[OPEN] all of our friends were here

[covenantal]

Who: Yu Narukami covenantal & you!
When: IC 7/19 - 7/23, the duration of the event.
Where: Out and about, listed below.
What: Like more than a few, Yu’s coping with dying, the fact that he can’t touch anyone (or anything warm) without seeing a memory, and a ghostly new fox companion that has some ideas of its own (like sharing the plot of Persona 4 with you!).
Rating/Warning: Possible mentions of death and gore.

---

[ A. when you say you won't forget me ]

[ Yesterday was a long day.

Catching up with his roommates was the hardest. Rise had burst into sobs the moment she'd seen him. Dipper had been cautious and quiet and tried to brace him, which he shouldn't've ever felt like he had to. And Yosuke... Yosuke had been Yosuke, pulling him into his arms and clinging on like that was the difference between life and death, like he could go back and unwrite the explosion that had taken them all out by force of his grip alone.

But he'd learned one thing from Rise and Yosuke, and especially from Yosuke: weird things happen when he touches people, now. And it's not just people. When he'd finally gotten to take a shower to wash off the grime of the prison, it'd happened again. Memories. Important ones.

Figuring out the common link between three wasn't that hard, so today he's outside on his CereVice, making a call to his boss trying to explain why he's not coming to work. It doesn't seem to be going well. He sounds apologetic, but also distracted, which likely explains why he happens to bump arms with you as he passes. This probably wouldn't be a big deal, but it makes Yu miss a step and drop his CereVice as the memory takes hold. ]

[ B. well I can tell you that's untrue ]

[ It's when the fox appears next to his bed that things start getting even stranger.

He spends some time trying to coax it towards him after a brief period of just watching it curiously, and when that fails, he decides to go about his day instead. Despite the fact that getting within ten feet of it gives him a splitting headache, he heads to Ardeo's shrine to see if that will put his fox more at peace, but it doesn't seem to do much of anything. At another time, he tries a cafe, and ends up trying to tempt his fox with bits of food. To any passers by, it will seem as if he's offering food to nothing, though he doesn't seem to mind if anyone stares. ]

I'm not going to hurt you.

[ he says to the fox, which still won't look at him, and in fact tries to duck under a nearby chair. Yu shakes his head and gets to his feet. If anyone's watching, he'll offer an apologetic smile. ]

Sorry about that. He seems pretty shy.

[ C. cause every day since you left me ]

[ The foxes are pretty skittish by nature. Yu's continual attempts at being friendly don't seem to help his very much; in fact, it just keeps ducking away whenever he tries. Unfortunately for Yu, this happens more than once when he's out in public. Though you might hear a wait! and see a concerned looking teenage boy, what you won't see is the fox that's just darted behind your leg and curled its tail around your calf. ]

[ C1. ]

[ Pick this option if you want a good, happy, or light-hearted memory of any kind! These memories can either be from his canon or from Cerealia; feel free to specify which, but otherwise, the memories will be random. ]

[ C2. ]

[ Pick this option if you want a bad, depressing, or painful memory of any kind! These memories can either be from his canon or from Cerealia; feel free to specify which, but otherwise, the memories will be random. ]

[ D. I've thought less and less of you ]

[ By the end of the week, Yu is noticing something very wrong.

There's something he can't remember.

And the only reason he knows that is because of a picture.

His roommates might find him sitting on the couch in their apartment staring at it with a troubled look on his face, but he doesn't stay for very long. A profound restlessness drives him out and into the park, where he wanders for a while, only belatedly realizing he accidentally brought the picturing with him.

Eventually, he settles beneath a tree that's near a pond. His fox is nearby, but not too close, curled up in a tight and unhappy ball. He sits with his legs crossed and his fingers laced, his thumb idly tracing the side of his hand as he stares out over the water. The picture frame is in his lap. ]

Comments

D because i'm a little shit

[dereban]

...

[ Inaba is quiet; very much so. There are memories that she can't remember, things that are probably important, most likely because she feels that gap. But then she sees that expression on someone familiar. Which means it's time to put her own problems on the backburner.

