ten Steps (42/42!) - (Anonymous), 2009-11-23 07:42 am UTC

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