Chapter Text
When Okuyasu wasn’t by the gate as he’d said he’d be, Josuke couldn’t help but feel a little worried. He’d fought way too many other stand users to take coincidences at face value anymore. ‘You don’t know something bad happened,’ he tried to rationalise internally, ‘maybe he just got tired of waiting. Cleaning up did take forever today.’
The sky was already starting to develop a pinkish evening glow, and barely any other students were still milling about in the yard. Still, Okuyasu had never just gotten bored and left without Josuke after promising to wait before. One time he’d even showed up outside the classroom window and made rude gestures at the teacher until they’d both been excused with a curt warning not to try her patience like that again. That had been pretty funny.
‘I shouldn’t be so clingy that I worry about him this easily,’ Josuke scolded himself finally, beginning to walk. It didn’t take long for him to mentally add, ‘I’ll stop by his place on the way home and make sure he’s ok.’
The air was pleasantly warm, the town in that time of evening where the shops were closing and salary men were driving home; most people out were in transit. It was nice to just enjoy the atmosphere for once, though his subconscious nagging worry made it feel a little lonely. He almost made the turning towards the cemetery, before reminding himself he didn’t need to and continuing on the shorter route.
‘I really am more used to his company than I noticed,’ he couldn’t help smiling a little at the realisation. If he was going to be used to someone’s company, he was glad it was someone like Okuyasu. ‘I guess that’s pretty cheesy.’
Josuke was used to feeling kind of like a cheesy drama when he thought about Okuyasu at this point. It had started off as just an overwhelming sense of fondness – and really, who couldn’t be fond of the guy? ‘He’s so genuine that it’s kind of hard not to like him,’ Josuke had realised not long after the two of them had started regularly hanging out together.
That wasn’t so unusual though, surely? Then had come the second realisation; watching Okuyasu enthuse passionately about ice cream, Josuke had laughed – one of those laughs that come from deep in your chest make your whole face feel warm – and thought, ‘he’s so cute.’
That hadn’t really felt so unnatural either; just another observation to explain why he felt so drawn to the other boy. He only began to question it when he turned to Koichi one day and casually commented, “Don’t you think Okuyasu is pretty cute?”
‘To his credit he wasn’t weirded out,’ Josuke recalled fondly as he slowed down to inspect the sale signs in a store window. The shorter boy had simply said, “I don’t I’ve ever really gotten that feeling about other guys.” It had provided Josuke the realisation that he hadn’t really thought that way about any of the girls at school, either. Some of them seemed pretty nice, sure, and sometimes he’d see them in town wearing clothes that he thought were stylish, but none of them really stood out to him as different. Okuyasu was unique, irreplaceable. Cute.
So pleasant was the evening that Josuke was in good humour by the time he reached the doorstep of the Nijimura residence and tapped his knuckle on the door, already planning ways to spend time with the other boy for the rest of the evening. ‘I should see if he wants to come over and play videogames.’
No answer. He waited a minute, good mood slowly deflating like a leaking air bed, before knocking again.
Still nothing. Maybe he didn’t knock hard enough. “Hey! Okuyasu!” he called, banging the door with his fist hard enough that it shook. The sound of Okuyasu’s dad shuffling about behind it was the only response.
‘Don’t panic,’ Josuke instructed himself forcefully as he backed off the step, ‘maybe he remembered he had to run errands and that’s why he couldn’t wait at the school. He can’t have just disappeared-‘
‘Unless he could have, because there could totally be someone with a stand that just makes people disappear-’
‘But then why would they target Okuyasu? It doesn’t make sense-‘
‘Unless he saw them doing shady shit and charged in without thinking because that’s what he does-‘
Josuke slammed his front door open so hard that it bounced off the hallway wall.
“I’ve told you, if you keep doing that I’m paying to repair it with your allowance!” his mother yelled from presumably the lounge, though Josuke ignored her and marched straight for the phone, dropping his bag on the way. In a flash he’d dialled Koichi’s number and was trying not to let his brain list all the ways Okuyasu could have been evaporated or disintegrated or exploded while it rang.
“Hello, Hirose residence!” a female voice. Josuke swallowed, trying not to breathe so hard down the receiver she would assume he was some sort of prank calling pervert.
“Is Koichi there? Ah- i-it’s Josuke,” he babbled quickly, glancing over at the lounge sofa. His mother was peeking over the back of it to watch him, expression concerned.
