Yosuke Hanamura ↵ 花村 陽介 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
braveblades) wrote2013-02-14 12:17 pm
braveblades) wrote2013-02-14 12:17 pm
Entry tags:
it's em's birthday today
Yosuke had waited a week.
A whole week, because he didn't want to bother his partner and he felt awkward bringing it up again. 'Hey, remember that time you followed the guy behind everything into the TV all by yourself despite my telling you not to? Yeah, I thought it was about time we talked about that.' It wasn't that he was hurt by the fact that Souji hadn't listened - okay, maybe he was - but what really drove him to bring it up now was the fact that it had been a week since then and they'd still not gone after Adachi. If they had, Yosuke probably would've just let it go, figured it was something only Souji could understand and stay out of it. It wasn't his business, after all, and he certainly wasn't close to Adachi like Souji was.
But the fact of the matter was there were only so many times when Dojima would ask about their progress that Souji could hang his head and mope. Well, maybe not mope, but it was something similar. The rest of the team felt the same way, he was sure, and Rise must know that something's up despite Souji's protests that everything's fine, he just wanted to make sure we were entirely prepared. The thing was, when they'd go into the TV world and even after they'd heard Adachi's first spiel, Souji would tell them to go back to Heaven to beef up. That was twice into the TV World they'd gone now and done that. There was a feeling Yosuke couldn't shake about Souji's willingness to avoid that creepy room and whatever lie beyond, but that was the thing, wasn't it? They didn't even know what was beyond that yet. They were stuck waiting until their leader could get over it.
So one night when Souji wanted to hang out, Yosuke wasn't just fine standing on the street corner chatting it up. He looked right at Souji and said, "We need to talk. Maybe we can go to your room. I could even spend the night if I call my parents early enough." To Souji's credit, he simply agreed, didn't shy away or make up reasons as to why he couldn't.
Neither of them said much as they walked to the Dojima residence. Neither of them said much when they got there, leaving their shoes behind as they made their way into an empty house. It felt too large to Yosuke as he looked around, without Dojima or Nanako around the place had taken on a quieter feel, something that tugged at his heart. This was what Souji had come home to every day since the incident, and then he learned that a close family friend was the one responsible for all of it. It was a reminder to be a little more sympathetic, because this was his best friend here.
"Hold on. Let me call my parents," Yosuke offered, and before Souji could say anything against it he'd already hit them up on speed dial. After quickly squaring things away and an insurance from Yosuke that he'd stay out of trouble, plans were set.
"I'll be staying with you tonight. I didn't bring anything like pajamas or even any overnight stuff, but at least I've got my uniform and my bag," He figured Souji needed something like this, and it was strange to feel like the one who was calm and collected and did things for his friends.
"I could find an extra pair," was the first thing Souji said since his initial agreement to this plan, and Yosuke was proud to see just the hinting of a small on Souji's face as he did so. It was a silly thing to think, but Yosuke put away the knowledge that he might've earned some best friend points with a grin back at his partner.
"You don't have to do that for me, but if you have one just lying around I'd rather put that on than sleep naked," that did it: Souji had a full on smile now.
"Sleeping naked is the sign of true manliness," he replied, and Yosuke was torn whether to laugh or to groan.
"You've been hanging around Teddie too much, dude. Come on, let's get upstairs at least," and with that, Yosuke didn't even ask, he just lead the way up. Souji followed - in better spirits than before - and Yosuke made his way inside Souji's room without any hesitation. When Souji reached the doorway, Yosuke had already collapsed on his couch, his school bag resting against the side of it and his head lolled against the backrest.
"Walking is such a pain. We should've just taken our motorcycles."
"It is a shame," Souji replied as he sat down beside Yosuke, sighing with a light smile on his face, "Thank you for this."
"For what? Oh, yeah, don't worry about it. I actually… had another reason for wanting to do this. I mean, I know I said I wanted to talk to you back there, but you probably have no idea what that's about so it might come as a -"
"It's about Adachi, isn't it?" There was a certain calmness in his partner's voice, and Yosuke had to commend him.
