Chapter Text
Tomiyasu Yu was not always good at making friends.
Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He knew that he was the kind of person that people gravitated to easily. He laughed loud and often, he didn’t usually show his impatience, and he was always available to lend a helping hand. But he found it very difficult to make friends with someone who didn’t need him for something.
That’s probably why Tomoya and Haru were so important to him. They matched his ambitions and his intellect, which meant he always had some kind of competition to keep him improving himself, and their goals were so closely aligned that they could go to one another for support without feeling like any of them were at a disadvantage. They were probably the closest things to equals that he’d ever had.
He cherished those boys, though he knew he didn’t tell them enough. He never was very good at that sort of thing.
But besides them, Yu usually assumed that people who wanted to get close to him only did it because they needed something. After all, Yu was very good at being the reliable, big brother type.
So when he saw Geon and Yuki sitting in the fourth row of the lecture hall, beaming up at him just seconds before he started his very first class, he knew they were going to ask for a favor.
It was the first day of Yu's first semester as a graduate student, which meant he got to be a Teaching Assistant for one of his favorite Engineering professors. As a TA, he would lead some lectures, grade papers, and hold office hours while working in his professor’s lab. Haru and Tomoya were TAs in the department as well, though since they’d be working for different professors, he knew he wouldn’t get to see much of them this year. The graduate classes were much harder than undergraduate, and Yu knew he had a long semester ahead of him.
It didn’t help that Yuki was on his class’s roster. Talking to a lecture hall full of 150 strangers felt like a piece of cake, but as soon as one of those strangers became recognizable, Yu’s nerves started to rise. Yu was confident that he was a good teacher, but teaching someone he knew always made him feel like he had something to prove.
“And that’s all we have time for today,” Yu said, as the clock hit 10:15 on the dot. “Please read over the assignment on the portal online, and come prepared for a syllabus quiz on Wednesday!"
He looked down at his desk, but sudden movement ahead told him Yuki and Geon were making a dash for the front of the classroom. He felt as excited as he felt uneasy.
“Tomiyasu!” Geon sang as they approached. For a moment, Yu thought he might hurdle the desk to hug Yu in front of all his new students. “We missed you this summer!"
“I think you’ve gotten lost getting to the Psych department, Geonie,” Yu said with a smile. “This is a computer science class — you know, for us true geeks."
Yuki grinned at his wink. “I got so excited when I saw you were going to be my TA this semester! I told Geon he and Seita could tag along to lectures with me — if that’s alright with you?"
Yu hesitated. “I mean, I don’t mind, if you’re really interested. But if you guys are just going to goof off…"
Geon frowned at him. “I mean, I am interested, but would it be so bad if we just wanted to see you? We know you’re going to be busy this semester. Seita was going to come next week, but we won’t if you don’t want us to."
“You may not know this, Yu, but Geon is a huge geek. He’ll fit right in,” Yuki said, and Yu laughed.
“Yeah, of course. You guys are always welcome,” Yu said. “Did you not have a class this hour? Or do you just find data structures more riveting than whatever psychological manipulation tactics you were going to learn today?"
“It’s not manipulation, Yu — it’s social conditioning! It’s a major part of human nature!” Geon said, picking right back up where they left off before summer. Of the seven, Geon was the only one majoring in a “soft” science, which they of course loved to tease him for. “Think about it: you probably know praising students for good work is more effective than yelling at them for bad work. You said just a minute ago that you’ll let class out early on days that you get 90% attendance!"
“That’s just to make sure my ratings at the end of the year are better than Moya’s,” Yu said with a grin.
“Would you call that manipulation?"
“Yes."
“Shut up,” Geon said as Yuki cackled. “Here’s another one: how many women did you see in this class today?"
“Uh,” Yu said, racking his poor memory. “A handful?"
“There were 8. In this whole lecture hall! You know why? Because that’s years of social conditioning at work that have made half the population feel like this is a space they don’t belong. Those 8 should get an A just for breaking through that cycle."
