"Dude, this is so frigging… ugh…"

Yosuke was sitting - head buried in his hands, on one of the strange heart-shaped beds, in the room he was sharing with Souji, in the freaky-assed hotel that weirdo Kashiwagi dragged them to. Both of them shared the room for the school trip, and Yosuke could already tell he wasn't going to enjoy it, especially not with…

"Sensei… why do I have to stay with you and Yo… Yoyosuke…? What about Rise-chan, and Yuki-chan? And-"

"Augh, because you're messed up, that's why!" Yosuke raised his head and lost his temper. Teddie was sitting on the floor, pouting at Yosuke's outburst. He was swaying back and forth at the same time – probably still under the effect of whatever it was he drank. Souji was standing, looking around the place as if sightseeing in the pink-and-magenta hotel room wasn't one ofthe most ridiculously awkward and disturbing things one could possibly do in this situation.

Souji started taking off his school jacket. Yosuke felt ten times more uncomfortable.

"Dude, what do you think you're doing…?"

Souji just looked at him, smoothing out the jacket. "I'm getting ready to sleep. If you sleep better with your jacket and headphones on, be my guest."

Yosuke groaned, a bit in relief. Souji spoke again. "I'll take the floor. Pass me a pillow."

"Yay, that means Teddie gets the bed!" Teddie sprang up and climbed onto the bed, causing it to wobble and undulate. Realising he was sitting on a water bed made Yosuke get up from it instinctively. "Sensei, you're so tough and… and resilient... My body can't poooossibly take it, sleeping on the cold floor…"

"I… I'll take the floor too," Yosuke said, fingers kneading the side of his head. "Souji, since you're here on the left, I'll take the other side."

Souji just nodded and went over to turn off the lights. He soon got back beside the bed and laid down, using his jacket as a makeshift blanket. Seeing this, Yosuke went over to the other side. Figuring he might as well keep his jacket on seeing Teddie's hogging the blanket, he put his headphones aside and got down on the floor, lying on his side – facing away from the freaky bed. He could hear Teddie bouncing on it a few more times before Souji reprimanded him. Then, it got quiet.

But Yosuke couldn't sleep. It… It wasn't quiet enough. Even with Teddie's snoring, he could hear some shuffling noises – most likely from the other rooms. He couldn't stop thinking about what was making those noises, each varied sound making him think of what those freaks next door were doing… Why was he even…

"P-Partn-" Calling him that really unnerved him at the time, so he switched. "S-Souji? Yo?"

"…What is it?" He sounded groggy, possibly even a bit irritated.

"I-I can't sleep. Is there anything to do around here…?"

"Just play some games on your phone or something. Keep it down."

"A-Are you kidding? They're all boring."

"…"

"…Souji?"

"…If you're that bored, we can try guessing where the girls' rooms are and knock on their doors. Maybe they'll let us in."

"Dude, what-"

"It's a joke. Um… forget I said it. Go to sleep."

"…Hey."

"Hm?"

"You think Kanji and the rest are asleep?"

"Maybe. It's been a long day for them. Rise-san and Yukiko are definitely out cold."

"I'm pretty sure Kanji's suffering as much as I am. Maybe if I text him, I'll be doing him a favour too. I just need to do something…"

Souji clearly sounded like he just wanted to keep Yosuke quiet and get some sleep. "Fine, fine. It's possible. Just don't type so loudly. I'm sleeping."

"Right, okay…" Yosuke eagerly reached for his cell and started typing.

Tatsumi u awake?Its Yosuke

Yosuke waited. And waited. Finally, his cell gave a chime. He heard Souji stirring.

"Silent mode, Yosuke."

"Right, right. Sorry." Yosuke quickly set his cell to silent mode and checked his inbox.

Yea I am sup

Oh thank goodness yes. Yosuke was relieved, the sound of his typing finally distracting him from the weird muffled noises.

Cant sleep this place givs the creeps

Yea man I cant stand it

About time someone agreed. Fine if Teddie didn't object – he's drunk and he's just fruity either way. But Souji was making it like it was nothing. Was he really that sleepy? Whatever. Yosuke cooked up his reply.

Dude btw who ru bunking with?

Kanji's reply seemed to take longer than usual, if the last two replies were anything to go by. But it arrived, a lot shorter than Yosuke had expected, considering how long he had to wait – those few extra seconds of listening to those EEURGH was that a guy's voice where's that inbox dammit

Naoto

Another text from Kanji came in soon after.

U know? Shirogane

Oh, cool

Yosuke didn't have much to say to that. Of course he knew who Shirogane was. Made sense anyway, since he's the only other guy Kanji could bunk with. Again, Kanji's reply took way too long.

Whats that sposed to mean?!

Huh nuthin man i mean it

Don't BS me whatre you tryin to say

No rly i mean it! I mean I hv to stick with drunk teddie in my room, + with him its overcrowded

Oh oh gotcha. Sorry bout that

So hows it like? Ur roommate?

Um

Yosuke waited for a while for Kanji to follow up. During that time, he could've sworn he heard some more noises – this time from upstairs. Come on, Tatsumi, type faster for the love of all that is youthful and innocent!

Its quiet I guess.

The conversation reached a halt at that. Yosuke decided not to bring anything up about Kanji and that Detective Prince. One gay joke and he'll piss Kanji off, meaning the guy'll ignore his texts and he won't be able to talk to anyone else. With Chie most likely taking care of Yukiko, she'll won't be free to text by the looks of it.

Wait, if Chie's taking care of Yukiko, what about Rise? Just as that question started poking at his mind, another text from Kanji came in.

Cos he went out. I mean its quiet cos Naoto went out for a bit.

Oh, duh.

Checkin up on rise?

Yea think so. Rise's sharing room with sum other girl but still. You know?

Rite naotos rly reliable eh

I guess so yeah

So u both gonna share the bed?

What no! Ill sleep on the floor

Oh ok u sure bout that?

Yea why?

I mean don't be sad

Huh for what?

Oh. Oh no. Yosuke found himself clambering for excuses.

Um no its nuthin

Tell me

No srsly its nuthin!

Yea right. Hav fun sleeping joker

Tatsumi?

TATSUMI!

The last two messages in the conversation was Yosuke calling out for Kanji in desperation. No reply came afterwards. Yosuke kept his cell back in despair. He started hearing strange voices again.

"This blows..."

That night, Yosuke slept with his headphones on.