And by that, we mean she's going to attempt and sneak up and spook him. ]

Boo. [ Attempt made. ]

[covenantal]

[ She does manage to startle him a little bit out of his thoughts, though he doesn't exactly jump up. His shoulders jolt, but the way he turns to look up at her is otherwise normal. He blinks at her in owlish surprise, and then smiles crookedly. ]

Hey, Inaba-san. Out for a walk?

A

[meowbel]

[Ever since Dipper came back home, Mabel wasn't the only one who felt a little off. With their apartment being ever so gloom, all Mabel wanted to do was go out and forget about what happened! It was better than just sitting around and doing nothing!

In the middle of getting ready to go outside, that's when she happened to spot Yu nearby. At first, she wasn't sure if he wanted someone to talk to but that thought quickly disappeared.

Duh, of course he wanted somebody to talk to! Why wouldn't anybody after what happened?]

Hey, Yu! You busy for today, I was thinki- [However, when he bumped into her, that's when she heard the sound of the device dropping to the ground. But when she looked up?]

Uh....Yu? Yu? Yu okay over there?

[covenantal]

[ For a long moment it's like he's not even there. He doesn't look at her, doesn't seem to see her, doesn't acknowledge the voice of his none-too-happy voice still coming from his CereVice.

"Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you. Let's see...I'm your mother's younger brother...and that about sums it up."

"It's been a long time."

"I'll say. You've really grown. I still remember when you were in diapers... This here's my daughter. Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin."

"... lo."

She's hiding behind Dojima's leg, peering up at you with big, serious eyes, clearly a little unsure of you. You wonder what it's going to be like, spending a year with these two...

With a sudden huff Yu blinks and shakes his head out, abruptly registering where he is and what he's doing. ]

... Mabel?

[ With a sigh he picks up his CereVice. ... his boss hung up. Ah well. He'll have to deal with that later. Slipping the CereVice into his pocket, he smiles at Mabel and straightens. ]

Sorry about that. I got pretty lost in my thoughts.

c2 why would i want anything but pain

[coastal]

[She hears the wait! and she recognizes that voice so like.

She does. Even though she's not sure what to expect at all.

But oh boy the fox has definitely got her in its sights and is curling around her leg rather easily and all she manages is a very confused start.]

What?

[covenantal]

[ He won't get a chance to answer before the world dissolves around her.

What she'll see instead is something horrifying. It looks like a battlefield, shrouded in heavy fog and darkness. She'll find herself standing on a platform flanked by others - teenagers. Some she may recognize. Rise stands in the back, Kanzeon behind her and the Persona's visor over her face, calling out tactics and helping the party with boosts. There's a sword in Lili's hand, heavy, the hilt of it slick with sweat. There's screaming. The people around her are screaming.

Before her is a monster, garish, impossibly tall, all bloody bones and malevolence that rolls off of it in waves. It's a god. It's the goddess Izanami. She'll simply know this, the same way she'll know she's been struggling against it for what feels like hours and has come so, so close to the end, but now...

Goodbye, the monster said, in a monster voice, calm and implacable.

Accept the reality of your death.

The monster gestured, lifting skeletal arms, and ghostly, ghastly black hands had whipped up from the ground around Lili. And she'd heard a cry, someone yelling Not a chance! and felt someone barrel into her, knocking her out of the way. The hands took him - Yosuke - instead. She'd reached for him, crying his name, Yosuke, no!, but he was gone, dragged into the darkness, and it swallowed his scream.

It happens to the rest. Hands take Yukiko, and Lili will get to hear Chie screaming her name over and over before the hands take her too. The hands try to take Lili again, and with a cry of Look out! another friend, tall, blond, built like a tank, will shoulder check her out of harm's way, and he'll be devoured by the curse.

Everyone is screaming,

until they aren't,

because they're gone, and Lili's the only one left.

It's unfortunate that our battle must end this way...

Lili finds herself looking up. It's like the universe is painted behind this monster goddess, only in hues of sickly red. It's the last thing she'll see before black hands are curling around her, obscuring her vision, and pulling her down into the dark. ]

c2 for your joy...

[manolia]

[[let me know if you want a memory of Chibi's as well!]]

[Chibi is minding his business, grocery shopping, when he hears a 'wait!' (Ah, it is that Narukami kid, isn't it?) Almost automatically, he springs a portal in front of him to intercept whoever he thinks is going to come barreling into him...]