"Y-Yeah," Admittedly Yosuke wasn't holding up so well. What happened to being the calm, collected one?! "Look, you don't have to tell me everything. In fact, I probably won't want to hear it. I hate that bastard more than I could anyone else, but after what happened with Namatame-san, I guess I can reign it in to listen to you. Things must be harder for you than anyone else. I don't want you to feel like you have to go at this alone, either. It's just… don't think we're blind to the fact you've been avoiding that place. I know it must bring back bad memories, but avoiding it isn't going to make it go away."
For a second, Souji said nothing, and then he lifted his head to look at Yosuke, "That's pretty insightful of you, Yosuke."
"Hey, don't look so impressed! T-This is nothing, and besides, I'm doing it for you. So spill. I said I'd ask about it so I'm asking about it." Yosuke had to look away, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You want me to talk…?" Souji asked, to which Yosuke replied with a firm nod, looking back at his partner to properly take in what he was going to say next.
"He tried to shoot me, but he missed," Yosuke sucked in a breath at that, opening his mouth to say how dare he but Souji kept talking before Yosuke could get a word in, a strange reversal of what usually occurred between the two of them, "I knew he wouldn't shoot me. He couldn't. He might say it's because it's boring that way, but I don't think he's ready to take on the responsibility of another life. Or… no, that's not right. He's running away from the responsibility of the first two he's taken, he would just run from that as well. It's more like… he's afraid."
"Afraid? Afraid of what? Killing the only person who actually gave a damn about him? Aside from maybe Dojima-san, who's already in the freaking hospital."
"Maybe that's it, but I don't think so. He's probably not that aware of those sorts of things. He told me once it was better to be alone… But he looked sad."
"Sad? Maybe because he killed two innocent people, yeah," the temperature in his blood was rising quickly, Yosuke knew, "Sorry, sorry, I need to calm down. We're supposed to be talking about your feelings, not how much that bastard deserves to pay, which is a lot."
For Souji's part, he smiled. It was a sad smile, Yosuke could tell, but at least it wasn't impatience or anger. "He does deserve to pay. I think he deserves it more than I've been sure of anything. He betrayed all of us, and I shouldn't be sitting on my ass because of that. That's what you're here to tell me, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't put it that way…"
"It's okay. I understand. I should probably tell you something, though. There was a time… When we were outside Aiya, the two of us and Naoto, where I wondered if I should really tell you two that I suspected him. We were friends, so shouldn't I protect someone I'm friends with? I know now that I made the right choice not to, but I've been wondering to myself how I could best serve the interest of all of us, so that justice is done."
There was a moment where Yosuke let that sink in, and when it was clear Souji wasn't going to say anything more, he offered, "For what it's worth, partner, I'm glad you told us."
"I am too. But when I come home and I think of how Dojima needs to know the truth, I think more and more of how his closest friend betrayed him from the very beginning. I think of the encounter between Adachi and me in the TV World, and how chilling it was to see how little he cared. I don't want Dojima to have an encounter like that, but I know he should know the truth, in the end. Even worse, when I think of Nanako, and how she and I spent nights with him… He helped her with her homework, Yosuke. Knowing that someone is capable of horrible things and is able to wear a smile like that and goof off… He drew her a flower, and was never unkind to her. I was able to see all of that, and now I'm able to see even more to him. The ugly truth."
Souji sighed, "Sorry, I'm just going on."
"No, no, that's fine. I mean, yeah, I get what you mean. Knowing that guy was the one the entire time puts a strange new perspective on all our memories of him. Besides, you never go on and on like that, so it was about time," Yosuke finished with a small smile, but it didn't stick around for any longer than a second. "This is good, though. Getting it out like this…"
"Yeah, I guess so," Souji shrugged, "I would be lying if I said I didn't in part want to snap his neck."
Souji could probably see the exclamation mark appear above Yosuke's head, "Whoa, that's a little…"
And he didn't think much of it, "It's only what any of you would say. Especially you, Yosuke."
"Well, yeah, but I don't seriously…" Did he seriously? Maybe once, but not after what happened with Namatame and that close call.
"Me neither," Souji wouldn't want anything of the sort to happen, not seriously, "Maybe a finger, though."
Relieved, Yosuke followed his first line of thinking, "Or maybe we should chop it off."
"Chop it off, yeah, that sounds like a happy medium." With a smile, Souji moved to stand up, "I'm going to look and see if I can find any extra pajamas. If not, I guess you're going to be stuck sleeping naked."
