Chapter Text
Despite a pretty shitty first impression, Yusuke isn’t actually that bad a guy. Sure, he's a bit of a jerk, a pretentious weirdo, a huge snob, but he isn’t a bad guy. Him and Ryuji have just been in a kind of strange limbo, somewhere between having an uncomfortable (but not unwelcome) amount of gratitude loitering the air, and being actual friends.
They don’t even text each other one-on-one, not until Yusuke sends a message asking if he knew where Akira was. Apparently Yusuke isn’t yet familiar with Akira’s terrible texting habits. So Ryuji texts back ‘He’s probably hanging out with Ann,’ just to let Yusuke know he doesn’t have to worry about their dear leader lying dead in a ditch somewhere, and he would’ve left it at that if not for the nagging feeling he should maybe probably make up for harassing Yusuke for like, a week straight. Not like it was his fault, or that he was wrong to do so (he was definitely, absolutely in the right), but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to put a little extra effort in getting along for now.
So he asks why Yusuke needs Akira.
Apparently it’s to explore Mementos. For art, or whatever.
And just because by now Ryuji has a vague impression of what he knows about Yusuke, as a person, he’s compelled to ask, ‘You aren’t going alone, are you?’
'Of course not,' Yusuke assures. 'It'd be far too dangerous with my level of inexperience.' So at least he definitely has some sense. Still, even though there’s a lot Ryuji doesn’t know about Yusuke Kitagawa, what he does know is that the guy isn’t above pulling some ridiculous stunt for the sake of art. Or whatever. At least, that’s the impression Ryuji’s got, and it’s one that’s held up so far.
'Hold on,’ he texts, ‘I’ll go with.’
“This is the stuff that inspires you?”
It’s a fair question; Ryuji doesn’t know what he expected from the concept of exploring Mementos for art, but trudging through a grimy brain-subway of people’s collective thoughts doesn’t strike him as very artistically fulfilling. Painting Ann? Sure. Painting this? What the fuck. Maybe he could understand if it was all about beating up shadows and using that adrenaline to get the creative juices flowing, but no, Yusuke’s just poking around random corners and sketching out whatever.
Apparently, Yusuke disagrees. “Of course it’s inspiring,” he says. “This is the root of desire; the nature of humanity at its base, stripped to its core!”
“Again with the stripping.” Ryuji scoffs. “Only you could come up with this shit.”
“Actually, it was Akira’s idea. We were here just the other day, but I wanted to ensure certain details were fresh in my mind before I started painting.”
Huh. Second trip in, and it still takes forever.
“In any case, I’ll be finishing up soon enough. Thank you,” Yusuke says, a little too sincere; even with their masks in the way, Ryuji can see some soft look in his eyes. There's something about it that strikes him as sad, almost, and it's... time to keep listening to Yusuke because the guy's still talking. “I do appreciate it, you know.”
“Huh?”
“Aside from everything you’ve already done for me, that you’re willing to assist in my artistic endeavors is… well, there aren’t many who are willing to deal with my eccentricities. You all are a bit strange, in that regard.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you,” Ryuji shoots back, “and don’t get used to it. Art ain’t my thing. But if it’s something like this, I guess I can help out. Just promise me you won’t go in here alone, alright?”
“Of course,” Yusuke says, a reasonable response to a reasonable request, but Ryuji’s pretty sure he’s nipped some kind of catastrophe in the bud.