[But no - there is the sensation of wakfu brushing against his ankle, though when he looks, there is nothing there... And then there is an experience upon his body, vivid and bright, that is not his own. The portal, of course, drops.]

HERE I AM FINALLY SORRY FOR THE WAIT

[covenantal]

[ Chibi will find himself in a peaceful scene. There aren't any monsters here. There's no threat of death. In fact, there's just children.

They walk in front of Chibi, playing idly, their voices braying with careless abandon. Chibi will find himself trailing behind them, his perspective on their level despite the fact that he should be much taller. They all look to be around maybe ten years old.

You're transferring away!?

He'll ask idly, his voice as casual as he can make it, if he didn't tell them, despite knowing full well that he didn't and hadn't intended to until now. The last possible moment.

You didn't!! What're we gonna do now? If you're gone, it's gonna leave a hole in our club's team!

Chibi will laugh quietly, trying as hard as he can not to make it sound forced. He'll think he does a pretty good job. It was good, right? They won't have noticed.

Forget about you!

Chibi will feel himself smiling, letting his friends go ahead of him as he simply stands and watches them leave. They won't be his friends anymore after this, anyway. He'll never see them again. It's alright...

What are you doing, Yu? We have to go.

Abruptly, Chibi will find himself somewhere else, as if the memory has skipped. He's standing on a train platform, dressed in different clothes, a few feet away from a professionally-dressed woman and man whose faces are strangely difficult to make out, as if time has obscured them. Obediently, he'll move over to join them, craning his head slightly to smile up at the woman. Mother, Chibi will know, instinctively, within the memory. These people are his parents.

I'm sorry that it's always so sudden, Yu... did you forget to say anything to your friends before we left?

Chibi will reassure her it's alright, his voice and his face gentle. He has to think pretty hard about making sure his voice and his face are just the way he wants them to be when he says and does things like this, to make sure it's believable. But he's gotten better at it, with practice. He'll duck his head as soon as the woman looks away so he can let his smile slip. It's tiring to keep up.

After all, he'll find himself thinking, ... it can't be helped, right?

This is just what his parents need from him, and ... that's that. ]

c2

[fittedgloves]

[ Kyouko immediately recognizes Yu's voice, stopping short and turning around to give him a curious glance.

Because she can't see the fox wrapping its tail around her leg, Kyouko wonders just what Yu might want. ]

...Narukami-kun?

[covenantal]

[ Only he isn't there anymore. Kyoko will find herself alone in a room with a bizarre portal ... at least, until the portal isn't there, and it's replaced by a pleasantly sunlit window, instead. The whole room might seem warm and friendly... were it not for the blood splattered walls, the many haphazardly pasted-up posters with all the faces ripped out, and the single noose hanging from the ceiling ... that somehow, almost, seems to glow.

She'll seem to be alone for a moment, casting about as if looking for someone ... until a voice begins to speak.

This is a problem.

It comes from behind her, and it comes with the unmistakable click of a gun. She won't turn. She'll stand a little straighter, but that's all.

Why didn't you bring the rest of 'em? You're such a party pooper. You couldn't even bring your wannabe detective friend?

Kyoko will find herself explaining that she came by herself, still without turning around.

So boring.

She'll feel him lower the gun, but the instant she turns around to face him, he - Adachi, she'll know, the name a sudden and inexorable brand on her mind - will be gone. Quick as a breath he'll reappear perched in the chair, the gun held casually in his hand. She'll know it's loaded, for all his idle toying around with it.

Your whole gang should be here. You know, work together, beat the bad guy. Friendship, effort, victory... You guys love that stuff.

She'll say she believed in him. It will hurt. Her chest will burn. Her whole body will strain with the force of everything she isn't doing.

Oh, really...? Just what was it about me that made you want to believe in me so bad?

She'll watch him stand, and step closer, and not move an inch herself.

Well? I don't have anything to say to YOU. If crimes could be solved by appealing to morality, we wouldn't need the police! The person you believed in was a version of me who only existed in your head. You decided on your own to believe in me, and that decision betrayed you.

Why complain about it to me?

Kyoko's head will hurt when she asks him if that's what he'll tell Dojima.

You say the dumbest shit.

It's people like you who come to me alone, naively thinking you can "turn me around," that piss me off the most.

