Chapter Text
“We will be arriving at the Yasoinaba terminal in a few minutes. Please be ready for departure if you are stopping at Yasoinaba station.”
The young man looked up from where he was sitting at the announcer’s call. It had been a long train ride, but he was glad to finally be reaching his destination. He looked at his phone again, spotting a new message.
YH: Meet you @ station partner!
He laughed at his friend’s message and smiled, looking out the window as he reached up for his carry-on bag. It had been far too long since he’d been back in the small town of Inaba or seen his friends in-person. The man’s silver hair bobbed slightly as he took his bag down, the train slowing gradually as it reached the platform.
“You have arrived at Yasoinaba station.”
No sooner had the man stepped off of the train and into the countryside sun that he felt three pairs of arms all crowd around him, nearly knocking the wind out of the poor man.
“Yu!”
“Big bro!”
“Sensei!”
Yu chuckled at his friends and family assaulting him with affection. His brown-haired partner wasn’t the only one to greet him, spotting the others surrounding him in their little friendship circle.
His partner, Yosuke Hanamura, was standing next to his cousin Nanako Dojima, bright smiles on both of their faces. Nanako looked considerably older, Yu remembering her starting middle school a few months ago. She wore an apron around her summer outfit, similar to what Yosuke was wearing over his orange t-shirt.
Then there were the other two, with very different reactions to his arrival. There was Yosuke’s adopted brother Teddie, the blue-haired boy dancing around in that same outfit, rose bobbing along with his blonde hair. He hadn’t changed one bit since Yu had seen him. Behind the group was his uncle, Ryotaro Dojima, looking just as tired yet satisfied as he had last time he’d visited.
“It’s so good to have you back, partner!” Yosuke announced to the young man. He just smiled and hugged his best friend back. It really had been a while. They’d met for a minute in college back in Tokyo, though with their different majors it made it difficult to meet up with one another. Yu stepped back, only for Nanako and Teddie to then assault him with their own hugs.
“Big bro! I missed you! I’m glad you’re back,” Nanako said, happy as can be as Yu patted her back.
“Sensei! You’ve been gone too long! I can barely believe you! You made Nana-chan worry!” Teddie chastised. Yu just chuckled and patted the blonde boy as well.
“It’s good to see you all again,” he said. He looked around at the dissipating crowds of people going to and fro before settling on Dojima. He walked over to the older man, the two sharing a look and a handshake.
“Looks like you made it safely,” Dojima said kindly. Yu smiled at him. “Well we already got all of your stuff moved in a few days ago, so it shouldn’t be too much trouble setting it all up. You have everything with you?”
“Yeah,” Yu responded, lightly shaking the carry-on bag on his shoulder while he grasped his suitcase with his other hand. Ever one to start, however, he began walking in the direction of two cars parked out in front of the station. “You guys coming?”
The others chuckled as they followed him to the vehicles. It was a short drive, but they eventually made their way to a few close-together houses just outside of the town’s shopping district, Yu, Yosuke, and Teddie parking their car while Dojima drove up next to them.
“You’re still on for dinner at our place, right Yu?” his uncle asked. The silver-haired young man nodded with enthusiasm.
“Of course. I’m just going to get settled in, then I’ll meet you guys there,” he said. Dojima nodded as he drove off, Nanako waving enthusiastically from the passenger’s seat as he did. He then turned to the other two with a smile. “Well then, let’s get to it.”
Yosuke had made the proposition to him when he learned the graduate was coming to live in Inaba. It made sense to Yu, of course. Managing a house with a roommate was easier than on his own, and he didn’t want to keep ghosting along on Dojima’s good will. He loved this town, but wanted to start living on his own, and getting to do that with his partner was just what he needed.
Teddie, surprisingly, was on the fence about coming with. Yu and Yosuke had their grievances with it, but Yosuke’s parents thought it would be good for Teddie to live with them. Yosuke had grumbled about it, but having his adoptive as a housemate wasn’t the worst thing in the world for the young man. He had a good heart and knew to be on his best behavior if the few weeks that impactful winter had taught Yu anything.
“Sensei, where did you want this?” Teddie shouted, holding a photo frame in his hands. Yu looked up from where he was hanging up one of the paintings he’d bought while in college to Teddie rummaging around a box. He walked over to his housemate, now clad in his ‘working clothes’ and eyed the picture. He smiled and called Yosuke over, the brown-haired young man smiling along with him in the older photo.
“Oh, I remember this!” Yosuke said excitedly. He held the photo up from where Teddie had taken it, going over the wooden frame with his thumb. The picture was of a group of teens, each with varying heights, outfits, and demeanors. Though with their differences, they all smiled near one another. “You framed it?”
“Of course,” Yu said simply, taking the frame away from Yosuke and walking to the bookcase they had set up in the living room. “The year I spent here was the best I ever had. I wanted to remember it whenever I walked into my apartment.” He put the photo of their friends on the shelf and turned back to his new housemates, Yosuke once more pulling him into a side-hug.
