Still Here For You (Arata Sanada x Yuuvo [AI Yuugo] & Yuugo)

~1: Thoughts~

Arata POV

I faceplant onto my bed and growl against my pillow as thoughts run through my mind about what 'Yuuvo' was talking about earlier. I could tell he genuinely wished to tell me but there was something stopping him. I didn't like seeing that shy and sad look on his normally emotionless yet cute face.

There I go again calling him cute! I don't know why I'm so bothered by those thoughts. I have no shame in the fact that I'm attracted to the same sex so it's not that. But if he wants to pursue a relationship, he's not going to get very far without giving me a proper explanation. I know it'll take time as he clearly hasn't really told anyone else.

'I am gonna go take a walk to clear my head. Maybe stop by Hudie and talk to Chitose so long as Ryuji is not there. Chitose does not mind talking to me too much depending on the topic. It is Ryuji who seems to hate my guts and does not want me near him or Chitose.' I think to myself while standing up and getting ready to leave the house before leaving and locking the front door behind me.

I walk all the way to Ikkebukuro after messaging Chitose to see if it's okay for me to come by and talk to him. Luckily, Ryuji's on a job for Zaxon right now so I should be good for a while. I walk into the cafe and he's standing by the coffee machine.

"Hey, it's been awhile Arata. You said you wanted to talk about Yuugo?" He asks me when we sit down at a small table.

"Yeah, but don't say anything to him or anyone else, okay?" I say to him and he nods in agreement.

"If there's something going on between the two of you, it's none of my business and I don't plan on airing any dirty laundry." He assures me.

"Here's the thing, he's acting pretty weird towards me. Not in a bad way, and in respect for him I won't get too specific about it. I want advice on how to go about talking to him when he's not always going to be able to interact with me in the way he'd prefer to but he can't fully explain to me why." I explain to him.

"Are you thinking multiple personalities or not the only person using the account? No one's ever been able to meet him outside of EDEN. So either one is possible for a Hacker of his caliber." Chitose says to me.

"That's something I hadn't considered, but seeing as he asked me to call him Yuuvo unless he was calling himself Yuugo, those are both possible. But he's also never mentioned a last name..." I say to Chitose.

"What are you two talking about?" A voice asks as a girl walks over from the drink counter.

"Look who's ventured out of her room, the elusive Erika!" Chitose says as I place the name, Ryuji's sister.

"That doesn't answer my question, Chitose. Perhaps you'll answer me." She says before turning her attention to me.

"Only if you keep quiet about it and agree not to tell Ryuji I was here. He doesn't exactly react kindly to me showing up here." I say to her and she nods with a critical look.

"So?" She asks me.

"We're discussing Yuugo from Zaxon." I say to her and she immediately gives Chitose an exasperated look.

"What about him?" She asks me with furrowed brows.

"He's...how do I phrase this effectively...? Acting like two completely different people around me. There's the way he normally acts: stoic defender of EDEN and leader of Zaxon, and there's this new way he's acting towards me: openly emotional, bold but shy, and he seems to treat the Zaxon persona like it's someone else. And while we were discussing that, we realized we know nothing about him outside of EDEN, unlike most other team leaders who can be easy enough to find outside of EDEN, and Fei tends to show up at random too. Yuugo's the only major team leader no one sees or knows anything about outside of EDEN." I explain to Erika who gains a contemplative look.

"When you put it that way, he does seem strange. At first I thought this was asking for trouble. Let me go see what I can find on 'Yuugo', starting by trying to find out his full name, maybe then you can try to find him outside of EDEN." Erika says to us and I nod.

"He gave me his Digiline number earlier, I'll message him. He said he'd answer as fast as he can. Maybe I can backtrace to find his Digivice's location when he answers." I say to her and Chitose.

/*Me: Hey Yuuvo, you there?

/*Yuuvo: Of course, Arata. Is something the matter?

/*Me: Next time, if you want to kiss me, ask instead of what you did. I'm more comfortable that way. At least if you ask and I say no, it doesn't feel awkward on my part.

/*Yuuvo: Sorry. I didn't realize I made things awkward...If anything, I thought you would've been angry at me for it.

/*Me: I can understand why you'd think that. But it's okay. I'm not mad at you but I better be getting an explanation on what this whole 'not always talking to the same person' thing is at some point!

/*Yuuvo: It might be a while before you get that entire explanation, but you'll get it and it'll be face to face.

/*Me: I can accept that. See you soon, Yuuvo.

/*Yuuvo: See you soon, Arata.

I try to backtrace the log only for..."Digivice location not found?" I say in confusion.

"That's..." Chitose says in bewilderment as he gets the same results.

"You mind if I discretely ask Ryuji to help me try to track it?" He asks me and I shrug.

"Go ahead, but I seriously doubt he'll have any better luck. Message me if you guys find something. I should get going. I need to head over to Nakano soon to meet up with one of my other friends. Sorry." I say to him.

"It's fine. Ryuji will be back soon anyways so that's probably best." He replies to me and I nod before heading out as someone in a Hudie hoodie runs by me.

'Huh, they got a newbie, was not expecting that. This should turn out interesting.' I think to myself as I walk down the street and I reach Game World where I nearly bump into Ryuji.

"What are you doing here this time?" He asks me in a tired tone, clearly not in the mood for an argument, fortunately for me.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with. I'm just leaving, but word of advice. You should really get some rest. You look like you've been working yourself to the bone again and that's not good." I say to him with a sigh earning a surprised look from him.

"For once, I might just listen to your advice." He admits to me.

"That's a new one. Just don't overwork yourself. Chitose and your sister would be upset if you got yourself sick and so would I." I say to him before waving at him as I left.

"Take your own advice. Don't think I don't know how hard you push yourself." Ryuji says to me as I pass him.

"Don't worry, I will." I assure him.

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To be continued...