“No, I’m afraid he’s out right now,” the voice responded amicably, “I think he’s out with his girlfriend. He should be back in an hour or so, if you’d like me to tell him you called-“
“N-no that’s ok, I’ll just go find him, thanks!” Josuke was already slamming the phone back onto its hook before he could hear the surprised protest on the other end. He spun around to leave but was stopped in his tracks by his mom, who was standing between him and the door, hands on her hips.
“Josuke, what’s wrong?” she looked fierce, but then she always did when she was worried. Josuke ran a hand through his hair, grimacing when he felt how untidy it had become.
“Okuyasu’s missing,” he replied curtly, hoping that would be enough. He didn’t have time for this. His mom blinked, surprised.
“But didn’t he stop by just this morning to walk to school with you?”
“Yeah but he was supposed to wait for me after school and he didn’t and then I stopped by his house and he’s not there-“ the words all came tumbling out, fast and frantic, “and he’s never just vanished like this and I need to find him-“
“Sweetheart, slow down,” hands on his shoulders jolted him back to the present, his mother’s face a comforting smile, “don’t worry so much! Okuyasu can’t have just vanished.”
‘Yes he can!’ he screeched internally, frustrated.
“You should drink some water and calm down,” the hands on his shoulders disappeared and she started towards the kitchen, smiling back at him. “I’m sure Okuyasu just had to go to the store or something-”
The way to the door was no longer blocked. Josuke made a break for it.
“I’m sorry I’ll be home later!” he yelled, not looking back even when he heard his mom call out to him.
---
He found Koichi and Yukako at a different café to their usual one, seated at an outdoor table with cups of steaming coffee. They both gave him a strange look as he approached; confused and, in Yukako’s case, unhappy.
“Koichi,” Josuke gasped through heavy breaths as he stood with his hands on his knees. He’d started off just walking briskly around the town, but the further he travelled without finding a trace of Okuyasu, the faster he seemed to start moving. By the time he happened upon the pair he was a bit of a wreck. “Have you seen Okuyasu?”
Koichi studied him carefully for a minute, uncharacteristically cold when he finally answered, “Where did you lose him?”
‘Why is he so calm?!’ “I haven’t seen him since the end of class. He said he’d wait for me but he wasn’t-“
“Wait,” Koichi sat up suddenly, eyes wide. Yukako’s expression changed too, subtler but noticeable. “Is this a joke?”
“What?” Josuke was getting pissed off now. He planted his palms on the table, hitting it loud enough to cause another couple nearby to jump. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
Koichi looked thoughtful, biting his lip. It was another excruciating moment before looked down at his watch, then back up and replied, “We just saw you with him less than half an hour ago.”
Josuke could swear by oath that in that moment, he felt his heart stop beating. His chest tightened painfully. Shit. Shit.
“Is this really not a prank?” Yukako asked, more stern and serious than any teacher Josuke had ever known. He could only nod, swallowing desperately around the lump in his throat. She watched his reaction like some kind of predator, gaze flickering to take in every part of his pathetic appearance.
“We ran into you and Okuyasu about fifteen or twenty minutes ago,” Koichi leaned in, face thoughtful as he recalled what had happened. “You were both acting really weird. You kept talking about how great you were, and Okuyasu was really quiet…”
“You kept trying to look down my shirt,” Yukako added sharply, making Josuke splutter with surprise. His mortified expression seemed to be the reaction she had wanted, as she nodded and continued, “when I was… short with you, you reacted rudely.”
“You said someone with her looks should be happy for the attention,” Koichi explained glumly, “it was so awkward and horrible. I ended up making excuses because I wanted to get away...”
“We had originally been sitting at one of our more usual establishments,” Yukako picked up the story politely, allowing Koichi to sit in miserable silence, “but we made our escape to here. It’s not too much of an inconvenience, this place is actually quite nice.”
Josuke sat down heavily on an empty seat at the table, letting the story process in his already overheated brain. There was an imposter of him hanging out with Okuyasu, being a dick to his friends? Why? Who would…?
“You don’t think…” Koichi said carefully, as if he were navigating a mine field with his words.
“It’s gotta be a stand,” Josuke responded instantly, already getting back on his feet, “which way?”
“Hold on!” Koichi began to get up too, hands raised in a placating gesture, “don’t just rush in, okay? We need to be careful-“
“Okuyasu’s alone with it!” Josuke snapped, “You seriously couldn’t tell it wasn’t me? Do you really think I'd act like that?!” Yukako glanced away, grimacing. Koichi had the good grace to look remorseful, folding his arms.
“…It was Okuyasu,” he muttered eventually, not able to meet Josuke’s eyes. “He was acting so different too. It was… sad.”
