[X] Your continued attempts to figure out the mystery that is Kanji Tatsumi sound like a good way to spend a (probably) low-effort afternoon.
I think it's better to just let the deal with Yosuke be resolved by itself. I don't know why, but the wording of it makes me think we are going to either bully Yosuke, or confess our undying love to him. At least from the outsider perspective.
I think it's better to just let the deal with Yosuke be resolved by itself. I don't know why, but the wording of it makes me think we are going to either bully Yosuke, or confess our undying love to him. At least from the outsider perspective.
Yeah, that tracks. Poor Yosuke, if he ends up being saved by Shooter somehow he's going to end up very, very confused. Which, from what I've read of his track record with women, also tracks.
[X] You should take the time to figure out your reply to Yomi sooner rather than later.
-[X] Love you too!
-[X] Not love-love of course, but best girl friend love.
-[X] And that's girl who's a friend, not girlfriend!
-[X] Not that I think you'd be a bad girlfriend or anything, you'd be great, but you're not my girlfriend.
-[X] Not that I'd be sad if you were, because you're all cool and pretty and kind, but you aren't.
-[X] I'll be jealous of whoever you pick, tbh.
-[X] Not because I'd want to be in their place! That's not what I meant! I just mean you'd be a really super girlfriend and I'd love to have someone like you as one- not you, because you're my best friend and not girlfriend, obviously- and that when you do get someone I'll think they're so lucky!
-[X] Not to imply that I wouldn't want you as a girlfriend! You'd be a great one, I know, it's just you're my friend and not girlfriend and I don't even know what I'm saying anymore help me!
-[X] [Short break in which Mato neither sends nor replies to texts]
-[X] Er... please pretend I didn't send those last few messages. I sort of kept thinking you'd misunderstand what I meant and panicked, and, well...
-[X] Anyway, love you.
-[X] Platonically! Platonically!
[X] You should take the time to figure out your reply to Yomi sooner rather than later.
-[X] Love you too!
-[X] Not love-love of course, but best girl friend love.
-[X] And that's girl who's a friend, not girlfriend!
-[X] Not that I think you'd be a bad girlfriend or anything, you'd be great, but you're not my girlfriend.
-[X] Not that I'd be sad if you were, because you're all cool and pretty and kind, but you aren't.
-[X] I'll be jealous of whoever you pick, tbh.
-[X] Not because I'd want to be in their place! That's not what I meant! I just mean you'd be a really super girlfriend and I'd love to have someone like you as one- not you, because you're my best friend and not girlfriend, obviously- and that when you do get someone I'll think they're so lucky!
-[X] Not to imply that I wouldn't want you as a girlfriend! You'd be a great one, I know, it's just you're my friend and not girlfriend and I don't even know what I'm saying anymore help me!
-[X] [Short break in which Mato neither sends nor replies to texts]
-[X] Er... please pretend I didn't send those last few messages. I sort of kept thinking you'd misunderstand what I meant and panicked, and, well...
-[X] Anyway, love you.
-[X] Platonically! Platonically!
Yosuke's been acting weird around you ever since yesterday. Maybe you can corner him and figure out what his deal is?
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 - Afternoon - Yasogami High School
"Yosuke!"
"WAH-!"
The brunette is easy enough to find simply by starting at the school gate (where you offer Chie and Narukami a quick wave) and making your way back across the courtyard and up towards the second-year classrooms. A tactic that ends up requiring some quick footwork as you fail to see him in one stairwell and have to rush to the other end of the building, but pays off as you catch him on his way down.
Seeing him nearly fall down said stairs in surprise when you shout his name proves to be amusing as well, if slightly concerning.
"Oh, Ma-uh… Kuroi-san, what's up?" You take the steps two at a time to catch up in earnest and then move aside to let a small knot of students pass you on the landing, waiting until they're out of earshot before raising an eyebrow at him.
"You know you can use my first name right?"
"I can? I mean-!" the brown haired boy takes a step back, arms rising as though to ward off a blow before catching himself. He gives you a sheepish look and a halfhearted chuckle and your eyes narrow.
"What is it?"
"Nothing's wrong."
"I'm not stupid Yosuke. You've been acting weird around me ever since the fight."
"I have not!" You breathe a sigh through your nose and frown in his direction, letting his petulance hang in the air between you. Another group of students pass by, eyeing you with naked curiosity but unwilling to stop and actually ask, much to your relief.
You still wait until they're well out of sight before finally giving voice to your thoughts softly, drawing on some of Yomi's behavior to modulate your tone. "Is it really that weird?"
"No! It's fine… Just… Can we not have this conversation right in the middle of a hallway?"
"Where to then?" You ask casually and he freezes, looking desperately around before asking in a very small voice.
"Can we just not have this conversation at all?"
Coward.
"You aren't helping."
But I am right.
"…"
"Uhh… Kuro-er… Mato-san?"
You heave another deeper sigh. "Yeah, let's find somewhere quiet."
You should fight him.
"No, shut up."
No matter how tempting the idea is…
-------
'Somewhere quiet' turns out to be the steps at the side of the gym. The chaotic booming echoes of basketballs hitting the floor drowning out any chance of passers-by overhearing Yosuke's exasperation.
"Look, it's really no big deal! I'm just trying not to get hit."
"You think I'm going to hit you?" Not like I haven't thought about it but…
"Uh, yeah? Chie-chan does it all the time. Like every time I call her uh…" He trails off, a look of horror coming over his face "look can you not tell her I said that?"
You can't really disagree given what you've seen of the two of them, but at the same time…
"Look, I'm not going to hit you. At least, not for calling me…" Now it's your turn to trail off, you hadn't really noticed it last time but… That really was awkward wasn't it? 'Mato-chan'… It didn't sound right coming from him. Too familiar.
"You can call me Mato, okay?" He nods, looking relieved before a hesitant look steals over his face. His mouth opens and closes a few times as he visibly steels himself.
"So uh… Are we done here?"
"Yeah…"
You should probably have a chat with Chie at some point too, but for now, at least you've cleared the air a little. Sighing, you check your phone and take a long look at the gym doors, wondering when first years would start getting invited to join clubs. It might be nice to get back into basketball after all.
Not today though, you sigh and thumb the sleep button on the device as you set off towards the bike racks at a brisk jog. You've got homework that needs to get done tonight first and foremost.
-------
Before you know it, the homework has eaten up most of your evening, yet as you finish up the last few math problems you catch a buzzing from your phone.
[21:37] Hey Mato, Is everything okay
there? Yomi's been acting…
She's been really quiet all day
Did something happen?
You feel a stab of guilt at the reminder of the message Yomi sent you, still unanswered. Look at your math homework, then at the clock. You have another dive into the castle to worry about tomorrow, but…
[ ] Finish your homework.
[ ] Figure out what to send to Yomi.
[ ] Stay up late and do both. A/N: With apologies for both the wait and the shortness, I took the holidays off, but after that I also had a bunch of dumb second thoughts even though I was already committed to the narrative between Yosuke and Mato by now, and the whole update fought me every step of the way.
This vote is going to be shorter than usual, only 24 hours since it's such a small decision, mostly to determine what state you're in both mentally and physically when going into the castle after school.
And then with any luck, I'll get back into the groove and go back to the 4-5 day cycles of updates.
As a reminder, we've insisted on going into the TV World with the rest of the squad next time, even though we're waiting on our weapon to be reforged. Given that we'd want to be in fairly decent condition to try and make that not an awful decision, we should at least get some rest rather than burning the midnight oil.
So it's between our homework and our girlfriend, and I'll support the bad decisions train by chucking homework to the side in favor of romance(?) and all that.
