Work Text:
"...Yosuke?"
Teddie groggily opened his eyes, the wardrobe door tightly shut. His voice struggled to reach the ears of anyone outside in the darkness. All that could be heard in the pitch-black room was Teddie's uncomfortable moans.
For the first time, Teddie felt this way, different from the emptiness caused by loneliness or the pain from battles. His entire body felt like it was on fire, devoid of strength and clarity in speech. It was as if he could melt away at any moment. Waking up disoriented intensified the sense of helplessness,he struggled to kick off the blanket, trying to make sense of the situation.
"This feeling is a bit strange."
His heart tightened. Teddie couldn't help but think of the terrifying shadows in the TV world, those entities that twisted like liquid on the ground, nauseating and ruthless in their transformations when facing enemies.
At the beginning of the year, when Yu Narukami fell ill, Teddie took care of the weak young man throughout that time. It didn't lead to Teddie getting infected and falling ill. This made Teddie believe that he wouldn't contract normal human diseases. The villains called viruses would bounce off his body like a ball, no need to worry about such issues.
So this definitely wasn't an illness; it was a transformation in his body, and this transformation was...
He opened the wardrobe door, intending to seek help from his roommate. However, as soon as he opened the door, Teddie leaned forward and fell to the floor with a loud thud. The bed inside the wardrobe was placed at a higher position, which made the noise exceptionally loud.
Intense pain struck; there might be a lump on the back of his head. Yet, Teddie couldn't even scream; he could only instinctively curl up on the floor trembling. The clock by the bedside pointed to 3:00 am, but Teddie awaked Yosuke. The silence in the room, broken by Teddie's fall, naturally disturbed Yosuke Hanamura, who was sound asleep.
"Ah! What are you doing again, you dumb bear! Don't you see what time it is!"
Actually, Yosuke had just been having a pleasant dream, and the damn noise interrupted it abruptly. Anyone would get annoyed, and Yosuke, about to burst into anger, initially thought so.
Teddie groaned weakly on the floor, unable to hear the inexplicable angry voice clearly, only responding with murmurs on the ground.
"Teddie...? Hey—what's wrong with you?!"
When Yosuke helped Teddie up, he found that Teddie's skin under the pajamas was burning, and his forehead's temperature seemed dangerously high.
"Ted...? Damn it, are you feverish... I'll go get you some fever medicine right away."
Yosuke was about to leave, but his pants were firmly grabbed by the weakened person beneath him.
"Television."
"What's wrong? I'll go right away..." Yosuke was about to leave quickly to find medicine, but Teddie suddenly called out to him, and the words he uttered were surprisingly clear.
"Television—" Teddie's breathing became rapid, and Yosuke's pants were tightly pulled. Yosuke thought there was an emergency and hurried back to Teddie.
"Put me back in the TV!!!"Teddie shouted.
"What are you talking about?!"
When Yosuke lifted Teddie, he felt the heat radiating from his body, and Teddie's eyes widened with desperation.
"I'm going to... I'm going to melt... turn into a regular shadow, Yosuke, put me in the TV... please! I—"
Before he could finish speaking, Teddie's eyes went dark, and he fell into a deep sleep.
...
When Teddie regained consciousness, he found himself lying on Yosuke's bed, a cold towel on his forehead, and Yosuke's mom watching over him. It seemed to be daytime, and Teddie tried to get out of bed but realized he didn't have the strength. He looked at the smiling woman in confusion.
"Mom?"
Yosuke's mom sighed in relief as Teddie opened his eyes.
"Ted, it's so good that you woke up. Yosuke was taking care of you, but he suddenly had to go out for work. I had to take over. He'll probably be back soon and will be happy to see you're okay."
Teddie didn't know how long he had been sleeping, but the discomfort had indeed lessened. However, he still felt uneasy, with warmth and fatigue lingering, and his breath wasn't as smooth as usual. He struggled to sit up, wanting to get out of bed.
"Kid, you can't get up yet. You have a fever; you need to rest. How can you be like Yosuke—"
"No, Mom, I am going to turn back into a regular shadow. I have to go to the TV to avoid causing trouble for you and everyone else."
"Is this a new development for the mascot character... Wait, Teddie, where are you going!"
"Mom, I'm fine now. Please tell Yosuke when he comes back!"
Although he wanted to say goodbye to everyone in person, time was of the essence. Yosuke's mom couldn't stop him in time, and Teddie rushed out, leaving Yosuke's house.
"This kid, even if I don't know what he's saying, running out like this with that condition..."
As Yosuke received his mom's call, he had just finished working at Junes, sweating profusely. After hearing the explanation, he sighed deeply.
