#narukami

you five had just come from the amagi inn where you spent time getting ready together — helping with each other’s hair, makeup, and yukatas. you were especially nervous because it’s the first time you’ve ever worn a yukata; hell, it’s the first one you’ve ever bought yourself, as all your other yukatas were chosen and bought by your mother. it was your favorite color, and it fit your body perfectly. you’re confident in it, yet you felt shy, especially since you were spending the night at the festival with your friends and your new boyfriend.

yu asked you out on new year’s eve, right before you both gathered with your friends. he had asked you to meet him first, and as always you had no problem with that. you initially thought that there was something he wanted to say about the case that he couldn’t share with the others, but when you left your house only to find him standing there at your front door, you knew something else was up. you still clearly remember the way your heartbeat instantly sped up once you saw him, especially so when he smiled seeing you open the door. for as long as you've known him, it wasn't like him to pick someone up from their house.

he ended up walking with you to the shrine, talking about mundane things at first like how school was going since you were in a different class, until you both finally reached the shopping district. the air was freezing, and the weather report told you that it'd be snowing at midnight, but you felt warm to your bones just standing there in front of the silver-haired boy who just so happened to be your crush.

it was then that he confessed to you, telling you that something in him woke up ever since he saw you facing your shadow in the tv world. suddenly everything made sense — the way he always kept you by his side, choosing you to join him in the main party instead of the backup party, always telling teddie or yukiko to heal you first, asking for your opinion before everyone else's — it was all because your feelings (which you initially thought were one-sided, considering how close he seemed to rise) were returned.

neither of you told the investigation team, not because you wanted to keep it on the low or anything, but because both of you never really felt the need to announce your relationship. besides, your interactions with each other should be enough to tip everyone else off — or so you thought.

and now, eight months later, your relationship seemed to have gone unnoticed as no one from the group ever mentioned anything, not even naoto. you and yu didn't mind, though. “it's more entertaining this way,” your boyfriend had said, mischievous as ever. “imagine the look on their faces when they find out.”

which lead to this moment, with you trying your best to calm your beating heart as your friends conversed with each other. though, the others seem to have finally noticed how you were unusually quiet, as rise finally drops the question, “what’s wrong? oh! are you worried about yu senpai's reaction?”

she was obviously just joking to tease you, yet the fact that her question hit the spot made your heart skip a beat. you were lucky it had already gotten dark, otherwise the four girls would’ve been able to see how your face reddened. “what? no, it’s not that,” you answer, far more composed than you expected. “i think you’re describing yourself there, rise.”

at that, rise squealed and dropped her curiosity immediately. “ah, i just can’t wait! i bet he'll fall head over heels for me the second he sees me!”

you laughed with the others at her excitement. that's another ‘positive’ point of being in a secret relationship that you made note of — you get this feeling of joy and authority whenever someone squeals or gushes over your boyfriend. sure, you feel a bit of annoyance every now and then, but the thought of having the boy they talk so highly about as your boyfriend and only yours gave you a thrilling feeling that rushes through your body. whenever you joke about it to yu, he always laughs along, and always reassures you that he isn't going anywhere, in a way that never fails to make your heart flutter.

“oh shoot, what time is it? we're way too late!” chie finally pipes up after their laughter dies down. her realization snaps the rest of you into a faster walking speed, although it was a bit difficult due to your yukatas.

finally, the entrance to the shrine comes into view, and so does 4 familiar heads of hair waiting right under the arch. teddie cheers and waves at you five once you’re close enough, and just then, your eyes met yu’s. your cheeks heat up in an instant, and you smile at him before looking away for the sake of your heart.

“hey ladies, nice to see you all dressed up for me,” teddie says in his usual ‘flirty’ voice once you reach them.

chie immediately answers with a witty comeback that ends up with teddie’s dramatic self being on the verge of tears, and so begins the friendly conversation-slash-argument about how and why you girls got there so late. as you debated with yosuke, yu watches you silently, and your heart races despite him not saying anything as you all continue your friendly banter.

