Chapter Text
It was the night of your senior prom and frankly you were more anxious then excited. The one person you had wanted to go with had made it clear that he wouldn’t even be attending so when another classmate had asked you, you had reluctantly accepted at the behest of your friends. Their logic was that since your highschool career was almost over and you had never successfully made a move on your crush, it was time to move on. Therefore they had encouraged you to go with a date and dance the night away without a single thought for one Josuke Higashikata. That however, was easier said than done.
To your surprise he was present at the dance, having been apparently dragged along by Okuyasu to serve as a wingman, though judging from Okuyasu’s stream of tears and loud cries of distress they had been less than successful.
After you first spotted them you made an effort to ignore them and focus on your date but he was honestly quite self-centered as well as rude, nothing like he had been when he had asked you to prom, and your attention wandered away from him more than once. Every time you glanced at Josuke you found it harder and harder to tear your eyes away from him and your date, displeased by this, began to aggressively bring your attention back to him. At first he had just rudely snapped his fingers at you but by the fifth time he had moved on to gripping your arm with enough strength to hurt. Your own patience had worn thin so you had no problem whatsoever with smacking his hand off you and informing him that you were done with both him and the dance, before turning around to the nearest exit. Your date didn’t take to that too kindly and had grabbed you by the wrist, nails digging into your arm with enough force to leave crescent shaped marks.
Before you could do much more than let out a brief exclamation of shock and pain, a familiar haircut appeared in the corner of your eye, Josuke stepping in front of you protectively as your date was suddenly sent flying. After assuring himself that the other male wouldn’t be standing back up anytime soon he turned to face you, face softening from it’s fierce glare.
“That guy was a total ass. I saw when you two walked in together and I could hear him talking about himself the entire time, plus he was snapping at you like you were a dog. If I’d known he was gonna get handsy I would’ve stepped in way sooner!”
Josuke wished that Crazy Diamond’s abilities included vanishing into thin air. He couldn’t believe that he’d basically just admitted to stalking you for the whole dance. Not to mention the fact that he’d probably frightened you by knocking the living daylights out of your date, regardless of how deserving he was of said punch. So when you spoke up it took him a moment to register that you were actually grateful for his interference rather than scared or offended.
“Yeah he was a total ass. Thank you for helping, things could have been a lot worse if you hadn’t been there. Considering how disastrous this nights been so far, I think I’m gonna head home. Again, thank you so much, enjoy the rest of the dance”, you ended your short speech by leaning in to kiss his cheek, a faint blush staining your face as you pulled back and started to walk away. Josuke was stunned by your actions, a dreamy grin slowly spreading across his pinkened cheeks. He soon snapped out of it as he realized that you were leaving him and before he knew what he was doing he had already moved forward to stop you, calling out your name in a somewhat frantic tone.
You stopped as you heard Josuke say your name, looking at him with curiosity as he blurted out, “Do you wanna just ditch the dance and go somewhere else? Together?”
Normally you’d be hesitant at such an offer but looking into his eyes you found yourself drawn in by his pleading look, agreeing to his offer before you could psyche yourself out of it. He looked take aback by your agreement to accompany him, as of he had expected you to outright reject him, but he quickly pulled himself together, eagerly telling you that he knew just where to go.
~
Josuke had refused to tell you where you were going, grinning st you cheekily and saying it was a surprise whenever you asked. It quickly became apparent that the carnival was your destination as you drew closer, the faint sounds of music and laughter drifting thorough the air along with the smell of various treats.
Upon entering, the two of you decided to hit up the games first. You did well enough but your companion did even better. At each and every game, ranging from the ring toss to the high striker, Josuke excelled. Within the hour you had more stuffed animals than you could feasibly carry and to the delight of various children, began to give them away. In the end you kept only a small tiger plush that had been the first prize Josuke had won for you while he held onto a panda plush. It was the only prize you had gained on your own and you had insisted that he keep it, something he was quite willing to do.
The next thing on your agenda was the rides. Roller coasters were out of the question as a ride on those would definitely mess up Josuke’s hair. Instead the two of you contented yourselves with riding the carousel, bumper carts, and the ferris wheel. Each one was more fun than the last and on the ferris wheel the two of you had chattered away, learning more about each other in those 20 minutes than you had in the past few years being classmates. When you had stepped down from your seats you had realized how hungry you both were and made your way to the food stands. Each of you ordered something then sat down to enjoy your meals while listening to the live band. In between bites, the two of you continued your previous conversation, absolutely enamored with the little quirks you noticed the other doing. To your disappointment, as well as Josuke’s, you finished your food fairly quickly, leaving you with nothing else to do. You had just risen from your seat when Josuke extended his hand out to you, clearly nervous as he said,
“Neither of us got to dance earlier and the band is playing some good music. So do you, y'know, wanna dance?“Smiling at him, you took his hand.
"I’d love to dance with you Josuke.”
The two of you stepped out amongst the other couples who were already dancing, the current song fading away as the band started up a new one. As the words, “Wise men say only fools rush in”, rang out through the crisp night air you let your hands rest on Josuke’s shoulders as his slid down to your waist. Swaying back and forth, you placed your head against his shoulder, allowing yourself to relax and enjoy the warmth of his solid frame. Even as the last few notes of the song died away and the band announced that they were leaving, you two remained in that position, reluctant to end the moment. Yet you could not remain there forever, so you two left the carnival grounds to return home.
~
Josuke insisted on walking you to your front door and unable to properly express just how you felt, you did the only thing you could think of. You cupped his cheek in one hand as the other held onto his shoulder and you gave him the lightest of kisses. He froze underneath your touch and after a few seconds without any response you pulled back, only to be pulled back in for another, firmer kiss. A few more precious, heavenly seconds passed, then the two of you parted.
Stroking his cheekbone with your thumb you told him, “I’ve been wanting to do that for years. I’ve admired you for a long time, Josuke, and this probably sounds stupid or silly but it’s the honest truth. It’s probably too soon to say this but I think I really am falling in love with you.”
Reaching up to curl his hand around yours, face radiating utter sincerity, he responded. “I’m not falling in love with you”, he turned his face to kiss the marks from earlier, eyes still focused on yours,“because I’m already in love with you.”
Filled with an indescribable warmth, you pulled him in for one last kiss, one full of love and promise, before wishing him sweet dreams and entering your house. Crawling into bed and touching your lips with wonder, to remind yourself that you weren’t dreaming and that the kiss had been real, you couldn’t help but notice that the skin on your wrist was unblemished, the scratches from the altercation having magically disappeared.