Adachi lifts the gun and levels it at her, and all Kyoko will do is watch him, standing steady, despite feeling lightheaded with shock and horror and betrayal.

What do you think will happen if I shoot you?

She'll tell him, blankly, that he'd commit one more crime, the words quiet and nearly drowned out by the static between her ears. The static turns into a horrible roar when the gunshot goes off.

You're right. That's all it would be, he'd said before he pulled the trigger. But she'll be hearing broken glass, she'll be feeling the way the bullet grazed her ear, burning and so close to permanent. Her knees will give out beneath her abruptly and she'll sit on the floor, blank eyes not really looking at anything. Everything smells acrid. Like gunsmoke.

He walks closer to her. Points again.

Do you get it now? We're done talking.

I won't miss next time.

She'll feel something happen then. The transformation of something within her soul that defines the bond between her and the man in front of her. It feels like something shatters, is remade anew, but it feels like nothing good. It feels like something hungry that might chew its way through her wavering heart.

Want me to let you choose? You can go back to your friends and bring them all here...

...Or you can die now.

He lowers his gun, and she'll get to her feet, slow, but not shaking. She can see the way he looks ... disappointed.

I guess regular revenge is boring, though. Let me see where your detective work takes you. It's always good for a laugh. You're so persistent! Look at all that youthful vigor you've got.

Come on, "leader," bring all your friends back here.

He disappears. She'll run forward, but there's nothing there to stop. His disembodied voice continues, heedless, taunting.

Well, bye-bye.

Leaving her alone with a burning ear and a soul full of devastation. ]

C1, the Nose Knows. Somewhere

[faithfulflame]

[Rei'd just gone out to get a few things for the house after work, and she'd been doing a good job of avoiding trouble with her own little fox. However, that didn't mean she could see anyone else's, and it was difficult to be careful of something you can't see.

It doesn't help that she hears Yu's call a little too late, and...that's about when the vision strikes.]

W-What?!

[covenantal]

[ Rei will find herself seated in what seems to be a car. No... it must be a limousine, with all this room in here. It's ... it's very blue. Everything in here is quite blue. The seating, the accents, the attire of the solemn woman to her right. The limousine is moving, though she'll barely be able to feel it. Fog roils outside the windows, impenetrable, so no location can be estimated...

... but that's way less interesting than what's inside the limo, anyway.

Across from her is a small tea table, appointed with a blue cloth. And sitting behind that tea table is a man. His age is difficult to place, though he seems older, with a shock of white hair ringing his head and bulging white eyes.

What's really notable is his nose.

It's more like a beak?

His clothing is quite fine, his hands covered in white gloves and the fineness of his suit giving an overall impression of elegance and no expense spared.

... but really, it's tough to get over that nose. It's got to be inches long.

Welcome to the Velvet Room, he says, in a smooth, inviting voice. She'll find it only somewhat odd, in the dreamlike state she's in, and wonder more about where she is and how she got here than the man himself.

Ah... it seems we have an intriguing guest, with an intriguing destiny... My name is Igor... I am delighted to make your acquaintance.

She'll be able to sense his sincerity. It seems that, whatever his purpose, he seems to mean his words. He's glad she's here... wherever here is.

This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter... It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then... Why don't you introduce yourself...? ]

b!

[trueend]

[Just a boy and his weirdly smoke-like fox companion. Nothing to see here.

Literally.

This scene would be less confusing to Frisk if they could actually see who Yu is trying to offer food to. Seeing as they can't, they're just going to... tilt their head at him. Slowly.]

... "He"?

[covenantal]

[ Yu props his hand on his hip, sighing a little, though it's a good-natured kind of sound. ]

Yeah. It looks like a fox spirit. I don't think anyone can see it but me.

[ A beat as he considers what he just said. ]

I guess that sounds pretty crazy.

B

[zerotohiro]

[..uh huh. Okay. This is fine. This is fine? This is fine!!! Hiro's actually working at said-cafe gathering up dishes to take them back to the kitchen when he sees Yu offering food to nothing and also talking to himself. It's official. Everybody's lost it, and the little dove coos behind him loud enough that Hiro jumps even as he looks at Yu.]

Uh, dude? Did you...finally crack or...?

[covenantal]

... I don't think so.