“And they will, so long as they build their algorithms correctly,” Yu said. Geon took a deep breath like he was going to keep going, but Yu waved him off. “Did you guys need something? I feel like you’ve cornered me to ask me to do something I don’t want to do."
Yuki and Geon exchanged a mischievous look, which told Yu he hit the nail on the head.
“So, I know you said you’d never, ever do anything like the warehouse again —“ Yuki began.
“No,” Yu groaned. “Whatever it is, no. Not interested. Don’t even tell me."
But they did tell him, immediately after class number two on Wednesday. Yuki had approached the desk at nearly a run, turning in the syllabus quiz that Yu knew he’d pass without looking at. Geon handed in a quiz as well, despite not really being his student, and a glance at the paper showed Yu the little animal doodles he’d drawn instead of answering the questions.
“Tomiyasu,” Geon said as he rounded the desk. “Just hear us out! It’s not even haunted!"
“That we know of,” Yuki murmured.
“It’s more of a history tour than anything,” Geon continued. “It’s under the Psychology building!"
“No.” Yu started packing his things into his backpack.
“Hyui says it's where they used to conduct human trials!"
“Even worse."
On Friday, they tried one more time. Geon, who had been damn near asleep for the whole lecture, perked right up the moment class was over and bee-lined to the front of the classroom.
“They say the whole building was designed by the head psychologist when the college first opened, and he left a hidden entrance to the asylum so he could keep his experiments going even if they shut it down!"
“No architect would take plans drawn up by a psychologist, and even if they did, the school would keep a record of it,” Yu said, losing his patience. He took a deep breath. “Listen — I know you guys find that kind of stuff fascinating, but would it kill you to just go be normal college kids? Go to a party for god’s sake. Sneak into a bar, make some mistakes."
“Yeah, no, that sounds boring,” Yuki said. “I’d rather have my ghosts."
“It’s not haunted,” Geon said, elbowing him. “Yu, as our friend, you really need to consider —"
“I’m not your friend, Geonie. I’m your TA. Well, I’m not even your TA. But still, I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to hang out with undergrad students outside of class like that.”
Yu was not expecting the air to deflate out of them. They looked as if he’d just turned out the light and thrown them into shadow.
But Geon recovered quickly. “Aye aye, captain,” he said, throwing his hand to his temple in a salute. “We’ll keep our antics to ourselves, then. Have a good weekend, Professor Tomiyasu.” He smiled as he pulled Yuki towards the door, but it was easy to see that it didn’t quite meet his eyes.
Yu let out a huff. He hadn’t meant to say that, that they weren’t friends. But he knew he had a code of conduct to adhere to, and trying to break into a secret, blocked-off asylum in one of the college buildings with a student in his own class probably violated that code. He’d never actually read the employee handbook, but surely that sort of thing was in there.
And yet, as he walked out of the building alone, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d done something terribly wrong.
After a whole weekend of feeling pretty lousy, Yu walked into class Monday morning eager to apologize to Geon and Yuki — but as the students trickled in, those seats in the fourth row remained empty.
Did they try to break in without me? Yu wondered.Did they get hurt? Or stuck? Oh, god, I should have gone with them, I should have been there to look out for them, I should —
Just as the clock hit 9am, Yuki walked in. He didn’t look at Yu as he took his seat, and instead just buried his head in his textbook.
Yu looked around the room, at the students waiting for him to start. If Yuki was here, that meant they weren’t trapped under the Psychology building. And it shouldn’t concern him too much that Geon didn’t come, since he wasn’t even supposed to be here. Yu decided his apology could wait until after class.
But after 75 minutes of his lecture becoming increasingly rambly, Yu found himself stopped by another student with a question just as Yuki slipped out the door. Now Yu really felt bad. He must have truly hurt their feelings.
He set off across campus for a coffee on his break between class and office hours, drafting a text message to send to them.
He typed and re-typed about four times but ultimately put his phone away without sending anything. It felt lame, cowardly. He should just say it in person, though he wasn’t sure he’d be able to say I am your friend any more than he could type it.