A whole week, because he didn't want to bother his partner and he felt awkward bringing it up again. 'Hey, remember that time you followed the guy behind everything into the TV all by yourself despite my telling you not to? Yeah, I thought it was about time we talked about that.' It wasn't that he was hurt by the fact that Souji hadn't listened - okay, maybe he was - but what really drove him to bring it up now was the fact that it had been a week since then and they'd still not gone after Adachi. If they had, Yosuke probably would've just let it go, figured it was something only Souji could understand and stay out of it. It wasn't his business, after all, and he certainly wasn't close to Adachi like Souji was.
But the fact of the matter was there were only so many times when Dojima would ask about their progress that Souji could hang his head and mope. Well, maybe not mope, but it was something similar. The rest of the team felt the same way, he was sure, and Rise must know that something's up despite Souji's protests that everything's fine, he just wanted to make sure we were entirely prepared. The thing was, when they'd go into the TV world and even after they'd heard Adachi's first spiel, Souji would tell them to go back to Heaven to beef up. That was twice into the TV World they'd gone now and done that. There was a feeling Yosuke couldn't shake about Souji's willingness to avoid that creepy room and whatever lie beyond, but that was the thing, wasn't it? They didn't even know what was beyond that yet. They were stuck waiting until their leader could get over it.
So one night when Souji wanted to hang out, Yosuke wasn't just fine standing on the street corner chatting it up. He looked right at Souji and said, "We need to talk. Maybe we can go to your room. I could even spend the night if I call my parents early enough." To Souji's credit, he simply agreed, didn't shy away or make up reasons as to why he couldn't.
Neither of them said much as they walked to the Dojima residence. Neither of them said much when they got there, leaving their shoes behind as they made their way into an empty house. It felt too large to Yosuke as he looked around, without Dojima or Nanako around the place had taken on a quieter feel, something that tugged at his heart. This was what Souji had come home to every day since the incident, and then he learned that a close family friend was the one responsible for all of it. It was a reminder to be a little more sympathetic, because this was his best friend here.
"Hold on. Let me call my parents," Yosuke offered, and before Souji could say anything against it he'd already hit them up on speed dial. After quickly squaring things away and an insurance from Yosuke that he'd stay out of trouble, plans were set.
"I'll be staying with you tonight. I didn't bring anything like pajamas or even any overnight stuff, but at least I've got my uniform and my bag," He figured Souji needed something like this, and it was strange to feel like the one who was calm and collected and did things for his friends.
"I could find an extra pair," was the first thing Souji said since his initial agreement to this plan, and Yosuke was proud to see just the hinting of a small on Souji's face as he did so. It was a silly thing to think, but Yosuke put away the knowledge that he might've earned some best friend points with a grin back at his partner.
"You don't have to do that for me, but if you have one just lying around I'd rather put that on than sleep naked," that did it: Souji had a full on smile now.
"Sleeping naked is the sign of true manliness," he replied, and Yosuke was torn whether to laugh or to groan.
"You've been hanging around Teddie too much, dude. Come on, let's get upstairs at least," and with that, Yosuke didn't even ask, he just lead the way up. Souji followed - in better spirits than before - and Yosuke made his way inside Souji's room without any hesitation. When Souji reached the doorway, Yosuke had already collapsed on his couch, his school bag resting against the side of it and his head lolled against the backrest.
"Walking is such a pain. We should've just taken our motorcycles."
"It is a shame," Souji replied as he sat down beside Yosuke, sighing with a light smile on his face, "Thank you for this."
"For what? Oh, yeah, don't worry about it. I actually… had another reason for wanting to do this. I mean, I know I said I wanted to talk to you back there, but you probably have no idea what that's about so it might come as a -"
"It's about Adachi, isn't it?" There was a certain calmness in his partner's voice, and Yosuke had to commend him.
"Y-Yeah," Admittedly Yosuke wasn't holding up so well. What happened to being the calm, collected one?! "Look, you don't have to tell me everything. In fact, I probably won't want to hear it. I hate that bastard more than I could anyone else, but after what happened with Namatame-san, I guess I can reign it in to listen to you. Things must be harder for you than anyone else. I don't want you to feel like you have to go at this alone, either. It's just… don't think we're blind to the fact you've been avoiding that place. I know it must bring back bad memories, but avoiding it isn't going to make it go away."
