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On the Dotted Line
Summary: Yosuke's not entirely sure how to go about owning a person.
Souji goes about it so casually that Yosuke doesn't immediately realize how much it means to him.
"Oh," he says like he just remembered, and reaches under the table. "This is for you."
Yosuke glances up from his magazine to the piece of paper Souji sets before him. "What is it?"
Souji rests his head on his arms, eyes lidded as though he's about to nod off. "Read it and find out."
It's nice, whatever it is, the paper heavier and more expensive than anything Yosuke's ever used. Sort of official looking. Really official, actually, what with that stamp at the bottom. Worryingly so. He's not halfway through the confusing, formal language before he starts to feel sweat prickle on the back of his neck.
"Partner," he says, and behind his arm Souji smiles at him. "What's this?"
"Transfer of ownership."
"Ownership of what?"
"Not what, whom. Me," he adds after a beat.
Yosuke's not sure this is legal.
"It's not binding or anything, not yet." Souji traces a pattern on the back of Yosuke's wrist. "You have to put your signature on it. It's not enough to have just mine."
"This is--" Yosuke catches himself before he says 'weird'. "You don't want me to do this. I killed a pet fish once, I only had it for like a week."
"That's tragic. I'm sure you'll do better with me."
Yosuke's not as confident. He reads the agreement again and flips it over to make sure he hasn't missed anything. There's nothing there, just the blank line on the front waiting for his signature.
He's got to look conflicted because Souji says, "You don't have to decide now, you can think on it for a while."
"What if I said no?"
"You can do that too."
Souji sounds like it's okay either way, but Yosuke knows him better than that. He gives an exaggerated sigh as he makes up his mind. "Give me a pen, will you? I'll buy a seal next time I'm in Okina."
Souji kisses the back of his hand instead. He doesn't seem to be in the mood to let go, so Yosuke lets him hold onto it and finds the pen himself. It's under the couch and he nearly pulls a muscle twisting to reach it.
It's not until the next day, after the initial shock has worn off, that Yosuke realizes he had no idea what this whole thing entails.
"So, what do I have to do exactly?" he asks on the walk to school. "How does owning you work?"
"It's nothing complicated," Souji says. "Watch me. Keep me company. Water me, feed me--"
"I can't cook," Yosuke reminds him.
"Oh, right. Compliment my food then."
"I already do that."
Souji smiles. "Easy, isn't it?"
That's great and all, but it doesn't explain why any of this is happening in the first place. He's not sure asking for a reason would get him a straight answer, though. "There are a lot of people out there. Any particular reason you picked me?"
"Who else would I choose?"
If there weren't a bunch of other students walking by, Yosuke would hold his hand or something. As is, he moves closer and spends the rest of the trip feeling a little smug.
For a few days, he waffles about whether they should tell everyone else. It's not really their business, but Souji doesn't seem to mind the idea and Yosuke's not good at keep secrets, anyway. He leaves the whole thing to Souji, figuring he'll have an easier time with it.
"I have good news," Souji says, the next time they're all at the special headquarters. "I'm under Yosuke's ownership now. We just thought you all should know."
That's blunter than Yosuke would have liked but it's out in the open now. He busies himself with his napkin, not looking at anyone as they take in the information.
"What?" Yukiko asks.
"There's a document and everything. It's very official." Souji sounds proud. "I could show you a copy if you'd like."
"No, thank you." And then, "Do you...have it with you?"
Before Souji can reply, Chie asks, "Wait, Yosuke? Are you sure about that? I mean, it'd make more sense the other way around, wouldn't it?"
Yosuke looks up, napkin forgotten. "Hey!"
"Do you think?" Souji's unaffected. "This is how it worked out, though."
"I'm not sure this is possible," Naoto says, eying them suspiciously. "There's no law that would allow something like this. I have heard of agreements like this occurring in personal relationships but legally--"
"There's an old law in Inaba," Souji interrupts smoothly. "I looked it up."
Naoto doesn't look convinced.
"You two serious about this?" Kanji asks. "Cause it sounds like a lot of responsibility, Yosuke-senpai."
"Of course we are."
"Hey, I can handle it," Yosuke says.
Teddie makes a frustrated sound. "I don't understand, what's going on?"
"I'll explain it when we get home," Yosuke says. If he's lucky, Teddie will forget and he can avoid it.
"Hmm, well, if Senpai's okay with it I guess that means Yosuke-senpai's doing something right." Rise leans forward on her hands. "So, what's it like? Are there rules?"
Everyone's looking at him except Souji, who's abandoned him in favor of his soda. "It's, uh... I can't tell you," he says nervously. "It's a secret."