“alright, alright! sheesh,” yosuke finally says as he admits defeat. “i get it now, you took a long time to get ready just for us, right?” he winked towards the end, earning a groan from chie.

“oh shut up, yosuke!” she grumbled.

“senpai, what do you think? i look cute, don't i?” rise, having noticed yu's silence, asked the upperclassman. “yosuke's right about one thing, i made sure i looked perfect for you, senpai!”

yu hummed and nodded. “i think (name) looks cute.”

his sudden and unexpected words caught you off guard, warming your face up yet again. “ah- um... thanks, yu.” you said, smiling softly at him. it definitely wasn't the first time he's said something of the like, he showers you with compliments every moment he can. still, it always flusters you, more so when he does it in front of the others, what with the unknown relationship thing and all.

rise pouted but nodded, “i agree! i haven't seen her in a yukata before. actually, i don't think any of us have, huh?”

the others nodded and complimented you as well. it was true. last year's summer, before you all had to save naoto, you decided to wear your usual clothes instead of a yukata. you just didn't feel like it was an occasion special enough, and besides, you had always planned to only wear a yukata with someone who matters the most to you. sure, the investigation team is your found family even at that point, but the 'someone' in your mind was more on the romantic side rather than platonic.

“well there's a first for everything,” kanji nodded. “but anyways, come on. let's stop waiting time and go walk around the festival.”

“wait a sec!” yosuke called out just as you all headed towards the gate. “shouldn’t we pair up? y’know, won’t that make things a bit more... romantic?”

yosuke's being his usual flirtatious self, yet the thought of pairing up with yu made you slightly nervous. not only because you were wearing something you don't usually wear, but because it'd be the first time you're openly 'going on a date' in front of your friends. but of course, the other girls disagreed with him, calling him a pervert.

“then i wanna go with all of the girls!” teddie suddenly exclaimed, earning groans from chie and rise.

“but you already did that last year, teddie,” yukiko said, calm as always. “don't you think that's a bit unfair?”

“naoto wasn't with us yet then, and (name) wasn't wearing a yukata. it's different, so come on!” teddie's voice turned whiny toward the end. at first, you and the other girls kept declining, but he kept getting whinier as time goes on. in the end, you finally gave in, albeit a little reluctantly.

“alright then, let's go.” naoto said, earning nods from the others as they all finally headed towards the gate.

you were the last girl to follow teddie's footsteps, and just as you turned to leave, your eyes met yu's again. you send him a smile, which he returned, not yet joining in on kanji and yosuke's conversation as he watched you walk farther away with teddie and the other girls.

“yo, yu, which stand should we check out first?” you heard yosuke’s voice just barely over the loud chatter of the crowd surrounding you before it disappears completely. you decided to stick beside naoto and chie as yukiko and rise walked with teddie, leading the way.

the night went on and you six checked out every stand one by one, playing mini games and buying the snacks that looked most delicious to you. you were laughing and giggling all the time, there wasn’t a single moment of silence between you and your friends as you kept chatting and joking about random things. finally, you stopped at another mini-game stand, where naoto and chie teamed up against rise and teddie to see who’d get the most points by knocking some sand-filled bottles with balls they were given by the stand-keeper. yukiko laughed out loud when teddie missed completely, her contagious laughter causing you to laugh along with her. the competition was fierce with only a one point difference, rise and teddie in the lead despite teddie’s missed shots. in the end they did win, which lead to chie and naoto asking (demanding, really) for a rematch.

“oof, i’m tired. do you wanna go ahead yukiko? (name)?” rise asked, shaking her hand to rid of the soreness that was coming up.