[ He says that like he's considering it...

But he'll straighten up, slipping a hand into his pocket. ]

Sorry about that. It's this fox spirit... only I can seem to see it. It's pretty shy. I keep trying to take care of it, but it doesn't seem to want to let me.

B

[lethechained]

[ Naminé is not, in fact, watching. ]

[ At the moment, she happens to have her head cradled in her arms which are resting on the table in said café, face down and in the process of doing an impression of someone who, you know, actually gets to sleep this month. But at the sound of Yu's voice she begins to stir - was she even sleeping in the first place? - and by the time he's done apologizing, she's dragging her head into a more or less upright position, blinking tired eyes as she naturally seeks out the source. It isn't too hard to find him, but judging by the way she squints for a second or two, she's still attempting to process what he said in the first place, regardless of whether it was actually directed at her or not. ]

[ The sound that she makes can only be described as follows: ]

Wzzuh...?

[ Heaven only knows where her goat's gotten to. ]

[covenantal]

... you alright, Namine? [ He says it with gentle humor, but he's a little concerned. Why is she sleeping at a random cafe table...? ] This doesn't seem like the greatest place for a nap.

[ Meanwhile, his fox is hiding under the chair opposite hers. ]

D

[bewrightback]

[Phoenix is a bit restless as well, because of someone who he can't remember. He ends up wandering the park to try and clear his head, and when he sees the familiar figure, he tentatively approaches, followed by his own fox. Standing to the side of the tree, he leans forward and can't help but notice that picture frame as he addresses the young man.]

Yu?

[covenantal]

[ He heard footsteps approaching before Phoenix spoke up, so he's already looking up when the other man is leaning over him.

Yu will smile, barely-there. ]

Wright-san.

[ His fingers loosen, and he picks up the picture again, his thumb idly tracing the frame this time as he looks at the people within it. Himself, his uncle, and ... a little girl. It's not a huge leap of logic to guess who she must be, but ... why can't he remember her? Why is he in a picture with someone he can't recall?

He looks up again, his expression a little softer now. He has a feeling he can guess why Phoenix is out here, but it's polite to ask. ]

Out for a walk?

C - you can yolo on w/e memory happy or sad and here i go making things gay again i'm sorry

[sortileges]

[ The new additions to their daily lives really are making things more complicated than needed, and he should know better, given that he has his own skittish fox diving behind pillars and tables to keep out of sight. It's still following, but it's found a robot bin to squat behind for the time being, tail tucked into itself as it watches the scene nervously.

It's the wait! that gets him to jerk his head up, immediately recognising the voice. He glances behind himself, looking confused as he turns back around again. ]

I didn't realise you were that eager to see me.

[ He says it before the fox gets a little too friendly though, giving him a rather perplexed look in return. ]

i mean if we're gonna go gay, we're gonna go as gay as possible

[covenantal]

[ Yu won't be able to respond to that before the memory will take Merlin away.

He'll find himself in a classroom, though it may not be a setting he's at all familiar with if he hasn't been to school in Cerealia. There are other teenagers sitting around him - two girls to his right, and a few boys opposite him. Merlin ought to recognize at least one of them - Yosuke sits in the far left seat, directly opposite of Merlin himself. Merlin will find he's trying to sit primly, his hands folded in his lap, almost like he's trying to mimic the way a girl would sit...

Everyone's talking over each other, messing around and blushing over the awkward atmosphere. Merlin will find he's not unaffected by it, but he's pretty good at keeping up a total pokerface despite that.

It's your turn. Got any questions? the girl - Yukiko is her name, he'll instinctively know - to his right will ask.

Yosuke will look immensely relieved, grinning and sitting back in his seat.

Nice going, Amagi! Let's see... Which one of us would you choose to be your boyfriend?

He says it with a kind of awkward smile on his face... Merlin will recognize that smile. It's the way Yosuke smiles when he's hoping things will break his way. He's clearly thinking one of the girls will have to admit to being willing to date him, since their options are so limited. Of course, that isn't what happens. Merlin will glance sideways to see both girls blush and fluster, immediately protesting.

Wh-what made you bring that up?! The one furthest to the right - Chie, he'll know, if he didn't meet her during her prior stay in the colony - will demand.