There's a collective noise of disappointment that everyone seems embarrassed about, but Souji looks at him sideways and steps on his foot and Yosuke's pretty sure he just gave the right answer.
Rise pouts so cutely he almost changes his mind. "That's no fun."
"Nothing?" Chie asks. "N-not that I care or anything, but you can't any mention one thing?"
"Nope," he says with more confidence. "Can't."
Rise turns to Souji. "Senpai?"
"If Yosuke won't tell, I can't either. Sorry."
"Is that how it works?"
Before they leave, Naoto catches Souji's attention. "I'd like to see the agreement, if I could."
"I'll see what I can do."
Privacy issues aside, Yosuke can't tell everyone about taking care of Souji because there's not much to it. He's a little worried that he's missing something, actually, because not much seems to have changed - they still hang out, and make out, and Souji's still the leader he turns to for direction.
"Am I doing this right?" he asks when Souji curled up against him, nodding off after a long day of TV diving.
Souji makes a sleepy noise and turns into him. "Perfect."
Yosuke hums doubtfully and fixes his jacket so it covers Souji more completely. He'd grab a blanket but that would mean disturbing Souji and he's not too chilly, huddled together like this.
The others seem cool with the situation and Yosuke doesn't mind when they toss out the occasional question. Chie especially has a lot, most of which manage to insult him in one way or another.
"Is he making you do his homework?"
"He's not a slave," Yosuke says. See, that's what he's talking about.
"No." Chie frowns at Souji and he admits, "Well, just once."
"All I did was ask," Yosuke says quickly. "He could have said no."
"We got in trouble."
"That's because you didn't bother changing any of the sentences, of course we got caught."
This goes on for a while but eventually, while Yosuke's explaining to Kanji that they haven't gotten around to mentioning anything to Dojima yet so they have no idea how he'll reaction, Naoto says, rather sharply, "Senpai, please stop this."
Souji barely blinks. "Is something wrong?"
"Watching you put Yosuke-senpai through this is embarrassing, and I...don't do well with second-hand embarrassment." She tugs self-consciously on her hat and makes a face.
Yosuke looks back and forth between them. "Put me through what?"
"I'm sorry that Souji-senpai hasn't informed you yet, but there is no old law of Inaba that would make this agreement legal. All of my research has confirmed that the agreement Souji-senpai has drawn up, the one he has continuously refuses to let me see--"
"I keep forgetting."
"--is meaningless."
"That's not fair," Souji says.
"My apologizes." Uncomfortable, she continues, "Although it may mean something to you, no court would honor it. You're under no obligation to keep this up, Yosuke-senpai, and I'd prefer if you stopped discussing such personal matters when we're together like this."
Yosuke glances at Souji. "Huh."
After a moment, Naoto asks, "Is that all?"
He doesn't respond, attention still on Souji, who avoids returning his gaze by staring at the shoppers passing by.
"Wow, really?" Chie asks. "You two had me going; I was starting to get convinced. Ugh, now I feel stupid."
"That's a mean thing to do, Senpai," Kanji says.
Souji frowns slightly and his hands tighten on his lap. The others quiet down, picking up on his mood.
Naoto's the first one to stand. "I think we should give them some time alone."
"Why?" Teddie asks. "Did Sensei do something wrong? Is he in trouble?"
"No, it's nothing like that." Rise pulls him up and leads him away. Yosuke's vaguely aware of the others following, Yukiko shushing Chie when she starts to say something, but he's not paying much attention to them right now.
When they're alone, he settles back in his chair and sighs. "It's not like I didn't suspect, you know. It just would have been nice to hear it from you instead of someone else."
"If you knew, why'd you go along with it?"
"Why'd you come up with it?"
"I don't know." Souji sounds tired. "It's just something that made me happy. I thought you liked it too."
"Hey, look over here." It takes a minute, Souji tensing up, but he does, at least partially. "You said yourself that if I'd wanted to, I could have said no, right, but I didn't. It would have been better if you'd explained it, but I figured you'd give me one when you were good and ready. I didn't think it'd take this long, though; being called out on it and not having a comeback kind of sucks."
"I like knowing that you're willing to look out for me like that," Souji finally says. "It's comforting. I can relax because of it."
"Come on, you don't need a piece of paper to know that."
"But it's proof. I can touch it. Show it off if I wanted to." Souji presses his lips together, but he keeps going instead of clamming up or deflecting him like he sometimes does. "That's important to me. Don't you... If you think having it doesn't matter, why'd you sign it?"