Josuke scrubbed his eyes hard enough with his palms that he saw spots. This couldn’t be happening.
“Koichi we have to find them-“
“I know,” he nodded, “I’ll look too. They shouldn’t have gone too far, if they stayed at the same pace. We last saw them by Deux Magots-“
“I’ll check,” Josuke nodded back, “you go in the opposite direction, ok?”
“Let’s agree that we’ll meet back here in an hour,” Yukako was also rising to her feet, surprising Josuke a little. “And Josuke-“
He blinked in bemusement at her uncharacteristically regretful expression. ‘She can make faces other than scary serious ones?’
“I apologise,” she said curtly, “I didn’t think anything strange of your behaviour earlier. I had assumed you were enough of a posturing lout to act in such a way… It’s fortunate that Koichi is such a good judge of character.”
Koichi blushed, smiling as he looked away. Huh.
“It’s ok,” Josuke said finally, “thanks, Yukako.”
---
Now that he was certain there was a stand on the loose, Josuke couldn’t even pretend to have control over his worry. Thoughts came fast and frantic; ‘what if it’s hurt Okuyasu?’ ‘Who else could it have run into that would think it was just Josuke?’ ‘What if it seriously injured Okuyasu?’ ‘What if it committed a crime and pinned the blame on him?’ ‘What if it’s killed Okuyasu?’
He could deal with it fucking up his social life, because the only people whose opinions he gave a damn about knew him well enough to realise something was up. He could deal with injuries too, thanks to Crazy D. But he couldn’t fix death. If anyone was dead, if Okuyasu was dead, then it was already over.
‘He’s not helpless,’ he told himself as he scanned the shop windows he passed by, ‘he can protect himself. Shit, he could fuck me up if he wanted-‘
Koichi’s words kept rattling around in his head. Okuyasu was really quiet. It was sad. What the fuck was going on? Why couldn’t Okuyasu tell it wasn’t really him?
He was so distracted that he almost ran straight into the other uniformed body standing on the street corner by the café. Instead he collided roughly with the shorter boy’s shoulder, causing them to yelp in surprise as the two of them tumbled to the ground.
‘I gotta pay attention to where I’m going.’ “I’m sorry-“ Josuke began, beginning to tidy his undoubtedly messed up hair before stopping dead. The boy sitting across from him was familiar.
It was Hazamada. He was deathly pale, staring at Josuke silently with the eyes of a deer in headlights.
Slowly, the gears in Josuke’s head began to creak and turn again. Hazamada. Hazamada had a stand. Hazamada had a stand that mimicked people. Hazamada was by the café and he had a stand that mimicked people and he looked like he was about to piss himself in fright-
“Hazamada,” Josuke growled, anger flaring hot in his stomach. Hazamada gulped loudly.
---
Okuyasu felt sick. Nerves, anxiety and guilt all wriggled in his stomach like a pile of worms, eating him inside out. He stared down at his hands on the table, hoping that if he could zone out hard enough he’d stop existing altogether.
At first he’d figured Josuke was acting weird because he was nervous. I mean, he was pretty nervous too, and he definitely felt like he wasn’t himself. But the more time passed, the more Okuyasu couldn’t help but feel that Josuke’s behaviour was too uncharacteristic to be just nerves.
It had only taken a few weeks or so of the two of them hanging out regularly for Josuke to start scolding him whenever he talked down about himself. He’d gotten so used to apologising by explaining that he was bad and broken, it had surprised him when Josuke had given him a serious look and said “hey, don’t say that shit about yourself, man.”
It was so unfamiliar that he had stumbled, awkwardly asking, “…why?” and Josuke had responded, “Because it ain’t true, and I don’t wanna hear it, alright?” Okuyasu had replayed the scene in his head a few times after that, pondering how it was strange, but it also made him happy.
Josuke today was the opposite of the Josuke in that memory. Every time he looked at Okuyasu he felt like the other boy was judging him, waiting for him to fuck up. As mortifying a realisation as it was, Okuyasu had to admit that it felt more like he was hanging out with Keicho, which is definitely not something he wanted to think about a date.
And then he’d had that terrible thought, that maybe this was how people just acted when Okuyasu got close to them. His father, Keicho… maybe it didn’t matter who it was, they’d always end up acting the same way, telling him he wasn’t good enough and that he needed to be better. Even Josuke. Maybe that was it. Maybe he really wasn’t good enough, and this was the most kindness he could expect from someone.
‘That doesn’t make sense,’ he argued internally, ‘Josuke’s a good guy… better than a good guy. Why would he suddenly start acting different now?’
