With You (Souyo)

Red

Yu's POV:

"What exactly did you say to him?"

"I... can't say." Kanji looks away from me. "He just... took it all the wrong ways... Kinda..."

What the hell does that mean?

"Kanji, telling me will help us out here," I mutter.

"I was only trying to make him feel better, I swear."

"...Is he okay?"

"I don't know," he breathes. "I've tried calling him, but nothing."

I close my eyes.

"I- I'm sorry, Senpai... I was just trying to help take his mind off things, but... I fucked it all up."

"Please, just tell me what happened." I pinch the bridge of my nose with two fingers. "Kanji, I'm exhausted, okay? Just tell me what went wrong so I can fix it."

He shakes his head. "I gotta fix this."

"Why are you so adamant about this?"

"It's not serious."

"It upset him."

"His brother just died; everything's gonna upset him," he scoffs.

I grimace.

"Yu..."

"It's hard for him," I mutter.

"I know that."

"So stop adding fuel to the fire."

"This wasn't on me," he snaps.

"You have to be patient with him, Kanji," I scoff.

"I have been," he says. "It's him who makes things worse for himself. Not only that, but now Mom's worried about him, too. She doesn't need that stress, Yu. She needs rest."

I bite my lip. "Why don't you just go home to take care of her?"

"I need to make things right," he frowns. "The last thing I ever intended to do was to make the situation harder on him."

"I know, Kanji..." I sigh. "When something like this happens... Everything changes. It's not his fault, Kanji. He's suffering."

"I'm sorry for, uh... Dragging you out here." He kicks the ground. "I don't want you to have this burden on you, too. You have enough to deal with right now."

"The only thing that matters to me is that Yosuke is safe."

"I get that," he nods. "But... I can help, if you let me."

"You don't get it," I scoff. "I need any excuse I can have to be with him right now."

"Why so urgent?"

"He doesn't know that I'm here for him. But I am, Kanji. I swear, I am. I just need to see him. To help him heal."

"What about you? What about your healing?"

"I'll be fine."

"Yu..."

"I barely knew him."

"You loved him."

"He was Yosuke's brother. His oldest friend."

"...I know."

"Losing a family member..." I breathe. "It's like losing a part of yourself. Trust me, Kanji... When I thought Nanako didn't make it..."

"I know," he sighs, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Why don't we sit down?"

"We have to find him."

"You need to rest," he chuckles. "You look tired."