Thanks to the ridiculous amount of adorable cosplay pictures from Pulse and Linefaced (seriously they make great Yosuke and Souji cosplayers) and then some beautiful fanart from Strangestquiet (seriously why is everyone on tumblr so talented and wonderful?!)  I wanted to write something for the other OTP I have (I’m more than just Kanji and Naoto… sort of.  I’ll return to smutfest 2012 for those two soon I promise!).  

Then I woke up this morning and remembered that the world is supposed to end.  Though it seems to be running late…  

Warnings:  It’s the end of the world?  As we know it?  And boys likes boys.  Particularly Soujis and Yosukes. 

***

Wednesday, December 19th

“The sky looks normal.”

“Is it not supposed to?”

Yosuke lets out a breath of air, watching as it becomes a puff of smoke in the December air.  He’s standing at his open window, watching as a few snowflakes drift down from the sky, “Well the world is ending on Friday, they say.”

“Ah.”

Yosuke ends up laughing into the phone, “Just like you not to be worried.”

Yosuke can imagine his partner shrugging as he speaks, “Should I be?  Is it really ending?”

“Who knows.  I just know that the sky looks normal, doesn’t look nearly as foggy as it did last year.”

“So there’s no crazy guy blaming the Junes empire?”

“I believe it was Junes kingdom, thank you very much.  Get my dictatorship right, partner.”

“Ah, sorry,” Souji chuckles through the phone, “Junes kingdom, your royal highness.”

Yosuke smiles and all goes quiet for a moment.  He reaches his other hand out the window, catching a stray snowflake, “So how does the sky look where you are?”

“There’s a bunch of teenagers flying through the sky fighting some giant monster to save us all.”

“Hm.  Are they wearing glasses?”

Souji laughs, a delightful sound that makes Yosuke smile even more, “I think one of them is.”

“Any of them crushing cards in their hands?”

“No, but one does have mechanical wings.”

“Mechanical?”  Yosuke sighs, “Heroes these days are so hi-tech.  Back in my day, we used old fashioned tarot cards and weapons.”

“Uh huh.  So how is a golf club a weapon?”

“Hey!  Gotta start somewhere, right?”

“Right.”

“So how does the sky really look?”

Souji smiles into the phone, “It’s snowing.”

“Yeah, it’s snowing here too.  I’m beginning to think that the world isn’t actually going to end on Friday.”

“You sound disappointed.”

Yosuke shrugs, “Not like I believed it anyway, was just making conversation.”

“Sure you didn’t.”

“Dude, hard to believe in something when you have the pint-sized detective pointing out the five hundred thousand reasons why this is all bullshit.”

“Just five hundred thousand?”  Souji asks, “Naoto’s slipping.”

“She’s distracted by tall delinquents these days.  Though I gotta say… I kind of envy them.”

“Oh?  Why’s that?”

“Well they get to spend their last days together.  I’m stuck here alone.”

There’s a silence again, this one a bit tighter than the last.  Souji finally speaks after what feels like an eternity and a half, his voice soft, “But it’s not like you believe in it happening anyway.”

“True, just… it’d be nice, yeah?  Spending your last days with someone special.”

“What about Teddie?”

“Dude, not funny.”

“I’m surprised all of you aren’t getting together tomorrow for some last hurrah or something.”

“Souji, no one actually thinks the world is ending.”

“So then this entire conversation is pointless.”

“Not really.  I meant what I said, it would be nice spending the last days with someone special… if the world were ending,” he says quickly.

“Ah.”

The next round of silence leaves a slightly bitter tingling in their throats.  It’s Yosuke who speaks this time, stepping away from his window and shutting it, “Well anyway, I should let you go, it’s getting late and you have teenagers to watch.”

“Huh?  Oh, right, they’re flying in the sky and saving the world.”

“It’s not saved until Tokyo Tower is destroyed.”

Souji smiles, “I’ll text you when it goes down.”

When they say their goodnights Yosuke hangs up, sliding his phone into his pocket.  The first thing he’s greeted with is Teddie, who’s staring at him with wide, watery eyes, “Is the world really ending?!  Is it?!”

Yosuke sighs and rolls his eyes, “No, you stupid bear.”

“So then why were you saying those things to sensei?”

Yosuke falls back on his bed and stares up at the ceiling, sighing, “Don’t worry about it Ted,” he whispers, “It’s not important.”

***

Thursday, December 20th

“Hey partner.  You never told me how that battle in the sky went.  Call me back.”  Click.  Yosuke lets out a loud, long sigh, tossing his phone onto his bed before he lays back next to it.  That’s the fifth message he’s left – not counting texts – but Souji has yet to respond.  He’s being stupid, he knows he is.  What exactly does he expect to happen, anyway?  It’s not about the world ending, of course, it’s more about the fact that he misses the guy like crazy.  