‘Keicho was ok sometimes too,’ he felt his stomach drop, nausea creeping up his throat. ‘Maybe Josuke was pretending to act different? It’s not like it’d be hard to fool me.’
He’d thought a lot since Keicho’s death about whether it would have been better for him to die instead. He’d lay awake some nights, counting off on his fingers the pros and cons of each. For him; his stand was pretty strong, Keicho had told him so, though it didn’t really matter if he wasn’t good at using it so that was only half a point. Keicho had done a lot of bad stuff that was bound to catch up with him eventually. He liked hanging out with his friends, so he added that too.
For Keicho; his stand was also pretty strong, he was smarter, and maybe if Okuyasu died he would have been sorry for the stuff he did and agreed to help Josuke and Jotaro and the others. Maybe he could have started going to Budo-Ga Oka High School instead. Maybe he and Josuke would play videogames and fight stand users. Maybe he wouldn’t keep getting fooled by rival stand users’ tricks like Okuyasu did. Maybe he’d be able to do the homework that Okuyasu found too difficult.
Okuyasu never bothered tallying up the results of the exercise, because Keicho’s reasons always got too many to count on one hand, and he already knew the answer. Maybe “could be cared about without being a burden” was another thing he should add to Keicho’s score.
“Hey,” Josuke’s voice brought reality slamming back into focus. Okuyasu rubbed at his damp eyes with a sleeve, feeling like a complete loser. Josuke tilted their head as they slipped into the seat across the table from him, expression curious. “You ok?”
“Y-yeah,” Okuyasu lied. It felt worth it when Josuke smiled in response, placing his hand beside Okuyasu’s on the table and threading their fingers together.
“Cool. I was worried you were gonna run out on me,” Okuyasu stared down at their joined hands as the words washed over him, distant and muffled. Josuke had really bony fingers.
“Mmm.” Josuke’s skin tone was different to his; it was more noticeable with the two colours lined up in imperfect rows like this, like flavours in a tub of ice cream. Josuke’s hand was a little narrower than his, fingers longer. Did he file his nails? Was that something you’re just supposed to do, like brushing your teeth? He hoped not.
“Hello? Okuyasu?” fingers snapping in front of his face brought him back down again, Josuke looking unimpressed. He was spacing out a lot – he didn’t usually do that when he was hanging out with Josuke.
“If you don’t wanna-“
“S-sorry!” Okuyasu jumped, feeling a little remorseful as Josuke withdrew his hand to rest his chin on his palm. “What, uh… what did you say?”
“…A drink, Okuyasu,” Josuke drawled. “Do you wanna…”
Josuke grimaced suddenly, holding his chest as if it hurt, eyes darting around. In an instant he shot to his feet, fast enough that the chair clattered to the ground behind him.
“Josuke?” Okuyasu stood, hands raised even though he didn’t know what to do with them. Josuke was looking around as if he were searching for something. “What-?”
A loud thudding crash to his right drew Okuyasu’s attention away – a body dressed in their school uniform skidded to a stop on the pavement by the café, rolling as if they had been thrown.
Okuyasu didn’t have time to consider that they seemed familiar before a blast of smoke to his left side made him turn his head back again, jumping as he felt a hand grasp his forearm. What was even happening?
“Okuyasu!” Josuke’s familiar voice shouted from a distance away. Okuyasu felt like if he turned his head any more it would fall off, but sure enough, Josuke was running to where the other person had fallen, scuffed up and furious and not standing right next to him holding onto his arm.
“Wait, then who-“ Okuyasu couldn’t say any more than that. Not because anything stopped him – he just couldn’t. Attempting to move his mouth did nothing. He tried to bring his hand up to hold his throat, but it just didn’t work. His body absolutely refused to do anything.
Frantically, Okuyasu glanced to his left. His own face looked back at him, where Josuke had been less than a minute ago; he would have jumped back in surprise if his body weren’t currently as still as if he’d been trapped in concrete. The person next to him was an exact copy of him, with the exception of a single shiny metal screw in the middle of their forehead.
---
“I’m gonna put you in the ground, you fucking dick!” Josuke roared at the crumpled form of Hazamada ahead of him as he marched forward; the other boy shrieked and began scrambling to his feet.
“W-wait!”
Ignoring the plea, Josuke grabbed Hazamada by the front of his jacket and hefted him up with one hand, high enough that the shorter boy’s feet dangled above the cracked pavement. His other fist was already raised, ready to strike-
“Oi, Josuke!” Okuyasu was calling him. Couldn’t he see he was busy? He turned his head to respond and was met by the sight of two Okuyasus standing in the café terrace, one holding a fork up to the side of their face.
