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As soon as the last comment left his mouth, Yosuke knew he'd gone a bit far; normally when he ribbed Kanji about his Shadow, the larger student had a loud comeback, not a genuinely hurt look somehow coexisting with glare that could have stripped paint off a car.
Even his body language shouts confused messages, came the idle, amusing thought, brought up short by Yu stopping his stride and eyeballing him. Ooh boy, Partner looks really annoyed...
"Right, Yosuke, walk with me into the last room. The rest of you stay here, stay on your guard, listen to Rise."
Yep, definitely annoyed with me. Yosuke winced, Kanji looked marginally less inclined to either cry or commit murder, and the rest of the team just snickered or smirked.
Like a man being led to Rise-cooked meal, Yosuke followed the leader. As soon as the door was shut, Kanji had his ear to it. "Wanna hear this," the blond brawler rumbled quietly, and Chie and Teddie silently agreed, taking positions to his right and left, eager to hear Yosuke get a bit of what was coming to him. Yukiko hesitated slightly before shuffling next to Chie. Naoto abstained from the press, content to hear the scolding second hand...or just not wanting to press herself against Teddie.
When the door closed, separating them from the rest, Yosuke tried to head off the lecture with contrition. "That last bit was out of line, I know, I'll apologize-"
"It's not," Yu said, cutting him off with a distinctly unamused tone, "just that."
A pause. Yosuke squirmed. Then Yu sighed, his face softening a bit.
"Though, that's a good start. You really have to lay off of Kanji, just in general. It's making him-and me-super uncomfortable that you keep bringing up his Shadow's..."
Yu searched for a diplomatic word that would also get the idea across. There were, and Yosuke could spot the spike of annoyance at the realization, none.
"...flaming, campy, gayness. Okay? I acknowledged it, elephant addressed, now get over it. Whatever confusion he's still having about his sexuality is none of your business, unless he tries to hit on you, and your clear and visible heterosexuality would make that somewhat unlikely."
Yosuke was almost sure there was a note of sarcasm in "clear and visible." Almost, but not entirely, and this conversation was awkward and embarrassing enough, thank you very much.
"I get it, I get it. I'll lay off. You know I mean it as just taking the piss, right? I'm not trying to be a douche."
Yu sighed again. "Just?"
...ouch. That was Classic Partner right there, very efficient use of word. Yosuke squirmed a bit, then gave a sigh of his own. No point lying to those silver eyes.
"...it freaks me out a little...a lot. That's my damage, okay? It's not Kanji's fault I'm such a wuss about this...stuff. I know it's not fair, I'm the problem, and I'll probably get over it, but..."
Yosuke made a helpless gesture, raising his hands and letting them fall onto his thighs with a soft slap. Yu sighed again, looking at least half-satisfied.
"All you can do is better, I guess. You're still apologizing. Profusely and sincerely, for everything, not just the stuff that you thought crossed the line. And maybe try, just an idea, talking to him? Or me? About this stuff? Before it starts to mess with team dynamics?"
"That, I can do, partner. We cool?" Yosuke's smile was a bit nervous, but Yu just clapped him on the shoulder and smiled back.
"We cool. Though...one more question?"
"Eh?"
"If homosexuality really gets to you...how come you weren't freaked out by Chie's Shadow?"
On the other side of the door, three pairs of eyes snapped to a paling face beneath short brown hair. Naoto took note, decided that it might be worth being a bit cramped to hear this, and squeezed between Teddie and Kanji.
"...wanna run that by me again, partner?"
Yu thought, for a fleeting instant, that Yosuke was just messing with him. The genuine confusion on his (unfairly handsome; temptation was easier to avoid if you didn't know, intuitively, how to capitalize on it) face put the lie to that.
"...really, partner? A dominatrix Yukiko on top of a stack of real subby-looking Chies isn't exactly subtle."
I'm not gonna look at Yukiko. I'm not gonna look at Yukiko. I'm not gonna-
Chie looked.
Yep. Bright red, deer-in-the-headlights eyes...still pressing into my backDON'TTHINKABOUTTHAT.
Kanji looked almost as shocked and embarrassed as Yukiko, giving a sniff that might have covered up the beginning of a nosebleed. Naoto might have looked much the same, if one could see through hats. Teddie just looked baffled, mouthing out 'domin-tricks' with what might have been a question mark at the end.
No one was leaving the press at the door. No one was in any hurry to stop hearing her deepest shames. Chie, for her part, couldn't quite work up the nerve to make them, for some reason.
...It definitely wasn't because Yukiko was breathing raggedly in her ear and she didn't want to her to stop. Nope. That wasn't why at all.
Yosuke's confusion did not abate; he had more questions than ever, so he went for the most obvious one...that wouldn't expose not knowing yet another word, got enough of that from Naoto thanks.
"Wait, how do you know that was Yukiko on top? It was wearing that weird banana mask."
Yu made a dismissive wave. "Okay, it was probably Chie's face under the mask, if there was an under, but it was definitely Yukiko's hair. Exaggerated length, additional blades, sure, but all strait, black and shiny like that? Definitely some envy and desire there. Anyway, that's not the point I was making. All that stuff she was saying about 'keeping a grip' on Yukiko-"
"-okay, yeah, I can see that now, but that was a whole self-worth deal, right? Sure it sounds kinda suggestive when you say it like that, but it was power thing, not a sex thing!"
"..."
Yu often made good use of silence. People like to fill spaces, far be it from him to stop them. That...was not what he was doing here. This was him staring incredulously at his...apparently far more sheltered than he had guessed friend.
Yosuke had the creeping suspicion that he'd, once again, said something spectacularly boneheaded.
"They...," Yu stopped a facepalm before it was more than a twitch in his hand, "...aren't mutually exclusive, Yosuke. Not even close."
"...oh."
Awkward silence.
"...you don't know what a-"
"-what's a dominatrix?"
Curiosity had won out over embarrassment. Yu smirked. Classic Partner.
"A woman-always a woman, the -trix is like the -ess in actress- that gives slash receives sexual pleasure via domination, having and demonstrating power over another person. The whip and the boots are the big giveaways here. I'm honestly surprised this is the first you're hearing of this, Mr. Where's-Your-Stash."
Yosuke was blushing (goddammit, he's adorable, okay, back off Narukami, time and place), scratching the back of his head.
"Yeaaaah, my stuff's all pretty vanilla. I stay clear of the weird shit, not really a surprise there's some things I don't know. Freakiest I'm into is nurses."
Yu laughed, carefully pitched to only be slightly mocking.
"If you ever do find my stash, you'll see that that doesn't really count as 'the weird shit.' Bit of power play is pretty common, actually."
"Huh. Learn something new every day."
"So...," Yu was back to being careful, "...now that you're clued in..."
"...nah. It's...not the same, somehow. Doesn't have that knee-jerk 'eek don't touch me' reaction. That's probably even stupider of me, but..."
Another helpless gesture. Yu smiled.
"It is."
Yosuke slumped.
"But I'm glad you have one less thing to deal with. And if it turns out that the symbolism was about a sex and power thing?"
Yosuke straightened up, giving a sharp salute.
"Be supportive, welcoming, all that jazz. Only tease them about it if I know it won't offend. I got this."
"...close enough. Ready to apologize to Kanji?"
It wasn't really a question; Yosuke nodded anyway.
"Good-what was that?"
They both looked at the door. A second of processing later, they both realized that had been frantic shuffling and a muffled curse...in Kanji's voice.
The implications sank in.
"...shit."