Unfortunately, Teddie is convinced that the world is ending, pulling on Yosuke’s arm and urging him to go through the T.V., “It’s safe there!”  He screams, “I’ve already sent beary important texty texts to everyone!”

“That’s great, Ted,” Yosuke says, “Why don’t you go in and I’ll meet you on the other side.”

“Oh no no no, I won’t leave Yosuke alone!”

It’s kind of cute, Yosuke thinks, but he doesn’t give into the urge to smile.  He’s too busy brooding, having a staring contest with the ceiling.

When the doorbell rings Teddie immediately runs out his room, screaming, “I’ll get it!  I bet it’s the others, I told them to come over right away!”

Yosuke blinks and sits up, “Wait, you did what?!”  He quickly slides out of the bed and runs after Teddie, “You stupid bear!”  The last thing he wants to deal with is everyone glaring at him, asking him what he’s said to Teddie to make him so paranoid.  It’s already too late, though, Teddie is opening the door and-

“SENSEI!”

Yosuke stares as Teddie jumps into Souji’s arms, Souji stumbling back a bit but he manages to drop his dufflebag and catch Teddie.  Teddie curls up against him and Yosuke swears he’s purring – can bears even do that?  Souji returns the hug but his eyes are on Yosuke, a warm and welcoming smile on his face.

There’s a lot of things Yosuke can say or do right now.  He can welcome him back, he can hug him, he can shoo Teddie away so he can kiss him the way boyfriends do, but instead he looks at the clock on the wall and crosses his arms at his chest, “11:55.  There’s only five more minutes until the world ends.”

“Ah, sorry.  Was too busy getting that last minute train ticket and all.”

“AH!  That’s right, the world is ending!”  Teddie screams, “Sensei, we need to get into the T.V.!  That world is safe!”

“Of course.  Why don’t you go and call the others and tell them I’m here, then we can come together with a plan.”

“Good idea!  Sensei is so smart!”  Then Teddie runs off, leaving Yosuke and Souji alone.

“… you have got to teach me how to do that,” Yosuke says.

“No way, that’s the one super power I have outside the T.V.”

Yosuke laughs and steps outside, closing the door behind him.  It’s cold, too damn cold, both of their breaths drifting up into the sky.  Yosuke wraps his arms around himself, trying to keep warm, not at all surprised when he feels an arm around his shoulders.  Yosuke smiles as he looks up into the sky, “It looks normal,” he says.

“It does.  How much longer do we have?”

“Not sure.  Didn’t bring a watch.  It was 11:55 so… probably about four minutes or so?”

“Hm.”  Souji frowns, looking up at the moon, “So is the world going to explode or…”

“Not really sure,” Yosuke says, shrugging, “No one has really said.”

“You realize if this doesn’t happen you owe me a ticket back to Tokyo.”

Yosuke blinks and looks up at Souji, “Didn’t you get a return ticket?”

“What was the point?”  Souji smiles at him, “The world is ending, remember?”

“You… y-you idiot, it’s not actually ending!”

“It’s not?”

“No!”

“But… the fighting teenagers…”

“O.K.  Stop.  Just stop.”  But Yosuke can’t seem to stop smiling.

There’s silence, this one much more comfortable than the last ones they had over the phone.  Yosuke feels a touch bit warmer now, snuggled close to Souji and the coat he’s wearing.  

“So… I guess you’re staying through the holidays,” Yosuke says, “Nothing seems to be happening.”

“How do you know it’s midnight?”

“How do you know it’s not?”

“Did anyone say what time it’s supposed to happen?”

“Nope.”

“Huh.  Maybe it’s just running late then.”

“The Apocalypse is late to it’s own party.  Nice.”

Souji smiles and turns, the two boys facing each other.  He pulls Yosuke close, arms wrapped around Yosuke’s shoulders, “So you were saying something about spending your last days with someone special?”

“This is the last day!”

“Well then, better make the best of it.”

Their lips are cold from the winter’s chill, slightly chapped, but it doesn’t really matter to either of them.  It’s the feeling of content that makes the kiss feel warm, gentle, Yosuke gripping onto Souji’s coat as his eyes slide shut to the rest of the world around them.  Souji keeps his arms around him, holding him close, the cold air starting to feel like a perfect breeze as they kiss the way old lovers do.  It’s suddenly the night before the train station in March, Yosuke speaking too many words but not the right words – Don’t go, I’ll miss you – and Souji just smiling, stepping forward and pressing his lips against his partner’s for the first time.

***

Friday, December 21st

It’s 12:01.

And the sky looks normal.