We don't talk about Jouno

Having friends is a good thing

Everything had ended well the previous day. Fukuchi had absolutely massacred the scientists, and Verlaine and Rimbaud had been arrested. The lab had been shut down for good, and all the research had been documented then destroyed. It would never be repeated. Truly, all the villainy had been foiled. That night, Jouno had fired off an email to Yokomizo, telling him to get tested for cancer. If he stopped being stubborn and actually went, they'd catch it in time. For the time being, all Jouno's bases were covered. Jouno had done all the good things he could do. So, the next morning, why was there someone standing almost silently in Jouno's room, watching him sleep?

The only sound that the intruder made was their heartbeat, but Jouno couldn't tell if they were anxious or excited. Jouno pretended to be asleep, wanting to know what would happen. The intruder took a few steps forwards. Towards Jouno's bed. They weren't just there to watch Jouno, then. They were probably trying to kill him. This had gone on long enough.

Jouno jumped up into a sitting position, brandished his knife, and threw on the lights. Turning on the lamp wouldn't do anything for Jouno, but it would temporarily rob a sighted intruder of their vision. "Aah!" The intruder exclaimed, and took a few steps backwards. Immediately, Jouno cringed. It was a voice he knew all too well. But what was Chuuya doing in his bedroom?

"I'm sorry." Chuuya said quickly. "I didn't mean to scare you." Jouno frowned. Chuuya was sounding way more like himself than Jouno had expected. "You are Jouno, are you not? The one who suggested the mission that freed me." Jouno nodded slowly. "You already have quite the personality for someone we just got from the lab." Chuuya nodded quickly. "I was supposed to do infiltrations, so they gave my persona model an independent personality. So I'm real."

Jouno nodded along. That was definitely a good thing. Chuuya had struggled with his humanity for most of his life. Having him be this reassured already was good. But it was definitely different from the first time around. Jouno wondered what else would be different. As much as Jouno would never admit it, he liked Chuuya just fine the first way around, and viewed the kid as a sort of younger brother. He wasn't sure he wanted Chuuya to be different.

"I wanted to say thank you for rescuing me." Chuuya said, and completed a motion that Jouno could only assume was a bow. "I also wanted to make you breakfast, but I didn't know what you like. So, I was waiting to ask you." Okay, so maybe Chuuya wasn't that different. In the first timeline, Chuuya was bad at picking his timing. How long had he been silently standing there, just waiting for Jouno to wake up? Also, in the original timeline, Chuuya wasn't on base for a while. What was he doing here now? And why was he so polite?

"It's okay." Jouno said quickly. "I can make myself breakfast." This seemed to be the wrong answer. "But the book Teruko gave me said that when someone is important to you, you're supposed to give them breakfast in bed." Chuuya said earnestly. Jouno sighed. It seemed he was going to have to accept breakfast in bed if he didn't want to hurt the kid's feelings.

"What book did Teruko give you?" Jouno asked, trying to sound more curious than concerned. He knew Teruko kept some interesting literature around, and he didn't want the kid getting any strange ideas. "Communication for the quarrelsome you." Chuuya said. Jouno breathed a secret sigh of relief. That didn't sound too weird. "It's so nice of you guys to let me stay with you." Chuuya said. Jouno frowned. Chuuya was young, and he was completely untrained. He wouldn't last a day with the team.

"Are you joining the hunting dogs?" Jouno asked. Chuuya nodded enthusiastically. "Some day." He said. "I'm in training for now." Jouno didn't remember there being any sort of hunting dogs in training. Jouno wasn't sure how he felt about this. Chuuya had to join the hunting dogs to keep the timeline going, but there was something different about him. Jouno couldn't put his finger on what the difference was, but it was bothering him.

"So, what can I make for breakfast?" Chuuya asked again. "Can I take a rain check on that?" Jouno asked. "I'm not really hungry this morning." Chuuya's disappointment was palpable. "But you can shadow me on my mission today, if you'd like." Jouno didn't mention that his 'mission' was just taking some paperwork to the mailbox. Chuuya was a kid, though. He'd think it was cool. "Yeah!" Chuuya exclaimed, and hugged Jouno with surprising strength. Chuuya controlled gravity. He didn't have super strength. Why the heck was he so strong?

"Can you wait outside for a minute? I'm going to get dressed." Jouno said. Chuuya nodded, hugged Jouno again for good measure, and scurried towards the door, leaving Jouno wondering what the heck had just happened. Jouno got dressed, brushed his hair, and headed for the door. "I'm just going to get something." He heard Tetchou saying. A wave of relief flooded through Jouno. Thank God. Finally, somebody who made sense to Jouno. Tetchou opened the door, walked through, then quickly shut it behind him.

"Tetchou." Jouno said, and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend. Tetchou's heartbeat increased, and not by a small amount. "Hey, Jouno." Tetchou said awkwardly. "The mission went well yesterday." Jouno nodded. "Yes, but now the kid outside has decided I was the one that rescued him." Tetchou snorted with laughter. "I mean, you basically are. It was your mission." Jouno sighed. "Yeah, but now he wants to be friends." Tetchou couldn't fully suppress his laughter this time. "Only you would have an objection to that." Tetchou said. "Most people think that having friends is a good thing."

It wasn't like Jouno could explain that he knew a different version of Chuuya from a different timeline, and that he liked the hot-tempered gravity manipulator better the first time around. "I don't know how to babysit kids." Jouno finally said. Tetchou shrugged. "You deal with Teruko all the time." He said. Jouno sighed. "Yeah, but she's not really a kid." Tetchou laughed. "Yeah, but you still deal with her." Yet another reason Jouno desperately had to find Tachihara.

"We'd better get going." Tetchou said. "You have a meeting. You can take the kid on your mission after that. " Tetchou turned to leave. "Wait." Jouno said, and Tetchou by the cape. Huh. It turns out that the capes were good for something after all. "Don't go." Tetchou, unsure of what to do, just stopped walking. "Jouno?" He asked. "I'm sorry." Jouno said. "But it's just been a long day. Can you just stay for one minute?" Tetchou nodded, walked back, and wrapped his arms around Jouno. "Of course." Tetchou said softly. "I'll be here for as young as you need me."

Jouno buried himself in Tetchou's embrace. "I need you always, Tetchou. I need you always and forever." Tetchou smiled, and rested his chin on top of Jouno's head. "Then I'll always be here." For that one beautiful moment, Jouno allowed himself to believe that was true. That everything was okay. But then he remembered. "Uh, Tetchou, what's my meeting about?" He asked hesitantly, fearing the answer. "The boss is taking you to meet Fukuzawa and his kid." Tetchou said. Jouno slumped against Tetchou in defeat. "That's what I was afraid of."