"I didn't say it doesn't matter, just that we don't need it." Yosuke sits up straight and holds out his hand. "Look, you've still got it with you, right? Give it to me."
It's creased and fuzzy around the edges. Souji's always telling Naoto he's forgotten it or left it in his other jacket, but Yosuke's sure he's been carrying it the whole time. He flips it open and reads it, even though he knows all the words by now.
Souji watches him closely, as if he might tear it up.
"This is way too complicated," Yosuke says, tapping a finger against the page. "I still don't get half of it."
"That's how they write things like this. That's how they would," Souji corrects himself.
"Well, you've got to simplify it. I need to know what I'm signing this time."
That's not what Souji was expecting; there's a pause before he says, carefully, "It won't be as impressive then."
"But I'll be able to understand it." Yosuke holds it out. "That's more important."
Souji keeps his head down as he takes it back. "Sorry."
He has to tug Souji closer to do it, but Yosuke rests his head on Souji's arm. "I signed it because I wanted to, partner, and it felt nice to sort of...put my mark on you. But you can just tell me why you want things."
"Sorry." It's not bothering him or anything, but Souji pushes Yosuke's hair away from his face.
"You don't have to repeat yourself." Souji's hand feels good cradling his head, but they're still in public. Yosuke sits back heavily and does a quick check to make sure no one's noticed them. "Now, do you have a pen? We need to start revising this thing."
Naoto's the first to wander back into view, lingering behind a banner until Yosuke spots her and waves her over. "Have you two finished your discussion?"
"Yeah," Yosuke says. "Things are okay."
Naoto's clearly doubtful. "That quickly? Well, if so, I'm pleased."
"Yeah," he continues, "we decided to make a new agreement."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm going to keep the original but we need a simpler one," Souji says, bent over it. "This time you can read it, if you like. We might need some help on the wording."
Naoto stares at them wordlessly before turning on her heel and walking away.
"Hey," Yosuke calls after her, "do you have a pen?"
She's out of sight before he finishes his sentence.
Souji goes about it so casually that Yosuke doesn't immediately realize how much it means to him.
"Oh," he says like he just remembered, and reaches under the table. "This is for you."
Yosuke glances up from his magazine to the piece of paper Souji sets before him. "What is it?"
Souji rests his head on his arms, eyes lidded as though he's about to nod off. "Read it and find out."
It's nice, whatever it is, the paper heavier and more expensive than anything Yosuke's ever used. Sort of official looking. Really official, actually, what with that stamp at the bottom. Worryingly so. He's not halfway through the confusing, formal language before he starts to feel sweat prickle on the back of his neck.
"Partner," he says, and behind his arm Souji smiles at him. "What's this?"
"Transfer of ownership."
"Ownership of what?"
"Not what, whom. Me," he adds after a beat.
Yosuke's not sure this is legal.
"It's not binding or anything, not yet." Souji traces a pattern on the back of Yosuke's wrist. "You have to put your signature on it. It's not enough to have just mine."
"This is--" Yosuke catches himself before he says 'weird'. "You don't want me to do this. I killed a pet fish once, I only had it for like a week."
"That's tragic. I'm sure you'll do better with me."
Yosuke's not as confident. He reads the agreement again and flips it over to make sure he hasn't missed anything. There's nothing there, just the blank line on the front waiting for his signature.
He's got to look conflicted because Souji says, "You don't have to decide now, you can think on it for a while."
"What if I said no?"
"You can do that too."
Souji sounds like it's okay either way, but Yosuke knows him better than that. He gives an exaggerated sigh as he makes up his mind. "Give me a pen, will you? I'll buy a seal next time I'm in Okina."
Souji kisses the back of his hand instead. He doesn't seem to be in the mood to let go, so Yosuke lets him hold onto it and finds the pen himself. It's under the couch and he nearly pulls a muscle twisting to reach it.
It's not until the next day, after the initial shock has worn off, that Yosuke realizes he had no idea what this whole thing entails.
"So, what do I have to do exactly?" he asks on the walk to school. "How does owning you work?"
"It's nothing complicated," Souji says. "Watch me. Keep me company. Water me, feed me--"
"I can't cook," Yosuke reminds him.
"Oh, right. Compliment my food then."
"I already do that."
Souji smiles. "Easy, isn't it?"
That's great and all, but it doesn't explain why any of this is happening in the first place. He's not sure asking for a reason would get him a straight answer, though. "There are a lot of people out there. Any particular reason you picked me?"
"Who else would I choose?"
If there weren't a bunch of other students walking by, Yosuke would hold his hand or something. As is, he moves closer and spends the rest of the trip feeling a little smug.