His coffee had just been called at the counter when he caught sight of a platinum blond head walking in.
“Hyui!” he called, relieved. “Hey, Hyui!"
Hyui’s eyes snapped up to him, but then they flicked around as if thinking someone else must have called for him. Yu gave a little wave of his hand.
“Hyui!” He walked over, switching his coffee to his other hand to offer Hyui a fist bump. “What’s up, man?"
Hyui’s face was blank for a long moment before his brain seemed to catch up with his eyes. “Oh, hey, man! Sorry, I’m out of sorts today. How was your summer?"
“Good, good,” Yu said. “Kind of glad to be back, though. How was yours?"
“It was…” Hyui trailed off. “It was good."
“Is everything okay?” Yu asked. “Are you sleep deprived already?"
“Yeah, must be,” Hyui laughed.
“So, did you guys go this weekend?” Yu asked. Hyui tilted his head, not understanding. “To the Psychology building? I heard you guys were going to —"
“We didn’t,” Hyui cut him off. “We aren’t going to go."
“Oh,” Yu said, a little dejected. Though it probably was for the best. He hated to think of these guys getting into trouble. “Why not?"
“It’s not true. There’s nothing below the Psychology building. It’s just a myth."
“But I thought Geon said you knew all about it? The human trials and stuff?"
“Who?"
Yu stared at him. “Geon? Geonie came to my lectures with Yuki last week."
“I don’t know who that is,” Hyui said, his eyebrows knit. “I’m sorry, I have to go.” He turned to leave, but Yu caught his wrist.
“Sorry, did I say something? I just didn’t see him today, and I wanted to make sure he wasn’t arrested or anything if you guys did try to break in."
“I said we didn’t go!” Hyui barked. “Don’t ask me again!” His face was drawn up in an anger that made Yu recoil his hand back. It almost looked inhuman.
All Yu could do was watch, slack-jawed, as Hyui stalked out of the cafe without ordering anything. He sat stunned as Hyui disappeared around the corner. Then, he pulled out his phone.
Sorry about the other day. Are you okay? he texted to Geon.
He spent the next few minutes checking his phone every 30 seconds or so and then put it away. He was probably in class.
Maybe Hyui was just having a rough day. He sure looked pretty addled. Maybe those kids had actually taken Yu’s advice and gone out for the night. Yu had certainly woken up feeling discombobulated after drinking a time or two, though he can’t say he’d ever been so hungover he’d forgotten his friend’s name.
Either way, Yu was mostly fine to write off Hyui’s behavior as a fluke — until Wednesday came.
Yu hadn’t expected Geon in class, but he did feel disappointed when 9am struck, and he wasn’t there. Yuki was, however, and Yu was dead-set on stopping him after class. He even made a point to mention it when wrapping up right at 10:15.
“Mr. Nishiyama? Can you swing by my desk before you go?” he asked, finishing his lecture. He hated to call the kid out, but he was afraid Yuki would run out again.
“Yes?” Yuki said, looking somewhat vacant as he approached the front of the classroom. “Did you need something?"
“Yeah, Yuki,” Yu said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m really sorry about last week. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings."
Yuki just stared at him. It made Yu squirm more than he already was.
“I just — is everything okay? I haven’t heard back from Geon, and Hyui was weird in the cafe the other day, and I just…” he said, trailing off. “Did you guys really not go to the Psych building?"
“No, we didn’t,” Yuki said immediately. “We didn’t go. There’s nothing there, anyway."
Yu frowned. “That’s not what you said last week."
“I was wrong,” Yuki said. “It was stupid."
“It’s not stupid, Yuki. I’m just worried about you guys. Did you see something that scared you? Did you get in trouble with campus police?"
“I told you we didn’t go,” Yuki said, his tone rising. “Is that all?"
“I’m worried about Geon,” Yu said. “Can you just tell him to text me back, when you see him?"
“I’m sorry, Mr. Tomiyasu,” Yuki said. “I don’t know who that is.”
And then he turned on his heel, and he walked out of the classroom.