“alright, i’ll give it a try.” yukiko giggled, taking rise’s place as the younger girl moved to stand beside you. the round started immediately and you both cheered everyone on.

somewhere in the middle of the round, you looked around to see what other stands you had left to visit. a certain stand selling cotton candy caught your eye and attention, so you tapped rise’s shoulder.

“rise, i’m gonna go over there for a bit, okay?” you said, pointing towards the cotton candy stand. rise looked to where you were pointing and nodded, “be careful, senpai!”

you made your way over to the stand, slipping through the crowd, reaching it quickly. you were about to tell the stand-keeper that you’d like one stick of cotton candy, when a familiar voice beat you to it.

“two cotton candies, please. thank you.”

your heart skipped a beat as you turned to look at your boyfriend who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. his eyes were already on you, his hands inside his pockets like they always are. he towered over you, your face just inches away from his chest if you weren’t looking up at him.

“h-hi,” you giggled out, a gleeful smile stretching your lips. “how’s your night going?”

“it’s going great, yosuke and kanji are over there waiting for our food,” yu answered. “how’s yours?”

“i’m getting kind of tired, actually,” you answered honestly. “the girls, teddie, and i have been walking around and playing mini games nonstop. my throats getting dry because we’ve been laughing and talking so much.”

yu looked at you with this certain glint in his eyes — adoration, if you were confident enough to label it as that. his expression was soft and his smile was endearing, he looked as if he was listening to the love of his life.

which, really, he was.

“that’ll be 2.000 yen, sir,” the stand keeper said, holding out two sticks of cotton candy. you snapped out of staring at yu, moving to open your purse, but yu was faster and was already reaching out to hand the money to him.

“yu, you don’t have-“ you cut yourself off as yu took one stick of cotton candy and gave the money to the stand keeper before taking the other stick. he held it out to you, the same endearing and soft smile on his face as he completely ignored what you were about to say.

“you didn’t have to, you know,” you pouted but took your cotton candy anyway. “but thank you. i’ll make it up to you.”

yu chuckled, causing your cheeks to heat up and you to lightly slap his arm. “don’t laugh at me, i’m serious.”

silence falls upon you two. you feel yourself getting fidgety under yu’s unwavering stare, so you busy your hands by plucking your cotton candy and eating it, humming at how sweet it tasted. unbeknownst to you, yu’s heart fluttered at how effortlessly adorable and beautiful you looked just by standing and eating cotton candy in front of him — you looked like a small little girl enjoying her candy to him at that moment.

“you’re very beautiful,” yu finally said. “i like you.”

your hand stopped mid-air on the way to your mouth, another piece of cotton candy just barely reaching your lips. you blushed, finally gaining the courage to look at your boyfriend again. “t-thank you, you’re very handsome yourself,” you smiled bashfully. “i like you more.”

“do you like it?” yu asked, gesturing to the cotton candy in your hand.

you nodded and popped the piece from earlier into your mouth, grinning after you let it dissolve. “i like it a lot! if you don’t start eating yours, i might just take it from you.”

yu chuckled, plucking a piece of cotton candy and eating it ad you continued to eat yours. he glanced over to where he left yosuke and kanji to find them still standing there, but this time with food in their hands, chatting with each other. his eyes then moved to the game stand you had just left, watching yukiko and rise cheer an upset teddie up as chie and naoto celebrate their victory until his attention finally fell upon you once again.

“do you wanna break it to them?” he asked, the sudden question making you laugh lightly.

“so suddenly?” you asked in return before shrugging. “i’m fine with it. don’t think that they’ll be too happy to know we’ve been hiding something for so long, though.”

“it’s alright, i’ll be here with you.” yu smiled, patting your head. he would ruffle your hair, but he remembered how you told yosuke that you took a lot of time preparing with the other girls, including styling your hair, and he didn’t want to ruin it.

you feel a comforting warmth spread throughout your body, your eyes meeting his for the umpteenth time that night. you see the determination and reassurance in yu’s eyes, which was all you needed to know that he was telling the truth. you took yu’s hand from your head and squeezed it with yours, squeezing it as you grinned. “let’s do it, then.”