For a second, Souji said nothing, and then he lifted his head to look at Yosuke, "That's pretty insightful of you, Yosuke."
"Hey, don't look so impressed! T-This is nothing, and besides, I'm doing it for you. So spill. I said I'd ask about it so I'm asking about it." Yosuke had to look away, crossing his arms over his chest.
"You want me to talk…?" Souji asked, to which Yosuke replied with a firm nod, looking back at his partner to properly take in what he was going to say next.
"He tried to shoot me, but he missed," Yosuke sucked in a breath at that, opening his mouth to say how dare he but Souji kept talking before Yosuke could get a word in, a strange reversal of what usually occurred between the two of them, "I knew he wouldn't shoot me. He couldn't. He might say it's because it's boring that way, but I don't think he's ready to take on the responsibility of another life. Or… no, that's not right. He's running away from the responsibility of the first two he's taken, he would just run from that as well. It's more like… he's afraid."
"Afraid? Afraid of what? Killing the only person who actually gave a damn about him? Aside from maybe Dojima-san, who's already in the freaking hospital."
"Maybe that's it, but I don't think so. He's probably not that aware of those sorts of things. He told me once it was better to be alone… But he looked sad."
"Sad? Maybe because he killed two innocent people, yeah," the temperature in his blood was rising quickly, Yosuke knew, "Sorry, sorry, I need to calm down. We're supposed to be talking about your feelings, not how much that bastard deserves to pay, which is a lot."
For Souji's part, he smiled. It was a sad smile, Yosuke could tell, but at least it wasn't impatience or anger. "He does deserve to pay. I think he deserves it more than I've been sure of anything. He betrayed all of us, and I shouldn't be sitting on my ass because of that. That's what you're here to tell me, isn't it?"
"Well, yeah, but I wouldn't put it that way…"
"It's okay. I understand. I should probably tell you something, though. There was a time… When we were outside Aiya, the two of us and Naoto, where I wondered if I should really tell you two that I suspected him. We were friends, so shouldn't I protect someone I'm friends with? I know now that I made the right choice not to, but I've been wondering to myself how I could best serve the interest of all of us, so that justice is done."
There was a moment where Yosuke let that sink in, and when it was clear Souji wasn't going to say anything more, he offered, "For what it's worth, partner, I'm glad you told us."
"I am too. But when I come home and I think of how Dojima needs to know the truth, I think more and more of how his closest friend betrayed him from the very beginning. I think of the encounter between Adachi and me in the TV World, and how chilling it was to see how little he cared. I don't want Dojima to have an encounter like that, but I know he should know the truth, in the end. Even worse, when I think of Nanako, and how she and I spent nights with him… He helped her with her homework, Yosuke. Knowing that someone is capable of horrible things and is able to wear a smile like that and goof off… He drew her a flower, and was never unkind to her. I was able to see all of that, and now I'm able to see even more to him. The ugly truth."
Souji sighed, "Sorry, I'm just going on."
"No, no, that's fine. I mean, yeah, I get what you mean. Knowing that guy was the one the entire time puts a strange new perspective on all our memories of him. Besides, you never go on and on like that, so it was about time," Yosuke finished with a small smile, but it didn't stick around for any longer than a second. "This is good, though. Getting it out like this…"
"Yeah, I guess so," Souji shrugged, "I would be lying if I said I didn't in part want to snap his neck."
Souji could probably see the exclamation mark appear above Yosuke's head, "Whoa, that's a little…"
And he didn't think much of it, "It's only what any of you would say. Especially you, Yosuke."
"Well, yeah, but I don't seriously…" Did he seriously? Maybe once, but not after what happened with Namatame and that close call.
"Me neither," Souji wouldn't want anything of the sort to happen, not seriously, "Maybe a finger, though."
Relieved, Yosuke followed his first line of thinking, "Or maybe we should chop it off."
"Chop it off, yeah, that sounds like a happy medium." With a smile, Souji moved to stand up, "I'm going to look and see if I can find any extra pajamas. If not, I guess you're going to be stuck sleeping naked."