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Yosuke doesn’t have to look too hard to spot the familiar head of grey hair he’s looking for on his way to school.“Hey, partner!”Yu turns towards him with a smile, knocking their shoulders together in greeting.“Hi, Yosuke. How was your Sunday?”“I finally got past that one level in my video game I was telling you about — took pretty much the entire day though!”“Did you have time to finish your homework? That text for Hosoi’s class wasn’t easy.”“Ah, um, about that,” Yosuke hedges with an awkward chuckle, “think I could maybe look at what you did over lunch? Just to… make sure I got it right…”Yu’s not mad, but that disappointed look is so much worse. “I thought you said you were going to make an effort, so we could get into the same university.”Yosuke wilts. It’s true, he really wants to make sure Yu’s part of his life in the future, but when he opens those textbooks, it’s like absolutely anything is more interesting than studying. He even vacuumed his bedroom the other day, which is saying something considering his usual interest in cleaning. Not being able to go to school with Yu, though, that would be the worst.“Sorry…”Yu puts an arm around his shoulder as they enter the school. “Don’t worry about it. Maybe next Sunday you could come over, and we could study together?”Yu’s a hard taskmaster, but… it’s not like Yosuke’ll ever turn down the opportunity to spend more time with his best friend. “Sounds good!” he replies before opening his locker to take out his slippers.When he looks up from taking his shoes off, he notices that beneath his winter coat Yu is… rather underdressed.“Partner? Did you forget to change out of your PJs this morning?”He’s wearing a pair of soft grey sweatpants with white stripes down the sides and a loose, long sleeved white top — a far cry from his usual crisp shirts with the popped collars, unbuttoned just enough to be cool but not so much they’re inappropriate. Yosuke’s only ever seen him like this at sleepovers.Yu raises an eyebrow. “It’s for spirit week, remember?”“For what now?”Yu shakes his head, huffing a soft laugh. “Do you ever pay attention in class?”“Nah, that’s what I’ve got you for!”He rolls his eyes, but explains. “Spirit week’s this american tradition of doing a week of themed costumes, to show school spirit before the big homecoming celebration. Our english teacher is organising it for ‘cultural immersion’ or something like that.”“Oh. Wish I’d known, I could have slept in a little more!” Yosuke doesn’t expect too many people to have dressed up, but as their class fills up he notices quite a few people out of uniform. An excuse to wear casual clothing is rare enough to be worth taking, he supposes. Their teachers are also all in costume, but that’s not so strange considering what their normal outfits are like. He regrets the choice of theme in that regards. Kashiwagi’s hard enough to look at on a normal day; in a silk negligee that skirts the very line of propriety, it’s absolute hell.Even Yukiko and Chie are participating, Yukiko in a muted satin yukata with her hair in a braid and Chie in bright yellow sweats. Despite his comment to Yu, though, Yosuke would be in uniform even if he’d known; he sleeps in his boxers, and there’s absolutely no way he’d have shown up dressed like that, even if that was allowed. Between the inevitable physical aggression from Chie and Kashiwagi’s creepy comments… he’ll pass.The next day, Yosuke learns from Yu, is Crazy Hair Day. Yosuke cares a little too much about his personal style to mess with a winning look, but he quickly realises that Yu has no such qualms. Yosuke doesn’t even recognize him at first as he walks to school, but who other than Yu would be this dedicated? He’s visible from a mile away, with his hair gelled up into a towering mohawk and spray painted green.Yosuke trips over his bike when he realises who it is, and it’s only his partner’s quick reflexes that stop him from eating the asphalt.“Partner?!” he exclaims, half-choked, and Yu laughs.“Is the green a bit much? I thought so, but Nanako was so excited about it. I must look really bad.”Yosuke takes another good look at him, and shrugs helplessly. He’s past fighting the unfair reality that Yu looks great no matter what he does, while he puts in a ton of effort and barely manages to look half as good.“I don’t think green’s really your color,” he replies instead with a wink. There’s much less participation today; it turns out people aren’t so motivated when they have to actually make an effort. What there is is mostly sideways ponytails from the girls and gelled up looks from the boys. The only person who really gives Yu a run for his money is Rise, with her hair done up in a set of elaborate braids coiled into an intricate pile that adds a good five inches to her height and reminds Yosuke of the idol Risette he used to fanboy over. Kanji’s also made an effort, putting a handmade bandana over his hair, but unfortunately it only makes his biker style even more intimidating than usual, which Yosuke hadn’t even realised was possible.Wednesday is Eighties Day. Yosuke makes it through the door right as the bell rings, and gets to spend the whole morning staring at Yu’s blindingly neon polyester collar. He has to wait until lunch to see the rest of the outfit, a particularly horrendous pair of acid wash, ripped skinny jeans, and of all things, some chunky punk boots.