That's a little personal... murmurs Yukiko.

Merlin will focus his attention on Yosuke alone. After all, being on the girls' side of the table, he counts as a "girl" ... something his best friend wasn't counting on, he'll know.

On the one hand, he'll find himself feeling as he keeps his face perfectly straight, he knows Yosuke's reaction will be pretty funny when he figures out what this look is implying.

On the other hand, some small piece of him thinks almost wistfully, he wouldn't really mind, if...

But of course, once the moment happens, and Yosuke stares back at him, actually blushing for a moment...

... it breaks just as quickly, the other boy launching himself out of his seat and practically shivering with the force of his rejection. Yukiko will ask him what's wrong, and Yosuke will reply,

I can't say, but I felt like I was about to cross a line that must never be crossed!

Merlin will continue to sit there, as placid as ever, his expression giving nothing away. He'll make some quip that sends Yosuke reeling, and quietly, he'll think, well, that's alright.

It was still pretty fun to tease him. ]

B

[espersions]

[ He's kept his distance from Mister Sweet Lemon ever since...well. Ever since waking up in the boy's bed. And that, er, other stuff that happened. So when he catches sight of Yu, in the cafe, his first inclination is to just keep on going.

Except.

Yu is. Yu is talking to himself. Yu is offering food to the air. Yu has gone round the bend. He can't just walk away from that, can he? He can. But he is...he's curious, that's what he is. Simple curiosity. So he slides his hands into his pockets and walks up to Yu and says: ]

Hey.

[ Because that's what you say to people with whom you've died and shared a bed, right? ]

[covenantal]

Oh, Hyoubu-san.

[ Yu doesn't seem too bothered. He tilts his head to look at his friend (and he does think of Hyoubu as a friend now, you can deal with it, old man), nodding politely. He'll smile a little, too. ]

Hey. Is everything alright?

[ What's with that look, is what he's thinking... ]

B

[mermaiding]

If you are going to play with food like that, should at least give it to someone who will eat it.

[She grins cheekily, prompting. AKA feed her.

At least she gives a little wave of greeting, so as to make it seem like she's not entirely motivated by food to talk to him again.]

[covenantal]

[ Ah, he recognizes that voice, and that face... Yu blinks at her for a beat before breaking out in a smile. ]

If it isn't Miss Oona. Are you saying you'd like to share?

[ Apparently, he's willing to offer... and he waves back, coming a little closer. It's nice to see her again. ]

I wasn't playing, though. There seems to be a fox spirit only I can see. I was trying to put it at ease, but... I didn't have much luck.

C it's a little bit of both right?

[youraffection]

[ They live together now, so it's no surprise that Yosuke stops by Yu's room every now and then, right? Actually, if some of the recent circumstances hadn't been so depressing, he'd probably try to spend as much time there as possible, but he understands the need for space. He's still worried about how Yu's feeling, though, and they are friends, even if he does wonder if he's been...well, too friendly? It makes him wonder a little bit about that feeling that Mabel was talking about--like you're forgetting something.

Ah, well...Yu's still the team leader and he's pretty much liked the guy since day one, so no sense in letting that stop him from checking on him. Yosuke raps his knuckles on the door to Yu's room. ]

Hey, Yu! Mind if I come in?

[ His dove has been following him around, of course, but Yosuke has locked it in his room. Or at least he assumes it will stay there for a while. (It's a spirit, it won't, but can't blame a guy for trying.) ]

PRETTY MUCH let's lock and load

[covenantal]

[ Yu glances up from where he's sitting at his desk, bent over a notebook. The voice at his door gets a faint smile, and Yu places his pen down, pushing his chair back to face the door. ]

Yeah, sure. [ Unfortunately for both of them, Yu's fox was startled into motion by the movement of his chair. As Yosuke opens the door it darts away, zig-zagging across the floor. Yu can't open his mouth to utter a warning before the fox is leaping right through Yosuke's leg. As with everything, as has been happening constantly these past few days, the world will dissolve around them.

