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It was 5am on a December morning when the entire Investigation Team received a frantic text from Teddie:
Meet at the samegawa NOW NOW NOW!!! Beary important!!!
“Ted, what’s this all about?” Yosuke said after cycling as fast he could to the river. Teddie was standing at the shore, two bulging Junes carrier bags in his hands. Chie was already present, looking disgustingly awake, even doing lunges.
“Yeah, I was planning on doing my morning run, but if we’re kicking Shadow butt, even better,” she said, jogging on the spot.
“I never understand how you can have so much energy so early…” Yukiko said darkly, looking at her empty hand as though that would make a cup of coffee manifest in it.
“Seriously, Ted, this better be good,” Kanji grumbled, hair sticking up in every direction.
“I mean really, I didn’t even have any time to put make-up on!” Rise said, one of her bunches significantly bigger than the other. Naoto didn’t even speak, just continued to stare vacantly at nothing.
“I’m sure whatever Teddie has to say is important,” said a low voice. Yosuke perked up as Souji approached down the steps, his shirt perfectly pressed and not a single hair out of place, alert as he was in class. Yosuke’s heart did that awful twist always did whenever he saw Souji lately, no matter how much he tried to bite down on it.
He told himself it had just been a while since Souji visited Inaba. They were all excited for him to be in town. That’s all.
“Oh, it’s beary important, Sensei!” Teddie said, and turned towards the Samegawa. “As you can see, mon amies, the entire river has frozen over!”
“It’s winter, Teddie,” Yukiko groaned, collapsing slightly into Rise’s side.
“That it is, my dear Yuki-chan…” Teddie said, and then reached into one of the Junes bags. “And in winter, with the river frozen over…”
He pulled out a pair of ice-skates with a flourish.
“What can a bunch of sexy young people like ourselves do but go ice-skating!”
“I’m going back to bed,” Naoto said, trying to leave, but Teddie grabbed on much too fast.
“No, Nao-chan, I bought skates for everyone!” he whined.
“Skates for everyone?” Yosuke said. “There’s no way the allowance I give you can afford that!”
“Of course it isn’t, you terrible old miser,” Teddie said, with a sniff. “That’s why I told them to put it on Yosuke’s tab!”
“What!” Yosuke barked. “Ted, how many times do I have to tell you! Oh, you better have the receipts for all of these, you raggy old bear.”
“Are the green ones mine?” Chie said, already pulling off the tags.
“Chie!” Yosuke said.
“Aw c’mon, grumpy,” Chie said, grinning at him. “You know you won’t have the heart to actually make him return them.”
“’Ey, if these ones with the bunnies on are for me, they’re pretty rad…” Kanji muttered.
“Of course! I picked a pair for each of you, with all of my heart!” Teddie said, twirling around. “Although the most expensive pair were for sensei!”
He presented a pair of sleek silver ice-skates to Souji with a flourish. Souji’s mouth twitched itno a smile.
“It’s a sweet gesture,” he said. “But you should really pay Yosuke back, Teddie.”
“I will work myself to the bone to repay my debt!” Teddie said.
“Oooh, I wanna skate with senpai!” Rise squealed, already taking off her shoes and pulling on the skates. Yosuke looked about, trying to get some control of the situation. Unfortunately, as was always the case with his friends, the situation was already hurtling out of control. Chie had already slide out onto the ice, pacing about in slow, steady circles.
“Yosuke…” Teddie said, presenting him with a pair of orange skates, making his eyes as big and watery as he could make them.
Yosuke’s resolve crumbled.
“Well, I can’t get the money back for them now,” he said, sighing. He stooped down to put the skates on before sliding out to jointhe others on the ice.
Kanji had already landed flat on his face. Chie had Yukiko’s hands in hers.
“Yukiko, it’s easy, just bend your knees like this –“
Yukiko did, wobbled, and screamed and grabbed onto Chie.
“Not like that, you’ll pull us both down!” Chie said, laughing. Teddie swept past her, one leg raised, practically on her toes.
“What, no fair! When did you learn to do that?” Rise shouted after him, not at all bad on the ice herself but struggling catch up with him “Ted! Teach me how to do that!”
The quiet river was soon full of noise and shouting, all of them chasing each other around, Teddie and Chie skating fast circles around them all.
Yosuke laughed despite himself, picking up the pace as he remembered piece by piece how to do this. He used to rollerblade when he was in middle-school, and it wasn’t too far. Soon he was trying to copy Chie’s more ambitious spins, watching as Teddie (very dangerously) attempted to pick Rise up.
In the confusion, it took him a second to realise they were missing the most beloved member of their group. Yosuke skated out to the shore. Souji stood with the skates still in their packaging, looking down at the ice with an expression that…Yosuke didn’t know what to make of it. He’d only seen a look on his face like that once – that horrible, heart-crushing moment when it seemed like little Nanako had went still.