“Where did you even get this?” he laughs as Yu spins around for him.Yu leans in to whisper conspiratorially in his ear. “The back of Dojima’s closet. He said if anyone found out it was his he’d make the evidence disappear, though.”Yosuke stares at him, attempting to picture a slightly less grizzled Dojima’s head instead of his, but… no. There’s just no way cool, intimidating detective Dojima ever looked this ridiculous.They make their way up to the roof for lunch, Yu clomping along a bit slowly in his boots.“Sorry. These are giving me the worst blisters,” he says, wincing.“Should you even be wearing these indoors?”“We have special permission for spirit week.”They finally reach their spot in the corner of the roof and he falls to a seat with a sigh of relief. Yosuke kneels to help him take the shoes off, cringing when he sees the blood staining Yu’s socks at the heel.“I’m gonna go grab your slippers. You are not putting these back on,” Yosuke says as he rises. “Why are you still doing this, anyway? Barely anyone’s participating anymore, except for the teachers.”Yu looks down, and when he replies his voice is a bit quieter than before. “It makes Nanako happy to help me pick them out, and at school… people comment on it, they come talk to me about it. It makes me feel a little closer to everyone.”Yosuke stares at Yu as it finally clicks. Yu’s leaving in just a couple months. It’s no surprise he’d do anything to strengthen his bonds with all his friends before he has to leave. Yosuke leans down to put a hand on Yu’s shoulder, trying to put all the things he doesn’t know how to say into that touch — that he gets it, that he’ll never forget Yu anyway, that none of them ever will.“Partner…”Yu reaches up to squeeze his hand, and he knows he understands. It’s easy like that, with Yu; they’re so close it almost feels like they can read each other’s minds sometimes. He returns with Yu’s slippers and a first aid kid from the nurse a few minutes later, and helps Yu put the bandages on the back of his feet where he can’t quite reach. It’s hardly the first time he’s helped bandage him up, but it’s strangely tender, kneeling by his feet, carefully dabbing on the disinfectant. Yu seems so vulnerable with his feet kicked up off the ground into his lap, and Yosuke finds himself overwhelmed with the urge to protect him.He rolls his eyes at his own foolishness and eyes the evil assailant that apparently inspires such protective feelings in him — a pair of shoes. It reminds him of Chie’s Shadow, but at least she wanted to protect her best friend from unwanted male advances, which had some merit, not from literal clothing.Yu hasn’t told him what Thursday’s theme is, so he’s eager to see the new costume that morning, but Yu… looks completely normal. Even when he removes his winter coat, his school uniform is as crisp as always, not a hair out of place on his head or a weird accessory to be seen.“What’s today’s theme?” Yosuke asks, confused; maybe he’s missed something?“Borrow your parents’ clothes,” Yu replies in a flat tone.“Oh.” Yosuke could kick himself. Of course if Yu isn’t participating there must be a good reason. Why’d he have to go and ask? “Um, you probably could have borrowed something from Dojima?” he ventures, but Yu’s face falls and shit, he’s making it worse now.Yu doesn’t talk much about his parents; they exist, they call him every few weeks for a short chat, and that’s about all the info Yosuke’s ever gotten about them. He’s never thought too much about it before, but there’s probably a reason they didn’t even accompany Yu here, a reason Yu doesn’t seem to miss them. A reason Yu so quickly and thoroughly accepted the family Nanako and Dojima offered him. He wants to put an arm around Yu’s shoulders, but that would bring even more attention to his blunder at this point.“Uh, well, what’s tomorrow’s theme then?”Yu’s face falls even further. “It’s Couples Day, but Rise’s already doing something with Kanji, and they’re the only ones I know who wanted to participate.”Yosuke is the worst kind of friend. For once, he’s glad to hear the morning bell ring; it saves him from managing to make things even worse with whatever his next attempt at conversation would have been. Yu’s sad expression keeps making its way into Yosuke’s head, making him feel guiltier and guiltier by the hour. By the time the last bell rings, he knows he’s got to do something to fix it. And of course, he could just go to Junes and get them some sort of matching outfits, pants and tshirts; it’d be easy and Yu wouldn’t be disappointed at all, but… as much as Yosuke cares about his appearance, as much as he cares about his own style, he cares about Yu a million times more, and his partner deserves more than that.So when the bell rings, he rushes out of class and down to the first year classes, finding Kanji before he makes it to the lockers.