“I’ll make him stab his own brain out!” Hazamada squeaked desperately, “I swear!”
Son of a bitch. “Not if I knock you out first you-“
“Can you?” Hazamada’s response was borderline hysterical; Josuke could feel the body in his grasp shaking. “Can you hit me fast enough, Josuke?! If I see you pull out your stand I’ll do it!”
Josuke gritted his teeth. If he’d thought to bring out Crazy D straight away this wouldn’t be a problem, but he’d been so pissed off he didn’t even consider Hazamada might pull some sneaky shit like this. He glanced over at Okuyasu.
Okuyasu looked terrified. Josuke had seen him worried before, or scared, but this was different. He looked freaked out, and it put Josuke on edge to see him like that. The self-assured fury that had previously filled his body slowly began to shift into a sense of creeping dread.
“You don’t want to do this,” Josuke warned quietly as he turned his head back to Hazamada. “You really think I’m gonna let you get away with this shit?”
“It’s your own fault for jumping me!” Hazamada yowled, kicking his legs. “You didn’t even let me explain-“
“Explain what? That you’re a fucking creep?!” Josuke shook him roughly on impulse, only stopping when his attention was caught by both Okuyasus punching themselves squarely in the face. ‘This is a fucking circus,’ Josuke thought as Hazamada spluttered with laughter.
“God damn it! Look,” Josuke tried to force himself to relax. “You can’t get out of this one, Hazamada-“
“Fuck you I can’t-“
“Listen, dipshit!” He almost shook the other boy again, before reminding himself not to. “I’m trying to tell you that I’ll let you get the fuck out of here!”
“You’re not in a position to be bargaining!” the desperate attempt at intimidation made Josuke bristle.
“You do anything to Okuyasu and I can kick your ass,” he listed angrily, “Koichi and Josuke will kick your ass too. You can’t get out of this one! The best you can do is get the hell out of here now and try to pretend you never pulled this stupid fucking stunt!”
Against what he felt was his better judgement, Josuke threw Hazamada to the ground. He stared up him, face a look of fearful disbelief, as if not sure Josuke was really going to let him escape.
“Get the fuck out of here and don’t turn around until you’re out of your stand’s radius, and I won’t follow you.” Josuke folded his arms, fingers gripping his sleeves. Gambling on Hazamada not murdering Okuyasu was not something he felt good about; he tried to ignore it and instead channel it into looking as serious about it as he felt.
Hazamada glanced briefly between Josuke and the direction of the two Okuyasus. Slowly, he climbed to his feet and took a step back.
“You’d better not-“
“Tick tock, asshole!” Josuke interrupted sharply, “move it!”
Hazamada bolted, disappearing around a corner into a smaller street. Josuke watched the direction he had disappeared in for a few seconds, subconsciously holding his breath until the tell-tale sound of a puff of smoke by the café made him exhale heavily.
‘Thank god he’s not a complete fucking idiot,’ Josuke scrubbed at his eyes, letting out a frustrated sound. He was going to end up having a stroke if his life continued like this.
Okuyasu was squatting over by the now lifeless mannequin, staring down at it with his arms folded around his knees, expression forlorn. He looked like a lost little kid, and it made Josuke’s chest feel hollow.
“Look, man…” Josuke began quietly as he stepped closer, “It didn’t say anything… weird to you, did it?”
The effect the question had on Okuyasu was so instantaneous it made Josuke flinch. The other boy shot upright as if he had been electrocuted, face flush and expression pained. Fuck.
“Listen, I-“
“I-It’s ok!” Okuyasu was already retreating backwards, babbling frantically as his eyes avoided Josuke’s. “It was- You know I’m not good at figuring stuff out, right? I’m not- I’m not smart-“
“Okuyasu-“ he reached out reflexively, not really knowing what for. Okuyasu just looked so sad and scared and his cheek was starting to bruise up where he’d punched himself and Josuke really needed to make sure he was ok.
“I’ve gotta go!” Okuyasu broke into a sprint, leaving Josuke standing dumbstruck, hand raised. His gut reaction was to summon Crazy Diamond to stop him, but Josuke forced himself to hold back a moment later, swallowing thickly.
‘He’s just been messed around by Hazamada’s stand, the last thing I should do is sic Crazy D on him,’ he thought, combing his fingers through his ruined hair with a frustrated sigh. ‘I’ll talk to him later. It’ll be ok. He’ll be ok.’