For a few days, he waffles about whether they should tell everyone else. It's not really their business, but Souji doesn't seem to mind the idea and Yosuke's not good at keep secrets, anyway. He leaves the whole thing to Souji, figuring he'll have an easier time with it.
"I have good news," Souji says, the next time they're all at the special headquarters. "I'm under Yosuke's ownership now. We just thought you all should know."
That's blunter than Yosuke would have liked but it's out in the open now. He busies himself with his napkin, not looking at anyone as they take in the information.
"What?" Yukiko asks.
"There's a document and everything. It's very official." Souji sounds proud. "I could show you a copy if you'd like."
"No, thank you." And then, "Do you...have it with you?"
Before Souji can reply, Chie asks, "Wait, Yosuke? Are you sure about that? I mean, it'd make more sense the other way around, wouldn't it?"
Yosuke looks up, napkin forgotten. "Hey!"
"Do you think?" Souji's unaffected. "This is how it worked out, though."
"I'm not sure this is possible," Naoto says, eying them suspiciously. "There's no law that would allow something like this. I have heard of agreements like this occurring in personal relationships but legally--"
"There's an old law in Inaba," Souji interrupts smoothly. "I looked it up."
Naoto doesn't look convinced.
"You two serious about this?" Kanji asks. "Cause it sounds like a lot of responsibility, Yosuke-senpai."
"Of course we are."
"Hey, I can handle it," Yosuke says.
Teddie makes a frustrated sound. "I don't understand, what's going on?"
"I'll explain it when we get home," Yosuke says. If he's lucky, Teddie will forget and he can avoid it.
"Hmm, well, if Senpai's okay with it I guess that means Yosuke-senpai's doing something right." Rise leans forward on her hands. "So, what's it like? Are there rules?"
Everyone's looking at him except Souji, who's abandoned him in favor of his soda. "It's, uh... I can't tell you," he says nervously. "It's a secret."
There's a collective noise of disappointment that everyone seems embarrassed about, but Souji looks at him sideways and steps on his foot and Yosuke's pretty sure he just gave the right answer.
Rise pouts so cutely he almost changes his mind. "That's no fun."
"Nothing?" Chie asks. "N-not that I care or anything, but you can't any mention one thing?"
"Nope," he says with more confidence. "Can't."
Rise turns to Souji. "Senpai?"
"If Yosuke won't tell, I can't either. Sorry."
"Is that how it works?"
Before they leave, Naoto catches Souji's attention. "I'd like to see the agreement, if I could."
"I'll see what I can do."
Privacy issues aside, Yosuke can't tell everyone about taking care of Souji because there's not much to it. He's a little worried that he's missing something, actually, because not much seems to have changed - they still hang out, and make out, and Souji's still the leader he turns to for direction.
"Am I doing this right?" he asks when Souji curled up against him, nodding off after a long day of TV diving.
Souji makes a sleepy noise and turns into him. "Perfect."
Yosuke hums doubtfully and fixes his jacket so it covers Souji more completely. He'd grab a blanket but that would mean disturbing Souji and he's not too chilly, huddled together like this.
The others seem cool with the situation and Yosuke doesn't mind when they toss out the occasional question. Chie especially has a lot, most of which manage to insult him in one way or another.
"Is he making you do his homework?"
"He's not a slave," Yosuke says. See, that's what he's talking about.
"No." Chie frowns at Souji and he admits, "Well, just once."
"All I did was ask," Yosuke says quickly. "He could have said no."
"We got in trouble."
"That's because you didn't bother changing any of the sentences, of course we got caught."
This goes on for a while but eventually, while Yosuke's explaining to Kanji that they haven't gotten around to mentioning anything to Dojima yet so they have no idea how he'll reaction, Naoto says, rather sharply, "Senpai, please stop this."
Souji barely blinks. "Is something wrong?"
"Watching you put Yosuke-senpai through this is embarrassing, and I...don't do well with second-hand embarrassment." She tugs self-consciously on her hat and makes a face.
Yosuke looks back and forth between them. "Put me through what?"
"I'm sorry that Souji-senpai hasn't informed you yet, but there is no old law of Inaba that would make this agreement legal. All of my research has confirmed that the agreement Souji-senpai has drawn up, the one he has continuously refuses to let me see--"
"I keep forgetting."
"--is meaningless."
"That's not fair," Souji says.
"My apologizes." Uncomfortable, she continues, "Although it may mean something to you, no court would honor it. You're under no obligation to keep this up, Yosuke-senpai, and I'd prefer if you stopped discussing such personal matters when we're together like this."