It was just a shadow of that look, but it was the only comparison Yosuke could think of. Back then, he’d thought about how he never ever wanted
“Hey, partner, not going to join us out here?” he asked. “Don’t worry about the cost. Ted’ll work it off at Junes soon enough.”
Souji just looked at the black ice again, and then out at the little figures of their friends.
“Do you think it’ll hold?” he asked, voice very small.
“Huh?”
“The ice,” he said.
Yosuke was bewildered. He looked down at the ice beneath his feet. It looked and felt solid enough to him. He tapped his foot down hard on the ice and Souji winced.
“Hey, hey, it should be fine!” Yosuke said, alarmed at this reaction. “I remember other kids came skating here last year, we were just…preoccupied.”
“I suppose we didn’t have time,” Souji said vaguely. “I never have.”
“Wait, seriously? Are you telling me you’ve never been ice-skating before?” Yosuke said, laughing. “C’mon, man, you have to get out here now.”
Souji said nothing, just looked back over at the others again.
“Dude, nobody is gonna judge you if you’re not perfect at one thing,” he said, wondering if it was one of those things. One of those ‘Souji gets a B+ and has a breakdown’ things. One of those ‘Souji gets a call from his Mom and hides in the library studying for a solid week’ things. The two of them had never talked about those things, but the more Yosuke looked the more of them he saw. And he almost wished one of them had the courage to bring it up.
“It’s not that,” Souji said, and then corrected himself. “Not entirely that.”
“Then what?” Yosuke asked.
Souji was silent for a long time, until finally speaking.
“The ice could crack under one of you.”
Yosuke swallowed.
“Oh.”
Souji had only mentioned what happened in that final battle once. It had been late, they’d been talking on the phone, Souji in Tokyo, Yosuke home in Inaba. It had been one of those long conversations about nothing, talking so long that Yosuke’s throat ended up scratchy and dry afterwards, and he fell asleep feeling terrified and giddy at the same time. Perhaps it had been how sleep they were, but just as they were trailing off, ready to hang up for the night, Souji started talking.
How each of them shoved him out of the way. The dark hands that grabbed at them, pulling them under like into dark water. Every one of them screaming. Souji trying to grab each one, catching air, catching nothing, their screams cut off into nothingness.
The rest of them didn’t really remember it properly. But Souji did. Souji watched each of them go.
“Hey,” Yosuke said gently, reaching out to put a hand on Souji’s shoulder. “That’s not going to happen, okay? And even if it did, look at them.”
Souji did. Yukiko, suddenly developing a great deal of confidence, was attempting to dip Chie on the ice, despite her screams for mercy. Rise had seized hold of Naoto’s hand and was forcing them to in loops around the ice. Kanji was charging after Teddie, shouting something about ‘Damn bear pushed me down on purpose!’, Teddie just squealing with delight.
“Just…we’re all here, y’know. We’d all help each other out,” Yosuke said vaguely, a bit embarrassed at his attempt with advise. This was Souji’s kind of thing. He could say the most unbelievably after-school-special cheesy thing in the world to you and make you believe every single word. Yosuke wasn’t sure he had it in him, but it wasn’t as though Souji could do this to himself.
And someone should.
“So, c’mon. Cheer up! Get out here with me,” he said awkwardly. Souji gave him a tiny, almost-shy smile (not helping that horrible heart-twisting thing at all), and then shrugged.
“I still don’t really know how to skate,” Souji said, stooping down to put on the skates all the same.
“It’s not hard. I’ll teach you,” he said. Souji stood up, skates on his feet, and took a wobbly step forward, almost stumbling over. Yosuke shot an arm out to steady him, and Souji grabbed onto his hand. It took every ounce of control Yosuke had not to snatch his hand back, or suddenly push away. He would have done it, too, if not for the uncertain, still-frightened look on Souji’s face.
“That’s it,” Yosuke said instead, as Souji finally tentatively stepped out onto the ice.
“I might need to hold onto something,” Souji muttered. Yosuke laughed, a bubbling, nervous noise that he desperately wished sounded more confident.
“It’s alright, dude. I already have to spend plenty of time holding Ted’s hand,” he said. “Guy still can’t cross the street alone.”
“Senpai! Come here, let me show you what Teddie taught me!” Rise shouted, waving, her hand still tangled with Naoto’s. Souji looked at Yosuke desperately for assistance. He laughed.
“It’s alright, dude. Just move your legs like this, we’ll slide over there slowly,” he said.
The two of them slid over to join the others, and if Souji held on perhaps more tightly than was strictly necessary, nobody said anything about it.