“yo, senpai!” you hear kanji as the younger boy and yosuke reached you both. “we were wondering what took you so long.”

yu turned his head to look at him, humming, “sorry. i was just chatting with her.”

“(name)! there you are!” rise called out, arriving by your side. “hey, is the cotton candy good? can you buy one for me, senpai?” she batted her eyelashes at yu, who only chuckled in response.

“hey, you’re both holding cotton candy… did you buy him one, (name)-san?” naoto asked, quick to deducing things as always.

you were about to open your mouth to explain but was beaten to it by the man himself. “no, i bought one for her.”

“hey, that’s no fair! why don’t i get one?” yosuke whined, pouting and crossing his arms over his chest.

“yeah, sensei! why don’t i get one too?” teddie followed up.

yu shrugged. “well, i mean, she is my girlfriend, after all. it’s the least i can do to make her happy.”

chie was the first to react, gasping loudly with her iconic ‘oh my god!’. the others followed suit, shocked exclamations and questions flooding both of your ears as you both stayed silent, you giggling, waiting for their ruckus to die down. at that point, some other visitors were looking your way but none of you paid attention, everyone was too busy piecing things together and asking you both questions about your relationship.

“wait, wait, wait! how long has this been going for?!” yosuke asked, disbelief written all over his face. “come on, partner! i’m here still single and everything and you went on ahead and got a girlfriend without telling me?!”

“i asked her out on new years, so,” yu hummed, counting in his head. “eight-ish months now.”

“eight months?!” yukiko gasped. “how have none of us noticed?”

“how did i not notice…” naoto muttered, more to herself. “sure, i’m the last to join… but shouldn’t two members dating each other be obvious…?”

you blushed furiously as they continued to bombard you with questions. “h-hey, i thought it was obvious!” you said in an attempt to defend both yourself and your boyfriend. “we... we did a lot of things that would've tipped you off, right, yu?”

yu chuckled and nodded.

“what things?! i swear i couldn't tell at all!” kanji exclaimed, earning a nod from rise, who was standing beside him.

“yeah, senpai! anyway, how could you not tell us from the beginning? if i had known, i wouldn't have flirted with you so much,” rise pouted, and you could tell that she felt bad for chasing after your boyfriend for so long. she looked at you apologetically, and you returned her gaze with a soft, reassuring smile.

“well... i guess now that we found out, isn't it about time you treat us to something, yu?” chie hummed, a mischievous smile on her face. yu chuckled nervously in response while your eyes widen once you've understood what she meant.

“what, you want him to treat you all since you've realized we're dating?” you asked to make sure, earning nods and sounds of agreement from the others, chie and yosuke grinning widely at you both.

“well it's the least you could do for hiding this from us for so long, partner,” yosuke teased, nudging yu's elbow.

finally, yu sighed and gave in, giving a small nod. “alright. let's get together tomorrow for lunch, then.”

the group cheered and thanked him, already excited and fired up for tomorrow's plans. “oh! we could go and eat steak at junes! there's a sale for a group order since it's summer. what do you guys think?” yosuke proposed.

“man, a discount! hell yeah, let's go with that!” kanji nodded. “and if i remember right, ma told me there'll be a fireworks show tomorrow night. we could go there together, too!”

as the group continues to discuss plans excitedly, you turn your head to look up at your boyfriend, who was already looking at you. you smiled brightly at him, cheeks red and sore from how much you've been laughing and smiling this whole time at the group's reaction. yu smiled back, his free arm reaching over and wrapping around your shoulders, pulling you closer. he landed a soft peck on your forehead, causing a familiar buzz to spread throughout your body as you giggled at his action.

“this went better than i thought,” you said, just loud enough for him to hear. he hummed and nodded, not exactly caring about anything else as his eyes and attention were all on you at the moment. he admired you as you continue talking about how glad you were that the group supported you both.

