Yosuke's POV:
"No," I whisper, choking on my words. I feel the flood of tears down my cheeks, and I can't bring myself to stop them. "Why?" I bite my lip.
He removes his hand from my cheek, sighing. "It's all okay."
"No," I say through gritted teeth. "It's not, Yu. You shouldn't... Be here. You should be with... the real you."
He frowns. "I like it here."
"...What?" I croak.
"It's... peaceful." He reaches his arm up to brush it against the noose hanging low.
"Stop that," I plead. "Please, Yu."
He pauses for a moment. "What would you care?"
"...The hell are you talking about?" I splutter.
"You left me," he murmurs. "Why do you give a damn about me?"
I sigh. "I never wanted to leave."
"So, come back," he says.
I shake my head. "It's not that simple."
"What is he gonna do?" He scoffs. "Kill me? He'd save me the job."
"...C-come on," I mumble. "Tell me you're kidding."
He looks away.
"Yu." I try to hold him. "He will not hurt you. You hear that? I won't let him."
"I want him to hurt me."
"...What do you mean?"
"I want to feel the burn."
"...I won't let you," I grunt.
"Why not?"
"Because I fucking love you," I scoff. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if he hurt you."
He furrows a brow. "I don't see the point."
"...Point in what?"
"Of... This." He gestures around us. "The whole... living aspect. The idea that we live tragic lives only to meet a tragic end. Why go through it all, huh? Why not just... Release?" He trails off a little at the end.
"Please," I sigh. "I don't understand."
"I don't know why I'm still here."
"Yu-"
"I fucked up. I fucked everything up, Yosuke. I lost everything. My own self, Shin, you..."
"None of us are gone." I put a hand on his shoulder. "Me and Shin are right here. Right by your side. And... I always will be."
"But-"
"Your true self will only return if you let it, Yu. So... Let it, dammit. I hate seeing you in pain."
"...Do you really expect him to accept me?" He scoffs. "To accept this... ideal?" He clenches his fist.
"...Is this... How you truly feel, Yu?"
Devoid of everything. Hopeless. Worthless.
He shrugs. "Things would be so much easier if I just listened to what I wanted."
"...And what do you want?"
"To end it all."
My heart drops. "No..." I whisper. "No, dammit." I grab his shoulders, shaking him violently. "You fucking take that back, Yu, or I swear, I'll-"
YOU ARE READING
With You (Souyo)
Fanfiction(Prolly still has a shitton of typos, feel free to point them out) Yosuke has never really been great at expressing how he feels. Certainly not to his partner, at least. He'd been... thinking about Yu differently since he left. And now that he's com...