"What... are you doing, you dumb bear?!"
Although subconsciously Yosuke felt that, as a non-human, Teddie wouldn't get sick, living here for such a long time had nurtured a shadow of self-awareness.
Despite immediately giving him fever-reducing medicine, the situation was not optimistic. Teddie's work called him away, and who knew what might happen in his absence.
The truth of the matter was that last night, Teddie, dressed in a bear costume as a mascot, was unfortunately encountered by Ohtani. He returned home late at night with only the lower half of the costume and shivering because the person inside the bear suit didn't wear thick clothes. It was undoubtedly catching a cold at that moment that led to the fever.
By the way, the upper half of the costume was found by Yosuke from the street. It's hard to imagine what he went through, luckily it probably wasn't as tragic as the fireworks incident.
When Yosuke found Teddie on Junes's TV, he was lying at the entrance, panting heavily with limbs spread out.
"You fool! What were you thinking, running out from home like that!
"Stop making a fuss. Getting a fever doesn't mean I asked for your bear life. Although it's beautiful over here, I suggest this guest returns home early to preserve your claimed beautiful fur from becoming coarse."
"No, I'm about to turn into a rampaging Teddie. Even though I know my master and you, Yosuke, will surely subdue me quickly, I'd still prefer to dissipate here!It's obviously a more bear-utiful death,right?"
Teddie's somewhat comical statement made Yosuke burst into laughter. What was this guy thinking? It's not that serious; he might destabilize the just-stabilized condition if he keeps dragging it out.
Yosuke decided to comfort Teddie's emotions.
"Just treat it as if you've got a fever and are babbling nonsense... So, what about that normal shadow you mentioned to my mom earlier?"
"...It's, well, literally what it means. I feel like I'm going to melt. If I lose control, I might hurt everyone, even Yosuke's parents, and that would be terrible... So, I decided to come here and face it alone. Wah, I might be reaching the end like this... Aw！"
"Are you an idiot?! There's no way that could happen!"
"But I'm scared..." Teddie sat weakly, curled up, looking at his guardian with a pitiful look.
"At the moment of illness, Teddie truly felt fear, Yosuke. He had never known what sensei felt at that time. Teddie had always been unaware of it...
"But this is different. That something would happen to Teddie's body doesn't make sense, can't be understood. Teddie just feels that something bad might happen, Yosuke... so he came here to the TV...! In case I—"
"In case... no, even if that happens, so what?"
"Eh?"
"I've told you this kind of thing so many times. Even if one day you really turn back, we'll do our best to wake you up. Besides, what you're experiencing now is definitely just a common illness. Nothing will happen, and I guarantee that if anything does, I'll handle it. Now, what you need to do is go home and lie down!"
"Although saying such cool-sounding words, paired with Yosuke's face and voice, it becomes awkward, dork."
Yosuke approached and lifted Teddie onto his shoulders, carrying him out of the TV. Teddie, who couldn't get down, pounded Yosuke's back, but it was futile.
"What are you doing! Stupid Yosuke! Nurse fetish! Put Teddie down, hey!"
Bringing back the silly kid was indeed a tiring job. After placing Teddie back at home, Yosuke sat on the side, contemplating.
A long time ago, when they went to the Tatsumi Port Island, Teddie once couldn't move because he ate too much. At that time, everyone thought it was an anomaly caused by staying in this world for too long, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding.
He was not human to begin with, and X-rays could only reveal a shadow. All scientific reasoning couldn't be applied to him. Even he might not understand, so how could a human like Yosuke understand?
Teddie obediently lay down in the closet's bed, sleeping. Although usually unruly at home, he was quite cute when he occasionally stayed quiet.
"Of course, the premise of thinking like that is that today I didn't have to do two jobs for you..."
Yu has returned to the city, and the members of the Investigation Team are preparing for future events. While juggling part-time jobs, Yosuke also has to prepare for the college entrance exam. He will probably leave this place soon.
...
If that time really comes, what should he do?
Teddie is different from everyone else; he doesn't have a clear social identity, and many things are not allowed for him. Although everyone will definitely come back here during the holidays, even if they disperse, Teddie...
"Hmm?"
"Um... um hmm..." Teddie, lying on the bed, seemed to be talking in his sleep.
"Sensei... listen to me, that Yosuke... is reading—"
"This jerk is still mocking me in his dreams!"
...
The first feeling Teddie had upon waking up was an unprecedented freshness in his body. Well, it's probably the feeling of recovering from a serious illness! Although it wasn't a severe illness to begin with, Teddie still had a sense of surviving a disaster.