“hey, (name),” yu finally spoke, stopping you.

“yes? did i say something wrong?” you asked, nervous at how serious he sounded, but yu shook his head.

“i love you, so much.”

his words froze you in place as you stared up at him. you were sure he can finally see how red you were due to how close you stood, but you didn't mind if it could let him know how you felt. he's never said those words before, he's never expressed a deeper emotion towards you. he always said, 'i like you', and you were fine with that — you both had just started dating, after all, so you weren't expecting him to feel so deeply fond about you so early. now, as you hear those words leave his mouth, you're sure that he's saying it from the bottom of his heart, and that alone leaves you breathless and weak in the knees.

“i love you, more.” you finally breathed out an answer, earning a smile from yu. he's blushing, too, his hand reaching up from your shoulder to pat your head once again.

“alright, since we've already planned where to go, why don't we go home for tonight and rest up? i'm sure all of you are tired.” naoto suggested, snapping you both from your own world and back to reality. the group agreed with her, and you all eventually walked back to the shrine gate, where you bid goodbye to everyone before walking back home with yu by your side.

the walk home was silent in the beginning, your mind replaying your moment with yu from earlier. unbeknownst to you, yu's heart was racing just as fast as yours as he thought about how close he held you while being surrounded by his friends. he loved you, loved holding you, and even more so when it's to show off how much he cared about you to them. he's loved you ever since he laid eyes on you, and his feelings only grew stronger when he saw you face your shadow. now, that you've been with him for eight months, that love had deepened.

“so you love me, huh?” you asked in a teasing voice, snapping yu out of his train of thoughts. his lips stretched into a shy smile as he nodded.

“yeah, i do,” he said, and you could see how the love practically gleaming out of his eyes. “i really do love you.”

your heart fluttered and you covered your shyness with giggles. “that's really nice to hear,” you confessed. “i love you more, yu.”

yu reached his hand out for you to take, and you did, intertwining your fingers with his. yu was kind enough to walk at a slower pace than usual, he knew that you're struggling a little due to your yukata restraining you. you both didn't mind, though. after all, nothing beats a leisure stroll on a calm night with the one you love most.

“so you're buying steak for everyone tomorrow, huh?” you asked, earning a hum from your boyfriend. “isn't that a bit unfair? shouldn't i pitch in, too?”

yu shook his head and smiled at you. “it’s alright. there's no way i'm letting my girlfriend pay for something.”

you clicked your tongue and lightly pushed his shoulder with your free hand. “what kind of mindset is that? you should let me pay once in a while,” you said, pouting.

“what kind of gentleman would that make me?” yu chuckled. “it's fine, i promise. don't worry your pretty self, alright?”

yu always had a way of reassuring you so easily, maybe it's because of the calm and confident aura he always had. he squeezed your hand, and you smiled and nodded, using your other hand to hug his arm.

before either of you realized it, you've reached your house. you stood at your front door, facing each other, confused on how to say goodbye — not like you wanted to, anyway.

“so... i'll see you tomorrow, right?” you began, smiling sheepishly.

yu nodded, returning the smile. “i’ll pick you up as always. wait for me, okay?”

you hummed, your smile turning into a gleeful grin. “of course i will.”

“then i'll see you tomorrow.” yu concluded, leaning and kissing your forehead. he smiled at you once he pulled away before turning to walk away.

you grab his arm, more of a spur of the moment act, and he looked back at you with a soft questioning look. you struggle to meet his eyes, so you settle with staring at his lips instead, not even trying to hide the blush on your cheeks.

“i love you, yu.” you said, grinning sheepishly as you let go of his arm.

yu chuckled at your shyness, catching your hand in his, kissing the back of it as his eyes finally met yours. “i love you more.”

he let go of your hand with a wide smile. “good night, (name).”

you returned his smile, just as wide. “good night, yu.”