Yosuke will find himself, of all places, in Cerealia's park. Standing beneath a tree, beside a pond. Before him is a boy, slightly shorter, with dark blue hair that falls over his face. Minato, Yosuke will know instinctually, and there's a great deal of feeling attached to that name. Most of it warm, in the kind of way that makes your chest twist and your heart beat a little faster. But there's other feelings there, too: concern, on the surface, because of something recent that's just happened. Something bad. Beneath that, an abiding, consuming uncertainty. Towards this boy, about this boy, if things with this boy are alright or okay or ... something he should still be pursuing.

Minato is fidgeting, something Yosuke will pick up on, and he'll find himself pausing the flow of their conversation to ask if something is the matter, instead. The question is met with a blank stare Yosuke will be used to receiving, though be no more able to decipher after three months.

Is something wrong? You haven't touched me since we saw each other.

Yosuke will find himself pausing, a shock of feeling filling him. His reaction, though, is subdued. He'll feel himself flush, his hands moving and fingers fanning out, his eyes widening just a little. But that's all; he doesn't move or otherwise change his expression.

It's nothing like that, Yosuke will say, sounding unsure. I... I just wasn't sure if it was alright.

Yosuke will find himself thinking he's never really felt shy like this before. He'll wonder if Minato can tell, and think he probably can. He never felt this way around any of the girls at home. He didn't even feel this way around... no, he shouldn't think about that right now.

But then Minato says, Why would it not be alright, Yu-san? You seemed pretty sure of yourself before. Yosuke will be able to tell Minato is a little unsure, despite showing very little and doing nothing other than shifting his gaze.

And Yosuke will find he's thinking about that anyway - that is, himself. They're feelings and images, memories within the memory: a moment of dancing with himself and feeling drunk and happy and painfully affectionate, and like he doesn't want this moment to end, a moment walking along the streets of Inaba and hearing his own voice chattering away and feeling their hands brush and his heart doing a leap even though that voice ceases its chattering to go whoa, hey, sorry--, a moment of hearing the words you're special to me, you know? and wondering idly what it might be like if those words meant something different and knowing that they don't and you couldn't pursue it even if they did (but still, wondering), a moment of himself, just smiling, his usual, big, goofy smile.

It all happens in the space of a moment, and Yosuke will adjust his face, looking at the boy in front of him. He has so many doubts. So many things he wonders about. Whether or not he made the right choice. But even so, despite everything, the way he feels for this boy is so...

Yosuke will ask if it's alright that he does those things.

You don't need to ask. It's fine with me...I just didn't know how to respond.

Somewhat despite himself, Yosuke will feel a surge of emotion. Warm and impossible and real. It's not a ringing endorsement, but that's how Minato is. This is Minato's way of saying that this is what he wants. And Yosuke will find that it makes him happy. He'll reach out for Minato, pressing fingers to his elbow, and ask him on another date. The memory ends shortly after Minato smiles and says yes.


The memory will leave the two boys in Yu's room, Yosuke standing in the doorway and Yu still sitting in his chair. For once, in a very rare display of open emotion, Yu looks horrified. It's not overstated: he's pale, eyes wide and mouth slightly open, and slowly lifts a hand, curling it into a fist so that the side of it covers his mouth.

Not only did he just come out to Yosuke, and admit to Yosuke he was more or less dating another boy in the colony, he just admitted to Yosuke that he at one point had feelings for him.

And he has no idea what to say. ]

cish dropkicks her into here YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT...

[pseudonyms]

[It's been a long, trying day. At least she remembers how to walk even if she doesn't remember how to dance...ugh, that's still embarrassing. Still, nothing sounds better than going home for the time being and letting everything sort of settle down.

It's for that reason when she comes home she's taking a look around to see who's home, spotting Yu on the couch in the apartment. She steps out of her shoes and immediately slides her way over to said-couch, paying no mind to the goat who's following her or the fox that's probably nearby that she can't see.]

Oh, Senpai, you're home! [She looks pretty pleased with herself.] I thought you'd still be out like everybody else.

[covenantal]

[ Yu can't see his fox, either. (It's under the couch.) But he'll pick his head up when the door opens, smiling when he sees who it is. ]

Welcome back, Rise. I got back early.

[ He'll scoot over to give her space to sit. Never mind that he's been getting back early for the past few days, due to calling out from his job while he's unable to touch anyone due to this whole "touch people, receive memories" thing. ]

How was your day?

[ His fox is slowly creeping forward under the couch, sniffing at their ankles. ]