Yosuke glances at Souji. "Huh."
After a moment, Naoto asks, "Is that all?"
He doesn't respond, attention still on Souji, who avoids returning his gaze by staring at the shoppers passing by.
"Wow, really?" Chie asks. "You two had me going; I was starting to get convinced. Ugh, now I feel stupid."
"That's a mean thing to do, Senpai," Kanji says.
Souji frowns slightly and his hands tighten on his lap. The others quiet down, picking up on his mood.
Naoto's the first one to stand. "I think we should give them some time alone."
"Why?" Teddie asks. "Did Sensei do something wrong? Is he in trouble?"
"No, it's nothing like that." Rise pulls him up and leads him away. Yosuke's vaguely aware of the others following, Yukiko shushing Chie when she starts to say something, but he's not paying much attention to them right now.
When they're alone, he settles back in his chair and sighs. "It's not like I didn't suspect, you know. It just would have been nice to hear it from you instead of someone else."
"If you knew, why'd you go along with it?"
"Why'd you come up with it?"
"I don't know." Souji sounds tired. "It's just something that made me happy. I thought you liked it too."
"Hey, look over here." It takes a minute, Souji tensing up, but he does, at least partially. "You said yourself that if I'd wanted to, I could have said no, right, but I didn't. It would have been better if you'd explained it, but I figured you'd give me one when you were good and ready. I didn't think it'd take this long, though; being called out on it and not having a comeback kind of sucks."
"I like knowing that you're willing to look out for me like that," Souji finally says. "It's comforting. I can relax because of it."
"Come on, you don't need a piece of paper to know that."
"But it's proof. I can touch it. Show it off if I wanted to." Souji presses his lips together, but he keeps going instead of clamming up or deflecting him like he sometimes does. "That's important to me. Don't you... If you think having it doesn't matter, why'd you sign it?"
"I didn't say it doesn't matter, just that we don't need it." Yosuke sits up straight and holds out his hand. "Look, you've still got it with you, right? Give it to me."
It's creased and fuzzy around the edges. Souji's always telling Naoto he's forgotten it or left it in his other jacket, but Yosuke's sure he's been carrying it the whole time. He flips it open and reads it, even though he knows all the words by now.
Souji watches him closely, as if he might tear it up.
"This is way too complicated," Yosuke says, tapping a finger against the page. "I still don't get half of it."
"That's how they write things like this. That's how they would," Souji corrects himself.
"Well, you've got to simplify it. I need to know what I'm signing this time."
That's not what Souji was expecting; there's a pause before he says, carefully, "It won't be as impressive then."
"But I'll be able to understand it." Yosuke holds it out. "That's more important."
Souji keeps his head down as he takes it back. "Sorry."
He has to tug Souji closer to do it, but Yosuke rests his head on Souji's arm. "I signed it because I wanted to, partner, and it felt nice to sort of...put my mark on you. But you can just tell me why you want things."
"Sorry." It's not bothering him or anything, but Souji pushes Yosuke's hair away from his face.
"You don't have to repeat yourself." Souji's hand feels good cradling his head, but they're still in public. Yosuke sits back heavily and does a quick check to make sure no one's noticed them. "Now, do you have a pen? We need to start revising this thing."
Naoto's the first to wander back into view, lingering behind a banner until Yosuke spots her and waves her over. "Have you two finished your discussion?"
"Yeah," Yosuke says. "Things are okay."
Naoto's clearly doubtful. "That quickly? Well, if so, I'm pleased."
"Yeah," he continues, "we decided to make a new agreement."
"Excuse me?"
"I'm going to keep the original but we need a simpler one," Souji says, bent over it. "This time you can read it, if you like. We might need some help on the wording."
Naoto stares at them wordlessly before turning on her heel and walking away.
"Hey," Yosuke calls after her, "do you have a pen?"
She's out of sight before he finishes his sentence.
Poll #8822 On the Dotted Line
Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: Just the Poll Creator, participants: 2
I read and liked this
Yes
2 (100.0%)
no subject
I love it when I can read group things and not get confused by everything going on. This went so smoothly I didn't have to reread anything a second time to get it right (although I did go back over most parts for my own repeated enjoyment). You captured the team so well ♥ Even if I select Chie for favorite, Naoto was just so... Yes.
I'm a sucker for trust, and something like this, quirky and blunt as only Souji could make it, does not miss the "love me" bone. And, how even if it isn't "much to the surface" or so, the layer embedded to it is aww-inducing-- it being immensely important for Souji to have it, particularly with a solid form, seems like he's used to transitory things.
no subject
So much can be done with Souji's character; I love writing him.