“Kanji, my favorite first year!” he says as he grabs him by the arm, dropping it again a second later when Kanji glares at him.“What do you need, Senpai.”It’s true that Yosuke doesn’t hang out with Kanji one on one all that much, but that’s no reason to be so cold!“Can’t I just come and say hi?”Kanji raises an eyebrow, and Yosuke sighs. “Are you free tonight?”“Depends who’s asking,” Kanji replies.“I want to pay you to make two kimonos.”Kanji frowns. “Two kimo— wait. As in, tonight? You want me to sew two kimonos tonight?!”“They can be super simple!”“I don’t do half-rate work,” Kanji bristles. “What do you even need two kimonos by tomorrow for?!”“It’s, um,” Yosuke scratches the back of his neck, suddenly embarrassed. “It’s for Couples Day tomorrow. Yu seemed so disappointed not to have anyone to go with, and he likes dressing up…”Kanji stops at that and stares at Yosuke, and then a look of understanding comes over him. “Ooooh,” he says, and Yosuke would really like to know what the big realisation he’s just had is, but before he can ask Kanji’s grabbed his wrist and is dragging him along. “Fine, I’ll make an exception, but you’re helping me,” he says. “I don’t know how to sew!” Yosuke exclaims, but he’s ignored as Kanji starts discussing patterns, fabrics and obi options that go completely over his head. Some four or five hours and an innumerable number of pinpricks later, Yosuke’s holding a bag with two neatly folded, surprisingly well-finished kimonos in it.“How much do I owe you?” Yosuke asks.“Um, consider it my Christmas gift to you two. I didn’t get you guys anything, after all…” It’s not like Kanji to be so nice to Yosuke, but he’s not going to fight over it — he knows how much a handmade kimono goes for. Actually, Kanji’s been surprisingly nice the whole night; he keeps acting like he knows something, like they both know something and they’ve agreed not to speak of it, except Yosuke still has no idea what it is. “Good luck,” Kanji adds as he stands on the doorstep of Tatsumi Textiles, before closing the door.Good luck with what? It’s all completely mysterious, but Yosuke’s still got to make it to Yu’s to drop the kimono off and then back to his home, and it’s already really late; he doesn’t have time to be playing Naoto right now.He ends up leaving the kimono in a bag by the glass doors in the back of the Dojima home. It’s too late to ring the doorbell, and he’s pretty sure Yu will see it there tomorrow. He leaves a note with it, hastily scribbled on notebook paper.
Wear this tomorrow
-your partner
He sneaks back out of the garden as quietly as he can, adrenaline pumping at the thought of being discovered and having to face Yu just now, to tell him he spent the whole night working on this. It’s silly, he tells himself. It’s really no big deal, after all, and definitely not worth this level of stress. It doesn’t make him any less relieved to finally get out of sight of the house, though. His hopes to escape to school unseen are ruined when he heads downstairs in the morning to find his whole family, Teddie included, sitting for a rare shared breakfast. They all, of course, exclaim over his outfit, and when he explains that it’s for Couples Day, that he’s dressing up to match Yu, they give him strange knowing smiles. Yosuke’s starting to really wonder what the joke everyone’s in on but him is, but his mom pushes him out of the house when he tries to ask.“You’re going to be late if you don’t hurry! Wouldn’t want your other half to be alone!”It’s really weird wording, but it’s nothing new that his mom’s weird, so he shrugs it off and heads to school, both eager and slightly nervous to see Yu. Will he like the kimono? Will it even fit him? Kanji had his measurements from a previous order, and he knows the muted greys they picked are Yu’s style, but for some reason he still can’t stop worrying.The look of joy on Yu’s face when he finds him waiting by the shoe lockers in his kimono wipes any of his doubts away. Yu doesn’t even wait for him to change his shoes before he rushes forward to sweep him into a hug so tight his feet lift off the ground.“Thank you,” Yu murmurs, and keeps holding on to Yosuke far longer than a normal hug should last.Yosuke’s about to try stepping away when he hears a soft, barely-there sniffle. “Hey,” he says, reaching up awkwardly to pat Yu’s back. “It’s no big deal.”Behind Yu’s back, Kanji walks by, dressed in a leather jacket with his hair in a very Elvis pompadour. When he catches Yosuke’s eye, his face lights up, and he flashes a thumbs up at him before hurrying away. This is past weird, at this point.“Yu, partner. Why does everyone I’ve told about this kimono thing keep acting like there’s some big secret I should know about?”He could swear Yu laughs at that, one of his nearly-inaudible laughs, but when he draws back Yu’s face is a perfect picture of innocent confusion. “I have no idea. Maybe they just know how much I like…kimonos.”