“Well now you can come to a house and see it! Just you wait partner, it's gonna be a blast from here on with the two of us here!” Yu felt his face heat up at Yosuke’s declaration. He looked intently at his partner’s face, a kind smile on it that Yu couldn’t help but return every time he saw it.
“Hey, Yosuke! What about me?!” Teddie whined jokingly from the box he was kneeling in front of again. The brown-haired man grumbled at the blonde’s comments walking over to him again.
Yu went back to his own box of possessions and moved it into one of the bedrooms. The house the three lived in was fairly small, but it still had two bedrooms. Teddie slept on a futon in Yosuke’s room while the other two took beds in their respective spaces. Yu smiled as he looked through more picture frames among his clothes, pulling out one photo that had fallen out.
It was of him and Yosuke, the two at the summer festival they’d gone to that year he’d spent in Inaba. Yosuke’s hand was around his waist and pulling the normally quiet boy closer to him, their other friend nowhere to be seen as he’d gone off to one of the stands. Yu saw how his cheeks looked a touch pink at Yosuke’s friendliness, chastising himself for not doing anything at the time. Maybe then he could alleviate the awkwardness he felt building in his stomach every time he remembered their circumstances.
‘...I’ll tell him soon,’ Yu thought to himself. He didn’t want to mess up what he and Yosuke had as best friends with this stupid crush he’d had for the past few years. The other boy had been nothing but kind and supportive of him since the week they’d met back in 2011, and Yu didn’t want that all to go to waste just because of his feelings.
“Hey Yu, you alright in there?” Yosuke called to him. Yu shook himself out of his stupor and peeked out of the door, seeing Yosuke and Teddie going through another box with what seemed to be assorted kitchen appliances and dishes. “You’re still going over to Dojima-san’s house tonight, right?”
Yu peeked at his phone and blinked at the screen, spotting the time and frowning slightly. It was getting pretty late, but he still had plenty of time to get there.
“Yeah. I’m heading out in a minute here. Sorry to leave you guys here with all of this,” he apologized to the two. Yosuke and Teddie smiled as they patted him on the back.
“Hey, no problem man. We’ve got this. If I don’t know where something goes, well…we can deal with that later,” Yosuke reassured. Teddie nodded enthusiastically as Yu smiled at the two of them.
“Thanks guys. I’m going to head out then,” he said.
“See you later partner,” Yosuke called as he exited the house. Yu felt his chest become lighter again at the nickname. He shook his head again and tried to get the image out of his head. This was Yosuke, his best friend. He thought back to a late-night call he’d had with the brown-haired man, Yosuke admitting to Yu about his own wonders about his sexuality. Yu had talked with him about it for hours that night, feeling that much lighter knowing it might be possible. Even then, he didn’t know what to do about it. His crush had been building and building as he grew to miss Yosuke while away in the city. He missed all his friends, of course, but something about his right-hand man being gone stung the most.
Yu was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn’t notice the younger boy walking in front of him. That is, not until Yu ran right into him and both fell down. Yu groaned as he looked over at the young man in front of him. He was wearing a Yasogami High uniform, so that singled him out as being from around here at least. He had messy black hair and a pair of glasses that had fallen near Yu.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” Yu said in a slightly panicked tone. He reached over and helped the boy up, fetching his glasses and handing them to him. Now that he got a good look at him, the boy looked very tired. He had a larger school bag draped over his sagging shoulder and a cat near his ankles. The blue-eyed cat looked up at Yu with curious eyes. Yu smiled at the creature before turning his attention to the young man.
“I-It’s no trouble sir,” the student responded. Yu looked at him in slight confusion. He was wearing a third-year uniform, one he recognized from his return during that strange Golden Week. The boy looked at him again, his eyes much stronger this time around. He looked away a moment later, Yu figured out of embarrassment more than anything. “I-I’ll be going now. Come on, Morgana.”
The cat, whose name Yu figured was Morgana, jumped up and into the boy’s bag, the younger of the two returning to his walk along the road.
“Wait,” Yu called to him. The young man’s shoulders tensed up at Yu’s call, to which the older of the two almost immediately noticed. The student turned around again, only to be met with a handshake. “Sorry, I didn't get to introduce myself since I just got here. I’m Yu Narukami,” he said, slightly shaking his hand at the third-year.
The student’s lips, not changing from their strained placement, took his hand and slightly smiled up at Yu. “Ren Amamiya,” he said. Yu nodded, finally putting a name to the face, as Ren turned again and walked away. “Welcome back to Inaba Narumaki-san.”
“Thank you. I suppose I’ll see you around?” Yu asked. Ren only turned his head slightly and sadly nodded, returning to his walk away.
“Yeah.”
Yu waited a moment more before his own walk resumed towards Dojima’s house. He couldn’t place it, but something about that student seemed…familiar to him. He shook off the feeling and started on his way once again.
‘Maybe Dojima-san knows about him,’ he reasoned in his mind as he walked to his uncle’s home, the young man’s sad demeanor in the back of his mind.