Last chapter… Sad day! But I hope you like it. The sequel, Mission: Impossible, is up. Go read.

It was mid-July, about two months since graduation, and I literally hadn't seen outside the house since the night Yosuke actually heard my confession. Nanako was constantly asking me if I was okay, and even Dojima could tell that something was wrong. I was depressed by every definition of the word, and I couldn't even pinpoint exactly how I'd gotten there. I'd been relentlessly pelted with text messaged and phone calls from just about everyone, but I didn't answer anything. I guess Kanji even tried to visit once, but I told Nanako to tell him I wasn't feeling well. It's not like it was a lie. About a week after that, I was sitting idly on my couch in the afternoon when my door flew open. I whipped my head around to see Kanji standing in my doorway. Behind him, I could see a shadowy Yosuke, standing there with a pained expression, but not looking up. I felt myself freeze in fear.

Kanji's face housed an enraged expression and he entered my room, approaching me quickly and pulling back his arm. My eyes moved over to where his big hand had clenched into a fist, and his other hand had the front of my shirt in almost no time. He was going to hit me, but I made no moves to stop him. I knew I deserved it.

"Bastard," Kanji grunted at me. "Mind letting us know that you aren't fucking dead or something!" I could feel anger radiating from him like steam from boiling water. His fist moved swiftly toward me, until we both heard something that made us both stop in our tracks.

"Kanji, stop."

"The order came in a soft but forceful voice that sounded almost tearful, but not quite there yet. It was still strong. We both looked over to where the voice had come from, and Yosuke was finally looking up.

Kanji sighed in frustration and released his grip on my shirt, his fist unclenching and dropping to his side. Yosuke has stopped him… but why? I'm certain that he agreed I deserved it. Regardless, Kanji took a few steps back and dropped his head, and Yosuke began to walk toward me. I could feel my heart pounding all the way in my ears with an indescribably nervousness. I'd imagined myself in this position so many times, but I hadn't the faintest idea of what I should say or do. Yosuke was soon standing directly in front of me, and I looked up into his eyes, really looking into his soul, for the first time in almost a year. I could feel a lump forming in my throat, but damn it—I did not want to cry.

Before I knew what was happening, I saw Yosuke drop down into my and felt a warm, scrawny pair of arms embrace me around the torso. His figure fell into mine perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece, and his head came to rest on my shoulder. Without a word, my arms returned the embrace and we sat quietly. I looked over at Kanji, who was facing my open door, clearing crying, his face buried deep into his hand.

It felt mind-numbing to hold Yosuke's body in mine once again, but Kanji was the only one crying in the room that afternoon. I just breathed evenly with Yosuke in my arms for what felt like an hour, although it was probably only about five minutes. When he finally pulled away, he looked me in the eyes with an expression that only asked one question.

"Souji…?" he said, and that was all. His face asked what his voice didn't, and I let my eyes fall shut, sighing in frustration.

"There… aren't words…" I began, my voice breaking a little, "…for how sorry I am."

Still in my lap, Yosuke shifted a little and let his face fall against my neck. "I forgive you," he said quietly, his voice muffled by my skin. I noticed, then, that Kanji had left the room, perhaps to either leave the house or just go downstairs. I didn't know, and didn't really care at that point.

"How the hell can you forgive me, just like that? Like I didn't do anything at all?" I asked my questions as one of my arms wrapped around his waist. My voice was completely calm, and oddly enough, so was my mind. Being so close to him was just enough to make things normal again.

"You seem to be forgetting that I'm the one that left you," Yosuke said, a smile in his soft tone. "Not on purpose… but I abandoned you." He placed a small, light, cautious kiss on my neck that made me shiver.

"That wasn't your fault," I breathed. "In the end, I'm the one that didn't stay faithful."

Yosuke hesitated. "B-but… I… I'm still…" He nuzzled his head further into me. What was he trying to say…? "…still in love, with you."

"I lo—" I began, but I cut myself off before I said anything else. "Well… you already know." I spoke quietly, referring to when Yosuke had first spoken to me, and also, the re-confession that Yosuke had accidentally heard over the phone.

"Nothing's changed, in my eyes," he replied. "I… I was mad for a little while. I wasn't eating much, and I started having weird dreams. But I couldn't stand being mad at you. When Kanji told me we were going to see you, my heart felt like it was going to stop. I was so afraid you were going to reject me."

I was about to be surprised, until I remembered exactly what I'd said to him at the hospital.

"Yosuke, Souji and me are going out," Chie said, a small, apologetic smile on her face.

Worse than I imagined, the look on Yosuke's face reflected a miserable confusion.

"Wh...what?" he said, sounding a little breathless now. He let go of my hand and it suddenly felt torturously cold. "S-S-Souji? I... I don't get it..."

"Yosuke..." I whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."

"But you... you said you love me!" he said, sounding horribly insecure. "The last thing I remember before this God-damned coma was you, kissing me. And even just now..."

I looked over at Kanji, who had a look of melancholy in his eyes. If he ever were to be disappointed in me, it was definitely now.

"You said you loved me too!" I could see tears beginning to swell in Yosuke's eyes, and it broke my heart. "Did you lie?" he demanded.

It was a real question that deserved an honest answer, but could I manage to tell him? To reveal the truth to Chie?