He touched every part of his body, finding no signs of melting. Now he could finally relax.
"Phew—thank goodness... Hey, where did Yosuke go?"
Teddie asked his mom and learned that Yosuke had gone to work at Junes. Teddie had lost all sense of time due to the fever, so now that he had recovered, it was time for him to return to work.
In his mind, he heard Yosuke's voice from earlier.
"What you're experiencing now is definitely just a common illness.Nothing will happen,and I guarantee that if anything does, I'll handle it. "
Actually, Yosuke occasionally looks quite handsome when he's serious, but of course, the premise of thinking like that is that Yosuke didn't carry him out of the TV forcefully before.
So, with similar thoughts, the bear and the person faced each other in Junes' home electronics section, feeling quite awkward.
Teddie put on the clean mascot bear suit washed by Yosuke, and with his chubby body a bit shorter, he had no presence compared to Yosuke.
"Are you planning to crawl back into the TV and lie down again?"
Yosuke, with a smug sense of accomplishment, mocked Teddie. It's quite obvious that he is very angry and dissatisfied with Teddie's impulsive actions. Not only is he dissatisfied with the increased workload, but he's also upset that Teddie left without notifying anyone, causing worry. He lowered his head, looking at Teddie's face, as if waiting for something.
"...Sorry, huh?"
Taking advantage of the situation, Yosuke bent down, bringing his ear close.
"What did you say?"
Teddie blushed as if he had a fever again, pouted his mouth, and repeated the words he had just said to the imposing figure in front of him.
"I said I shouldn't have run out when I was still sick... making Yosuke not only take care of me but also work. I'm sorry."
"And then?"
"I haven't done anything else wrong, right?! The only thing is that Yosuke's parents were worried, right? Nothing else!"
Yosuke, frustrated, supported his forehead, frowning. He sighed deeply, looking up to the sky.
"You've been behaving recklessly at my place for so long, but when you went to Yu's, you were so well-behaved. Do you really understand？"
Teddie innocently looked at Yosuke. The home electronics section of Junes was empty, and Yosuke's voice blended into the broadcast of Junes' theme song, making it especially noticeable. This was the second time he had seen Yosuke make that expression when he caused trouble; it was the same expression Yosuke had when Teddie returned home after disappearing for a long time last year due to Nanako's incident.
They had ask everyone can't enter the TV without notifying others. Teddie, who valued promises the most, was well aware of this. However, if he turned back into a regular shadow, he couldn't notify everyone. Teddie thought that way because he would lose self-awareness, and even if everyone found out, he couldn't respond. Wasn't this way of thinking wrong? Teddie was about to speak.
"I was worried about you!"
Yosuke shouted from the heart, his voice breaking as if piercing through Teddie's ears, feeling a louder call than ever.
"Whether it was the incident with Minazuki or the recent Midnight Stage, both proved that even if the TV world returns to an idyllic place, accidents can still happen!"
"And yet, you went into the TV alone with your body like that! What if you create something like a Midnight Channel again? Do you just want to be General Teddie that badly? Fine, go ahead, melt away, it doesn't matter to you anyway!"
Yosuke seemed to realize he was too harsh, and immediately softened his tone.
"...Anyway, don't do this again.
"Besides, isn't this fever proving that you are unique? Look, how could those things get sick? Doesn't that just show that you're like us?"
Tears the size of beans welled up in Teddie's eyes, his eye sockets turning red, and trembling lips emitted silent cries. This emotional state couldn't be endured for long, and the loud crying echoed in the home electronics section, naturally attracting the attention of other customers.
"Yosuke! Yosuke... I'm sorry, I won't do this again. Teddie won't get sick again, but as a reward, you have to buy me more popsicles—uh... Boohoo——!!"
"Ah, stop! Everyone is looking; if they see your tears can be used for a bath, they'll be scared! Stop!"
Teddie couldn't stop crying, and, crucially, he was in his bear form, his sharp cries completely drowning out the music of Junes. Junes' employees suddenly crying loudly in the shopping mall—what's going on here! This place will be ruined!
Yosuke, anxious, picked up Teddie and ran, carrying him at the fastest speed and astonishing explosiveness, bringing him to the food court! It was truly a journey with excitement and danger... or not?
Autumn in Inaba wasn't the coldest, but the temperature difference between day and night was significant, and one could easily catch a cold. Teddie wore the bear costume to avoid a repeat of fever. That's what Yosuke thought.
"Ted, um... about that.
"Why don't us let Mom pick out some new autumn clothes for you?"
"What about the popsicles?"
"I will buy them in a few days."