"I didn't lie," I said finally, and I felt Chie's grip on my hand tighten.

"What?" she said, sounding confused.

"But, Yosuke," I said, my voice now doing as it pleased without permission from my heart. "I've moved on. I'll love you forever, but Chie is my girlfriend now. I'm sorry."

Once I saw it, I couldn't get Yosuke's expression out of my head. He looked so hurt that it pained even me, and I couldn't bear to look. I let go of Chie's hand and I turned to leave as Kanji tried to stop me.

"Souji!" he called, but I didn't turn around.

"I thoughtyou were going to reject me," I said, my voice still calm as ever. "I thought you would be mad. If not for all I did while you were in the hospital… then, at least for the last two months."

Yosuke squeezed me tighter. "Most of the time… I wasn't mad at you. I was sad. Hurt. Frustrated. But not mad. The whole time, I was only thinking about how badly I wanted to see you."

"That's how I've spent the last eight months," I said, the sentence coming out incredibly soft. "I… I felt so lost without you."

'I'm not going to leave you anymore," Yosuke said quickly. "I-I mean, that is… if you still—"

Before he could finish his sentence, I angled my head and caught his lips in the most long-awaited kiss the universe had ever seen. Without a moment's hesitation, Yosuke's lips began working with mine. It was the same eager kiss I'd come to expect from my boyfriend, only better. I licked his upper lip lightly and he accepted me willingly, so I proceeded to kiss him silly. Our tongues wrestled for nearly ten minutes before a voice in my door startled us both.

"Don't get too comfortable." We separated swiftly, and before I turned to look at the invader, I couldn't help but notice Yosuke's wonderfully deep blush. Looking toward my door now, it appeared that Kanji had decided to stay, after all. "Dojima is home." I could see the clear, giddy smile on our friend's face. I knew he'd been rooting for us the whole time.

"Thanks, Kanji," I said, a smile on my face as Yosuke climbed off my lap sheepishly. "For everything." He just grinned back at me with a smile of unconditional friendship, regardless of all the shit I'd put him through.

Yosuke held out his hand and I grabbed it happily, standing with his help, and we followed Kanji downstairs to greet Dojima and Nanako. When they walked through the door, we were just coming to the last step of the stairs, and I smiled at the two genuinely. I casually snaked my arm around Yosuke's waist and pulled him closer to me. Nanako looked confused for a moment before she burst into an excited grin and sped over to hug Yosuke around his torso.

"Yosuke!" she squealed, and I looked up to meet Dojima's suspicious eye. I didn't really want to know what he thought of my arm being around Yosuke's waist, but the conversation would come eventually… hopefully it would be much later. Thankfully, for now he appeared to ignore it.

"It's good to see you up and about, Hanamura," he said, a tired smile forming on his lips. "You look healthy as a horse."

Hugging Nanako back, Yosuke grinned at Dojima. "Thanks," he replied as Nanako pulled back and turned to wave at Kanji as well.

For the first time in a long time, things felt normal. Better than normal.

"Wow—Teddie? Really?"

"Wh-why do you sound so surprised?"

"Well, I don't know. I guess that I just thought you'd turn out to like chicks… y'know. After all you did to prove yourself back in the TV."

"Hey, don't judge," I said, squeezing Yosuke's slim figure closer to me. "You were a serious homophobe in those days. Now, just look at you."

Yosuke rolled his eyes and Kanji laughed lightly. It had been three days since Yosuke and I had made up, and although we hadn't gotten any time alone yet, we were both happy, and closer than ever. We were at Junes with Kanji that day, catching Yosuke up on everything that had happened. Our conversation began to wander toward Kanji's little crush, as Yosuke hadn't been informed yet.

"Anyway, I think it's cute," I said. "You two would look really good together."

Yosuke raised an eyebrow. "Sure, but is Teddie going to go for it?"

"That's the problem," Kanji replied, his face falling a little. "I don't think he will."

"He'd be crazy not to!" I said, a slight laugh in my voice. "Kanji, you're the absolute greatest. There's no way Teddie wouldn't love you if you just told him how you feel and gave him some time."

"But—"

"But nothing," I said firmly, not letting Kanji rebut at all. "Yosuke and I will help you. Right, Yosuke?"

Yosuke laughed. "Yeah, alright. We'll help you get Teddie. I guess we kind of owe it to you, anyway."

"Definitely," I said. "I don't think we'd even be together if not for you, Kanji. You deserve love more than we do."

Kanji smiled weakly. "Thanks, you two," he said. "Hey, I'll be right back. I'm gonna head to the bathroom."

"Alright."

Kanji got up and began walking off, and once he was out of sight, I turned to face Yosuke with a smile.

"Think we'll be able to do it?" I asked, and Yosuke rolled his eyes at me.

"Well, you committed us to it," he said dryly. "I guess we'll have to give it a try."

I laced our fingers together with a wide grin. "Isn't anything possible through the power of love?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Eughh," he groaned, making a face. "How corny."

"I thought you said horny for a minute."

"Just shut up and kiss me, you goon," he commanded; and so I did.

Said it before, I'll say it again. Mission: Impossible, the sequel, is already up, and a work-in-progress. It takes place where this story leaves off. I honestly hope you enjoyed this story! There were ups and downs, but all's well that ends well. ;) Review for me, baby, one last time.